Blog 21
March 8, 2017
If you were
worried before....
After some
false starts this new administration is blazing ahead, and I do mean blazing
with scorch and burn:
healthcare http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-obamacare-repeal-20170306-story.html
and that’s
for starters.
In case anyone is getting too sidetracked
by the Russian spy drama, the following bills have been introduced:
1. HR 861 Terminate
the Environmental Protection Agency
2. HR 610 Vouchers for Public Education
3. HR 899 Terminate the Department of Education
4. HJR 69 Repeal Rule Protecting Wildlife
5. HR 370 Repeal Affordable Care Act
6. HR 354 Defund Planned Parenthood
7. HR 785 National Right to Work (this one ends unions)
8. HR 83 Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Bill
9. HR 147 Criminalizing Abortion (“Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act”)
2. HR 610 Vouchers for Public Education
3. HR 899 Terminate the Department of Education
4. HJR 69 Repeal Rule Protecting Wildlife
5. HR 370 Repeal Affordable Care Act
6. HR 354 Defund Planned Parenthood
7. HR 785 National Right to Work (this one ends unions)
8. HR 83 Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Bill
9. HR 147 Criminalizing Abortion (“Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act”)
10. HR 808 Sanctions against Iran
And one of many efforts to
change rules in existing bills:
HJ 37 Fair pay and
safe workplace rules
So maybe
you’ve been thinking about pulling back from all this political action
work. I know that on some mornings as I
am about to open my computer and start reading, writing and calling, I have to
remind myself that things are as bad as I had imagined and are getting worse.
What a nightmare.
In most of
my blogs, I’ve written about pathways to resistance, but right now reality bites
as I look at what this administration is really doing. Sorry to be such a
bummer, but sometimes it is necessary to look evil in the eye. And this is
without considering the implications of the administration’s current
allegations of phone taping by the Obama administration and challenges to all
parts of the government as if there is a “deep state” which they have to fight
against with whatever means necessary.
Maybe they are crazy. Maybe they
are paranoid, and right now they have the power and are building a narrative
that undercuts the foundation of our democracy.
Ok. Enough
Ellen. What are we to do? We have to remember that there are now at
least two Indivisible Groups in every district, yes ,I said every district in the U.S. Sessions has recused himself
and efforts to get him to resign are strengthening. The Supreme Court is challenging
gerrymandering. http://www.salon.com/2017/03/01/the-supreme-court-just-delivered-a-major-victory-for-gerrymandering-opponents/.
So we keep
on keeping on, We call 5 Calls every day.
We barrage our MOC’s. We go to Town Hall meetings and rallies. We become part of quick responses to ICE raids
and hand out cards telling immigrants about their rights. We besiege our local officials with pleas to
resist ICE’s incursions in our States and Cities. The list goes on and on. There is so much for us to do, and we will do
it.
Wise words
“I
was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its
faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. It was
in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. We were a democracy...
But I knew it wasn't a dream; there was a painful lump on the side of my head...
The state and its police were not neutral referees in a society of contending interests. They were on the side of the rich and powerful. Free speech? Try it and the police will be there with their horses, their clubs, their guns, to stop you.
But I knew it wasn't a dream; there was a painful lump on the side of my head...
The state and its police were not neutral referees in a society of contending interests. They were on the side of the rich and powerful. Free speech? Try it and the police will be there with their horses, their clubs, their guns, to stop you.
Something
fundamental was wrong in this country--not just the existence of poverty amidst
great wealth, not just the horrible treatment of black people, but something
rotten at the root. The situation required not just a new president or new
laws, but an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of
society--cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian.”
― Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
― Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
“You
should never let your fear from doing what you know is right”
Aung San Suu Kyi
“Activism
is something no one can fake.
You
get angry. You cry.
But
you never throw in t
The
towel, because that anger
Is
what is propelling you
To
further action”
Leymah Gbowee
Action
https://townhallproject.com
Find Town
Hall nearest you.
Join and
work to flip elections in Red Districts
Make calls
every day
To your MOC’s
:
Demand special prosecutor to investigate
Russian interference in election.
Ask them not to confirm Deputy Attorney General if he doesn’t agree to bring in
special prosecutor.
Refuse to pass new ACA bill
Challenge Travel Ban 2.0
Send donations to the groups helping us do our
work
1793
14 inspirational quotes from
pioneering women
Ellen, thank you for your passion, your clear thinking, crying soul, organized list of actions taken by this administration and suggestions for combatting them, the nightmare we are living through. It is a pleasure to read you and I gain some strength from your balanced assessment of our current reality.
ReplyDeleteEllen, I feel your frustration and also your passion. more power to you and those who will not settle for this nightmare. Monique Dufour
ReplyDelete