egalitarianism: 1: A belief in human equality esp. with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges 2: a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people 
populist: 1: A member of a political party claiming to represent the common people; esp, of cap: a member of a U.S. political party formed in 1891 primarily to represent agrarian interests and to advocate the free coinage of silver and government control of monopolies 2: a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people
         ~Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition

The night before Halloween, my husband and I went to Asheville High School to hear Jim Hightower, author of Thieves in High Places. He has been crisscrossing the country for months, promoting his book and getting a "feel for the will of the people," as well as offering his investigative approach as to what is happening in Washington. It is, he states, time for us to take back America; to have our country run "by and for the people," not corporate America. His demeanor reminded me of the stage play I saw of Will Rogers: a humble, "ah, shucks" personality, supported by a sharp mind and very quick wit. In an hour’s time, he made the audience aware of how much is happening behind the scenes in Washington.

As Mr. Hightower spoke, he held up four pages of "bullet type" on changes of the rules that have occurred in just one agency—the Environmental Protection Agency. The White House can (and did) instigate these changes without a vote or our knowledge, and without it being reported by our news media. That is just one agency. A week after we saw Mr. Hightower, NPR reported that the EPA has stopped the lawsuits against coal plants that had been served with violations of the Clean Air Act currently on the court docket, and has stopped all further investigation on other violators that were in the works.

Mr. Hightower reflected on the brash, young America that was run by big business—the one that made profits for the rich, with little concern for anything else. He mentioned how, over many decades, that America changed into a caring society—from its fight for a woman’s right to vote, to programs for the poor, displaced homeless of the 30’s, through the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s, and back full-circle to women’s rights with Roe vs. Wade and the ERA. With each fight, our nation journeyed closer toward an egalitarian society. In two short years, it has boomeranged back to the era of big business grabbing control of our government.

In the early days of America, newspapers were often the voice of a particular party, which was reflected its name: The____ Democrat or The (City) Republican. These "rags" served the purpose of getting the word out to the voters who followed the party line, and wanted to be told how to vote. In America today, big-business-multi-media giants are gobbling up newspapers, radio and television stations, and book publishers with negative impact. Although there are many book imprints—Doubleday, Random House, Penguin, Warner, etc.—all are owned by only five major publishing companies. Radio stations are being devoured and fed canned programs that require no human at the station—which has led to major problems when disaster warnings cannot be broadcast. John Q. Public doesn’t have a clue that he has to step outside of America’s mainstream broadcasts to get inklings of what is really happening in our country.

Three months before any U.S. media mentioned Ambassador Wilson’s wife being "outed" by the White House as a CIA agent, I’d read about in on truthout.com, which is a collection of scholarly journals edited by William Rivers Pitt. A few months later, my husband and I attended Pitt’s presentation at the Unitarian Church in Asheville, where we learned about the problems with Diebold’s voting machines and the possibility of software being manipulated to "give" an election to a particular party. We also learned the CEO of Diebold is a major contributor and fundraiser for President Bush. In the past week, I have read that California is suing Diebold for errors in their recent election, and the Florida 2000 Presidential Election count was influenced by Fox Network’s statement of 4,000 votes for Bush (reported from a Diebold voting machine county) that later disappeared!

Recently new high-tech computer voting machines in Boone County, Ind., counted 144,000 votes in an election with fewer than 19,000 eligible voters.(The Week) We need a paper back-up to our system!

And we need to be well-read in other arenas of our news. Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men and Dude, Who Stole My Country? and the movie Bowling for Columbine offers a Website with current information, and hot links at: www.michaelmoore.com

A new magazine called The Week recently appeared in my library, with encapsulated paragraphs of world-wide news stories offered to educate America about what the rest of the world believes—and what is not being reported by our own media. www.theweekmagazine.com

I took great pride in my fellow librarians for leading the fight against the Patriot Act. Immediately, Ashcroft referred to the "hysterics" of certain groups—trying to cast the image of us as hysterical women. That really got our dander up. When he reported it "had never been used" by the FBI in any library across our land, over 200 instances were immediately reported by the American Library Association to disprove his "claim." Our fear is that the government will use this Act as a weapon to collect data against whomever it "deems" a terrorist.

Look around at what is happening. Yesterday, I saw a report on CNN that a California businessman was bribing local officials to loosen the laws about physical contact with his "female dancers," and was charged with violating the Patriot Act. Since when are prostitution and bribery terrorist acts? And, in Boone, North Carolina, the attorney general charged a portable meth lab owner with two counts of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Patriot Act allows Ashcroft and his ilk to peep, to search without warrant, to tape, and to investigate without limits to cause. This establishes the opportunity of over-zealous enforcement agents to twist the law to fit their desire to what they believe is bad or evil. Next, it will be book-banning or book-burning. Or, one of us will be under investigation for having the nerve to question those with power and control. This law wrenches away our civil rights; we must take a stand and work for its demise. When Ashcroft recently traveled "nationwide" to promote the Patriot Act, he never once appeared in front of the "common man:" his speeches, covered by the press, were only in front of enforcement agencies. My ire convinced me to join the American Civil Liberties Union, to stand up and be counted in my concern.

I worry about the future of America. If we do not stand together for our rights, for the common man, for the poor, for the disenfranchised, for the homeless, for the cultural, racial and ethnic minorities, for the elderly, and for our environment, what will be America’s fate in the years ahead? I want a world of peace. Does America believe in peace? America’s Department of War became the Department of State, but we have never had a Department of Peace.

I think it is time we opt for peace. Praise the Goddess.

Gabrielle Thompson lives with her husband Ed and daughter Lyric in the mountains of western North Carolina at Eco-Cove, a 117-acre wildlife sanctuary and trout farm. She has a degree in Anthropology and is Coordinator of Library Services at McDowell Technical Community College. Previously she helped Ed build, sail, and charter the 75’ schooner, SATORI for 14 years in the Virgin Islands. She is a freelance writer and has written two unpublished novels. In December 2002, she had an article published in Moments of Grace Magazine, with an introduction by Neale Donald Walsch.