FWIW - an open letter to liberals, progressives and my fellow citizens

dear friends...

we have reached the point where we can go no further unless we come together and move forward as one... i believe what's happening in new york city, across the nation and around the world with the occupy movement offers us the best chance for that...

this i do know... if we keep on splintering our efforts to restore the ideal of the common good that is the basis for all the best humanity has to offer, we will never get there...

here's what i mean by "splintered"... below is just a sampling of my email from only the past 18 hours...

If we want to put a stop to the Republican War on Women once and for all, we must take back the House, to make sure disastrous bills like this one never get off the ground.

Contribute to EMILY's List today. Help us keep up the fight to take back the House and hold the Senate.

and...

Our Chairman and Founder, former Vice President Al Gore, has personally trained more than 3,000 people to deliver a multimedia presentation based on our worldwide event, 24 Hours of Reality. This is a powerful story about how climate change is affecting us now and what we can do to solve it. People across the globe have asked to bring a Climate Presenter to their communities. Now, you can too.

Join us today. Host a free Climate Reality presentation where you live.

and...

The White House's official website has a new feature that allows citizens to create petitions to request the Obama Administration to take a specific action. We submitted a petition last month asking the President to crack down on unlicensed puppy mills by closing a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act regulations.

We are determined to make this one of the top petitions on the White House website and need your help to get as many signatures as possible before the Oct. 23 deadline. There are only five days left -- will you help us bring puppy mill cruelty to the attention of the President?

and...

[Common Dreams] One week into our Fall Fundraising Campaign and the momentum is building - but we are still far short of our goal of $50,000.

You can help us reach it by making a secure, online donation right now here. Or, by printing our donation form and mailing it back to us with a check here. Or go here for other options.

and...

Every kid needs access to a good school. Give every student a chance at a great education and support the Empowering Parents Through Charter Schools Act.

and...

The special offer below from CREDO Mobile expires tomorrow, so I urge you to join them today. CREDO is the only phone company mobilizing its members and activists to support the Occupy Wall Street movement - and they have a 25-year history of supporting progressive causes and nonprofit organizations. Why not put your phone bill to work supporting social change instead of right-wing politicians?

and...

Recently, Republicans in the Senate voted not to even discuss the President's jobs bill, which could have put millions of people back to work.

To show your solidarity with workers and the unemployed, and send a message that come November, JOBS will be the number one issue on the minds of voters we want you to have this sticker.

Please donate $5 and we'll send you a sticker right away.

and...

The campaign has put together a debate watch game to make sure there's a real cost to all the attacks and nonsense. Here's how it works: You pick a word or phrase from the list below to sponsor, and pledge to give $3 or $5 (or however much you'd like) for each mention. So tonight, as the Republican candidates prattle on about defunding Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, and everything else they support, they will literally be building this campaign.

Check it out, and get your guesses in now before the debate starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Don't worry, you can set a cap on how much you want to give, in case someone (not saying who) says "9-9-9" two dozen times.

and...

All that energy means we have an opportunity to be a part of new ambitious campaigns across the country, including in Reno, to hold the big Wall Street banks accountable. That's why, as we continue to support occupations nationwide, we're also organizing Make Wall Street Pay meetings from October 23-26. The idea is to set a time in each community when MoveOn members and others can come together to determine how to Make Wall Street Pay in our communities—from stopping illegal foreclosures, to forcing the big banks to pay their fair share in taxes, to closing our personal accounts at the big Wall Street banks and urging our schools, municipalities, and other institutions to do the same.

and...

Meanwhile, time is running out for the so-called Congressional "Super Committee" to deliver its recommendations to cut over $1 trillion from federal spending over the next ten years. In just a few short weeks, the Super Committee will finalize its report. With all eyes on the 99%, we have an opportunity to make the news again before it's too late.

Show the Super Committee they can't ignore us! Write a letter to the editor today and make your message heard: Move the Money from wars and weapons back to our communities!

and...

Opponents of the open Internet are gearing up to convince the Senate to pass a Net Neutrality-killing "resolution of disapproval."

Meanwhile, we're fighting back with all we've got. So far more than 2,000 people have called their senators and urged them to stop the corporate takeover of the Internet.

If you haven't already, please pick up the phone and tell your senator to vote "no" on the resolution of disapproval.

is it any wonder we're not getting anywhere...?

everybody's built their own little world and their own little organization and their own little fiefdom around their own little perspective of what they think is the most important thing in the world and that simply ain't gonna cut it... we're bleeding energy off in every direction and the thing that's most important, the common good for all suffers...

i believe it's a gut-level understanding of the need to restore the common good that is driving so many people to support the occupy movement... i respectfully suggest that all you little progressive, liberal interest and advocacy groups out there do likewise...

here's what i wrote in response to the first solicitation cited above and i will continue to do the same with every one i receive... i recommend that anyone who agrees that the restoration of the pursuit of the common good is our paramount objective do the same...

There is no solution to the climate crisis or any other crisis as long as our political and economic system remains fundamentally broken.

I suggest that, instead of continuing to pursue this singular issue in isolation, that the Climate Reality Project throws its organizational support behind what's happening with Occupy Wall Street. OWS has taken on the key money and power interests that have contributed substantially to the climate issue as it now stands and are obstructing every move to fix it. If Al Gore had any cojones, he would take the lead on this but that would probably mean giving up his seat at Kleiner Perkins.

Just sayin'...

whaddaya say...?

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