There have been a growing number of essays which address the feelings of overwhelming powerlessness to affect change by Congress in the restoration of habeas corpus, the ongoing insult and assaults on the Constitution, the failure of Congress to do the will of “We, the People,” and of course, the absolute failure to end the Iraq occupation, not to mention the onslaught of oppression and egregious domestic policies that are raping the environment, burdening the burdened, and robbing from the poor.
I’ve been guilty of writing essays that chronicle outrage after outrage with only a glancing nod to action and problem resolution.
So in atonement for that glum outlook, I’d like to put forward a plan that will bring everyone who want to take action the ability to do just that – in community – and using the resources of the will of we, the people, the oversight ability of the collective progressive community and the strength of numbers to affect change.
The plan is simple:
Identify seven key contacts – assign each a day of the week, and email surge them with a message of accountability, restoration and reparation.
One place that I believe should be targeted is at Nancy Pelosi’s Speaker’s blog called The Gavel. A weekly email surge from the progressive blogosphere should target just one key message. May I humbly suggest that it be this:
Impeach George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.
Here’s just one sampling of a weekly email schedule to give you some ideas:
Sunday Nancy Pelosi The Gavel message: Impeach Bush and Cheney.
Monday Harry Reid Website contact form message: withhold Iraq war funding/bring the troops home now.
Tuesday Patrick Leahy Website Contact Form message: full oversight and accountability for US attorney firings/ US Attorney General Candidate must have clear track record of non-political partisanship and objectivity.
Wednesday Henry Waxman House Oversight and Government Reform Committee” message: Demand full compliance with the production of subpoenaed White House and HHS documents.
Thursday You get the idea….
What do you think about this?
Would the progressive community take this virally so that a critical mass of people would participate?
How could Web 2.0 be used for maximal effect?
Who should the lucky seven be?
What should the messages du jour be?
How long should the intense emailing be?
What else needs to be considered?
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Worth discussing?
but I’m addicted to emailing them anyway.
Taking what I was trying to do with We The People Wednesdays to the next level!
I will file this away for when i get more together….But…
I urge YOU to keep pushing it , and I will support you all the way!
Advice on the proper use of web 2.0
It can work if the people involved are truely devoted to it.
5 bloggers with pre-existing readership
A key figure that represents the issue at hand in a personal way that is not afraid to speak out.
Legal representation for the key figure.
Contacts within local and national news organizations.
Then you just need to stay on point until the groundswell makes you irrelevant and the issue becomes a national discussion.
It worked for us in Crawford, it can and will work again.
Could take 2 days, could take months.
I also vote to include John Conyers in the mix for NSA oversight. Wouldn’t mind keeping on top of the House Judiciary for the investigations they are making to uncover proof for impeachment (per Jerry Nadler).
In addition to the blogs, why not involve activist orgs like the PDA, UNFPJ, Code Pink, the ACLU, Democrats.com, After Downing Street. They wouldn’t all necessarily be involved in every action, but I suspect they would be open to collaboration.