Almost four centuries ago, a fellow named Roger stopped getting along with his Puritan buddies in Massachusetts because of his “diverse, new and dangerous opinions” and had to find a new place to live. He settled on a spot somewhere between the statue and the tall buildings in the photo above (after a failed attempt a couple of miles away).
It was here that Roger mentioned something locally famous about “divine providence”. Less famously, he also spoke of the need for “A group to promote IRL camaraderie and help organize local political action in Providence, RI”. More kooks followed Roger to Providence, which meant that Roger was no longer talking to himself, and pretty soon there was a town But, there was still no Providence Kos group. Roger described a world with “strange glowing machines for near telepathic correspondence, requiring neither quill nor horse to send a message, nor even a shared tongue, thanks to google translate”. Roger admitted that he had no idea what phrases like “goggle translate”, “website”, “dailykos”, and “more and better democrats” meant, but that they came to him as visions. Even contemporaries of Roger who did not dismiss Roger as possessed or mad questioned the need of having to go into a strange parallel dimension to gather townsfolk together, because there were only a few dozen people in the whole town. Roger mused on this conundrum and decided that Providence must grow large enough to need such a group. He understood that he might not ever see the realization of a Providence Kos group, but that he must work towards it anyway. And securing a royal charter to keep Massachusetts out of Providence was the first step. So he went to London to do just that, in hopes that by providing secure and fertile ground, a seed for his vision might take root.
So Providence carried on. It got a bit bigger. It struck one of the first blows of the Revolution when some locals had a couple drinks and then burned the HMS Gaspee to the waterline (before anyone in Boston even dreamed of their cute little “Tea Party”). It rocked the industrial age with steam engines and boats and trains and mills and canals and smoke and maimings and costume jewelry. It got blown over and flooded in 1938. It missed the windfall of WW2 military contracts. It had some sad times.
And the rest of the world also moved to bring Roger’s vision to fruition. Just as Roger Williams had invented Providence, Ben Franklin invented electricity, Andrew Jackson invented the Democratic Party,Apple invented the computer and Al Gore invented the internet.
Then, a few years ago, a fellow named Markos put all those ingredients (except for Providence) together and invented this website. A couple of years ago, a bunch of people that hang out on this site even came to Providence. But still, no Providence Kos group.
Until Now.
Do you live in or near Providence, RI?
Do you want to connect in real life with other lefties that are part of the Daily Kos community for a cookout sometime?
Do you want to help each other coordinate efforts for the upcoming election?
Do you just think it’s kind of fun to meet someone in real life that you have previously only crossed paths with online?
Wanna carpool to NH to help out in a less blue district?
Wanna work on the “better” democrats part of the equation after this election?
Wanna do something else with a group of politically allied and geographically convenient folks?
Join Providence Kos.
Just send me a message or make a comment below and I will be in touch shortly.