By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Cass County Democracy Club is not a second Democratic Party, though charter President Myron R. Miller acknowledged Tuesday that some find that distinction "confusing."
Clubs have more latitude.
Word of mouth can help that effort.
Meetings, which resume in September, feature a mix of discussions and speakers designed to stimulate political dialogue.
For him, there was no defining moment, "Just a gradual accumulation of things over time. I'm one to talk. I was never involved in the process, being in the military and civil service, I couldn't participate. I could sit at home and gripe and watch the news and scream, but it didn't go much beyond that. Somehow, in the last few years, it's just become more important to me."
Voter turnouts are so low, "You have to have a trigger issue to get people to come out, like gay marriage. All these issues should be important. Our freedom and our country, our jobs, our education should be trigger issues," Miller said. "Government is supposed to exist for the people - not the other way around - and what's happening in our country today is that the people are existing for the government. When I went to school that's what I was taught was a dictatorship. I keep comparing what we're living in today to an Orwellian society - '1984' is here."
Concentrated media ownership contributes to the problem. "Five corporations control all of the news media," he said. "With that much - I'd call it censorship - it's not the America I grew up in.
Miller, a Chicago native, settled in Wayne Township from Myrtle Beach, S.C., a year and a half ago. His home on Davis Lane overlooks the Mill Pond.
His political involvement is an awakening. "I was in the military, then I worked for the government, so I was required to be non-political," he said. "I saw the way things were going and I decided to get involved last fall during the election campaign."
Citizens "would be incensed if they were paying attention," Miller believes. "Like the sale of the Skyway. They're selling off the infrastructure of our own country and making ourselves a Third World country and I don't know why. (Dissent) changed with 9/11. Republicans are really good at staying on message and staying focused. Democrats have too many factions. Everyone wants their rightful share of the pie. That would be great. Everybody deserves their rightful share of the pie, but you lose track of the big picture."
Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress.
Miller in March applied to the county for appointment to the Veterans Advisory Committee. He is a disabled Vietnam veteran who served with both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice for 12 years.
Miller's wife is from Niles originally. "After being around the world a couple of times, we decided to come back to the Midwest."
The Democracy Club exploded onto the local scene March 12.
Members also trekked to the Upper Peninsula for a conference, with an excursion to Mackinac Island to meet Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
As the first Democratic club in Cass County - larger Berrien County, for example, has five - state Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer presented Miller the charter at a picnic in Decatur.
Being a chartered club "gives us credibility within the party," Miller said. "It also gives us access to tools the party provides through its support organizations."
Miller hopes that will yield "some veterans who have been there and can actually tell us what's going on" in Iraq.
As to how the club's presence will be felt on the local political scene, Miller said one priority will be filling all available precinct delegate positions.
Reaction from the county citizenry has been mixed. Turnout was good for meetings in Dowagiac, the "blue" city in a "red" county. "We had people turn up their noses at us at the fair, but we had lots of people come talk to us as well."
The club has a core of 15 active members and 25 paid members who attend sporadically.