Reply #67: With every effort (e.g., Jan 6th, fighting for Alito filibuster). . .

[pat_k]

. . .we learn how to get through more effectively. And, we chip away at their dysfunctional patterns of thought and rationalizations. Since the same rationalizations get reused over and over, every concerted lobbying effort "softens up" the ground for future efforts. And every DC Dem we engage in a given fight will be that much easier to engage in the next fight.

The most important lesson that we've taken from our experiences in the January 6th and Alito filibuster lobbying efforts is that we must confront and challenge our "leaders" (and their staffers) in face-to-face dialog. (see http://thedeanpeople.com)

Calls and letters effectively show the breadth of support, but one-way communication is limited. All too often, what we tell them just slides off their system of rationalization like water off a ducks back.

There is no sufficient substitute for in-person dialog, which allows you to directly contradict the many rationalizations and excuses given for inaction.

A corollary to that lesson is that they are just people -- people who inhabit a closed social system. And all closed social systems -- business units, organizations, business sectors, social worlds like the "beltway bubble," or political factions -- create their own reality to some degree. Shared "insider" assumptions are rarely challenged or tested against reality. Unless challenged by outsiders, faulty assumptions beget faulty interpretations, which beget assumptions that diverge further and further from reality "outside."

The only way to keep the created reality you inhabit rooted in reality is to:

• bring in outsiders and take their challenges and observations VERY seriously;
• identify assumptions and challenge them;
• Get Out and spend a significant amount of time in other "worlds."

As far as we can tell, the DC Dems are making no effort to do ANY of these things.

Since they aren't bringing outsiders in, some of us "outsiders" have to insert ourselves into their world if we want to insert reality.

Citizen lobbyists can be incredibly effective. Interest groups spend millions on people doing this type of work. We can do it on our own behalf. A hundred citizen lobbyists can do more than 10 million bucks worth of "professional" lobbyist muscle.

It can be a daunting thing to do, but they are more accessible than most people realize -- the first step is to simply fax a request for a meeting (http://january6th.org/files/meeting_corzine.pdf">Jan6th example, http://january6th.org/mtg_request_menendez_fax_all.pdf">Alito example)

Newly formed citizen groups and "netroots" activists are just beginning to "learn the ropes." Assuming we can only get better at it, this is a source of enormous hope for the future. Even early stumbling and bumbling efforts have yielded significant victories.

Everyone told us we would never, never, "get a Senator." Even House staffers on "our side" in the fight for an objection to the Ohio electors dismissed our efforts as futile. And guess what? We "got a Senator."

In the weeks running up the vote on Alito it was universally believed that his confirmation was a "done deal" -- and then the folks "out here" stood up and said "Hey, it ain't over 'til it's over!" Within just a week or two, the efforts began to pay off. The word "filibuster" was finally heard. Reid, Kerry, and many other lobbied their colleagues publicly and forcefully. Until it happened, it was unimaginable the insiders.

Lobbying them is just part of the equation -- and is a task that doesn't actually require big numbers, just a few people in each Congressional district. Just as important, if not more so, is challenging each other. The more we break down the rationalizations "out here" the more effectively we can challenge them "in there." (Which is why I periodically spend a good bit of time here on DU targeting, and hammering on, a few "poisonous beliefs." Undoubtedly the repetition can be annoying, but I've come to the conclusion that it is necessary.)

Here's something on the subject that I posted somewhere on DU early this year:

Hope and confidence can be elusive, and there are times that I find myself falling into despair. But hope is the key to action (and action the key to hope), so when I feel hopeful I try to spread it around a bit.

These days my hope is rooted in the progress I've seen in the past three years. I know that this probably sound nuts to you, but if you had plucked me up in February 2003 and plunked me down today, I would be thrilled with the changes.

By February 2003, I felt like I had finally been beaten into permanent silence by a world that had seemingly gone stark, raving, mad. After months of seeking sanity somewhere, I stopped reading newspapers, talking to colleagues, watching TV, listening to the radio.

Today, a search in Google for Impeach Bush gets hits -- the only hits that came up at the end of 2002 were somehow related to Nixon or their failed attempt to impeach Clinton. In today's New Yorker, Jane Mayer's "http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=503566">The Memo" demonstrated the very best in journalism -- something that seemed to have completely disappeared by the end of 2002. This issue of Harpers has a fantastic article on the Case for Impeachment. Back at the beginning of 2003 it seemed like the groups I had connected with in the fight against the theft of the 2000 election had completely packed it in. Today, I have tickets to Harpers "Case for Impeachment" event in NYC on Thursday.

We are forward looking creatures. We are wired to be on the lookout for the next challenge; we aren't so hot at keeping track of the progress we make over time. When I do look back, I see some pretty great things.

Sen. Boxer stood with Rep. Tubbs-Jones on January 6th, 2005 and objected to the Ohio electors. In 2001, we had 100 Senators complicit with the theft of that election. Having one Senator shed the bonds of complicity in 2005 was an incredible victory that EVERYONE told us would NEVER happen. Throughout the past three years, John Conyers has been a beacon of light in the fight against fraudulent elections, voter suppression, Bush Syndicate War Crimes, and on and on. Harry Reid has done some gutsy things too, like shutting down the Senate, a move that seemed out of the realm of possibility not long ago. (That great photo of him is pinned up in my office).

The incredible increase in citizen participation in the various 2004 campaigns has left a great legacy. Countless neighborhood, regional, and national groups that came together then have survived and grown. People are turning their complaints into concrete action.

Every time I hear someone at a meeting or event say some variation of "I've never done anything like this, but I just had to do something," my hope grows because ultimately, taking our country back means driving decisions from the bottom up. When people on the "bottom" who have never been prompted to act before start making noise and standing up "because I had to do something," that's when things start turning around.

As hard as it is to witness the level apathy that persists, I'm not frustrated with the Americans who remain alienated and apathetic. Most have internalized the immobilizing belief that solving our common problems is not something they can participate in -- or they believe that nothing they can do would make a difference. Given their beliefs, I don't expect them to be anything but willfully ignorant. People always avoid looking at problems they believe they are powerless to solve.

Their apathy doesn't undermine my hope because I know that people can shift overnight. People have a basic need to contribute and be effective. Belief in powerlessness can block that drive, but the belief that there is "nothing I can do" can disappear in an instant and completely change the dynamics.

I also don't tend to be disillusioned with elected officials and candidates who fail us, because I don't see them helping us increase our power and influence with them. For that, I look to my fellow citizens. As we connect with each other to lobby for Impeachment or to support candidates who believe in "people power," I firmly believe that we will create powerful associations that endure beyond any specific campaign.

We don't need a movement, we just need to move -- and I am seeing more people join the ranks of the "moving" everyday.