Yup. We are the bisons. Scene from an hour ago in my local Trader Joe’s. Older woman is buying herself flowers. I am an older woman beside her, also buying flowers. I test the moment. I say, We need our flowers right now, don’t we? Yes. She says, adding: I don’t know what else to do after calling my local rep. I say four words. Chop wood. Carry water. Tell her how to find you. We raise our fists. We smile. Good chat, she says. Good chat, I answer.
Love it!! I think Jessica needs to design and promote some merch - tee shirts, ball caps, tote bags. So we can communicate with each other under the radar.
In my experience, MAGA supporters lack curiosity, and "Chop Wood, Carry Water" is too obscure to trigger them the way wearing a Democratic T-shirt would b e (which could lead to bullying and retaliation by the MAGAts. But it could be an icebreaker with other grass roots supporters and substack readers.
Stickers. Portable, small, but can be put anywhere and everywhere. Not a fan of mugs, clothing, caps or other merch in general, but stickers can go on water bottles and mugs and bathroom mirrors or stalls at work or out and about, the list of uses is endless. Otherwise, just more "stuff" out in the world that cannot be easily repurposed or recycled.
I signed my mom up for this substack this morning! She's been wanting to fight Trump, but scared to watch the news and not at all tech-savvy, so I got her signed up, showed her the emails she'll get with action items and scripts, then showed her how to find the websites of our senators and reps and walked her through filling out the contact forms using the scripts. She wants me to sit down with her every week and help her resist!
Hey All and Jess, Simon Rosenberg had a sober warning about marching and gathering at protests - especially in DC. You all know him and can go to today's newsletter. It's at the bottom. He is pulling NO punches. Stay safe everyone. Also Heather Cox Richardson seems to be having a politics chat every evening to go over what has happened during the day. Last night she had 41,000 folks on with her. Very heartening. Thanks for all you do. Keep calling.
Go to Facebook, search for Heather Cox Richardson, look at her posts. The latest says “4:00 Eastern?” and she asks for questions. But if you miss that time, you should be able to watch the video right there under her account. She’s so great!
She does post these on YouTube for the most part. There are regular Politics chats on Tuesdays and then lately more often in the afternoons on FB, but again, she does try to cross post in YouTube, worth looking for.
A staffer in one of my Senators' offices told me that the glitch yesterday was a result of the Senate phone system that normally sees volume of 30-50 calls per minute having to handle 1200-1500/minute. We are having an impact. Phones were busy in all 4 offices his morning but I got through to one local office and one DC office this afternoon. They may be trying to ignore us (I live in a blue area of a red state), but if Felon47 can flood the zone with BS, we can meet it with a flood of clear cold water and clean the mess up.
Churchill arguably didn't say "If you're going through hell, keep going", but it's good advice wherever it came from. The storm is easier to face if you face it together with friends.
What a great story from Beth about her encounter at Trader Joe's. Thank you!
At the Bracing for Impact Zoom from Indivisible last Thursday, Ezra said that it's best to cover only one topic per call. (Indivisible's founders are former Congressional aids). That way there are credits for 2 or more calls either for or against, and the numbers conveyed to our representatives add up faster. Also, the staffers picking up the calls and voicemails are paid not a lot, and are very busy, so shorter messages help with managing our contacts with our government representatives and allow staffs to answer more calls. I didn't know that. I realize how ignorant I am about how things actually work. As Joyce Vance says, "flying the plane while we're still building it."
Go, Jessica! Just reading about visits to Padilla and Schiff (no wonder I couldn't find info for district offices) elevates my spirit. Let's get their staffs subscribed to CWCW and Jessica's Substack colleagues (Heather, Joyce, Jay, Robert, etc.)!
And this from a creative friend who's using absurd humor to steady herself in the blast. She said, "Since, apparently, pronouns are out, I'm using adjectives. I'm now Susie (formerly she/her), Resisting Californian.
Is anyone else getting busy signals trying to reach their senators? I tried both at multiple offices—always busy. I got the garbled messages and full mailboxes yesterday.
My TN Reps had gargled voicemails as well. My husband said he thinks that’s their way of making you think your message won’t go through but I left my messages anyway!
If you are in a position to buy coins, you can also send faxes. Just to be another form of media piling up in their offices. Something they have to physically do something with vs. delete an entire inbox.
I respond to Jessica’s Resistbot every day. Makes me feel like I’m doing something.
I do try to call my reps as often as possible. I attended Jeff Merkley’s (I’m in Oregon, and am blessed to have chosen Salem to live when I returned to the US in 2023) town hall last Sunday, and my representative Andrea Salinas was there as well.
There appears to be something wrong with both Sen. Wyden’s phone lines. I will keep trying. Rep. Salinas has staffers who answer the phones.
Go to the senator’s website. From there you can send an email. Those notices really pile up impressively.
You can also snail mail, yup. When that pile of mail starts to stack up, it’s impressive and it will be noticed! Getting your friends to send a snail mail messages is fun. Stamps are cheap compared what we’re going to lose.
I made an easy template for myself and for my brothers and sisters. Easy peasy, just fill in the blanks. Can be used for submitting on the senators web site, emailed or snail mailed. I’d be happy to send.
Ditto for my two California senators! For days, even weeks now! I have them on "speed dial," but no chance to even leave a short V/M message! I only hope that is because SO MANY good folks are calling! (I think Shiff has had plenty of time to open offices--why couldn't he use the ones that his predecessor used?)
Kathy, Bernie has offices in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. I talked to a real person in Columbus yesterday, call his local office. Jon Husted is just "out of the office" permanently, I've been sending emails thru his senator website. My rep is Gym Jordan, need I say more🤨, but I have been leaving voicemail and writing. Everyone just keep doing what you're doing!
Thank you for getting me off my ass! Called both my pathetic Florida senators today and even more pathetic rep to tie up their phone lines with my outrage. Heading for Tampa tomorrow for 50501. This is a 5 alarm fire. All hands on deck, dammit!
I called French Hill and told the staffer to specifically read the WIRED article and to look up Marko Elez the 24 yr old that Musk had change the code in the US Treasury production system (not in test environment) to it can stop payment. I told him the Treasury system is undergoing & update this weekend & coukd crash. I said as someone who's mom is on Medicare & husband on social security I have a direct interest in the system not crashing because tjis intern inserted code. Plus the rest of Jessica's script about Musk breaking the law. He was a little stressed but did take down my info & repeated back "WIRED article Marko Elez". He said a lot of people are calling.
The staffer I got at Hill's office insisted Musk is a government employee and he's operating legally. (This was after putting me on a "brief" 5 minute hold.) Wish I'd thought to refer him to the Wired article.
I was so astonished about the bisons. I had to check it out for myself. “Yes, bison are known to walk into snowstorms rather than away from them. This behavior is an adaptation that helps them survive harsh winter conditions. By facing into the storm, they minimize exposure to the wind and snow, reducing the amount of time they endure the worst of the weather. This strategy contrasts with many other animals, which tend to seek shelter or move away from storms.” I’m a 75 year old bison in the streets of Manhattan!
Called my own Rep about that horrible HR.32. Also called Gray, Tran, and Whitesides.
Thank you, Jess, so much for that list of who needs some encouragement (literally).
Got through right away to staffers, said please ask the Congressman to vote No on 32, and when they asked for my information, I provided it, and told them "I'm not a constituent, but I donated and wrote postcards for the Congressman's campaign, because I believe they will represent California well, and I'm a Californian." These staffers were much more receptive than when I did the same kind of thing with Sen. Kelly's staff.
Suggestions/scripts from anyone here on how to make those out-of-constituency calls as effective as possible would be very much appreciated.....
Yup. We are the bisons. Scene from an hour ago in my local Trader Joe’s. Older woman is buying herself flowers. I am an older woman beside her, also buying flowers. I test the moment. I say, We need our flowers right now, don’t we? Yes. She says, adding: I don’t know what else to do after calling my local rep. I say four words. Chop wood. Carry water. Tell her how to find you. We raise our fists. We smile. Good chat, she says. Good chat, I answer.
Love it!! I think Jessica needs to design and promote some merch - tee shirts, ball caps, tote bags. So we can communicate with each other under the radar.
In my experience, MAGA supporters lack curiosity, and "Chop Wood, Carry Water" is too obscure to trigger them the way wearing a Democratic T-shirt would b e (which could lead to bullying and retaliation by the MAGAts. But it could be an icebreaker with other grass roots supporters and substack readers.
Love it. I'm not usually a big proponent of merch as it just feels like more stuff in the world, but if there's a demand for a tee I'll consider it.
Stickers. Portable, small, but can be put anywhere and everywhere. Not a fan of mugs, clothing, caps or other merch in general, but stickers can go on water bottles and mugs and bathroom mirrors or stalls at work or out and about, the list of uses is endless. Otherwise, just more "stuff" out in the world that cannot be easily repurposed or recycled.
I’m in!
I am contemplating going out with a bag of literature. Wink wink here here. I love the idea of the merch!!
I had the same experience today in exercise class. The teacher was bemoaning Elon Musk and I steered her to this substack. It felt great to do!
I signed my mom up for this substack this morning! She's been wanting to fight Trump, but scared to watch the news and not at all tech-savvy, so I got her signed up, showed her the emails she'll get with action items and scripts, then showed her how to find the websites of our senators and reps and walked her through filling out the contact forms using the scripts. She wants me to sit down with her every week and help her resist!
Love this.
I sent the link to a few people at work. Hello if you are reading this and I sent you the link!
Hey All and Jess, Simon Rosenberg had a sober warning about marching and gathering at protests - especially in DC. You all know him and can go to today's newsletter. It's at the bottom. He is pulling NO punches. Stay safe everyone. Also Heather Cox Richardson seems to be having a politics chat every evening to go over what has happened during the day. Last night she had 41,000 folks on with her. Very heartening. Thanks for all you do. Keep calling.
How to get on that chat? And what time?
Go to Facebook, search for Heather Cox Richardson, look at her posts. The latest says “4:00 Eastern?” and she asks for questions. But if you miss that time, you should be able to watch the video right there under her account. She’s so great!
Not on Facebook I can’t wait till she gets on YouTube
bailed on Facebook a long time.
She does post these on YouTube for the most part. There are regular Politics chats on Tuesdays and then lately more often in the afternoons on FB, but again, she does try to cross post in YouTube, worth looking for.
A staffer in one of my Senators' offices told me that the glitch yesterday was a result of the Senate phone system that normally sees volume of 30-50 calls per minute having to handle 1200-1500/minute. We are having an impact. Phones were busy in all 4 offices his morning but I got through to one local office and one DC office this afternoon. They may be trying to ignore us (I live in a blue area of a red state), but if Felon47 can flood the zone with BS, we can meet it with a flood of clear cold water and clean the mess up.
Churchill arguably didn't say "If you're going through hell, keep going", but it's good advice wherever it came from. The storm is easier to face if you face it together with friends.
I got through (VM) to Schmitt and all of Hawley's lines were busy so I emailed him. I think they are all busy on purpose...
The guy i spoke with said the busyness is very real. Dems calling Dems, Dems calling Republicans, Republicans calling Dems, and so on.
What a great story from Beth about her encounter at Trader Joe's. Thank you!
At the Bracing for Impact Zoom from Indivisible last Thursday, Ezra said that it's best to cover only one topic per call. (Indivisible's founders are former Congressional aids). That way there are credits for 2 or more calls either for or against, and the numbers conveyed to our representatives add up faster. Also, the staffers picking up the calls and voicemails are paid not a lot, and are very busy, so shorter messages help with managing our contacts with our government representatives and allow staffs to answer more calls. I didn't know that. I realize how ignorant I am about how things actually work. As Joyce Vance says, "flying the plane while we're still building it."
Go, Jessica! Just reading about visits to Padilla and Schiff (no wonder I couldn't find info for district offices) elevates my spirit. Let's get their staffs subscribed to CWCW and Jessica's Substack colleagues (Heather, Joyce, Jay, Robert, etc.)!
And this from a creative friend who's using absurd humor to steady herself in the blast. She said, "Since, apparently, pronouns are out, I'm using adjectives. I'm now Susie (formerly she/her), Resisting Californian.
Is anyone else getting busy signals trying to reach their senators? I tried both at multiple offices—always busy. I got the garbled messages and full mailboxes yesterday.
The phone lines have been messed up for two days. I know we are generating a TON of calls...
My TN Reps had gargled voicemails as well. My husband said he thinks that’s their way of making you think your message won’t go through but I left my messages anyway!
I left mine when I was able but some were full. Today they aren’t even going through!
Email them!! Or use resist bot to send the emails for you.
I do this too 🙂 but I like to call, it pushes me out of my comfort zone and I feel like I’m harder to ignore 😂
Have you tried their local offices?
Garbled outgoing messages. Going to switch to their local offices.
Talk on the phone. Pick up the pen or keyboard. Take to the streets. Each of us can do at least one of those. No excuses.
Tried calling my Ohio Senators. No answer and mailbox full.
Or email them through their official websites!
Yes! It’s so easy to do.
Yes! We are crashing their system. Email them!! Also you can try local offices. I was able to get through to Moreno’s Cleveland office.
Use the ResistBot tool she mentioned in this letter. It will send an email
If you are in a position to buy coins, you can also send faxes. Just to be another form of media piling up in their offices. Something they have to physically do something with vs. delete an entire inbox.
Yes! You can send so many for pretty cheap. Physical letters are much harder to avoid!
I respond to Jessica’s Resistbot every day. Makes me feel like I’m doing something.
I do try to call my reps as often as possible. I attended Jeff Merkley’s (I’m in Oregon, and am blessed to have chosen Salem to live when I returned to the US in 2023) town hall last Sunday, and my representative Andrea Salinas was there as well.
There appears to be something wrong with both Sen. Wyden’s phone lines. I will keep trying. Rep. Salinas has staffers who answer the phones.
The phones in general are super funky right now.
Go to the senator’s website. From there you can send an email. Those notices really pile up impressively.
You can also snail mail, yup. When that pile of mail starts to stack up, it’s impressive and it will be noticed! Getting your friends to send a snail mail messages is fun. Stamps are cheap compared what we’re going to lose.
I made an easy template for myself and for my brothers and sisters. Easy peasy, just fill in the blanks. Can be used for submitting on the senators web site, emailed or snail mailed. I’d be happy to send.
I’d be happy to send to this site if allowed.
Ditto for my two California senators! For days, even weeks now! I have them on "speed dial," but no chance to even leave a short V/M message! I only hope that is because SO MANY good folks are calling! (I think Shiff has had plenty of time to open offices--why couldn't he use the ones that his predecessor used?)
His DC office line is probably answered by staff.
Kathy, Bernie has offices in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. I talked to a real person in Columbus yesterday, call his local office. Jon Husted is just "out of the office" permanently, I've been sending emails thru his senator website. My rep is Gym Jordan, need I say more🤨, but I have been leaving voicemail and writing. Everyone just keep doing what you're doing!
Thank you for getting me off my ass! Called both my pathetic Florida senators today and even more pathetic rep to tie up their phone lines with my outrage. Heading for Tampa tomorrow for 50501. This is a 5 alarm fire. All hands on deck, dammit!
I called French Hill and told the staffer to specifically read the WIRED article and to look up Marko Elez the 24 yr old that Musk had change the code in the US Treasury production system (not in test environment) to it can stop payment. I told him the Treasury system is undergoing & update this weekend & coukd crash. I said as someone who's mom is on Medicare & husband on social security I have a direct interest in the system not crashing because tjis intern inserted code. Plus the rest of Jessica's script about Musk breaking the law. He was a little stressed but did take down my info & repeated back "WIRED article Marko Elez". He said a lot of people are calling.
The staffer I got at Hill's office insisted Musk is a government employee and he's operating legally. (This was after putting me on a "brief" 5 minute hold.) Wish I'd thought to refer him to the Wired article.
That guy's got a different lie for everyone who calls.
I was so astonished about the bisons. I had to check it out for myself. “Yes, bison are known to walk into snowstorms rather than away from them. This behavior is an adaptation that helps them survive harsh winter conditions. By facing into the storm, they minimize exposure to the wind and snow, reducing the amount of time they endure the worst of the weather. This strategy contrasts with many other animals, which tend to seek shelter or move away from storms.” I’m a 75 year old bison in the streets of Manhattan!
I actually just got through to Financial Services Committee - House Chairman's office.
First call in over a week where I spoke to someone.
French Hill, R-Chairman - (202) 225-2506
Yes, be the bison. Often cows will stand or lie down and freeze in place during a blizzard. Don’t be a cow.
Called my own Rep about that horrible HR.32. Also called Gray, Tran, and Whitesides.
Thank you, Jess, so much for that list of who needs some encouragement (literally).
Got through right away to staffers, said please ask the Congressman to vote No on 32, and when they asked for my information, I provided it, and told them "I'm not a constituent, but I donated and wrote postcards for the Congressman's campaign, because I believe they will represent California well, and I'm a Californian." These staffers were much more receptive than when I did the same kind of thing with Sen. Kelly's staff.
Suggestions/scripts from anyone here on how to make those out-of-constituency calls as effective as possible would be very much appreciated.....
Tried calling NH Rep Goodlander & Sen Hassan but I was sent automatically to muzak (Hassan) or mailbox was full (Goodlander)
Called! Thanks so much for providing these scripts!!
Thank you!