Voting rights, cleaning up campaigns, getting big money out of politics, net neutrality, putting people ahead of special interests, stopping big media, restoring civil liberties, fighting corruption, national popular vote, same-day voter registration.
Books
In Common Cause (John Gardner), Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation (Ken Gormley), Swim Against the Current (Jim Hightower), Stealing Democracy (Spencer Overton)
Heroes
John Gardner. Granny D. Bill Moyers. Larry Lessig. Archibald Cox. Everyone who is working to reform or improve government, politics and the media.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1970 to strengthen public participation and faith in our institutions of self-government; to ensure that government and political processes serve the general interest, rather than special interests; to curb the excessive influence of money on government decisions and elections; to promote fair elections and high ethical standards for government officials; and to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans.
Who I'd like to meet: Activists, do-gooders, people with ambition, smarties who want to change the world.
"You cannot be free by obeying the rules. You cannot be free by waiting for someone to rescue you. You cannot be free simply by hoping for a brighter day tomorrow. Freedom comes from within. It does not come from without. It does not come from a charismatic leader. It does not come with a set of instructions. It does not come from being raised with doses of discipline and dogma. It does not come from being given your freedom only after you prove yourself to your parents, teachers, pastors, or other authority figures. It does not come from any God who demands obedience before He promises blessings (or threatens curses). It does not come from delineated rights. It does not come from The Constitution. It is you from whom freedom springs. It is you in whom freedom thrives. No one gave it to you. Like Dorothy and her ruby slippers, your way home was with you all the time. You just didn't realize it. Do you understand? You are freedom. Contrary to that tiresome cliché, freedom is free. -- B.R. Merrick.
"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air -- however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." --William O Douglas
"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless." -- Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi
"When even one Person -- who has done nothing wrong -- is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all People are in peril." -- Harry S. Truman
20% off all purchases the month of May and free shipping on the next purchase!! Use the Promo Code: rocket New products arrive all the time!! Get your Birthday Loofa's here!!!!
Sign up for Rockets Barkday Club @ www.puppypartyplace.com and receive birthday greetings for your fur baby and special offers from The Puppy Party Place.
And I honor the man who is willing to sink half his present repute for the freedom to think, and, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak, will risk the other half for the freedom to speak." -- James Russell Lowell