A lot of the stuff I write about in my #ResistTrump posts is cribbed from an assortment of handy newsletters offering ideas for resistance and information on protests and other events worth knowing about. Here are the five I’ve found the most useful.
Wall of Us: This newsletter/website offers what it calls FOUR CONCRETE ACTS OF RESISTANCE
DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EACH WEEK, and that it does.
Make it Better — A weekly newsletter co-written by feminist author/activist (and friend of WHTM) Jaclyn Friedman. Offers specific suggestions for activism, links to good reads, inspiration, and jokes.
actionnow — An almost-daily newsletter providing suggestions for activism and occasional pep talks.
Resistable — A regular roundup of upcoming real-world protests across the US and sometimes elsewhere.
Signal Boost — A newsletter designed to, well, signal boost “the great work being done in the resistance.”
And while it isn’t a newsletter, one of the handiest resources for those who want to resist Trump in a practical way every single day (or a couple of times a week maybe?), 5Calls.org gives you some suggestions and scripts to make it as easy as possible to call your elected officials.
Have I missed any? I probably missed some. So add your suggestions in the comments.
Oh, and if you want to gloat a bit more about the truly pathetic pro-Trump rallies held yesterday, check out this roundup on Raw Story, complete with EXCITING ACTION PHOTOS of Trump supporters sitting on lawn chairs.
EDIT: And of course I forgot one: the very useful almost-daily Resist newsletter from writer and activist Talia Lavin.
Obviously Soros is now paying people not to attend rallies.
Moggie: I just did my first two weekends of volunteering as a greeter at Planned Parenthood. I learned from the chants that the anti-choice protestors actually seem to believe that the volunteers are all paid; according to the veteran greeters, the going rate is allegedly $15 an hour.
I’ll be honest, if they were paying–especially if they were paying $15/hr–, I’d quit my job and do that full-time…..
I run into the “Soros paid the protesters” narrative a lot. One person told me that the Women’s Marches were all paid protesters. when I said that there were over 4 million that attended across the US, and this didn’t even include the marches worldwide, they told me my numbers were inflated and I was obviously lying.
I told him “inflating numbers is a WH tactic, not mine.”
I can always tell what media one consumes by the rumors they spread.
Freemage: wow, what is even the point of that claim? Is it to “prove” that PP misspend funding?
I’m thinking some anti-choice activists can’t believe that anyone could possibly be in favor of allowing abortion, so anyone involved in favor has to be getting paid to go against their “natural” feelings against it. In other words, no one could possibly believe in allowing stoppage of unwanted pregnancy enough to help without being paid. Must be greed, not kindness, to want to help etc.
The more radical people are, the harder it is for them to see the other point of view. It also appears they become more likely to suspect the other side of paying the protesters to be against things.
I wonder why conservatives seem to think that paying for protesters would be unacceptable, when they take it for granted that private individuals or corporations dumping money into politics in every other circumstance is totally fine. I mean, it’s basically like hiring a crapload of lobbyists.
there’s WTF just happened today. Which will mail you a digest of President Shemp’s latest hi jinks.
I still haven’t been compensated for my participation in the Women’s March.
http://i.imgur.com/yM9XAkP.jpg
WHERE’S MY MONEY, SOROS?!
Disclaimer for Right-wing Trolls: The preceding comments are sarcastic. George Soros is not secretly paying every single left-wing activist to protest. He’s merely paying most of them.
Disclaimer for the Previous Disclaimer: The last sentence of the previous disclaimer was also sarcastic.
Personally, I think ‘George soros’ in this context is a republican dogwistle for ‘the jews’.
Also, thoughts on project Indivisible? I dunno if that qualifies as a resource (or if it’s already been mentioned, I haven’t kept up with mammoth news) but I figured I’d mention it:
https://www.indivisibleguide.com
Seems like one of the best options we have!
Here’s my suggestion: the White House mailing list. I’m 100% serious. The information has a heavy pro-Trump slant, but it helps you understand how the administration is trying to spin things. Plus they send you links to (very leading) surveys that have spaces for putting in anti-Trump comments. Look, here’s one right now:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/joint-address-issues-survey
Whee, thank you MrsObedMarsh for posting these survey links.
@Moocow
When conservatives bring up George Soros, it’s a dog whistle for The Jews™ in any context.
Hello folks,
I don’t really know much about George Soros so have just done a quick Google search, and found myself on a website called ‘Human Events – Powerful Conservative Voices’. Urgh.
The article was called “George Soros: Top 10 Reasons He is Dangerous.” I was hoping the guy was some kind of cross between Kuato from Total Recall and a shark riding an elephant (eating and trampling everything he sees.) But it appears he just funds some groups some conservatives don’t like. However, the following line from reason number 10 (Delusions) made me laugh at the unintentional irony (apologies for the words ‘loony bin’, they’re in the original):
“Soros has repeatedly said that he sees himself as a messianic figure. Who but a megalomaniac would make these comments? “I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of my self-importance—to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god” or “I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood, which I felt I had to control, otherwise I might end up in the loony bin.” If only the loony bin were an option. As it is, one of the wealthiest men in the world is using his billions to impose a radical agenda on America.”
Messianic …. Self-importance ….One of the wealthiest men in the world … radical agenda… I’m sure that sounds familiar.
@DanHolme
“The only moral megalomaniac is our megalomaniac. Now shut up as we zerg rush you with our desires to pick the country down to its bones.”
“Paid protesters” and “bused them in” has been their favorite whine for the last 16-17 years. Keep in mind that during the Florida recount in 2000, Republicans DID bus in people to intimidate the recount workers.
As with everything, they can’t help projecting. That’s why I think this election was actually rigged. Maybe one day we’ll get the truth, but I highly doubt it.
OT, but after hearing about that birthday party where those jerks in the pickup trucks with Confederate flags drove past and aimed guns at the kids, something I’d really like is a documentary that’s basically a giant compilation of women, blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Jews, LGBT people, interracial couples, journalists, climate scientists, etc. talking about various threats and acts of harassment against them that they’ve received since Trump won. I bet that there have been hundreds if not thousands of such incidents thus far. If such a thing already exists, could somebody please direct me to it? And if such a thing doesn’t already exist, could somebody please make one? I think it’d be really powerful.
@abars01
Something about the media coverage of that case bothers me. I feel like when white people get heavy sentences we see pictures of them crying and when people of color get similar sentences we see their mug shots. Maybe it’s confirmation bias on my part, but that’s my impression. Either way, I hate the number of people trying to make everyone feel sorry for them, talking about how their lives are affected by one stupid act. The thing is, that act was probably part of a larger pattern of behavior. You don’t wake up one day and decide to yell threats and slurs at a kid’s birthday party. On top of that, it was a horrible thing to do, an act of aggression whose sole purpose was to strike fear into the hearts of the people at that party. When you decide to do things like that you know what you’re doing. It’s not an accident, it’s not in self defense, and it’s violent. Your life should change as a result. You’re taking away the ability to enjoy life from others.
Hi, everyone. Been sorta busy here, not a lot of time to read or talk. But I saw this and thought you might like to read it! Looks like Canada is setting up a Global Safe Abortion fund to the tune of $240 Million to try to plug the gap left by Trump’s global ban on aid to those services. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else has linked to this before now, but it’s a nice little thing that I’m happy about!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/countering-trump-ottawa-to-back-global-safe-abortion-fund/article34140551/
Moggie: It’s a three-part component:
1: Projection: As Sporkey noted, conservative movements do bus people in all the time (it’s the only way Trump was able to fill a stadium in Chicago when he came during the campaign, for instance, and even then so many tickets went to protestors that he tucked tail and ran away).
2: Outrage: They need to maintain the lie that PP is in it for the money, that this is some sort of gigantic temple dedicated to Mammon. Thus, they also have to believe that every step is, in some way, motivated by profit–from the greeters to the staff to the disposal of fetal remains. (The bit about Mammon is not hyperbole, by the way–they actually used that phrase during the chanting.)
3: Sanctimony: They want to believe that we must be acting from some other motivation than sincerely held beliefs in the right for a woman to be autonomous. It’s not enough to believe that we’re wrong–we must be hypocrites, in order for them to remain morally superior.
OH man, that is going to send the right here into a massive rage.
During CPAC, Wayne LaPierre claimed that protesters were being paid $1500 per week to protest.
That’s a salary of $78,000 annually. Per person. For millions of protesters. Hundreds of Billions of dollars per year to defeat trump. All from one guy.
It really does make the conspiracy that much clearer; they’ve elevated Soros to a near omnipotent power and wealth; the International Jew. And that conspiratorial level of wealth makes LaPierre, who makes $5 million annually running the NRA, look like the common man, makes the massive corporate cash from the likes of the Kochs and DeVos look puny and powerless, despite the real effects those millions of dollars actually have on policy.
I wounder If the people who started the ‘paid protesters’ myth actual believe it themselves or did they start spreading it know that not only will their followers would eat it up with a spoon but hook a IV line.
OT – I found a website* that allows you to use a Roman alphabet keyboard to produce Cyrillic (among others) letters: http://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/russian.htm
Now I have a new (Russian flavored) reference for lord dampnuts; Трумп. It’s just his name in Cyrillic, but since there’s no “uh” sound in Russian, it’s pronounced “troomp.”
*Because in another forum, I got tired of seeing a Cyrillic *vowel* used to “Russianize” Trump (Tяump) which pronounces out as “tya-ump” or “tya-umr” if we’re getting picky** since p=r in Cyrillic.
**Which still isn’t right since there’s no “u” in the Cyrillic alphabet, either.
/OT
/Рысскии язык Натзи
I think they actually did that one or two years ago, way before Dump was even a gleam in the infected, pus-filled eye of the Republican nominations.
Fun fact: They were labeled domestic terrorist and the two main people got 28 years between them.
It’s been a good Black History Month.
Okay, aside from this being a complete farce of a survey, I can’t get over the fact that they are using radio buttons for multiple choice. Which means that if you click an option by mistake, there’s no way to un-click it without refreshing the page and resetting the whole form.