I ask only for the strength to defend my people.

YOU get the phone! I'm trying to fix my FEUNG SHUI!
( 2005-02-05 @ 11:58 p.m. )

Whoah.

I am inspired, so I come here with a million things to say and no coherent way to phrase them.

No logical order to place them in.

Very annoying. I am however going to try. Try and stick with me.

The first lesson I learned in politics is that there are two sides. A winning side and a losing side. Whiel it is obviously advantageous to be on the former of the two as often as possible this will not always be the case. HOWEVER if you dont think your capable of changing anything, then you probably wont.

My guy, my man, MY HERO just did a speech in New Hampshire this evening and I was blown away. He talked about doing something, he talked abotu what Democrats stand for.........he rallied the party. It was so inspiring I smiled, cried, screamed and laughed all at once. Bless his heart, so few people are capable of that.

What I said is true though. If you dont think your capable then forget it. Allright, admittedly I lvoe the game. Politics is this fascinating whirlwind. It's a knock-down-drag-out-fall-down-try-harder-dirty-punching tornado of truth, justice and The American Way. However I didnt become a activist or a staffer for the love of the game. Oh sure, that helps, but honestly? I love this country far to much to sit back and remain silent. I love her PEOPLE to much. You see, once I had no voice.

Oh yes, ME! Ivy the LOUD-MOUTH...I had no voice. Let's rewind to election 2000. My first voting opporutnity. Sure, I pissed off the parents when they saw that "Party Affiliation:DEM" on the voter's registration card. Did I do anything?

No. I voted, I figured that was as far as my civic duty went. I figured I didnt HAVE to do naythign else, just liek 90% of America believe. Then the election debacle happened. I saw peopel with signs, protesting the results. People marched in my state capitol of Tallahassee. I did ntohing. I remember driving BY those people and thinking. "Gee, I wish I had the GUTS to do that."

I did not however, do a damn thing.

I was scared, of what I have no idea, but those people out there were heroes in my eyes. They had guts, they had a spine, they had moxy...attitude...they HAD A VOICE.

Flash Forward to 2004. Another election. It coudl have been the same........but in no way shape or form was it. This time I was touched, ok so that sounds silly but Kerry and Edwards were something else. There was this almost magical dynamic happening, especially with Edwards.

This was about the time I decided that.......I wanted to be one of those people with a voice. Not because I wanted soem 15 minutes of fame, but because I realized that there were ALOT of people just like me who didnt have voices. I wanted to stand up for those people because in 2000 some stranger had been brave enough to do that for me.

So I got involved, the local Democratic Club, I worked for moveonpac.org, I started working for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. It was this crazy dream come true. I was at protests, rallies......Oh the SHCEDULE WAS HELL......wakign up at 6 am, working until 9 pm. Getting certified to work the polls on election day, phoen calls, door to door work, and tons of protests. I poured my blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul into this campaign. What was the definitive moment?

There are hundreds........playing pranks on the Republicans, havign people tell me how hard I was working, being in the paper. However...October 30th, 2004.

The Edwards Rally. Oh it was amazing. I had allready met him several times at that point, but I knew I was going to hear him SPEAK.....I was a mess. I was so excited, the buzz around me was literal. We arrived and I anxiously made my way to the front, right next to the stage. I was exhausted, I had been protestign all day, I had just cast my vote via early voting, and my picture had made it's way into the paper that day. I was on a high.

It was freezing cold...so very fucking cold. I was rather sick as well. Of course then the inevatable happened. It started raining. POURING........of course NO ONE had expected THAT so we just stood there, waving Our Kerry/Edwards signs in the pouring rain. We shared between strangers, jackets, blankets, sweatshirts, whatever we had to hide under. We were in good spirits though, for being soaking wet democrats. John's theme/campaign song kept playing, over and over...it emphasised the feeling of excitement we all had.

This being that song.

See the moon roll across the stars
See the seasons turn like a heart
Your father’s days are lost to you
This is your time here to do what you will do

Chorus:
Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now

Would you teach your children to tell the truth
Would you take the high road if you could choose
Do you believe you’re a victim of a great compromise
’cause I believe you could change your mind and change our lives

Chorus:
Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now

Would you teach your children to tell the truth
This is your time here to do what you will do

Chorus:
Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now

Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now

And it was true, we all knew it. We ocudl feel it....there was some magic in the air that night. Then from nowhere he appeared, and I found my undiscovered moment, and I lifted my head up above the crowd. I cried when he spoke because he spoke with a passion no human on earth could match. He reached out and we lal reached back. No line in any song describes him better than "We could shake this world
If you would only show us how"

So true. He showed us how, and we shook the entire world. Sure, we lost a election {I'll get to that in a minute} but how much impact did we make? It was HUGE trust me......John Edwards taught me how to stand up, how to be an inspiration. How to hold my head DAMN high. What it MEANS to be a Democrat.......he taught me to think "WE" instead of "I" "US" instead of "ME". He changed my life...and it would be a ridiculous blunder on my part to not give him credit for that. I should have when it happened, but I was so caught up in it that I neglected to do so. Say what you want abotu that man, but I know better.....there is not a slefish boen in his body, and his heart is bigger than this entire country.

He cares...he talked to me that night, he comforted me in a time of distress. He changed my life. Like the song says I changed my mind, I changed my life. I decided to be pro-active, not re-active.

So we lost the election, it hurt like hell.........I was such a wreck someon had to give me valium. Crazy you say? Trust me, when you spend months on a campaign, with blood and tears involved and you LOSE, your LUCKY if all you need is valium.

But we didn't lose anything...we GAINED a understanding of who we are as a party, as a country. I know myself better now than I ever have, I am more confident now than I have EVER been. I am moving forward into a career with oppurtunities most people would die for.

I made friends along the way, and got closer to old friends. Beckers and I ofund common lvoe for Politics, Thor became my closest confidante and ally, Kate just recently found herself politically and jumped right into it without blinking. I love these people, they INSPIRE me...and God knows I try to reciprocate. I started my own Activist Group, we do the things that YOU only think about doing. We yell, we write letters, we preach and testify and hold onto our love for our party and country with both hands.

I am not bitter about the election, I am in battle mode for 2008. John Edwards will be President. I promise you that.

I work in the Democratc Club, just this past Tuesday I was elected Chairman of the Election Reform committee, and I am now on a ACTUAL county committee, with ACTUAL elected Democratic Officials...yep, I sit on the Committee of Enviromental Concerns. Go me. I am also working with someoen from the Veterans Administration to help them out...I have been trusted with a ton of responsibility.

I am EXHAUSTED but I am happy. Sure between school and all I do I go on 3 hours of sleep a night but I LOVE IT! Yes, I LOVE IT!

When you are HAPPILY EXHAUSTED you are on your way to a full life.

The highlights of my day are Getting the New york Times and Washington Post and watching C-Span, and I am happy. I have realized I dont NEED anything else. What the hell do I need? I have politics, I have activism, I have the PLEASURE of working for the good of my country!

How many people do that?

I know a hanful who do in my group, and they SHOULD ALL get a HUGE pat on the back. Seriously, these people work so HARD.......Thor, Beckers, Kate, Lorey...............and they do it because they want to help YOU!

They want you to have a voice.

My group is formed of the BEST people life has to offer.

To quote my other Political Hero Former State Senator of South Dakota, Tom Daschle "EVERYTHING is worth doing."

When Senator Daschel retired form the Senate he gave a farewell speech. You see, he used to drive around his home state of South Dakota every weekend, no map, no plan...just a drive. He woudl talk to people, and make notes, their names, numbers, and their concerns. One day he was flagged down by a spanish woman, she spoke only broken english but she waved him into her home.

Daschle followed, inside was a large family, and a husband who spoke better english. The woman took a glass from her cabinet and poured a glass of water, she then held it up and began to cry. The husband explained to Daschle that they had not had clean, running water for years, sometiems no water at all, but thanks to the laws he had passed in the Senate they did now.

He cried, and immediatley wrote in his notebook. "Everything is Worth Doing." Sure, the water bill had seemed so SMALL but it wasnt! He said "There is no more NOBLE aspiration than to spend the entirety of your life dedicated to public service."

Bravo Sir, I itennd to do just that. I will never give up on my dreams, nor yours either. I intend to fight for you to have the right to dream, and then to help give you the ability to make those dreams a REALITY.

Here is a little piece about the Democratic Party I wrote.

I mentioned we are proud liberals. This is true. You see we believe “We” are the future. “Us”. The “US” In U.S.A. Our generation, John Edwards, this group. ALL OF US. I will tell you what the Democratic Party stands for. We are the future, the uplifting hope, the people who fight against hatred and bigotry and intolerance, the ones who strive to uplift and not suppress, the people who embrace hope, not pessimism. We look forward, never back. Truth be told I cry at night, over the state in which I see my country. It pains me to the core of my being, but it only motivates me to reach higher and strive farther, to accomplish that which was set before us. The right to happiness, equality, the right to NOT be judged. The right to hold our heads HIGH as AMERICANS. The right to sleep in peace without blood on our hands. To know that WE are setting the proud standard for the world and ALL it’s peoples to follow. To know in our hearts that we are a country that does not discriminate by race, religion, education, whether or not your income allows you to shop at Neiman Marcus. We should take pride in knowing that we value our poor as much as our wealthy, that all are equal, both the modest and the proud. We choose NOT to discriminate for reasons of peace and equality and respect for EVERY fellow citizen. We know we have nothing to fear other than our own mistakes and we must learn from these and strive to undo the wrong that those before us have wrought. We must press forward to the light at the end of the tunnel and embrace the politics of hope, truth and love. We as individuals, as a PARTY represent those same politics of choice upon which our nation was founded, and we have no reason to be ashamed of that. We must raise our voices in dissent, in accordance and a cacophonous harmony of truth. We must show we are not afraid.

And here is another excerpt from a e-mail I have been laboring on, a "call to action" if you will.

Will you stand by while the flag we hold in high esteem is used to staunch the blood of the innocent, or to wipe the boots of the guilty? Will you allow this travesty to continue? We can NO LONGER afford to remain silent in defense of those we love. We can no longer pay the price that comes with timidity or fear. We have a responsibility as a nation to lead and not follow on these issues. This right was handed down by our Founding Fathers as part of the Declaration of Independence, our most cherished symbol of liberty and love.

This Declaration reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Do these words still hold meaning to you? The PRINCIPLES this country was founded upon. These words, will you fight for them? We will. To quote true patriots.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
- President Thomas Jefferson

"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from the government.
- Thomas Paine

"A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution".
-- President James Madison

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither."
- Ben Franklin

"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
- Samuel Adams

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it."
- President Abraham Lincoln

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."
- 'Mark Twain'

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President."
- President Theodore Roosevelt

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1912

"So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy."
- Roger Baldwin

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
- Dr. Martin Luther King

And perhaps most importantly.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Edmund Burke

Will you do NOTHING?

How many men and women break their necks for the laws this administration is SWORN to uphold? Allow me the liberty to quote myself.

“Nothing is accomplished FOR the people, unless it is done BY the people.” Will you do nothing? It is no longer ENOUGH to read the paper, to change the channel on the television. It is no longer enough to WISH you could do something. Stand up, be a Patriot, show the liars sworn into office that WE are the ones who bleed red, white and blue. WE are the ones who have voices, and we are no longer afraid to be heard in a cacophonous harmony of DISSENT. If we march we will be seen, if we yell we will be heard, if we dissent we will WIN.

This is a battle cry, we need you. ALL OF YOU. Those who battle with the pen, and those who battle with their fists alike.

Lady Liberty WEEPS and holds the bodies of the fallen. What will you do, will you walk away, stop and stare or will you rush to her aid? Will you help her up, will you join us so we may once again hold hands in peace instead of hatred?

Can you hear me Mr. President? We DEMAND accountability! We demand truth! No more veiled lies to your own people! No longer do you have the right to close the door on us, to be deaf to the cries of the wronged. The poor are equal to the rich, the proud to the humble!

There is only hypocrisy in a forced democracy. The Iraqis are under the principle assumption that they have been given a CHOICE but I ask you. Where is the choice in having your country invaded? The Iraqi elections are wonderful, now that they have succeeded, should we not begin a exit strategy?

Must we remind you SIR THIS COUNTRY BELONGS TO us! That Is why it is the U.S.A . This country Sir was founded by US, It belong to US, and we have decided we want her back!

No Sir, the mission is NOT ACCOMPLISHED. It will not be until all of our brave soldiers both alive and dead are home. America is a pluralist society, not an elitist dictatorship. You stand with big buisness, the oil companies, and your millionare friends. I chosoe to stand with the needy, the tired, the poor, the teachers, the nurses, the mill workers. Fear and hate are not moral values. If you lvoe this country then balance the scales to encompass the weary and downtrodden, not only the rich and elite.

Your are SUPPOSED to stand for every voice in America and all of her peoples. How can you speak for US however when you have no vocie of your own? The rights of the many are more important than the rights of the few. You cannto offer one person a hand while stepping on another to get there.

We do not stand BEHIND YOU, you should ask only that we stand beside you. I however refuse...I have my own voice and it will be heard.

Not to shabby huh? I'm learning how to write! LOL!

So what's it gonna be people?

If you want to shake this world, I will gladly show you how. I will live to inspire if you want to be inspired.

I will stand, I will fight. I will shwo you what this party is made of, and trust you me, that's some DAMN TOUGH STUFF!

So Kudos to John Edwards.

Kudos to Thor, and Beckers, and Kate and Lorey.

Kudos to John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Barbra Boxer, Harry Reid and so on...

"Inspiration must never be sought, it must be stumbled upon or it's nature is compromised."

So here's to stumbling, and here's to hopign you found something of value or inspiration in my garbled gushing of love.

That is All.

Home Is Behind // The World Ahead