It’s been two years since 9/11, and we’re under attack.
We’re under attack overseas, where our cowboy president has made enemies where we once had friends and terrorists where there once were moderates.
We’re under attack in Washington, where an administration lacking either popular or legislative support has ruthlessly hacksawed its way through decades’ worth of environmental, social, and consumer protections, all while shoveling as much loot as possible out of the public coffers and into the pockets of their corporate supporters. Freedom? Privacy? Don’t get me started.
We’re under attack at the state Capitol, where Republicans are pushing a completely unprecedented and unwarranted mid-decade re-redistricting, in order to strip court-defined congressional districts of Democratic and minority influence — and, most notably, eviscerate Austin’s political voice. They don’t like the way we think, plain and simple, and they don’t want our opinions to count.
We’re under attack at City Hall, where carpetbagging out-of-town developers such as Wal-Mart (not to single out one rapacious, labor-unfriendly retailer over another, but hey, if the shoe fits …) insist on zoning changes and other perks as their God-given right — and some in the city bureaucracy seem to agree with them. It is actually argued, for instance, that Job One, for those who oversee city development regulations, is to bend those regulations to fit the needs of developers, instead of making development fit the needs of the community.
And on that same front, we’re under attack in the pages of the monopoly daily, which has reopened its longtime editorial campaign in support of untrammeled development and against democratic participation in the process, with a peculiar broadside against the Historic Landmark Commission in particular, and citizen boards and commissions in general. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
We’re under attack this election Saturday, with a long, deceptively worded constitutional-amendment ballot designed to put an absolute dollar limit on corporate liability for negligence or malfeasance. The key passage? The phrase “… and other actions,” slipped midway into the somnolent language of the ballot, would allow the Lege to put a dollar cap on any money awarded in a lawsuit for noneconomic damages — you know, like life and limb. If you don’t want the Lege to decide what your life might be worth in some corporate cost-benefit analysis, vote NO on Proposition 12.
God, that’s a depressing litany, isn’t it? Fortunately, though, this is still Austin. And amid the other cultural amenities available to us (see the cover story or Austin City Limits Festival centerfold schedule, for instance) are a reasonable number of opportunities to make your voice heard on the above and other issues.
Please vote on Saturday, yes, but at the same time keep that thought and habit in mind as we head toward more far-reaching elections in the coming months and years. Go see our own Jim Hightower thump the tub about the GOP and Wal-Mart on Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown or BookPeople, but bear in mind that where the rubber meets the road on such issues is in the mind-numbing minutiae of committee hearings and council discussions. Enjoy the Austin Music Network (while you can), but flip down the dial to the city government coverage on Channel 6 every once in a while to see why you still can. Read the Statesman, but don’t believe everything you read (there, or here, either). Let your elected officials know when you support them (and when you don’t). Speak up, while you still can. It’s been two years since 9/11, and you’re under attack. 
This article appears in September 12 • 2003.