UPDATES BELOW
So many people on this blog and others have rightfully displayed their anger, bewilderment and other thoughts on Senator Obama’s stance on the FISA bill before the Senate - whether it be on his comments, his prior promise to stand with Dodd and filibuster or to get involved in the pie fight-like "Green-bermann" back and forth of the past few days.
And as an outgrowth of this, a group was formed at MyBarackObama on Thursday as a place for Obama supporters can organize on this issue (since the vote will be delayed by another week or so) and attempt to put pressure on Senator Obama, express concerns about the bill as well as organize events such as this one for July 1 in Washington DC about retroactive immunity.
When I joined this group on Thursday afternoon, there was only 25 other members. Now, I won’t say that the recent explosion in membership is due to my membership (or Mike Stark’s for that matter), but the fact is that in just over three days, there are close to 2,400 members of this super cool group.
And the group’s name? Senator Obama, please vote NO on telecom immunity, Get FISA right
Now, you may think that this a very long name for a group. Or you may think that Senator Obama is not for telecom immunity anyway and will vote against it. Or, you may be for telecom immunity (for what reason, I don’t know). Or....you may think that Obama is doing all he can as it is, or that by demonstrating visible and strong leadership on this issue, it may damage his electability.
But the point is, this is a group on Obama’s own online community, and in just over three days, it is poised to be one of the top ten groups in terms of membership. The largest (13,000+ members) is one that deals with action items and debunking falsehoods about Obama, and all of the others are based on geography or other demographics (region, students, women, etc.)
And with mentions at Firedoglake and TPM Cafe AND Digby (let me know if I forgot any), this is something that activists all around the netroots are sitting up and taking notice of (not to mention taking part in).
Now, as some have gone overboard recently, and despite the fact that it shouldn’t even bear repeating, I’ll repeat it once again. There is no comparison between Obama and what he would do if elected and McCain and what he would do if elected. There is only one choice in November and that is Obama.
Period.
That being said, he should know what his supporters are thinking, feeling and doing with respect to his campaign and actions as a Senator. Will he speak out against or will he vote for a final bill if an immunity-stripping amendment fails and immunity is included in the final bill? We don’t yet know, even though we all have a hunch one way or another.
But in a time and an election where more people can be directly involved and organize on a widespread level - especially in the candidate’s own online campaign community, there is no reason NOT to - especially if you feel strongly about the recent events surrounding the FISA bill.
Let’s try and get past the 13,000 membership number before the bill comes to a vote in the Senate. And check out the group for updates, events and other action items.
We have just over one week to make our voices heard. So don’t be the last one on your block to join.
It is what democracy is all about.
Update [2008-6-29 21:8:36 by clammyc]: I forgot to say this up front - if you decide to join, PLEASE SET YOUR EMAIL SETTINGS to "daily digest" (or no emails) because the default is to send an email with every message.
I have gotten a ton of emails from this group the past few days and just changed the setting to "daily digest" to make my inbox a lot happier with me....
Nice going, all. We are just under OVER!!! 3,000 total members which is an increase of almost more than 600 new members in just over 90 minutes under 2 hours. Let's try to hit 5,000 by the morning.
Update [2008-6-29 21:8:36 by clammyc]: Also, please see this diary by Seneca Doane as far as a good action item to discuss about the bill.