Hi, all, and happy Thursday.
On difficult days I like to turn to Marcus Aurelius. The last of the so-called “five good Roman emperors,” Aurelius ruled between the years 161-180. Valuing logic above all, he studied stoicism and ruminated on it often; many of his quotes have to do with it.
Since stoicism seems more necessary than ever under the current circumstances I returned to Aurelius this morning. Among the many bits of wisdom he offers is this:
“No man can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.”
I’ve posted similar quotes in the past, and there’s a reason for it. Because none of us want to be here, right? In this moment of time, I mean. No one wants to wake up to more awful news out of the Supreme Court, more disturbing behavior from fascist politicians, more dire environmental news. I, at least, wonder audibly at least once a week why I had to be born into this particular moment. And even more so, why my kid did.
That, however, is a mental path that leads only to despair.
The better path is the one Aurelius suggests. I cannot choose the moment I live in. But I can decide how I’m going to react to it. To quote another, more contemporary philosopher poet, Maya Angelou:
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
What can we change? What can’t we? That is the question. I believe we can change much more than we think. So let’s start, here, now, doing what we can.
As for those things we cannot change? Let us try to accept them as best we can…until such time as we can fix them at last.
Courage, friends. It’s dark. But you and I together can be the light.
P.S. Speaking of light: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson! Woot! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling to say that I, like the majority of Americans, am furious that a rogue Supreme Court is systematically dismantling everything good about our country. They have stripped away bodily autonomy from tens of millions of people. They are preventing states from passing common sense gun laws. And they just gutted the EPA. This extremist court is 100% legislating from the bench. It’s called judicial overreach and it’s unacceptable. Congress needs to do something.
[If Dem add:]
First, Democrats need to expand and rebalance the Supreme Court and fill every vacancy on the federal judiciary they can NOW with pro-democracy, pro-choice, and pro-environment judges. This is crucial.
Also, y’all need to pass the climate reconciliation bill immediately, as we are running out of ways to protect our children from the climate emergency. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I want the Congressmember to co-sponsor H.J. Res 87 to defund US military support for the war on Yemen, a humanitarian and environmental disaster. The Saudi-led war has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions on the brink of starvation. We must stop US maintenance of the Saudi Air Force and intelligence sharing for bombing targets in Yemen. Congress needs to reclaim its constitutional authority over declarations of war. Co-sponsor the Yemen War Powers Resolution. Thank you.
Extra Credit ✅
Send this to President Biden either through his web portal or via Resistbot (text SIGN PJRWIL to 50409.)
The right-wing dark-money donors have finally gotten what they wanted—a Supreme Court confident enough in their power to overrule almost 50 years of constitutional precedent and strip women of their bodily rights. Only 13 states and Washington DC have laws that explicitly protect access to abortion. Millions of women will be affected – they will be forced to give birth, defined by the U.N. as a war crime. Pregnant people will die. Mothers and children will suffer. It’s horrific.
The Executive branch must do much more than it has thus far in response.
First, now that the Court has officially overturned Roe v. Wade, please consider using the sovereign immunity of federal property as safe havens for women seeking reproductive care.
Next, qualified immunity, the same shield that protects violent cops, should be extended to protect healthcare providers from private lawsuits arising out of the performance of their jobs.
All actual abortion services, furthermore, should either be free of charge or supported by donations to fit within the Hyde Amendment rules.
Something else to be explored: Tribal lands and land belonging to foreign nations are also locations with immunity from state governments.
Finally, please continue to emphasize the need for our Senators to remove the filibuster, both for voting rights and the bodily sovereignty of women. And PLEASE, support court expansion. Your unwillingness to do so is a bitter blow to those of us who worked to elect you yet are now having our rights stripped away. Thanks.
Get Smart! 📚
This is a last minute invite but if you care about messaging, abortion rights, and winning elections and can make it you will NOT be sorry.
While we have a long road ahead for Roe V. Wade, a significant part of that journey starts with learning how to talk to voters and understanding the principals of persuasion.
Today at 2:30 PT / 5:30 ET Wake Up and Vote will be joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio, founder of ASO Communications, host of the Words to Win By podcast, and creator of the research-backed, persuasive ad "Someone You Love.”
Anat will share both high level principles for persuasion and concrete examples of empirically backed creative content for issue and electoral wins. She’ll also provide insight on where to go from here following the overturn of Roe V. Wade protections.
I attend a briefing with Anat twice a month and she’s incredible. This will be amazing. highly recommend.
Give 💰!
If you want to give money to only one place and know it’s the best use of your money I can’t recommend the Movement Voter Project highly enough. They’re basically a big fund that disperses money to the most effective grassroots orgs in every key state. (Yes, Make the Road Nevada, who I talked about yesterday, is one of them.) These groups are KEY to our winning in these states and starting to roll back the damage the GOP has done.
Watch this new video explaining what they do and why it’s beyond critical. It’s 12 minutes long, but worth every second. Or watch the shorter version here. Then please, please give if you can. Make it monthly if possible! And ask your friends and family to give, too. This could make or break our fortunes in November and well beyond.
Win Races! 🗳
Y’all, I am now running not one but two Arizona phonebanks every week—one on Thursdays and one on Saturdays. I could really use more dialers.
The Thursday phonebank focusses on calling folks who we think will support Mark Kelly (and Democrats up and down the ballot) but don’t always turn out to vote in midterm elections. The Saturday phonebank is for my Sister District adopted AZ State Senate candidate Mitzi Epstein. In both cases I’ll be doing the training, and in both cases every voter reached is critical.
I know no one wants to call strangers. But no one wants to live under a Christofascist government either. That’s what we’re up against. Voter outreach is our only hope of stemming the tide.
So please. Come.
The Thursday phonebank is from 3-5 PM PDT every week. You can sign up here.
The Saturday phonebank is from 10-12 PM PDT every week. Sign up here.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PPYJUM to 50409]
At a time when half of older Americans have no retirement savings and are worried about their ability to retire with dignity and millions of seniors are living in poverty, I believe that our job is not to cut Social Security, like Republicans want to, but to expand it. Every senior citizen in America should be able to retire with the respect they deserve and every person with a disability should be able to live with the security they need.
That’s why I support Bernie Sanders’s and Rep. DeFazio’s Social Security Expansion Act.
According to the Social Security Administration, this legislation would make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years, expand benefits for seniors and people with disabilities by $2,400 a year, and increase COLAs, which would lift millions of seniors out of poverty.
I am watching closely. Any attacks on—or reductions in—Social Security benefits will be a dealbreaker for me. I expect you, as my elected representative, to co-sponsor and support the Social Security Expansion Act now. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
Thanks so much for the tip to listen to Anat Shenker Osorio. I was gobsmacked by her message. She clearly articulated and distilled a pile of thoughts, beliefs and ideas that had been swirling in my brain trying to find some cohesion. That old saying: "when the student is ready, the teacher appears" took on meaning for me. I ordered her book and downloaded her podcast and I think I know my path forward for the foreseeable future. I hope the video of that zoom call gets spread far and wide. I'll do my part with the alliances in Santa Cruz.
My CWCW #8 - Just the two Resistbots, so far.