Here. Now. Do Something.

By William Rivers Pitt, TruthOut.org. Posted November 28, 2002.

So we come to it in the end, the great battle of our time, in which many things shall pass away. But at least there is no longer need for hiding. We will ride the straight way and the open road and with all our speed. The muster shall begin at once.
--Theoden, Lord of the Mark

There's an old man who lives down the street from my house. I made a point to introduce myself to him roundabout last September, after he put a No War sign up in his front yard. About a week before Bush showed up here for a GOP fundraiser, he put up a second sign describing the date, time and location of Bush's arrival. Under this information was a single word: PROTEST! His hand was twisted with arthritis when I shook it, but he still used it to drive those signs into the ground.

Every couple of months, some friends and I make a trip to the Kinko's copy shop. We run off about 500 flyers, crafted that day, which outline a number of issues and facts the mainstream media doesn't bother with anymore. The flyers break down data on the PATRIOT Act, the push for war in Iraq, the unmentionable questions surrounding 9/11, and Bush connections to corporate crime. We take these and station ourselves in well-traveled parts of the city. We hand them out with a smile. We have never gone home with extras, and often people come back for two or three copies to share with friends. Through internet networking, the flyers we create wind up getting handed out on streetcorners all across the country. People leave them at bus stops, libraries, doctor's offices and in supermarkets.

Last week I went back in time for a while. It had been 10 years since I'd heard the Grateful Dead live in concert, eight years since the band played a note. Walking down Canal Street towards the Fleet Center, The Other Ones, a band comprised of all the surviving Grateful Dead members, was in town for a show. I could almost see the old Boston Garden in the distance, through the crowds that hadn't changed a lick in almost 4,000 days.

After the concert was over (spectacular, in case you were wondering) I made my way outside towards the train. I was waylaid by a young woman handing out flyers which argued against war in Iraq. Her brother worked the crowd, as well, along with several others. They had volunteered with a group called Peace Action.

There is an email making the rounds nowadays carrying an article by a right-wing radio personality named Chuck Baldwin. The article was originally sent out on an email list called The Republican, and is entitled "Bush Government Out of Control."

Mr. Baldwin laments the passage of the Homeland Security legislation and the establishment of the outrageously Orwellian "Total Information Awareness" database. This database, run by convicted felon John Poindexter of Iran/Contra fame, will collect personal data on your purchases -- including guns -- along with school grades, websites visited and trips taken. In one paragraph, Mr. Baldwin asks a powerful question: "Does that mean one must leave the Republican Party in order to fight for liberty? Maybe so."

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