Upping the Vigil Ante by Dan DeWalt

[Dystopian]

Upping the Vigil Ante

John Nirenberg, (www.marchinmyname.org) is walking
from Boston to Nancy Pelosi’s Washington D.C. office,
gathering support from Americans along the way to tell
her to put impeachment back on the table.
I had the pleasure of joining him on December 15, in
Westport and Norwalk Connecticut where, along with
covering a few miles of Route 1, we joined vigils in
each town. Westport has a long tradition of citizens
holding vigils on the route’s bridge over the
Saugatuck River. With a few notable exceptions, most
of the folks braving the wind and cold that day were
senior citizens, many having obvious difficulty
navigating the uneven surface of frozen snow that
covered the bridge’s sidewalks. Some of the women
there were the very same who had laid down in their
fur coats to shut down that bridge back in 1971, in
reaction to Nixon’s mining of North Vietnam’s harbors.
How many wearers of fur today would be willing to lie
down in the street for a principle, bringing business
as usual to a screeching halt?
Lately, the typical turnout for a Saturday has been
hovering at around ten. Because some local folks had
spread the word, and the local newspapers had given
John’s march some coverage, the turnout on the 15th
was closer to 50. People were glad to hear about his
march and inspired by his dedication and clarity of
purpose.
All along the route folks who have been moved to join
him, briefly giving themselves a chance to act, have
greeted John. Large events are spontaneously springing
up in his path. On Wednesday, December 19th, from
4:30-6:30, John will be joined by Elizabeth Holtzman
and Clarice Torrence at St. Mark’s church in NYC.
Scores of volunteers have been spreading the word,
trying to reach activists, everyday citizens and media
outlets. These efforts are just as important as the
support being offered along the road itself.
Time and time again news editors and producers have
told us that impeachment is a dead issue and a
non-story. In fact, when we try to make the case that
the American peoples’ call for impeachment is growing
ever louder in spite of being out of range of the
media radar screen, we are told that we are
self-centered and even “nasty” for having the temerity
to not meekly disappear when ignored. They are not
willing to acknowledge the power that their news
coverage has to manipulate public opinion.
By consistently ignoring or downplaying the peace
movement and marches, the Iraq veterans who are
speaking out against the war, the true cost and
casualties of the war, and grass roots movements like
those that have been keeping the call for impeachment
very much alive and growing, mainstream media
(including NPR) has helped convince a majority of
Americans that it is no longer worth their time or
effort to even cast a vote at the ballot box.
This of course is right where they want us, safely
removed from the equation that leads to prosperity for
the very few who now hold the power. And while an
extra forty or so protesters on a bridge in Westport
CT do not pose a threat to this status quo, hundreds
and thousands of citizens joining John along his route
would begin to send a different message.
Let’s swell the numbers of those who are reaching out
to local and national media outlets of all kinds,
demanding that they start covering the stories that
represent what the people of this nation are about,
the stories that represent what this nation could
become with an informed and demanding populace,
stories like John’s that not only tell about an
American of conscience, but about a Constitution in
crisis as well.
Congress has been bought and is almost hopelessly
controlled by corporate interests. Media companies
also have been largely brought under corporate
control. But there are many journalists who operate
within this dreary atmosphere who still have an
interest in telling compelling stories. But they
rarely stick their necks out to report on stories that
have been deemed “dead” (like impeachment) unless
there is a repeated drumbeat of requests and reminders
coming their way from many different sources.
This is what we need to do as citizens, and we need
to do it now. Just days ago, three members of the
House Judiciary Committee wrote an op-ed explaining
why Cheney impeachment hearings should be started at
once in the House. It is a clear and unequivocal
document. It also has the distinction of not being
able to find a significant American newspaper willing
to publish it. Congressman Wexler had to publish it on
his impeachment website. The government does not need
to enact censorship when the media does it for them
without prompting. We citizens must take it upon
ourselves to harangue, browbeat and boycott the
advertisers of media outlets that follow only the
conventional wisdom of what constitutes news.
We need to force the media to report on the stories
that reflect the rest of us, the vast majority of this
country that have been left out of the decision
making, and who do not endorse the current policies of
criminal war, corporate power and a runaway executive
branch of government. For when we start to hear about
all the others like John Nirenberg, who are working
for change and saying no to the corrupt system that is
strangling our society, we start to believe again that
there could be hope for America. We need to raise the
stakes for ourselves and move from the passive vigil
on the sidelines to being an active participant in the
trenches. And the trenches have to range beyond the
landscape of the Internet. We all need to invest time
and effort in the tangible world of newspapers,
television, radio, and human interaction in the
streets and town halls in order to bring people back
to the commonweal that they have abandoned out of
lassisitude and despair. The majority of Americans are
not with the Republicans or the Democrats. The
majority has decided that voting is a farce and they
won’t participate. We need to give them something to
believe in again. And that does not come in the shape
of a new politician to lead us out of the night. We
need to believe in ourselves once again. To believe
and understand that like John Nirenberg, we can make a
difference simply by deciding to act.

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>I'm proud to say that John is walking in my name. I called him prior to his walk. I've met and worked with Dan DeWalt. Let's give impeachment all the attention we can.
Please keep this kicked up for John, Dan, and all those who are working so hard for impeachment.
Thank you.
peace~