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Cross posted from Slobber And Spittle
I spent part of yesterday going through all the self-congratulatory e-mail that various "progressive" organizations sent me last week when the health care "reform" bill was passed. Some of the celebrants included:
- Democracy Now
- Democracy For America
- Democrats.org
- Progressive Congress Action Fund
- Washington (state) Democrats
- MoveOn.org
There were also a number of congressmen whose mailing lists I was on only because they promised to not vote for a health care bill that didn’t have a public option.
I unsubscribed myself from all of them. If you’re incensed about how these organizations helped make us all hostages to insurance companies by supporting the bill, I’d recommend you do the same. These organizations’ only real power to raise money is in their e-mail lists. They use them for direct appeals, and as the basis for requesting grants and other support from big donors. If you remove yourself, you remove a little bit of that power. Failure needs to be punished more among America’s political class. This is one small way of making that happen.
As for the politicians, I responded to them somewhat along these lines:
When Rep. lied to us that she would never vote for a bill that had no public option, she declared that she didn’t want my support. That’s the only reason I was on this list in the first place.
If I receive further e-mail from this list, I will add it to the spam filter.
In other words, don’t expect me to thank you for screwing us.
If nothing else, you’ll be less likely to miss important e-mail for all the political spam.
15 Comments
Agreed that that it’s getting harder to not just spam those emails…and I’m also unsubscribing to most of them.
Hope that little theater in the south end is doing well.
I just made another contribution to Firedoglake. I’m also still willing to support the PCCC. That’s about it.
I’m sorry to see DFA on this list, but they deserve to be there. Too bad.
My reaction to the DFA e-mail was et tu, Brute? It’s sad, but at the same time it’s important to remember that if they don’t feel any responsibility for failing, they’ll end up being another NARAL or other lobbying group whose usefulness has long past.
Most of these groups are a small number of people with a big mailing list. In this day and age, those are easy to replace, and when they fail they should be replaced. DFA is a bit more grassroots, but they screwed up, too, and they need to feel the pain.
I’m going to unsubscribe to DFA right now. Also, I’m on Bennet’s list because of his letter and promise. He’s done. I’m taking myself off his list today. I’ve already been making contributions to Andrew Romanoff.
I unsubscribed from Grayson’s list too.
I was receiving e-mail from several members of that old list of reps who promised to vote against any bill that didn’t feature a public option, including Grayson. I’ve unsubscribed from all of them. As far as I can tell, Grayson is nothing but hot air. Bombast doesn’t equal willingness to do what’s right, at least not in DC.
[in reply to RBG @ 1]
Thanks, RBG. Actually, it seems to be on its way to being another victim of the economy. It still draws crowds, but the economics of theatres mean that they can’t survive without at least some support from a local government or other patrons. Unfortunately, the city they are located in seems uninterested in having a theatre, particularly now that budgets are tight.
I should have taken notes so I could have a count of what must be over 50 email lists I have unsubscribed from in the last few weeks.
Democracy Now!?
amy goodman? please tell me you are joking or that’s a mistake. :(
Like Eureka Springs, I haven’t kept meticulous records. I have, as I wrote, been cleaning out e-mail. I don’t see an offending e-mail from Democracy Now, but do see one from True Majority. I may have gotten them confused. I’ve rechecked the others on that list, and they all belong there.
Rest assured, though, if DN wrote or writes such an e-mail, I’ll quickly be off that e-mail list, too.
thanks for the reply. i’d be shocked if dn! sent a congratulatory email – but if they did, i wouldn’t stop with deleting it, i’d be calling them with a piece of my mind.
amy did fall, as many did, for the line that the po was the compromise from single payer (it wasn’t – it was bait), but she’s very very good, fearless and one of my favorite reporters. so without some kind of confirmation, i’m not including them in the list of groups i’m pissed off at. (can’t delete them or unsubscribe now as i did that long ago when the dishonestness of the bait and switch became clear)
btw, one of the very worst is hcan which has spent a year and a half selling “obama’s plan” for healthcare reform with misinformation and even outright lying.
some groups that didn’t sell out and are still working as hard as ever are pnhp and cna/nnoc.
I jetisonned Moveon when they heaved single-payer over the railing. I’ve been whittling myself off mailing lists on what seems to have been a weekly basis since :(
I will be donating next week ( the non-rent paycheck ) to FDL. Sorta sad that i’m left with one org. to donate to.
Funny story though. I donated to BO’s campaign waaaaay back when. I was promised an Obama/Biden 08 car magnet for my trouble. Wouldn’t you know, I didn’t receive that. I suppose it was an introduction to the broken promises to come :P
I’d stuck with MoveOn, at least to the extent of staying on their mailing list, because they at least were willing to fight for some of the things that benefit us. The “General Betrayus” thing nearly had me unsubscribing, but I figure everyone screws up occasionally. Sadly, it’s now clear that they no longer feel like fighting for what we need.
Thanks for the list Cujo, rec’d and those all have been on my unsuscribe list for a few months or longer, now.
Aside from Democracy Now, but I don’t suscribe to them, just listen occasionally if on the radio when I’m in the car.
They don’t need my help, anyways . . . but I still support them emotionally . . ;-)
Sadly, it’s past the time when I can strike Democracy Now from the list, as I did at my place.