Taking on the System

I just ordered mine online!

and that you have given a great contextual review, Al. I am excited to read it and to share it with others.

Onward to Denver and to the grassroots all over the place!

 Love the endorsement of this book! Thank you, Al!  Looking forward to reading every word of it.

 Only three..count em, three comments in many hours on this subject. I am a more than a little disappointed in our fieldhands 'bout now.

Christi, I'm glad to have read the review, but there's not much to say since I haven't seen the book...

Maybe they're all lining up at Borders to buy their copy?

Really, I read Al's review and have no comments.  Maybe we should launch a Fieldhands Forum to continue the conversation about the book once we've read it?

Ill be heading to House of Shields tomorrow night for the Netroots party. Should be fun. That is, if I don't have to work.

If any of you Bay Area Field Hands are around, here is the info from DKos:

Netroots Nation San Francisco
Join us to celebrate the release of Markos Moulitsas' new book: Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 7–9 P.M.
HOUSE OF SHIELDS
39 NEW MONTGOMERY STREET
SAN FRANCISCO

Liberal eats+drinks. Stimulating conversation. Progressive camaraderie.

TICKETS
$40 general, $125 host committee*
RSVP at nnsf08.eventbrite.com

That review ought to put the book on the NYT Bestseller List in no time. But I wanna see Deb Kozikowski's Amazon order.

Kos has quoted you promoting his book on dailykos this am.  I will be stopping by the local book store to pick up a copy, so I can start reading it while traveling to Denver!

While we're all cheering Al, for all his great work, let's remind readers who aren't yet co-publishers, that The Field needs financial support, adding more servers so we'll all be able to read the Field Hands reporting from Denver!

Please click on that Make A Donation button.  Imagine how terrible we'll all feel if we can't log on to The Field from Denver!!!

AAUUGHGHHHHHH......too terrible to imagine.

Thanks for posting this review.  I am recommending this book to friends. 

 Thank You Suzy, I donated a little more yesterday. Readers, Please throw some $$ toward upgrading the servers to keep "The Field" plowing smoothly. If you contribute you can have a co-publisher account at NarcoNews. I have been a co-publisher for 8 weeks and 6 days. Hooorah for me!

I love the pre-order book system.  Can't wait.

Thanks Al.

Markos book is not arriving today after all. It's not like the Harry Potter release!  But I noticed that it's pretty high up in the sales ranking.  Maybe Markos can knock off that creepy book of lies about Senator Obama!  Amazon says 'in stock August 31' so they must have sold out their initial delivery.  Good job Kos.  Deb

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #767 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Books > Nonfiction > Government > Elections
#3 in Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Ideologies > Radical Thought

you'll remember a while back that Markos made a bit of a splash by annoucing that he had decided to hold off maxing out to Obama in response to FISA.  i love Markos (he & Barack got me in the game!) but i was one who came out pretty vocally and strongly against his choice.  among other things, given the reach and power of his pulpit (and the fact that the story was then picked up by other media pushing the "base turns on Obama" meme), i angrily noted that his claim that he (paraphrasing) "wasn't telling other people they should do the same", was at best, incredibly naive and at worse, pretty disingenuous.

cut to today, when i was about to order my copy of the book, when i suddenly realized: honestly, i don't feel that excited about supporting Markos financially until he's willing to fully (and publically) support Obama financially as he had initially planned, before he threw what i frankly see as a dangerously short-sighted temper tantrum. i've looked, but i haven't found any posts saying he's changed his mind. that doesn't mean i haven't just missed it, so if so, hooray for Kos and this is all moot.

if not, my question is, is this inclination on my part, for lack of a better word, gross? or am i just "taking on the system" as Markos suggests?!

i'd really love your perspective; i don't want to inadvertently (or pointlessly) just be an asshat, but i really felt strongly about the choice Markos made, and so maybe this could be my small way of expressing dissent. (though of course since i read The Field, i know not to expect my 'pressure' to work any better on 'Kos' than his did on Obama, but still...)

thanks, Al!

BUT...I think we need some squads to go over the Kos to either do suicide interventions, chickenlittle bootcamps, and/or McCain Spam Point patrols.  It's getting pathetic over there.  The signal to noise ratio is seriously out of whack.

Now, to tie it in to the present topic:  Taking on the System is not for the weak and/or faint-hearted.  There's way too much money and power involved - those holding on to either will have to have their rigored fingers pried away knuckle by stiffened knuckle.  This is not easy and has resulted in murder and mayhem in those countries where the threat appears to be real.  So far, in the US, it has resulted in the fluctuation of polls...which is apparently enough to send folks to the bridges of their choosing, to wait in line and fling themselves off.

It ain't pretty over there on Kos.  Nice to see relative sanity over here.  Phew.

OK, Al...I'm going to need some help here.  I am working very hard to not freak out over the latest polling numbers.  I'm not convinced the race has changed to the point that McCain has a 5 point lead the way Zogby is reporting, but there doesn't seem to be any doubt that things have tightened a good amount.  I am working hard on my fundraiser so that keeps me focused on positives but nevertheless I find this very troubling.  I have a hard time seeing where Americans can be this stupid - again - but I don't want to delude myself either.  What's going on here?  I know the conventions are coming up and there will be a whole new round of numbers but the thought of this slipping away just kills me.

And on the VP front, I am convinced it's not Biden.  On Countdown last night, it was very refreshing to hear the British dude - Wolfe?? - say that this was all speculation and that nobody knows anything.  I just don't see how the Biden announcement makes any sort of splash if that's what the media is saying it's going to be.  So based on that, I think it's a decoy.  However, maybe folks really do need that old man type on the ticket to be comfortable.  I hope not but could that be part of what we're seeing with the polling?  Americans say they are sick of war and yet McCain goes out talking tough on Georgia and folks eat it up.

Feeling glum today...the fact that our ceiling is cut out due to a bathroom leak doesn't help.

Tara,

I'm not Al but I don't see why you should feel glum. If McCain were up by five points in September; then I could understand the need to break the emergency glass. But right now, it's the reality that the McCain campaign has found and extremly effective peg against Sen. Obama with the celebrity meme and blatantly distorting the facts.

The Obama campaign by contrast hasn't really pushed the Bush Third Term meme or put money behind it: they're starting to change that.

IMO the VP and Conventions are the kickstart. The debates are what is going to really decide this election; and after that it is completely a ground game.

From all the polls I'm seeing: Sen. Obama needs to (1) rally the base and (2) remind everyone how horrific George Bush is and tie McCain to Bush. I feel like the convention is tailor made to pick up the numbers and start a steady buzz for Sen. Obama.

My only real worry: the way McCainw ill bracket the Democratic convention and the RNC is going to be holding marquee events to try to draw away convention coverage. I haven't seen the democrats release similar plans for the Republican convention; I hope they do.

This is what got me - I've been watching the EV numbers on Nate's site slowly converge and now he has it at 281 to 257:

and says this:

"we are getting to the point where it would be hard to describe the election as anything other than "too close to call"."

I would love some analysis of the number of undecideds in the polls at this stage (leaners or not leaners, men or women, age ranges, etc.)  I think the bases are pretty settled now (except if McCain chooses a pro-life running mate).

KD

Carpediva - I don't give a thought to who an author does or doesn't give money to, or whether I agree or not with every thought that comes out of his or her keypad: If there's a value in reading what he or she has to say, I'll buy any book.

I'm just not at all into the political fundamentalism that says "don't read that book" because one doesn't like the author. Take Oriana Fallaci for example: Am I supposed to throw away her great early works simply because late in life she got all anti-Arab racist on us? (Actually, I even bought her final work, The Rage and the Pride, and even while disagreeing with almost all of it marveled that her talent for excellent writing remained intact.)

If I were to insist that an author agree with me on every point before I read or review his book, I wouldn't be reading or reviewing anybody's book!

Tara - I actually think it would be good for Obama if McCain ticked ahead in the national polls for a spell. It would have the effect raising the stakes on the election and forcing more people to take it seriously (and millions of his supporters to work harder and take nothing for granted).

Until both conventions are held, the polls mean nothing, absolutely nothing. Past presidential elections have taught us that. And until one candidate or another starts consistently getting fifty percent or more in the polls, I think they'll continue to be terribly uninformative as to the final result.

More important than poll results is whether they generate panic, which is always bad for any campaign. That's why the Chicken Littles are so destructive to their own claimed cause. Leave spreading panic to the enemy, and get back to work. No panic allowed in this foxhole!

Thanks Al, I'm currently working on a diary for Kos to try and pacify the doomsdayers.  They really are off the charts over there today and need an innoculation.

Al - you remain a breath of fresh air and calm.  I am grateful.

I couldn't agree more with you that the "Chicken Littles are so destructive to their own claimed cause".  What is going on over at dKos is tragic to behold.  They are so focused on believing that the sky is falling that they can't pull back and look at the entire atmosphere of the ongoing campaign.  I can't stomach it any longer. I hang out here at narconews because you make me think and keep me sane Al.  I'm sending $ your way today!

Also, I think a downtick in the polls will serve Obama very well among the rank and file.  Knowing things are close definitely fires me up!  Say what you want about the polls but Obama supporters are far more motivated than McCain's.  Period.  The CLs will probably have heart attacks before November 4th arrives.

Oh, and I'm sure you've seen that Kos put your review front page today.  He was humbled by it.  I'm looking forward to reading his book!

Maybe this is significant, but it's worth noticing that McCain still is trying to rally his base. Shouldn't they be rallying to him already? As for us, I think as soon as the Convention gets underway, the PUMA thing is finished, wrapped in the excitement of a convention. BTW, I think this will be the highest rated TV Convention ever-all nights should be blockbusters.

I wouldn't worry much about the Republican distraction. They are going after the Senior Citizen vote-the only vote where McCain leads.

in this case, it was not so much a "dislike" of the author, as a desire to "quid pro quo his ass" with the same kind of (pointless) financial "punishment" he laid on Obama. (well, pointless to Markos; less pointless to Obama fundraising numbers.)

nevertheless, i see and accept your point.  one way for me to look at it is, if i want to be the most effective solider for Obama both now and after the election, then not reading this book out of 'revenge' is sort of cutting off my nose to spite my face.

thanks for the clarity, as always.

I need a shot of the vaccine badly because I don't like what I am seeing.

The Chicken Littles over there and elsewhere honestly thought this would be an easy election. They were convinced that it would be a landslide, that the American people had finally got their shit together, and that may have very well been true... if we'd gone up against Mitt Romney.

However, if you look at the Rasmussen match-ups from early 2007, when the environment was a lot more hostile for Republicans than it is now, John McCain still beat Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and John Kerry. Obama himself only really established a consistent lead after the primaries ended, and even then, it was never really at these double digit margins we saw in the Zogby and Newsweek polls.

This election is going to be terrifying, and in any other year, going up against a war hero media darling like McCain would be an exercise in futility. However, Obama is not only hanging in there, he's leading, if only slightly, and there is still room for him to grow.

Well, I posted my diary trying to calm people and got shot down and almost pecked to death by rabid chicken littles.  Kos posted a diary about the same time I did trying to do the same and they are in the process of pecking his eyes out.  It seems to be and "Outbreak"...

 Stephanie Tubb Jones has passed away. Very Sad, my heart goes out to her family.

They made a mistake.

But she is severely brain-hurt.