Saving America, Take Two

[filkertom]

Let's try this again.

What do you recommend doing, locally or nationally or however, to help put the country back on track? The one restriction is, no violence. The idea is to save the country, to be the Good Guys, to Do The Right Things. No violent revolution, no assassinations, no terrorism, nothing worse than a pie in the face (which has been done, so that won't necessarily help much).

Have at.

Comments

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Does it count to suggest that progressive people start embracing the Second Amendment, in the hopes that doing so will _prevent_ violence, under the "An armed society is a polite society" theory?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Or at least stop supporting people who want to curtail it. We lost a lot of votes because people are afraid that The Man is going to take their guns away. It's been a very successful wedge issue. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the Republicans showed their true colors, confiscating guns in NO without any declaration of Martial Law. That's valuable truth for anybody not afraid to go after the "God, guns, and guts" voters.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

My thoughts: The keyboard is mightier than the gun. Ideas and knowledge trump hate and fear. Teach people, and they'll teach others. Create a meme, and live it.

We have to awaken the sleeping giant of the majority of people in our country. We have to show them what has happened to this country. We have to teach them what to do to run the darkness off. We have to use the same swarming tactics of the 'dark side' to return the light to this country. Start at the grassroots, at the city, county, and school boards. Learn what the dark ones did- how they recruited their armies of voters and activated takeover groups, and counteract them. Use hope, not fear. Swarm the school boards- throw the bums out. Swarm the city, county and state legislatures- throw the bums out. Swarm the federal government- throw the bums out. Expose anyone who lies, cheats, or steals. Take it to the very top. Use the laws we have before we lose them. Use the laws to remove them. Punish them severely. Remove them from power, humiliate them everywhere they go, take back our country. We're better than the morons who have flown this great country into the ground. Let's prove that. It's going to take decades to recover from what has happened in the past five years. We need to get started sooner, rather than later.

I regret that due to a problem with my jaw and with my finances, I won't get to see you at MidSouth Con next weekend. Have fun! Should you find yourself in Little Rock for whatever reason, let me know. I'll put you up.

[pyrephox.livejournal.com]

Stop conceding.

Stop letting the Republicans frame the debate. Stop letting them push their twisted, bigoted agenda as 'mainstream values', and start actually making /stands/ for the right things.

The Democrats have been bending over backwards, trying to appeal to 'moderate conservatives' who think they're scum, will always think they're scum, and have been losing elections because everyone knows they have no spine and are willing to compromise core progressive principles for the off chance of getting one soccer mom to switch sides.

Stop it. These are not "minor social issues". There is nothing radical about wanting and expecting for every person living here to have the full rights and responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States. There is nothing radical about using science instead of Rapture-wishing ideology. There is nothing radical about expecting rich people to obey the same rules as poor people. It's time to stop letting conservatives define us, and start setting the course of debate ourselves.

I guess I mean stop voting for for wishy-washy mealy-mouths who we think have 'the best chance' to win in the Democratic party, and start supporting people who aren't afraid to stand up for their principles and tell you exactly what they mean. Or organize a third party that actually /works/...although that has its own difficulties with the way laws hedge the bets against third parties.

[magicaltrevor.livejournal.com]

Amen. I've voted straight democrat ever since I've started voting. After the dems' sickening display of the unwillingness to stick up for women's and gays' rights, and their "maybe" stance on abortion, I think I've had it. These are not radical ideas. They are the right ideas, and we know it. I'm not voting for the democratic party again until they tell me they're working for me.

I am as liberal as they come. I'm a baby-killing, gay-loving, sinful, godless, tree-hugging, bleeding-heart, peace-mongering feminist with socialist ideals. And yet last election, the alternative was so bad that I felt compelled to vote for a catholic lawyer. How did it come to this?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Talk to people. One of my regular hangouts is the local truckstop. Most of the people I talk to there listen to a lot of talk radio, and they are influenced by it. Some have swallowed the arguments hook, line, and sinker, but most have some doubts about them. Especially right now when the president and congress are so unpopular. Talk about the issues that are important to you and the solutions that you think would work. Don't even mention party affiliation until you've established a fair amount of rapport. Just talk about the things that matter to you and the solutions you think would work. Be part of the spreading ink blot.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

Print up postcards with 50-word rational arguments and tape them above the urinals at every rest stop you visit.

Long Post Warning

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the following presumes the subject has mental capacities capable of actually carrying it out...

1) Read

Learn how to think & learn how to awaken your own awareness. DO NOT PROCEED to other steps in public until you can perform them on yourself!

2) Research. And THINK.

BOTH sides of an issue & all the various flavors.

For instance - has anyone ever noticed that you DON'T see rabbis or stars of Davids amongst all the religious symbols being thrown around at Pro-Life rallies? I had - so I asked about it. My boss was a synagogue Elder & replied that basically Judaic tradition held that life began when the child breathed its first breath. (IIRC, because Adam began life when God breathed it into him.) Till the it was a potential life and thus valuable but its value did not exceed that of an actual life (namely the mother's.)
How come the people who wrote the first half of the Bible have come up with a solution (apparently centuries ago) that no one else is really paying attention to? Except perhaps the Muslims. You don't see many of them in those lines either. (Mental note - will have to ask someone about that.)

2) Debate (POLITELY!)

Don't just attack, be able to defend. Coherently. And POLITELY. For example -

I remember one time I de-railed the members of such a line. I apparently worked about 5 doors down from a clinic. Every so often we'd get a bunch of Catholic Pro-Life mommies protesting at the entrance to our parking lot. One week they got particlarly strident & started blocking the entrance. Now, I am pro-choice. and Wiccan. quiet but openly on both.

I went up to them & asked them politely to please stay out of the entranceway & could they please tone done on the religious side of their rhetoric? They blinked & fell back on their "We have every right to protest, it's a first amendment right to free speech!" routine. I politely & completely agreed with them & indicated that I was not trying to obstruct either of their rights to speak or to freely assemble. However, I felt slightly threatened in MY right to freely practice MY faith by all of the Catholic emphasis of their protest. (also a first amendment right) I re-iterated that I had no problem with their being there & presenting their views, just that I was uncomfortable with their trying to impose their faith on me. (yeah, they were doing the "I'll pray for your eternally damned souls" bit.)

This stopped their "mental programming" in mid run. I had not attacked their view nor their rights, I had just asked them to acknowledge my own. I made them think because I short-circuited the logic paths.

And yes. it worked. They were much more polite about their protests. The crosses & crucifixes & prayers got way toned down. ESPECIALLY since I made a point of waving cheerfully every time to them as I drove into the parking lot if they were there. This made their minds twitch & they consequently "behaved". and after a while they stopped coming to that particular clinic. I don't take full credit for that - IIRC, School let out for the summer about then as well. But I don't remember them coming back as full force that september.

Short-circuiting the rhetoric programming WORKS. Just be fair & acknowledge when YOUR rhetoric/logic get short-circuited as well. (yes, that can and WILL happen.) Making people think makes them LEARN.

4) Vote. be a concerned (and educated) citizen.

Maintain the laws we've got & get rid of the ones we don't need & work for the ones we do need. As Heinlein said - there may not be someone or something you want to vote FOR, but there is always someone or something you can vote against.

above all, think. And I cannot, CANNOT stress this enough - be polite. Really. Honestly.

Re: Long Post Warning

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

2) Debate (POLITELY!)

I wish I thought this were even possible anymore, but I can't even think of the last time I had a good exchange with a conservative. One friend and I have had to completely drop all politics from our conversations because we'd rather remain friends. Which is sad, because we used to have some great debates. But I've genuinely had exchanges like, "Well, here's what's wrong about [some policy]..." "So you support the terrorists, then." (usually phrased nowhere near so politely)

What heartens me is that the Conservatives and Republicans who do believe in principled debate are finding themselves more and more often aligning with Christine Todd Whitman's centrist Republican movement. That's healthy, and I welcome it, because the problem is not the Republican Party, it's the Neocons and religious extremists who've hijacked it.

The Corporation

[mannoftalent.livejournal.com]

Just saw a fascinating documentary- The Corporation. Basically it shows how the Corporation has developed and how its behavior fits the model of pyschopathy. The current administration is emblematic of this.

One way to fight them is to not support them.

www.thecorporation.com has a links page with a list of campaigns that help fight the power of corporate America.

Deny the bastards our money.

Barring that I'm all for the withhold your income taxes protest idea.

Re: The Corporation

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

And which gas/oil company does not whore for King George the Turd?

[jacob-day.livejournal.com]

The problem with anti-Bush tactics is that they do nothing but call attention to Bush.

What the country needs is people paying attention to another candidate. Give some other moron enough press, and the masses will start to vote for him instead.

Walk Out

[realtegan.livejournal.com]

Last night I imagined that all the people who object to King George went on a one day strike. Every single person who hates the way our country is slowly falling into fascism left work for one day and marched in the streets.

If the wimps in Congress can't censure the guy, maybe the people of the United States could do so instead. I just don't know how the word could be spread. Who could call for a such a strike and be listened to?

Re: Walk Out

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

This is probably the best idea I've heard so far...

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

Are you SURE Throwing pies wouldnt help? I mean, Come on. It hasnt been tried RECENTLY! *Attempts to invoke some humor here*

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

It isn't going to happen.

Put it this way, they ahve all the money and the power, things are the way they are because they can get away with it. Even if Bush is removed, and his entire cadre with him, it still won't mae that much differance.

Why? Because what produced them is this cuture of greed and corruption at the highest levels of society. The rich no longer care, they don't pretend to feel like they have to help thier fellow man. I.e. Noblise oblige is dead.

It's not just America that's derailed... for a larger part so is the whole of western civilisation. [more or less]. There are more similarities between the rich of Europe and America, then there are between the rich and poor of your country.

To do as you suppose, would require changeing a large part of global society. It would require that we, as people not just of one nation but globally, finally say enough is enough and stand up to the bullies and greedy sadists that exploit the poor.

and that won't happen. Because we're only human, and co-operation on that scale isn't in our nature.

So this culture of exploitation will just carry on parasitising off the body of society... never quite killing it, but bleeding the majority of people weak, leaving them easy to manipulate.

unless of course, something happens to weaken socity's ability to support the burden, in which case it's entirly possible that their rapacious demands overrach supply and it all comes down like a house of cards.

[incidently, now do you see why I suggested revolution... think of it as surgery. Not that I think that has high chance of success either, but some is better than none.]

The only other option is simper, and who knows how well it'd work.

Opt out.

Walk away from the sickness, refuse to take part any more. With-hold taxes if you think you can get away with it...
encourage others to do the same, tell them why you are doing it. Brodcast your message of non-co-operation widely.

Starve out the cancer of civilisation.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

'fraid I'm just going to have to echo Lakoff here, and say that progressives and liberals need to regain control of the natinoal agenda. We need to invest more time and money in long-term work spreading our memes; we need more liberal voices getting more airtime and being as entertaining and commonsensical as conservatives.

Honestly, the future of the Democratic Party isn't in our Hillary Clintons and our Howard Deans. It's in our Jon Stewarts and Al Frankens. We need to get liberals to be as proud and loud as conservatives and stop just sitting there allowing themselves to be vilified.

It'd honestly help if the REAL Republicans continue what they're doing now -- standing up to Bush and his oil-baron and religious-maniac cronies. We need more moderate conservatives, financial conservatives, and liberal clergy to take a stand and make it clear that the neocons don't have a monopoly on either God or maintaining the status quo.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I agree in general with what you're saying, but why lump Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean together? They're about as far apart as two prominent Democrats can be on the issue of Iraq. And Dean has never been shy about taking a stand or speaking his mind.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

I've pretty much run out of ideas. After the latest round of watching the so-called opposition party get dragged, kicking and screaming to a position of actual opposition, I can no longer fool myself into thinking that voting will change anything. Yes, I'll always vote Democrat, because King Log is better than King Stork. But I no longer expect results. The next majority Congress will have enough Liebermans to keep the conservative agenda rolling unabated.

I haven't quite decided that the wisest course for an individual is that of the cynical mule Benjamin in "Animal Farm"--who did nothing, confided his opinions only to a trusted few, and who lived. But I'm getting there.

Yesterday, we had a protest march in my college town. About 2,000 people. I was there, dutifully chanting "hey-hey, ho-ho", waving a flag upside down as a sign of national distress, and listening to earnest liberals recite lists of horrors committed by King George. After that, everyone went home, and I put in some extra time at work and then went to spend time with my family and hold my one-year-old and hope that America will be a place to be proud of when she's old enough to know. What good did we get out of the protest? I haven't got a clue.

[magicaltrevor.livejournal.com]

I don't think every protest necessarily has to make a visible, immediate social change. Imagine if your right to attend this type of demonstration were taken away tomorrow, and we didn't see liberals in the streets anymore, and our voices were silenced. I don't know about you, but I'd feel we had lost something important. And I imagine your daughter, no matter the political atmosphere in her adulthood, will be proud to be able to say that her parent(s) marched against this administration.

Personally, I also live in a college town. A small one in southern Kentucky. I can't tell you how ecstatic I'd be to live somewhere where 2,000 people would take to the streets and say "No!" to this administration. I haven't seen a protest since 40 brave souls stood in our town square years ago when Bush first went to war, sharing in the fear and betrayal of a nation turned against its own interests. I was there then, and I'll never regret it.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Right now, I think the focus should be on November. Do everything you can to spread the message that we can't trust the Republicans with control of Congress. Find a candidate in a swing district or state that you can support, and contribute what you can afford to. If you can volunteer, great. Take every opportunity you can find to speak up. Pass around links to stories that help make the case.

And in the short term, call both your senators and ask what their position is on the Feingold censure resolution. Whatever the answer, make it clear that you strongly support it, and want all Democratic office holders to be stronger in their criticism of the administration and the Congressional leadership.

Spread the word, far and wide: This fall, get out and vote, and vote Democratic. It's important.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

But what if you can trust neither of the mainstream political parties?

I'm voting Libertarian.

[ericcoleman]

Go after the money.

I am on the AFA mailing list (know thine enemy and all). We need to use their tactics.

Someone like Move On needs to go after the right wing broadcasters.

Monitor their programs, make lists of their advertisers.

Then call them and tell them that we will not do business with them because they support the Hannitys and the Limbaughs.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

But like I stated earlier, you can't *no* do business with them unless you're willing to completely give up every comfort (like vehicular travel, or heat for your home)

Boycotts no longer work with all the buyout and amalgamations... *something* that is a dire need will eventually support them.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Get to know your neighbors, even - perhaps especially - if they don't share your politics. Find common ground based on the little stuff, and as you do, let them know (in a nonconfrontive, nonpreachy way) where you stand on the big stuff. Be who you are, non-confrontively and without shame. Offer them help when they need it, with no strings attached.

Expand that from your neighborhood to your community. Join in activities that help spread good will: Help build a house with Habitat for Humanity. Join a support group for families of troops stationed in Iraq.

I'm convinced that one thing causing the current cultural divide is that too many people know and hang out only with people just like them. That makes it far too easy to demonize the Others, from both sides. When we know, care about and work together with people who are not like ourselves, we forge human bonds that can be good for all of us. And we make it harder for them to hate People Like Us.

[andamaroo.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting thread from my point of view, because while I don't like the Republicans, I hold fairly equal disdain for the Democrats as well. I'm a Libertarian, and from my perspective the Republicans and Democrats are fiercely big government in their own ways. Every single President since 1930 has seen the size of the federal government grow from the time he took office to the time he left, with the single exception of Eisenhower, who inherited the demobilization of World War 2. From my vantage electing a Republican or Democrat just changes the rate at which we, as individuals, lose certain rights.

The first thing I think we need to do is instill respect for the Constitution. I wish this could be done in public schools, but big government runs those, and big government is no fan of the constitution. The pledge of Allegiance, which has been such a ridiculous news item lately, was written by a socialist, who was specifically intending to use to draw support away from the constitution and toward something conceptual more easily manipulated. He succeeded. Nobody celebrates Constitution Day anymore. Nobody even knows when it is.

Almost nothing the federal government does anymore is legal, in the constitutional sense. The CIA, FBI, foreign aid, gun laws, drug laws, the patriot act, federal crimes (excluding piracy, counterfeiting and treason) are all entirely and completely unconstitutional. I’m not necessarily saying we shouldn’t have the FBI, but if you’re going to add broad and sweeping powers to a new government organization, it might be nice to do it through the amendment process, since that’s the only way it can be done legally. My main concern whenever a new federal program or bill is enacted is not: How much will it cost? Or will it work as intended? My main concern is always: Where exactly in the constitution is this authorized?

That being said, I think the second thing everyone needs to do is deal with the issues and the people with respect. When the left goes on tirades about the president, referring to him as the "Boy King" it's not hard for me to see how the right marginalizes the opinions involved. Obviously the right does this too, but right now, since the Republicans control everything, they do it quite a bit less. Still it’s amazing how fast I’ll tune out what might be a valid point of view as soon as the speaker starts leveling insults or disrespect at his opposition. The fact that we as people deal with each other in platitudes and sound bites is disheartening to me. Almost nobody really debates anymore. Usually those that do are already on the same team. The big problem here is that the majority of the electorate, on both sides, doesn’t engage itself. For better or worse we live in a world of sound bytes and cable news. I don’t know if there’s a way out of that anymore.

One of my best friends is entirely opposed to me politically, and we debate frequently. The main thing that’s interesting in this situation is that we’re not trying to change each other’s minds. For the most part I know where he stands; he’s not going to change his fundamental world view because of me, and I’m certainly not going to change based on his arguments. The difference between us, and the debates I tend to see on TV or listen to on Radio is that my motivation is not to win, or change his mind. My motivation is to understand why he feels the way he does. I want to know why he thinks what he thinks. Because we’re both interested in it from that perspective, occasionally one of us does shift views on an issue at least a little bit.

I’ll stop at these two: Respect for the Constitution and your fellow man.

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much andamaroo... I've been reading through the responses to both iterations of this post and thinking "but, no, it's not about 'liberalism' or restoring the Democratic party" or "how can I take you seriously when your argument's strongest point is 'the other guy is bad, mmm-kay?'?", but I wasn't having much luck devising a coherent way to address those points. I see that you had no such difficulty.

[cheshyre]

Start spray-painting red (V)'s on pro-Bush bumper-stickers, and hope people can figure it out?

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

You know....that may just work from both a historical and a fannish perspective...those old enough to remember will remember the meaning from WW2, and younger people could get the all-too-relevant pop culture reference from the 1980s.

[partiallyclips.livejournal.com]

Been struggling to come up with something constructive to put into this thread. Because as I told you in November 2004, Tom...I personally don't think it's fixable.

My suggestion to all is to do everything you can to get out of debt, fast. Then get your money into tangible assets or into Euros, Yen, Canadian dollars, or real estate (if you don't pick a spot that's on a bubble). Turn some of your paycheck into wealth...something that isn't dollars...while you can still buy things with it. You've got some time yet, so prepare.

Wish I had something better to offer.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Take a lesson from how the extreme right overtook the GOP and get everyone on the same page. We need discipline in order to counter the Republican noise machine. Sadly, our side is thick with a lot of one- and two-issue activists. All our issues are important--right now, unity and crushing the right wing is far more critical than ensuring gay marriage rights or fetal tissue experimentation or a stronger OSHA. Once the reactionary perspective has been purged from the forum, and a genuine center is the mainstream, then it's safe to be a little more fractious. Right now, we don't dare show any fissures that can be exploited.

Confront them immediately when they lie. Finesse your way past the call screeners of O'Lielly and Limbaugh and call them on it. As we know, O'Lielly will have a most entertaining breakdown and hang up on you. Limbaugh will also melt down.

Break the machine. We've ceded too much of the public forum to them: it's time to take it back. And I mean take it, not just ask nicely for our fair share.

Always remember: these guys are bullies at heart, and bullies don't know how to deal with having someone stand up to them. Remember the confrontation between Clinton and Gingrich over the budget? The GOP folded like a house of cards.

Those who can afford it: look for any reason to sue the government, or Dubya personally, if you have any grounds that a judge will be willing to look at. They made personal harassment acceptable as political discourse throughout the Clinton Administration. Let's see how they like it.

It's also time that a mass protest forces their way in to a Dubya event. His repression of dissent is his most revolting action--let's tell him he can't do it. In principle, they *can* stop a mass march--but I don't think they will if push came to shove.

Back in '82, I was at an anti-Reagan rally in Ashland, Ohio. No one from our group was covering the other side of the street, so me and one other student went over with a sign. We had some trouble from the locals--but no matter what they said, I never turned around. It stopped after a few minutes, the limo rolled by, we rejoined the rest of our group without incident. They told us (we never turned around to look) that a guy in sunglasses with a wire coming out of his ear was standing behind us the whole time, to stop Reagan's supporters from harassing us. That's heavy. That's mature. That's the way the system's supposed to work.

Ten years later, at a whistlestop in Bowling Green, ataniell93 and I went--with the College Democrats from BGSU--to provide a counterdemonstration to the Bush supporters. We not only all got in without much trouble, we got our signs in, and a bunch of broccoli (my idea, just to wave it since Bush Sr had famously declared he didn't like it). And when we started up, we were not removed even though we were right down front.

Republicans--even conservative ones--used to know that dissent was a key part of our democracy. And The Idiot needs to be reminded of that. It's time for massive, non-violent action.

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

I find your post really depressing... "We" have to use "discipline" to "get everyone on the same page", "crush the right wing", and "purge" opposing perspectives. I'm sure it's not what you meant, given your examples praising tolerance of dissent, but your first paragraph reads to me like a call to become exactly the same sort of authoritarian cult that Bush heads. Throwing the far right out and replacing it with the far left would be no improvement; on the contrary, I suspect it would end up being the worst of both worlds. If the only way to defeat them is to emulate them, then I'd rather maintain my principles and lose.

And I disagree that "crushing the right wing is far more critical than ensuring gay marriage rights or fetal tissue experimentation or a stronger OSHA". The right wing is not inherently evil - in itself, it's inconsequential. The rights of the people are the critical issue. The right wing opposes gay marriage and fetal tissue research and OSHA changes, and, assuming you disagree with them, that is why it's important to defeat them. Don't get so caught up in your fight or in your opposition to those in your way that you forget the reason for fighting them.

(Yes, I am, at best, one of those "one- and two-issue activists" that you find such a sad addition to "our" side. Not everyone who opposes Bush is a Democrat or supportive of the party's entire agenda, so don't count on us to toe the party line. What happened to cheering for diversity?)

4 simple things

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

--grass-roots hard work. Just as the fundamentalists have been doing for thirty devoted years, volunteer for and vote in those small elections involving in getting your choises elected to school and water boards and small campaigns, which are the spring point for later office. Donating your time at phoning and walking precincts and giving money on the local scale are all good. Simply getting some information about them besides who can afford election mailers is a huge jump on most voter's level of engagement. It also helps enormously in getting the word out to friends and family and co-workers and so on. You can get guidelines and suggestions for candidates from local and national groups to help you decide who's worth supporting--League of Women Voters and national party and various local interest groups (such as local Sierra Club chapter, in my view) will cetainly have opinions to share--and go to local meetings to see these folks talking, if you want to put some more effort into careful choices. This is where you can actually affect who will be able to imrpove yoru districts--and it does make a big difference if you've got a King Stork in there eating up developer money, for instance. For poor candidates not endorsed by large evil empires, this is as progressive as they are ever going to be able to be, and the most likely to hear your concerns. Where the support comes from will be remembered for years to come in a candidate's later behavior. Later on, by the time they reach the state rep level, they're already busy looking for more funding sources, and the tendency is to vote the way supporers want. IF their money is all from monopolistic-big-business, you get the current style. (Not what I would call a true fiscal and environmental conservative, you will notice.) You have to pick who goes in those early open door in the first place, and make sure they keep getting supported later by groups besides the regressive corporations. (This is where the right-wing religious fundamentalists actually got side-tracked into supporting candidates who are actually hostile and hypocritical about those voters' true concerns, IMHO.) Just helping to encourage reliability among fellow volunteers is a huge help. There are progressive corporations out there who think a little further ahead, but they won't support flaky candidates who haven't got their support base organized, stable, and reliable.
--campaign finance reform. Again. It's just like playing football and finessing the rules. They figure out how to get around the rules, reformist groups have to block them. That's why it's called eternal vigilance, folks.
--The next mid-term federal election will be crucial if you care about everything that's been mentioned here. If you want things to change, you can pt in some energy to get more more moderates and progressives elected in the Senate. If you could count on moderate and environmentally conservative GOP candidates to stand up to Bush, I'd be delighted. I think our government doesn't work well as a one-party oligarchy. Currently, GOP control of the Senate is the only reason Bush hasn't been impeached already. twistedchick has posted repeated links about how that tiny majority control will always vote against censure of anybody from DeLay to Bush himself. Also, if you don't like Dems voting the way Lieberman does, you could, like, make an effort to do something about their next election.
--One place to do effective protest is to phone in, write letters, and got to public meetings of your state's election board regarding voting machines and ballot fraud. They're not used to newspaper publicity and big marches yet. Insist that these decisions should be public meetings. There's been ridiculously shameless amounts of outright fraud, intimidation, and tampering, and it didn't stop with the Presidentail elections in Ohio and Florida. It won't matter how many people showed up if the richest bums stole it. I've noted in another comment here that twistedchick posts tons of links on all these issues plus more. She's not the only one, by any means, but she's a great gateway to others.

[djonn]

Much wisdom in the thread to this point. My two cents:

One: In discussing policy issues, avoid generalizations like the plague. They will get you in more trouble than they are worth. Referring to "the Republicans" OR "the Democrats" as the root of all evil (or even as the root of some particular evil) will alienate individual Ds or Rs who are more moderate than the Beltway faction bearing the same label, and you don't want those folks to stop listening. Ditto referring to "the Christians" or "the liberals" or "the insurance industry", etc.; you'll lose listeners who might otherwise be sympathetic to your point of view. [The local PBS affiliate was rerunning the first "This Land Is Your Land" folk revival special this past weekend, which had as one of its closing numbers a Randy Sparks song called "Just Americans", written shortly after the Sept. 11 event. I highly recommend that song....]

Two: Rather than talking, get involved. To the extent that "the system" is broken, or dominated by narrow interests, it's because people of broader perspective have abandoned the playing field. One can start small -- many local governments have citizen advisory committees of various kinds. Small local service districts have elective boards which -- at least around here -- often have to scrounge for candidates (water districts, park districts, local school site councils or committees, community colleges, etc.). Depending on how your state's political party organizations work, you may be able to run for "precinct committeeperson" at practically the neighborhood level.

Protest has its place. But protest doesn't build infrastructure or strengthen communities -- and what we need right now, in order to rebuild our local communities to a point where those communities can begin rebuilding a national community, is less protest and more direct action, a la Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

[wwetuesday.livejournal.com]

My thoughts.

Screw Democrats, Screw Republicans. Over the last 16-or-so years they've shown to me that they only care about their own views, and not those of the people.

Time for voters to get a fresh party in. Vote for the Independent canidate. Maybe we'll actually get a change that means something.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

I will be all for that when this country is safe from the neocons. Until they've finally been excised from the body politic, it's more important to eject lockstep Republicans from office than it is to build a third party. Now, in places like Vermont where Bernie Sanders is poised to become an independent Senator, more power to him--it's likely the Dems won't even field a candidate in that race, and will welcome him to their caucus as they did Jim Jeffords.

But until we don't have to worry about the psychotic wing of the party, it's not worth risking. Even taking a conservative 2 to 1 split of Nader's votes in Florida would have given the win to Gore in 2000 in a way that Katherine Harris couldn't steal for her Evil Overlord--and the division is realistically probably closer to 8 or 9 to 1.