Starting today, Monday, February 16th, I will fight for only one cause to the day I die.

OPPOSITION.

Let me make that more clear. There is no viable opposition in these United States. As a registered Republican (not that there is anything wrong with the Democrats (but I've been over that bridge, and I crossed it in my younger days) I feel betrayed by the Party, by the Party's leaders, by the people who lacked foresight to gather new membership after two victories of G. W. Bush. President Bush's mistakes (errors in judgment) notwithstanding, he did a fair job, but a dollar too short and a day too late.

This how a good healthy, democratic OPPOSITION would have cured that. Instead of launching a unilateral strike against Sadaam, our healthy, patriotic OPPOSITION would have voiced loudly against any such action. There is no president on Earth (short of some distant past Emperor) who would be able to turn a deaf ear to the substantial OPPOSITION. The result would have been less war, more thinking, less American blood spilled and a stronger more unified United States.

I can't help but complain about barbaric airport security of taking our shoes off at airports. Which Dufus thought of that?

The analogy of America and freedom are no longer applicable. There is no such parallel.

It's too early to speak of Obama, but it's not too late to become a member of viable OPPOSITION. I have some serious doubts that any one man can change the mess we are in.

The value of DISSENT, may have been attributed to Jefferson, Howard Zinn and many others. But the idea is not new by a long shot. We have prior forms of the similar idea as follows:

“There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.” ~Goethe~

“”The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.”
~ Marcus Aurelius~

Most importantly I found the following challenge very well formulated by Lee Iacoca, as follows:

"Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from
it's death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.

Lee Iacocca says:

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's
happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming
bloody murder.

We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right
over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind,
and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a
hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and
nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'

Stay the course?

You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned
'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums
out!' You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my
rocker and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly
recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the
guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East
is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is
waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not
the promise of the 'America ' my parents and yours traveled across
the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're
not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest 'C' is Crisis!

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of
crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and
talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've
never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead
when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any
other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us
out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess. So here's where we stand.
We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and
no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the
history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to
Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by
health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in
power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble.
Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed
every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the
leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators?
Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence,
and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think
you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than
making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and
all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane
Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the
response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the
decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.
Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't
happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with
it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how
we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would
have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three'
referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more
important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying
down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the
health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the
crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle
class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on
your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is
being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.
What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News
will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show
some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.
I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope;
I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of
living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also
experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression',
'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the
'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent
years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this:
'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for
somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car
or building a better future for our children, we all have a role
to play.

That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to
'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not
too late, but its getting pretty close. So let's shake off the
crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough. Join
National Write Your Congressman (www.nwyc.com). We the people can
make a defense. '

Make a 'real contribution' by sending this to everyone you know
and care about......our future is at stake!"

Obviously things are that simple. We need a good strong, ethical opposition to whoever it is that we send to Foggy Bottom. All those shysters in our Congress need to be told that their position will depend on the constituency's views not some smoke filled "boy's room" decision making.

I hate to see old Communists gloating and telling us that Carl Marx was right - there is not even a remote chance of our own stupidity being an achievement by the brilliant sociologist - who only happened to have been dead wrong. But, we, Americans, have a solemn duty to voice our discontent and our dissent. The congress has to work. It's that simple. We, all must simply protest the inept, mismanaged, corrupt, state of affairs that has survived all threats and continues to flourish in the shape of mediocrity.

We bail out our banks, our automotive industry, who else? How much longer?

When does an ordinary American get to say - hold enough. I protest.

Now. That's when.