Posted on 03/19/2009 7:18:41 AM PDT by Tolik
A sitting President of the United States is "organizing a political organization loyal to him, bound by a pledge, outside the government and existing party apparatus. The historical precedents are ominous."
What is so ominous about an organization? Americans, Alexis de Tocqueville famously observed, "constantly form associations.... If it is proposed to inculcate some truth or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form a society."
Certainly, thousands of organizations seek to influence the political debate. There's Newt Gingrich's American Solutions or the left-wing People for the American Way, for instance.
Political parties are another example of an association, of course. Before, during and after political campaigns, the Democrats and Republicans promote their agendas. As legal entities, they have their own constitutions, their rules of business, their chairmen and officers. They have to be accountable to both the government and their members.
But there is a new organization on the political scene -- "Organizing for America," announced by President Barack Obama in late January but officially unfurled last weekend.
Obama describes OFA as a "grass-roots movement" but OFA is a "project" of the Democratic National Committee.
As Politico reported, OFA will take the 10 million person database built up by the Obama campaign "to mobilize support for the president's legislative agenda."
A visit to the OFA website reveals that supporters are not simply asked to sign up, they are asked to take a pledge. A pledge to support -- not the flag, not the constitution, not the country, not even the Democratic Party, but Obama and his "bold plan." OFA does not use the Democratic Party logo but the "O"-shaped logo of the Obama campaign in which the red white and blue of the flag are abstracted to soft pastel colors.
(Celebrities like Ashton Kuchner and Demi Moore did not wait until the official launch to "pledge to be of service" to Barack Obama, of course.)
You will not find any mention of OFA`s governing structure, their budget, their bylaws, or their officers at the OFA website. Donations to the website go to the DNC, but OFA is managed out of the White House. If you click on the comments button, you are taken to a link to the White House email.
Those who take the pledge are asked to "talk with people about the President's plan" and to "ask them to sign their names to the pledge" in support of Obama's policies.
So we have a Movement -- this is their term, not mine -- organized by, and loyal to, a sitting President. Pledge canvassers, armed with your name, will ask you to pledge loyalty to the President too. A president whose term has already become a permanent campaign, is signing up ground forces in a mass organization pledged to personal loyalty to their Leader.
Does anyone know of any historical precedents for this in the United States?
Did Mitch Stewart, youthful director of OFA, who asks Obama's acolytes to organize "neighborhood by neighborhood" study anything at school about Mao's "Red Guards?
How about Fidel Castro's "widespread system of neighborhood informers"?
Or Hugo Chavez's use of "neighborhood committees"?
Did Stewart learn anything about democracy at all?
Do any of Obama's pledged servants understand why a sitting president has no business creating and deploying his own supporters to help organize their neighbors?
Keep in mind that these acolytes have renounced any thought of questioning the actual policies of the maximum leader. Whatever he says, they are for it. They have given their word.
And they are coming to have a talk with you.
As Thomas Lifson wrote, "This is not the way a democracy is supposed to operate."
Have a video camera rolling to catch the threats.
You are NOT alone. I also extend both middle fingers (only one when driving) towards the radio.
When it's too late.
PBO is one and done!
PBO is planting the seeds for a new civil war.
Public Allies - is changing the face and practice of leadership in communities across the country. Our mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation.
Why change the face and practice of leadership?
Because the next generation of American leaders needs to look like America will look, connect across cultures, facilitate collaborative action, recognize a community’s assets, commit to self-development, and be accountable to the people they work with and the community they serve. We believe a new approach to leadership is necessary to live these values. We believe that through these values, we will create a more just society.
How do we make it happen?
Through our signature AmeriCorps program,Public Allies identifies talented young adults from diverse backgrounds and prepares them for careers working for community and social change. Allies serve 10-month, paid apprenticeships at local nonprofits and participate in a rigorous and rewarding leadership development program with a diverse group of peers who are also of and working within their home community.
In addition to our signature program, Public Allies supports the continued leadership of our Alumni through an active network. We also offer training and consulting through The Leadership Practice, which helps groups better engage and strengthen communities and support diverse young leaders.
Our social impact
Public Allies is a premier pipeline for developing diverse young nonprofit and community leaders, and we prepare leaders and organizations to lead more effectively for our changing times.
We serve communities today, while developing better leaders for tomorrow. By cultivating new leaders and a new kind of leadership, Public Allies invigorates the public life of our communities. When citizens learn, practice, and share these values, they engage more community members, unite people across social boundaries to work for the common good, create more effective and responsive solutions to social problems, and ultimately build a more just society for all.
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Full-time paid apprenticeships in nonprofit organizations in their communities where they:
* serve four days per week
* create, improve and expand services that address diverse issues, including youth development, education, public health, economic development and the environment
* earn a monthly stipend of $1,300 to $1,800
* receive healthcare, childcare, student loan deferment and a post-service education award of $4,725
A rigorous leadership development curriculum delivered by community leaders, practitioners and educators, which includes:
* intensive weekly skill training and leadership development seminars
* Critical feedback, reflection, and personal coaching toward individual performance and professional goals
* community building and team projects with a diverse cohort of peers
* presentations of learning at the end of the year to demonstrate how one met the learning outcomes of the program
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Fact Sheet About Public Allies and the Obamas
Fact Sheet on Public Allies’ History with Senator Barack and Michelle Obama
Public Allies has received many media inquiries about our history with President-elect and Michelle Obama, and has been featured in many news stories about them. Following are some details and anecdotes about the Obamas’ history with Public Allies.
· President-elect Obama was a member of the founding advisory board of Public Allies. Michelle was the founding Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago from Spring, 1993 until Fall, 1996, and served on our national board of directors from 1997 until 2001. President-elect Obama was no longer on the board of Public Allies when Michelle was hired. Before joining Public Allies, she was an attorney at the law firm of Sidley & Austin and Deputy Director of Community Development for the City of Chicago.
· Under Michelle’s leadership, Public Allies Chicago pioneered many elements of Public Allies’ program model. To identify and develop the next generation of Chicago leaders, she recruited young people from housing projects and youth centers as well colleges and universities. Her emphasis on indigenous leadership and belief that all people have potential to lead became a core value of our leadership philosophy. When she left, Public Allies Chicago had a cash reserve, a committed board, a talented young staff, and a network of diverse, talented young leaders in Chicago who continue to serve the community today. Michelle was also a pioneer in the social entrepreneur movement – leaders who create new approaches and organizations to provide new solutions to social problems.
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Much more at the link.
Not after what happened a few days ago with the vets. Those in the military are much more conservative then given credit for and want no part of PBO.
They looklike they find their war out of a cardbord box much less lead anybody
I realize that. The big question is if PBO has the guts to even ask them to sign on.
| Dan -- The current debate in Washington over President Obama's budget has made one thing clear -- ensuring our long-term prosperity won't come without a fight. Partisan voices and special interests are showing real resistance to President Obama's call for making the necessary reforms and investments in energy, health care, and education. That's why we need to bring the conversation back into homes and communities across America. Last week, thousands of you pledged your support for the President's economic plan and encouraged your friends and family to join you in a national display of support. Now I need you to take the next step. This weekend, supporters like you are organizing Pledge Project Canvasses to talk to people in their communities about this plan and mobilize support in neighborhoods across the country. Host or attend a Pledge Project Canvass in your neighborhood this weekend. It's absolutely crucial that Americans hear from you about this plan -- we can't leave this important debate up to a Washington establishment that doesn't welcome change. It's up to you to show Washington that Americans are demanding this new direction and won't stand on the sidelines while our country's future is at stake. On these canvasses, you'll join fellow supporters in your community to:
http://my.barackobama.com/pledgecanvass Nothing is more powerful than having people hear from ordinary Americans about the vision President Obama has laid out for our country. Join us this weekend. Thanks, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America |
...You have 10 seconds to get off my property...
Combined with this wording in H.R. 1388 passed yesterday:
From the HR1388 section, #6104: See especially items 3, 5, &6
(b) Specific Topics- In carrying out its general purpose under subsection (a), the Commission shall address and analyze the following specific topics:
(1) The level of understanding about the current Federal, State, and local volunteer programs and opportunities for service among individuals in the United States.
(2) The issues that deter volunteerism and national service, particularly among young people, and how the identified issues can be overcome.
(3) Whether there is an appropriate role for Federal, State, and local governments in overcoming the issues that deter volunteerism and national service and, if appropriate, how to expand the relationships and partnerships between different levels of government in promoting volunteerism and national service.
(4) Whether existing databases are effective in matching community needs to would-be volunteers and service providers.
(5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service.
(6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.
Pure tyranny now. No doubt that this Admin. will take personal liberties, free enterprise innovations from the American scene. We will be forced to be socialists and no one can stop this unless the voters simply rise up and throw out some Dems in 2010.
Appalling but not surprising.
What happens if the emperor's call for his legions to go forth upon gilded shoe leather—make that injection-molded Chinese sneaker soles—goes unheeded? What if the numbers just are not there? Then again, what happens if the answer to the call is an unprecedented mobilization of zealously willing automatons? Either way, these are the very children and childish adults he is banking on to fill his “mandatory volunteer” army's ranks.
This has little if anything to do with garnering support for his budget and bailout scam, and everything to do with testing response and fervor.
Ours is not the first time history has witnessed a country's young people and “true believers” being commanded to go forth and spread the word, recruit for the cause, and take names and addresses. Continents, decades, and ideologies apart, what followed soon thereafter has been in every case always and predictably the same.
brownshirts obumpa
Yesterday Obama told everyone to “knock on their neighbor’s doors” to promote his $3.5 Trillion budget.
they will be taking names...count on it.
Better idea: Shoot everyone who promotes his $3.5 Trillion “budget”. Be sure to kill them, that reduces lawsuits. [/cynic]
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