Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/7

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!

So much going on! Chris Licht is out. The Republicans are fighting over gas stoves. Mark Meadows has likely flipped on Trump. The East Coast is being suffocated by smoky air.

It’s enough to give anyone a headache. Even the good news carries a tinge of hysteria. To say that we live in dramatic times is, well, a dramatic understatement.

How do we navigate these relentlessly turbulent waters? How do we prevent fatigue, overwhelm, and despair? How do we stop our heads from (figuratively) exploding?

It’s a big question, but for me the answers are simple: action, service, and humor.

Taking small but meaningful actions every day keeps me from feeling helpless; it gives me agency, strength, and vigor.

Looking for ways to be of service keeps me from falling into self pity, anxiety, or “morbid refection.” A wise person once told me that “no matter what happens, we’ll always be OK as long as there is someone to help.” It sounds simplistic, but it’s worked well for me. We’re not fighting evil here as much as we’re “helping good.” It’s a subtle distinction, but it matters.

Finally, we must find opportunities to laugh. The GOP, for example, got into a big squall yesterday over a bill called The Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act. If that’s not a line right out of “Veep” I don’t know what is. Certainly, they’re a dangerous and extremely sinister party. AND they’re asinine clowns. Laughing at them is a potent form of counterattack. It also keeps us a bit more sane.

So: Action. Service. Humor. Let’s grab onto these tools, make sure we’re well fed, make sure we’re breathing deeply, and then set off into another day in the Trump era. It’s hard, it’s stressful, it’s fatiguing, but we know how to survive it, and we must.

Because we’re the ones who will end it.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has said that Democrats may issue a subpoena as they try to pry information from Harlan Crow about his gifts to Clarence Thomas. Dick Durbin has also said that “All options are on the table.” Good. I want the Senator to encourage both of them to subpoena Harlan Crow and Justice Thomas immediately. There is no “maybe” about it. Those two need to be held accountable for their obvious corruption. Please put pressure on these two Senate Committee Chairs to act. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Great news! The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has opened a Request for Input on Tenant Protections. They are considering requiring limits on rent hikes and tenant protections in properties with federal financing from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This could impact 12.4 million rental units across the country. Please go to this toolkit to find everything you need to make a comment.

Extra Extra Credit!✅✅

Devastated by SCOTUS’s recent gutting of the Clean Water Act? Please send the below in an email to Democrats on the House Agriculture committee—the email address is agriculturedemocrats@mail.house.gov . It’s important that the letter be personalized slightly, so at the very least please start with a sentence describing who you are and why you care about this. And don’t forget to sign off with your full name, city and state.

I'm writing to urge you to support an expansion of the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program – Wetland Reserve Easements in the 2023 Farm Bill.

Now that the Supreme Court has gutted protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, it is critical that we take advantage of every other avenue for wetland preservation. If we allow these marshes to be destroyed, critical habitats will be destroyed and even more species will go extinct. We will lose barriers to hurricanes and storms with great loss of human life and property. The water quality will be much worse and we will have many more toxic algae blooms, endangering human health.

Please help incentivize landowners to permanently preserve wetlands by expanding funding for the Wetland Reserve Easements component of the ACEP.

[H/T Climate Action Now App]

Get Smart! 📚

Indivisible San Francisco is out with a new explainer post entitled “Deep Dive: What Congress Can Do to Reform the Court.” It’s well-researched, thorough, and, I think, really helpful. Check it out and/or share it with like-minded friends.

And if SCOTUS reform is top of mind for you please consider signing up with Demand Justice, the single best organization working on court reform from the left.

Spread the Word! 📣

Please amplify this amazing new piece by Paul Krugman about how Joe Biden is “Making Manufacturing Great Again!” THIS is the kind of good press we need to get out there.

Win Races! 🗳

I’m phonebanking for Virginia candidate Lashrecse Aird on Thursday at 2 PM PT / 5PM ET. She’s running for State Senate and is in a competitive primary with a forced-birther Democrat. Primary day is June 20th.

No pressure, but the entire future of abortion rights in Virginia may come down to this race. Can you volunteer to help, either this Thursday or a different day? They will train you and these will be easy calls!

Sign up here to join me!

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

[H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PJWYWZ to 50409 or share here.]

I'm a constituent and a voter. Congress made a first step in addressing permitting reform in the debt ceiling bill, however, much more is needed. I'm writing to ask you to join forces with your colleagues on a comprehensive bipartisan permitting reform package that includes transmission, community engagement and speeding the pace with which the U.S. builds and deploys new clean energy—NOT fossil fuel—projects. If enacted soon, permitting reform legislation could reduce carbon pollution 12% by 2030. If you’re on the east coast right now you need only take a look outside to know how desperately important this is.

The climate emergency is here. Please get this done. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess