Causing Progress

A few years ago MoveOn.org published 50 Ways to Love Your Country. 50 Ways consisted of brief first-person accounts by progressive activists about how each became an activist. Each ‘way’ also included a few, brief MoveOn Tips of guidance. Recently, the less high-profile Earth*Works Action Network released 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right. This is the latest in their 50 Simple Things book series. Between Ways and Things, I recommend 50 Simple Things. What it lacks in inspirational witness, it makes up for with some Background, several Things You Can Do, and lists of Resources for each ‘thing.’

Despite the title, the book does not simply focus on opposition to the rightist movement. It provides ideas about positive activities for progressives and liberals to address political, social and economic issues.

The suggested Things You Can Do are grouped under three headings; Simple Steps, It Takes an Effort, and For the Committed. These headings give the reader some sense of the level of commitment, in time and resources, that may be necessary to successfully complete an activity.

Each of the fifty activities usually begins with a fact or quotation, a Background section, some general information, Simple Things You Can Do, and a Resources section. If your attention wanders at the description of familiar ‘things-to-do,’ the authors provide red-meat quotations from some of the nastiest rightists; James Dobson, Ann Coulter, and Tom DeLay.

Thus instructed and inspired, I got involved in ‘thing-to-do’ #32, Volunteer for a campaign. So, Saturday I spent two hours waving a laser wand across call sheets to digitize the results of campaign phone banking earlier in the week

For ten bucks 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right provides motivation and activities worthy of your time and energy. Buy it today…and do something new tomorrow.

The April 17 issue of The Nation includes an article by Bob Moser about ex-Christian Coalition bad-boy, Ralph Reed; “The Devil Inside: Ralph Reed Hits the Evangelical Movement in the Gut.” The article describes the backpedaling by members of the Christian-Republican Party to distance themselves from Reed as a lobbyist, who manipulated them, while at the same time embracing Reed as a candidate for Lieutenant Govenor of Georgia.

While I find their predicament amusing, the article caused me to think about the role of lobbyists as bagmen for the Christian-Republican Party. Soon-to-be-former Congressman Tom DeLay used his “K Street Project” to bleed lobbying firms for quasi-patronage jobs and campaign money. So, if the Dems recapture the House or Senate will we see a “Counter K” movement to clear out the C-R bagmen, and replace them with Dems?

What are you doing to bring Clean Money election campaigns to your state?