| Dear Michael L, Today is Election Day. The Tea Partiers and the cynics are hoping we all decide not to do anything and stay home. Today Common Dreams published the transcript of a speech Bill Moyers gave this past Saturday night as part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series at Boston University. It's rather long but we encourage you to read the whole speech. Here's the final paragraph: But let's be clear: Even with most Americans on our side, the odds are long. Money fights hard, and it fights dirty. Think Rove. The Chamber. The Kochs. We may lose. It all may be impossible. But it's OK if it's impossible. You heard me right. I've learned something about this from the former farmworker and labor organizer Baldemar Velasquez. The members of his Farm Labor Organizing Committee are a long way from the world of K Street lobbyists. But they took on the Campbell Soup Company - and won. They took on North Carolina growers - and won, using transnational organizing tactics that helped win Velasquez a "genius" award from the MacArthur Foundation. And now they're taking on no less than R. J. Reynolds Tobacco and one of its principle financial sponsors, JPMorgan-Chase. Some people question the wisdom of taking on such powerful interests, but here's what Velasquez says: "It's OK if it's impossible; it's OK! Now I'm going to speak to you as organizers. Listen carefully. The object is not to win. That's not the objective. The object is to do the right and good thing. If you decide not to do anything, because it's too hard or too impossible, then nothing will be done, and when you're on your death bed, you're gonna say, ‘I wish I had done something.' But if you go and do the right thing NOW, and you do it long enough good things will happen-something's gonna happen. Shades of Howard Zinn!" I hope you will join all of us in the Common Dreams community in defying the polls and the cynics by going to vote. We can’t give up ”because it's too hard or too impossible”. And no matter the results of today’s elections, Common Dreams will be here for you going forward, bringing you the breaking news and views from the best progressive voices of our time. “Do the right thing NOW” and go vote. Good things will happen, Thanks, Craig Brown P.S. Later this week Common Dreams will be launching our critical fall fundraising campaign. Can we count on your help? Don’t let our progressive voices be silenced! We can’t do it without you.  | |
| CommonDreams.org is an Internet-based progressive news and grassroots activism organization, founded in 1997. | |
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