BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

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When Are We Going to Take To the Streets?

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

Fellow Flashers,

Apparently, singer Gil Scott-Heron was right ... the revolution will not be televised. It will be blogged.

I'm a loyal BuzzFlash reader and I believe the Internet is a priceless tool in the fight for real justice and rights for everyone. But I worry that we truthseekers have become overly dependent on websites and blogs. The web is only PART of a balanced plan of attack -- a vital, crucial part, but a part nonetheless. I gain daily comfort from sites like BuzzFlash that offer us a forum. I’ve read a lot of thoughtful, inspiring commentary and angry, motivating opinion on this site and others, and it’s given me hope. It’s nice to know that I am not a lone voice in the wilderness.

But having said that, when are we gonna take to the streets, en masse? In the immediate aftermath of the election, there was enthusiastic talk of a counter-inaugural (www.counter-inaugural.org) and a "Turn Your Back on Bush" event (www.turnyourbackonbush.org). These valiant folks are still organizing and they need our support. We also need more events on the local level, in EVERY state.

There has been some activity, but much of it has been based in Ohio (which is wholly understandable). Reportedly, there were demonstrations Dec. 4 in Columbus, and Jesse Jackson visited Ohio recently to help whip up more support for fraud investigations. Curiously enough, these rallies received passing mention, if any, in the mainstream press. Nonetheless, we need to continue. A demonstration here and there does not a revolution make.

We’ve been dancing around the truth for months now, if not for years. If we hope to take our country back from the profiteers that are currently in power, we are going to have to paint signs, walk lines, aggressively challenge the mainstream media and practice intelligent civil disobedience.

It will be hard. Many of us are caught up in the nightmarish "American Dream" of long hours for less pay with no union representation. We claim there’s no time to protest.

Meanwhile, the opposition continues to reveal itself as deceptive, disingenuous, largely unprincipled and potentially violent. They are beholden to corporations, the military and the NRA. They think we’re wimps. Judging from the timid way in which we have responded to having our rights gradually stripped from us, they may be right.

Perhaps people are afraid to protest during a time of terrorism, falsely believing that we should all just "get along" for the greater good. But if the neocons have their way, the poor and the middle class in this country will be finished. We can’t afford NOT to protest.

Websites and blogs are wonderful. But many of us are hoping for a painless overthrow of the current regime, and it just ain't gonna happen. We need a little less cyber-bellyaching and more physical activism. I confess that I know absolutely nothing about organizing, but if anyone out there has experience staging protests, perhaps you could share your thoughts and strategies here on BuzzFlash.

Inauguration Day 2005 should be a day of national resistance. And if we can’t agree on that, then perhaps we should just shut up and accept our miserable fate.

A BuzzFlash Reader
Los Angeles

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION