RootsAction: A new progressive online initiative launched

[Better Believe It]

About RootsAction
An Independent Initiative
The 2010 election showed that you can’t beat heartless Republicans with spineless Democrats.

We need a fresh approach to defend the public interest. Our country faces a far-right Republican Party that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America, and a Democratic Party whose leadership is enmeshed with corporate power.

RootsAction is a new online initiative dedicated to galvanizing millions of Americans who are committed to economic fairness, equal rights, civil liberties, environmental protection -- and defunding endless wars.

We will not be silent as Congress and the president continue to squander billions of dollars on foreign wars, causing destruction and hatred overseas while failing to meet the needs of the vast majority of people in our country. We will not stand by as people lose their jobs and homes due to Wall Street schemes abetted by both major parties. We will not give the Obama administration a pass as it continues many of the same policies that sparked loud protests under the Bush White House. We will take action -- independent of both party leaderships. That’s why the launch of RootsAction has been strongly endorsed by such respected, independent-minded progressives as Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk and Coleen Rowley.

When progressives have fallen into making excuses for corporate-approved “reforms” from the Obama White House, they’ve come across as defenders of an untenable status quo -- and helped corporate-funded "populists" of the right wing to masquerade as the agents of change.

RootsAction will mobilize behind policies that actually address the immense economic, social and environmental problems facing our country. The goal is to organize people who are already active into an independent political force, while reaching out in a genuinely populist voice to those who are not committed progressives. This is crucial for defeating the corporate-financed and media-fueled right wing, which so deftly utilizes fear, myth and outright lies.

RootsAction pledges to resist the corporatist policies of Speaker Boehner and cohorts at every turn, while confronting the Democratic Party's reflex of giving ground to extremist proposals in the name of “bipartisanship.”

One of the most heartening recent developments in our country is the rise of independent media that reach millions each day with reporting that exposes not just threats from the extreme right, but also vacillation and corruption among Democrats. These millions represent a base of informed, active Americans that RootsAction seeks to empower and mobilize.

Corporate power over both major parties is afflicting and poisoning the body politic. Genuine democracy is the antidote.

RootsAction is open to all those who seek a more just and peaceful world; contact us with your ideas for issues we should address and actions we should take.

These progressive leaders who have strongly endorsed the launch of RootsAction. Join us!

Jim Hightower, publisher and author
Naomi Klein, author of Shock Doctrine, columnist
Cornel West, Princeton professor and author
Daniel Ellsberg, released Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers, author
Barbara Ehrenreich, author Nickel and Dimed, activist
Glenn Greenwald, civil rights attorney and blogger
Bill Fletcher Jr., labor and racial justice leader
Laura Flanders, GritTV host
Former U.S. Senator James Abourezk
Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent and whistleblower

"I support RootsAction.org as an online mobilizing force because real change is up to us, not to Obama or the Democratic Party. They are not the progressive movement, we are. Only grassroots initiatives like RootsAction can put progress back in 'progressive.'" -- Jim Hightower for RootsAction; populist publisher of "The Hightower Lowdown"

"We're at a critical juncture -- with an urgent need to build progressive political muscle both inside and outside the Democratic Party -- to change the direction of the USA and its relationship with the rest of the world. RootsAction.org is a new online force for helping to fulfill the desires of millions who are seeking a genuinely progressive alternative to the barbarism that is being promoted by the political Right."- Bill Fletcher Jr., co-founder, Center for Labor Renewal

http://www.rootsaction.org/index.php

[Better Believe It]

1. A Time for Action - Not Servility

A Time for Action - Not Servility
by Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon
Jeff Cohen is a board member and Norman Solomon is a senior fellow with RootsAction. Cohen is an author (“Cable News Confidential”) and journalism professor who founded the media watch group FAIR. Solomon is an author (“War Made Easy,” “Made Love, Got War”) who founded the Institute for Public Accuracy.
January 18, 2011

While Washington pundits are talking up a new civility, many progressives are bracing for the old servility -- a bipartisanship that is servile to a corporate elite that is unquenchably greedy and more powerful than ever.

But this is not a time for despair. It's a time for new activism -- built upon one of the great achievements of the last decade: the rise of independent media.

Every day, millions of people in the U.S. get their journalism from independent news outlets that expose not just the extremist antics of Republicans, but also the corporate corruption among Democrats. These informed Americans -- fearful of Speaker Boehner and alarmed by a White House now administered by a JPMorgan Chase executive -- represent a huge base ready to mobilize in new ways.

That's the basis for the launch of a new online organization -- RootsAction.org -- an initiative endorsed by such respected independent progressives as Daniel Ellsberg, Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk and Coleen Rowley.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/18-0

[slipslidingaway]

3. knr nt

[hootinholler]

2. K&R n/t

[xchrom]

4. why the unrecs for this?

it's got jim hightower and others -- what about this could threaten a democratic forum?

[hootinholler]

5. I don't know

I've rec'd it, sounds like some good people getting together to me.

-Hoot

[xchrom]

6. indeed. nt

[NoPasaran]

18. Unrecced to piss off the Unrec Nannies

Beyond that, Jim Hightower is a dickhead

[leftstreet]

7. K&R

[Ramulux]

8. This sounds like a great idea

Any group that's endorsed by both Cornel West and Glenn Greenwald must be OK in my book. I think everyone on this site should sign up and spread the word, we need a movement like this to catch fire and its only gonna happen if we let people know about it.

[Michigan-Arizona]

9. K&R n/t

[Flubadubya]

10. Up with Roots Action...

More: We The People :thumbsup:

Less: We The Corporation :thumbsdown:

K&R!

[slipslidingaway]

11. Sign up for updates ...

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6503/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=4359

"Join Us

Sign up here to receive periodic alerts and updates from RootsAction. The more information you provide to us, the better we're able to ensure you are provided the most relevant opportunities for action.

RootsAction is a new online initiative supported by independent-minded progressives like Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former Sen. James Abourezk and Coleen Rowley."

[mmonk]

12. Recommended.

[Radical Activist]

13. I respect it more when people honestly use the word socialist or Green.

Just say what you are. Hiding behind a vague euphemism like "independent progressive" makes them sound even more spineless than the Democrats they attack.

Obama is still very popular among progressives. You aren't going to start a successful progressive organization by demonizing the most progressive President in 40 years. If that kind of idiotic strategy is a sign of things to come then they won't amount to much.

[mmonk]

14. I'm neither "socialist" or green.

What used to be traditional New Deal Democrats since the depression is now called leftist, extreme and socialist. Only the words and meanings have changed. The country has moved right and we didn't move. The rest is semantics in a right wing tilt of this country. The New Democrats or Third way are nothing but recycled Hamiltonians that believe government's role is to facilitate business (vs the Madisonian model). Progressive taxation and regulated capitalism is not socialism which is worker control of capital and resources. Descriptions today are mere propaganda.

[Radical Activist]

15. Are you one of the people on the list of founders?

I didn't realize my comment was about you personally. I recognize many of the famous names starting this group as self-described socialists and former Nader supporters. It's not a slander. It's a simple fact.

You're engaging in revisionist history. There were socialists and third parties in FDR's time who thought he was a centrist sell-out. Not much has changed. Looking back on history, it's easier to see that many things FDR did which were considered horrible compromises actually become building blocks for further progress.
It's a shame that some people keep perpetuating a fantastic version of history in which FDR got everything he wanted without compromise and was always progressive. A more accurate view of history would provide people with a better perspective of what Obama is doing.

I appreciate those who push Obama left today just as I appreciate those who pushed FDR left. I wish more of Obama's critics would do it with intellectual honesty and in a way that does something more constructive that spreading defeatist cynicism.

[Kahuna]

16. + 1

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[mmonk]

20. I was speaking of myself being interested and not being either.

I'm simply progressive or populist progressive. And as I look at the list, not everyone on that list fits your description and quite frankly, it doesn't matter. I'm pretty much up on history and Roosevelt as well. And Obama is no Roosevelt. When he says he welcomes their anger as Roosevelt did, I'll reassess. I miss the community feeling this place once had and disagreements weren't delivered in a condescending manner.

[Better Believe It]

21. So how are you pushing Obama left .... by attacking those who criticize his policies from the left?

How's that strategy working out for ya?

[Radical Activist]

22. I attack disingenuous arguments, logical fallacies and counterproductive strategy.

If I've attacked you before it certainly has nothing to do with you being left (if that's what you are).

Personally, I find it rather spineless when people to the left of the Democratic party adopt a red scare mentality by refusing to plainly say what their ideology is. What do you think about that? I don't have trouble admitting my philosophical alignment with the anti-authoritarian left. Where do you stand?

When I read the "About Roots Action" page I see many Green Party/netroots cliches denouncing Obama and Democrats generally. But, it doesn't tell me who the primary founder and organizer is. It doesn't tell me their source of funding. It doesn't tell me their plan for responding to the problems it identifies. It has the same vague quality as corporate astroturf campaigns. That should set off alarm bells no matter what your ideology is. They should tell people who they're fronting for if they're going to ask for donations.

[Better Believe It]

25. So you think those commie, pinko, professional leftist subversives are behind "Roots Action"?

Smoke em out!

Let's get to the bottom of this godless,comminist, terriorist, socialista conspiracy!

And let's defend freedom and the American way of life.

Way to go bro or sis!

[Radical Activist]

27. Nice dodge.

I'm skeptical about any astrotuf campaign that isn't open about who the funders and main organizers are. I apply the same skepticism to this group as any other. It's about logic and consistency. You would be wise to consider that because I've seen you be gullible about posting things at DU which turned out to be false, but you apparently believe anything that reaffirms your attitudes.

There's no red scare here. You're just avoiding having an honest discussion as I thought you would. Have fun playing martyr and battling the imaginary McCarthy voice in your head.

[Better Believe It]

28. So you think all progressive groups should reveal their financial contributors because .....

as you explained:

"I'm skeptical about any astrotuf campaign that isn't open about who the funders and main organizers are. I apply the same skepticism to this group as any other."

You know who the main organizers are of RootsAction.

They are published on the RootsAction website. A mighty fine list of progressives with a ton of credentials I might add.

You don't have a legitimate complaint on that matter.

You just want to see the names of all people who are making financial donations to RootsAction.

Their "failure" to publicly release a list of their "funders" appears to be the sole grounds for your "skepticism" about their "true" intentions and goals.

You also don't know the names of everyone who has contributed money to Democratic Underground.

So are you just as highly skeptical about the intents and purposes of Democratic Underground?

[Le Taz Hot]

17. Great site!

Signed up already. Thanks for the link.

[slipslidingaway]

19. kick nt

[Le Taz Hot]

23. I'm going to kick this again.

'Cause I can.

[calimary]

24. I will help.

:kick:

[Capn Sunshine]

26. Hey, fucking great

I can't wait for Roots Underground to open.
:puke: