All this Operation Hope and how people responding with all their ideas is really refreshing, inspiring, and also validating. For years I have felt like some sort of outcast for thinking that there are things that we can do to make a difference. It is great to know that there are quite a lot more like this out there.
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I’m all for Cenk throwing his non-MAGA hat into the ring, to replace all those weak Dems we currently have to choose from, which IMO are slim pickens, so Cenk already gets my vote 13 months in advance.
I need opinions on an idea for a proposed OPERATION HOPE PETITION.
I would love for the Republicans to nominate a STRONG candidate to be the RUNNING MAN in 2024 so ( just in case the GOP wins in 24’ ) we don’t get stuck with the Orange Menace/ sexual PREDATOR for another 4 years. And since Cenk has recently discovered some kind of legal loophole that would allow a naturalized U.S. citizen to run for President ( which is why Cenk could run as well ) I think I know of a particularly popular naturalized U.S. citizen who would be the DESTROYER of Donald Trump, in every way. That includes the financial MUSCLE to run a VERY STRONG campaign, past political successes, on the job experience, global appeal, millions more fans than Trump, a wildly successful track record on environmental causes, a funny, caring, & charismatic personality, a humble public servant, capable of securing the Conservative popular vote, securing the Republican nomination and probably several bi-partisan endorsements as well. This way, if we can’t get the rest of the country on board to avoiding the impending doom of the iceberg that is Donald Trump, and all the chaos he brings ( like a definite dictatorship,eventual thermo-nuclear war, and even the possible END OF DAYS )… at least we can rest easy knowing that ( much like in 2020 with the Biden option ) we have the lesser of 2 evils in the form a Republican general election candidate. Can anyone guess who I’m suggesting yet??
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Greetings comrades!
I’m not sure I know how this blog works. But anyway, the purpose of OPERATION HOPE is for progressives to gather here, share & expand on ideas about what we should be fighting for politically & plan steps to bring those ideas to life, yes?
My #1 goal is Medicare For All. I know Cenk is all about paid family leave, but that only helps people with children. M4A will help every single American because everyone needs medical care eventually. Universal single-payer healthcare will put millions of dollars back into the pockets of everyone who’s paying too much for private health insurance now.
I know M4A is an uphill battle politically. But hasn’t Bernie already done a lot of the groundwork on this? I’ve read the info on M4A at BernieSanders dot com, but it doesn’t have a specific action plan with the steps needed to get the legislation written. That’s above my pay grade, but I think we could get those details from someone on Bernie’s staff? Does anyone know how to go about asking for his white paper or whatever it’s called on M4A?
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I hear you, comrade.
You are right when saying that M4A affects a broader segment of population, but I am with Cenk on this one for the following reason:
We seem to be following Eric Liu’s guidelines for turning protest into Change (willingly or not, only Cenk can tell. I would bet he is as he must have already heard about Eric Liu).
Cenk with Operation Hope has Expanded the frame of the possible and Chosen a defining fight (Bring positive change to the real world — Or the 4th wall, you might say [see what I did there?]) and as he explained on today’s show(10/03/23) he has chosen Paid Family Leave as first battle on the grounds of likelihood to be victorious. He did this based on popularity of the proposal (84% was the stat cited).
Since the third guideline is Find an early win, I am with him on this one. An early win can bring hope for the ones not in the movement yet and increase the likelihood for the rest to come, including M4A.
This us agreeing on the first battle, but all of those are important and urgent.
How to turn protest into powerful change - Eric Liu - YouTube
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Hey fourthwall_dragon! Thanks for your reply. I can get on board with Paid Family Leave if that ends up being our 1st goal. An early win will definitely give Operation Hope liftoff. So what’s the strategy going to be?
Do we pressure the Squad to bring a bill to the House floor so all the Dems can be forced to publicly vote for or against it? (But with McCarthy gone, now who’s gong to decide which bills come to the floor for a vote?) I’m a firm believer in the power of publicly shaming politicians – we really don’t use that tactic enough. (The honest Dems should be calling out that crook Menendez on the house floor every week until he resigns!)
But shouldn’t we also organize public demonstrations to illustrate to Washington & the media the massive amount of public support there is for paid family leave?
The sticky wicket for me is that no matter how hard I search, I can’t suss out which specific companies/industries are paying off which politicians to fight against paid family leave. We need to know what CEOs to target on this issue. Any ideas?
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Some people (including me and @soulbornsin) have flown the idea of an app (that can be done by even one person – imagine if the two of us or any other can chip in working on this one) that will keep them shamed all the time if we get to make the tool part of the zeitgeist. It does this plus other goals that include: having a better informed public, and a more direct way for the public to perform as a watchdog for the ones in power.
Republicans were right for the wrong reason: America should be run as a business, but only in the sense that WeThePeople is the Boss and they are supposed to work for the public rather than giving everything to their donors. If this can get to people’s hands in a way that is easy to consume and make easy for the public to agree on giving the vote to those that do NOT work in favor of the public.
I will be linking those replies in a few.
I am keeping the quote short, as I don’t want this thread to be that long. But if you click on the little arrow on the right-upper corner, it will expand the context. By clicking on the title, it will lead you to the original post.
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Good evening,
I just finished watching today’s show, including the Ro Khana interview (super helpful, btw)! Operation Hope is exactly the outlet I’ve been looking for with the increasing sense of anger, helplessness, restlessness, and passion that I have for these issues. As I am not educated or employed in politics, I have had no idea how to start. I’ve thought about starting TikTok but can barely operate Instagram and Facebook (at least beyond scrolling, posting a picture, etc.). I’ve been plagued with this nagging feeling that I might have to run for public office at some point because I saw no other way out. But now I do! I’m so excited to partner with this community, and if someone wants to help me with the technical aspects of TikTok, I have lots of ideas!
Much love to Cenk, Ana, the TYT community for keeping me sane!
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Here to support Operation Hope and looking forward to this!
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Can’t think of one Republican I’d vote for, but curious who this is. Never know….
If this person is indeed more able to secure those idiots who would otherwise vote for DT, they’d, for me, have to also be like extremely progressive, and that sounds like the antithesis to the principles of conservatives (the very opposite of progressive); so likely this person is gonna galvanize the Republican base it seems, but that would be counterproductive simce it would rally all types of republicans (there are just a few, but a few nonetheless) which would give someone like Cenk or other hailmarry a harder time in clinching this thing (possibly giving Trump the win. No, I think I’ll stick with like anyone else (that’s somewhat progressive or even just a popular democrat). This, my man, is a pretty serious bag we’ve got here. Can’t play games (in terms of outcome, but games in campaigning are unfortunately unavoidable). I kinda have wanted Cenk to run for a long time. Dudes a powerhouse that will motherfucking get shit done and never lay down. That’s literally what we need (long as the person is also very progressive, which Cenk is).
Still, I’m curious tho I’m sure I’ll reject this person. Just cause something is novel or intriguing for SOME reasons, doesn’t always mean one should share it, cause tho progressives are pretty much always intelligent, their are all type that may read this, and it’s possible to accidentally galvanize competition to progressive values and given the dire dire nature of this, we can’t afford to even accidentally lose this thing; for just an interesting comment (if that’s what it is, cause of course I don’t know your mind, and don’t even know if you’re progressive or just “independent” which if you are kudos for joining the convo and know I mean you no disrespect, happy you’re on our side, presumably).
I like the idea of using humor as rhetorical and also soothing tool.
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I agree. And Cenk is gonna kill if he squeaks by for the win in 24, pretty much every non-asshole/fully ass-hole, will then for sure vote for him the next election, and Cenk doesn’t have it in him to take that for granted or become power hungry. That’s very important as well.
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I feel like there were many learning moments with Justice Democrats. What I learned from it was there are 4 major components to running a successful campaign and you need to have a plan for all 4 before you even run. They are:
- Name Recognition
- Grassroots support
- Money
- Be able to handle attacks from the establishment Democrats.
We need to envision what the perfect candidate is like and train potential candidates to be what we want them to be. They need to run the perfect campaign and embrace being hated by leadership when the get elected. I don’t know if we need to start a new group like Justice Democrats, but we need better screening so the people we support actually fight for us.
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True, but that will be more the perfect candidate/a time when politicians work for us; I have some good writing on that; but for now: Cenk has all four of your insightful requirements. Name recognition needs to be wider, but we can work on that.
Why someone is motivated is far more important than who is who is motivated 
If Cenk’s motivation was cash, he’d be a multimillionaire right now and that’s just a fact. Ivy league, NBC, dad knew presidents and yet, here we are…
Cenk chose a different path, but not an easier one:wink:
Always remember, every second of every day that nobody does anything without believing that they’re doing the “right” thing.
It makes it easier to see common ground topics with people who understand their reality differently.
The people we need to reach are marinated in propaganda 24/7 and humor can cut through without injury 
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You weren’t alone 
Being aware of the world, we all have a choice.
It’s for us to choose love or fear
Love is hope
Fear is dispair
Love is giving
Fear is grasping
Understanding where people are coming from can intelligently design our approach to bring conservatives into unity when they realize we want everyone to achieve their fullest potential, regardless of the circumstances of their birth or anything else.
We’re fueled by love, not fear
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I Love this idea…and yes you have brought hope to me and my family since We began watching your broadcast…thank you
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Ive been waiting for the progressives to organize. That is what we have been missing. As a person with adhd and executive functioning issues I see that. That being said i have mentioned before in chats that a large LARGE amount of progressive people are nuerodiverse. I suggest bringing in people that know the rights and clear wrongs when it comes to navigating and speaking to people on the spectrum. They are also the ones who sre targets of all the new laws going into effect. I dont just mean the LGBTQ+ community but as someone who sees patterns its obvious that alot of people who are neurodiverse are apart of that community. Not only that they are the ones along with minorities who lose when it comes to the public education system. But we are all so tired from fighting our own generational trauma and fighting for IEPs at schools that we cant fight or volunteer. Those resources for my kid take from another kid. How are schools not funded by need? Make the fight personal. Bring in teacher unions and social movements. Lets start a lawsuit if theres standing. I still have no idea why its not illegal, equal or racist for schools to be funded by federal,local and state and that is based on taxes and people voting for funding. I also have a fb group in colorado that i manage called real jobs colorado. I spread union information but im willing to be more annoying. It has about 18k people. People who are neurodiverse can be really really productive on things we hyperfocus on. We just need the help setting some of it up. Its an untapped social movement with a union or two. Ive done research on routes in colorado for marches but even here in colorado our governor Polis fights teacher unions. My kid is in 4th grade and he gets bullied for having long hair. This may not be florida but the sickness is spreading through the tvs.
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Hi b1on1c,
I agree heartily that it’s essential to be creative in drawing attention to our movement, to catch eyes and ears in a way that strikes those sensory nerves with enough charge to pull in hearts and minds. I think humor can be very powerful in that way. From my perspective as a songwriter, I have been moved by music that has inspired many a fight for justice. I’ve been writing a song that is at the same time catchy, humorous and hard hitting at corporate criminality as it is enabled by those in government and the judicial system who are handed the responsibility to create and enforce laws in a way that justly serves, to the best of their ability, the citizenry as a whole rather than just those who already possess obscene wealth and power and will never be satiated in the pursuit of ever more.
I’ll present my idea in a more general response, I think you’ll like the creative energy of it. Cheers.
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I love this @whatsupremacy. Please let me know how we can coordinate. I would like to collaborate with some add-ons to your idea:
I have written a 3 part visual essay to portray the overlapping on music and politics:
Part 1: “Don’t let the sun go down on me” by Elton John – sang By Archie Williams— How this song, although it apears to have a different meaning as it is enbodied by Archi’s unjust imprisonment (he spent 37 years for a crime he din’d commited and was later proven by DNA evidence).
This part can spark a discussion about the ACTUAL 2-tier justice system in America, and we can compare it to current claims of the 2-tier system being so injust to the priviledged, like trump.
-
Preach – By John Legend: A discussion on how effective can music and artist be when tryng to exert positive political change in the world. This can be used as seque for a REAL WORLD CALL TO ACTION. I will expand on a different topic of this forum (I will create that topic)
-
Let Her go – By Passenger: Can an Unpolitical song have a political interpretation? Yes, we may be risking of “letting go” democracy.
That is Work In Progress, but I can provide those deliverables in the same order and maybe a wrap-up video. The three essays have the following unifyng thread:
- A non-political song that by being embodied like Archie Williams DOES become political.
- An inherently political and how it can be overlooked and underestimated: by the public, y recommendation algorithms.
- How we can think of it as political if we think of “HER” = “Democracy” in “Let her go” and how this can still a sense of urgency and importance in the upcoming election.
George Lakoff does allude to this approach on an interview with Cenk as to point out the importance of our emotions on the decision-making process.
Please let me know if this is something we can add onto what you have in mind.
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To FouthWallDragon,
To get to the song idea that’s been tugging at my shirt like a child needing, demanding extraordinary attention, it’s this:
The song is called “Citizens’Arrest”. It’s based on an episode of the original Andy Griffith Show in which Gomer Pyle, still a pre-marine backwoods auto mechanic, gets a traffic ticket from Deputy Barney Fife for making an illegal U-turn. If you’re not familiar with it, I’d say it’s a little iconic and can be found as a separate 3 & 1/2 minute clip on YouTube.
Okay, so I had to cut a bunch because I got 5426 characters over the 3000 limit that I didn’t know about until I tried to send. Trying to salvage the most relevant parts but that may result in some seemingly shuffled puzzle pieces.
So I thought of a sort of demonstrative spectacle in which a sizeable group of “citizens” carries out an “arrest” of a corporation based on the sound rationale that if corporations do indeed have “personhood”, are they not supposed to bide by the same laws as the rest of us “persons”?
So of course the arrest would be symbolic and we would not be able to pick up the headquarters of Purdue Pharma or Exxon, et.al and haul ‘em off to the pokey, but if done cleverly with enough of a crowd to draw a crowd, maybe bigger media attention? That’s a long shot, but I can tell you that we have almost no shot without a catchy marching theme for us to sing to energize us and to get people we don’t know to hear us.
So on that notion I started to write lines about the scene with Barney and Gomer, the relevance to the fight we are now facing for the soul of no less than humanity, let alone democracy. And then the examples. The perpetual damn examples! Cenk said it when he was reading from his book on the air on Monday night. He was talking about payday lenders and he said “I didn’t go further into detail about how terrible they are, I mean, there’s already SO many examples . . . “ or something like that.
So what I have at present is a two alternating acoustic guitar chord “folk rap” of stinging lines that rhyme and dance and fly around and laugh that has evolved into an unwieldy 5 pages and I have not been able to decide how to edit it, or make it into separate “parts”, one for each corrupt industry, I don’t know. I wrestle every day with whether or how to go forward but twhen I listen to Cenk & Ana and Dr.Richey, they’re talking about JUST what this song is about and I want them to, whether or not it reaches a bigger audience, I want to share my work with this community. I want my favorite hosts to see how well I’m learning what they have taught me. The song reads like a book report on “Justice Is Coming” or a term project for the class they’re teaching.
If there is interest as you’ve expressed here 4WD, I’ll be duly motivated to bring it home to a manageable recorded form or you can just have fun with the whole damn mostrosity as it is for now.
In any case, THANK YOU and I do hope we can collaborate.