Subject: We, the People

Sir: In the not too distant past you made the statement, "I’m the decider." Excuse me, sir, but unless our country has already slid much farther down the path toward a dictatorship than I had even feared, you are NOT the decider. We, the People are the decider. We always have been, and we are going to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we always will be. You, sir, are a civil servant. We, the People make the decisions. You, our servant, don’t even have to like them. Your job is to act on the decisions we make to the best of your ability as our representative to the world at large. It is not your place to decide - and it is about time that We, the People reminded you of that.

More recently you have declared unequivocally that our sons and daughters will not be leaving Iraq as long as you are in office. Again, sir, that is not your decision. You cannot know - nor can we - what circumstances will present themselves one month or six months or a year from now, therefore you cannot say now what our situation in Iraq will be two years from now - and to presume that you have either the right or the ability to make such a statement is the height of arrogance. We, the People will decide where our sons and daughters will be one month from now or one year from now, and if we tell you it is time for them to come home, you will immediately and without argument bring them home. It is not for you to tell us that we will be in Iraq tomorrow - it is for us to tell you - and we are extremely disturbed that you seem to keep forgetting that.

One of your predecessors in the Oval Office, Mr. Harry Truman, used to keep a placard on his (actually, our) desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here." You seem to suffer from a misconception of what that placard meant. To Mr. Truman - and most other civil servants who have sat at that desk - the placard meant that the ultimate responsibility for the actions and the welfare of our nation rests squarely on the shoulders of the person occupying that position. It seems, however, that you have taken it to mean that the ultimate authority, an authority which will permit no dissent, disagreement or even questioning, belongs to you. In this you are most gravely mistaken. The ultimate authority in this country belongs to We, the People. For some time now you have seemed more than eager to claim any and all authority you think that placard refers to, and you have been far more than reluctant to accept any of the responsibility the sign actually refers to. It is well past time for you to get it straight - We, the People are losing our patience with you.

September 12: I lost my dad to cancer when I was in my mid twenties and he was only fifty-two. It was devastating. I not only loved him deeply, but still consider him to be one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. He loved life, was a very spiritual person and had a tremendous sense of humor. I believe everyone who knew my dad had great respect and admiration for him.

I was dealing with the unfairness of his death at such an early age when a neighbor said something to me that, I must confess, gave me great comfort at the time. She told me that when someone like my dad, who had so much to offer, dies so prematurely it must be because God had some very important work for him to do in heaven. Understand that in my early twenties I was very accepting of all the conventional interpretations and trappings of mainline western Christianity and not given much to critical or analytical thinking in the social arena so, like I said, I found these words to be very comforting - something to hang onto when my spirit was searching for a "why".

Several years later and quite a while before I entered the ministry I met a young man who was searching for truth and meaning in his life. We had many conversations and in one of them he told me that he had rejected spirituality and the entire concept of God in his quest - and he told me why. He said that when he was a teenager one of his close friends was killed in a car accident and, of course, he attended the funeral. During the funeral, the presiding pastor was searching for words of comfort for family and friends, and intoned that if God had called this young man home so soon it must have been because there was important work God needed him for in heaven. My friend said that at that instant he thought, "What a greedy, insensitive, arrogant God this is! What kind of God would cause this sort of grief to this boy’s family and friends? What kind of God has so little consideration for us that he would cheat someone of their life, destroy their mother and father - and all because there was something ‘important’ to do in heaven? How omnipotent and all powerful is this God who has to kill kids to get his work done for him?" He left the church that day and never returned.

When he told me his story I realized immediately that his reaction was perfectly normal and proper - and I never forgot what he taught me. Later, when I entered the ministry, I carefully avoided using such simplistic platitudes, having learned that if we take a moment to scratch the surface, they often say something very dark and terrible.

I tell this story because I believe we need to stop talking - and thinking - in slogans and platitudes. A few weeks ago I happened to catch a short interview on TV of a mother who had lost her son in Iraq. Somehow, I could read this woman’s soul in her eyes. She had been destroyed by the loss of her son and had gone through that most horrible nightmare that any parent ever faces and no parent should ever have to bear - that of burying their child. Her unceasing pain, her heartache and devastation were all over her, but toward the end of the interview, with all of that still flowing from every ounce of her being, she declared that her son’s sacrifice was honorable and worthwhile because "he was fighting them over there so we won’t have to fight them over here."

It was her sole remaining strand of justification, and she was holding onto it for her very life. I would never, ever take that lifeline away from her because for right now - and possibly for a very long time to come - it is the only thing that will allow her to get up in the morning and make it through another day. But for the many out there who are not depending on this platitude to maintain a slim hold on sanity but rather employing it merely as a justification or righteous reason why we are doing what we are doing in Iraq, I would like to stop a minute and think about what we are actually saying when we use this slogan. What are we saying about who we are? What are we saying about our ethics, our values, and how we perceive the rest of the world?

Well, let’s try this analysis: What we are saying is that if we do not wish to have the innocent blood of our citizens spilled, it is perfectly alright for us to go essentially anywhere we desire - even into another sovereign nation - draw our perceived enemies there, and wreak horrific slaughter and destruction on strangers in a strange land rather than face the possibility that our own citizens may be harmed. What we are saying is that we are somehow more valuable, more deserving of protection than anyone else in the world. What we are saying is that we somehow have the innate right to do whatever we want, wherever we want regardless of what impact our actions have on others because, well, because we and our interests are somehow superior to them and their interests. What we are saying is that, outside of the borders or our own country (and perhaps even within those borders) we are the most arrogant, immoral, unethical sociopaths ever to wander this planet - with the possible exception of the Roman Empire at the height of its pride.

This may not be what we think we are saying. It may not be what we want to say. But like those words years ago that for a time comforted me while forever scarring the perceptions of my more perceptive friend, you can bet the entire farm that those around the world who are watching us and scratching one iota beneath the surface of our slogans are seeing America in a whole new light - or I guess I should say a whole new darkness.

Let me approach it from a completely different angle for a minute - a much simpler, more direct angle. Let’s just put the shoe on the other foot. We are well aware that there are any number of neo-nazi and other deeply anti-Semitic groups alive and well in this country, demonstrating their manic ignorance at every opportunity. Let us suppose that one day, the leaders of Israel come to us and say, "Look, we know for certain that there’s a group of neo-nazis operating in Cleveland who would like nothing more than to murder every Jew in the world, and we think there’s also an active cell in Houston. So we’re going to come over and bomb Cleveland to ashes and we’re going to conduct door-to-door urban warfare in Houston to seek out and destroy these evildoers. If we do any collateral damage to innocent civilians well, it will be worth it, because it will be better to fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here."

How would we react? What would we say to Israel (or anyone else who proposed such an operation on our soil)? Would we permit such insanity? Yet this is precisely and exactly what we are doing in Iraq and we don’t seem to have any problem with it...and we don’t even bother to try to understand what impact this has on the rest of the world’s perception of us.

The sooner we lose this slogan the better - for us. And when we finally figure out what we’re telling the world when we say this, we had better begin looking a lot more closely at the various other sound bites we’re using to defend our indefensible hubris.

September 15: Just a quick note tonight - an open memo for all members of congress who have voted to pass legislation that would permit interrogation methods which are barred by the Geneva Convention (and thus, in the eyes of most of the civilized world) as cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment, as well as "outrages upon personal dignity.":

1. Torture does not work. Period. Ask any expert.

2. Torture, in whatever form and notwithstanding whatever imagined justification, is the most immoral, inhuman, unethical act imaginable.

3. If we step outside of the boundaries of the Geneva Convention, we immediately lose any basis to criticize, condemn or correct those who would do the same to our own people.

4. (And most important, I think, in respect to those I’m addressing) - We, the People - our nation, our ethos, our values - DO NOT PERMIT TORTURE!!! If you have voted to allow deviance from the Geneva Convention, you have completely lost touch with those you represent and need to immediately step down from public service. There is no debate on this. There are no qualifications, no what-ifs, no arguments. Up until now, your reluctance to do the job for which we hired you, your inattention to the excesses and over-reaching of our executive branch, and your narrow minded focus on what you seem to think will play well in the polls have merely been chipping away at our civil liberties, our freedom and - yes - our ultimate security. But with this vote you are now beginning to chip away at our nation’s very soul. Stop. Now. Walk away before you can do any more damage and let someone who remembers what it means to be an American take your place.

September 18: We’re trying to get people to stop thinking in slogans and start thinking about what those slogans mean - for us right now and for the future of our country.

And while I’m on that subject, let’s tackle another one tonight. "We’ll stand down when Iraq is able to stand up." Sounds noble. Sounds compassionate, even. Let’s try the shoe-on-the-other-foot thing for a minute. Those who are familiar with our country’s history are well aware that the support and involvement of France was crucial to our victory when we fought our war for independence. Let’s just suppose that when we were fresh from the battlefields and savoring the first few moments of our nation’s very existence, the leaders of France met with those who became our Founding Fathers and said:

Look, you guys are new at this. You haven’t had any experience in running a republic. You’ve already split off into separate colonies, or "states", n’est ce pas? This whole thing could come falling down around your ears, and that wouldn’t be good for either you or us. So we’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’ll stay right here for a while until we’re sure you have your feet on the ground. You don’t have to do a thing. We’ll bring our own contractors in to build the infrastructure you’re going to need, and they’ll bring their own subcontractors in to make sure everything is done right. While we’re at it, we’ll be building the biggest fort we’ve ever built - probably somewhere down around the Potomac. Oh yes, we’re sure there are plenty of British sympathizers still out there, so we’ll be busy rooting out those evildoers so we can make you safe. We’ll also be disbanding your military - heaven knows where some of their allegiances lie - and then we’ll put together a new military for you and train them ourselves. And then, someday in the future - it could take quite a while, you know - when you’re ready to stand up for yourselves, we’ll stand down. Honest. Trust us.

Think about it. How long do you suppose we would have put up with it? How long would it have been until every French soldier or contractor or bureaucrat in sight had a target on his back? How long would it have been before we kicked every single one of them back across the Atlantic? Tell me if this is not precisely the same thing we’re saying to Iraq. Tell me one reason why we should not expect the same reaction from them as we would have exhibited had someone done it to us. And tell me if a nation that has the gall to do something like that does not come across to the rest of the world as pathologically arrogant and stupefyingly ignorant of the inescapable consequences of their ill-conceived actions. That’s us, folks. That’s the U S of A at this particular moment in history. Is it something you’re proud of? Is it something you think your grandchildren will be proud of? If so, then you’re just not paying attention. If not, then it’s about time we changed it, don’t you think?

P.S. I’d like to rephrase - for accuracy - a question often asked recently. The question: How much of your freedom are you willing to give up for a time to secure your safety? The more accurate question would be: How much of the reality of your civil liberties, your constitutional rights, your freedom as an American are you willing to relinquish - perhaps permanently - to buy for yourself an illusion of safety? For in reality, there is not one single freedom or right which, once relinquished, you won’t have to fight long and hard to regain. And there is not one single freedom - nor any amount of them - that you could relinquish that would guarantee your safety. Those who want you to give up your rights because they say doing so will make you safer (when in reality they just find all those rights to be so damn inconvenient) are selling you snake oil ladies and gentlemen - and it’s dangerous stuff.

September 20: I’ve been asked more than once now (and heard the same question directed at the anti war movement in general) the following question: Suppose that we are again attacked by terrorists on our own soil. Won’t that silence the debate and make what you’re doing irrelevant?

My answer: Not at all - in fact, quite the contrary. Another attack should only strengthen the immediacy of what I’m trying to do. You see, if we are attacked again, it will undoubtedly be by either Al Qaeda sympathizers or some other group of murderous, sociopathic criminals who will not be in any way representative of any state or nation and will attempt to hide their heinous actions behind the illusion of religious or cultural ties. Before it happens, we need to be able to establish clarity as to our response. If we repeat the same disastrous mistake we did after September 11^th and once again declare a "war" against a bunch of criminals, we only lend them credence and gravitas they do not deserve, just as we did for Al Qaeda. If it happens again, we need to find the wisdom to react the way we ought to react to the perpetration of mass murder - an all-out manhunt for those involved with the act and those who would abet and support them. If we discover that the murderers were supported or abetted by a sovereign nation, we still need to refrain from turning it into a war, instead determinedly setting out to form a true global coalition (by the way, whatever happened to the glorious "coalition of the willing"? Hmmm...) of nations to bring relentless and unbearable pressure on the offending nation to turn over those involved in the act. Once we apprehend the criminals, they are treated and tried as they ought to be - not as enemy combatants in a war, but as criminals, tried in criminal courts and sentenced under laws of criminal justice.

In so reacting, we maintain a sense of proportion and reality; we avoid the free-floating anxiety, anger and fear perpetrated on the public by a bogus "war" bogeyman, and we send a real message to like minded misfits - the message we have failed to send for five years - that we will not grant you the global stature you seek; we will not play into your hands. We will treat you as the demented thugs you are. You have committed a crime, not an act of war, and this time we won’t let you get away with pretending it is anything other than a crime, nor will we treat it as anything more or less than a heinous crime ourselves. Your goal is to create chaos - this time we will not allow you to succeed.

By compelling Congress to reclaim its war powers from the executive branch before another attack occurs, we will force our leaders to consider their actions far, far more carefully this time than they did immediately after September 11^th. We will force them to realize the monumentally irresponsible error they committed in granting war powers without limit and without focus to a president who, as it turns out, is more than eager to take every advantage of every ambiguity afforded him. We will remember the truth of the adage our president could not quite wrap his intellect around: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me".

And maybe, just maybe, if we can put an end to the incredibly stupid habit of using war as a metaphor for everything and everything - the war on terror, drugs, poverty, homelessness, AIDs, etc. ad infinitum, we can begin once again to seriously think about what a unique and terribly grave undertaking War is, and begin to finally see it in its proper, deadly, and ultimately inhuman light.

September 28: Dark days indeed. I don’t know who I’m more upset with right now - the Opportunist Occupying the Oval Office whose over-reaching is not-so-slowly but very surely transforming our democracy into a totalitarian state, or our Congress, which seems to be of the notion that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are sorta neat examples of calligraphy, but not of much significance beyond that. Today Congress deemed it just fine to suspend habeas corpus. I don’t want to go into a big lecture or history lesson here, but there are a few things I really think I should point out for the sake of those who aren’t particularly alarmed by this development:

In our nation’s history, habeas corpus has only been suspended once before this. Abraham Lincoln did it during the Civil War. But here’s a point to ponder. Lincoln subsequently stated that, of all the decisions he had to make during the course of the war, his decision to suspend habeas corpus was the one he regretted most.

Again for those who may not yet grasp the full meaning of this, it means that Congress has granted the OOOO the right to imprison anyone - American citizen or otherwise - without bringing charges, without right to counsel, and with no limitation on the length of that imprisonment. All the OOOO has to do is declare that an individual is an enemy combatant or a supporter of terrorism. He does not have to offer any proof - just make the declaration - and poof! - a citizen disappears. Leave us ponder this for just a moment. The OOOO and any number of members of his administration have repeatedly and forcefully declared that if you don’t agree with him, then you’re on the side of the terrorists. Take me, for instance. I certainly don’t agree with what’s going on - I’ve made that pretty obvious by now. According to the rhetoric of the OOOO, that means I’m supporting the terrorists. And that means, if this latest lunacy is permitted to stand, that he will have the authority to toss me immediately into jail without ever charging me with any sort of crime and with no limit whatsoever to the ability to hold me without charges. I’m not making this up. Dissent is now a crime punishable by imprisonment without either trial or limit. Is it possible this could happen in America? It just did. But I’m an American citizen - I know my rights. Well, I know what they were. I just lost one - a very, very big one. Unless the Supreme Court still retains sufficient wisdom to blast this insanity out of the water, we have just seen a large section of pavement laid on the path to a totalitarian state - and it should make every single citizen’s blood run cold.

And it points once again to how crucial the thing I’m trying to do is. All of this is based on the OOOO’s retention of war powers and the illusion that he is a wartime president. If we are not in fact at war, then the whole terrorism thing must be treated as what is actually is - a dragnet to capture criminals and put their criminal operation out of business. And if it is seen as what it properly is, then those captured or imprisoned in the dragnet are not enemy combatants - they are criminals, subject not to military tribunals or wartime codes, but to criminal charges, the rules and procedures of the criminal justice system and the penalties which apply. And if we are not at war, then the signing statements the OOOO has been blithely applying to essentially every piece of legislation since he gained office exempting himself from complying with the legislation on the grounds that he is a wartime president become meaningless, and our OOOO has to find a way to do things that falls within the bounds of law - just like the rest of us. I want to remind everyone at this point that this is a person who ran for office thumping the Rule of Law bible at every turn, and ever since has gone to great lengths to exempt himself from that rule.

I’m not saying that we don’t need some special rules formulated for dealing with terrorists. Perhaps we do. But I am saying - again - that it is both nonsensical and dangerous to call - or to even think of - the effort to defuse terrorism as a war. And it is far beyond dangerous to give the executive branch the power to (a) declare who is and is not a terrorist and (b) based solely on that declaration, incarcerate a person indefinitely. If we do need special rules to deal with terrorism, let’s clear the table - put the war powers back where they belong, stop pretending this is a war - and sit down and conscientiously produce a structure to properly deal with the problem. But for heaven’s sake, let’s stop sitting back and watching while we’re being stripped of everything that makes us American! That is what - in my own very small way - I am trying to do. Won’t you please join with me? Thank you.

October 9: I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the global problem of terrorism lately. As I say on my home page, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have recently come to the conclusion that, in terms of trying to quell the use of terrorist tactics in the world, it is difficult to imagine that this nation could have done anything worse over the past five years than what it has done. By portraying our actions as a war, we have perversely legitimized those who resort to terrorism. Instead of treating terrorists as the criminals and mass murderers they are, we label them enemy combatants and thus lend them a sovereignty and status they do not otherwise possess or deserve. What we should have done from the beginning is to sit down on an international scale and set about to determine effective methods of first addressing the root causes of terrorism, and second, to establish consistent, international, cooperative ways to identify, apprehend and prosecute those who engage in terrorist activities.

October 31: I received a call this afternoon from Jerry, who is tremendously excited about my walk and wants to be able to help. Jerry, you don’t know how much you’ve helped already. Jerry immigrated to our country forty years ago from a communist held country to escape the oppression and control that dominated his life there. Now, he tells me, America is beginning to feel just like the country he left - and he is way beyond distressed. Are you hearing this, people? Are you listening? Are you paying attention? Are you looking around you? I’ve received a few emails from people quite upset about what I’m doing - talking about how we must defeat the Muslim extremists and wipe out terrorism or they will blow us to smithereens. I have news for those people. If they would just open their eyes a little wider they might suddenly realize that we’re about to save the terrorists the effort. What the terrorists could not hope to do even in their wildest dreams is being done to our democracy by our own leadership and right before our eyes! People who have lived under oppression can see it quite clearly - why can’t we? By the time another terrorist makes it here with a bomb (yes, it will happen - and more sooner than later if we don’t stop breeding them) he may look around when he arrives and say, "Oh, never mind. Mission accomplished," - because there won’t be a democracy left to attack. We have a limited window of opportunity to reclaim our country and rebuild the democracy that we’ve been letting inexorably slip away in our blindness of rage and fear. I’m only hoping that enough of us will wake up in time. As for me, I guess you could think of me as that annoying little alarm clock that’s trying to roust you even when you don’t want to be rousted. But I don’t have a snooze button.

November 1:

Yesterday our district House representative, Duncan Hunter, who is chair of the House Armed Services Committee, announced he’ll be running for president in 2008. That was good for a couple of laughs. Mr. Hunter happens to serve one of the most conservative districts in the entire nation and runs virtually unopposed every election. I guess this has led him to start believing his own press. I can think of no other reason he’d try for the presidency. This morning I read a recent interview with him, and wanted to offer you a portion of what he had to say:

He said, "I think we all generally agree that our campaign in Iraq consists of a three-step process: To establish a free government, which we’ve done, to establish a military that will protect that government, and to leave Iraq. It’s the same pattern we’ve followed in freeing a lot of countries over the last 60 years. It’s so vitally important to remember that if we are successful in Iraq, we will have a government there that is a friend to the United States, a benign one that is not a threat to our nation, and will not be a state sponsor of terrorism. I still believe the American people understand this."

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, but there is one portion I wanted to highlight - the observation that "It’s the same pattern we’ve followed in freeing a lot of countries over the last 60 years." Let me see, Mr. Hunter...to which countries do you refer? Perhaps you’re referring to Iran, where we put the Shah into power. That worked out well, didn’t it? Bad example. Oops, sorry. How about The Philippines, where we backed Marcos. No? Well, um, maybe Noriega in Panama? I could go on. No, wait - I know! I know! How about Iraq, where we propped up what’s-his-name...yes, Saddam Hussein! Yes, our success rate has been pretty stunning, Mr. Hunter, and I’m certain we should follow the same pattern we have for the past 60 years - look where it’s gotten us.

It occurred to me quite a while ago that most of our leaders do not really believe in the merits of a democracy. I do. I truly believe that for most (not all) societies, democracy is probably the best, most benign form of government. As a matter of fact, I believe that so resolutely that I believe that most people, given time and the chance, will eventually choose to form some sort of democratic government for themselves. But our leadership seems intent on forcing, by political, economic or military pressure, other countries to establish democracies. And this is why I don’t think they truly believe in the merits of a democracy. If, for example you believed that Fords were the absolute best vehicles on the face of the planet, would you (a) force all your neighbors, by whatever means necessary, to buy a Ford, or (b) demonstrate through superior performance, reliability and service that this was one really great car? How many of your neighbors would be happy or grateful to you if you chose option A? What does option A say about your faith in the merits of the vehicle itself to win others over to it? How many of your neighbors would be so torqued off by your overbearing arrogance and lack of any consideration whatsoever for them that they would swear never to even look at a Ford again, no matter how good it was? Just a thought.

November 4:

I have been asked by more than one person now if I don’t think that what I am doing is more than just a little bit insane. I have seriously thought about this - I really have. And I would like to answer that question clearly this morning.

No, I do not think what I am doing is insane. Not even a little bit. Unusual, certainly. Radical, perhaps. Drastic, yes. But definitely not insane. In fact, I am certain that what I am doing is one of the most sane things I have ever done in my life.

Thirty-eight years ago I did something similar to this. Thirty-eight years ago I firmly believed that I was truly blessed to live in a country where I had freedom and opportunities available to me that were unparalleled in the history of the world. Thirty-eight years ago I felt that, in return for what I believed would be a lifetime of freedom established by uncommonly wise forebears, endorsed by public approval and continuously guarded by dedicated leadership, giving up four year’s worth of that uncommon freedom in service to my country was not too much to ask. For a time, as a member of the armed forces of my country, I did not have all the rights and freedoms an ordinary citizen had. For a time, I was not permitted to participate fully in the political process, I was not permitted full freedom of choice, or of movement, or of action. These were restrictions I was willing to accept for a time, if they meant that the rest of my life could be lived with the assurance that those freedoms would never be encroached upon again.

But now I realize that the freedoms I expected to be immutable need more diligent protection than I once believed, and the character of the country I cherish requires at times more attention than I expected. Four years were not enough. It is time for me to serve my country again. What I am doing is not the least bit insane. What I am doing, if you want to put a label on it, is patriotic.

I’ll tell you what is insane. The leadership of my country standing in the halls of Congress and debating whether torture - in any form and to any degree - is an acceptable practice is insane. Attempting to eradicate terrorism by continuing to pursue a course of action that demonstrably has the effect of encouraging, producing and even legitimizing more terrorists is insane. Attempting to establish democracies by force is insane. Refusing to attempt to communicate with those we fear may have a desire to harm us is insane. The idea that the Congress of my country would one day pass - and the president of my country would one day sign into law - legislation that immediately and completely nullifies nearly every right guaranteed to me as a citizen under the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights is insane. Declaring war against an idea is insane. Executing a pre-emptive strike against a country - any country, for any reason - is insane. Not holding accountable a leadership that, on pretense, drove my country into a war that has so far claimed the lives of three thousand of our sons and daughters and half a million or more foreign lives and by its very definition has no set of circumstances that could be defined as a victory nor any parameters that could be established as an end is insane. The fact that there aren’t already tens of millions of my fellow citizens walking to Washington D.C. to demand that our leadership returns to the employment of rationality and reason in administering the affairs of our nation and restores the country we entrusted into their hands is insane.

At this very moment, the country I love so dearly, the country I had hoped to leave to my children and grandchildren as their birthright, no longer exists. But I will not let go of her easily. I will do whatever I can, whatever I must, to reclaim her. I will make whatever sacrifice is necessary. I have felt powerless, voiceless, disenfranchised for too long, and I know that many, many of my neighbors have felt the same way. They have come to believe that they don’t matter - that those who hold power have become too powerful, that the route to reclaiming what we cherish is too difficult, that one person - even one person who truly cares - cannot make a difference. And that is why I am walking. I am walking to show my friends and neighbors that one person can be heard. I am walking to demonstrate that it is still possible to speak truth to power. I am walking to illustrate that each and every one of us can indeed make a difference. I am walking because I believe that the greatest threat to the security and continuity of my country is no longer from without - it is now from within. I am walking to pry my country out of the hands of those who would quench her beacon of freedom and mutilate the image, esteem and promise she has represented for generations to the entire world. I am walking as a patriot.

As I am walking, don’t wave your flag in my face and mouth senseless slogans to me. Instead, remember what the country you love - if you love her - stood for, and look around you at what she has now become. Think about what is happening. Think about what our actions - and our inactions - are telling the rest of the world about us. Think about whether or not you want your children - and their children - to be blessed with the freedoms you always assumed would be theirs as a matter of course. They will not, unless you have the courage to do what you can, to do what you must, to make it so.

I am beginning my walk today, and as I do, I am serving notice to the public servants - the members of Congress, the president and the vice president - to whom I have granted by my vote the temporary authority to manage the affairs of my country. I am serving notice that I demand that the wounds inflicted upon my country by their inattention to their duties and their inability or unwillingness to execute the powers of their offices with honesty, vision, courage and transparency be healed and corrected. It only took a few months for them to be coerced, misled and duped into a course of action that is rapidly unraveling the very fabric of our nation. I am giving them much more than that length of time to figure out a way to undo the damage they have done. I want my country back, and despite their continuing actions that indicate to me a general inability to even recognize the severity of the problem, I am willing to give them several more months to restore her to me.

When I reach Washington D.C. I will have accomplished what I set out to do. But whether I realize the goals I am setting for the restoration of these United States is going to depend not on the willingness of our leadership to hear me, but rather on how many of you will join your voices with mine, how many of you will do what you can do - and what you know you must do - to reclaim our country. Whether or not we ever see our beloved country again will depend on whether or not we are willing to join our voices together to make a statement so loud and so determined that our leadership will no longer be capable of ignoring or dismissing us. Whether or not I realize the goals I have set will depend entirely on how many patriots we have left.

November 8:

People have asked what I’ll do if the changes I seek happen before I arrive in Washington. My answer has been that I’ll continue to walk. That’s because when I am asked this, it is usually by someone who has concluded that my walk is about ending the wars and getting our sons and daughters home. It’s easy to see how people draw this conclusion, especially with the title I’ve chosen for my effort.

But the ending of the wars and the return of our troops is an (inevitable) effect of what I seek to accomplish, and while it is certainly central to why I am doing this, the underlying motivation has a bit broader focus. You see, I don’t just want to end these wars, but I want to help to move our country into a position that will make it far less likely that we will ever do something this stupid, this arrogant, this irresponsible again. While ending these wars will be an incredible step in the right direction, it will do us little good in the long run unless we use this opportunity to examine ourselves in a mirror, unflinchingly discover who we have become, and remember who it is we believe ourselves to be and want ourselves to be in the world.

After September 11^th, we lashed out in a blind, vengeful rage. Perhaps that was understandable, and I think the world in general even understood for a while. But over five years later, we’re still stuck in that mindless rage and the world is losing or has lost its patience with us. And we still don’t seem to get it. Last night while watching the returns, I heard yet another politician - I don’t remember who or even what party (could have been either one) - declare (I paraphrase), "Islamofascism is the biggest threat the world faces today". It is not - by a long shot. It is not even the biggest threat our country faces - by a long shot. And that statement only serves to illustrate that the fundamental changes I hope to see are still far from our grasp.

Because what I hope to see is a country that is proactive rather than reactive. I hope to see a country where consideration for the consequences of our actions comes before we take those actions rather than afterward. I hope to see a country where feel-good phrases and nationalistic declarations of bravado are immediately viewed with a huge degree of skepticism rather than a frightened herd mentality. I hope to see a country that is finally able to swallow its overblown pride and take its rightful place as a nation among nations, rather than continue to act out its self-destructive fantasy that it is a nation above nations. I hope to see a nation that learns the clear lesson of the entire history of human existence that when you put yourself (or others put you) on a pedestal, the ultimate effect is that it makes you an easy target and the ultimate desire of those looking up at you is to knock you down. I hope to see a country that realizes that there is no longer any culture on earth that is a world away - but that they are all now quite literally our next door neighbors. I hope to see a country that understands that an apology or an admission of a mistake is not a sign of weakness, but rather an indication of maturity, wisdom and strength.

Lofty goals, to be sure. But the world in which we now live demands that we seek them if we wish to survive and thrive. You see, I have no doubt that our country will be attacked again. No matter who is in power, no matter how much of our rights and our freedoms we decide to sacrifice in the empty pursuit of security, no matter how much we may wish it would not be so, we will be attacked again. And when we are, if we react as insanely as we did this time, there won’t be much of anything left at the other end that will be recognizable as the United States of America, because we will have eaten ourselves alive. That’s why my principle goals in walking are broader than what most people assume, and to state specifically what those goals are:

(1) To restore the balance of power between our branches of government so that we will be bound to act in the fashion our Constitution and Bill of Rights intends.

(2) To closely examine what has happened over the past five years so that when the next disaster happens we are ready to deal with it responsibly and effectively.

(3) To be true to our vision of ourselves, even when our outrage tempts us to allow the actions of others to change our self-determination of who we are.

So here’s the thing: If you disagree with me, this is what you’re disagreeing with. You say you support the present state of things? That you are convinced that the very continuation of civilization hinges upon whether or not we "win" these "wars"? You have the right to believe that. What you do not have the right to do, in my opinion, is to demolish the very soul of this nation in order to achieve your ends. If you are going to fight a perpetual war against a phantom enemy, then you must find a way to do it that is permissible under the laws that form the framework of our society - otherwise, you wind up destroying the very thing you seek to preserve. Changing our laws, changing our Constitution, nullifying our rights in order to achieve your purposes are not acceptable courses of action. If you cannot find a way to accomplish your objectives while simultaneously keeping our representative democracy intact, then you cannot continue to pursue your goals and call yourself a patriot. What comes first in your mind? Your patriotism or your rage? Your allegiance to freedom or your desire for vengeance? If you want to preserve this country for your children, then you MUST demand that it behaves - at all times - in a manner consistent with its own principles. And since these are my stated underlying goals, if you agree with them, you have no argument with me. I’m sorry if this does not permit you to continue to act out your anger and your fear, but it’s time for us to grow up. We cannot continue to be America if we do not act like America.

November 9: I am more than a bit concerned that since the majority in both the House and the Senate shifted to Democratic control on Tuesday, many people will begin to relax, confident that things will rapidly and dramatically change, and that things like what I’m doing won’t seem quite as crucial anymore. I beg of you, Don’t! Harken back just a few short months to the Abramoff lobbying scandal. Recall the outraged voices from both sides of the aisle bellowing that lobbying reform must happen NOW. What happened? Exactly nothing. The moment the eye of the public - our eye - was distracted by the next bright, shiny scandal or crisis, the entire subject was quietly shelved and our civil servants went about business (or lack of it) as usual.

Fact is, our entire leadership at this point will take the sum total of public apathy, indifference or inattention and multiply it a hundredfold. No matter who is in charge. If we want changes - if we want to reassemble our Constitution and reclaim our civil rights - then we must hold their feet to the fire daily. As much as our leadership has failed us, we have failed them. Remember, it is We the People who run this country; the people we elect are only there to carry out our wishes. And if we do not make our wishes clear and do not continually demand performance we have, in the end, only ourselves to blame. We have been quiet for far too long, cowed by the Orwellian bullying that dissent is unpatriotic - even treasonous. We must now avoid at all costs fading into the background once again lulled by the delusion that our leaders will do the "right thing" without any further vigilance on our part. Please don’t let that happen. Keep on speaking out. Keep on working for the changes that must be made. And I’ll keep on walking.

November 10: When I was in my twenties I kept a fresh water aquarium that brought me great pleasure. I worked for a long time to establish a community aquarium, which held a wide variety of different species of fish that could get along together in one tank without thinking of each other as lunch.

I wanted desperately to be able to include a Beta in my aquarium. For those unfamiliar with Betas, they are also called Siamese Fighting Fish. They are gorgeous fish with long, elegant fins and coloration that ranges from bright reds and vermilions through royal blues and purples - certainly one of the most beautiful fish in existence. The trouble is, they live up to their name - Betas do not get along together, to say the least. If placed in the same tank, they will often fight until one of them is dead. But I thought I might have a chance if I could put just a single Beta in my community tank. Perhaps he could coexist with the variety of species around him.

So I bought a Beta, a truly majestic, stunningly beautiful fish with fins like velvet curtains flowing around his sleek body. And I placed him in my aquarium, watching him carefully. At first I had high hopes that my experiment might be successful, because the rest of the fish in the aquarium generally ignored him and went about their own business. But before very long a problem began to develop - not with the other fish, but with the Beta.

He would approach another fish in the aquarium, nose to nose. Then he would puff out his gills, unfurl his majestic fins, and make himself appear as large as possible in what was an unmistakable display of threat. I remember one swordtail in particular that he seemed to have a grudge against. When this happened, the swordtail would simply back away from this grandiose display and swim to the other side of the aquarium. The Beta would stop his display and begin looking around for another fish to intimidate. But while this was going on and the Beta was searching for another target, the swordtail would flash across the aquarium, zip up behind the Beta, and take a good chunk out of one of his fins. By the time the Beta turned around to see what had hit him, the swordtail was long gone - and wouldn’t bother him again until the Beta confronted him once again with another belligerent display - and the process would repeat itself.

Within a few short hours I had to rescue a bedraggled, tattered Beta from the tank and put him in a little bowl all his own for the sake of his very survival. While he may have been beautiful, the poor fish was dumber than a bag of wet mice, unable to realize that he was his own worst enemy.

I don’t know what brought that story to mind...

November 25: The news indicates pretty much what I expected - none of our elected representatives seem capable of taking the forceful stand necessary to put the madness to rest. That’s why we can’t let up. We all know how it works - at this point in time those of us who recognize what a catastrophe the past five years have been are hearing things we’ve hoped to hear for a long time from those who have an eye on the presidency in 2008. But we already know that as the election draws nearer, candidates will move more toward the "center", hoping those who are demanding change will follow along. We can’t play that game this time. It is up to us to hold their feet to the fire. I’m trying, through my petition, to offer our politicians a way out of the mess they got us into that approaches the subject from a completely different angle than any they’ve tried so far - one of pure logic and reason. It is not a liberal or conservative argument - it is a point of view that simply removes the obfuscation of the pretense of war against nations with which we are not in fact at war. Is there anyone who can rationally argue that we are actually at war with the nation of Iraq or the nation of Afghanistan? If this argument cannot be rationally made, then it is time to sit down and figure out exactly what we are doing and exactly where we are going. At this point in time, the United States is truly the proverbial loose cannon, and if our leadership cannot understand that and bring it back under control, then our citizens must.

December 3: I already sense that many of those who are thoroughly fed up with the insanity of the past five years are now beginning to sit back complacently and see what effect the mid-term changes in Congress will produce. We cannot afford complacency - or patience.

Ending the wars will not solve the problem. Bringing our sons and daughters home will not solve the problem. Restoring the civil liberties and freedoms that we’ve allowed to be stripped from us will not solve the problem. But it will be a start. A necessary start. From there, our next course of action will be one perhaps unprecedented in our history - we will need to actually learn from our mistakes. What a concept! We will have to learn that those who mouth such culturally and logically ignorant phrases as "They hate our freedom" are charlatans of the worst kind, intent on emotionally manipulating us into conflict. We will have to learn that war always means that we have failed. One of my dear supporters wrote to me a while back, telling of an ancient civilization that, the evening before its soldiers went into battle, went into a ritual of deep mourning - not only for their own sons they knew would not return from the battle, but for the sons and families of their enemy who would die in the conflict. That civilization was way ahead of us in recognizing the meaning of war. It is always a failure, and it is always an action that should be accompanied by deep grief and yes, shame. We need to learn that.

Think of the money we are spending in our current direction in Iraq. Think of what we could achieve if we were spending that amount of money on actually seeking to rid the world of terrorism. Did you ever try to rid your lawn of dandelions by plucking the yellow blossoms as they opened? Did it work? Do you think there is any real way to address the problem of terrorism other than identifying its roots and working there to stop it? How much time and effort are we devoting to that approach? For that matter, what are the roots of terrorism? That one I can answer for you - at least in part. Poverty. Ignorance. Cultural and political misunderstanding. Prejudice. Misguided zealotry. And I can tell you something that should be patently obvious by now - not only are we not addressing those problems now, but we are in fact encouraging many of them. When we get a handle on that and begin to turn the situation around, we will finally be clearing away the wreck. Your grandchildren’s grandchildren are crying out to you to do something about it - now. Listen to them.

December 26: While I was walking today, I was being interviewed via cell phone by a reporter back in California. During the interview she asked me what stake I had in all of this, and began offering a list: "Do you have a son or daughter serving in Iraq? Friends or other family members..." I interrupted her. "I have a far greater stake in this than any of that," I told her. "My country is at stake. Our democracy is at stake. Do you think democracies are lost through wars or blood in the streets? No, they slowly slip away while we’re not paying attention. They are stolen from us by over-reaching executive branches and legislators who roll over and play dead for fear of being labeled alarmists or hurting their chances for re-election...and by apathetic citizens who have forgotten that THEY are the ones who are really in charge. The country I love has, at this moment, ceased to exist - and I’ll do whatever I can to get her back." That’s my stake in this. What’s yours - and what are you going to DO about it?