to deny the worst. The criminals who govern us have injured our earth, damaged our republic, put us in mortal danger, and we go on as if everything were fine, seemingly unaware of our dire situation. My conversations tell me that we are not unaware and that we are seething with repressed rage. Witnesses to an atrocity, we turn away because we feel unable to act.

The people I've been talking to don't know what or whom to believe, and I share their uncertainty. They don't worry endlessly about nuclear weapons, pollution, corruption, or injustice, because they don't know for certain whether they should be worried about such things. They live in a world not of facts, but of competing notions. It's not a fact that plants and animals evolved over millions of years, but a theory. It's a not a fact that fuel-burning is toxic, but a matter of scientific opinion. It's not a fact that drowning a prisoner is torture, but a legal riddle that depends on other circumstances. We are left to pick and choose what to believe, and this keeps us confused and alienated from each other and makes us easier to control.

We're told that enemies are in our midst, and our biggest fear is not that any of the million or so terrorists out there will do us any harm but that we will be counted among them. And so we take off our shoes in the airport and buy newspapers that lie to us and pretend to support the troops and stay away from political gatherings of all kinds. It’s not that people are apathetic or complacent. We're damaged and discouraged.

I'm not suggesting that everybody agrees with me, but I'm finding that ordinary people are far better citizens than we've been led to believe. Silent majorities like the people I’ve been talking to may not readily align themselves with groups or movements, but there is a tacit determination among them to try to do what’s best for future generations. That's what the volunteers and I have been doing, and each of us speaks for legions of fearful, politically chilled, disinformed neighbors who simply want their children's children to be able to say, "Grandma and Grandpa tried."

Legislative Priorities:

Withhold all military funding until there is an acceptable timetable for the withdrawal of occupation forces.

Uncover malfeasance in the executive branch and the military and ensure that the wrongdoers, including those responsible for 9/11, are ousted and punished.

Crack down on economic misconduct. Break the corrupt bonds that make government subservient to the rich, and enforce the laws that regulate big business.

Apply the lessons of the Gulf Coast floods, a man-made disaster, and compensate the victims.

Force Congress to enact universal Medicare (or something better), exposing members who have been corrupted on this issue and attacking both major political parties for betraying the public interest.

Clean up the residue of a generation of right-wing government. Restore human rights, recognizing that personal liberty has always been the key to our nation's prosperity.

Rehabilitate our public assets and resuscitate the armed forces, with mandatory national service training for physically able Americans of all ages.

Reform policies relating to transportation, power generation, and manufacturing, the major sources of polluting emissions. Catch up with the gains made by Europeans and Asians while our leaders waged war.

Open the first district office to public view. Report regularly on the volume of correspondence for and against various policies, on the activities of staff members, on contacts with lobbyists and what they are demanding, on requests for services, and on corrupt practices wherever they're discovered.