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I’ve seen a lot of commentors make some criticisms of the FDL community for being latte-sipping foodies who bitch and moan all day but never seem to do anything but bitch and moan. And I’ve seen just as many commetors retort and rebut that idea with examples, real world, of their own activism, with results. Nobody would argue that Jane is an activist, for she is daily on the airwaves, organizing this site, petitions, and sometimes getting herself detained/arrested/harassed for her efforts.
And I would give kudos and the activist label to all the daily writers of news/blogs on this site as well. Its not easy to report the news, investigative-style, with the ability to uncover oft-missed details from the MSM and then deliver them in a hard-hitting and succinct, impactful manner.
Having said all that, let me throw some ideas down that could spark some dialogue. I really hope all the naysayers out there jump on this and share their ideas. Lets hear it. If you think FDL readers/commentors can do more, then throw down your ideas right here, right now. That’s what comments are for. But, already being a believer that FDL is a GREAT site with great activism in its blood stream, let me be the first to throw down.
Egypt worked on so many levels, and we can learn from that. We, Americans, who thought we were the special kids of the world who taught the world about democracy and liberty and the shedding of blood, sweat and tears to achieve that liberty, seemed to have forgotten our own voices for a time. But we have found renewed hope in the inspiration that Egyptians have shown us. So we see in Madison, Wisconsin, where the protesters are channeling the Egyptian Energy, the Tunisian Tsunami, the Spirit of Revolution and Change that Obama hijacked in 2008 for the sake of political gain, but which has not been squandered and is still alive and well for the sake of TRUE HOPE AND CHANGE.
1. Get the Media’ Attention – I know the corporate media has resisted giving airtime to the Wisconsin protests, but they now have no choice. When Al Jazeera English or the BBC or the UK Guardian outdo them on DOMESTIC NEWS then the MSM knows it better go on the boat.
2. Strength in Numbers – okay, so we have seen the Wisconsin protests go from 5000 to 40,000 in 3 days. On Saturday, the Teabagging Astroturfers are coming to make hay. Bring It On. If 100,000 people can show up on Saturday to support Teachers and Public Employees, we will have exponentially changed the conversation. It will be in the headlines: Bahrain, Yemen, Wisconsin…
How do we get numbers? I know people are worried about losing income, jobs, etc if they spend more than a few days out there. So, use your vacation time if you can. Use sick days. When you can’t afford the cost of plane tickets and the cost of food is soaring, what will you do on vacation anyway? Drink beer and watch tv? Play with the kids? Bring the kids and march instead. If you can.
What else to boost numbers? How about everyone on Unemployment. You won’t lose your benefits if you march. If you do, then maybe sites like FDL can help with the speed-dialing of plaintiff’s lawyers and constitutional lawyers for a class action suit. If you’re on Unemployment, then MARCH. Help BOOST THE NUMBERS. Your voices will be part of the solution.
Wisconsin is in a “budget crisis” largely as a result of Corporate Tax Breaks and tax cuts for its top earners. Cronyism has given tax breaks to the wealthy, corporate welfare to the wealthy, and now has resulted in a shortfall of revenue to be balanced on the backs of the middle class and working poor. And those corporate recipients of that corporate welfare have shipped jobs to other states, or even other nations as a thank you to the people of Wisconsin and America who will now have to pick up the tab.
In 2008, over 1 trillion dollars was spent to bail out banks and investment firms that had squandered billions of dollars in pensions, 401ks, and savings. US TAX DOLLARS spent to prop up corporate losers. Who lost YOUR MONEY, and FIRED YOU FROM YOUR JOBS. They took your money in the form of TAX DOLLARS and now demand that YOU TAKE FURTHER PAY CUTS or STAY UNEMPLOYED.
I told a friend last night – allowing people to organize into Unions is no different than allowing Corporations to organize into Lobbying Associations. The Unions are merely the lobbyists for the worker. If we are going to criminalize Unions, and make it illegal for people to organize, then why haven’t we done likewise with Lobbyists and Trade Associations? If Employees and Workers can’t have Unions, then Corporations and Wealthy Employers can’t have Trade Associations that lobby on their behalf.
Fair? Yes. In the cards? No. Demand it. If you’re unemployed, you can thank the same people who are pushing this crap now in Wisconsin. Get on the bus, walk, hitch a ride, and march with those who are about to join your ranks before its too late.
What would happen if 1 million unemployed converged on Madison? IT WOULD HIT THE FAN. Literally.
3. Obama has close 1 Billion in campaign funds now in his treasure chest. He wants to be re-elected? Democrats like him? NOW is the time to repair the burnt bridges with Labor. NOW. Write, call, organize, protest, and petition your democratic party to switch course now. Republicans have Wall Street. Democrats may yet still have Unions, Self-Employed, and Unemployed people. NOW is the time. Instead of spending all those campaign contributions on ADVERTISING (which is just TALK), use some of it to WALK THE WALK. Pay for the transportation to get the unemployed to those events. Get the press corps focused on this battle.
4. The Democrats in the Best Western – stay there. For 2 years if you have to. We need to raise the money for about 2 dozen State Democrats to find semi-permanent lodging in Illinois. Shut down Wisconsin government until re-election time. Live there. Find a way to stay gone so long that Governor Darth Walker has no choice but to switch gears, or step down. If Sarah Palin can stop mid-term, then anybody can.
5. Keep Blogging. We, the citizen journalists, have a hard road to fight. Its hard enough just getting our fellow Americans to KNOW ABOUT the events that matter, then try informing them of how much the MSM got it wrong. CHANGE THE DIALOGUE. FRAME THE ISSUES. Be the Paul Revere’s of our day. BLOG, WRITE, PAPER and POST. Do op-eds. Write Letters to the Editor. Fax the local papers with your opinions. Tell the local papers that you care about these issues, and if they won’t report on it, you will. Put out the flyers. Use whatever resources you have to SHARE THE MESSAGE.
We don’t need a million community organizers to do this. But A Million BLOGGERS can help 1 organizer.
Think about before next time criticizing everybody at FDL who blogs and shares. THIS is an important piece of the puzzle. If you have the resources and ability to organize, then DO IT. Then share your stories with us here so we can PUBLICIZE IT, give it the FREE PR it deserves, and SPREAD THE WORD to make YOUR JOB, as an Organizer, EASIER and more EFFECTIVE!
Okay, that’s my preliminary ideas. Throw down if you like. We have a Republic to restore.
15 Comments
Okay, I guess I’ll post the first comment too.
There similar bills in Ohio, Indiana, and maybe other states too. Anybody 65 and over on a fixed income? Know someone who is and cares about this? Lets see if we can help them get there. To Protest. Its their grandkids who will suffer when Teachers become the villain.
Unemployed? Need a ride? I hear that the OBama camp is already working to provide bussing. Anybody on FDL know how to connect some dots and get transport to people out of state to get into these state capitols to protest?
Own a business? Want free advertising? Get out there and offer your food, drink, or whatevers to the protesters. Help them out with the logistics. SPONSOR THE PROTEST.
We can be entrepreneurial about this. Lets use the capitalist system that the Aristocracy has abused to oppress us in our favor. Lets have some sponsors to make this protest last long enough, and get big enough, to MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Here’s a chance for people on the sidelines, with money and ability, to become part of history.
You seem to have a typo in your third sentence that makes anyone who knows Jane say, “Whaaat?” LOL!
“…Nobody would argue that Jane is an activist….”
I just read yesterday about a grup arranging rides; wasn’t it here at FDL? I’ll try to remember. A friend in Wisconsin just emailed to say (grudgingly) that Josh Marshall is actually covering events and issues there. I peeked in briefly to see if he was reporting on ride-sharing, but didn’t find anything yet.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
Other: These are the folks who arranged “Showdown in Chicago” and “Showdown on Wall Street’ demonstrations. Here’s their current plan; they must be waiting for better weather for more street actions.
http://crimeshouldntpay.com/bottomline
Lobbyists :: Corporations = Unions :: Workers!
YES!!!!!
Go Wisconsin. Walk like an Egyptian.
Marsdragon ~ lots of great ideas here to inspire people to get involved AND think up their own best ways to get involved!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the entrepreneurial turn of SPONSORING the protest for CHARITY and publicity. Give people choices of businesses that hold progressive values. Starve the big-time “capitalists.”
Tweeting at #SolidarityWI: ‘Lincoln once jumped out a window to deny quorum for a vote.’ Indeed.
Civil USA, a U.S. offshoot of UKUncut is just getting off the ground. Here’s a link to their website and an article about them:
http://civilusa.vpweb.com/blog.html
http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2011/02/us-uncut-is-born/
I’m checking into the CA group.
Events on February 26th in 12 states are now being coordinated with ones in the UK.
Here’s a great idea from Spain:
Flash mob “banquero”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv5dh8v7mDs&feature=player_embedded
The *problem* as I see it is that we are speaking to the choir. The demonstrations in Wisconsin show that being in the street with big numbers is the most important thing we can do. The visuals of these demonstrations make a point for the public that no longer reads.
I wish I could go to Madison, but I just don’t have any spare funds these days, even though I have a job.
Not sure about the typo – what my point was is that Jane is the activist of activists around here. I have a lot of admiration and respect for her.
I didn’t know about Jane before the health care debate. I’m a newbie here. I was a Huffpo regular, growing disenchanted with the debate, and wondering where all the Progressives had gone. And then… voila, Jane Hamsher did her 10 things wrong with the healthcare bill. People slammed her. I migrated and read her work. I fell in love with her work, her words, and her site. And from then to now, I’ve been a pup at the lake. And I’ve seen her on tv, and I’ve seen her heart on her sleeve. She called out Hadassa Lieberman for her hypocrisy. And think that took guts. A lot of guts.
I hope she stays true to herself and her mission. This will only grow beneath her wings. That’s what I meant. Typos schmypos, I hope that point at least makes it out there. But thanks for being supportive of the comments I did get through the clutter, and thanks for the links above!! And thanks for all your other writings and shares.
I’m still waiting to see the typical naysayers pop up here and contribute… :)
McDonalds, Burger King, or JAck in the Box… where are they? Just one of them needs to show up, pass out food, and MAKE THIS THEIR FIGHT TOO.
American Business needs to learn that the strategy of winning the market is not just about stock analysts and bottom line quarterly reports.
They need to pull their heads out of EDGAR’s ass (SEC Filings) and get in touch with the PEEPS of this nation.
Seriously. Create jobs. Give Workers their rights. Treat your people like they matter. And voila! Batta Bing Batta Boom – TURNOVER GOES AWAY.
Give raises. Be there when they need you. Reward merit. Profit sharing. Treat them with respect. Offer benefits. And you will get increased productivity, increased loyalty, and better product/customer service. Which means better and happier customers.
DUH.
So, start here. SPONSOR THIS. Get on the train. Where have all the good businesses gone?
Herman Miller ought to be bringing foldout chairs and other furniture for the protesters. REI should be offering sleeping bags. GREYHOUND should be providing buses.
Governor Darth Walker thinks he threaten the protesters with storm troopers and big words.
Roll the dice and lets get it on. It is time for the “silent majority” – the one that voted for SENATOR Barack OBama in 2008 – to remember that we still are all here. We got out for a reason. It doesn’t have to die on the vine when PRESIDENT Barack Obama eats from Wall Street’s hands.
We can bring Wall Street to its knees. Just stop eating their lies and stop living through their prism of fear and paralysis. OUR TIME is more valuable to them than they want us to realize.
Look at it this way — how can 95% of Americans be so worthless while only 5% are worth so much? PArticularly when that 95% does SO MUCH WORK while those 5% do SO LITTLE. Playing golf at the country club and watcing your money grow on the backs of the 95% who ACTUALLY WORK is what they do.
When they take the tax cuts and expect us to shoulder the shortfall with PAY CUTS, they can eat cake. Literally.
Redistribute the wealth? Lets start with who redistributed it in the first place. They have spent the past half century pillaging our TIME and LABOR to move the wealth of this nation UPWARDS from our pockets into theirs.
So to simply demand the right to negotiate a percentage of that money BACK to our pockets is not so wrong. Damn the Limbo’s of the world who want to vilify that right. THe money was stolen via inflation, wage depression, and deregulation.
When an employee gets a raise of 1%, its called “Wage Inflation” by Keynesians. When a CEO gets a raise of 50% or 150%, its called “I EARNED IT” or “I GOT MINE” or “SHUT UP LITTLE PEOPLE” or “Capital Appreciation” etc.
I’m done with the old paradigms. We all should be. Just because B-school teaches that shit don’t make it true. Remember that. Economics is just the new religion. And Wall Street is the Temple and the Financial VAmpires are the high priests. Where the world is flat (tom Friedman) and the center of that world is Wall Street, where the banks are too big to fail, but the teachers are the villains.
Bring it. And lets see which businesses have the balls to help us “go Abraham” on the idols of the old order. Seriously. Thanks!
Thanks for these links! Time to donate the money if we can, or the time. Lets get people here in this country on this train.
Thanks for this. People are coming from Texas to this demonstration. People have been cowed down here. It gets hard to organize and protest when so many are so brainwashed by Fox and Perry. But the time will come here soon. Rick Perry is preparing to pull a few stunts here.
But there are plenty of Texans who will wake up. I think this state is just so big in size that we sometimes are too spread out to realize how many of us there are. We get lost in the space. But that will change. I know it will. It already is. The time is coming.
Then BLOG BLOG BLOG about it. Promote it. Do letters to the editors. That is equally valuable. Donate if you can. Color of Change is always a great place.
Also, don’t forget – we need to help those 14 Democratic SEnators be able to stay out of Wisconsin state limits long enough to effectuate a recall of the Republican SEnators and even, if necessary, until January 2012 when the people of Wisconsin can start the recall on Darth Walker.
They can shut down the entire state government for all that time. It will make a difference. Meantime, you could do an online petition for people of Wisconsin. Help get the signatures to effectuate that recall.
Ignore the naysayers. FDL is a great place to do a lot of that. Thanks!!!!
WE can work with the petitions to get the Recalls going. We can raise money to get the 14 State Senators accomodations to stay out of Wisconsin until the recalls happen. Those are actions that don’t require getting there if you can’t get there.
CAn you sponsor someone to go there? If you can’t, can you donate gas money to someone to get there this weekend? CAn you send sleeping bags? An icechest with sandwiches, soup and coffee and water?
Its interesting that people who routinely criticize the FDL community for failing to actually DO something won’t come on here and offer their real world advice right now about what to DO.
The next time I read one of those comments on a diary, anywhere, anyhow, I will link to this diary. And I will politetly tell them to shut up. They weren’t willing to throw down now. Don’t throw down when I’m not around to call you on it.
I hope everyone is doing what they can to be supportive of the working class of this nation. You don’t have to march. You can write, blog, make your own phone bank, donate your money, your words, or your time.
Here’s a good update of the events of the day as they have progressed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/wisconsin-protests-madison-scott-walker_n_825080.html
The key is to build on this. We need to see if we can get 1 million people in Madison. SHut down the city. Help the Dem Senators stay out of the state long enough to get enough signatures to force a recall of enough Republican senators to change this dynamic before its too late.
The Wisconsin voters didn’t turn out at mid-terms because they were disillusioned by the backsliding of the Obama team. But now, they are energized. This is where we can make a stand and show the nation that the mid-terms WERE NOT an affirmation of Republican Neocons. They were only reflective of apathy of the Progressive majority.
Here are some more updates on how a lot of good activism came together:
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/20/wisconsin-teachers-will-teach-by-day-protest-by-night-as-solidarity-spreads-across-nation/
I like where people have sponsored the protests, and where people are paying for the pizza to be delivered to the protesters. Ohio will now be stopped from going down the same road. Michigan has pulled back. Indiana may well pull back also. The Democrats in Illinois have said they will stay out of the state until Walker compromises and stops the union-busting. A recall effort is now under way, with activists gathering signatures and starting this long process. Finally, people have re-awakened.
But not for the sake of the Democratic Party. For the sake of America.
Adam did a great job providing some backup support as well. For the record, here’s what he did:
http://my.firedoglake.com/adam503/2011/02/20/sos-need-help-have-guy-posting-wisconsin-related-personal-info-on-twitter-wiunion/
And in the comments there mzchief gave a good link for all the other ways to engage in non-violent activism.
http://my.firedoglake.com/adam503/2011/02/20/sos-need-help-have-guy-posting-wisconsin-related-personal-info-on-twitter-wiunion/#comment-261960