Lamontz

?uestlove

Congrats and Well-frickin’-Done, FDLers!

Now I’m off to watch the video…I can picture Joe Lieberman turning to ash and blowing away in the wind as soon as the book touched his hands.

Well, it looks like Dianne Feinstein has a new doorstop for ther office.

ROOTZ!

FLUTZ!!

Great job – well done! I hope the offices are soon buzzing about this great book, and that its message – and its lessons – are taken to heart.

Off to make phone calls and watch the video!

fabulous photo of the Rootzers there, would love to put names to them faces!

you guys seau rawk!

I have been grinning from ear to ear ever since I got up and watched the video. You guys absolutely rock — everyone involved did a fantastic job with this! Well done.

Can’t wait to see what someone cooks up for the next Roots project…

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE ! ! !

really wasn’t expecting to get choked up by the video – but seeing ‘just folks’ taking their rightful place in the halls of power – AAHH!

A big phat THANKS! and Good On Ya to all the volunteers

xxooxxoo

Thanks for posting this update!

It was a blast. Still so juiced from it. I can’t believe the whirlwind pace of the day and of the action on whole. But we did it, with the help, support, time, energy, and money of the netroots behind us. I feel incredibly inspired to have taken part in this action and I, too, cannot wait to see the next RP action!

Oh, I didn’t get to follow news yesterday – anything happen (besides Dodd announcing for President)? Anyone indicted?

a guy #4 – Feinstein was one of two offices that have a “no gift” policy. Her book is being mailed to her. Hopefully it will NOT become a doorstop.

The heroine of the day is Edgery, who is the woman in the picture. She organized the stickering project and ran the details of the action. Her experience with the Hill was invaluable. She gave us all a great opening briefing on the layout of the offices and etiquette for visitors. Her organizational plan of sorting the books by building, and within that, office number, saved an immense amount of time.

I apologize to the other folks for forgetting names–the day is still something of a blur. But thank you all. The DC crew was the key to our getting this done successfully. Those first two waves at the start of the day were critical.

btw, won’t have a congresscritter in this group until MaryBeth Harrell and Barbara Ann Radnofsky get elected in November . . .

so I telephoned Pachacutec’s Bitch Senator Schumer’s office !

Heh, wait a minute. Where are the left-wing, long haired, hippe type nutcases that are the radical left? Heh, they look a bit like me. Well, maybe better looking but they seem like regular people. Wow, do D.C. people know that we look, sound, and are sane? Well they do now.

Congratulations to the originators of the idea, and for absolutely everyone pitching in. Someone, somewhere, is buzzing about those books this morning.

Wow! What a rush, to see “my” copy of Crashing the Gate…well, crash the gate.

Great work, folks. (And you’re right, GrandmaJ. These people look an awful lot like me and my neighbors.)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fantastic work everybody, thanks to all the volunteers who helped deliver those to the Congresscritters!

Oh yeah, and Frooitz! As in the Frooitz of the Dev-ill!

Good morning everyone. This is so moving. To see such a highly organized, thoughtful, meaningful action take place gives me chills. Huge heartfelt thank you to all who participated. An incredible act of inspiration.

Feingold!

Wait, something’s wrong with these pix! I don’t see a moon or any bats, and the FDLers look so…so well-hinged!

Where are all the crazed, filthy hippies? The foaming-at-the-mouth Bush haters??

These people look like sane, normal constituents. Somebody in Casting has made a horrible mistake!!

(Psst…Philo & Co.: great job!)

GrandmaJ

along the lines of your comment – the few times I’ve made visits to Hutchison’s and Cornyn’s Austin offices – I’ve made sure to dress as Central Texas Church Lady as I could – including out of character ‘big hair’
my plan was validated when Hutchison’s chief of staff patted me on the hand !

Grandma J, you beat me to the post. I’m hoping it’s a case of great minds thinking alike.

EPU’d, but back again . . .

Sounds like it was a blast! DiFi is one of my senators (much to my chagrin*) and her “no gift” policy is I think related to the whole Abramoff/Dukestir mess.

Of course, whoever delivered it could have tried to *sell* it to her office . . . “That’ll be $16.50, please. (We offer free shipping to Capitol Hill.)” Call it “office supplies” or “constituent services research”.

(*On the other hand, Pete Stark is my rep! It doesn’t quite make up for DiFi, but I’ll take what I can get.)

cbl #15:

This story will tell you all you need to know about Sen. Chuckles:

http://www.dealbreaker.com/200…..ets_b.html

Unlike the pix above, this picture could be a lot prettier.

Good on US!!!

I’m hoping to meet with a couple of Markey staffers in June when I’m in DC. I hope to fill them in on who we are and what we are doing, and to figure out how we can work together just like we are doing with Kerry’s office.

Doing good things feels really good, doesn’t it?

Crashing the gate
With books in a crate
Now, lying in wait…
Will Dems take the bait?

Ain’t FDL great?

OT-
Anyone have access to the times?
Evidently they published 5 letters critical of the tabloid article from yesterday.

T-

OT –

The Refresh Comments button is back!
The Refresh Comments button is back!

It’s got to be one of the best little tweaks to improve a site like this, especially for those of us on dialup.

Christy, Jane, Pach, and all your techies – We love the voodoo that you do!!

This is amazing–democracy in action. I will make the calls today!

OT-
Now, as the pre-trial jousting in Mr. Libbys case picks up momentum, the onetime loyal West Wing confidant will have to choose between protecting himself and protecting the White House. Specifically, insiders say, he will have to choose between a not-guilty verdict and a Presidential pardon. – NY Observer

T-

Peterr, thanks for the reminder. After all of the feedback about issues yesterday, it’s time for some positives today. Site’s working perfectly at home on Firefox 1.5.0.3 and XP Media.

I’ll log in from the office later to see how we do with IE6 and NT 4.0.

Sweet!

T- at 31 — do you have a link on that? Thanks heaps in advance if you do…

16 and 21 “dirty hippies and moonbats”

That issue was an interesting part of our discussion with Dodd’s chief of staff and her internet staffer. We pointed out that the demographics of political bloggers has a mode at 40-49 year olds with post graduate education. The CoS expressed surprise at that–turned to her internet guy who said, “They’re right. I can give you those figures.”

I think part of what happened in that session is that we provided confirmatory evidence of what the internet guy has been saying to them all along. Dropping the polite modesty bit for a moment, both Philo and I are very well-educated, well-informed, well-read and articulate. That we were saying what I’m pretty sure she has been hearing from her internet guy is gonna help him get a deeper commitment from the Senator to a bigger internet presence. They certainly do want to reach people like us–as Philo pointed out at one point, using different words, we are influencers. We shape the opinions of our friends and family who don’t have the time to follow these issues.

Tim, if you’re reading this, and I’ve got any of it wrong, please chime in.

This is so pathetic. Why would any dem vote for Hayden? It’s an endorsement of the illegal NSA spying you morons.

The committee voted 12-3 to move the nomination forward. As it was a closed-door vote, Roberts did not announce which members voted no. However, FOX News learned that Democratic Sens. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Evan Bayh of Indiana objected to the nominee.

Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California and Carl Levin of Michigan all voted for the nominee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, recovering from back surgery, cast a vote by proxy in favor of Hayden. All the Republican panel members voted for Hayden.

al-scooter – thanks for that link – now bookmarked, Wall Street gossip – who knew ?

Christy & everyone – repeating my heads up from last night

Opening Statements today in David Safavian’s trial – bringing it up as it takes place at Fitz’s Courthouse and don’t want folks to get overly excited in the event there are cameras and bobbleheads outside on a Wednesday

Morning all. Isn’t it about time for someone to breathlessly say that “The Note” is reporting that the Fitz GJ is meeting today?

http://www.nyobserver.com/2006…..story2.asp
Tried the tag above and it looked good in the preview…but I’m an html rookie.

Hilarious – the NY times has five letters on the clinton marriage article, but they are all behind a subscription firewall.

That is quite the policy there, NYTimes – force the reading public to pay to read letters from the public.

I’ll tell you the best part of this roots project;

THE DEMOCRATS WERE WAITING FOR US AND WONDERING WHY THEY HADN’T GOTTEN THEIR BOOK.

in other words

THEY READ US!

THEY PAY ATTENTION

Condi is pissed! This was her dream job. Rub it in, Jeb….

Jeb Bush is approached about running NFL

28 minutes ago

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he was privately approached about his interest in becoming the NFL’s next commissioner.

OOPS,somehow I hit enter before I was done writing

anyway, the democrats are listening to us and we can make a differance for that reason alone.

this is great news and we now have good reason to KNOW AS A FACT that we are influencing policy, so long as our wishes are based with facts as our tools.

we are the watchdogs of America and we have to keep the vigil for our democracy

I am energized

The pic of all of us from Monday night is (l to r):

Edrie
Jeff
Clarke (in back)
David Grossman of PTV
me (Dave, grrtigger on Daily Kos)

Looking forward to hearing about feedback from all the calls and emails the Congressional Dems are about to get asking whether they’ve received the book, plan to read it, what they thought, etc. :D

jayackroyd @34-

In the comments at dKos, you rightly said that you were very happy to meet with staffers. When I read that, I had the sense that you meant “political liasons” and “constiutent services” folks.

As critical as they are, however, I think that staffers like the “internet guy” might be at least as important to cultivate from our perspective out here at FDL, the Roots Project, etc. They are folks who understand the medium, and are around the staffers (and members) enough to be able to explain it to them, again and again if necessary. They also can do it in words that they can understand, like “I can get you the figures.”

Nothing works like data, when it comes to reaching a politician.

This is great. You guys did a fabulous job.

Met to me 41:

I’ll tell you the best part of this roots project;

THE DEMOCRATS WERE WAITING FOR US AND WONDERING WHY THEY HADN’T GOTTEN THEIR BOOK.

in other words

THEY READ US!

THEY PAY ATTENTION

That gives me an idea…

reload comments.

I don’t know when you added the feature, but I love it, I think you might even up the timer to 20 to 25 seconds which will ease the bandwidth pressure and increase overall site speed

well done

From the NYT (you don’t have to pay to subscribe, just register)

To the Editor:

Re “For Clintons, Delicate Dance of Married and Public Lives” (front page, May 23):

I’m not quite sure what to make of your report about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage as provided by anonymous experts.

What I do know is that I’ll be looking forward to the same thorough reporting into the marriages of other presidential hopefuls, like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, including “interviews with some 50 people and a review of their respective activities.”

I assume that those critical investigations will be prominently placed in The Times as well; I’d really hate to miss them.

Vivienne Leheny
New York, May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

You write, “Many of those interviewed were granted anonymity to discuss a relationship for which the Clintons have long sought a zone of privacy.”

Nice job in going ahead and invading their privacy anyway.

Is the Clintons’ intimate personal life really such an important issue these days?

Alexander Dent
Avon, Ind., May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

“Tension and disappointment” in a marriage? They’re not always together? There are good times and bad times? Wow, what a revelation!

I’ve been married for 10 years, and much of what you describe in the article about the Clintons’ marriage is true for almost every marriage I’ve ever seen, including my own.

Where I also identify, however, is that the Clintons, regardless of the problems they have had, are still together. They raised a child who seems very well adjusted.

They never did “cut and run,” like many political and media figures who, coincidentally, preach family values.

Paul Eric Plavcan
Newington, Conn., May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

You carry the Clintons’ baggage very well, but I don’t believe that you don’t know what holds the Clinton marriage together: two people who think they are the smartest people in the world, and boundless personal ambition, no matter the cost to party or country or other people.

Mary McLemore
Pike Road, Ala., May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

What are these reports about Bill Clinton and late Tex-Mex dinners?

Mr. President, we want you to live much longer. Try being like George W. Bush a little bit more — dinner by 7.

J. P. Slavin
Dalkey, Ireland, May 23, 2006

Jay – all citizens who step up are leaders. There’s no reason to shy away frmo that. We’re not authoritarian leaders. We’re just citizen making a difference together to change the country.

Letter to the Editor One

To the Editor:

Re “For Clintons, Delicate Dance of Married and Public Lives” (front page, May 23):

I’m not quite sure what to make of your report about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage as provided by anonymous experts.

What I do know is that I’ll be looking forward to the same thorough reporting into the marriages of other presidential hopefuls, like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, including “interviews with some 50 people and a review of their respective activities.”

I assume that those critical investigations will be prominently placed in The Times as well; I’d really hate to miss them.

Vivienne Leheny
New York, May 23, 2006

You know what really got to me? Reading the bookplate and seeing those boxes all sorted and ready to go, with each Congress members’ name on their copy, in Philo’s Flikr account. It finally seemed real and intimate, a “touchable” moment.

Direct representative democracy, here we come…corporations and lobbyists, get the hell out of our way.

The “Times” letters are not behind a fire wall. They are available with registration. I’m able to read them and I don’t pay for “Times Select.” You just need to register.

Here’s the first three with names changed to initials.
To the Editor:

Re “For Clintons, Delicate Dance of Married and Public Lives” (front page, May 23):

I’m not quite sure what to make of your report about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage as provided by anonymous experts.

What I do know is that I’ll be looking forward to the same thorough reporting into the marriages of other presidential hopefuls, like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, including “interviews with some 50 people and a review of their respective activities.”

I assume that those critical investigations will be prominently placed in The Times as well; I’d really hate to miss them.

V.H.
New York, May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

You write, “Many of those interviewed were granted anonymity to discuss a relationship for which the Clintons have long sought a zone of privacy.”

Nice job in going ahead and invading their privacy anyway.

Is the Clintons’ intimate personal life really such an important issue these days?

A.D,
Avon, Ind., May 23, 2006

•

To the Editor:

“Tension and disappointment” in a marriage? They’re not always together? There are good times and bad times? Wow, what a revelation!

I’ve been married for 10 years, and much of what you describe in the article about the Clintons’ marriage is true for almost every marriage I’ve ever seen, including my own.

Where I also identify, however, is that the Clintons, regardless of the problems they have had, are still together. They raised a child who seems very well adjusted.

They never did “cut and run,” like many political and media figures who, coincidentally, preach family values.

P.E.V
Newington, Conn., May 23, 2006

Oops, I see Anne beat me to the punch on the letters to the editor.

Nevermind 49. :)

O/T

*ilson – a brief post & lots of comments on FBI raid of Jefferson’s office from Talk Left

TalkLeft

Rockefeller must be doped on morphine if he voted for Hayden. Maybe he has lots of space in that drawer for another letter or two to himself. Freaky.

T-says at 28

Letters are not behind the wall. Yes, there are five letters on the subject. I didn’t read them but here’s the link:

LTEs

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color coded thingy when we post. I hate scrolling and this gives a quick visual to get back to bidness. Thank you!!

Another idea for possible followup would be for local RP chapters to contact the local campaign offices of Democratic challengers to Republican members of congress, to give them the book.

We wouldn’t want potential newcomers to DC like Ned Lamont to be behind on their reading, come next January, and it might even help a few more get there, if they read it quickly . . .

In the comments at dKos, you rightly said that you were very happy to meet with staffers. When I read that, I had the sense that you meant “political liasons” and “constiutent services” folks.

As critical as they are, however, I think that staffers like the “internet guy” might be at least as important to cultivate from our perspective out here at FDL, the Roots Project, etc. They are folks who understand the medium, and are around the staffers (and members) enough to be able to explain it to them, again and again if necessary. They also can do it in words that they can understand, like “I can get you the figures.”

We do understand the hierarchy. The Clinton staffer the NYRoots folks met with was extremely constrained in what she could say, for example. We all knew that. But we delivered our message, first in the questions we submitted to her for review by the “policy staff” in DC and second, in our conversation with her. Would it have been more effective to have that conversation with the actual policy staffers? Sure.

Was a substantive discussion with the chief of staff more valuable than a symbolic handshake with the senator. You bet it was. She’s been with the Senator for 11 years. She knows how to talk to him. We don’t.

But we should reach out for every contact in any case. The non-front door staff we talked to yesterday were all good people for us to talk to. And I think the next action that happens will get a better response from more senior staff because of this action.

jay (34), pach (48) — Pach’s got that right, been proven time after time since I got active on a local basis in 2004. Leaders are people who show up. Period. We see the same ones again and again, bringing different skill sets and a determination to do the right thing and win; it’s enough to make them a leader, even if it’s only for a day or an hour. As one of our more self-effacing folks says, “I’m just a drummer”…but he shows up every day to make the office run and solves our computer and network problems. He’s the go-to now on technical matters, our leader on that subject.

Jay, if you want demographics to have for future conversations with CoS and others, check out the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s reports, usually one published every month. The April report, for instance, looked at penetration of internet usage. (USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future also has studies with demographics, but their site is current screwed up, can’t retrieve a report.)

Sorry Anne, I must have been writing my post when your’s went up. Apologize for the dup.

I just now called the office of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO, 5th Dist)and the office was not aware that a book had been delivered, so I gave a short pitch for it. Polite reception but I got the sense that Congresspeople are asked all the time by constitutents to read something.

Speaking of the disastrous Clinton article in the “Times” has anyone read the travesty at “Salon” this morning about the review of Al Gore (not his movie) by Andrew O’Hehir. Lots of good letters at the end. It’s crap like this that made me cancel my premium subscription. Dandy Andy prints all the Gore memes this morning. Amazing that he could get so many in such a short article.

Salon Front Page

ArthurKC at 61 — thanks so much for making the call. The more calls they get on any one subject, the more likely they are to sit up and take notice. Your one call — coupled with the calls of a few others — will make a big difference on this. Thanks again!

I’m sorry but I don’t get it. Much like the ruberstamp congress stunt this would seem to be a waste of time and money.

Does anyone here think these congresspeople are going to read much less internalize the book’s message?

No.

Why bother with them? They are absolutely and utterly useless as the last five years have shown (and in some cases the thirty years before that). Okay there are a couple exceptions, and I mean literally a couple, but those aren’t people who need to read the book.

Do you really think A Kennedy much less a lieberman is going to have a sudden epiphany that they don’t have to be a complacent douchebag all the time while the GOP rapes the country?

Again, no.

This is not real citizen action. This is akin to protesting: a legal and utterly ineffective way to make any real change that is legal precisely because it is ineffective.

Look, supporting Lamont against Lieberman? That’s worthwhile. Sending a brand new doorstop to congress? Waste of time. Waste of money (unless your name happens to be Markos in which case I guess you’re pretty happy). How much money did this stunt cost? Was it enough to put one commercial on the air in CT for Lamont?

Seriously, we need to be a lot smarter than this if we want to make a real change.

Polite reception but I got the sense that Congresspeople are asked all the time by constitutents to read something.

TJOP (that’s just our point).

The reason to call and email is to make the point that this book is not like the others. It’s not a book the author wants you to read. It’s a book your constituents want you to read.

The suggestion from the Kos commenters, picked up by Christy is intended to lead to people in the office wondering what all the fuss is about. It’s just another book, after all. Why are all these people calling?

OT

Jane, you are going to have fun with this WaPo Frist fluff piece. Unleash your snark!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01380.html

Bill Frist: A Doctor at Heart
By Laura Blumenfeld
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

(snippets)

“He climbed into the back of his black SUV; his driver steered toward the zoo. “I gravitate towards insurmountable problems,” Frist said, his long legs spilling between the front seats. “I try to use creative solutions.” One day, he hopes to cure AIDS or cancer. He sucked on the stem of his glasses: “The typical person around here may not understand.”

“Frist joined the team, as he had on other mornings, tying on a mask. He unbuttoned his business shirt, revealing jungle-pattern surgical scrubs and a pair of hairy, toned biceps.”

“A little bit like Superman,” said the dentist, Chuck Williams.

“Frist snapped on rubber gloves. He leaned over the operating table, gripping the corners.”

“He pressed his stethoscope to the gorilla’s chest and narrowed his eyes”.

“The stink of ape sweat and gorilla testosterone soaked his hair and clothes”.

The other powerful aspect of this action is the in-person nature. There’s a hierarchy of importance placed on different kinds of contact around DC. Different members/staffers may have slightly different scales, or may switch some of them around, but the top and the bottom of the ladder are firm. From bottom to top, IMHO:

*petitions (email, internet, or hard) – lowest of the low, especially electronic petitions.
*mass emails/snail mail mass postcards – not much better.
*email/snail mail general correspondence – getting there
*handwritten (neatly, of course) personal correspondence – shows more effort on the part of the sender
*phone calls
*personal, in the flesh actual visits.

The more effort that is put into making contact, the more it is listened to. IOW, “when you care enough to send the very best,” that means showing up in person.

Good choice in not just shipping the books to Capitol Hill!

Tlaloc at 64 — well, I can tell you that I personally got a note from someone in Sen. Kennedy’s office this morning — and he’s not only happy to have gotten the book, but was very pleased with the comments made in yesterday’s thread on the Profiles in Courage posting. If you think that members of Congress aren’t sitting up and taking notice of these types of activity, you are fooling yourself — expecially given that people haven’t been using this sort of connection on the left as effectively as they should but now are doing so through efforts like the Roots project. I know when I get personal contact from Senators and Congresspeople (as does Jane) that someone is paying attention — even if it’s the internet staffer or a policy staffer or a press staffer, it’s more than we’ve ever gotten in the past for the voices that we try to bring out. And for that I say to everyone involved again — BRAVO.

Best reward yet for yesterday’s action (and proof that it was appreciated):

I walked into work and my copy of How Should a Patriot Act? had arrived. Joy!

I’m sorry but I don’t get it. Much like the ruberstamp congress stunt this would seem to be a waste of time and money.

Does anyone here think these congresspeople are going to read much less internalize the book’s message?

I don’t know how widely held this view is, but if you think this project was designed to get members of congress to read a book, you’re missing the point.

This project was the Cliff Notes version of the book.

Peterr at 67

That is also why we decided to use the much more cumbersome method of individually purchased books rather than prepurchased books against a donation site. Two reasons.

1) It puts the in the flesh involvement at the outset of the transaction. In some case we could say (because we were asked to) Joe Smith of Maplewood bought you this book.

2) Second, it ups the level of engagement of the contributors. There are 200 odd people out there (some made multiple purchases) who made a very concrete bit of involvement in linking constituents with their representatives. We saw a similar effect with our volunteers. The time commitment kept going up, as they became more engaged with the project.

Congratulations to everyone!!! Special thanks to the roots on the ground! It was a great idea and a wonderful expression of the wishes and motivations of we, the people. Thank you all.

That issue was an interesting part of our discussion with Dodd’s chief of staff and her internet staffer. We pointed out that the demographics of political bloggers has a mode at 40-49 year olds with post graduate education. The CoS expressed surprise at that%u2013turned to her internet guy who said, “They’re right. I can give you those figures.”

Damn, I was thinking how old that is, then I realized…I’m part of that age group. Still can’t believe it. :)

Way to go Rootz!!! I’ve been bumming lately that I don’t have the cash to support this site or support these citizen actions. Why, despite all those tax cuts, am I constantly working just to come up with another 3-month self-employment tax to pay to the fucking govt that treats me like a terrorist? Oh yeah, those tax cuts aren’t for us regular working folks. Anyways, someone in the comments above gave me an idea: I’ll buy CTG for the Dem running in my district and use it as a way of introducing myself to her and offering to help in whatever small way I can.

For those who think this is a waste of time and money –

Please take note — “The Rubber Stamp Republican Congress” meme has gained currency in the public narrative, and that probably would not have happened without the FDL rubber stamp citizen action. “The Rubber Stamp Republican Congress” dovetails very nicely with “Culture of Corruption”, and in addition to being funny, it actually tars the GOP — something the DC Dems seem to neglect far too often.

OT – Zoellick Would Leave State If Passed Over for Top Treasury Job:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..Rs8WIsOoM0

I need suggestions for my banner in Chicago’s “Bike the Drive” for my bike this weekend.

Past banners:

Re-Defeat Bush (04)

Stop Funding Terror: Ride a Bike (05)

Any suggestions this time?

I’m considering:

ITMFA

Fitz!

I’d have to ask for some Dems to call. All I have representing me are Republicans. Any suggestions who deserves a wake up call? Ooh… Cuellar!

Never mind.

Thanks again to Jay and philo and everyone who volunteered, including PoliticsTV. I spent the morning watching not only this action over there but also the kickoff video for Crashing the Gate at GWU. There is one thing that we don’t remember much that I also think is important: Remember when the web award nominations were up and voting was going on? I had never been part of that before so I went to previous years to see how things went, and to my surprise many if not most of the nominated blogs were from the right side of the blogosphere. For 2005, the tide had washed them all away and the lineup was almost completely from the left. Jerome and Kos made a good point at the kickoff, which Jane and Christy (and we) have mentioned many times that the right does not engage their readers to participate, and they don’t organize themselves around any particular issue or action. They really can’t because they can’t defend their positions. Sites like Kos, mydd, firedoglake and others facilitate and promote action and participation and here on FDL, we have direct discussion with our facilitators, whether they are J, C or P, but all of our guest posters like Taylor, TRex, Roger and Matt. That is something unique and certainly different from what Corp Media will ever accopmlish in their online versions.

As a former health educator I know that it takes many repeated messages to move folks to action, and our Congress is no different. This boots on the ground action does make a real difference and I am very, very grateful.

Oh, this refreash comments is really nice, thanks.

Tlaloc @ 64 –

I don’t think you can just dismiss thoughtful and rational action of any kind as being a waste of time and money. Why? Well, take the book giveaway yesterday. It’s true that maybe the senator or representative him- or herself may not be the first person to read the book. Maybe it will be a staffer. But staffers talk to other staffers. Word filters up the chain. The more people who read the book, talk about what’s in the book, the better. At some point, someone with regular access to the legislator is going to say, “You need to read this book, or at least let me tell you what’s in it.”

It may not be instant gratification. Lightning may not strike. There probably won’t be a global “light bulb” moment on the Hill, but I there will begin to be more and more of those moments as time goes by. Before long, the light will shine bright enough to wake up even the most oblivious senator or representative. That’s what movements do.

I think most of us are no longer willing to just sit and curse the darkness – we’re ready to throw the switch on some light bulbs. Not only is it empowering to be involved in this, it’s fun. All I did was buy a book and a rubber stamp, but I did something besides sit on the sidelines and mutter about these dirty rotten scoundrels ruining our country.

You do what you do because you believe that’s the best use of your time and your money – and that’s great. But don’t belittle and diminish the time, money and effort expended by those who had a different approach just because it isn’t the one you would take. This was an all-volunteer effort. Those who thought the book-buying was a good idea bought books. Those who didn’t, or couldn’t afford to, contributed in other ways.

It’s all good. Christy’s comment should be proof of that.

trying to close the link

Jay (34), Peterr (44) and Rayne (59)–

First of all, Jay, you got it right. A part of what I do is evangelize, for lack of a better word, the virtues of the netroots within my office. With all things, change takes time, but I am constantly impressed by how receptive my fellow staffers are when they see what you are all accomplishing out there.

Peterr, I can only speak for myself as one ‘internet guy’ on the hill, but there’s no need to ‘cultivate’ me–I’m on your side. I agree though that folks with technology skillsets in other offices are worth reaching out to.

Rayne, thanks for the link. The more data I have, the easier my work becomes.

Finally, I want to publicly thank Matt, Jay, Edrie, Dewita, Sari and Julie, with whom my CoS and I met yesterday, as well as all the other volunteers and organizers. It was a great meeting, and an excellent project.

Tim

ck – 74:

We also saw a number of posters & signs outside of Democratic congressional offices attacking Republicans for “rubber stamping” legislation. It is certainly part of the common parlance, just as “crashing the gate” is becoming a common term as well.

I forgot my manners, very sorry…

THANK YOU VERY MUCH Edrie, Jeff, Clarke, David Grossman, Dave, Matt, Jay, and everyone else who put their shoulders to this.

Appreciate greatly your efforts to realize this project.

For those who want to come over and constantly whine hoping we’ll eventually link to you — no names please — it’s not going to happen.

And when we look you up and see you parading under a variety of names, we’re just embarassed for you so please don’t.

64 Tlaloc says:

May 24th, 2006 at 7:59 am

I’m sorry but I don’t get it. Much like the ruberstamp congress stunt this would seem to be a waste of time and money.

Does anyone here think these congresspeople are going to read much less internalize the book’s message?……

Well, dude, I guess we should just burn the government down? Seriously, do a Reichstag on Congress?

I keep wondering if a Ukraine would work here after they steal the Fall elections? If thousands, millions, camped out in washington and refused to leave until they did?

I don’t think a damn thing would happen cuz we have a rule of law for dealing with the rabble (that is, non-republicans).

Really, I’m re-reading Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” and the parallels are amazing. When leftists preach revolution, they are charged with treason and sent away for life. When righists do it (like Hitler’s pusch) they are given a platform and a slap on the wrist.

Look at the treatment of Rush versus that other guy who was script shopping.

Stoller has a great post up about this:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/5/24/11416/9662

Re: Tlaloc @ 64 %u2013

Other suggestions are always welcome, however the “it’s no use, it’s a waste of time” perspective is kind of pointless here at firedoglake. No ones efforts are wasted if they are for the cause of liberating our country.

Called Mike Michaud’s office and let them know a gal from a tiny town helped in the “book drive”. Got a friendly response.

Jane, thanks for that, makes sense.

Going to get my pre-Vegas haircut.
Later, pups!

I called Chet Edwards’ office — got a clueless response, but she was polite and took my name and address. Unfortunately, Chet is a Dem in a Repub area and is conservative and runs to the right. So it might be pointless to contact him. I did anyway though, so I feel like I did my job as an open-source lobbyist.

Tialoc at #64

I realize there is a sense of futility in trying to change things by pacifistic means. Democratic methods of protest, and grassroots organization may not cause the criminals in power to shake in their boots. But it certainly helps those opposed to them be united around a common goal, and reminded that they are not helpless.

The reason why ‘wedge issues’ are so commonly used by criminally inclined politicians is precisely to ‘divide’ oppostition, thereby weakening it. One of the values of blogs, and grassroots is for those isolated and outraged; by the apparent injustice of power storming Washington, is that they can know that they are not alone, and can take effective action that doesn’t involve ’storming the bastille’.

That said, I think there are some with a nascent ’storm the bastille’ ire in their hearts. This is a state people arrive at when feeling they have nothing left to lose. I pray we never come to that point.

Grassroots, netroots, blogs, and the like, while less dramatic, do create unity and hope. I for one am happy to see them in action.

twolf1 at 81 — what’s open. I can close it via edit, but I can’t see it in MS. If you can point me to the comment number, I’ll be happy to close it off…

“Tlaloc at 64 %u2014 well, I can tell you that I personally got a note from someone in Sen. Kennedy’s office this morning %u2014 and he’s not only happy to have gotten the book, but was very pleased with the comments made in yesterday’s thread on the Profiles in Courage posting.”

He’s a politician. Do you really expect him to say what he really thinks? Come on.

Maybe this expresses it best:
http://www.sinfest.net/comics/sf20040727.gif

Ck at 74-

“Please take note %u2014 “The Rubber Stamp Republican Congress” meme has gained currency in the public narrative”

Look it up on Google. You get 800 hits. Now look up “Pony in slavery.” 19000 hits.

I wonder if anyone from the right would be interested in discouraging our activism?

Just wondering. . .

Christy – at the beginning of post 31, there is an ‘A’ tag, i think that is the culprit. All text below that appears as active link (to nowhere) for me in safari.

ceci #66

That is a truly disturbing bit of blowjob journalism. It has been a while since I have seen a reporter have such a public orgasm in print and the object of this undisguised desire? Bill Frist. EEEWWW!

Anne @ 80—you said it better than I ever could.

My $20 for a copy of CTG pales in comparison to the hours spent labelling and individually delivering books to our Congresscritters. Thanks to each of the RP members who gave their time to bring this all to fruition.

Anne at 80-

“I don’t think you can just dismiss thoughtful and rational action of any kind as being a waste of time and money.”

The problem is that this action seems neither thoughtful nor rational. It seems like just anopther pointless exercise in wasting our energy and the left has too many of those already.

“Well, take the book giveaway yesterday. It’s true that maybe the senator or representative him- or herself may not be the first person to read the book.”

Let’s put it this way if 1% of those books that got delivered ever got cracked by a single human being I’d be surprised. They went straight into the garbage, don’t kid yourself.

These are people who feel massive entitlement to their position by and large and you think they are open to getting a ymbolic spanking by us peons? And yes that is exactly how they think of us. Their contempt for us has been made abundantly clear. If we are going to threaten them (and we should) we have to do it in a direct concrete way. “Stop fucking around or your asses are history.” Not “hey here’s a subtle message delivered in a bit of street theater that you can totally pretend laugh about over a brandy later.”

Again backing people like Feingold and Lamont is effective.

“All I did was buy a book and a rubber stamp, but I did something besides sit on the sidelines and mutter about these dirty rotten scoundrels ruining our country.”

My point is that you could have spent the same money and gotten a much better return assuming your goal is political change. If you are doing this for your personal amusement then by all means feel free. But as an attempt to fix our broken system it is anemic and counterproductive.

“But don’t belittle and diminish the time, money and effort expended by those who had a different approach just because it isn’t the one you would take.”

I don’t mean to belittle anyone. I just think you guys are using a very weak tactic to accomplish your goals. I hope that if it’s pointed out we can all focus on better means to the end.

Gee, Tlaloc, the person who responded wasn’t the politician, but someone who works for the politician. Kinda of a difference there.

You don’t know even know to whom Christy is referring, much less who that person is, as a person, what kind of credibility they have, & etc. You don’t know how Christy knows this person. Nothing.

You’re automatically assuming that ALL politicians (and apparently, by extension, the people around them) lie ALL of the time. Is your bullshit detector so faulty that you can’t determine when they’re lying and when they’re not? Is that why you make such sweeping generalizations about politicians, then use a COMIC to “prove” your point? Do you have ironclad proof that Sen Kennedy and every member of his staff have never, ever told the truth, about anything, outside of a COMIC?

I’m not saying you don’t have a valid point to be suspicious of the note-sender’s intentions…but you don’t have a valid point in saying that you can dismiss what that person said out of hand, just because you think it will help you “prove” that this action is worthless.

twolf1 at 97 — I’ve closed it off. Hopefully that will take care of it. I can’t see the Safari issues on my Dell — so it helps when those of you with MAC browsers see something that is open, if you can let us know in the comments in which comment number the problem starts. Thanks!

tom, chicago (76)

How about:

Save the planet — re-elect Gore!

Tlaloc’s google search demonstrates an interesting ploy. “I try this string and I get minimal results so what you are doing must not be important.” If Tlaloc had entered the string “rubber stamp congress”, he would have gotten 1,940,000 hits. It’s a fallacious argument to begin with and it doesn’t work even on its own merits. Sheesh!

For something so allegedly ‘pointless’- seems to generate some interest from someone who disagrees.
—
In rebuttal:
Already, I’ve looked up the fact that 4 in the MA, including both Western MA districts were unopposed last time. I suppose Kerry’s coattails, but still…

Then, I discovered a link to ‘vote-smart’ to see how my guy is likely to see ‘net neutrality’. Turns out he’s been around on a scale that people like McMain and the infamous K.Harris (FLA) score 100. My guy is last rated in the mid-50’s range, so he’s gotten better.

His major campaign donations come from ‘insurance’…I imagine that would be ‘MassMutual’.

This complacent voter in WMa is a wee bit more informed.

Directly from this project.

Thanks all.

Tlaloc 95, if you search with out the “The”, you get 14,800 hits. It pays to trim your search criteria to the meat of the matter if you’re going to do a Google hit number comparison…

Just saying

zennurse-

“Other suggestions are always welcome, however the “it’s no use, it’s a waste of time” perspective is kind of pointless here at firedoglake. No ones efforts are wasted if they are for the cause of liberating our country.”

I made a suggestion: supporting people like Lamont is a good effort. I’m not saying the goal is unattainable I’m saying this tactic is incapable. Hence why a different tactic is called for. Just like if Firedoglake was putting a lot of effort into street protests. Those are a total waste of time and energy.

And, yes, even though the cause may be good if they accomplish nothing it is a waste.

I’m new to FDL but just want to say that yesterday’s action was a wonderful way to demonstrate the power of people-driven democracy thru blogs. I used what we were doing as an illustration to many of the offices I visited — it really helped the staffer and the one Congressman I met get what we’re talking about. It’s not the book, it’s the concept within the book we’re trying to get across to these folks. And for those who think handing the book to a staffer isn’t much, I refer you to Peterr at 67 — a constituent (or a citizen on behalf of a constituent) walking into a Congressional office gets much more attention after the fact than an envelope of any kind.

As for next actions, CALL today, tomorrow. Ask for a meeting with the Member of Congress during the recess. Get others to do the same. Organize a group to go in and talk about helping the MoC connect with voters and supporters through dialogue (not the current “I have a website” model).

I also LOVE the idea of getting the book to the Dem challengers! That’s more important to my thinking than sitting Governors, etc. Help those working so hard to get into Congress now, and we’ll all have a much better dialogue with them once they win in November!

He’s a politician. Do you really expect him to say what he really thinks? Come on.

Tlaloc @ 91 – i don’t care what they think, i care what they do. if they do the right thing because they think it is in their best interest to do so… that’s just fine by me. so, let’s make doing the right thing in our politician’s best interests.

I’m reading Frances Moore Lappe’s Living Democracy right now,and here’s something I LOVE about this book:

Democacy:It’s not something we have,it’s something we DO.

For far too long the power has been allowed to be usurped by interests that don’t care about individuals,families,and communities.And only individuals,families and communities can take that back.

I can’t say enough about this book,it’s a great companion piece to CTG.It’s full of stories of hope,where just regular folks begin working around the status quo and create what they want where they are.Economic fairness,strength in numbers,holding elected officials accountable,improving local schools,all done by people who aren’t rich,famous or connected.This is America,people rolling up their sleeves,putting differences aside and working towards common goals,man,it’s a beautiful thing.

I loved the video piece,I mean,don’t the halls of Congress belong to us too?All of us belong there,for way too long we’ve been led to think we don’t.

And Barry Goldwater’s (ghostwritten) Conscience of a Conservative had nothing to do with the birth of a movement or the ascent of American “conservatism.”

I’m sorry, but this naysaying is bullshit. This is a defeatist troll, either ignorant of history or purposely trying to sabotage via disinformation.

Please don’t feed.

Congratulations to all involved on a very successful action.

Going to go call Lloyd Doggett (who should be my rep, curse you Pete Craddick!) to reinforce the gift from the netroots.

Tlatloc, you don’t even get it. You are belittling people, and ignoring the actions that have a bit different of an effect. They don’t tear down the wall, but they push against it. Enough pushes, and it goes. Getting people to think of the Republican Congress as “Rubber Stampers” is a more subtle form of political activism than masses overrunning the Capitol with pitchforks and torches. Is one more effective than the other? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on what the long-term effects are, I suppose. And if you get what you really wanted out of it. Usually, that’s not what happens with the pitchforks method, but oh can those subtle campaigns linger, long after the dust settles. Ask old school Dallas Dems about lemonade. They’ll know what you mean about a subtle campaign.

Political change comes where it does. You cannot be absolutely certain that pouring money into a campaign is enough to change the system. In fact, we know that’s not enough, for a host of reasons. We’ve been doing that for ages, and where has it gotten us? Where’s that majority, huh?

edgery:

please email me at pachacutec01 at gmail dot com.

Tlaloc (95) — depends entirely on search criteria and methodology.

Using news.google.com, there are 260 citations over the last month for rubber stamp republicans. Using the same site, there are 0 citations for pony in slavery.

Using Technorati, and charting for all languages and any authority, there’s a clear spike in early March and smaller spikes throughout March (including one that mirrors FDL’s efforts) with a steady rise over the last 180 days. You can try your own hand at charting pony in slavery using the same methodology.

“Tlaloc’s google search demonstrates an interesting ploy. “I try this string and I get minimal results so what you are doing must not be important.” If Tlaloc had entered the string “rubber stamp congress”, he would have gotten 1,940,000 hits.”

Fair enough. I used the phrase the commentor had suggested had become a meme in the popular consciousness. By the way you only get 28,000 hits not 2 million (you have to put quotes around the term so that it searches for the exact phrase).

Just called Rep. Charlie Gonzales (TX)… He got his copy, I hope he reads it. Also asked that he looks into the AT&T privacy scandal (they are big here in San Antonio). FDL you should keep the 1-888-355-3588 (free number for congress) as a permanent in the homepage.

Pach @ 110 – You’re right, of course. But if I remember The Hobbit correctly, if the trolls keep talking until daylight, it turns them into stone.

They do make interesting looking scuptures, though . . .

Great project! But there’s another book that I think is even more important for us to get Congress to read: Glenn Greenwald’s How Would A Patriot Act?. I just read it last night, and it makes a devastating case against the Bush administration’s power grab and the urgent need to stop it.

We particularly need Nancy Pelosi to read it.

Pac, I was thinking more along the lines of “sock puppet”, but you’re right.

Yeah, Christy, we Mac users do get the highlighted thing when someone doesn’t close a tag.

Will do with notifying, if I spot it.

great job!

Tlaloc @ 100 –

I don’t mean to belittle anyone. I just think you guys are using a very weak tactic to accomplish your goals. I hope that if it’s pointed out we can all focus on better means to the end.

Actually, you do mean to belittle. Everything you have written is intended to belittle, demean, and discourage.

Hell, I’m plenty discouraged without your input — and I’ve been doing everything I can think of for the past 6 years, trying stop the BushCo Crime Syndicate.

Guess What? FDL community actions have had more impact on the political process than anything I’ve seen.

I hope that if it’s pointed out we can all focus on better means to the end.

And what would those be? Playing the Joementum game — kissing Bush and bashing Dems?

We are open to suggestions — if you have anything constructive to offer, please do so. If all you have is criticism of what FDLer’s have chosen to do, kindly STFU.

LJ/Aquaria -

“Tlatloc, you don’t even get it. You are belittling people, and ignoring the actions that have a bit different of an effect. “

I don’t mean to belittle anyone, as I said. I don’t think people doing this are stupid. I certainly don’t think the Smith or Hamsher are stupid. Quite the contrary usually they seem very practical in their idealism which is why I love the site.

“Getting people to think of the Republican Congress as “Rubber Stampers” is a more subtle form of political activism than masses overrunning the Capitol with pitchforks and torches.”

I agree, but the way to get that meme across is NOT to deliver rubber stampos to congress. Who does that send a message to? The masses that never know about it or the congresspeople who just become a little more angry and beligerrent against us? You have to aim your message at your audience. Congress is NOT our audience. They are deaf to us.

“You cannot be absolutely certain that pouring money into a campaign is enough to change the system.”

Certainly true. Look I’m all for unconventional thinking in these matters, I’m personally an anarchist after all. But unconventional thoughts still have to pass the rationality test. If we decided to send copies of Crashing the Gate to the Japanese Diet does that help us? No. It may be a weird new tactic to try but it is also wholely ineffective in accomplishing our goals.

Delivering books or stamps to congress is the kind of thing you get during brainstorming, not the kind of thing you should actually end up with as your most effective tactic to pursue.

Way to go Roots Project!

Tlaloc: That kind of defeatism never gets us anywhere and it’s why we get representation like Joe Lieberman in office. There are really no good options left once you believe fundamentally that grassroots projects don’t work.

Even if no congressional staffer or member ever reads Markos’ book, it will still have been worth it just because it invigorates us to do so. Action begets more action; a bunch of little changes can beget some really major changes. The conservative dominance of Washington didn’t happen overnight or in a vacuum. It was started at the roots level, has been well-ordered and relentless. We can be just as relentless and organized and really affect the kind of change we want.

Too often we forget: Progressive ideals always, always win in the end. More people than not believe fundamentally in fairness and treating others with respect, which are cornerstones of our American progressive politics. No matter how monolithic the other side may seem, our ideals are always more compelling and eventually win out. But that’s not by accident. It’s because we have the better ideas, the better people and the will to get out and get the work done. Even if it means sending hundreds of books to folks, of which only a small few will actually be read. It’s always worth it.

New thread from Christy.

It may be easier to see the effects of any effort put into the Lamont campaign, but that does not discount yesterday’s event. Intangibles are just that. Intangible. You never know what effect something you say or write or do might have on someone else.

However, I think the ubiquity of the internet has actually made members of congress and their staff more appreciative of real letters and person-to-person contact.

By comparison with the average email (hurried, ungrammatical, possibly sarcastic, rude even), actual human contact that demonstrates forethought and attempts to be civil must be more welcome.

Just thinking out loud… maybe another project should be personal letters, rather than emails; I’ve heard that they are given more attention.

I only wish I had a Democratic senator or congressman! But with Weldon, Santorum, and Specter… yikes! And, now we have Casey on the horizon.

I just phoned Hillary’s office and her aide hadn’t heard of the book – - so I repeated the title three times and told him to have her read it. Perhaps Hillary and I will become best friends.

Lloyd Doggett’s office confirmed receipt of a copy.

I said I hoped the staff or Rep Doggett would be reading it, and got a non-committal response. In fairness, I wouldn’t expect whoever is on phone duty to commit the Rep to read anything.

One drop of water against the wall.

ck-

“Actually, you do mean to belittle. Everything you have written is intended to belittle, demean, and discourage.”

Please don’t tell me what my motivations are. I’ll tell you for free if you really want to know, but you are in no position to judge them.

“And what would those be? Playing the Joementum game %u2014 kissing Bush and bashing Dems?”

God, how many times do I have to say “supporting lamont is a good effort” before it sinks in.

Look please stop with the “you’re with me or against me” bullshit. That’s fine for the GOP. We don’t need it here. I disagree with your tactics not your goal. My goal is the same as yours. If you think I’m wrong in my estimation of this effort that’s fine. We can disagree and you can start working on whatever you want to deliver to congress next.

But you might want to think about whether I’m right, and maybe the reason you are so discouraged is because you’ve spent five years shadow boxing. You can fight with all your heart and still lose if you don’t learn to first fight with your head. It’s the old arto fo war thing: know yourself and your enemy and you will always be victorious.

Great job you guys!

Just called Feinstein’s, Boxer’s, and Lantos’ offices to let them know I was one of thousands of Californians who had contributed so that a copy of Crashing the Gate could be delivered to them and hoped that they and their staffs would read it.

Told Feinstein’s office that since they could not accept the book from us the Senator should invest in her own copy of the book since so many of her constituents would like her to read it.

Out of curiosity, was there anything in the personal notes to link back to FDL or any of the other blogs?

Tlalac:

I think we all agree that supporting individual candidates is worthwhile, and no one is suggesting that it should be trashed in favor of other activities.

If you watched the video, you would know that word spread quickly through the offices, with staffers already having heard about the book delivery, and some being afraid they had been left off the list. And that’s why I feel confident that the book will be read, it will be discussed and the ideas in it and the lessons to be taken from it will make their way into the bubble you seem to think all politicians live in.

I think the FDL community is one where people of both sexes, varying ages, some married, single, widowed, divorced, partnered, some with children, no children, grown kids, little kids, diverse economic and geographic backgrounds, have much to say and much to offer in the way of ideas on how to get the message out, how to wake up our congresspeople to the issues that concern us.

Checks are great, but there are no faces attached to them. They go into an account or are collected from a post office box, and no one ever knows what the people who wrote those checks think about anything. Yes, they represent support, but they can also represent permission to maintain the status quo in the case of an incumbent or to be simply “not the other guy.” After 12 years of a Republican majority in Congress and 6 years of a Republican president, we have more to say about how we think things need to happen. And we’re doing that in a variety of ways, and without neglecting the all-important war chests needed for victory. We’re doing it with faces attached, with people who can tell the story of how the stamps or the books or whatever came about.

I am sorry you don’t understand where we are coming from, and hope that you will be feeling better soon.

“Tlaloc: That kind of defeatism never gets us anywhere and it’s why we get representation like Joe Lieberman in office.”

this is not defeatism.

Defeatism: “We can’t win”
What I’m saying: “We won’t win like this”

cbl – I am with Jeralyn on this one. If the FBI went and got a warrant (remember those) then I think that separation of powers isn’t an issue.

If they tried to arrest him while he was on the floor – different issue.

OTOH, I would like to see the nice, affirmative statement from Bill Frist, Pat Roberts, et al that they really do support a warrantless Capitol Hill approach to search and seizure. They support our enemies by invoking the Constitution and they have already confirmed that we are at war – the Bill of Rights no longer exists – surely that is even more the case with Congress, who has access to all kinds of stuff the enemy would like, than Joaquin at the Boise 7/11? Why does Bill Frist want to provide succor to the enemy (at most Joaquin only provides suckers to them, and an occasional Big Slurp).

It is ABSOLUTELY LEGAL for Congress members, their families and staffers to all be subject to warrantless search and seizure at all times — after all, we’re fighting a war and the President is CIC and it is imperative to national security that he insure Frist is not doing any body cavity transports of secret Schiavo video or cat bait.

This is the real untold story of the mass defections from FBI. Getting duty rotation for mandatory body cavity searches of the Congresscritters makes even the most patriotic reconsider their employment options.

I suggest citizens rallies for more, and warrantless in the future, searches and seizures of all members of Congress and their families and staffs. After all, they are paid govt employees with nothing to hide and there’s a war on. Plus we have wars against, drugs, gays, obscenity and illiteracy too. Right?

Why stop at Congress? Lie detectors and searches for all WH and admin staff as well – Joint Chiefs and ex-JCS while we’re at it – they need to participate actively in the freedom for which they are fighting.

Sure, we’ll lose a few more FBI agents when somone draws Cheney or Rumsfeld, but the Bush twins and Condi may lure a few back.

Dang it – Congress is right. Warrants are for sissies and we NEED a Congress and law enforcement branch ready, willing and able to not only avoid them, but to avoid any judicial input on warrants by just skiping over the trial and evidence and legal counsel parts of the Constituion too. Remember that war thing? We don’t need no stinking warrants (or trials).

Moreover, we are all citizen’s drafted, willingly or un, into this war. Deputized to enforce the law, except the parts about warrants, trials, etc. It is time to make sacrifices for the war. Invade Search your Congressman/woman’s home – their spouses office – their children’s dorms – their staffer’s appartments. Hack Search their files. Steal Seize their records. If it looks bad, it probably is bad. So kidnap render them to an undisclosed location. Keep the information about their crimes from them and their lawyers – bc it is, after all, classified.

Wow. The President and Congress were right. This is a great way to handle things. Psssst – that impeachment thing? We’re at war. We don’t have to follow parts of the Constitution we don’t like – George and DiFi and Gen Hayden all say so.

scrapingsaucefromthegoosea&flickingtothegander

Tlaloc @ 128 –

Fair enough — I don’t know what your intent is, but I do know the effect of your words. They are demeaning, belittling, and discouraging.

Now — what good ideas do you have? Please offer constructive suggestions, and keep your destructive criticisms to yourself — thank you very much.

how interesting that Tialoc has so much time to criticize but I haven’t seen Tialoc contributing ideas or participating in any *action*

The book delivery is a great way to continue the discussion with congressional offices – and to keep reinforcing our message. Any given action taken alone can be seen as ineffective, but the wave of calls, visits, Netroots State Project activities, support for Ned, et al are getting attention … and is one of the key reasons why the three major leaders of the Democratic party are coming to YearlyKos to meet with the netroots. That ain’t nothing!

Rayne #114 had some good ideas about how to approach google searches but again if you don’t know the content, the sourcing, the distribution, to which markets, and how all this correlates, you have a number that doesn’t necessarily mean very much. I would say a much truer albeit qualitative measure would be the degree of discussion through the blogosphere and the pick up by the corporate media.

On substance . . .

Many, many of the people working on Capitol Hill, and throughout the government, are not filled with a sense of “massive entitlement” to their poorly paid positions, or (for some of them) their unpaid positions. I’ve never met Tim @ 82, but I’m guessing that grasping power and ignoring the peons of the world isn’t exactly at the top of his “to do” list, nor the lists of many of his colleagues.

I’ve been there, as an intern (before Monica made that a dirty word). I’ve see the hours that folks put in, especially the career people in the executive branch, and it is amazing. Thanks Jay & Co. for some creative work in trying to reach, educate, and shape the future. It may take a couple of years – or decades – but it’s worth it.

You can’t drink the wine if you never plant the vine.

What siun said at 134 –

Actions like this may or may not be effective — but having an impact on the process is only measure of success. This is great for building up morale, and that is just as important as anything else we can do.

Without direct actions of the Netroots, Coathanger Sam Alito would have sailed through the Senate, with barely a whimper from the Democratic Caucus. Did we stop him? No — but we flexed our muscles, and the DC Establishment noticed.

Without all of these little netroots actions, successful or otherwise, the Ned Lamont earthquake would never have happened.

And that alone, makes all these actions worthwhile . . .

Tialoc:

To echo CK, maybe you don’t mean to belittle, but it is the way your words felt. I’ll try not tell you you’re belittling if you’ll not say I didn’t feel that way. That’s belittling in its own way. Fair enough?

However, you completely missed the point that contributing to campaigns is only ONE avenue of effecting change. I’ve worked on my share of campaigns, and they don’t rely on only one method of getting out their message. It’s folly to do so. If a campaign only, say, sent out direct mail appeals to vote for a candidate, it probably wouldn’t succeed, wouldn’t you say?

So you do a variety of things within that campaign–phone banks, door-to-door, TV campaigns, candidate appearances–on and on and on. The more methods you use, provided they’re used effectively within the limits you have, the more chances you have of reaching more people, even on different levels with an individual.

You can’t know a method won’t work, if you don’t try it first. I’m sure somebody way back in the old days said, “Phone banks? Pah! People only want to talk to a real person in a campaign! Go door to door!” And that dinosaur probably lost to the guy who said, “Hey… Phones…Catching people at home without having to worry about weather… COOL!”

How do you know these little campaigns do or don’t work if you never, ever try them? If they fail, they fail. But if they work, everybody’s copying you within a week. Besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It is folly to keep repeating the same thing and expecting to get a different result. Solely contributing to campaigns is one of them.

Hugh #98

re. Laura Blumenfeld of WaPo :

This is what she wrote in a profile about Gonzalez:

“Gonzales got out of the black SUV, wearing running shoes, a T-shirt and black biking shorts that hung loose around his bulging quads. He has a sweet face, mild eyes and a buddy’s smile. His legs, though, were something else. They looked rooted and unmovable, like redwood trunks.”

Bravo, Peterr. Plant that vine…which brings me to an important matter that I’ll post here, in spite of being in the EPU zone. Time for a bit of schooling.

What we are doing is building a meme. Tlaloc correctly makes reference to this concept, although I think he’s missing something.

Memes are replicable pieces of human knowledge; the entire body of memes and their study is memetics. Some memes are as small as cultural hand gestures or catchy jingles, others as large as cultures and societal norms. The physical parallel is a gene; some bits that control the makeup of a component are very small (like eye color), others quite large (like differentiation between families and species).

Successful memes are those that continue to replicate, like successful genes. Like genes, memes can be demanded if desirable, or forced by the concensus of a menome (parallel to a genome). Unsuccessful ones die out or become recessive. It’s important to note that memes are like viruses in their spread; like viruses, there are limits and sometimes a lack of control, as well as a tendency to need the proper medium or host for growth and spread.

We are about the task of promoting a select meme. We’ve incubated it here in the netroots and in the grassroots; we have begun to spread the meme through the Roots Project. We are trying to reinforce the spread with our phonecalls to our members of Congress, to encourage their uptake of this meme.

Ultimately, we hope to infect our entire culture, our menome, with the idea of a new way of democracy. We will be successful once we reach a tipping point (see Malcolm Gladwell on this) and the memetic viral load catches fire.

Spread the meme. Give it a push and call your representative today.

“rubber stamp” republicans

520,000 hits.

Chuck Schummer’s office got their copy (its in the front office) and I told the aide to make sure that Chuck reads it and that she should too! I repeated the title three times. We shall see………

called my guy, Chaka Fattah. they made sure it was on his desk for me.
Hooray for CTG and FDL!

LJ/Aquaria @ 138 –

I agree with your endorsement of the multiple methods approach to political communication — and have a personal story that confirms it.

In 2002, there was a 4 way primary for the Democratic nomination for the Colorado 5th House District — this is a 2/3rds Dem district, so the primary was real fight.

The front runner had endorsements from all of the bigshots, and yard signs everywhere. But that was it. I was leaning towards the front runner, but switched my vote to Joel Judd, after the fourth or fifth personal contact — in the form of door hangers and post cards. Joel had one endorsement (former Mayor Pena — it’s a 30% Hispanic district) and he won with 1200 votes to the front runner’s 600.

The Lesson — simple and multiple is better than slick and minimal.

The stamps, the book delivery, they are all letting Congress know that people are watching.

The fact that Bayh voted against Hayden shows what happens when they leave DC and head, not to an insulated get together in the home town, but to a bit more non-scripted meeting like Bayh had to handle in Iowa. I’m sure it hit him like a ton of bricks that there are real feelings behind those poll numbers and a real opportunity for Dems to lose support. When he sees “some guy in Iowa” quoted in the press as saying that Bayh’s service on the Intel Committee makes him look more foolish and inept, not less, for going forward with the war. Now the Intel Committee has voted to approve a man who has come before them twice, at least, during 5 years of lawbreaking collusion, and misled them and lied. THAT is their idea of a great nominee.

Really, why vote for Dems in 2006 except a Lamont or a Feingold or a Conyers? We are better off with 10 fighters in the Senate than another 41 enablers and collaboraters. It makes the lines real lines, and leave the Republicans going into 2008 with every single bit of scandal and corruption that they have created – as opposed to electing Dems who adopt the scandal and corrution as their own.

I’m re-thinking 2006 even. With an election on the line, Dems are not willing to take a stand. After the complacency of re-election, what then? So we have 2 more years of Republicans ruining things – better than 2 years of Dems stepping in and homesteading the ruins in my name. People like Feinstein, Levin, Rockefeller – they are complicit in violating the Constitution and breaking the law.

If we look the other way to vote to send them back, how is that different than when they look the other way for everything that the President and Republicans do? I’m sick to death of one half assed maybe stand being enough to make for swooning support. Yes, Levin has tried to do some good work. So has Rockefeller, etc. But so has Lindsey Graham and I’m not going to donate for, or encourage votes for, him either.

I think the party needs to see a chunk of a defection to third parties – green, libertarian, whatever – or no shows/no votes for their shoe-ins like Feinstein. IMO, they have been busily sabotaging the party from within and maybe it should be time for turnabout. If the Dems see how unhappy people are with the GWB/REpublican leadership and are still unwilling to buck it — what a great time for them to learn that the polls can suck, but you can still lose your cushy seats if you don’t work for the people and honor your oaths of office.

What will make 2007 and 2008 “worse” by having a bunch of Freshman Republicans in seats held by Vichy dems? And won’t there be a heckuva a better shot at getting good candidates in 2008?

Krugman is the one who really gets it IMO. While you can’t squeeze a dime between Hannity and Blitzer and Russert and the NYT editorialists on the “liberal left” concept to anything that is anti-GWB, someone like Krugman recognizes that when you have people pushing lined up in support of things that poll at better than 50% (even with strong proWH media spin and controlled MSM message) over and over – those are the mainstream points, not wild lefties. When the Economist and Buchanon and Buckley are against the war – it is laughably blind for MSM to label it a “lefty” issue. When Turley and Fein and Hitchens line up against electronic eavsesdropping – it is not a “lefty” issue. When Scalia drips venom over warrantless detention and no charges or trials or a US citizen on US soil in Hamdi – well, nuff said.

Molly Ivins penned what should have been the credo a few months back – the one about the German Shepards and Dauchsands. We don’t gain ground by putting the toothless and barkless on guard duty.

LJ and Ck-

“To echo CK, maybe you don’t mean to belittle, but it is the way your words felt. I’ll try not tell you you’re belittling if you’ll not say I didn’t feel that way. That’s belittling in its own way. Fair enough?”

I didn’t mean to say you couldn’t feel like my words were a personal attack, I only meant they were not offered as one.

“However, you completely missed the point that contributing to campaigns is only ONE avenue of effecting change.”

I really didn’t miss that at all. I said above I’m totally open to new and creative ways of effecting change AS LONG AS THEY ACTUALLY EFFECT CHANGE. That last part is pretty key.

“You can’t know a method won’t work, if you don’t try it first.”

Of course you can. Here’s a tactic: we buy 100 copies of CtG and throw them in the pacific ocean. Will it work to effect change? Of course not and we don’t have to try it to know that. All we have to do is sit down and think about it first.

Tlaloc, when you have some actual action to offer your critiques will have more weight. And I don’t mean linking to a pertinent comic strip.

Until then, all the available evidence is that you’re attempting to undermine others actions.

Money, meet mouth.

Tlaloc 148

Just my 2 cents. FDL’ers are a a group of people with similar goals.

The Rubber Stamp and CtG projects organized them into a team – some more active than others but still a team.

Its organizing the team that is more important than whether or not a specific project is going to alter political history.

This team will grow and become a potent grassroots organization, but right now its small and having fun along the way

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself:

According to Technorati 744 posts contain pony in slavery on blogs within the last 180 days. There appears to be a fairly constant background with an enormous spike in early March. The causal analysis is left as an exercise to the reader.

Tlaloc #146

AS LONG AS THEY ACTUALLY EFFECT CHANGE

I think the absolute worst you could say about this whole CTGProject experience is it’s a perfect example of a progressive activism effort that was conceived, planned, and carried out entirely through grassroots efforts. Even if you think this particular instance will be completely ineffectual, it’s a great example of how this kind of effort can succeed.

This is what I’m talking about. Let’s take back the Democratic Party before it’s too late. I had Markos and Jerome on my radio show (Where’s the Outrage?). They were great.

Keep up the GREAT work!

Next up on the ROOTZ Book Club (Oprah ain’t got shit on us)

One copy of Glenn Greenwalds, “How Would A Patriot Act?” For every member of congress!

Call the bookstore……

I also called all of my states (MI) democratic congresscritters. Out of the 8 offices involved, there were three that were eager to take the Netroots and use them as their grassroots.

I say hats off to:

John Dingell
Sander Levin
John Conyers

Raspberries to:

Carl Levin
Debbie Stabenow
Carolyn Kilpatrick
Bart Stupak
Dale Kildee

Listen up critters….this parade is marching and we are looking for leaders that represent honesty, integrity, and a genuine committment to do what is right for America with no personal agenda in mind.

You got your parade hat on??

Hi FDL! First comment/post. I am so behind the curve….

Been reading all the comments about the book distro on the Hill yesterday and wanted to add my two cents to the mix.

I wasn’t able to participate directly handing out books, but I did help with the labeling and sorting of the books the night before – and as a relative newcomer to the concept of ‘getting involved’, I can tell you that for me, the experience was just as important for me as it was for what we accomplished in getting the books into the hands of the intended.

Too many times I hear people (myself included) talk about what needs to be done, without doing anything to actually promote the change that is wanted. Monday night, I pitched in and did something I think was a worthwhile effort – I’m still amazed at the way things came together and emboldened to commit more time and effort to helping out where it’s needed.

Get connected. Stay connected. Have fun and work for change!

~CheckMateNVA (aka, Clarke, the one in the back)

Thank you for all the hard work and initiative that went into this grass roots action. Great video.

I called all the Oregon Democratic congresspeople:
Senator Ron Wyden – staff was not familiar with the book. Didn’t know about delivery.
Rep. Peter DeFazio – staff enthusiastic about book. They were fighting over who got to read the book after Peter finished it. Indicated DeFazio thought the project was an excellent idea.
Rep. Darlene Hooley – staff aware of the delivery.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer – staff aware of the delivery.
Rep. David Wu – intern unaware of delivery.

In discussing the book with the staff members who answered the phone, I found it helpful to be able to say that it had received good reviews from the New York Times and an influential editor at Oregon’s major newspaper, The Oregonian. I think the local tie and recommendation are important.

I’m going to email all these Congresspeople, too. Oregonians, please make the calls. I had the distinct impression I was their first caller.

Tlaloc: “I’m personally an anarchist after all.”

Why did anyone even respond to them after this? Those people are the kings of adolescent bitch-bitch-bitching and doing absolutley nothing, no new ideas, just claims of living off the grid (while posting on the internet usually.) Start brainstorming, raise your own money then, do something with it.

Great job with the books. It doesn’t matter if one person read it and the rest through it away. The more normal people are in politician’s faces the more our democracy can actually evolve.

Boadicea-

“Tlaloc, when you have some actual action to offer your critiques will have more weight. And I don’t mean linking to a pertinent comic strip.”

Uh, have you read my posts? I’ve suggested several times that the money used in this display could have gone to fund Lamont’s campaign or some other worthy liberal. Several times.

“Until then, all the available evidence is that you’re attempting to undermine others actions.”

I’m sure it does when you get to pick and choose which evidence you can ignore.

“Money, meet mouth.”

Reading, meet comprehension.

P.S. while my previous comments have not been meant to disparage this one was, just a little. I do get tired of people who can’t read coming off with serious attitude. Pet peeve.

grrrtiger-

“Even if you think this particular instance will be completely ineffectual, it’s a great example of how this kind of effort can succeed.”

No doubt it is an impressive accomplishment in terms of net organization. I’ll certainly give them that. I’d just like to see that organizational ability put to effective use.

First, I wanted to express both my admiration to the minds behind this idea, and my gratitude for those who implemented it.

Second, a follow up which is fully intended to move this concept forward. i’ve so far given two copies of CtG to state-level electeds where I live. One responded that, because it was coming from me, he’ll read it — but wasn’t it available on CD so that he can listen to it while he commutes?

I am not able to find the title on CD yet, so hope the the publisher will consider this option.

I’m also putting some time into another state-level race where I live, and the candidate is someone who was originally energized online. I have highly recommended CtG to her, and she said the **easiest** way for her to get the info would be a podcast that she could listen to while she’s out doorbelling.

I personally think that CtG is one of the best books on politics that I’ve read in years — but now in my effort to get more people to grasp the message and content, I’m discovering that there need to be more formats available.

I also mention this to point out that anyone who frets that the Congresscritters ‘won’t read’ this book needs to get their brains around the notion that we need to MAKE IT AVAILABLE in MORE FORMATS! That way, someone can listen to it on a treadmill, or commuting or doorbelling.

The content and message in this book are impressive, and they’re refreshing, and they’re energizing. The more people who get this message, the better!

As for disparaging who will (or won’t) r-e-a-d the book, that’s no longer the relevant question. After the impressive work produced by the CtG FDLers, the next question is, “Given the fact that more Congresscritters are now aware of CtG, how many are listening on the [plane, subway, treadmill, drive]?”

I’d love to be able to chart something like that over the next 6 months. And I’d **definitely** love to be able to tell the person running for state government where she can download the chapters to her iPod!

Speaking from long years of experience with the anarchist movment – they contain their fair share of fools, ‘ Vichy’s’, fanatics and even fascists. They are only human after all.
I’ve been summarily defenestrated from several anarchist sites.
However as a general thread of political ideas and action it has it’s points ( and also maybe synergies with the Dem party – the 1936 peaks for example )
One of it’s best modern points is the emphasis on ‘Diversity-of-tactic’s’ doctrine. That DoT meme posits that tactics that even appear to be opposed can have odd synergies and synchronicities. So argue all you like for yr preferred tactic but please respect overall DoT.
And also I recognize that this is a dem-socialist room and respect their space, their approach and their beliefs – I do want to remain the pet token anarchist here after all.

“Speaking from long years of experience with the anarchist movment – they contain their fair share of fools, ‘ Vichy’s’, fanatics and even fascists.”

I’ll certainly second that. In fact it’s my estimation that every social and political movement has a significant percentage of poseurs amongst its ranks.

“I’ve been summarily defenestrated from several anarchist sites.”

Try GNN. (www.gnn.tv)
it isn’t specifically an anarchist site but has a huge diversity of opinions including a number of anarchist posters of different flavors and the site operators try to be as hands off as possible about moderation. While that certainly has some problems it also means you can very frankly state your opinions without fear of banning.

“One of it’s best modern points is the emphasis on ‘Diversity-of-tactic’s’ doctrine. That DoT meme posits that tactics that even appear to be opposed can have odd synergies and synchronicities. So argue all you like for yr preferred tactic but please respect overall DoT.”

However this in conflict with basic economic theory regarding scarcity of resources and maximizing their usage. We have a finite amount of money/time. Spending it in fruitless displays creates no synergies. In fact it creates a net drag because it sends a message that we are weak and foolish.

The congresspeople who got books can sleep a little safer tonight because they have direct evidence that even if they screw up royally we’ll be too busy buying them cryptic “medium is the message” presents instead of actually boot them from office.

Nothing like a direct demonstration that you won’t be held accountable, huh?

“I do want to remain the pet token anarchist here after all.”

I know you meant it ironically, but seriously there are so many things wrong with that statement…

Tea leaves–159

“audio version”

I’ve already forwarded that comment (it was made by someone else earlier) to the publisher, and she said they are looking into that.

I’m meeting with the publisher on Tuesday. I’ll be sure to point out that this is a good way to get the content in the heads of elected officials.

Tlaloc

I’m directing this at you because your voice has been the loudest and clearest on the ineffectiveness of this action. I think you’re taking too narrow a view of what we were trying to accomplish.

Trying to get elected officials to read the book as our only goal, nor, really, our main goal.

What we were trying to do, and, in my view succeeded at was to:

1) Put a human face on the netroots, showing that it is quite a bit different from the MSM cariciture of yammering yahoos in their underpants.

2) Demonstrate that the netroots could put on an effective action.

3) Engage the netroots community in a deeper way. We thought about this part pretty carefully. For example, we could have gotten the books for free. But we didn’t want that for more than just the following reason, but this is one of the reasons:

We wanted individual citizens to make a concrete distinct gesture of constituent concern. Just as it was more powerful delivering the books in person than it would have been to mail them, it was more effective in engaging people who couldn’t appear in person to make the purchase. Note that this decision made the project less likely to succeed. But it made the project better.

4)Get the word out to Kossacks and other people who may not read content here that the Roots Project both exists and is effective. The on-the-ground leader of the action has now joined the Roots Project as a direct result of her participation, for example.

5) Develop and deepen relationships with staffers.

Now you may not view these as important goals, but please recognize that this was not an isolated event. It’s part of a developing program of open source lobbying which we are going to continue to work on. I’m on a conference call tonight to discuss lessons learned and best practices for future event planners.

We are just getting started.

jayackroyd (164) — don’t waste your time, your target is a “concern troll” and a traffic poacher.

You have done so much and can effect so much more, don’t let the trolls trip you up.

So anywho…what’s next, jay? how can we get your back?

Jayackroyd, in case you ever come back to this thread, thanks for your followup and I’ll look forward to updates about where I can send a couple people for either downloads AND/or CD versions.

And again, although I didn’t participate in this particular effort, I’m doing this one-by-one where I live and I think that people will look back at CtG (and NR early projects) as sea changes.

Open Source = transparency engagement. Thanks!

You actually put “stickers” in books? And, after that, you gave them away?

Awesome!

Obviously, this is surely the one thing that will finally bring the ChimpHitler to his knees…

If even 1/100 of the recipients of this book actually ever read it– we can easily accomplish… well, something!

Speaking Truthiness to Powerlessness since 2002…