Stand Up and Fight!!!

By: Matilda Lipscomb

I wonder what it would take for one of our decent, intelligent, honest senators or representatives to stand up and fight?

Some of the explanations being given for their reticence is that:

1. they need the campaign contributions that they might lose if they spoke up too strongly,
2. they are deceived by the corporate lie that Bush has a 90% popularity rating and they don't want to appear "soft on terrorism", and
3. they are convinced that they don't have a chance without corporate money and media support.

Well, my friends... it may not be an easy assignment, but it CAN BE DONE!!! If you watched the Senate Judiciary Committe meeting with John Ashcroft, you saw a few of these decent, intelligent and honest senators back him into a corner... they had him squirming. I loved it... watched it three times, all three hours of it.

When Harry Truman ran in 1948, he had no big contributors, and certainly no media support. He ran against a popular opponent, Thomas Dewey, who had both. So what did our Harry do? He took the truth in person to the American people. He crisscrossed the country by train, making whistle stops and "talking sense to the American people". He pointed out everything the Democrats had done for them, and everything the Republicans had done TO them. He fought like a tiger!! And he WON!!! The Chicago Tribune had already released the headline reporting his defeat, so sure were they that it couldn't be done.

Of course we didn't have television back in the 40's although there were plenty of ads on radio and in the printed press campaigning against him. But he stood up and fought!!! And that's what some honest, courageous Democrat should do today... and I mean TODAY... not wait until 2003 to start fighting. He may not be able to make whistle stops by train, but he CAN go to the American people by talking at town meetings... hundreds of town meetings... old fashions town meetings. And loudly contradict every vicious lie the opposition can tell about him. This, of course, is what Al Gore should have done. He should have called the media LIARS!!! He should never have left those lies undenied. He was too damned polite, and it cost him (and us) the presidency.

Traveling to town meetings would cost a tiny pittance compared to buying television ads. Another thing we must do is mobilize our brave and honest college students... like the noble student body of Hampshire College in Massachusetts. We should get our young people behind a good Democratic candidate... involve them in getting out the vote and telling people the truth. We can help to restore their faith in THEIR democratic form of government.

As long as candidates have to depend on campaign contributions from corrupt corporations, they sell their souls to the devil. We've never seen it more graphically demonstrated than we did in this past election. We've got to show them that they cannot control our government and the minds of our people, for that is exactly what they're doing!!!

The American people (except for the card-carrying Clinton haters) are ready for the truth. This corrupt, illegal administration cannot do anything to us unless we allow them to.

We simply cannot let this happen. We must fight back, and we must support, with all our hearts and minds, a candidate that will do just that... STAND UP AND FIGHT!!!