> From: Bill Moyer
> Subject: A More Perfect Union?
> Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:31:08 -0500 (EST)
> -----
> "I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., From "Beyond Vietnam," an address delivered to the Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, at Riverside Church, 4 April1967 in New York City.
> As we celebrate the resilient and relevant message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. forty years after his assassination, we ought to do so with no small measure of sadness and concern. We have made little progress confronting the "triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism" that he identified as our collective malady. These forces continue to infect our society and keep America from living up to our stated ideals of inalienable rights within our own borders, and around the globe.
>
Over the past seven years, fear has beencynically used to manipulate citizens of this country. It has displaced ideals of liberty, rule of law and humanity with an acceptance of torture, domestic spying, xenophobia, and preventive war. Trillions of dollars have been squandered on aggressive war and illusions of security, enriching a few while mortgaging our children's future, rather than making crucial investments in building a sustainable, decent society in which democracy might flourish.
>
> Thousands of Americans have lost their lives, tens of thousands have been physically maimed, and suicide rates are soaring among veterans. Over 150,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invasion. That is
approximately 300 times the number of deaths due to the attacks on 9-11-2001 in a country only a fraction of our size, that had no connection to the event be blame for our collective madness.
>
> We have taken a giant step backward in our effort toward creating a "More Perfect Union" or confronting the three "giants" King identified above.
>
> Some place their faith in candidates. I do not. If the current Democratic leadership and Congress is any sign of what we can expect then we should place our hopes elsewhere. They have continued to fund an occupation that recruits more enemies than it kills. They are champions of impunity rather than accountability for the crimes of the current administration. They have refused to impose a windfall profits tax on the record profits of oil companies. And finally, instead of joining the calls of Middle-East leaders for a regional nuclear weapons free zone, they allow or partake in further speculation of military incursions into both Pakistan and Iran.
>
Even if the marginalized, but righteous Dennis Kucinich -- or for that matter Jesus of Nazareth-- were elected President he would either be assassinated, impeached or stone-walled into irrelevance. I'm not saying that it doesn't matter who sits in the White House. We certainly have learned that it matters very much. But no current or imaginary candidate by their charisma alone would be able to dismantle the military-industrial complex or the American Empire and imperial aspirations. No one would institute public financing of election systems and return credibility to our election process. No one would have the political force to challenge corporate power such as that of the health insurance industry or big oil.
> No one will be able to turn the tide of this country without a massive citizen movement pushing, supporting and leading this country toward the more perfect union we aspire to be. That is why the Backbone Campaign is investing all our resources and energy toward manifesting such a movement. This movement must simultaneously address the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism by offering not doomsday threats, but a vision for a truly decent society that affirms human dignity, ecological interdependence, and human sisterhood-brotherhood that transcends national borders.
>
> The Backbone Campaign's Procession for the Future and Progressive Cabinet projects are an offering to the country toward building that movement, articulating that vision, and inspiring Americans to be their most creative, liberty loving, and humane selves. King's "Revolution of Values" is merely a call to live up to the values proclaimed by our nation's founders. It is the call to create a "more perfect union" that every positive social movement in our history has advanced. It is time not to abdicate responsibility for that task to surrogate candidates, but to claim the task as our own, individual by individual, community by community, until those in power have no choice but to return the common wealth to the common good and follow We the People to a future worthy of our children.
>
> (http://
rs6.net/tn.jsp?
e=0011M5A6K_Yo3SG8kDBv2YBdkKkitDPr8VmOsxhOnVIONDAMdhUL0aPC
83_6eBwGx4iUnxyTNBIz630Zs0SUzDPP6usgay-
MnfG7ufUAUD6xWNyEsMKreeGZq7ztOuoC84yn7oBmlslePY=)
> I invite you to watch a brief video of one of our movement's most inspirational leaders, the Reverend Lennox Yearwood in a video he made last June as a greeting to the Progressive Cabinet Summit in Atlanta. Reverend Yearwood speaks of our "Lunch counter moment." His message for a unified movement ought to be a goal not just in speech, but in action. I'm tribute to Dr. King, let us recommit ourselves to offering brotherhood and sisterhood to those in movements different than our own, so that trust may build and opportunity for solidarity and collaboration grows.
>
> In remembrance of the courage and vision of Dr. King, March Forth!
> Bill Moyer
> Backbone Campaign
>
>
> PS - Please forgive the audio/video sync issue with this clip. Also - PLEASE be sure to help us win a $50,000 prize by following the instructions below.
>
> Just $10 to Backbone Campaign by January
> 30 will help them win a $50,000 Prize!
>
> Parade Magazine, Kevin Bacon, and the Case foundation are offering $50,000 to the four US non-profits that get the most individual online donations (not the most money) before noon, January 31. The Backbone Campaign is currently in sixth place! You can help us finish in the top four, win the prize, and send the Procession for the Future around the country, all for only $10 and a few minutes of your time.
>
>
>
> Call the Backbone Campaign office
> 206-408-8058 You must donate via this badge (check Backbone website) or by phone for it to count in the competition, checks will not work. Network for Good, the gold standard of online giving is the intermediary for the donation. Your information is extremely secure.
>
> Please make a contribution TODAY, and ask your friends to do the same! It may be the best $10 you spend this year. If you have any difficulty call the Backbone Campaign at 206-408-8058 and will help you through the process.
>
> To see how Backbone Campaign is faring in the
> competition, go here (
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0011M5A6K_Yo3SNUJFXaXVga60-
uEGJ6hlxPnWPOTiAiWVkZVdaIf_5vDxpnc0Y4iOqqoBMArcYEH1i1zzzk-
g6Br5pRI4Yw-PW5vZSN6l8jZgnTF34gpQ_bqHZJfKrqb4J).
>
>
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