THE MIDTERMS CONTINUE . . IN PENNSYLVANIA. You may have heard that Democrats have a 1 seat margin in the Pennsylvania General Assembly (the lower house). The Senate is solidly Republican. But right now there are at least 3 vacancies in traditionally Democratic districts (and 1 in a Republican Senate seat). Vacancies resulted from a death of one representative and the election of one representative to lieutenant governor and one to Congress.
Here's the skinny: the elections are coming SOON -- February 7. These three races are all “must wins” in order to keep a Democratic Majority in the Pennsylvania State House, where the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General are all Democrats, thanks to last November. By doing so, we will prevent the 80 odd proposed constitutional amendments hanging over Pennsylvania like a sword of Damocles from being placed on the ballot in the near future. Those proposed amendments cover everything from banning abortion to impairing voting rights (mail-in ballots, voter ID, etc.) and everything in between, like our new Governor’s ability to issue regulations and what can be taught or read in the schools.
The elections are incredibly important to Pennsylvania and nationally; winning all three will prevent turning the state over to the right wing. The proposed amendments are not only threats to individual Pennsylvanian's rights, but they are also designed to make it harder to elect Democrats in the critical next cycle.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: support the Pennsylvania Democrats at go.padems.com. Or contact your favorite grass roots group to check out their involvement. From past elections, I would say that the political work by the SEIU has been incredibly effective in these districts -- all three are located in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), traditionally the western anchor of Democratic support in Pennsylvania, but also a relatively expensive media market. Please help -- now!
Democrats have to in at the state level to be effective -- and this is just critical for 2024.
From the for what it’s worth perspective, this is mine. Biden, Garland and other older folks in Biden’s administration are good people, but they make mistakes. Their staff works hard, but they get tired, distracted and worn thin from the demanding work, so they overlook things that may not seem important at the moment because something else needs to be done immediately.
Biden is beyond packing the stuff in his office and storing it when moving from one office into another. Younger folks working long days as they are learning how to function in an underpaid but demanding government job. They were responsible for getting Biden’s Vice Presidential materials out of the Obama facilities, so documents got tossed into transfer boxes that should not have gone where they ended up being stored. Stuff happens.
Should someone in the Biden administration taken time to look everywhere that Biden’s Obama administration materials were being stored immediately following the Trump document mess? Of course. That would have been the logical thing to do given the political atmosphere, and if it did, we would have never heard anything about that bit of housekeeping. That better housekeeping didn’t happen, and that’s a shame. But, so what? Unlike the Trump criminal fiasco, this is an uncomfortable messy nothing series of events. Please give Biden and Garland an old guy pass and move on.
I’m a few years younger than Biden. We’re both men of average abilities and intellect, but Biden is a much harder and dedicated worker than I am, and I’m very happy that he is willing to do what he is doing. He is a good pol. He knows how to get stuff done. I couldn’t do it, and I’m too selfish and lazy to do what President Biden has chosen to do. I feel the same way about Garland. They are good men, and I’m happy they are on our team and show up every day. This is a long fight, and if it was easy, any fool could do it. That’s why very few people choose the life, and why it is hard work. Please support and defend Biden and Garland whenever anyone bitches about them. It’ll help us get past this and soon this mess will be just a dumb memory.
Forgive for not commenting for a while, we have a sick child. I do my best to keep up with my Substack reading. but don’t recalling reading about why this happens or what’s next as something is clearly not working in the process.
My question for you or your intelligent readers:
If this has happened to Biden, what about Obama and Bush? Any thoughts yet on what needs to be changed and who is responsible for fixing the process to avoid this in the future? Could trumps fingerprints be on this because he gutted whatever department is responsible?
Thank you! I needed that little shift in perspective. What occurred to me is that these two ”old guys” are the stabilizing aspects, as we shift from old paradigms of governance that are obviously outdated to new energy, new ideas and a new way to create systems that support the earth and the humans on her. I’m an alder gal myself.
Trump went out of his way to make Biden's transition into the White House more stressful and chaotic than it had to be, making the job of Biden's staffers harder than normal. This additional pressure on everybody could have led to more mistakes, such as this current Biden misplaced documents story.
No other outgoing president in modern history was as deliberately rude, withholding and disruptive to the incoming president as was the malignant narcissist.
Especially dangerous for America and difficult for Biden's people, the Trump White House instructed senior government leaders to block cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team. So Biden's team had no information on the pandemic or national security issues.
There were no background checks being done for applicants and no security clearances being done for potential staff. In fact, a Trump appointee to the GSA refused for a time to give the incoming Biden administration office space or computers after Biden's win, as was traditionally done to help ease the future move.
Reliably petty, Trump also fired the staff so there was no usher or butler to even open the White House doors for the new president and first lady.
Thank you got these insights! So true-- also trump is under potential indictment for the documents not because he took them but cause he wouldn’t return them. No comparison!
Whenever some Republican accuses Democrats of hypocracy over the documents scandal, I ask that the accuser offer the prior times they criticized Trump for taking secret documents to his private club/residence. If the accuser can't cite the times, they need to shut-the-f**k-up.
Ciao from Italy! Did you know that there are 6.5 million US citizens living abroad and on average only 10% of us vote? One concrete action we can all take is to make sure that every US citizen you know who is living or studying abroad is registered to vote and has requested their overseas ballot. All US citizens have the right to vote -- even if it's been years since they've lived in the US or have NEVER lived in the US. If you have a US passport, you can vote! It's easy to do!! Go to www.votefromabroad.org the entire process can be done via a smartphone and there's help available via chat if someone has a tricky voting question.
Jan 14, 2023·edited Jan 14, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Hola from Mexico and as a member of Democrats Abroad I have to say the organization does an amazing to help it’s members vote and understand how to vote as well. As those of who are not living in the US continues to grow, this becomes and ever increasing group. Consider joining if you live off shore…
Do you belong to DemocratsAbroad? A very strong organization. Each country then has a branch. Here in Spain we are https://www.democratsabroad.org/es and are hugely active in getting to vote out as well as creating opportunities to help groups back home.
Yes! Thanks so much for reaching out. I'm part of the leadership team for Dems Abroad Italy. You're right - it's a very strong organization supporting US citizens living abroad not only on voting but also on important issues like taxation. I strongly urge any US citizen living abroad to get in touch with their country chapter!
I think that is at least the bar that should be met. On the other hand, I’m not sure someone should be beat-up or arrested because they didn’t. The ability to vote for ( or against) should be easy and transparent with the security of anonymity ( seems a conundrum but it isn’t - we should be able to vote without our bet door neighbors knowing our bias if we do choose).
Thanks, Beth. I’d like to clarify info about that particular election. It is for the seat of a Republican who is retiring, and there are 4 people running for the seat, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Right now the makeup of this court is 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Were a Democrat to win the election, the court would shift to the left. While this is a non partisan seat, the political and judicial stances of these candidates can affect the outcome of decisions they make down the road, thus the importance of this election.
Most websites I’ve gone to are only focusing on the April 4th election when, in fact, there happens to be a Primary election on Feb 21st for this seat. And the top 2 vote getters on Feb 21st go on to the Election of April 4th. We have a chance to get one or both of the Democrats to be on the April ticket by getting them to be the top vote getters in February, but only if all the postcard writing and phone banking organizations start focusing on February and not simply on April.
Finally, apparently Wisconsin voters must reregister each year to be a Vote By Mail voter, and that deadline is rapidly approaching. Can’t find the article where I read about this aspect of the election, however it seems to be about 2 wks before each election.
Please pass this info on to any organization you know who is working on this election so we don’t end up with the 2 Republicans on the April ballot.
I would like to second the importance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. The Republican controlled court has been the most extreme partisan court in the country. They have enabled Wisconsin to be the most gerrymandered state in our country. They have supported the most extreme positions, including voter repression. This is by far, the most important election in our country in 2023. And for the record, I am not from, nor do I live in Wisconsin. This is the crucial election to allow Wisconsin to break free of the strangle hold of the extreme far right.
Thank you. I was trying to condense a bunch of info into a shorter statement. It is clear on this particular organization's website that there is more work to do before the April 4 date. However, for postcards at this point the deadline to mail is for the election itself. And the focus is on young voters. Indeed, lots and lots of opportunities and organizations to get involved.
The events of this week cost me to make a decision: I am going to listen to less cable news and try to reduce the amount of repetition that goes through my brain of the pettiness of the Republicans and the clutter of noise around miss steps by Biden, or the slowness of DOJ to move against Trump. I also vowed to wait for the Hubbell Evening Herald for quality news and commentary.
It’s better to take in less noise and stay focused on doing things that will matter for victory in 2024: I may start writing postcards with everything but the address so that I can build up an arsenal to help keep the trend going in our favor.
Get some support of like-minded people if you’re just starting writing postcards. Where are you located? If anywhere in Eastern or Cantral time zones, consdider joining into Markers for Democracy’s Zoom meetings many mornings (and Weds nights) while passionately Blue women like you write postcards and the latest candidates and activist leaders appear to speak. I never leave a Zoom without feeling energized, re-dedicated, with new actions to take, and a bunch of postcards written. https://www.markersfordemocracy.org/
If you’re in or around Los Angeles check out CIvic Sundays. They run lots of group postcarding and other outreach.
I am on vacation overseas with my family and I feel
Liberated from watching cable news. I feel much less stressed reading the news than hearing talking pundits all day. Also feel less need to drink (although we are in Ireland😬). I’m vowing to keep my watching to Nicolle at 4 est. I’m also vowing not to give up --that’s what “they” want us to do.
I'd love an explanation of why lawyers instead of office assistants, clerks, and such were cleaning out Biden's office. And why they were cleaning it out TWO YEARS, not 2 days or 2 weeks, after he left that position. Was that office vacant for 2 years? The timing of this whole mess is weird; it's almost got me thinking it's a Conspiracy to Get Biden.
Laurie, my understanding is that the lawyers were there because Biden asked them. Perhaps a staff member remembered not returning some documents and Biden tasked his lawyers because they have the legal credibility to satisfy any doubt if anything was found. You wouldn't want your neighbor or family to search for something like that!
His office very well could have been vacant since he left office--his name is on the building.
Biden may have needed someone with a security clearance to lol for the documents in case classified documents were there. Hence cleared lawyers instead of lowly assistants may have done the search.
Take some time this weekend to close your eyes and listen to MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech, or watch a film of the presentation in Washington. Transformative!!!!
I'm in! Imagining that others join us, as Janet R did hours before me, and on Monday morning, we share a line or two or more from an MLK speech or quote that resonates. What can I say ... I'm a dreamer!
Yes, Janet! How stunning a line is this! After receiving Mike's comments this morning I thought of Imagine, one of my favorite songs ever! And then I thought of California Dreamers followed by watching The Mamas & the Papas on YouTube. Then I listened to MLK I Have A Dream speech. My heart is feeling full. Seems a better alternative to the heavy-hearted feeling of despair. 💜✌💜
Check out “activateamerica.com“ for latest postcard campaigns. There’s something coming up in Pennsylvania for three state legislature seats.
Per Daily Docket, “ A Pennsylvania court denied state Rep. Bryan Cutler’s (R) request to block the Allegheny County Board of Elections and Pennsylvania Department of State from holding special elections for three state House vacancies. The elections, scheduled for Feb. 7, will go forward.”
This one is a biggie. If Democrats win they will control the house (in PA)
IGPGH, a coalition of Indivisible groups and others in the Pittsburgh, PA, region is doing postcarding for these three elections which will be held on February 7. If you are interested in doing postcards right now to support the candidates running for these seats, contact debra...@gmail.com. Getting Democrats elected is important as the majority is so close. It's only 1 vote difference and Democrats have the majority for the first time in over a decade.
Thank you, Annette, for calling attention to the sand in our shoes. I'm happy to keep dumping out the Biden classified documents news and commentaries. And instead spend a moment imagining my bare feet in the sand at a seashore, wiggling my toes and breathing in the fresh sea air for energy replenishment!
Jessica Craven readers are also highly recommending Michael Moore's podcast. I'm sold and adding it to my weekend. Thank you, John and Margo, for the Episode 12 summary tip.
In the name of "know thy enemy" to inform our work effectively, NYT just published a long overdue expose of George Santos. I suspect that Santos' vulnerability study was concerning to conventional Republicans--but was kompromat gold by a Kremlin playbook, a la Trump. Santos is owned by puppeteers well beyond Trump and Kevin McCarthy, and we are likely to see more like him.
Thanks for the links to the mood lifters, Ellie. 💞 It's too easy to get caught in the Niagara Falls of craziness and forget to head to an eddy for some rest.
Thanks Robert for everything you do. My take is that Biden’s mistake is nothing compared to Ts. First Biden maintained his security clearance upon leaving office while T did not. Second Biden did not obstruct Justice. We cannot let the Rs use this to take attention away from their incompetence and evil plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, etc. we need to work harder at controlling the narrative. May I recommend Simon Rosenberg’s presentation on “with Democrats Things Get Better “ https://www.ndn.org/. This will cheer you up. We need to take control of the narrative!
Aaron Rouse won his special Election in VA 19,430 to 19, 082. PostcardsToVoters.org volunteers sent 11,209 handwritten postcards into Virginia to remind Democrats to vote. Calls were made, funds donated.
Three super important Special Elections are coming up on February 7th for Pennsylvania State House. We won a majority in November: 102-101. But one rep died, another moved to Congress and 3rd became Lt. Gov. We need to defend our majority so we have it for 2024. And on Feb 21st, we have a Special Election for US Congress in VA! Important elections coming up. Hopefully we will write for these, too! And for Wisconsin! Every postcard could be a vote! Thanks if you are helping already. If haven't tried it yet, you can order stamps online at usps.com and get postcards via the postcardstovoters.org website or on Amazon.
Lynell, I have written for postcards to voters and want to write for McClellan. When I texted Abby the bot, of course I got assigned someone else’s campaign. That’s ok, but I really want to write for McClellan. Do you have advice? Anyone else have an idea?
Thank you.
I usually write with Center for Common Ground, which I really like. I do get nervous that with CGC we can’t be partisan as they are a voting rights organization. Arg. Just wanna put my pennies and time in the best pocket.
Hi Colleen. PostcardsToVoters.org is definitely going to be doing Jennifer McClellan's race. The election is not until Feb. 21st but I know Early Voting has started in VA. I'm not sure when the launch date is but if you go on Abby the Bot and choose "99" for "Help" and then you choose "97" to turn on text alerts, you will get an alert by text every time a new campaign is launched. So as soon as McClellan is launched, you will get a text. There are not extra texts. Only one per new candidate launch. It's great. And you can turn alerts off anytime, of course.
I just activated and found Jennifer McClellan's name right away. First you have to register/signup. Afterward you create your account w/ password. Then they send you instructions for activating your account. After that, all you have to do is submit how many postcards you are going to send and they automatically provide you with addresses.
Thank you Robert for labeling it Bingo because it is a game: Crisis Bingo. The point is to keep you focusing on the GOP and their antics, the media plays its supporting role and everyone plays. Why do they do it & why do we play in? Perhaps we won’t notice that are real problems such as poverty, climate crisis, homelessness are not being addressed. What do you think? Pat Sax
A mell of a hess! I just read a NYT article about disaffected ethnic and national volunteers who are coming to the aid of Ukraine. Chechnians, Uigars, Turkics, others who speak Russian, have joined the fray. There will be dancing in the streets for victory over all that has suppressed them in the past, if they help Ukraine win.
We pray to God for the Ukraine and the rest of Europe where 2 wars (physical and financial) are taking place. We pray to God that this war stops, that the many many casualties, the enormous negative financial side effects and all those other repercussions which we all know about, take an end, that they don`t persist.
Europe is suffering its worst crisis since the Second World War and everybody asks: why? Is it necessary to sabotage gas pipe lines? Is it necessary to sanction those who are not at war with anybody? Is it necessary to let people freeze and starve because their homes have been massively bombed? Is it necessary to ignore that this war is causing a huge financial collapse not only to the people of the European countries but also to their land, to their homes, to their families and their economies. Of course, it`s Putins actions and his wrongdoings and his violence I am talking about, his dictatorship.
I suspect Biden will be exonerated. And I recognize that his behavior is completely different from trump’s. My point is that we shouldn’t moan and groan over this but rather let the investigations run their course and let the republicans continue to show their hypocrisy.
Excellent medical advice, Colleen. There won't be one truthful or useful syllable in the deliberately loud and aggravating word salad that comes spitting out of Gym's mouth for the next two years. It's amazing how a man of his age is so proud of being a bully whose super power is disseminating lies at warp speed. It's a total waste of time and personal tranquility to listen to anything he says.
There are days when I feel it would be great to be as misinformed, self-righteous, loud, and self-gratified as the GQP seems to be. As I heard Wanda Sykes repeat in a recent live show, “it’s hard to be a Democrat.” We care so much, and we want things to be fair, equal, and just. It seems such a simple formula, and we were much further along that journey until Trump unleashed the hounds of Hell in the GQP, creating a base and leaders who are intent to reinstate a white, faux Christian, male patriarchy again - as if that were the good ol’ days! With the Biden documents, so different than those of Trump at Mar-a-largo, we are set back again in bringing this repeat offender to justice. How the hell does he do it???? The crimes mount up, his minions take the bullet, and he lives to tweet another day! We all new that having this GQP in charge of the House would be atrocious, and it has lived up to that vision from Day One. The fact that they want to continue punishing women for being pregnant, and never mention the men who got them that way, is heart-breaking. They’ve already stolen women’s rights in over half the states. Enough already! And we seem powerless to do anything in our current environment. This week, I watched an excellent segment on Ari Melber’s newscast on MSNBC which outlined the success that women had in the midterms, winning 12 governorships. Of course, that’s nothing compared to all the other male governors, but it’s better than where it was. He mentioned the Democrats, but also the Republican women, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas, and wished them all well. Right on cue, the next day Sanders issues an Executive order to ban the use of the word “Latinx” in any official government document, and for good measure, then banned the teaching of CRT in Arkansas schools. Does no one are that CRT is NOT being taught in any K-12 schools in America???? And yet, we continue to let these GQP zealots get away with the lies and the insults to our intelligence, hurting all of us in the whitewashing of history and the government overreach in our personal lives. And this is a WOMAN. Imagine where she stands on women’s rights to choose. So discouraging. Ron DeSantis continues to demean the marginalized in Florida and receives resounding applause. Now he wants to start sending the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor the parents who allow their children to attend drag shows, as some sort of child abuse. Drag shows???? What tiny percentage of life does that involve in Florida or anywhere? And yet, DeSantis builds his platform as the GQP’s Man of the Hour by all of these most un-Christian, wretched moves. And he wins a majority of votes in that state. What am I missing??? Praying that the Dems will stay united, determined, and mad as hell about what the GQP is doing to us. First and foremost, we must educate our large base to get out and vote for every election! That is the worst part. We could have won the House again if only more Democrats across the country had simply gone to vote. Sorry to be the Grinch. Looking for signs of changing winds coming our way.
Yes, I find it so ironic that our news is full of judgment (and rightly so) about the way women's rights are being beaten down in places like Afghanistan and Iran, and yet they seem to be somewhat blind to how it is happening also in the United States of America. They don't really do any in-depth analysis of things here.
THE MIDTERMS CONTINUE . . IN PENNSYLVANIA. You may have heard that Democrats have a 1 seat margin in the Pennsylvania General Assembly (the lower house). The Senate is solidly Republican. But right now there are at least 3 vacancies in traditionally Democratic districts (and 1 in a Republican Senate seat). Vacancies resulted from a death of one representative and the election of one representative to lieutenant governor and one to Congress.
Here's the skinny: the elections are coming SOON -- February 7. These three races are all “must wins” in order to keep a Democratic Majority in the Pennsylvania State House, where the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General are all Democrats, thanks to last November. By doing so, we will prevent the 80 odd proposed constitutional amendments hanging over Pennsylvania like a sword of Damocles from being placed on the ballot in the near future. Those proposed amendments cover everything from banning abortion to impairing voting rights (mail-in ballots, voter ID, etc.) and everything in between, like our new Governor’s ability to issue regulations and what can be taught or read in the schools.
The elections are incredibly important to Pennsylvania and nationally; winning all three will prevent turning the state over to the right wing. The proposed amendments are not only threats to individual Pennsylvanian's rights, but they are also designed to make it harder to elect Democrats in the critical next cycle.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: support the Pennsylvania Democrats at go.padems.com. Or contact your favorite grass roots group to check out their involvement. From past elections, I would say that the political work by the SEIU has been incredibly effective in these districts -- all three are located in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), traditionally the western anchor of Democratic support in Pennsylvania, but also a relatively expensive media market. Please help -- now!
Democrats have to in at the state level to be effective -- and this is just critical for 2024.
That web link isn't working now. Is padems.com (without "go.") the same?
Just donated. Thanks!
Just donated!
Yes, we must win these seats!
Donated at padems.com. Thanks!
From the for what it’s worth perspective, this is mine. Biden, Garland and other older folks in Biden’s administration are good people, but they make mistakes. Their staff works hard, but they get tired, distracted and worn thin from the demanding work, so they overlook things that may not seem important at the moment because something else needs to be done immediately.
Biden is beyond packing the stuff in his office and storing it when moving from one office into another. Younger folks working long days as they are learning how to function in an underpaid but demanding government job. They were responsible for getting Biden’s Vice Presidential materials out of the Obama facilities, so documents got tossed into transfer boxes that should not have gone where they ended up being stored. Stuff happens.
Should someone in the Biden administration taken time to look everywhere that Biden’s Obama administration materials were being stored immediately following the Trump document mess? Of course. That would have been the logical thing to do given the political atmosphere, and if it did, we would have never heard anything about that bit of housekeeping. That better housekeeping didn’t happen, and that’s a shame. But, so what? Unlike the Trump criminal fiasco, this is an uncomfortable messy nothing series of events. Please give Biden and Garland an old guy pass and move on.
I’m a few years younger than Biden. We’re both men of average abilities and intellect, but Biden is a much harder and dedicated worker than I am, and I’m very happy that he is willing to do what he is doing. He is a good pol. He knows how to get stuff done. I couldn’t do it, and I’m too selfish and lazy to do what President Biden has chosen to do. I feel the same way about Garland. They are good men, and I’m happy they are on our team and show up every day. This is a long fight, and if it was easy, any fool could do it. That’s why very few people choose the life, and why it is hard work. Please support and defend Biden and Garland whenever anyone bitches about them. It’ll help us get past this and soon this mess will be just a dumb memory.
Good counsel. And I say that as someone who does more than my fair share of complaining about Garland.
Forgive for not commenting for a while, we have a sick child. I do my best to keep up with my Substack reading. but don’t recalling reading about why this happens or what’s next as something is clearly not working in the process.
My question for you or your intelligent readers:
If this has happened to Biden, what about Obama and Bush? Any thoughts yet on what needs to be changed and who is responsible for fixing the process to avoid this in the future? Could trumps fingerprints be on this because he gutted whatever department is responsible?
Thank you! I needed that little shift in perspective. What occurred to me is that these two ”old guys” are the stabilizing aspects, as we shift from old paradigms of governance that are obviously outdated to new energy, new ideas and a new way to create systems that support the earth and the humans on her. I’m an alder gal myself.
Excellent reminder of perspective and real people doing real jobs.
Trump went out of his way to make Biden's transition into the White House more stressful and chaotic than it had to be, making the job of Biden's staffers harder than normal. This additional pressure on everybody could have led to more mistakes, such as this current Biden misplaced documents story.
No other outgoing president in modern history was as deliberately rude, withholding and disruptive to the incoming president as was the malignant narcissist.
Especially dangerous for America and difficult for Biden's people, the Trump White House instructed senior government leaders to block cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team. So Biden's team had no information on the pandemic or national security issues.
There were no background checks being done for applicants and no security clearances being done for potential staff. In fact, a Trump appointee to the GSA refused for a time to give the incoming Biden administration office space or computers after Biden's win, as was traditionally done to help ease the future move.
Reliably petty, Trump also fired the staff so there was no usher or butler to even open the White House doors for the new president and first lady.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/17/trump-blocking-biden-transition-436807
https://time.com/5909532/donald-trump-joe-biden-administration-transition/
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-digs-white-house-denying-biden-transition-pandemic/story?id=74278067
https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-reportedly-left-outside-white-house-trump-sent-staff-home-2021-1
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-transition-agencies-biden/2020/11/09/ad9f2ba2-22b7-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html
January 13, 2021 Trump moving out of the WH - I wondered then who was checking those boxes.
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/01/USA-TRUMP_-1-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=2048
Thank you got these insights! So true-- also trump is under potential indictment for the documents not because he took them but cause he wouldn’t return them. No comparison!
Really good post, J.P. Thank you!
Could not agree more!
Whenever some Republican accuses Democrats of hypocracy over the documents scandal, I ask that the accuser offer the prior times they criticized Trump for taking secret documents to his private club/residence. If the accuser can't cite the times, they need to shut-the-f**k-up.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Ciao from Italy! Did you know that there are 6.5 million US citizens living abroad and on average only 10% of us vote? One concrete action we can all take is to make sure that every US citizen you know who is living or studying abroad is registered to vote and has requested their overseas ballot. All US citizens have the right to vote -- even if it's been years since they've lived in the US or have NEVER lived in the US. If you have a US passport, you can vote! It's easy to do!! Go to www.votefromabroad.org the entire process can be done via a smartphone and there's help available via chat if someone has a tricky voting question.
www.votefromabroad.org
Hola from Mexico and as a member of Democrats Abroad I have to say the organization does an amazing to help it’s members vote and understand how to vote as well. As those of who are not living in the US continues to grow, this becomes and ever increasing group. Consider joining if you live off shore…
https://www.democratsabroad.org
Thanks for this information, Kelly. Our Indivisible group will use it when we promote voting for Oregon elections.
Do you belong to DemocratsAbroad? A very strong organization. Each country then has a branch. Here in Spain we are https://www.democratsabroad.org/es and are hugely active in getting to vote out as well as creating opportunities to help groups back home.
Here is a link to DA Italy. https://www.democratsabroad.org/it DA also holds hands for voters living abroad, making it so easy.
Yes! Thanks so much for reaching out. I'm part of the leadership team for Dems Abroad Italy. You're right - it's a very strong organization supporting US citizens living abroad not only on voting but also on important issues like taxation. I strongly urge any US citizen living abroad to get in touch with their country chapter!
Kelly, I'd even add to that: All U.S. citizens should be required to turn in a ballot. Signed, at least, even if abstaining from voting.
We are currently in Argentina where everyone MUST vote, no exceptions!
I think that is at least the bar that should be met. On the other hand, I’m not sure someone should be beat-up or arrested because they didn’t. The ability to vote for ( or against) should be easy and transparent with the security of anonymity ( seems a conundrum but it isn’t - we should be able to vote without our bet door neighbors knowing our bias if we do choose).
Tony The Democrat Postcards To Voters were written for both Aaron Rouse and Holly Siebold, both VA candidates won, postcards had to have helped.
Turnout, turnout, turnout.
GOTV seems to work.
There's another campaign going on now. Sign up with postcardstovoters.org :-D
The Civics Center has a campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election coming up April 4.
Thanks, Beth. I’d like to clarify info about that particular election. It is for the seat of a Republican who is retiring, and there are 4 people running for the seat, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Right now the makeup of this court is 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Were a Democrat to win the election, the court would shift to the left. While this is a non partisan seat, the political and judicial stances of these candidates can affect the outcome of decisions they make down the road, thus the importance of this election.
Most websites I’ve gone to are only focusing on the April 4th election when, in fact, there happens to be a Primary election on Feb 21st for this seat. And the top 2 vote getters on Feb 21st go on to the Election of April 4th. We have a chance to get one or both of the Democrats to be on the April ticket by getting them to be the top vote getters in February, but only if all the postcard writing and phone banking organizations start focusing on February and not simply on April.
Finally, apparently Wisconsin voters must reregister each year to be a Vote By Mail voter, and that deadline is rapidly approaching. Can’t find the article where I read about this aspect of the election, however it seems to be about 2 wks before each election.
Please pass this info on to any organization you know who is working on this election so we don’t end up with the 2 Republicans on the April ballot.
I would like to second the importance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. The Republican controlled court has been the most extreme partisan court in the country. They have enabled Wisconsin to be the most gerrymandered state in our country. They have supported the most extreme positions, including voter repression. This is by far, the most important election in our country in 2023. And for the record, I am not from, nor do I live in Wisconsin. This is the crucial election to allow Wisconsin to break free of the strangle hold of the extreme far right.
I am writing postcards to WI voters today!
Me. too.
Cathleen, thanks for this heads up on this election, especially re the top two Primary Election in Feb.
Here is a link to find out more on requesting an absentee ballot in WI: https://elections.wi.gov/voters/voting-mail
Angela, Activate America is also sending addresses for postcards for the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice election. I’n doing some of these, too.
Join Our Postcard Campaign. Urge young people to vote for a new WI Supreme Court Justice on April 4.
https://secure.everyaction.com/ahB8lqC6OkafTY-YJ5YjgQ2?
Kathy,
Looked up your postcard campaign — terrific, inviting WI young people to Register then to vote in the April Supreme Court election.
Thanks, Nancy,to clarify it’s not my campaign ( I’m a postcarder in Florida) but love the idea of engaging young voters !
Great, Kathy!
Democrats have passed the baton to the younger generations for 2023 and forward.
Thank you. I was trying to condense a bunch of info into a shorter statement. It is clear on this particular organization's website that there is more work to do before the April 4 date. However, for postcards at this point the deadline to mail is for the election itself. And the focus is on young voters. Indeed, lots and lots of opportunities and organizations to get involved.
The current Postcards To Voters campaign is for the PA February 2 Special Election date.
Soon!
The events of this week cost me to make a decision: I am going to listen to less cable news and try to reduce the amount of repetition that goes through my brain of the pettiness of the Republicans and the clutter of noise around miss steps by Biden, or the slowness of DOJ to move against Trump. I also vowed to wait for the Hubbell Evening Herald for quality news and commentary.
It’s better to take in less noise and stay focused on doing things that will matter for victory in 2024: I may start writing postcards with everything but the address so that I can build up an arsenal to help keep the trend going in our favor.
Hi, Paula. My wife has had exactly the same reaction to this most recent series of events. You are not alone.
Get some support of like-minded people if you’re just starting writing postcards. Where are you located? If anywhere in Eastern or Cantral time zones, consdider joining into Markers for Democracy’s Zoom meetings many mornings (and Weds nights) while passionately Blue women like you write postcards and the latest candidates and activist leaders appear to speak. I never leave a Zoom without feeling energized, re-dedicated, with new actions to take, and a bunch of postcards written. https://www.markersfordemocracy.org/
If you’re in or around Los Angeles check out CIvic Sundays. They run lots of group postcarding and other outreach.
Civic Sundays ✅
I am on vacation overseas with my family and I feel
Liberated from watching cable news. I feel much less stressed reading the news than hearing talking pundits all day. Also feel less need to drink (although we are in Ireland😬). I’m vowing to keep my watching to Nicolle at 4 est. I’m also vowing not to give up --that’s what “they” want us to do.
Have fun in Ireland!!!
I'd love an explanation of why lawyers instead of office assistants, clerks, and such were cleaning out Biden's office. And why they were cleaning it out TWO YEARS, not 2 days or 2 weeks, after he left that position. Was that office vacant for 2 years? The timing of this whole mess is weird; it's almost got me thinking it's a Conspiracy to Get Biden.
Laurie, my understanding is that the lawyers were there because Biden asked them. Perhaps a staff member remembered not returning some documents and Biden tasked his lawyers because they have the legal credibility to satisfy any doubt if anything was found. You wouldn't want your neighbor or family to search for something like that!
His office very well could have been vacant since he left office--his name is on the building.
Hope this possible scenario helps....
Biden may have needed someone with a security clearance to lol for the documents in case classified documents were there. Hence cleared lawyers instead of lowly assistants may have done the search.
That too.
I agree. This seems right out of a Roger Stone playbook
More like 6 years. The office was from Biden's time as VP, which ended when the orange ogre was "elected."
I think it was also used afterward, for some time. Not sure how long.
Benghazi, Hillary’s emails, Hunter’s laptop, Joe’s docs….yawn!!!!
Take some time this weekend to close your eyes and listen to MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech, or watch a film of the presentation in Washington. Transformative!!!!
I love your thinking, Mike!!!
I'm in! Imagining that others join us, as Janet R did hours before me, and on Monday morning, we share a line or two or more from an MLK speech or quote that resonates. What can I say ... I'm a dreamer!
Thank you, Jean. I, too, am a dreamer. As such, I will offer a song for Monday morning.
10:30 am PST on Zoom.
ID 691 857 1800. The song is Dreamers On the Rise by John Stewart, inspired by the deaths of JFK, RFK and MLK.
I hope some folks will Zoom in for a listen.
I will be there, Mike. Seems your offering comes at a time when we need some soothing, and on a fitting day ~ weekend, of remembrance. 'til then.
Yes, Janet! How stunning a line is this! After receiving Mike's comments this morning I thought of Imagine, one of my favorite songs ever! And then I thought of California Dreamers followed by watching The Mamas & the Papas on YouTube. Then I listened to MLK I Have A Dream speech. My heart is feeling full. Seems a better alternative to the heavy-hearted feeling of despair. 💜✌💜
Check out “activateamerica.com“ for latest postcard campaigns. There’s something coming up in Pennsylvania for three state legislature seats.
Per Daily Docket, “ A Pennsylvania court denied state Rep. Bryan Cutler’s (R) request to block the Allegheny County Board of Elections and Pennsylvania Department of State from holding special elections for three state House vacancies. The elections, scheduled for Feb. 7, will go forward.”
This one is a biggie. If Democrats win they will control the house (in PA)
IGPGH, a coalition of Indivisible groups and others in the Pittsburgh, PA, region is doing postcarding for these three elections which will be held on February 7. If you are interested in doing postcards right now to support the candidates running for these seats, contact debra...@gmail.com. Getting Democrats elected is important as the majority is so close. It's only 1 vote difference and Democrats have the majority for the first time in over a decade.
Ooh, hot off the press!
Thank you, Annette, for calling attention to the sand in our shoes. I'm happy to keep dumping out the Biden classified documents news and commentaries. And instead spend a moment imagining my bare feet in the sand at a seashore, wiggling my toes and breathing in the fresh sea air for energy replenishment!
Jessica Craven readers are also highly recommending Michael Moore's podcast. I'm sold and adding it to my weekend. Thank you, John and Margo, for the Episode 12 summary tip.
In the name of "know thy enemy" to inform our work effectively, NYT just published a long overdue expose of George Santos. I suspect that Santos' vulnerability study was concerning to conventional Republicans--but was kompromat gold by a Kremlin playbook, a la Trump. Santos is owned by puppeteers well beyond Trump and Kevin McCarthy, and we are likely to see more like him.
https://twitter.com/duty2warn/status/1614060211345723392?s=20
On Twitter is a bit that Santos is AKA George Devolder.
https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1614026396879175682?s=20
Speaking of Spain and soul cleansing, enjoy some flamenco from this family:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnNoRL-DZqc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
And this knitting dad Willie Smith is so adorable, I just might learn to knit!
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjEjvLtILF4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Happy weekend, everyone! Time to breathe!
Thanks for the links to the mood lifters, Ellie. 💞 It's too easy to get caught in the Niagara Falls of craziness and forget to head to an eddy for some rest.
Can always count on you, Ellie!
Hope you're staying warm and dry on a very rainy day!
Trying to! Intermittent downpours…crazy! Did manage a 2.5 mile walk with my dog, somehow, so I guess that ‘s a plus. :)
And you?
Yep, shorter but more frequent walks with the dogs, some with and some without the downpours!
Thanks Robert for everything you do. My take is that Biden’s mistake is nothing compared to Ts. First Biden maintained his security clearance upon leaving office while T did not. Second Biden did not obstruct Justice. We cannot let the Rs use this to take attention away from their incompetence and evil plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, etc. we need to work harder at controlling the narrative. May I recommend Simon Rosenberg’s presentation on “with Democrats Things Get Better “ https://www.ndn.org/. This will cheer you up. We need to take control of the narrative!
Thank you for posting this link, Dale.
Aaron Rouse won his special Election in VA 19,430 to 19, 082. PostcardsToVoters.org volunteers sent 11,209 handwritten postcards into Virginia to remind Democrats to vote. Calls were made, funds donated.
Three super important Special Elections are coming up on February 7th for Pennsylvania State House. We won a majority in November: 102-101. But one rep died, another moved to Congress and 3rd became Lt. Gov. We need to defend our majority so we have it for 2024. And on Feb 21st, we have a Special Election for US Congress in VA! Important elections coming up. Hopefully we will write for these, too! And for Wisconsin! Every postcard could be a vote! Thanks if you are helping already. If haven't tried it yet, you can order stamps online at usps.com and get postcards via the postcardstovoters.org website or on Amazon.
IT feels great to help!
Working on VA's special election of Jennifer McClellan on February 21. Thanks, Sarah!
Lynell, I have written for postcards to voters and want to write for McClellan. When I texted Abby the bot, of course I got assigned someone else’s campaign. That’s ok, but I really want to write for McClellan. Do you have advice? Anyone else have an idea?
Thank you.
I usually write with Center for Common Ground, which I really like. I do get nervous that with CGC we can’t be partisan as they are a voting rights organization. Arg. Just wanna put my pennies and time in the best pocket.
Hi Colleen. PostcardsToVoters.org is definitely going to be doing Jennifer McClellan's race. The election is not until Feb. 21st but I know Early Voting has started in VA. I'm not sure when the launch date is but if you go on Abby the Bot and choose "99" for "Help" and then you choose "97" to turn on text alerts, you will get an alert by text every time a new campaign is launched. So as soon as McClellan is launched, you will get a text. There are not extra texts. Only one per new candidate launch. It's great. And you can turn alerts off anytime, of course.
Hey, Colleen. I found this link that might help. I haven't fully activated yet, but hopefully it will cover McClellan's campaign.
https://postcards4va.com/
I just activated and found Jennifer McClellan's name right away. First you have to register/signup. Afterward you create your account w/ password. Then they send you instructions for activating your account. After that, all you have to do is submit how many postcards you are going to send and they automatically provide you with addresses.
Hope this helps!
Omigosh. Thank you so much for doing the sleuthing for me. I will definitely check it out and let you know. I really do appreciate your help! 😘
Most things don't come easy for me. This site really was easy!
Hi Sarah! It sure does feel good. I just recommended Markers for Democracy meetings to Paula Golden, above!
Thank you Robert for labeling it Bingo because it is a game: Crisis Bingo. The point is to keep you focusing on the GOP and their antics, the media plays its supporting role and everyone plays. Why do they do it & why do we play in? Perhaps we won’t notice that are real problems such as poverty, climate crisis, homelessness are not being addressed. What do you think? Pat Sax
A mell of a hess! I just read a NYT article about disaffected ethnic and national volunteers who are coming to the aid of Ukraine. Chechnians, Uigars, Turkics, others who speak Russian, have joined the fray. There will be dancing in the streets for victory over all that has suppressed them in the past, if they help Ukraine win.
We pray to God for the Ukraine and the rest of Europe where 2 wars (physical and financial) are taking place. We pray to God that this war stops, that the many many casualties, the enormous negative financial side effects and all those other repercussions which we all know about, take an end, that they don`t persist.
Europe is suffering its worst crisis since the Second World War and everybody asks: why? Is it necessary to sabotage gas pipe lines? Is it necessary to sanction those who are not at war with anybody? Is it necessary to let people freeze and starve because their homes have been massively bombed? Is it necessary to ignore that this war is causing a huge financial collapse not only to the people of the European countries but also to their land, to their homes, to their families and their economies. Of course, it`s Putins actions and his wrongdoings and his violence I am talking about, his dictatorship.
It's not necessary at all, but it is Putin's play book and Russian political history play book. Look
at Russia's history with Ukraine
during WWII. Their agreement with
Hitler's Germany. While none of any
of this is necessary, I can understand why Ukraine would
fight to the last man, or building
standing. I don't believe it will come
to that though. I pray there will be
a peaceful resolution.
I'm deaf Robert and have no TTY here. Here's my email:
Plesaides@gmail.com
I suspect Biden will be exonerated. And I recognize that his behavior is completely different from trump’s. My point is that we shouldn’t moan and groan over this but rather let the investigations run their course and let the republicans continue to show their hypocrisy.
And always mute your device and look away when the wrestling coach from Ohio grabs a mic! He’s poison.
Excellent medical advice, Colleen. There won't be one truthful or useful syllable in the deliberately loud and aggravating word salad that comes spitting out of Gym's mouth for the next two years. It's amazing how a man of his age is so proud of being a bully whose super power is disseminating lies at warp speed. It's a total waste of time and personal tranquility to listen to anything he says.
There are days when I feel it would be great to be as misinformed, self-righteous, loud, and self-gratified as the GQP seems to be. As I heard Wanda Sykes repeat in a recent live show, “it’s hard to be a Democrat.” We care so much, and we want things to be fair, equal, and just. It seems such a simple formula, and we were much further along that journey until Trump unleashed the hounds of Hell in the GQP, creating a base and leaders who are intent to reinstate a white, faux Christian, male patriarchy again - as if that were the good ol’ days! With the Biden documents, so different than those of Trump at Mar-a-largo, we are set back again in bringing this repeat offender to justice. How the hell does he do it???? The crimes mount up, his minions take the bullet, and he lives to tweet another day! We all new that having this GQP in charge of the House would be atrocious, and it has lived up to that vision from Day One. The fact that they want to continue punishing women for being pregnant, and never mention the men who got them that way, is heart-breaking. They’ve already stolen women’s rights in over half the states. Enough already! And we seem powerless to do anything in our current environment. This week, I watched an excellent segment on Ari Melber’s newscast on MSNBC which outlined the success that women had in the midterms, winning 12 governorships. Of course, that’s nothing compared to all the other male governors, but it’s better than where it was. He mentioned the Democrats, but also the Republican women, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas, and wished them all well. Right on cue, the next day Sanders issues an Executive order to ban the use of the word “Latinx” in any official government document, and for good measure, then banned the teaching of CRT in Arkansas schools. Does no one are that CRT is NOT being taught in any K-12 schools in America???? And yet, we continue to let these GQP zealots get away with the lies and the insults to our intelligence, hurting all of us in the whitewashing of history and the government overreach in our personal lives. And this is a WOMAN. Imagine where she stands on women’s rights to choose. So discouraging. Ron DeSantis continues to demean the marginalized in Florida and receives resounding applause. Now he wants to start sending the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor the parents who allow their children to attend drag shows, as some sort of child abuse. Drag shows???? What tiny percentage of life does that involve in Florida or anywhere? And yet, DeSantis builds his platform as the GQP’s Man of the Hour by all of these most un-Christian, wretched moves. And he wins a majority of votes in that state. What am I missing??? Praying that the Dems will stay united, determined, and mad as hell about what the GQP is doing to us. First and foremost, we must educate our large base to get out and vote for every election! That is the worst part. We could have won the House again if only more Democrats across the country had simply gone to vote. Sorry to be the Grinch. Looking for signs of changing winds coming our way.
Yes, I find it so ironic that our news is full of judgment (and rightly so) about the way women's rights are being beaten down in places like Afghanistan and Iran, and yet they seem to be somewhat blind to how it is happening also in the United States of America. They don't really do any in-depth analysis of things here.