Chop Wood, Carry Water 8/15

This and many other indictment-related GIFs are available here.

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday.

There’s a lot going on; the Georgia indictments are huge news, and I trust you’ve read many excellent takes on them by now. Me, I’m going to be the one person who gives them (relatively) short shrift.

Why?

Because while these indictments are incredibly important to our democracy and the rule of law there is little, aside from messaging about them correctly (I have a section on that below) that we can do about them. They, like Trump’s other legal cases, will proceed, sometimes slowly, sometimes maddeningly so, for the next few years. Good. This is a critical development, and we must celebrate it. But again, we will be little more than bystanders to the process. And none of it—none!—will affect whether or not Donald Trump—or someone just as fascist as he—wins the Presidency next year.

None of it, furthermore, will affect whether or not Republicans succeed in reversing the small progress we’ve made on climate—as they are trying strenuously to do.

None of it will protect LGBTQ, or BIPOC, or Jewish, or other-abled Americans.

None of it will help with the 12 spending bills we need our lawmakers to pass by September 30th in order to prevent a Republican-caused government shutdown. Or with the Farm Bill that must also pass this year and through which Republicans are seeking to slash funds for nutritional assistance. Or with the NDAA which must also pass and which Republicans are trying to pack with “anti-woke” and pro-oil and gas provisions.

These indictments won’t stop the next mass shooting. Or restore our bodily autonomy. Or force ethics upon the Supreme Court. Or fix our immigration problems. Or succeed in closing the massive tax loopholes giant corporations now enjoy.

I could go on, but I think you see my point. Holding Trump and his co-conspirators accountable is necessary, appropriate, and wildly overdue, but it will not solve our MAGA problem, which has metastasized to infect the entire GOP.

What will solve that problem? And what must? You and me. All of us, working together! Our advocacy. Our voices. And our tireless work to engage voters so that we can elect ethical, smart, and democracy-loving representatives to office everywhere.

That is what will not just save, but reform and reimagine the country we love. That is what will destroy MAGA Republicanism. That is what will preserve our freedoms.

So that, my dear friends, is what we’ll focus on here.

I hope you’ll join me. We need you.

P.S. I’m running late, so no calls to your reps today. Sorry!

Extra Credit ✅

This is a favor for a young TikTok follower of mine, but I also think it’s important. Please help!

Chaska and Chanhassen High Schools in Minnesota have been holding their joint graduation ceremonies at an evangelical church for 15 years or so. They pay the church 28K yearly for this service.

This church, however, espouses extreme views that are anathema to most students at Chaska HS. The pastor preaches against LGBTQ people, trans people, divorce (even in the case of domestic abuse), evolution, and abortion, among other things. One trans student skipped graduation this year because he felt so threatened by the church’s stances.

My young follower has started a petition to ask the school district to move the graduation to another venue. It’s begun to get some news coverage, which is great, but it doesn’t even have 1000 signatures yet. Can we give it some love, please, and share it with others?

Get Smart! 📚

WHO IS BEHIND EXTREMIST SCHOOL BOARD POLICIES?

Red Wine & Blue is teaming up with Democracy Forward for a virtual community event to learn from Democracy Forward’s legal tam about the radical right-wing extremist groups that are pushing school boards across the country to ban books and diversity programs and to attack trans youth.

Called “The Inside Scoop: Who Is Behind Extremist School Board Policies with Democracy Forward,” the event takes place online, August 17, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. Let’s attend. We can sign up here.

[H/T

Rogan's List

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Spread the Word! 📣

The Not Above the Law coalition has just released newly updated talking points about last night’s indictments. Please read and try to internalize them. Many very smart people are recommending that this is how we talk about these indictments. Let’s listen to them!

Then let’s use DemCast’s brand new GA social media toolkit, which uses the above talking points as its guide, to spread the word.

Win Races! 🗳

Reminder! The Virginia elections in November are some of the most important of the year! And there’s going to be a lot of postcarding for them, including with the Swing Blue Alliance!

In fact, at 7PM ET tonight you can attend a launch event to learn about a postcarding experiment they’re going to be doing.

They’ll be supporting 3 candidates in rural state legislative districts (Jade Harris for the VA State Senate and Esther Nizer and Mary Person for the VA House of Delegates). Their experiment will test whether postcards increase rural voter participation and help rural candidates get more votes!

At this event you’ll hear from: Ian McNally from Rural GroundGame, Andrea Miller from National Women's Political Caucus VA, David Salkever from Swing Blue Research Team, and Julia Rabkin from the Swing Blue Mail Campaign Team.

Come get your questions answered about this groundbreaking experiment, and learn how you can participate! Register here.

(🛎️ Oh, and if you’re interested in getting on my Adopt VA mailing list so you receive occasional emails about VA-related opportunities, sign up here! 🛎️)

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

[to President Biden] [H/T

Rogan's List

] [Quick send: text SIGN PXHNFA to 50409]

First, I am so grateful that the Biden administration is working to install EV chargers across the country. More electric cars means fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we need that to address the climate crisis.

However, encouraging people to purchase and drive electric vehicles requires that they be confident that they can find charging stations on federal highways. But regulations made worse under the Trump administration have made it impossible to post EV charger signage on federal roads and highways. A lack of such signs is a huge disincentive to people considering going electric—they’ll assume the chargers don’t exist, even if they do!

Please urge the Federal Highway Administration to change the rules quickly so that people driving electric vehicles can find the charging stations that are being installed across the country. This is really important. Thanks!

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

Talk soon.

Jess