Sorry for the provacative title -- but if you are reading this it worked.  I'm struck by how much time and energy we expend here and on other websites chasing our tails and, well, essentially amusing ourselves.  
Yes, some fine efforts have been made here to solicit campaign contributions and volunteers. However, so much more energy has gone towards flame wars and picking apart who wrote what first to whom.

At the top of the front page today was a diary blasting the MSM for ignoring McCain's latest about-face, this time on Afghanistan.  Much space has gone towards disgust with the media over sexist remarks, coverage of frivolities and the MSM attempts to keep the race closer than it should be.  So I'm suggesting, instead of incessantly criping about things, we actually DO something about them.

As a Clinton supporter, Obama's experience as a community organizer was always in the background for me.  Now that he is my candidate, I get to be full out proud to see the first member of my profession elected president.
Outside of political, progressive and union circles, almost no one knows what an organizer does, or even that the profession exists.  It's not a job category as far as the government is concerned; your guidance counsellor won't mention it as a possible career for you; there are no degrees or even more than a handful of college courses in "organizing".  Most  folks think being an organizer has something to do with arranging closets.

Even within the progressive community, and among mediocre organizers themselves, there's precious little understanding of true organizing skills.  If folks did understand the work and skills of a great organizer they'd be heartened to know we are about to elect our first.  And make no mistake, Obama is clearly a great organizer.

Cross posted from www.21stDems.org/blog

The 2008 election presents an incredible opportunity for Democrats to take control of our government and build the foundation for a long lasting progressive movement in our country. But to win in November, we will have to contend with a desperate Republican Party that has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to divide and deceive the American people for their own partisan gain. To cut through all of the GOP propaganda, Faux News misinformation campaigns and right-wing radio hate speech Democrats are going to have to get out and talk face-to-face with voters about our vision for America and how we will put this country back on track.

At 21st Century Democrats, we are working hard to play our role in the progressive infrastructure. We train activists in the art of field organizing and then put them on campaigns all across the country so they can go out and talk to voters about our candidates and our vision for the future. On June 4-8, we will hold our National Field Organizer Training: Major League Action at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Over four days of intensive training, we will transform up to 200 activists into prepared field organizers that can be dropped anywhere in the country and start making a difference right away.

You can learn more about our MLA training here.
Or, if you're all ready to go and would like to reserve a spot in the training you can register here!

Our organization seeks to build a more progressive America not only by electing more progressive Democrats, but also by building human capital within the progressive community. Training a young person to be a field organizer helps us not only in the current cycle, but gives that person a skill that will be valuable in every election. Thankfully, there are a lot of great groups like The Center for Progressive Leadership, Democracy For America, The New Organizing Institute, Wellstone Action! and many others that train progressive activists, organizers and candidates.

If you want to get more involved with the election this year and build some organizing skills for the future, please consider attending our Major League Action Training and/or one of the other great trainings put on by our progressive allies. Or, if you can't make it and would like to help pay the travel expenses and registration fees for a dedicated young progressive to attend our training you can donate to our Field Organizer Fund. The better we are at finding and talking to our neighbors about the issues that are important to them, the more successful we will be in November and the more likely we are to build a true progressive movement in this country.

Mark Lotwis is the Executive Director of 21st Century Democrats.

Cross posted from Future Majority.

Looking to get involved in progressive youth organizing?  

I got a lot of emails from folks looking for job candidates, pimping conferences, and scouring or interns.  It seemed to make sense for me to put out a call and compile as much as I could into on place.  So here's a fairly comprehensive listing of all the jobs, internships, and conferences that can help you do it.

I hope folks find this valuable.  Also, I'm pretty appalled that there is no central repository for stuff like this.  There are places to go, sure - NOI's job boards, Idealist.org, Democratic GAIN, etc.  but all of those seem somewhat incomplete and are hard to navigate.  Building a real "youth movement job board" isn't at all a bad idea and it could probably be done super cheap if it was all done wiki style.

From the diaries, this is an extremely exciting and important campaign - Todd

As defenders of the U.S. Constitution, we can't remain silent these days and hope for the best. Join the ACLU-SC this Monday 9/17 from 4-5pm PST on an important conference call.

People like us are alarmed and angry about the way our elected officials have dismantled so many American freedoms. We have been stunned not only by the willful intent by this administration to undermine civil liberties but the fear and complicity shown by our Congress in failing to stand up for our Constitutional values.

We've had enough.

More...

The most interesting information to come out of the second quarter reports is that Obama is on the verge of building a massive organization --- with a much lower burn rate than any of his competitors and with a much more sustainable fundraising apparatus than any of his competitors.  In other words, Obama's campaign has been quietly and steadily working to set up an organization that might surpass any we've seen in primary politics.
Why?  Follow me after the jump...

Anti Gangster Rap Music Billboards Planned Nationally. Had enough of the Negative Rap Music! There is more. Check out how true leadership happens locally. Newspaper and community stakeholders in Rochester, NY leading by example. Hat tip: Democrat and Chronicle.com Leaders in Rochester, N.Y are taking action against negative rap music. They have been waging a campaign against the violence and misogyny in gangsta rap for more than two years now.For the third straight year, the Democrat and Chronicle Editorial Board is continuing its campaign to rescue hip-hop from its gangsta rap hijackers. James F. Lawrence Editor, Editorial Page, at the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in Rochester, N.Y. says; "Let's be clear: We're not against hip hop, the uniquely urban America musical genre that has gained worldwide popularity. We deplore the way that entertainment executives have thrust gangsta rap and its vileness on pop culture and impressionable young. More at: http://www.africanamericanopinion.com/20 07/06/25/gangsta-rap-and-anti-gangsta-ra p-organizing/

This is cross-posted at Future Majority where Mike Connery asked me to help fill in for him - but I'm bringing it here too since so much of this issue was discussed on this site.

It took me a while to pick up on this whole Facebook business, but when I finally did... WOO what a blast!  While it lasted anyway.

See, not so long after I logged on for the first time, Facebook shut down my account.
But I don't hold it against them. I wasn't playing by their rules -- it's fair, and it's square.  
So I got some explaining to do.

Now, I was virtually dragged into Facebook--and when I finally joined it, it wasn't just to post silly pictures and update my status. I joined to organize.

I was organizing a group of people who have been institutionally exploited for years, but who have not previously had any viable way to speak up for themselves. This group is comprised of young, progressive activists--fellow veterans of the Fund for Public Interest Research, Public Interest Research Groups, and Grassroots Campaigns Incorporated.