Come blow your horn or your fellow Kossacks'. This thread celebrates recent successes. We have been getting essential information out, changing our representatives' votes, and getting new candidates' campaigns going. I literally don't have time to mention most of the great investigators, journalists and activists I've encountered here lately. Georgia10 and SusanHu are among the first who come to mind; lately it seems like there's a new one every few days.
Instead, I'll briefly describe a few recent, important cases where it's clear the Daily Kos made a difference, focusing on ones where I got personally involved. Apparently alysheba and I helped get Reps Brad Sherman and Anna Eshoo on board with Downing Street. There are even lessons for dealing effectively with our representatives. Get In Their Faces. Put Some Money Where Your Mouth Is. And this is just the beginning.
So please join in, share your favorites, and recommend this so everyone can share.
It's plenty clear what a difference Kossacks have made in publicizing the Downing Street minutes and memos that prove Iraq was a criminal war of aggression. In June, those minutes went from being widely ignored in the US - the greatest shame of the press - to becoming one of the most talked about political stories. By June 30th when Zogby polls showed that already
42% of Americans want Bush impeached "if" he lied us into Iraq, those minutes and our work were behind it.
Get In Their Faces
At first my (often liberal) Rep. Anna Eshoo had not signed on with the John Conyers letter that became so effective in publicizing those minutes. Then, when instead of signing, her office distributed an evasive reply, I reported it here. HighAcidity (also an Eshoo constituent) had just helped create www.downingstreetmemo.com. Apian went Apian (as did Al Rodgers and others?) linking to the report. By June if you Googled Eshoo Downing or Pelosi Downing or even Eshoo bullshit you'd go straight to a report on Eshoo's and Pelosi's silence, and Eshoo's disturbing reply.
I had expressed interest in Eshoo's Accountability legislation, and got personal email from a staffer, and I think our subsequent email and phone exchanges were key. When I mentioned in a call that I would report Eshoo's Downing Street evasions on blogs like the Daily Kos, the staffer became more accountable and said I should speak to their new press secretary. But soon the staffer called me at work to tell me Eshoo had signed on to Conyers' letter! The unusual call back convinces me that our effect was real. Pelosi signed on at the same time. (Shortly afterward, Pelosi actually joined the Daily Kos, although she has thus far declined to interact the way Rep. Conyers and Sen. Feingold do.)
alysheba was even more in your face with his Rep Brad Sherman. Mike Moriarty showed up at a town meeting with a video camera. In the video, the crowd applauds when Mike asks about the Downing Street minutes, then openly gasps and groans when Sherman claims he's never heard of them. Mike posted the video and gradually transcribed it in the diary.
Before long, Googling "Brad Sherman" Downing or Sherman Kos took you to straight to "This is Why We Lose Elections" with the embarrassing video. I don't know if Sherman or his press secretary saw it, but they sure heard the booing, and he signed onto Conyers' letter pronto.
Put Some Money Where Your Mouth Is
This past month I also gave money to two candidates aiming to fill Rep Henry Hyde's and Tom Delay's seats - Christine Cegelis and Richard Morrison. They exceeded their goals and made their June 30th deadlines, qualifying to replace those famously evil politicians. Quietly joining others to give is the opposite of "in your face" activism, but it works! It feels so good to put $20 where our mouths are, and get real results.
Your turn!