“Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.” Dwight Eisenhower- 1954

Bob Herbert, an editorial writer for the New York Times has been inside my head again this week. He wrote a wonderful editorial last week using the aforementioned quote which echoed an idea that I’ve been mulling over for years now…pretty much since George W. first took office. I’ve grown so disgusted with the state of politics and how marginalized real people have become by the process that I’ve been trying to come up with ways that regular people could be part of the process and affect real change. Bob Herbert of course put his thoughts into words so much better than I could.

“There’s a hole in the American system where the leadership used to be. The country that led the miraculous rebuilding effort in the aftermath of World War II can’t even build an adequate system of levees on its own Gulf Coast.

The most effective answer to this leadership vacuum would be a new era of political activism by ordinary citizens. The biggest, most far-reaching changes of the past century-the labor movement, the civil rights movement-were not primarily the result of elective politics, but rather the hard work of committed, citizen-activists fed up with the status quo.

It’s time for thoughtful citizens to turn off their TVs and step into the public arena. Protest. Attend meetings. Circulate petitions. Run for office. I suspect the public right now is way ahead of the politicians when it comes to ideas about creating a more peaceful, more equitable, more intelligent society.”

In other words it’s up to us to make a difference. And I intend to try. My first step in this direction is my plan to go to Washington D.C. in March with my son to protest the 4^th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. I was so pleased that hundreds of thousands turned out on January 27^th to protest the Iraq War. Regular people like you and me. Yes, Jane Fonda and Tim Robbins and some other famous folks were there but moms and dads, teenagers and grandparents were there too. They were there because they cared and they were so damn frustrated by this endless war they got in their cars and drove to Washington in the hope that their voices would be heard and that Congress would grow a back bone and say NO more and bring our men and women home as quickly as possible.

Secondly, with the help of a few friends, I’ve formed a new group called Open Forum. It’s a non-partisan group aimed at bringing progressive minded individuals together on a monthly basis to discuss topical issues that affect all of us. We’ll talk about the issues, then discuss what we as individuals and as a group can do to make a difference to move toward change to make our community, our state and maybe even our nation a better place to live. The first meeting of Open Forum takes place Sunday, February 11^th at Coffee Underground in downtown Greenville, from 2-4pm, admission is free. We’ll be screening the movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car.” After the film we’ll have a brief but lively discussion. I hope you’ll join us and sign up to get involved. I’m open to your suggestions on future discussions. I’m hoping that all the people I’ve met in the last few years that claimed to love Greenville and love this state but despaired of our governmental authorities and were critical of the priorities of those power players will come to these meetings and make their voices heard.
The Bush administration, Governor Sanford, the GOP and the white male power structure depends on our apathy our mindless, acceptance of the status quo. They want us to be so exhausted and stressed out at the end of the day that all we want to do is eat junk food and zone out in front of the TV. There’s too much at stake to do that any longer. We all need to get up on our feet.

Turn off the TV, say it loud, repeat after me…I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more. Now do something about it and do it today.