8/25/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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(includes contact info and
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JUSTICE FOR JACOB
BLAKE: Once again the brutal shooting of an unarmed black man,
Jacob Blake, by police, this time in Kenosha, WI, on Sunday all while the man’s
children watched. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/08/24/wisconsin-police-shooting-jacob-blake-live-updates-kenosha/5625277002/
America is awakening to this other pandemic attacking our country. We are beginning to understand that this is a
Black and White problem that needs to be fixed.
Let’s use this guide from Anti-Racism
Daily for some actions we can take: https://www.antiracismdaily.com/archives/demand-justice-for-jacob-blake-anti-racism-daily
RUSSIAN BOUNTIES FOR
AMERICAN TROOPS: As Sen. Tammy Duckworth tweeted yesterday, “I
shouldn't have to keep up these tweets for 59 days—but here I am. Because
Donald Trump still hasn't publicly condemned Putin for reportedly offering
bounties for the murder of American troops overseas.” https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-paid-bounties-taliban-to-target-us-troops-afghanistan-cnn-2020-8 Let’s not let this go unchallenged. Let’s contact our MoCs and the White House
asking for support for Trump’s public condemnation of this egregious situation
and for an investigation of wrongdoing.
SENATE REPORT
CONFIRMS RUSSIA INVOLVEMENT: “Far from a hoax, as the president so often claimed, the report reveals how the Trump campaign willingly engaged with
Russian operatives implementing the influence effort. For instance, the report
exposes interactions and information exchanged between Russian
intelligence officer Konstantin Kilimnik and then-Trump campaign
chairman Paul Manafort. According to the report, campaign figures “presented
attractive targets for foreign influence, creating notable counterintelligence
vulnerabilities.” (Manafort was later convicted of tax and bank fraud.)” https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/senate-russia-report-proves-trump-was-wrong-mueller-was-right-ncna1237743 and https://apnews.com/5e833a62e9492f6a66624b7920cc846a Our MoCs need to hear from us asking what
they are doing to make this upcoming election more secure and what they plan to
do what we’ve learned from this Senate report.
TELL JOE BIDEN TO
COMMIT TO LIFTING DEPORTATION ORDERS AGAINST PEOPLE LIVING IN SANCTUARY: Undocumented
immigrants are still in sanctuary, like this man: https://www.gazettenet.com/Lucio-Perez-marks-two-years-of-living-in-sanctuary-in-Amherst-s-First-Congregational-Church-29426059 The National Sanctuary Collective,
has created an open letter to Joe Biden, asking him to commit to lifting
deportation orders against people currently living in sanctuary in churches
across the United States. Let’s read the letter here. Then, let’s spread it around to gather signatures
from individuals, organizations, and elected leaders--town, city, state, and national.
HELP DOCUMENT AND
COMBAT MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING ELECTION: Now that even the Republican-led Senate has confirmed that Russia
interfered in the last election to help Trump, we need to do everything
possible to make sure that we minimize foreign interference in this election.
This is difficult with people like Senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley
trying to actively promote misinformation about Russia’s role in the election
as part of their Ukrainian investigation. https://www.justsecurity.org/71947/how-sen-ron-johnsons-investigation-became-an-enabler-of-russian-disinformation-part-i/.
If we see any wacky stories on our social media feeds (e.g., Joe Biden is
training a secret ANTIFA army in Ukraine), let’s let the DNC know so they can
track them and respond. We can email tips to disinfo@dnc.org.
RACIAL JUSTICE: It has been over five months since Kentucky EMT
Breonna Taylor was killed in her home by police executing a no-knock warrant.
Conflicting laws including Stand Your Ground, Castle Doctrine, and the legality
of no-knock warrants have created a stalemate in which accountability of the
officers is difficult at best (https://bit.ly/2YoSvb1).
In order to reach any amount of justice for Breonna's death, Black
Lives Matter Louisville has assembled a list of seven demands, along
with an Invest/Divest strategy that could be implemented nationwide. Let's read more,
then contact local officials and tell them that we support these demands. We
can find contact information and detailed actions here. Then, let's ask our MoC at the federal level to
support the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act in the Senate (S. 3955), which would ban no-knock warrants across the
country, and the Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 7120/S.3912), which would ban no-knock warrants as well as
police use of chokeholds.
DEFEAT BY TWEET: Some of us may be familiar with the
app Momentum,
which allows users to donate to an organization of their choosing each time a
specific action is performed. The app is now powering the #DefeatByTweet
campaign, where participants donate to a collection of Black-led political
organizations in swing states each time Trump tweets (https://abcn.ws/2Et7BVJ). Let's
use Trump's overuse of Twitter against him, and ensure that he does not get
re-elected. We can learn more here, then let's sign up; donations can be as small as 1
cent per tweet: https://defeatbytweet.org/
BIRTHERISM, AGAIN: Newsweek magazine has lent itself to
spreading false rumors about Kamala Harris’s eligibility to serve as
vice-president should she be elected; the editor of Newsweek has issued an
apology, claiming “The essay, by John Eastman [a senior fellow at the Claremont
Institute], was intended to explore a minority legal argument about the
definition of who is a "natural-born citizen" in the United States”
and reprinted the essay: https://www.newsweek.com/some-questions-kamala-harris-about-eligibility-opinion-1524483
We have seen “birtherism” claims before, and we need to let Newsweek know
that when a supposedly reputable magazine perpetuates lies about natural-born
citizenship, they are lending their reputation to far-Right conspiracy
theorists and should expect to hear from us. Newsweek can be contacted
and subscriptions cancelled at support@newsweek.com. It is worth our knowing
something about the right-wing Claremont Institute, too: https://www.claremont.org/page/claremonts-mission/
USA COVID-19 K-12
SCHOOL CLOSURES, QUARANTINES, AND/OR DEATHS: The federal government is not tracking COVID in schools. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-spreading-schools-no-one-tracking-all-outbreaks-n1236964
“As schools across the nation struggle
to find a safe way to educate students in-person, a Kansas teacher has
dedicated herself to tracking school closings, cases and deaths in a budding national database.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/08/15/covid-news-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-cases-in-europe-blood-plasma/5584062002/ Let’s check this out and submit additions
or corrections: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQSD9mm5HTXhxAiHabZA6BPUByWBlP5HZ2jfOPEeGZkMB0ZFsmFBL5orqjIq22mjFNZ7n-11ObCylGn/pubhtml
KEEP UP PRESSURE ON
P.O. LEADERSHIP: We have
heard Louis DeJoy’s obfuscation before the House oversight committee (https://www.c-span.org/video/?474917-1/postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-testifies-postal-service-operations-mail-voting&live)
and we should continue to demand his resignation, but, perhaps more
important, let’s keep up our pressure on the USPS Board of Governors, United
States Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260;
800-275-8777 and Robert M. Duncan, Chair. CEO Inez Deposit Bank, 41 W. Main St,
Inez, KY 41224; 606-298-3511; mduncan@inezdepositbank.com. In contacting these
people, we need to know the history of the “crisis” it is claimed now afflicts
the postal service: https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/
Republicans are once again spreading misinformation about how the mail-in
voting process will lead to voter fraud.https://www.nbc12.com/2020/08/12/ballot-drop-boxes-are-next-legal-fight-voting/.
Given the chaos of the P.O., let’s join the 8 states that already use them (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-dropboxes/ballot-drop-boxes-are-latest-battleground-in-us-election-fight-idUSKBN25G14I)
and demand secure ballot drop-off boxes; ask our State Election Office to put
them up in order to make voting more accessible to people worried about COVID
and the unreliability of the USPS.
LEGISLATION TO HELP
POST OFFICE: The House passed the Delivering for America
Act (H.B.
8015) last Saturday after coming back early from recess for the vote in the
effort to reverse recent changes in postal service. https://apnews.com/2e2fcd6f1457cd1ddc3d8f85e9548cc3 26 Republicans voted in favor. The bill would prohibit Trump’s Postmaster
General, Louis DeJoy, from changing the level of Postal Service delivery
standards that existed on 1/1/2020 during the COVID public health emergency
through at least 1/1/2021 or longer if the public health emergency is
extended. The bill also includes $25 billion in funding to the USPS and a
requirement that USPS give first-class status to election mailings. While
McConnell and Trump both said they will not support this bill, it is important
that we let our senators know that we support the bill and want it to be
brought up for a vote in the Senate. It
is time to know where senators stand. We
can also sign this: https://p2a.co/Ut9UYhS
RNC MAKES ITS RACIST
COMMITMENTS CLEAR: It is worth
our noting, in the midst of the Republican Convention, that the Republican
National Committee has passed a resolution delegitimizing
the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/24/republican-national-committee-condemns-southern-poverty-law-center/3431429001/)
as well as a resolution to “combat prejudice” by protecting
monuments to Christopher Columbus. Let’s let the RNC know what we think
of this: RNC at 202-863-8500 or tweet GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel:
@GOPChairwoman
POSTCARDING
OPPORTUNITIES: From one of our own: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j94_LhSm2JKl8eX-TwmSEgqAB4yJGZQhDmDMIW0DlSc/edit Let’s write!
ELECTION/VOTING
BECOME A POLL
WORKER: "America needs
you to be a poll hero. We’re recruiting thousands of college and high school
students to be paid poll workers to make the 2020 Election a success."
Most poll workers are older and at greater risk during the pandemic. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/05/894331965/wanted-young-people-to-work-the-polls-this-november
Now would be a great time for those
of us who are younger to step up and help ensure our election security this
fall by becoming poll workers. We can sign up here: https://www.pollhero.org
VOTERIZER: Field Team 6 launched its new Voter
Registration portal this past weekend--Voterizer.org. Born of Jason Berlin's frustration with leaky
funnel portals, Voterizer was custom-built to register Democrats, sign them up
to vote by mail, let folks know when and where to vote, and because they're a
527, provide information about Democratic candidates. Voterizer works on
desktop and mobile, and uses brand-new tech to confirm registrations with a
50-state database (the only app to do this) and sends email follow-ups and
reminders automatically. Field Team 6 is sharing this app (for free) with any
allied organization who needs it, will plug in their branding, and give them
access to every voter they register… empowering them to help drive turnout with
hyper-local GOTV messaging. Interested organizations should contact voterizer@gmail.com But anyone can use the portal now. Let’s check out Voterizer.org. We can also click here for prewritten tweets,
posts and more to help spread the word. bit.ly/VoterizerStorm
BOOST VOTER
REGISTRATION—Registration of
new voters was going like gangbusters until the pandemic hit, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voter-registrations-are-way-way-down-during-the-pandemic/.
We need to be creative as social distancing reduces opportunities for in-person
voter registration drives. Field Team 6 has a new online Blue voter
registration portal called Voterizer, and a clever social media campaign that
we can help go viral. Let’s get involved: https://www.fieldteam6.org/voterizersocialmedia
POSTCARDERS
UNITE! Postcarding is
a safe, easy and fun way to reach voters to encourage them to go to the polls.
Here are some of the postcarding opportunities open to our participation:
a) Postcards to
Voters. (P2V) With over three years of operation and over 60,000
volunteers, P2V continues to reach voters for elections large and small.
Current open campaigns are to encourage Florida Democrats to enroll in Vote By
Mail (VBM). Thanks to these and other efforts, VBM Democrats now outnumber VBM
Republicans in Florida. (Source: Politico.); b) Postcards to Swing
States (PSS) We now only need to reach four of the fourteen states in
this campaign: Georgia, Kentucky, Texas and South Carolina. PSS provides
addresses, scripts and postcards. We provide labor and stamps. Postcards
written now will not be mailed till October; c) Postcards4VA (P4VA)
is now on their fourth campaign after helping to flip VA blue in 2017, 2018,
and 2019. P4VA provides addresses and scripts. We provide our own postcards and
stamps. P4VA has labels available free by request to assist with date and time
information; d) Sister District Project. CA03 and Indivisible Yolo have
teamed up to offer various postcarding opportunities for races both in and out
of state. They offer scripts and addresses. We supply postcards and stamps. If
we are postcarders, let's request addresses from one of these organizations
today!
VOTER EDUCATION—“The Last Election” https://lastelection.org/ is
an effort of Spread the Vote https://www.spreadthevote.org/ to bridge the gap
between voter registration and voter turnout. Among the services offered are
September Voter Education Courses that teach how to read a ballot, how to vote
by mail, voting safely during COVID, voting with a disability, and more. Let’s
sign up for the courses, and let’s invite others to do so as well: https://lastelection.org/
HOW TO VOTE IN
THE 2020 ELECTION—FiveThirtyEight
has a state-by-state voting guide explaining the rules for voting by mail in
each state. Let’s educate ourselves and share with others: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020
EARLY VOTING
STARTS IN A MATTER OF WEEKS—Let’s make sure we know the deadlines in our
state: https://www.axios.com/how-to-vote-by-state-2020-307c3d17-ee57-4a1b-8bad-182ca1cdb752.html
10 MILLION VOTER
TURNOUT LETTERS—Democrats
will win if enough of us go to the polls. It takes just 15 minutes to write
five letters to Democratic-leaning voters in key Electoral College states. Why
not write 50? Or 100? Let’s sign up for The Big Send and recruit others
to join us: https://votefwd.org/bigsend
MAKE A PLAN TO
VOTE. Let's get ready
to vote! We can check our voter registration information, polling places and
find out who is running and for what at the League of Women Voters' Vote411 site. Let's
do this today and share this information with a friend.
STATE/LOCAL
MOST: BALLOT DROP BOXES—There should be ballot drop boxes accessible
to every voter in every state. Full stop. Let’s contact our
governors https://www.usa.gov/state-governor and
our secretaries of state https://www.nass.org/membership and tell them that we
want ballot drop boxes installed according to the recommendations of the US
Election Assistance Commission: https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/electionofficials/vbm/Ballot_Drop_Box.pdf,
and that we want official online look-up tools for locating our ballot drop
boxes.
ALL: TELL OUR LOCAL POST OFFICES
TO RE-INSTALL SORTING MACHINES: Post Offices in Dallas and Seattle/Tacoma
have defied orders from Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, and reinstalled their
sorting machines. (Note: DeJoy said on Friday that he would suspend further
changes, but he also instructed workers not to re-install equipment that had
already been dismantled.) https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielcassady/2020/08/22/washington-postal-workers-defy-usps-orders-and-reinstall-mail-sorting-machines/#33befcd05f80.
Let’s tell our local post office that we want them to follow the brave
example of these two postal facilities and re-install all dismantled machines
immediately, and that it’s worth it to defy any order that is intended to
subvert our democracy.
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP
ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS
LEARN HOW TO PUT
YOUR GET OUT THE VOTE CAMPAIGN PLAN INTO ACTION: If we are running for office, working for a
campaign, or helping to rally voters for upcoming elections, we know that
getting out the vote (GOTV) is not just a matter of finding supportive voters.
We also need to plan and prepare to get them to the polls. This Thursday,
August 27th from 8pm-9pm EST, the National Democratic Training Committee https://traindemocrats.org/ has
a free virtual live training on “How to Put Your GOTV Plan into Action” just
for us. In this session we’ll learn how to prepare our teams for GOTV and how
to develop our GOTV plan timeline. We can find out more and register for
Thursday’s free GOTV virtual workshop here: https://traindemocrats.org/event/how-to-put-your-gotv-plan-into-action-08-27-2020/
READING/WATCHING/LISTENING
10 Things to Know
About Trump’s Post Office Scandal - https://billmoyers.com/story/10-things-to-know-about-trumps-post-office-scandal/
Carter Centre to
launch first-ever US election initiative, citing ‘erosion’ of democracy - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/carter-center-us-election-2020-donald-trump-democracy-a9683011.html
The 19th
Amendment didn’t give women the right to vote - https://www.vox.com/2020/8/18/21358913/19th-amendment-ratified-anniversary-women-suffrage-vote
Mary Chapin
Carpenter - Songs From Home Episode 35: Lafayette Square - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oukMRBEHzv4
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We can stay up to date
on Congress by checking out their schedules. a) The House publishes a weekly
schedule at The Weekly Leader (published and dated Friday)
as well as daily schedules at The Daily Leader. b) The Senate updates
their schedule daily at the Senate Floor Schedule
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