A Crazy Idea That Will Work

Let me start by assuring you that I am a sane, college-educated professional. Let me also say that this proposal - on the surface - sounds cheap and ridiculous.

Since May 1, I have busted tail trying to encourage media coverage of the Downing Street Memo, including writing letters to my local paper (the Indianapolis Star). My brother has made the same effort, writing letters and sending e-mails to a variety of media outlets. I've posted two of his letters as diaries on Daily Kos.

Nearly one month later, the media silence remains deafening. I know all of you share my frustration at the lack of coverage. The world is truly upside down when a finger in a bowl of chili is news, but the President of the United States lying a nation into war isn't.

I love Congressman John Conyers. The man is a hero and a patriot and I can't thank him enough for his efforts in asking tough questions about the Downing Street Memo and demanding answers from our leaders. But with a Republican Congress, a Republican President and a corporate media more interested in being Bush's bitch than telling us the truth, it's doubtful his letters will make a serious dent.

The major news web sites - CNN.com, MSNBC.com, ABCNews.com and CBSNews.com - and the morning shows are totally driven by tabloid news. Paris Hilton. Tom Cruise's dating habits. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Paula Abdul. Michael Jackson. Jessica Simpson. On and on it goes.

And then it occurred to me. Why aren't we using this to our advantage?

If our goal is for every voting-age person in America to go to www.downingstreetmemo.com, then shouldn't we be addressing this from an advertising perspective?

Okay, here comes the crazy part.

What if we were to convince all of our Democratic friends in Hollywood to wear t-shirts, caps, jackets, etc with "Downing Street Memo" (or the web address) for an entire month? Can you imagine the media buzz? What if Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, Paris Hilton, Tim Robbins, Alec Baldwin, Lindsey Lohan, Cameron Diaz and Warren Beatty wore this gear (or held up signs) at every book signing, Oprah Show visit, Larry King live visit, restaurant visit, movie opening, club opening, etc?

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if judges and contestants would have been willing to do that for one episode of American Idol? Just one?

All we need to do is get this memo into the culture. The media beast will do the rest. Paris Hilton alone could call a press conference and have the world talking about this memo in 24 hours.

Why aren't we thinking this way? Again, what we are facing is an advertising issue here. Let's advertise. And let's use the media's tabloid-crazy mentality to do our work for us.

We've worked hard. Now, it's time to work smart.

Sure, the Republicans will come out crying about "Hollywood liberals" and "Bush-hating" and all of that stuff, but will we really care if this memo gets the exposure we want? Don't the ends justify the means in this case?

Look, we've taken the high road. We've called our representatives. We've sent letters to newspapers. We've e-mailed. We've blogged. And we're getting nowhere. This is an extreme solution, but any solution looks good right now.

I'm telling you, this can work. It truly can. Tell me why I'm wrong.