Chop Wood, Carry Water 12/9
Hi, all, and happy Monday!
Hope you had a great weekend. I spent a lot of mine with books, so it was happy, indeed. And, as always, elucidating.
Many of you know I’m a big reader of history. My 2024 list has been almost entirely dedicated to the story of this country—it’s included “Founding Brothers” by Joseph J. Ellis, “And There Was Light"“ by Jon Meacham, all four books of Robert Caro’s “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” “Flawed Giant (Part 2)” by Robert Dalleck (to pick up where Caro’s books left off), David Halberstam’s “The Best and the Brightest,” George Herring’s “America’s Longest War—the U.S. and Vietnam,” and, most recently, “Empire of the Summer Moon,” by S.C. Gwynne. That’s the one I finished yesterday, in fact.
All of these were excellent; the Caro books, especially, blew me away—they were without doubt the best political biographies of any kind that I’ve read. But they were all also deeply instructive. After all, one really can’t understand today’s politics without a full grasp of what came before.
I’ve been especially fascinated, and strangely helped, by reading about the Vietnam era, and the events of 1968 in particular. It just so happens, in fact, that I was reading my second book about Vietnam when Trump won. Weirdly, it got me through those first few very, very difficult days. Revisiting the turmoil, division, and senseless destruction of those times helped me process the turmoil, division, and senseless destruction of ours.
I’m also listening to an excellent podcast series about the events of 1968. (Yes, I’m mildly obsessed.) I highly recommend it.
I find history to be a strange comfort. Pretty much no matter what happens, we have been there before. Especially here. American history seems to circle endlessly in the proverbial “widening gyre." It echoes the same themes over and over and over again. Just as we are now, we have, before, seen explosive times. We have seen riots and political violence. We have seen growth and inspiration, yes, but also defeat, division, disruption, populist leaders, ghastly racism, antisemitism, sudden changes in fortune, and devastating political upheavals. We’ve seen once popular Presidents drop out of re-election races in shockingly sudden announcements. We’ve had third party spoilers, rage over wars overseas (including Israel and Palestine), police brutality, election interference—all of it! American history is absolutely bonkers— the 20th century particularly so.
And, as the events over the weekend in Syria remind us, history right now everywhere is fairly bonkers as well. It’s a time of great peril and opportunity. These are not quiet times. We are living through a period that will be written about and studied exhaustively. And we are part of it. The actions we take, the decisions we make to either fight back or give in, the determination we show to keep wrestling our democracy away from autocrats and oligarchs—or to hand it over to them without a fight—they matter tremendously. Not just for us, but for the whole world.
One thing that becomes crystal clear when you read history: momentous events are composed of countless small, often last-minute, occasionally picayune decisions, some taken by major figures, most not.
Lyndon Johnson decided to drop out of the presidential race in ‘68 while giving his speech. No one, not even his wife, knew what he was going to do until the moment he did it. Thousands of nameless (to us) Yippies decided to go to Chicago for the DNC despite warnings from local organizers that they shouldn’t come. Martin Luther King Jr.’s driver suggested he needed a jacket the night he was killed. He turned on his balcony to walk back into his room to get it and that’s when the killer struck.
Bobby Kennedy’s aides didn’t want him to go to another rally in Los Angeles the day he was shot. He insisted.
Why am I saying all of this? I guess just to remind you that the “butterfly effect” is real. Everything we do, every word we say, every action we take, every choice to engage or not engage—it matters. It changes the story. It crafts new chapters. It alters the ending.
History is a beautiful, ever-morphing, and complex thing. It bobs and weaves, constantly reconstituting, often seeming to take on a life of its own. But we are cells in that life, the building blocks of history. The story of our democracy is made up of billions of us. A billion possibilities. A billion chances. A billion choices. You are one of them. What an amazing thing that is!
I’m proud to be here with you doing this work. It matters, for our lives, and for future lives as well. Some day when people read about this period, they will marvel at the average Americans who kept showing up, even when the going got really, really tough.
They will marvel at you. And they’ll be right to.
Because I marvel at you as well.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
Would you please tell me when the Senator is holding town hall meetings during the December recess?
[If no meetings are planned, say:]
It’s an important part of [NAME]’s job to meet with constituents in their home districts, and I have questions I’d like to ask [them]. Will you take my information to let me know when they hold the next town hall?
[If meetings are planned, ask:]
Would you give me the location and details? Will there be an opportunity to ask questions? Thank you.
[Now, if Democrat add:]
Also, I want Democrats to work nights, weekends and holidays to get as much as they can accomplished before Congress ends on January 3rd. There are judges to confirm, a National Labor Relations Board Chair to confirm; the PRESS Act (S. 2074) to pass, and the Social Security Fairness Act, too. We need to get it ALL done. Thanks. [H/T
][And if Republican add:]
Also, I want the Senator to oppose the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard. She would do enormous harm as Director of National Intelligence. She is not just completely unqualified for this role -- she is anti-qualified. She is who enemies of America want for the job, literally. The Russian media refers to her as a "Russian agent" and as "girlfriend.” She has a public record of being a disinformer and apologist for mass murderers. And there is nothing on the other side of the ledger. There are no positive qualifications. The Senator must vocally oppose her now, please. Thanks. [H/T Timothy Snyder]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
Would you please tell me when the Congressmember is holding town hall meetings during the December recess?
[If no meetings are planned, say:]
It’s an important part of [NAME]’s job to meet with constituents in their home districts, and I have questions I’d like to ask [them]. Will you take my information to let me know when they hold the next town hall?
[If meetings are planned, ask:]
Would you give me the location and details? Will there be an opportunity to ask questions? Thank you.
Also, please ask the Congressmember to press for the release of the Matt Gaetz report. If he made unethical decisions during his time in office, as a taxpayer, I have the right to know. Congress has released ethics reports on former members at least four times before. Support transparency by asking the House Ethics Committee to release this report to the public today. Thank you.
[H/T]
Extra Credit!
It’s the last day to call the House Ethics Committee about the Gaetz report at (202) 225-7103!
Script:
Hi, this message is for House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest and Ranking Member Susan Wild. My name is [NAME] from [STATE/ZIP], and I want the full report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz made public. If he made unethical decisions during his time in office, as a taxpayer, I have the right to know. Congress has released ethics reports on former members at least four times. Support transparency by releasing this report to the public today. Thank you.
[H/T]
Extra Extra Credit ✅
Subscriber Joan Savarese has written a beautiful letter (see below) to Jack Smith thanking him for the efforts he and his team made to bring Donald Trump to justice. Several of her friends and family have co-signed it, as have I. I thought some of you might also like to co-sign?
If so, please send your full name to lettertojacksmith@yahoo.com and Joan will add it before she sends. Thank you!
Get Smart!
Join the Declaration for American Democracy on Tuesday, December 10 for a virtual movement call to discuss what to expect in the next Congress and how we can preserve our democratic values.
You’ll be joined by U.S. Congresswoman Summer Lee and organizers, communicators, and movement leaders from across the country.
Together, we’ll prepare to defeat any and all anti-democracy legislation that is introduced in the next Congress while working towards our bold vision for a robust multi-racial democracy.
Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣
Today, December 9th, COURIER is having a one day summit about the role fracturing media and information ecosystems played in the election, and how the pro-democracy/progressive/anti-authoritarian movements can better reach and earn the trust of more Americans.
Join them on Zoom (or in person, if you’re in DC) for panel discussions and individual remarks.
Monday, December 9 from 5 - 9pm EST.
Give 💰!
One of my favorite organizations, Run For Something, is having a Post-Election webinar tomorrow. They’ll talk about their work this year (612 endorsed candidates!) and where they’re headed in 2025.
The national election results were devastating, but young people across the country—over 10,000 of them since Election Day!—are stepping up to say they're ready to run for office. Come find out how you can help them do so!
If you can’t make it to the briefing but would still like to support Run For Something’s work (which I highly recommend) you can do that here.
Otherwise RSVP here for RFS’s Post-Election Briefing on Tuesday, December 10th at 1:00pm ET
Win Races! 🗳
POSTCARDING BOOTCAMP with Markers For Democracy
Wednesday, December 11th from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET
Get prepared for when postcarding starts up again. Learn how to write the best Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) postcards and how to use Markers’s Postcards For Democracy postcard portal for accessing addresses and scripts.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: President Biden] [H/T
] [Text SIGN PONUOO to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages or MESSENGER]During your 2020 campaign, you pledged to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, recognizing its disparate impact on people of color and those suffering from mental illness along with the alarming number of those sentenced to die who were ultimately exonerated. While this work remains incomplete, there is still an opportunity in these final weeks of your presidency to live up to the spirit of this promise. 40 people currently remain on federal death row, awaiting the arrival of a president who aggressively used capital punishment in his first term and is set to do so again. Please honor your commitment to justice and to your supporters and issue a blanket clemency commuting all their sentences to life imprisonment without parole before you leave office.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
HI EVERYONE I MEANT ROBERT CARO NOT MICHAEL! Gah! Sloppy careless error. I actually do know his name. No need to email me! Thanks!
Jessica, you must be a follower of Heather Cox Richardson - right? She has kept me calm along with you by just doing just that - referencing an historical moment and its parallels. It is clear there truly is nothing new since the Roman’s. If you haven’t read Yuval Noah Harari’s four books - beginning with Sapiens it will round off the even broader picture of the history of humans and how we got here. Insanely fascinating. Thank you for each and everyone of your newsletters.