At 10:40 AM 12/4/2009, Joseph Catron wrote:
>On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 10:22 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
>Which is kind of interesting. They polled their members to get this result,
> > or so they say. They've also taken a more critical turn on health care. I'm
> > not sure these were the first instincts of the leadership. This has
> > potential.
> >
>
>I have a couple of friends on MoveOn's organizing staff who are actually
>pretty radical. While they may not reflect the staff as a whole, I think
>they're a bit closer than some of MoveOn's historic positions, or lack
>thereof, might lead the rest of us to believe. MoveOn's problem is that
>every "member" gets an equal vote on the organization's campaigns and
>policies, and the "membership" includes every yahoo in the country with an
>e-mail address. (Five million of them, actually, but you get the idea.)
>
>There's a recurring tendency on the left to blame the dismaying actions of
>organizations, from online communications services to labor unions, on staff
>and leadership. This is almost always wrong. These organizations have
>constituencies, and those constituencies reflect the perspectives and
>prejudices of the country as a whole. They also have democratic processes,
>with the same pitfulls as those of nation-states. Leftist valorizations
>aside, "[t]he People is a Great Beast!" in organizing as well as governance.
>
>--
>"Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen
>lytlað."
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