Hitting The Road With A Blueprint For Peaceful Revolution

[GuvWurld]

Originally published at:
http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2006/09/hitting-road-with-blueprint-for.html

Friday, September 15, 2006
Hitting The Road With A Blueprint For Peaceful Revolution

By Dave Berman

I left Eureka at 2pm on Wednesday, headed to Santa Rosa. It took almost four hours to get to the Round Table Pizza where the Progressive Democrats of Sonoma County were holding their regular meeting in a private room. Many thanks to Anna Givens who was kind enough to invite me as the keynote speaker. The best thing about this group is that I didn't encounter one person who didn't get it. Nobody raised concerns or challenged statements like "there is no basis for confidence in reported election results," or "as long as people are jailed without charges and we are not presumed innocent, we are not Free People." This made my job easier. This may have been the most in depth and lengthiest talk I've given focused almost entirely on A Blueprint For Peaceful Revolution (.pdf).

Several years ago, when I first became politically active, my main focus was on evaluating how we choose our goals. That hasn't really changed, though I've developed various concepts and phrases that now provide guidance for making better choices. I began my presentation Wednesday night by saying I have a top line and a bottom line. The top line is that we need to look at how we choose our goals and if we do this using the concepts I'm about to share then the bottom line is that Peaceful revolution is necessary, NOW!

Among the concepts discussed, I suggested that wisely chosen goals, when achieved, should accomplish the following: create an immediate tangible impact or change; create a ripple effect with repercussions on the long-term big picture; and influence the balance of power between We The People and the government.

We talked about the two components of ruthless honesty: reconciling what we say we believe with how we act on that same information; and differentiating false alternatives from genuine alternatives.

(snip)

So it took me about 3.5 hours to drive back to Eureka after my few hours in Santa Rosa. I had hoped to line up Bay Area appearances on the same trip and spend a few days down there but it didn't come together. Meanwhile, when I returned, I realized the ultimate motivation for being willing to make this trip anyway. Along with "Peaceful revolution is necessary, NOW!" I have a message for people in every town I can visit: "psst...the peaceful revolution is on...pass it on." There is just no way that people are not ready for it. They just don't know how to begin or that others have already begun.

* * *

A Blueprint For Peaceful Revolution (.pdf) was first published in the GuvWurld News Archive on 9/22/05. It also appears as the final chapter in my book, We Do Not Consent. Download a free .pdf version of the book or visit http://WeDoNotConsent.blogspot.com to buy a hard copy.

* * *

Click here to find out what California City Council has the Voter Confidence Resolution on its next agenda.

[emlev]

1. Psst...(what town will invite you next?)...shh...

[Kip Humphrey]

2. If we're going to have a peaceful revolution, we need to inform & educate

[Land Shark]

3. Thanks for this update and practical strategic advice

these are interesting times, that's the least we can say.

[SnoopDog]

4. How do I get my city council to consider something like this?

They are all Republicans but one.

[GuvWurld]

5. A few thoughts for you, Snoop

Don't think of the Council first. Think of building a coalition of support in the community. Do you have an election integrity group you work with? Are there peace organizations you can ally with? Progressive Dems or Greens? Other justice or civil liberties groups, perhaps the ACLU?

Start putting this message out in your local media - letters to the editor, calls to talk radio, even fliers on telephone polls. Focus on the secret vote counting, the 92% poll from Zogby, and the "no basis for confidence" frame.

Are any members of your City Council up for re-election this November? Ask them, if they are not declared the winner, how will they know they should accept defeat?

In fact, you can go further than this. One thing the Voter Confidence Committee is working on and will soon unveil is a transparency statement that we are going to ask candidates for all offices to sign. Certainly we will share what we come up with but you can also take this concept and make it your own. We want to remove the possibility of denial, or pleas of ignorance, about the secret nature of the vote counting. Ideally we will extract commitments to work with us on obtaining transparency through a hand count.

This is another way we hope to build our coalition - through the candidates with so much at stake (though not more than the People). Ultimately what we need is to put the unity back in community. In addition to the Blueprint (.pdf), check out this document (.pdf) which has the Voter Confidence Resolution on one side and a summary of the strategy and talking points (Guide to the VCR) on the other. Use this as a handout as you organize your coalition.

[Wilms]

8. That's a great group of ideas, Guv.

Ask your favorite pol (or least favorite for that matter :evilgrin: ):

"...if they are not declared the winner, how will they know they should accept defeat?"

[SnoopDog]

9. Sorry for this late response -

Those are great ideas - thanks.

Now if I can only get a few people to join me... My county and state Dems are focusing on GOTV which of course is extremely important.

[Kurovski]

6. K&R

:kick:

[GuvWurld]

7. Kick (eom)