Hear Me Out/Unlikley Allies Project
The “Hear Me Out” effort under the Unlikely Allies Project is a two-way conduit of information; we seek to listen as well as speak. With that in mind and in the tradition of Helen’s Political Roundtable, we are creating a short simple list of conversation starters which will serve as the foundation of our viral and offline discourse.
Conversation Starters
Primary Options: Voters should know they have the option to vote in either major parties primary in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Break Bread/Mix It Up: Network with Substance-Young and Old; Black, Yellow, Red and White; liberal and conservative; Urban, Suburban and Rural.
Art/Science vs. Entertainment: Reality Show mentality blurs the lines between fact and friction. Glenn Beck, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart rightfully point out their roles as entertainers as opposed to political scientists or elected leaders. Can you tell the difference?
Dial Down the Vitriol: While concerns and facts are valid, anger and questionable techniques can unhealthy. Seek an emotional healthy community where civility exists.
Respect Others: Don’t ignore other cultures; acknowledge the right to be wrong; stop categorizing people. Moral Compass vs. Faith Police. Is codifying Holy books fair?
Turn, Turn, Turn: Turn to a different news outline occasionally; turn a different corner in your community; turn to a different web blog for range.
Priorities and Agendas: What’s their angle?; Support Regional Interests; Respectfully Question everything and everybody. Follow the money, find the agenda.
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/10/22/conversation-starters-hear-me-outunlikley-allies-project/
Project Logic GA is starting a year long, monthly effort design to broaden our discussion of major issues, cultivate the next group of policy leaders and create a web-based/actual meetup network of results-oriented voters. We believe, the major political parties, the media and special interest groups often execute their agenda while the people seem like pawns on a chessboard.
With the importance of issues and policies, we will select one major topic per month and “put it on the table” for our panel of contributors. We are inviting contributors to chime in with a brief paragraph or two on the monthly topic with the hope that a dozen issues will be discussed by this time next year—an ebook of non-Atlanta Georgia issues because the ATL gets enough ink all ready.
The party bosses and major political players in the Atlanta enjoy battling the other side in a blood sport. Some feel that the rest of Georgia is more genteel and would prefer a civil approach to moving our state, our South and our nation forward. Which some folks love “fussing and beefing,” moderates and centrists generally acknowledge good points from both sides. Who really wants to go through life with a constant vibe of loathing, hate and conflict?
In an interesting twist, we recognize the success of the Tea Party Movement in mobilizing those who feel they are Taxed Enough Already. While their methods and techniques are “interesting,” their passion and networking savvy should be respected and emulated. To borrow from boxing great Ali, “they shook up the world” with motivated voters while greater numbers of voters stood idly by.
We hope that this project will generate a facebook-based network of Georgians who will be informed and focused because a relatively small number of voters on both political ends shouldn’t select leadership and drive policy.
Helen Blocker Adams, Augusta talk radio host, Project Logic GA blogger and serious optimist, recently wrote the book “Unlikely Allies: 8 Steps to Bridging Divides that Impact Leadership” about people coming together to address community problems. We love books and blogs better when they serve as the catalyst for understanding and growth.
The Unlikely Allies Project of Project Logic GA endeavors to:
- Hear from contributors over time on major issues; cultivating the next generation of leadership.
- Gather a collection of facebook friends from Georgia’s competitive congressional districts who are interested in policy discussions among unlikely allies.
- Bring Georgians together in various social settings to humanize everyone in the political discussions.
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/04/04/jobs-and-economic-recovery-topic-unlikely-allies-project/
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/05/02/defense-and-foreign-affairs-unlikely-allies-project/
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/05/31/agriculture-and-food-unlikely-allies-project/
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/08/01/education-and-school-unlikely-allies-project/
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/09/01/the-entitlement-mentality-unlikely-allies-project/
http://projectlogicga.com/2011/10/01/natural-resourcesinterior-department-unlikely-allies-project/
