Rant Warning: this is a long-ish note -- apologies in advance.

This song arose in response to the sustained campaign over the last several years by State Legislatures and their allies in the US Gov't -- including a recent President and his personal Supreme Court -- to suppress the voting rights of marginalized groups: generally people younger and browner than the people in power.

This is because "the people in power" have done the math and realized they're not likely to *stay* in power unless they radically tilt the playing field in their direction. To that end, laws have been passed in dozens of States to address "voter fraud" (a problem that *doesn't* actually exist), while congressional districts have been redrawn to ensure that some people's votes will count more than others, and access to the ballot is shrinking for targeted groups (again, the younger, browner, poorer demographic) by limitations on "voting by mail," elimination of drop boxes in certain zip codes, and of course the time-honored technique of limiting the number of polling places in those same neighborhoods.

The desired result of all this chicanery -- that some people's votes will "count" more than others -- is already being seen all across the country, and will only get worse, unless people of good conscience (talkin' about you and me here) refuse to allow it.

For solid information about what's going on -- and what you can *do* about it -- check out these fire-breathing radicals right here -- yeah, that's right, the League Of Women Voters:

www.lwv.org/voting-rights

-- and their other, very handy, project:

www.vote411.org

Pollsters are telling us that younger people -- and "people of color" in general -- are less energized about voting in this cycle. This is a tragedy in the making, because every advance made by the anti-democracy alliance brings us one step closer to a time when *nobody's* vote will mean anything -- and there aren't that many "steps" left. "Voting" has only as much integrity as its system of administration. After all, the people in Russia get to "vote" every few years -- and Vladimir Putin wins about 70% every time.

That could be our story here too -- especially now that the Other Team reserves the right not to recognize the results of an election if it doesn't go their way. *This* development alone has the power to sink our little Democracy boat, once and for all -- and pretty soon too, if we don't all "grab an oar and row."

it's time for action, friends -- time for the Big Reawakening. Because the bad guys are winning, and, as we say in the song:

"...if we let them
We will get what we deserve
But it isn’t too late yet, friends
If we’ve got the nerve

To stand up all together
and declare that there can only be
One kind of Citizen
and one kind of Free"

PS: We would dearly love to hear this song at rallies this Fall -- and in 2024. We want to see it on flags, on T-shirts. bumper stickers, Super Bowl half-time shows, etc. If *you* or anyone you know is involved in any kind of voter education and/or get-out-the-vote efforts, PLEASE: let us know what WE can do for YOU. And, short of getting us on the Super-Bowl program, we would greatly appreciate it if *everybody* who checks in here would kindly *share the song* with two or three hundred of your closest friends. It's a free download, and it streams from the site for free too. (So, really, that's "two kinds of free"!) Ain't no reason *not* too, and 535 (total number of Congresspeople plus Senators) reasons why you *should.*

Thanks for reading, thanks for listening. And, if this doesn't go well, we'll see you 'round the Gulag.