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Tag(s): Democrat Hypocrisy; Progressive Problems; Propaganda Wars; Public Opinion US
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May 30, 2007 at 18:01:14

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Prime-time Politics for the Masses

by Timothy V. Gatto Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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I just received an e-mail from Move-on.org that seemed to say “We know you don’t trust the Democrats that stood shoulder to shoulder with George W. Bush, we know you’re angry about a freaking war without end, we know that you are about to tell us to ram it up our ass, but don’t give up now, and by the way, SEND US MORE MONEY!”.

I’m done sending money to any more Democrats. I’m done trying to figure out what the hell we should do. I think I’ve just about run the gamut, like most of you out there. I have no idea what else we can do. I’m not giving in to frustration, so if there are any right wing neo-cons out there reading this; don’t believe for a moment you have worn me out. I think that goes for all of us. This entire load of crap we have been dealing with will ensure that the Conservative Right Wing will never see the inside of the White House again as long as we all live and breathe. You’ve had your chance at doing things your way and look what’s happened. You have just about turned the United States from this planets last best hope and our nation from a principled state to an aggressive, underhanded nation, ruled by what can best be described as a pack of snarling dogs.

Every time I see a film clip of Bush sauntering to the White House, I am reminded of a cocky runt that develops a way of walking that makes him seem tougher than he is. Bush has that “little man, big ego” walk. The way he talks down to Americans, and tries to explain the world as he sees it, reminds me of an arrogant boss talking to his workers as if they are complete idiots. Maybe his 28% like to be talked to like that, but I don’t.

For every progressive politician out there, there are three or four politicians that go where the money is. For every progressive out there that believes we are going to win by being right, there are five or six slime balls supporting people that have all the money and can afford to buy air time to convince the blathering idiots to vote for them. For every person that reads, watches Discovery or PBS or does volunteer work, there are a hundred overweight, beer swilling fools watching American Idol and Survivor, when they don’t have football to keep them occupied. We have become a nation of fast food junkies with no oxygen in the blood flow to the brain.

And Move-On wants more money. What are they going to do with all of the money that they collect? Are they going to buy air-time on “American Idol” and tell the American people that our leadership is taking the constitution apart line by line? Are they going to buy commercial time on “Survivor” and tell the American people we are letting their sons and daughters die so that Big Oil can keep making outrageous profits? Maybe they will take the money and buy a two minute Super Bowl ad and explain how 9/11 might have been an inside job, or that the United States told Saddam to invade Kuwait so we could turn around and go to war with him. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see something like that? That I would help pay for!

We will never see anything like that unless we do it ourselves. The only way we are going to do something like that is to form a citizen’s union, some kind of organization that will actually spill the beans, and tell the truth. What you know to be true, most of the other people don’t know. Have you ever talked to your co-workers or your neighbors about some of these issues and they look at you like you have two heads? Is it because I live in South Carolina, or do most of you experience this? I work in a college in South Carolina; I can’t believe that they are all ignorant. I think that the problem with what is happening in this country is that the majority of the people aren’t getting the truth. The only people that are getting the truth are the one that are looking for it. When I read “Armed Madhouse” I couldn’t believe the things I read, and I’ve been digging for the truth for a decades.

The point I’m making here, is if I felt that I was ignorant after reading that book, what about all the people in this country that aren’t even looking? Wouldn’t it be just about the smartest thing that we could ever do if we educated the rest of our citizen’s? Don’t just brush this off and believe that they don’t care. The problem is that they actually resist the truth. If the truth were brought to them in a way that they couldn’t ignore, I’d bet my last dollar that you would see some fireworks that you never thought possible. Americans for the most part are not very political; they aren’t that passionate about their politics.

One reason that this is so is because national politics rarely affects them on a local level, as in countries like France or Britain. Because those countries are so small, national politics usually affects them directly. Not so in America. State politics sometimes takes precedent over national politics for that reason. State politics affects the Americas locally. Unless Americans are personally affected, they can remain blissfully ignorant, and that, they do. The only way that we are going to get the majority of Americans to act, is to show them how the policies of this administration will affect them directly. The only way we are going to achieve that is by advertising how the policies of the Bush administration will affect them directly. Only by hitting people on top of the head over and over again will we begin to make the majority understand just what we are facing. Our fellow citizens are not the most altruistic group of people that ever walked the face of the Earth. If Move-On wants to come to me with their hand out, then show me what you are going to do with my money! Don’t tell me that you are going to fund some committee that nobody will ever hear about. Tell me that you are going to expose the evils of this administration on Prime Time Television! Maybe then, and only then, will you get my attention. Unless you are willing to take that step, stop sending me those stupid e-mails.

http://liberalpro.blogspot.com

Tim was banned from the site for posting private email from the publisher to him on his blog, and then attacking the publisher and the site in emails and articles. OEN has no responsibility to publish articles from people who attack the site. Tim's accusations that he was banned for his political positions are untrue. Check his articles. He repetitively wrote about and had published exactly the things he claimed he was banned for doing.

Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.

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4 comments

Writer, poet, traveller currently living in England.www.armsagainstwar.info
tinalouiseWriter, poet, traveller currently living in England.www.armsagainstwar.info

...you are looking for unity?

Exactly what I am looking for, I read your piece and you are right that what is needed is for the masses to see there is an issue to deal with and to not be able to ignore it. We need to be able to find a way to start conversations with those who are not active and we need to include every level of society - without cost, without bias and without too much information - or too many issues at once that will lead to division of opinion and lack of unity.

I run 'Arms Against War' that seeks all this - we ask that any who agree with just one statement only (no other agenda, no politics) "I want an end to the war in Iraq" - to wear a free, home-made, white fabric armband to show it. No costs, no limits, no place to go - but visibility at all times in all places. A chance for others to ask "Hey, what's with the armband"...and self empowerment so that we are active and no longer silent.

Please take a look at what we do - then, if it resonates with you - help me promote the idea, please.

Thanks for the great read.
Namaste,
Tina Louise
www.armsagainstwar.info

by tinalouise (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 21 comments) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 6:51:22 PM

Been around the block a few times.
Blue PilgrimBeen around the block a few times.

educating...

I don't know WAHT to do, and I don't have to -- that's up to tthe people to decide. But I know HOW to do it -- and so do you:

"I’m done trying to figure out what the hell we should do. I think I’ve just about run the gamut, like most of you out there. I have no idea what else we can do.

[...]

Don’t just brush this off and believe that they don’t care. The problem is that they actually resist the truth. If the truth were brought to them in a way that they couldn’t ignore, I’d bet my last dollar that you would see some fireworks that you never thought possible. "

Yup! People have to learn the truth, and it's an unpleasant truth, and goes against their comfortable beliefs, so they resist it. That means it has to be done in a pleasing way. There are a number of pleasing ways.

PIZZA! Cheap pizza -- buy the ingredients cheap, put together a team to make pizzas for a dinner (at a church hall or something), and sell tickets for about cost. Oh yeah -- the entertainment --- show a movie. You know what kinds of movies go with pizza: from Greenwald, and Moore, and Solomon and such. You need a DVD player and projector or something -- that's maybe the hardest part. Or you could get a good inspiration speaker -- someone like Jeremy Scahill even? Yeah -- nice night out, good cheep food, and education. That's one way.

by Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 7:59:19 PM

Retired programmer. Full time leftist and revolutionary.
Max WardRetired programmer. Full time leftist and revolutionary.

Pizza and ... alfalfa sprouts.

I just retired from four years of doing essentially what you suggest. (Seems to be the season for retirements.)

(a) Choose pizza and you've already divided your audience. In these parts (a Seattle exurb) 55% would not eat pizza for various ideological reasons. Complications set in immediately. If you go vegan you put off a different subset of 55%.... If you have an open door policy with donations optional, do you allow the homeless to come in? Do you feed them? What about child care? Ugh.

(b) We have found that it's easy to hold people's attention when they're scared, especially when the weather is depressing or threatening. But as soon as everyone cheers up and the sun comes out the audiences tapper off.

(c) Within a 100 mile radius I'm aware of three successful liberal/progressive-night-out traditions. One is organized by Veterans for Peace (VFP), another by a Unitarian church group and a third by a coop of semiprofessional film makers. Another one near me sputters along with long gaps of inactivity. In all cases they seem to reach audience saturation quickly then it's a matter of how many of the core-faithful will show up. Our group draws from about 300. Any given event will draw 25-100 of them, but the choir hardly changes. Two things will cause an audience surge: (1) bringing in a higher-profile speaker in conjunction with a movie or some other kind of presentation. (2) if you lighten up the message and offer something entertaining that allows the audience to forget that the U.S. is a brutal empire, that the U.S. has wicked class divisions, ... then you can break outside the core, but then the message is lost.

For a while we had a network of DVD bootleggers. We duplicated 1000s of titles and gave them away with a wink and a nod, saying do whatever you want with 'em but pass 'em on when you're done. We thought DVD's would end up migrating to centrists and maybe even rightwingers. This took an enormous amount of work. On close inspections, when we actually gathered the data on usage, the patterns were very similar to the progressives-night-out events.

As with all efforts to organize, one or three individuals end up doing most of the work most of the time and one or three individuals end up making most of the contributions.

I've not seen any evidence that what you suggest has the potential to grow a group. It works okay as a way to maintain a group and keep spirits up, for a while at least. I have not seen a way to break through the assumption that activism can be a hobby.

by Max Ward (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 43 comments) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 10:10:03 PM