(from "The Weekly Press," March 16, 2011, by John Dowlin)
The gradual, but also sudden maturing of democracy — here and abroad
PA Independent voters John Dowlin and Jenn Bullock join California's Jayson Olsen
at the IndependentVoting.org conference in New York, Feb. 12, 2011
Given the problems facing the average Pennsylvanian—loss of homes, jobs, healthcare, even safe drinking water—what’s a citizen to do?
• Hold a loved one tightly, and breathe deeply.
• Catch the next $1 MegaBus to Canada.
• Announce on Twitter the ten politicians and/or Wall Street CEOs we will not abduct, in the interest of civil discourse and conflict resolution.
• Meet with family and friends over coffee, and pick one "small project" to get to work on.
If you picked all of the above, I’m with you. I like these options, and since—for example—not conducting a citizen’s arrest of our new governor is perfectly legal, that’s also attractive. But hey, he’s hardly been in office two months, so let’s give him a chance. While campaigning he did promise some good things. For example, he said he’d work to open Pennsylvania’s primaries to all voters, even independents, since all state voters pay for the primaries.
