Chop Wood, Carry Water 11/19

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

—Nelson Mandela

Hey, all!

Can you believe it’s only Tuesday? If days seemed like weeks in Trump’s first term it’s clear that they’re going to feel like months this time around. In short, it’s going to be a very long four years.

Fortunately, we need only deal with the day that we’re in, so let’s remember that on a 24-hour plan we can survive anything. “One day at a time” must be our mantra, and “Easy does it” our daily code.

Also? Let’s hold fast to our senses of humor, our emotional resiliency, and our loved ones. Gratitude lists will be key. So will being in nature. Physical contact with others will be critical, too. Our lives must be lived more in person and less online—it’s so important!

Now on to more nuts-and-bolts matters, since there are so many here who are new to activism. Here are a few important things to remember:

1. We call our reps whether they are “good” or “bad.” The good ones need our encouragement and gratitude. The bad ones—especially now—need to be reminded that they have constituents who strongly oppose what they’re doing. Remember, your silence will be interpreted as assent. Your voice won’t necessarily change your “bad” reps’ actions, but it will curb their worst excesses.

2. What happens when you call? You’ll either get a voicemail, in which case you can read my script—always including your full name and zip code—and then hang up, or you’ll speak to a live person. The conversation will sound something like this:

   STAFFER: Office of Representative _____ how may I assist you?

   YOU: Hi, I’m a constituent calling to make a quick comment.

   STAFFER: Sure. May I have your full name and zip code please?

   YOU: [Give full name and zip code].

   STAFFER: Great. Go ahead.

   YOU: [Read the script from the newsletter or paraphrase it, as you like.]

   STAFFER: Great. I will pass your thoughts on to the Congressmember. Anything else I can help you with?

   YOU: Nope. Thanks. Bye bye!

   STAFFER: Bye bye.

   I’ve called my reps thousands of times. I don’t think I’ve ever had it go differently than the above.

3. Why do we sometimes repeat calls day after day (as we are today, for example)? Because our reps’ staffers are not writing down who calls, only how many calls they’ve received on a given issue. Every day is a new set of tallymarks. Make sure yours is there daily!

4. I’m often asked which is more impactful—calls or letters? Calls likely carry more weight than writing, but if you simply can’t swing the former then send an email through your rep’s official website. You can even copy my script into it! It’s always good to personalize your note if you can, but it’s not required. Every Resistbot you send, too, will show up as a letter from you with your name and address on it, so that’s an impactful action, too! But yes, calls are the gold standard. Office visits and town hall attendance is even better!

OK. Hope some of this was helpful. I know I didn’t answer all of your questions, but hopefully I did cover some of them.

We’ve got important actions to take today, folks, so let’s get to work. Remember, you don’t have to feel hopeful to take hopeful action. Right now patriotism isn’t feeling fired up and invincible—it’s simply showing up and continuing to do the work to save and preserve our democracy, one fight at a time.

And that’s what we’re going to do.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

[If Democrat]

I’m calling to ask the Senator to prioritize confirming pro-democracy judges during the final session of Congress. There are still 29 judicial nominations pending. We need to ensure that those vacancies are filled by judges that will uphold the Constitution and our democracy before Trump returns to the White House. Tell the Senator that I’m counting on them to use these last few weeks to do everything they can to safeguard our democracy before Republicans take control of the Senate. Thanks. [H/T]

[If GOP]

The Senate needs to block the recess appointments of Trump’s wildly unfit candidates, like statutory rapist Matt Gaetz, anti-vaxxer RFK Jr., Russian asset Tulsi Gabbard, and white supremacist Pete Hegseth. The Senate exists to be a check on the Executive Branch. Senators have long terms and wide powers for a reason: they are supposed to provide guardrails so that a single president can’t be a king. Please ask the Senator to remember this and act accordingly. His/her job is to protect the Constitution and his/her constituents. That means blocking these nominees and reining Trump in. Thank you.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I want the Congressmember to vote NO on H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. This bill has some good provisions, but it also enables the Treasury Secretary to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization he or she deems to be working with terrorists. It will lead to abuse by the Trump administration. Block it, please. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s call the House Ethics Committee at their office number and demand that they release the report about Matt Gaetz. They are voting on this tomorrow!

Phone number is: ‭(202) 225-7103‬

You can simply say:

My name is _____ and I’m a resident of [state]. I’m calling to demand that the House Ethics Committee release the Matt Gaetz report. It is in the American people’s interest to know if the man tapped to lead the top law enforcement agency in the country is himself a criminal. Please do the right thing. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

If you weren’t on the Environmental Voter Project’s “No Hot Takes” call this morning you missed out! Fortunately, they’ve already released the recording so I’m dropping it here. I found this to be an incredibly informative, if occasionally sobering, webinar and I think you will, too.

From the description:

A November 19, 2024 briefing from the Environmental Voter Project's Executive Director, Nathaniel Stinnett, analyzing exit polling data, voter file data, political fundamentals, and broader trends to try to get a nuanced understanding of what happened in the 2024 election, what we still need to research, and what trends might be occurring underneath the surface.

Give 💰!

Some of you attended the terrific All In For North Carolina call yesterday and heard from Justice Allison Riggs, who right now has a tiny lead in her race to hold her Supreme Court seat. This race is pivotal to our eventually flipping the NC Supreme Court. Riggs is asking for donations to pay for lawyers, as the NC GOP is suing to block votes from being counted. It’s going to be TIGHT! I think right now she’s up by 60 votes.

Please help if you can. This is important.

Win Races! 🗳

[H/T Monica Sibilla Atiya from Upper East Side for Change]

Two CA races remain uncalled. Derek Tran and Adam Gray have a great chance, but their campaigns need our immediate attention.

Phone Bank for Derek Tran Ballot Cure Recruitment Calls until Nov.22
Virtually from Anywhere
Multiple Dates & Times — Register Here

Adam Gray Cure Ballots until Nov.26
Virtually from Anywhere
Multiple Dates & Times —Register Here
Easy, essential calls to cure ballots in CA-13. Mostly mismatched signatures or missing signatures to be corrected.

Team Tran: Derek Tran Cure Ballots until Nov.30
Virtually from Anywhere
Multiple Dates & Times— Register Here
Derek Tran's fight for the CA-45 seat is not over, and he needs YOUR help. 

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T Newtown Alliance and Joseph Harrington ] [Text SIGN PZBEXR to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

I am writing to urge you to vote NO on H.R. 9495 — the nonprofit-killer bill.

Under the provisions of the bill, the Treasury Secretary would have unilateral authority to accuse any nonprofit group of supporting terrorists and give the nonprofit only 90 days to respond to a notice. After just 90 days, the unsuccessful appeals would result in their tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status being stripped. This measure could cripple nonprofits I care about.

With this bill, religious and humanitarian groups who help victims of political violence can also be labeled terrorists. This could affect the work of charities operating in Yemen, Sudan, Haiti, and other distressed places.

It is already illegal under U.S. law to provide material support for terrorism therefore the bill is redundant. This bill is driven by political motivation to give Donald Trump and his administration the ability to silence nonprofits to stifle dissent of any kind. PLEASE VOTE NO.

Thank you for your consideration.

---

OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess