Mon 10/8: Steel has to go through fire to transform into a sword.

View of activists Anne Koedt and Carol Hanisch as they hold a banner that reads ‘Don’t Cry, Resist’ during a ‘Legalize Abortion’ demonstration in Times Square , March 1968.

We’ve had Sunday to mourn a loss. We KNEW there would be setbacks along the way. But unlike an actual battlefield, OUR TROOPS ARE STILL HERE! And we stand ready to march into voting booths and take power away from the criminals who’ve scrambled into our leadership.

In the meantime, Mitch McConnell thinks we’re sobbing into our sheets and is trying to push these new atrocities-in-suits through. Let’s surprise him…

Action #1 – Vote NO on Jeffrey Bossert Clark for Top Environmental Prosecutor

Clark was prominently involved in industry challenges to the EPA’s “endangerment finding” that set the scientific basis for all subsequent attempts to regulate greenhouse gases. Of course, Trump to make him the DOJ’s top environmental lawyer!

Minimal Script: I am calling from [zip code] to ask Senator [___] to vote NO on Jeffrey Bossert Clark for Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

Additional Script if you want: Clark is a climate change denier whose opposition to environmental regulations and protections makes him unsuitable for the role of enforcing America’s environmental laws.

Reading:

The Sierra Club states that Clark is unfit to lead the DOJ Environmental and Natural Resources Division. (sierraclub)
Trump Names BP Oil Spill Lawyer, Climate Policy Foe as Top DOJ Environment Attorney (insideclimatenews)

Action #2 – Vote NO on Eric Dreiband for Assistant Attorney General

Continue reading “Mon 10/8: Steel has to go through fire to transform into a sword.” →

Sat – 10/6: Refocus. Help make and encourage new voters at Plaza Park today.

Today, this is true.

“The Republican-controlled Senate appears poised to confirm a Supreme Court justice who believes in presidential immunity to criminal investigation. He was handpicked by a president whose wealth was inherited through tax fraud, whose former personal attorney has implicated him in a federal crime, and who is the focus of an ongoing investigation into a foreign attack on American democracy.” (Adam Server, Atlantic Monthly)

But today, this is also true.

The next generation, 17-35-year-olds, are the largest voting demographic in America, and they are ready to take their place on the lines next to us. What happens now, with women’s rights, the environment, education, taxes, health care, labor rights, war, immigration…literally everything, will now directly effect them in a way they’ve never felt before.

Come out today and encourage students at today’s rally at Plaza Park, downtown Ventura, from 10:00 – 12:00. Facebook page with details here. Continue reading “Sat – 10/6: Refocus. Help make and encourage new voters at Plaza Park today.” →

Fri – 10/5: It’s time to do more than wait for your polling place to open…

Canvassing…Phonebanking…
These strategies help swing elections, but for us introverts, they can, at first, appear overwhelming and stressful.

“If you told me a year ago that I would be knocking on doors to talk to strangers about a candidate or to convince them to vote, I would not have laughed in your face. While I would have found the notion ridiculous, I would have just shrugged and smiled politely. That’s because I’m an introvert. I take my personal space very seriously, I’m usually exhausted (not energized) when engaging with others outside my normal sphere, and I try very hard to avoid confrontation.

Oddly enough, I’ve found that all of those traits make me a fairly ideal door-to door political canvasser…”

(click here for the rest of this great article on how introverts can shine at these activities.)

So here are activities for you to try out. We need everyone to help.

Action #1 – Sign up to phonebank

Continue reading “Fri – 10/5: It’s time to do more than wait for your polling place to open…” →

Fri – 10/5: Last day to roar! They’re voting on Saturday.

Action #1 – Do you have Maine or West Virginia connections! Light up their lines!

If you have any connections with Susan Collin’s district in Maine or Joe Manchin’s in West Virginia, now is the time to use them. Using the incomplete FBI report as a shield, indications are that they’ll vote for Kavanaugh. Tell the supporters you know that there’s a different shield to hide under…other lawyers won’t touch him with a 10-foot pole after his maudlin performance at his nomination hearing.

Action #2 – Other lawyers are worried about him…Tell your senator.

Minimal script for senators who support Kavanaugh: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to carefully consider that a retired Supreme Court Justice along with thousands of law professors, including his former dean, co-workers and former supporters, no longer consider him to a good candidate for the Supreme Court.

More script if you need it: His partisan ranting will force him to recuse himself on numerous cases and revealed a temperament unsuitable to the court.

Minimal script for senators who oppose Kavanaugh: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [Feinstein/Harris, Senate Ethics Committee] to open a hearing on his perjury under oath at this and earlier confirmation hearings. Continue reading “Fri – 10/5: Last day to roar! They’re voting on Saturday.” →

Thurs – 10/4: The GOP has become completely lawless in their race for a SCOTUS seat. Is this where one would use the word “irony”?

Action #1 – It’s the lying. Call for a hearing on his perjury under oath.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to stop worrying about Kavanaugh’s temperament issues, as the GOP doesn’t care, and open a hearing on his perjury under oath at this and earlier confirmation hearings.

Background

He said he had no connections at Yale… (newsweek)
Five times Brett Kavanaugh appears to have lied to Congress under oath (motherjones)

Action #2 – Censure Senator Grassley for violating the Violence against Women Act.

Continue reading “Thurs – 10/4: The GOP has become completely lawless in their race for a SCOTUS seat. Is this where one would use the word “irony”?” →

Wed Oct. 3: The GOP wants Kavanaugh on SCOTUS NOW to allow Trump to pardon anyone, any time.

Action – why you need to call about Kavanaugh today.

What has gotten the GOP so determined to ignore all common sense suggestions on dealing with sexual assault, perjury, and temperamental fitness concerns with their current SCOTUS nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in exchange for speed? Could it be a pending case on “separate sovereigns doctrine” – a ruling that could allow Trump to freely pardon criminals from both state and federal charges? A ruling that could stop the Mueller investigation?

Contact your Senator:
Senator Feinstein: email DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: email DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Other Contacts: https://hq-salsa.wiredforchange.com

Background
Gamble v United States is about a convicted robber from Alabama named Terance Continue reading “Wed Oct. 3: The GOP wants Kavanaugh on SCOTUS NOW to allow Trump to pardon anyone, any time.” →

Tues – Oct. 2: “Fury is a Political Weapon and Women Need to Wield it.”

Action #1 – Keep up the pressure on your senators, both Red and Blue!

If your senators haven’t taken a position yet or worse, are helping Kavanaugh shop for new robes, you know what to do: keep calling!
If your senators are supporting Dr. Ford, the other accusers, and a thorough FBI investigation, you know what to do: keep calling. Call them or email them your thanks for their support.

More scripts here.

Action #2 – Come out and meet more of your people.

Continue reading “Tues – Oct. 2: “Fury is a Political Weapon and Women Need to Wield it.”” →

Tues – Oct. 2: Please help a fellow Californian resister fight punitive charges for peaceful protest.

Action – Stand with a fellow resistor. Write a short email today or tomorrow.

This is a video to introduce you to Aeiramique G. Glass. She helped organize Generation Justice SD, a group for students after a local teen was slammed to the ground by La Mesa Police. Here she speaks at a meet and greet on 03/11/2018.

Continue reading →

Mon – Oct. 1: They are sending kids to concentration camps. In America. Now. And that’s just the start…

While we’ve been distracted by the cruel farce which is this judicial confirmation process with an angry, definitely verbally abusive and possibly alcoholic nominee (keep calling!) terrible things have been happening to children…

Action #1 – Join Movimiento Cosecha is sponsoring #NoBusinessWithICE National Day of Action

To deal with their self-made crises of increasing migrant children populations, the Trump administration has, again, been ripping kids away from what they know. This time it’s from the smaller licensed shelters and foster homes they’ve been living in. Now we’re transporting them to 20-person tents in the “unregulated” desert tent city of Tornillo, Texas, and removing their access to schooling and lawyers. This is child abuse.

Join Movimiento Cosecha on Facebook here.
Take the pledge here and pass it on to your social network.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to know what Rep./Senator [___] is doing to both stop our government from dumping kids into concentration camps at our border and to get them placed with their families with minimal ICE intrusion.

Continue reading “Mon – Oct. 1: They are sending kids to concentration camps. In America. Now. And that’s just the start…” →

Mon – Oct. 1: 1st anniversary of the Las Vegas Massacre. We are beyond “T&P” now. This is what you can do.

Today, October 1st, marks the one-year anniversary of the Las Vegas mass shooting, where 59 innocent people were murdered, and more than 500 others were injured by shooter Stephen Paddock.

Aside from thoughts and prayers for the trauma and tragedy of these families, we can take local action TODAY to end the proliferation of guns via the gun shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. This is our last chance to end the CROSSROADS of THE WEST (COTW) contract with Ventura County before they are renewed. (See “Background” below regarding some highly problematic issues with this promoter.)

Let’s turn our anger into action: