Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/7

“My Country is in deep Distress, and has very little Ground of Hope, that She will soon, if ever get out of it…The Body of the People seem to be worn out.”

Letter from John Adams, Dec 31, 1772

Hi, all, and happy Thursday.

Sometimes it helps to remember that we, as a people, are no foreigners to moments of despair. Look at the above excerpt from a letter John Adams wrote 4 years before the Revolution. The entire text of it is filled with dismay. Adams sounds absolutely hopeless in the face of the problems his nation is grappling with.

Sound familiar?

Y’all. I know this is a terrible time. But we’ve faced terrible times before. And survived.

I believe we, too, approach a revolution. Not one fought on battlegrounds—or so I hope—but one fought at the polls in November. And then in legislatures across the country. And in the nation’s Capitol.

It’s a revolution we will win.

Speaking of which, I just now heard polling on our Senate and Governor’s races. We are ahead in almost every one. Even where we’re behind it’s not by much. Beto is polling only 5 points behind Abbott—in Texas that’s huge. Stacy Abrams is in a statistical tie with Brian Kemp. Also huge.

Of course polling is unreliable. But I’d rather be up in polls than down in them. And I’m encouraged by what the pollster went on to say: that what he’s seeing doesn’t look like a GOP wave at all—if anything it looks like a Democratic wave.

It shall be so if we make it so.

Remember, we can’t see the whole picture—the entire scope of history. We only see this moment—bleak, challenging, frightening. But this moment is just a moment. It will pass.

The way it passes is entirely up to us.

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

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

I want the Senator to co-sponsor S. 736, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021. Time and time again, assault weapons are used in the deadliest mass shootings in America. They're uniquely lethal, allowing the most murders in the shortest amount of time. They are weapons of war and have no place on our streets. We can’t continue living this way. Will the Senator co-sponsor? [If leaving a voicemail add “I’d like an answer in writing” and leave your email address.]

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 HR 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021. Time and time again, assault weapons are used in the deadliest mass shootings in America. They're uniquely lethal, allowing the most murders in the shortest amount of time. They are weapons of war and have no place on our streets. We can’t continue living this way. Will the Congressmember co-sponsor? [If leaving a voicemail add “I’d like an answer in writing” and leave your email address.]

Extra Credit ✅

I am working with Demand Justice to try to get 300 calls to MOCs about expanding the Supreme Court in the next few days. They’ve given me a call tool to use, and I just tried it—it’s AWESOME. It puts you through to all 3 of your reps, one after another—you just have to hit the star button after each call to start the next one. Using their tool allows them to track how many calls go through.

Please post this on your social media, and please use the tool to call as well. Let’s DO THIS!

Pissed off at SCOTUS? Scared that they’ll end democracy as we know it? (Google Moore v Harper if you think I’m exaggerating).

Tell your MOCs to #expandSCOTUS. Use Demand Justice's call tool 👇🏼. They’ll give you a script & patch you through to each rep.

https://tinyurl.com/expandscotus

Get Smart! 📚

Want to be inspired about FLORIDA? And about our younger generation?

Tonight at 5pm PT/8pm ET the Center For Common Ground’s founder Andrea Miller will be joined by community advocate and FL congressional candidate, Maxwell Alejandro Frost (featured in this recent NPR piece about amazing Gen Z candidates), for an important discussion on how voters in Florida—particularly Black, Brown, young and LGBTQIA+ voters— are feeling and what YOU can do to help get out the vote during the primaries and for the midterms.

They will also talk about CFCG’s campaigns to engage Black voters in Florida through phone banking and post carding. 

Please join them! You will be given easy, actionable ways to help Democrats win in Florida. You’ll also learn a lot!

Register here!

Win Races! 🗳

As always I am running my Arizona phonebank today, and as always I would REALLY love to train some of y’all up and make calls with you! Please come! It’s from 3-5 PM PT / 6-8 PM ET. These are easy calls to registered Dems!

Register here.

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

[to all 3 reps] [Quick send: text SIGN PDAUKJ to 50409]

I’m extremely concerned about our country’s plastic pollution problem. This waste is destroying our waterways, sickening humans and wildlife, and contributing to our climate crisis.

While I’m heartened to see state legislatures like California’s passing bills to ban or reduce the use of single use plastics, federal action is necessary if we are to tackle this problem at the scale required.

As such, I’d like you to co-sponsor two really important bills: the first is H.R.7861 / S 1507- the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, which would require the EPA to create regulations within 60 days that prohibit the discharge of plastic pellets into waterways, storm drains or sewers from facilities that partake in the manufacture and transportation of nurdles. The second is HR 2238 / S 984 The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which would set forth requirements and incentives to reduce the production of a variety of products and materials, including plastics, and increase efforts to collect, recycle, or compost products and materials.

Doing nothing is not an option. We must take action now to rein in the scourge of plastic pollution. Our health—and the health of our planet—is at stake. Thanks.

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

Talk tomorrow.

Jess