With apologies to the great UU choir directors I have known, I have to tell you a joke—because it is just so completely apt.

Why do Unitarians sing so badly?
Because they are always reading ahead to see if they agree with the words.

It’s not even all that funny. If you know Unitarians, just nod in acknowledgment.

Earlier I mentioned that one of my favorite political songs is Steve Earle’s “The Revolution Starts Now.” I might have mentioned it a couple of times, and I might mention it a couple more. One fine commentor suggested other music if I like Steve Earle. It’s not about the sound and the style, and it’s not so much that I like Steve Earle, though I’m sure he’s great. It’s about the story he tells.

I was walkin’ down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin’ to a beat
That I’d never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written ‘cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin’ standin’ around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered ‘round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

Sarangel Music (ASCAP)

What this song tells me is that revolution is work. It isn’t domination. It is cooperation and community. That’s a story I can believe. I read ahead, and that’s a song I can sing.

Apparently I’m not the only one. Actually, I’m sure I’m way behind the curve on this one. Listen to Steve Earle’s show The Revolution Starts Now on Air America late Sundays or by podcast. I listened to last week’s show with Dick Cavett. It was like a trip back to my musical infancy watching music on his show.

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VOTE. Find your polling place.

VOLUNTEER. Find your local party to call and volunteer.

PARTY. There must be a party in your neighborhood tonight. Go! Or make your own party and invite the neighbors.

If you have trouble voting today, call The Hotline 1-888-DEM-VOTE (1-888-336-8683). Let them know if you have problems, need answers, need to find your polling location, or just want to know your voting rights.

Know Your Voting Rights (all three of them)

1. 1. If you have problems, you are still entitled to cast a provisional ballot.
2. 2. If you are in line before the poll’s closing time, you are entitled to vote.
3. 3. You are entitled to view a sample ballot at the polling place before voting.

First, know basic voting rights info.

Are you going to be talking to people today? How about printing an information card or flyer. Here are several flyers that look decent, including one doorhanger with the voting rights and hotline information above.

If people tell you they’ve been deluged with phone calls, listen carefully. Could those have been deceptive Republican robocalls like so many people around the county have been reporting? Be calm, be clear, be prepared. Know what is going on in the rest of the country, and tell people about it.
Be prepared for anything, Howard Dean wrote today.

Count every vote, and make every vote count.

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Vote for a Democrat no matter what this November, even if they are a DINO.

If we take back power, the following will happen:

- At least 9 Congressional Progressive Caucus Members would become Committee Chairmen or Chairwomen
- An additional 35 Congressional Progressive Caucus Members would become Subcommittee Chairmen or Chairwomen.

The following Progressive Caucus Members would become Committee Chairs:

- Congressman George Miller, Chairman of Education and Workforce Committee
- Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman of Financial Services
- Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of Government Reform
- Congressman Bennie Thompson, Chairman of Homeland Security Committee
- Congressman Tom Lantos, Chairman of International Relations Committee
- Congressman John Conyers, Chairman of Judiciary Committee
- Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of Rules Committee
- Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman of Small Business Committee
- Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of Ways and Means Committee

The following Progressive Caucus Members would become Subcommittee Chairs:

- Appropriations Subcommittees — Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Marcy Kaptur and Congressmen John Olver, Jose Serrano, and Ed Pastor
- Armed Services Subcommittee, Congressman Neil Abercrombie
- Education and Workforce Subcommittees, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Congressman Dennis Kucinich
- Energy and Commerce Subcommittees, Congressman Ed Markey and Congresswomen Jan Schakowsky and Hilda Solis
- Financial Services Subcommittee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Luis Gutierrez
- Government Reform Subcommittees, Congresswoman Diane Watson and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis of Illinois, and William “Lacy” Clay
- International Relations Subcommittee, Congressman Donald Payne
- Judiciary Subcommittees, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-L! ee and Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Melvin Watt
- Interior Subcomm ittees, Congressmen Raul Grijalva and Tom Udall and Congresswoman Donna Christensen
- Rules Subcommittees, Congressman Jim McGovern
- Small Business Subcommittees, Congresswomen Madeleine Bordallo
- Transportation and Infrastructure, DeFazio, Filner, Holmes-Norton, and C. Brown
- Ways and Means Subcommittees, Congressmen Pete Stark, Jim McDermott, and John Lewis of Georgia

It’s that critical. Please spread the word.

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There was a time, even a couple of years ago, when people were still whispering about fascism. I read the transcripts of a sermons by the Austin, Texas, UU Minister and former Vietnam combat photographer, Dr. Davidson Loehr on “Living under Fascism.” (Now part of his book, America, Fascism, and God.) It was electric to see someone put it into words, to go through Lawrence Britt’s 14 points of fascism and check them off one by one. I realized I wasn’t alone in recognizing the creeping authoritarianism in the U.S. (and beyond).

As soon as it was reprinted in early 2005, I read Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here (1935). I took it overseas with me and wondered. Just wondered. (Come on. I know people who wonder whether their harmless and 1st-amendment protected novels will cause trouble during a search.)

As I’ve seen several times in the past few days George Allen’s people assault the (blogger) man asking Allen about his first wife, I’ve considered what made the tough guys believe it was OK to tackle this guy for asking a question (even if it was personal). “Did you spit on your first wife?” BAM! Down he goes. “Now you’re getting personal,” said one of the thugs. Isn’t that man’s speech protected by the 1st Amendment? That hasn’t been repealed yet, has it? Yes, of course it’s not fascism when we do it.

I already wrote about the Bush administration’s fun with the term “Islamofascism.” Tossing the word around makes it more familiar and, perhaps, less scary. It still scares me, though.

Then I read an article and listen to a story this past month that bring it into the present. First was the Truthdig podcast by Robert Scheer including American Fascism, then an article by Stan Goff, a Special Forces veteran, on “Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in America.”

I have spent enough time studying the fascist movements of the mid-twentieth century that I realize we are frogs boiling slowly. It’s happening so slowly that we don’t jump. JUMP!

What good does vigilance do us. Yes, I’m paying attention. Yes, I see it. What do I do about it? The answer I’m coming up with right now is so simple: VOTE.

And encourage those around you to vote. Talk to the people around you about the dangers of authoritarianism. Face to face is the place we have the most power. Tell the other frogs to jump.

• American: From Freedom to Fascism (feature film by Aaron Russo)
  Review: “The scariest damn film you’ll see this year. . . . Makes ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ look like ‘Bambi.’”
  Watch it at Google Video.

• Positive Universe - Fascism Watch Headlines

• Third World Traveler - linked up resources

• It Isn’t Fascism When We Do It - Buy the shirt, support Project for the Old American Century

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The voting troubles have begun. Even my local early voting is jammed. I voted last week, but I had no wait and no problems (that I know of). I had intended to vote absentee, but the County Clerk’s office was slow slow slow in sending out the information. (I signed up months ago, and the signature form arrived only after I voted early on the electronic machines.) At least part of the reason I voted early was to vote at the public library rather than at a church. I DON’T WANT TO VOTE AT A CHURCH. How can that be approved? Is it just Utah? At the public library, Dan Jones asked me who I voted for, so I told Mr. pollster man-boy.

News of the voting troubles seems to be mainstream. Is HBO mainstream? Diebold doesn’t like HBO’s new documentary, Hacking Democracy, to be shown in heavy rotation this coming weekend. If you need convincing that the situation is serious, take a quick look at the HBO interview with Bev Harris, founder of Black Box Voting.

Get serious and get out there. My local party has teams of poll watchers to send out on election day. There are national fair voting campaigns for any level of commitment except apathy.

• TEXT MESSAGE. The Ruckus Society (the people who brought us the War Profiteers playing cards) will text message you to go to your local polling place if you are needed. Watch the video first.

• VIDEO. Video the Vote is encouraging people to take their phones and cameras to polling places to document what they find. Register there as a videographer. For the moment, it’s still legal for you to videotape the exercise of democracy.

• From HOUSE PARTY to LAWSUIT. For the seriously committed, Black Box Voting has prepared an amazingly thorough Citizen’s Toolkit. Register there to become part of the National Hand Count Registry. They have also provided online chapters of the book Black Box Voting to help you as you discuss the issues.

• MANY CAMPAIGNS. A longish article on Alternet Monday links to many of the campaigns to document the vote and prevent fraud.

For now, the government is still what we the people say it can be. Get up on your feet, find out what is going on locally, and tell everyone else. If all we can say is, “All’s quiet,” we’ll all share our surprise together.

Update: Alternet started a center for Voting Resources.  Good stuff.

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