Just musing...but what do you think of this?

[joemurphy]

Despite our moribund Democratic leadership and the actions of the spineless
19 who couldn't work up the gumption for a filibuster watching DU energized for the past few days was a thing to behold. People here of all ages were emailing, faxing, telephoning, dragooning their friends and relatives, interworking, sharing information, and generally browbeating our sorry representatives to do what they should do. It was a thing of beauty.

We weren't alone. There were lots of other blogs involved with similar high levels of commitment from their members. Democratic talk radio was energized, promoting the effort. The "filibuster for a filibuster" by The Young Turks, in particular impressed me. The unity and camaraderie was wonderful. It made me proud to be a democrat.

And the wondrous thing was it was basically spontaneous. Like one of those old Mickey Rooney - Judy Garland movies, where one of them says: "Let's have a show!" Well we put on a great show. An amazing show.
We deluged the Senate with messages. Clogged fax machines. Forced reluctant Senators to do their job.

Now, my thought. What if all this were weaponized? What if we had a council -- maybe the DU Activists -- that was charged with liaisson with other blogs, Kos, Ameriblog, Democrats.com etc. -- and focused this power narrowly on a given struggle, a given issue? It occurs to me that so much could be accomplished. There are something like 84,000 people signed on to DU. Suppose we did the same sort of thing to the Senate Intelligence Committee and forced them to investigate the Downing Street Memos, the pre-war intelligence, the wiretapping? Suppose we flogged those Senators to to do their jobs there? Or maybe if we turned our fire on the White House?
Or an agency that wasn't doing its job? Or focused on the EPA when it tries to gut an environmental regulation?

Sure, maybe we couldn't mount the same massive effort as we did with Alito.
But I wonder...

Anyway, the one good thing that has come out of this from my perspective is a new-found feeling of power that is there if liberal/progressive bloggers are aroused and angry. It is an awesome power. We could maybe use it for political ends.

Face it people. This is one battle we win. We're a lot smarter than the Freepers. And there are really more of us (I think, anyway) than them. Oh...the things we could do if we were a little more organized and a little more focused.

Anyway...as I said...Just musing.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. A correction. They're not known as the spineless 19. They're known

as the traitor 19.

[drm604]

2. You and I are on the same wavelength.

:hi: See my post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x276567

[joemurphy]

4. Yes! Exactly....

Suppose we networked with some of the other blogs to contact Hardball's sponsors, for example, the next time Tweety insulted us?

Or suppose we started contacting CNN the next time they decide to hire another consie tool to brighten our evenings with their slanted news?

Or maybe we DEMAND that Senator Specter investigate the wiretaps?

Or start demanding the resignation of the Mine Safety guy that walked out on the congressional panel the other day?

Or we started a campaign to have Bush come clean on his contacts with Abramoff?

There's so much we could do, jointly, focused if we all acted together in the same grassroots sort of way we did with Alito.

That's what I was thinking about.

[OnRee]

5. But that didn't work....

"There's so much we could do, jointly, focused if we all acted together in the same grassroots sort of way we did with Alito."


We're missing a step, or something, because that didn't work. Yes, the grassroots efforts we put forth are some of the best things we do--but we also need to do what WORKS. I'm trying to figure out what DOES...:think:

[drm604]

6. Maybe that was a lost cause no matter what we did,

or maybe we just went about it wrong. I think it's partly because we waited till the last moment to really go full throttle. Imagine if we had started a week or two earlier and went full throttle that whole time.

One thing we can do is brainstorm what we could have done differently this time. It might give us some ideas for the future. More faxes and phone calls? Maybe more tightly focused faxes and phone calls? Having 2 or 3 different people physically visit each Senator's office every day? Letters to the editor? Calling in to radio shows? Something else I haven't even thought of? What? Scurrilous rumors about Alito? (Okay, I'm just joking about that last one. The truth should have been scurrilous enough, it just didn't get out or people just didn't care.)

Let's all really brainstorm this.

[joemurphy]

7. It wasn't successful, true...but it wasn't a total failure either.

Some were influenced. I think the DLC has got to be worried. The "Traitor-19" have been isolated and have to be concerned.


Also, taking down a Supreme Court nominee on 3 days notice is sort of an ambitious task, don'tcha think?

[drm604]

8. I wish I could believe they were concerned.

If they're so concerned then why did they do what they did?

And you're absolutely right about how ambitious a task this was. That's my whole point. Look what we did achieve in 3 freaking days! Wow! We really do have the power. We just have to harness it, focus it, start sooner, and maintain it longer. It's what the right has been doing for years.

Unfortunately, they may have a built in advantage. We had the intensity we had because we were desperate about this one thing and time was short. It arose due to circumstances. Their advantage is that they can get that kind of intensity and dedication any time they want. They utilize religious fervor, and in my opinion they do so in a very calculated and cynical manner.

We can not, and should not, make use of sincere dupes in the manner that they do. We need to find a way to get people aroused and moving because of things that we and they really believe in.

And perhaps we need a leader or leaders. Kerry and Kennedy filled that role this time. Maybe they can continue to do so.

[ClayZ]

13. What the Young Turks have done is amazing.

Alternative Media.

I have not turned on the TV since TYT's began thier filibuster filibuster.

[drm604]

3. K&R

:kick:

[Duncan Grant]

9. k&r

:kick:

[yellowdogmi]

10. I agree. Let's get back in the saddle.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2418896

It is hard to type this get back to work rant. Malloy is about to blow a vein.
One of you star types want to start a poll of our next order of business.

[Lorien]

11. Many of us have been trying to get such an organized effort going for ages

picking an issue, working out clear, effective talking points, then hammering the media and our "representatives" with it until they actually pay attention. Such an effort takes a leader, and unfortunately we don't have any that have managed to unite the party.

[drm604]

12. Skinner started the DU Activist Corps for just this purpose.

Now that we've actually figured out how to do it and found that it actually can have a massive effect we need to set some goals, practice, and learn from experience. We just need a good proportion of the tens of thousands of DU members involved and active. Maybe Corp members could propose goals and we could vote on which ones we should pursue.

I like your idea about hammering the media. That's one thing we didn't do much with Alito. Maybe that's the thing that would have made the difference somehow.

How's this for a target: A Constitutional Amendment protecting Reproductive Freedom.

Here's another one: A Constitutional Amendment that more clearly and precisely defines the role of the President and what he can and cannot do.

Here's another (I'm stuck on Constitutional Amendments right now for some reason): An Amendment requiring a super-majority in the Senate (2/3 for example) to approve a Supreme Court nomination.

[seabeyond]

14. "filibuster for a filibuster" by The Young Turks, in

hey i was damn impressed too. and so thrilled i had the opportunity of listening to them all day long, late into night for three days. it was fun getting to know all these people in one big ole crash course. i thought it was a pretty awesome event myself, full of lessons learned