John founded the Democracy Awareness Project to foster a sense of unity and pride in our nation. A Star-Spangled endless Mobius Strip is worn showing support for the continuation of our democratic experiment, encouraging voter turnout and bolstering civic participation.  The  Democracy Awareness Project uses the Star Spangled endless ribbon as a patriotic way to fight voter apathy, inform citizens, and end the influence of big money dominating our elections. Show your support for our American ideals and help Make Congress Great Again!

My parents were believers in the American dream. When I was eight years old, they took the family on a pilgrimage to Washington DC and Philadelphia in 1975. We visited the Lincoln Memorial and saw original copies of our Constitution. This picture of us was in front of the White House where Ford was finishing Nixon’s term. I’m the one in the middle grabbing the barricade. In school afterwards the Pledge of Allegiance was much more meaningful. I had seen Independence Hall where our Constitution was written. I believed in the ideals of our democracy and my patriotism was unwavering! It wasn’t until high school when the Reagan Revolution led to my questioning of America’s reality versus it’s promise. I went on to study humanities and philosophy in college to find out where we went astray.

In the 6th Grade, Kids Flew Free on the airlines, and I went with my Dad to New York. That’s us on Liberty Island. The Twin Towers dominated the New York Skyline and I got a picture of them as we flew into JFK. We climbed to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and visited Ellis Island where my great-grandfather landed as an immigrant. We saw all of New York from the top of the Empire State Building. We never made it to the World Trade Center, but saw it all the time. I Love NY, but hate 9/11.

An I-beam from the Twin Towers is part of the 9/11 Memorial at Healdsburg’s Town Square. I see it while walking to the local bank. My son was just 9 months old on 9/11. We saw the first plane crash into the Towers before I left to work.  When I arrived at my desk at Hewlett Packard’s spinoff company Agilent, everyone was stunned. Many of us had ties to New York and visited on business trips. We made Signal Analyzers and were suppliers to the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Agencies that tried to keep our nation safe. No one knew what was going on and little work was done that day. We were there for each other and looked to tomorrow when we could do something for our nation. The Healdsburg 9/11 Memorial resembles an open book; it reminds U.S. that our story is not written and we can write our own future. I learned on 9/11 that there are enemies of democracy that will resort to violence in their attempts to destroy America. I vowed to be the opposite; to use creativity, peacefulness, and the abiding of law to uphold democracy and our American ideals.  America was not perfect, but we were good and getting better.

I’m old enough to remember the Bicentennial. I remember when the American Dream was thriving. America was Good and getting better. CEO’s made 50x, not 300x the average salary, and America was on the way to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. I want to Make Congress Great Again, but it starts with you. I want you to earn money for your campaign for city council or school board.  I believe in America and I believe in Americans. We will do the right thing when given the opportunity. If you believe in America, then show it: Wear a hat or get an American Infinity sticker. Become an Liberty Cookies affiliate to support your own cause. America works best when we work for ourselves. While democracy has it’s own rewards, you deserve a cookie for participating and making our American ideals a reality. Sign up for Liberty Cookies Civics and news Quiz and win a prize