Dear Folks:

Mr. Jeffords defection from the Republican Party has given me the first sign of hope I have had for this nation since what I believe, with passion, but without hyperbole, was a genuine fascist coup. I have watched, in fear and dismay, the necessary adjunct to such a usurpation: "good men do[ing]nothing." Even the supposedly "liberal" press has been so thoroughly co-opted that there was, and continues to be, little, if any coverage of the fervent protests which occur wherever the un-elected president appears, starting with the enormous demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day.

But now, one good man *has* done something, albeit little and late, and it is my fervent prayer that others take his example, stiffen their resolve, and resist, by all lawful means, the tyranny that currently reigns in the country of Adams, Jefferson and Lincoln.

I do not *want* to see "bipartisanship" where one of the parties is in a position of illegitimate power. There is a word for such bipartisanship: appeasement. What I do want is the principled thwarting of every program and rejection of every nomination that comes from a regime that installed itself without regard for the legally expressed wishes of the people. Before there should be legislation or appointment by these people, it should be required that they demonstrate that they can, without corporate subsidy, a censored press, and extralegal judicial assistance, persuade a majority of the electorate to agree with them.

Akiba and I worked phone banks for the Democrats in the campaign, because, of the two possible winners, only the Democrats offered any practical hope of increased social justice. When it became plain that Maryland, where we live, was "safe," we began driving up to Pennsylvania to do phone-banking there. (You have, physically, to *be* in the state whose voters you are calling). The driving seriously aggravated my congestive heart failure, but I felt that, since my children are grown, it would be worth my life (yes, I mean that) if we could, in even the smallest way, help to prevent the tragedy that has occurred, and in its wake, all the small, "un-newsworthy" individual tragedies that will inevitably occur in four years of Greed Ascendant. Now, my daily prayer, quite literally, is to be permitted to live to see the restoration of true republican democracy to what is now occupied America.

Mr. Jeffords has my respect and my gratitude for what I consider a courageous act. May others who share his convictions take heart and do likewise.

Here's to ya, Big Mick! Here's to a rebirth of the folk music of political satire and persuasion. And here's to the hope of better days to come!

In gravest sincerety,

Shula