The voice and the power belong to you. Just ask Horton, who heard a Who

[cal04]

By Melissa Harris-Perry
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/29/7198200-the-voice-and-the-power-belong-to-you-just-ask-horton-who-heard-a-who

Watching the current debt ceiling crisis reminds me of one of my 9-year-old daughter's favorite books: Horton Hears a Who. The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant who hears a small speck of dust talking to him from the end of a flower. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a community of Whos. They have their own family, homes, communities and government.

Horton, the big elephant, cannot see the Whos but he can hear them clearly, and he vows to be their protector because "a person's a person, no matter how small." The other animals of the jungle ridicule and mock Horton. They even try to imprison him and torture him. Their goal is to take the little Who speck of dust and boil it in oil. Horton keeps telling the Whos that they must convince the other wild animals that they really exist. They can do this only by joining together and shouting at the top of their lungs. The Whos finally manage to get every member of their community together to make all the noise they can, but still they are not heard. Finally the last Who, a very small guy named JoJo, adds his voice to the Who chorus. The Whos are heard and they are saved.

(snip)
Who will be the Horton for us? Is there anyone who will hear the little person and work hard to carry us to safety, or will combined forces of the political jungle keep threatening to destroy us?

But here is the triumphant element of this story. Horton cannot save the Whos just by his benevolent action and intention. They have to save themselves. Each and every Who from the mayor to the littlest kid had to speak up for themselves. The voice and power resides in the people. What can we do to make them HEAR us?

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Sorry, but they DO hear us.

They don't care.

They know we can't stop them.