I suggest that the speed with which things are going was foreseen for months before the inauguration, and the fact that the Dems couldn’t seem to step up and develop a vision for what to do makes me think we need to move faster on the Opposition Cabinet (or whatever) rather than hit pause. I have been trying to send a note to Ezra Klein but I can’t find a way into the hermetically sealed NYT. Do you know? I have managed to send a note with a link to Prof. Snyder’s Substack on the Opposition Cabinet to Hakeem Jeffries, and Elizabeth Warren as well as Kamela Harris. It isn’t easy to get new ideas in. Things seem to be freezing up. If you are going to be focused on a communication system, be sure to allow for new ideas somehow. I know trolls are a disaster but somehow we have to keep the lines open.
Thanks Elizabeth and sorry for the late response. Your ideas and efforts described are helpful. I am prepping some ideas on a new possible post about asking ourselves which of the six formats Snyder suggested in his People's Cabinet (2nd) post we think would be the most effective.
Doug, I just subscribed. I think I understand what you are aiming to but am not informed or skilled enough to contribute. A tip though — I have spent many hours within a university setting putting together templates and formats that I was convinced would be useful to other educators. No one stepped up to play.
My suggestion: identify a couple of people who could be qualified to be shadow members and hear their ideas about format and idea content that would be useful to them. Get this sort of “insider” input as early as possible in order to streamline the path to advancing drafts of your product.
I am happy to see that you are trying to find a way of developing the idea of a people's or shadow cabinet, but I can't read the full text of either version of People's Cabinet Sandbox you have written. There seems to be no way of scrolling down past the first two paragraphs.
Yes, I would be interested in working on a post such as you suggest. Do you have anything going yet? Who will the post go to? I heard the “Shadow Cabinet” idea brought up on an Indivisible webinar. They didn’t understand how it worked. I sent a letter and copy of Prof. Snyder’s Substack to Ezra and I hope he will read it.
Here's a link to the main page which you can reach the three separate publications, all of which are in ongoing development and edits. It's all a bit unwieldy because I didn't/and still don't know very well how to best utilize Substack as a creative "cabinet shop" and not a writer's publication place. Link to global: https://dougshortridge.substack.com/
As discussed in both Wiley's opinion in the Washington Post and in Timothy Snyder's Thinking About, the Shadow Cabinet/Pro-Democracy Cabinet is British in origin.
1. Consulting with a British MP's staff person would be an excellent place to start.
2. Expand Wiley's list of named members to include other Congressional Committees as discussed in comments section of Snyder's post: Anti-Trust, Technology, Health.
3. As part of Shadow Cabinet, create new position or member on climate change to include all issues related to preparedness and disaster: FEMA, Housing (rebuilding), Insurance regulation, HUD, et al.
4. Get the ball rolling by reaching out to congressional representatives in whatever state you live in--any New Yorkers who can talk to Schumer's staff about doing this now, as in January 2025?
I tried contacting Alastair Campell/Rory Stewart of the British podcast "The Rest is Politics" . They host episodes called "Question Time" where they take questions from listeners. I thought they would be good at explaining how the British model might apply to our system. So far, no response.
I suggest that the speed with which things are going was foreseen for months before the inauguration, and the fact that the Dems couldn’t seem to step up and develop a vision for what to do makes me think we need to move faster on the Opposition Cabinet (or whatever) rather than hit pause. I have been trying to send a note to Ezra Klein but I can’t find a way into the hermetically sealed NYT. Do you know? I have managed to send a note with a link to Prof. Snyder’s Substack on the Opposition Cabinet to Hakeem Jeffries, and Elizabeth Warren as well as Kamela Harris. It isn’t easy to get new ideas in. Things seem to be freezing up. If you are going to be focused on a communication system, be sure to allow for new ideas somehow. I know trolls are a disaster but somehow we have to keep the lines open.
Thanks Elizabeth and sorry for the late response. Your ideas and efforts described are helpful. I am prepping some ideas on a new possible post about asking ourselves which of the six formats Snyder suggested in his People's Cabinet (2nd) post we think would be the most effective.
Doug, I just subscribed. I think I understand what you are aiming to but am not informed or skilled enough to contribute. A tip though — I have spent many hours within a university setting putting together templates and formats that I was convinced would be useful to other educators. No one stepped up to play.
My suggestion: identify a couple of people who could be qualified to be shadow members and hear their ideas about format and idea content that would be useful to them. Get this sort of “insider” input as early as possible in order to streamline the path to advancing drafts of your product.
I'm focused on establishing a format for a public facing communication system as a tool for whatever the cabinet turns out to be.
I am happy to see that you are trying to find a way of developing the idea of a people's or shadow cabinet, but I can't read the full text of either version of People's Cabinet Sandbox you have written. There seems to be no way of scrolling down past the first two paragraphs.
Yes, I would be interested in working on a post such as you suggest. Do you have anything going yet? Who will the post go to? I heard the “Shadow Cabinet” idea brought up on an Indivisible webinar. They didn’t understand how it worked. I sent a letter and copy of Prof. Snyder’s Substack to Ezra and I hope he will read it.
Here's a link to the other publication Shadow Cabinet Makeup.
where you can read the six items Snyder suggests. Just comment there if you want.
https://dougshortridge.substack.com/p/shadow-cabinet-makeup
Here's a link to the main page which you can reach the three separate publications, all of which are in ongoing development and edits. It's all a bit unwieldy because I didn't/and still don't know very well how to best utilize Substack as a creative "cabinet shop" and not a writer's publication place. Link to global: https://dougshortridge.substack.com/
As discussed in both Wiley's opinion in the Washington Post and in Timothy Snyder's Thinking About, the Shadow Cabinet/Pro-Democracy Cabinet is British in origin.
1. Consulting with a British MP's staff person would be an excellent place to start.
2. Expand Wiley's list of named members to include other Congressional Committees as discussed in comments section of Snyder's post: Anti-Trust, Technology, Health.
3. As part of Shadow Cabinet, create new position or member on climate change to include all issues related to preparedness and disaster: FEMA, Housing (rebuilding), Insurance regulation, HUD, et al.
4. Get the ball rolling by reaching out to congressional representatives in whatever state you live in--any New Yorkers who can talk to Schumer's staff about doing this now, as in January 2025?
Hi Ren, I was focused on strictly the mechanics of the envisioned "shadow cabinet substack" and this is still developing.
I tried contacting Alastair Campell/Rory Stewart of the British podcast "The Rest is Politics" . They host episodes called "Question Time" where they take questions from listeners. I thought they would be good at explaining how the British model might apply to our system. So far, no response.