Yes, You Can (do something more than protest on the FISA Cave)
The FISA telecom immunity deal pending in the Senate have led a lot of people to question how good a vehicle for Change, the Democratic Party and Barack Obama really are. The frustration is bringing up some ugly feelings of frustration and impotent and being taken for granted, but there are things we can do, which are effective, and will not damage the larger cause.
This is a Movement, and for lots of folks, FISA and Telecom Immunity symbolize rather starkly the essence of Change that we seek, and the frustration we feel with the political system and its tradition of spineless, corrupt, complacent Democratic capitulation in the face of Republican authoritarianism. Glenn Greenwald parses and analyzes all of this rather well, and I won't repeat what he does better.
Today, many of us are trying to sort out how we feel about Obama's endorsement of The Cave. This is a two-Party system, and we cannot very well withhold our support over this, or any other marginal issue. But, failing to protest effectively, failing to act, failing to make clear that our support for the Candidate and the Party depends on the Candidate's and the Party's support for us and for the Change we seek, is intensely frustrating. Contemplating it makes me feel used, taken for granted, impotent, a eunuch. Ugly feelings.
But, in place of spite, I suggest that you re-direct some of your financial support away from Barack Obama's campaign, and let the campaign know what you are doing. You don't have to go very far. You could direct money to the Democratic National Committee, for example, which will coordinate with the Obama campaign. It won't have a material effect, therefore, however small; it won't take you out of participating, or out of building for the long-term, but it will allow you to send a message.
If you are really pissed off, divert some of the money you might have given to Obama to a marginal Congressional or Senate candidate -- someone, who, if they win, will be new to Washington, and someone who unambiguously opposes the FISA telecom immunity deal.
These are ways that you can make your power felt. And, the same thing applies to volunteering; you can volunteer for a Congressional candidate -- they don't bite, at least the Democrats don't, . . . usually.
Democrats.com is suggesting something similar. They ask that people donate just $10 to the primary campaign of someone who is fiercely opposed to the cave-in. The following is snipped from a democrats.com email on the topic:
>>Georgia's primaries are on July 15 - just 3 weeks away. And Barrow is facing a dramatic primary challenge from State Senator Regina Thomas.
Thomas doesn't just look different, she thinks different. She wants to bring our troops safely home from Iraq immediately. And here's what she told me on Friday:
"I was really appalled at the actions of Congress and especially my Congressman from the 12th District in Georgia, John Barrow, for voting in favor of the Bush-Republican surveillance bill that would make it very easy, without a warrant, to wiretap any American citizen."
On Friday, Regina Thomas became our first endorsed candidate of 2008. And that was not just because she's an "Aggressive Progressive," but also because she can win.
In Georgia's Democratic Presidential primary on February 5, 70% of the voters in GA12 were African-American. Thomas isn't running on her race, though, but rather her record of accomplishment over 12 years in the state legislature. This has Barrow running for his political life by avoiding every chance to debate Thomas because he simply cannot compete with a real Democrat.
In a few hours, our endorsement raised over $1,176 from 31 donors. Today we'd like to raise $10,000 by encouraging 1,000 of our 500,000 subscribers to contribute $10 each directly to Regina Thomas's campaign.
Can you help?
http://www.actblue.com/page/bushdemocrats
June 23, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
As angry as some of us are over the cave-in of some of the Dems, don't forget that there are trolls all over the web stirring up the emotions and getting people more incensed than they should be. We can take action, and I think we already have influenced Feingold and Dodd (and hopefully Obama, too), but we need to keep our eye on the prize, so to speak, and also resist the Roving (pun intended) trolls who do their best to rile us all up. Keep calm. Do the right thing. We're not caught in a bear trap yet, so we don't have to gnaw off our own feet to escape.
June 24, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have a better idea if people can be mature and cool-headed: How about you wait until Obama gets elected, and then start the petitions and activism. That way, he doesn't lose an election because either he "flipflopped" on FISA or was "pressured by the Left".
I'm all for FISA, but if the choice is losing the election over it, forget it. There are bigger fish to fry -- health care, global warming, iraq. Too much at stake freak out and start eating your own because you don't get 100% of everything you demand.
June 23, 2008 11:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said Observer. If people want to be a one-issue voter that is their perogative on any issue - good luck actually getting any change in this country though. If people want to donate elsewhere or volunteer elsewhere and feel that doesn't affect the Democratic Party's chances to win, so be it.
While Democrats piss and moan about the imperfections of their candidates, we HAVE had change in this country - change brought about by Bush 43 (who rolled back Clinton's change), Bush 41, Reagan. Do you want more of that change brought to you by McCain?
FISA to me is very important but not disqualifying in my financial or volunteer support to make sure we have a democratic president. Otherwise, we lose on FISA and have John McCain FOR SURE listening in to our phone calls and reading your emails.
June 24, 2008 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well said by both of you. Withholding money from Obama is ensuring a McCain victory. Some of our liberal colleagues have disappointingly proven that they simply will not tolerate any change that is not defined by them as adequate or acceptable, and anything less than perfection from their presidential nominee. How weak. How selfish. How self-defeating. How uselessly self-righteous.
It is amusing to see liberals so willing to abandon education reform, environmental protection, reproductive rights, rights of workers, ending the war, etc., over perceived damage to a Fourth Amendment that, courtesy of judicial interpretation over several decades, is not NEARLY as protective as they think it is. All this hysteria over the evisceration of the Fourth Amendment? Puh-leeze. Perhaps we should work on the fact that it has been barely protecting our rights for decades before we engage in ridiculous "sky is falling" hyperbole about this bill.
It is amusing to see people like Greenwald, the new hero to Obama haters, defending the original FISA as though it were harmless, in their efforts to portray this bill as so much worse.
All this new, trendy outrage over something that liberals should have been screaming about decades ago...
Crock.of.shit.
June 24, 2008 4:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Glad you threw in ending the war, since the Dems have consistently caved on that issue since they've been in the majority. If they'd start doing some of these things you folks keep listing it would be a heck of a lot easier to support them. And yes, I know they cannot pass legislation without 60 votes but they have complete control over refusing to pass bad legislation and they keep passing one bad bill after another. Facing reality might be waking up to the fact that in just the last week they've 1) refunded the war 2) sold out the 4th amendment and 3) put forward another bill to encourage war with Iran. This is the Democrats I'm talking about.
June 24, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's so refreshing to hear both of you (observer2 and MMW) say that, especially after the battering I've taken trying to express the same thing elsewhere here on TPM.
Rec'd, and I hope more people start to come to their senses as you have.
June 24, 2008 2:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
A lot of sensible views here.
Email, phone, fax if you like. That's democracy.
But no scorched earth, please.
June 24, 2008 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
How about if I just take all the money I was going to donate plus some extra funds and create a move out of the country fund?
The 2 party system is a choice between garbage and crap.
June 24, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
They said this about Al Gore and George W. bush in 2000. Remember that wisdom?
Oh yes, Nobel Prize winning, Climate change activist Gore is exactly like torture-mongering war-mongering criminal idiot Bush.
Tweedledum and Tweeledee.
June 24, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Climate change activist Gore is exactly like torture-mongering war-mongering criminal idiot Bush."
Unfortunately, the climate change activist was no where to be found in 2000. The guy who ran was a DLC "centrist" who chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate to reinforce the idea that he was a right leaning guy because everyone knew that was the only way to win the election. Too bad the climate change activist didn't show up. I could have gotten real excited about that guy.
June 24, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, I think it's a really stupid suggestion to donate to the DNC. The democratic leadership in congress is responsible for the 'cave' and needs to have their 'feet held to the fire'. Nancy Pelosi ran this bill through the house and then sent out a fundraising emails. The dems should not see ANY surge in fundraising based on this action. I suggest donating nothing and letting them know. I just got the lame fundraising email from Obama's campaign showing his video with his staff after his nomination which is old news and was circulated weeks ago. I let them know that not only did I think this was lame but that I was completely discouraged and disheartened with the democratic leadership in congress and senator Obama regarding the immunity in the FISA bill. I have already emailed every senator expressing my views. I wrote to moveon to ask them to respond to this issue, which they did. I have written to other organizations about this and I just thought of another I will write to today. We do have a voice and I think the most powerful thing I can do is let Senator Obama and the democratic leadership know that I am not going to support them when they throw away my liberties and my rights as an american. I feel angry about how meek and wimpy the leadership has been and I feel that in response I must not be meek and wimpy myself.
June 24, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your liberties were not half as secure as I suspect you believe they were. Why the outrage now? We have an entire prison system full of people who have been fucked by the system that is supposed to protect all of us, and elected judges who will do nothing about it. I have a suggestion: Find a minority friend, give him a beater car and ask him to drive it through a bad neighborhood with a dash camera. Then we'll see if you agree that THIS is the thing that tipped the scales between freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and facism.
June 24, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, I'll just come right out and say it: Bruce-what the fuck is wrong with you??!! You're like a "liberal facist". Like a punk rocker that expresses their rebellion and individuality through the way they dress and then criticizes other punk rockers because their hair isnt just right or they dont have enough piercings. There are only 2 sides right now and the line is CLEARLY drawn. Your choice is either Obama or McCain and, if you want to take away monetary support from Obama as a way of "making your power felt", I'm sure it will be effective. Effective in helping McCain win the presidency.
June 24, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's right Bruce! Our choice is between funding the war or funding the war. Our choice is between the surveillance state or the surveillance stte. Our choice is between threatening war with Iran or threatening war with Iran. Get it straight Bruce. You want pinko peace or socialist social justice move to Canada! Put on your flag pin and shut up!
June 24, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree with blindly supporting any candidate or party, especially where our civil liberties are at stake. Right now, today I am going to stand up, speak out, take action on this FISA legislation and use my words, money, whatever is in my power to express my views. I do not support some idea that just because I have fully supported Senator Obama in every other regard, I am going to shut up and 'take it' because it might help McCain. If I was going to give money to anyone today it would be Senator Russ Fiengold.
June 24, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. I'm still a strong Obama supporter but that doesn't prevent me from protesting to the Obama campaign as I did earlier today. It's not that I don't trust Obama, its that I don't trust the precedent, and I expect more from a legal scholar such as he.
I am angrier at congressional party "leadership" and so I did a flip flop myself. That $200 check I had pledged to the CCC campaign fund is now going to Russ Feingold's progressive leadership fund.
Frankly I no longer trust Nancy Pelosi to make decisions with my money.
June 24, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would agree that redirecting contibutins to Feingold would be a good form of productive protest. Or to any other candidate who unambiguously opposes FISA
June 24, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would agree that redirecting contibutions to Feingold would be a good form of productive protest. Or to any other candidate who unambiguously opposes FISA
June 24, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
In reply to libgirl
Wow, you assume that I only just started now. Actually you assume quite a bit in your response. But for the record this is nothing new for me. I have been an activist for most of my life. I made homemade flyers informing people about the effect NAFTA and GATT could have on our workforce when it was being considered and stood at bus stops and various places and talked to people about it. That's just an example. dAnd in fact I have taught inner city preshcooler in the so called tough neighborhoods so you might want to consider a little more carefully before you make such sweeping assumptions.
June 24, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink