A Call to Today's Younger Generation for Help from an Old Hippie

I'm passing on a sacred mantel today to America's youth who are old enough to vote in the upcoming midterms.

This mantel was woven by young Americans in the 70s who united to protest against the war in Vietnam and on marijuana. We declared war on a criminally flawed administration.

We gathered in in streets of San Francisco, New York, Oakland, and Berkeley to protest an administration that we felt was morally corrupt. Many Americans mocked us and called us stupid hippies because we believed in peace, not war.

But we stood firm.

We weren't going to be bullied by the crooked regime that used all of its powers to hunt us down and jail us with fake charges and laws attempting to take away our freedoms. 

Fun fact: all hippies didn't have long hair.

Remember the Mayday Protest in 1971 when citizens used the nation's capital as the ground on which to stage their disapproval?

It was a glorious day. A riot of youth and flowers where thousands of hippies camped out in masses on the edges of downtown Washington on May 2, 1971.

They chose places that enabled them to spread out along the entrances to the city as quickly as possible the next day.

Traffic was stopped for a few hours.

Later former CIA director Richard Helms remarked that Mayday was "one of the things that was putting increasing pressure on the Nixon administration to try and find some way to get out of the war."

I recall the rallies (Hell No! We won't go!) and the long-haired young men and women with flowers in their hair who at the time didn't realize the important role they each played in American history.

They were doing what they believed was right. They fought for individual freedoms and equality among races.

I look in the mirror today and I still see that long-haired rebel that believes in personal freedoms. But that was over 50 years ago and I'm slowing down now. 

I cherish my right to vote more than ever even if I can't physically attend rallies. But I'm worried that there's just not enough of us old hippies to lead democrats to victory in November.

All the election pundits seem to agree that the democrats only chance of not losing their majority in Congress lies with YOUNG VOTERS. That's you. The silent one's who don't respond to polls.

We know women are motivated and will turn out in great numbers because of the abortion issue. I'm counting on that. Still, it's not enough.

Campaigning against the negative headlines of inflation is an uphill battle for democrats which is giving the MAGA morons an edge in the closing weeks.

So, I'm asking all of you young voters to take this mantel - with its glorious history of making change - and wrap it around you. Talk with each other. I know you face numerous challenges in today's society my generation never dreamed of.

But we must not let Trump and his corrupt minions running for office establish any more footholds in our democratic process. They've already done enough damage.

Wear your Tye-dyed t-shirts to the ballot boxes or if you're voting by mail spark a bowl after you send it! 

Don't forget, your hippie predecessors also fought so you could legally smoke weed. The good fight continues.

As it stands, America needs you now more than ever. Your vote counts.