First, it goes without (a whole lot of) saying that if IRS staffers were to keep an eye on 501(c)(4) applications, they should have applied the same scrutiny across all applications. They can’t single out groups with certain buzzwords in the name. It’s not a good governmental policy and it’s also a very easy way to get caught.

Also, looking at the whole realm of campaign finance reform, looking more closely at applicants for nonprofit status can be a good thing, if applied equally. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, most new political spending came from nonprofit groups with few transparency requirements, mostly from groups with a clear “conservative” bent (Citizens United itself was an organization set up to prevent Hillary Clinton from being elected). Nonprofits receive tax benefits, and current tax law says that nonprofit status should not be given to groups looking to influence elections, writes David Morrison of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

Another angle: does size matter? Ari Berman of the Nation writes that the IRS focused on the wrong groups (local organizations with small budgets), and that the agency should look into the bigger organizations that already engage in what can be considered “political spending.”

Although some have called for more scrutiny, the scandal could result in less oversight by the IRS, writes Alex Seitz-Wald in Salon. While some had hoped for the IRS to clarify its rules on nonprofit groups spending on politics, the scandal might make such a clarification “politically impossible.” David Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity writes that the scandal might even mean in influx of money for nonprofits, particularly those with a conservative tilt.

How did federally designated nonprofit organizations even reach the point of being unable to participate in elections? Colorlines looks at the history of nonprofit designations and finds that then-Senator Lyndon Johnson pushed for a change in law to remove nonprofits’ ability to participate in electioneering after multiple anti-communist and right-wing groups opposed his re-election to the Senate in 1954.

As it turns out, nonprofit tax policy has a lot to do with democracy — The scandal not only has great potential to lessen the public’s trust in an already disliked entity (after all, it was only a month ago that millions of Americans begrudgingly filed their tax returns), but could even go so far as to actually cause it damage.

Here are some additional links –

• ProPublica: Resources for investigating tax-exempt organizations
• ProPublica: Nonprofit Expolrer, search IRS 990 filings
• Colorlines: True the Vote says it was targeted by the IRS 
• Politico: IRS Scandal: A timeline of conservative groups under scrutiny
• Center for Responsive Politics op-ed: The Real IRS Scandal
• Time: The Real IRS Scandal

• So much of cross-ideology participation has to do with how conversations and issues are framed. Folks from both sides have a tendency to incorporate their own viewpoints when advertising a discussion, or encouraging others to come in (IE: Everyone can participation in conversations about “social justice,” but some are turned off by the mere mention of the term “social justice.”). How can we be more open with how we discuss discussions?
• Just like we must consider the language we use in trying to be inclusive of those with other views, we must also consider who is moderating as well. If a trusted emissary brings the group together, the conversation will likely be more robust than if the conveners are one-sided in their stances. Here is a timeline of major liberal-conservative collaborations, via NCDD.
• People can spend at least some of their lives sheltered from others who share different viewpoints. When folks start to interact and have conversations with people who have seemingly opposing views, people find out that they actually like eachother. This is huge, and it prevents people from thinking that others are the essence of pure evil.
• Living Room Conversations is one model that allows people to have these sort of cross-ideology talks.
• The two speakers on the call, Jacob Hess and Phil Neisser collaborated on a book discussing their, at one time, unlikely friendship — You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought (But You’re Still Wrong)
• Check out NCDD’s hackpad for the confab, which contains questions, thoughts, and links to other resources discussed on the call.
• Keep an eye on NCDD’s news page for other media from today’s confab as well

We’ve been discussing civility in many contexts, not just “red-blue” dialogue  between regular folks, but also with regard to race and the media (such as the use of the “I-word”), and how a lack of civility inhibits the work of Congress. This sort of cross-ideological conversation needs to happen in order for us to have a strong democracy, because as everyone remains in their own silos, no discussion actually happens.

A HUGE thank you goes out to NCDD to making this conversation happen! We’re looking forward to thinking and talking and acting on this further.

SECTION 1: Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.

SECTION 2: Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.

Earlier in May, the Tennesseean reported that Rep. Jim Cooper was also working on a “right to vote” amendment in the House, albeit in a potentially very off-color manner.

This is a welcome trend, and it echos a slight shift that we have seen on the state level this year. While (some) reps in Congress are looking towards guaranteeing the right to vote, the Brennan Center reports that eight bills that expand opportunities for eligible citizens to register and vote have passed at the state level. Brennan Center also reports that eight restrictive bills have passed, and while those should not be overlooked, the pendulum is swinging away from restrictive laws, considering the number that passed in 2011 and early 2012.

The importance of expanding voter access and registration opportunities cannot be understated. True, 2013 is not a major election year, but the laws passed now will have lasting effects on elections to come, and legislation proposed during election years has a greater tendency to be met with resistance with partisan intentions coming into play.

However, Jotaka Eaddy of NAACP notes that the voter suppression efforts aren’t letting up, and she is right. Despite the introduction of some access opportunities, efforts to restrict the vote are not going anywhere, and this will have consequences for the “rising American electorate,” made up largely of women, people of color, young folks, and those who are multiple of the above.

The consequences of successful efforts to suppress voting rights are dire for communities of color.  With the United States projected to become a “majority-minority” nation for the first time in 2043, civic engagement in Black, brown and youth communities has never been more important. But without full and unfettered access to the ballot box, this rising electorate’s ability to fully participate in our democracy will be at stake.

We need immediate action from our leaders on voting rights. Thank you to the Congressmen who have worked on introducing these laws at the federal level, but with 50 different states administering 50 different sets of election laws, (and 13,000 voting districts at the local level nationwide) the work in the near term will be done on the state and local levels. While at least some of the future work will be dictated by how the Supreme Court rules on some voting rights cases this summer, states will have to decide for themselves whether they want to protect or dismantle the right to vote.

Thank you for reading, as always. This month’s links are below the fold.
Peter
Executive Director
phardie@strongerdemocracy.org

Posts to Read and Discuss on our Blog

• Thoughts on Boston and Democracy: The April 15th bombings during the Boston Marathon gave us a chance to do some reflecting on democracy. Peter says that the aftermath of the bombings gave us a good look at “democracy on the street level,” as ordinary people stood up to help others, and that we should take this opportunity to follow Boston’s lead.

• Boston coverage and the media: Much of the national media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings left much to be desired. The reporting at times had been shoddy, while a steady stream of misinformation poured in from Twitter. That’s not to say all coverage was bad, as some reporters did their due diligence, but one writer thinks it might be time to just ignore the 24 hour news cycle and digest news after all updates have been verified.

• Stream or download the Democracy Exchange on immigration reform and civic engagement: Last month’s Democracy Exchange featured a great conversation from leaders in the immigration reform field, as they discussed the current state of reform, as well as the ways that communities across the country have become more engaged because of it. Oscar Chacon of NALACC, Opal Tometi of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Erin Oshiro of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Susan Downs-Karkos of Welcoming America joined the call.

• Conference on Volunteering and Service: Coming up June 19-22, our friends at Points of Light will be hosting the Conference on Volunteering and Service. Featuring workshops that uplift current stories of national service, and an eclectic group of speakers ranging from Melissa Harris-Perry to Karl Rove, the conference is not one to be missed. Read more on our website, or register at the Conference website.

Eight Things You Must Check Out

• Remembering Bob Edgar (Common Cause): Common Cause President Bob Edgar passed away on April 23. Bob was a champion of democracy, and represented the truest aspirations of the movement. Common Cause has set up a memorial page on their website that rounds up some of the memories people have of Bob, as well as info on a memorial service on May 8. \

• Civic Data Challenge (NCoC, Knight Foundation): NCoC and the Knight Foundation are now collecting entries for this year’s Civic Data Challenge! Currently the contest is in its “ideation” phase, which is for idea sharing, brainstorming, and identifying community needs. Submit your ideas by May 19!

• Women are Committed Civic Actors but We Still Have Much to Go (CIRCLE): In recent decades, women have achieved near parity in many sectors, while girls and young women are ahead of boys and young men in areas such as volunteering and voting. However, women remain underrepresented in government, business, law, and higher education leadership.

• Civic Engagement in the Digital Age (Pew Internet): A new study from Pew shows that 39 percent of the American population engaged in some form of political activity on social networking websites in 2012, up from 26 percent of the population in 2008.

• For Immigrant Women, Path to Congress is Slower (Huffington Post): Sayu Bhojwani of the New American Leaders Project writes that Congress and political parties have much to gain from recruiting and encouraging immigrants, particularly immigrant women, to run for office. Once elected, immigrants bring with them key perspectives and inform policy in a new way.

• Corporations Find a Friend in the Supreme Court (New York Times): Though much attention has been given to social issues facing the Supreme Court, such as same-sex marriage, as well as voting rights policy, the Supreme Court has issued more than its fair share of pro-business decisions, with Citizens United only the tip of the iceberg.

• All the paths to U.S. citizenship in the Senate’s immigration bill, visualized(Quartz): The Senate’s new immigration bill would bring some changes to the current immigration system, particularly with regard to the “path to citizenship.” Quartz’s Ritchie King provides this visualization of the different paths to citizenship under the proposal.

• Register for the May 15 NCDD confab (NCDD): On May 15, NCDD is hosting its next phone confab with Phil Neisser and Jacob Heiss, who will be discussing the current state of liberal-conservative trans-partisan dialogue, and how we might work together to further expand deliberation.

• May 19, 2013: Civic Data Challenge deadline! (Everywhere!)
• May 29-30, 2013: Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit (Dubuque, IA)
• June 1-2, 2013: National Day of Civic Hacking (Everywhere!)
• June 19-21, 2013: Service Unites: Conference on Volunteering & Citizenship(Washington, D.C)
• July 8-18, 2013: Summer Institute of Civic Studies (Tufts University)
• September 19-20, 2013: National Conference on Citizenship (Washington, D.C.)

HEADLINES

Civic Education & Youth Empowerment

• Citizenship isn’t about passing a civics test (Peter Levine on CNN.com)
• How to prepare young people for jobs that don’t even exist yet (Good)
• Discussions, Debate, and Simulations Boost Students’ Civic Knowledge, but Gaps Remain (CIRCLE)
• The new young Americans’ survey from Harvard (Peter Levine)

Democracy 2.0

• Civic Data Challenge (NCoC, Knight Foundation)
• Social networks are getting political, but it’s no revolution, says Pew study (NBC News)
• White House Shows Off Science Fair Through Vine (GovLoop)
• Is the Facebook “citizen cosponsor” app open government 2.0 or clever e-partisanship? (GovFresh)
• In search of excellence…in online engagement (NCDD)
• Processing Power (The Economist)

Electoral Reform and Voting Rights

• FairVote Releases Projections for the 2014 Congressional Elections (FairVote)
• Rep. Jim Cooper to propose ‘right to vote’ amendment to U.S. Constitution (The Tenneseean)
• Infographic: Online Lookup Tools for Voters 2012 (Pew States)
• Why Hans von Spakovsky is Wrong on Voter Registration (Brennan Center)
• Voting Rights Make Comeback With 195 Bills to Expand Ballot Access(ThinkProgress)

Government Reform and Civility

• The Era of Partisanship Isn’t Over (ABC News)
• A Lesson on Who Actually Matters to Washington (American Prospect)
• Opinion: Filibuster corrupts democracy (Juan Williams op-ed in the Hill)

Judicial Reform

• O’Connor questions Court’s decision to take Bush v. Gore (Chicago Tribune)
• Judicial confirmations grind to a halt (MSNBC)
• Justice at Stake letter to Congress on sequestration (PDF) (Justice at Stake)

Lobbying, Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform

• Inside the Democracy Alliance, the Liberal Answer to the Koch Donor Network(Mother Jones)
• Obama’s campaign finance reform plans have faded (Washington Post)
• SEC Considering New Rule for Political Contributions by Public Companies (PBS NewsHour)
• Campaign Contribution Limits Broken Repeatedly in 2012 Election With No FEC Oversight (Huffington Post)
• Make companies disclose political spending (USA Today editorial)
• Organizing for Action Donors List Features Loyal Democratic Funders (Huffington Post)
• Obama inauguration fueled by corporations, unions (Center for Public Integrity)

Media Reform and Internet Access

• Breaking News in Broken (Farhad Manjoo in Slate)
• Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers (New York Times)
• If Koch Brothers Buy LA Times, Half of Staff May Quit (Huffington Post Los Angeles)
• Digital divide among Chicago Public Schools students (Catalyst – Chicago)

National, Community and Public Service

• What’s an hour of volunteer work worth? (Nonprofit Quarterly)
• Time to get serious about national service (Foreign Policy)
• Share Your Story of Service (SaveService)

Participation, Collaboration, and Civic Engagement

• Why Congressional Hearings Aren’t Worth Your Time (ABC News)
• Here’s What President Obama Told the Class of 2013 at The Ohio State University(White House blog)
• Transforming Local Civic Engagement Through an Online Game (Democracy Spot)

Racial Justice, Civil Rights and Immigrant Civic Inclusion

• Hospitals Caught ‘Deporting’ Sick, Undocumented Immigrants (Colorlines)
• Conservative leaders slam Heritage for shoddy immigration study (Washington Post)
• After Years of Defeats, Immigrants Win Big State Victories in 2013 (Stateline)
• Who Said Blacks Don’t Support Immigration Reform? (The Root)
• Are the Senate bill’s family provisions fair and reasonable? (Erin Oshiro in Think Immigration)
• Sierra Club backs immigration reform (Politico)

State and Local Democracy

• Ignore the Lies: The Real (Low) Cost of Publicly Financed Elections in New York(Fair Elections New York)
• Move is afoot to make government less open (Charlotte Observer)
• Redistricting and Representation in the Great Lakes Region (Midwest Democracy Network)
• Moments, Movements, and Momentum (PDF) (Report on Florida, via USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equality)
• Washington, D.C. should adopt instant-runoff elections (Washington Post)
• Florida Unemployment Regime Violated Civil Rights Requirements: Labor Department (Huffington Post)

Transparency and Openness

• Transparency Delayed, Transparency Denied (Washington Free Beacon)
• States try to tackle ‘secret money’ in politics (Los Angeles Times)
• CISPA is still terrible for transparency (Sunlight Foundation)
• Epic Failure by the Senate on Transparency Provisions in the STOCK Act (Sunlight Foundation)

Please pass this on to your colleagues and encourage them to sign up for our regular newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Check out the conference’s website, and read more about it from Points of Light below –

Don’t miss the world’s premier conference for nonprofit, government, corporate, education and faith based organizations. Convened by Points of Light, the Conference on Volunteering and Service offers a dynamic, meaningful learning experience through more than 150 focused workshops, large group plenaries and networking opportunities.

This year’s Conference will be held in Washington, D.C., June 19 – 22, 2013.

The values we share as citizens are more powerful than the issues that divide us. We believe that people are tired of political and cultural divisiveness and the sense of paralysis and powerlessness that comes with it. People want to do something that makes the world better, particularly their corner of it. This Conference will be about the power of service to bridge differences and bring people together to do what people the world over do best – help one another.

The Conference on Volunteering and Service is a don’t-miss experience for social entrepreneurs to exchange ideas about what’s working and generate new ideas to create a brighter path for the future.You’ll learn how to leverage the power of individuals to address critical issues in their communities.

Expert presenters will engage participants in hands-on sessions to explore topics relevant to volunteerism and service.

Early bird registration rates expire Friday, April 26. Learn more and register at http://www.volunteeringandservice.org

Read more below, which includes information on how to sign up –

Join us for our next NCDD Confab call on Wednesday, May 15th from 2:00 to 3:30 EST.  May’s featured NCDDers are Phil Neisser and Jacob Hess, who will lead a discussion on the current status of liberal-conservative and transpartisan dialogue, and how we might work together to expand this area of dialogue and deliberation further.

Jacob is a Mormon, a community psychologist, and a devoted conservative, while Phil is an atheist, a leftist, and a college professor. Yet in 2009, after meeting at an NCDD conference, they embarked on a two-year conversation about the issues that divide them. The result is the book “You’re not as Crazy as I Thought,” an entertaining dialogue about power, government, media, religion, morality, gender roles, sexual orientation, race, and more.

Jacob Hess, Ph.D. is now co-founder of All of Life.  Phil Neisser, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the Department of Politics at SUNY Potsdam.

NCDD’s “Confab calls” are opportunities for members of the NCDD community to connect with each other, hear about exciting projects in our field, and explore our field’s most pressing challenges. We hope all NCDDers with an interest in how dialogue and deliberation can bridge the partisan divide will join us for this confab!

Register for the May 15th confab today to secure your spot.

When: Tuesday, May 7 at 5:00pm (sign up for screenings and register at 4:30pm)

Where: Bronx Community College, Colston Hall lower level, 2155 University Ave (at 181st Street)

Host organizations include Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, African Communities Together, Bronx Community College, United African Congress, African Services Committee, and the National Council of Ghanaian Organizations.

• Hear from experts about changes in immigration law.
• Talk about issues with your fellow African immigrants.
• Find out if you qualify for the “Deferred Action” program, which provides work authorization and deportation relief.
• Get FREE immigration screenings and referrals from nonprofit immigration attorneys.
• Get FREE health screenings and referrals, including testing for hepatitis, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Related: From last week, a woman from Africa talks about her experiences being undocumented on BET.

Bob Edgar not only represented the truest aspirations of the democracy reform movement–open and accountable government, freedom from corruption, citizen participation– he stood for social justice. His was a powerful voice, amplified for years to come by the organization he led, Common Cause, and the mission and values they carry forward. There are many champions of democracy just like Bob, and there can never be enough. Those of us fighting for democracy and against growing inequality will miss Bob Edgar.

I had the honor and privilege of getting to see him speak, and getting to meet him briefly on one occasion. We send our thoughts to his family, friends, and our colleagues over at Common Cause. He will be missed.

Below is the full press release from Common Cause on Bob Edgar’s passing.

For Immediate Release

April 23, 2013

Contact:

Mary Boyle, (202) 736-5770

Common Cause is deeply saddened to announce that Bob Edgar, its president and CEO, died suddenly this morning at his home. Bob was 69.

“We are deeply saddened and shaken today by the passing of Bob Edgar,” said Common Cause Board Chair Robert Reich. “Bob will be remembered for his decency, kindness, compassion and humor. His deep commitment to social justice and strengthening our democracy is his greatest gift to Common Cause and the nation. Our hearts are with Bob’s family, his wife Merle, and sons Andrew, David and Rob, and their families.”"

Bob, who served Pennsylvania in Congress for 12 years and also led the National Council of Churches, became the president and CEO of Common Cause in May 2007. He oversaw the relaunching of at least seven state chapters, travelled tirelessly to meet with and recruit Common Cause supporters and raised the organization’s national profile and its critical mission to strengthen our democracy.

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974 to represent the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania, Bob was part of the congressional class nicknamed “the Watergate babies,” those elected in the wake of the Watergate scandal and who led sweeping reforms of Congress.

During six terms in the US House, Bob led efforts to improve public transportation, fought wasteful water projects and authored the Community Right to Know provision of Super Fund legislation. He also served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. Bob also served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, working on issues around Agent Orange and readjustment counseling to treat post traumatic stress disorder.

Bob ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 1986 against Sen. Arlen Specter. That race fueled his frustration with the undue influence of money in politics and he became an active supporter of clean elections and campaign finance reform, issues that have long been Common Cause’s hallmark. He served on Common Cause’s National Governing Board for several years before becoming President of the organization.

Bob received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa., and a master of divinity degree from the Theological School of Drew University, Madison, N.J. He also served as president of the Claremont School of Theology. He holds five honorary doctoral degrees. Bob sat on the boards of several organizations, including the National Coalition on Health Care, the Environment and Energy Study Institute, the National Foundation on Alternative Medicine, Drew University and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.

Bob was the author of “Middle Church,” a call to progressive people of faith to take back the moral high ground from the extremists and make America a better and less divided country.

###

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to restoring the core values of American democracy, reinventing an open, honest, and accountable government that works for the public interest, and empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard.

Now a week removed from the Boston Marathon bombings, and a weekend removed from the arrest of the main suspect, media watchers have started to roll out pieces on the media’s role (both traditional media and new media) in the breaking news cycle.

Plenty has been written about who provided some of the best coverage, and Pete Williams of NBC has won a lot of plaudits, while John Stewart took the time to rip CNN a new one for their reporting job (the New York Times did as well). Over 42 million people ended up watching on Friday as the bombing suspect was cornered on a boat.

On the print side of things, the Boston Globe has gotten kudos from across the country, and today received a stack of pizzas from the folks at the Chicago Tribune for their efforts.

While I found myself watching the TV news on Thursday night, I kept closest watch on Twitter, which seemed to be at least a few minutes ahead of major network broadcasts (though near the end of it I was listening to a simulcast of Boston radio on a local station here).

Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that breaking news, whether on TV, radio, or social media, is in itself broken:

The useful distinction here isn’t by medium. It’s silly to say that Twitter is a better way to follow breaking news than CNN, or vice versa. The real problem is that both Twitter and CNN now depend on technologies that make it possible to follow breaking news too closely.

We get stories much faster than we can make sense of them, informed by cellphone pictures and eyewitnesses found on social networks and dubious official sources like police scanner streams. Real life moves much slower than these technologies. There’s a gap between facts and comprehension, between finding some pictures online and making sense of how they fit into a story. What ends up filling that gap is speculation. On both Twitter and cable, people are mostly just collecting little factoids and thinking aloud about various possibilities. They’re just shooting the shit, and the excrement ends up flying everywhere and hitting innocent targets.

Manjoo’s conclusion is that if you stay away from the breaking news cycle entirely, and just show up at the end of the day to read the final updates, you might just be more informed than everyone who spent the whole day watching on TV or on Twitter.

I’m not sure if that’s the best advice, but it does bring up a good point about the media and democracy today – as certain parts of the media have become more democratic (small-d, and less centered on updates coming down from only a few sources on high), misinformation in some cases can be magnified, with one of the most notable cases coming from the forums of Reddit, which misidentified the suspects. The constant flow of news can also certainly be a time-suck in what would have been an otherwise productive day.

What did you think of the media’s coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings? What sources did you rely on most? If there is another breaking event, will you change the way you take in the news?

Image via LeStudio1 on Flickr

Boston, a big, intriguing and fun city to those who know, and a landmark in history books for the rest, will be in the news likely until the perpetrators of the murder and mayhem of Monday are brought to justice. There is a great poem by Bob Hicok about how little there is to say in the aftermath of something like the bombing in Boston. Not everyone agrees, and in our customary fashion, the media was a barrage of recycled news, bad attempts to say more than could be said, and, today, conflicting reports on the arrest a suspect. Readers of the New York Post were treated to probably the most inaccurate information, including the untruth that a Saudi national was a suspect in custody, and exaggerated numbers of dead. It would be easy to scapegoat the Post, but two conversations I had yesterday with people who had decided that the culprits were Muslim suggest that truth is the slow bus, and misunderstanding and prejudice (pre-judgment) often arrive first.

There is plenty of caution circulating, in my circles at least: Let’s not rush to judgment. Don’t stereotype any group. One criminal should not taint a whole community. All sound and appropriate counsel to a nation long divided by race and ethnicity, and still grappling with pluralism and cultural and ethnic diversity. Racism, jingoism, xenophobia offer slogans and take us to war; they never take us to peace, nor to understanding. If we are a nation looking for domestic security and prosperity, we will have to confront the demons of our past and present. In the grand scheme of things, when we crack that nut we are nearly there. But there are other important elements to this news.

Patton Oswalt, the actor-comedian had one of the best commentaries, and most fitting, in view of the selfless acts of many ordinary people on the site in Boston:

“I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem, but here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet.

…

“When you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye.

“Think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will.’”

I was raised on a healthy diet of “good vs. evil” growing up, (through cartoons, the Catholic Church) which is hard programming to debug as an adult. The “bug” is that once we have “determined” that evil exists, like good scientists, we go looking for it, and bless us if we don’t find it. Wherever we look: “Them!” “There!” and the more we look, the more we find.

Except it was actually nowhere on display in Boston until we started looking for it. A mysterious catastrophe, death and injury, tragedy, horror, and hundreds of people figuring out how to help people in need. That doesn’t include the people in uniform, who were doing their jobs. No one sat back and simply watched police and EMT’s, paid public servants, do their job. No one waited for the mayor to commandeer hotels to put people up. The people stepped up, as one, literally.

Democracy, the centrality of ordinary individuals in their own governance and public life, requires lots of integrity. That is particularly true of the media, which should afford us good, accurate (especially today), timely information, but also maybe not saying anything when there is nothing to be said. The media does not serve democracy well when it is more interested in headlines than the truth, or in saying anything to keep our attention.

Most importantly, democracy also relies on those same ordinary individuals to step up, speak up, and roll up their sleeves, in the interest of all. Boston on Monday was a great lesson in democracy at the street level. Good government should figure out how to tap into that – maybe we will have to “encourage” more good government.

Instead of “Them!”, “There!” , let’s follow Boston’s lead: “We!” “Now!”