Cross-Posted from Political Cortex
It has become obvious that the opening salvos of the fight we have been waiting for have been fired. Over the last three years a huge on-line community has sprung up in large part as a reaction to the Bush Administrations push to war in Iraq. Although we have had many small victories in our quest to get the truth out to the American people, (the Downing Street Memo and Jeff Gannon to mention two) I believe now comes the true test of our ability to shape opinion and policy.
As the polls show us, more Americans each day are questioning the validity of the Iraq War and the veracity of the claims made by this administration to justify it. In response to this growing discontent, the administration has launched a counteroffensive of misdirection and misinformation. As usual, their method is to attack the messenger rather than confront the message. The attack on Rep. Murtha is only the latest example of this tactic.
The general Republican defense seems to be that even to suggest that the administration might have misled the American people when making the case for war is a bold-faced lie, and making such a false accusation is nothing short treasonous. We’ve seen the tactic used many times before, from Joe McCarthy to Richard Nixon, but this time there is something new in the equation: us.
The amount of information and analysis on the subject of pre-war lies that’s been amassed over the last few years by progressive bloggers is mind-boggling. The problem is that this information has for the most part remained within our own community, rarely making it out into the mainstream of American political debate. Most of it now has been relegated to the archives of blogosphere ether. We need to find a way to share this knowledge with the American people as a whole. I believe it is time for the progressive blogosphere to come together to launch a powerful counteroffensive against the Republican smear campaign. So here’s my plan…
We begin to speak with one voice. We put “pie,” policy debates and framing differences behind us, we leave our egos at the door, and start to educate the public. I propose that we organize a campaign to get the truth out. I’m not totally sure how to do it, and I’m sure others are far more qualified to lead it, but this is how I think it could work:
- We get as many individual bloggers to agree to be part of the program. . . call it “The Project Truth Network” for argument’s sake.
- Through e-mails and blog postings we ask for bloggers who have researched and written on a specific topic in the past (the 16 words, aluminum tubes,, the Downing Street Memo, etc.) that demonstrated that the administration lied, to write a simple, short, e-mailable primer on the topic. KISS being the key criteria. No editorializing. . . just the facts. A simply understood recounting of the history.
- A panel of some sort then goes through the submissions and one submission is chosen to be put out across the network. The network could become a sort of an interent “AP wire” for the truth about the pre-war period. (it could be hosted at Political Cortex since they have the capability for editing/ voting with their “edit queue” system, where the voting and editing would be done by the community at large)
- The network is formed through an alliance of individual blogs ( like Big Brass) that agree to post the story, and community boards that will post it under a communal name ( like ePluibus does)
- With communication and commitment the amount of blogs that joined the network could be huge. If each blogger contacted those on his/her blogroll and those that link to them and asked them to join the network one story could possibly be published in thousands of blogs. (think of the google possibilities)
- The story could then be disseminated through e-mail lists to even more people.
As I said, I am not an organizational wizard, but I think the idea has possibilities. Feel free to leave any suggestions, ideas, or feedback in the comments. (Or tell me I’m crazy for even thinking such a scheme could work)
If we could debunk the administration’s lies one by one and put that information out with a unified voice across the broad spectrum of progressive blogs, we could become a mighty weapon in the arsenal of truth
This has been cross-posted on the suggestion of the folks over at Political Cortex , where the idea has received a positive reception. If you’re interested in the idea, or just want to leave your two cents, please go over and leave a comment. The sign up is quick and painless so even if your not a member you can start right in without a waiting period. A Proposal for the Progressive Blogosphere