What Are We Doing?

[Babsbrain]

I know I am very new on these boards but I have read them for a long time. This is a vital lifeline for action and information.

I would like to know what concrete actions the posters here have done in the 'real world' to affect change in our current mess.

I am very curious to know how many have bumper stickers, or march in a protest, or write letters, or sign petitions or boycott advertisers?

There are many, many of us 'silent screamers'....how many of us are fighting for real?

[mmonk]

1. Me.

[crikkett]

2. sorry i'm too busy doing things to give you specifics

have a nice day/

[Babsbrain]

4. I just feel that we are leaderless

Where is our collective voice?

[crikkett]

34. I was rude but I thought I was being funny. I'm sorry.

Welcome to DU! :hi: and hell,
be a leader.

If you're a student, why aren't you organizing a boycott of RIAA *and the companies and groups they represent* until they drop their lawsuits/threatening letters?

If students organized the record industry would fold.

[Iwasthere]

3. I write newspapers with opinions that get published all the time

I also attend protests and I make calls. I have held meetings at my home too.

[blondeatlast]

5. You should be able to answer that question yourself, if you've been reading

these boards for a while now.

[Babsbrain]

7. Bloggers have uncovered alot of info

But then, what is being done about it? Why are they still in power? Why?

[Der Blaue Engel]

8. Bingo

In case you (the OP) have missed it somehow in your extensive reading, DU has an activist forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=106

[Babsbrain]

11. I guess that's my point

We shouldn't have a separate activist forum. We should ALL be activists! Our lives and our children's lives depend on it!

[blondeatlast]

12. Then kindly take it up with the Administration, thank you. nt

[Babsbrain]

13. Not trying to piss anyone off...

I am not challenging anyone but I am angry and frustrated and want SOMETHING to happen to correct the horrible situation we have be in for the last six years.

p.s. What's OP?

[blondeatlast]

16. Original post/poster. nt (no text, you needn't open the message)

[Raven]

6. Me too!

Writing, calling, holding signs, canvassing, lit tables, whatever it takes! Not too bad for an old broad. :-)

[shadowknows69]

9. You list your resume and I'll list mine

I think my main contribution is on this board telling the stories of the soldiers. I know I know I'm due for one.

[tridim]

10. Let's just say our porta-potty to protestor ratio is a significantly larger than 1:1 n/t

[Der Blaue Engel]

14. Ha!

:D :thumbsup:

[blondeatlast]

17. Gotta love math and organizational skills...

:rofl::thumbsup:

[cali]

15. Are you looking for a suggestion?

Join your local Peace&Justice Group.

[Babsbrain]

21. Yes

I guess I am looking for suggestions...i have hosted parties (sometimes people came and sometimes they didn't) and I have marched in protests. I have written letters, I have beat my head against a wall and still my son-in-law leaves in four days for Iraq. Still the pathetic demander-in-chief is in office. Still our country is disintegrating day by day.

[blondeatlast]

25. I send a prayer for your SIL's safe return from Iraq. nt

[Beetwasher]

18. Tango Delta Six

The ear wax has landed.

:eyes:

[Rosemary2205]

19. snicker.

Many of "us" silent screamers.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Richard Steele]

23. Hmmmmmm......and where have I heard that phrase, "silent scream" before?

I can't quite put my finger on it. Without potentially breaking
a DU rule or two, that is. :eyes:

[Babsbrain]

24. Sorry

I thought I could vent my anger and frustration here but I was wrong. We are ALL so paranoid, we don't know who to trust. I don't know what you are referring to about the silent scream thing but I know when someone is questioning the validity of a poster.

I won't be posting here anymore. Maybe we deserve what we are getting.

[blondeatlast]

26. With all due respect, DU isn't an official activist site, it's a discussion forum,

not really all that different from a fan site for a TV show or celebrity. I look at DU as something of a neighborhood pub, really, and it helps me keep my perspective.

We are ALL here to vent our frustrations as well as armchair quarterback a country from whom we ALL feel we've lost control. We aren't really here to organize, although we have managed to do that very well in some cases. We aren't here to be an alternative media, although again, we've done that remarkably well on occasion.

Discussion boards require us all, both reader and composer, to be mindful that our emotions aren't conveyed well through them. We can't tell what the other person is thinking and yes, I think all of us who consider ourselves progressives/liberals/leftists feel very much on the defensive as of late--and we ought to be a little suspicious.

If your intentions are sincere, I hope you will reconsider leaving. We need stong voices and it doesn't matter if they act or not--the voice has an impact. If your intentions aren't sincere, though, you must admit, it appears you've been discovered. I vote for the former, but it remains to be seen.

FWIW, "Siloent Scream" was an anti-abortion movie from the '80s (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Scream). I don't think you were aware of it when you posted, I truly believe that, but, yes, I guarantee that some DUers saw it as threatening, regardless of the intent.

[Richard Steele]

27. So, rather than clarify, you run away from a DISCUSSION board? How does that not look suspicious?

I am not paranoid, just appropriately cautious for any given
set of circumstances.

Like most adults, I DO "know who to trust", and I know how to
DISTINGUISH them from the non-trustworthy. I'll warrant most
DUers do, as they tend to be intelligent adults.

Running away before we can make that distinction in your case
does -NOT- make you appear more trustworthy. Quite the opposite.

Kinda like being on trial; all your claims of innocence are MOOT
if you skip town before your court date, y'know?

If you are sincere, then stick around. There are THOUSANDS of
people here, with thousands of opinions. No doubt many will
come to consider you a friend, and vice versa.

If you are sincere.

Sincerely,
Richard.

[Babsbrain]

28. I'm not running away

I'm just too new on this board to post anything since I'm not very good at it (obviously). I will continue to read and learn.

I am just amazed that the majority of this country is outraged but I see very little evidence of it. The bushies have been very effective in damping down the protests, etc. Very few people showed up in my town to mark the beginning of the fifth year of the 'war'. That's PITIFUL. How many anti-Bush bumper stickers do you see? Bushies made it clear that your car would be vandalized if you had one.

So, yes this is a discussion forum...and maybe we will discuss them out of power. Where is our collective voice?

[blondeatlast]

30. "..maybe we'll discuss them out of power." Again--the defensive tone.

Sorry, but it's all over you now. Obviously, we can't "discuss them out of power". But that really isn't why most of us are here, anyway.

This is an enormous board, over 100K members. To expect everyone on this board to be as activist as you is simply unrealistic. To unite everyone on a board with over 100K members is even more so. We can't come to any consensus ourselves as to how to get us out of Iraq--how can we channel that to a collective action?

Most of us do protest, do LTTE, phone and mail our reps and Senators (I'm represented in DC across the board by W enablers, yet I still call and they know me on a first name basis--you think I'm not POed???). Many DUers aren't able to do much more than post on a message board; they are ill or elderly or have other concerns that I won't challenge. I welcome them here.

Why, now that your SIL is on his way to Iraq (I might add that I read a post of yours that earlier indicated he was already there), are you finally compelled to challenge DU to do something?

I've been doing something, I'm as frustrated as you are and the stakes aren't as high for me as they are for you.

Take another look at your OP and see if maybe you see what I do--the reason your house parties may not have been as effective as you'd hoped.

[Richard Steele]

32. I don't know where you live, Babs, but I see TONS of anti-B*sh bumper stickers around here.

On my quiet little middle-middle-class street here in Durham NC,
there's not a PRO-B*sh sticker to be seen, but quite a few progressive
ones. And a regular anti-war protest every week on Main St. reminds
the FReepers that they are _NOT_ the majority here. (the last "counter
protestors" a fellow DUer reported were two semi-homeless guys with
a ragged cardboard sign saying "nuke Iran". I suspect they were paid
to be there; probably with cheap beer)

And "discussing them out of power" is not an idea you should
be dismissive of. Political movements are built ONE opinion at
a time, and DU provides TONS of powerful evidence and arguements
that we all can use to affect the opinions of those around us.

It also helps give us the courage to ACT upon our convictions,
when we are tempted to fall into doubt and despair. I never
attended a protest in my life before I came to DU. I never
did a LOT of other things back then. For example, convincing
my Fundie mom to host a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth"
at her church like I did just a few weeks ago. That NEVER would
have happened before I knew DU. And I used some facts I got here
to help convince her.

And the fact that obviously necessary CHANGE never happens fast
enough has never been a good reason to stop working for it.
There's a cliché from the music industry that applies fairly well
to almost any human endeavor: "Sudden overnight success usually
only happens after years of toiling in obscurity".

Richard

[EFerrari]

39. I thought that was from the acting business.

And you know something, I've been attending local political meetings here to try to get an impeachment group together. I found I can keep up with almost anyone on almost any current political topic and that's most definitely because of DU.

(Thank you)

:toast:

[yardwork]

37. Actually, my DU bumper sticker was keyed and I leave it on as an example

That vandalized Democratic Underground sticker says more about our opponents than anything else I could put on my car. I leave it up as a reminder to everyone - "This is how Republicans communicate."

Someone else here on DU left a bullet hole in his car for a while, with a sign pointing to it - "Republican talking point." His neighbor shot at his car, presumably because of the anti-war and anti-Bush stickers on it.

[butterfly77]

36. Well, I would think if you have been reading the post here...

for a while you should know by now who not to trust...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. Well, you can always volunteer for and contribute to the various Democratic candidates in the

elections. From your local/regional congressional races and including the presidential race... pick a candidate, help them through the primaries, and then help the Democratic nominee get elected.

Pretty basic. :shrug:

[taterguy]

22. I protest oil wars by not buying gasoline

Although that's just one of many reasons I prefer using a bicycle for transportation

[crikkett]

35. woo hoo! a man after my own heart.

I've been using alternative transportation since Katrina.

(i do rent a car on occasion)

I have saved a bundle.

The cost of bus fare, rentals+gas for the last 6 months has been half my old insurance bill. My credit card pays for the rental insurance (another $20 off per day).

[ComerPerro]

29. valid and fair question. We have an Activist Corps that may answer some. as for me

I am not much of a protester (sad, I know, but I just don't really believe they accomplish much).

I have, however, worked with some campaigns. As a Illinois resident I have passed out literature for both Senators Durbin and Obama.

Here in Kansas, I have worked some (not closely, sadly, just limited to volunteeer stuff) with campaigns for two Reps, one who was an incumbent (although hes a bit of a Blue Dog moderate, hes still a good guy, and hes from a conservative area) and one who I am very proud to support, Nancy Boyda, who was able to unseat Jim Ryun (R-Asshole)

[stirlingsliver]

31. I'm Not Eating Gluten

And I always recycle.

[blondeatlast]

33. If that's the progressive protocol, I'm doomed.

I'm a carb addict and I threw out aluminum just the other day. To the stocks for me.

[ljm2002]

38. Various things...

...I marched against both Iraq incursions (this one and the one by GHWB). I write letters to the editor, to columnists, and to various Senators and Representatives -- usually my own, as hearing from an actual constituent carries more weight I've heard. I also contribute to many candidates and political organizations.

In the place where I lived previously, I was active in a peace organization as well.

And I work on people, especially when they are misinformed and I can correct their mistakes without getting into a big political argument about it. In those situations I just try to present factual information. For example, I've had to deflect a couple of these: "But Clinton fired *all* the USAs!" or "But they serve at the pleasure of the President!" So I remind them that Clinton, GHWB, and other presidents traditionally do sweep the USAs out when they first take office. Then by and large they leave them alone. In fact in the last 25 years only two USAs were terminated (not by their own choice) before finishing their term or before a new president came into office. And, of course, I remind them that a provision was snuck* into the Patriot Act so that this Administration could just appoint them without Senatorial review; I also ask them, if Stinky Gorgonzales** has nothing to hide, why'd he lie about it from the gate? That usually shuts them up.

Footnotes:

* I don't care if snuck is not a real word :-)

** My new nickname for our esteemed (not) AG; although I don't use it when having these conversations. ;-)

[JNelson6563]

40. I'm active, there are others here too

Some have posted, some haven't.

I'm very active on my county e-board as well as with my Congressional district. I worked full time at it for 4 years and am just now trying to scale it back down to a part-time effort. It isn't going that way very easily. ;-)

Julie