Good article and discussion: Van Jones

[wiggs]

I post this because someone is trying to get beyond the recognition that things must change and is attempting to come up with ways to make it change. His nine key steps aren't earthshattering or all that new, but they generated a lot of discussion on huffingtonpost.com that is worth reading, including pessimistic, realist points of view and others adding new action items. I like that there are concrete things to talk about...someone on DU suggested some lawsuits, others suggest letter-writing, Jones suggests some other things.....

...the point is that we're beginning to think of HOW, not just "why" anymore. If enough are thinking about HOW, something might happen.

Among the interesting lines building up to the action items: "Not in my country", "fill the leadership vacuum", "now is the time to speak truth and act boldly", and "the left lacked the capacity or the guts to do more" and "it will be tough to break through the paralysis and the long standing weakness on the left, but now is the time to do it."

I find that many of the nine items rely on our representatives in congress, which is not a strong point right now, but hopefully some are paying attention to Jones:


Now Let's Rescue America: Nine Key Steps (54 comments )

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But the battle to save New Orleans is not over -- not by a long shot.

The work to rescue it, and the country, has just begun. The coming struggle will be difficult -- stretching over a decade or more

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1. Let's tell America that we want to fully fund FEMA -- by rolling back the Bush tax cuts to at least Clinton-era levels. The rich must help secure the country against the next disaster. Reckless revenue cuts that leave us vulnerable must be repealed.

2. Let's declare that Katrina's flood-waters washed the GOP's proposal to repeal the "estate tax" off the table. There will be no tax breaks for the mega-rich while the nation is recovering from this historic blow -- and preparing itself for the next one. Any revenue cuts would both impair the rebuilding effort and risk lives down the road. Let's declare the repeal of the so-called "death tax" to be: D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival).

3. Let's publicly demand that George W. Bush either apologize to the people of the Gulf Coast for failing them, or else resign. It is time to stop fearing Bush Almighty, assuming that he and Karl Rove can keep trashing the country and never pay a price. The man just impaled himself on his own arrogance and contempt for life. Even conservative reporters were outraged by his team's indifference and dishonesty. Under Bush, America abandoned our poor, sick and disabled in a crisis -- and the whole world saw it on live TV. True patriots were appalled. And his smirking and shirking just aren't cute anymore. A call for his impeachment would draw some right-wing support.

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Find the whole thing at Huffington and don't forget to read the response posts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/now-lets-rescue-america_b_6987.html

And while you're there, read the Lakoff post....says correctly that the dems haven't learned much in the last 4 years about letting the opposition frame the issue.