Thom Hartmann: Welcome back, Thom Hartmann here with you live from the Take Back The American Dream conference in Washington DC. An extraordinary coalition of organizations and groups which I will share with you later once I get the list, Louise. Oh hey, surprise, I got the list. America Votes, Power Pack, Demos, that’s a long list. We’ll share it at more length. Anyhow, Norman Solomon is with me right now. Norman Solomon is an American writer, he is an American journalist, author, candidate for congress from California in the newly formed District 2. He founded the Institute for Public Accuracy and served as its director until 2010. His website SolomonForCongress.com, right? Norman, welcome.

Norman Solomon: Yes, thanks Thom.

Thom Hartmann: Great to have you with us. Tell me what’s going on in the conference here, why are you here?

Norman Solomon: Well, it’s a vortex of energy. I think there’s a recognition of opportunity and also frankly crisis that not only is the country apparently in overall an economic tailspin but also a sort of political morass epitomized by Washington DC and frankly the democratic party is in crisis. Doesn’t have it’s own voice, clear through every which way, trying to be a lot of things to a lot of people and not doing a heck of a lot good, frankly.

Thom Hartmann: Hm. 200 pieces of legislation Nancy Pelosi got out of the house, died in the senate. Parts of the democratic party are trying to do some good.

Norman Solomon: Well their efforts, but in terms of a clear voice and a strategy, it’s very unclear. The accommodation process has been now multi-year. Getting up in the morning, the republicans are a wall that is immovable. So moving part way to that wall. Then after there is a cycle of legislation, getting up in the morning, the wall hasn’t moved and then moving again towards that wall. We’ve been experiencing that for years, literally, and the result is that we’re not digging in as democrats, as progressives, effectively in the electoral arena or on capitol hill to say this is our bottom line. Medicare is untouchable, Social Security is untouchable. We do not believe in trickle down economics, we do not believe in trickle down job creation. We need a huge federal jobs program.

Thom Hartmann: Right, yeah. For example, as a start, and what, of the groups that are here, what are the organizations that you see doing, you know one of, here’s why I am asking this question. One of the most common questions and calls that I get is what can I do, who should I join, where do I show up.

Norman Solomon: Yes. And I often get that question on the campaign trail and elsewhere. What is the one thing I should be doing. And my answer is there is no one thing you should be doing. That a healthy ecology of movement, just like a healthy forest, has so many different aspects. Do what you can do where you are, out of commitment, out of passion, out of working with other people. Out of an awareness that we all bring a lot of different skills and backgrounds and proclivities to the table. But I think that whatever we do, and whatever organizations we support, that we see the necessity to build coalitions. Not that we’re going to get everything we want, and we do need to compromise in the legislative process. But recognizing the difference between compromise and capitulation. When we have a clear message our principals are clear, you know....

Thom Hartmann: You never compromise your principles.

Norman Solomon: Yeah what the core principles are. And I think there’s been a sort of a split that is a false choice between being principled and winning effectively. At our campaign rally in Petaluma Sean Penn spoke alongside me a few weeks ago. And he used the phrase, referring to what happened in Cairo, but also what we can do here, principle as strategy. If we are principled, if we articulate, if we build coalitions based on our humanistic progressive principles, then we have a capacity to build a strategy that is effective and get away from this idea, which I think is false, that either you choose to stick with your core values or you have a chance to win. We can do both.

Thom Hartmann: How?

Norman Solomon: We can do it by, I think in the electoral arena, moving beyond the idea that progressives simply need to build local institutions, or national institutions. We’ve got to take seriously the nut and bolts of election campaigns. And I’m afraid, quite often, that’s seen as too daunting. You look around this conference and you see many dozens of organizations that were built with blood, sweat, and tears, against the odds. And you go around the country and you see thousands of different groups that are creative, that are long lasting. And yet many of the people engaged in that look at the election process and say well that’s too tedious, too difficult, I think we’ve left the field and can no longer afford to leave the field to the corporate democrats and then moving rightward from there.

Thom Hartmann: Well and there was a certain leaving of the field, I think in 2008, to the idea that, you know, president Obama has been elected, we have majorities in the house and senate, what’s on TV, you know?

Norman Solomon: Yeah.

Thom Hartmann: Let’s have a block party. There’s that novel that I’ve been wanting to read for two years and you know the latest Grisham novel or whatever, and I think I’ll, you know and I think we really saw this in 2010. Not only the outcome of Citizen’s United and the carpet bombing of America with corporate money in ways that a lot of politicians, frankly, particularly on the left, had no idea was coming. And they should have. It’s like not like a lot of us weren’t screaming about it for years, but also people just decided it’s cool, there’s good people in charge.

So now. you’re wearing this sticker, Healthcare Not Warfare. This is PDAMerica.org. I almost every day I’m pushing progressives democrats of America on the air. The inside/outside game. Build a strong movement on the outside, build a strong movement on the inside. This is what the tea party did basically.

Norman Solomon: Yeah absolutely. And in a positive, very positive way, we need to link up, as the tea party has done, somewhat bogusly. But we have got to, as progressives, link up the grass roots organizing with what goes on on Capitol Hill. There’s essentially an invisible wall there where the bubble exists on the capitol, under the capitol dome. And when we have members of congress who are progressives, and there are so many of them, working more in tandem with people organizing at the grass roots, not only will we change the public discourse much more for the better but we’ll also get better electoral results, as you say, the spectator sport tendency kicked in in 2010. It never works. This is 24/7 eternal vigilance or we don’t get the job done.

Thom Hartmann: Right. And in fact the election day is not the end.

Norman Solomon: Right, it’s the beginning.

Thom Hartmann: It’s the beginning of the next cycle, it’s the beginning of the new activism, ht’s the beginning of holding those people accountable., it’s the beginning of being the wind behind their back, or I guess if they’re really, really bad, the circular firing squad, as much as I hate the metaphor, but you know, it’s, it’s the beginning.

Norman Solomon: we need each other every day.

Thom Hartmann: There you go. Norman Solomon. SolomonForCongress.com the website. Norman I wish you the very best.

Norman Solomon: Thank you Thom.

Thom Hartmann: Thanks For being here with us today. And what’s the name of your latest, your most recent book?

Norman Solomon: It’s called, “Made Love, Got War."

Thom Hartmann: “Made Love, Got War." I remember that one, that was great! Okay we’ll be right back. Thank you.

Transcribed by Suzanne Roberts, Portland Psychology Clinic.