The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects the rights of every citizen of the United States to believe what they want, to worship how they want, to express what they want in the way that they want, to gather with others they may wish to gather with, and to ask for the government to resolve their problems.
This Republican controlled White House has sought to suppress the rights of the people of the United States to dissent from their mis-administration. They have initiated unconstitutional funding of religious organizations. The Bush Presidency has also authorized the infiltration of peaceful protest groups on the basis of his fictional wartime authority.
But the Administration is not solely responsible. The Republican controlled Congress has rubber stamped all of these unconstitutional activities and has provided no oversight into the mis-administration at all. This has resulted in the erosion of our civil liberties. In fact, the White House's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has never met.
It is time that those that support the Constitution of the United States and the First Amendment give their support to the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee, under former Governor Howard Dean, is rebuilding the Party of the People, the Democratic Party. He needs our support.
The history of "the bat" is an inspiring one. The idea is that together we can make a difference. With small donations, we can build a Democratic Party that is responsive to the people. During the 2004 primaries, Governor Dean used it as an incentive to the netroots to step up to the plate for the party. I think it is time to do that again.
Mine is not the only bat you can contribute to. A diary from Joe Rospars started a new tool that all of us can use to help the Democratic Party to raise money. But it isn't just the bat. There are other ways to help the Democratic Party.
To date, there are only 10 bat campaigns started. However, through small contributions, the 10 of us have raised over $1300 to rebuild the Democratic Party. Recent diaries on DailyKos tell us why this is important.
philinmaine showed how local action can make a big difference. wmtriallawyer visited a local organization that had made significant gains in the community. arubyan suggests how everyone can easily get involved.
If you are an atheist, I ask for your help. Donating to the Democratic Party will help to insure that this country never becomes a theocracy under the religious right. If you are not an atheist, please contribute or take action in another way.
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org.