Some sound advice for progressives

Hillary Rosen has some sound advice for progressives in her article in The Huffington Post:

"What Noise Do We Want People to Hear?

Do people realize that the Department of Defense Authorization bill is on the Senate floor today and that it authorizes $50 BILLION more for Iraq?

Probably not, because the blogosphere and the media are consumed with two stories.

Many have said it this week -- the Rove, Libby, Plame story is just the most prominent example of how this White House repeatedly lies to gain and maintain power. This Administration has a shameful record of distortions and untruths from virtually every agency. They have done it on policy issues from the environment to the economy, from health care to education to civil rights and AIDS.

I am so confident that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald has the goods on both Karl Rove and Scooter Libby that I can’t help but look beyond the day when those two resign. What will progressives talk about? What will happen to the outrage when the system finally works?
What about an alternative conspiracy theory? That Rumsfeld couldn't be happier that people are talking about Rove so he can get his bill past the Senate floor without a fight on troops, strategy, prisoners, allies, London, terrorism or anything else.

The Supreme Court is still worth fighting over. Democrats must not let John Roberts off the hook. We have every indication that he will vote to roll back significant constitutional interpretations of privacy and civil rights. And I don’t buy that it is a done deal and the media is moving on. If there is a real fight -- and there should be -- they will cover it.
But there are only eight Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. That leaves 36 Senators to talk about something else. Not to mention the House Democrats. And the progressive blogosphere which has certainly demonstrated its tremendous capacity to fight back and to break a story.

Senator Dick Durbin has it right. He convened a meeting this week with members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to remind them that Democrats must have a positive agenda to put forth to the American people. Now they need to get to it. And that agenda must respond in a very tangible way to the issues about which people are losing their faith in the President.

-The war and national security. How would the Democrats do it differently if we were in charge?

Where is our alternative DOD bill? What else needs to be done to make us safer at home? (Arianna deserves credit for being the most persistent blogger about the war).

-Stem cell research. The country is with us and last summer they understood for a moment that the President wasn’t. Bring it back.

-The deficit and responsible economic policy. Pension policy and jobs are what people care about, not tax cuts.

-Healthcare. Costs are up and coverage is down and the White House is doing nothing.

-Values. The public doesn’t like the right wing take over of the government. Remember Schiavo?

The progressive blogosphere is at full tilt right now on Rove... and some on the Supreme Court. But I already sense that waning.

Will the same passion for communication exist when when the subject is about moving the country forward?? Do people even feel the same responsibility to promote a positive progressive agenda the way they do the White House crimes? Bloggers are so critical of the mainstream media often deriding its supposed inability to handle more than one or two stories at a time. Isn't that what is happening right now in the blogosphere?

If our goal is to win, we have to put some points on the board. "