Late tonight I’ll be heading down to DC for the Take Back America conference, a big fat “progressive” confab, with a lot of bigwig sessions on how to strengthen the progressive movement. It sounds fun, frustrating, and weird, but maybe I’ll come back with some new ideas.
I’m deciding which events to attend tomorrow. Yes, I’m look for great ideas and insights, but a really terrible event might also be worthwhile to go to, just to appreciate how badly we’re screwing things up. I’m torn between:
- “It’s the Story: How Culture and New Media Can Move Progressive Ideas”: A bunch of big media types telling us what “culture” is?
- A Progressive Agenda for States — including our own state Rep. Jim Marzilli!
- The Blogosphere: From Ideas to Action, with Bowers, Stoller, Oliver Willis and so on. I don’t know … maybe I’ve been there, done that.
What do you want to know about?
Please share widely!
and how much of all of this is really just a self-inflated broadband talking circle?
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That’s why I wonder if reporting on the sessions that seem the most misguided or over-inflated might be more profitable than doing the ones that sound good. Although, it’s hard to tell the difference by the description, unless you know who’s doing the session.
makes as little difference as it seems to have nationally, what then?
Democrats have a slim majority. It’s tragic that the U.S. government was set up to resist change, and so in this case it’s difficult for Pelosi and Co. to stop this war. We still need more and better Democrats.
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But maybe there is a lesson to be learned from our state’s victory for Marriage Equality. Perhaps those who oppose the war need to make a similar effort to have relatives of soldiers in Iraq to lobby Congress personally. I’m sure that kind of lobbying is going on now to some extent, but is it as coordinated?
…than with the fact that there is a recalcitrant child president in the White House.
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That isn’t to minimize problems with Congress–Republicrat Lieberman being the most conspicuous example. But I doubt very seriously that American policy in Iraq will change very much until Jan 20, 2009. Unless the sky falls before than, and possibly not even if it does fall.
Seeing Matt Stoller talk about pretty much anything. I think he’s the best blogger out there. Maybe Christy over at FDL gives him a run for his money.
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I think this whole mydd divide is sort of interesting, with Bowers and Stoller going off and making their own website. Who knows what will happen now.
Also the national security message — traditionally perceived as a weak point of the left, seemingly ripe for a rare opportunity for realignment, given spectacular Cheney bungling….