Take Back America

Today is a first on Out Of Tune. I have never turned over my blog to a guest writer before, but I am doing so today. And not just because I've been too busy to write (I'll try to post my own thing tomorrow by the way).

I got this email from my dear friend Barb a couple of weeks ago and I thought I would share it with whoever reads my blog, with her full permission, of course. She sent this out after returning from the progressive Take Back America conference in D.C.

When I first met Barb as I went to work for her in 2001 she was basically an apolitical person. A liberal to be sure, but with no real fire about political things except for the Israel issue. Then George Bush was elected president and started fucking this country over in a big way.

If Dubya has one positive legacy, it would be turning people like Barb into political activists against the conservative agenda.

Anyway, this is a nice story of a regular person out there doing what she can to make a difference. She rocks!

So without further ado, my friend Barb:

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Hello everyone!!!!

I am on an emotional high right now and wanted to share this with you all. Basically, this is going to be a personal diary entry about the depths of despair and depression that I have been experiencing over the past 8 years (especially the past 5 years) and how I now have been "re-born" so to speak. So please indulge me on my 48th birthday! You can skim it if you wish, or you can scroll to the last few paragraphs where I talk about the conference details and who I met. But it would mean a lot to me if you read the entire email.

Sorry - it's long. I know. I am putting my heart and my soul out on the table for you all to see. But, I was in the mood to write. Something I don't do anymore.

SO....here we go. I got back last night from the TAKE BACK AMERICA 2008 Conference I attended in Washington, DC for the past 3 days. This conference is organized by Campaign for America's Future (http://www.ourfuture.org/), a progressive movement. This was their 6th session.

This was not a conference about pushing you to vote for any specific Democratic candidate. This was a conference about what we as progressives can do to make our government work for what is right and just. It was also about putting a Democrat back in the White House so that this nation can be healed and can move onwards and upwards. This was not just about bashing Bush (which you all know that I LOVE). This was about being very watchful of the Dems as well. Keeping on them at all times to keep their promises this time around. Make change happen. Fix what needs to be fixed in this country. Reclaim our allies. It was about REVOLUTION!!!

I arrived in DC (my 5th or 6th time there - love DC) on Sunday, March 16 (the conference started the next day). That night, I watched episodes 1 and 2 of the HBO special "John Adams" starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. If you don't have HBO, then make sure you rent this when it comes out on DVD. It's amazing! There are still 5 episodes to go, so I'll have to rent the DVD as well since I don't have HBO.

I had just seen my dear friend, Larry Baldacci in a fabulous production of 1776 (my favorite musical). And, I was in Washington DC!! And I was about to attend this progressive conference!! So I just had to watch the first episodes. What was amazing about these episodes was the similarity of what the colonies were experiencing under KING GEORGE back in the 1770's and what we are currently experiencing under our own "KING GEORGE" (quite amazing and frightening similarities). It got my juices flowing. I was ready for a revolution!

Now, most of you know this about me, but some of you may not - I am very passionate politically. This is all fairly new for me. It first started on March 19, 2003 (the day before my 43rd birthday). I was in Iowa at a work-related conference. I checked in got to my room, turned on the TV (always the first thing I do when I get to my room) and there it was - the first bombs were being dropped on Iraq. I got this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. This was a HUGE mistake. I just knew it. I never once believed Bush and what I call his own Axis of Evil (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove) when it came to the whole WMD theory - NEVER! I knew this was just his own personal agenda - his own personal vendetta against Sadaam Hussein and I knew it would NOT end well. But what I did not know, did not even envision was the disastrous results of this invasion/occupation. Almost 4000 troops dead. Almost 30,000 severely wounded. Over 200,000 Iraqi casualties. The country of Iraq in ruins. It saddens me. It sickens me.

And every year since then, my birthday has always been shrouded with the reality of this endless and useless war. It is difficult for me to celebrate my birthday knowing that on daily basis so many of our young men and women were dying or coming back wounded physically and scared emotionally for absolutely no reason at all.

Last year on March 19, I went to a candlelight vigil here in Lincoln Square. I emailed my friends Larry and Ray to see if they wanted to join me. They did. It was small a small gathering, but that did not matter. We stood under the statue of Abraham Lincoln, side by side. It felt good to stand with people who only wanted to honor the fallen and the wounded. We read aloud the stories of many soldiers. Some where emails they had sent to their loved ones. Some were accounts from the families and friends. So sad. So moving.

In 2004, it got worse for me (and for our nation) when Bush, once again, was elected into office. I cannot begin to explain how this affected my personally. Most of you probably don't know that I did seriously research about moving to Canada. The thought of living in a country that would elect this imperialist dictator-type man not once, but twice, was so appalling to me that I could not even stomach the thought of living here anymore.

But the move to Canada was not meant to be. They had so many requests that they stopped accepting applications. I was distraught. I now had to stay in a country where a little more that 1/2 of the people obviously did not care about civil liberties, women's rights, gay rights, health care, the economy, education, and so on. They didn't care about being lied to by their elected officials.

About that same time, I started receiving emails from many progressive organizations and watchdog groups. There was MoveOn.Org, Campaign for America's Future, True Majority, Give 'Em Hell Harry (Harry Reid's movement), Barbara Boxer, The Human Rights Campaign - so many. They were all very informative. The more they arrived in my inbox, the more I read about what these movements were all working towards. They often had petitions to sign or would say "call your representatives and tell them how you feel about this issue or that issue."

At first I would simply read the information in the newsletter, but did not sign the petitions or make those calls. I was raised in a family where you taught not to rock the boat, make a scene or get vocal about such things.

And then one day, I decided to sign a petition - it was for The Human Rights Campaign - a petition about allowing Gay marriage. Very important issue for me. That started the ball rolling for me. I have probably signed over 100 petitions for so many great causes over the past 4 years. I also started making phone calls to my senator and my congressman. (why just this morning I made a call to Obama's office asking him to reject Bush's nomination of Richard Hanacker and Gene Pratter to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Wyoming District court. learn more about it at http://www.civilrights.org/). But I did have to wonder - does this really work. Do the politicians really pay attention to all this? How can one person make a difference?

Then 2006 came and it was so exciting. The country stood up, spoke up, went to the polls and made a change. The Democrats were back in office and we were ready for them to make changes. That's why we voted them into office. Nancy Pelosi was elected and it was so exhilarating. And, so I sat back, sighed a deep sigh of relief and waited...and waited...and waited for change. But it did not come. The Democrats did not follow through with their promises. They gave in to the Bush administration's fear tactics that if you vote against funding the war then you are un-American, not a patriot and don't care about the troops. The Dems allowed themselves to be squelched by these ridiculous scare-tactics, even though the people who went to the polls made it very clear they wanted this war to end and wanted change. So, once again, I was greatly disappointed and had given up hope.

BUT...now it is 2008 and there is HOPE. There is a chance for CHANGE. And it is our turn to TAKE BACK AMERICA. YES IT IS!!!!! So...back to the story about the conference itself.

The conference had 2000 attendees!! 2000!!! Imagine that, me surrounded by 2000 people with the same beliefs and passion. It was amazing. The majority of the attendees were from all those organizations, blogs and websites that I had been reading on line and whose petitions I had been signing. But there were so many more than I even realized. And they all have the same goal and are working fiercely towards that goal - CHANGE. I was one of just a small group of people who came to the conference on their own because we are concerned citizens. I must have met about 200 people over the course of the 3 days.

Monday night, a young man (from DC) I met at the reception, took me to see the Lincoln Memorial, as well as the Viet Nam, Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt Memorials. I'd been to all of them (except FDR's). But I had never seen them at night. There was something even more majestic and moving seeing them in that light. As I stood and read their words - their writings, I felt so proud to know they were our founders, leaders and civil rights activists. They were Americans. And I cried.

There were fabulous speakers at the conference who spoke about human rights, health care, the economy and strategies for ending the war in Iraq - topics I am very passionate about, as you know.

There was also a Gala Dinner Tuesday night honoring Van Jones, Majora Carter, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and television producer and political activist Norman Lear. Kathleen Turner was the MC. Bill Moyers, who I just admire so much, also spoke - so beautifully, so eloquently, it brought me to tears.

Norman Lear's acceptance speech also brought me to tears (yeah, I cried a lot), as well as laughter. If you are too young to remember (oy!) - Norman Lear was the producer of revolutionary TV shows like "All in the Family," "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "Good Times," "The Jeffersons" and "Maude." His shows caused quite a stir and the Nixon administration spoke out against him and blacklisted him (although that didn't have as much meaning as it did in the McCarthy era). In his plenary the next morning, he spoke a little bit about Nixon blacklisting him and laughed because he said the suite he was staying in was the Richard Nixon suite. Ironic and amusing!!

In 1980, Lear left television and formed People for the American Way, a non-profit designed to speak out for the Bill of Rights. This happened after he heard Jimmy Swaggert and the Christian right spewing their hatred and intolerance. It angered him and he felt he had to take a stand and do something. He calls himself a "Born-again American." I love that and am going to use it myself. He also launched Declare Yourself, a non-partisan youth voter initiative working to register every 18 year-old by the 2008 election.

I was very outgoing at this conference and decided I was going to introduce myself to as many of the speakers as I could. Of course, I didn't know if that would be possible. Usually you can't get close to big names like these. Well, that was not the case here.

I personally met, shook hands with and actually had conversations with Norman Lear (who was just standing by himself at the back of the ballroom watching the plenary session waiting to do his key not address, so it was just him and me), Jesse Jackson, Bill Moyers (who was sitting in the audience with his wife to hear his close friend Norman Lear speak), Arianna Huffington, Kathleen Turner, Donna Edwards (newly elected Congresswoman in Maryland), Rep. John Conyers from Minnesota who is working toward HR 676 - the bill for universal healthcare. They were all so friendly (especially Bill Moyers and Norman Lear!) and when they learned I was there on my own they all said "Good for you. We need more people like you." Then they each asked me where I was from and what I do for a living and were fascinated to learn about standardized patients. I can't believe they took the time to learn about what I do and recognized the importance of it!

I sat next to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in the John Conyers session on health care. I introduced myself and when she learned I was from Chicago we had lots to talk about. She asked where I lived and then said "Ah, Rahm's your congressman." Throughout the session she would lean over and make comments to me or I would make comments and she would nod, or laugh. She was great. And she was quite a star at this conference. She is highly respected by progressives and is called one of only 5 true progressives in Congress. She gets huge ovations.

Illinois was a big star as well. I don't think there was one session where Bill Foster's win of Dennis Hastert's seat was not mentioned and applauded with standing ovations. I knew it was a good win for Illinois, but forgot it was a HUGE win for the country! That was very exciting.

I could go on, but won't. I think you get the idea that it was an exciting, energizing and exhilarating experience that started each day at 8:00 am and ended in the wee hours after all the receptions with people still wanting to, needing to talk about all we had heard and learned that day. Fabulous!!

AND, I came home no longer with that feeling of despair. I came home having hope and believing we can make a change and we do have a voice. I came home a Born-again American!

We, as Americans have to be VERY VOCAL. John Adams and the Continental Congress taught us that. Martin Luther King taught us that.

AND, it is imperative to put a Democrat in the White House. It is absolutely the only way things will improve. We don't need a GWB wannabe. We don't need or want McCain. He will just continue to do more of the same that we have suffered for the past 8 years. CHANGE IS THE KEY!!!

I know I am basically preaching to the choir. As an American and a voter, you need to be informed. Don't be a lemming. Go to these websites. Do your research. Learn where the candidates stand on issues - all candidates. Don't trust the genera media because they do not report the truth at all times.

Don't assume all republicans are the same or that all democrats are the same. BE INFORMED BEFORE YOU VOTE! And then don't think your job is done once the officials you elect are in office. You have to be vigilant. Keep an on them. Let them know what you want them to do. They work for you - don't forget that!

OK - I'll climb down off my soap box now. Thank you all for reading this - for hearing my voice in your head as you read my passionate words, for allowing me to share the past 3 life-changing days with you all.