The Opposition Begins
One of the lasting benefits of the organization and popular participation coming out of the campaign is a distributed information network including bloggers, and a broader awareness of how badly the major news media outlets have been dropping the ball on covering the excesses of the government.
As we move forward into Vier Mehr Jahren, the bloggers are working with popular support to fill the gap. Following the vote by the House Republicans to change their rules to allow Tom DeLay to keep his position following an expected Texas grand jury indictment, Josh Marshall of the Talking Points Memo asked his readers to call their Congressmen and ask which way they voted. Results began to pour in, and are now being tracked at The Daily DeLay. The largest category of responders so far is not "voted yes" or "voted no" but those who won't say, though a large group does claim they will send a letter to their constituent with the information.
This is something that we would never see in a newspaper. The Web allows for a rapid recruitment of constituents in a wide number of districts, who can call their very own Representative, who has more of an impetus to respond to a constituent than a reporter. Then the results can be compiled, and made widely available, rapidly. With luck, every House Republican will get the message that his constituents are watching, and the larger public will get the benefit of light shining on this contemptible vote. (I'm wondering what those voters in the Florida 24th are going to do about the fact that their Representative claims the vote never took place.)
If you have a Republican Representative, take a minute to go over to The Daily DeLay and look. At the bottom of the list are those who haven't responded. If your person is in that list, call them. Ask the question. Then forward what you find out. Democracy involves more participation than just voting every few years, now more than ever.
Also, at the blog The Daily Kos are posted some creative parliamentary manuevers that feisty Democrats could use to make this vote a point of continued embarrassment and mockery. Some of these are really quite good, and they all show how very timid the Democrats in Congress have been during the last four years. I'll be sending these to my Congressman, who's Democratic, liberal, and feisty enough that he might actually do one of them.
Meanwhile, blogs are leaking snippets of an expected statement from John Kerry later today. Look for a statement of continued defense of principles against extremists, work to improve the reliability of our voting systems across the country, and a promise to introduce a bill supplying health care to all children in America. Sounds like John is not planning to fade into the woodwork.
As we move forward into Vier Mehr Jahren, the bloggers are working with popular support to fill the gap. Following the vote by the House Republicans to change their rules to allow Tom DeLay to keep his position following an expected Texas grand jury indictment, Josh Marshall of the Talking Points Memo asked his readers to call their Congressmen and ask which way they voted. Results began to pour in, and are now being tracked at The Daily DeLay. The largest category of responders so far is not "voted yes" or "voted no" but those who won't say, though a large group does claim they will send a letter to their constituent with the information.
This is something that we would never see in a newspaper. The Web allows for a rapid recruitment of constituents in a wide number of districts, who can call their very own Representative, who has more of an impetus to respond to a constituent than a reporter. Then the results can be compiled, and made widely available, rapidly. With luck, every House Republican will get the message that his constituents are watching, and the larger public will get the benefit of light shining on this contemptible vote. (I'm wondering what those voters in the Florida 24th are going to do about the fact that their Representative claims the vote never took place.)
If you have a Republican Representative, take a minute to go over to The Daily DeLay and look. At the bottom of the list are those who haven't responded. If your person is in that list, call them. Ask the question. Then forward what you find out. Democracy involves more participation than just voting every few years, now more than ever.
Also, at the blog The Daily Kos are posted some creative parliamentary manuevers that feisty Democrats could use to make this vote a point of continued embarrassment and mockery. Some of these are really quite good, and they all show how very timid the Democrats in Congress have been during the last four years. I'll be sending these to my Congressman, who's Democratic, liberal, and feisty enough that he might actually do one of them.
Meanwhile, blogs are leaking snippets of an expected statement from John Kerry later today. Look for a statement of continued defense of principles against extremists, work to improve the reliability of our voting systems across the country, and a promise to introduce a bill supplying health care to all children in America. Sounds like John is not planning to fade into the woodwork.
posted by Paul at 9:50 AM |
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