Another Call To Arms

I wrote the following email on the date indicated, and I share it now with all of you.

November 3rd, 2004

I have received a considerable amount of email this morning, most of it from those of you expressing dismay and concern. This is entirely justified, and a period of mourning is altogether appropriate. We've suffered a loss, both literally and emotionally.

The most relevant conclusion that can be drawn, I believe, is the realization that we are truly in the minority. Most people in this country simply do not want the truth, and are content with injustice, as long as they are not personally affected.

This is not to say that the left has a complete choke-hold over the truth, but I believe what I believe, and that has not been shaken by the results this morning.

Rienhold Niebuhr’s prayer is "Grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I accept that George W. Bush has won the Presidency of the United States for four more years.

I accept that the leftist, progressive values I hold are held by the minority in this country.

I accept that I will need courage. Even though the right-wing has won, we will still need to defend those who need defending, whether they are the poor, the disenfranchised, the despised, or the world itself. And we will have to be there to defend them, because our government won't be doing it any time soon. If we don't, who will?

So after the mourning is over, I invite all of you to go to move-on.org, or your local food bank, or the local chapter of the Democratic Party, or whatever you have the time and willingness to attempt.

Because we no longer have the luxury to pretend that we are as powerful as they. Each one of us is now a cell in a conspiracy, or a partisan in their home country. We do what we can, where we are, and we pass messages among ourselves, trading techniques, experiences and hope. Hope that we can change what we can change.

My friend Maria Gonzalez, the most politically and socially active person I know, said to me last night, "Foucault said that things don't get better. Things just get different. There will always be the oppressed and the oppressors, just under different names." Hopefully, each of us acts to change enough of the world immediately around us to create a space where we can live.

Personally, I have run out of excuses for not acting. I’ll be able to throw away the walker in three to four weeks, and I’ll have to walk every day as part of my recovery. I might as well knock on doors while I am doing so.

I want to especially speak for a moment to our Gay and Lesbian friends. Don’t give up. We need heroes right now. And y’all have always been the heroes in my life. I know that I will never give up on you.