As I look at the headlines in my email box, and the comments in the blogs, I notice that 99% of them are reactive. As George Lakoff points out, the radical right learned long ago that you win by setting the frame. Talk about attacking Iran, and that's the frame. We protest, we criticize, we warn, we march- all to their tune. As the Hollywood stars well know, any publicity, no matter how bad, is good publicity.
We the People need to be proactive. We need to set our own agenda and make them march to OUR tune. There's an easy way to do this- focus on the 2008 Congressional races, especially on the House of Representatives. Everyone in the House has to stand for re-election a year from now, whereas only 1/3 of the Senate has to face the voters. The Presidential race is sewed up. iIf We the People can control even a small bloc of votes in the House, we can prevent funding of major mischief, and force the major parties to vie for our support on the European model.
I suggest a two-prong approach. In every district, we need two find two challengers for the incumbent- one of the same party, to meet the incumbent in the primaries, and the other from a third party or independent, not beholden to the Dems or GOP, to mount a challenge next November. In CA District 1, Mitch Clogg as a Democrat, and I as a Green, are working closely together to challenge the incumbent, Mike Thompson.
Some challengers are already coming together in the New Broom Coalition, for a clean sweep of Congress.
All the New Broom candidates, whatever party they belong to, support impeachment of Bush and Cheney now, and if not now, after they leave office, in retrospect. This will strip the criminals in the White House of their perks and protection, and make them liable to criminal prosecution. It also will get rid of the antiConstitutional precedents they have set. It might be a good idea to impeach the Supreme Court justices who handed them the 2000 election as well, so they cannot give Bush and Cheney another victory.
What's the logic behind this strategy?
This is OUR agenda- to take over the House so We the People can start directing our own destiny.
This is do-able. Congresspeople are very vulnerable. The rating of Congress was 11% last week. People understand that Congress has betrayed us, and want a change. All we need to do is find the candidates to challenge them at the polls.
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