Words Have Consequences – 800,000 Consequences

It used to be that if a politician said something stupid, he or she could deny, deny, deny. In the age of YouTube, that is no longer true.

First, Gov. Sarah Palin talked about the “pro-America areas of this great nation” as if some parts of America are anti-American.

Then Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) accused Sen. Barack Obama of having anti-American views. She also said “I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?” Rep. Bachmann has tried several times to deny that she made the statement, despite the fact that anyone with a computer and internet connection can watch her statement on YouTube. As a result of Rep. Bachmann’s statement, over $800,000 in new contributions from over 31,000 people have poured into the coffers of Democrat El Tinklenberg.

Now Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) just said something equally dumb. He said "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God." After denying repeatedly that he had made the statement, an audio recording turned up and he was forced to say that, yes, he had made the statement after all. It will be interesting to see the increase in fund raising by Rep. Hayes' opponent, Larry Kissell.

In the age of YouTube and ActBlue, it is easy for voters to be informed and then to express their outrage in a tsunami of fund-raising. I would suspect that one of the reasons that Barack Obama raised $150 million in September is because of the lethal combination of the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate and the McCain attack ads.

Words have consequences - sometimes 800,000 consequences and sometimes even more.

Are you ready to be an Activist?

Picture it - You're sitting in a living room of someone's house talking about...talking. Talking (more like complaining) about how things are wrong, bad, and sad. The furniture is covered in a stiff clear plastic and you keep sliding down the cushion of the sofa. Little doilies with rings of coffee stains cover any surface that is not wrapped in plastic.

The people around you are talking about how unfair the world is, and how we’re all doomed. “It’s not like the old days,” says one lethargic man in a torn t-shirt. He takes a swipe at the 14 hairs he is trying to use to cover the top of his head. “By god, we used to have a great country. Now it’s all gone to hell in a hand basket.”

OK, that’s enough torture. But before we leave this scene, let me ask you, what does that make you feel like? Dry? Bored? Feel like jumping up and running away?

Now, let's replace that picture with a different picture. Let's picture ourselves in a meeting, no let's think of it as a rally, or an event, not just a meeting. We're taking massive action. We're making posters for an upcoming event, or making phone calls to rally the troops. We're talking to the press instead of talking to ourselves. We're making a direct impact on someone's life, like the life of a family that is down on their luck. We're not TALKING about doing something - we're actually doing something. Now how does that make you feel?

That's the difference between a movement and a club. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I need is one more club meeting to go to. I have not time, or interest in wasting my time with a group of stuck-in-the-mud do-nothings. A club sits still and talks. A movement, you guessed it, moves!

The question we get to ask ourselves is, what kind of activist do we want to be? Do we want to be a member of a club or part of a movement? Are we ready to make an immediate and real impact, or are we satisfied with watching from the outside and complaining. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to move!

So, if you’re ready to move, here are five suggestions for you.

1. If you haven’t signed up for a local chapter of One Corps, do so today. This is where John Edwards' organization for putting boots on the ground.


2. Once you join, there’s a link on the right-hand side for you to invite your friends. Here’s one case when many of your friends will appreciate some Spam. I don’t know if you’ve ever volunteered before or not, but volunteering is addictive. You could change a friend’s life by connecting him or her with fellow activists.


3. Be more than a passive observer in your local One Corps group. Make suggestions for activities like a food drive. Here’s a crazy idea. Hook up with a local comedy club (or local bar). Let people come to the club and do 3 minutes of stand-up comedy if they donate cans to the One Corps food drive. It will help the club to get people in the door on a slow night, it will help the local food bank, and it will help get out the word about your local One Corps group. Oh! Here’s a good name for it. Are you ready for this? “Laugh your cans off!” No? Well, anyway, this is just one example. The point is to be active in your local chapter and get others on your team to be active.


4. Schedule a movie night. Brave New Theaters has a wide selection of movies that you can screen along with tools to help you invite people. Here in Cedar Rapids, IA we’re going to screen the movie Money Talks to open a discussion about the cost of health care.


5. C-O-N-N-E-C-T. Just in case you haven’t heard, you are Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, that is if you are one of the millions of people who participate in Blogs (you’re reading this, aren’t you?), Meetup, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc. If you haven’t set up an account on any of these services, do it today! And then link back from there to your One Corps group. It is incredibly easy. Also look at local non-profits who might be aligned the same way you are and who would want to connect with you and One Corps. Examples might be churches, Amnesty International, Moveon.org, etc. There are also other new tools on the web specifically designed to help you connect with other activists such as http://www.volunteermatch.org/ or http://www.idealist.org. The more you connect, the more you can grow the impact of your local One Corps group, and the more you can change the world. And after all, isn’t that why you’re here?

OK. So, what do you say? Do you want to be a club, or are you ready to be a movement! Get active today and see how many other people you can challenge to also get active.

Warm Regards,

Tony Loyd
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