Reply #21: I envy you. I'm not in a position to be on the ground. But I've been able to do

[Peace Patriot]

a lot of work on the internet, informing people, encouraging people, and doing some organizing for particular projects. One of the things that I've been focusing on is this huge, democratic, leftist trend that has swept South America, and is gaining ground in Central America, and which I believe has been a harbinger for our country. They are way ahead of us, in a lot of ways, including transparent vote counting, maybe because they've felt the jackboot directly on their necks, and they don't ever want to go back there. Guatemala just elected its first progressive government, ever--Guatemala, where the fascist thugs slaughtered TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND Mayan villagers, with Reagan's direct complicity. You gotta be moved by that. Guatemala, with a progressive government. In El Salvador, the Sandinistas' Daniel Ortega was elected president. And I just got the news--via Judi Lynn, who sent me an article by Nicholas Kozloff--that El Salvador is next. The leftist FMLN party is ahead in the polls, with a charismatic new, young leader, Mauricio Funes, running for president. (His election in March 2009 will coincide with the Obama celebrations here.) As for South America, leftist governments have been elected virtually everywhere--Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and, most recently, Paraguay. There are only two dinosaurs left on the entire continent--fascist, horrible Colombia (larded with $5.5 BILLION in military aid by the Bushites), and the corrupt "free traders" in Peru (who will likely be ousted by the left in the next election cycle).

Mexico was an anomaly--a probable stolen election, in which the leftist came within 0.05% of winning. I'm sure the Bushites took extra pains there (our border country) to insure rightwing/corporate rule, for obvious reasons, and because they want privatize Mexico's oil. But the leftist revolution is astir there, too. It's only a matter of time.

You can't follow these amazing political developments in our own hemisphere, and not be heartened and encouraged. If the South Americans can recover from all they have suffered, and create democratic institutions, and elect good governments, so can we!

I am very glad to hear of your activities in Nevada. I don't know if you realize what a hero you are. You are a true American patriot of the first order--on a par with the original founders of our country, and with the leaders of our greatest revolutions--the anti-slavery movement, the labor movement, the women's movement, the civil rights movement, and several anti-war movements. This is a turning point in American history--one of those great and pivotal times, where people who think of themselves as "ordinary" stand up to be counted, and determine to change things for the better, against great odds. It's happening in communities all over the country--and has been boiling beneath the surface for some time.

I said above that I don't know what will happen--and mentioned some dire scenarios. But the truth is, that we are not helpless before these evil men who are running our government and ravaging our world. And if they try something--such as stealing this election for McBush--I don't think the American people will put up with it. That's how far we've come--from the depression and listlessness after the 2004 (s)election, to this moment at which the tide is truly turning, because of people like you. People who refused to give up.