FORGET taking our country back. Lets begin with our cities and states.

[shance]

Even though those in Washington want us to stay distracted with 'national politics', they know we have little power there now. We will continue to lose our power as a citizenry unless we take back our cities and states.

That is where your power is.

Please, for now, forget about Washington and Congress at this point, and work to build coalitions in your communities and strengthen citizen power in your cities and states. If we build good local leaders, quality and accurate locally based media, locally tabulated elections and locally run businesses, we build our power base. We build our voice.

Here is a reminder of a vulnerable citywide structure, which could happen to any of our cities because we have sent so much of our money and focus to the Federal/National level and as a result, we have lost so much of our power locally and statewide.....

Hurricane Katrina forced out New Orleans's poor residents, and developers don't want them back

The Guardian


It's well over a year since the levees collapsed and billions of gallons of water flooded into New Orleans, trashing the city and displacing several thousand residents, most of them black and poor. Many may not return. For Hurricane Katrina produced acres of empty real estate that are being eyed up as a promising opportunity for corporate developers. Mayor Ray Nagin wants the new New Orleans to be "market driven". The Episcopalian Bishop of Louisiana thinks differently. Once a conservative, he was rebaptised with dirty water. He now speaks for many in condemning the mayor's words as "a blow against the poor and needy", and says developers threaten "the soul of the city".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1981011,00.html

[Greyhound]

1. Both operations must be conducted simultaneously, otherwise they

will both fail.

We've seen the results of the States trying to govern themselves with the various medical marijuana bills passed in such diverse States as Arizona and California, the feds simply step in with their legal supremacy (remember this was done under Clinton) and nullify the will of the people. The same thing is happening with single-sex marriage, the feds rule that the laws of one stated don't apply to other states in violation of Article IV, section I of The Constitution.

The corporations have a huge head start on us and it will be very difficult to counteract their influence and the laws they have already had passed for their benefit.

[applegrove]

2. The march must include it all.

[dave_p]

3. There's no time to forget anything

If you want a country worth taking back, better start now.