The gap continues to grow

OK—so Bush hit the Gulf Coast ahead of the Labor Day holiday. I mentioned that I was willing to wager he wouldn’t. Admitting my error, I still contend that yesterday’s visit by our failure for a leader was nothing more than a carefully crafted photo op, replete with the usual military props (helicopters and personnel better utilized helping to alleviate suffereing).

I’m really too angry and yes, even stunned by the suffering and misery I’m still seeing plastered across my TV screen. Being angry isn’t enough, however. I need to take action and what is there to do and where do I focus my fury?

First, let me direct you to a couple of websites to get a handle on what we are witnessing—a total colossal failure of leadership of grand proportions. Steve Gilliard weighs in, as do many of the folks posting comments. Chris Floyd’s Empire Burlesque should give you more than enough fuel for some good old-fashioned, righteous indignation. If you aren’t shocked, horrified, and willing to do something to make some necessary changes, then there really is no hope for you.

This isn’t political with me. It’s rooted in my belief that our country has been hijacked and I want it back! I’m a proud member of the working class and I identify with others who might be living in the classes situated below me on the socio-economic totem poll.

If you need anymore evidence that our current system of government is broken beyond repair, then you are a lost cause. It’s time to put away the ideology and get to work. Both major parties have failed us. It’s time to get back to the grassroots and build some local systems that might sustain us, as we move forward into the future.

I got an email from my good friend and sister in solidarity, Jesse Leah Vear. Jesse is the energetic and impassioned leader of a group in Portland called P.O.W.E.R. (Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights). I’m a proud member of this group, but have been on a leave of absence. Her email made me realize I need to get back to the barricades.

P.O.W.E.R., along with other advocates for the poor and working classes across the nation, have issued a call to "Bridge the Economic Gap"; Portland's action with be on the Casco Bay Bridge from 4:30-6pm. People are asked to make some signs and show up in numbers, to call for a universal living wage and economic rights for all. I'm planning on being there, and I hope many others will, also.

As I wrote on Thursday, "The time has come for Americans to wake from their slumber. Today, it’s the people of New Orleans experiencing heartbreak and devastation; tomorrow it could be you and I!"

As P.O.W.E.R.'s slogan states, "Because until justice works for all of us, we all 'gotta work for justice!"