We could have faced a dark thanksgiving where the elections were totally stolen instead of just partially stolen.
WE could have faced a dark thanksgiving where right wing extremists had consolidated their power, probably permanently, taking the US inevitably down the path to fascism.
We could have faced a dark thanksgiving where corporatists had finally broken the will of the American voter.
But instead, we now face a hopeful future, not a sure one, not one that we can be certain is rosy for the USA and its great masses of regular people.
But we have a chance. The congress has a chance.
We can't be sure about the congress. They will surely be subjected to temptations by the K street lobbyists.
Maybe today is a good day to pray for them, however you connect to the universe, to put some thought forms and energy into the idea that our new majority of legislators, and the Republicans who survived, with and without the help of election e-vote rigging, will all find, in their hearts and spirits the vision and integrity to do what's right for We The People, instead of what's good for big corporations and millionaires.
Call them prayers, hopes, wishes, even ultimatums... here are some ways the incoming congress could give us reason for thanks in 2007.
-Investigate, investigate, investigate and follow up with whatever legal mandates the investigations lead to, including impeachment.
-Pass a lot of legislation. Show that a congress can get things done, not just posture on wedge issues like gay marriage and flag burning.
-Revoke the war-making authority the congress gave to Bush/CHeney. Make it clear that the legislation passed after 9/11 is no longer alive. The revocation should make it clear that the original war authorization was based on a massive collection of lies. Make sure Cheney or any of the other misguided Neocon fools are not able to drag us into Iran. This should be the first step the new congress takes.
-Raise the minimum Wage to a living wage
-Clean up the Vote. Abolish HAVA, re-write Rush Holt's HR 550 and create a set of airtight laws that insure safe votes in all elections-- all federal elections, all state elections-- all local elections. Every vote is like a single cell in the body of democracy. If it isn't done in an honest, 100% trustworthy, rigging-impregnable way, then it is a threat to the whole body of democracy. And include tough punishments, so people who commit crimes against the vote are treated as murderers of democracy, with severe sentences, including the death penalty (think Katherine Harris and Ken Blackwell.)
-Provide Health Care for Every American take the VA health system, medicare and medicaid and create a hybrid that uses the best of these already existing national health care systems and bring the USA into the first world, like the rest of the wealthy nations on this planet, who care for all of their citizens. While we're at it, we'll be giving a real boost to the remaining industries surviving in the US, that have had to compete against companies in other countries, where health care provision was not a cost of doing business.
-Dump our Current Model of Economic Globalism it is designed for the few hundred largest corporations-- not for the people of the world. It is destroying industries in first world nations and enslaving and exploiting workers in third world nations, while privatizing what should be owned by the people, like oil, natural resources, water, land... We need a new, organic model of globalism, that recognizes that nations, like living organisms, must have "skins" to protect them, otherwise, they die. The US should either withdraw from WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, etc., or insist on major changes.
-End Corporate Personhood corporations currently claim to have the same rights as people-- to privacy, to influence elections. This was not always the case. One fast way to clean up a lot of the probelms we currently face in this country is to pass a law making it clear that corporations do not have the right of corporate personhood. Make it clear they can not influence elections, have no right to privacy, and are subject to termination for illegal and unacceptable behaviors and actions.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
To learn more about me and OpEdNews.com, check out this article.
and there are Rob's quotes, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived on www.whiterosesociety.org Or listen to it streaming, live at either www.wnjc1360.com or here.
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
Great job Rob...I really like that. America needs to come together as one...helping each other with our goals in life. Doing it the right way, is the best way...and hopefully the American people are smart enough to know the diff.
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Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 3:30:05 AM
I sure would like it to be an American Company, but it is going to take Americans to claim it as their own. I the creator am American and hope it will take hold in the world in being a new innovative method in producing renewable liquid fuel.
Someday there will be no more oil, no more uranium. But there will always be sugarcitycane.
For some reason when I type in the URL it says in chinese I need to download FTP software. I am trying to get this changed and fixed so FTP is not necessary, but if anyone knows about this I would appreciate hearing from you.
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Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 3:37:35 AM
Excellent article Rob, I would add one more action and this time not for the congress but to us the American people.
- Never, let your guards down. Democracy is about representation and unless we play an active role in holding our representatives accountable for their actions, our democracy will fail. Keep track of your representative votes, and ask yourself every time if that vote represents your interest, if not it is time to send him or her a pink slip.
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sameh abdelaziz (35 articles, 6 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 28 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 8:15:33 AM
"Better the illusion that exhaults us than a thousand truths."
Alexander Pushkin
I am under the impression, and , if I am wrong then please, please correct me, it is the function of the Judicial branch of government to overturn existing law. Thus a democratic legislature can only go to the courts to unratify a law.......anyone? anyone? Beuller......
Rob, I do not mean to diminish in any way your wonderful agenda above, it is an inspiring road map to the restoration of our democracy. It is also, under our current political climate, an impossible dream, nothing more or less than Don Quixote riding full tilt at a windmill. Which ,I wonder, are you, the man of la Mancha or Sancho Panza?
If I sound a trifle pessimistic I assure you that I am not. If I sound embittered about the failures of our two party system I assure you that I am. You are guilty, my fine and well meaning friend, and I do count you as a friend and potential ally, given that I can woo you from the dark side and into the light, of believing that the Democrats will have the same goals as you, that they will have the same committment to the purity of our democracy as do you. They simply do not.
I do not mean to imply that we should abandon this list, far from it, it should be used as a guide to our political future and we should bend every resource towards achieving every one of your well reasoned arguments. The first step, however, towards such achievment must be deciding on the best way to spur our lawmakers towards these goals, secondly in what ranking do we place these items?
"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule, the majority is wrong."
Eugene V. Debs
The first step is to understand and listen carefully to your newly elected democrats and decide whether they are sincere and serious in their committments to your goals. I would say they assuredly are not. An essential step might be understanding to whom or to what are your politicians answerable....money of course, our system is ruled by money, the need to accumulate large war chests in order to first win then keep the political office.
After understanding this first step, and I trust that noone reading these few silly scribbles of mine is unaware at this late stage of the import of this step, then the first goal must perforce be the ending of the stranglehold that money has on our system and thus our freedoms. The poltician must be answerable to the people and not to the industries, to the CEO's, to the very, very few and agendized.....
Perhaps I might end here as a dialogue is not a diatribe. Perhaps you can simply chalk this up to Triptophan induced babbling, an overdose of Turkey......Perhaps we might meet somewhere in the middle of this argument?
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ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 10:14:44 AM
"I am under the impression, and , if I am wrong then
please, please correct me, it is the function of the Judicial branch of government to overturn existing law."
cliff 567 says;
The courts are empowered to interpert laws legislated by representitives of the people as to their adherence to the Constitution, the defining document of our freedom. The same document George Walker Bush refers to as " A GOD-DAMNED piece of paper"
PS, Debs also said;
" If you working men and women want respect, You must start by respecting yourselves".
by
cliff567 (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 161 comments)
on Saturday, November 25, 2006 at 1:42:08 AM
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