However, John's is the site I read daily, compulsively, and I do any damn action he suggests. And maybe, it's because he not only explains why and how we should act, he does it in such an entertaining and specific way.

Too often, the political blogs I love, may, after a page an a half of analysis, much of which are over my head, blandly advise at the bottom, "Contact your representative."

When I first began reading political blogs, my thought was, "How the heck do I do that? And what would I say, in short?"

John provides the email address/phone number, mailing address, of the miscreant or politico in question, and wittily-worded ways to sum up the argument in question.

John is entertaining, and he front pages his actions, makes 'em both easy and fun to apply. If he has a secret, it's his ability to sum up a situation, and figure out a particular and pointed action his readers can easily act on.

That is why I read his blog and join in the call to action.

However, it is also in the self-interest of each and every one of us, who is today, or might be tomorrow, in a minority group.  The institutionalized dominance of WASP males is waning; in its wake, we have people of every color and stripe taking their place, based on merit, and not based on race, gender, etc.  Who knows how today's majority, will be treated in the future by a new majority?

This is not only true of gay/straight, white/black, male/female, etc., it is true of political viewpoint as well.  Democrats were in the majority for 40+ years, and now are in the minority status that Repubs had during those years.  

It is true that Democrats did not abuse the GOP the way the GOP is now abusing us.  However, it is just as true that, even if the pendulum swings our way next year and in 2008, it may swing against us again, in another few years.  

Liberal voices should be heard in times of conservative leadership, and conservative voices should be heard in times of liberal leadership.

Going back to the current attacks on gay Americans...... didn't Adolf Hitler go after the gay people in Germany, before he launched his genocide against the Jews and the Gypsies?  

We should stand up for, and stand with our gay friends and neighbors.  The skins we save, may be our own.

When you are at the office, there is only so much time and John structures the action plans, seemingly, with this in mind.

thats a formula more blogs including this one should adopt

Daily Kos has set the polestar benchmark for community participation. How did Markos do it and what can we learn from him?

I think it is a combination of factors and perhaps a touch of sernedipity. Why do some businesses succeed and why do others fail? There are enough books written on that subject to fill an entire wing in a very large library.

One way of doing any task better is innovation. Do something that is already a popular and effective idea, only better.

Another good question is how does a popular website hang on to their success? Again, innovation. Josh Marshall spun off TPM Cafe to try and emulate the success of Scoop blogs in forming a vibrant community. For my money, the level of comments is generally still pretty weak, but Josh had a good idea and implemented it.

A good rule for improving on your success is constant refinement and improvement. The longest journey begins with a single step. Get and idea and put it in to practice.

Once you get your idea working look for ways to do it better. Try your new idea out and put it into practice.

Rinse and repeat. That is the key to success in any endeavor.

I saw this broken down into a formula. I believe it is from

Acclerating technology improvements is typical of the type of meaningless advice that sounds impressive, but does not provide practical guides to improvement.

One approach that has been effective is referred to as skunkworks engineering.

Tom Peters wrote an outstanding book that examines what successful companies are doing, In Search of Excellence.

I would highly recommend any book by Tom Peters. I believe he calls his theory of redesigning your company Re-imagining what you would have done then if you knew what you know now and doing it that way.

One problem many companies have with technology is what has been called "paving the cowpaths." Companies will attempt to buy new technology and lay it over their old business model like a fresh coat of paint. The problem is that they end up with a Ferrari engine that is reliant on a Model A drive train and transmission. The parts don't work well together. The company may end up worse than before their "innovation" if they do not focus on re-trainging their employees, who will tend to resist the new system.

If you have an idea you want to try out, the most important thing to do is try it out. The formula has been written down as Do it. Try it. Fix it. The "do it" part includes implementing a new idea. After you "Do it. Try it. Fix it." You "rinse and repeat" over and over and over.  

No focus grouping or anything... he comes across a situation, such as the recent one with Ford, immediately states the issues, and in effect lets us (and them) know... "We're going to drop a ton of bricks on top of them, and we're going to have fun doing it. Here's how".

And each day there is a new thing... a new aspect of the original outrage, more reporting, and of course more fun to be had by emailing, telephoning, asking others not to buy products, getting in touch with the media and whatever other steps should be taken. Sometimes it looks like a big free for all, and indeed it seems some things are done on the fly, as information comes in, but they are always very well run, very well organized campaigns, that people are drawn to not only because it's the right thing to do, but because he makes the whole thing just so fun.

I think that there is a clear example here of what a determined and fierce advocacy can accomplish.  Of course, corporate targets convinced of a large market impact are more vulnerable than wingnuts, but this also shows that the ferocious right wing activism of the past is meeting its match -- FINALLY!

However, note that even wingnuts are vulnerable.  The repubs have not exactly been crusing on a lot of their signature initiatives lately in the house and senate.  

The key thing is to take a goddam stand, and John A. is a leader in showing us how to do that.