This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

BECOMING AN ENGAGED CITIZEN

Independent Commentary, Opinion & Political Analysis by local activist & community organizer, Michael McCue

GETTING READY FOR THE NEW YEAR IN POLITICS

Happy New Year everybody!

Hopefully it will be a happy year because it’s also an election year…one that promises to be a very wild ride!

Find out what's happening in Studio Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tell me, do you feel as a voter, that you really have a wealth of choices for the office of President of the United States this year? Or for any other political office for that matter?

Is there a candidate who truly represents your issues, or one whom you trust to actively fight for you and for We, the People?

Find out what's happening in Studio Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That’s the sort of thing we’ll talk about in this new blog for a new year…that, and the lost art of citizenship.

If you know me already from my work in local politics as an LA City Council candidate, grassroots activist, Green Party leader, or outspoken Neighborhood Council board member and whistleblower/watchdog, you won't be surprised to discover what I’ve been up to.

If not, this blog will give you a chance to get to know me and learn about what's happening in Valley politics, and will hopefully provide some insight for anyone who wants to find out how you can become more engaged as a responsible citizen living in a democracy.

In December, I was one of the organizers and hosts for a special event, “” that was about educating Valley voters and bringing them up to speed about the issues looming on our political horizon in 2012.  We strived to help our
local Valley voters become more informed, engaged and energized about the
future of our democracy in 2012 and beyond.  (See YouTube video of "Occupy the Future!" event at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKbe9IitVjU)

We wanted to hear from all points of view with open minds and a civility that you don’t see in politics today, so we intentionally included speakers at this
cross-partisan event that included Democrats, Greens, Republicans, and
Independents…the widest political spectrum possible.

We talked about the Disclosure Act, which would create transparency by forcing the Big Money backers of state ballot propositions to reveal themselves (and which is coming up for a vote very soon in Sacramento)…and the Move To Amend organization, who saw their resolution who saw their resolution successfully passsed by LA City Council the very next day, one that would reverse the Supreme Court’s “Citizen’s United” corporate personhood decision if passed by Congress.

We also discussed The SAFE Act, a new California state ballot proposition which will replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, thus saving our state almost one billion dollars over five years (!) and which actor/activist Mike Farrell addressed so compassionately...

And…we met newly-announced LA City candidates Kevin James, (running for mayor) and Cary Brazeman, (running for City Controller), both of whom are bucking the Downtown Political Machine with solid grassroots support from We, the People.

Our keynote speaker was Dr. Jill Stein, from Massachusetts, who is one of the contenders for the Green Party presidential nomination.  Dr. Stein articulated
a singular vision for our nation -- one that included Economic Justice,
Ecological Wisdom, and Accountability for Wall Street criminals.

That’s what I do.  Outreach, organize, and try to get our citizens engaged and on board with our democracy.

As an independent political animal at-large, I often provide our Valley voters with a
totally fresh, independent point of view that isn’t part of the same old 'Dog
& Pony Show' that we’ve all been forced to endure for lo these many years.  You are probably already familiar with the Democratic/Republican 'Song & Dance' that has had both the Left and Right locked in a treacherous tango of hopelessly
obstructed gridlock and many of us have wised up to the game.

It’s no wonder that Congressional approval ratings (9%) have never been so low! And never in our history have our political leaders at all levels so completely abandoned their constituents in favor of the super-rich and über-powerful. 

And we’ve been there before....(to be continued)

This Friday -
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A CENTURY MAKES!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?