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CHANGE
I woke up early this morning and it did not take long for the tears to come.
Four years ago, I was numb at this point. After almost fifteen straight months of daily and nightly work, of writing and editing and researching and arguing and convincing and listening, there was really no more to say. All I had to do was to monitor and moderate for two more days. The Kerry-Edwards Blog was coming to a close and I was more than ready for it to be over.
Richard's words of the day before had chilled me to the bone, however. As we were getting into the car that Sunday morning, he stopped. I said, "What's wrong?" He paused and then, in a very quiet voice, said "I just have a horrible feeling that all over the country people are hearing in church that they have to vote for George Bush."
We didn't speak much after that. I could see his point, but it was hard to believe that the picture in my head, of busloads of non-thinkers being driven to the polls and marched in to pull the levers to continue the horrors of illegal war, torture, and loss of human rights, would actually happen.
It did.
I spent election day, and election night, and the next day, and the next night, under an onslaught of people's hopes, wishes, dreams, stories, and ultimately, their sense of betrayal, crushing disappointment, and rage. From that was born the Democracy Cell Project, with our hope that by organizing small squads of well-researched and participatory conversations, online and off-, a change would come about.
I've spent the past four years writing, marching, organizing, listening, planning, choreographing, analyzing, creating, thinking, observing, and praying for what is right here, right now. I've argued, despaired, gritted my teeth, heard untold stories and written up some of those tales of courage, fear, yearnings, and losses.
But mostly, I've watched as each of you, dear readers, changed the world.
Remember:
DiAnne going into gay bars in Seattle to register voters?
Sparrow sitting outside with her signs, reminding her neighbors driving by that their struggles can be met by participation in democracy?
Oncall standing in the bitter cold holding a sign against torture?
ABQ John looking into New Mexico's voting concerns?
All of you who came to DC to march and learn and return to your communities as mavens of democracy?
Well, this morning, I blessed you all. I've put this here before, but I ask you to watch it PRN (as needed) over the next few days:
And now for the tears of this morning:
I've thought a lot about change and hope recently. I watch Barack Obama, with his assured flow, outwardly generous and inwardly private, comprehensive, listening, taking his time, and I think, he's going to be just fine. He needs the grassroots and the grasstops, the Colin Powells and the single moms, but once elected, he will do what he needs to do.
And then what?
As hard as we have worked, as much as we have cared, as assuredly as we have spoken truth to power, as many neighbors and friends we have taken on and shared truth with, we stand now at the threshold, not at the end of the journey. We stand at the abyss. We are about to cross the river. And we have no idea of what awaits us.
All we know, all we CAN know, is that A Change is Gonna Come. It is not coming TO us, however. It is coming IN us. As much as we can celebrate our sense of hope, the light in the darkness, we also need to recognize the nature of change.
IF Barack Obama wins this week, and the mandate for change and illumination is clear, we have a journey to commence. The journey has three stages, or levels, and we cannot overlook any aspect of these.
ZONE ZERO: First of all, each of us must commit to taking care of ourselves, our bodies, our immediate space. This means: deep exercise, paying off debt, eating local products (preferably organic), reducing personal garbage, completing tasks, meeting commitments, picking up trash, recycling, researching, writing, sharing information, learning, breathing, nurturing. Everything each of us does matters. Everything resonates. Everything affects the world. If we have not learned that in the last four years, we have missed the lesson.
COMMUNITY: We have evolved to the point where each of us belongs to many communities; so many, in fact, that a good part of our day is devoted to just paying attention to however many we can. Family, religion, neighborhood, work cohort, online groups, etc. all call us out, endlessly. We can easily feel pulled in too many directions at once, with little time and energy for self (see above). A tension exists at all times between the individual and the group, between ego and society, between person and other. We will need to figure out how to ride those tensions like a rope swing. I'm not, I hope, describing a mad careening in which each of us feels yanked in different directions, but an evolved ability to attend, attune, share, care, support, listen, respond, contribute and then shift back into taking care of self.
PLANET: I believe we are going to hear from the world, and the message is not going to be entirely positive. I believe that the two major issues that will be directly and effectively addressed to our immediate attention will be torture and climate change. We have, as a country, committed grievous acts, and we owe the people of the world far more than an apology. We owe them a change.They will see hope in this election, but hope is not enough. Hopes are easily dashed, by passivity, indifference, our own victimhood.
And so, the tears flow, because I am tired, I am afraid, I am overwhelmed with the tasks in front of us. I’ve been looking across that river for some time now; I am aware of others quietly watching nearby. We speak of it in whispers: Are you feeling OK? Are we ready? What about those who will turn against the tasks, blaming Obama for the necessity of change? What if they curse the darkness and refuse to notice the light ahead?
And the tears flow on, because what if we, and they, do?
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Karen...things that make me feel hopeful.
Green Taxis (no not the color green)
And here's a nice article telling just how corrupt Palin is! Hope for the future that one corrupt lady isn't going to go far in politics anymore! (I hope)
Karen posted a diary at kos...cuz it's important to keep on truckin' even after you think it's time for celebration.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPARROW!!
Happy Birthday Sparrow!
I won't be writing anything on Monday this week. I guess maybe post-election - either r/t celebration or insurrection (least likely scenario) - though I do not like to see that even Oprah had her vote flipped.
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/11/touch-screen-machine-drops-oprahs-vote.html
After looking at electoral maps, I have to say - My Friends, the Civil War is over. McCain's ancestors were plantation owners, though I do realize that he didn't find that out until he was an adult. That doesn't stop he and the Governess from sending hordes into Pennsylvania with fingers crossed that some people can't cross the color line.
Race isn't supposed to be an issue. My mom and her new husband refuse to vote in ND because they "don't like any of them." My brother from OR confronted them - "so you don't want to vote for a part-African heritage man?" - which pissed them off but they had no good answer. Someone else refused to vote because they don't believe in the electoral system. My other brother from CO said, "that's the lamest damn excuse I've ever heard in my life. I am never prouder than when I have the I VOTED pin on."
Well we haven't buckled under the two stolen elections. I voted for Carter, Clinton, Gore but I always had this thought that it didn't seem a Democrat could win unless from the South. None of these NE liberals like Dukakis, Kerry or Dean, and not even someone from the upper midwest like Mondale. This year the demographics have changed along with migration patterns and registrations and even minds! Imagine that!
If you look back at the electoral maps from 1968-1992, the Pacific West where I live (WA, OR even CA) was pretty red! (In those days they reversed the colors though - Republicans were blue, Democrats were red - the Commies.) We went for Reagan in the same landslide as everyone and suffered through it. We shifted. Now the interior west is doing it - Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada and to some extent even Arizona!
We are moving away from the Civil War, the "American Dream" myth, the "white picket fence" (for "white people") ideal - you can see it in the fears that people have on wingnut blogs. A McCain spokesman even explained it by saying that what a Democrat does is like eating in a restaurant, stiffing the waitress for her tip and giving it instead to the homeless man outside. What a selfish load of crap! It's pretty much like the Republican woman I heard on an NPR interview who was almost in tears, saying "I'm SO tired of paying for school lunches for OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS!" What kind of "pro-life" or "Christian" person is that?!
I listened to another interview with attendees of a Palin event in Missouri. It was at an almost unanimously Republican town which from which sprung Rush Limbaugh! I listened to these people talking about their "values" and thought about how they are not the only ones who are "values voters" - they just have a different slant on the values. They have run the show for eight years and actually, had way too much to say during the Reagan years and first Bush dynasty. It is time for them to be marginalized.
Then there is our position in the world. Wouldn't it be great to set an example for once? It might be the first time in my adult life that I felt REALLY proud to be an American (which is what Michelle REALLY said.)
I am going to work on visibility downtown and then on GOTV for the next three days so will pop in and out.
YES WE CAN!
The Republicans don't get where the change is coming from. They point to the economy, McCain, Palin, Obama hiding all those things he wants to be sure we don't know... etc ad nauseum.
They refuse to consider that it's the longing from the hearts of the people.
From outside the US we thank all of you for your tireless efforts over the years. Every day it is harder for the media to make this a *close-call* or a *tight-race*.
Karen, this thread makes me cry. I believe we (the world) needed to see and experience where unbalanced, unfettered wealth, greed and power would take us. It cost us a couple of brilliant presidents - Gore and Kerry. But Gore and Kerry have fulfilled far more important roles in the world since their defeats by the maniacal president you have now. They are both instrumental in ensuring that the TRUTH gets out there - for every smear there is an equal and opposite strength of Truth with Evidence. More than that, both Gore and Kerry are our planet alerters, armed with peaceful and workable solutions. The Vets need Kerry to publicise the catastrophic effects of war - not only unnecessary and illegal wars - ALL war.
Thanks to all of you for setting up the site and making sure that information gets out to the world - not from your mainstream media - - but from your mainstream fair-minded, deeply troubled, audacious hopers.
DiAnne and Karen your energy and the extent to which you spread yourselves exhausts me. And always you are here with the information as well as out on the streets. Thank you. This has been one hell of a ride and I've only been here since this time in 2006 I think it was. The rest of you must be exhausted.
Karen - I do need to know this singer's name - this is the most powerful song from the most powerful and haunting voice I've heard for many, many years, if not forever. It reaches right into my soul and brings up the hope and the tears.
Sparrow, I have an image of you at a crossroads with your sign. Thank you. For the scary, hairy moments of bullying, you stayed grounded. What guts you have. Enjoy this birthday! I will email you.
Oncall, ABQ and all the others who actually go out and make the difference to people starving for information and truth, I thank you.
DiAnne, my global citizen friend, I will be with you over the next few days in thought. While you're acting, I'll be sleeping and while you're sleeping I'll be thinking - damned hard. We are on the edge of the abyss as Karen says. We must allow the opportunity for change to happen. We have to get Barack Obama onto the starting block with Joe Biden and surrounded by some of the best people imaginable - Al Gore, John Kerry, the beautiful John Lewis to name just 3.
It's been a real pleasure travelling these roads of laughter and tears, hopes and fears, with you for the past two years.
You are the best!
Amazing photo essay about WHY WE STAND IN LINE TO VOTE
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/1/131234/836/917/648948
Woz
That is cool! With our times zones, we will keep vigil! I think we have all of them covered, probably! People will be watching and waiting from all over the world!
I saw a clip of the Obama interview with Rachel Maddow and he said something in a way that I hadn't thought of - he wanted to apply some of the organization and technology that had worked with the campaign when he is President. Howard Dean will be in town tomorrow and it's ironic because some of the computer technology and some of the fifty state idea was kicking around when he was running. It's like Obama combined some of the things that worked for Dean and Kerry and went beyond it. Clinton was stiff competition, McCain was coming out of the faction that, as Obama points out, doesn't voluntarily "concede power" very well!
Yet it's working quite well!
I'll put some of the Obama visibility pics on the other page inside - I put the wierd McCain/Palin relic already.
Thank you all! I am so moved by everyone's dedication to making change happen in America and the world, even though the help I can offer is limited due to my location well away from the US.
The short week that I did have back in California was all spent in reactionary areas of interior Los Angeles, shuffling between home and work - even on weekends. No time to volunteer for No on 8 or the Obama Nevada campaign (as Nevada really needs the help).
slugbug - you are ABSOLUTELY right in that those nutjobs are NOT pro-life at all. After all, the very morally upright Christian neighbors of mine who are wholeheartedly supporting Prop 8 are the very same ones who killed my cat in a victory orgy when W got re-elected four years ago.
It looks like my absentee ballot will never come to me in Seoul. I will have to vote by fax, as allowed by California law (I must also submit a signed affidavit in order to ensure my vote counts). But vote I will.
I kind of love the idea of an international vigil over the next few days. It does feel like that.
I hold hands with all of you here, and with others across the globe, all of us connecting the dots, cheering each other on, and urging depth and wisdom to prevail.
OH, and Woz: the singer is Seal. It was a Sam Cooke song originally.
OH, and Woz: the singer is Seal. It was a Sam Cooke song originally.
I grew up listening to Sam Cooke's version, and Spike Lee makes haunting use of it Malcolm X.
I grew up listening to Sam Cooke's version, and Spike Lee makes haunting use of it Malcolm X.
Thanks for your beautiful post, Karen. It's only fitting that we should all be back here at this amazing moment - whatever happens.
A change IS going to come!
I love that vigil idea too. I wonder how many other people are having a hard time sitting still these days? My knees are constantly rattling!
Happy birthday, Sparrow! I wish you the best gift ever - on Tuesday!
And sparrow - how could I forget to mention that day after day after day you have made sure that we've had a current piece on the open thread to dig our teeth into? Not a day goes by that I don't wonder when you get some of that self-care time that Karen has ordered for all of you after Tuesday.
You are amazing and I do hope that you went to bed utterly exhausted at the end of your birthday having been pampered by the family for the entire day.
I have been so afraid that victory will be snatched away once again...the hours drag until this will be over and then, if all goes well, the work needs to begin. Because, of course, the election is only the first step. There is so much to be reversed, corrected, fixed and is there the will? After the midterm elections and the lack of backbone that still existed I was so depressed and discouraged but maybe, ust maybe, we can start over and rebuild...
I got an email from a friend who had heard a talk by the somatic spiritualist Jean Houston. Jean had pointed out that in order for deep change to happen, the shadow aspects of the moment need to emerge. The shadow, in Jungian terms, is that which we are frightened of, but which brings true balance, via a gift.
The "gift" is always dubious in its incarnation; and often appears as a lesson. I had the image this morning of the struggle going on right now between light and shadow and I think the struggle manifests most clearly in an Obama/Palin continuum, not an Obama/McCain juncture. And furthermore, I think Colin Powell and other Republicans see the same struggle and it's got to be epic for them.
Over the next few days, I have no idea what will unfold, but if we acknowledge the "gifts" the shadow brings, we have a chance of beginning to cross over into illumination. And then maybe at least our collective knees will stop shaking, and our sobs will be stilled.
Meet you all back here, often, over the next 72 hours...
That's a wonderful thought, Karen.
Needing to experience the shadow in order to know the illumination. It's very true that without the bad, there can't be a good either. And that's something that I try to keep in mind as I continue my meditation here in Seoul.
I have printed out my ballot and marked all my choices. I will fax them back to my county registrar in Los Angeles tomorrow. California allows fax voting if (1) I am temporarily overseas, as I am now, and (2) I make sure to include a completed, signed affidavit.
Check this out as well:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/2/82541/4578/191/649690
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/11/gore-vidal-et-al-to-obama-do-not-conceded.html
GORE VIDAL says DO NOT CONCEDE
This is from my former student, Christopher Eaves:
global SIGNIFICANCE
I look forward to watching the NYC Marathon every year. Its route passes just a half block away from my apartment. On marathon morning I wake, throw on a sweater, leash up the dog and stroll over. Some years I even take a mug of coffee with me. I can hear the cheering long before I see the runners themselves.
And once I find a spot from where to watch I see running aside the athletes who are clearly in it to win, athletes you would not expect to see: 80 year olds, 9 year olds, paraplegics, persons with intellectual disabilities. Then there are the costumed marathoners. This year’s cast included Santa Claus, Naked Man (dressed in a single strap of lime spandex), A Dunkin Donuts cup, Nipple Man (I have no idea why), Hansel & Gretel, A Giant Pickle, The Energizer Bunny, A Firefighter (in full dress including Oxygen tank), and on.
All along the route are spectators with banana-halves and sports drinks. They stand with their arms outstretched waiting for a thirsty or hungry runner to accept their gifts. Sometimes the runners give the spectators things. This year one runner handed me his headphones while another gave me his stocking cap as he was hot and didn’t want to carry it the rest of the way.
The people who gather to watch the marathon are key to the event’s appeal and most especially the people who clap, cheer, wave signs and shout words of encouragement to the hundreds of strangers passing by them. “Go Tracy!” “Good Form!” “Viva España!” “Viva France!” “Good Pace!” “Happy Birthday John!” “Go Norway!” “Hey Honduras!” This is an international event. It is incredible.
And this year something surprised me. Something that made ‘the incredible’ spectacular. It was Senator Obama’s face gracing runners’ shirts—runner after runner after runner. Runners from all over the world with Barack Obama stitched, airbrushed, appliquéd, taped and glued to their chests. Tuesday is an event of Global Significance. The world is not only watching for it. The world is running toward it with ‘change’ on its heart.
Came across this article today:
My wife made me canvas for Obama; here's what I learned
slugbug - thanks for the Gore Vidal article. As he gets older, he becomes more astute, if that were possible. He is such a smart man. I love to immerse myself in his books.
I couldn't agree more. Under NO circumstances is conceding an option. Never. Not this time.
Karen, I too have thought a lot about the Shadow. Never have the two opposites been more in evidence during a campaign than right now - no blurring - hate and racism V. love and inclusion. I agree with the spiritualist and that's why I believe that absolutely nothing will ultimately change unless every single criminal act that has taken place over the past eight years is addressed, challenged in court, perpetrators convicted and sentenced. You can never restore your home if you don't clean out the crap - completely. It MUST be done.
That is the only thing that is going to stop the Sarah Palins of the future. The certain knowledge that none of their power-hungry actions will be excused. Never again.
From Karen, Christopher Eaves said,
Oh this is magic! This made me cry. I know how much the world cares about this election in America. More than that, it comes from far and wide that the world needs Obama to be president.
What a beautiful image this is. Thanks Christopher Eaves.
Al Gore's letter to us:
In 2000, the entire election came down to a small number of votes in one county in Florida.
Four years later, we came up short by an average of nine voters per precinct in Ohio.
A small change in voter turnout would have made all the difference. Take it from me, elections matter. And this time, supporters like you can make it happen.
I know this might not be possible for everyone, but I'm asking you to consider volunteering anytime between now and Election Day -- Tuesday, November 4th.
With so much at stake this year, we can't miss any opportunity to get more voters to the polls -- and make sure their votes are counted.
You have an important role to play in this election. Please sign up to volunteer.
We all watched in the last two presidential elections as the course of our nation was determined by a few thousand votes in key battleground states.
After eight years of failed policies and divisive politics, we can take back the White House and set our nation on the right path.
It's up to each of us to make sure we turn this movement for change into millions of more votes on Election Day.
Find out how you can make a difference in these last two days, and help support Barack Obama and Joe Biden:
http://my.barackobama.com/november
With your help, we can make history -- and bring the change we need to our country.
Thank you,
Al Gore
Level of White Support for Obama a Surprise
I have just faxed in my absentee vote, as my actual ballot is still not here in Seoul. (It got processed late last week, over a week after I applied.) Again, California laws do allow me to fax my vote in as long as I am overseas temporarily.
It feels so good to have done so, even though it cost me KRW 14,000 (USD $11) for the fax, and even though Obama's edge in California is so huge that he can easily win without me. Nevertheless, I had to do it primarily to ensure that California's gay marriage ban (funded by South Korea's government through the Moonies, at that) will lose.