ACTION REQUESTED: This will be the content on the "About Us" page on the website. Edit this page directly or post comments to the discussion thread at the bottom.

Who We Are

Our members are a diverse group of nonpartisans from all walks of life who believe that the rights and liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution should be protected. Our organizers are our members. We have a flat hierarchy and have built a consensus model that allows all members to provide input, volunteer for organizing activities, and participate at all levels of Get FISA Right.

[NOTE: I started with "Who We Are" because we (the organizers) have not done a very good job of communicating with the members. I think it behooves us to introduce ourselves now, to make up for this, as often as possible]

What We Stand For

We believe that the United States Constitution guarantees certain civil liberties, including the right to privacy. We are fighting for the rebirth of freedom, to roll back government surveillance, and to restore the U.S. Constitution after 7 years of the Patriot Act and the Bush administration's theory of unchecked unitary executive power. Some of our members have been involved in these battles for years or decades, others are brand new, impassioned by years of the Bush administration's abuse of the laws. Together, with Barack Obama as our President, yes we can restore the Constitutional rights of all Americans and roll back Bush's abuses of power.

[NOTE: I put "What We Stand For" next because the first question we always get is about our support for Obama, so I wanted this to be right up near the top. After this point, I went in chronological order -- our history, our mission for today, our vision for tomorrow -- because our origins are considered to be unique and important.]

Our History

Get FISA Right began as a group on My.BarackObama.com (MyBO). The Get FISA Right group multiplied virtually instantaneously from 1 person to thousands. Two weeks after its birth, this group boasted more than 24,000 members in its MyBO group. A group of proud nonpartisan Obama supporters, we began with the simple belief instilled by the Obama campaign that by working together, yes we can change Washington, DC.

Our meteoric growth was fueled by posts on blogs such as OpenLeft, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, DailyKos, and HuffingtonPost -- our cause the beneficiary of years of personal networking, progressive fundraising, media exposure, and infrastructure growth throughout the blogosphere. Our success has also been fueled by many social networking technologies, including a wiki, email groups, Twitter, online document sharing, Facebook, web-based discussion forums, and so much more. Our longevity will be sustained by the ease of use of these online communications combined with the dedication and passion of our members.

Our Mission for Today

We are a proud group of (organized but unofficial) Obama supporters who believe in Obama's call for hope and a new kind of politics. We are asking Congress and all Americans to reject the politics of fear, revisit the flawed FISA Amendments law, and safeguard the people's rights under the Fourth Amendment.

Our Vision for Tomorrow

The U.S. Constitution is the bedrock of our way of life. It is not a left or right issue, it is not red or blue or even purpose - it is an American issue. Conservatives, liberals, progressives, and moderates alike share a pride in our Constitution, and we will all stand together to restore and protect the ideals set forth by our forefathers.


A word about mission statements, vision statements, and so forth

All organizations have a fundamental set of principles under which they operate. A mission statement is essential. The others may include a vision statement, a stated goal or set of goals, a slate of concrete objectives, an ethics statement, operating policies, and so on. I often see these mislabeled or even misused within smaller organizations that have not been able to hire a communications expert to help them sort through these types of things. So, here are some simple definitions to help us get started:

A mission statement is what the organization does (For Example, everyone knows this famous mission statement, "To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before").

A vision is what the organization is working towards (For Example, Microsoft's Vision was, "A computer on every desk and in every home.").

A slate of objectives/goals is a checklist of what would be required in order to say that the vision has been reached. (For example, if our vision is to decorate my office, my list of objectives could be: flooring, paint, lighting, furniture, curtains, wall hangings, and accessories because once I have checked each of those items off of my list, I can consider my vision has been reached.)

We want our mission and vision statements to have longevity. Believe me, it will provide strength and direction to the organization when the going gets tough. I have watched startup organizations refer back to their mission again and again during the decision-making process of the first few years, using it as a guiding principle. So, this is something we want to get right, and it is usually one of the hardest things for an organization to develop and agree upon. In fact, I have entire books on this single topic on my bookshelf. I have one in particular that I refer to again and again. This will not be an easy task, but we are definitely up to it.