I remember back when I first broached the subject of Howard Dean for DNC chair with my (quasi-liberal) friends. They were shocked. Thought I was kidding. Then they laughed. "DEAN for DNC chair? Dean the Scream? You're kidding, right? You think the answer to this mess of an election is Dean?" Here we are a few months later, and it's a done deal. Not only was it a done deal, it wasn't even close. I'm pretty sure that we had something to do with it.
The election. What started off as buzz and whispers of voting fraud/irregularities in Ohio turned into a cause that won of the support of several congressional reps. Heck, we even convinced a Senator to challenge Ohio's electoral vote--something that had been done in about a billion years---and something that everyone said we could never do. I remember staying up late, barely awake, writing letters and emails about the election, even when everyone (except all of you) thought it was a lost cause. We forced the issue into the national spotlight. Keith Olbermann covered the story nightly, in large part due to information and support from the blogosphere.
Jeff Gannon. Do I even need to comment on this? The blogosphere was widely credited with breaking the Gannon story wide open, and keeping the story in the spotlight, even when we were dismissed as evil liberals "picking on" gays. I'm quite sure we had something to do with that.
We've done it before. I'm asking you to do it again.
I'll get to the point. An incredibly important diary languished into obscurity today, without nearly as many hits or recommendations as it should have had. You can read it here:
Torture and Markey Bill
I know that there were several diaries on this topic today, but I liked this one in particular, because it told me what to do about it. Too often the big picture is so big, I am paralyzed by it. "Stop the US from using torture? How can I do that?" But call my representatives and ask them to support this bill? That, I can do. And did. Now I want you all to.
I know how often I feel drained, exhausted, apathetic. I know that a lot of times I cringe at the mere mention of politics. Somedays I feel like I am too tired to send one more email, read one more column, sign one more petition. I'm sure that we all feel the same way.
I've been thinking a lot about my two little boys, ages 2 and 4. They are too little to understand the concept of country, patriotism, duty. They live in a world of Walt Disney, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Sesame Street. In their minds, all people are good, everyone is a "friend." There are no Republicans and Democrats, only "gwone-ups", kids, and babies. Lately, I've been in fear of the kind of country we are leaving them. I'm quite sure that they will never know the America that I grew up knowing. After all, once you start giving away your civil liberties, it's almost impossible to get them back. This is why I fight. Exhausted, in my pajamas, knowing that I will only get at most 5 hours of sleep. I fight with my keyboard, my telephone, my email account.
I'm asking you to recommend the diary, then take action and call your Senators and Congressional Reps. I know it's late, I know it's one more thing to add to your life, which, if it's anything like mine, most days feels like I don't even have time to breathe. But I'm asking anyway.
And, as an aside, I'm fully prepared to get flamed from writing this diary, as I know that whoring for other's diaries is frowned on. I don't care, I can take it. Write a whole diary about how juvenile I am. I'm prepared to live with the consequences. For me, this cause, the moral integrity of my country, is one worth fighting for, probably worth dying for, even worth getting flamed for.
Amnesty International founder Peter Benenson died this weekend. He's been a personal hero of mine since I was 13. I can't think of a better tribute to him than a massive drive to stamp out torture by the U.S. Government. People say the Markey Bill is dead on arrival. They also said that Dean would never be elected DNC Chair and that we would never get a Senator to challenge the election results. Remember?