The revolution won't have an alarm clock

Tomorrow morning is, of course, Monday morning. We all love Monday morning. It is so much fun to move from a couple of days of fun and relaxation to the force labor behind a paycheck. Or whatever it is you do on a Monday morning. Me, I have to drag my butt up and ... go nowhere. I work at home now. However, just like almost everyone else, I have two things I have to do:

One, I have to get on with my job. Thankfully, that no longer means biking across the Ross Island Bridge in semi-darkness to a desk job that was getting more unpleasant by the day. Working for myself is more enjoyable and has a lot more pressure involved. Especially since I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'm making this up as I go along. I know I'll get it right, but it's going to take a while. In the meantime...

Thing To Do #2: Keep the progressive movement going. In my mind, that does not mean helping to pass a public option or working for any particular policy or legislation. Those are simply mechanisms to achieve important goals (eg, the goal is not a public option; the goal is access to health care for everyone). The progressive movement is about ordinary folks, those of us who don't hold public office, who don't work in a Senator's office, who are not nationally known pundits — it's about us being involved in the political process on an on-going basis. Doing something, anything, everyday to help The Cause. Writing a letter to the editor on Monday; phoning Rep Blumenauer on Tuesday; talking to a friend about why the Tax Fairness Bills matter on Wednesday; and so on. That's the progressive movement: People at the grassroots working for change in whatever ways are open to us.

So you at your desk, or behind the counter, or at home — wherever you are — can move the progressive movement forward tomorrow in some small way. It will matter; it will help. Just get up as you do any Monday morning, get on with your life, and look for any opportunity to do something. Five-to-ten minutes; that's all it takes. Your morning break: phone Wyden's office and say, "Keep fighting for that public option!" Spend 15 minutes in the evening reading about a policy issue; get yourself a little better informed.

The revolution will happen gradually. If we all do a little something everyday, it will come. Slowly, but it will come. There won't be any grand announcement; in fact, we'll probably recognize it in hindsight. But if we all get up tomorrow morning, get on with our normal lives and, at some point, do one thing for democracy, the revolution will come.

Nothing will be able to stop it.