Local News
Why You Should Go to Washington DC in March
Feb 05, 2009
Wendy Greene, General Manager of the Peace Alliance, recently wrote to the State Coordinators. I asked her permission, and am sharing the majority of her letter here.
This is why we should all go to Washington DC March 20-23 for the conference.
If you can't go, sponsor someone else to go. Be sure your district is represented.
We all need to be there. Now, more than ever.
This is why.
____________________________________
At the Change.org event, I got to meet a couple folks on the Obama transition team before the event started. During conversation, someone asked if it was true that the "smart nonprofits" were waiting a couple months before trying to meet with folks in the Administration. The answer was, if it's not about the economic stimulus package or something that Bush did that needs to be undone in the first 100 days, they really don't have the brain capacity for it right now.
I couldn't help but notice the perfect timing of that "request"--when they may have space to hear is right about the time we'll be there for the conference! Our incredible work during the election campaign cleared the rocks off the field, the postcard campaign is tilling the soil, and the conference will be one big seed-planting fest!
Also at the event, Joe Trippi made the comment that Congress needs to get better at using the tools out there to listen to their constituents and have the kind of direct relationship with them that the new Administration does or "they could find themselves between Barack and a hard place." :)
He also noted that with Obama's incredible abilities in that arena, this presidency could actually increase the power of the Executive branch (at the expense of Congressional power) even more than the previous one, because "wherever the people are, that's where the power is."
A more powerful executive may sound cool right now, but in the hands of a different President, it could be more than just a little bit of a scary thought. And imagine how scary it must be today to those who don't share President Obama's particular views about the world!
Plus, I recently saw a note from Joe Volk, the executive director of FCNL (those of you who subscribe to their list too probably saw it too). He shared that in his nearly 20 years of working on the Hill, he's never experienced a transition team so open and inclusive, and actually soliciting input from people and organizations.
He also shared that a transition team member told a small group in a meeting, "You've got to create coalitions that make us do what we said we would do during the campaign."
Finally, I attended a (packed) panel event hosted by the Alliance for Justice the day before the Inauguration. Entitled "Driving Change: The Role of Activists During the Obama Administration," it featured Van Jones (founder and president, Green for All and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress), Eli Pariser (ED of MoveOn.org) and JoDee Winterhof (VP of Policy and Advocacy for CARE USA).
(You can see the event on their website: http://www.afj.
<http://www.afj.org/take-action/workshops-and-events/driving-change-video.html> org/take-action/workshops-and-events/driving-change-video.html)
They talked about how President Obama has stepped into the front of a movement that already existed-how the work of activists (like all of us) created the space into which he could step and from which he could lead.
They emphasized over and over the importance of us continuing to that work, of being connected in our communities, of being a resource to Congress providing solutions that Congress doesn't know about, and of holding government accountable (as Van said, "Holding, not hitting, not slapping").
Van encouraged everyone to assume that the President wants to do the right thing. And if he fails to, it's because WE have failed to CREATE THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT in which he could have.
So, to state the glaringly obvious, something we all know, our work with Congress is more important than ever.
I just can't stop imagining when we all show up there-1,000 passionate, focused, trained, articulate, capable and BRILLIANT peace activists, in THIS environment in March-well, my little brain can't even conceive of the possibilities. If there's anything you have imagined but not yet done to enroll folks in coming or publicize the conference, please do it as soon as you can! It's such a HUGE opportunity and we need as much help as we can possibly get in publicizing it, spreading the word, encouraging, cajoling, you name it!
Do I think every member of Congress will say "yes" to a Department of Peace? No. But I do think they're going to hear the message and get the priorities in a way they haven't before.
So, I just wanted to share all that with you. Like I said, not necessarily anything most of us either didn't know or didn't assume, but I thought you'd find it interesting and informative (as I did).
Looking forward to seeing all of you at the conference!
Wendy
Wendy Greene
Managing Director
The Peace Alliance
<http://www.thepeacealliance.org> www.thepeacealliance.org
This is why we should all go to Washington DC March 20-23 for the conference.
If you can't go, sponsor someone else to go. Be sure your district is represented.
We all need to be there. Now, more than ever.
This is why.
____________________________________
At the Change.org event, I got to meet a couple folks on the Obama transition team before the event started. During conversation, someone asked if it was true that the "smart nonprofits" were waiting a couple months before trying to meet with folks in the Administration. The answer was, if it's not about the economic stimulus package or something that Bush did that needs to be undone in the first 100 days, they really don't have the brain capacity for it right now.
I couldn't help but notice the perfect timing of that "request"--when they may have space to hear is right about the time we'll be there for the conference! Our incredible work during the election campaign cleared the rocks off the field, the postcard campaign is tilling the soil, and the conference will be one big seed-planting fest!
Also at the event, Joe Trippi made the comment that Congress needs to get better at using the tools out there to listen to their constituents and have the kind of direct relationship with them that the new Administration does or "they could find themselves between Barack and a hard place." :)
He also noted that with Obama's incredible abilities in that arena, this presidency could actually increase the power of the Executive branch (at the expense of Congressional power) even more than the previous one, because "wherever the people are, that's where the power is."
A more powerful executive may sound cool right now, but in the hands of a different President, it could be more than just a little bit of a scary thought. And imagine how scary it must be today to those who don't share President Obama's particular views about the world!
Plus, I recently saw a note from Joe Volk, the executive director of FCNL (those of you who subscribe to their list too probably saw it too). He shared that in his nearly 20 years of working on the Hill, he's never experienced a transition team so open and inclusive, and actually soliciting input from people and organizations.
He also shared that a transition team member told a small group in a meeting, "You've got to create coalitions that make us do what we said we would do during the campaign."
Finally, I attended a (packed) panel event hosted by the Alliance for Justice the day before the Inauguration. Entitled "Driving Change: The Role of Activists During the Obama Administration," it featured Van Jones (founder and president, Green for All and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress), Eli Pariser (ED of MoveOn.org) and JoDee Winterhof (VP of Policy and Advocacy for CARE USA).
(You can see the event on their website: http://www.afj.
<http://www.afj.org/take-action/workshops-and-events/driving-change-video.html> org/take-action/workshops-and-events/driving-change-video.html)
They talked about how President Obama has stepped into the front of a movement that already existed-how the work of activists (like all of us) created the space into which he could step and from which he could lead.
They emphasized over and over the importance of us continuing to that work, of being connected in our communities, of being a resource to Congress providing solutions that Congress doesn't know about, and of holding government accountable (as Van said, "Holding, not hitting, not slapping").
Van encouraged everyone to assume that the President wants to do the right thing. And if he fails to, it's because WE have failed to CREATE THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT in which he could have.
So, to state the glaringly obvious, something we all know, our work with Congress is more important than ever.
I just can't stop imagining when we all show up there-1,000 passionate, focused, trained, articulate, capable and BRILLIANT peace activists, in THIS environment in March-well, my little brain can't even conceive of the possibilities. If there's anything you have imagined but not yet done to enroll folks in coming or publicize the conference, please do it as soon as you can! It's such a HUGE opportunity and we need as much help as we can possibly get in publicizing it, spreading the word, encouraging, cajoling, you name it!
Do I think every member of Congress will say "yes" to a Department of Peace? No. But I do think they're going to hear the message and get the priorities in a way they haven't before.
So, I just wanted to share all that with you. Like I said, not necessarily anything most of us either didn't know or didn't assume, but I thought you'd find it interesting and informative (as I did).
Looking forward to seeing all of you at the conference!
Wendy
Wendy Greene
Managing Director
The Peace Alliance
<http://www.thepeacealliance.org> www.thepeacealliance.org
Content Copyright 2010 SoCal Campaign for a US Department of Peace or Original Sources
Banner design by Brian Hoven
fvlogger: