This is in response to shpilk's diary, which is well worth a read and a rec.
The diary asks a number of good questions, but in my mind, the main question was along the lines (paraphrasing) of "Are we truly making a difference?"
It's a loaded question, and this diary isn't going to be a bunch of back-patting and ego-stroking of the things we have obviously done. That's not what shpilk meant, unless I miss my guess.
We got people elected, we helped parry Republican noise machine talking points, we mobilized forces, found challengers, made the Republicans defend every seat they had. These are obvious effects we've had, and no one denies them.
The question becomes important when we see that Democrats have sided with Bush on FISA.
The question becomes important when the Senators we busted ass to elect--Webb and Klobuchar spring to mind--vote against what we fight for, what we stand for.
So, the question is, "Are we truly making a difference?" What good are having raw numbers on our side in Congress if we can't count on those numbers?
That's a subject for other, more cursing-filled diaries. This one is about the difference we make.
I'll begin by quoting myself, though not for egotistical reasons:
I think we're noisier than you think. O'Reilly is one of the Right's best allies, and he's declared war on us. For every single wing-nut who we'll NEVER convince to look at the facts, there are probably 10 people who came here FROM the O'Reilly noise who are now asking themselves questions. It's a start.
Not all of O'Reilly's viewers are Red Staters. Some just don't realize that the media is not on our side. When they drift over here, they might catch a glimpse of something, some little piece of the truth.
Man, I rule.
Anyway, I think the good we do is evident by the number of Right Wing Noise Machine cogs who attack us. Carlson's taken a swipe or two, O'Reilly's declared war, pundits in newspapers have mentioned us with disdain.
We are making a difference, we are making noise.
Shpilk's question about whether we're too insulated, or whether we've become a "designated protest zone" is well-taken, and should give us pause because in a way, we are. We do have a lot of "preaching to the choir" syndrome here, but that's how it always starts. As big as we are, we're still in the stages of infancy of our movement. Our noises are still coming out, we're still growing and being influential.
We've made leaps and bounds, we're attracting the attention of traditional media, and we're being assaulted by the right wing.
For every lunatic who comes here out of malice, 10 come out of curiosity. How many stay? How many tell their friends?
We're not just preaching to the choir, we're also reaching the sons and daughters of America. We're making noise, we're making moves, we're shaping our movement.
Little by little, step by step, we are making a difference.
That's what we are, that's what we do.