Get FISA Right

We advocate rejecting the politics of fear on national security, and working to get FISA right.*

We started in June 2008 as a group of Barack Obama supporters.  In our first two weeks, we became the largest group on my.barackobama.com, wrote an open letter to Barack — and he responded.  Progressive bloggers and the technology-in-politics crowd (Wired, Slashdot) fuelled our early growth; coverage in the traditional media included the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, and many others.

This time, *we’re* writing the history has manyfirst-person accounts, including

• Mardi’s Please Don’t … Senator and Mike Stark’s Will Obama feel the sting of social networking? kicked it off.
• Carlo Scannella’s Nomadic Democracy covers our technology and organization
• Ari Melber’s Online Activists Keep the Pressure on Obama sets us in the context of net movements
• Dawn Teo’s Networked Obama FISA Group Takes Fight Forward is the definitive (so far) history of this time period
• Mike Stark’s Why progressives should keep organizing on MyBarackObama.comhas some forward-looking perspectives

After the FISA vote on July 9, we shifted our attention to attempting to influence the Democratic party platform, via the “listening meetings” and the netroots platform. Next, Partnering with SaysMe.tv, we produced and aired two rounds of cable TV ads/YouTube videos. Sarah Lai Stirland’s Opposed to Wiretap Amensty? Run a TV Ad for Six Bucks discusses Don’t let our Constitution die; Jon Pincus’ On the air in St. Paul covers the ads we aired at the Republican National Convention.

In January 2009, we finished #5 in Ideas for Change in America with over 12000 votes, holding our own against ideas with sponsorship from non-profits and groups with huge mailing lists.  On January 13-14, we voted overwhelmingly to endorse a special prosecutor. As Sally G said in the voting thread,

We must defend the Constitution; whereas we must move forward, we cannot allow the Bush-administration precedents to stand. Nixon’s misconduct led to the passage of FISA; current attempts to short-circuit the Constitution must be followed up similarly.

On Inauguration Day, we premiered our new video on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and Comedy Central in Washington DC.

In September 2009, we sprang to life again as part of the debate about reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act, and since then have continued to reemerge for civil liberties battles. Now it’s 2017, and we’re back and getting ready for the next fight on FISA reauthorization!

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* Changed 12/29/12.  Formerly: We are a proud group of Obama supporters who believe in his call for hope and a new kind of politics. We ask President Obama and Congress to reject the politics of fear on national security, and work to get FISA right.