by Dean Hartwell
My local
Democratic Club recently honored Arianna Huffington at its annual "For the
Love of Democracy" dinner. Arianna honored us with her insightful
commentary on current events.
Over and over she reminded us that we should not wait for the
"perfect" presidential candidate. Instead, we should create the
movement ourselves at the local level and force the candidates to listen to
what we want.
Our current leaders have given us much to talk about. The Bush
Administration has insisted upon huge tax cuts despite record budget deficits.
President Bush started a war against Iraq in part because of weapons of
mass destruction which have still not been found. Now the president and
his advisors must find a way to bring stability to that nation in the war's
aftermath.
For their part, the Democrats have remained rather passive. Few of them
had the courage to oppose the original $1.3 trillion worth of tax cuts or the
war. Indeed, when the president made the decision to start the war, almost
every Democrat talked openly of "supporting the troops" instead of
decrying the illegal invasion. And the party as a whole has been
relatively mum about the slew of corporate scandals.
We, the ordinary taxpayers of our nation, must step into the vacuum left by our
politicians if we want to make change for the better. We must follow
current events closely and decide for ourselves whether we accept the
leadership that caused those events. We must talk to others interested in
political matters and strengthen the arguments we have.
Then we must tell those who represent or who want to represent us about the
kind of society we would like to live in. It is time to stop listening to
the political rhetoric and start making change happen.
Don't try to take on the system by yourself. Organize yourselves and
invite a passionate speaker like Arianna Huffington to validate your criticisms
of our current political system. When you realize that you are not alone
in your despair, you'll generate your own political power.