For those of us with Republican Congressmen,

[Cleita]

call them on their lies with a snail mail letter. They can't ignore you if you are in their district regardless of whether you voted for them. They need to hear from us to let them know that we are on to them. Mine is Kevin McCarthy and I don't know if he has spoken yet, or if he will, but C-SPAN will have the transcripts posted later, I hope.

[sharesunited]

1. I faxed Judy Biggert on Thursday, and copied every Republican in the Illinois delegation.

[calimary]

2. Yeah, you still do have to do that.

Yes, you realize it's probably an exercise in futility.

Yes, you realize you're not going to change their minds.

Yes, you realize you're not going to help them into the light.

Yes, you realize some people's souls are simply unredeemable.

BUT:

What you CAN do is give them proof of the very visible and very present and VERY adamant opposition THAT HAS THEM SURROUNDED.

What you CAN do is give them the feeling of the walls closing in on them and the tide flowing against them.

What you CAN do is offer them confusion - well, the teabagger organizers tell me EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE is against this, but then why do I keep gettin' these dang letters...

What you CAN do is DESTABILIZE THE ENEMY. Yes, they're still there. Yes, they're still standing. Yes, they're still being blockheads and assholes and ignorant, stubborn, selfish cheapskates. But maybe some of 'em (like, maybe, yours?) are a little unsure of themselves. They go along because they're lemmings and they have the groupthink to hide behind, but forced to stand out there alone, exposed, and still pushing this shit WILL give some of them a knot or two in their stomachs. They'll be standing there alright, but noticing there are rocks in their shoes and the ground they're standing on is actually sinkhole territory. They'll be standing there but maybe a bit shakier than normal - because THEY'RE gonna be up for reelection, too. AND they know they face troubles from more than just you. They've got enemies in their own camp - extremists worse than they are, who messed it up bigtime for the GOP in that New York State district that was always republi-CON until that nutcase wacko hoffman got in there and fucked it up for the GOP candidate and made her bail and then the Democrat danced past them both and won it.

What you CAN do is force them to lose a LOT of sleep, and pop a LOT of Maalox tablets and blood pressure pills, wondering deep-down if maybe they're on the wrong side here, starting secretly to hate how haggard they look in the bathroom mirror in the morning and how increasingly thankless this job of theirs is. You want them nursing such thoughts as - "shit, there's gotta be a better way to earn a living..." or "Dear God, do I need this? Really???" Or better yet - "does my family need this? Is it REALLY worth it?"

What you CAN do is make their job more difficult, make them more uncomfortable, and sow seeds of insecurity, doubt, and discontent.

DESTABILIZING THE ENEMY is an EXTREMELY valuable strategy. Longterm, it's a winner. A destabilized enemy doesn't fight as well or as hard or as efficiently or as sharply-focused or as effectively. A destabilized enemy is demoralized, uncertain, hesitant, wondering why the hell this is still worth it. A destabilized enemy is one that's on its way to eventual, and inevitable, defeat. That's what the teabaggers tried to do at those town hall meetings - "shake 'em up and knock 'em off their stride." Well, it's not just the teabaggers that can do that, and have that effect on their opponents! It's US TOO! It's YOU - with your knuckledragging alleged "representative." This is what you can do and the lovely gesture you can make to them - every day if you feel so inclined.

You don't win now, in such a situation. But you set it up so that you're far more likely to win in the future. What you DON'T EVER WANT is an enemy that's strong, united, focused, and unfettered by doubt, disagreement, distraction, or uncertainty. You want to sow as much dissonance, and uncertainty, and disharmony, and fear and insecurity about their jobs and the stand they've taken. For some, you have to KNOW they're having some second thoughts about taking the stand they have - especially if they keep being reminded about how many millions of us there are who adamantly want what they're trying to block.

DESTABILIZE THE ENEMY. Critical and essential in its importance!