common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

In the rightful praise for the Democratic Party, the hail of lamentation, ridiculous “surprise” and requisite falling on the sword of the Bush administration, few have given credit where credit is due: TO THE PEOPLE (Frank Rich’s 2006: The Year of the ‘Macaca’ being a fine exception). On November 7, 2006 we the People of the United States spoke again as we first did in 1789 and conceived one of the great steps toward freedom in the modern world.

The United States has made its many mistakes, from slavery to Native American genocide to the fire bombing of Dresden to the killing fields of Vietnam and Cambodia, but always the people could and would eventually right the course of our ship of state, always with the vision of a more perfect Union, the vision which the Great Emancipator fought for in the face of ignoble bigotry, and as many patriots have before and since.

Given the tradition of liberty’s torch no wonder the disheartenment of the world at the United States downward slide into oppressive foreign militarism and fascist internal politic. The events of September 11th caused the people to give considerable slack to a president and government no one was certain we actually elected, and were even willing to allow the fundamentals of our country to be placed in the balance with the non-existent "security" of a “war on terror” that became the war for oil and a war on freedom in these United States.

On November 7, 2006 WE THE PEOPLE determined to RE-establish Justice, RE-insure domestic Tranquility; that WE could provide for the common defense without destroying the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and promote the general welfare, not the corporatocracy that has swollen at the trough of Bush’s compassion for the rich brand of neo-conservatism.

We the people once again decided to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity and in the succinct cheer of my New York hometown, throw the bums out. It wasn’t the DNC that made this choice nor the political operatives or media pundits. It was THE PEOPLE, and that is the wind of change that is once again blowing across this land. WE THE PEOPLE have spoken again and WE do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The work before us is to re-envigorate our democracy and re-confirm the Constitution as the basis of law. Here’s a link to the newly elected 110th Congress: Who’s Who in the New Congress. Write them, email them; let them know your vision for our country. Let them hear your voice and don’t get tired of speaking it: many have given their lives for this all-important freedom.

From this vantage point, here are what I see as our most important national priorities:

Establish with the United Nations an international convocation dedicated to MID-EAST PEACE that brings ALL players to the peace table. In order to demonstrate ABSOLUTE U.S. commitment to this process,

1. Cease all military funding, armament and supply to ALL states and non-state parties in the mid-East region and outlaw all arms sales from the continental United States, making enforcement a top priority for Homeland Security.

2. Commit to a withdrawal of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, endorse a withdrawal of Israel from all occupied lands and with these two precursors seek a cease fire throughout the mid-East.

3. Request that President Jimmy Carter chair the US delegation to the conference and empower him to negotiate for peace.

Sign the Kyoto Treaty concerning Global Warming and commit the resources of every department in the United States government that could contribute to the effort of RESTORING EARTH’S ENVIRONMENT. In order to further ABSOLUTE commitment to this process,

1. Commission a cabinet level position that has the power to interact between all Federal Departments to re-focus our nation on the priorities and impose the necessary penalties to insure the future of our planet.

2. Request Vice-President Al Gore be appointed to this cabinet level position and empower him to work within our nation and worldwide toward this critical goal.

3. Create a funding stream for these programs by a thorough investigation of all U.S. companies that operate within the U.S. and profit from the U.S. government and its agencies but maintain off-shore locations for tax exemptions, i.e. Halliburton, Boeing, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Lehman Brothers Holdings etc, and legislate new tax laws for those who do business within these United States.