Written by Jeffrey   

Every now and then we get a stark reminder of what being a patriot is actually about. A true patriot stands with and defends their friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.. It's really a statement of community and mutual interdependence than anything else. Our great nation is little more than a unified group of states. Our states are little more than a group of counties. Our counties a group of cities, towns, etc. Towns of course are groups of neighborhoods.

When huge corporations do damage to people, they do damage to us all. When your neighborhood teacher, firefighter, policeman, sanitation worker, etc. lose their rights, a little of yours go with it. As they are weakened, so to is your neighborhood, city, county, state and finally our nation suffers. As a result, your rights and standing in your community is damaged right along with them.

This isn't a political matter, it's matter of class. One of the great successes of the Tea Party movement, is that it convinced a segment of our communities that being loyal to country and ideology is good enough. It gives it's members a huge blind spot to the damage it's leaders are inflicting on everyone. "Wear the flag pin, sing God bless America and you're good!" Okay you won't have healthcare, vacations, decent working conditions or any labor protection from the government, but hey, your a patriot and all is good!" Your neighbors are suffering, your children being denied a decent education and Grandma's gonna die ten years too soon, but God bless America!

Sorry folks, but that's not the America I believe in. I grew up and spent most of my life in the great state of Wisconsin. I still have many people there that I care about. They're good people. The type that would give you the shirt off their back if they thought you needed it. Seeing their rights stripped away a little at a time is heartbreaking to say the least. They are not alone. Many states are trying the same tactics and passing the same draconian laws.

Somewhere along the way the Republicans did a head count. They discovered that they are outnumbered 3 to 1. The only way they could counter that kind of majority was to fool a part of that majority into thinking that they would give us a better deal than what the Dems or the unions could. They did this by buying out all the major media outlets and controlling the message. They counted on folks being too busy trying to survive, to pay much attention to what was going on around them.

The recent events in Wisconsin tell everyone that they were right. Well, I trust most of you are awake now. Staying awake is the hard part. Turning off the TV and the radio and talking to your neighbors and co-workers is better than listening to some talking head on TV tell you that surrendering your way of life is the patriotic thing to do.

The very rich will spend billions to make sure the recall efforts are defeated. They will spend billions more to try and re-shape recent events in a way that makes them look like the good guys. Funny how they find all that money in a country that's so broke!!!!

The only heroes most of us meet come from our families and neighborhoods. They must come first.

"You have to give up your rights for a bit because it's good for the country!" Absolute bullshit! Citizens surrendering their rights destroys democracy, period, and without democracy, we have no country!!!

This goes beyond the typical right/left political battle. This is the "haves" versus the "have nots" If you are a wealthy corporate shill with a retirement plan and a golden parachute, ignore this. It's aimed at people who don't know how they are going to pay the mortgage next month, who pray that the food lasts until next payday. It's for those who have no "next payday".

See, if they strip all your rights away, you'll be scrambling to keep body and soul together and won't have time to address what the corporate fascists are doing to your country, state, etc.

That's what they're counting on.

Stay awake people. Stay involved. It's going to be a long fight. One well worth fighting. The media will start to ignore our plight because their owners will tell them to. They do their level best to destroy any candidate that we put up against the puppets that sit in your statehouse now. Stay strong. Use the internet. Yes, the internet. There's a lot of untruths there too, but if you're patient, you'll learn how to sift through the flag-waving bullshit and find people who share the truth and are not afraid to speak truth to power! If you listen to the TV and the radio, you will only hear what they want you to hear.

Those of you who protested the Viet Nam war and for civil rights...bad news...Break's over! We have to do it again. Our nation and our way of life depends on it.

I found my self telling the love of my life that I was going to become a political activist again. Why? Because sitting on my ass for 30 years has gained me nothing and cost me dearly!

Today, I rejoin the battle! Power to the people!!!!