The muscle of Democracy needs exercise....

The muscle of Democracy needs exercise....

Most baby boomers remember the late 60's and 70's: civil rights, women's rights, environmental justice, war on poverty, and... war demonstrations. I am so proud of the 500 or so Rhode Islanders who took the evening tour by bus to DC and marched along with me yesterday. Many were baby boomers, but a fair number were youth ages 18 - 30. Heck, this "youth" crowd organized the War in Iraq protest! Way to go John!

I expect they noticed we've gone full circle. There is the mostly unread Patriot Act (V1 and V2) by a congress who under the guise of patriotism are gutting our civil rights, the stagnation of financial opportunity for both low and middle income families, which adjusted for inflation, has not raised since the early 70's, a war built on lies and no accountability, poverty and racism. Then along came the impeachment of Nixon, Miranda warnings, Roe v. Wade and tougher environmental standards. While imperfect, a social consciousness of others' race, gender and religion was given breath. All the reasons to be proud to be an American existed because we, ordinary citizens, were building a nation based upon many of the ideals our people held. We promised, as a nation healing from the ravages of bad government and bad policy... not again!

It's 2005. The population is much larger now and it seems the pendulum has swung once again to a place I thought in my early teens was behind me. Those "activists" among me shared many of the same thoughts and passions, but there was something missing. They had the reinforcement of their peers, but had not found a way to ignite the frustration of the "watchers" who lament and who complain. It is inaction that empowers corruption and incompetence. Just witness Katrina and count the growing permanently injured and dead from Iraq and Afghanistan. "Support our troops" is more than a magnetic bumper sticker.

Personal moments: I was speaking with two friends (Lisa and Judith) to a woman from New Orleans who lost everything, but the rally was important enough to attend and support. I'm pretty stoic and I was choked up by this. I hugged a Marine in full dress blues regalia who was sobbing as he watched photos of all 1,900+ of the dead comrades he had served with pass by us. All I could say was "semper fi'" (always faithful) and let him know there are some of us who will not forget. There was a 20-someting rapper who made Eminem sound like Kerry giving a campaign speech from last year. My friend Judith was sobbing as her cousin's name was traced at the Vietnam War memorial making this protest more real. My highlight was being able to talk with and have my photo taken with Mr. Rubin, a Korean War Veteran who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Here's a link to his citation:

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/rubin/citation/index.html

I was asked by an East Providence firefighter on his way down to Katrina what I would do differently than all the other Democrats he had come to despise among the Republicans. It didn't take a split second to respond. I'm now a 70's Democrat and for starters I'd join the hundred plus members of our Congress and move to impeach Bush. He offered me his vote!