Well, Netroots Nation 2011 has come and gone. In theory, today (Sunday 6/19) is still part of the conference, but it's mostly teardown, checkout and services.
Hope you all had a good time in Minneapolis!
I had to break out the Saturday photos into a separate FB gallery: 20110618 Netroots Nation part 2
Day 3 Interviews:
Dan Feit, helping to run the live streaming video (mp3 4:17)
Marco, volunteer for Patchwork Video (mp3 3:23)
Ken Schneider of Patchworks Films. (mp3 4:34)
Paul Nevins, author of The Politics of Selfishness. (mp3 7:12)
Video interview of Markos Moulitsas under the fold.
Markos "kos" Moulitsas at Netroots Nation in Mpls, 6/18/11
NN11 Wrap-up and rant
I had a good time at Netroots Nation 2011 and met many wonderful people and went to several good panels and participated in many fruitful talks.
Of course, I tend to have a good time at conventions. I enjoyed myself at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. As a reporter, I did forty interviews in four days (and many before and after) and put up hundreds of photos.
The people at the RNC, at least the ones I talked to, were good people. They were proud of the life they built and wore their military service with honor. They honestly felt that everyone could have the same success by following their path.
Not everyone talked to me, notably the hordes of armed security. (The uniformed cops spoke off the record, and seemed competent and alert.) Some I talked to accused me of being "liberal" because I my questions didn't slant to the right. I can live with that.
I didn't quite expect the flip side from "Progressives". To be fair, only one panel disappointed me. On the other hand, the disappointment occurred at a panel of fellow comedians.
The second-to-last panel was on Challenging Mainstream Media Narratives on Right-wing Extremism. An excellent panel and I'm glad intelligent people are on the ball. They were long on spotting media narratives but short on how to change them.
One of the media narratives identified was the reversal of "racism". If you, as a liberal/progressive, call someone "racist", they will call you a racist for raising the issue. "Can't we move beyond that?" The actual racism of the original speaker gets hardly a word, and the liberal is left looking sad.
And that's because no one goes further to challenge the media when they point fingers in the wrong direction.
Emboldened by this panel, I went to the next one on my list. I've been a comedian and conceptual artist for over thirty years. Shockwave Radio Theater is "science fiction humor". After Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota, I declared that "politics" is a subset of "science fiction humor". Had a great time interviewing our governor and other politicians.
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -- Bill Cosby
Comedy, Video and Activism featured some of the funniest people on the planet; just ask 'em. They each presented a video making various political points. All were pretty funny, but some worked better than others, at least for me.
At the Q & A afterward, I asked about "humiliation" as a political tool. Too many on the right cannot be persuaded by a reasonable argument. They think with their sphincters and only by using the Karl Rove technique of attacking their strengths can we hope to marginalize the radicals and perhaps persuade a few on the edge.
I used, as an example, how we at NN11 had humiliated Andrew Breitbart the day before, driving him out of the conference with shouts of "COWARD COWARD". Which he was. (Moreso than it seemed at the time, as Convention Center security was on the ball and would have prevented him from entering the Exhibit Hall. I found this out talking to Security the next day.) Breitbart came to make a media event, and encountered heroes.
Of course he's going to make hay of this. He would have spun anything that happened his way. He's a liar, a bully... and a coward. The worse thing we could have done was... nothing. We can't let him use his right-wing pulpit as his playground. We have to humiliate him.
Which we did.
All the panelists disagreed, saying the video made him look sad and put upon. Of course that's what the right-wing media was going to say, since it's a complete lie. But we have to change the narrative, one humiliation at a time. I haven't seen the video. I was there. All I have to do is tell the truth. And spread the word.
Even liberal commentators follow the right-wing narrative. After Breitbart demanded and got an apology from Weiner, Stephen Colbert commented (quote from memory), "Breitbart is now 1 for 4, which is better than average for a Republican." Funny and to the point, but continues the narrative, "does he have credibility". Just asking the question gives him a certain degree of credibility. That's my inner Taoist speaking.
What we, as an ad hoc group did, was expose Breitbart as a coward. And that's the narrative we must drive. "Is Andrew Breitbart a coward?"
It will take a while, and only a continuing effort can change how the media treats him and the other liars. We have to come out swinging, and continue swinging.
The panelists were worried about a "backlash". Did the Swift Boat liars create a backlash for Kerry? In the beginning, a little. But the right wing hate machine was allowed to drive the narrative. Gullible fools were certain, people started to doubt. And an election was lost.
On the right, they have no illusions about the power of repetition. When Rick Perry says goppies should stop apologizing, he's trying to change the narrative. We, as people for whom truth is more important than lies, should give them something to apologize for.
Donald Trump and the "birthers" were humiliated, which was three-quarters of all Republicans. Then all the criticism went away. The right-wing media just stopped commenting on the issue... but it didn't go away. Trump still gets noticeable support despite humiliation (and going bankrupt 4 times). I say: Shovel it on! If people feel Trump is put upon, though nuggies. Call him a crybaby and humiliate him further.
I say we should humiliate people like Breitbart, but the comedians on the panel say that just gives the right some fodder. I couldn't believe how timid they were. The people who are brave enough about their own work, saying "Don't be afraid to turn off comments" when posting to YouTube just want to pussyfoot around real issues. God good people, everything is fodder to them. We have to come out swinging. We have to change the narrative.
The problem with Democrats in general is that they're too sensitive to what other people say about them. Heaven forbid that liberals might actually offend racist nutjobs who are sure that anyone to the left of Attila the Hun deserves a "Second Amendment solution".
I say to the panelists: You're not challenging hate speech, you're preaching to the choir.
I still think you guys and gals are funny, but I no longer have confidence that you can change the world.
Okay, end of rant.
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Previous diary and links:
I've been to hundreds of conventions of various sorts, and I must say, NN11 Day 2 (Friday 6/17/11) was one of the more extraordinary convention experiences ever. I went to a panel with a guy who actually understands how to talk to a camera. Completely at random, I was privileged to be privy to a conversation between an impassioned Second Amendment Rights Democrat and an equally impassioned Gun Control Democrat. I talked with a blogger from Germany telling stories from her Muslim point of view.
Icing on the cake, I was part of the impromptu crowd that bodily refused Andrew Breitbart entry into the Convention Hall, chasing him away as we chanted "COWARD COWARD COWARD".
Other nifty stuff happened too, but really. Hot damn. Hot diggity damn.
Pictures from NN11 Day 0-Day 2 Here is my public Facebook gallery for Netroots Nation 2011 part 1.
From Day 2:
Right after "Presence and Authenticity: The Key to Being a Media Star" conducted by Joel Silberman (mp3 4:14)
Kyle and Kathy debate gun laws (mp3 26:43)
Kübra Gümüsay, Muslim blogger from Germany. (mp3 10:31)
From Day 1
Susan Strong of the Metaphor Project. (mp3 5:20)
Aaron Oesterle of the Space Frontier Society (mp3 7:00)
Jeanna Brown from Team Rural (mp3 12:02)
Steve of Drinking Liberally (mp3 5:43)
From Day 0:
Ms Spentyouth (mp3 5:58)
Nick Faber of Blogads (mp3 4:09)
Bill From Portland Maine (mp3 5:49)