Remember Katrina

If you are poor, working class, or middle class - remember Katrina when you step into your poll booth this coming Election Day. Remember how quickly all those officials who head the GOP rallied together to cover up their ineptness, their nepotism and their greed. Remember how they dismissed all complaints that issued forth. They didn't apologize, instead they tried to issue blame elsewhere while they patted each other on the back. Okay, you say your candidate didn't have anything to do with Katrina. But he/she did. If they are a member of the Grand Old Party, they were every bit as much a part of that horrendous episode as were the top Administration officials of our government. As members of the party, they support and are supported by the Bush Administration. But, more importantly, as members of the party, they kept their mouths shut and have continued to keep their mouths shut, while this country lost one of the most vibrant and culturally vital cities we have. And it IS gone. New Orleans was not destroyed by Katrina though, it was destroyed by the GOP, and the 'politics as usual' mentality.

Waiting on the World to Change

As John Mayer so eloquently puts it, this generation feels completely powerless. I don't blame them - things have been spiraling downward for a couple of hundred years now. Our system of democracy, a constitutional democracy, only works if all its citizens understand the compact. Giving people an 'incentive' to vote, like a chance to win a million, is a laughable idea perhaps, but what if the 'incentive' were a MESSAGE that made all voters BELIEVE that their vote COUNTED? That the man they would be sending to office actually represented THEM. That can only work if we go back to 'real' community districts. And that can only happen with a lot of work on our part. Let's start spreading the message that volunteerism is political ACTIVISM. Because it IS. You want to help MAKE a change, start participating in local community politics. Keep in mind that gerrymandering is the FIRST blockade we must break down. Gerrymandered districts represent NO ONE except the party that made it - and we all know that the PARTY stands for nothing but ITSELF.

Georgia Free Speech RIGHTS

Okay, again we find that officers and government officials who are sworn to protect us and uphold our laws continue to violate these promises. In March, a Georgia resident was pulled over by a policeman and issued a $100.00 ticket because she had placed a popular decal that says, "No More Bushit" on her car. I used to have one of those too, but it got ruined when some neocon keyed it off my bumper. I assume it was a neocon, no one else is that rabid a fascist in this country that I know of (at least not yet).

The thing about the ticket this woman was issued is that 15 years ago this stupid Georgia law that so obviously deters FREE SPEECH was repealed. The law was first enacted against "lewd or lascivious speech" and other supposedly "offensive" language. But it was REPEALED 15 years ago. The law no longer exists. So how come this officer gave her a ticket for violating a non-existing law? Probably for the same reason an officer in Massachusetts arrested a woman who was putting up anti-Bush posters. Both officers are a pair of overly eager neocons that seem to find it so easy to get by in our constitutional democracy. Let's hope the suit the Georgia woman filed against the city of Athens, where she received the ticket, will put a damper on these puppy-like followers of that old oppressive-style governance that Americans all claim to hate.

Georgia Voting RIGHTS

For God's sake, it's been like what? 40 years since the Voting Rights Act? Hasn't it? And Georgia is still trying to keep voters from the polls. Last week a judge ruled the new law that the Republicans are trying so very very hard to pass (requiring that all voters present a photo ID) to be unconstitutional. But did that matter to the Republican governor and his campaign managers? Not one bit. In the style of Republicans everywhere, this group completely disregarded the Constitution that their voted-in governor, Purdue, is sworn to uphold, and sent out letters to 200,000 voters here stating that they needed the photo ID in order to vote. This was done AFTER the courts ruled it unconstitutional. How can these people consider themselves to be upholding the constitution? And if they aren't doing that, what the hell are they doing in office?

Fear is for Fascism

Again, today, I read another article in which the interviewee did not want to be identified. This time, the interviewer asked them why not? Their response was that they were scared. They were scared that they would be targeted by the government, OUR government, under the terrorism laws. Is it possible? Have we gone that far? Or are these people being paranoid? Maybe I should just shut up, huh?

Rise Up and Take Our Country BACK

So, we met up at Woodruff Park at 2PM sharp. It was a ragtag bunch of us, but we made up for our poor quality of clothing and ten-dollar haircuts with our passion and our determination. There were about 500 of us. We all grabbed signs or one end of the huge banners and began our trek through the streets of Atlanta. There were four police on horseback and a couple of motorcycle cops that followed us. At first, that made people nervous, but by the end of the march we were happy they were there. Everyone was polite and CIVIL. At street-crossings, a member of Worldcantwait carefully halted the parade of us so that no one would be jay-walking. About a third of the way around, though, the motorcycle cops halted traffic and we glided right across the rest of the crossings, happy to have stopped traffic in downtown Atlanta without breaking any laws. We asked people to join us along the way, chanting, "Join us, Join us, World Can't Wait. Driiiiive OUT the Bush Regime." By the time we gathered back up at Woodruff, there was closer to a 1000 of us. Not too bad for a ragtag bunch of American CITIZENS on the opening day of Mass Resistance against the stranglehold Bush and his conglomerate, global corporations have on our country.

At Last the DAY is Upon Us

What are you all doing? Here in Atlanta we're heading over to Woodruff Park. Meeting up at 2 PM. Bring a picnic basket, listen to some intelligent speakers, people who can pronounce the word "nuclear," and who have a clear idea of the devastation of such POWER.

I believe the plan is to head over to Peachtree after that and line up - see how long a line we can make...

It should be fun - and hopefully PEACEFUL too... This might be the last chance we have to make a peaceful demonstration. If our voices aren't heard, the frustration level can only increase, and that's never a good thing. Let's hope it at least makes the papers, and let's hope that a LOT of us show up.