Consumer Voter Journal

Mourning Marla, Organizing to keep her Flame Alive

2005-04-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

CIVIC Worldwide
I heard the news this weekend. Marla Ruzika, the courageous woman who took it upon herself to meet one on one with victims of the war in Iraq and hold them and say we are sorry and get them money to help rebuild their lives...she is gone. I will never forget the time I spent with her, the house parties we did together and working on her website, and I will never stop organizing to help create change in this world. Like many other warrior women before her, she was a beacon of light. She will not be forgotten. May she rest in peace.

Some of us give money, some of us give time, but Marla gave the ultimate sacrifice. I hope we can each give a little more in her memory because she gave so much while she was alive that it will take everyone giving a little more to make up for her loss. When will the violence end?

No Pepper Spray on Nonviolent Protesters

2005-04-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

No Pepper Spray on Nonviolent Protesters

This may be a strange way to do this, but I am hoping that this important case gets some wider exposure than just northern cali, so I wrote a letter to one of my new favorite radio people, Randi Rhodes, who I listen to as often as I can on Air America Radio. SO for context I will explain that Randi was goin' off earlier this week about the problem with the media not letting the real news out in this country, and about how Americans need to start taking responsibility for it by looking outside US media sources to stay informed and take action to organize against all of this.

HI Randi,
I heard you talk on Monday about the need for us all to "look it up!" regarding where we get our news. I couldn't agree more and often visit the Guardian and the Independant for my news, as well as flashpoints.net, democracy now! and guns and butter on kpfa and community radio station news programs around the country whenever I am out of town.

I am inspired by your challenge that we should all have the courage behind our convictions to actually get and stay informed and organize as unions and such. A group of young people I know are a great example. They are known now as the "pepper spray 8" and they were tortured for having courage behind their convictions, not at guantanamo or abu grahb, but in California, in 1997. Their lawsuit against the officers involved started this week in San Francisco.

As young people in Humboldt County, they could have believed what the local media and even their own teachers in school told them...that it is okay to cut every last old-growth tree, even while ecosystems are collapsing around us, species are going extinct each day, and people's lives and homes are being threatened directly by mud slides and floods caused by irresponsible logging. But they didn't. They looked it up. They went out and studied forestry and law for themselves and they take timber companies to court, lobby congress and when that does not work, they do civil disobedience. They became so effective, that the cops in Humboldt got desperate and decided to try torture in 1997. The Humboldt County Sheriffs started applying pepper spray directly into the eyes of several young activists who were sitting passively on the floor, locked together by metal bars. This is a tactic routinely used to call attention to the issue when all else has failed. They were threatening no one, and had fully expected to be arrested if they refused to unlock, the typical penalty for such actions. But they did not expect to get tortured.

You see, people who get their news from FOX are quick to say, well, if these kids could unlock and they don't, shouldn't the cops be allowed to do whatever they want? I mean why do these protesters have to be so extreme? But ironically, the US news media will only cover the efforts of activists if there is some conflict or controversy, so by getting arrested, they get on the news. Now, if FOX and others would simply report the ACTUAL NEWS:

- that a Texas company MAXXAM came in and took over a small family-owned timber company Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO)
- MAXXAM ran PALCO, and the community around it into the ground, along with the job market and the natural environment, and then sold the least economically valuable timber to the taxpayers at such a ridiculous price that they made more money than if they had logged it (Headwaters Forest)...

well, I think you get my point--when it gets this bad, we have to do something. And when our kids stand up to the man, they shouldn't be tortured. period.

If we allow this to go unchallenged, where will it end? How can we allow this when there is a history of FBI violating the civil rights of activists (like Judi Bari who won a 4 million dollar settlement against the FBI and the Oakland Police) and using laws like the PATRIOT Act to round up immigrants who have done nothing wrong and have nothing to do with terrorism. The writing is on the wall.

You can see photos online from the video of young protesters brutally tortured with pepper spray by Humbold Sheriffs, who, like the officers in abu grahb, saw fit to record their sadistic adventures. See for yourself at http://www.nopepperspray.org/photos.htm.

The "Pepper Spray 8" are suing the cops again this week, for the third time, to put an end to torture of peaceful activists and protect our civil rights. The first two attempts ended in hung juries, but this time they have the same legal team that won Judi Bari's lawsuit against the FBI, and I believe they will win this time. Let's just hope there are at least eight level-headed Americans who "look it up" every once in a while, and that they are the jurors chosen yesterday to decide the fate of protest and chemical weapons in these times.

Calling all COSTCO members...let's organize

2005-03-10T04:07:00.000-08:00

STOP COSTCO FROM SELLING WEYERHAEUSER PRODUCTS

Although Costco has a reputation of being a socially responsiblecorporation, they are currently not willing to cut their business tieswith Weyerhaeuser - the #1 destroyer of endangered forests. Among otherthings, Costco stocks Weyerhaeuser paper products. For a complete listof Weyerhaeuser's product lines checkout http://www.buygoodwood.com .Costco says that they share our concern with helping to protect endangeredforests, yet they have decided to continue to do business with the #1 destroyer of endangered forests in North America.

TAKE ACTION!
1: Tell Costco's CEO, Jim Senegal at phone: 425 213 8163 to canceltheir contract with Weyerhaeuser and implement a company-wide policy tono longer buy sell or distribute endangered forest products.
2: Cancel your membership.
3: Organize your own demonstration at a Costco store: Costco's storesare located at http://www.costco.com/Warehouse/Locator.aspx . ContactJessica for materials and advice. And don't forget to send us photos.

NEW WEYERHAEUSER WEBSITE
http://www.wakeupweyco.com

2005-03-09T04:35:00.000-08:00

Hey, I don't usually do petitions but this one is powerful. Several hundred brave students have already signed, so please pass this along to anyone you know who is under 27.

THE "WE WON'T GO" PLEDGE--A CALL TO ACTION
Is the draft coming back? More and more signs point that way--the Steady stream of casualties from the occupation of Iraq, the "back-door draft" being used to conscript troops whose enlistments are up, the collapse of recruitment, especially into the National Guard. We in the Progressive Student Alliance, an organization of students at the University of Tennessee dedicated to the fight for social justice and peace, are determined to take a stand against this threat. We call on all those who oppose the Iraq war and the possibility of their forced participation in it to pledge themselves, publicly, to refuse to serve in the armed
forces as long as this country continues to wage war in or occupy the
sovereign nation of Iraq.

We ask that you sign our pledge at
http://www.wewontgo.org:

We, the undersigned young women and men, are eligible to serve in the U.S. armed
forces, and if the draft is re-instated we may be subject to induction. We
pledge, however, that we will not serve in the U.S. armed forces as long as U.S.
troops are occupying or waging war in Iraq."
This pledge serves two
purposes--it alerts our sisters and brothers to the danger of a reinstituted
draft and, as thousands of us sign, it puts This and future Presidential
Administrations, the Congress and the American public on notice that we won't be
fighting or dying for this war.

History of credit cards, and the housing market bubble

2005-03-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

History of credit cards: "The first credit card was issued in 1951"

Fifty Four years. That's all it took. 54 years of people playing around with this ridiculous concept that we can all have things today that we can't really afford. A very dangerous little concept that my ultimately lead to the undoing of the world's greatest superpower. If you don't see how, you are not paying attention to how far in debt we each are as Americans and collectively as a nation and in particular, the state I live in, California.

I found this little tidbit quite interesting, but even more interesting is the recent history of credit cards. I went to Catherine Austin Fitt's teleseminar last week and she gave a little inside info on the latest scandal in the credit card game. She spoke of the fact that many of the credit card lenders made loans that are essentially illegal under common law beacause they knew at the time they were making the loans that we could never repay them. They knew this because they were involved with exporting jobs from America to other countries, and could see the impending falling dollar. They knew we wouldn't be able to repay the loans, and that is illegal under common law going way back. And, have you noticed your interest rates climbing? Some of mine are now at 33%, and if that isn't usurious what is?

Well if this has peaked your interest, I highly recommend you check out her website and teleseminar series. Tomorrow's is on the "housing market bubble" so it should be interesting. Especially in light of the fact that investing in housing and land is thought to be a safe alternative to the volitile stock market.

Coming Clean

2005-03-03T01:18:00.000-08:00

Solari :: TeleSeminar: Getting Started With Coming Clean March 3, 2005 6 PM Pacific

I will be there. I hope you will too but if you miss it they really have a great tutorial here. It even includes steps to "kick start your personal wealth" based this "Tapeworm Economy" she has defined. In a nutshell, Catherine Austin Fitz says:
"Coming clean boils down to this:

1. Build abundant wealth locally & globally, with one proviso – do no harm

2. Shift your prayers, your money, your media, your leadership away from the tapeworm to support #1

When wonderful people take this to heart and assimilate these rinciples
into daily intentions, actions and transactions, a wonderful world is created."

I couldn't agree more.

Podcasting gives voice to amateurs / Although it's not as easy as blogging, it's still worth the effort

2005-02-28T23:47:00.000-08:00

Podcasting gives voice to amateurs / Although it's not as easy as blogging, it's still worth the effort

This is a major breakthrough for creation of alternatives to the mainstream press. See how we have empowered individuals to fill the void left by the crumbling old paradigm? Please post comments here with links to your favorite podcasts.

I am searching for $281.53 while they loot Social Security and MEDICARE, making off with $11trillion

2005-01-31T05:47:00.000-08:00

This is just too much. Just got this email as I am sitting up for the tenth night in a month or so trying to get my books prepared for tax filing. Just completed my sales tax return and filed it (that was fun), now agonizing over ridiculously small amounts that won't seem to line up perfectly. And I get this. This report that 11 trillion dollars cannot be accounted for and just disappeared from the treasury this year. Damnit, and the news keeps recycling the story of the Michael Jackson Trial (TM), over and over and over and over again. And I am looking for amount=$281.53 that I cannot determine where it went or why, why why why am I concerned? I mean, I could be missing $11 trillion, so I decide after reading this, maybe I will turn in my taxes and just take the amount that I managed to retain after citicorp and wells fargo and uncle sam levied every imaginable fee on my ass this year, and I will just do a general ledger adjustment, just debit that account for the amount I made and call the whole thing even. I mean why the fuck am I sitting here trying to reconcile these bank statements. This is a damn joke! You gotta read this thing.

...Atrocious deterioration in US
government finances witnessed over the past three years. We’re not just talking about the reported budget
deficit, which at $412 billion and climbing is disturbing in and of itself. Rather, we’re talking about the real
deficit of $11 trillion that was incurred by the US government in fiscal 2004. No, this in not a typo. Nor
does this number come from our own in-house calculations. Believe it or not, this budgetary monstrosity
comes straight from the US government itself, courtesy of the Treasury Department, in a recently released
report titled “2004 Financial Report of the United States Government”. We urge our readers to see this mind-boggling
report for themselves at www.fms.treas.gov.
...
Even with all the data staring it in the face, the financial markets are still loath to realize that this is a huge
problem. The general consensus of market participants appears to be that the retirement of the baby boomers,
and the fulfillment of the promises that have been made to them by the government, are either too “long run”
or are not “real” cash obligations. This, in our view, is the height of myopic folly. The baby boomer
generation begins collecting social security starting in 2008… a mere three years away! Three years after
that they start to become eligible for Medicare. The time when the “accrued” obligations start to become
“cash” obligations is imminent. It’s a burden that this generation will have to bear and is no longer
something that can be passed on to our children.
We find it ironic that the Bush administration, after having embarked on one of the most reckless tax cuts and
spending binges in history, is only now starting to realize the extent to which America’s financial future is in
peril. Both Bush and Cheney have been recently making headlines pounding the table on pension reform. As
is typical of politicians, they waited until after the election to state the obvious: Houston, we have a problem.
But although they are singling out Social Security as the culprit, an even bigger problem is Medicare, which
has a present value of obligations that is double that of Social Security. Ironically, the Medicare Prescription
Drug Plan enacted last year by the Bush administration alone added $6.3 trillion to the Medicare total. This,
of course, was done before the election to win the vote of the seniors. Make promises before the election…
sound the alarm afterwards… but in the end do nothing. Do we have any confidence that this financial
catastrophe can be averted? Sadly, it is all too clear that the nature of American politics is such that there is
absolutely no political appetite to deal with this problem. This fact will ensure that it only gets worse year
after year until bankruptcy becomes the only option.
...
We find it ironic that the Bush administration, after having embarked on one of the most reckless tax cuts and
spending binges in history, is only now starting to realize the extent to which America’s financial future is in
peril. Both Bush and Cheney have been recently making headlines pounding the table on pension reform. As
is typical of politicians, they waited until after the election to state the obvious: Houston, we have a problem.
But although they are singling out Social Security as the culprit, an even bigger problem is Medicare, which
has a present value of obligations that is double that of Social Security. Ironically, the Medicare Prescription
Drug Plan enacted last year by the Bush administration alone added $6.3 trillion to the Medicare total.

PDF Market Analysis Showing $11 trillion increase in debt for FY2004 for the US

stop consuming the media that features "state-controlled" spin

2005-01-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

Suzanne Goldenberg reported in The Guardian yesterday that:

The Bush administration was confronted with fresh evidence of a far-reaching clandestine campaign to influence public opinion yesterday after a third conservative commentator admitted receiving payments for championing its policies.
Michael McManus, a newspaper columnist, was paid up to $10,000 (?5,300) to praise the administration's marriage initiative, which diverts funds from welfare to marital counselling, the Los Angeles Times reported. "
...
The administration claimed that its use of a fake reporter, Karen Ryan, to sell its programmes, was an isolated incident. It now appears that such covert campaigns were widespread.

Guardian Unlimited | Bush payola scandal deepens as third columnist admits being paid

I say we stop buying the papers that feature these stories and STOP WATCHING FOX TV!

I know, I know, I love a little Simpsons and there are shows I would miss, but I have started renting the DVD's. I will not consume any more of this government propaganda. If we stop subscribing to their services, watching their station, buying their papers, the will have to go away.

Sibel Edmonds - Whistleblower on FBI Failure to Translate Key Docs Around 9/11/01

2005-01-29T00:37:00.000-08:00

Sibel Edmonds - Official Web Site
Just heard her story on Air America Radio. I am so impressed. She is just a citizen doing the right thing, and her story deserves to be heard by everyone whose lives were touched by the tragedy of 9/11/01, and anyone who thinks we live in a free society where the government serves the people instead of the corporate elite.

ContraCostaTimes.com | 12/28/2004 | Incivility takes 2004 honor, linguistically

2005-01-28T00:04:00.000-08:00

Incivility takes 2004 honor, linguistically
(ContraCostaTimes.com | 12/28/2004)
The word "Incivility" was named "word of the year" for 2004, because it typifies a tumultuous year in politics and society in general. The other Top 10 words/phrases of the year in descending order are: red states/blue states, blogosphere (the realm of the blog), flip-flop, esrever (reverse backwards, for the Boston Red Sox who reversed their curse), Fahrenheit (for the movie 'Fahrenheit 9/11'), iPod, IM (instant messaging), liberal and Eurosceptic (Europe's vigorous diversity)."

I find this pretty interesting and thought that I would include it here to show that language is another valid place to manifest the world of peace and love that we dream of. It is easy to see how the neo-conservatives have fought and won on this battlefield from the list of words above. It seems "we" only got two: blogosphere, and Fahrenheit, neither of which particularly shift the debate in the right direction, necessarily.

As we advocate for peace and social justice, for environmental stewardship, let us use our language carefully and vote with our words to shift the debate. We are in the majority in the country and in the world. When we speak of our goals in terms of the health and wholeness we want for all beings, instead of attacking the "other side", we can define the landscape of the debate.

I hope next year we see terms like global solidarity, human rights, sustainability, balance, and how about the original "golden-rule" about doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, instead of the current golden-rule: "those who have the gold rule."

Hey buddy, wanna buy some Vitamin C? I got 1000 mg tablets.

2005-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

Looks like the FDA is at it again, and we are experiencing another of the horrors of WTO and GATT. If you take vitamin supplements or know someone who does (who doesn't) I am afraid that this is one thing we can't just vote with our dollars about. In fact this may be a good example where voting with our dollars backfired: the pharmaceutical industry sees how much we are spending on natural supplements and sees that as a threat to their bottom line, so they are going about cutting us off at the international level rather than trying to satisfy the demand, because they can only legally patent/profit off of chemical substitutes for, and not naturally occurring nutrients. If the FDA follows the lead of the EU, poised this year to relegate access to vitamins and nutrient supplements to dark alleys alongside ecstasy and crack, it will have great impacts on my life. I use 2000 mg of vitamin C daily to control my allergies. If I didn't have access to this vitamin, I would have to go on one of those drugs like I used to be on, now considered so harmful they have been pulled from the market: seldane.
Read the excerpt below, or full article, then
take action at the healthiest Action Center Website.
Begin excerpt:
Effective August 1, all vitamin and mineral supplements on the so-called “positive list”, including everything from Beta Carotene to Zinc, will only be available in the 25 EU countries if they comply with specific rules set out in the June 10, 2002 , EU Directive Relating to Food Supplements. All products must show maximum safe levels “as established by science”. Those nutrients found in the mythic “balanced diet” are to be subtracted from the final values, and Article 6 (2) decrees that labels shall “not attribute to food supplements the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties.” So, the Directive’s “science” knows nothing of Vitamin C preventing and curing scurvy, Vitamin D preventing and curing rickets and osteoporosis, or vitamin B curing and preventing anemia. It also ignores the mountain of evidence showing our diets are chronically deficient in essential nutrients because of factory-style farming practices. To “ensure a high level of protection for consumers and facilitate their choice”, they even included baking soda and table salt. We must assume they will be unavailable as of August 1 anywhere in Europe - with interesting consequences for the tourist industry in the baked goods paradises Austria , Switzerland and France .

Now, there is also a “negative list” covering essential fatty acids, phytonutrients, all the enzymes and more. Those cannot be marketed at all, until the EU scientific committee in charge has made a final decision. So, forget omega-3 and omega-6 fats, cod liver oil, and much more. The effect of this directive will be that thousands of products and businesses will be gone this year. In the UK alone some 21 million people will suddenly have no access to any supplement vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fatty acids and more. Since the onus is on businesses to produce the scientific information on safety, they can’t produce or sell anything – not even to physicians who have the power to prescribe any toxic drug as well as any essential nutrient. Obviously, there will be ludicrous enforcement issues: Picture basement-concocted vitamins sold in dark alleys alongside crack and Ecstasy.read more

The Real Moral Fight...Stop Paying for It

2005-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! News - The Real Moral Fight

As I struggle to get my data in order to file my federal tax return, I wonder why I am bothering to be honest with the IRS. I am listening to Condi Rice deny any wrongdoing as Barbara Boxer re-iterates countless statements made by the just-confirmed Secretary of State that are full of lies and inconsistencies--lies that have our brothers, uncles, sons, and daughters who are sitting ducks in the desert, being poisoned by depleted uranium.

So, I came across this interesting article about the real moral fight. It occurs to me that we need to re-focus the debate on this growing divide between the hyper rich of this country and the rest of us. This is the big story and every minute we allow ourselves to be drawn into the saga of Bush Co. We are wasting time. Let us, as Catherine Austin Fitz keeps saying, follow the money. And as we follow the money, and blow the whistle on the scandalous looting of our country by an elite group of lying thugs, let us keep on message, and keep the pressure up. Starting with "not one damn dime" day tomorrow, let's stop griping and start using whatever purchases we do make to support the values we have, and tell everyone we know about the companies that are financing the current regime. Not One Damn Dime for these folks.

And if anyone knows of a good tax accountant that can help me fight back in that arena, please contact me with their number. I am determined to apply the "not one damn dime" strategy to my tax burden this year. No one with money seems to have to pay taxes any more. And wasn't there something about "no taxation without representation?" I think I heard that somewhere. Well, having Barbara Boxer as a lone representative for the 99% of us who are not celebrating in DC at the big party tomorrow doesn't count.

NOT ONE DAMN DIME DAY JAN 20

2005-01-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Since our religious leaders will not speak out Against the war in Iraq, since our political leaders don't have the moral courage to oppose it, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending.

During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases. Not one damn dime for nothing for 24 hours. On "Not One Damn
Dime Day," please boycott Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target...

Please don't go to the mall or the local convenience store. Please don't buy any fast food (or any groceries at all for that matter).

For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down.

The object is simple. Remind the people in power That the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that it is their responsibility to stop it.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and
funnel cash into American politics.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops. Now 1,200 brave young Americans and an estimated 100,000 Iraqis have died. The politicians owe our troops a plan-- a way to come home.

There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by doing nothing. You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed. For 24 hours, nothing gets spent, not one damn dime, to remind our religious leaders and our politicians of their moral responsibility to end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people.

Please share this message with as many people as possible!!
Peace.

Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane

2005-01-05T02:04:00.000-08:00

Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane says
"VERIFYGRA combats Electile Dysfunction"

I just had to share this..hope to make it to the event and I have been calling and writing Senator Boxer on this issue. I love the way they say "if you cant verify it, don't certify it"
duh.
I just don't get why Kerry is being so spineless. Maybe this will help:

Don't let Electile Dysfunction get you down! VERIFYGRA is the answer. Tested and proven effective in the Ukraine -- and now available in the United States.

Come to a press conference and rally at Senator Barbara Boxer's office to ask her and Senator Kerry to get on VERIFYGRA and stand up for democracy by declaring the Ohio recount inadequate and refusing to certify the election.

Thursday, January 6th, 12:00 noon, 1700 Montgomery St (near Chestnut & Embarcadero).

Please also see www.InsaneReagan.com for more info on how to prescribe VERIFYGRA to Kerry and other Senate members. 415-385-5956

start voting with your money, time, and energy, every single day

2004-11-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00122.htm

this article is a great read. very inspiring.

I began this week the process of uprooting all the large companies from my life. I am starting with the SBC phone service. I signed up for vonage instead. Soon I will also switch my dsl service to sonic.net.

Let's get these large companies out of our lives. I already bank at an online bank for my personal banking, but will be working with folks in my community to identify a local credit union for my business banking.

It's about FAITH, not VALUES

2004-11-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

I have just set up a new site www.consumerVoter.com to channel the energy I am feeling about this election into some actions I can believe in. This blog will chronicle the progress I make at making changes in my life to vote against the neo-conservatives who have taken over the USA. I am not waiting four years. I know that my dollars and yours can continue to flow into the coffers of the corporations that finance the war machine, or we can redirect them towards companies that share our values. This first post is to establish what those values are and offer my thoughts on what we really lack that we must get in order to prevail.
------------------

They say it was a moral divide. So the left lacks morals? I ain’t buyin’ it. I have a different analysis. What the far right has that the left lacks is faith, not morals or values. We have gone to great lengths to define our values: in fact we have a list of 10 key values right here. http://www.greenparty.org/values.html. Even if you are not a member of the Green Party, it’s a great summary of the values of left-leaning people and organizations.

But we don’t believe in ourselves. Anyone who has studied success knows that the real trick is believing in yourself. In acting, sales, running a business, public speaking, and politics, the key factor for most winners is an unshakable faith that victory is yours, and that nothing will stop you. The reason that Kerry was so easily labeled a flip-flop, when Bush has clearly demonstrated this behavior more often than he, is that Kerry and most of us who voted for him didn’t really believe we could win. We are filled with fear that we won’t win, that they have too much money and power. That fear leads to actions and body language that give us away, causing us to look wishy washy, like loosers or sheisters. The far right has an unyielding faith in their values, and they believe that they are right and they must prevail. Their solid conviction is bolstered by excitement…they believe that someday real soon, some dude is gonna invite them and their buddies into the VIP section of heaven while the rest of us burn in hell.

We have no less right to conviction than they, but we give into our fear and the “undecideds” can smell it. People who don’t identify with either end of the political spectrum, are by definition, undecided. If you are in that place, the folks on one side claim that they have the moral position and they are so convinced of this and that they will prevail, that it’s easy to see why someone would side with them over folks who are so tenuous about their values that they spend all their time trying to pretend they are just like the other side, but they are more efficient at the same game. This can’t possibly bring respect. It smacks of lack of faith. It’s not very compelling.

Think about it. We have the moral high ground. We are about truth, justice, ecological protection, grassroots democracy, and non-violence. If you read the bible, these are the values in the book. I don’t think you will find some reference to pre-emptive strike in there, nor will you hear stories arguing for racial profiling, torture of suspected terrorists, or stoking out the rich at the expense of the poor.

Our side should give up the game of trying to out-do the Republicans at their game, and begin a process that they began decades ago…long-term planning and education about our values, with an unyielding faith that we will prevail. We must develop pride about our values and state them at every opportunity, creating our own initiatives and programs around them. We must get excited about seeing our values prevail. We must imagine something as wonderful as a VIP ticket to heaven in the form of holistic, sustainable economies that empower all equally to share in this abundance. Then they would have to respond to us, instead of us responding to them. Then we can attract folks who are undecided to our side. We need faith in our side, in our values, and in the fact that ultimately we will prevail. We must project confidence that comes from conviction so unyielding that we are proud to stand behind our heroes. And by the way, we need actual heroes to stand behind. SO please, if you can’t stand as a hero for our values, don’t bother running for office anymore. We gave you one last chance, and we are done with this tactic. It doesn’t work.