Don't panic - welcome to the Crazy Season

[backscatter712]

There's a very good article at Open Left:

http://www.openleft.com/diary/16330/the-crazy-season

The end game of any major legislative fight such as what we're going through on health care- when the final deals are being cut on the inside, and the rumors are flying around like starlings- are what I call the crazy season. It's a time that's generally very maddening for all the grassroots activists who have been working on the legislation like crazy, because it really is tough to figure out what is true and what is not. Here are some general rules that hopefully help you understand this season a little bit more:

1. There are probably a hundred rumors a day. 90 of them are just flat out false, spread either because someone misunderstood something, or someone is trying to promote some pet project or kill something, or just because rumors spread on Capitol Hill for no particular reason at all. Maybe nine of them have a seed of truth, but the seed is cross-fertilized with a lot of, well, fertilizer. One of them is probably pretty close to true, but you never know which one it is, and it may well not be true the next day.

2. Don't base any of your assumptions on the words being used. Certain words are code for other things, and politicians are also looking to cover their political bases or even (I know its shocking that there is gambling in this casino) misdirect people from their true intent. In this health care crazy season, I have seen "public options" that don't look anything like a real public option, "triggers" that look a lot more like a decent public option, Stupak "compromises" that are worse than Stupak, and "Stupak language" that is actually an okay compromise. When people hear certain buzz words, don't assume anything because the actual legislative language might be something very different.

...

6. Don't panic over anything, just keep organizing for what you want. A lot of groups are doing list building right now, seizing on real or imagined rumors to try to panic people into signing petitions or giving money. Most of these panic attacks are phony. My advice to activists out there is to just keep working hard on grassroots organizing around the issues you care the most about, and not worry too much over the panic attacks.

We are at the endgame, where we see political sausage-making at its finest, or worst...

Horse-trading on the floors of Congress is flying fast, we'll see provisions come and go, all the dirty tricks of the Beltway, things called "public option" that aren't, or perversely, "triggers" that are actually decent, new things like the exchange-within-the-exchange and Medicare buy-ins, provisions of the bill we've never heard of all of the sudden becoming political footballs, etc.

Don't panic, keep calm, continue with the activism!

[rwheeler31]

1. Good advice. Thank you.