We're all likely aware that voting once every four years isn't a truly dedicated form of democratic action. And a complaint isn't very good unless possible solutions are offered along with said complaint. Thus, I'd pose a rhetorical question about the collective post-election state of mind: How often do we call, meet, write, e-mail our elected officials?
I can answer from the personal level to say I've been derelict in doing so. Others have been shouldering that burden for too long and I've been procrastinating for no good reason. If two of the ideals of the Obama-Biden campaign were "hope" and "change", then it's a matter of following through and doing the things that are required of us as citizens. Gunter Grass said, “The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." While it has often been regarded as a statement of dissent, it would seem in fact to be the true measure of participation. So, we have this fantastic tool (I.e.- ECOLOG-L) we use to share memes. Given that many
