Sara Gideon, #Swarming, Weekly Reading Roundup, Take Action

Sara Gideon for Maine

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a meet-and-greet with Maine candidate for the US Senate, Sara Gideon. I have a special place in my heart for the great state of Maine, and I also have an enormous amount of disdain for its senior senator, Susan Collins. Mainers deserve infinitely more than her spineless and yet-too-often smug fealty to trump, a fact they know and are acting on. For example, they voted out their own trump, governor Paul LePage, in 2018 and turned their state legislature quite blue. Maine has a variety of economic, climate, and opioid-related struggles, and Collins hasn’t supported her citizens nearly as much as she could have (or sentient Americans who pleaded with her to vote against Kavanaugh and are dismayed that she voted against 10 Dem impeachment trial amendments simply seeking access to witnesses and evidence). Sara Gideon will, and I hope that come November, we see her donning the mantle of Maine’s newest senator.

Sara Gideon

#SwarmTheSenate #RemoveTrump

Earlier today, my dearest Thursday walking friend and I got our steps off our regular trail and at the Senate instead. We #Swarmed! And it was deeply moving in so many ways. (If you would like to join the #SwarmTheSenate protests, please do. You may sign up by clicking this link: Swarm The Senate sign up.)

Today, I was asked to participate more directly than last week by wearing the "T" t-shirt as part of REMOVE TRUMP (see attached photo; dearest Thursday friend is U!). We protested silently in the Hart Building atrium before walking loudly to the Capitol (banging pots and pans and yelling Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Donald Trump Has GOT TO GO" and then returning to the Russell building to deliver constituent letters to the offices of Senators Graham, McSally, Burr, and others.

Senator McSally's (AZ) staff closed the door in our faces for attempting to photograph from in the hallway. This was against our rights, and we politely said so.

Senator Burr's (NC) staff told us they wouldn't be able to take the letters because they were trying to be "environmentally conscious" and avoid using paper. Horseshit!

Senator Graham's (SC) office offered no such silliness, but meanwhile, we later learned, Lindsey was out of his seat again, refusing to listen to the case being presented. That's against the rules.
(Jonathan Swan, Australian journalist with a hunky voice, did think we were doing a fine job, and I've shared his tweet below.)

More hopeful were the couple we met who'd driven overnight from Alabama to talk with Senator Jones and demand better from Senator Shelby. And, the "M" in trump was a man who'd flown in from Spokane, WA, to lend his presence and voice to the resistance. He and “P” got to talking, and P offered M the guest room in his house so he didn’t have to stay in a hotel.

Excellent Reading/Viewing

Some terrific pieces this week, including a most delightful video of a cool grandmother. If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s compilation, you can find it here.

Grandkids and the coolest grandmother. This will make you smile!

What role is gender playing in presidential politics? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/elizabeth-warren-woman-president/604942/

The other, overlooked swing voter.

Truth and inspiration. Courage. Adam Schiff and democratic guardians.

Take Action

Please call Chief Justice Roberts and demand he hold a FAIR heading. This is more likely to happen if Senators are forced to adhere to the rules, such as staying in their seats and listening during the trial rather than leaving the chamber (21 GOP Senators on Wednesday) or reading books (Marsha Blackburn).

202 479 3000
or 3011 (clerk)

A democracy teetering on the precipice

My god, I am INCANDESCENT with rage, heartbreak, and disgust tonight. The Senate impeachment trial started today, and so far, the GOP has refused to do anything but deny evidence and fact and cower in cowardice and obsequiousness. It is disgraceful and pathetic. The Senate Republicans are disgraceful and pathetic. Please contact your senators* and urge them to demand to see and hear from the abundant witnesses and evidence that trump has thus far silenced. WHO, as Hakeem Jeffries and so many others have asked, has heard of a trial with no witnesses?

The truth sets us free; shadows and secrecy are but ugly tools of injustice.

Please watch this.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the lead House impeachment manager, argued against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's resolution that would govern the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Schiff said the resolution blocks important evidence that should be presented, as well as key witnesses that should be called to testify.

*Text 50409 with ‘Remove Trump’ to easily craft letters that are directly sent to your senators via Resistbot,

and/or

check my Political Resources/Elected Official Contact Info for direct office phone numbers for your representatives.

And for our democracy’s sake, get out and PROTEST! Make your voices heard. Otherwise you’re complicit in helping throw our country into the abyss.

In case you need any additional fire behind you, read this: trump’s stunning tirade against American generals.

I swarmed! And appreciate the Senate bill graveyard.

Several months ago, one of my very dearest pals and I decided that rain, shine, or whatever life was throwing at us, we’d walk together every Thursday morning. I believe the only exception we’ve made is when we stayed in to watch Fiona Hill conquer her hearing during the impeachment trial. That was infinitely worth it.

This Thursday tradition is one of my favorite parts of every week, time with a rare gem of a human that I treasure. Yesterday after we walked, I used my new juicer (the Breville juice fountain; I could not recommend it more) to make us fresh carrot-orange juice, and as we drank our vitamins, I confided that with Tom out of town and the pace I’ve been keeping, perhaps I wouldn’t head downtown to join the #SwarmTheSenate protest at noon.

“I’m tired, but I do want to go.”

“Well, you don’t have to go. You certainly go enough. But it does always make you feel better.”

It does, she was right, and I’m so glad I hauled it down to the Hart Senate Building to join the swarm, not least because just after we began, the House walked the articles of impeachment to the Senate and Chief Justice Roberts began swearing in each senator as an impartial justice (we’ll see about that as not a few Republicans have already made clear they refuse to call witnesses, hear new evidence, or listen to anything that goes against ‘our dear leader is perfect’).

Swarm is a committed, welcoming bunch from all over the country: California, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey. They have black shirts that together spell out a variety of phrases and others that have Article 2 Section 4 of the Constitution on the back. Some have been adorned with colorful pieces of fabric on which Remove Trump has been printed. Fortunately, I was wearing a charcoal shirt and navy pants so I didn’t stand out too badly. And they have rolls of Remove Trump/Swarm the Senate stickers, so I stuck two to my chest.

We gathered inside the Hart atrium, in front of a towering black steel Calder sculpture called Mountains and Clouds. Quietly, peacefully, we stood in front of it in rows, the sun streaming down on us through skylights overhead. Periodically, perhaps because of the stringent rules around gatherings and protests in government buildings or perhaps to infuse a bit of performance art into our protest, we walked silently around, a solemn conga line punctuated by silent resisters standing firmly in newly adopted places.

An 85-year-old woman named Barbara had brought a folding stool to sit on rather than stand. The guards told her she was not allowed to sit in the atrium unless she used the stone benches scattered around the perimeter of the space. After some respectful discussion about was that discrimination or not -I mean, would they not let someone in a wheelchair stay put?- Barbara relocated to a bench. We gathered around her in solidarity (see second photo, above).

in the second floor atrium

Roughly forty-minutes in, we made our way to the second floor of the Russell Senate building where the gorgeous, multi-floor round atrium is. I saw a woman I’d marched with and met several years ago, the NRA -> DC march, and also met a great woman from New Jersey. I felt so deeply and sadly that so many of the people who sit behind the wooden desks in the marbled offices in the hallowed halls of Hart don’t remotely respect the country or office enough to deserve the positions of power they hold.

Someone unfurled an enormous Remove Trump banner, and we did calls-and-responses with an ever-growing crowd of protesters until we got our third warning from Capitol Police. I could not afford to get arrested yesterday, nor could the NJ woman I’d met, so we walked around the Capitol grounds. I stopped suddenly in front of a new visual I’d not seen before: a graveyard of House bills the Senate, McConnell, has refused to bring to the floor.

It’s powerful. Rows of headstones each with a bill as epitaph. 347 House-passed bills just languishing on McConnell’s desk. Bipartisan bills that would help Americans in so many ways.

I don’t know what will happen this November , but I do know that it’s worth fighting every single day until then to protect what democracy we have left, to get enough people informed and inspired to vote in new members of Congress who will actually care about oaths, regular citizens, infrastructure, our dying planet, equity, justice, and the future.

What are you doing to help bring about change this year? Please share all acts, big or small. I’d love to hear about them!