Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/15

A bottom-up movement for change

Hi, all, and happy Thursday.

Last night I went to a local restaurant to speak to a group of young women who are new to activism but wanted to get more involved. I’d met one of their members at a recent Town Hall; when she invited me to come speak to her friends I readily agreed. Because that’s what democracy looks like, right?

It was a delightful evening in many ways—it gives me so much hope to see new troops joining our fight—but it was also, from a practical standpoint, helpful to me, as these women asked many questions that I assume others have as well. That, in turn, gave me ideas for things to write about here!

One of the questions, for example, came from the woman who organized the gathering. She said:

“I remember driving to my Hands Off protest and passing people on the street who were just going about their days, eating brunch, walking around, seemingly totally unaware of what was happening. How can we get those people involved? How do we grow this movement?”

It’s a great question, and I think the answer is pretty straightforward. We have to ask them to join us directly. Most people, it’s safe to say, are pretty uncomfortable about where our country is right now. They’re not happy about the economy, they’re worried about Trump’s multiple abuses of power and the eradication of due process, they’re seeing the same horrific ICE abduction videos we are, and they reject the Qatari plane idea as much as we do. Sure, Trump still has supporters, but there are far more Americans who hate where we are than love it.

As for what to do about that, though? Most people still aren’t sure. They don’t subscribe to this newsletter, or have the 5 Calls app, or know about Indivisible. They may not have much of a community at all. Or they might, but that community might be equally disengaged and unsure of how to proceed. It might not occur to any of them that there is something they can do.

That’s where we come in!

In the buildup to our next big mobilization on June 14, (and to every smaller one that happens in the interim), I want to suggest that we all to get a bit more proactive about inviting people into this movement. About texting or emailing our friends with a link to the No Kings website and asking them to RSVP for a march. About talking about the protest in casual conversations. About posting homemade flyers if we can, and flooding social media with alerts about our local event. And about explaining to people WHY such protests matter.

We can tell them that mass mobilization is the one thing we know of that’s pretty much certain to take down a dictatorship if it’s peaceful and long-running. We can tell them that the world is watching to see if Americans care about what’s happening, and it’s critical that we show them we do. We can tell them that these protests are peaceful—folks who haven’t been often assume they’re not—and positive, and fun! We can invite them to attend a protest with us! I plan on inviting at least 5 new people to come to Downtown Los Angeles with me on the 14th. I figure if even three of them show up I’ll have tripled my “footprint” there. Imagine if we all did that!

Most people who don’t attend protests, my friends, simply haven’t been asked to do so directly. So let’s get busy laying the groundwork for June 14 now. Once we’re there we can hand out homemade flyers with more information about ways to get involved. Some of you have already sent me your versions; if you have links to templates please drop them in the comments—I’ve seen some wonderful takes on this idea!

As Senator Warnock told us last week when he spoke at our Trending Up conference—and I’m paraphrasing: organizing and winning at a moment like this isn’t going to be a top-down affair. Social change never happens that way. It’s always bottom up—a popular groundswell. A people’s movement! That means us.

So let’s get busy spreading the word in every way we can about June 14 and other ways people can get involved. Because we the people can save us, and we must. But only if we widen our circle. We can do that, and those who join us will be glad to have an outlet for their anxieties. A win win!

Now let’s get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲 and Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m deeply opposed to Republican’s reconciliation package. The cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are unacceptable, but there’s so much more. I oppose the provision that would give AI a blank check for the next ten years. I oppose the provision that would allow the Trump administration to sell off our public lands to fossil fuel interests. I oppose the provision that defunds Planned Parenthood. I oppose the provision that guts clean energy funding. I oppose the provision that limits federal judges’ authority to hold government officials in contempt of court. I oppose the provision kicking 4.5 million American kids off the child tax credit. And I oppose the provision that gives the Treasury Department the power to revoke nonprofit status without due process. This is a vicious, sneaky and murderous bill that guts programs Americans support all to pay for tax cuts for the richest Americans and corporations. Disgusting. Vote no.

[If GOP add:]

If the Senator/Congressmember supports this bill I promise you: they will lose their seat in a landslide. We will make sure of it. Thank you.

Extra Credit ✅

The folks at the Progressive Caucus Center have put together an excellent explainer about what’s in the House version of the reconciliation bill and how the rest of process will likely play out. I highly recommend reading and then sharing it with anyone looking for easy to digest fact with lots of source links.

That’s it! An easy extra credit today!

Get Smart! 📚

On Thursday, May 22 from 9AM – 5PM PDT please join Field Team Six on Zoom for their third annual tentpole event – the Register Democrats Summit 2025.

From them:

It’s time to bring together a movement-wide coalition focused on registering Democrats across the country. This FREE one-day virtual summit brings together the best and brightest minds, from elected officials to tech leaders to grassroots organizers, and so much more.

Confirmed speakers and panelists: Sec. Deb Haaland * Rep. Jamie Raskin * Rep. Maxwell Frost * Rep. Sarah McBride * Rep. Abigail Spanberger * Rep. Anna Eskamani * DNC Chair Ken Martin * Indivisible's Leah Greenberg * Run for Something's Amanda Litman * 50501's Hunter Dunn * Congressional candidate Deja Foxx (AZ-07) * Congressional candidate George Hornedo (IN-07) * Meidas Touch * Messaging Luminary Billy Ray * Substack Star Jessica Craven - "Chop Wood, Carry Water" * Substack Star Robert Hubbell - "Today's Edition" * Leigh McGowan - "Politics Girl" * Sylvia Salazar - Tono.Latino * Democracy Champion David Pepper * Ricardo Gutiérrez - The Comedy Resistance * Matt Moore - Improv For The People *

This is always an incredible and inspiring event so consider signing up, please! You can drop in and out as you like and you’ll always hear someone good.

Learn more and register here.

Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣

Please use DemCast’s easy-to-use social media toolkit to help amplify just how awful the GOP bill is. Remember, most Americans are NOT PAYING ATTENTION, but when they find out what’s in the bill they oppose it in overwhelming numbers! So spread the word!

Win Races! 🗳

Activate America just launched five new postcard campaigns focused on Trump’s disastrous tariff war and Congress’s ability to stop it.

These campaigns are in five of the most competitive swing districts in the country: Iowa’s 1st and 3rd districts, Nebraska’s 2nd district, New Jersey’s 7th district, and New York’s 17th district.

To request your lists, just click HERE. You must provide your own postcards.

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

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T Coleman Rogers] [Text SIGN PNNIKB to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]

This reported $400 million "gift" of a luxurious private jet from Qatar to President Trump represents an egregious violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause and a severe national security threat. The Emoluments Clause explicitly prohibits the President from accepting any "present" or "Emolument" from a foreign state without the consent of Congress.

This colossal bribe from Qatar, a state-sponsor of terrorism that funds Hamas, crosses a bright constitutional line. Furthermore, allowing a foreign power to provide the President's mobile command center raises alarming counterintelligence risks. As experts have warned, this gift plane would require exhaustive sweeps and inspections to detect any pre-installed surveillance equipment or other security vulnerabilities.

And even after that, how can we trust that Qatar has not secured hidden access or influence over operations aboard the plane? This represents an unacceptable threat to national security. This $400 million "palace in the sky" is clearly an attempt by Qatar to buy influence and curry favor with President Trump, who has lucrative business dealings in that country worth billions. It creates an inescapable conflict of interest that makes it impossible for Trump to take any action against Qatar's interests without directly harming his own.

This is the very type of foreign corruption the Founders sought to guard against. I demand Congress exercise its constitutional duty by immediately launching a thorough investigation into this matter. Qatar's bribing of the President cannot be allowed to stand. Violations this blatant erode faith in our democracy and system of checks and balances.

Congress must forcefully denounce and block this unlawful emolument from a hostile foreign power. Our democratic institutions and national security depend on it.

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

Talk soon.

Jess