No, I don't mean in charge in elected officials rather in tactics cultivated over the past twenty years to a fine art. Why don't we answer the challenge?
The Republican party for all their craziness is still basically calling the shots in Washington. Their noise machine has been finely honed to be able to distort, dismantle or destroy anything that a Democratic administration wants to do. Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay in conjunction with Dick Armey seized control of congress and built the iron clad Republican majority with strong arm, take no prisoners approach to policies and actions. The Republicans have shown that they are inept at governing when they get power but expert tacticians while out of power. Why do we let them to continue unabated these same tactics while not representing an elected position?
Where are the Democratic Bulldogs? Why aren't they out howling and scratching like the Republicans? I'm a great believer in Blogs but sound bytes are really whats needed. Democrats are too polite and worried about always doing the right thing. They worry about image more than results. Politics is a dirty game and to pretend otherwise is foolish. One of the reasons that Republicans can control the message is that they have no regard for truth. They think that being in church on Sunday makes them a Christian, and I suppose that the also think that being in a garage makes them an automobile. The bolder and wilder the claim that they make, the more it is repeated as a 5 second sound byte and, as we all know that if something is repeated often enough a certain percentage of people will believe it to be true.
The Republican allies are also aiding their noise machine. Ron Paul supporters are reported to be the ones bringing guns to Rallies. The constituency the Republicans represent have all the money in the world to fund phony grass roots groups and bankroll the "movement" and then try to sell it as legitimate. Stirring up Racial and cultural biases is also helpful to the right. We see the President being portrayed as a Nazi, a Commie, a Socialist a Racist while simultaneously being called an elitist. That just about covers every possible scary person in the world except for father stabbers, mother rapers and father rapers.
So what to do. If you can't beat them, become them. In other words abandon the self righteousness that we have and go for the jugular vein.
Ignore any attempt at bi partisanship which the Republicans never even considered during their glory days. Get the left involved in TV stunts like the Tea Parties and Republican Town Hall meetings . I see no reason why the left can't also bring guns and placards defending Obama' s policies and clearly stating that we are not going to let the thugs take away our freedom of speech. Join the NRA in droves and take control of the organization from the inside.
We need to speak to and for those who are sincerely afraid of the state of the country right now and I'm one of them. I grew up under the nuclear threat but I'm more concerned about our country now than I ever was, save for the Cuban Missile Crisis, during the cold war.
It's awfully hard to gain their trust when we keep telling them that relief is just around the corner only to have another story come out about how bailed out Bankers just got a multimillion dollar bonus or when companies continue to lay off thousands and foreclosures continue to go on anabated.
We know that the media don't and won't give these people the information that they need to hear, only the information that is interesting enough and causes enough controversy as to create better ratings so they can sell more expensive advertising.
What proactive measure could we take? We could, through various groups, hold our own town halls by invitation only and invite people who have these genuine fears to come and not only tell us their problems but to invite them to become a part of the solution. I am sure that within a two block radius of anyone's house that their are more than enough stories illustrating the truth about, let's say, private Healthcare or lack thereof and Medicare and Veterans Health Care that it would be easy to convince people that they really do need change or to logically answer their fears about what they have heard. If we have to stretch the truth, which in most cases is impossible, about a certain subject so be it if it gets the point across.
Unfortunately the righties got an enormous jump on us but we saw the reaction of the White House when we did speak out over last weekend.
I am very frustrated that the Left is always so morally correct that some would rather cave in than do the right thing just so as we don't hurt a non existent relationship between the political parties. If the blue dogs are afraid of losing their districts to angry Republicans because they voted for Democratic reform policies, imagine how they will feel when they lose because their Democratic base fails to show up. I remember that happened to Republicans that strayed from the approved party line when Delay was in charge, replaced in the next election with a more loyal person.
These issues that are before us today are way to important than to worry about hurt feelings. Health Care, the Climate,Free Choice Act just can't wait any longer. To delay is to Delay. To hell with bipartisanship. Show these angry people what is in their own interest. Get r done!