One of the great debates of blogging is the general rudeness and shrillness acceptable within the discourse. Does profanity exempt you from being taken seriously? Are you necessarily "calmer" because you don't drop a few four-letter words? We'll discuss the tone and attitude of various pockets of bloggers, and also why, no matter what, Michelle Malkin is still worse.

The great state of Texas has many excellent progressive candidates seeking to help turn Texas "blue" in 2008. From Netroots-powered U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega to down-ballot candidates for the Texas Legislature, the class of 2008 represents many of the best and brightest Democrats Texas has to offer.

Created, nurtured and developed in the Blogosphere, Energize America (www.ea2020.org) has developed innovative approaches to move forward toward a prosperous, climate-friendly society. EA2020 is working at the nexus of the blogosphere, citizen activism, local governance and Congress. This panel will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this effort, while setting out an agenda for progress.

A new Democratic president will take office on January 20, 2009, facing a federal judiciary stacked with Republican appointees in 20 of the last 28 years, and a Department of Justice that has been more tied to the President’s policy interests than the impartial enforcement of law. What should the next president do with the courts? What should the priorities be for his attorney general? What legislative initiatives are needed to restore fair access to the courts?

i.e. Don't just throw money at the Internet in buckets and hope something sticks. Many campaigns and organizations know they need to do some kind of online outreach, including paid advertising. But they don't know where to begin, or how to track whether what they're doing actually worked. We'll talk about congressional campaigns as case studies, from perspectives both within and outside the campaigns.

Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) will for the first time show footage from his upcoming film Casino Jack And the United States of Money. The film focuses on disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Gibney will be joined by experts discussing transparency in government and how the internet has changed the way Washington DC works. Panelists include: Roy Sekoff (Founding Editor of the Huffington Post); Michael Silberman (EchoDitto); Naomi Seligman Steiner (Deputy Director Of CREW); Jim VandeHei (co-Founder of Politico). Breakfast will be served.

Native American women are subject to much higher levels of sexual and domestic violence than any other women in the United States. Due to a confusing maze of tribal, state, local and federal laws, rapists and batters rarely face prosecution, regardless of the evidence against them. Perpetrators are aware that they can rape and brutalize, then often walk away with no consequences. This panel will explore what can be done to ensure equal protection under the law for Native American women and the role the Netroots can play in combating these injustices.

Four years ago, the Dean campaign ushered in a new era of politics—an era where a base of grassroots supporters, combined with cutting edge technology, fundamentally altered the way politics is done in America. Today the people behind that revolution are still forging this new path, and they'll talk about the lessons they learned then and how they are changing politics now.

A record number of working Americans believe that the American Dream is out of reach. Shockingly, 69 percent believe it will be even harder for their children to achieve the Dream than it was for them. However, an "American Dream Movement"—progressives of all stripes who understand that the interconnected nature of the challenges we face requires a comprehensive set of solutions—has already begun to grow. Join us for a discussion of this movement—its goals, direction, and tactics—with progressive leaders and others with a stake in restoring the American Dream for everyone.

With the VoteVets.org Body Armor Ad in 2006, military veterans assumed a new role in shaping American military policy. That same year, nine Iraq veterans ran for Congress and two won seats. This panel will discuss how Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have organized themselves politically in 2008 to further challenge the very policymakers who sent them to war in the first place.

This panel will explore how the Netroots can address the problems we face with America's food system and work for their resolutions. We'll discuss how farmers and eaters can work together for their mutual benefit, how communities can come together to eliminate hunger, how to fight the powerful "big food" lobby to create sensible regulations and how to lobby for sustainable agriculture.

This discussion includes three politically active high school students who will share their experiences, perceptions and perspectives about their own participation, with suggestions of how to better take advantage of the talents and interests of young people in the political and civic processes of our nation. They will also discuss the relevance or lack of relevance of the civic education available to them and most American teenagers.

Employing an inside-outside strategy seems so obvious that it's amazing how often it isn't used. Insiders in Washington regularly fail to engage the public on key issues and then wonder why people never seem to care. And popular ideas in the Netroots fail to take root in Washington because there's nobody on the inside making the case—or worse, the insiders are actively working against the public interest. This panel will look at campaigns that have been a result of innovative collaborations between Washington policy groups and the Netroots.

Nearly every state has some form of open records or "sunshine" law designed to make accessing public records at least somewhat less difficult than it otherwise could be. However, as useful as this tool has been to the mainstream media, many bloggers are unaware or unsure of how to take advantage of it. This panel discussion will provide a public records primer for bloggers and Netroots activists to learn how they can use public information laws to better report the news in their community, state and nation.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia). In less than two years, the National Popular Vote bill has been enacted into law in Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. The bill has passed 18 legislative houses (one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, and Rhode Island, and Washington, and two houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Vermont, and Maryland). The bill is currently endorsed by 1027 state legislators.

We have seen the way the traditional media has failed the public, from the run-up to the Iraq War to the shortcomings in coverage of the Presidential election. At the same time, a crop of documentary films and alternative news sources have given us insights that have expanded our understanding of the world around us. Can film take over where traditional media has left off? Or do films serve a fundamentally different purpose? A discussion with filmmakers, journalists and experts in the field invites you to share your views on the subject.

Rural America - and rural voters - play a critical role in the future of the progressive movement. A solid, informed and participatory base of rural citizens paired with urban progressives would make for a powerful partnership. But how do we do it? What are the issues that unite metro riders and tractor drivers? There are more than you think, and they matter to all Americans, regardless of your zipcode.

Come join mindoca from Daily Kos for a fun, informative, interactive workshop on the most effective voter mobilization vehicles available to electoral campaigns at every level.

We'll discuss exactly how canvassing and phonebanking fit into campaign strategy, identify different types of canvassing and phonebanking, examine the critical relationship between field operations and volunteers, and provide concrete and creative tips on how to be the best canvasser and phonebanker possible—and bring in votes for your candidate.

Please bring a cell phone and come prepared to share your anxieties, disdain, fears, concerns and questions about canvassing and phonebanking.

We know that populism wins elections, but once a politician wins how do we make sure that pro-middle class policies are actually implemented? Blue Dogs and the media conflate being pro-middle class with being “centrist”.

The debt stricken, under-insured public's realization that their personal economic struggles are really political struggles presents an opportunity for lasting progressive change. Barack Obama's agenda includes healthcare and transportation among other investments in our country that the middle class needs-- but these aren't free. How can the netroots mobilize to make it politically possible to pass Obama's domestic agenda in a Grover Norquist-shaped world?

Netroots Nation 2008 will feature a spectacular 26,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall centrally located near all the action. The Exhibit Hall will include interactive displays from non-profit progressive organizations and corporate sponsors eager to connect with the progressive community. We will also reprise the successful convention bookstore featuring book signings from progressive authors. We invite you to join us.

This year's Netroots Nation marks the launch of a bold experiment in participatory democracy: Together, the Netroots will craft their very own policy platform in advance of the Democratic Convention! Come join this working session, where we'll use MixedInk's web-based collaborative writing tool to begin putting our best ideas and language together. The effort will continue in the weeks following the conference - and the final, collectively written platform will be presented to the DNC before the convention in Denver. Come help kick off the process! Laptops encouraged (but not required).

A conversation with Former Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama who has, as much as anyone, been the target of Rove-ian smear politics that have defined the Bush Administration.

This discussion between Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos, and Harold Ford, the current chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, will give attendees a chance to hear a range of views on questions such as where and how should we build infrastructure in order to create positive change in Washington DC.

An intimate discussion between life-long friends and colleagues Rand Beers, president of the National Security Network, and Richard Clarke, author of the forthcoming book "Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters." Beers, who left the Bush administration in protest to become an outspoken leader in the progressive foreign policy community, will interview Clarke on issues such as terrorism, Iraq, climate change, the next administration and how we recover from a reckless era in world affairs within the context of a pronounced progressive movement.

With the current administration nearing its term limit, U.S. science policy may soon be relieved of a number of ideological and religious constraints. Restructuring U.S. science policy will look at three key areas likely to benefit under either a McCain or Democratic administration: science education, biotechnology and climate change. Attention will be paid to recent and pending legislative changes in all three areas, and potential grassroots and Netroots responses. Each speakers is tasked to provide a picture of how U.S. science policy might appear a few years from now, assisted by ideas from an interactive audience.