Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/29

I’m going to post vacation photos here this week so you can see how beautiful Nova Scotia is, too!

Hi, all, and happy Friday!

I’m happy to report that I’m writing to you from my final destination near Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. No more cars! No more ferries! No more busses! No more bathroom floors!

I’ll be here until August 10th, and will do my best to send newsletters on a regular schedule for the duration of my stay. I’ll be greatly helped in those efforts by the spectacular beauty surrounding me and the fact that I’m (semi) vacationing, so filled with extra energy.

There’s so much going on. There always is. Our job is to keep our heads in the day we’re in, and keep doing the things we know to work.

So let’s keep calling.

Let’s keep writing.

Let’s keep working to elect better representatives.

Let’s keep chopping wood, in short, and carrying water.

Remember, we don’t wait to feel hopeful and then act. We act…

And thereby find the hope.

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

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

First, please ask the Senator to do what it takes to pass S.1338, the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, which will restore the right of victims and survivors of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers. I also want him/her to co-sponsor and fight to pass S 736, the Assault Weapons ban of 2021. We’re tired of living in fear. Get this done, please, or we will vote in other Senators who will.

[If Democrat add:] One more thing: for God’s sake please ask the Senator to support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. We need every provision in it desperately. Thanks.

[If GOP add:] One more thing: I want the Senator to vote yes on S 4556 the Respect for Marriage Act. I will be livid if s/he doesn’t. [Share personal reason here that you support marriage equality]. I’ll be watching their vote closely. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here)

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

First, please ask the Congressmember to do what it takes to pass HR 2814, the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, which will restore the right of victims and survivors of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers. I also want him/her to co-sponsor and fight to pass HR 1808, the Assault Weapons ban of 2022. We’re tired of living in fear. Get this done, please, or we will vote in other Congressmembers who will. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s send our next letter to one of the 5 giant corporations who are still giving money to anti-abortion politicians. Today we’ll write to ATT.

You can either click on the EZ send link here: https://tinyurl.com/ATThateswomen

Or write to edwardwgillespie@yahoo.com and david.mcatee@att.com.

The text of the email I used is too long to paste here. If you need it and can’t access it through the above click-to-send drop me a message in the comments and I’ll post it there.

[H/T Louise W for the addresses and letter template]

Get Smart! 📚

Bird-dogging is a powerful tactic used by grassroots activists to get candidates and elected officials on the record about important issues. As we get closer to Nov. 8, it’s important that people see just how little MAGA Republicans represent the will of the people. Learn how best to use their own statements against them at Indivisble’s upcoming birddogging training.

This training will be facilitated by one of the founders of Bird-dog Nation.

Tuesday, August 2 from 8:00-9:30pm ET/5:00-6:30pm PT. Click here to register.

Cure Ballots!

In Michigan, when a voter's returned absentee ballot is rejected, the voter has until the end of day on election day to correct any errors or vote a new ballot.

VoPro Pros is looking for volunteers to do Ballot Cure Phone Banking in Michigan:  You’ll call Democratic voters who are in need of assistance with correcting errors on their ballot! These are easy and important calls!

Join VoPro Pros to help provide a critical service to voters in Michigan whose ballots are in danger of not being counted during the August Primary Election voting period.

Saturday, July 30, 11am – 1pm EDT. Sign up here.

Stick it to Manchin!

FERC has until July 29 to decide whether or not to let the Mountain Valley Pipeline continue to move forward. Manchin has written them begging for the pipeline to be permitted. But FERC is independent. They don't answer to Manchin, they answer to the public interest. Tell FERC that you want them to deny MVP's second extension request today! Takes two seconds. (You can personalize the comment, and I encourage you to do so.)

Write Postcards! 🗳

Did you know that Minnesotans are voting Aug. 9 for a new Representative in Congress? Postcards To Voters has a new campaign for Democrat Jeff Ettinger from MN's 1st District! Text JOIN to (484) 275-2229 or email Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org for addresses and a script. You’ll need to provide your own cards—order some on Etsy!

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

[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PRVASZ to 50409]

A boat enroute to Miami from Haiti capsized off the Bahamas on Sunday and 17 people died, including 15 women and a little girl. An additional 8-15 could be missing, according to news reports. This is the latest – but by no means the only – tragedy facing migrants seeking safety in the United States. Whether it is at sea or on the arduous journey across land to the U.S. border from South or Central America and beyond, migrants continue to come and die in the attempt. Last month, 53 migrants, mostly from Central America, were found dead in an unventilated truck in San Antonio. These tragedies are emblematic of the larger reality of forced migration in the western hemisphere and the United States’ unwillingness to create accessible, orderly, and safe legal pathways for migration and asylum seekers. It’s got to stop.

Reuters reports that, according to the U.N., “Last year was the deadliest for migrants crossing the border, with 728 fatalities recorded by the United Nations, which started counting in 2014. The U.N. has counted 340 more this year, apace with 2021’s grim record.” 

These human tragedies are avoidable; a fact that indicts our array of cruel and failed deterrence-only policies – from the border wall to Title 42 to ‘Remain in Mexico’ – and others based on the wrongheaded notion that if we are cruel enough, we can keep people from migrating in the first place. Instead, our current broken system empowers reckless human smugglers and traffickers and incentivizes dangerous treks to our southern border and on makeshift ocean vessels.

We have long needed a new approach: to put smugglers and traffickers out of business, to expand legal channels for safe and orderly migration, to address and alleviate the root causes of forced migration, and to approach this through cooperation on a hemispheric basis rather than pretending these issues are mostly about our southern border. Where Trump cut investments in Latin America and the Caribbean, we need to increase investments that give people a reasonable chance of surviving in their home countries

Unfortunately, Republicans’ politicization, obstruction, and legal challenges combine to block needed legislative solutions and undermine efforts to get Democrats and the Biden administration to stand strong and forge progress.

We must do better. End Title 42. Find a better way. Stop using policies that intentionally kill people who are just trying to survive. We must be better than this. Thanks.

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

Talk Monday.

Jess