you voted. maybe you made some campaign calls or knocked on a few doors, contributed to moveon or the dccc. so you did your part. right?
not so fast.
electing barack obama was the first step in a reclamation and renewal process that is going to take a lot of time and effort — he and his new administration cannot do everything. but we can. (remember that? Yes. We. Can.)
the really hard work begins on inauguration day (any new yorkers heading out to DC for that, please lemme know, trying to get a positive posse together). but there are little things we can get started on right away. let’s keep that momentum going!
for starters, how about stripping joe lieberman of his committee chairmanships. too bad we can’t fire him outright; no doubt the good voters of connecticut will take care of that when he comes up for re-election (that is, if he’s foolish enough to run).
next, let’s strip the mormon church of its tax-exempt status, since their active (and vicious) campaigning on behalf of very antigay proposition 8 in california is a clear violation of IRS laws concerning supposedly non-political groups. personally, i’m in favor of stripping all religious institutions of their tax exemptions (separation of church and state, right?) but let’s start with the mormons.
we also need to get busy with the petition for a nuclear-free world. that’s right, no more testing, no more bombs, no first use. no more mushroom clouds.
then mosey over to the ACLU website, where you can pick up a copy of their progressive guidebook. while you’re there, sign yourself up as a constitution voter. they’ll send you a bumper sticker if there are any left.
and let’s help a million dollars for doctors without borders, shall we? (it’s a vote, not a donation.) yes, this is a tad off-topic, but that’s a really good organization, and we need doctors to care for the ongoing casualties of bush’s illegal war. trip advisor gives you a free green travel ebook after you’ve voted. i think the guide itself is somewhat, well, misguided (how green can it be to fly to kenya?) but their heart’s in the right place.
just doing my part to help answer the burning question: “what do obama supporters have to do now that the election is over” — watch the video, it’s hilarious.
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meanwhile, in the old news department, the republicans (quite appropriately named the “grand OLD party” ) continue to eat themselves alive, as evidenced by redstate’s Operation Leper, which seeks to cleanse the party of any member who so much as HINTED that sarah palin might not quite be qualified for the vice presidency. to that i say: GOOD! if the only republicans left in 2012 and beyond are stupid enough to support this astonishingly weak contender, we won’t have any re-election worries for the foreseeable future.
poor sarah. let’s do something nice and send palin a thank-you note for assisting in the democratic landslide. i doubt that’s what malkin had in mind for this site; as they say, be careful what you ask for.
here’s a fun fact: the obama’s acceptance speech has, as of last night, already been viewed by over 7 million people, making it the most viral online video in history. probably not as many people have had a chance to browse this album of excellent behind-the-scenes photos of the obama family at grant park, which is definitely worth a gander or three.
obama is going to be our first web 2.0 president, and i am really looking forward to connecting with him and his administration that way. the fact that he has already set up a transition website where you can submit your ideas and get the latest updates on cabinet appointments, is a clear indication that barack obama is going to change the office of the president as much as he has already changed the meaning of a political campaign.
it’ll also be interesting to watch the ways in which the new administration interacts with moveon.org, which i was astounded to learn has more members than the (goddam) NRA. this is new, a brand-new model of participatory politics. we are all privileged to be part of it — but doing it right is going to take quite a bit of elbow grease.
so get busy!
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Jaxx,
Well said!
Keep up the great blogs that inspire us all.
Devin
Good shit here, Jaxx! We can’t get lazy now. So much work to do. Next week, I’m going to see what I can do to help Jim Martin down here in Georgia beat Saxby “Whackjob” Chambliss in the Dec. 2 runoff.
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