Fired up! Ready to go!
I am deeply inspired by citisven's diary this morning - so much so that I wanted to share some words with my fellow warriors.
Warriors? Many of you will react negatively to that label. Some will even be offended. My message to you is this:
The time to fight is upon us. It is easy to dispair. It is easy to shout obscenities, to hate, to generalize. It is hard to phone bank, to knock on doors, to talk to people who don't want to hear what you have to say. It is hard to open your wallet again when you have already given so much.
But this fight is a hill worth dying on. We either fight here, together, at this moment; or we die in ones and twos, alone, forgotten.
This moment has become a crossroads in time; it is pregnant with potential. So much can happen. The stakes for our party and nation have never been higher in my lifetime. If we lose this fight, I believe that everything we worked for in electing Obama will be lost as well. As liberals abandon support for the party, Republicans will again be ascendant. Our fellow Americans will continue to die, in the tens of thousands, sacrificed on the altar of profit. Obama will be a lame duck, and all of our hopes will be dashed on these rocks.
This is it. The horn sounds; our time has come. Victory means life, hope, a future. Failure is unthinkable.
We've all read the healthcare horror stories. Some have experienced great tragedy, others are living through it as we sit here. Every one of those stories has a face on the other side. A mother, a brother. A sister, a son. Who speaks for the weakest among us? Who will do what they cannot do for themselves?
I will. Will you stand with me?
Now is the time for all of us to ask ourselves - what more can I do? Do I have a brother who hasn't lifted a finger in this fight, that needs to be confronted? Would I go hungry to make sure that my fellow Americans get the medicine they need? Will I give up my free time, to knock on doors, to phone bank, so that my children don't bankrupt themselves to care for me? Will I write letters to the editor and elected officials so that someone I have never met doesn't have to die?
It's time to leave it all on the field. It's time to go all in. Machiavelli said "One should never risk ones entire fortunes, unless supported by ones entire forces." I submit to you that we risk everything in this. It's time to summon our strength. Will you join me, and meet the enemy? Or will you watch while others fight for you?
If we lose, will you be able to say you did what you could?