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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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On the Upcoming Election of a 5th District Congressperson
Thursday 06 April @ 13:02:55 |
 by Polly Mann
 During the Vietnam War, I, along with about 20 other people from various parts of the United States, was invited by a Quaker group to lobby Congress in an effort to stop the war. I was assigned to visit with the senators and representatives from the upper Midwest: Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and I believe North and South Dakota—around 45 people. This I did for two years, in stints of two-week periods. Members of our group were able to meet with the members of Congress themselves, as opposed to aides, because their constituents, at the request of the Quakers, had written them requesting that they meet with us. Nothing stood out from the first two-week visit, but the second year I went I remember one thing in particular. I had decided to include one question during my visit with each person: “If you could be assured that you would be re-elected in spite of any position you took on the war, would you vote to cut off all funding and thus end the war?” The answer I received was “yes” from all but about four of the congressmen. (They were all men then.) This really shook me. U.S. and Vietnamese military and, thousands and thousands of Vietnamese civilians—men women and children—were dying because members of Congress were unwilling to cut off funds if it jeopardized their re-election. I think this same kind of thinking exists today. Political considerations can outweigh considerations of life and death. I decided after hearing this that I was needed more in Minnesota to help build a strong antiwar movement than I was needed in Washington. When Congress was convinced that the great majority of the people wanted the war to stop, they would vote to stop it and they did.
The Congress is in the same position today as it was during the Vietnam War.
The demonstrations are not as large and the public is no longer permitted to
see the mayhem, the destruction, the children bleeding, the people being burned
alive by white phosphorus. The Administration is protecting us from a realization
of the horror of it all. Polls show that the majority of U.S. people favor a
pull-out from Iraq and yet there is no indication that the meglomaniacs running
this country pay any attention at all to the wishes of the people. So it is
that the election of a courageous congressperson could not be more important.
This congressperson doesn’t have to do anything extraordinary—simply
abide by the wishes of the people. Is this not a government of the people, by
the people and for the people? The majority of the American people are convinced
the war is wrong and that the country was led into it by a series of well-calculated
and well-conceived lies.
 What
makes an election of a Minneapolis congressperson so important? Because I am
convinced that out of the bevy running there are one or two that, in my opinion,
have the stamina, the integrity and the political courage to defy the Administration
and vote for what is right. The world cannot afford a country developing a new
generation of nuclear weapons, disregarding environmental pollution, driving
the country into debt at a level it has never before experienced, and proclaiming
to the nations of the world that they better not opposse us or we’ll bomb
them with weapons and tanks fortified with dangerous depleted
uranium.
In addition to all this is our foreign policy that puts on the front burner
domination through corporate globalization which, also, is environmentally destructive
as it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. People of the world, aware
of the danger, are now fighting back as they meet in conferences to discuss
and implement policies based on fair distribution of resources.
We need a congressperson who is aware of all this, of what is going on, not
one who when elected has to “bone up” on the issues. We need a congressperson
who is on fire with the injustice of it all. It’s not just for us or our
children and grandchildren, it’s also for the people of the world and
their children and grandchildren. They deserve a world where all humans are
respected and their rights guaranteed. The election of such a congressperson
would be Minnesota’s gift to the world. ||
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