Last week I received one of those annoying phone calls, the kind I figure comes from some mega-complex of phone banks, probably from the plains of Nebraska. Because the caller ID showed an area code with which I was unfamiliar, I hesitantly picked up the phone and heard that split second of dead space, letting me know I was going to be solicited for money. I mentally kicked myself for this moment of trust.

Imagine my relief when I found myself talking to a woman calling on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), an organization to which I had actually donated money. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to tell her about my frustration with a do-nothing Democratic White House and congress regarding financial industry regulation and true health care reform.

I let her talk for a minute then finally interrupted her.

“Excuse me,” I told her, “but I won’t be donating to the DNC anymore. I think that after more than a year of Democrats holding the White House and two houses of Congress, even basic financial and health care reforms should have been passed by now. There is no excuse for this shameful lack of progress. It’s pretty clear that many Republicans are wearing Democrats’ clothing.” (I know. Most shop at the same corporate warehouse, but I hoped that more than a few of them would have stepped out a bit, even for show.)

The woman couldn’t hang up fast enough.

Then on Monday, February 15, I attended the Tikkun conference in San Francisco, along with 600 others, entitled “How To Support Obama to BE the Obama Americans Thought We Elected.” With so many wonderful speakers, I was riveted.

Everyone agreed that the “honeymoon” was over. At first we were bewildered by the seemingly forgotten dream. Now we grieve the fact that the kindled pre-election hope is but a charred memory. The yearning embodied in “Yes, we can!” has been trounced by a Republican party that Peter Gabel described succinctly as a “No, you can’t!” party. Some of us tried to convince ourselves that Obama had a “secret plan,” that we should just sit tight, watch, wait, and all would be well.

We now see that the truth is “No, he hasn’t,” and “Very doubtful he will.”

Every few minutes, Peter took a deep breath. Each time the audience heard a soft grief-stricken sigh. We recognized that sigh in our own hearts, broken and disappointed.

Dear President Obama. Barack. You’ve sent me emails. I’ve sent you money. Even the night you spoke a few months ago about health care reform, when you gave away so much to the ‘No, we can’t-ers,’ I sent you money. I want you to be a successful president. But you need to know — you are losing me big time.
Good luck to you,
Abby

And then we got that Supreme Court decision handed to “we the people” a few weeks ago, the one where democracy was served like a cooked goose at a corporate dinner party.

But all is not lost! Rabbi Lerner and the Tikkun/NSP staff gave us a beautiful gift at the conference. It’s called the Environmental and Ethical Responsibility Amendment (EERA) to the United States constitution.

Take a look at Rabbi Lerner’s recent post: Reviving the American Liberal Movement. Read it. Here’s how it begins:

Article One: Corporations are not and shall not be considered “persons” or given the rights of individual human beings under the terms of the U.S. Constitution or the constitutions of any state in this Union, nor shall Congress or the courts give them similar rights or protections.

We can all participate in helping pass the next historic amendment to the U.S. Constitution! Yes, We Can! Yes, we must.

Yes, we will.

Let’s get busy.


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