41 Days

I've decided to try.

We have 41 days until November, 6 2007 - the first Tuesday in November. On that day Garret Keizer, writing in Harper's magazine, suggests Americans participate in a general strike. No work, save for the essentials, and no consumption.

For several months now, I, like many others, have had discussions with friends and colleagues about the perceived hopelessness of forcing any change to the policies of the Bush administration or advancing any serious investigations into its many failures. Slim majorities in Congress make any substantive rebuke or course change difficult, perhaps impossible, despite overwhelming public disapproval of Bush and the war. So what to do?

Well, I've previously argued that what we need is a focal point. One day of "national accountability," when Congress all but shuts down and we in the public do whatever we can to turn complete national attention to our failures and to recommit to making it right, through accountability, international engagement, and a restatement of our democratic principles. An unambiguous outcry of dissatisfaction. As if with a sharp intake of breath, America must ask itself whether it will change.

Keizer calls for a general strike on election day of this year. While I would say that it would be a "call to account," his instincts and reasoning for the day and manner are expressed in words better than I could have written. Keizer knows this may well not happen and that nothing might come of it if it did. But to those who have asked what we can possibly do to change this sorry state of affairs at which we've allowed ourselves to arrive, he says, and I'm quoting from the essay, "Well, we could do this." After all, he says, it's been done many times before, by those with arguably less time and and fewer resources - and even without the organizing instruments of email and the web.

Despite the odds against it, I'm willing to try. One thing I'll do is update this page, gradually adding to the list of specific concerns that compels us, among other things, to follow Keizer's prescription. Exhibit A:

Feel free to join in and leave some comments. Remember, this is our time, and the responsibility for upholding the vitality and meaning of America falls completely and heavily on us. What will you do?