Yesterday I introduced the concept of The People’s Champions for discussion and refinement by the community. This is a continuing exploration of the concept, please join in!
It is the politics of fear that have brought us to this sorry turn. If there is one thing that Bushco can be said to have done well (besides making the rich obscenely richer and the poor obscenely poorer and kill folks) it is their masterful use of the politics of fear. They cowed Congress, they cowed the press and with a few exceptions…they cowed the populace. This phenomenon is far from over. It will be on prominent display from now until the election…and beyond.
It is manifested most clearly in the Emperors New Clothes metaphor, where no one of prominence has survived standing up and pointing. Every person who has done this has been smeared marginalized or ignored. The lesson was well learned and is still observed. But the proverbial (impeachment free) table is turning. His lame duckness, the weakness of his successor and the nations desire for change are conspiring against him. As are the sands of time that are removing us from the trauma of 9/11, the trauma that made that fear the most powerful force in the land.
Obama is a symbol of that…but as a symbol he is perhaps most enduringly affected by it. He cannot buck the fear to0 hard without incurring a backlash….from those forces and voters who still treasure or use that fear. Due to the success of the ‘wedge issue effect’ of that fear that has succeeded in dividing the nation, he cannot be seen to be “angry,” or attack Bushco other than on pure policy grounds. That would be ‘shrill’ or ‘looney.’ He, as I have previously stated, needs surrogates to attack for him. The Peoples Champions would be one aspect of that strategy. These three Great Men, backed by a citizen coalition could attack Bushco….and metaphorically live to tell the tale. In fact I think this is what it will take, since we have exhausted nearly every other option. Is it possible? It is certainly worth a try!
The general public needs to be both informed and reminded of Bushco’s crimes. They need to be kept in the public eye and consciousness as much as possible…both for purposes of the continuing quest of (bad) precedent destroying justice….and to help prevent a ‘third term’ by Bush’s successor, John McCain.
A well publicized collaboration of these three prominent figures, along with a second tier of people like John Dean, Bruce Fein, Gore Vidal, Bill Moyers, Jonathan Turley…and essentially anyone else that has seen and commented on the criminal abuses of the Bush administration, would act as a reminder, an education, a political ‘weapon’ and a foundation for preventing the crimes of the Bush administration from being swept under the rug. As well as a deterrent for future abuses. As was NOT the case with Iran Contra and the details of Watergate. As well as impeding the possibilities of mass pardons as Bush leaves office.
How do we “do it?” Assuming we can interest these (or other) prominent figures. How do we utilize their influence?
brobin came up with one part of the scenario yesterday…
The way to approach this, imo, is to have the three of them team up and call for a Presser (President Carter can pull this one off). At the presser they would state their intensions, list the people that will be working with them (like some of the great names here) and then set up a series of public event meetings in a town hall style where they would break off into individual teams. Carter with Moyers and etc. Gore with Dean and etc. Edwards with Elizabeth lol!
They could then storm the nation and bring their message to ALL of the people, and they WOULD get press coverage!
Press conferences, policy statements, releases of new information and developments in the context of Bushco abuses…
…. all with the ultimate goal of….pushing for Special Prosecutors or Congressional Commissions/Committees to investigate the past eight years thoroughly.
So if you think this is a good idea, here are the things we need to develop before putting the idea into wider circulation:
Framing, what is the most effective way to present Bushcos crimes?
Framing 2, what is the best way to present the idea to the principles?
Recruitment ‘incentives,’ for the principles…but first to gather enough of a base in the blogosphere and beyond to make the principles take notice? How do we get The People involved?
New and better outreach tools. For this and other People Powered campaigns, we need to be working and thinking about what boils down to better free publicity. The continuing problem of getting beyond the box of the blogosphere.
And….???
What else do we need? What else can we do?
How do we carry the fight for justice forward from here?
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We need buy-in from Obama. The tone of accountability will be set by the president. The president can signal to Congress he will help or obstruct.
In 1993, Clinton signaled to Congress he would rather focus on his agenda rather than hold Bush accountable. His White House did nothing to help Special Prosecutor Walsh conclude the Iran-Contra investigations. Congress took these cues and did nothing to hold Bush accountable either.
I think it make the Democrats look week and set up Gingrich’s Contract on America, and Bush II in 2000.
If McCain is selected? Forget about it…
Not Ready to Play Nice.
I was thinking about this last night after reading your first essay. I know for us, the list of crimes is long…torture, unitary executive, spying on Americans, outing a CIA agent, loss of habeas corpus and on and on.
But I’m not sure any of these would galvanize the kind of response we’d be looking for.
I think the one issue that might do it is lying us into war. And I think most of the American public is pretty close to accepting that’s what happened.
The LDP have been the masters of using fear for political gain since the middle 19507’s. They weren’t subtle about it just simple. They reduced their message down to the simplest form so that the most uninformed voter would understand it. That’s what is needed here. The Obama campaign needs to find surrogates representing the various voting blocks and have speak to them at their level. A level which they can best relate to.
Forty years ago today, Robert Kennedy died of an assassin’s bullet in the kitchen hallway of the Ambassador Hotel.
The lethal bullet was fired into his skull a few inches, at most, behind one of his ears.
Sirhan B. Sirhan, who pled to murder, was tackled four to five feet IN FRONT of Bobby Kennedy.
For as long the cover-up of this murder continues, evildoers such as George W. Bush will know they are safe to commit crimes and cover them up,