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May 11th 2008

by Nancy Sapir

(October 2002) These are frightening times. Our nation is going to war with Iraq, and if 19 hijackers, without provocation, gladly gave their lives to murder thousands of us, what will they do once we have killed Iraqis.

The economy is in recession, and the pundits say we could be heading for a depression, something only our elderly and the parents of older baby boomers have experienced. Ask them about it.

A sniper has randomly and wantonly extinguished many lives in the suburbs of our country’s capitol, and the technology that would have allowed law enforcement to possibly identify the owner of the gun does not meet with the approval of the National Rifle Association.

President Bush, along with his cabinet, millionaires all, seems to have adopted a ‘let them eat cake’ domestic policy while he plots an expensive war in a foreign land without significant allied support in order to rid Iraq of an admittedly dangerous ruler who just happens to be sitting on a huge supply of oil that, once controlled by the USA, will fuel enough SUV’s to make it appear that wiping out the ozone layer was our intended goal.

Mid-term elections are coming up, and this is no time to vote the party we were born into. It is a time to really take the time to examine the issues and our candidates’ responses to them. If that means voting for some Democrats and some Republicans, then that’s the way it has to be, but our political leaders must be made aware that we’re not asleep out here. Strictly partisan politics won’t work anymore. Former Democratic strategist Pat Caddell was interviewed this past year on a cable news program, and he said that the Democrats have been reduced to one issue and that is abortion. That could be true since the Democratic leadership has rolled over for George Bush with regards to the war. During the Clinton administration, at least a little meat was tossed from the banquet table to the people to comfort them with something that would take the edge off the behavior of the president who, as it happens, reportedly refused to take custody of Osama Bin Laden when offered by Sudan.

But what does Bush or his cabinet know about people like us? These are rich and powerful men whose idea of going to work means being driven to and from the office only to be met by toadies who fetch their coffee, their lunch, their dry cleaning and their hefty contributions from lobbyists. They are the kind of people who, like former Enron head Kenneth Lay, walk among decent hardworking people when they have no right to do so. They are not better than the people they serve. They’re not even as good. What they are are ruthless players in powerful games whose outcomes determine whether our soldiers will live or die, and whether we can pay our bills at the end of the month. And I don’t mean to imply that Democrats are any better, and should an acceptable alternative show him or herself, we should take a serious look.

Politics isn’t fun for ordinary people, and it’s difficult to feel one’s vote is valuable in a world so large and so complicated, but what if we were to take a moment from our busy lives and focus on even one issue that was of vital concern to each one of us. What if writing to our senators and congressmen became a habit. It would make a difference. Politicians know we’d rather watch the Sopranos kill themselves than think about how we’re being rendered irrelevant.

This magnificent country grew out of the efforts of brilliant and accomplished men, great men, who with pure intent and moral certitude hammered out proclamations of freedom that are the envy of the world. They made it their business to know what was happening in their country, and they acted to uphold the basis for its founding. We aren’t doing that very well, because if "we the people” are in charge, and we consider ourselves to be basically decent, then how did things get so bad?

There was some good news this week with regard to the economy. The recession, it has been reported, began when American corporations stopped spending money. Consumers kept the economy moving, but it was reported this week that finally consumers said, ‘enough’ and they stopped spending. Now prices are coming down because retailers are terrified of losing out at Christmas. So when prices are dramatically reduced, we will probably still be paying too much for inferior goods, but the undeserved windfall profits of corporations will be dramatically reduced, and as Martha Stewart might say, "That’s a good thing.”

Please vote. Kingston’s polls are so well organized that it won’t take much time. A single vote really does mean something. It is an individual’s contribution to his own well being and that of his family. It is a message to our leaders that we’re conscious of our individual and collective power. Together we have more power than they do. Why throw away the opportunity to exercise it?