I think we do know How to Win: Do we have the stomach to DO it?

[Sparkly]

You know how they do it. We've seen them do it to Al Gore, and now John Kerry. In addition to very clear, simple statements about what they stand for, artfully framed, they make up a script about the opponent --"Al Gore is a serial exaggerator;" "John Kerry is a flip-flopper" -- then they pick out soundbytes and clips to fit the script ("I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it," images of him windsurfing, etc.), building a little case, and repeating it over and over through every mouthpiece they can muster (including the compliant media, of course). Voila -- voters who are barely paying any attention start saying, "You know, I think John Kerry is a flip-flopper" as though it were an original thought.

Chimp's sheer incompetence is so glaringly obvious to us, it didn't seem necessary even to point it out, given the clear results of his blunders. But we sure could have used the same technique: decide on one script, whether it's "B* is incompetent" or "B* is unstable" or "B* is reckless" or "B* is a liar" or "B* is a phony" (there were an infinite number to choose from) and select from the massive footage he's provided over four years of gaffes, blunders, outrageous statements, lies, etc., and get everybody disciplined about repeating the script... It would have been easy!

So why did our party NOT do that? Was it overconfidence? Was it the desire to take the high road? Could we do it to their next candidate? Do the ends justify the means; is all fair in love, war and politics? Or should we not "sink to their level," and endure the cost of their victory again for the moral highground?

You KNOW they'll do it again in 2008. What do you think -- fight fire with fire, or not?

[mattclearing]

1. Everytime we do that, they make us look like horrible people.

The media has a bias that basically allows them to say whatever crazy, meanspirited, lying, horrific bullshit they can, and if we say anything, we are automatically labeled stiff, aloof, "bush-hating" or worse.

[rucky]

2. We are so worried about how they will define us...

we're afraid to define ourselves.

[mattclearing]

8. I thought Kerry did a decent job of defining himself.

The main problem that the Kerry campaign had was that they expected people to have brains and comprehend a dozen messages on different issues at once, where Bush had about three or four simple sentences.

I'd rather have faith in the intelligence of the electorate too. Perhaps we will just have to keep hammering the message home for the next two to four years.

Kerry already seems to be campaigning in shadow presidency mode.

I think people will be ready to make the correct choice by the time 2008 rolls around, assuming that an election is possible then.

[ktowntennesseedem]

3. You're right, but backing off isn't the answer.

They already bad-mouth and criticize us at every turn. If we back off they'll just accuse us of being soft, and for once their criticism would be justified.

I say fight fire with fire; we won't lose any friends that we haven't already lost.

[ladjf]

6. Sometimes, when it appears that the trapped have given up,

they are in fact quietly plotting their escape. But, anyway you slice it, the administration has a decisive upper hand.

[mattclearing]

9. I agree. My main point was that Kerry walked a very fine line.

I don't wish to criticize him...he did a fine job of avoiding media pitfalls with a media that wanted nothing more than to clobber him with some bullshit charge.

[sarahlee]

32. You miss a key point

Bush wasn't out slapping Kerry around until his minions had gone before him and carefully prepared the grounds. Only then did he make a (very) few actual swipes himself.

The dirty work is not for the candidate to do. It is the job of his/her talking heads and supporters.

Since we don't control the media, we have to figure out how to make and BE the media. It could be done. But it wouldn't be as much fun as playing around here and it would require daily work by 3 or 4 thousand of us - at a minimum.

How many regular posters to DU are there? How many are ready to give an hour or two a day, five days a week 52 weeks a year, for the next two years, to carrying out an assignment (that you volunteer for), becoming a voice for democracy; for being part of a Committee of Correspondents?

And then sign on to do it for another two years?

[ladjf]

12. Basically, I think you are saying that the coup has already

happened. What we need then is a counter coup.

I believe that the right wing followed a biological virus like model to pull off the coup. They insinuated their attacks everywhere possible to gain control (1) without the host body realizing that it was under attack and (2) only at the main power points, i.e. election process, military, supreme court, congress. Their virus like operation
quickly (in 20 years) spread throughout the body Democratic just as planned.


The worst idea for a counter coup is physical violence. That has NO chance of success and every likelihood of failure.

The next worse idea is to wring our hands about policy. Should we move left? Should be move right? Should we talk more about Jesus?
All of this is non-sense and will have no effect toward a restoration of the body Democrat's health. We should introduce our virus like
agents to attack their viruses. Their carelessnesses have rendered them vulnerable right at the points where the chose to attack Democracy, i.e. elections, military, supreme court and congress.
In each of these areas, they have created mountains of incriminating
evidence of wrongdoing. It's there for the finding and attacking.

I don't mean to say that this is a simple matter. It isn't. And it might take two or three decades to produce the desired results.

[ktowntennesseedem]

25. Very Well Said!!!!

Love the counter-coup idea. Gotta hit them at their weak spots, and as you pointed out, they've got plenty!

[American Tragedy]

26. I'm glad that you said that

Physical violence is not a viable option, and I feel sick whenever I hear someone not-so-subtly allude to it. Aside from ethical considerations, and the sheer futility of such actions, it would deal permanent damage to our cause, much as the picket line rioting early in the twentieth century nearly eradicated labor unions for decades to come.

[ladjf]

28. It would be very naive to believe that some type of insurrection

activities could work in the U.S. One might say that if the Iraqi
insurgents can do as well as they are doing at stymieing the U.S.
military, we could do better. Wrong for all sorts of reasons too numerous to even bother mentioning here.

[BeFree]

7. Reverse psychology

Tell the world how eloquent our leader is

How he never makes a mistake

How compassionate he is

What a great cowboy he is

What a great and wonderful business man he was
*************

We use his weakness's as our strengths. We can't go toe to toe with him, so we have to monkey-wrench their brains.

[mattclearing]

10. I think we give Bush too much credit, but Kerry respected the office.

Like I said, I'm not sure anyone else could have done any better under the circumstances. Criticizing a sitting President when running for his job is a dangerous business in today's media climate. I think Kerry walked that line pretty well.

[elehhhhna]

11. No matter what we do they make us look horrible. SO let's do it.

[mattclearing]

15. Kerry's personality wasn't quite ideal for deflecting negative attacks.

Clinton and Reagan were much better at remaining above the fray and ignoring and swatting away critics. But Kerry still ran a great campaign.

I want a candidate that is cool under fire, who responds well to criticism and has no temper, and infinite optimism in the American people. That guy will have no trouble getting elected.

[Gay Ranger]

30. It's Not The Message...

It's the messenger. Kerry tragic lack of charisma kept him from fighting off the attacked launched at him. He showed little passion and and even the times he did try to appear passionate about something it was unconvincing. Kerry's calculating manner was a hindrance.

Bill CLinton had a lot of negatives cast upon him and he fought them off well, not by countering them with info, but with the sheer power of his personality and abundant charisma. The sad truth is, you can have a great message, but if you can't convince people with your forcefulnes and personalaity, they are not going to listen. That was the problem with Kerry, people did not want to listen to him.

Campaigns start with a base, I don't know 42-45% that are going to vote for a candidate no matter what. Issues may get you a couple of points, but being the most likeable and personable of the two candidates will get you more.

Like it or not, Bill Clinton's and George Bush's "Aw Shucks" persona got them further than any other quality.

Obama is probably the best light in our future. Dean is the best personality we have now. Until we can find someone electrifying to carry our banner and message, all people are going to listen to is the other side tearing that message down.

[Atman]

14. But that is OUR problem, tasteblind

I think that is the point. Fairness is part of what makes us "lefty kooks." We could easily go on the air and tell blatant lies, just as the GOP shills do...but we'd feel horribly guilty and "dirty" afterwards, because what we did wasn't "right."

But the GOP has an entirely different concept of what is "right." Think: "Ends justify the means." Their ability to care about silly things like truth just isn't there...truth gets in the way of their message and their goals, so they just do away with it without the slightest bit of remorse. Or the "guilt" that honest people feel when they lie.

We really need to do some soul searching. We CAN do this with only truth, but it will be twice as hard than if we simply lied. Which is why the GOP loves the lie approach...more bang for the buck. Less work. They're all about less work. They just want what they want, fuck how they get it.

Are we prepared to do that? I'm not. BUT, if we had the fax banks and think tanks as they do, we COULD blast-fax Truth Squad reports to every media outlet every time Cheney farts or Bush takes another pull off the Nyquil bottle. We COULD have "our team" repeating the same message on every media outlet. But it requires organization and an a zeal that has been absent in the party. Our inherent belief that the truth will always win out may be naive, but it isn't necessarily untrue. The truth will always win out IF the people hear the truth.

What we need to do is fine tune our delivery methods and organization. We have the message. We have the truth. We need to develop the backbone and a thick skin, and roll up our sleeves. And stop being worried if some pretty-boy newsreader calls us "aloof" or "kooky." That is when our guys need to ask "How much is the GOP paying you to say that?" Kinda like "When did you stop beating your wife?" It is disarming, it plants a seed in the viewers mind. It is nasty, though.

But kids...we're all fighting in the gutter on this one, that is where the GOP has taken it. You can't be worried about getting your clothes dirty when you're fighting for your life.

DU COMIX Today!

[mattclearing]

16. Dirty campaigning is for them. Clinton supposedly countered it with info.

We need to get dirt on them, but hold it over their heads. The threat of the gutter is enough to stay out of it.

[tngledwebb]

21. Not a bias exactly,

many in MSM have very well paid jobs as f/t propoganda agents for the Bush regime.

Or, if not, they may as well be.

[ladjf]

4. Without election reform, all else is moot.

How that can be accomplished is a difficult question. The crooks have all the keys. We're like the prisoners, trying to get control of the door locks. Not an easy thing to do.

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. Yep

------------------------------------------------------
Join the new Boston Tea Party!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/index.htm#shopping

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Think about who we are first and why the majority identify with us.

It might have something to do with the fact that we are the party of issues and substance and actually doing something and getting things done.

Rather than attacking their individual candidates, how about we focus on the issues, something we didnt really do this time? Where was the talk about health care? That was what got Clinton elected in 1992.

We need our own media where we are not forced in Crossfire type shouting matches. Media where the issues are the focus and not name calling.

I think John Edwards is going to make a fine president in 2009!

:dem:

[rwork]

13. Like the Dean Scream

that they repeated over and over.Why did'nt they use the hundreds of bushisms available? Fool me once------------duh.Can'nt get fooled again.

[Virginian]

17. I just don't understand human nature.

I don't understand how they can get people to vote for Bush because of Clinton's penis.

Bush never ran against Clinton's penis. I would have voted for the dick over the dickhead any day. The penis never got us into an illegal war. The penis wasn't trying to mess with my Social Security.

I would try to talk to people about John Kerry and they seemed to think Bush was running against the penis, they wouldn't talk about Kerry's vision for the future.

[robbedvoter]

18. Remember Cheney's daughter? Poll said...blah, blah

Of course, there is a smarter way to do it:

"I'm not running to bash George Bush. A lot of Americans really love him. They love what he represents, a man who has overcome adversity in his life from alcoholism and pulled his marriage back together and moved forward."
NY Post headline generated by an outsmarted Murdoch:
WES DIGS UP BUSH'S BATTLE WITH BOTTLE

PS. The other way is to not allow elections to be stolen.

[Acryliccalico]

19. We don't have to have

a stomach to do this, this type of strategy is how products are sold and have been for years here. It is Business Relations 101. I know I took the class in 91.:kick:

We just need better sales people.

[forgethell]

20. Oh, I definitely

think Dems should attack. Whether it will do any good or not is another question. For instance, Dan Rather wasn't the only person trying to get the TANG story out. "Bush is a deserter". And it did get out. But nobody cared. I said they wouldn't at the time, and for once, I was right.

We tried the "Bush is stupid, evil, and incompetent" meme, too. and backed it up with evidence. And nobody bought it. It isn't that we haven't tried.

Of course, maybe they did steal the election. But they couldn't have done that if it hadn't been close. So I don't think our attacks worked, and I do think their attacks did.

[yurbud]

22. need clear simple message AND media echo

Kerry gave some great, hard hitting speeches, but if the media doesn't put it in the spin cycle, it just doesn't stick.

The democrats did hold back from hitting the Bushies as hard as they could, and Kerry could easily have reduced Bush to tears if he had just talked bluntly about what Bush had done in office, or called him out about the attacks on his service record they way John McCain did in the 2000 primaries.

I think it's not that the democrats don't know how or have the will to do it, but many take money from the same corporate donors, so they are constrained from attacking some of the most obvious weaknesses.

And they know that if they attack certain stands, like on oil policy, or health insurance, they will be slammed by a massive independent PR blitz from that industry.

[Sparkly]

23. I'm talking about something beyond that.

A character issue, hammered home. The media might not help repeat it the way they do for the RNC, but you'll notice every single person representing Republicans will spout the same chosen word or phrase of the week. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

In 2000, they kept Chimp's hands pretty clean from the Gore-as-Liar smear, but in 2004 they had him engaged in Kerry-as-Flip-Flopper. So the candidate may or may not even be involved.

[sarahlee]

34. You got it, Sparkly

"Republicans will spout the same chosen word or phrase of the week"

I used to be a GOP Team Leader and got my talking points weekly. Guess I got dropped for never making a contribution and never making any meetings. But that is what we have to do. I love the http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/ site for the way he defines issues. Some folks here have been picking it up, but others don't. We have to get past trying to be our own creative selves and get "on message" and stick to it.

Corporate Feudalists never fail to say "activist judges." There may be some in their choir who don't like the words to the song, but they sing them nontheless. We have to have to learn how to get on message and stick to it.

[sandnsea]

24. We have to stop helping them

The other meme, Kerry is stiff, wooden, uncharistmatic, nobody likes him. And we had and have Democrats repeating THEIR slander. This is the same guy that the media said would ADD charisma to a Gore ticket in 2000. Democrats have to stop being dupes to the media. If we can't even get that far in supporting our candidates, I don't know how we'll ever get on the same page about taking apart the opposition. We need to, I agree with you, but I don't know if we'll ever get there.

[welshTerrier2]

27. you've only called for "half a stomach"

we do need to use more aggressive "negative attack" techniques ... Kerry had the distinguished military record and bush was AWOL ... but not in media spin ... not in Rovian bullshit ... we ended up with Kerry's credentials being questioned ... we ended up with allegations that Kerry lied about the events that got him his medals ... and mr. awol? they show him with a halo-like lighting around his head looking "resolute" and talking about 9/11 and the great job he did "keeping us safe" ...

the core of Kerry's campaign was "military" and strength and the Democrats' commitment to the troops and to veterans ... it seems to me we finished in second place on this issue ...

so, you've perfectly identified half of the stomach we'll need to win the next time around ...

but don't for a minute believe that's all there is ... deep down, i don't think most Americans could really identify a clear message eminating from the Democratic Party ... i think there was a vague perception, almost not related to Kerry or anything in this specific campaign, that "Democrats are better on domestic issues and republicans are better on foreign policy and defense" ... the all scare all the time message won the day ... the argument came down to "what good is domestic policy if you're not safe" ... and ultimately, on foreign policy, especially considering the overriding issue of Iraq, very few could clearly articulate the difference between bush's policies and those advocated by Kerry and the Democratic Party ... and there went the old ballgame ... on the dominant issue, absent a real "opposition strategy" to provide voters with a "clear choice", the muddy Iraq position the Party had (and still has) did not provide an incentive to "change horses in the middle of the stream" ...

is that screwed up? yup ... did voters fail to understand how much better Kerry would have been than bush? yup ... was the Democrats' policy and position on Iraq detrimental to Kerry's chances? ... i think it was ... and I think it's still hurting the Party ...

the bottom line here is that we need to "attack" ... but we also need to get our own house in order ... that's the other half of the stomach ...

[FrenchieCat]

29. Whatever we do....must be done in UNISON....

We need to hit the Corporate media hard! We need to have each activist write at least one letter sent to very Editor and to every show. There is a media tool that will help us do this. If anyone wants to know more about it....let me know.

We need to call RW radio talk show and denounce the host.....we need to keep the lines busy.

We need to not let anything "pass"......all lies should be attacked.

We need to have the same message....have Dem operatives use the same words.....congressmen stand up in congress...again using the same rethoric.

Together we can do this......apart, we can not be heard.

[aaron_01]

31. winning elections

We should maintain the high road.

One thing that really bothers me is the lack of organization of the Democratic party. Give me something to do and stop asking me for money to spend on consultants. Get the hell out in the street and use your brains and the truth. If you can't do that then why should we actually vote for you?

Stop rolling over even if the odds are your going to lose. Principles translate into morals.

[John_H]

35. We don't currently have the horses to pull it off.

Your average Rethug message people are older, wiser, meaner, smarter and far more disciplined than their 25 year old oh-so-precious-yet-oh-so-dumb counterparts. Their surrogates are convinced or coherced into repeating the same charges over and over,whether they like it or not, while ours insist upon spouting off on the message that they think the part ought to be promulgating.

How long will it take the people calling the shots in our party that a thuggish pro wielding a pool cue will kick a Princeton educated judo chess afficionado's ass every time, that memes repeated over and over by surrogates become conventional wisdom; a hundred surrogates fallin over eachother trying to show how clever they are becomes babble.

[nevergiveup]

36. Republicans are "mean" and it is OK.

Look at Rush and other conservative radio personalities. Compare the two political conventions. The Repubs were mean and angry and it is OK... an expectation...Repubs are suppose to be mean and angry. If
the Democrats had come across this way at their convention they would have been crucified by the press. One angry scream by Howard Dean and he was finished. Democrats don't do this....it is not acceptable. The only way to overcome this meanness is through likability. The Repubs could never have pulled the Swiftboat scam over on Clinton. John Kerry is a good man but he is not very likable to the average Joe and was thus vulnerable to all the negative attacks .... and he couldn't shake them because he didn't have the personality. Michael Dukakis wasn't very likable and he couldn't shake the Willie Horton ads nor the image riding the tank. In order to win in 2008 we must have a politically savvy progressive candidate who is likable.

[sarahlee]

37. WHAT IS A "DISSIDENT MEDIA GROUP?"

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

WHAT IS A "DISSIDENT MEDIA GROUP?"

First of all, I should update my observations from yesterday's post regarding Social Security. A couple of different folks were quick to point out that I had grossly understated the projected cost of Dubya's privatization "ponzi scheme." The two tril I mentioned was just the up front cost. In fact, according to Paul Krugman, the plan will take 45 YEARS before any "savings" are realized, and cost 10 trillion dollars in debt over the last couple of decades of that time period. So the 2 trillion in debt I talked about is more like 15 trillion, minimum.

That's a whole lotta jack, baby.

In fact, its more debt than anyone other than a lunatic could possibly envision incurring for a "reform" that is supposed to "empower individuals." Which raises an alternative explanation -- one that actually makes more sense. Dubya isn't crazy, after all. He knows good and well this nation will never be able to pay for such a scheme. He's just going to outright bankrupt Social Security. He is proposing no "reform" at all for the medicare system, which has much greater solvency problems. Why? Doesn't need to. It's already headed for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, his tax cuts and his 100 billion dollar a year war in Iraq should pretty well do in the rest of our New Deal social democratic mixed economy. Corporate feudalism here we come!

Now, check out this article at The Daily Howler.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh011205.shtml

As some of you may recall, this privatization turd has been floating around the swimming pool since the 2000 election. The media has conspicuously ignored the simple mathematics of Dubya's plan, such as it is. They have failed to notice that dramatic cuts in benefits under the system will be necessary to even think about making it work -- and there will still be those huge up front costs. But why are surprised? Did the media do its job reporting on the justifications for the war in Iraq? Have they done their job reporting the truth behind "heathy forests" and "clear skies?" How about our hollow "war on terror" -- the one where we don't inspect 95% of containers coming into our ports, and where we leave Osama bin Ladin to roam at large. Have they reported on the massive evidence of vote suppression/tampering in Ohio, Florida, New Mexico and elsewhere?

The media has a new job, folks. They don't "speak truth to power" anymore. They tell lies for the powerful. Or probably more accurately, the simply allow those lies to go unchallenged by facts staring our "journalists" right in the face. The cheap-labor conservatives have pretty much decided that "Argentinization" is what America really needs. They are believers in oligarchy, and they are simply determined not to rest until oligarchy is what we have. As for the mainstream media, they have pretty much decided to let the oligarchs tell whatever lies are necessary to pull it off. Forget about any opposition from our Democratic leadership in Congress. They are either thoroughly intimidated, thoroughly incompetent, or thoroughly bought off.

Which means that fighting these cheap-labor bastards is pretty much up to us.

What can we dissidents do? Individually, not much. But there are a whole lot of us. With a little organization and coordination, there is a whole lot we can do. You see, the media has constraints placed upon it -- see my discussion below about the "conceptual box" people place themselves in. No matter how true it is, the media cannot admit that they are simply shills for cheap-labor oligarchs. In order the serve their function in legitimizing corporate fuedalism, they must preserve the illusion that they are "objective" and speak "the truth." That is side of "the box" you push them up against.

One simple way to preserve that illusion is for them to tell the truth from time to time. In fact several stories over the past couple of years have come to light because progressive bloggers have prevented the media from ignoring them. The Valerie Plame scandal -- and the underlying story about the Niger uranium forgeries -- are good examples. As we speak, the mainstream media stands utterly discredited among those of us in the dissident community -- which is a lot of folks. Don't think for one minute that they don't know it. In fact, I saw a recent quote from a Time Magazine article sniffing about those "unprofessional bloggers." Right Mr. Time Magazine Editor. When we look at Dubya's privatization ponzi scheme we DO THE FUCKING MATH -- something the bozos working for you don't seem to know how to do.

Why is Time Magazine taking the time out to take a shot at bloggers? Because they're feeling the heat. They know, if they aren't careful and they don't tell at least enough of the truth to retain that all importantly credibility, they will lose it. There is your work all cut out for you. "Speaking truth to power" is now your job. The power you speak it to is the corporate media, among others. The reason you speak the truth to them is so that they know what the truth is, they know they aren't telling it, and they know that a lot of people are paying attention.

Now how do you do that -- speak truth to power, in such a way that the media hears you and is forced to pay attention?

1. Tell them the truth in "letters to the editor" -- the kind they publish.

2. Tell them in private letters to the editor -- the one's where you rip them a new asshole for their abject failure to do their job.

3. By-pass the media by doing the following:

Send letters -- the kind that strip paint -- to your elected officials.

Find online message boards, get a few friends together, and make sure the right-wingers there don't go unchallenged.

Put together a mailing list of all of those relatives, in-laws, friends and whoever else sends you "fluff" by email. Send them back the truth.

4. Force the media to cover your issues by doing some of the following:

Organize demonstrations that are effective, and demand media attention. Learn the art of "guerilla theater" when designing these.

Organize ballot initiatives, taking your case straight to the public. Examples?

Make a "living wage" a constitutional right under your state constitution.

Make the right to organize a union a constitutional right under your state constitution. While your at it, repeal any "right to work cheap" provision by ballot initiative.

Make the right to be free from "wrongful discharge" a constitutional right under your state constitution.

Make affordable healthcare a constitutional right under your state constitution.

Write separation of church and state into your state constitution.

Fix "black box voting" by amending your state constitution to require paper ballots.

How about legalizing/decriminalizing marijuana, and otherwise reforming our draconian drug laws.

Go down to city hall, the county commission, and the school board to ask for things like:

local "living wage" ordinances.

Anti-"sprawl" zoning ordinances.

Mass transporation and light rail, if you need it where you live.

Investigations into abuses by local law enforcement .

Propose resolutions on any issue on the national agenda, giving your local government officials an opportunity to "weigh in" -- and raising the profile of the issue with your local paper.

Here's a good one. Go to your school board and propose mandatory "reasoning and critical thinking" education in your local high school. Watch the snake handlers hit the roof over that one -- as well they should, since reasoning and critical thinking pretty much destroys the market for their bullshit.

And of course, you can always simply show up and ask embarrassing questions of the local wingnut and/or snake handler who got himself elected to the County Commission.

Get yourself elected to local precinct committees of your local Democratic Party. Then get yourself elected to the local executive committee. Then get yourself elected to the state executive committee. Then get yourself elected to the Democratic National Committee. Your going to need to bring some of your friends along to make this work.

Run for local, state, or federal office. Make sure you pick a progressive "signature issue," -- since you may lose, but the point is to shape the public debate.

Design a local "conceptual monkeywrenching" campaign. Freeway blogging, bumper sticker/yard sign campaigns, guerilla theater in some public park or square. My good friend George, formed a group to sing anti-Dubya Christmas carols. Use your imagination.

How are you going to do all of this? You aren't going to do all of it. Pick a project that looks good -- or come up with your own. Don't do it by yourself, either. Form a "Dissident Media Group." You can call it that, or call it something else. Find other similar groups and coordinate with them on projects. The more people who . . .
write letters ON THE SAME THEME,
<*>Show up at city hall,
<*>Put your message on their bumper, in their yard, or on the freeway,
<*>Become "party officials" with the local Democratic Party.
<*>Or otherwise make themselves visible.

. . . the greater the likelihood your local news reporter will cover the story, and your local newspaper editor will comment on the matter -- provoking letters to the editor in response.

State and national politics? Start a blog, and coordinate with other bloggers. Work online message boards. Write the New York Times and Washington Post. Write jokers like Chris Matthews, and rip him a new asshole every time he needs it -- which is just about everyday. If you have the money, or live close enough, become a "dissident lobbyist" -- and figure out how to get noticed by the media. Most importantly, do it with other people, working as a team -- and staying in touch with others doing the same things.

The most important concept to internalize and understand is to stop being a "consumer" of public policy and public opinion. Start being a producer of public policy and public opinion. Do it in small groups that are both invisible and numerous. Do high impact, provocative projects that FORCE the media to pay attention -- and remember, local media is less corrupted. With enough "Dissident Media Groups" -- foot soldiers of the resistance -- we can bring our issues to the forefront of public opinion, and start to win -- whether the media wants us to or not.

Start today.

Go here, to comment on this article.
http://novogate.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=5292&threadid=78113

=============
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/