Chop Wood, Carry Water 8/14 🪓

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Hi, all, and happy Monday!

I’m back in Los Angeles and happily ensconced in my office. Finally!

I love going on vacation, but I must confess that as a political author and content creator I found trying to “relax” at this precise moment in history difficult, if not impossible. I did, occasionally, achieve a measure of repose over the last three weeks, but it never felt complete, nor entirely guilt-free. And that’s fine. It was still a wonderful trip, and I’m grateful for every moment of it.

Still, I look forward to going on a real vacation when our democracy, freedoms, and planet aren’t all under attack simultaneously.

Until then, partial holidays will have to do.

But that’s just me. I encourage you to do better. I hope, in fact, that you’ve all had at least a little time this summer to truly unplug, detach, and rejuvenate. Every soldier, after all, needs furloughs—you can’t fight effectively when exhausted or depleted. We need you in top form as we go into what promises to be a long, eventful, and stressful election season.

So to those of you still on vacation—enjoy. Don’t worry about us; we’ve got this!

To those of you ready to do some work, let’s get going. Together, once again, we will strive towards justice, equity, and freedom through our small, easy, but oh-so-important actions.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m calling to find out if the Senator has yet called for Clarence Thomas to resign. [If yes thank. If no, which is likely, add:] May I ask what more he has to do before the Senator will call for him to step down? He’s not just flagrantly corrupt, he’s a law-breaker. By knowingly and repeatedly refusing to disclose gifts from Republican billionaires, Justice Thomas violated the Ethics in Government Act. That’s illegal. Congress needs to start showing some outrage. Please call for the Justice Department to investigate Justice Thomas and for him to resign now. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

First, I want the Congressmember to support the bipartisan National Security Reforms & Accountability Act (H.R. 4928) to reset the checks and balances around decisions about war. [H/T and more info]

Second, I’m calling to find out if the Congressmember has yet called for Clarence Thomas to resign. [If yes thank. If no, which is likely, add:] May I ask what more Thomas has to do before the Congressmember will call for him to step down? He’s not just flagrantly corrupt, he’s a law-breaker. By knowingly and repeatedly refusing to disclose gifts from Republican billionaires, Justice Thomas violated the Ethics in Government Act. That’s illegal. Congress needs to start showing some outrage. Please call for the Justice Department to investigate Justice Thomas and for him to resign now. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s call the Justice Department comment line at 202-353-1555 (press 9 to leave a general comment on their VM) and demand Merrick Garland investigate Justice Thomas. Say something like:

My name is _____ and I’m calling from [city, state]. I’m calling to ask the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into Clarence Thomas. By knowingly and repeatedly refusing to disclose gifts from Republican billionaires, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas violated the Ethics in Government Act. That’s illegal. Please investigate him now. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

If you know college students who want to help defeat Republican extremism at the ballot box, I’ve got an exciting program to tell you about:

Swing Left has just announced that they will be hosting free “Crash Course: Organizing Your Campus” trainings this fall. These are virtual programs for college students that will make it easy for them to start a Swing Left group on their campus. 

From Swing Left:

During the training, you’ll learn essential organizing skills, including recruiting and retaining volunteers, building a team, hosting events, and more. You’ll also have the chance to connect with Swing Left staff and students on college campuses across the country to support you throughout the program. 

Learn more about Crash Course and register by September 10 to participate! 

Swing Left is an excellent organization with great leadership—this should be really good.

Spread the Word! 📣

I mentioned this article in yesterday’s “Extra! Extra!” but I want to emphasize it here, again. It concerns the two extremely conservative legal scholars who just published a lengthy article declaring unequivocally that Donald Trump cannot legally run for elected office because of Article 3 of the 14th Amendment. (Many of you have written me about this issue in the past, and I must confess I thought it was too long a shot to pursue. I now think I was wrong.)

I’ll have actions on this in the next day or two, but in the meantime this is an article that should be read and shared widely. Please do.

Give 💰!

Thanks to all of you who responded to my request for more good places to give for Maui. I got the following (all orgs are hyper-linked to their websites):

Maui Strong Fund, Aloha United Way, Maui foodbank, Maui Humane Society (for the animals), Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, World Central Kitchen, River of Life Mission, Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, Mercy Chefs, The Maui Community Power Recovery Fund.

Please share this list! All funds seem well-vetted, are 100% Maui-focussed, and should be reliable places to give.

Win Races! 🗳

Y’all, the next election to pay attention to is at the end of September in New Hampshire.

Democrat Hal Rafter is running for a seat in the NH House to represent Rockingham County, House District 1. If Rafter wins, it will result in a tie in the number of representatives and eliminate Republican control of the NH House. Democrats in the House will be able to stop the radical right NH Republican Party’s agenda for the first time since 2020, preventing further restrictions on abortion, weakening of voting and LGBTQ rights and environmental protections, and rolling back Medicaid Expansion.

I’ve committed to a weekly phonebank on Tuesdays. Can you join me? Sign up here.

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

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

I’m writing because it’s obvious to me that Supreme Court justices bought off by billionaires have no place ruling on whether those billionaires should be paying taxes on their unrealized wealth gains. Yet that’s just what Clarence Thomas is about to do.

In October, the Supreme Court will hear a case that is relevant to each of Clarence Thomas’s newly-revealed billionaire benefactors: Moore v US. At issue is the ability to tax unrealized gains, which is exactly what many of us have been fighting for in the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax―taxing the wealth gains each year of households worth more than $100 million.

If Thomas and his SCOTUS colleagues rule in favor of millionaires, billionaires, and executives, and against the American people, it would shield the ultra-wealthy from paying taxes on their obscene wealth gains. This would show conclusively that Thomas is engaging in an intolerable quid pro quo with his benefactors.

Clarence Thomas needs to resign, but at the very least he must recuse himself from Moore v. US, based on clear conflicts of interest. As my representative I expect you to call for this. Will you? I’ll take my answer in writing. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess