Thank you for your wonderful newsletter. I also read Amanda Gorman’s article in the New York Times. A good read for a weary spirit during these times. What an incredible young woman. She gives me hope.
Thank you Robert, especially for posting the clip of the last two minutes of your interview with Jason Borlin. Besides being urged to take action,l I was deeply inspired by his simple declaration: These are dark times. In dark times the Deep Ugly is being answered by a Deeper Beauty, and that is all of us! Reminds me of Godspell's version of St Matthew's message: "If you hide your light under a bushel, you're gonna miss something kind of crucial." That may be my most favorite rhyme of all musicals!
Hi from Maine. I just wanted to send you a letter that was written to Susan Collins by a friend of mine who is a lawyer and did an excellent job reviewing Susan's former support of the voting rights. The author has given me permission to sent this on to you. Thanks so much for all you are doing. Many of us are so disappointed in Senator Collins. She supposedly gets voted most bipartisan senator, but for sure not recently. I know you and I have chatted about this fact, but wanted to send off this evaluation of her record.
Thanks for reading her message.
Recently, I felt the need to write a letter of concern to our senator, Susan Collins. My friends have encouraged me to share this letter with other Maine residents. I believe our democracy is being shaken. Voting rights for all must be preserved.
Dear Senator Collins:
I am writing to you about voting rights. I am gravely concerned. Will our democracy survive?
I just did a "voting rights" search of your website content. The most recent relevant return was a story about your visit to Selma in 2015. It appears that you understood then the significance of the Voting Rights Act and the sacrifices of John Lewis and so many others to obtain the vote for millions of disenfranchised citizens. (I also note that you co-sponsored legislation to reauthorize expiring Voting Rights Act provisions in 2006 - the last time you took an affirmative step to advance voting rights? Yes, that was 16 years ago.)
I am confused about what has happened between then and 2021 to make you turn your back on efforts to protect voting rights now.
How can our democratic system survive if, due to Congressional inaction, states are allowed to turn back the clock on voting rights? Do you still remember the inspiration you took away from Selma - or have the intervening stressful partisan tensions in Washington clouded your memory? Are you concerned about the whole grand experiment unraveling on your watch? I am. Please stand up for democracy.
Respectfully, Kathleen Caldwell, Brooksville, Maine
Sincere THANKS to Cathy Murphree; printed out her Funding to Sedition Caucus, to share with my Huddle group. However, will find a specific NAME to contact within each company - otherwise mail will be delivered to “miscellaneous” or the “circular file”.
This is part of the right's push to discredit government services and replace them with "public/private partnerships," a euphemism for channeling taxpayer money into corporate coffers. This is happening in our prisons (e.g., private prisons), in our public schools (e.g., testing and assessments), and on our public roads (e.g., toll roads, red-light cameras) as well as in our libraries, according to the fiction that business knows better than government how to run things. Unfortunately, unlike government officials, the controlling businesses can cut services and payroll and set prices pretty much at will; they are not accountable (they can't be voted out of office) and they are not transparent about their practices (they can't be required to respond to FOIA requests).
Thanks again for a wonderful, uplifting, practical newsletter!
Thank you, Robert. I look forward to any suggestions for action you might have. My local library is severely underfunded and perhaps vulnerable. From the articles that seems to be the case with many public libraries.
I am so appreciative of Cathy's spreadsheet with the names and addresses of the corporations that have decided to once again financially support the house and senate members who continue to vote against democracy. I will begin sending my letters to these corporations and I will share the list with other friends of mine with the hope they will do the same. Robert, you have created a wonderful community of engaged readers.
Wow! What a great newsletter and call to action. May I make some additional suggestions to those already mentioned? Since we shouldn't be letting the 50 Republicans off the hook and only focusing on Manchin and Sinema, I think a letter/postcard/phone call to specific Republicans might help. First: the more "moderate" Republicans like Murkowski and Romney. They may not read the entire letter but buzzwords like protecting all their constituents including the elderly, disabled and ill should be included. Second: the retiring Republicans like Burr and Toomey using language like the opportunity to be remembered as a statesman..."history has its eyes on you" sort of thing. Third, former Republicans out of office, like George Bush using Dick Chaney as an example of someone with courage and putting pressure on them to speak out. Fourth and finally, media influences. Reaching out to others who have the ability to put pressure on the Republicans would also help.
-Following the 2010 census, the Republicans, led by Karl Rove, moved aggressively ahead with REDMAP, a plan to take over control of state houses and gerrymander Congressional districts in their favor. They were astonishingly successful. The Democrats had no such plan and no answer to Republican moves. We are doing better now, but we haven't yet matched the GOP's messianic zeal at the local and state levels.
-If there is any single person who subverted democracy more than Donald Trump, it is Mitch McConnell. His unconscionable tilting of the Supreme Court and his refusal to offer anything but obstruction to Democrats while enabling the most destructive Republican policies put him in the same league as others who infamously subverted the will of the people.
I agree with you Charles. As to McConnell, it is curious to me that he doesn't seem to care about how history will remember him. He is smart enough to know that history will not be written by people who will view his actions kindly. He must see what has happened to Storm Thurmond. But he apparently doesn't care--which suggests that he has no conscience, soul, or human empathy. I can't think of another explanation.
Sometimes I think that these right wing politicians feel so put upon by the intelligentsia and mainstream media that owning the libs is the way they assuage the hurt.
Ooooops. I sent you, Robert, the Ezra Klein piece before I read today's letter from you where you encourage all to read it. It is the missing piece We need to encourage the under fifty's to run for all local offices, to get on boards, to be active participants in local government. THAT is how we keep the voting fair, encourage voter registration, count the votes fairly. That is whre the takeover is happening before our eyes. Get local!
Thank you for all the good resources this morning. I was looking for ways to contact corporations, and this and the example letters are really appreciated.
I absolutely hate making phone calls to representatives. I don’t know why, I just do. But after reading the following article, that’s what I do. It won’t do much good at changing minds as I live in Missouri, but I figure I’m at least an irritant.
Hi, Donna. I have heard from people who work in offices for Representatives that they "tally" calls on particular subjects. So although it may not feel like your voice is being heard, it is. if they are going to "tally" calls to see which way the political winds are blowing, we should make sure our side creates the most pressure!
Regarding corporate contributions to members if the Sedition Caucus: the evil is corporate contributions, not corporate hypocrisy. These corporations were presumably contributing to further the interests of their stockholders and as long as the seditionists remain in office they will have a vote that can impact the donors. Don't expect much to change.
Robert Hubbel on Ezra Klein today: "Klein . . . says that being involved in politics is not doom-scrolling on Twitter and then complaining to family and friends about all the things you just read. Real political work is." I couldn't agree more. Now, if we can only get the liberal news media to stop doing the same damn thing! I keep yelling at the screen: "Why don't you give us ideas for what we can do instead of just dooming and glooming ???" You know, much as Robert and Jessica Craven and Judd and other folks are doing. Would this be against their principles as journalists? And these "Breaking News" chirons: how about "Breaking Opinions"?? There, I've vented. Now to write some postcards to register voters!
It is puzzling why the media has descended into a negativity death spiral in 2021. I believe it must be because negativity sells more soap than feel good stories--humans must be hardwired through evolutionary pressure to want to hear bad, maybe as a way to protect themselves against future threats. I also think that negativity in journalism is amplified by laziness. It is much easier to say that the shy is falling than to say that there are millions of people doing thousands of different things to stop the sky from falling. And, of course, as Fox News teaches us, their "news anchors" view themselves as entertainers, not journalists. So they feel no obligation to provide an accurate view of what is going on.
Do you have a list we can access of the voter registration organizations you have mentioned in your letters?
Thank you for your wonderful newsletter. I also read Amanda Gorman’s article in the New York Times. A good read for a weary spirit during these times. What an incredible young woman. She gives me hope.
https//://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/opinion/amanda-gorman-poem-inauguration.html
Thank you Robert, especially for posting the clip of the last two minutes of your interview with Jason Borlin. Besides being urged to take action,l I was deeply inspired by his simple declaration: These are dark times. In dark times the Deep Ugly is being answered by a Deeper Beauty, and that is all of us! Reminds me of Godspell's version of St Matthew's message: "If you hide your light under a bushel, you're gonna miss something kind of crucial." That may be my most favorite rhyme of all musicals!
Hi from Maine. I just wanted to send you a letter that was written to Susan Collins by a friend of mine who is a lawyer and did an excellent job reviewing Susan's former support of the voting rights. The author has given me permission to sent this on to you. Thanks so much for all you are doing. Many of us are so disappointed in Senator Collins. She supposedly gets voted most bipartisan senator, but for sure not recently. I know you and I have chatted about this fact, but wanted to send off this evaluation of her record.
Thanks for reading her message.
Recently, I felt the need to write a letter of concern to our senator, Susan Collins. My friends have encouraged me to share this letter with other Maine residents. I believe our democracy is being shaken. Voting rights for all must be preserved.
Dear Senator Collins:
I am writing to you about voting rights. I am gravely concerned. Will our democracy survive?
I just did a "voting rights" search of your website content. The most recent relevant return was a story about your visit to Selma in 2015. It appears that you understood then the significance of the Voting Rights Act and the sacrifices of John Lewis and so many others to obtain the vote for millions of disenfranchised citizens. (I also note that you co-sponsored legislation to reauthorize expiring Voting Rights Act provisions in 2006 - the last time you took an affirmative step to advance voting rights? Yes, that was 16 years ago.)
I am confused about what has happened between then and 2021 to make you turn your back on efforts to protect voting rights now.
How can our democratic system survive if, due to Congressional inaction, states are allowed to turn back the clock on voting rights? Do you still remember the inspiration you took away from Selma - or have the intervening stressful partisan tensions in Washington clouded your memory? Are you concerned about the whole grand experiment unraveling on your watch? I am. Please stand up for democracy.
Respectfully, Kathleen Caldwell, Brooksville, Maine
Sincere THANKS to Cathy Murphree; printed out her Funding to Sedition Caucus, to share with my Huddle group. However, will find a specific NAME to contact within each company - otherwise mail will be delivered to “miscellaneous” or the “circular file”.
Thank you for this wonderful newsletter and the great resources and suggestions for action.
Don't know if there's a better place to post this: A librarian friend sent me the following transcript of an interview about the emerging privatization of public libraries: https://fair.org/home/a-for-profit-company-is-trying-to-privatize-as-many-public-libraries-as-they-can/. They are quietly being taken over by a company called Library Systems & Services, owned by a hedge fund, which already owns 80 public libraries and apparently also some of the vendors from which those libraries buy their books. Another article by the interviewee is here: https://truthout.org/articles/public-private-partnerships-are-quietly-hollowing-out-our-public-libraries/
This is part of the right's push to discredit government services and replace them with "public/private partnerships," a euphemism for channeling taxpayer money into corporate coffers. This is happening in our prisons (e.g., private prisons), in our public schools (e.g., testing and assessments), and on our public roads (e.g., toll roads, red-light cameras) as well as in our libraries, according to the fiction that business knows better than government how to run things. Unfortunately, unlike government officials, the controlling businesses can cut services and payroll and set prices pretty much at will; they are not accountable (they can't be voted out of office) and they are not transparent about their practices (they can't be required to respond to FOIA requests).
Thanks again for a wonderful, uplifting, practical newsletter!
Hi, Gaye. Thanks for the links about libraries being privatized. I will check them out!
Thank you, Robert. I look forward to any suggestions for action you might have. My local library is severely underfunded and perhaps vulnerable. From the articles that seems to be the case with many public libraries.
I am so appreciative of Cathy's spreadsheet with the names and addresses of the corporations that have decided to once again financially support the house and senate members who continue to vote against democracy. I will begin sending my letters to these corporations and I will share the list with other friends of mine with the hope they will do the same. Robert, you have created a wonderful community of engaged readers.
Wow! What a great newsletter and call to action. May I make some additional suggestions to those already mentioned? Since we shouldn't be letting the 50 Republicans off the hook and only focusing on Manchin and Sinema, I think a letter/postcard/phone call to specific Republicans might help. First: the more "moderate" Republicans like Murkowski and Romney. They may not read the entire letter but buzzwords like protecting all their constituents including the elderly, disabled and ill should be included. Second: the retiring Republicans like Burr and Toomey using language like the opportunity to be remembered as a statesman..."history has its eyes on you" sort of thing. Third, former Republicans out of office, like George Bush using Dick Chaney as an example of someone with courage and putting pressure on them to speak out. Fourth and finally, media influences. Reaching out to others who have the ability to put pressure on the Republicans would also help.
Those are good suggestions and I will promote in the newsletter. Thanks!
Two comments on today's newsletter:
-Following the 2010 census, the Republicans, led by Karl Rove, moved aggressively ahead with REDMAP, a plan to take over control of state houses and gerrymander Congressional districts in their favor. They were astonishingly successful. The Democrats had no such plan and no answer to Republican moves. We are doing better now, but we haven't yet matched the GOP's messianic zeal at the local and state levels.
-If there is any single person who subverted democracy more than Donald Trump, it is Mitch McConnell. His unconscionable tilting of the Supreme Court and his refusal to offer anything but obstruction to Democrats while enabling the most destructive Republican policies put him in the same league as others who infamously subverted the will of the people.
I agree with you Charles. As to McConnell, it is curious to me that he doesn't seem to care about how history will remember him. He is smart enough to know that history will not be written by people who will view his actions kindly. He must see what has happened to Storm Thurmond. But he apparently doesn't care--which suggests that he has no conscience, soul, or human empathy. I can't think of another explanation.
Sometimes I think that these right wing politicians feel so put upon by the intelligentsia and mainstream media that owning the libs is the way they assuage the hurt.
Ooooops. I sent you, Robert, the Ezra Klein piece before I read today's letter from you where you encourage all to read it. It is the missing piece We need to encourage the under fifty's to run for all local offices, to get on boards, to be active participants in local government. THAT is how we keep the voting fair, encourage voter registration, count the votes fairly. That is whre the takeover is happening before our eyes. Get local!
Good point. I should feature Amanda Litman. I met her in 2018, when we were both just starting our resistance efforts. Time to circle back.
Every day my spirits are lifted by the brilliant efforts of Robert Hubbell and his wife.
Thank you for all the good resources this morning. I was looking for ways to contact corporations, and this and the example letters are really appreciated.
I absolutely hate making phone calls to representatives. I don’t know why, I just do. But after reading the following article, that’s what I do. It won’t do much good at changing minds as I live in Missouri, but I figure I’m at least an irritant.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/15/13641920/trump-resist-congress
Hi, Donna. I have heard from people who work in offices for Representatives that they "tally" calls on particular subjects. So although it may not feel like your voice is being heard, it is. if they are going to "tally" calls to see which way the political winds are blowing, we should make sure our side creates the most pressure!
That’s what the article I referred to says, but I just don’t think Blunt or Hawley care. I’ll keep doing it, however, in hope that I am wrong.
Regarding corporate contributions to members if the Sedition Caucus: the evil is corporate contributions, not corporate hypocrisy. These corporations were presumably contributing to further the interests of their stockholders and as long as the seditionists remain in office they will have a vote that can impact the donors. Don't expect much to change.
What we need is to reverse the Supreme Court's holding in Citizen's United. It took a corrupt system and supercharged it.
Robert Hubbel on Ezra Klein today: "Klein . . . says that being involved in politics is not doom-scrolling on Twitter and then complaining to family and friends about all the things you just read. Real political work is." I couldn't agree more. Now, if we can only get the liberal news media to stop doing the same damn thing! I keep yelling at the screen: "Why don't you give us ideas for what we can do instead of just dooming and glooming ???" You know, much as Robert and Jessica Craven and Judd and other folks are doing. Would this be against their principles as journalists? And these "Breaking News" chirons: how about "Breaking Opinions"?? There, I've vented. Now to write some postcards to register voters!
It is puzzling why the media has descended into a negativity death spiral in 2021. I believe it must be because negativity sells more soap than feel good stories--humans must be hardwired through evolutionary pressure to want to hear bad, maybe as a way to protect themselves against future threats. I also think that negativity in journalism is amplified by laziness. It is much easier to say that the shy is falling than to say that there are millions of people doing thousands of different things to stop the sky from falling. And, of course, as Fox News teaches us, their "news anchors" view themselves as entertainers, not journalists. So they feel no obligation to provide an accurate view of what is going on.
Yes! Thank you, Cathy! Why am I shocked to see Pfizer on the list?
Thank you Cathy Murphree for your excellent list of corporate addresses and templates. I’m on it thanks to you!