Late Note

Today I woke up in a motel and drove to a ranch in Menifee, California. It’s out there, inland Orange County. Some Tea Party folks had gotten together to hear speakers and discuss late news. I was invited to speak because I had become known as an advocate for the Article V Convention.

There was a Harvard graduate/New York Times best-selling political author as main draw, then a couple conservatives with various speaking rights--meaning they had published a book, or were active in some way in conservative political spheres.

One of the speakers was there to talk about how a convention is dangerous and how we should do all we could to make sure one never happens. He gave a really good speech in that he had the crowd vocally agreeing with him, big applause at the end. I spoke and was told afterward by various folks I had been persuasive and that they wanted links to more information. One guy told me I had changed his mind about whether or not a federal convention were dangerous, he said he realized it’s exactly what runaway government doesn’t want.

Driving back to Santa Barbara, I was struck by the question and had to remind myself how I got here. When I was in my twenties, the stereo-typical surfer, drinking beer, smoking cannabis, and chasing tail, I had no idea what I was going to do, I just had a strong desire to do something good. So I went on as a poet, writing and reading far and wide. Then 9/11 hit, and knowing what I did, I knew the event would create a vacuum of power and the bad guys were going to start dismantling human rights and protections in various ways. I knew of the convention clause, knew what it would do if it ever happened, and dedicated my life to doing what I could to make it happen. This September will have been ten years of various legal actions, writing, attending conferences, and talking with folks on the street. Of all those years, it’s only within the last year that blogposts are starting to go up across the internet about it.

People who say they’re not political or they don’t get involved in politics aren’t really as bright as they think they are. In blunt terms, every breath anyone takes is political. Why? Because every thought is political, and if you aren’t breathing, you aren’t thinking. Every action is either for common good or against. Why? Because everything is connected. And people who say they have their issue which they focus on, which addresses a symptom? Do you want hobby-horse politics, or do you want real politics?

Are we going to get out of this mess? Are we going to derail the corporatization of the planet? I don’t know. I do understand well enough how the idea of a convention, or asking someone to think of it, is tantamount to asking them to bite the hand that feeds. I understand all that well, but there’s something about thought and action that makes a mark on how things unfold. Ever going south and inland, use the 71.