Being a candidate for Congress is a 24/7 job. Even when I'm taking some precious personal time, I'm still doing the work of a candidate. Yesterday, while taking a stroll on the beach with a friend, a young man asked us to take his photo. When I learned he lived in my district, I asked him what his most important issue was. He thought for a while, and then in all sincerity told me he was concerned about the trash people dumped along the road in his neighborhood.
We are killing hundreds of innocent civilians every day in Iraq, detaining and torturing others. Every 2 ½ days we are burning through a billion dollars on this illegal occupation. Our rights are being signed away on the War on Terror's sacrificial altar. Our environment is being trashed at an alarming rate for the sake of corporate profits. Our schools are being starved to death. Over 46 million Americans do not have any healthcare insurance.
And this seemingly intelligent man, who claimed to be paying attention to politics, put trash at the top of his list of concerns!
Government isn't personal for most people. It's something someone
else will take care of. Most people really don't care who is in power,
as long as they have a job, a roof over their heads and a car. They want their
kids to be safe in school, and learn enough to get a good job. If their kids
aren't learning social studies or art appreciation because their teachers' main
priority is that they pass the Leave No Child behind tests, it's not really
a big deal. Free speech? Privacy? Not as important as feeling safe. Not as important
as the trash on the side of the road.
What difference will it make in their lives if we live in a fascist country?
They don't have the time to contemplate it.
What difference will it make in their lives if the ice caps melt, or category-5
hurricanes ravage the Gulf coast every year? We lost an entire city to Katrina
and it didn’t hurt them a bit. Maybe they sent $25 to the Red Cross.
What difference will it make in their lives if China owns our debt, and their
debt, as long as they can keep increasing their credit line and make those
minimum payments?
What difference does it make if the NSA listens in to their phone conversations,
reads their email and photographs them at every intersection? The only people
who have to worry about that are terrorists or criminals. Right?
What difference does it make if we send our kids off to the Middle East to
kill and torture other people’s kids? They volunteered for the job, didn’t
they? It’s all in the interest of keeping us safe.
It’s not that people are apathetic; it’s just that nobody is asking
them these questions. They just don’t have any idea where all of this
is leading to. They wake up the day after George Bush signs the Patriot Act
and life seems pretty much the same as it did the day before: same traffic
on the way to work, same demanding boss, same kids with colds, same question
about what to make for dinner.
Those of us with the time to pay attention,
are feeling overwhelmed with the daily deluge of blatantly criminal activity
being carried out by this administration. We know in reality nothing is the
same as it was yesterday, or last year, or before the Supreme Court selected
our president. Like many of you, I’ve come
to the sobering realization that this November is our last chance to stop the
complete takeover of our country by people whose only allegiance is to power
and greed.
Every seat in Congress is up for grabs and we must make certain that at least
218 of those seats are secured by Democrats with ethics and spine – true
Patriots who will make their first order of business the impeachment of both
Bush and Cheney. We have the candidates; people who, like myself, have put
everything on the line for this election because we understand that everything
IS on the line. We are willing to have our lives put under the microscope knowing
that our desperate opponents intend to drag us through the mud. Many of us
are not politicians and for some this is our first foray into politics. Most
of us have a fraction of our opponent’s funds. It doesn’t matter – we
have to do this because WE HAVE TO DO THIS.
What about you? You’ve opened Pandora’s Box and you can’t
pretend you don’t know what’s happening. You know what’s
at stake. Everything else you care about pales in comparison to the task before
us. We not only have to win, we have to win by an overwhelming majority because
that’s the only way to overcome questionable voting machines. Commit
to doing everything you possibly can to getting Democrats into Congress. Contribute
to their campaigns. Volunteer to do whatever is necessary. And go talk to your
neighbors. Plead with them to turn off the TV and have a cup of coffee with
you while you tell them life isn’t going to be good with a fascist government.
In fact, unless they are part of the extremely wealthy top 1%, it’s going
to feel like getting stuck living in Fear Factor. Get them registered. Get
them to the polls in November.
We’ve got eight months. let's get out there and get some
Democrats elected!
Here's an easy way for you to get started right now. I'm Jeeni Criscenzo,
running for Congress in California's 49th District (Northern San Diego County
and Southwest Riverside County)to unseat Darrell Issa. My website is at www.DREAMofJEENIforCONGRESS.com
where you can sign up for my newsletter, click on Contribute to make a donation, click on Volunteer to be a part of our Criscenzo Dream Team, and click
on Calendar to find out where you can meet me.