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If You Are Still Wearing A "Yes We Can" T- Shirt...
To all you people who are still wearing those "Yes We Can" t-shirts that are starting fade out...
To all you people who gave Barack Obama's presidential campaign $5 or $10 or $15 or $20 a week...
To all you people who trekked from across the nation to Washington D.C. to brave sub-freezing temperatures to see Barack Obama sworn in as commander-in-chief...
To all you people who stayed up all night every night, yapping on the internet about Obama and the primaries and the presidential election as if your very life depended on it...
...the time is now to get your ass back in gear.
Because the people you think you defeated, the people you thought would go home with their tails between their legs because their candidates based their message on fear instead of hope - they have not left the building.
They did not go gently into that good night.
All the while, they've been gearing up for the next round of the never ending fight for the ownership of the soul of America. Telling you that you are surrounded, even as their numbers shrink daily. Proclaiming with a collective fervor that they are working on "taking the country back", as if the United States of America is nothing more than an automobile to be repossessed, or a house to be foreclosed on.
Your president doesn't need you high fiving your buddy every time he caps off a speech with his trademark aplomb right now.
Right now, what your president needs you to do is get back on this internet, the one you spent so much time on last year, and get that positive chatter going again. He needs you to click on those links to the healthcare bill and donate two or three hours to READING IT, the way you used to donate those $5 or $10 or $20 a week to his campaign. He needs you to get as excited about the possibility of having the nation's first comprehensive healthcare reform as you were about the possibility of having the first black president.
And what your president really needs you to do most of all is find out where the next town hall meeting on healthcare is in your area, and attend it the way you attended those debate watch parties.
You were the president's secret weapon back when he was campaigning, an unstoppable force that grew in number by the hour, shifting the momentum of the race in his favor at several key junctures just when he needed it the most.
Your president is in the same boat now with healthcare reform as he was then during the primaries, where a few key surges of support can make all the difference.
So put that faded "Yes We Can" t-shirt back on. Put that $20 you used to donate to the campaign into your gas tank. And trek across town or across your county to the nearest townhall meeting on healthcare you can find.
And remember - smile for the cameras.
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I don't have a t-shirt but I've donated $ to the fight and forwarded every pro reform email I can get my hands on. I've also blogged and posted links on facebook which, by the way, is a VERY right wing leading site.
The problem is, how do we combat a story like say, the AP had in yesterday with the headline "Militia recruitments are up-all they need is a spark"? (ie. support this bill and you'll be shot) Everything (polls, msm, teabag idiots, politicians) seems bought and sold by the AHIP?!
August 13, 2009 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
plan69, don't worry about the MSM. You can't control them. And in the instance you cite, it's important for us to know the militias are gearing up. But no, you won't be shot, and they are still an extremely tiny fringe.
Go over the heads of the talking heads and focus on mobilizing people on the ground. Don't wring your hands about what the other side is doing. Just work on building our side.
August 13, 2009 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
For all the noise they make, the right wing extremists are a small minority. However, they are influential because they repeat their talking points until the masses start to believe them. (Remember the Karl Rove playbook?)
To reach the hearts and minds of the average American is key. Most people work hard and don't have a lot of time or energy to take in too much information. They lazily (or wearily) tune into Fox, CNN or another TV source for their "news". Most people are also fed up with the divisiveness and rhetoric in this country. They want a source of unbiased information, so they can make up their minds. Sadly, the MSM have done a serious disservice to this country with their bickering and opinionated version of what passes for news.
In this economy, people are looking for someone to blame, an issue to scapegoat, a way to feel less helpless. This is why you see so much anger at these townhall meetings. It isn't just the healthcare issue, it is the feeling that their lives are out of control and they are only one paycheck away from bankruptcy or homelessness.
August 13, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good points. Thanks.
August 13, 2009 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I would have bought the shirt but they were out of my size when I was down calling people up and tallying counts on the computer. A bare midriff on a sixty-eight year old body wouldn't be too convincing. :-)
Your points are well taken and I do what I can. One thing I did was to get on the mailing list of every liberal group I could think of-- when they send me an e-mail and ask me to sign a petition or a letter to a congressman or senator, I do it. When they ask me to chip in a few bucks to run an ad in Baucus' or Nelson's district I do it. And when they pass the kitty I drop a few bucks in it.
On second thought, maybe my midriff would convince someone that a makeover of health care would be a good idea. I'll think about it.
August 13, 2009 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
haha, because!
August 13, 2009 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good points. Don't have a T-shirt but I walked the streets, attended parades and meetings, and shelled out dollars that I am still paying off. Was it worth it?
YES WE CAN!
August 13, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
I would rec this post 1,023 times if I could. I posted the same sentiment in my last two posts, but I think you've definitely articulated it in the spirit I was searching for. My last post suggests each of us start a telephone daisychain, calling two friends to commit to attending town halls and to calling two of their friends. In nine rounds of this down the chain, each person starting the chain could turn out 1,023 people at a town hall.
Well said, Kris. It's time to quit bitching and win this fight. Period.
August 13, 2009 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
And be sure to call your congressman and express your support for healthcare reform and for our President, even if there are no meetings planned.
I called my Congressman, in a solidly Democratic district and was shocked to hear that all they have calling are the nuts complaining about healthcare and losing their Constitutional rights (although no one I met can actually name a right or freedom they have actually lost).
Showing your support will embolden our reps in the face of this wingnut hatred we see on our TV every night.
Do it...Do it now!
August 13, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kris, with your permission, I'm going to repost this any time during the next week that it falls off one of the two lists.
And yes, it is important to smile for the cameras. I will expound on this myself, possibly.
August 13, 2009 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chris, this is a great shot in the arm. Obama's candidacy depended on the support of ordinary people, and we always knew that when the hard but fun work of the campaign was over, the hard but not-so-fun work of staying involved would begin.
I think that as a group we TPMers should put together some simple information about where health care is going and what "reform" would/should look like (and I just told David Axelrod so in an e-mail, more on that later.) The admin has to be so careful about parsing, but we are free to say stuff like "Oh, come on, that's crap" and refine our words later if necessary. Of course there will be disagreements and it won't be easy, but we're already in the process.
August 13, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoops, Ripper's already got something up and it's hot. So I'll add my Axelrod flame to the mix and we'll see where it goes.
August 13, 2009 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said. I have to say, I was an idiot for thinking this would be easy after November 4th. And I think a lot of us are guilty of saying this.
I recently moved to Kansas, and I eventually sorta stopped caring because, well, I'm a liberal who lives in Kansas for Christ's sake (even though I do live in the state's only Democratic congressional district). But my voice and my efforts still matter. And to any others who live in deep-red states and/or rural areas: keep fighting.
August 13, 2009 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes!
August 13, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
If we can't then who can?...
August 13, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez, I'm so glad I found you folks! I'm sitting here in Ron Paul's district in Texas -- with vicious lies and thinly-veiled racism swirling around me -- thinking I must be the only woman in Texas who voted for Obama. Thanks to all of you for reminding me that I can still make a difference.
August 13, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope Rodanthe you are not alone,I am in Texas too -- with vicious lies and thinly-veiled racism swirling around me. Im with you.
August 13, 2009 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good for you, Kris...we needed a pep talk and you delivered...Yes we can!
August 13, 2009 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not doing anything until I get my pony.
August 13, 2009 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smile for the camera!!!!
Great idea. Great post.
August 13, 2009 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I will read the bill. You might consider posting the link for others on TPM.
Before I actively support any bill, I want to know what is in it. Currently, I'm not pleased with the non-negotiated pharmaceuticals. A healthcare bill at any cost in not what I am interested in. I want something that is going to benefit the most people and be efficiently run. I also don't agree with this surtax business. It is a job killer.
August 13, 2009 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I support healthcare. In fact, I support universal healthcare. Insurance reform is something else.
(Iraq? EFCA? DODT? FISA? Are you sure we can?)
August 13, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
thanks for the reminder, but I am concerned that Obama is giving Grassley a pass. There is just too much rumor-mongering out there . We need to find out what Obama's bottom line is.
August 13, 2009 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
The spam runneth over -- so now Tim Kaine is telling me what the Democratic Party is for today:
'In the last few months, we've made more progress on health insurance reform than we made in the previous 60 years.'
Well, silly old me, and to think I'd been spending the better part of 60 years thinking we were trying to make progress on universal healthCARE. Who knew that all these decades all we've been up to is working for a little regulation of insurance. Who knew. Who knew!
August 13, 2009 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. Let's work for what we want and give it our best effort. (Iraq, EFCA, etc.? Those are lessons in not working hard enough.)
August 13, 2009 8:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
It’s an old lawyer trick, Subtleties in the terminology can be exploited, Terms like Insurance reform and universal healthcare can be used to mislead.
Where misunderstanding serves others as an advantage, one is helpless to make oneself understood.
Lionel Trilling
One shining quality lends a lustre to another, or hides some glaring defect.
William Hazlitt
Most orgies that you go to, I have found, most of it is sad. All that wildness, all those laughs were like the shining silver and gold paper on packages, but there was nothing inside.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
All the jubilation and joy, of finally overthrowing the Bush years; only to find out NOW Obama surrounding himself with the same old crowd of lobbyists.
The glaring defect: Claiming he’s a centrist and only looking for incremental change.
It was all tinsel, “like the shining silver and gold paper on packages, but there was nothing inside.”
Obama go help another banker, go help another insurance company. Sell us out to NAFTA
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
When it came time to decide who got help during the mortgage crisis Obama stood up for the bankers.
When it came time for UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE he stood up for the insurance Companies
From the movie Braveheart
William Wallace: Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I
Obama is our President but where is the courage?
Can people get a refund? The old T-shirt has lost its appeal.
Probably made in China anyway.
August 14, 2009 5:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
For those of us who want universal healthcare, we should still get behind whatever waterdown offering is given since 100 miles from our destination is better than a 1000. It doesn't mean that we don't still clamor for the universal healthcare. Yet because of conservative Dems from conservative regions of the country (like my Indiana), UH ain't gonna happen this year.
August 13, 2009 9:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ripper McCord,
You can repost this post whenever you like.
Sounds like a lot of us have been resting on our laurels.
There is a town hall meeting Saturday in Atlanta at Centennial Park. I'm supposed to be at a wedding later that day but I will check it out for a couple of hours.
August 13, 2009 9:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I could bottle your spirited activism, they'd call it Kool-Aid. But we'd win hands down anyway.
August 14, 2009 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great post! And yes, I am fired up and angry at the manipulations and falsehoods. I have donated to MoveOn's effort and will also send some dough to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committe. We need to keep our Dems in office and stay active against this offensive. I wasn't able to attend a local town hall yesterday, but 3000 people showed up and the majority were pro-healthcare. We are organizing again.
August 13, 2009 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
my shirts are at the bottom of the drawer now, i may wear them to paint or something in the future. The whole hero worship, cult of personality sort of thing freaks me out. It is not about people, it is about ideas and effective policies "in pursuit of a more perfect union"
i can't really get all excited for Obama's plan to give away massive gifts to big Pharma for a plan that won't even come into effect for four years. Even after the four years, I won't be able to join the public plan (if there is one, which I highly doubt) if I have insurance from my job.
hard to get excited for bi-partisan hyper timid crap. My money goes to Act Blue and real progressives, not corporatist pro-torture posers.
August 13, 2009 11:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lasting progress doesn't always come in leaps and bounds, Captain. Keep up your fight. Your compass is true.
August 14, 2009 12:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
I believe it's all good. Attending townhalls, Act Blue, DNC/OFA -- I have no complaints. Anything that moves the Overton window is fine by me.
August 14, 2009 8:12 AM | Reply | Permalink