52 Comments
User's avatar
Bob Morgan's avatar

Thanks, Jess, for the clear-eyed response to the Speaker debacle. Upon Mike Johnson's descent to the chair, I posted the following on Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition Newsletter (hope it's not inappropriate):

"Well, I guess today's episode of Speaker For A Day is in the can. For those who wished for a different outcome (as I did), remember: If wishes were horses, we'd all be up to our necks in horse$#!+.

"Let's get to work and give the Republican'ts the shellacking they deserve on November 7 and clear the way for 2024. We need a massive BLUE WAVE to wash away the toxic RED TIDE!"

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

💯 agree with this!

Expand full comment
Cathy Murphree's avatar

As a Christian, I’m sensitive to attributing positions on gay rights, abortion, etc. to one’s religion. Positions on sexual orientation, abortion, and other topics are not defined by one’s Christianity, though many Christians argue they are. Just like in the early church, some said being a Christian demanded circumcision. Others disagreed. This to say that Johnson can’t blame his anti-gay and anti-abortion opinions on Christianity. They are not part of Christian doctrine.

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Absolutely! I don’t see evangelical Christians as representing true Christianity at all, quite frankly.

Expand full comment
Cathy Murphree's avatar

Agreed, and would even go further to say IMHO they, combined with mainstream Christianity’s relative silence, are driving people away from the church, and understandably so:-(

Expand full comment
JennSH from NC's avatar

MAGA Mike Johnson is a cultural "Christian." He is a "Christian" only in the sense that he is not Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim. He voted against extending the child tax credit, so he's not interested in alleviating child poverty. He's not interested in caring for the vulnerable in our society (the widows and orphans of biblical times). He's just wants to use religion as a cudgel to beat up others he considers to be inferior to himself.

Expand full comment
hw's avatar

I would also urge people to take even more direct action: run for school boards, volunteer as election workers.

Fear is dispelled by action. Local and state elections are creating a bulwark against autocracy.

Expand full comment
Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

I volunteered in my Virginia district for Election Day. Will be passing out Dem flyers!

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Amazing Lynell! Thank you!

Expand full comment
hw's avatar

That's fantastic!

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Absolutely. “Fear is dispelled by action” is 100% correct!

Expand full comment
Bob Morgan's avatar

My wife and I became poll workers a couple of years ago. We thought we were volunteering but actually got paid. It's gratifying nonetheless, even in a red district. Everyone works together and does their best to be helpful and insure the integrity of the elections.

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Terrific Bob! Thanks for doing that!

Expand full comment
hw's avatar

Thank you for sharing...that's brilliant!

Expand full comment
Jason's avatar

Thanks as always Jess. Trying to block out all the noise and stay focused. Going now to mail 25 more Vote Forward letters to Virginia.

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Amazing thank you!

Expand full comment
gildedtwig's avatar

Thanks for reminding me about Bolts, which first came to my attention on The Majority Report with Sam Seder. Daniel is an astonishingly informed tracker of local elections that matter across the entire nation. As for the Speaker, I have very dark conspiratorial thoughts about this move by R’s. Guess I will put aside my fears and go write a few postcards for VA. ❤️🤍💙

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Yeah it’s frightening but I have faith in the American people. I do. And I agree Bolts is an exceptional publication.

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Thanks, Jessica! I was looking for some kindred spirits after I watched Bryan Tyler Cohen's live streaming of the whole event. You know what frightened me a bit? Johnson sounded like a really nice guy, someone who wants to unify the house and get work done - for much of his speech! What's scary is WHAT he wants to get done. So that's where we come in - thanks for the reminder!

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

That’s where we come in, indeed.

Expand full comment
Merrill's avatar

You have achieved the GOAT of graphics at the lead of today's newsletter.👍👍

The MAGA GOP has been itching to bring their proto-pious, white nationalist, anti-women, anti-personal freedom, voter suppression, fascist agenda to the American people..now they can try to do it!!!

And they will be lucky to get the 25%-30% of the vote they so fully deserve.

Expand full comment
John Turgeon's avatar

If your state’s attorney general was one of the 40 state attorneys general who together filed suit against Meta for its toxic business practices, please contact their office to thank them!

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Yes yes yes!

Expand full comment
Christopher Foxx's avatar

“He is an extremist in every sense of the word. An evangelical Christian...”

That’s redundant. All you needed to say was he’s an “evangelical Christian”. It’s synonymous with extremist.

Expand full comment
SoCal mountains🏔's avatar

Religious extremist as he wants to take away my civil rights. Evangelical Christians are like the taliban shoving their religion over the land.

Expand full comment
Christopher Foxx's avatar

Yep. Evangelical Christians are like the KKK.

(Together they make almost perfectly circular Venn diagram.)

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Yeah...

Expand full comment
Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Hey, Jess. Boy. 2024 can't come fast enough for me!

I know we're all dismayed over today's news regarding the House. So, forgive me for this article that I hope you will post in Sunday's Extra! Extra!

https://wapo.st/3rWM01b

"The surprising benefits of switching to 'lamb mowers'" is the title. It's the story of a man from Virginia who started a business renting out sheep to homeowners for them to graze on their lawn, obviating the need to use power mowers. If you read the article you will discover that there are more benefits than just getting your lawn "mowed." Also, there apparently is a group in California who is doing the same thing.

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Oh it’s already in there! I’m obsessed! 🤩

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 26, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Hey, Janet. I really don't see a down side to this!

Expand full comment
Sarah Meiklejohn's avatar

HELP! Jessica, I forwarded your link to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court races to my Indivisible group, and when one of the members clicked on the link, it came up highlighted in red with a warning from Norton that this was a suspicious, possibly malware, link. My husband is not willing to open it. Can you help me?

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

Oh dear it’s a Notions page. Let me move it onto a google doc so you don’t get that message anymore. Sorry. I don’t know why that happens with Notions but sometimes it does.

Expand full comment
Jenny Altshuler's avatar

Re the fundraiser for the Civics Center on Thursday 10/26, there is a Zoom option! https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ymbMatPqTcyw5R5gioSpLQ#/registration

It will begin at 7pm PT/ 10pm ET

Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

How did I not know that? Thank you!

Expand full comment
Diane’s Blue Forum 👩‍💻's avatar

Great—sort of like the melting witch in the Wizard of Oz😂

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 25, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

It’s a tough pill to swallow but we’ve swallowed many such before and always found a way to prevail. We will here as well.

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

I have too, and it doesn't do any good. I find that connecting with like-minded folks, and then taking what ACTION I can has really helped.

I'm encouraged by Heather Cox Richardson's new book, Awakening Democracy. We've been here before - and we can overcome. It's a numbers game - there are more of us - we just need to get activated, and we are! I'm 78, recovering from open heart surgery, and I do what I can - write post cards for as many of these important local elections as I can. If you don't have a source of addresses yet, Postcards for Democracy is a really good site, founded by Markers for Democracy, a growing grassroots group focused on state and local elections, You sign up and then look at the campaigns and select which campaign and how many addresses. I take five at a time so I don't feel overwhelmed. https://postcards.markersfordemocracy.org/

Take good care of you!

Expand full comment
Bob Morgan's avatar

You're an inspiration, Terry!

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Why thank you, kind sir! I think that is one of the reasons that I'm here on the planet so good to know it's working!!!

(I stopped being "humble" around 10 years ago!!)

Expand full comment
Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Good on you, Chaplain!

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Thank you, Lynell!

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 26, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

We do what we can, whenever we can, for as long as we can. Taking good care of you is the perfect priority. Blessings,

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 25, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Jess Craven's avatar

I think Democrats did offer to support Emmer. It was Trump who killed his bid. And Republicans who didn’t have the courage to run him anyway and let him win with Democratic support.

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

I wondered if that might have been the case. 25 had courage for a while - I wonder what happened - how Trump got to them.

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 26, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

I wonder how much courage it would take to make that call! Talk about a two-tiered justice system!

Expand full comment
Erica's avatar

Come join us at markers for democracy! You’ll love this group. https://markersfordemocracy.org/

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Hey Erica! I told Janet about the postcard site but I didn't include the home base - so glad you did. I added the newsletter link in another reply. ❤️

Expand full comment
Erica's avatar

People are based all over the country. They do amazing virtual programming and are able to get just about anyone to come speak.

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Janet, Erica posted the link for Markers for Democracy. Here is a link to their latest newsletter. It's a lot of information - so try not to let it overwhelm you! If you scroll past the text to the first box, you'll see links for the regular Zoom meetings on Mon, Tues, Fri AM. That's how I got started. If you click on the link you'll get a registration form and then you can join the meeting - and no pressure to do anything else.

I know something about chronic pain - may you be blessed with ease and peace and moments of joy. ❤️ 🙏🏼 🍁

https://mailchi.mp/0fcf93b4c693/mfd-news-101-college-dems-tons-of-postcards-va-giving-circle-deadline-extension-17449248?e=e91036c2eb

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 26, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

I don't always make the meetings, but if you let me know when you're going to attend I'll try to be there, and let one of the leaders know to expect you, if you'd like. ❤️

Expand full comment
Terry Nicholetti's avatar

Good to hear about the postcards! And you are so right about the good hearted folks on substack.

I had the same thought about Emmer - it was kind of a shock that all 220 went for Johnson. Some were brave for a while.

Expand full comment