Amy posts on the Democracy Cell Project:
"I show up for almost everything, but I've been very disappointed in a lot of the progressives that I know in my area. They blog, they know about things, but they don't show up.
Posted by: Amy at October 31, 2005 07:59 PM"
I had been thinking about the same issue tonight, as I stood in front of the White House, listening to the World Can't Wait people talking about torture, Alito, and the Bush administration. This is the beginning of the third week; I have not been there every day, but most days. Travis, Lee, Tracie, Marylou, Don, and others have withstood icy rain, hecklers, Park police, and tourists's questions day after day.
Tonight, a woman came along and watched for a while. She asked, "but aren't you afraid to protest in front of the White House?"
"A little fear is fine," said one of tonight's speakers. "But overall, there is a lot more dissent these days, and it is important to organize so that you are not alone."
Lee shared a story from earlier today that showed how frightening this whole process can be. They took the sign that said "2 Days Until the Beginning of the End of the Bush Regime" and went over to the Supreme Court because they figured the media would be there.
Not many in the media were left, but there was a group of radical right-wingers there. They had a group of children with them. The young children were on their knees, praying. Across their mouths was red tape. On the tape was written the word "life".
(space for you to think about THAT image for a while.)
What Lee came away with from that: If they can get Alito
through, nothing will stop them. They are off to the races...
We each know a lot. Jose Padilla, James Yee, GITMO, Abu Ghraib, Downing Street minutes, what happened in Ohio, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, the list goes on...
What do we do about it?
Justice William O. Douglas: "As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances there is twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilights that we all must be most aware of change in the air -- however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."
We are aware of the darkness settling. What makes it so difficult for us to leave the comfort of our despair to go to the streets and stand with others in speaking truth?
Do we need more evidence?
Johannes Williams, an attorney in D.C., spoke about a vigil for peace at the U.S Capitol in which a woman cried inconsolably for over an hour. Her husband was in Iraq and had told her what they did to the prisoners. She couldn't believe it. "How can we be a beacon of freedom for the world?"
Another story: Do you know that the U.S soldiers hold their hands up, palms forward, as a gesture to people to stop? And that it often looks to those people as if they are waving hello? And that if people fail to stop, they can be shot? And they ARE?
Outrage after outrage--and still the streets are not full of that outrage.
We know that silence and paralysis do not work. What will it take to get you out there on Wednesday? (http://www.worldcantwait.org)