Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
Some 40 years ago, Bob Dylan wrote the words above, words that symbolized the growing discontent with the prevailing mindset of 1950s America. The times were indeed changing. Young adults across the land were taking a long hard look at the America of their parents and decided that it was time to make change, time to speak up and make sure their voices were heard, time to make certain that those changes became a reality.
(more below the flip)
The times are a-changing again. It’s time to make our voices heard, loud and clearly, to force America to become what it can be, what it needs to be.
Sure, we have been talking about all the failures of the Bush administration over the past four and a half years, but we have for the most part been preaching to the choir, rarely breaking through to those who don’t follow as closely as we do. While we have accomplished many things, the general American consciousness never caught on, that is, until very recently.
I believe that the voice of one determined mother shouting against the odds at an uncaring and unresponsive president, opened the eyes of many Americans. We must seize upon this opportunity. We must turn that one voice into thousands, into hundreds of thousands, into millions. And I believe we will, when we gather in Washington to join Cindy as she continues her vigil.
In order to affect real change, we must do one thing that those who came before us (many of whom still remain) did, we must put aside our differences and stand together for what we believe in. I don’t mean concede the passions that drive you, I mean understand that we don’t, won’t ever all agree on every issue. As long as we continue to fight amongst ourselves, we will not have our voices heard above the static we are creating.
So now is the time for the “hippies” and the “war pragmatists” and the “women’s studies sect” to come together, to stand tall and loudly against the criminal military actions perpetuated by Bush and his band of cronies.
As 2006 rapidly approaches, many of Bush’s closest allies are jumping ship. Frist has bailed on the stem cell issue. Santorum is back peddling regarding Iraq. The Republican party is cracking at the seams and we must strike while the cracks are fresh. And we must strike on all levels, party leadership must be firm and strong, our allies in the media (few as they may be) must point out the fallacies and inconsistencies of the war propaganda spewed forth on a daily basis, the common citizen must make their voices heard. We must write more and more LTEs, we must continue our efforts to enlighten our friends and families, we must shout until we can no longer be ignored.
So, today I call on all of us to stand up and say “No more”, no more will we allow our America to become a mockery of what it once was, no more will we allow our rights to be trampled on by those ruling our land under the guidance of some “Almighty God”, no more will we sit back and talk about what needs to be done.
We must now take to the streets, make our voices heard, make the country, the world take notice.
We must keep our eyes open, for this chance won’t come again.
Peace,
Darrell
