Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/16

We reject hate.

I found this meme here. There are LOTS of others.

Hi, all, and happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend. I did, although it was busy. Still, I so enjoyed meeting so many of you at the two in-person events I attended. What an amazing group of people we have on our side—there is so much love, so much creativity, and so much joy!

There is also so much dessert baking, which is always a huge plus!

Of course the news has no respect for weekends—it came thick and fast the whole time. The theme of most of it, sadly, was violence. Threats of violence against Haitian communities in Springfield OH. Threats of the same against Venezuelan communities in Aurora, CO. Another assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

It’s very, very troubling.

Yet I will keep repeating this simple truth: we are experiencing a ratcheting up in violence because of rhetoric from Republican politicians, and specifically, right now, from the Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates. I’ll go further and say that the phenomenon of mentally unstable people with access to weapons of war is 100% a creation of Republicans. It could be stopped—or at least greatly hampered—today with the passage of the Assault Weapons Ban Act. It will not be.

So I am uninterested in hearing about “both sides” at the moment. We all must condemn violent rhetoric. But that rhetoric has a source, and it is not us. It has a weapon of choice, and we are not the ones keeping that weapon on the streets. If we want less violence we must continue to act nonviolently and vote out more Republicans. Period.

So let’s keep working to win this incredibly high-stakes election. The American people must speak with one commanding voice in November. We must say enough is enough. Hate is not our choice. Violence isn’t either. We reject it in all of its forms.

Because that’s the only way hate can truly be defeated.

Now let’s get to work one more time.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

Yesterday, there was an assassination attempt while Donald Trump was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach. An AR-15 was used in the first assassination attempt at Trump's Pennsylvania rally and this time an AK47 was found. AR15s and AK47s are two of the 205 semiautomatic rifles, pistols, handguns, and shotguns that would be banned if Congress passed S. 25, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2023. I want the Senator to prioritize banning weapons of war to protect all Americans including presidential candidates. Will s/he cosponsor S. 25 now? This has to stop. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

Yesterday, there was an assassination attempt while Donald Trump was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida. An AR-15 was used in the first assassination attempt at Trump's Pennsylvania rally and this time an AK47 was found. AR15s and AK47s are two of the 205 semiautomatic rifles, pistols, handguns, and shotguns that would be banned if Congress passed HR 698, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2023. I want the Congressmember to prioritize banning weapons of war to protect all Americans including presidential candidates. Will s/he cosponsor HR 698 now? This has to stop. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Please share this article in your social media. That’s it! That’s the ask! This is SO IMPORTANT!

Hey, Dems! Start voting “down-ballot!”

Get Smart! 📚

Do you want to know how we can elect climate-friendly candidates up and down the ballot?

This Tuesday, learn directly from Gene Karpinski (President of League of Conservation Voters) and Jennessa Agnew (Vice President of Field at League of Conservation Voters) about what you can do to make sure climate champions are elected this November. In the second half of the event, you can ask your own questions about climate and the upcoming elections.

Register for How We Win with Conservation Voters on Tuesday, September 17 at 7 pm ET. 

Spread the Word! 📣

The folks at Team Harris-Walz are excited to announce their new series of Social Media Best Practices Trainings starting back up this Wednesday! Whether you’re new to social media or looking to sharpen your skills, this is your chance to learn how to maximize your impact online.

📅 When: Wednesdays, 4 – 5pm PDT
📍 Where: Virtual Event (Join from anywhere)
🔗 Zoom Link: Register here

About the Event:
Their training will equip you with essential tools and strategies for using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, and Instagram effectively. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to enhance your current online presence, this session will help you reach your full potential as an online organizer.

What You’ll Gain:

• Essential tips for political storytelling on social media

• Practical advice for boosting your online presence

• Tools and techniques tailored to your needs

Give 💰!

If you didn’t get a chance to attend Swing Left’s webinar last week about how to raise strategic dollars for these elections I really recommend watching the recording. The folks at Swing Left are big advocates of the strategic give, and they’ve created an easy tool you can use to steer your friends and family to supporting the races that need money and could tip critical majorities.

Watch the webinar here.

The link to their awesome tool is here. 

Win Races—Help College Students Vote! 🗳

Swing the Vote works to maximize college student voting in swing states because students need voting help and they have the power to tip the election. Gen-Z students face college voting barriers including overt voter suppression, bureaucracy and complexity, and psychological barriers like disaffection and lack of knowledge or interest. STV provides college-specific instructions and one-on-one voting mentors to make sure students have the support they need. 

Most people are just one or two degrees of separation from a college student in one of these 7 swing states, so please share Swing the Vote's video and website widely with  students and families of kids aged 16-24 by text, email, social media and whatever channels you feel will best reach the young people you know. 

Want to help STV help college students! Then sign up for either of 2 weekly volunteer training zooms to hear about what they're doing and join in. They need:

1. College voting researchers

2. Outreach volunteers

3. Voting Mentors

There are many other ways to volunteer remotely and on your own time. Check it out!

Win Races—Write Postcards!

First, Markers For Democracy is hosting a postcarding “boot camp” this Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7 pm Eastern. Register here.

Also, they have several downballot campaigns available on their Postcards For Democracy dashboard—these races are so important!

NEW - Anna Thomas - PA State House 

Laura Judge - Cobb County, GA School Board 

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick - NY State Senate (his district is nested in NY CD-17) 

Bryan Cohn - NC State House 

NEW - Dante Pittman - NC State House 

Dana Schallheim - Anne Arundel County, MD School Board.

Sign up for addresses and a script here. (They have a great, really affordable Vistaprint postcard shop, too!)

Win Races—Send Texts!

Join VoteRiders and DoSomething tomorrow, September 17 at 7:00PM ET for a power hour of sending text messages to at-risk Wisconsin and Texas voters!

Each text you’ll send will deliver essential information and assistance offers to the voters most likely to be disenfranchised by voter ID laws in Wisconsin and Texas. RSVP now to take action and make a direct impact!

Win Races—Make Voter Protection Calls into Georgia!

Join the Harris-Walz Campaign and the DNC Voter Protection Team to call likely Democratic voters in Georgia to counter undemocratic attacks on their fundamental freedom to vote in this election. I did this on Friday and it was GREAT and so easy!

We need to connect with these voters as soon as possible before voting begins so that they won't confront any issues when they try to vote.

Voters are generally very appreciative of our outreach because our only agenda is to ensure they're able to cast their ballot and ensure it counts.

No experience necessary! They will train you and remain on the Zoom throughout the phone bank to support you along the way.

Sign up for as many shifts as you can! Please sign up here

Affinity Group Meetings Coming Up—including one with Oprah!

A few upcoming affinity group Zooms:

• Deaf Strong National Zoom with Indivisible, Tues., Sept. 17 at 8 pm ET.  Sign up at Deaf Strong! National Zoom Call for Harris

• Musicians for Kamala Tues., Sept. 17 at 8 pm ET. 

• On Thursday, September 19 at 8 PM ET, Vice President Kamala Harris will join Oprah Winfrey for "Unite for America," a livestream event that will include participants from over 140 affinity groups.

• Geeks and Nerds for Harris Walz, Tues., Sept. 24 at 8 pm ET.  Hosted by Lynda Carter! 

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

[To: all 3 reps] [Adapted almost whole cloth from a Guest Column by Bruce Carpenter] [Text text SIGN PKTAEQ to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

I’m writing as a constituent to say that it is time for the U.S. to say no to hate speech.

There is no legal definition of "hate speech" under U.S. law, just as there is no legal definition for evil ideas, rudeness, unpatriotic speech, or any other kind of speech that people might condemn. However, hate speech can be defined as any form of expression through which speakers intend to vilify, humiliate, or incite hatred against a group or a class of persons on the basis of race, religion, skin color, sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, or national origin. 

In the United States, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment. Courts extend this protection on the grounds that the First Amendment requires the government to strictly protect robust debate on matters of public concern even when such debate devolves into distasteful, offensive, or hateful speech that causes others to feel grief, anger, or fear. (The Supreme Court's decision in Snyder v. Phelps provides an example of this legal reasoning.) Under current First Amendment jurisprudence, hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group.

Yet, we are seeing recent examples of this incitement to criminal activity in bomb threats against public schools and infrastructure in Springfield, Ohio, as recent examples. Why can we not consider legislation to deal with these threats? Hate speech has become a regular feature of some campaign stump speeches. It’s unacceptable.

Many countries around the world have laws against hate speech, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Australia, India, and more.

The UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, furthermore, which has been ratified by 182 countries, requires signatories to prohibit hate speech. Similarly, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights calls on governments to prohibit advocacy of hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

While specific definitions and enforcement vary, many democratic countries have determined that some restrictions on hate speech are compatible with freedom of expression protections. The United States remains an outlier among Western democracies in its broad protections for hate speech under the First Amendment.

Recent criminal acts of violence inspired by hate speech are demonstrating the importance of the U.S. joining other democracies that have legislated reasonable restrictions on hate speech consistent with freedom of expression protections. It is not only possible to do this but essential we do so. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess