Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/11 ☀️

Hi, all, and happy Thursday.

One of my subscribers, after reading yesterday’s newsletter, commented that my introduction had reminded him of two paragraphs by the inimitable Rebecca Solnit, which he then posted. I see the resemblance, but her lines are infinitely more magnificent than anything I could write. I’m sharing them with you here—please assimilate every word: 

The future is bigger than our imaginations. It’s unimaginable, and then it comes anyway. To meet it we need to keep going, to walk past what we can imagine. We need to be unstoppable. And here’s what it takes: you don’t stop walking to congratulate yourself; you don’t stop walking to wallow in despair; you don’t stop because your own life got too comfortable or too rough; you don’t stop because you won; you don’t stop because you lost. There’s more to win, more to lose, others who need you.

You don’t stop walking because there is no way forward. Of course there is no way. You walk the path into being, you make the way, and if you do it well, others can follow the route. You look backward to grasp the long history you’re moving forward from, the paths others have made, the road you came in on. You look forward to possibility.  That’s what we mean by hope, and you look past it into the impossible and that doesn’t stop you either. But mostly you just walk, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. That’s what makes you unstoppable.

Gorgeous, right? No one—and I mean no one—writes about hope like Solnit does. The entire essay is here; I highly recommend it. Thanks to subscriber Eric D. for posting it.

I didn’t watch CNN’s debacle of a Town Hall last night—again, I don’t do cable news and haven’t in over a decade. But even reading about it was enough to make a cold fist of anxiety tighten its grip around my guts. For a moment.

And then I remembered you. I remembered the above. I remembered everything we’ve done so far. And I remembered that my job isn’t to control the future. It’s to “walk, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot,” today, with thousands—really millions—of people at my side, towards the good, the just, the fair, and the reasonable.

So that’s what let’s do.

Hope is an action. Repeat it like a mantra, then act accordingly.

It’ll make you—and us—unstoppable.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that the House is voting today on Republicans’ border security package. The bill, HR 2, would codify border programs implemented by Donald Trump, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy. It would also restart border wall construction, allow minors to be deported and lengthen the amount of time families with children could be kept in detention. I want to make sure the Senator opposes it when it comes to their chamber. We need immigration reform, but this bill is cruel, wasteful, and draconian. Congress needs to come together in a bipartisan fashion and craft a bill that can and should pass. Thanks. [H/T and H/T]

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

[I know this is repetitive. Please do it anyway!]

I’m calling to say that the House needs to raise the debt ceiling now with no strings attached. No cuts, no repeals of climate provisions, no rollback of funding for teachers, or Medicaid, or hungry children. We want a clean debt ceiling increase and we want it before the economy tanks. [If GOP add:] Americans are angry that Republicans are playing politics with our financial futures. We will punish them at the polls if they don’t knock it off. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s again write to CNN, whose CEO Chris Licht is insisting this morning that America was “served very well” by last night’s Town Hall. Here’s a link to their feedback form again. Also, here’s a link to their Facebook page, from which you can DM them. I think most of you are capable of writing your own excellent comments, and I’m sick with a cold (again), so I kept mine brief and simply said:

I understand that Chris Licht feels that Americans were “served very well” by last night’s televised Trump rally on CNN. I can assure you we were not. We were horrified and appalled—saddened by Trump’s mocking of sexual assault victims, disgusted by his lies about January 6th and the 2020 elections, and infuriated by your network’s platforming of the absolute worst, most despicable, and most destructive politician in modern history. I hope the ratings you got were worth it—I, for one, will no longer be turning to CNN for serious journalism. The harm you just inflicted on both our country and our democracy is grievous.

I also posted this on my almost-never-used secret twitter account. Feel free to copy.

Last night @CNN platformed the worst, most despicable, & most destructive politician in modern history. The harm inflicted on both our country & our democracy was massive. I hope the ratings they got were worth it. Few will now turn to them for serious journalism or integrity.

Get Smart! 📚

What are you doing for lunch (or breakfast, if you’re on the West coast) on Friday? Join representatives from Indivisible Truth Brigade, Moms Demand Action, Swing Left, and more over Zoom at the Network NoVA Friday Power Lunch! If you’ve never been to this all-volunteer grassroots event, you’ve been missing out on a fun and upbeat way to plug in to progressive efforts in VA and beyond. Honestly, it’s a mind-blowing production, and they do it every week! With key elections coming up in Virginia it would be great of lots of us could attend!

Starting at noon EDT, the hour-long program's agenda features this week:

• Kelly Johnson, co-lead of Moms Demand Action Alexandria - covering gun violence and the upcoming Wear Orange weekend honoring gun violence survivors.

• Susan Labandibar, co-lead of Swing Blue Alliance - sharing the history of Swing Blue's Field Leaders Research Network and highlighting findings about the effectiveness and impact of grassroots postcards and messaging.  

• Jody Rein, Indivisible Truth Brigade - outlining resources about fighting the spread of disinformation online.

• Matt Caffrey, director of grassroots organizing, Swing Left - sharing plans for empowering upcoming races in Virginia.

• Michael Feggans, candidate for Delegate (VA - HD97) - going over his vision and plans for VA. 

RSVP here 

Spread the Word! 📣

Today’s Navigator A.M. contains data from a NEW survey conducted May 4 – 8 with polling on how Americans are responding to the default debate, who they trust more to handle the issue of avoiding default and who they would blame if a default occurred. It also contains messaging guidance on how to communicate about the Republicans' plan most effectively.

The big takeaways? Most Americans support raising the debt limit but Democrats are polling worse than Republicans on which party can be trusted to avoid default—UNTIL they hear about the GOP’s proposed cuts, at which point Dems gain the advantage.

VIEW THE REPORT HERE. And then tell everyone you know about the cuts Republicans are proposing!

Win Races—Call! 🗳

Y’all, Sister District has launched their 2023 VA phonebanks and they need volunteers. Remember, aside from the Wisconsin Supreme Court race these are the most important elections of the year. Glenn Youngkin is eager to pass an abortion ban, anti-trans laws, and looser gun laws. If we don’t win he will do all of the above.

There are shifts most days. Sign up here.

Win Races—Postcard! ✍🏼

This morning, Activate America launched their postcard campaign into three critical New York House districts: NY-3, NY-4, and NY-17, “represented” by Republican Congressmen George Santos, Anthony D'Esposito, and Mike Lawler.

While only Santos was arrested by federal authorities this week for campaign finance violations, all three just voted in lockstep with the MAGA extremists on the GOP’s “Default on America” bill. They want to cut Social Security and veteran benefits, prevent student debt relief, and eliminate vital climate change funding as part of their  hostage taking approach to raising the national debt ceiling.

That won’t sit well in these Democratic-leaning districts, all of which the Biden-Harris ticket won in 2020.

Sign up for postcard lists today! (You must provide your own cards.)

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

[to your Senators] [H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PHYUBS to 50409]

In 2011, then Vice President Biden and then Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell negotiated a deal to raise the debt ceiling at the last minute. As a result, the economy was saved, but millions of dollars in investments were destroyed and the entire US credit rating was downgraded.

Now, the full faith and credit of the nation is once again in question, and every day that Congress refuses to raise the nation's borrowing limit brings more economic pain, uncertainty, and the risk of default. The legislation passed by the House is not a serious deficit reduction bill, and is in fact an attempt to take the global economy hostage in exchange for a repeal of The Inflation reduction Act. The proposals being negotiated by the White House and Senator Manchin as conditions for raising the debt ceiling - permitting reform, clawing back of unspent COVID relief funds, and more - will do very little to reduce the deficit, or balance the budget. But opportunities to raise revenue, reduce spending, and more do exist through the regular budget process.

I am urging Republicans—and Congress in general—to abandon this zero-sum brinksmanship. Pass a clean bill through the US Senate to raise the debt limit on a bipartisan vote - as was done a number of times when President Trump was in office. And pursue plans to balance the budget, streamline the nation's permitting process, and reform our energy policy through the regular budget and committee process. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess