I'm a grad student studying Chinese Medicine. In a little less than a month, I'm taking a critical test that will determine whether I move forward into the last year of my program or if I will have to leave the program with the option of re-applying in one year.
When President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence in July, I became an activist for impeachment, a clear distraction at this point in my journey to becoming an acupuncturist. It is a distraction with a very real possibility of forcing me to abandon this path of my journey.
Emotionally, I've been here before.
Prior to to first Iraq war, the Persian Gulf War if you prefer, under George Bush the Elder, I had been accepted to a D.C. area university. Young and idealistic, it was my first time away from home. I opposed the run up to war and felt Bush Sr's State Department mishandled both Saddam and Kuwait in a ways that prevented the possibility of a diplomatic solution. I participated in a few protests (my first), became distracted and depressed to the point of not focusing on my classes. I withdrew from school prior to midterms. I spent about a year in DC, with financial help from my parents and a canvassing job with a group called Sane-Freeze. After a year, I returned to home in the Midwest and went to school at a quality local university.
Rather ironically, I entered grad school shortly before the second Iraq war under Bush the Lessor. While at least equally opposed to this war, I did not feel a personal pressure to take action this time around. I felt for myself and contributions I could offer society, my time would be better spent focusing on school. At school, I directed my activist tendencies to involvement in the student council and also produced an independent email newsletter for my classmates.
The biggest challenge for me during this time was that I have been and remain almost entirely dependent on financial aid. There was one point where I felt particularly squeezed, and that stress carried over into a couple of classes. In negotiating a solution with the school administration, I was asked to leave off my extracurricular activities for a year. I also reduced my course load, allowing financial aid to go further as well as reducing my academic stress. Without an outlet for my activist urges, I felt like I was surviving, but life was bland and my enthusiasm for school low. But at least I worked my way back to solid academic footing. To a very limited extent, I have, if not become actively involved, at least resumed efforts to stay informed about school politics.
With some clear academic hurdles approaching before I entered my final year, I nonetheless felt a lessoning of pressure and a bit of freedom to re-engage in life apart from school. I joined a few meetup groups, have tried to participate in events that would allow me to re-open my social life and get back into dating. Until a biking accident almost a couple of months ago, I had been doing some regular cardio exercise. Though in debt up to my eyeballs with school, my lifestyle has been pretty comfortable, and I've been in a position to appreciate it.
And then on July 2nd, Bush commuted Scooter's sentence. For me, this was the last straw. I think it was for a lot of people, while more are still coming to that same realization. On July 3rd, Wes Clark Jr. published his diary Had Enough?, and it articulated a cause for me worth donning rusty armor and a barber's washbasin. On, Rozinante!
On July 13th, I wrote my first diary in support of the Enough campaign. Since July 15th, I've gone out every Sunday to stand up and say Enough! here in San Francisco. Sometimes by myself, sometimes with one or two others. Along the way to writing fifteen recent diaries supporting impeachment, including this one, I gained TU status on DailyKos for the first time. I feel like I've reached rarified air.
For me, the best day for the Enough protest here in San Francisco was August 12th. It was a gorgeous day. I had two others with me, and people were actively approaching us, rather than simply stopping as they happened to walk by. At least three tourists stopped to get pictures of the protesters, one posing with us. We met some great people from Oregon and Reno, and a man new to San Francisco that same day who ran into us as we were changing location - he even still had luggage with him.
The tourist is the one smiling - what's up with that? I'm going to blame it on squinting from the sun...
Perhaps the oddest non-sequitur so far: one Sunday while Chris and I were at 7th & Mission, we saw a man approaching us in an orange jumpsuit reminiscent of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. We thought perhaps he was coming to join us, but no, he walked right past without even asking about or commenting on our signs. Just out for a normal, casual Sunday stroll in an orange jumpsuit.
This past Sunday was also gorgeous, and I had hoped to have pictures to share. Unfortunately, in a moment of inattention, a passerby decided he needed my camera more than I did. Still, it was a good day to spread the message of impeachment. Traffic at 7th & Mission was good and the tourist crowd was respectable when I moved on to the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market.
One thing that was particularly interesting to me was Chris relating his experience with the World Can't Wait at the Rock the Bells concert Saturday. He was helping them by passing out flyers/postcards and selling orange bandanas. The crowd responded well and was buying the bandanas, though the suggested donation was dropped to $3 from $5, and there were some who tried to offer $1-2. $1 dollar to make a political statement.
With one last hurdle to clear in order to move into my final year studying for my Master's degree in Chinese medicine, I've had occasion to think about what I'm risking in devoting so much energy to the cause of impeachment. Risking for the cause of restoring our Constitutional checks and balances and the ideals it represents. How many of those offering $1 to make a statement would take any further action?
Two things have been particularly rewarding since taking up this cause. I have especially appreciated the positive reception my diaries have received and the sense of community available here. I also gained more from my meeting with Nancy Pelosi's Deputy District Director than I anticipated (long version, less-long version, just-for-fun version). I hope that it represented the opportunity for a path to true accountability from the administration.
So yeah, I'm approaching a critical juncture in my journey to becoming an acupuncturist. But I'm performing well in my classes right now. I'm preparing for this test at the end of the quarter that will determine whether I can move on to my final year or if I will have to set aside my ambition for at least a year, uncertain if I'll be able to return or not. But this feels right. I enjoy supporting a community I believe in. I feel it's necessary to stand up in support and defense of the ideals that built a nation with great untapped potential. So I'm willing to take the risk. With a few butterflies and a twinge or two from the base of my spine, but I'll continue standing to say Enough!
I've determined I need an outlet for my community and political passions. How about you? I'm a small voice, barely a whisper. If you haven't already, will you stand up and add your whisper to mine? Can we build it into the loudest whisper since the Vietnam antiwar and the civil rights movements?
Take Action
Contact Your Representative: Congress.org or the House Directory
Join or start an Enough protest near you
Participate in Orange Fridays
Join the 9/11 General Strike
March on September 15th
If you're in San Francisco on Saturday September 15th, join us for another round of Beach Impeach at Crissy Field at 1:00 pm.
Join the Iraq Moratorium September 21st
[update] I'd like to add a reference to a great diary in a different, but related vein by Bcgntn that just posted: Achieving Peace in a World Built on Defense