Hey Dutch,

You have worked in the progressive trenches. This is totally new to me. 

I have a picture in mind, which in my fantasy/vision/delusion, the whole progressive movement unites under the same umbrella for 2014, pushing candidates to pledge progressive intents. That takes a common agenda. I have constructed the Twelve Steps, mimicking AA which addresses dysfunctions. I offer it as a potential umbrella. It is a lot of words, but has some moral truths at it's core, and they are exemplified in the People's Pledge. Signing the People's Pledge commits the signer to support the Twelve Steps.

Simple, if the right people all see this and a core group introduces the message.

Unsure I can do that, I thought of something I/we, the people I hang with, could do. A little bit of political theater. Our stage manager on Y&R and some of the folks there might be so inclined. The SM directs live small theater pieces all the time and rails with me politically. So do some of the actors. So far, the conversation is me.... and if you want, you. So here's the dinner/documentary part of the scheme:

The Progressive Democracy Dinner could be like An Inconvenient Truth phenomenon. It starts with a bit of a passion play.

• The Progressive Democracy Dinner is initially a one-off event that we video tape, the prep, the meetings, the staging, the travel, the event, whatever happens and the aftermath. 
• Imagine our actors include several Daytime TV Stars,
• Imagine Peter Bergman as Abe Lincoln (Peter is ideologically in tune, not yet pitched) and
• Christian LeBanc (also not pitched yet) as the Corporate KochJester.

We write a 4 Act Play. It starts looking "Pro Corporatism" delivered by a troop headlined by the KochJester. Abe is one of our Diners at the Dinner. He speaks out in Lincoln-ese to challenge the KochJester. 

The KochJester's Propaganda efforts start each act. Abe challenges. The exchange is interrupted by the Troll Patrol.

The whole set-up "Bugs Out" back into the bus and heads to the next site. Repeat the Format and script for funny.

Four Act Paradigm
Act I - Introduce the problem. The KochJester's message makes Abe go off. 
Act II - Abe introduces the Twelve Steps, (ala Cyrano's nose speech.)
Act III - Paint the KochFuture, lament our poor stewardship of god's planet and our children's earth.
Act IV - Take the People's Pledge via the People's Mic.

The event, prep and performance, has to be written for funny. But it will offer tons of funny, heart warming and meaningful moments. The resulting documentary should be fun, relevant and get some festival play and viral media. A Rachel segment would kill.

It would need to come out in August 2014 for election relevance and could spur a movement nationwide of similar style activism from September through the election.

A campaign to get progressive politicians to rally around the Twelve Step Solution should be pursued concurrently with creating the Progressive Dinner. If the movie took off, a Progressive Dinner Tour could circuit the nation in a series of pre-election rallies.

I have some friends that would help. I could pitch the actors I have mentioned. You, Dutch, are the first individual I have pitched on this. 

Everything here can be done. In my mind's eye, it could be very funny, and move some hearts to much needed action.

Best,
Mike

Here's how I see things: We're screwed. The idiots making a killing on killing us with carbon dioxide are in charge, where it counts. They own the media, we live their agenda, and their bought politicians hobble our government to make sure they get to keep at it. They launder massive amounts of Dark Money between fraudulent educational nonprofits that end up in the pockets of politicians from a thousand tiny sources. And ironically SCOTUS doesn't see any appearance of corruption.

WHEN MONEY IS SPEECH, BRIBERY IS LEGAL.
All we debate is how much we have to negotiate away for their mean spirited assaults on the middle class, poisoning our planets and our politics. 

The Great American Middle Class! We are still the economic engine of the world. We have sponsored, financed, fought for and spread economic growth and prosperity beyond anything previous in history. We did that. We still got it. But like frogs in the heating water, have accepted the winnowing of justice, rights and majority rule. That is just stupid!

Today we are run by trolls. We need to end government by troll. Things are dysfunctional. Twelve Step Programs are a grass roots American movement of self-help to tackle life's dysfunctions. We need a Twelve Step Program to StopTheStupidNow and End Political Dysfunction.

This Twelve Step Program to End Government By Troll (GBT) is a doctrine of expectations for good governance; to do it's job, take care of the people from the neighborhood on up, rather than from Wall Street down, create the green society, and fix the long accepted lies that troll our whole society. The status quo threatens our democracy and hobbles our government at a time of great peril to human habitation.

Corporations are not people, greed is not good, rights are for all and justice is a moral imperative.

That's the moral argument as best I can construct it. The website is my personal beta test for making the argument. But since the threat is pretty universal, even the 1% live on the planet, imagine if everybody got it because it made so much sense.

 Imagine if Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Bill McKibben, Dennis Kucinich, Nancy Pelosi, Women, Labor, NOW, NAACP all speaking the same common sense message.

It is hard to see, in this money-centered world, where the answer to the Trolls and Money Launderers is another campaign to raise money. Frankly, as long as money is the key to politics, the People lose.

This site seeks no donations. We would not know what to do with them anyway. And all the good meaning sites I have looked to for answers want me to give them money. Makes their messages harder to swallow. We will never outspend the KochMachine. When money is the competition the People lose. The money is on the FIX. We, the People, need to Fix the Fix. That's not one step, it's Twelve Steps.

Instead of focusing on money, we want to focus on message, and how to build a movement that works without money. Any ideas? Share please. I am new at this. 

The Dark Money is all on "climate change til we die." This is just stupid. We need to stop this stupid behavior now. 

The People must say no. We have done this before, when the robber barons thrived. And from our social revolution we got the 40 hour work week, child labor laws and Social Security. It is time We, the People, assert ourselves again.

Bernie Sanders and Bill Mckibben say build a movement. So we don't want your money. But we ask for your support for The Twelve Steps.

When Money is Speech, Bribery is Legal. We can change that together. Sign on.

Mike