Operation Liberation -- Send "The Revolution" To All Members of Congress

[Austin]

There have been many talks of sending Ron Paul's new book, The Revolution: A Manifesto to all members of congress. Some have even talked of sending it to local politicians as well. Either way you look at it, it's a fantastic idea. It would likely garner some media attention, especially if done at the local level. The possibilities are virtually limitless. Problem is, the project is particularly stagnant at the moment. There have been no new developments or ideas concerning the matter, which is a shame if you ask me. We need to change that.

What ideas do you have? What is the best way to go about distributing the book? Will it be better to write personal cover letters, or just deliver the book in person? There are many details to be sorted out, but if we can get a plan nailed down, we can get a lot accomplished.

Eventually, I would love to get a web site up and running. On the site, you would be able to adopt a congressman, senator, etc. Also, there would be a running tally of adopted politicians and delivered books.

Please, don't let this idea die. It's got great potential if utilized correctly. Let's get some ideas flowing and hopefully we'll have the operation running at full capacity before too long.

Oh, and the name is just something temporary. So, if you've got some other ideas, please throw them out there.

[idiom]

If the infrastructure for this website is well built then it could be expanded to phase two:

Getting a copy of the manifesto into the hands of every Rabbi, Priest, Imam, and Pastor in your area.

[newyearsrevolution08]

I agree, I am hoping the site can come together

I will provide hosting, domain name purchase and daily running of the site if needed. All we need is the design and script to make the site run and we will be set.

Here is the thread about the whole idea but add your thoughts on any of these threads, they are ALL important. Getting the manifesto in the hands of as many people as possible is the best idea.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=135726

above is the original thread on this topic

[Austin]

I didn't realize there was already a 10 page thread on the idea... Sorry to add clutter, if that is what this turns out to be. Hahah...

So what exactly should be Phase 1? Perhaps we should start out with how the project will be funded. For now, I think focusing on current congressional offices would be enough to jump start the project. With this design, we could set up ChipIn's for each state and then tackle each congressperson and senator. From there, we could expand to state house reps and state senators, perhaps work our way down the ladder?

How does that sound?

[newyearsrevolution08]

Its great to have more topics about this anyways.

All we need is a great domain name, design and script to run it and I have the hosting and ability to do the day to day for the site and am happy to do so.

Once we can locate someone who can design and code this site then we can work on the second step which would be the ins and outs of what this site really will do and what it will not do.

We need a designer a coder and a catchy domain name and we will be on our way. I know we can get at least 50 books bought and shipped for congressmen within the first week of the site being open so it is a needed "weapon" in our overall fight to WAKE UP THE NATION.

[Mahkato]

The things to be decided are (as far as I can tell):

1) Who do we send books to, and in what order?

2) Do we send them from a central source (cheaper) or individually (probably more effective as it can be personalized – less spammy)
2a) If we go centralized, how do we collect funds, and who's going to do the actual work?
2b) If we go decentralized, how do we make sure people actually get books in the mail to the recipients, and how do we make sure no one gets duplicates.

3) Who is willing to build a web site for this, once the specifics are hammered out?

[newyearsrevolution08]

I think

on your #1

Cheaper or not at first does not always mean anything once it ends up being alot of work for one or a couple of people to do. It might be easier to allow a person to buy and ship what he or she can and wants to afford. On the shipping order, it depends on who the person on the site wants to ship the book to. Odds are many would want to ship to congressmen, senators and so forth from their own state OR they might want to send some to delegates. That is the great part about it. Only thing that needs to be looked into is WHO would be allowed on the list and who is not.

on your #2a

I do agree it would be cheaper to send from one location but would defeat the purpose of these coming from "regular people" who will add their own personal note to the shipment.

on your #2b

For their shipment to count they MUST submit tracking information, the admin (myself) could first confirm it was infact shipped AND to the correct address BEFORE it gets marked as "bought and shipped".

on your #3

We need a catchy domain name, a design AND the script to run it and I will be happy to pay for the domain name, I have hosting AND will be more then happy to admin the site since I do that for a living anyways and want to see this idea go full circle.



The things to be decided are (as far as I can tell):

1) Who do we send books to, and in what order?

2) Do we send them from a central source (cheaper) or individually (probably more effective as it can be personalized – less spammy)
2a) If we go centralized, how do we collect funds, and who's going to do the actual work?
2b) If we go decentralized, how do we make sure people actually get books in the mail to the recipients, and how do we make sure no one gets duplicates.

3) Who is willing to build a web site for this, once the specifics are hammered out?

[Austin]

The things to be decided are (as far as I can tell):

1) Who do we send books to, and in what order?

2) Do we send them from a central source (cheaper) or individually (probably more effective as it can be personalized – less spammy)
2a) If we go centralized, how do we collect funds, and who's going to do the actual work?
2b) If we go decentralized, how do we make sure people actually get books in the mail to the recipients, and how do we make sure no one gets duplicates.

3) Who is willing to build a web site for this, once the specifics are hammered out?

1) I think Congress is a great place to start. It will allow us to test the waters and get a feel for how to organize and operate the project. As I previously mentioned, after we have tackled this task, we can work our way down the ladder. As we go further down the rungs, it will become more complicated, but our previous experience will help us. If we just start out with the ability to send it to anyone and everyone, keeping track could be a difficult task and much energy would be wasted.

2) I think it should be more an individual thing, largely based on the reasons you listed. If we do a centralized distribution, it will indeed seem spam-like and there is a higher chance the books will be tossed or disregarded. Though, some centralization will be essential. For instance, when we are doing just congress, I think a statewide cooperative effort would be effective. After that, the co-op effort could be shaved down to each congressional district, then county, and so forth. In terms of the web site, this could be accomplished by having subdomains for each state for detailed information on your area.

2b) It was mentioned by the originator of the idea to use tracking numbers. I think this is a pretty darn good system, though a shipping number does not prove the contents of a box, it will certainly help. Also, given the technical savvyness of the Paul crowd, pictures will certainly be a commonality. The prevention of duplicates will be taken care of by the web site. We could have three colors, or some type of code, to identify the status of each politician (Awaiting Adoption - Adopted - Liberated) or something along those lines.

3) I have the ability to code in XHTML and CSS, but that is where my web design knowledge stops. We will need someone with more extensive repertoire in order for this project to realize its full potential. Surely someone will volunteer.

Sounding good so far?

[newyearsrevolution08]

I do agree starting and 100% completing sending to all of congress would be a "first goal" for this effort and after that we could of course expand on the other branches and so forth.

[idiom]

2B: We probably see a lot of bounty photos of people personally handing the book over and shaking the Reps hand. Even if the standards are lower, those sorts of trophy will keep enthusiasm high.

[Austin]

Alright, so does anyone have any objections to starting with Congress and working our way down? Having that nailed down gives us some sort of foundation to work with.

If no one objects, I think we should really come up with a nice name. After that is established, I can talk to the Admin of the forum about creating a new forum dedicated to the effort. While we are waiting for the rest of the ideas to sorted out, we can start pledges on adoption of our Congressman.

This is getting exciting. :)

[newyearsrevolution08]

I think congress is the best way to start and will show once we get them shipped that we can easily accomplish any other branch as well if needed.

Name ideas

revolutionbymail.com

revolutionarymail.com

manifestomail.com

I like revolutionarymail.com myself

Let me know thoughts on a better one or we can even put them to a vote and go that way if needed. I will foot the bill on the domain name so lets get that ironed out as soon as possible .

[Austin]

agreed

here are my thoughts on some domain names, let me know so I can snag one up

manifestomail.com

revolutionarymail.com

revolutionbymail.com

also any other domain name ideas, send them my way so I can get one bought and ready for the design and script portion of this effort.

I like revolutionarymail.com myself, anyone else have thoughts on this?

Great ideas. I really like RevolutionbyMail.com quite a bit. Originally I was thinking of names that included project or operation, etc. but I am liking the simplicity and effectiveness of the names you mentioned above. Let's get some more names thrown around and then we can make a poll to come up with a definitive name.. Some of my ideas were:

SpreadTheLove (Reference to the love in "Revolution")
SpreadTheRevolution
Project Liberty (Can be used as both noun and verb)
Manifest the Manifesto

Mine are pretty lame. I am really liking the whole Revolution & Mail concept. Although, with the idea of personally delivering copies, perhaps we should adapt something like DeliverTheRevolution or something similar.

On second thought... I really like the ring of RevolutionByMail much more. :D

[Austin]

Also, who are you considering for web host? The two top rated on the web include HostMonster and BlueHost. I prefer HostMonster myself, it's got some great plans.

[newyearsrevolution08]

lets go with that then, it sounds good and is a revolution by mail.

Simple and straight to the point

[newyearsrevolution08]

Also, who are you considering for web host? The two top rated on the web include HostMonster and BlueHost. I prefer HostMonster myself, it's got some great plans.

I have a host, I used this host for 80+ sites I run and then bought a dedicate plan through them. I have never had downtime or lag since I had any service through them let alone my new server plan I have now.

I do not see this as a server hog anyways since it will be more of a "Adding new people" and "buying and shipping" and "submitting tracking" and thats about it. Then on the backend would just be where I would verify tracking numbers as well as any "new adds" to any of the lists.

At first it could start with just a list of congress then once we get through that it could then allow for more groups including senate and so on.

First thing though is to get the design + script,

we have the domain which is revolutionbymail.com

So the project is happily named "Revolution by Mail", it is basic enough for people to not get it but still get the point across 100%.

[Austin]

I have a host, I used this host for 80+ sites I run and then bought a dedicate plan through them. I have never had downtime or lag since I had any service through them let alone my new server plan I have now.

I do not see this as a server hog anyways since it will be more of a "Adding new people" and "buying and shipping" and "submitting tracking" and thats about it. Then on the backend would just be where I would verify tracking numbers as well as any "new adds" to any of the lists.

At first it could start with just a list of congress then once we get through that it could then allow for more groups including senate and so on.

First thing though is to get the design + script,

we have the domain which is revolutionbymail.com

So the project is happily named "Revolution by Mail", it is basic enough for people to not get it but still get the point across 100%.

Perfect. I only have experience with HostMonster on a few sites, so I will trust your judgment on the matter. Especially given the stress the site will give any server will be minimal. This is excellent. We are making great progress.

RevolutionByMail.com and RevolutionByMail.org are both available. Which do you think we should go with? Also, I don't think this even needs a vote. Fantastic name!

[newyearsrevolution08]

I bought the revolutionbymail.com domain already and have setup the "thread" that needs to get stickied. All that is needed then is a design + script and we are ready to get this thing moving

[Austin]

I bought the revolutionbymail.com domain already and have setup the "thread" that needs to get stickied. All that is needed then is a design + script and we are ready to get this thing moving

Fantastic. I sent a PM to 5 of the admins/moderators with a request for a sticky. Also, I mentioned a new board dedicated to the cause, though I don't see that happening so soon. Eventually though, I think it will be needed, especially as we work our way down the political ladder.

Man, I am very excited about this. It's 3:21 and I should be working my 10-page essay on industrial hemp for English, but this is much more exciting.

[newyearsrevolution08]

It has been stickied and I updated the link in my sig as well to that thread. All we need is a design and a coder and we will be on our way. Design is one thing that I do not have the best ability with but I do know there are plenty of ron paul supporters who do have that skill. Maybe the middle of the night is not where we will locate them though....

I think this will be one of the largest "impact" providing projects to date. Knowledge is one thing that will always impact a person whether they want to be perceptive to it or not. I see this effort really helping the overall revolution we all are undertaking.

[idiom]

We have Opened a NEW FRONT!

[DFF]

Here's a map of U.S. Congressional Districts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_Congressional_Districts_color.svg). To enlarge it, double click the map. Once you've determined which district you reside in, scroll down this state by state list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_congressional_districts) to see who represents you.

EDIT: And here's the list of U.S. Senators (http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm).

+ Website + ChipIn = :)

[Razmear]

Digg this:

http://digg.com/politics/Mailing_List_for_A_Manifesto

Has list of all congressional mailing addresses and links to buy the book from sellers that are not yet sold out.

I'll update the site some more when I wake up.

eb