Organizing for America

Look, you don't even have to get up.

So, here it is.  I'm aware that most of the people I know can't be bothered to participate in their government.  I get it, it's a frustrating system.  It's complex and ever-changing.  There are a lot of reasons to just leave it alone.  But now is not the time for that.

I know, too, that most of you, whether you know a lot, or know a little, care a lot, or barely care, are entirely unimpressed with the state of America as it stands today.  Our administration has gone down the wrong path on so many issues: Iraq; tax policy; the right to privacy, the right to equality, the right to habeas corpus, and other basic human and civil rights.  All this poor decision-making has lead to a record deficit in the federal budget, an imminent (if not already-present) economic recession, and a general loss of favor from nations worldwide.

Maybe only one, or some, of those things matter to you.  Maybe none.  But you know that the integrity of our federal government has been destroyed in the past eight years, by one route or another.

There's a cynic in you that says Barack Obama is too well-loved by the American people, the same people who voted George W Bush into office twice, and that this in itself eliminates the possibility that he is truly a viable and worthwhile candidate.  But you're twenty-three, maybe.  You can't possibly be that cynical yet.  I hate to use the clichés, but have a little hope.  A little optimism.

Some of you will say that you do not know his positions on the issues, and use this as an excuse to avoid an opinion or involvement.  Don't give me that.  His opinions are all over his website and injected into every speech he made.

Anyway: here is a chance to help move this country in the right direction.  Maybe you're more progressive.  Maybe you wanted Kucinich.  Hey, that guy's cool.  But he's not going to be President.  Barack Obama is a chance to right some of the wrongs committed by our current administration, and move the political world into the light, into a place where the American people can once again feel an obligation to be involved without the inevitable feeling of eventual uselessness.

Donate five dollars.  Ten. Twenty?  Donate what you can.  You know you can spare it.  This is the future of our country, here.  It's like a Carbon Offset.  Except instead of paying to pollute, you can pay so that you don't have to go hold up signs or really get involved.