"The Quietest Protest - The Ultimate Protest"

So much noise and bickering. So many angry words and so little straight talk about the real issues affecting our lives. What’s a person to do? It makes you want to throw up your hands and just walk away from the whole mess. But we know that’s not a good idea. And I hope we don’t allow that to happen.

The grand old party certainly has the attack game down pat, doesn’t it? While I understand politics is a dirty game and that, unfortunately, the dirt comes from all sides, it still seems like Republicans know no bounds as to the kinds of things they’ll come up with to distract the public from the truth. It’s as though they’ve designed a single bullet-point guide-sheet containing phrases like “flip-flop” and “swift-boat”, and then dispatch their messengers to pound away at the collective American brain. Sooner or later these phrases seep into people’s psyches even though there is little, if any, substance behind such superficial phrases. Can you imagine if we analyzed how many times legislators and politicians (including President Bush) altered their positions as needs and circumstances changed? And the idea that people have intentionally lied about Senator Kerry’s war record to gain political advantage? Many leaders, including the President himself, denounced these attacks and have stated repeatedly that the ads should be removed. And yet the spots continue to run and they are clearly affecting the race. Now what does that tell you? If the President of the United States really wanted them removed, don’t you think they would be gone by now? Brilliant strategy, huh? Very honest and compassionate. Such tactics then cause the other side to retaliate with a similar game plan which, in turn, spirals the entire process into a negative, spin-tossed mess. And this is supposed to inform, educate and attract voters into the democratic process?

But, perhaps there is a better way to fight back. Perhaps there is a more effective method to combat the insidious political trickery and media bias now running rampant in this country.

Forget the latest barrage of daily poll results. What’s the point in knowing that information on a daily basis anyway? In the end, the only poll that really matters is the one taken on November 2. The election is our chance to silence the politicians, media and pollsters all in one move. It is our chance to shock the pundits – those people who think they have been given the right to impose their viewpoints on the public as they supposedly “report” the news. On November 2, we have a chance to weave together all those conversations and emails we’ve been sharing with our family, friends and co-workers during this drawn out campaign process. It is our chance to finally send one incredibly powerful message: Yes, we do have our own minds. We can think for ourselves and we will not be manipulated into making decisions based on politically motivated spin, innuendo and scare tactics.

If you want to protest the blurring of the line between church and state, a huge and growing deficit, a depleted and over-extended military force, a sputtering economy, three houses of government in the hands of one party, environmental abuse and an increasingly isolated foreign policy position, then you know what needs to be done on November 2. A simple pull of the lever, push of the button or punch of the card will provide the answers. And it will happen swiftly and in a moment of solitude. For a few minutes, we will all have a chance to simply go with our guts and push aside the hodgepodge of misinformation and razzmatazz which has been piled on us over the past two years.

On November 2 we all have a chance to take part in the ultimate protest. And then, very quietly, we will let one another know how we really feel.