Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/5

Hi, all, and happy Friday!

This will be a slightly abbreviated newsletter today as I still have family in the house. But with everything happening with Clarence Thomas and the debt ceiling I needed to at least send you some scripts and, if I do say so myself, a couple of good additional actions related to Thomas’s corruption.

Everything is, indeed, a mess. But much is also getting repaired, or at least exposed—the first step towards the ultimate goal of repair. We must remain patient and as calm as we can while our nation endures a once-in-a-generation roiling that will, in time, result in transformation.

Why am I confident that it will, in fact, transform? Because of you.

You are the thumb on the scale. Our secret weapon. Our hope in action.

Thanks for that.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m calling because I’m disgusted. Not just about the latest Clarence Thomas scandal, but about the Senate’s deafening silence in the face of his corruption. It’s beginning to feel like complicity. Virtually no Senator has called for him to resign. Not a single Senator has discussed impeachment. What, exactly, does Justice Thomas need to do before the Senator will start calling for his ouster? I’ll say it again: he needs to resign or be impeached. His continued presence on the Supreme Court illegitimizes the entire body. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

First, I’m calling to express my support for H.R. 2976, the Childcare for Working Families Act. This bill would increase access to affordable childcare and ensure workers are paid a living wage. [H/T]

Second, Congress needs to pass a clean debt ceiling increase. No cuts to programs we need, no rolling back climate provisions, no defunding the IRS. Just please raise the debt ceiling now with no strings attached.

[If GOP add:] Americans are very clear that if we do default and the economy crashes Republicans alone are responsible. We will never forget it. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s call the Justice Department about Clarence Thomas. We can call the Department comment line at: 202-353-1555.

Say something like this:

My name is _____ and I live in [city, state]. I’m calling to ask the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Clarence Thomas. We need to know whether Leonard Leo’s secret transfer of $25,000 to Ginni Thomas was a lawful payment for services rendered or a gift. We also need to know why it was not reported on Thomas’s annual disclosure form. He has likely committed a crime; he’s not above the law. Please do something. Thanks.

To My CA Readers ☀️

In light of what’s in this article as well as what I’m hearing from friends who were at the meeting mentioned therein I’m going to encourage everyone to keep calling daily and demanding that Feinstein step down. There is no plausible timetable for her return, and it’s disingenuous and insulting for her office to claim (I’m paraphrasing) that her absence “isn’t really hurting anything.” It is hurting pretty much everything. I’ve given you a script a few times before, so won’t add it again. But please keep calling.

Get Smart! 📚

Worried about the surge in white supremacist rhetoric and violence in our country?Save the date! On May 18 at 5 pm ET / 8 pm ET Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) is hosting a public webinar, “Which Side Are You On? Our three year plan to organize white people to stop authoritarianism.” They’ll talk school boards, moving key slices of the white electorate to prevent a fascist takeover of our federal government in 2024, and bringing thousands of rural, working people into their movement across the rural South and Appalachia.

I love this organization. The work they’re doing is critical. Please attend if you can.

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

[To all 3 reps, POTUS, AND Chief Justice Roberts!] [H/T largely taken from Robert Hubbell’s post here]

[Quick send to Congress and POTUS text SIGN PRLOOK to 50409]

[Quick send to Justice Roberts text SIGN PWRSXK to 50409]

As you’re aware, the Washington Post reported last night that Kellyanne Conway funneled money from Leonard Leo to Ginni Thomas—Clarence Thomas’s wife. Per the Post, Leonard Leo told Conway to “give” $25,000 to Ginni Thomas but to make “no mention of Ginni.”

The facts reported by the Washington Post suggest bribery. It is incumbent on Justice Thomas to explain why the secret transfer of $25,000 to Ginni Thomas was a lawful payment for services rendered or a gift, and why it was not reported on Thomas’s annual disclosure form. The failure to report was likely a crime even if the payment was legal. The Justice Department should be brought in to determine if charges are appropriate; Chief Justice Roberts, the president, and Congress should all call for this immediately.

Also, Thomas needs to resign or be impeached. Scandals related to him are now breaking with a frequency that would be comical were the consequences of his corruption not so grave. He is a disgrace; as long as he sits on the Supreme Court it lacks all legitimacy.

Please act with the urgency that’s appropriate to this moment. Congress’s reaction, as well as that of Chief Justice Roberts, has thus far been wholly inadequate. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess