CANCER PARTY
A poetic plea with historic potential, unedited
by Richard Oxman

( Formerly “Cancer Party with A Candle at 3 O’Clock in The Morning Mourning” )

“In the deepest part of everyone’s soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay to a seven-year-old, the author.

“To have a mastectomy and to get together with someone else who has had a mastectomy is one thing. It’s something of an entirely different order to join in solidarity with a stranger who — like you — is dying because of the denial of proper treatment, delayed diagnoses…disgusting, unnecessary neglect.” — Anonymous activist at the Cancer Center of Stanford University.

“Why are you alive, Richard? Why are you here? To get through another day…alone? It’s one thing to put on a Rock the Vote Concert for a pig like Kerry, hoping that people will register as a result for the Lesser Evil. It’s something else to bond with someone riddled with cancer, go to bed with them for three years…and then march them down to the polling booth to make sure that they put a sweet person into office …avoiding personal despair in the process.” – Bruce Springsteen in one of the author’s many black and white dreams.

“A Governor of California who wanted to could end slavery within the state’s boundaries virtually overnight. Could put sweatshops out of business, for one, and change the face of business practice in many realms across the nation.” — California Assemblyman Mark Leno, running for State Senate in 2008

Read the whole article. The whole article. The whole article. Each and every word. They were written in the most excruciating pain…for you.

Every moment of my life from here on out will be Three O’Clock in the Morning. That’s how it is already.

Whether or not you are disgusted with politicians is a litmus test of your sanity. (1)

In almost every single instance, they must be characterized as gangsters, ignoramuses and/or unethical, self-serving power mongers uninterested in your welfare. Murderers on the national level, statewide embodying cruel indifference to suffering. And you can reverse that. No hyperbole here.

Yet I am going to run for the Sacramento Executive Seat in 2010…OR I am going to make sure that someone close to me –an incorruptible, non-politician angel– becomes Governor of California three years down the road. Something like that. Make HUGE historic waves at the very least. Force a difference. (2)

Without money. Without support of the mainstream media.

There are enough people with sufficient imagination in California who are capable of understanding what success on that count would mean. And for anyone who recoils in horror at the role that money plays ‘cross the board in our lives what’s below should be very attractive. I won’t insult your intelligence regarding media spin.

My partner, Sylvie, has breast cancer. And the battle we wage with the medical professionals and the abomination which is labeled health care in California are as challenging/troubling as dealing with the disease itself.

If my family history plays out through my genes I have to be considered a prime candidate for getting cancer too. Poor Marcel ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-Hdn7h7tU#GU5U2spHI_4 ), all alone.

But both Sylvie’s confrontations and my personal concerns are interwoven with the horrific health care situation which plagues the vast majority of citizens in California…and elsewhere.

Well, that’s going to end. The unacceptable, unnecessary (and, for the most part, unknown) suffering that prevails.

It’s too easy to change it.

And it must and will change with us now. For everyone is slated to get cancer as things stand. And as the U.S. drops toxicity and “drops the ball” vis-a-vis so much that’s malignant worldwide…WE and the other powers that be are leaving a legacy of cancer for the world. All kinds of unlimited, morbid growth.

This is the birth of The Cancer Party. (3) It will help people to self-educate about their health, and do tons more that’s begged for….

Now I ask you to truly use your imagination.

Imagine that YOU are the next Governor of California. And that you have knowledgeable, well-intentioned advisors at your side. More importantly, imagine that you became The Executive without money or media support.

This is an important juncture in this presentation. If your bones don’t shake at the prospect of this dream becoming a reality, you either don’t know what the Governor of California can do unilaterally, or …perhaps… you don’t have much of an imagination. Maybe non-respondents will be The Walking Dead. Talk-talk, no Walk-talk.

In this fantasy you could have an enormous impact statewide. And the ripples from your accomplishment/actions would affect people not only nationally, but internationally.

Ponder these points:

1. You did it WITHOUT MONEY. What exactly do you think that would mean to people? Both people on the streets AND people in power positions.

2. You did it WITHOUT MEDIA SUPPORT. And upon taking office you immediately air a daily alternative to mainstream “news,” helping the public to self-educate. You encourage people to honor their acorns/intuition, to use their imagination. To question, and not follow authority figures blindly.

3. Upon taking office you immediately place a moratorium on the death penalty.

4. You make yourself (or your very close advisors/colleagues) available 24/7. The first governor in history to do anything of the sort. You create a HOTLINE which gives people direct access ’round the clock. And communications are NOT dominated by form letters, and disingenuous blah blah. You exist to serve…and that’s clear as flawless chrysolite.

5. You arrange for anyone who requests it to be able to sit in on any given rendezvous. No closed door discussions if citizens want to attend meetings. You work things out as much as possible, and people pick up on the intention.

6. You begin and end each and every press conference with singular singing and dancing. In one of my fantasies, I see Alicia Keyes as Lt. Governor…really helping out.

FUN NOTES: Don’t forget that with this shebang you can recruit not only a candidate for Governor…but a candidate for Lt. Governor too. The signatures for one can go toward the other. And I might be wrong about this, but I do think that those Sacramento officials get substantial $$$ to allocate to staff. Jobs anyone? Seriously, there are too many interesting nooks and crannies to explore here, but as you learn what’s going on with the gangsters you hook into all sorts of delicious opportunities. O Bailan Todos O No Baile Nadie.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT ALL THIS:

This is for private discussion at this point. This is too beautiful to soundbite to death at a distance. And besides, one doesn’t tell The Opposition…what road you’re not taking.

I can tell you this: The degree to which a given individual wants to be involved can be accommodated. With approximately three years to go…I’d say that it’s more than enough of a contribution for someone to simply send someone else to visit me, contact me. Eventually, a core group will form. And the land base of the soul to which we will be appealing will resonate with enough people to generate what we need.

For everyone knows — at some point, if they live long enough — that they are connected to an incalculable reed that demands green growth, that they are a leaf of grass, and a being that does not have to be blown about without a smile in its heart. With or without cancer.

POSSIBLE RESULTS:

1. If the Independent campaign simply manages to get on the ballot by collecting (roughly) 165,000 signatures it will be a tremendous inspiration to many, stir ideas. But that major coup is peanuts respecting our ambitions.

2. Garnering more gubernatorial votes than the Greens gathered running with Peter Camejo (about a quarter of a million votes) would be a stupendous achievement, especially since it would be coming out of nowhere as far as the experts and current events junkies are concerned. It would be a phenomenon worthy of discussion daily for street people and elites alike. Free major coverage would follow repeatedly –guaranteed!– and electoral seeds sown would blossom throughout the state and beyond. Still, this is nothing as per our goals.

3. If the Independent run puts OUR PERSON in the Sacramento Seat, HISTORY — ended quite awhile ago, according to some — will be revived. And EVERYTHING will change, more so — if I dare say so! — than life did worldwide with 9/11. And even if I’m wrong about the effect of infusing common people with hope/a sense of solidarity worldwide, the fact that I’m willing to debate the relative impacts of the two events should tell you something, impress you. Draw you in? Perhaps you’re underestimating the power of putting an honest/compassionate person* into the California Governor’s office. For the first time in the state’s history.

*Most people don’t know about the multiple murders for which Jimmy Carter — while serving as Governor of Georgia — was responsible…vis-a-vis The School of the Americas, housed in his backyard.  Or have rationalized the darkness of his tenure. Almost everyone on our shores has bought into the positive images of our past governors ( Reagan, Clinton, Bush et. al. ) to some degree, but much of the rest of the world knows “the skinny.” To stay motivated with the Cancer Party, one would do well to remember that those governors became PRESIDENTS…and that a California governor, at the very least, wields the kind of influence nationally/internationally that Schwarzenegger is demonstrating at present respecting the 2008 presidential race.

4. But let’s say we screw our courage to the sticking place and we fail. Let’s say we only come in second, beating one of the two major parties in the process. I refuse to spell that out for you. What such a miracle would mean. But it would make that proverbial difference.

Note: This is NOT about working on this or that admirable project within the realm of left-oriented vision. This is a visionary model which can bear fruit midst our wasteland. We must be patient with some things; but we must not be patient with that which could have (and should have) been done yesterday. A hopeful writer on ZNet recently described how the Zapatistas had embraced the image of the snail for much of their work; that translated as underscoring the need to devote oneself to beauty beyond one’s lifetime, the necessity of not forcing that which takes time. Good. But that has zero to do with refusing to proceed at an arthritic snail’s pace with everything. Besides, if this opportunity in 2010 is passed up…all will be lost on the mundane plane. Please, tell me how I’m wrong on this.

I’m three-fourths serious when I say that I won’t die of cancer ’cause I’ll be eliminated by the powers that be first…one way or another…if we follow through with the Cancer Party.

For we will TAKE OVER CALIFORNIA. Not for all practical purposes, but for enough purposes to make our efforts worth the candle.

You will be successful because you will be appealing to the land base in people’s soul where it’s always 3 o’clock in the morning. (4)

Footnotes:

(1) If you’re working with politicians to get something done, you have my blessings for trying to do something. EVERYONE who’s attempting to make a difference in any way whatsoever should expect my support. Ask for it. But I see nothing on the table anywhere that has a chance in hell of doing anything more important than what The Cancer Party will be aiming to do. To say the least. I say that in all humility. It is all very clear to me.

(2) Something you could be proud of on your deathbed.

(3) It’s got a lot in common with The Peace and Freedom Party, loving much of their sweet platform. But one of the big differences is that anyone supporting The Cancer Party is not going to have to register for any particular affiliation. All third parties are doomed to be marginalized*. That is (sadly) easy to elaborate upon (and prove), upon request. It has a lot to do with a) dependence on fundraising, b) making campaigns contingent upon media support, and c) following traditional paradigms for protest/change. Many Cancer Party supporters will have a “Decline to State” status, (attitudinally) independent voters who are currently not registered or who have not been voting. Still, I’d be honored to make suggestions about how P&F can easily double their registration within a year …if they want to proceed on their present path. To encourage them to see where that gets them, among other reasons.

*For one, they are hooked into a Winner-Take-All System even though they want to reform that approach to electoral politics. The powers that be tolerate their agenda only as long as they agree to remain on the periphery of power. Seeds sown get blown away if they begin to blossom to any significant degree. Arguably, the hardest thing for activists to see is their own inefficacy midst gorgeous intentions.

(4) Zapata’s appeal to his followers was rooted in their love of the land, their blood attachment to the Mexican land base. No earthly, earthy counterpart currently exists for most people in California, and so… The Cancer Party.

Richard Oxman is available at headburg@yahoo.com