After the January peace march, I stayed in our nation's capitol to lobby. My experience on Capitol Hill reminded me that people in Washington are no different than the rest of America. As we travel along the Bell Curve we see Congress members run the gamut of poorly informed, averagely informed (corporate media), or greatly informed (blogs, primary sources, and international press).
It's likely a Congress member, or her staff, may dismiss our stands on issues when they differ from the politicized intelligence or Washington group think perpetuated by the Bush administration, consultants and corporate media. From the blogosphere we know that there are far wider sources of information, analysis, and ideas that need to be read in order to form an accurate assessment of a situation. They are not dumb or dumber than us. They're just not as well read as us.
Do we need to change how we communicate with Congress? Will including links to sources that support our positions increase the likelihood that each staffer will take the time to become as informed about our issues as we are?
Below the fold see someone talk about her experience with Democratic Congress members and read about my experience with a staffer. Then help us decide the best way to educate Congress.
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