We are at a crossroads.

What will it take to realize the potential of October 5^th as fully as possible? Right now there is a core of people throughout the country already activated, preparing and organizing for October 5^th. Thousands more are committed to act, and tens of thousands are thinking about it, checking out this web site and other World Can't Wait material. What will it take to go to something much more powerful than this? In the days between now and October 5^th, how do we go to tens of thousands committed to be part of these historic events, and hundreds of thousands deciding whether or not they should throw in with them?

It is vitally important for each and every one of us to be there and be counted on October 5^th.  But the historic juncture we are at demands more of us. All those people committed and determined to act on October 5th must redouble and triple our efforts.

World Can't Wait speaks for millions when we say this regime - with its wars, lies, torture, spying, self righteous culture of greed and repression, contemptuous poisoning of the earth, "don't know nothin' and don't want to know nothin'" ignorance, does not represent us. Now is the time to do exert every effort we can to build a powerful movement aimed at driving it out.

What does this mean you can do? You can raise money for more ads to be printed, and for leaflets and posters to be printed. You can volunteer with the World Can't Wait chapter in your area, or start one if it doesn't exist. You can join or initiate phone banking efforts to get the word out. You can get stores in your neighborhood to put up World Can't Wait posters in their windows. You can tell your congregations, classes, and unions about World Can't Wait and October 5^th, and encourage them to endorse it and to be there. You can email everyone you know with Daniel Ellsberg's speech at the September 7^th organizing meeting in San Francisco and other materials from worldcantwait.org.

You can change the course of history.

October 5^th can blossom and burgeon into a day that profoundly transforms the political atmosphere in this country and impacts the entire world. The poisonous political atmosphere that dominates today - "debates" among politicians over exactly what constitutes torture, organ failure or death? - can be transformed.

The determination and energy of all those now prepared to act must be multiplied many times over. We are not offering petty amendments to Bush's fascist program. We will not learn to accept the unacceptable. We will settle for nothing less than doing "something on a scale that can really make a huge change in this country and in the world", as the World Can't Wait Call for October 5^th states.

The Bush juggernaut has triggered huge turmoil in the world. How this will turn out, what unexpected developments may cause further crises and difficulties for it, how they will reverberate through the power structure of this country, no one can foretell with certainty. But we do know that Bush is hell bent on pursuing his agenda even more aggressively, in more parts of the world.

The determination and energy of all those now prepared to act to drive out the Bush regime must be multiplied many times over. We are not offering petty amendments to Bush's fascist program. We will not learn to accept the unacceptable. We will settle for nothing less than doing "something on a scale that can really make a huge change in this country and in the world", as the World Can't Wait Call for October 5^th states.

This has happened before. Daniel Ellsberg brought out important historic examples in his September 7^th speech. He recounted that "I keep looking at that date on the calendar - October 5. I think of 1969 " because on that day "across the country 2 million people marched. Not in any one place, they were counted up and added up because they all walked out; it was a weekday, out of school, out of businesses on that weekday. They met in rallies, heard many speakers-- in those days there was great tolerance (well, there still is to some extent) for a lot of speeches. But it was a weekday and they called it the Moratorium because people thought the word general strike was too provocative, but that's what they had in mind.

"It was a walkout, in other words it was no business as usual. The president was watching it in the White House, hour by hour, while pretending that he wasn't. In fact he was in the situation room getting half-hour reports on how many people. .. And the fact is that when people did march in October and November 1969 - without even realizing that a crisis was imminent, they just saw the war going on - they in fact stopped a massive escalation of the war."

Ellsberg also spoke of the spirit that infused that movement, an unstoppable spirit that is needed today: "the situation now, I think, demands of us not business as usual; it demands what was available in this country in 1969. I'll characterize that very briefly: 5,000 young people went to prison rather then go into the army (under the draft) - rather then collaborate with the war. I met some of those people on their way to prison."

October 5^th will be a significant day. Events are scheduled in over 90 cities. Many prominent people have spoken about why the Bush regime must be driven out; organizations throughout the country continue to announce their support for its political aims. Thousands of people will be taking off work or leaving school to participate in these events. But what will happen on October 5^th still hangs in the balance. If the people now prepared to act on October 5^th and the people weighing that decision throw our energy, passion, conviction, creativity, perseverance, and determination into making every day, every hour and minute between now and October 5^th count as much as possible towards building the broadest and most powerful outpourings, doing everything we can to bring out everyone we can in our schools, workplaces, unions, congregations, neighborhoods and communities - we can make October 5^th into a force all of society must reckon with.

This is within our grasp. Right now, and every minute counts.

The hour is late, and the need is great.

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