Chop Wood, Carry Water 3/6

We've got this.

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!

Welp. That’s over. We have officially hit general election season. Donald Trump is the GOP nominee. Joseph Biden is the Democratic incumbent, running for re-election after a strong performance in his first term. It is either or. This will almost certainly not change between now and November.

This is likely raising a “gulp” in millions of Americans’ throats. Fine. It’s a wakeup call that’s long overdue. The denial that has benumbed most of the country for months now must be shaken off immediately. Trump is the candidate. He can win. He is a formidable foe. We democracy defenders are greatly hampered by unwelcome and complicating factors we largely can’t control—third party candidates and the war in the Middle East being the largest ones. It’s a tough order.

And yet, we will prevail. We have to.

I understand your likely feelings of fatigue, disgust, and even despair. It is shocking that we’re here. Mind boggling.

But we must deal with the world as we find it, not as we’d like it to be. And our reality is that a deeply damaged, mentally incoherent, debt-burdened, legally beleaguered, incompetent, amoral, ineffective, narcissistic and insecure man-child is lurching towards control of our country. His followers, either from stupidity or greed, are hellbent on seeing him succeed. They will literally follow him off of a cliff, and take the rest of us with them.

But only if we let them. And we won’t. Ever.

Remember these words as you talk to despairing friends and family: There are more of us than there are of them. We have won in every election that mattered since 2016. Their voters are aging out; ours are aging in. Joe Biden is, in the aggregate, a tremendously capable President—despite some missteps. The polls have underestimated how Democrats would perform in election after election. The Democratic bench is deep and extraordinarily talented. Every time democracy has been on the ballot Americans have turned out in massive numbers.

Most importantly, the other side doesn’t have us. Seriously. Stop and think about it for a second. We are the secret weapon Republicans wish they had, but can’t access. With all the money in the world they can’t buy what we provide. Why? Because we work for free. Out of love. Out of passion. Out of dedication. Out of commitment to what is best about our country.

People fighting for their freedoms are a turnout engine more powerful than any poll can measure, any pundit can quantify, any strategist can comprehend.

And we are fighting for our freedoms, folks.

Never, ever forget what you’ve already accomplished. Never forget the wins you’ve helped bring about. Never question how powerful you are.

And never doubt for a second that you’ve got this. We do. Together.

Now let’s get to work.

P.S. — A subscriber messaged me the other day and asked, given the mainstream media’s death spiral, what news sources I recommend. I have a list! It doesn’t contain everything I read, but I do read everything there religiously, and it keeps me pretty informed. As for as actual periodicals I have to say I’m loving the Guardian. Their American coverage is outstanding—perhaps the UK has better protections against the politicization of the press.

P.P.S. — I won my election, as did almost my entire slate! Thank you!

P.P.P.S—Due to post-election fatigue there are no calls to our reps today. Otherwise the newsletter is complete.

Extra Credit ✅

In lieu of an Extra Credit item I’m giving you a poll today.

As you know I’ve been keeping Middle East-themed calls to action in a separate newsletter, but the war in Gaza is swiftly becoming not just ethically unacceptable, but the main obstacle to our winning this election. I’d like to bring relevant calls—mostly for an immediate ceasefire and a return of the hostages—to this newsletter, because it’s the right and strategic thing to do, but given the division its caused in the past I’d like to know your thoughts on it.

So let me know, do you want to see Israel/Gaza calls to action in this newsletter? Or would you greatly prefer they stay separate?

Get Smart! 📚

I totally forgot! My first Activism 101 workshop isn’t on the 19th—it’s on the 12th! I have two coming up! If you’d like to attend the one on the 12th here’s the flyer. You can register here. We’ll cover all the ways you can help us win this November, from postcarding, to donating strategically, to phonebanking, to canvassing, and more. Come! It’s a blast!

Spread the Word! 📣

Please post this on your social media for me!

Terrified that Mark Robinson, a Holocaust denier, is now the GOP nominee for Governor in NC? There’s a fundraiser tonight to help get 40K more voters registered in Mecklenburg County, which skews heavily Dem. They're trying to raise 750K, and they're close. Hitting that goal will greatly increase their chances of success in NC. Please give if you can, and then come tonight and hear how the amazing organizers in NC are going to do it. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/voter-registration-2024?refcode=CW

Give 💰!

Do you hate Gym Jordan? Here’s your chance to help send him packing.

Ohio has been badly gerrymandered for nearly 15 years, but they finally, finally have a movement to get a citizen initiative to end gerrymandering on the ballot in November. But we need to give the Ohio League of Women Voters—one of the main backers of the initiative—the resources to get the tens of thousands of signatures needed to get it on the ballot. The wonderful David Pepper is spearheading this effort.  Please give through this link if you can, any amount would be a huge help.

Win Races! 🗳

Share this new States Project video everywhere, please. And don’t forget to share the link to the States Project website, (or the link to the Chop Wood, Carry Statehouses fund, which is raising money for Arizona and Pennsylvania.). We need everyone to understand how critical state-level elections will be this November!

Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥

This is my periodic reminder that the Climate Action Now App is incredible and important we should all be using it. If you’re new to this newsletter and don’t know about the app please consider downloading it here. It’ll give you five EASY and effective actions to take every day to help address the climate emergency. We need more “CAN Do-ers!”

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

[To: your Congressional members and President Biden ] [H/T] [Text SIGN PNFIIP to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

I’m writing to urge you to provide enforcement agencies with the resources they need to rein in corporate lawbreaking.

Alongside the FTC, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division plays a critical role in holding illegal, monopolistic behavior accountable. Despite this important responsibility, the Division has long been deprived of the resources it needs to police anti-competitive behavior.

This is why I am alarmed by proposed appropriations language released this week that would unravel the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act enacted by Congress in 2022. I am adamantly opposed to this and all efforts to undermine the Division’s budget and urge all parties in negotiations to restore the Division’s full access to merger filing fees. While Congress has made little progress on antitrust priorities in recent years, the passage of the Merger Filing Fees Modernization Act was a bright spot and represented an important bipartisan success in supporting antitrust policy and enforcement. And it was a welcome departure from recent decades, in which Congress failed to give the Antitrust Division adequate resources to combat monopolistic actors even as corporate concentration sharply increased.

As noted by Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, the Division employed some 230 fewer staffers as of February 2023 than it had in 1979. Despite insufficient resources, the DOJ Antitrust Division has still worked tirelessly to rein in anti-competitive behavior across a variety of sectors, including airlines, publishing and the tech sector.

At a time when American consumers are reeling from high prices, it should be a bipartisan priority to promote competition and prevent monopolistic behavior. American consumers need relief from unconstrained corporate concentration, and it would be a major mistake for Congress to roll back progress on reinvigorating antitrust enforcement.

I once again urge the White House and congressional lawmakers to stand in opposition to the proposed appropriations text and accompanying conference report, and enhance funding for antitrust enforcers to do their jobs. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess