Posts Tagged ‘MoveOn’
Kay
Facing public pressure, including a threatened campaign from MoveOn, Kay Hagan has now endorsed a public option in a health care, clearing the bill to move out of committee.
The Fournier Follies
Steven Benen of Political Animal also has more on the Ron Fournier Follies at the Associated Press. Go get him, MoveOn.
MoveOn and Jon Stewart
MoveOn has been largely silenced by Obama’s decision to financially cut off the 527s, but they’re found a way to make themselves useful: getting AP Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier, who was nearly hired as a senior adviser to McCain in October 2006, fired.
In other media criticism news, it has once again fallen to Jon Stewart to tell reporters how to do their jobs.
MoveOn Is Not a Movement
John Stauber on why MoveOn is not a movement.
MoveOn has fallen into the same top-down rut that all the big national public interest and environmental groups are in. MoveOn raises millions and millions of dollars each year, but the dollars go into marketing, advertising, and candidates, and not into empowering the 3.2 million people on their list. Similarly, the Big Green environmental organizations, the largest DC-based environmental lobby and marketing entities like Environmental Defense, NRDC and others, together raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year from foundations and grassroots individuals. Billions of dollars over the past decade have been raised and spent by these ten or so largest and best branded environmental (non-profit) corporations. Yet despite the popularity of the environmental cause and the way environmental health issues cut across partisan politics, despite the fire and volunteerism at the grassroots where people are fighting and winning battles such as stopping new coal plants, this national movement of giant non-profit lobby organizations is politically impotent. Why? Because ever since the 1970s all the money that flows from the grassroots and from foundations, for the most part, is spent on everything but empowering and organizing and assisting the grassroots, who are starved of the money for organizers, offices, communications, strategy development and political training.
My criticisms of MoveOn are in a similar vein. If you want a cheerleader and fundraiser for the Pelosi wing of the Democratic Party, then MoveOn is the ticket. But MoveOn is not a movement, nor will it spawn one.
Lazy Thursday Links
Well, I’m showing up late today. Sorry about that.
* Scientists have taught monkeys how to control robotic arms with their thoughts. We are so screwed. Via Alex Greenberg, Matt Yglesias, and MetaFilter.
* 24: Season Two: The Musical. From the people who brought you Silence of the Lambs: The Musical. The first song at least made me laugh.
* National Geographic on “the real crystal skulls.”
* Scott McClellan has his come to Jesus moment. More at The Nation. MetaFilter debates whether we should care.
* Via Tim, MoveOn is giving away free anti-McCain bumper stickers He’s also got a telling link on a redacted CIA document on interrogation techniques that’s been nearly entirely blacked out.