I'd add one more: a Constitutional Amendment to clarify that all civil rights enumerated in the Constitution and elsewhere, apply only to NATURAL PERSONS-- real people-- and not to corporations or other legal fictions. Passing that would take years, but getting ratified by at least one state might not
take that long.
To which another F1200’er responded:
Great idea. But to get anywhere, ideas such as this must be pushed hard by many people. How is that done? Writing and lobbying reps. Writing letters to editors of popular media. Organizing demonstrations and marches. Running petition drives. Raising funds. Doing all of the above is usually too much for an individual, but an alternative is to support organizations that already work on these issues, such as Common Cause, Public Citizen, and others.
I beg to differ. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing for health care reform. And how has that worked out for us?
Wasn’t Einstein’s definition of insanity “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”? Does even one percent of the American public recognize the names of either Common Cause or Public Citizen?
Let’s at least consider trying something else:
Norman Lear is an 87-year-old television producer. He’s the liberal WWII veteran who brought you Archie and Edith Bunker and “The Jeffersons.” He’s a big advocate for civil liberties. I can pretty much assure you that he’s also appalled by the recent SCOTUS decision, and might welcome the idea of the constitutional amendment suggested by one of our members.
Lear is a virtual treasure trove of media connections and American decency.
Why, instead of flailing about writing to our representatives, do we not appeal instead to Mr. Lear to create a reality TV show with an unemployed, telegenic 20-something law school graduate, who will devote the rest of the year to getting that constitutional amendment ratified in the state of California?
I don’t say this without reason. This weekend, there was a "tea party" convention, which on the day of its biggest draw, gathered 1,100 people to hear Sarah Palin speak. Hello, F-1200ers? That’s at least a hundred less than our own group. But they got front-page coverage in The New York Times. Why? In large part because the media swarms like flies to honey whenever the leggy Palin shows up. Because Sarah Palin, like sex, sells.
So why is it, in a recession economy, our side can’t find a far more comely and compelling personality to push an actual constitutional amendment? On reality TV? And I’m not talking about a Sarah Palin clone. I’m talking about a smart-as-a-whip, woman law school grad, who made it through on financial aid, and strongly believes in “people power” vs. corporate excess.
I’m talking about a 20-something someone with better bone structure and better ethical principles than Sarah Palin. I’m talking about The Apprentice with better intrigue, smarter dialogue, and a modicum of dignity.
Are you telling me that with all of our contacts, we can’t find that telegenic law school grad? Or we can’t at least get the ball rolling for the auditions by writing 1,200 letters to Norman Lear to produce a reality TV show that not only people like us would want to watch, but those necessary other people would want to watch, too?
Hey, we can phone-bank until our fingers bleed, and some of us have. But it’s time to recognize that those efforts, while important, are not reaching the audience we need. It’s time to recognize that we can’t fight Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin with Al Franken and Anthony Weiner (no matter how much I love Franken and Weiner.)
I honestly don’t know if a reality TV show would make the difference, but it would be one way to reach a larger audience. And if Norman Lear can’t do it for us, maybe he can refer us to someone with similar values who can.
Thanks for hanging in there. I’ll have more on this, on “plain English pitfalls and benefits”, and more of your comments tomorrow.
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