Chop Wood, Carry Water 8/24
Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
You know why it’s happy for me: I didn’t watch the debates.
For those of you who did, I offer my sincere condolences, as well as the hope that you’ve had time for a long and bracing shower. It sounds like they were awful. The spectacle was, however, successful at one thing: proving beyond question that the Republican party is intellectually gutted, morally decimated, and lost beyond recall. We likely didn’t need further evidence, but perhaps the mythic “swing voter” did. If so, they were provided with all the empirical proof they could ask for.
The collapse of the GOP into this diminished yet exceedingly dangerous form is chilling and disheartening, but it’s also clarifying. It’s really very simple: they’re broken beyond repair. We have to beat them. That is all.
There can be no more equivocating. No more negotiating. No more pretending that these are normal politicians or that the GOP is a normal party. It doesn’t matter why their descent into authoritarianism happened or when it started. It simply matters that we stop them.
So we will.
Remember, Republicans bluster because they’re afraid. And a fearful enemy is, by definition, a weakened one. So while their leaders act like “strongmen,” they’re actually the opposite. Whatever strength once belonged to the Grand Old Party or its leaders is gone.
We, on the other hand, have the vigor of the righteous. The strength of the many. And the swelling numbers of an army whose enemies are deserting it.
Good. We’re going to need all of that and more to win. But win we will, of that there can—and must—be no doubt.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m very upset about the corruption on the Supreme Court. I want the Senator to support S. 359 the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act. It would require the Court to adopt a code of conduct, create an investigative board to review ethics complaints against the justices, and set transparency standards. It’s a no-brainer. Supreme Court justices are NOT above the law. Please prioritize passage of this bill. Thanks.
[Remember, repeated calls are imperative! If you’ve already called on this call again!]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m very upset about the corruption on the Supreme Court. I want the Senator to support HR 926 the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act. It would require the Court to adopt a code of conduct, create an investigative board to review ethics complaints against the justices, and set transparency standards. It’s a no-brainer. Supreme Court justices are NOT above the law. Please prioritize passage of this bill. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
OK, I try not to give you too many petitions, but this one seems important to me.
The New York Times just published an article revealing that “close calls involving commercial airlines have been happening, on average, multiple times a week” throughout 2023. VERY frightening. These near misses “have involved all major U.S. airlines and have happened nationwide.”
The biggest factor in these close calls “is that the nation’s air traffic control facilities are chronically understaffed.” This staffing shortage dates all the way back to 1981, when then-President Ronald Reagan infamously fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers. More recently, during the COVID-19 “pandemic, many controllers left, and the FAA slowed the pace of training new ones because of health restrictions.”
Public Citizen just posted a petition asking Congress to act now to provide the funding needed to address our nation’s shortage of air traffic controllers before a preventable catastrophe strikes.
You can add your name here. Maybe do?
Get Smart! 📚
Fantastic comment and suggestion from subscriber Cathleen D (edited slightly for length):
In order to expand the US Supreme Court or get a code of ethics, term limits, etc., passed into law, we need a solid majority in the House, a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and our President in the White House. That’s a pretty hefty lift.
Something that might be far easier to do is to get a liberal majority on every State Supreme Court, because most of the laws they pass can’t be overturned by SCOTUS. Twenty-eight states have Supreme Courts where vacancies are filled by appointment by the Governor. For the remaining 22 states, however, the Justices are elected by the voters, as was recently done in Wisconsin with Janet Protasiewicz. These elections are state-wide, so gerrymandered districts have no effect on their outcomes. There are 75 judicial seats up for election in 2024 with the possibility of flipping the majorities on 8 of those 22 courts. To me these elections seem far easier to succeed at than anything we can do about the US Supreme Court in the short term.
To learn more about this situation read this NY Magazine article or either of these two great pieces from Bolts: introducing you to the power on state supreme courts and/or our state-by-state guide to 54 high courts all around the country.
Spread the Word! 📣
Demcast is now pulling all the best pro-Biden videos and GIFs from the DNC, CAP Action, Into Action and other sources into one, brand new Biden/Harris 2024 toolkit. They'll be updating it regularly, so bookmark it and keep coming back!
Also, the DNC’s Greenfly account has a LOT of great sharable content from the debates last night, with more coming all the time. This is such an easy way to become part of the messaging team. Download the Greenfly app here, then use the code DEMSTALKERS to sign up.
Win Races! 🗳
Run For Something needs volunteers!
If you’re ready to help elect more young, diverse progressives to become legislators, city councilors, school board members, judges, and county board commissioners, this is the time to make calls, send texts, and knock on doors. Find a candidate near you using RFS’s Candidate Map and follow their "volunteer link" to sign up with their campaigns. You can visit their campaign website, follow them on social media, and reach out to let them know you’re ready to help! If you’ve never volunteered before take a look at the Beginner’s Guide to Volunteering on a Campaign to find out how you can contribute!
If you’d like to help by volunteering to talk to potential future RFS candidates, join them on an upcoming Volunteer Training call -- sign up here. More than 50 candidates are waiting to hear from volunteers this week!
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[to President Biden] [H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PZHMYP to 50409]
I am deeply concerned about the increasing number of book bans in schools across America. Works ranging from Shakespeare to the Bible, from Maus to Arthur, are being banned, undermining intellectual freedom and our nation's democratic values.
The Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, made a promise in June to appoint an "anti-book ban coordinator,” which was a hopeful sign. Yet this pledge remains unfulfilled. The Department of Education has historically defended educational equity, and its role is vital now, especially as bans target the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.
I’m asking you to urge Secretary Cardona to promptly appoint the promised anti-book ban coordinator and use your influence to halt this troubling trend of censorship, ensuring that all students have access to diverse and inclusive literature.
Future generations—and parents everywhere—are depending on you to ensure that kids’ right to learn remains uncompromised. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
As to the power of state judges and state democracies, my daughter is a law professor at uW at Madison. She and her husband have started the State Democracy initiative. They put on meaningful programs about all this. You might find it interesting.
Sums it up perfectly “The collapse of the GOP into this diminished yet exceedingly dangerous form is chilling and disheartening”
I am still astounded that they can get away with forcing rape victims to have their rapists babies, call climate change a hoax and consider pumping more co2 in the atmosphere and oceans as a positive and support someone who tried to overturn the last election and support dismantling voting rights. And the media doesn’t ever acknowledge their extremism.