9/28/18
From Action
Together Network:
Rapid-response
protests being planned around the country for
FRIDAY NOON
local time at local Senate offices.
Wear black.
#JusticeForSurvivors signs.
Find
others, circle up, take photos, tell Senate staff you're there!
Contact Federal Government Officials
Find elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Fax legislators for free:
Or
use Resistbot: https://resist.bot/
White House contact:
https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house
********************************
Many newspapers, including New York Times and Washington
Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles
each month. We can also check with our
local libraries to find out how to get online access through them.
1. While
Ford and Kavanaugh testified yesterday, the other two accusers, Deborah Ramirez
and Julie Swetnick, along with key witnesses including Mark Judge, who was
supposedly in the room with Kavanaugh and Ford, were not invited. Anita Hill,
who testified over 25 years ago on being sexually harassed by Supreme Court
nominee Clarence Thomas, has rightly claimed that this hearing is a mockery. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/408689-anita-hill-senate-gop-handling-of-kavanaugh-accusations-is-a-real.
It is clear that the real reason Republicans are insisting on pushing through
on Kavanaugh's confirmation is to support their evangelical base: https://apnews.com/73d6bf49463045e0a4dce215b1b020c7,
and they are willing to sacrifice basic ethics, due process, and human decency
to maintain power. We must keep calling our own Senators, members of the Judiciary Committee
(call their regional offices, if needed), and key potential swing votes like
Jeff Flake (R-AZ) 202-224-4521, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 202-224-6665, and Susan
Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523 to demand that votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination must
be halted until all accusers and witnesses have had a chance to testify and
their claims are fully vetted by outside NON-BIASED investigators. To do
anything less is a blow in the face to sexual assault survivors, women, and the
fundamental principles of our democracy. If we are survivors of sexual assault
and feel able to, perhaps it’s time to identify ourselves and share our
stories. Facts aren’t seeming to work in swaying our representatives; perhaps
emotions will. We can also use Indivisible’s vote tracker to see where we
need to put pressure: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IhksP1EBXbIxirXRILNBOjTH89drJp8im3d2ELnvlSg/edit#gid=1913565360
Let’s remind them that women are
watching.
2. “Security
researchers say that they have found evidence that for the first time
Russia-backed hackers are now using a more sophisticated type of malware to
target government entities.” https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/27/russian-hackers-fancy-bear-now-targeting-governments-with-rootkit-malware/
Let’s ask our MoCs what they are doing to mitigate or eradicate this threat to
our democracy.
3. With
the cavalcade of political problems, we've been facing recently, it's easy to
let issues like climate change fall off of our mental radars. Let's remember,
though, that everything is related, and that the environmental degradation
already resulting from climate change both shapes and is shaped by our
politics. The struggle to elect progressive MoCs is part of the struggle
to rein in greenhouse gas emitters, just as the fight to reinstate
the US's commitment to the Paris Accord is part of the fight against
immigration policies that would seek (futilely) to hold back a rising tide
of climate refugees. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/24/americas-era-of-climate-mass-migration-is-here Let's
keep the big picture in mind, and add an environmental cause or two to our
political activism, because it's all connected.
4. While
Trump postponed his meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until
next week, his position, and that of the Muller investigation, remains in jeopardy. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/27/trump-postpones-meeting-with-deputy-ag-rosenstein-until-next-week.html Let’s ask our senators to co-sponsor and
support the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act (S. 2644 /H.R. 5476) Our
country needs that protection for the investigation.
5. “Palo
Alto psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford delivered powerful testimony
about her alleged past sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.“ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/27/christine-ford-testimony-key-moments-brett-kavanaugh/1442603002/
Those of us who understand sexual
assault and resulting trauma, realize how difficult, yet powerful, her testimony
was. Let’s honor this brave woman and
send her bright colorful postcards (that do not require opening and are clearly
not hate mail) to thank her with words of gratitude for her courage to speak
yesterday: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Palo Alto University,1791 Arastradero Rd,
Palo Alto, CA, 94304
6. The Department
of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services tapped doctors to medically screen
immigrants seeking green cards, including dozens with a history of “egregious
infractions.” The report looked at more than 5,500 doctors employed as of
June 2017; more than 130 had some background of wrongdoing, including one who sexually
exploited female patients and another who tried to have a dissatisfied patient
killed, the report said: https://khn.org/morning-breakout/doctors-used-to-screen-immigrants-seeking-green-cards-include-dozens-with-history-of-egregious-
infractions/ or https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/physicians-abuse-immigrants.html
Let’s ask that Homeland Security account for choosing and hiring such
doctors: https://www.dhs.gov/contact-us
or 202-282-8495 or Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, DHS, Washington, DC 20128
7. “The
Environmental Protection Agency plans to dissolve its Office
of the Science Advisor, a senior post that was created to counsel
the E.P.A. administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and
environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency’s
plans. The person spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet
been made public.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/climate/epa-science-adviser.html Let’s ask our MoCs what this is all
about. The understanding of science is
essential to the environment.
8. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed the head of the Office of
Children's Health Protection on an unexplained—but not
disciplinary--administrative leave Tuesday in a move that those close
to the agency suspect is intended to sideline the office's work; Dr. Ruth Etzel
is a pediatrician and epidemiologist who has, among other things, opposed a
move by the EPA's current office of chemical regulation, led by former chemical
industry lobbyist Nancy Beck, to rescind an Obama-era standard saying farm
workers under 18 could not apply the most toxic pesticides. EPA spokesperson
John Konkus declined to explain the agency's decision: https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-childrens-health-leader-2608317304.html
In the interest of our children's health, why don’t we demand an explanation
from Andrew Wheeler: 202-564-4700 or Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code
1101A, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460.
Election
2018 – General
1. March For Our Lives organizers have created a new
campaign, Turnout Tuesday, which
will focus on a different call to action each Tuesday leading up to
the midterms, with the goal of getting out the vote and raising awareness about
the upcoming election. The campaign kicks off October 2nd, with a call to
action to knock on 25 doors in our area and ask each resident if they have
registered to vote. Let's check out the other calls to action, and sign up to
participate here: https://marchforourlives.com/turnout-tuesday/
When we sign up we can be part of the first
training call and get all the info we need to lead these efforts in our
communites.
2. Postcards
To Voters had a "Beto Bump" on Monday with Campaign 111: Beto and Bell going
from the typical 8,500 addresses-requested per day to over 36,000
addresses-requested. Along with Beto in Texas, electing Phil
Bredesen in Tennessee is another key to the narrow path of a Democratic Senate.
We can now write 5 cards for Campaign 112: Phil Bredesen.
We can sign up as new volunteers here. If we are current volunteers who
request addresses via text we can help the organization save money by
requesting addresses from "Facebook Abby" instead of via Text Abby.
Each text costs money while the Facebook version uses Facebook Messenger at no
cost to Postcards To Voters. If we can, let's make the switch. We can get
started with Facebook Abby here and
even follow Facebook Abby
on Facebook.
3. How
well are our elections run? Using data from a federal survey sent to local
election officials after the 2016 elections, ProPublica has put together this tool that
allows us to view our own local elections by county. We can check out voter
turnout and other information. Let's check out the data from our own counties
and see if there is anything we can do help the process.
4. Republican
Rep. Dave Brat is trailing Democrat Abigail Spanberger by 5
points in a Virginia district (CD07) that hasn't sent a Democrat to the
House in more than 45 years, according to a new poll. Let's read more
at The Hill.
We can support Spanberger by writing postcards for her with Postcards For Virginia. Let's write some cards to Virginia voters
today for mailing in a few weeks.
Election 2018 – By State
1.
ALL: Upcoming voting dates and deadlines: by date:
https://goo.gl/gjFv2u by
state: https://goo.gl/7gTzvE
2.
ALL: If we are not sure where to start looking for
information about candidates, issues, etc., we can check out the League of
Women Voters’ website: https://www.vote411.org/
3.
ALL: K-12
curriculum decisions are made by those we elect to state school boards. Sometimes we like what they and sometimes
not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp-HGwIbs5w Let’s
make sure we know who we are voting for these state school board positions.
Other Actions
1. From
Teaching
Tolerance: “Allegations of
sexual assault and harassment have dominated the news this week. This edition
of The Moment offers resources that can guide you through tough but necessary
classroom conversations about consent and responsibility”: https://www.tolerance.org/the-moment/september-26-2018-teaching-about-sexual-assault-and-consent
2.
Greyhound is continuing to allow Border Patrol
agents to board its buses, profile the passengers, and demand proof of
citizenship (https://bit.ly/2NIptQ9).
As the ACLU points out,
Greyhound would be within its rights to refuse to allow Border Patrol agents to
board the buses without a warrant or probable cause, yet they refuse to do so,
becoming complicit in the treatment of riders who are profiled, detained,
and/or deported. Let's contact Greyhound, and specifically their CEO and Senior
Legal Officer, and tell them to change their policies and stop allowing ICE and
Border Patrol to board their buses and harass their passengers: Phone:
(214-849-8966) Mailing address: Greyhound Lines, Inc P.O. Box 660691, MS 470,
Dallas, TX 75266-0691 Twitter: @GreyhoundBus, Dave Leach, President and Chief
Executive Officer Greyhound Lines, Inc. 350 N. St. Paul Street Dallas, TX
75201, Tricia Martinez Senior Legal Officer Greyhound Lines, Inc. 350 N.
St. Paul Street, Dallas, TX 75201 e-mail:
3.
A
Trump supporter in Montana who is a mother with stated in an interview with NBC
that groping is not a big deal, while her two daughters looked on in tacit
approval. https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/1045126477283565568. This is exactly what is wrong with our
culture ( let’s not forget the fact that the president of the United States was
elected despite bragging about grabbing women by the p-ssy), and no one should
be conveying the message to their children that groping is okay. Our bodies are
our bodies, and must be respected. Let’s bombard social media channels with the
hashtag #gropingisabigdeal, and tell our Senators, as well as the members of
the Judiciary Committee that we expect them to operate on the absolute value
that violating someone’s physical boundaries without their consent is
absolutely not okay under any circumstances.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. Shannon
Coulter, founder of the well-respected and effective #GrabYourWallet initiative
(https://grabyourwallet.org)
is running an interesting webinar at 10 a.m. PSTTODAY! Every wonder how
journalists get their tips? Well, it takes two. "This is a basic
informational session aimed at helping you understand exactly how to
communicate potentially valuable information to journalists while also
protecting your own identity/privacy if you so desire." Sign up for
"Tipping Journalists 101" here:
2. From Saturday,
September 22 to Saturday, September 29, When We All Vote will
celebrate a week of action. Communities across the country will host voter
registration events throughout the week in cities big and small with the help
of volunteers like us. On September 23, Michelle Obama will be
hosting the Las Vegas event and on September 28, she will host the Miami
event. We can sign up to volunteer or RSVP for one of the events at When We All Vote. Let's look for an event near us.
3. The 2018 March for Black Women will
occur in Washington, D.C. on September
29 and New York City on September
30, with sister marches all over the country. Let’s fine
more information here: https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/march-for-black-women
and here: https://www.facebook.com/events/187741818714062/
Let’s learn how to start a sister march/townhall here: https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/town-halls-sister-marches
States
1. MOST: “Three Republican governors
called for the Senate to take its time with or even forgo a vote on the
nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing
Thursday on Capitol Hill to examine sexual assault allegations against him.” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/27/kavanaugh-governors-847804
Unless we live in Maryland, Massachusetts, or Ohio, let’s contact our governors
and ask them to do the same.
2. CA:
Governor Brown still has not signed AB 3131 or SB 822 into law and this
is his final week to do it! Last week Indivisible drove over *550 calls* to the
Governor's office for AB 3131. We can do even more this week! AB 3131 is a
commonsense measure that allows the community to have a seat at the table
before military weapons (e.g. tanks, grenade launchers, etc.) are brought into
our neighborhoods by requiring law enforcement to hold an open public hearing
prior to acquisition of any such equipment. SB 822 is the strongest state-level
net neutrality bill in the nation. We can call this number to be connected
with the Governor's office and tell him to sign AB 3131 and SB 822 into law!
1-833-522-8923
Reading/Watching
1.
Brett
Kavanaugh and the Cruelty of Male Bonding:
When being one of the guys comes at a woman’s expense - https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-yearbook-male-bonding.html
2.
Bethesda
Resident Describes “Culture of Privilege” Leading to Exploitation and Abuse -
https://mont.thesentinel.com/2018/09/26/bethesda-resident-describes-culture-of-privilege-leading-to-sexual-assault/
3.
Texas Tribune: In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton is
defending a state law requiring students to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. India
Landry, a senior at Windfern High School outside Houston, refused to stand when
the Pledge of Allegiance came on over the intercom and was expelled. The
expulsion was reversed. However, this free speech issue is going to court. A
hearing is expected in 2019.
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