If you could stand before our President with a message, what would you say? Since he's here...

mahina

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Fri Jan-01-10 02:01 AM
Original message

If you could stand before our President with a message, what would you say? Since he's here...

Edited on Fri Jan-01-10 02:30 AM by mahina

I've come to you with a range of questions over the last 9 years, a process which taught me that I trust the intelligence and kindness of this group of random strangers become friends.

As others here have mentioned too, I became aware of this site watching CSPAN when I saw a banner reading DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND go by, as I stood screaming at the TV shadow of the vicious criminal in the black limosine slither by, eggs flying in his direction, hiding from us even then in his 'innaugural' parade.

I am not a screamer. I had no idea then how vicious he would prove to be, that chill and range rising up in me just a whisper of what was needed and appropriate to the moment, and what was to come. The crimes in Florida that we were hearing about so far away, whole districts votes vanishing, and all the crimes that still sicken us today became yesterday's news before they were even known by the public in general.

It still stabs me in the heart to know that as hard as these years have been it's been literally nothing compared to the suffering of Iraqis and Afghanis whose lives we have shattered on an unimaginable scale, who have done nothing to us. Our sorrow in the wasteland the man who becamse known in our household as 'that asshole' is still exactly nothing compared to the sacrifice of our neighbors who have given the lives and health of sons and daughters, husbands and wives and sisters and selves, who volunteered and came home, God willing, to tell us it is insane to be there. Or did not come home.

The day we all heard that Al Gore would not be our president was the first day my son, now 21, ever saw tears on my cheeks. I shouldn't have just cried, I shouldn't have just screamed, but what were we to do, really? I didn't know then of Gene Sharp's 198 methods of nonviolent resistance, or read any of the hundreds of other resources that I've now read and shared so often. (Once again for all you who haven't yet checked out the Albert Einstein Institution's downloads of this brilliant man's work, http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsde07.html Or you could buy it :)

Like so many of you, I went to the Federal building in my town and stood with others, then strangers now friends, and held our signs protesting the crime that we all knew was taking place, while the rest of the country slept in indifferent lassitude. The men in shorts and white socks took photos of us; they were comically obvious.

Since that horrible day, January 21 2001, we've marched so many times. I now think that protesting and marching is futile unless you go there and stay there, and don't go home.

Some of these friends are calling and emailing me now to go stand with them at the entrance to our new President's holiday retreat and call on him to do what they consider the right thing and leave Afghanistan.

I have my own thoughts about this that I may share, but wondered DU, what would you do?
The fireworks are starting here...unlike lots of your cities, here, they're more like mortars. Huge arials started going off a week ago. Soon Waikiki is going to dissapear below us in a haze of smoke. I'm a little worried because this time there's not much wind, and my asthma has been giving me problems lately. Not sure why I'm telling you all that...

In any case, all you sweet angry brilliant prickly loving generous invisible thousands, particularly those who I've developed friendships with, and even those occasional assholes whose posts I still don't see...tonight I'm sending you aloha across the big water. Wishing you all a peaceful New Year, and peace for the whole world. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts back. Be good!

Aloha no.