Today I was reading a book (a chomsky book my gf owns) and went into a weird daydream...in the dream I was speaking at a huge protest of some sort here in Ann Arbor. When I snapped out of it i kinda laughed. I'm a terrible public speaker (despite graduating from law school) and the idea of protests are kinda 1960ish.
The idea just won't leave me alone though. Right now its 2:28 A:M and I just keep thinking about it. What if there were a nation-wide protest against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan...perhaps on July 5th after Independence Day.
I've never organized anything before and quite frankly haven't the foggiest idea how to go about it. But being on DailyKos these last few weeks gave me an idea.
What if together the DailyKos community agreed to organize a protest in our respective states on July 5th...could it happen and would it make a difference?
Reading some of the diaries on DailyKos, and the comments in the diaries, I've been impressed with the number of activists on the site. Many people are phone banking and donating to the Obama campaign. As much as I've always wanted to do so I've pretty much done nothing to further any political cause in my entire life. Sure I've donated what little money I could. I even thought of volunteering for Kerry in 2004 or being an observer at the polls but it never happened.
All this forbearance has led me to feel pretty bad about myself. Recently I've been listening to this song called Vicarious by Tool and one of the verses is: Vicariously, I--Live while the whole world dies. I am an addict when it comes to watching the MSM and blogs online. But that's all I do. Meanwhile my government, our government, is carrying out vile crimes against us and the rest of the world. I'm frankly tired of doing nothing.
The recent talk of Nader joining the race got me thinking about 2000. When the Supreme Court handed the election to George Bush I didn't take to the streets. There were no mass protests in the country there was just quiet acceptance.
I often wonder what would happen if something worse would happen. What would the people do if Bush declared Martial Law after another terrorist attack, suspended the upcoming elections in November, or some other ghastly thing. Would we fight back or accept it?
Well we've accepted this occupation for too long. As Obama has said "We are the ones we have been waiting for". I don't believe that is just rhetoric. I must admit that a large part of me kept hoping for some savior. I wanted some person or some thing to step in and save us from the fascists that have taken over our country. I think many others felt the same way. But what if we had the power to stop Bush and co. all along?
The sad but true fact is that over a million people have died as a result of the wars and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Too many Americans are either dead or wounded because of this unnecessary war. Despite their lies, incompetence, and possibly criminal mistakes our leaders want us to remain occupiers on foreign soil perhaps indefinitely. The cost of one minute in Baghdad is $222,222. Yet there isn't enough money to fund our education system or universal health care or social security or improve America's infrastructure. It's obscene.
I admit to not knowing how to organize a protest. I believe it can be done here in Ann Arbor and if anyone is in the area and would like to talk with me about it I'd be grateful. If having a nation-wide protest seems plausible I'd like to know that as well. I think it would be great if in every state of the Union the people all got together and spoke out against the occupations. If that is implausible I'll try my best to learn and execute a demonstration here in Ann Arbor. I'd love to hear some feedback from you all.