05-21-01

PROUD TO BE ON THE FRINGE

This is the speech that I gave at Lafayette Park on the morning of May 19th, shortly before we began our march to the Capitol steps.


Good morning, fellow patriots!

My name's Rose, and I'm one of the 'fringe people' who thinks that George W. Bush is a coward, a liar, a thief and a fraud. And if you think that Bush is an illegitimate president...guess what? You're a 'fringe person' too. That's right - according to the Toxic Texan, the ONLY people who oppose him are 'fringe people'.

The first time I heard this, I was somewhat taken aback. I've never considered myself one hundred percent 'mainstream', but I think I'm fairly normal; and certainly the vast majority of anti-Bush people I've met online and at protests are not at all what I would call "fringe".

But hey - if the term 'fringe' has been redefined, and it now means "people who love democracy, and prefer that the winner of a presidential election actually gets to be president" then you'd better believe that I want to be a part of that group.

And you know what? I hope that Dubya continues to call us fringe people. I hope that he continues to say that only fringe people oppose him - that only fringe people think that all votes should be counted and only fringe people think that paying huge sums of money to prevent voters from casting their votes is maybe not the best way to run a democracy. Because every time he calls us fringe, he proves just how clueless, arrogant and downright stupid he is.

On Jan. 20th, I joined over 5000 angry people in LA to protest ShrubÕs inauguration. And that night, other than a couple of 30-45 second spots on local news channels, I saw NO coverage of the rally. The mainstream media practically went into contortions in order to avoid giving accurate coverage of the tens of thousands of protesters here in Washington DC. Their reasoning, it seemed, was that they felt it wouldnÕt be polite to give airtime to people who were angry about the theft of the election - after all, Bush had to get up and give a speech that day, and I suppose it was terribly mean and heartless of all those people to try to distract him when we all know that when it comes to speaking, Bush is...well, "special".

The corporate media has decided that their REAL job is to alternate between acting as Bush's nursemaid and waving pom-poms in the air every time he pronounces a word correctly. And so it's up to us to make our voices heard, to let everyone in the country who feels as we do - and if you don't know by now that the MAJORITY of Americans feel as we do, then you've been watching too much Fox News - to let every patriot and lover of democracy know that NOW is the time to stand up and be counted.

A few months ago, frustrated by the media's refusal to acknowledge us, I started the Fringefolk Project. Many of you may have already heard of Fringefolk - I know there are a good number of Fringers here today. I want to take a moment to explain that Fringefolk is not another activist group - we're an online directory of people from ALL the activist groups. The directory - which is at www.fringefolk.com - gives concrete proof that we are NOT getting over it ...and because our pictures are posted in the directory, anyone who goes to the site can see exactly what the so-called 'fringe people' look like. We range in age from 15 to 82. We come from all over the country. We come from all walks of life -- teachers, lawyers, stay-at-home moms, executives, artists, waitresses, students, scientists, secretaries...we are the face of America; the Fringe MAJORITY.

Our mission statement is simple - to provide an online, ongoing protest against the right-wing coup and Bush's illegitimate presidency. Fringefolk is something to point to when people claim that the country has moved on - it's visible proof that we exist, and that we're not going to shut up and we're not going to go away.

When I started Fringefolk, I didn't know if people would be willing to take such a visible stand against the coup, but I knew I was willing. Today, if someone were to say 'Oh, most people have gotten over the election and moved on', I can offer them concrete proof that nearly 500 people have NOT gotten over it. And that's just the beginning; the Fringefolk directory grows daily.

If you're as disgusted and angered over the theft of democracy as we are, I hope you'll decide to stand up and be counted along with us. We will NOT move on until democracy is restored.

Frank Herbert once wrote: "If you think of yourselves as helpless...it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless..."

One thing that I have learned in the past few months is that the people who claim that one person can't make a difference are full of it. One person absolutely can make a difference. Just ask Katherine Harris if you don't believe me.

Everyone here is making a difference right now. And if you love your country - and I know that you all do, or you wouldn't be here - then you must continue making a difference. We can't afford to let a day go by without protesting the theft of democracy. The right-wingers want you to believe that you're helpless. The corporate media wants you to believe that you're helpless. They want you to feel so overwhelmed that you finally just sit down and shut up. Well, the hell with them, because IÕm not going to shut up. IÕm going to keep on yelling until my voice is heard.

My president is Al Gore. And I'm going to read you something that President Gore once said: "We need more people to believe in this country and to believe in our ability as a people to make it what it's supposed to be...we can change "politics" if we have enough people who are willing to push past the fear of disillusionment and disappointment and do what our Founders did and what each generation has done in really seizing the opportunity to make this country what it's supposed to be."

ItÕs up to us, guys. I love my country, and I believe in my country, and in democracy. And I believe in our ability to make sure that that lying, thieving SOB in the White House gets exactly what's coming to him. We will win. We will get democracy back. Because we won't shut up, and we won't go away. Keep fighting!



-Rose




Opinions expressed in the daily rant are those of the author and may not reflect the opinion of every member of the fringefolk project. The articles posted here are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express permission. You do, however, have permission to post a link to this article and include the first few sentences as a lead-in, if you wish.