Facebook Annoyances
Dec. 15th, 2016 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahwyguy
This is a rant that has been brewing for a couple of weeks, about some real annoyances, in the political realm, that I’ve been seeing on Facebook. And — before you go there — this isn’t necessarily about specific people.
Annoyance The First: Petitions
How often do you see posts shared along the lines of “Prosecute Trump for Some Egregious Activity — Sign the Petition”? I see them all the time. Well, I have news for people: Petitions — especially online petitions — are meaningless. Although many believe we have a democracy, we don’t. If we did, Hillary would be President, as just like Al Gore before her. We have a representative government. Further, at the Federal level, there are no initiatives, no petitions, nothing that can force the government to do anything. So stop it with the petitions already. They are a waste of effort, and not worth the paper they aren’t printed on.
Do you want to use your voice to effect change with the incoming government. Write a letter. Make a phone call. In particular, if you have a Republican representative, write (you know, with that thing called a pen) or call and let them know they need to push back against the more egregious behavior of the incoming President. There’s no problem with Republican appointments, but they should be the best and brightest Republicans, not Republicans loaded with conflicts of interest working against the interests of the majority of the people. Remind them of the upcoming elections in two years, and let them know that if Trump damages America, they will be blamed for not doing the constitutional job of Congress.
Annoyance the Second: “Bet They Didn’t Expect This”
I’m tired of seeing news articles citing some exaggerated story, and then going “bet they didn’t expect this.” Guess what. They don’t care. They are going to do whatever they think they need to do to get ahead, and the thing they didn’t expect — well, it probably won’t happen.
Don’t waste your time spreading sensationalized news and getting your hopes up. Things are not going to be suddenly overturned, electors are not going to meet and elect Hillary. This mess — which we created through flawed candidates, flawed campaigning, and false hope — isn’t going to be fixed easily. We’re going to be in for a very bumpy ride.
So what do you do about it? See what I said above. Write letters and call your congress and senate critters to insist they hold Trump to the same standards they insisted for Obama and Clinton. No conflicts of interest. No illegal activities. No skirting the law. No appointing unqualified people or shills for a particular position. Our standards should not change because we have a reality TV star as President. Insist that Congress do their job: ensuring the President governs for all the people and not himself, and that he is a shining example of how to do things right, not how to get away with wrong. Do this by sitting down with pen and paper, and especially write to Republican leadership. Emails and online petitions are meaningless.
This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently 
(no subject)
Date: 2016-12-16 09:00 am (UTC)But I'm almost not that self-conscious. Almost.
So, since you might as well have written it for me, some questions:
How is writing letters better? Instead of 5 million signatures we have 5 million letters, right? Which go to who - the secretary of the Congress critter, or say, elector in question, right? They do have secretaries, I'd think?
Should they clear extra rooms in their offices to hold these letters? Will 5 million people write a letter instead of signing an online petition? Should they? Will the Congress critter, or say, elector, ever read any of them or just leave them for the secretary to file or toss? Are there laws which govern what happens to our letters?
Will 5 million people write to all the Congress critters, or say, electors, individually when an online petition can rather neatly target them all at once and save everyone, letter receivers included, a lot of time and trouble?
If I was to write to the electors, for example, do you know how many there are? Hundreds of electors. Hundreds of letters to write, put individual names on, envelop, stamp and mail.
You're serious, I presume. I mean, I am, too. What is the point of having the Internet if it can't save us time, trouble, money, and paper?
(no subject)
Date: 2016-12-16 01:02 pm (UTC)I'm also not saying to write to electors. It is highly unlikely you'll have any effect there. Writing to your congresscritters and senators has much more of an impact.
They give me the Internet, but then I can't use it to do anything right...
Date: 2016-12-16 03:32 pm (UTC)Which was my point. I could write a hand-written letter; if I have multiple congresscritters to address, I'll have to leave the name field blank on the first one to address each one individually, run off copies, fill in names, stuff into envelopes, add postage to each, mail them, wait for someone to read or toss...and does anyone read them? I still don't know. The cost, time and trouble, all for something a secretary probably either handles from start to finish or eventually passes on to congresscritter, is exorbitant.
How does something being cheaper, easier, faster, more cost-effective and less wasteful of earth's resources somehow make it worse, or not as sincere?
nor is there any any proof that multiple entries weren't done by the same person
This I absolutely agree with; in fact it's my only problem with the online version of writing to anyone.
Re: They give me the Internet, but then I can't use it to do anything right...
Date: 2016-12-16 04:03 pm (UTC)If your letter is part of a letter-writing campaign, a handwritten letter gives the appearance of a grassroots "ordinary citizen" communication, rather than a communication from a "special interest group."
From: http://citizensclimatelobby.org/writing-letters-to-editors-and-congress/
Creating political will requires citizens and constituents to speak out and let their voice be heard. In the absence of a face-to-face meeting, the best way to communicate your message is with letters to editors or Congress itself.
Congressional aides and staffers tell us, that, when possible, you should always send personal handwritten letters to Congress, not a form letter or petition.
From: https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/handwritten-letters-still-most-effective-persuasion
Most Americans now use e-mail or other quick ways of getting in touch with businesses and friends. Urging members of Congress to end hunger is one of the few occasions all year when Bread for the World members and other people of faith actually write and mail a letter.
Are handwritten letters still one of the best ways to reach your representative and senators? Bread activists and congressional staff who speak from experience confirm that next to face-to-face meetings, letters from constituents of the member of Congress are incredibly effective.
Why? The answer is largely “quality versus quantity.” It’s easy to send thousands of copies of a single e-mail or letter to a congressional office. When it comes to gauging constituent opinion, staff members simply give less weight to communications that are or could be mass-produced.
From: http://www.uua.org/action/advocacytips/26888.shtml
Writing letters in your own words is probably the most efficient and effective way to influence members of Congress.
They need to hear from you! They depend on you to educate them about what is happening in their district and what legislation is most important to their constituents. Writing a letter and making a follow-up phone call only takes a few minutes of your time, but it ensures that your representatives know how you want to be represented. A staff person reads every letter and many are also read by the Member. Since congressional offices receive only a handful of letters on most issues, each letter carries real power.
***
Those are just from a simple web search. Petitions and emails are not effective. Personal communication is.
Re: They give me the Internet, but then I can't use it to do anything right...
Date: 2016-12-16 05:05 pm (UTC)I can understand spam isn't usually snail-mailed, that form letters are like, boring, that petitions can be rigged - but outside of that, I don't see a problem with the last, so much. Anyone can start a petition, sure, but that's also the beauty of it - anyone can.
But let's assume most congresscritters have no respect for just anyone, so let's say a well-known, respected, even fairly powerful organization starts a petition. Say it gets millions of signers. Is that not going to impress any of the congresscritters, in and of itself? If we could be sure the petition couldn't be rigged, then? Better?
For the sake of self-edification, I was googling in-between replies and came across this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/contacting-your-congressional-representative_us_582a0965e4b060adb56f8e95
Which basically says phone calls are actually best, and explains why from someone on the inside. Kind of interesting. I don't like calling or writing anyone except for sometimes online, so I guess that's where I kind of got hung up on all this. Thanks for the links!
Re: They give me the Internet, but then I can't use it to do anything right...
Date: 2016-12-16 05:38 pm (UTC)Further, there is the notion out there that if you get enough signatures on a petition, they have to listen to you. No, they don't. This country is not run be petition, which was my first point. Some states permit initiatives by petition, but at the Federal level, they have no meaning. Overwealming a district office with paper -- that gets attention. Pointing out that their reelection might be in jeopardy -- that gets attention.