Hello Widdershins! This past Sunday, Mr. MadamaB and I went to an Indivisible GOTV event in San Francisco. I thought I’d share how it went with you.
The event was a postcard/letter writing party at a local bar. (It’s a fun place – Tommy’s Joynt.) It started out a bit rocky. We arrived on time, but as more and more people arrived, we were still waiting for the organizers. It turned out that there was a mix-up – we were supposed to have gone to another place (Standard Deviant – cute name, eh?), but never got the memo. As I quoted at the time, “I don’t belong to an organized political party – I’m a Democrat.”
Eventually we got in touch with one of the event’s leaders, and she came to Tommy’s with supplies in hand. She told us that while postcards are good, the data has shown, the letter is better!
The way it works is, you have a form letter with a few empty spots you fill in, for that personal touch. On Sunday, we were writing to registered Democrats in Florida who don’t typically vote in mid-term elections. (Yes, I know – Florida. These were residents of Miami and Miami Beach, so I think they had mailboxes – and houses.) At the bottom of each letter is a different addressee’s name and address, and we hand-addressed each salutation. The text of the letter is mostly filled in, and is encouraging and non-partisan.
It was up to us to write something personal after the sentence, “I vote in every election because…” and we couldn’t write things like, “I’m not a f*cking ingrate” or “I care what happens to this country, unlike you” or “You didn’t vote in 2016. The Mango Moron is your fault!” SIGH. They’re quashing my creativity! So I wrote two things, either “I am proud to live in a country where voting is my right and privilege” or “I want high-quality health care for everyone,” depending on my mood. Hubby wrote “the future of this nation is in our hands.”
At the bottom we signed our first names, and then we hand-addressed each envelope, hubby complaining all the way. (Yes, our hands got tired. Amazing how we’ve all gotten used to typing, right?)
I have to say, the whole experience was pretty great. We met some really nice people, including our tablemate who brought us a song to get us in the mood (she had written a version of “Swing Low” that went “Swing Left.”), and who told us she gets emails from conservative political operatives at Townhall, who are freaking out over the election. Another tablemate explained to us that she was originally from Missoula, Montana, and it’s a liberal place, and that Drumpf would NOT be welcome there. And she was right! He had to change the original location – hahahahaha.
The Bernie/Hillary divide did manifest itself a bit. There was a couple in their 30’s that came in and sat at a small table by themselves…eventually the woman started talking, and she said, “I think if everyone has a good education and health care, all our problems will be solved.”
Did I mention she and her husband were white and clearly well-off? And that they had self-identified earlier, in a shrugging and somewhat embarrassed way, as Bernie supporters?
When I heard that talking point, I couldn’t help weighing in. I mentioned that racism and sexism won’t be cured by the existence of universal health care (DUH), and that racism and sexism were key motivators for Trumpsters, and really, all Republicans now. Eventually the tension dissolved as I agreed with the point that early education, especially progressive education, can only help open peoples’ minds to other points of view. But man, these people can be thick!
Anyway, I can’t wait to do it again, and I highly recommend you go out and do something like it. It will really make you feel good, and it will do good too. We ended up, as a group, writing about 2500 letters in just a few hours. Not bad for a day’s work.
This is an open thread.
- In: 2018 Election | lazy weekend | Music
- 38 Comments
Hi gang. Hope your weekend is going well. I find it hilarious that the crazy right is annoyed by Eric Holder saying “When they go low, we kick ’em”. Of course they are leaving out the last part – ‘nothing illegal of course’. Where would they be if they couldn’t take words out of context? My reply to them is “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Regarding Madamab and Quixote’s recent posts, it’s time to fight! No matter how discouraged we may be, we have to gather the strength to fight back at every turn. I’m thrilled to see all the national media attention of our hateful, racist SOS running for Governor in Georgia. Georgia started going deep red when former Republican SOS Cathy Cox introduced Diebold voting machines years ago with no paper trail. Coincidence? I don’t think so. If Brian Kemp wins Georgia by cheating – anything, the least innocuous – I want to see lawsuits flying at him from six different directions. At least, the results should be scrutinized like never before.
I also want to see the courts continue to smack, or at least, slow down Trump’s terrible policies. I want to see deep reporting on Trump’s foreign bank entanglements. But, right now I want to see a whole lot of Republicans lose in November. That will get the ball rolling.
Let’s hear some music about strength, strong, fighting and fighting back.
Unspoken – Good Fight
Chicago Feeling Stronger Everyday
Christina Aguilera – Fighter
Shaggy – Strength of a Woman
Raleigh Ritchie – Stronger Than Ever
You didn’t think I would forget this one from the Convention, did ‘ya? We need it more than ever.
“Our Fight Song”
Let’s get to it. Open thread.
The enablers, Republicans in the US case, say we have to maintain civility to the syndicate (and the enablers themselves, of course) at all costs.
While the ship of state is falling apart around us, the trusty Democrats scurry around trying to figure out which salad fork to use so that Emily Post McTurtle won’t sneer at them.
Hillary, as always, says it well: “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for.”
But, zomg, then what to do?! We can’t sink to their level! Right?! !Eleventy!
I’m going to be serious for a second and shout the obvious answer:
You speak the truth. You call things what they are. You stop worrying about Repub fee-fees.
No, it’s not civil. No, you wouldn’t do it at a garden party. This is not a goddamn garden party.
You don’t shut down your most direct truthtellers. Maxine Waters, bless her, can’t be shut down. But give her a megaphone! Alan Grayson — remember Alan Grayson? The Repub health plan was don’t get sick, and if you do, die quickly — was somehow shut down and disappeared. Al Franken was bundled off by what looks to me a lot like a Rove-style plot to blow backstage comedy trip weirdness, in which all participated, out of proportion. Maizie Hirono is brilliant. Give her another megaphone!
Impeachment? Sure, if you’re Pelosi, you can point out that enablers in the Senate would make it a waste of time, but make it clear: impeachment for treason is deserved. It’s what checks and balances are for. It’s not the same as using it to try to kneecap a popular president with a popular agenda.
So, stop being civil. In the service of truth. Not lies. It’s that simple.
Apologies about all the shouting. But … honestly.
Crossposted from Acid Test
Have you all seen this video of Lady Gaga on Stephen Colbert’s show? It’s gone viral. For the words about the Kavanaugh confirmation, start around 3 minutes in.
A bell rang deep within me when Gaga said that trauma changes the brain; that the brain puts the pain in a box and shuts it, so we can survive. I realized that, since the day Drumpf stole the Presidency, I have been living with the pain of that day, and that box, while shut, has had some leaks.
Since November 8, 2016, I have lost some of my sparkle, my joie de vivre. My writing has become more direct, more bland, more generic. Satire is impossible; nothing is more absurd than the fantasy world the Republicans are trying to force down our throats. The plays I used to write don’t come out any more, as I have trouble finding humor in almost anything.
My brain functions more slowly now…I struggle to form sentences quickly and speak smoothly, as I used to. I lose focus at work, because my full heart isn’t in it. I am more prone to depression, to tears, to anxiety.
I’m a natural extrovert; yet, I’ve become more retiring, more reluctant to meet new people. I’m afraid any new person I meet may have voted for the Mango Moron, and I just don’t want people like that in my life. I don’t want to speak to them; I don’t want to sympathize with them; I don’t want to hear their excuses for voting for a racist, misogynist, authoritarian thug.
I have been changed, while the box strained and bulged and the pain and sorrow leaked through.
When the story about Dr. Ford broke, that box opened for me. All the psychic trauma of the past two years came rushing out, along with the memories of my own experiences with threatening men and sexual harassment. Online, I read countless, horrifying stories of women and men, recounting their own #MeToo moments.
Yet as terrible as this was to go through, something unexpected happened after Kavanaugh was confirmed.
I felt better. No, not just better: I felt my brain start to work again. The pall over my emotions lifted. I suddenly realized what was wrong, and that clarity gave me the strength to deal with it.
I was changed again.
Make no mistake, we are living in dreadful times. Drumpf now says he won’t fire Rosenstein. Why should he? Rosenstein helped rig the sham FBI investigation that Flake and Collins used as an excuse to vote for Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh is the guy Trump thinks will fix any consequences of the Mueller investigation for him and his children. More than that – he will help get all of Drumpf’s dreadful, un-American initiatives past court challenges that have, so far, held them up. The Muslim ban. The transgender ban in the military. Family separation. Babies in jail. Overturning Roe v. Wade. Killing the Affordable Care Act. Deporting legal immigrants back to their “shithole countries.” Etc., etc., etc.
But there’s nothing we can do about that now. We all did everything we could, and we caused a lot of “good trouble,” as John Lewis called it. In the end, the Republicans narrowly managed to elevate their pet sociopath to the Supreme Court.
Now, we focus like lasers on getting out the vote on November 6th. Because if we can get control of Congress, impeachment will be on the table – not just for Drumpf, but for Kavanaugh.
I’m sharp, I’m feeling everything, and I’m ready to work hard for the #BlueTsunami.
How about you?
This is an open thread.
Weekend Music – Follow the money
Posted on: October 7, 2018
- In: lazy weekend | Music
- 26 Comments
Welp. It looks like someone was finally able to unearth some of the financial shenanigins of the Trump family. Yeah, it was a big story for about half a day. Too bad they’re three years too late. We’ll be hearing a lot of ‘statue of limitations’ blah,blah, blah. It will take New York years to bring a case. So what if he ends up owing a 400 million dollar fine? Although it would be interesting if he couldn’t pay and ending up having to sell one of his properties. No foreign bank can bail him out of that. And what about his siblings and kids? I assume they’ve been doing the same. They just pay the fines – if they’re ever caught.
What we really need to know is after the 90’s when US banks wouldn’t lend to him because he was such a failure. How long will it take to dig that up? 2024? Everybody (mostly) knew he was a crook and a con. I’m still pissed at those Republicans in the primary who let him run all over him. They must have done zero opposition research.
So let’s do some music about money – for those that have it and those who don’t.
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money (live at the Nobel Peace Prize concert)
Willie Nelson – If You’ve Got the Money, Honey…
ABBA – Money, Money, Money
Jennifer Lopez – Dinero
Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything
Drake White – That Don’t Cost a Dime
Open thread.
Photo via AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Last week (on Sweet Sue’s birthday!) Republican Senator Jeff Flake shocked us all with his sudden decision to request an FBI hearing before a full Senate vote is held on the Least Popular SCOTUS Nominee Ever, Brett “I like beer” Kavanaugh. While I had hoped and prayed to the Goddess that Flake would stand up for what’s right, I have to admit I didn’t think it would happen. But somehow, it did.
What made the difference, I wonder? Could it have been this?
You have to look at his face. Senator Flake looks pained, sad, and slightly nauseous. That’s the face of a man who knows he’s got to do something big, something he doesn’t want to do, but that his conscience will not permit him to avoid doing.
Jeff Flake, since his stunning moment during the Judiciary Committee, has since continued to surprise.
When he found out that Drumpf was only allowing a sham investigation, he publicly stated it would not be enough to get him to a “yes” vote.
Flake: FBI must do a ‘real investigation’
When asked whether Kavanaugh’s lying under oath would disqualify him from sitting on SCOTUS, Flake responded “Oh yes,” without a second’s hesitation.
Could it be that he’s a no vote regardless? It certainly reads that way to me. Why else is he doing all of this?
I think we should keep calling Collins, Flake and Murkowski. They have all been seeming less and less comfortable with toeing the party line.
#TheResistance is working. Keep the faith.
This is an open thread.
- In: lazy weekend | Music | Videos
- 35 Comments
Hi gang! How’s it going? I see Fredster’s countdown thingy on the sidebar is down to 2.3 years to go. Years, people, years. Ugh. How did we make it this far? I guess we’ll keep hanging in until his time is up or Congress comes to their senses and decide it’s time for the madman to go. (which will be the twelfth of never)
In 2016, the 2018 midterms seemed so far away. Now it’s just around the corner and I’m nervous. How can we be sure of anything with voter suppression, hackable voting machines, Russians crawling around in the voter rolls and out-right voter purges by our own damn politicians?! We can’t. All we can do is wait and bide our time.
Let’s do some music related to time.
Chicago – Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is? (check your volume)
Matchbox 20 – 3 AM
The Rolling Stones – Time Is On My Side (lots of screaming fans here)
Pink Floyd – Time (again, check volume)
Maria Muldaur – Midnight At The Oasis
REO Speedwagon – Time For Me To Fly
This should be pretty easy. Open Thread.
Comments