911. Where were YOU? What were you thinking?

In my case, I was offshore on a boat, and a friend called me to turn on a radio. When I did, and heard the description of the Towers in flames, not five seconds had passed by before the thought came to mind: "Oh my God, here comes Fascism!" In an instant, I had thought of the Reichstag fire in Germany and saw that this now opened up the possibility for the Bush regime to crackdown on dissent and advance just about any military policy they wanted. I guess I wasn't that far off.

I'm sure I am not the only person who got it without needing a roadmap. You just need some knowledge of history and a few examples of how dictatorships start in other countries. I happened to have had the privilege of living abroad for a number of years and got to hear other perspectives on US and world history. Unfortunately (but not by accident) very few Americans ever get that kind of education at home. It's just not in the curriculum.

911 is not an occurrence unto itself, but rather the consequence of a myriad of things that should be open to examination.

911 was--minimally--a massive failure of systems throughout our nation. Defense systems, Communication systems, and Judicial systems. Criminal law and media systems. There never was any meaningful investigation. There never was any trial. Massive amounts of evidence were disturbed, tampered with or destroyed before any investigation even could take place (that in itself constitutes a crime). Instead, we were TOLD who the guilty parties were, and given snippets of items and stories presented as though they were evidence. But evidence it was not. It was never substantiated nor open to scrutiny.

For all intents and purposes our entire Air Defense System of NORAD failed us. Much of our communications were bungled. This was the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.

And yet--amazingly--no one was fired! No resignations were asked for. At very least you could reasonably expect the firing of the head of the Air Force, or NORAD, or the Secretary of Defense. If you had been night watchman at a 7-11 the night there was a break-in, the next morning you'd be out on the street. Instead we saw promotions--more responsibility and power given to those very ones whose role it was to have protected us. Incompetence (or worse) rewarded. Then we were told we should trust these same folks to make us safer!??

None of this is probably new to you. But did you ever stop to think, "How did they get away with that? WHY did our representatives not demand such resignations? Why didn't they demand immediate investigations into both the facts about the attacks and about the lack of any reasonably professional response?"

Virtually NO ONE in this great nation stood up publicly to demand such accountability of our greatest public tragedy. The fear and intimidation was so strong! The media networks had become a solid wall of, yes, grieving--but also of faux patriotism, alarmism, and xenophobia. There was no space left for REASON. Anyone talking about possible motives the perpetrators of the terrible act might have had for acting that way (other than "They hate our Freedoms") was instantly labeled a traitor. Reason was on extended leave.

Surely, all of our elected representatives KNEW that their own re-election would now be predicated upon getting tough on terrorism--and not on finding out why or how this happened.

So I ask you, did our 2-party system work to demand explanations? Did it work to find the truth? Did it work to put checks on overzealous members of the Administration who used the despair and fear following 911 to change--and dramatically overhaul--much of our legal system? Did it work to pinpoint or capture the perpetrators of 911? Did it help solve the now-forgotten Anthrax Attacks that so quickly followed 911--then vanished inexplicably?

It should be evident, then, that on 911 what failed all of us--besides NORAD--was our very political and electoral system which, in the ensuing weeks and months, lead us to war, then more war, rapidly gutting our rights, and shredding our Constitution in the process.

So...why would the Green Party have something special to say about 911?

Isn't it basically an environmental party?

Yes. Indeed. Greens are THE environmental party. However, Greens' understanding and vision of the Planet calls for knowledgeable, responsible Stewardship, not only for the natural, physical environment, but also--and importantly--for our human, social, cultural and geopolitical environment as well. Greens believe you can't have a healthy planet without healthy democracies. That means participation and respect.

The Green Agenda is as focused on Social Justice as it is as on Environmental Responsibility.

The aftermath of 911 has seen a coordinated series of attacks on the practice of democracy in our nation on many levels. But this has been happening for a long time--it is now just accelerated because those who see a very different future for America have their hands on nearly all the controls and switches.

Is our "2-party" system able to stop this? Is our "2-party" system even capable of questioning it?

60% of Americans today want us out of Iraq. Has that made a whit of difference? About 80% of registered Democrats are opposed to staying in Iraq. Is that at all reflected in the actions of their party? I thought the idea of democracy was that the citizens were to collectively participate in the decision-making through their representatives who would consult them.

Our representatives for the most part do not represent us, but rather represent those monied interests that pay for their election--in a system that REQUIRES such payments to get attention. We don't make it easy to run--and we don't make it easy to vote. Of course the money that paid for the campaign and election later serves as a down-payment for legislation when a candidate gets into office.

Ned Lamont's campaign, while heartening to those supporting Rule of Law and opposing Preventive Designer Wars is, in fact, a notable exception that highlights the rule: unless you're a millionaire, you don't have a chance to get your point heard.

These 911 reflections are not specifically about the Green Party, but about core concerns for the health of democratic participation in decisions that affect us all--from one Green's point of view. We should ALL be concerned that what is touted as the Worlds' Leading Democracy is, in the eyes of a growing number of people here and world-wide, not a functioning democracy at all.

But some will ask: when the Green Party runs candidates, doesn't that just siphon away votes from possibly more winnable candidates? Look, you can't manacle someone and force them to vote for you (at least not yet). To get a vote--in theory at least-- you have to EARN it...or have one of those little black boxes.

From discussion to debate to popular pressure to legislation--you can't expect a new direction without a new politics. Current fear-driven Democratic politics neither tells us where we should be going, nor points out clearly what is wrong with where we are. When they DO "talk tough" to the neoCons, they go on about being "wrong", "mistaken", or, occasionally "incompetent". What is incompetent about building 14 bases and the world's largest embassy using no-bid crony contracts on the taxpayers' nickel?? That's what they wanted, that's what they got--everything else (including Iraqis, Katrina victims and US elections) is just "collateral damage."

So why don't Dems just come out and say so? How can you talk about today's politics without without mentioning lies, violation of the Constitution or impeachable offenses? How can we rationally discuss 911 or what to learn from it?

You can't. So the choice is either to remain mute or to mumble gibberish. We get a lot of both.

For a Sane, Safe and Fair America, we must change the discourse of politics and provide a new vision! Avoiding the homegrown fascist steamroller will likely take quite a bit more than simple "politics as usual" electioneering--especially given current election reliability.

Why point the finger at Greens and other third parties for "spoiling" elections, while elected officials are spending months and taxpayer dollars to void the registrations of tens of thousands of voters? Why not actively DO something about our elections depending on huge money, corporate media, and absurd election laws? If we don't change this, we are in for more of the same.

Greens and others who are standing up and working to wake people up to the desperate need to change our priorities, our discourse, and our election system are not the problem. Let's get honest representatives of real working people into office.

The 2000 elections in Florida and the 2004 Ohio vote and most recently in California--ALL have come under serious questioning. Evidence abounds of wide-scale, biased voter disenfranchisement and ballot disqualification. Books like Mark Crispin Miller's Fooled Again by and How the GOP Stole the 2004 Election by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Bob Fitrakis point to organized fraud.

Who was it, in the end, that called for a recount in Ohio? Green presidential candidate David Cobb and the Libertarian Badnarik. Everyone else? AWOL.

Just look at 911 and then to the unimaginable aftermath of war, torture, eroding civil liberties, and more stolen elections. Can you realistically expect an appropriate solution from the two major parties?

Who has stood up for US, the American People in Congress? Who has said "No!" to illegal acts by the Administration? Who has stopped the gutting of our Treasury with enormous war expenditures and tax breaks while people go without decent jobs and healthcare? Who has taken no-bid corporate mercenaries like Halliburton to task with congressional hearings? Who stopped the banking industry from writing its own bankruptcy "reform" bill? No one.

Is there any question that we need MORE Political Voices and MORE Choices today than ever before--voices not tied limb, soul, and bank account to Corporate "Deciders"?

Both major parties work together to prevent other voices from being heard. We can no longer afford to accept that. They define the agenda, they make (and often break) the rules, then proscribe any dissent.

What about progressive forces within the Democratic Party changing it from within? It would be nice if it were that simple. Not unlike "the Official 911 Story", however, there is little or no evidence to support that notion as credible. Democratic writers like David Sirota routinely expose the DLC-led attacks on any and all progressives within his party.

Just winning seats in Congress is not enough. We had eight years of Bill Clinton and where did it get us? NAFTA, FTAA and further corporate media concentration. Then it dropped us on the doorstep of the Fourth Reich. It may have delayed the Neo-Cons for a few years but gave them cover in the meantime to articulate PNAC (the Project for the New American Century)--their blueprint for Iraq, Iran and so much more.

With such a radical threat to our democracy, the role of an Opposition Party would be to warn us of what was going on (as Ike tried, albeit very late), and to rally the people in defense of our Constitution. You can hardly do that while feeding at the same corporate trough. That's the problem that won't go away. The recent firing of Mike Malloy by Air America Radio only underscores the dangers of expecting any salvation from traditional parties who only string us along, while enabling attacks on Free Speech.

In conclusion, we have much work to do--and we need to find new ways to communicate and work together. That didn't deter the Patriots of '76, however, and we are in need of role models. We need new leadership, new structures and renewed courage. We need to re-empower unions, civic, neighborhood, and other groups. People need to find ways to plug in and make their voices heard. We have to re-dedicate ourselves to guarantee and maintain a functioning democracy here.

911, if anything, must remind us that only WE can safeguard our freedoms, rights and heritage of a government of, by and for the people.

This is not a lesson frozen in our history books. History is NOW--and WE are the subjects of it, not the objects. We only become the objects of it (that is, let it happen to us instead of MAKING it happen) if we choose to do so.

Here are some Reforms we need for a fair, open, and reliable voting process in the US. This is minimally what we need to work for.

- Employ voting systems we can trust and and use for RE-counts such as paper ballots.
- Take money out of the process by public financing of candidacies.
- Make uniform and fair ballot access laws.
- Require political debates to be televised at the expense of the media which owes the public for the use of its airwaves.
- Open those debates.
- Make it possible for independent "3rd party" candidates to run without so-called "spoiling" the election by adopting IRV (Instant Runoff Voting)--see fairvote.org.

People must get involved if they want to have a Free and Open nation into the future. We need to think creatively to bring about change. For many of us it may simply mean talking to our friends and family. It may mean sharing books and videos. Creating those one-on-one dialogs may be the most effective thing we can do. Let's become engines of change. Help our less informed friends relying on corporate media to find new channels of alternative information.

Another thing to consider. If you seek an end to this illegal and immoral war, and call for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney, and would like to see your voice actually counted, you can register Green--no matter how you use your 20 minutes in the voting booth. Your registration would make an eloquent, meaningful statement--and one that gets counted. Then, vote for the best candidates, while keeping an eye on the voting--and counting--process.

911 reminds us that we must go beyond sit-at-home politics and become active players if we want to give our children a nation we can be proud of. The fight for democracy is here at home, not abroad. We are on the front lines and the outcome depends on us.

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Alan Kobrin is co-chair of the MiamiDade Green party