In a society where the few and the powerful exploit and lie to the majority of citizens, this is just. Look at Greece, in the news recently, riots in the streets. Look at France, where students rioted for weeks, and changed the law that would have hurt them, and would have been passed without a change, were it not for their resistance. But in America, this sort of action strikes fear into the hearts of Armchair Patriots everywhere. Once upon a time, in Boston, such love and truth-made-action would not have seemed quite so outlandish.

It's just that the extreeeeemely comfy, lazy, hypnotized, apathetic, over-intellectualizing, brain-diseased/TV-fed "Modern American" cannot imagine taking to the streets en masse. Sure some college students, and Cindy Sheehan will. But on the whole, this sort of option is relegated to the well-glazed pages of History books. Perhaps the attitude is exemplified well in a blog I read this morning, which (earnestly) claimed that "In a liberal democracy like ours civil disobedience and revolution are almost never moral or justified." Perhaps this speech is all about theory, and therefore, I ought not to conflate it with the actual practical situation of living in a Democracy.

Yet, with this attitude so well defended, no wonder the sight of so many politically active, street-marchin', sign-carrying Mexicans completely freaks out so many, "citizens," who no longer care to make waves, but are mostly content with being told what is Right, and who was "elected," and thus, what their fate will be. Even when Americans sense they are being screwed, they just don't know what to do about it. They just sigh, or vote online for polls that express their "outrage." They bicker on electronic blogs, email CNN, and argue on TV or over barbecues or during commercial spots—only to mourn later over their fate by wearing T-shirts, mumbling under their breath, or bickering on electronic blogs. They walk past their books on Thoreau, MLK, or Gandhi sitting dusty on the shelf, and in a minute or two, they are completely distracted by the arrival of their new ergonomic mousepad, via UPS.

However, Mexico is not content with such nonsense, because (you see), Mexicans Stand Up for What is Right.

Perhaps you have heard about the turmoil in Mexico, right now, over the presidential election. Perhaps not. These major events in the US's Southern neighbor rarely get much notice in the USA MSM press.

For instance, unless you pay attention to Mexican politics, you probably don't know the difference between Obrador and Calderón, the two candidates vying for the vote, which is now "up in the air." Let me give you the quick n dirty:

Calderón=Bush Jr. He's for the rich, for NAFTA, for a fence on the border (although he now claims, in the purgatory of this undecided election, that he is no longer for such a thing).

Obrador=Brown Robin Hood. He actually ran on a platform that would benefit the poor of Mexico.

Well, we both know that is no way to impress Bush, the powerful leaders of the world, or anyone who can help put the fix in. The poor? I mean, please. Fuck the poor! I predicted the outcome to my wife. I said "Obrador will win big, but they will fix it to show the slighest win by the Right." I mean, you don't need to be a genius to see patterns emerge and remember them. And for another thing, dig the demographics of wealthy Mexican Northerners vs poor Mexican Restofthecountry. Rocket Science to see who would win in a fair election?

Of course, just like when Bush stole the US election in '04, there were many indicators that in reality, he lost by a sizable amount. I'm guessing it's more than 1%, his mighty Mandate. I can't know for sure, of course, how much it was. (Oh, I know, you may disagree. But I just won't enter certain arguments, because some arguments are lost the moment you entertain the framing. The moment you agree to argue with a ghost over whether chamomile or spearmint makes a better nightcap, you cannot deny you are now seeing ghosts, you see?)

Regardless, you can't realistically fix a two-way contest by just flipping the numbers (assuming you lost by any noticeable amount). You have to maintain a semblance of reality, so you only fix it the other way a tiny bit. This is why some say "if more people would have voted, they would not have been ABLE to fix the 2004 election." But that is nonsense. Enough people voted. I say, if the Republicans would not have switched votes, blocked phone lines, purged voter rolls, etc....Justice would have been done. But that would have enabled the left to win. And more often than not, the left is for the poor and the downtrodden and those who don't jump into war at every single slight or trouble. And as it is said, Fuck the Poor!

Either way, I won't go off on a long thread there...about how corrupt both sides are here in America. (But we know it's true.)

Well I was right, of course. Calderon and his crew came out saying that he won by ONE WHOLE PERCENT!!! Before they were done counting, the papers were celebrating his "lead." The two state-run TV stations began trumpeting the lie, on cue. And the US press began echoing the Fox trick that aided Bush so well. I grew infuriated. Discussing the ongoing voto count, Obrador was referred to as "the candidate," while Calderón was called "the president" or "Mexico's new possible president." Obrador was said to be "behind in the count," (although those counting the ballots and part of the current Mexican government's drive to help Calderón take the Presidency were counting all the North/wealthy voting districts first and very cleverly tallying in a very particular order to give the impression that Calderóns votes were neck-in-neck), and Calderón was (US papers said) "in the lead."

In the lead? With ONE PERCENT of a lead? And the count wasn't done? (This "lead" quickly shrunk to less than one percent (0.6%) once more districts were forced to look over things a bit more, whooops, 2.5 million votes found, whoops, boxes of votes turn up at the dump!).

But regardless of the obvious fraud taking place, 1% is enough for a Calderón in the LEAD headline? Good Lord, give me a break. I mean, realistically. All you have to do is think about who Bush would want in office, as well as how many POOR are in Mexico vs how many RICH, and we can see it coming a mile away. Human nature is very easy to predict in certain circumstances. I mean any other time, talk of a 1% "lead" would be heavily buffered by cautious talk of "within the margin of doubt" or some other such phrases. But they were trying to hypnotize all of us, to prepare the mental ground for the theft.

This works in America, where we are puppets for the Tube. But see, Mexicans Stand Up for What is Right, and don't you forget it.

Obrador began by appearing on TV and on the radio and telling his voters not to rest easy. That he was going to insure justice was done. That he had evidence of fraud. That they should prepare to mobilize, that he might call for civil disobedience!

Please contrast this to Kerry and Gore's pathetic capitulations in 2000 and 2004. Gore is smarter than to cry about it. He knows it would make him seem doubly whiny and weak. Kerry is still chasing his lifelong dream, and it hurts to watch him second guess himself now. Men with truth in thier belly move when their heart tells them, they don't wait for advisors. Obrador repaid the belief that his voters invested in him by remaining a candidate who would fight for truth and justice, not by showing true colors of weakening and letting outside forces shame him or coerce him. I have to say, if Gore and Kerry would go so quietly into the night, when they were right, what type of ruler is that? Whereas Obrador immediately showed his mettle by voicing what the people felt and knew.

Why? Because, you see, Mexicans Stand Up For What is Right.

The recount is not decided yet. There is much opposition in Mexico from (SURPRISE!) Calderón's corner. But I doubt the people and their rightfully-elected President will rest until they see truth enacted, or until the government brings down force against them. Why? You know why. You can say it in your head if you want. Mexicans stand up for what is Right.

We hear a lot of caca about Méxicanos. It's sort of whispered, isn't it? It's sort of subtle. Sometimes not. But it's one of those "count the Mexicans in this movie, and list what they are employed as, and what roles they are used to portray" things. Or maybe it's a "name three Mexican heroes" quiz to see what is commonly discussed and retained about Mexicans. It could be a name-why-NAFTA-is-good-for-the-starving-children-who-farm-for-a-living-in-Chiapas thing. Or, if you like, it's one of those-grow-up-as-a-brownskinned-person-in-a-white-family-adopted-by-a-white-racist-in-white-suburbia-
as-well-as-a-white-rural-town-and-see-what-self-image-you-develop thing. It's many things, but it's true, the damning is done, the die is cast over and over, the slander and hate for Mexicans is perpetuated in this country.

This is why I am going to keep adding to these New Mexican Memes. Because those attitudes and racist images and revisionist history that is done against my people are bullshit, and they harm us, and I am tired of the lack of truth in views regarding Méxicanos. So keep it in mind: Mexicans Stand UP For What is Right.

By now, there are over a million Mexicans moving through the streets, marching, filling the Zócalo. Right now they are waiting to see justice done. But they are not watching from their living rooms. They are on their feet, they are tired, angry, hungry, but determined to have a hand in the way they live life. Can you say as much, American? Or do you only yank a lever every four years and then talk a lot of stuff in between? Words are soothing, I know. But they are nothing but sounds, some more important than others.

Here are a few to remember from someone's grandmother:

Juana Jimenez Torre, 63, who said she walked more than 80 miles over six days to attend the rally, thrust her arms in the air as López Obrador spoke. The mother of 11 said she makes less than $4 a day in the bean fields outside her hometown of San Pablo Citaltepec, southeast of Mexico City.

'We can't take this,' she said before the rally began. 'We have to fight.'"

Truthout.org