Help Open the Government

I posted this proposal earlier today on the president's open government site and it has shot up to #2 (in the category of legal and policy changes) right behind legalizing pot. I think we can take first place. Can your organization help?
by David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org, May 26, 2009

1. Vote Up This Proposal on Obama's Open Government Website

Here's a direct link to a proposal I've just posted on the president's new website. Please go there, read the proposal, and if you like it vote for it. And post your ideas to improve it.

http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3161-4049

Candidate Obama asked for our opinions through a website. Our top demand was that he keep his promise to vote against immunity for telecoms that spied illegally. He ignored us, promised to do better as president, and hasn't.

President-Elect Obama asked for our opinions through his transition website. Our top question was whether he would appoint a special prosecutor for Bush, Cheney, and gang. He refused to answer the question until asked by the corporate media, and then talked about "looking forward".

Now President Obama is asking for our opinions on a website. This is a good thing but should be gone into with some caveats. First, Obama has always ignored us before, and ignoring people who obediently type on your website as supporters of whatever you do first and citizens with their own opinions second is easier than ignoring just about anything else. Here are other actions you can take following the 30 seconds needed for this one: http://prosecutebushcheney.org

Second, we have representatives and senators whom we are supposed to lobby and whom we are much more likely to lobby successfully, and they are supposed to run the country, not the executive. Third, majority opinion and the clear mandates of our nation's laws ought to carry more weight than the opinions of a self-selected group of presidential advisors (I mean other than Congress which has devolved into more or less just that).

But what if a flood of American citizens were to give the president the kind of advice that is most useful rather than the kind that is most enjoyable to hear? What if we were to ask President Obama to (allow the attorney general to) prosecute his predecessors and (encourage Congress to) remove the unconstitutional powers they claimed from the presidency? Might someone hear our voices, repeat our questions on camera, begin thinking about our point of view, or ask about our issues before confirming a new Supreme Court Justice?

It's certainly possible. Here's the proposal to read and vote for:
http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3161-4049