GOING ON OFFENSE Part Three: NEVER Underestimate the Enemy

[calimary]

Or, in short, "THINK TERMITES." I think we need to remind ourselves of this unfortunate fact every day. No - every hour. No - every minute on the minute! NEVER forget this, because the safety and security of YOUR rights are at stake.

From the DU thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025177053

These people are fanatics. They can - no, they SHOULD be expected to work ANY loophole, no matter how small, and eat away at it til it's bigger, and no longer even a mere crack - but rather, a yawning CHASM.

Figure it this way: What would any rats or termites do? They find one little teeny hole or crack or way in, and they take it. And then they start gnawing away til the crack is dramatically bigger and far more gaping, and the whole tribe can come flooding in and pretty soon your whole house is compromised and falling apart. That's what these assholes WILL try to do here. Because the lovely SCOTUS has just given them a little crack. You bet your ass they're gonna exploit this and try to build on it as much as they can. That's what they've already done, rather thoroughly, with Roe v Wade.

Um... wouldn't WE be trying to do the same thing?

BTW - that attitude - "meh, just a bunch of people with hair on fire. Not gonna happen. S'not gonna happen." Yeah, MY ASS. THAT attitude has gotten us to this point, where OUR Pro-Choice house is compromised and now falling apart. Our side thought it was much ado about nothing, a tempest in a teapot, meh - what can they do? Buncha nut cases, don't even waste your time, they're not gonna get very far..." HAH! Yeah? Seriously? You think it's no big deal and that it's not gonna gain strength and momentum and come and not only bite you in the ass but chew your ass and your legs off? You think there's nothing much here to worry about? Well, I think you need your head examined - before they chew THAT off, too.

[merrily]

1. Thanks, Calimary. I have a REALLY basic suggestion.

Voter registration. No more ACORN! And some Republicans try to help register only those sympathetic to certain issues.

Find out the requirements in your state. Maybe the state even has a list of voter ID requirements on its website somewhere that you can print out and copy or have copied. If not, make your own list.

Stand (or sit) in a supermarket or outside a supermarket or mall or a school--somewhere well lit, where you will be safe, and hand out a list of the requirements to anyone who will accept it from you.

If you have neighbors who are not physically strong, find out if they know the requirements and can satisfy them, or if they help getting documents, a photo ID (if needed), etc. Someone who is wheelchair bound is probably eligible for transportation with a chair lift, and is also probably able to bring a companion to assist. You can offer to accompany.

Most people, even those who are not so strong physically, can do this much.

Based on what I heard during the IRS hearings, a lot of the organizations claiming they were unduly scrutinized were about getting Republicans registered (I'm guessing--they did not specify only Republicans, though); getting out the Republican vote; and going to the polls to make sure "ineligible" people do not vote.

They even mentioned having nationwide conference calls every Sunday evening to share ideas and encourage each other. So, we'd better be on our game around those basic issues as well.

[calimary]

4. See? You PROVE why discussions and threads like this are critically important! And it's NOT because

it just happens to be my OP.

This is a terrific idea, merrily! A dermatologist I know keeps voter registration forms in her office - at the desk where you check in and check out.

I think we have some of the brightest, most creative, most inquisitive, and most nimble thinkers anywhere. The writing, the wit, all point directly to GREAT potential for problem-solving. Let's kick some ideas around in threads like these.

It goes without saying, of course, that we do NOT in any way entertain anything violent. But I wanted to say it anyway, so there!

But we really do have to step up our game. It's not enough to hail the much-vaunted ground-game that the Obama campaign had or supposedly had. Do we have a whole bunch of 'em growing and sprouting and maybe even starting to bud? How's our bench strength? Because the struggle continues long after the votes have been counted in Round 2014.

I imagine at some point, "think" tanks and "institutions" sprouted from just such a collective of thinkers and and analysts and strategists. I imagine some of their leading lights got together and kicked around crazy and maybe not-so-crazy ideas for shoring up defense or launching new offense. And you know how one idea often begets another (several). Meantime some of this gets vetted and either grounded, placed on hold, or advanced to the next level. And it probably provokes the sparking of new ideas in some of the participants. So, isn't that what we have here? Certainly in DU at large! We have some of the brightest thinkers and writers and analysts and analytical minds collected in one easy-access uber-haven.

As the Flight Director at NASA in Houston said in "Apollo 13": "Let's WORK the PROBLEM, people." Appropriately enough, here too, "Failure is NOT an option."

[merrily]

5. I should have mentioned before: the supermarket idea came from

another DUer who posted a couple of months ago that he or she had done something like that.

I want to say Texas4Obama, but I am not sure. I feel terrible for forgetting the screen name. I was hoping the name would come back to me, but it hasn't.

I hope the poster will see this, step up and take credit.

[merrily]

9. Violent? I'm a pacifist. If there's trouble, I'll be there to support, but

I'll probably be the first one killed because I will not be hurting anyone, even in self defense.

[longship]

2. Bingo, again!

Three for three.

And people need to remember they do it in Jesus' name cuz this is a christian country!!!!!!! (Drool!)

R&

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Voter registration forms in my car at all times.

We need to get angry and scare the sh*t out of these fools. I am fed up!

[merrily]

6. Great idea.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. I am also now an assistant judge with

My board of elections. And y'all thought I was just a bossy slacker. *wink*

[merrily]

8. I never thought you were a bossy slacker.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

[ancianita]

10. Thank you. This enemy is relentless.