Regarding the illegal and unconstitutional arrest and imprisonment of American journalists outside the RNC in the last couple of days, and the raids on their rented accommodations to confiscate their gear and recordings:

I got an email from my good friend C., a smart guy, a fellow liberal involved with the campaign, who said he’s confident that we’ll “win by a landslide.”

Well, yeah, we sure as hell should… BUT:

If you’re like me, this is the same ol’ daily news; just more girls getting their heads cracked by riot police in the name of “defending liberty.” I first saw this up close at age ten, on the UCB campus in ‘68, and it’s amazed me that it’s never really become a thing of the past in American life. And while many countries in the civilized world have since grown up, there is still a tendency in America for the balance of power to tip in favor of organizations who embrace violence and force, and against those who embrace communication and reason. We can change that, but not through over-confidence.

In such an unthinking country, we can’t rest on our laurels, and be self-righteously “ho-hum” about anything, even if we know we are right, especially now. Not about this all-too-familiar continuation of past police tactics outside an RNC (never forget Chicago ‘68), nor about the most pivotal election in our lifetimes. This, of all times since I’ve been born, is the TIME FOR AMERICAN LIBERALS TO GROW SOME F***ING TEETH.

More importantly, WE CAN’T BE COMPLACENT. Yes, we should win by a landslide. Yes, the glaring wrongness, the screw-the-constitution-in-the-name-of-personal-gain pathos in the GOP that is counter to everything that is truly American SHOULD be obvious to all, but I’ve learned—we’ve all learned, I hope—to underestimate neither the ignorance nor the gullibility of the American voting public, nor the power of misled (or stolen) votes.

A landslide is what should happen, but unless we hit our fellow Americans on the head with bumper-sticker simplicity—the equivalent of beer cans and baseball bats—we may very well lose.

We’re up against the Republicans, who are superior tacticians, and who do not have the disadvantage of being driven by what is best for the many. They get that Americans are dumb, they steal any election that’s close enough for the masses of sheep to buy it, and in their vanguard, marching next to their drummer-boy, they have a soccer mom, buddy. And while that might make their ticket cute but invalid in a sane universe, this is America. Our countrymen always choose the right thing, but only in the rare instance that they’re made aware of what the hell it is. Unfortunately, they won’t get it from CNN, that’s for sure, so we had all better BE THE VOICE OF WE, THE PEOPLE.

Take this election seriously, not for granted, and don’t be afraid to lead your fellow countrymen to understanding—even if you have to hit them over the head with the Constitution, like house-training a puppy with a newspaper.