As with everything else in this area which is still in the
“planning stage”, like the Fairness/Censorship/Localism Doctrine, my very strong feeling is to stop making so much noise about it now, when they’re still playing with the idea. Showing ‘hysteria’(which is the way it will get characterized in the MSM) only makes us look wacky, and proves THEIR point to the degree that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.My feeling about all this is to keep a very sharp and critical eye on all of it, and see where it’s going, THEN jump on it with both feet, with full force and go on the attack. Let them hang themselves, in other words, by flinging open the curtain when they are in the midst of passing their legislalion. And they WILL try to do it with the bare minimum of fanfare. DON’T ENTER INTO A “DIALECTIC” with them at this point, especially not in the ‘special pleading’ vein of “We have to tell Mr. Obama and Pelosi and Reid something.....” etc. PLEASE don’t take away our rights”.....please reconsider this policy of yours”,etc. etc. This is the WRONG tack to take, but it perfectly mirrors the position of weakness Obama wants to take, say, with Iran. DO NOT LEGITIMIZE THESE AUTHORITARIAN WEASELS
with recessive wimpiness. Be ready to go on the attack when they actually initiate something.
“Be ready to go on the attack when they actually initiate something.”
I’m sure the media would love to know that their tactics have worked. Here’s how your method goes down almost without exception:
A Bill, say for a huge bailout of failing banks, is being written and sponsored in the Senate. No one says anything because it hasn’t really happened yet. Then it’s in committee getting fine tuned. No one says anything. Just wait and see if it makes it to a vote. Then the piece of legislation (or crap if you like) reaches the house and all the Conservatives jump up and down screaming “alert Drudge”! They really did it! See! We aren’t loons!! So the word goes out: Call your Congress critters, make them listen to us and kill this bill. But the Congress critters know that everyone has been silent until now, and the public is not aware enough of the garbage that’s in the bill they are about to pass, so they’re safe. They read freeper e-mails and hit delete. Why should they pay attention to a minority who keep up on what legislation is going through Congress, when the majority of the voting public will never have time to hear about their dirty deeds, or get whipped up into a lather about it in time to put ANY pressure on them before the vote. Once it’s voted on, it’s old news, and resistance will never become what it would have before the vote, nor will it be able to do anything about it.
THIS is why they ignore our e-mail campaigns. Thousands of e-mails in the last couple of weeks of a bills life sounds like a lot, but not when compared to the population of this country and the millions who will decide which candidate keeps their job. And definitely not after the members of Congress have already done their wheeling and dealing, and solidified their support.
Democrats affected votes because they were always pissed off and their issues were being protested before the legislation was even written. We called them loons, and the media called them paranoid freaks. Then the war started and a few conservative pieces of legislation passed and they weren’t just starting an e-mail campaign, they were on the front pages. They already had the opposition all lined up and pi$$ed off at everything Congress wanted to do. Who cares what names they call us. If something doesn’t work, do it different the next time. The “hide from the media and liberal smear campaign, and then pounce” thing doesn’t work.