That’s right my birthday is September 24th.  I was born in 1956 so I’ll be one year shy of a half century.  Forty-nine strange and wonderful, terrible and surreal years.  Years that when I was younger seemed to last twice as long as they do now.  Yet in all that time, even during the depths of the Cold War, Vietnam, Watergate, the Oil Crisis and Stagflation of the 70’s, and the Iran Hostage Crisis, never have I felt that our Nation, and the lives of its citizens, were in greater danger.  

Never have I felt that our economic, social and foreign policy problems were greater than they are today.  Never have I felt that we were in greater danger of losing our rights, our liberties and our Republic.  And never has our Nation’s moral character been so severely challenged by those in our culture who praise avarice, foster hatred and division, and agitate for the stifling of dissent at home and the prosecution of aggressive war abroad.

(More after the break)
This year, I asked my family, for something different for my birthday, something in lieu of the usual presents a middle aged dad and husband tends to receive (in my case books or cds, a new shirt or tie, or the odd little my knick-knack that my kids are so fond of getting for me).  

This year, I asked them, instead of presents and family celebrations and birthday cake, to let me attend the Protest March and Rally that will be held at the Mall in Washington D.C. on September 24th.  A protest, in essence, against the lies and deceits, the incompetence and the outright cruelty, of those who have usurped the leadership of our Nation, and turned it down a terrible  path of war, death and indifference to the suffering of the vast majority of Americans.  

It will be a protest against leaders who feel that it is a noble cause to send Cindy Sheehan’s son, and the sons and daughters of so many others off to die in order to perpetuate American hegemony over the oil fields of the Middle East.  A protest against those who feel that the wealthiest Americans should bear no sacrifice, and multinational corporations be spared no benefit.  

A protest against those who practice the vilest propaganda in the service of maintaining power.  A protest against those who preach a morality that would impose government controls on our right to make decisions about our own bodies, and about who we may choose to love and spend our lives with.  A protest against those who remain indifferent to the suffering of those who are weakest and poorest among us, even as they hypocritically and sanctimoniously maintain their own moral superiority.

I wasn’t sure my wife would agree to let me go, that my son would agree to forego a Boy Scout bike campout to accompany me or that my daughter would understand why her father wouldn’t be home on his birthday to receive her presents, her hugs and her kisses. But they did.  Without question, each of them agreed to let me do this thing.

It won’t be easy.  I suffer from an autoimmune condition that affects my gastrointestinal system as well as my joints.  To make the trip I will have to forego eating for three days, because food can trigger symptoms (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea and arthritic inflammation) and that would make it impossible to stand and march all day outside.  But I’ll have my 16 year old son to help me, and a group of on-line friends that I will meet in person for the first time next Friday.  Together with them I know I’ll make it through the day.

Like many others here, I wasn’t engaged in politics much prior to the Bush Presidency.  I never attended any campaign events, nor did I  contribute any money to any candidates.  I registered as an Independent because I didn’t see that much difference between the two parties, frankly.  Nor did I imagine that any of that would ever change.  I maintained a facade of cynicism toward the political process and felt that those who felt passionately about politics were deluding themselves.  But as Republicans are fond of saying, 9/11 changed everything.

Or should I say, George Bush after 9/11 changed everything.  In 2004 I became a volunteer for the Kerry campaign, and a volunteer for Election Protection who was in Cleveland on November 2, 2004.  I had made a complete turnaround in my thought process towards politics.  All as a result of the actions of the Bush administration and its GOP controlled lap dog Congress.  Actions which do not bear repeating here.  You know too well the atrocities committed by this President and the GOP for which he is now the standard bearer.

The result of the 2004 election was a crushing blow for me and others.  Yet who could have imagined how much worse things could get in just a few short months.  The worsening situation in Iraq.  The fiasco of the Bolton nomination.  The disclosures of the Downing Street Memos and the exposure of Karl Rove’s and Scooter Libby’s involvement in the Valerie Plame affair.  And finally, and most horrifying of all, the utter failure of Bush and his crony style management system to provide immediate and effective relief to the victims of hurricane Katrina.

Some have said here that protest marches are useless and counterproductive, dinosaur tactics from an earlier era.  They would advise you not to join my son and me and others who feel that we must do more than simply send our dollars to the Democratic party and/or other liberal and progressive organizations, or sign on-line petitions, or join boycotts, or email campaigns, or write letters to the editor, ad infinitum.  They would tell you that protest marches do not cause anyone to change their policies, and will not bring home our troops from Iraq one day sooner.  They would tell you our time and energy would be better spent in pursuing other strategies.

With all due respect, they are wrong.  Because numbers do matter.  Large crowds protesting this President and his insane policies will empower others who are sitting on the sideline thinking they are alone in their opposition to this President.  It will put the lie to the frequent media canard that Bush is still a popular President, that he still has the trust of the American people.  

Bush can stage manage his own appearances before adoring sycophants or soldiers under his command.  He can turn the lights on in New Orleans to have a pretty backdrop for another vacuous, meaningless speech.  He can exclude those who would disagree with him from getting within shouting distance of his parades and “town hall meetings.”  But he will not be able hide the fact that thousands of protestors turned up in Washington DC to demand accountability for his failures.  Especially now, so soon after Katrina, when his power to control the media has never been more degraded.

But that’s the catch, and that’s the favor I have to ask.  You see, to be successful we need a big turnout on the 24th.  Not just in Washington, but all throughout the country in cities and towns where simultaneous protests are planned.  

So, if you can swing it, come to DC on the September 24th.  If you can’t do that, try to attend one of the many other protests planned for that day like those in St Augustine, FL, Amarillo, TX, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, Los Angeles, CA, Kansas City, San Diego, CA, and elsewhere in the US and around the world.  

I know it’s a big favor to do for someone you’ve never met.  So, don’t do it for me.  Do yourself a favor.  Be there.  Because we all need each other, now more than ever.

Thanks.