PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA April 23, 2005
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William Rivers Pitt Joins Progressive Democrats of America
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(To hear this as an audio postcard, go here:
http://pdamerica.org/postcards/2005-04-23-pitt-will.php )
Hello there. This is William Rivers Pitt. You may know me from my work these last
several years at the alternative news magazine truthout. Well, I am pleased to let
you know that I have joined the staff of Progressive Democrats of America as the
Editorial Director. My role, among other things, will be to provide reports on PDA
actions and activities all across the country, to run the blog, and to write essays
on a variety of topics from the Iraq occupation to our actions against Bush nominees
like the profoundly unacceptable Mr. John Bolton.
You may be wondering why I left the truthout staff to come to work for PDA. There's
no one answer to that. Reporting the real news and providing editorial perspective
in this day of commercial, corporate 24 hour cable dreck can certainly be considered
activism, but of a somewhat passive variety. I'd gather all the information and get
it out to the world, and then wait for someone else to use it actively and
effectively. Sometimes my data got used, sometimes it didn't, but I was always in a
position of hoping the information I put together moved the pile. With PDA, I can
take a far more active role in doing that, something I find profoundly exciting.
I guess the best way to describe why I am here is to tell you about some of the
other people who have dedicated themselves to PDA, and why they are here. Their
reasons are also my reasons. One of our people, Sherry, says "I was attracted to
PDA's inside/outside strategy and to its focus on including all progressives. PDA
provides a place for all progressives at the table whether or not they're already a
part of the Democratic Party hierarchy and established structure. PDA encourages new
blood... new ideas... new energy."
David is here because "We'll make change happen by uniting the left and the middle,
and the poor and the middle class. All that's working against us is a relatively
tiny overclass with the majority of the nation's wealth in its pockets, alongside an
increasingly radical right-wing Republican Party." Steve believes "We will reorient
the Democratic Party on peace and justice issues, and reconnect the party with its
historic mission to protect working families."
Alysia says "I wake up every morning knowing I'm doing my best to make this country
a better place for my daughter to grow up in. I know that PDA can make a real
difference, I've already seen it happen. Given what we've done with minimal funding
and resources (our 'national office' being contained in each of our cell phones and
computers), I have realistic hopes for a better future, and that's worth working
for."
I have many more testimonials like these from the volunteers and staff at PDA, and
they all come to the same place: This organization is harnessing the power of
liberals and progressives all across the nation to stop the madness that has swept
through our lives like a blood wind, and to work every day and every night to create
the kind of country we can be proud of, the kind of country we can feel safe raising
our children in, the kind of country that can be that shining city on a hill, an
example of kindness and goodness and generosity and, yeah, I'll say it, sanity.
I remember walking the halls of the Capitol Building in DC last January reporting on
the Boxer Rebellion for truthout. I ran into Kevin Spidel, Tim Carpenter and several
other PDA staffers, who had been center-stage in the push to get someone to stand up
and shout down the validation of the corrupted Ohio Electoral College votes. I
remember very clearly overhearing a conversation between Spidel and a senior
congressional staffer who had been neck-deep in progressive activism for thirty
years and had the scars to prove it.
This staffer told Kevin that in all his time as an activist, he had never seen a
better organization than PDA. In his life, he had never seen one group be so
effective at pulling together different people and different groups and different
voices into one coherent force for change. That's why I am here. There have been
other groups before PDA, and there are others out there today that share our goals.
But this is the group, and these are the people, that can best affect the changes
that are so necessary for the health and well-being both of this nation and the
world.
Through PDA, and hand-in-hand with the other groups that are working for a better
tomorrow, we will become the change we wish to see in the world.
And we need your help. They say money is the root of all evil, and we have seen more
than enough proof of that in recent years. But money can also be a force for great
good when properly used. Please give what you can to Progressive Democrats of
America and help us strive for our common goals. Check out the main page of our
website and become a PDA Sustainer. We can do great things together, and we will do
great things together, but to get that done we need your financial help and we need
it today. If you can give, you have my deepest gratitude.
That's all for now. Keep an eye on the website and the blog for reports, action
alert and essays telling you what we have done, what we are doing, and where we will
be headed tomorrow. Oh, and for those of you who are fans of truthout, have no fear.
I am privileged to be able to continue to write for them as a free-lance journalist.
You'll be seeing my stuff there a couple of times a week.
This is William Rivers Pitt, editorial director for Progressive Democrats of
America. Thanks for listening, thanks for giving, and remember: You are the one
you've been waiting for. You've been here all along.
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About Progressive Democrats of America:
Progressive Democrats of America is one of the fastest growing political
organizations in the country. PDA is currently active in all 50 states. PDA was
formed to provide a counter-balance inside the Democratic Party to the Democratic
Leadership Council. PDA has a national policy board of noteworthy leaders and
grassroots activists who are formulating the true Progressive position on issues of
national security, economic progress, shared prosperity, sustainable ecology,
equality for all and a peaceful, just future. Learn more about Progressive Democrats
of America by visiting:
http://www.pdamerica.org. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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