Drawing on Hunter's excellent post this morning about his frustration with constantly begging for the government to simply follow its own laws, I humbly propose a solution, one that not only expresses the spirit of the majority in calling for an immediate investigation into the use of torture during the previous administration but also further erodes support and credibility for the modern conservative movement.
The idea is simple: a protest/sit-in that draws on our established grass-roots infrastructure to organize against letting bush officials off the hook for formulating torture policies. Obviously, the logistics need to be worked out in detail, but I believe I can address some of the broader points and concerns rather quickly.
To start, we know that in the realm of public opinion, the moaning and wailing of the Tea-Baggers fell on relatively deaf ears. For all the promotion by Beck, Armey, and FNC, the actual event was more than a little underwhelming. In the first place, the message was absurdly fractured and confused. Was this a protest about taxes? Obama being President? Socialism? The Second Amendment? Then there was the scary fringe element co-opting some of the thrust for their own fevered fantasy agenda. Finally, to top it all off, it was simply the fatigue on the part of the much weakened Conservative Right; when your ideas have been thoroughly rejected by the public (and never really made much sense to begin with), its not too good for morale.
Now, all that being said, the opinion on the Right is that it was a resounding success, at least in proving the Liberal Media Bias against it. Facts be damned, they got their message (whatever it might have been) across to those know-nothings in Congress and the Muslin-in-Chief, and by gum, the voice of The People was heard!!! I don't want to disparage them their attempt at peaceful protest; as far as mass demonstration goes, it was certainly a step above a Neo-Nazi Rally. The point is that its failure didn't register with its faithful; to them it was AWESOME!
The option then is to formulate a counter to that show of "popular support" with one of our own. I believe the current (nonsensical) debate over whether or not to investigate the architects of torture (we obviously should) could be just the catalyst to show exactly how far outside the mainstream the Tea-Baggers really are. This strategy is problematic for a number of reasons, but can also pay some amazing dividends in both the short-term and in future political and social contests.
First, the issue itself is one that unifies the Left to a large degree. As an example, one could look to the rift between TalkLeft and Kos readers on any number of issues (rightly or wrongly) and it would still be clear that adherence to the rule of law is something on which both groups can agree. Indeed, with the pragmatic and ordered moves being made in the Iraq War (military build-up and strategy in Afghanistan notwithstanding) it seems that the Anti-War coalition could successfully be relied upon to bring anti-torture and pro-investigation arguments to the fore. Using this existing grass-roots base, we could ensure that we would be supplementing an already sizable, like-minded group of people.
So, we have a simple, powerful message as a premise: never condone nor use torture again & investigate and prosecute those in our government who have. This should be memorized for easy dissemination and so that it can not be muddled or misconstrued.
That actually brings me to a potential pitfall: the MSM. As nice as it would be to have support from the Maddows and Olbermanns of the world, implicitly feting their approval could invite the charge that they perform the same function as Fox in rallying support for a political cause. It is imperative that such ammunition NOT be given to our opponents. Of course, it will be necessary to draw on some of the organizing tools that we have relied on in the past, including groups such as MoveOn. This unfortunately will bring sound-byte criticism about "astro-turf". It then becomes important to stress the grass-roots nature of said groups versus, say, FreedomWorks. Organizers must be mindful of the way the message is disseminated to the press.
Also to that point, it is critical that such a protest not devolve into simply an amalgam of pet causes, no matter how closely related. In all organizing principles, it must be clearly stated that this is ONLY a demonstration on the two key points above. I sympathize with Kos' worry about mass protests in that they invariably turn out the wackos; with the Tea-Baggers, obviously, the problem is that most of the movement were the wackos. We cannot make that same mistake. While I have a great faith in the ability of the progressive left to articulate their positions in a calm, cogent manner, there are bound to be some elements of the fringe present. It then becomes important to ensure that while they are welcomed in support of those two principles above, their antics in favor of other causes are NOT WELCOME AT THIS TIME. This is also a delicate balance as egos are fragile and many different causes matter to many different groups. It is important to keep in mind for this proposal that a united front is key.
Now, I have no illusions about the reality of such an undertaking. Organizing and planning will be no easy feat. But I think the visual impact of potentially MILLIONS of people (possibly across the world) could do much in the way of crippling any sort of traction that the Tea-Bag movement might be gaining. I want to make clear that I harbor no ill will toward these people's right to protest... whatever it is they were protesting. God Bless America and all that. The point is to discredit their notion that they somehow represent the mainstream of public opinion. Additionally, it is to foster a doubt within their own ranks about the actual efficacy of their movement, especially in the face of an actual protest based on an actual problem.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Perhaps tweaking it so that it's really perfect and something that we can all get behind? Let me have it, Kossacks!