INSIDE SAVING AMERICA "Don't be afraid to guilt-trip your representatives on Capitol Hill. Remind them that whenever they vote for a war funding bill that fails to tie financing to troop withdrawal, three or more American soldiers die needlessly in Iraq and Afghanistan every day. Remind them that the blood of these unfortunate military personnel who only joined the armed forces for college money is on their palms, greased by lobbyists and their corporate paymasters. You probably wont get a response -- or at best, a form letter that says something like, "Thank you for your interest in this [unspecified, natch] issue. Be assured, Congressman X is doing everything possible..." No, he's not, or the bloodbath in Iraq, a ballooning deficit that will be our grandchildren's curse, obscene tax cuts for nouveau grosse CEOs who blow $6,000 on shower curtains paid for with company money, the continued proliferation of handguns which end 37,000 American lives each year and which a preponderance of voters say they want taken off the market, crumbling schools infested with military-grade firearms, drugs, and illiterates who hold high school diplomas, a scandalous healthcare situation that leaves 48 million citizens uninsured, a Supreme Court and Evangelicals who want to return women to coat-hanger abortions -- and all the other plagues afflicting the nation -- would be far closer to resolution than at present. If your concerns are ignored by your elected representatives, make good on your threat to throw da bums out. But you have to find someone to vote for, not just someone to vote against. In most states, prior to every election, sample ballots are sent to all registered voters. These brochures not only contain a list of candidates and ballot propositions, but often include a one-page statement by each candidate describing his political platform. Do your homework and read these statements, then vote for the candidate whose political philosophy most closely reflects your own. To paraphrase Lenin, "Couch potatoes of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your TV remotes. "So get off the sofa, stop window-shopping on eBay, put down The Da Vinci Code, and start harassing your Congressman and Senators with emails, letters and phone calls. You may end up Saving America in the process." Hope for a Nation in Crisis "Although Saving America's subtitle calls the U.S. a `Nation in Crisis, 'which it is, right thinking - as opposed to right-wing narrow-mindedness - will save us once again, just as it has in times of even greater political trauma like the Civil War and the Depression. America remains the greatest nation on earth, but it needs to change direction now, sooner rather than later, before our temporary dilemmas become permanent tragedies." -- the Honorable John Duran, Mayor of West Hollywood, California