Do Petitions Matter?

A petition came through my emailbox yesterday. It was in regards to W. David Hager, Bush's appointee to head the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. The petition was to be sent to President Bush, requesting that he reconsider this choice. Since I concurred that Dr. Hager was an inappropriate choice for the position, I sent it along, both to President Bush's email address and to various friends whom I also thought would want to put their names on it.

One friend replied by saying not to bother as Dr. Hager had been on the committee since 2002. I very much doubt that President Bush cares one iota about an email petition. However, I have been trained since my youth to think that speaking out, even if in the form of a petition, is an important part of the democratic process.

Given how polarized things have become in this country, it makes me wonder whether this seemingly naive belief holds much value. At the end of the day, it seems to me that being passive is definitely not the correct way to go. Protestors do not seem to be as effective now as they did 30+ years ago. There is a combination of anger, frustration, and helplessness right now that makes one wonder what options there are, if any.

Is the United States condemned to being a theocracy with the kind of draconian rule that its founders tried to escape?