It is summer – usually a slow time for politics even in Washington – but Donald Trump continues to outrage the world daily. As we write, Trump is tearing down the post World War II alliance that America built and guided for more than 60 years. In its place Trump has embraced Vladimir Putin - the tyrannical leader of a hostile power that helped Trump’s campaign in 2016. In fact, at press time we read of, and agreed with, Senator John McCain’s scathing evaluation of Trump’s appearance with Putin as “…one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” This will not end until Trump and his enablers are defeated at the polls in 2018 and 2020. In the meantime, protest and resistance matter on so many fronts. Keep on Resisting!
Because we have resisted, millions still have health care under the Affordable Care Act, the ultra-corrupt Scott Pruitt is gone and the Department of Homeland Security claims it will reunite 200 families a day in the coming weeks. Now is a good time to catch up on the ongoing opportunities for resistance. Here is a partial list of Trumpian actions that we must continueto protest and resist. Choose to do something this week and appreciate that you are part of a sprawling, organic political movement that is vital if there is ever to be an end to this horror show.
Call To Action
Call your Senators and/or Representatives
- Supreme Court: Call both of your Senators EARLY AND OFTEN. Demand that the vote on Brett Kavanaugh be delayed until after the mid-term elections. Tell your Senators that Judge Kavanaugh MUST answer questions on whether Roe v Wade (abortion rights), Obergefell v Hodges (gay marriage) and, yes, even Brown v Board of Education (separate education is not equal education) should stand as precedent and settled law.
- Protection of Immigrants and Refugees: Express your support for a permanent path to citizenship for DACA recipients. Demand Congressional investigations into the abusive conditions under which detainees are being held and the violations of international law with regard to those seeking asylum. Criminalization of asylum seeking is a direct violation of international treaties that the US has signed.
- Protecting the Affordable Care Act: Demand Congressional action in response to attacks on the Affordable Care Act. In violation of the ACA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are halting the collection and distribution of billions of dollars in annual payments to insurers to even out the costs to customers who need expensive medical services. They are also making steep funding cuts to sign up assistance through state-based agencies.
Personal Action:
- It is still July Without Plastics month. Use the following websites to find ways to reduce your use of plastic now and in the future in order to protect oceans and reduce environmental degradation
- Decide which local campaigns you will support this election season by helping with get out the vote efforts, financial donations or other forms of volunteerism. We can’t win if we don’t work. We know the supporters of Trump will be out there!
- It is summer! Go watch a resistance movie. Here are some suggestions in theaters and streaming this summer
- RGB– Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of the heroes of the resistance
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor– the Mr. Rogers movie, a true hero of civil discourse and decency.
- Shock and Awe– when George W Bush decided he wanted to go to war with Iraq his administration launched a campaign of lies. The pillars of mainstream media were completely taken in, but the truth was out there at the time. These journalists found it and told the world.
- The Other Side of Everything– the story of resisting authoritarianism and ethnic war in the Balkans.
Coming soon, you’ll be hearing from us about the myriad opportunities to support those organizations who are fighting with us.