Democracy is not spectator sport

Last September I joined tens of thousands in D.C. to protest a war that many veterans believe was a broken promise that we'd never have a Vietnam again.

It'll be three years and hundreds of thousands of lives shattered by death and maiming of minds and bodies on both sides of the globe. The dead have the grave benefit of being put to rest but leave our parents, children, significant others and friends with a vacant spot they thought would be filled by the remaining years with a loved one.

Our democracy erodes here in the U.S. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent. Opportunities are lost to better the lives of our middle class. Improved care for our youth and elderly is squandered and we misdirect our angst and anger often selfishly against others (rights and equality issues). It becomes abundantly clear to me that my personal journey began by protesting this president and his war of lies and greed. He has betrayed his oath of office and our constitution.

I will march this weekend in Newport, Providence and Boston. As a Marine veteran I will be speaking for my brothers and sisters who are languishing in a purgatory of honorable duty on behalf of an administration that dishonors them with inadequate protection and poor leadership on Capitol Hill.

I put my professional career and large family on hold because I asked a basic question. "What would one life be worth if it was saved by my acts of conviction and measured defiance?" So the house is mortgaged and I put up my "Be Patriotic Impeach Bush" billboard.

I have been chastened by the democratic insiders, challenged by some greens and ridiculed by the GOP right wing as I campaign for U.S. Senate. The media ignores its balanced reporting responsibility. But the hardest part is that many people do little more than share an "atta boy".

I wonder just how much each of us has to be impacted before we again become united and actively engaged in the safety and protection of our communities and countrymen. How many times does somebody watch before actually acting on their own?

Have we all become so used to becoming spectators? There is time to watch TV, go out for a meal or lounge, but to regain our country's future, arm chair quarterbacking both sides of the aisle is not sufficient action.

JFK and many great men and women got it right about asking not what our country will do for you..... What is a more noble cause than saving a fellow countryman's life?