Winners and Losers: Finding the Balance

As election day approaches I am conscious of pressures beyond normal; it is as if an enormous hurdle is looming and something must be done, yet the reality of what I could do is quite limited. But the television, newspapers and radio converged events to create an anxiety trifecta: the campaign wrap-up parties, Halloween and the NYC Marathon. Now I fear I’m forgetting something or am not quite "fit" for this election. I want more time and I want it to be over--yesterday. Perhaps this is a kind of stage fright, but in addition to a preoccupation with “winning,” I’m also conscious of the burden ANY change will bring. In a weird way I dread what winning will bring. Which ever scenario plays out, it seems everyone will both win and lose and we will all have something to get over .
Unlike past elections when I was voting for the lesser of two evils, tomorrow's vote will be an affirmation for a new America. I know Senator Obama will disappoint me and most of my friends, but I also know that a corner will have been turned and we will be on a path which can never be reversed. This is a thing of great joy and also trepidation.
There can be no doubt in any reasonable adult that these candidates appeal to Americans whose dreams of the future are polar opposites. Senator McCain wants an America that looks like Sarah Palin and “those folks,” while Senator Obama wants an America that looks like Joe Biden, (metaphorically, of course) and I’m down with that. This wasn’t the perfect ticket for progressives, but at least we know the Dems’ candidates are reasonable adults with sophisticated and fully developed analytical skills, ready to run the country.
Opposed to this image, the repugs run bland and pretty faces which declare despicable words of hatred and division. Their rants to FIGHT for America, for REAL Americans aren’t even code anymore. Their racism and fear of noncompliance is as conspicuous as the nose on my face. A McCain/Palin America will exclude everyone who doesn’t conform to their world view which was exactly the problem with Bush/Cheney. THAT attitude got us 9/11 and two covert wars and national disasters caused by human incompetence and an economy in the toilet.
Yet there are still “undecideds” and/or people who think their vote doesn’t matter. The problem with being undecided is that by taking the path of least resistance you not only avoid responsibility, but also you abandon your fellow citizens. Unlike a situation that can’t be helped, such as getting into a car accident or diagnosed with cancer, this is a position of choice. Beyond cowardly, most undecideds are snug and smug in the comfort of their living rooms. Most important, choosing to opt out is the position of someone who still has enough privilege and power to ignore those who have neither. So, you see, it’s not so benign to opt out of voting, is it?
The problems ahead are going to require serious sacrifice, as we all hear on tv and radio every day. But I’ve yet to hear anyone seriously argue on mainstream TV that, in future, all CEO’s must give their bonuses to public schools and projects which rebuild the levees, bridges, etc. I’d really like law firms to show their leadership in the sacrifices we must share. Instead of firing 20 workers, partners will present their sum total billable hours to a fund which feeds people and keeps them housed. Most partners could live quite comfortably off the income from investments, don’t you think? By keeping people employed you are investing in the future of American, c’nes pas?
Americans need to know they do have a right to a roof over their heads. It’s in the Declaration of Independence, right here:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
It so firmly places responsibilities where they belong, in each of us to hold our representatives accountable for their actions and to redress grievances and when not met:
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Has your safety and happiness been well protected by the repuglican party, Bush/Co. and his McCain lackeys? Am I really to feel sorry for Halliburton/Blackwater/GE/Boing, et al when their scams go down? I don’t think so and more important, the smart guys back in 1776 knew so! They understood it is the nature of humans to cooperate, to try to make life better for each other and that the greedy amongst us are suffering from delusion:
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Could George Bush and his administration, rich people who grew richer as the rest of us fell, find it in their hearts to not just suspend their salaries, as NYC Mayor Bloomberg did upon taking office, but return them out of shame for the shambles they’ve left for the next president? Would it be appropriate for them to take the lead in showing the corporate masters of the universe that patriotism starts in their pocketbooks, to demonstrate to those who have excess that we will all be better off if we simply learn to share?
That simple gesture of generosity would not even make a dent in the daily habits of BushCo’s families, but would show leadership, true patriotism and egalitarianism as our founding parents desired.
Finding the balance between personal need and public obligation is not easy but it is imperative. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are not abstract, academic concepts to be treated as inconvenient truths. Do what Jesus did: lead by example, and share the wealth!

The 1st Amendment IS My Permit!

Assemble for Rights NYC
New Yorkers dedicated to keeping freedom of assembly and speech alive and well in our city

Support The First Amendment Assembly Act!
Support the Bill To Restore Civil Rights:

City Council Member Rosie Mendez, with Members Alan Gerson and Gale Brewer, has introduced a bill, based on the legislation drafted by Assemble For Rights NYC, which would overturn the NYPD's parade permit rules and guarantee our right to assemble. Call your City Councilor and tell them to support The First Amendment Assembly Act. You can find your City Councilor HERE
United Opposition:
There have been outcries against the NYPD rules from broad sectors of the community. More than 22 groups have joined Asssemble For Rights to oppose these rules, including religious organizations, peace activists including UFPJ, the National Lawyers Guild, health advocates, bicycling groups, etc. Nearly a dozen city councilors have spoken out against these rules. And the rules have been blasted by the New York Bar Association, which has called on City Council to overrule the NYPD
NYPD Rules:
Ray Kelly and the New York Police Department, with the blessing of Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, have pushed ahead with new parade permit rules which severely limit our ability to exercise our free speech rights. More than a year ago, on Friday January 28th 2007 the NYPD promulgated new rules that require groups of 50 or more to obtain a permit if they want to gather on a sidewalk, in the road, or in the parks. The rules effect pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists alike. The NYPD began enforcing these rules February 25th 2007.

Help Spread The Word!

Please join us and help spread the word. On the side panel is a list of things you can do. You can become a member of the Assemble For Rights coalition by signing up here. You can keep up to date by reading news below. You can also get news on Assemble For Rights affiliated websites - just look for our yellow and red graphic. If you run a site and want to support A4RNYC, grab a copy of the graphic and post it.
http://assembleforrightsnyc.org/

"Scoop & Dump Them"?!! It's A Horror and Disgrace Rudy Giuliani is The Butcher of 9/11

Like a splash of ice water across the face, this news from We Are Change places our dreadful fears right into the bright light of day. On January 19 a Port Authority Police Officer reported to We Are Change that 2 more body fragments from 9/11 were found on site. This news is NOT being reported in the mainstream press ... yet!
Body Remains Found at Ground Zero Site Kept Secret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM8II5dl0Js&sdig=1
Citizen Journalists: Please spread the word. This discover gives us at least two clear missions, and neither of them have anything to do with conspiracy theories:
1. Provide the families with some consolation by forcing Mayor Bloomberg and the powers that be to do everything possible to find the remains of our loved ones. That means STOP ALL CONSTRUCTION until the site has been thoroughly cleaned; and
2. Help the 9/11 First Responders, not with sweet words of praise but with medical care, emotional support and provide them with anything they need to continue living decent lives, for as long as possible.

Insanely Callous 9/11 Medical Examiner

Maybe some of us with a bit of spare time can write or call the Representatives below to give them support:

Hero cop who died after WTC work

denied memorial honor roll place
BY KIRSTEN DANIS and CORKY SIEMASZKO

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, November 27th 2007, 4:00 AM
Mayor Bloomberg Monday turned his back on a hero cop who died after working at Ground Zero but was denied a place on the memorial honor roll because he didn't arrive at The Pile until two days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Bloomberg also flatly rejected a renewed call for a special panel to set scientific and legal standards for reviewing the deaths of 9/11 workers like Officer James Godbee.
[…] the city's medical examiner, Dr. Charles Hirsch, told Godbee's widow her husband's death would remain classified as from "natural" causes because he was not at the site on the day of the terror attacks.

[…] The former Marine got to Ground Zero two days later and spent hundreds of hours working in the toxic stew. A physical fitness buff, Godbee was felled by a heart attack in December 2004. He was 44 years old.
[…] "The medical examiner was asked to rule on whether or not the legal definition of death is homicide," he said. "This is strictly the legal definition based on what the law is, and the medical examiner made a finding. They did not look at what the actual cause of death was."
That legalistic approach dismayed Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, both Manhattan Democrats, and Vito Fossella, a Republican from Staten Island.
"It seems clear that an otherwise healthy man who worked for countless hours on The Pile at Ground Zero and who later developed sarcoidosis and died should have his case heard by the city's medical examiner," they wrote.
"At the very least, there should not be an arbitrary 'cutoff' for who can be considered a victim of 9/11. Many who are sick now were not at Ground Zero the moment the towers collapsed - but their suffering and medical conditions are real." http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/11/27/2007-11-27_hero_cop_who_died_after_wtc_work_denied_-1.html