Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/30

Regardless of how it turns out.

Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

Yesterday in the comments section—one of my favorite places to visit—a subscriber quoted a line from Vaclav Havel that I happen to adore. It comes from a longer passage Havel wrote about hope—one I’ve posted here before.

I was glad to be reminded of these words, so I’ve decided to post the full passage again. In times like this it can’t be repeated enough. Let’s treat it like a meditation today, OK? Savor every word. Read it through a few times. I may just try to learn the whole thing by heart.

Here it is:

VACLAV HAVEL ON HOPE

Either we have hope within us or we do not.

It is a dimension of the soul and is not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world.

HOPE is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.

HOPE in this deep and powerful sense is not the same as joy that things are going well or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not because it stands a chance to succeed.

HOPE is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.

It is HOPE, above all which gives the strength to live and continually try new things.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

This work we do “makes sense regardless of how it turns out.” That’s why it’s hopeful.

Having said that, I’m certain it’s going to turn out well.

So let’s keep doing it.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m furious that Samuel Alito has stated he won’t recuse himself from the two Supreme Court cases having to do with January 6. Judges are required to step aside from deciding cases when “the judge’s impartiality might be reasonably questioned.” I question Justice Alito’s impartiality—I’m reasonable!—and millions of other reasonable Americans do as well. He must recuse! I want the Senator to keep calling for it. And I’d like him/her to strongly condemn Justice Roberts’ refusal to meet with Senators Durbin and Whitehouse. Thanks.

[If your Senator is a Democrat add:]

Also, I’m exasperated with Senator Durbin’s unwillingness to act aggressively. I think it’s time for him to step down as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I’d like the Senator to call for that. To quote Indivisible’s recent statement: “This is no longer a Samuel Alito problem or a John Roberts problem. This is a Democratic Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee problem.” I agree, and it needs to be remedied. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m concerned to learn about the unregulated shadow industry that is targeting U.S veterans by promising to drastically boost their disability checks in exchange for their signing away thousands of dollars in future benefits. The VA claims it is powerless to stop the practice, since Congress years ago stripped criminal penalties from the law prohibiting it. This needs to be remedied, and there’s a bill that will do just that. It’s H.R.1139, the GUARD VA Benefits Act. Is the Congressmember a co-sponsor? If not I’d like him/her to become one. We need to protect our veterans from predatory practices. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s send this letter—edited slightly to make each one unique—to the DOJ. Make sure you review and then hit submit, or it won’t go through!

I’m writing to urge the Department of Justice to launch an immediate investigation into Big Oil. Oil and gas executives have known since the 1970s that their product would cause "catastrophic" climate change and have lied to cover it up. Now we are paying the price.

Regular people – families, small businesses and local communities - shouldn’t bear the financial costs and suffering of the damages being wrought by climate change, while fossil fuel executives who caused the crisis continue to profit and block action to address it.

In 2022 alone, Big Oil made over $200 billion in profits. Oil and gas executives have built the most profitable industry on the planet precisely because they lied to the public about climate change and their role to create it. An investigation would open the doors to hold this industry accountable. Please get one underway immediately. Thanks.

H/T Climate Hawks vote

Get Smart! 📚

🚨 HAPPENING TONIGHT!! 🚨

The Bay Area Coalition invites you to take a deep dive into Project 2025 with the Freedom Writers Collaborative on Thursday, May 30^th, 6pm PT/9pm ET.

Project 2025 is a terrifying, nearly thousand-page “Conservative Leadership Mandate” authored by the Heritage Foundation with input from 80 to 100 other right-wing organizations. 

Each section of this plan offers a great deal of specificity as to how it will be implemented under the next Republican President. If the election is called for Trump in November, this nightmare goes into full implementation, immediately replacing our representative democracy with a fully empowered, fully staffed, taxpayer-funded autocracy.

New polling shows that only 1 in 4 Americans have even heard of Project 2025! Once they are informed about it, however, they are far more likely to vote for Biden.

After this session, you will be able to talk confidently about Project 2025 and will be able to share the importance of voting in November, and for the only candidate who is determined to protect our democracy. 

Register here.

Spread the Word! 📣

Please read this great news, and then share it on your social media with something like this post!

Beep Beep! 🚍 Exciting news from the @EPA!

Today’s Clean School Bus announcement will add 3,400 clean school buses to America’s streets. This brings the total to an impressive 12,000 buses committed nationwide, including those funded, ordered, delivered, and already in operation. Thanks, Joe Biden! 👏🏼⚡️👏🏼⚡️ https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-gives-school-districts-900-million-for-electric-school-buses/ar-BB1nfsGD

Win Races! 🗳

The wonderful Grassroots Connector just had a great post on summer canvassing. The co-author went through Mobilize listings and pulled out canvassing opportunities in swing states, big states, and races to watch. Please check it out! And please consider subscribing to

The Grassroots Connector

if you haven’t! It’s truly excellent and inspiring.

14 Reasons Summer Canvassing Rocks!

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

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PROUMK to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

As your constituent, I am urging you to increase funding to the IRS so they can expand the wildly successful Direct File program to all 50 states.

Between January 1st and April 15th of 2024, over 140,000 taxpayers across 12 pilot states used Direct File, receiving more than $90 million in refunds and saving an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees. This was only possible due to the multi-billion dollar investment in the IRS via the Inflation Reduction Act.

For too long, private tax preparation companies deliberately misled taxpayers to extract more fees or intentionally made it more difficult to find the free version of their offerings. American taxpayers deserve to easily pay their taxes online -- and do so completely free.

Please increase IRS funding so that the Direct File program expands to all states and supports additional sources of income for independent contractors and people who have investments. Thanks!

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

Talk soon.

Jess