MoveOn PAC is organizing a day of
Constitution Vigils today/tonight to get citizens engaged in getting together/speaking out about the President's law-breaking wiretaps. The goal is to put pressure on Congress to do an independent investigation (full pitch in there's moresville); I invite your comments on what you're doing, the futility of it all, alternatives for engagement, and so on, below the poll.
But, there's something even more significant going on behind the scenes, leveraging the vigils into an ongoing grassroots engagement, building capacity in the movement, tied with nationwide coordination/message development. Now that's what's exciting. Read on for details/a personal angle.
The secondary (and perhaps more important) goal/effect is to get people connected/energized/accustomed to working together on a regular basis, as part of
Operation Democracy Action Teams, building up to the November elections (and beyond).
MoveOn field organizers are contacting past event organizers in 200 cities and convening regional councils, providing training on how to do press outreach and organize effective events, working to weave together an effective counter to the right-wing noise machine, going beyond online petition-signing and the limited reach of even online organizing, into real grassroots action.
This way, it's not just "them", it's "us". It's the local people contacting their local media and expressing what they believe, a meaningful force with real connections that can't be as easily dismissed as "just another liberal left agitator from afar".
I'm personally excited because it's gotten me active in a new way (or perhaps and old way, tapping guerilla-marketing skills I've been developing in other realms for a quarter century), and connecting me with others who bring other complementary gifts. There's only so much I can do myself; this lets me take it further. Knowing that it's getting national-level guidance, but local-level brainstorming and message development and customization, makes me feel that my time investment is leveraged to make more of a difference.
So what are you doing about it? Will you be out there today? Are you organizing something? Have you given up hope? Does the long-term strategy have merits? Is it redundant/duplicative/innovative/doomed? Share your thoughts, plans, and advice.
Here's the call to action, found at:
http://political.moveon.org/...
Constitution Vigils: Witness to Lawbreaking
The president is breaking the law. Momentum is already mounting in Congress for a real, independent investigation into the president's illegal wiretapping program. But unless Congress knows that citizens are concerned, they'll shrink from their responsibility to act as a check on the president's power.
To turn up the pressure on Congress, we're organizing nationwide "Constitution Vigils" on Wednesday, February 22nd, to bear witness to the president's lawbreaking.
We'll get together with other MoveOn members and read the Bill of Rights to remind Congress about what's at stake.
Thousands of us will gather together to send a strong message to our elected representatives that they won't be able to ignore--especially since many of them will be home in their districts for the Presidents' Day holiday. The more of us that participate, the louder our message will be.
Host your own Constitution Vigil or sign up for an event near you.
http://political.moveon.org/...
So what are you doing about it? Take the poll. And add your plans in the comments. Thanks for the engagement, exercise those activism muscles every month and sooner or later (i.e. by November) we'll be moving mountains.