Roots Project – PA

I’m just getting this written – been fighting a cold for the last two days, and it’s slowing me down somewhat.

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Today is Day One of the Roots Project – Pennsylvania.

From VichyDems:

The Roots Project is a coordinated effort by national and local bloggers to develop the netroots in each state, and convert them into what I call ‘netboots’ — local citizen advocates who are informed and empowered by the Internet but doing their work in an old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground, ‘analog’ way by writing letters to the editor, calling and emailing their own representatives, etc. You can get more of a sense of what the Roots Project is about by reading this post and following the links it contains for the other organizers’ thoughts.

Today, the Roots Project bloggers are rolling out a new effort: Roots Project-PA. The immediate goal: to encourage Pennsylvanians, and people with roots in Pennsylvania, to sound off about the upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearings concerning the NSA’s unconstitutional, invasive, warrantless surveillance program.

What you can do:

(1) Inform yourself more thoroughly about the issues.

(2) Call, email, write, or fax Senator Specter and let him know how you feel. Contact information for Senator Spector here.

(3) If you live here in PA, or you have roots in the state, write letters to the editors of your local newspapers and newspapers around the state. Talk about the NSA hearings and your opinion of it. Explain what you think Senator Specter should do. PSoTD gives a list of great questions you can use as a template.

The entire NSA spy scandal boils down to personal questions that each American ought to be asking themselves and their members of Congress:

1. Most importantly – is it legal for the NSA to be spying on me?
2. What are the minimum requirements to meet for the NSA to spy on me?
3. How can the information about me collected in such efforts be used in relationship to me?
4. How do I know I’m not being spied upon?
5. How do I know the limitations of the use of this information?
6. Are my relationships with other people the business of the government?

(4) If you don’t have any links to PA, call your Senator and tell them what you think. Senate switchboard: 888-355-3588.

(5) Talk to people in your community about this effort. Pass the word around your town and the Internet.

VichyDems also has a list of the talking points you can use for reference when writing.

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Newspaper contact information here. Keep letters short and to the point. Most papers prefer letters of 250 words or less. Use your own words.

Some of the blogs involved: firedoglake, Unclaimed Territory, Crooks and Liars, plus: The Left Coaster, and Lambert at Corrente. We’ve also got some PA blogs: Street Prophets, PSoTD, Smintheus, and Rowhouse Logic.