It's time to get in their faces...

Sick and tired of your representative in congress doing everything except representing you? Then get in their face and tell them so. You know where they are in Washington. You know where their local offices are. You can confront your local government officials. You can get their schedule and be there waiting for them. Tell them how you feel about their performance. Tell the loudly and publicly.

I know how easy it is. I once formed an environmental org in order to save a certain bird from having to be listed on the Endangered Species List. During that process, I wanted to ask Gov. Ann Richards of Texas, who was in my town campaigning for governor, her position on the importance of protecting the habitats of wildlife and specifically birds and she was very gracious and took my hand into both of hers and looked me straight in the eyes and answered me honesly and warmly. She intimated her love of nature and that her views about conservation and the environment were inspired by Lady Bird Johnson. That was a nice encounter and are ones you should seek out if you appreciate your representative, as the fine folks in Ohio's 10th District surely do.

On the other hand, when you are upset at your rep, you must seek them out and let 'em have it! For example, during the same gubenatorial campaign, I had the distinct displeasure of having to confront George W. Bush. I still cringe at the thought of having shook his now blood-stained hands. Because I was campaigning myself on behalf of the Golden-cheeked warbler which had become a threatened species, I naturally wanted to ask Mr. Bush what his position would be on regulating ranch and farm lands in order to provide for the recovery of the warbler. His answer went something to the effect of "Well, heh, heh, I really love to hunt and fish. So I'll probably adopt policies that would allow me, you, and all Texans to continue to do that." And then he was gone, never having actually told me his environmental policy.

Of course, neither of these is the confrontation I describe above. Personally, I avoid confrontation. At lease I did. Now it's time to get in their face wherever you see them. Ask them the tough questions and don't stop. Speak loudly in their presense of the atrocities of Iraq and the absurdity of the military non-response on 9/11. Ask them if there is flouride in our water. Ask them about health care. If they're found to be in a controversial happenstance, call them out on it. Did they cheat on their wife? If so, shame them for it. Tell them that you can't trust someone who would cheat on their spouse. Find a reason to stand them up. Confront them. They work for us.

Also, think about this. No one wants a violent revolution. But we're all desperate for something to give and break in our favor. We don't want to live in a police state where simply speaking your mind is enough to get your tasered. Where holding a sign can get you arrested. And all the other things the erosion by these thugs of our Bill of Rights has done to usurp our freedoms. I want a new investigation into 9/11 so I can find out once and for all what happened on that day. I also want these goons impeached and jailed and hauled before Congressional committees and docked at The Hague. There are other ways we can resist also. Can't afford to lose your job? Then sit and make phone calls. Are you old and too tired to hit the streets? Then offer up your wisdom and knowledge in the form of essays and letters to the editors. Handicapped but a computer or ham radio whiz? You can help.

We also need to join together in a national bare-bones, most basic needs only, consumer strike. As DUer vmaus describes http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3632247&mesg_id=3632360">here, we all should "cut up your credit cards, pay off ALL your debts. Buy only what is necessary and nothing else. ACT like you are at WAR. Victory gardening, recycle everything, no unnecessary travel, and then hunker down for a long, bitter fight. Get involved in local government and get knowledgeable enough to get elected and walk the walk. Take it back block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, town by town, city by city, state by state... until we, the people are back in charge. It might take us 10 years, or 20 years... but what is the alternative? There is no alternative. Liberty or Death."

I couldn't agree more, vmaus.

Now, I'm going to go and prepare my comments and then I'm going to go out and confront Chet Edwards (TX-17), John Cornyn, and Kay Hutchison.




PS: And, by the way, ECHOE (my org), with the help of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Farm Bureau, The National Audobon Society (Austin), the Sierra Club of Dallas, GreenPeace and not before confronting more than 1500 angry ranchers on the lawn of the Texas State Capital - complete with a GreenPeace No-Nukes protest, we were able to reach an agreement with ranchers on a http://www.aquiferguardians.org/PDF/Warbler_recovery_plan.pdf">recovery plan that allowed for conservation on ranchlands to include leaving habitat, juniper trees, in canyons and steep grades. Though the measures began to work and the drought that caused all the commotion in the first place began subsiding, unfortunately the Golden-Cheeked Warbler is today on the http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/SpeciesReport.do">Endagered Species List. But all we can do is be thankful for small victories.