Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/21

Not being hysterical.

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday,

Hope some of you were able to make the Alliance For Justice call this morning. It was pretty incredible. The panelists, all of whom were legal and constitutional experts, broke down a few current Supreme Court cases, as well as the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent, chilling ruling that gives frozen embryos the same rights as children.

It was a ton of information, but some big takeaways were:

1. Our captured Supreme Court and the billionaires who fund them are working to put corporations over people. That and a theocratic society are their end goals. Tell a friend.

2. The right plans to take away most of our legal and long-held safeguards. Safeguards that give us clean air. Clean water. Worker protections. A minimum wage. And more.

3. Anti-abortion groups will use “fetal personhood” to get to their end goal: ALL abortion banned, as well as IVF and most forms of birth control.

4. We must keep tying this corrupt court to all of the other Republican malfeasance we’re seeing. It’s all of a piece. Special focus on the jawdropping corruption of Clarence Thomas. We must bring this up with our lawmakers at every turn.

5. We can definitively say at this point that when someone says we’re being hysterical about what the court plans to do this is exactly what they intend to do.

The panelists closed with a few action items for us—I’ll have some in the newsletter tomorrow.

It’s a scary moment, folks. The Christian right is coming for our freedoms. They’ve gotten hold of quite a few levers of power, and want to grab the rest of them in November. If they succeed the country will change in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.

But we already knew that. That why we’re here, right?

So instead of curling up into a fetal position let’s fight back. Remember, the vast majority of Americans don’t want to live under a Christo-fascist government. They simply don’t realize how close they are to doing so.

It’s our job to both make sure these “uninformed Americans” understand the stakes of these elections and to keep pushing back on our corrupt lawmakers and their SCOTUS lackeys. We can do this. We’re made for it! We’ve got all the tools, the smarts, and the resources.

So let’s breathe in strength, breathe out fear, and get into action one more time.

And never, ever forget how powerful you are.

P.S. — If you missed yesterday’s Galvanize webinar it was, as always, incredible. The 46 minute recording is here.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m deeply concerned that Republican lawmakers like James Comer, Chuck Grassley, and Jim Jordan have been repeating Russian lies fed to them by Alexander Smirnov, whom we now know was being used as a conduit for disinformation to disrupt the 2024 election. We need to know whether Comer, Jordan, or Grassley knew that the information they were spreading was false. Are they working with the Russian government? Did any of them know that Smirnov worked for Putin? What about Bill Barr? Did he know? The Senate needs to hold hearings to get to the bottom of this. Our national security is at stake. Will the Senator call for it immediately?

[If GOP add:] And will the Senator vocally support sending aid to Ukraine? Because if not I have to wonder whether they, too, have been compromised.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m deeply concerned that Republican lawmakers like James Comer, Chuck Grassley, and Jim Jordan have been repeating Russian lies fed to them by Alexander Smirnov, whom we now know was being used as a conduit for disinformation to disrupt the 2024 election. We need to know whether Comer, Jordan, or Grassley knew that the information they were spreading was false. Are they working with the Russian government? Did any of them know that Smirnov worked for Putin? What about Bill Barr? Did he know? The House needs to hold hearings to get to the bottom of this. Our national security is at stake. Will the Congressmember call for it immediately?

[If GOP add:] And will the Congressmember vocally support sending aid to Ukraine? Because if not I have to wonder whether they, too, have been compromised.

Extra Credit ✅

If you don’t know what happened to Nex Benedict—it’s only just starting to percolate up to the MSM—please stop and read this. It’s a horrific story that hits extremely close to home for me—it involves the death of a nonbinary teenager. Nex lived in Oklahoma and had a history of being bullied for their gender identity. It seems clear that they died as a result of injuries sustained after being beaten up by three older girls at school.

This didn’t happen in a vacuum—Oklahoma has proposed more anti-LGBTQ laws this year than any other state. Their Superintendent of public education is a notorious homophobe who put Chaya Raichik — the conservative activist behind Libs of TikTok, on a state library advisory board.

Not sure if it’s productive, but I sent the following email to Kevin Stitt, Governor of OK ( I added quite a bit more that was personal to me, but here’s the first paragraph). You can contact him here if you’d like to join me:

It is clear that your many anti-LGBTQ statements, the hateful man you chose for Superintendent of Public Schools, and the many anti-LGBTQ bills you've signed into law have sent a message. That message is: LGBTQ kids’ lives don't matter. In Owasso three girls took that message to heart and killed Nex Benedict. Nex’s death is on you. You own it. Never forget it.

I also called Ryan Walters, the awful Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Schools at: 405-521-3301 (press 7) and said:

I’m calling to ask that Superintendent Walters immediately remove Chaya Raichik from the state library advisory board and then resign himself. In this way he can begin to make some small reparations for the death of Nex Benedict, which he helped cause with his hateful rhetoric and Raichik’s appointment. Walters has done immeasurable harm. Resigning and taking Raichick with him is the least he can do. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

Sorry for the late notice but this sounds great!

Building A Representative Democracy with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett

On February 21 at 8 pm ET,  join the Center For Common Ground and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to hear more about the state of voting in Texas today and how Congresswoman Crockett is working to improve voting rights from Congress. Come learn about what we can expect for the 2024 elections and how YOU can help get out the vote for voters of color in Texas.

Sign Up 

Spread the Word! 📣

Are you tired of MAGA lies and propaganda? Terrified of a second Trump presidency?

You can demolish disinformation and get out the vote for Democrats in November by making a short video for the One Dem Minute Film Festival!

Your vision could help change the course of history and save our democracy.

For more information go to OneDemMinute.com.

Give 💰!

Calling All Friends of Michigan!  Help the MI Democratic Party!

Of course you’re aware that Michigan is crucial for Biden to win as well as for us to retain control of the Senate and win control in the House and hold the statehouse trifecta. But you also probably know that we have immense challenges there this year that are going to make winning REALLY hard.

The Michigan Democratic Party under party chair Lavora Barnes is highly effective—she’s truly amazing—and will help all the Dem Candidates. But they are strapped for funds. So you are invited to a special session and fundraiser with Chair Barnes and MI Dems Executive Director Christy Jensen on Thursday Feb 22 at 3PM ET.

Here is the Mobilize link to register.

And even if you can’t come you can click HERE to contribute. This is a really, really good use of your money, I promise.

Win Races! 🗳

Here are two phonebanks this week I plan on attending:

Phonebank with Supermajority into Michigan to turn women voters out for the primary. Today, Feb. 21 at 4PM PT /7PM ET. These phonebanks are only one hour long! Sign up here.

Phonebank for Andy Kim and Ruben Gallego with Indivisble! Thursday Feb. 22 at 4PM PT / 7PM ET. Register here.

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

[To: your Senators] [H/T More Perfect Union] [Text SIGN PXOMUM to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

There were over 500 near-misses by major commercial airlines last year. Every one of these misses could’ve been the next airline crash disaster killing hundreds of passengers.

One of the problems is that air traffic controllers are working 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week, with mandatory overtime. And the problem is getting worse as the airline industry loses more air traffic controllers each year than it’s training to replace them.

Congress can take a huge step forward in restoring public safety for travelers, workers, and the public at large by reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration now.

The good news is that in August of last year, the House passed the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act -- the bipartisan legislation to restore and improve important aviation safety and infrastructure programs.

Since then the Senate has passed a budget for training 3,000 more air traffic controllers over the next 5 years, but that’s not good enough. It doesn’t address the working conditions and other safety issues, and that means it won’t go far enough to improve safety and make it safer to fly.

I’m writing to urge you to please co-sponsor and pass the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration with maximum staffing for air traffic controllers now.

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

Talk soon.

Jess