Call out

We’ve recently taken an interest in a group called The World Can’t Wait. Found on the Web at worldcantwait.org, it has issued this declaration:

“We must, and can, aim to create a political situation where the Bush regime’s program is repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been taking society is reversed. We, in our millions, must and can take responsibility to change the course of history ...”

Now, as semi-responsible journalists, we have to confess that the idea Bush could somehow be driven from office by massive demonstrations seems delusional at best. Anyone willing to steal an election to gain power certainly isn’t going to relinquish it just because the masses are starting to gather their pitchforks.

On the other hand, after talking to Miaili Koskinen, a 25-year-old Detroiter who is stirring things up locally for TWCW, the last thing we want to do is pooh-pooh the idea of generating a popular uprising to protest the direction in which George W. Bush is leading this country. As Rosa Parks showed, one person refusing to give up her seat on a bus helped ignite the civil rights movement.

And we share with TWCW the belief that Americans have a moral responsibility to oppose a president who has done as much to damage this nation as Bush has. As the death toll mounts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as incompetent cronies get placed in positions of power (paging Harriet Miers), as global warming is dismissed and the theory of evolution is disputed, we’re left with the question: If not now, when?

It might not be realistic to expect that Bush can be driven from office before his term expires. But if we want to show the world that the majority of Americans don’t agree with the backward policies of this president, and that the Republican Party had better start worrying about the fallout from disaffected voters when the midterm elections roll around next year, then we really can’t wait.

To that end, TWCW is planning to stage a major action on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Coinciding with a protest in Washington, D.C., opponents of the Bushman will be taking to the streets in cities across the country. In Detroit, people will gather at the corner of Woodward and Warren avenues at noon. Weekly organizing meetings are being held to flesh out the details of what happens once everyone shows up. To participate or get more info, e-mail [email protected].

Don’t wait to get hold of them.