Its been only 3 years since the 2000 elections, yet it feels like a lifetime to me. I still remember being down on politics, I felt that there was no real difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush. I have this Rage Against The Machine video (one of the videos directed by Michael Moore) In which Gore and Bush sort of morph at the end, they were the two sides of the same coin. How wrong I was for thinking that. I had never voted before, and I would consider myself to be pretty ignorant on politics. Bush or Gore? I was leaning towards Bush, but I had no real reason why, no motivation. Gore didnt speak to me for some reason. If I had spent just a small time researching the candidates, it might have made a difference. Then again Bush was against 'nation building' back then.
3 years later, and 2 years removed from the largest terrorist attack on American soil, things have shaken out to be worse than I could ever imagine. Civil liberties are being destroyed. The American public is being misled. The Mass Media is in partnership with the current administration, a dangerous turn of events.
In the meantime I looked for a voice to that would fight back against the rising tide of fascism in our great country. I heard nothing for many months, the Democrats buckled under the pressure and let us down. Millions of American voices were silenced. During the last few months, I began to hear about Dean. At first it was all negative things. I thought to myself, "oh man we are in trouble, there are no good democratic candidates! 4 more years of the Bush junta!"
Then one day as I was leaving my local post office, I ran into a Howard Dean table. I was in a hurry and but I did take a voter registration card, some Dean reading material, and a bumper sticker. When I got home I began to read what Dean was all about. I was amazed, here was a candidate that was speaking FOR me, at last! I logged into his website and and found his blog and discovered that I was not alone. There were thousands of people who were angry and wanted a better future for our country. I blame the corporate mass media for trying to shut down Howard Dean, along with the other spine less democrats who buckled under the pressure of the neocons.
Now I will work, and spend my own money, to help Dean get elected. I went from a non caring slacker, to a highly motivated political workhorse. I will do everything I can in my local area to spread the word about Dean. I encourage others to do the same, toghether we can take back our country from the corporate thugs.