I just read one of the most inspiring articles I've read in a very long time! It is inspiring not because of its great prose, or poetic beauty, but because it restores my "faith" in the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the progressive movement may have finally grown a spine to really take on the corporatist-led attack on what is left of our democracy.
The article, "Exposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All Connected," was written by Atlantic correspondent Nancy Scola.
It talks about how the website ALEC Exposed came to life, and the impact it has had as a powerful "weapon" against the corrupt back-room deals between pay-to-play politicians, and their corporatist pay-masters.
Having the bills all in one place painted a certain picture. "If it's voter ID, it's ALEC," observed Doug Clopp, deputy director of programs at Common Cause. "If it's anti-immigration bills written hand-in-glove with private prison corporations, it's ALEC. If it's working with the N.R.A. on 'Shoot to Kill' laws, it's ALEC. When you start peeling back state efforts to opt out of the regional greenhouse gas initiative, it's ALEC." Adopted first in the states, by the time these laws bubble up to the national level, they're the conventional wisdom on policy.
It talks about the role
The Nation magazine had in helping bring about ALEC Exposed, "
with a series of companion articles."
But most importantly, it talks about how organizations like ColorOfChange.org have used "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse" tactics to "convince" some of the biggest corporate players in the U.S. to stop supporting ALEC.
ColorofChange.org came up with a strategy. It would start by meeting face-to-face with corporations to explain to them why their participation in ALEC was troublesome...
~snip~
"As we got closer, we showed them the website that would go live if they didn't pull out. That helped them understand that we were escalating these conversations from, 'Let's have a conversation about ALEC because we think you should be making a different choice' to 'We're going to launch a public campaign if you don't make a different choice.'" Those not familiar with ColorofChange.org, sad Robinson, could Google the group and read all about its role in getting Glenn Beck off the air.
The emphasis is mine...
That's what I'm talking about! You (the progressive movement) have to learn to play hard-ball with these corporatist thugs.
For years I have been lamenting the lack of strategic focus, discipline and organization from the Left, as I witnessed the exact opposite from (what I consider to be) the neo-fascist right wing, including organizations like ALEC and the NRA.
The recent pathetic and cowardly reaction by the DNC to the faux "scandal" about women and work, doesn't help in my assessment.
But reading this article, and seeing how the Left is finally coalescing into an actual functional organized movement, does give me a lot of hope.
I encourage people to read the article and draw inspiration from it.
It occurs to me that the catalyst for a resurgent (well-organized and disciplined) progressive movement may be the clear and present danger of tyranny. That the timing of when it will come back roaring can't be pushed. That the good people of this country will always rise against the imposition of fascism at just the right moment.