Nov 7, 2004

In The Center November 8th, 2006 What a difference two years make. And yet very little has changed for the better, and much for the worse. The difference between the election outcomes hinges mostly upon the dawning realization of a majority of Americans that the GOP domination was indeed corrupt and failure-prone. This is better, for sure, but we still have too many people uninformed, and a media which has only shifted from being lapdogs to being footdogs (so to speak). Yes, a period of celebration is in order, but what is important now is that this election not be perceived as a tsunami, or even the crest of a wave, but as only the beginning rise from the trough. There is so much damage to be undone, and another election in two years with the presidency at stake. The level of public cooperation needed to quickly restore America will mean that a much greater shift still needs to take place. Come 2008, we should not be fighting to fix what is broken, we should ensure a positioning that is strong enough to easily enact the necessary changes. If the Democrats embrace a notion that they are going to "ride a wave" to any success, then they may invite the same fate as G.W. Bush faced shortly after he declared his "mandate" two years ago. This is being said elsewhere, but it needs to be said more, even if there are those who need to savor current victory before looking toward what's next. This election was the potential start of something good, but it may well be squandered, especially if momentum is not maintained and amplified. The keys to increasing the numbers of American citizens who are aware of the problems created by the Republican leadership have not changed since last I wrote. Over the past two years, the game was theirs to lose, and they fumbled the ball repeatedly. Now the ball belongs at least in part to the opposition, and the potential for fumbles makes just carrying the ball around an insufficient strategy. The viewers in the stadium must be repeatedly made aware of foul plays by the other side. Instant replays aplenty abound to inform them of past deceptions. And an even more unified opposition team must congeal to push for progress on the field. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, at least not in full. Will Iraq improve or decline? Will the terrorists strike again? Will an unforeseen political or natural event somewhere on the planet change everything? If so, we will have to adapt. But some things are quite certain. The Republicans, or Conservatives, or Neocons, or Corporatists, or American Taliban, or whatever coalition of right-wing extremism remains, will only lick their wounds for a moment or two. They will continue to fight back for their goals on all fronts. It is not time to let down the guard by even assuming that what was achieved by this election was much more than an end to going backwards. Moving forward is a different thing altogether. With a Republican Executive and its friendly Corporate media, stalemate will be the result of any degree of complacency. The simple truth is that for the most part, the Democrats did not win on Nov 7th. The Republicans lost. This is not a critique of the fine Democrats that ran fine races with fine ideas. It is merely an observation that on the whole, Democratic wins came largely by capitalizing on Republican mistakes. Moving forward will require an even more pro-active approach. To that end, I can't really add much to what I quietly wrote two years ago. Except that we are now further behind than we could have been two years ago, and it is even more imperative that the Opposition unifies and moves against the machinations of tyranny that have been built around us. So enjoy this time, for a time. Then be ready to build and use an even more effective network for bringing back the America we remember, and pushing Her forward toward Her fullest potential. Keep making waves, and compound them, and build upon this day until it crests even higher. Soon do the work required so that we will be able to look back fondly at how today was only the start. Onward, L. Brian Brill November 7th, 2004 I still love America, because it is still the Land of the Free enough to oppose The Administration and the Home of the Brave enough to oppose The Administration. A fundamental truth of the 2004 election is that a majority of voters in the USA are either ill-informed, afraid or both. This need not be a permanent state of affairs. To address this situation, here is an evolving list of points for consideration. The Future The future keeps coming at us, and it must be faced with an attitude of ultimate success. Losing any particular fight is not reason enough to abandon the overall cause. Unity The divergent elements of the Opposition must find ways to unify their message. A cacophony of voices must be superseded by a harmonious chorus. Accuracy The facts presented by a unified Opposition must be 100% impeccable. A single correction from factcheck.org should be anathema. The Bush Administration has no recourse except to lie. The Opposition must not provide any material which can be used even for a false equivalence of deception or distortion. All talking points and the data to support them must be thoroughly vetted by a number of researchers before being inserted into the common discourse. Any mistake must be promptly and prominently corrected by the person or organization that made the error. Although error should be considered undesirable, correction of error must be considered a virtue, and continuation of error must be considered a vice. Ideas Ideas are the lifeblood of any movement, but an unorganized mass of raw ideas can not propel a movement in the way that a few concise, powerful ideas can. A system of idea refinement and promotion should be developed and embraced to assist the unified Opposition in elevating the most potent and resonant ideas to the forefront. (The primary project of InTheCenter.org has been to create such a system.) Progress Opposition to negative political influence, no matter from which side of the political isle the influence comes from, is vital. However, pure opposition is not sufficient to sustain and promote a cause across a wide base of the electorate. The promotion of alternative positive ideas to solve problems and advance individuals and society must occur in equal measure. Confrontation It should now be clear that preaching to the choir is not an effective strategy to change minds. Changing minds, or simply educating minds, is the necessary job of the next few years. Confronting those who embrace lies instead of truth is the only way a shift in the electorate will occur. The nature of ideological resistance must be considered so that the presentation of an opposing case does not trigger an automatic defensiveness that will shut down any possibility of communicating important information. A strategy of patient, incremental presentation of the facts could benefit from an organized program of information to be presented. Polarized Cognition The tendency to break the world into either/or, with/against, black/white, liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican simplifications must be recognized and refuted at every level of discourse. The best ideas of the Opposition should transcend these limited stereotypes. The best arguments of the Opposition should not rely on appeals to such narrow frameworks of understanding. Filling cognitive gaps with the crutches of false dichotomies and false absolutes might be an effective way to reach people who have little time to ponder the complexities of an issue, but it is no substitute for the whole truth. The Media A deceptive media, complicit in keeping Americans ill-informed, must be held accountable to the truth. There must be organized, insistent and perpetual denunciations of members of the media who lie, deceive or simply do not recant their errors of fact. A Summit A summit of progressive and anti-Administration luminaries should be held to christen an organized effort to resist the current course of policy and stake out the horizons which we will aim for. The Future (2) The goal of the Opposition should be to transform from Opposition into Establishment. At that point a vigilant opposition to lies, corruption and bad ideas must continue to assure the perpetual ascendency of a progressive movement based on the best traditions of American Democracy. As for ideas to be part of a political agenda, I submit the following suggestions (wish list): The Vote Perhaps the most critical part of our democracy is the sanctity and validity of the vote. Voting must be a transparent and secure process that leaves no reason for doubt or lack of trust. Any and all resistance to this ideal should be vigorously vilified in no uncertain terms. Any will to secrecy regarding any part of the voting process must be confronted by the questions of what is hidden and why. Commentary: Subversion of the vote is tantamount to treason. Campaign Finance Monetary support for a politician can only come from the people that can actually vote for that politician. Commentary: It makes no sense that a politician in Florida can receive contributions from a person in Nevada, or from a foreign source, or from an organization or corporation that can not vote at all. Let congressional members be beholden only to their actual constituents. Legislation In order to vote on a piece of legislation, members of congress must sign affidavits that they have read and understood the full text of what they are voting on. A non-vote is a no vote. Commentary: What other single simple change would go so far to destroy the worst influences in Washington? All legislation would have to be concise and transparent. Favors to the special interests who's lawyers write the laws could no longer be buried in thousands of pages of legalese. Legislative Scope Riders and amendments that are not directly related to the principle intent of the bill are not allowed. Commentary: This is a simple method to control an obvious avenue of legislative abuse. Onward, L. Brian Brill info@inthecenter.org