Thoughts on doing more
Does anyone besides me ever feel that in these days of real national
danger, when the Republican Party has lost its mind and the Dems
seem unable to present a rational alternative, we are not doing all we
should to help find a way out of this nightmare?
There are lots of activists on this list engaged in all kinds of
useful activities, but there are probably quite a few of us - like
me - who for various reasons are not doing all we should. After
all, "action" is PAA's middle name, and there must be plenty
of actions we could take that would not require a lot of time or
energy, but when taken together could have a real impact. So why don't
we do some brainstorming about a few things along this line? Here
are a few items that occur to me:
.... At the risk of sounding like a broken record - letters to the editor
are always good. They don't have to be long or eloquent. Some of the best are
just a couple of well-chosen sentences. It would be great if all of us would
write just one letter a week to the Chronicle objecting to the war and
mentioning the "i" word. That would surely get their attention.
.... If not a letter to the editor for publication, send one to the
reader's representative commenting on an article you didn't like and ask him to
pass it on to whoever wrote the article. Of course it doesn't hurt to
congratulate them once in awhile when they do something good - a little positive
reinforcement never hurts.
.... If the article has the author's name, send your email directly to
him or her. Just use their first and last name followed by chron.com, and
it will probably reach them - for instance, escramble('doe','chron.com');">jane., possibly with a cc to
the escramble('readerrep','chron.com');">.
.... Most op ed pieces have the writer's email address at the end of the
column. Get in the habit of giving them feedback - either positive or
negative. I have often gotten responses and been able to carry on
some dialogue.
.... Everyone knows how I feel about bumper stickers. They are a very
effective way to speak to lots of people. As of today we have sold over 300
of the "Support Our Troops - Impeach Bush" stickers, primarily due to Bill's
efforts, and I plan to order 300 more tomorrow. It would be great if everyone on
this list would buy 5 or 10 (or more) for resale, or to give away to friends and
family, and to take to every meeting they attend. Also, please
consider putting one on your own car, if you have not already. I know most
people don't like them. I don't care for them much myself, but have
put one on my car anyway. They are really effective in getting the message
out, and there are much worse things we could be called on to
do.
.... Make a serious financial commitment of some kind. It's good to
drop a dollar or two in the hat here and there but regular income is needed.
Commit to a regular charge to your credit card or bank account, even if it is
only $5 or $10 per month. There is no shortage of worthy organizations and
deserving politicians who need help.
.... Call in to some right wing radio talk shows. This requires a
certain amount of nerve if not outright masochism since the odds are
stacked against you, but we need to do it. The hosts are almost always rude
and obnoxious. Most of us would probably be nervous and not accustomed
to being on the air, and may not have an instant recall of all the
facts, so they will try to intimidate you. They will shout you down,
interrupt, resort of various insults and occasional obscenities, and of course
as a last resort if you are in danger of scoring a point they have their finger
on the button and will cut you off, then spend the next 15 minutes talking about
what an idiot that last caller was. But what we might do is this - let's
challenge them to a fair debate with an impartial moderator at a neutral
location. If we could find a knowledgeable person willing to do such a
thing, the rest of us could take turns calling in and asking them why they won't
debate. I'm sure they would not, but it would be fun to see them squirm
and make excuses. Anyone know someone who could debate our point of
view?
.... And as mentioned several days ago, I still like the idea of making
up a new version of the Republican's old Contract with America - call
it the Progressive Pledge of Allegiance or something - and ask any politician
who wants our endorsement and support to sign an agreement to abide by
the provisions of the pledge, with enforceable provisions such as resigning
if it can be shown that they have violated that commitment. The pledge would
consist of not more than a dozen or so brief items, which we would have to hash
out and decide on. Here are a few suggestions:
End the war
Verifiable voting with a paper trail
Public financing of campaigns
Crash program to develop renewable alternative energy sources
Environmental protection
Single payer national health insurance
National peace academy
(and a few more key issues)
I'm sure you all can think of other activities that should be added to the
list above, as well as to the pledge. It really is time for us all to get
active. Would appreciate your additions, criticisms, or other feedback.
Charlie
M