We Hunted The Mammoth
So as you presumably have all heard by now, the Republicans were able to get their Obamacare repeal bill through the House. Which means we need to 1) make sure they don’t get an equivalent bill through the Senate 2) make sure that all the Republicans who voted for this bill lose their jobs as soon as possible.
It’s a good day. And it’s all thanks to those who protested in the streets, who showed up at Town Hall meetings, who called or wrote their elected representatives, who did anything else they could think of to fight repeal. If you were part of the Resistance, and I know a lot of you were, give yourself a big hand. You did it. We did it.
Ok, folks, let’s get calling! Three big issues to push on this week.
Today might not have been the worst day for the Trump regime, but it was definitely the most embarrassing. Watching Angela Merkel’s face as Trump blathered on about imaginary wiretaps at their joint appearance today was just painful. The world is laughing at us.
Russia is the issue that won’t go away for the Trumpers. Today Attorney General/Racist Keebler Elf Jeff Sessions is in the hot seat for lying to Congress under oath about his contacts with a Russian official.
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.
UPDATE: Just wanted to add a mention of the I Am a Muslim Too rally tomorrow at noon in Times Square in NYC. See here for more details.
Now back to your regularly scheduled post:
First, the pudding: Have you met Tiny Trump? People have decided to start photoshopping miniature versions of the current White House resident into news photos. He’s almost adorable. Almost.
And now the meat: Congress is on recess this week. That means TOWN HALLS for you to visit with several hundred of your new friends.
Three items on the menu today — do them all or pick your favorite(s)!
A succession of new revelations about National Security advisor (and possible Russian operative?) Mike Flynn have gotten people talking about Trump’s Russian connections again.
Of all the scary things I’ve read about Trump and Russia in the past few days, the most telling one came from a piece called “The Spy Revolt Against Trump Begins” in The Observer, revealing that the intelligence community is increasingly convinced that Trump and his people can’t be trusted with America’s secrets:
Our Intelligence Community is so worried by the unprecedented problems of the Trump administration—not only do senior officials possess troubling ties to the Kremlin, there are nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump—that it is beginning to withhold intelligence from a White House which our spies do not trust.
The worst part isn’t the withholding of information. It’s that our spies are probably right to withhold that information. Even aside from the Russia stuff, there seems to be a real chance that Trump will start blabbing about top secret matters while poking at his iceberg lettuce-based salad during dinner at Mar-a-Lago just a few feet away from assorted random diners.
But I digress Obviously, WE NEED A THOROUGH AND INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION into the whole Trump/Russia thing.
So get out those phones and call your Members of Congress!
See my posts here and here for information and advice on how to make your calls and emails effective. If making these sorts of calls is tough for you, here’s some advice on calling politicians if you have social anxiety. But emails are also fine.
The weekly Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience that I mentioned a few posts back has some suggestions of other people to call about Russia:
Action: Support investigation of Russian interference in US elections.
On January 6, an official report of the CIA, FBI, and NSA assessed with high confidence that Vladimir Putin ordered a 2016 campaign to undermine public faith in the US democratic process. Thankfully, three Senate and House bipartisan committees are now examining Russia’s actions.
Call: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Call: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Call: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Script: Hi! I’m calling in regard to _name’s_ role on the _committee name_. I strongly support his work on resisting attempts to “move on” from Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. I am looking forward to learning the outcome of the committee’s findings.
See the rest of this week’s Action Checklist here.
Might I suggest also calling and thanking Congresswoman Maxine Waters for her attempts to keep this issue on the front burner? You can leave a message at (323) 757-8900 or (202) 225-2201.
Speaking of giving thanks, the folks at Wall-Of-Us will be hand-delivering a valentine to Elizabeth Warren tomorrow. You can put your name on the card by going here.
Just a quick #ResistTrump post today. There’s a lot going on. Here are two important developments that we need to respond to.
First: Jeff Sessions has started off his new job as Attorney General with an attempt to undermine legal protections of trans students.