t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | Here. Now.

Leaders never lead, unless the people lead them. Leaders, left to their own devices, will follow the call of the folks writing the checks. For too long in this country, the people have abdicated their basic responsibility - to rule. In the absence of the people's leadership, our elected officials have begun listening to the corporations and the well-funded interest groups instead. The result is the mess we are in. This is without question a bi-partisan problem that affects both parties. Look no further than the fact that the vast majority of newly registered voters sign up as Independent.

There is an email making the rounds nowadays carrying an article by a right-wing radio personality named Chuck Baldwin. The article was originally sent out on an email list called 'The Republican,' and is entitled "Bush Government Out of Control." Mr. Baldwin laments the passage of the Homeland Security legislation and the establishment of the outrageously Orwellian 'Total Information Awareness' database. This database, run by convicted felon John Poindexter of Iran/Contra fame, will collect personal data on your purchases - including guns - along with school grades, websites visited, and trips taken. In one paragraph, Mr. Baldwin asks a powerful question: "Does that mean one must leave the Republican Party in order to fight for liberty? Maybe so."

Maybe it has gone too far to be fixed. Between the PATRIOT Act and this new Homeland Security Department, there is very little substance left to the founding documents and principles that once were the people's sword and shield.

You do not have to be rich or powerful or well-connected to erect a sign in your yard. You do not have to be a salesperson to hand out informational leaflets at a bus stop. You do not have to be young to volunteer with an organization. You do not have to be liberal to know that something is badly, badly out of joint.

Do something. Do anything.

At the end of the day, it does not matter what you do. A sign in your yard, a button in the lapel of your coat, an email sent around to friends, will have a small but salutary effect. It will make others in the country who feel isolated in their fear that something has gone terribly wrong understand that they are not alone.

A long excerpt from me on a powerful article. You are not alone. Do something and you may find someone else. Try to educate and tell people what they don't get in the national media, and you may create another voice of reason.