21 Comments

I completely agree with the positive reinforcement for Mike Johnson. (I work with kids.) Thank Heaven for the aid to Ukraine, as well as the other packages.

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Yes, this was coming from my parenting experience. Best way to get people to do good things is to make a wonderful fuss when they do them.

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Giving positive reinforcement to anybody standing up to bullies is good. But the every day heroes that abound in the pro democracy movement are the ones I truly treasure.😊

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You and me both.

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I was pleasantly surprised that my Congresswoman voted Aye on all of the supplemental appropriation bills. From the sound of her voice, the staffer I spoke with was equally pleasantly surprised that I called to thank her for doing so.

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That was nice of you!

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Thanks. I don't expect much of a change from her but she was, at one time, a classic Republican and has no real reason to be a Trumpista. We'll catch more bees with honey than vinegar, at least once in a while.

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Woah! That was EASY! Reach sounded perfect to get deeper involved, and Bang! I'm in.

Thank you as always, Jessica.

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Amazing!

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Thank you so much for the recommendation to Healthcare Advocacy, Jess. There was a flurry of new subscribers today. I'm honored and so grateful you taught me how to do this...Alan

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You truly deserve it!

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Hi Jessica,

I appreciate your efforts - keep up the good work!

Thought I'd just chime in a bit re Mike Johnson - IMO what he did was courageous, not heroic. Back in the day heroes were everyday folks >> who risked their life << in an altruistic manner - jumping into a freezing lake to save a baby would be a good example. A lot of folks risk their careers every day, while sometimes admirable, it's not heroic. The use of word "hero" has devolved over the last 20 years or so to the point that reality TV wannabe singers are called "heroes". Simply being a police officer or fireman is not being a hero, although their "opportunity" to do something heroic is more likely than say, an engineer or physician. Captain Sullenberger is often referred to as a hero, he has politely disagreed (if memory serves, he appreciates the true meaning of the word) - he did his job, did it well, and is, and should be, admired for it. Again, IMO, we would all do well to think a little harder about what constitutes true heroism, there really are not that many heroes out there.

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Right! but I did NOT call him a hero! Having said that, I do use the word rather loosely. But I think all of you are heroes and I'll stand by that.

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I didn't say you called him a hero, I inferred from your statement "... he was displaying heroism, and I’ll stand by my statement." that his action, this singular action, was heroic. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but, again IMO, he did not and does not display anything that can be remotely associated with the word hero. That said, I see that the web dictionaries seem to lean in favor of bestowing the word hero more broadly than I do. So, I'll let it go with that. I didn't mean to impugn you or your work in any way, in fact, I'm well into the admirer column...

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Oh and believe me, I didn't feel impugned. As I said, this is what "makes horseraces." My readers are a very clever lot, and you're often right where I'm not. In this case, however, I think we are simply splitting hairs, since I think we would all agree that Mike Johnson is NO hero!

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I don’t care what you say. Jessica Craven is my hero.

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Awwwww.

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Jessica continues to motivate me. Asked a friend with connections to Columbia Univ to try to stir the President to create a giant outdoor classroom and invite all the protestors to take a class on Palestine and Israel. Start with invasion in 1948 and Truman recognizing Israeel and Sec of State George C. Marshall strongly advising against. Lecture in maximum 5 year segments forward to present catastrophe and back across the centuries to Abraham and Sarah and Hagar and Isaac and Ishmael, Just in case, put the same in a letter to New York Times. Love, Doc

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I attended a great Zoom session this afternoon with Sister District about ballot roll off (where voters vote the top of the ballot but not the down ballot races). Jessica, if it was you who recommended it, I must say thank you! It was a data nerd's dream! I believe they will be sending out the slide deck, I can forward it to you if you are interested.

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OMG I WAS THERE! I made a TikTok about it! OBSESSED!

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I’m part of a human rights coalition, sounding the alarm and exposing court- appointed guardianship. Here’s a link to our website for those interested in learning more- https://gaininfo.org. Regards, Marian

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