The 9/12 Project

I'm going to make my response to Pandora's comments on the 9/12 Project a post of it's own.

While I do agree with a great deal of what you said in that comment, especially regarding the habit of voting bad politicians back in, I also thing change has to start somewhere. Peaceful protest is a viable method. Especially in light of actions taken by our leadership. I'm thinking specifically about Sen. Arlen Specter's sudden switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. What are the people of Pennsylvania, that voted for him, supposed to think? It just seems to me that he sniffed the political wind and made a choice based on his chances for re-election, not ideology. Wouldn't be the first time he made such a switch. He changed from Democrat to Republican in 1965, when he ran successfully on the Republican ticket for district attorney in Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see what his constituents do to him.

What attracted me to the 9/12 Project was the emphasis on returning to a clear set of values and principles. Things most of us believe anyway, but simply don't express. This is the list from the 9/12 site:

“The 9 Principles

1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

The 12 Values
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude”

If you can agree with at least 7 of the 9 principles, then you have cause to raise your voice. Yes, absolutely, express yourself at the ballot box. Personally, I think that it is every American's DUTY to vote, not just a right. I've always believed that if you don't vote, shut up. You can't really complain. You wasted your voice. And if you are going to vote, look at the candidates and go with the one that has beliefs that come closest to your own. Politicians will not willingly kill their Golden Calf. That's just the reality of it. An example is that Congress is demanding that senior corporate officers take a voluntary pay cut in the name of financial responsibility. Oddly, it's never been suggested that maybe elected governmental officials take a voluntary pay cut for the same reasons. Just that one act would demonstrate to the American people that our leaders were just as willing to share the sacrifice they were ordering others to make. But it won't happen.

Express with your vote. And if you feel passionately enough, gather, discuss, stage peaceful rallies. It is our country. If we won't fight for it, who will? The 9/12 Project calls us to fight for what we belive in. No more, no less.