"Don't Whine. Organize."
the [Brooks Brothers] riot was of a piece with a broader strategy--a broader strategy that worked. Al Gore and his supporters tended to take the high road; when they saw the other side playing dirty, they complained. History has arguably vindicated their position. But it doesn't change the fact that George W. Bush ended up in the White House.
Follow me over the fold: I have a link to a GIGANTIC LIST of Town Halls for the month of August Where did i get this information? Conservative sites like the ironically named "Conservatives for Patients Rights"
EVERYONE, drop what you're doing, and clear your calendars for the August Recess. We need to fight for this. There's no way Obama or our Congress people can do this alone. You know Dems panic easily. And Obama's numbers are exactly where Clinton's were when he was fighting for healthcare: in the low 40s. The longer Bill and Hillary campaigned, the lower the public support healthcare reform got, and eventually it went down in a humiliating defeat.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF INACTION
There were thuggish shoutdowns back then too. We know what happened in the Brooks Brothers Riot that botched the recount for Al Gore in 2000. We got George Bush. There are actual consequences for people from teabagging riots like these. Iraq, Financial Crisis, Katrina, national bankruptcy, shredding the constitution, Torture. How much harder would we have fighted to expose the fact that these protesters in 2000 were actually Republican staffers? How much harder would we have fought knowing how many of our troops would die in Iraq? How much harder would we have fought if we knew this country would spy on its citizens and torture? But it worked. The Brooks Brothers Riots WORKED! And Democrats (not all) just decided to take the high ground, whatever that means...
WE'RE GETTING OUT-HUSTLED
Stinging press releases aren't going to cut it.
Greg Sargeant's verdict: Obama is getting out-hustled. MAJORLY. And these past few days, in my read of many of the blogs reporting on these teabag protests I noticed that everyone is asking, where the heck is OUR side? Many liberals seem more than disturbed by these recent events, and I recognize the feeling.... It's the feeling of utter disgust during the campaign when McPalin supporters yelled out "TERRORIST!" and "KILL HIM!".
I'm not advocating here for Karl Rove Tea Party THUGGERY, but we need to show up in huge numbers as we did for Obama rallies during the campaign. More people need to go to the town halls, bring as many people who need to be educated, and be ready to ask questions, ready to advocate the public option. Know these teabagger's talking points (they're pretty predictable) and shut them down. Chant Obama's YES WE CAN! slogan showing your support for the president if rethuglicans use their thuggish tactics. Anything positive. And if they proceed to misinform spew out the facts back in their faces. I mean...how many people at dailykos don't know that Medicare is run by the government? I suspect it won't be hard to shout down this dick army (who happens to be funded by Dick Armey). They're not saying anything substantive.
We need to use simple logic like Anthony Weiner at the townhalls to help inform the public. (After phonebanking, too many people are unaware that the VA and Medicare are run by the GOVERNMENT!!!) I've been phone banking and this hooligan sh*t is getting to good yet not too bright people who have been fed so much misinformation by ads or the MSM. Honestly i think Rachel Maddow and Keith and Ed are the only people actually talking about the fact that these protests are bankrolled by corporate lobbyists:
Anti-Reform groups like Conservatives for Patients Rights are posting huge lists to town halls. [I'll try to update with more.]
Be sure to also frequently check their Facebook and Twitterwhere they're constantly updating these with information townhalls ALL ACROSS THE NATION this August.
If that's where they're headed, that's where we must be, en masse. USE THEIR OWN RECRUITING TOOLS AGAINST THEM. We must not get out-hustled this time.
from a TPM Reader:
We ARE getting out-hustled. There's an army of us out here who want health care reform, but no one is directing us to voice our anger. I'm tired of writing and calling Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison and getting back boilerplate responses. If Doggett's people announced another Town Hall in Austin, which tilts very left, lots of us are ready to go toe to toe with the brownshirts. But no one's been calling......
DailyKos has been a useful organizing tool, but i really haven't seen that many people posting about recent townhalls. Just a handful. (And kudos to you all, esp. nyceve, slinkerwink, etc) At least not as much as during the campaign when most of us were out there canvassing and updating the community, especially about suspicious activities and ReTHUGlican tactics. Such vigilance paid dividends during the campaign.
Everyone MUST hold your nose and start visiting conservative recruitment sites, and blogs like Free Republic, Townhall, Redstate, etc. DO NOT dismiss this as mere nonsense. You may think that the American public is smart enough, that they'll be turned off by this hooliganism. But when 70% of Southern whites, or 2/3 of all southerners believe or are not sure that Obama wasn't born in Kenya, then do you honestly believe they are not susceptible to thinking that Obama's plan will euthanize granny or mandate sex changes?
Moreover, the MSM, from CBS News with Katie Couric, to the New York Times is reporting as if these are "organic" groundswells of anger at the Obama Administration. This from a TPM reader:
Just wanted to let you know I watched the Couric newscast this evening and they had a segment on the organic 'anger' that exists against the Obama and the health program. Guess who they has on? A guy from freedomWorks, a republican strategist and Ambinder spouting the line that this is 'real america' anger. So as you said today they are reporting it as spontaneous not as an organized astro turf fight.
They followed this with a segement about how shoddy VA care is for soldiers hitting ALL the republican talking points about govenrment run care. A thing of propaganda beauty.
Is this our media? You betcha.
Jason Linkins of HuffingtonPost reporting:
CBS Reports On Town Hall Mobs, Ignores Corporate Sponsors
Local Fox Reporter Attends Town Hall And Finds ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District’ (VIDEO)
TURNING RETHUG TACTICS AGAINST THEM
Jon Cohn at TNR has some ideas:
Nobody is suggesting progressives should adopt the tactics of right-wingers and start shutting down discussions. But progressives need to show themselves in large numbers, to make their voices heard.
Progressives also have to start playing offense as well as defense. It's great, and essential, to show solidarity with members of Congress who favor ambitious reform plans. But progressives must also pressure those on the other side. Mike Enzi and Orrin Hatch are going home over recess. So is John Boehner. Are reform activists making appearances there? The chances of changing their votes may be slim. (In Boehner's case, non-existant.) But such vivid examples of grassroots energy can help shape media perceptions and, ultimately, the political discussion.
And what about other sorts of demonstrations? How about rallies where physicians and doctors dump insurance forms? Marches where patients with chronic disease protest in front of drug companies? As I've said before, I'm no strategic genius; I'm sure there are organizers out there with far catchier ideas than these. It's time for them to start trotting them out.
FIGHT THE SMEARS 2.0
Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass suggests you forward right wing propaganda and smears to
flag@whitehouse.gov
So i'll just jot down a few ideas off the top of my head:
- SUBSCRIBE to the conservative groups' emails
- READ their literature/propaganda
- Watch their TWITTER accounts where they post new events/townhalls (search #cprights and #healthcare )
- Watch their Facebook groups for event information
- Watch out for events on conservative blogs, comments sections
- And if you live near-by an event you MUST attend a Dem town hall and bring your neighbors, family, friends to support and put some spine back into our Congresspeople and Senators, and loudly support reform and the public option. We must show up in large numbers.
- Use OFA (Organizing for America), Obama's grassroots campaignign website to phonebank on behalf of reform ahd the public option. It's easy to get started if you haven't already.
- Call your Congresspeople, Write your Congresspeople, Email your congresspeople every day, and get others to. Look how useful conservatives websites can be! this is a site with links and phone numbers to congresspeople ALL ON ONE PAGE: http://www.conservativeusa.org/...
The link to the list of townhalls is HERE Don't forget to check their Facebook and Twitter where they are updating with new information all the time.
Find your state and go.
No excuses.