reckoningofjoy

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writetothem.com

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As always, it's extremely important to contact your Republican electeds. They need it. Even if they're corrupt as hell, even if they're maximally useless, forcing them and their staff to maintain a modicum of awareness that they're answerable to engaged constituents who disapprove of what they're doing is not. For most of these assholes, it's way too easy to think of themselves and their godawful actions in office as much more popular than they really are. Even if they'll never do what's right, their bubbles need to be pierced and pierced again.

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BE MAD BE SAD BUT DONT U DARE GIVE UP

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This campaign is at 82% of its goal to adopt Wisconsin voters, keep going!

Vote Forward is back! The current campaign is to increase voter turnout for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election coming up on April 1!

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Vote Forward is back! The current campaign is to increase voter turnout for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election coming up on April 1!

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Hang in There!

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The Democrats on the House Science Committee have set up a website to collect stories from fired federal employees, anonymously if desired. Please amplify. (This helps the lawyers establish standing for bringing legal cases against the administration!)

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My new Congresswoman had her first virtual town hall (over 9500 people joined the call), along with our Attorney General (both Democrats). They confirmed the Democrats are hearing a lot of complaints about the South African, and they're also hearing from a bunch of people about the immigration crackdowns.

They emphasized that the last time Trump was in office, they had over an 80% success rate in court with him.

Confirmed that Trump's anti-trans laws are in conflict with states with laws that force insurance to cover trans healthcare. OR/WA/MN are the states leading the charges in the courts and they feel pretty confident they will win.

Brought up how the Congressional Dems tried to bring up the Stop Musk Act, the Saving Civil Service Act; and the Veterans Affairs Committee is pushing back hard against the firings. Democrats are trying to get a formal hearing on DOGE, and said if the Republicans don't cooperate, they'll try to hold their own hearing.

Confirmed the courts have been agreeing that Elon and Trump have exceeded their authority with unlawfully cutting spending.

They encourage federal workers who have been fired or are in danger to whistleblow to the Democrats so they can help them sue. They recognize the fear of people worried about retaliation but emphasized the Democrats cannot help if people do not come forward.

AG said that certain states have more power to fight in the courts than others depending on how much Trump's EOs affect their individual states. So states with more federal workers (VA/MD/etc) are the ones who are holding the microphones, with other states that don't have as many federal workers backing them up.

People in the town hall overwhelmingly said "protecting democracy" is the most important issue.

Emphasized that Congress has the power of the purse and no funds have been approved in Congress to detain immigrants at Gitmo. Our state Democrats are not deputizing local authority to work with ICE and will not work with the Trump with anything that violates sanctuary state laws.

Said massive numbers of people were calling in when Elon and DOGE were messing around with our security data.

Democrats are overwhelmingly hearing from constituents to be bold (altho they're also hearing people demand they do things they can't, like arrest Elon). They emphasize that the definition of "bold" depends on the district you're in; deep blue district Democrats can be bolder than purple or especially red district Democrats, so be understanding that not every Democrat can get away with what deep blue Dems can.

Admitted sometimes Democrats hold back too long because they want to know what the "right thing" to say is before they respond to something, but they said that the Dems are working on a rapid response team to get over this hurdle.

Their messages going forward will be short, simple, and basically at an Eighth Grade reading level.

Emphasized they are not going to help the Republicans with budget votes without concessions.

Emphasized Democrats are even more unified now than the first Trump admin, which will make them more efficient.

Emphasized that Republicans control both chambers. Democrats will do what they can, but there's only so much they can as the minority party. Putting pressure on Republicans - especially on bipartisan issues like FEMA - will help more than dragging Dems.

Said the most effective thing individual people can do is be active and loud at all levels of government (they confirmed it's having an impact; it helps that Dems can say "Over 2,000 constituents told me to take a stand against Elon"). Make sure people know their rights.

State laws exist independent of the Trump admin. Get involved in contacting your local and state governments.

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"In the summer of 2024, When Lori Bradley found out about a North Adams/Mass Audubon land management plan that would log around 70 acres next to the Notch Road Reservoir (known locally as The Notch) and use herbicides near the city’s watershed, she started a Facebook group in opposition to the plan. 

The targeted site, off Notch Road on the wooded west end of North Adams leading to Mount Greylock, is the home of the Bellows Pipe Trail. Neighbors were concerned about the potential removal of old-growth trees and the impact logging could have on the water supply, so activity on the Facebook group soon picked up steam. 

Opposition to the plan swelled, with 2,000 petition signatures, multiple City Hall protests, packed council meetings, and offers of help from other activists in the region like Nobel laureate Bill Moomaw and soil scientist Glen Ayers. Due to the coordinated community pressure, the city dropped the plan in December."

A short article but a great how-to example of local organizing.

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The Sound of Music (1965) dir. Robert Wise

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since it’s a scary time to be trans: refuge restrooms is an app which maps gender-neutral/single-stall restrooms. it’s community-mapped, so it’s possible you might be the first person to log the restroom locations, but hopefully it’ll help some people.

please reblog this post if you’ve got trans followers. stay safe.

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The Sound of Music (1965) dir. Robert Wise

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https://twitter.com/coff33detective/status/1271463582312673281

“make yourselves impossible to ignore. 10,000 signatures on twitter is a lot but 10 unique personal emails is enough to derail an entire council session.”

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If Hadestown has a moral, she says, then it’s “you have to try, you have to have hope, not because success is a given – it’s not. Orpheus fails. We heroicise” – here she breaks off to apologise that jet lag has led to her making up words – “we heroicise Orpheus not because he succeeds but because he tries, and that endeavour alone is worthwhile. How to live, and not merely survive, is to believe things could change.”

Anaïs Mitchell on her musical Hadestown: 'I worked on it so long I was afraid I'd never make another record'

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Lol and also lmao

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i don't know what else to tell you except to be brave and to be kind. take it day by day. go outside and watch the clouds paint the sky. call a friend.

we are still here, and furious. you are still here, and that matters. you can still do and make and be something important. i promise. stay alive. it matters, and you matter. i know it is easy to succumb to anxiety and exhaustion and defeat.

communities can start with tiny ideas. google "dnd meeting near me" or whatever your interest might be. google "volunteering near me." google "support groups near me." start journalling. start a discord. start a book club.

when you close your eyes and hear hamlet, answer his prayer: it's better still to be.