http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/now-lets-rescue-america_b_6987.htmlBy Van Jones
"...The troops have arrived, and the waters are receding. The battered and traumatized residents are being transported -- we hope and pray -- to safer ground. But the battle to save New Orleans is not over -- not by a long shot. The work to rescue it, and the country, has just begun. The coming struggle will be difficult -- stretching over a decade or more.
But if we dedicate ourselves, the outcome is certain. The puffed-up potentate who fiddled while New Orleans drowned will lose his grip on power -- and so will his party. And the people of New Orleans will live in a resurrected city -- their hometown rebuilt by a nation more deeply committed to justice and equality.
That result is possible -- but only if our progressive networks create a force strong enough to achieve it. The post-Katrina moment provides a rare opportunity for us to come together and win real change. Below, I will share my own dreams about what we might accomplish......."
"...There was a major leadership failure last week. But it was not limited to the White House. It extended deep into our own ranks. And my own impotence places me, shamefully, inside that circle of failure.
I wish we had flooded Capitol Hill with a coordinated wave of phone calls and emails. We should have conducted protests and "sit-ins" at every federal building in the country. Maybe after Wednesday, we should have delivered the aid ourselves -- regardless of the cost. We had a duty to move heaven and earth to support the Southerners -- including the local activists -- who did risk their necks to save lives. The fact that we did not have the organizational capacity -- or the guts -- to do more than we did is as exasperating and devastating to me as any of Bush's crimes or omissions.
Now progressives must also act quickly to recover our balance and seize the political initiative. We will have to work hard, even through our tears.It will be tough to overcome our paralysis and break through long-standing weaknesses on the Left. But now is the time to do it...."
"..If we articulate a bold action program, we can win support on a scale that we have not known for decades. This tragedy has touched something deep in the American people. And after a long romance with those river-boat gamblers on the Right, they are finally ready to hear something sensible from our side.
The press has not yet awakened to this reality. The pollsters haven't caught on. But a small, strong voice is rising again in this country. Far from the deaths and the denials, on opposite coasts as well as the heartland, a clear voice is growing steadily stronger.
This voice does not shout. It is far too angry and ashamed for that. It is not loud -- just determined. You have heard it yourself. The media flooded your senses with images of destruction, death and delay. And a voice inside you said: "No -- not in my country."
"...But I believe that this voice -- with our encouragement -- can grow in confidence and in volume. I believe that it can remind us all of this country's better and wiser traditions. And I believe that this voice can, at long last, call America back to her senses.
This voice is your voice. And mine. It is the voice of millions and millions of people in this country, right now. With devoted, hard work, all those voices can swell into a chorus -- too powerful and too resonant to be denied...."
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