techPresident - MoveOn - Comments

I don't understand the

rabq — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:23:06 -0500

I don't understand the essence of the problem here.

Devon
JibJab Member

The story title, as posted made a strong claim...

Troutfishing — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:23:43 -0500

If you follow one of the two links I've provided you can access dozens of mainstream media stories covering the effect of my viral video, which give my website attribution.

You also can follow my other link, to the techPresident story which Micah Sifry chose to repost here, on the making of my viral video.

Here is a link to the video in question. It shifted, quite demonstrably, the 2008 election.

Recognition of my viral video has been slim, and I am not a funded organization but, rather, an unfunded individual who worked alone. Moveon is quite capable of promoting its own work but I am the only person who will bother much to tout my own accomplishment.

Moveon does great work but your comment om what is "appropriate" here disturbs me. Do facts matter ? If Moveon claimed it had turned the moon to cheese, would my comment also be inappropriate ? Moveon's video is wonderful, yes.

I'm not at all interested in denigrating the work of Moveon but by the same token I'll ask you this; which matters here - facts, or institutional prerogative ?

Best,
Bruce Wilson

Troutfishing

Inamerica — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:36:37 -0500

It seems to me that it might have been more appropriate if your primary comments had been on the story as written, rather than seeing this mostly as an opportunity for unverifiable self-promotion.

MoveOn achieved something quite magical, and it seems like a good place to discuss, acknowledge and praise them for their work (behind your first sentence).

Perhaps I would feel differently if I'd seen or heard of the video you made.

I actually may have made the biggest "viral" political video

Troutfishing — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:08:35 -0500

Moveon's video was brilliantly funny (and just brilliant as well). But I may have made the most successful 'viral' political video ever given that my video with an audio clip of John McCain endorser John Hagee was broadcast around the world.

Micah Sifry posted my story on the origin of the video here on Techpresident and although fairly few of the media outlets that covered the ruckus that ensued after my Hagee / "God Sent Hitler" video was broadcast on all the major TV networks, then internationally, mentioned my name quite a number did mention my website (as the origin of the video) because I'd put the site URL at the end of the three minute and forty second video. Wolf Blitzer specifically credited Talk To Action.

I'm certain that tens of millions of Americans saw my video, or portions of it, on TV but it was shown also by numerous international broadcast networks and I just gave up trying to track its migration but it did show up on Iranian state run TV.
Its possible that globally a hundred million or more were exposed to the audio clip, of Hagee's anti-Semitic declaration, that I put on the video.

One of the interesting, unexpected and serendipitous aspects of the affair was that I put very carefully paced scrolling text, accompanying the 2 and 1/2 minute Hagee sermon clip, in the video. Many TV stations found that convenient and just ran the section of my video unchanged. I hadn't added any editorial commentary whatsoever to the video, so it was safe for them to do that.

Unfortunately, I mis-dated the sermon Hagee's statement was derived from, placing the date of the sermon in the late 1990's and countless media outlets repeated the date without checking. Hagee himself propagated the mis-dating, claiming he had been called out for something he'd said a decade, or even decades ago.

Actually, Hagee's ministry website was in 2008 selling a DVD of the "God Sent Hitler" sermon, which was in fact from late 2005

I had material, concerning Sarah Palin's religious tendency, that in its own way was probably more scandalous. But, media didn't seem so interested as with Hagee.

Something that doesn't appear in Daou's list ...

JonPincus — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:48:33 -0400

Daou writes:

In the final days of the campaign, the netroots, whose ranks (and influence) have swelled since 2004, will redouble their efforts, working around the clock to elect Obama and expand the Democratic majority in Congress. They will attack McCain and Palin, fact-check the press and help lift Democrats to victory in races across the country. In their role as a central conduit of political information and opinion, they will calibrate, amplify, and disseminate the messages and themes that shape people's beliefs and bolster their convictions, providing the impetus for organizing, fundraising and GOTV.

It would be great if the netroots also found time to help fight voter suppression. If not, and the warnings that this is likely to have a major impact on the race, it might well be that failure that gets documented and remembered.

The MoveOn video is great. It'd be even better if it had "know your rights" information in there so that people who want to vote are able to.

jon -- http://talesfromthe.net/jon

[Subject] StateDemocracy.org Equips You for the 2008 Election

timothy moriarty — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:37:27 -0400

Dear Citizen:
Are you ready yet for the November 4th Elections? How about your friends, family, and neighbors?
More Americans are expected to vote this year than ever before in history, so don’t be left out! Be sure to ask everyone you know the following questions:
 Are you registered to vote? If you moved recently, have you updated your voter registration?
 Did you apply for an Absentee Ballot? Do you know your state may not require any reason?
 Can you find your local Polling Place? Do you know it may have changed from last time?
The answers to these questions -- and all your voting needs -- can be found at www.StateDemocracy.org -- the FREE 1-Stop citizen empowerment portal that Delivers Democracy to your Desktop! StateDemocracy is among the Internet’s first (since 2001) and most encompassing civic empowerment tools.
In order to boost voter participation this year, StateDemocracy.org is offering FREE widgets for all 50 states. You can simply download and embed these widgets into your own website so your visitors can register to vote, get an absentee ballot or find their local polling place.
Lobby Congress Via StateDemocracy
StateDemocracy.org also equips you to maintain an active dialog with your state and federal lawmakers once they are elected. And RIGHT NOW is an especially opportune time to contact your U.S. Senators and House Member, as Congress takes up major legislation on such issues as offshore oil drilling, another economic stimulus package and all federal appropriations bills over the next few weeks.
As you lobby your elected officials, remember that lawmakers view your constituent input as reflective of scores of other citizens who felt similarly, but didn’t have (or take) the time to share their opinions.
LobbyDelegates.com Further Empowered Grassroots Voices
Over the past 5 months, you may have visited www.LobbyDelegates.com, along with 26,000 other visitors. This latest public interest portal by the StateDemocracy Foundation remained the only online tool enabling rank-and-file Democrats to lobby all 800+ Super Delegates on which candidate to back for the party’s Presidential nomination.
StateDemocracy Foundation Website Users Unite!
Many of you have used our StateDemocracy.org and LobbyDelegates.com tools in recent times, and have hopefully found your experience uplifting and empowering. I encourage all of you to help spread the news about StateDemocracy.org to enable more of our fellow citizens to Connect! Engage! And Empower!
Sincerely,
Ken Laureys, Executive Director
StateDemocracy Foundation
Ken.Laureys@StateDemocracy.org

P.S. If you are interested in becoming more involved in our StateDemocracy Foundation -- including volunteering as an Advisory Board Member -- please contact me

Guilty as charged! It just

joelb28 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:41:03 -0400

Guilty as charged! It just struck me as a condescending set of interviews, more akin to "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" than serious journalism.

But I guess this is how mainstream media shows it's still relevant in the age of Stewart and Colbert. The follow-up to Heavy Metal Parking Lot, by the way, was called "Neil Diamond Parking Lot." I expect to see Hockenberry reporting from outside a Whole Foods store later this summer.

I happen to live in PA but have friends in DC who have expressed an interest in Cabela's. Some urbanites, apparently, like to hunt, fish and/or go outside.

Ignorance

Joshua Levy — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:04:00 -0400

Clearly, I don't live in PA, so my bad about the "randomness" of the Cabela's. But while it's possible that these could be suburban Philly-ites or folks from inside the Beltway (really?), they're still shopping at a hunting/fishing/outdoor goods store.

"random" cabela's?

joelb28 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:07:40 -0400

I don't mean to nitpick but there's only one Cabela's store in all of PA, so it isn't exactly random. Meanwhile, none of the people interviewed give a hometown, so they may not even be rural Pennsylvanians, given the distance people usually travel to get to a Cabela's. They could be from suburban Philly -- or, god help us, from inside the Beltway.

MySpace and NBC?

bhschenker — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:26:46 -0400

Have to say I'm a little confused as to why MySpace would team up with NBC when it's owned by NewsCorp. To me this is a lost opportunity to expand the Fox News brand online and bring some sort of corporate online synergy (cue scenes from In Good Company). I'd think it'd be a good idea to push the Fox brand to the MySpace audience and attempt to shrug off the negative perception it has by some.

Brett Schenker
5B Consulting

Obama Pizza Rap feat. Obama Girl!!

Crunchy — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:07:23 -0500

EVERYONE’s got a crush on Obama… presenting the brand new Obama Pizza Rap featuring Obama Girl:

http://digitalfuntown.squarespace.com/dft-blog/2008/2/4/obama-pizza-rap-...

Excuse me, he's a good

Matt Kent — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:35:37 -0500

Excuse me, he's a good target for assassination?

Feeling sorry for Obama supporters.....

Freedomfighter — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:40:33 -0500

Been there, done that. That is what I want to say to Obama supporters but they just do not get it. Obama is a grand speaker but that is also the skill which gives him the ability to lie and over promise. When it comes to actually delivering what he has advocated, he will throw many of his supporters "under the bus", and will do what most Democrats do: change your positions constantly to please everyone to maintain a grip on power. If not, the Democrats fall on their face.

Think of the last two Democratic Presidents who had a Democratic Congress and Senate. Johnson had Vietnam and poverty. Carter had the hostage crisis and double digit inflation. Horrible presidents indeed. Makes you wonder what Obama will do with Democrats in charge of the House and Senate.

Sorry, but when he is compared to John F. Kennedy, I fail to see the comparison, unless they are suggesting Obama is a good target for assasination.

The emo movement

Freedomfighter — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:38:50 -0500

I wonder when people are going to wake up to the unethical tactics used by Moveon. They are a movement of angst and anger. They are emo. My first exposure to Moveon was from a guy who sold magnets claiming the magnets could cure most illnesses! I also doubt the claim of 3.2 members. Oh, I am certain they have about that many email addresses, but how many contacts are duplicated and are outdated but still part of the count? However, Moveon can not be underestimated. They have easy access to the media and are skilled at exploiting an issue to get the greatest emotional impact out of it. You can only carry out such tactics against people for only so long before they figure out your scam. However, more experienced people are going to be turned off by their questionable tactics. Others, such as myself, find their choice of issues to be uncompelling and unworthy of attention.

I ought to mention that Mike

thegreathal — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:31:31 -0500

I ought to mention that Mike Gravel is sorely missing from this poll, although MoveOn did poll for him before.