Isaac Newton said: Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight ahead, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by forces impressed.
There's no such thing as a political pendulum. Things won't automatically swing back after reaching some invisible limit. Unchecked, the Bush Administration, along with his rubber-stamp Congress, is going full-speed ahead in the wrong direction. It won't change course until something forces it to change course... or it goes over the edge. Economic collapse, environmental catastrophe, fascism--they all loom menacingly on our horizon.
What's wrong with the passengers on this train? They're all starring glassy-eyed out the windows at the movie-set façades, thinking all is well in the world. With what may very well be the most important election of our lifetime only a month away, the masses remain mostly a mass of inertia--a body at rest that will not move unless it is "compelled to change its state by some forces impressed."
How did a nation that prides itself on being a democracy become so disconnected with our own governance? The percentage of people who are paying attention to the process by which "we the people" select who governs us is embarrassing and terrifying. The same people who see themselves as patriots, see the political process as something outside their world--something which they can criticize with fervor but in which they feel no obligation to participate.
This has to change and it has to change SOON. It's time to run down the aisle and shout, "Wake Up! Wake Up! Train wreck ahead! For godsake WAKE UP!!!" We need to have a revolution by election this November or living on this planet isn't going to be much fun for most of us.
Nothing else matters--your job, your retirement, your education, your kid's soccer game, your new car, your mortgage--it's all about to become meaningless relative to what's ahead if we don't change the balance of power in Congress. The detainee/torture bill passed last week is a grim foreshadowing of what this criminal cabal has in store for us if left unchecked. You can't just sit back and think someone else is going to fix this--because the people we've let take charge don't give a damn about you. It's up to us--me and you. We are the ones who have to clean up this mess. That's why I'm running for Congress and why many of you have been volunteering so much of your time to help my campaign. We know how urgent this is, but what about the other 80 percent?
It's time to wake up our neighbors and empower them to change the disastrous direction this country has taken. It's time to ARGUE with your complacent Republican friends and relatives. It's time to be persuasive and loud enough to rattle their cages. It's time to be a force that gets inert objects moving.
I urge you to please put aside whatever you think is important today: job, school, appointments, and join me in one of over 230 World Can't Wait protests around the country. With 33 days before the election, this is a priceless opportunity to get people to notice what's happening and how critical their vote is this time.
If you live along the Coaster route here in San Diego County, I invite you to join me and my friends from North County Coalition for Peace and Justice this afternoon on the train that departs Oceanside at 2:50 PM. We'll be on the last car. To join us at stops along the way, go to www.sdcommute.com for a schedule. For a $5.00 ticket (each way) you'll have no worries about gas, traffic or parking and lots of fun. Bring your favorite protest signs, buttons and T-Shirt. Let the world know why you're fed up and practice your freedom of speech.
The San Diego rally will be marching from Horton Plaza to meet the North County contingent at the Santa Fe Station at 4:00 PM. Then we'll all march back to Horton Plaza where I will be one of the speakers. We'll get back to the station in time to catch the 6:45 train home. I look forward to seeing you!
If you live elsewhere, please go to http://worldcantwait.net to find a World Can't Wait event near you.
Democracy is not a spectator sport--without constant practice, you'll lose it.
Would you like to know more about me, Jeeni Criscenzo, and my grassroots campaign to unseat Darrell Issa for U.S. House of Representatives, CA-49? Please visit my webiste at www.JeeniForCongress.com. Thank You.