An open letter from World Can’t Wait
http://www.loyolaphoenix.com/media/paper673/news/2005/11/02/Discourse/An.Open.Letter.From.World.Cant.Wait-1042181.shtml
Daniel Ellsburg, former U.S. State Department official and Watergate
whistleblower, recently made a statement warning against another
9/11-type incident, after which George Bush would make “the Patriot Act
look like the Bill of Rights.”
Just ruminate on that a minute.
Look at what’s going on with the nominations for the Supreme Court:
Bush emphasized again and again that Harriet Miers was an evangelical
Christian, from a church that is almost unanimously anti-abortion. This
was the criteria from which she should be judged – and he tried to pass
her through, as quietly as possible, on that basis. Just think about
when that becomes the criteria for who should be on the highest
judicial body in the land.
But then fanatical Christian fundamentalists like James Dobson, who is
fighting for a literal interpretation of the Bible to be the source of
law in 21st century America, who is not on the fringes of society but
actually has sit-down meetings with the president, says Miers is
essentially not theocratic enough. And she, a hardcore conservative, is
forced to step back. And now the new nominee is Samuel Alito, a man who
has openly supported legislation stating that women should have to have
their husband’s permission in order to get an abortion – an idea which
just
smacks of Bible-based, old-school, pre-enlightenment relations between
men and women. And make no mistake: He is absolutely set on taking back
Roe v. Wade.
These are the dynamics in this country – the Bush crew and all it
represents is radically remaking society in a fascistic way, and it’s
moving very fast. What will the future look like for our generation if
it gets its way? If young women are forced to choose back-alley
abortions,
where they could face mutilation or worse? If torture is openly
sanctioned and legalized by the government? If people continue to
disappear, without charges or access to a lawyer? If evolution is not
taught in schools and critical thinking and progressive teachers are
purged off of campuses? If this war that has been openly declared to
potentially “last a generation or more” is allowed to go on unchecked?
In times like these, silence and paralysis are not acceptable. It’s
time to do the only sane thing that can possibly make a difference for
the future of the planet: The Bush regime must be driven from power.
Tonight, Nov. 2, will mark the beginning of the end of the Bush regime.
Across the country, thousands will take to the streets, repudiating
this criminal administration and all it represents, openly declaring
that we will not stop until Bush steps down, and calling on thousands,
tens of
thousands, and ultimately millions to join us. This will be the
launching of the “The World Can’t Wait; Drive Out the Bush Regime”
movement. And we’re not stopping until we do just that.
Our generation – Loyola included – has a huge responsibility and
opportunity to affect the future of humanity. The task in front of us
is enormous: People who steal elections and believe they’re on a
“mission from God” will not go out without a fight. But there are,
right now, millions in
this country who hate the whole direction things are going and we, as
young people, can be a critical spark to a movement of resistance that
can spread like wildfire.
A survivor of the Holocaust recently said that if she could go back to
1939 in Germany, she would have ran through the streets yelling,
“Revolt at once!” This kind of thing is exactly what’s needed. Starting
Nov. 2, we’re doing this. We’re taking history into our own hands. The
future is in the balance, which one we get is up to us.
Check out the “World Can’t Wait; Drive Out the Bush Regime” Web site at www.worldcantwait.com.
Penny Brown, organizer, The World Can’t Wait