sh... listen DU... here is a big secret... IT IS UP TO US

[nadinbrzezinski]

look folks I keep readying posts, the democrats this, the democrats that, Kerry this, kerry that, Dean this, Dean that.. you get the picture.

ALL POLITICS is local... ALL OF IT. You know what is wrong with many of us? YOU ARE WAITING for a leader to magically come out of the ether and LEAD you...

Well folks you can work with as many organizastions as you want, but you know what? Here is the secret of how the Right took over the country... you want to hear it? GOOD

They did not wait for direction from national HQ, at least not in the begining. They organized LOCALLY. They trained volunteers LOCALLY, they ran for office, LOCALLY... they did all these things, and they took over the local precinct

My friends, you want change? YOU WILL HAVE TO BRING IT ON... YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THESE THINGS... YOU HAVE THE POWER to change this country. That is the message not of Howard Dean, but of every Revoluttionary leader going back in history... YOU WANT CHANGE... guess what, roll up those sleeves and get to work.

YOU ARE IT!

We are at the forefront of a movement, and WE are those leaders.

[Melodybe]

1. After I finish my screen play, I am going back to work for the college

democrats. I sit a table all day once a week and try to talk sense to folks. Since I am done with school and was just doing it for the election, I quit after Nov. 2. I talked to some of the dem officers and they want me to come back and just do the table for the hell of it.

I am 90 pages into a 140 page screenplay that I have been neglecting for months, once I finish I'll be back at the table.

You're right though, until more people here at DU get off their asses and work, they are just begging for fascism.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Well me back to writing what I need to write

but there are ways to motivate people... at school you say?

Let me give you some tools

PELL GRANTS, you kids have heard of PELL Grants, they are gone, yuo want them back?

The draft is coming but that will not work until it is here, unless you remind kids that they are cross checking grants with SSS

Oh and maybe getting some of these kids to go down to the shelter to feed the newly minted homeless will be ahem shocking....

Read Hull House trust me that old book is full of ideas... and I would have, just for the shits and giggles of it, a copy of the Constinttution and the bill of rights on the table... and believe it or not you can use National Treasure (the movie) as a discusion point, GO WATCH IT... trust me, there are many nuggets in here

[ClassWarrior]

2. When the people lead, the leaders follow.

Thanks Nad.

NGU.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. EXACTLY (eom)

[Erika]

5. I talk, email, and review

Bush's harm to our society to all GOP'ers I know. The fiscally conservatives are embarrassed by him and his policies. The moderate conservatives are embarrassed by the endorsement of the right wing religious fringe. The attack he took against landmines and Pell grants will even bother those moderate conservatives who voted for him because of tax breaks. They found government safety nets a comfort to their material enjoyment and reward. He's doing away with them one at a time.

[surfermaw]

6. Right on Erica

When Bush says ownership society, the meaning doing away with safetynets and baby you are on your own, 95% of the people who voted for Bush in the red states...really don't know the meaning of Bush's Ownership Society.

[Arianrhod]

7. Absolutely. Well said.

I for one am not sitting on the sidelines.

[RedTail Wolf]

8. Great post

I remember the Christian Coalition back int the 80's saying "We will build this revolution from the school boards to the state houses to the Congress and then to the Presidency". People didn't pay too much attention and look where we are! They did what they said they would do as we sat back and smugly said "no way". Well here we are at the threshold of a Theocracy. They did exactly what they said they'd do. Ralph Reid and his buddies have done it.

I knew the South was in BIG trouble when Ralph quit the CC and became the Southeastern Republican party chairman. He owns the South now.

It took them almost 20 years, are we willing to wait and build the same type local organizations? I can tell you that local Dem parties in the South have dried up and withered, while Ralph and Co. thrive. It happened before our eyes and we didn't stop it.


RedTail Wolf

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Guess what,

It will take a lot of blood, sweat and tears and by god I hope NOT in the literal sense... because they are spliting the country... but it will take a lot of blood sweat and tears.

And it will take, assuming things don't explode in other ways, (and a 1929 crash will make the kool aid wear off, this is a historical pattern), just as long

We may get lucky if many conditions happen that go our way to start th deprograming by shock therapy... see 1929 crash, it is coming... but I personally would rahter do it the old fashioned way, by toil, sweat and tears

Now remember what we fight are witches and warlocks, but we will need their own tools.

LEARN SCRIPTURE, and for god sakes, even if you are not catholic, FIND OUT about Liberation Theology, YOU CAN DO IT... and you can use it... and don't be afraid to talk their language either... and to change the language

They are REGRESSIVES... got it? GOOD USE IT in every conversation you have from now on.

[Arianrhod]

10. I was out on the lines fighting the CC.

I knew them for what they were, saw through them clearly.

No one listened to me.

They will now, though. America does not want what these extremists are going to implement. The election was rigged. The votes were not as close as the Republicans claim. We are, in actuality, if not the majority, at least equal in size and numbers. And we're going to get bigger.

We are going to lose much of what we value in the short term; I have no illusions regarding the horrors that are to be unleashed. But the next Progressive movement, the next majority power group, is already in the making.

A new generation is arising, and believe it or not, they're on our side.

The Republicans will not last. Let us work with those who are coming of voting age, help them to not make the mistake we 60s Flower Children made: Let us help them take back the government.

[Melodybe]

11. Considering that young voters voted overwhelmingly for Kerry

I actually feel pretty optimistic about the possible future of this country.

[Arianrhod]

12. I do, too.

I'm accepting of the possibility, however, that I may not see the full flower of change in my lifetime. I'm well into autumn, headed for winter. :) Still, I have great faith in the young generation, the current high schoolers in particular. The ones I have worked with have shown themselves to be responsible, intelligent, and aware. And vehemently determined to be free. It's this last characteristic that I like the best. :)

[regnaD kciN]

13. And it's important to remember...

...that "the Right" as it exists now was not exactly welcomed by the Republican Powers That Be. Sure, they were happy to have them as sure votes and campaign helpers each November, but the mainstream Republicans of Gerald Ford's day (which included people like Bush 41, Cheney, and Rumsfeld) then wanted them to go away and wait for another call from Party H.Q., while the leadership "moved to the center" where the most important bloc of the electorate supposedly was found. The Right, both religious and quasi-religious (i.e. worshippers of Ayn Rand ;-) ) were hazardous to the health of the Republican Party, for their stridency might "turn off" the huge mass of centrist "swing voters" who were supposed to decide any election.

Sound familiar? :evilgrin:

The basic fact is that the Right had first to wage war against the Republican hierarchy and their "mainstream" approach before they could go on to gain all power in the country. The Republican Party regarded them as potential foes -- well-meaning, perhaps, but misguided and dangerous. It was only by defeating the Republican business-as-usual leadership that the Right could stop their party from "moving to the center," and figure out a battle plan that caused "the center" to move to them. We all should remember this, the next time we're told to shut up and play nice, lest we drive moderates away, and that it is our duty to merely wait, quietly and patiently, until the Democratic LOSERship Council is ready to tell us what they want us to do for their Party.

[readmoreoften]

14. I agree 100% n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. That's absolutely right. All politics is local.

I said so in another thread that what's happening on a federal level, is happening in our own backyards. That kind of cronyism is not only rampant, but it goes unchecked and gives honest-wannabe people the idea that you have to live with it. What's more, Repubs have 40 years on us in getting control of the local courts, local newspapers and the gerrymandering.

Now, if I could get a civil rights and property rights lawyer to back me up with pro-bono work, I would launch my own crusade. But that's not possible. Sometimes you have to accept that you've reached a dead end. So, I for one must wait to jump on someone else's crusade.

[mmonk]

16. It's up to us of course,

but its also up to the national party to put up an adequate fight and to always tell the facts.

[deutsey]

17. "Who are your leaders?" "We ALL are!"

I like the story about the IWW (or Wobblies) responded to a sheriff's question "Who are your leaders?" a group of the radical unionizers responded: "We ALL are!"

Here's a link for the story:

http://www.washington.historylink.org/output.cfm?file_id=5326

Snip

The Wobblies planned a return visit for Sunday, November 5. The first of their two vessels, the steamers Verona and Calista, was met at an Everett loading dock by County Sheriff Donald MacRae and his businessmen's posse. The sheriff called out, "Who are your leaders?" The entire boatload of Wobblies aboard the Verona yelled back, "We all are!"

Snip

[zippy890]

18. Triple kick for this thread

WE HAVE THE POWER

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[ClassWarrior]

19. A good place to start is Camp Wellstone.

I missed the chance to attend in Madison this year, but I'm looking forward to the next one in my area. They offer training for activists and potential candidates. Nad's wise words here echo those of the late, great Sen. Wellstone. All politics ARE local.

Run, DUers, RUNNNN!!!

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

20. .

[DrGonzoLives]

21. Republican activists realized this long ago

You are exactly right. It's time to start getting local again.

[jdots]

22. right you are !

the republiseniles placed stealth candidates everywhere over the years,school boards and city dog catcher,all those little things that no one pays attention to has exploded into a country run by narrow minded twitts that think familly values is a book burning.We have to band together and pool our resorces to get humans back in government from the roots on up.They have come on all normal at first,then the crap hits the fan once they are in.

[Zero Division]

23. You're right, of course.

I'm willing to bet that many of us here at DU, for example, mostly ignore state and local politics, except when it comes to election time. That must change. That may even be the biggest reason for the disconnect between our party's base and its leadership. I could be wrong, but I imagine that a great number of those with leadership positions in the Democratic Party originally came out of the local and state levels.

Change the Democratic Party on the state and local levels and we may change the national level.

At the very least it seems unwise to be so unattentive to our state and local governments. Even if things did suddenly change for the better at the national level, that could all come apart because of problems at the state and local level.

[Swamp Rat]

24. Tru dat! We CAN take back our country

Don’t Think of an Elephant!
Know Your Values and Frame the Debate

The Essential Guide for Progressives

George Lakoff
Foreword by Howard Dean
Introduction by Don Hazen

Don’t Think of An Elephant! is the antidote to the last forty years of conservative strategizing and the right wing’s stranglehold on political dialogue in the United States.

Author George Lakoff explains how conservatives think, and how to counter their arguments. He outlines in detail the traditional American values that progressives hold, but are often unable to articulate. Lakoff also breaks down the ways in which conservatives have framed the issues, and provides examples of how progressives can reframe the debate.

Lakoff’s years of research and work with environmental and political leaders have been distilled into this essential guide, which shows progressives how to think in terms of values instead of programs, and why people vote their values and identities, often against their best interests.

Don’t Think of an Elephant! is the definitive handbook for understanding and communicating effectively about key issues in the 2004 election, and beyond.

(snip)

http://www.chelseagreen.com/2004/media/elephant

*****

Linguistics professor George Lakoff dissects the "war on terror" and other conservative catchphrases

By Bonnie Azab Powell, NewsCenter | 26 August 2004

BERKELEY – With the Democratic National Convention over and the Republican one beginning next week, it seemed a good time to check in with George Lakoff, the UC Berkeley professor of cognitive linguistics whose scrutiny of the language of politics has begun to bring him national recognition. The author of the seminal book "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think," Lakoff's specialty is dissecting "framing," or the ways in which conservatives and liberals position issues to fit their respective moral worldviews. (For more on framing, read this excerpt from the NewsCenter's October 2003 interview with Lakoff.) He grasps how Republicans use language more effectively than Democrats, and what Democrats can do about it.

When we last talked to Lakoff, he had just embarked on a one-year sabbatical from UC Berkeley to work on three books, none of them about politics. He got sidetracked. Presidential candidate Howard Dean made "Moral Politics" required reading for his campaign staff, more than 200 advocacy groups called for Lakoff's advice, the Democratic senators invited him twice to their policy retreats, and he began getting calls from progressive groups around the country. The Rockridge Institute, the progressive think tank he cofounded with seven other UC professors to reframe public debate, began buzzing with activity. In response to demand, Lakoff set aside his linguistic research for intense — and in many ways more challenging — study of the application of linguistics and cognitive science to politics.

In the last couple of months he has written a short book, "Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," which will be marketed at first over the Internet with the help of a host of advocacy groups. Billed as the "essential guide for progressives," the book is praised by such members of the liberal pantheon as Dean, the founders of MoveOn.org, the Sierra Club's Carl Pope, and billionaire political activist George Soros. The $10 paperback can be ordered from the publisher, Chelsea Green, and from Amazon.com; it will be published around September 8.

(snip)

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/08/25_lakoff.shtml