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This week on Uprising:

* Report From Washington DC: An Update on the Protests Against the Tar Sands Pipeline
* Why Progressives Should Take a Deeper Look at Ron Paul’s Right Wing Ideas
* Black Agenda Report on the 40th Anniversary of the Attica Uprising
* Playbook for Progressives: Sixteen Qualities for a Successful Organizer

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Report From Washington DC: An Update on the Protests Against the Tar Sands Pipeline

Republican Governor of Nebraska Dave Heineman this week spoke out against the proposed 1,700 mile Keystone XL pipeline. In a letter to President Obama Heineman made the case that the pipeline would threaten a vital Nebraska aquifer, and the state’s economy. This is a high-profile boost for the droves of protestors who have spent two weeks staging sit-ins against the pipeline in front of the White House, getting only sporadic media attention. Over 700 people have been arrested since August 20th for participating in the non-violent direct action, the culmination of months of organizing against TransCanada’s tar sands pipeline. So far, the President’s reaction to the clamor on his front lawn has been silence. In the last week and half Obama has issued statements on Hurricane Irene, on the election of new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, on the Muslim holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr, and on events in Mexico. On the thousands of Americans demanding a stop to the pipeline project, he has said nothing. Likewise, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, whose State Department is tasked with approving the project’s permit, has not even publicly acknowledged the nearly two week action in Washington DC. During an August 26th press conference a spokesperson on the Department’s anticipated Final Environmental Impact Statement said the report’s summary findings state, “[t]here would be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed pipeline corridor.” Of the many that would disagree with this assessment is NASA climate scientist James Hansen, who joined the protests and was arrested on Monday. Hansen called on the President to show he is not a “hopeless addict” to oil and said approving the pipeline would be “game over” for the health of the planet. The protests have also drawn folks better known for their activism in other areas, including Army Veteran and LBGT activist Dan Choi, and Just Foreign Policy’s Robert Naiman. The last day of action is Saturday, September 3rd.

GUEST: Brant Olson, Tar Sands Campaign Director at the Rainforest Action Network. He was arrested at the White House yesterday.

Find out more at www.tarsandsaction.org, www.dirtyoilsands.org, and www.ran.org/tarsands

Why Progressives Should Take a Deeper Look at Ron Paul’s Right Wing Ideas

The consequences of Hurricane Irene continue to plague residents of multiple states. President Obama this week declared a major disaster area in New York. Hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents experienced cutoffs in electricity services to much of the state were down. Yet, conservative politicians continue to warn that the price tag of federal assistance to disaster victims is too high. Congressman and 2012 Presidential candidate Ron Paul jumped into the fray during an appearance on CNN. In what turned into a debate with host Anderson Cooper, Paul said FEMA creates a dependency on the federal government, and drains national resources. This is consistent with his extreme Libertarian views, but not so consistent with the politics of American progressives, who have recently began to champion Paul as an antiwar crusader worth listening to. Writing for Alternet, Adele Stan issued a warning call to progressives who have a blind spot to Paul’s overall political views. Stan informs or reminds us, depending on your familiarity with Paul, that of the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act he said, “Forced integration… increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.” Ron Paul’s libertarian ideology has led him to compare social security to slavery. Paul is against a woman’s right to choose when it comes to abortion in any and all circumstances, and he doesn’t believe same sex marriage should be a right under federal law. Stan also reveals in detail, Paul’s long relationship with the ultra-conservative John Birch society. In 2008 Paul gave the keynote address at the Birch Society’s 50th anniversary Gala.

GUEST: Adele Stan, AlterNet’s Washington bureau chief

Read Adele Stan’s article here: http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/152192/
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*Correction: An earlier version of this post erroneously stated Ron Paul appeared on MSNBC on the Anderson Cooper show. Anderson Cooper is a host on CNN. We regret the error.

Black Agenda Report on the 40th Anniversary of the Attica Uprising

Bruce Dixon is the Managing Editor of the Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is about the 40th anniversary of the Attica uprising.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Playbook for Progressives: Sixteen Qualities for a Successful Organizer

As protests break out all over the world from Chile to India, and in Washington DC, a timely new book by local community organizer Eric Mann attempts to distill what it is that makes a good organizer. “Playbook for Progressives: 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer,” articulates what organizers often don’t have a chance to put on paper; The book has been described as an “Organizing Manifesto” and an “Art of War” for organizers. Mann draws on his decades of experience in a wide range of movements to create a comprehensive theoretical framework for organizing. He skillfully intertwines stories of great organizers like Nelson Mandela with those who have been quietly doing grassroots work in their communities for years. The book is divided into two parts, the first of which breaks down the roles that organizers play, from “The Foot Soldier” to “The Political Educator,” even as the best organizers perform many if not all of the varying roles, Mann highlights Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X as “Evangelist” organizers as they called for personal transformation, a conversion of values, and a commitment to a bigger cause. Eric Mann identifies the actions each role performs and the purpose they fulfill in the functioning of an organization. He also explains how these roles come together to create an effective organization. The second half of the book details the qualities, skills, and attributes of a successful organizer. Eric Mann’s Playbook for Progressives emphasizes “Theory-Driven-Practice” and effectively lays the groundwork to go from “a critic to an activist, from an activist to an organizer, and, finally, from an organizer to a more conscious introspective, and successful leader.”

GUEST: Eric Mann, Director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center, co-founder of the Bus Riders Union, author of six books, including his latest, Playbook for Progressives: 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer”

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough — you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal.” — Richard Stallman