"Forward" With Fitzy and Ilya...and YOU!

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't been around in about a month. To assure anyone out there who may have been worrying I haven't moved to New Zealand or been eaten by llamas or anything like that...and I sure as heck haven't switched to supporting another candidate. I'm still all about going Forward With Feingold!

I'm afraid this law school stuff has been bogging me down. In fact I have a horrible assignment due on Monday, but I figured I've got an extra hour thanks to that whole "fall back" thing, and what better way to spend it than getting back in the blogging spirit?

Now for the main reason I wanted to get a post out today...Ilya at RussForPresident.com and Fitzy at Feingold for Michigan came up with the great idea of writing a newsletter about Senator Feingold and why we support him that we can all print out to give out at progressive events, or just to inform our friends, families, and complete strangers about the great junior senator from Wisconsin. The newsletter is going to be called "Forward" and you can see images of what it looks like now by following the RussForPresident link.

But, you see, there's a problem...it still needs some more articles. As Ilya writes:

But we need YOUR help. We're looking for articles on the Senator's plan in Iraq, his vote against the Patriot Act or any other topic that interests you. Please submit your original submission either in the comments section here, or e-mail it directly to isheyman[at]gmail.com. Below is a screenshot of where we're at right now. This is your chance to get directly involved with the effort and spread the word about Sen. Feingold. Please e-mail your submissions by Monday October 31st. Who knows, perhaps a really good submission will result in a mystery prize?

So if you act now you have the chance to help spread the word about Russ and win a mystery prize? What could make this even more worthwhile? Well, as you may have noticed one of the articles in the newsletter is my own "Forward With Feingold" post...so you also get the chance to see your name, in ink (if you print it out) in the same paper as mine, the great Dan K., friend and hero to one and all! And really, isn't that enough of a prize in and of itself? The answer, of course, would be no.

But this really is a great opportunity to help spread the word about Russ so I urge all of you to write and submit something if you have the time. And you should have the time because of that extra "fall back" hour. So there is no excuse. Go write about Russ now!

Actually I've got a few more things to say...

"Forward With Feingold" Followup: Well, as the above gave some indication of, my "Forward With Feingold" post got a pretty positive response from my fellow Feingold supporters, which I find tremendously flattering as I, of course, have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here. I'm especially honored that my crossposting at MyDD.com was a recommended diary for a couple of days and had an obscenely large number of comments...thankfully none of which were obscene.

A number of Feingold supporters have told me it that it would be a really good slogan for the Draft Feingold effort. Maybe it would be...but in order to be a REALLY good slogan it's got to be out there for there people to see, and that's where you come in. See, really all I can do is write stuff and post it here (and also at MyDD and RussForPresident.com) but you guys post things all across the internet, so if you haven't already, why not help spread the word by adding "Forward With Feingold" or whatever pro-Feingold message you want to your signatures in your emails and on whatever blogs and message boards you post on. And don't forget a link to RussForPresident.com, or the Progressive Patriots Fund or the Senator's home page, so anybody who is curious can find out what the excitement's about.

And, just to go forward with this some more, if anyone has any ideas for graphics that could be used for blogads, website banners, etc., based around the "Forward With Feingold" slogan, I'd love to see them. As you might have guessed from the, uh, "modest" look of my blog, I really can't do much with computers beside get online and type...so I'll need the help of those who can do more if this kind of stuff will ever get done. Mind you, I'm not announcing a contest or anything...mainly because I'm too lazy and cheap to come up with a prize yet...so, for now this just an idea that I've had floating around in my head and decided to let loose.

And for one more, even sillier, idea to throw out there...do we have any songwriters out there looking for a challenge? If so, why not try to write a "Forward With Feingold" song! I, for one, yearn for the days of great presidential campaign songs like "His Grandfather's Hat", "Be Sure That Woodrow Wilson Leads the Band", and "Get on the Raft with Taft", so if you do too, why not get songwritin'...anybody who writes a "Forward With Feingold" song will win...my eternal admiration!

Well it's something.

Seriously, if anybody is interested in any of these "Forward With Feingold" ideas or has any of their own please post a comment or email me. Seriously, nothing more can happen without YOU.

Remembering Paul Wellstone: Tuesday of this past week marked the third anniversary of the tragic death of a hero to many of us and a friend and colleague of Senator Feingold's, the late Senator Paul Wellstone. This is one of those occasions where I feel that others can say things much better than I, so please read Fitzy's post on the subject.

And if you've never read it before, read Senator Feingold's tribute to Senator Wellstone from November of 2002.

Paul fought for justice for children who didn't have enough to eat. He fought for environmental justice, even for the poor side of town. He fought for social justice when it came to access to health care. He fought for economic justice when it came to a fair minimum wage and the ability of working families to protect themselves under the bankruptcy law. And he fought for justice among nations, and for peace. Paul Wellstone was the very embodiment of justice.

And so, Paul Wellstone, here on the Senate floor, there is a whole in our hearts. We will miss you, dear friend.

But we will still look for you. For wherever it is - on this Senate floor, at a political rally, or at a town hall meeting somewhere on a cold, windy day in the heartland of America - whenever someone speaks for justice, Paul Wellstone will be there.

That's all for this time. Until next time, keep going Forward!