The last time Americans united against fascism, over 400,000 of our troops died – soldiers of all races, political groups, religions and ethnicities. Never could those soldiers have guessed that a future American president, a corrupt and compromised authoritarian, would label anti-fascism “domestic terrorism” and condemn the press, Democrats and immigrants as enemies of the state.
So now we are united again, as “E-day” – November 3rd, approaches, to remove this fascist from our White House. His only weapons are lies. Our weapons are ballots and our strategies involve engaging voters and getting them to use their power.
We are keeping lists of opportunities to help – Phonebanking (there are several opportunities to do this TODAY!) Textbanking! Letter Writing! Postcards! along with other great things to do!: Click here. And because phonebanking seems the most unimaginable for us introverts, we’ve posted this video to show that we too can become very good at this.
Events happening today.
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; It must be demanded by the oppressed.” ~ MLK
We’re putting up information on local protests and actions by others we’re finding from informal sources. These listings are not endorsements nor guarantees as to time/place/type of protest or participant safety. Events can and have already been cancelled without notice.
Protest safely in the time of pandemic and police overreaction: Go here for resources on camera apps, equipment, what to know if you’re stopped by police.
We Democrats will have to fall for his lies to help him pull this off. So, keep reminding your social media friends, that we are the majority and to go out and vote like Ruth Bader Ginsburg is watching.
He will also depend on his able cast of enablers, including all the GOP members of the Senate. So, if you’ve finished sending out cards to those who swore they’d never seat a new justice in an election year (tinyurl.com/Postcards-to-Hypocrites), here’s another proposed script for those quivering toadies.
Dear Sen. _______
The GOP has had many chances to stand up to the anti-democratic actions of President Trump. And each time, you’ve remained silent, putting your party over our country. Even now, as he threatens the orderly transfer of power for the first time in our history, you are afraid to say his name. Similar to the question to Sen. Joe McCarthy +60 years ago, we ask: Have you no decency? Have you no patriotism? Have you no honor? Have you no courage?
Removal, not promotion, for Chad Wolf’s unlawful reign of incompetence and terror.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Senate will take up the confirming of Chad Wolf to become the official secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a ill-deserved promotion for one of Trump’s army of conveniently disposable “acting” heads. Wolf, a man with zero legal or law enforcement training, has already committed two violations of federal law – taking office illegally and overstaying the 210-day term limit for acting officials. 28 days past his own term’s expiration, he chose to ignore Supreme Court and federal court rulings related to DACA recipients. He is also the subject of a whistleblower complaint alleging he manipulated intelligence reports to please President Trump. DHS is a law enforcement entity with the demonstrated power to harm or even kill civilians. It should not be in the hands of a man who has clearly demonstrated disrespect for the judiciary, the laws related to his own office, and human lives.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote “NO” on the confirmation of unqualified Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf. Beyond being improperly installed in a position that allows him to indulge his taste for violence, racism and xenophobia, he has ignored court rulings and has already violated the Vacancies Act’s 210-day limit, acting without any legal authority for the last 104 days. Basic regard for law and life should be minimum requirements for the head of DHS.
(9/17/2020) “The Senate has confirmed six of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees in the past 30 hours,” tweeted Vanita Gupta, of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “These are lifetime appointments that McConnell’s pushing through instead of the HEROES Act & other crucial legislation.” Anisha Singh, of Planned Parenthood, called on the Senate to halt upcoming votes, noting that two of the latest pushed through for Illinois are threats to people’s health, rights and bodily autonomy. Her full statement is here.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to remind [her/his] fellow legislators to get their priorities straight and pass H.R. 6800 – HEROES Act already! Americans are suffering. Americans are going hungry. Americans are becoming homeless. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? (or use black2thefuture’s terrific script here. Or do both!)
Not sure about what the Heroes Act is? Here’s a nice explainer here. (The House passed their version on May 15th and the same GOP who slipped a $135 BILLION dollar giveaway to the wealthy into the CARES Act, are embracing austerity (Hey, remember that “skinny” bill?) for the rest of us.
RBG was a fierce champion of justice and equality on the Supreme Court. We owe her an enormous debt of gratitude, and we must fight hard to uphold the ideals of equality and justice she dedicated her life to.
Join us in honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life. We are holding a candlelight vigil at the Ventura County Government Center at 8pm this evening. Corner of Telephone and Victoria. Facebook link to share: https://www.facebook.com/events/3477983085599848/
In honor of her dissent of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Shelby v. Holder decision that reversed part of the Voting Rights Act, we will also have a voter registration table.
Please bring safe forms of illumination.
Masks are required and we’re enforcing the 6′ social distancing rule.
By participating in this event, you agree (i) not to engage in any act of violence or violation of any applicable law, (ii) to obey the orders of authorized event marshals and law enforcement authorities, and (iii) that event organizers and sponsors will not be responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring in the course of your participating in the event, and you agree to release and forever hold harmless event organizers and sponsors, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from liability for any such injury or damage.
Refresh GOP senators’ memories with their own words – on postcards!
(Share!: tinyurl.com/postcards-to-hypocrites) In the days leading up to her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Let’s help! An amazing person compiled a collection of quotes from various GOP legislators that were used in 2016 to deny Merrick Garland a Supreme Court seat. Now, you can put them on postcards, with the addresses she’s gathered. It also helps the USPS, so it’s a two-fer! (Feel free to mix it up on the non-quoted sections of the message!)
Senator Lindsey Graham
God, this is like taking candy from a big ‘ol corrupt baby…
In 2016, you said: “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.” Those are your words, sir. Keep your word. SCOTUS nomination hearings should not start until 2021.
Address: 290 Russell Senate Office Bldg.,Washington, DC, 20510
Senator Mike Lee
In 2016, you said: “We think that the American people need a chance to weigh in on this issue, on who will fill that seat. They’ll have that chance this November and they oughta have that chance.” So, it’s 2020, and the shoe still fits. Please don’t be a hypocrite: do the right thing by delaying SCOTUS nomination hearings until 2021.
Address: 361 A Russel Senate Office Bldg.,Washington, DC 20510
Action #1 – Write a quick comment to the county to add wildlife crossings into their new freeway work.
Mountain lions and other wildlife attempt to cross Hwy #101 and many times their journey ends in death. The project to create a “greenway” over the road is now underway at Liberty Canyon. (The image is an artist concept of what the finished overpass will look like.)
With fires raging through our future, our first thought was that animals will be trapped in fire areas, with no escape. But that’s just a one part of the issue. Collisions with animals on the highway are also dangerous for humans. About 200 people die every year from animal collisions and the incidence is increasing. Wildlife bridges have been very effective in helping avert these tragic and expensive incidents and to preserve endangered species. (Lots of information about animal crossings in this National Geographic article.)
Jim Hines, from the Sierra Club is working to get more of these bridges created, but he needs our help!. Here is his letter to us.
“Good Morning Ventura County Friends: The County of Ventura and CalTrans are in the very early stages of planning a 101 freeway widening project which would extend from Thousand Oaks to the City of Ventura. And I would like during the construction process to have CalTrans construct a wildlife overpass over the 101 in the Conejo Grade area. The Conejo Grade is a known wildlife crossing and the National Park Servivce has documented a number of cases where mountain lions and other wildlife have crossed the 101 freeway in the Conejo Grade area. I have joined the efforts of Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks in urging people to comment in favor of a 101 Conejo Grade wildlife overpass to be constructed during the 101 widening process.
This is the study area information here. Click on “PUBLIC IMPUT” at the top and make a comment in support of a “greenway” bridge.
Example comment: While CalTrans is planning a freeway widening project, please have them include a wildlife crossing in the Conejo Grade area, is many mountain lions and other animals try to cross there.
Action #2 – Call Newsom to sign AB 1788 and save the lives of our wildlife.
HE STILL HASN’T SIGNED, and there’s opposition from both the companies that make these products and those that use them. He needs to hear from us!
Up in the Santa Monica Mountains, P-47 was just going about his job. The mountain lion, studied by researchers since he was 4 weeks old, was part of an ecosystem that keeps rodent populations under control. However, due to eating prey animals dosed with anticoagulant poisons, internal bleeding caused him to die a slow and painful death.
(from original post on 7/8/19) AB 1788 – Pesticides: use of anticoagulants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poison) indiscriminately destroys ecosystems and poisons native wildlife such as bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and hawks. These rodenticides are also one of the top ten pet toxins, injuring or killing household pets who eat either affected rodents or the bait itself. In addition, more than 4,400 children under age 6 were poisoned with these long-acting toxins in 2016, which disproportionately harmed those from low-income families. (More information from Project Coyote and Marilyn Krieger’s article “Rat Poisons Aren’t Selective” here.) We can do better.
UPDATE: After a two-year fight, this bill was finally placed on Governor Newsom’s desk at 3:00 pm yesterday! Now we need him to sign it!
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I would like Governor Newsom to sign YES on AB 1788. the bill that limits the use of anticoagulant rat poison, which is poisoning native wildlife and destroying ecosystems.
More script if you want it: Wildfires are already stressing our wildlife by destroying habitat. Please remove these toxic substances from the many dangers they are now facing.
Since the beginning of our country, immigrants have risked everything to find safety and a better life for their families within our borders. Yesterday, however, a whistleblower came forward with allegations of violent abuse against immigrants at an ICE detention center in Georgia that only adds to the crimes against humanity that shame us all. Beyond refusing to test and treat patients for coronavirus, the complaint described a doctor who was performing hysterectomies on detained women, effectively sterilizing them, with little to no explanation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have already demanded an investigation.
“When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they’re experimenting with our bodies,” a detainee said.
“No woman should be forced into life altering surgery. No one should be forced to sign a paper they don’t understand, when they’re informed in a language they’re not comfortable with.“ Kimberly Aponte of @GLAHR_ on mass forced hysterectomies at Irwin Detention Ctr #ShutDownIrwinpic.twitter.com/if3feqw5Tt
Up in the Santa Monica Mountains, P-47 was just going about his job. The mountain lion, studied by researchers since he was 4 weeks old, was part of an ecosystem that keeps rodent populations under control. However, due to eating prey animals dosed with anticoagulant poisons, internal bleeding caused him to die a slow and painful death.
Stop the poisoning of our wild critters. Tell Newsom to sign AB 1788!
(from original post on 7/8/19) AB 1788 – Pesticides: use of anticoagulants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poison) indiscriminately destroys ecosystems and poisons native wildlife such as bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and hawks. These rodenticides are also one of the top ten pet toxins, injuring or killing household pets who eat either affected rodents or the bait itself. In addition, more than 4,400 children under age 6 were poisoned with these long-acting toxins in 2016, which disproportionately harmed those from low-income families. (More information from Project Coyote and Marilyn Krieger’s article “Rat Poisons Aren’t Selective” here.) We can do better.
UPDATE: After a two-year fight, this bill was finally placed on Governor Newsom’s desk at 3:00 pm yesterday! Now we need him to sign it!
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I would like Governor Newsom to sign YES on AB 1788. the bill that limits the use of anticoagulant rat poison, which is poisoning native wildlife and destroying ecosystems.
More script if you want it: Wildfires are already stressing our wildlife by destroying habitat. Please remove these toxic substances from the many dangers they are now facing.
(It looked like this.) Sign this petitionto demand that CA Secretary of State Alex Padilla safeguard this election by requiring LA County to fix several serious problems with their voting system and by requiring that the source code be publicly released as mandated by California election law.
Why is this so important? Los Angeles has the largest number of voters in the nation, higher than the individual population of more than 30 states. Their system is the nation’s first publicly-owned voting system with ballot marking devices (BMDs), and it may be spread across the country, flaws and all.
What are the flaws that need to be fixed?
For LA County voters using “ballot marking devices: Let’s start by using Ventura County as a good example. Here, voters using ballot marking devices (BMD) make their selections on a touch screen, and their ballot is then printed out on regular paper. Voters can check their choices for accuracy, and place their paper ballots into ballot boxes, which are collected and taken to the county elections division. (photo of BDM system used in Ventura Co.)
#1 – Spanish Speakers urgently needed to text Florida voters for Biden
Spanish speaking volunteers who can text or call in Spanish are urgently needed to drive up Hispanic support for Biden in Florida. Right now, the Florida race is extremely close, and Trump has gained strength among Cubans and other Latinos, who are being inundated with wild disinformation, including QAnon tropes, accusations that Biden is a communist, and that a Biden win would put America in control of “Jews and Blacks.” A paid insert in the Spanish-language version of the Miami Herald equated Black Lives Matter protesters with Nazis, and has been running anti-Semitic and racist articles for months. It’s as ugly as it gets, thanks to the GOP and far-right Spanish-language sites.
The Democratic Latino vote is critical, and we need help NOW because we could lose Florida if this continues. Upcoming Texting times are
Tue, Sep 15, 5:00pm–7:00pm EDT,
Sat, Sep 19, 11:00am–12:00pm EDT Tue,
Sep 22, 5:00pm–6:00pm EDT.
Find out more and signup here to text Spanish speaking voters in Florida. If we cannot make the dates listed, new ones will be added, so keep checking back. If you know Spanish speakers who can help, please share this info with them: link here or https://www.mobilize.us/fl2020victory/event/320226/
