The radical in me really likes this idea. Let's face it: we're poor when compared to corporations, we don't get invited to the quail shooting outings and Beltway cocktail parties where policy is truly made, we're ignored when we march in the millions. So why the hell shouldn't we jam some phones? It's not like the fuckers aren't paid enough to deal with suchlike:

In a scrap that pits lefty grass-roots activists against corporate Democratic suits, MoveOn.org is marshaling its Web-happy masses against the elite, all-Democratic consultants at the Glover Park Group.

The tussle, which has been relatively polite so far, is over the Glover gang’s work on behalf of telecommunications giant Verizon. MoveOn is upset that the firm is helping Verizon block legislation on “net neutrality,” which Web-based companies and advocates criticize as something that could lead to a two-tiered Internet.

The last straw came last week, when Glover Park, along with the firm Public Opinion Strategies, released the results of a nationwide survey that found 90 percent of respondents favoring the larger aims of the telecom rewrite that has been stalled by the debate over net neutrality. By contrast, the poll found that only 5 percent of Americans had heard of net neutrality.

MoveOn activists and liberal bloggers pounced on the poll, calling it bogus. And in a tactic it usually reserves for Members of Congress, the group then directed about 3,000 of its faithful to call Glover Park’s office and register their complaints directly with firm principals Joe Lockhart and Amy Phee.

“Democratic consultants shouldn’t be pushing a corporate agenda that hurts the public, and we need to let them know it won’t fly,” the MoveOn call-to-arms read. It also urged callers, “Remember to be polite when calling.”

“Our goal is not to jam up their phone lines the entire day,” MoveOn spokesman Adam Green said. “We wanted to put them on notice that people are watching and they will be held accountable.”

Green estimated the notice generated “several dozen” calls to the firm.

The Glover Park Group did not respond to requests for comment.

Matt points out:

Of course, no Roll Call story is complete without an error. The poll didn't find that 5% of Americans had heard of net neutrality. The press release said that "in some regions of the country" only 5% of Americans had heard of net neutrality - Lockhart and Phee banked on reporters not reading the actual polling data. The intention was to mislead reporters into reprinting that 5% number, which these reporters did.

People don't seem ready to take up the pitchforks and torches, which is too bad. But a phone call? C'mon, you can do that.

I really should actually bother to open those Moveon emails once in a while....