I'm certain I don't need to preach about the disastrous failings of the current administration and its Republican rubber-stamp congress. The Iraq nightmare. The failure to secure Afghanistan against the people who DID attack us on September 11th. The refusal to protect domestic security and secure our national borders. The Katrina debacle. Resistance to raising the minimum wage or doing anything to prevent the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Cutting funds for education, after-school programs that keep city children off the streets, and science/medical research while spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a war that has produced nothing but hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold suffering here and abroad. In doing so, racking up a record budget deficit and a national debt that is the largest in the world and which has made the so-called wealthiest nation into the world's largest debtor. Making the threat of terrorism GREATER. At the same time, cutting taxes for the wealthiest under the long-discredited pretense of trickle-down economics. Ignoring the impending climate-change crisis. Continuing to provide corporate welfare to oil companies even as they produce staggering, record profits while the rest of us struggle to pay soaring gas prices. Passing legislation like the Orwellian "Clear Skies Initiative" which, despite its name, actually decreases environmental protections established by the Clean Air Act and allows corporate interests to pollute more. Sanctioning torture, suspending Habeas Corpus and creating immunity for anyone in the current administration, including the President, from ever being charged with war crimes. Spying on and wiretapping American citizens without a court order in clear violation of the law. The unprecedented use of "signing statements" in violation of the Constitution's most fundamental separation of powers.

Alright, I said I wouldn't preach. Here's the bottom line:

There's an election on Tuesday. You may have heard something about it. Well, it's just four days away, and history has shown that the last four days before any election are often the most decisive.

We have a chance to hold this administration and its congress accountable, to begin to change course on many of these issues. The democrats aren't perfect, but getting them to take control of congress is our best hope for positive change. What kind of country do you want to live in? Do you care about the course of national events? Of course you do! Do you want endless war, rampant corruption, and the triumph of big business over the needs of ordinary people? Of course you don't! What our government does directly impacts our lives, our futures, and the future of the world that our children will one day be forced to inherit. We still live in something resembling a democracy and it is our responsibility -- our obligation -- as citizens to participate in the process to the extent that we can. Naturally, that means that we must all vote. But if we happen to live in New York or California or any solidly democratic district, voting alone is probably not enough. . .

There are hundreds of tight congressional races around the country in which Democratic challengers (and more than a few are disillusioned Iraq veterans) are struggling to unseat Republican incumbents. As usual, the Republicans have the advantage. They have a lot more money, and that money comes mainly from special-interest corporate benefactors. They also have the power of false narratives and empty rhetoric that have proven incredibly effective at duping our fellow Americans who don't know better, mainly because the compromised "mainstream media" has not properly questioned the administration's policies. "We're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here." "We're making progress in Iraq." "We're gonna stay the course." "We've turned a corner." It's all transparently false. Most despicably, the Republican machine makes a habit of questioning the patriotism of any who question the Bush Administration and accusing democrats of being "terrorist sympathizers" because they publicly disagree with the obviously failed policies of the current leadership. Absolutely disgusting.

But you can do something about. We can all do something about it.

Here are two tangible ways in which to help:

1. Go to ActBlue and put ten bucks, twenty bucks, or whatever you can afford on your credit card to support democratic campaigns in battleground states. It's pretty cool, you can either choose the candidates you like or simply donate to the overall cause. Every dollar counts when we live in a country where campaigns are defined by the amount of private funds raised for television ads. Sad but true. But until we reform the campaign process, these candidates need your help!

2. Go join a calling party hosted by MoveOn.org. They've shown that "getting out the vote," encouraging progressive voters to make sure they get to the polls and know who they should vote for and why, is very effective. I've done it before and I'm going to do it again this weekend in LA. You just bring your cellphone and a positive attitude; the good, hardworking folks at MoveOn provide the call lists and the moral support. It's easy, and it's fun. Even if, once in awhile, you accidentally call a right-wing nutjob.

Please do what you can in the next few days. Even better, please invite all your friends and loved ones to do the same. Every vote counts, every effort counts, and it's hard for me to believe that the stakes have ever been higher. Thanks.

-jw