The Audacity of Nope

Today's title, courtesy of esteemed friend and fellow Puma, Rosemary, brings me back to the matrix of the Movement--the last day of May, 2008 [can it really be just 8 months ago--it seems like yesterday and yet lifetimes past--such are the dualities of the human mind's perception of time!] when our illusions crashed to a rude halt and were replaced by a firm resolve to resist and refuse the DNC's attempt to disenfranchise us by breaking their own rules. On that warm, sunny day, in front of the Wardman Marriott in Washington, D.C. a movement came to life for thousands of people who simply decided to just say NO to it all: the sexism, cynicism, mysogyny, dirty tricks, caucus fraud, biased media and corrupt politicians.

Since that time, our coalition of NO's has accomplished incredible things. We have demonstrated that it is still possible to stand up and be counted, voice our beliefs and take on Big Media, Big Government and corrupt politicians. We have called to task and held accountable countless individuals and entities and, lo and behold, weighed in at #8 in Time Magazine's Top Ten Buzzwords of the Year 2008. More importantly, however, we have succeeded in exposing the wrongs we have discovered in our country and begun to spread the word, and begun to supplant main stream media as a reliable source of information.

We have much work to do and much to be proud of as we move ahead toward our Phase III, or Long Range Plans to make our country a better place, rejecting sexism, corruption and disengenuousness as we fight to preserve our Constitution and its sacred blueprint.

I leave you today with words from those wiser than I.

"Lies do matter, whether they are at the individual or the national level. Many people have already found that out, many more are about to. Truth is that which accords with reality, no matter how hard we may wish that it were not so. We are thankfully leaving behind the world where economic truths are determined by the political process and then enforced through legislation. That version of truth is a malign and warped reality that violently clashes with truth and honesty. That which appears to be true, but in fact is not, is an illusion." --S. Mathid

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." --Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

And finally,

"I would prefer a man who will burn the flag and wrap himself in the constitution than one who would burn the constitution and wrap himself in the flag."
--craig anthony washington

And so, Onward All! Remember how empowering and energizing the word NO can be--and if someone fails to take your NO for an answer, ask them what part of "NO" don't they understand.