Call Chuck And Joni Today

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Trish Nelson

Action alert from Free Press

Urgent: The Senate is rushing through Trump’s completely unqualified FCC nominee to stop the Biden administration from closing the digital divide and restoring Net Neutrality.

The Senate vote on the right-wing Nathan Simington could happen as soon as TODAY: Call 202-751-4622 TODAY and urge your senators NOT to confirm Nathan Simington.

🚨 Call 202-751-4622 NOW and urge the Senate to reject Trump’s nominee for FCC commissioner using the script below.

URGENT: Thanks to Mitch McConnell, Trump’s FCC nominee, Nathan Simington, could be confirmed by the Senate as soon as Tuesday.

Simington has ZERO qualifications for this position. He’s been nominated as a result of strong-arm political tactics to reward his loyalty to Trump. He was hand-picked and forced through the Senate by a now-defeated president, for his apparent willingness to cast a vote on an unlawful and unconstitutional policy that Simington himself helped write.

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Call 202-751-4622 TODAY and urge your senators NOT to confirm Nathan Simington.

Here’s what you can say:

I’m calling to urge Senator _____ to vote “no” on Nathan Simington for FCC commissioner.

McConnell wants to push Trump’s nominee through now for one reason only: to obstruct the incoming Biden administration and its appointees. McConnell’s tactics and games are always destructive. But stopping the Biden FCC from taking desperately needed actions to get and keep people connected during the COVID-19 crisis is just plain cruel. Millions of people are unable to access basic necessities like telehealth care and remote learning, and this digital divide disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous and other people of color.

Free Press Action and our allies have been working overtime on Capitol Hill to try to stop Simington’s nomination. But we urgently need your help now to stop this train wreck. Call 202-751-4622 right now and tell Sens. Grassley and Ernst to vote “no” on Simington.

P.S. Nathan Simington is unqualified and could hamstring the FCC for years to come. That means delays in a long laundry list of things we care about, including ensuring people can afford broadband, restoring Title II Net Neutrality, stopping mergers and boosting ownership of our media among people of color and women. Pick up the phone NOW and urge your senators to vote “no” on Simington using the script above.

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Still The Most Important Thing You Can Do Right Now

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Trish Nelson

Monday phone banking action alert from Indivisible and Color of Change. 

So many of you have reached out and asked how you can support the Georgia runoffs happening in 32 days, and now we’ve got a great opportunity for you to jump in and get Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff across the finish line. We’ve partnered with Color of Change for an All Eyes on Georgia phonebank on Monday, December 7, from 6 – 8:30 pm EST. By making calls into Georgia, you’ll be working to take back the Senate, move progressive priorities to the fore like protecting Black lives, strengthen our democracy, and ensure we pass real COVID-19 relief.

Sign up to make calls into GA

Over the course of this fall’s elections, Indivisibles made nearly 7 million calls and sent 27.7 million text messages to voters across the country. Your hard work resulted in HUGE voter turnout and a Biden-Harris win! Now we need to focus our energy and time on winning in Georgia by making calls and talking directly to voters. The stakes couldn’t be higher: these two Senate races will determine which party controls the Senate, and who will have the power to define our national trajectory for the next decade! 

We’ve already witnessed the two incumbents — David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler — put Trump, the Republican party, and their own bank accounts ahead of the people of Georgia. And yet, despite Trump’s cronies enacting barriers to voting in Georgia, Black and Brown communities turned out to flip the state blue. Now with these potential Senate wins, we have the chance to push for real, progressive change that centers communities who’ve been historically disenfranchised and ignored. We’ve got a long way to go, from reining in the pandemic to creating meaningful legislation that protects, supports, and uplifts Black lives — and it all comes down to Georgia.

Indivisibles’ 7 million calls to voters throughout the election season had a major impact on voter turnout, clinched the White House win, and maintained our control in the House. Grassroots organizing works, and we want to bring our expertise to Georgia. Click here to help us take back the Senate by joining our December 7 phonebank with Color of Change.

With a win in Georgia, we’ll secure a majority in the Senate and ensure that the Biden-Harris administration lives up to our shared values. That means prioritizing communities who’ve been most impacted by Trump and the GOP and passing progressive legislation to make real, tangible improvements in the lives of Americans across this country. All this starts with making calls into Georgia to get out the vote. Join us!

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

P.S. This is one piece of our massive Georgia program, including a direct voter contact program, outreach in rural and Latinx communities, and digital, print, and radio ads. If you can’t make calls on Monday, please: donate to support our plans in Georgia and all our work.

 

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Farce

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Dave Bradley

You may have heard of or seen this video online Thursday or Friday.  Melissa Carone, a contract worker for Dominion Voting Systems claimed to witness extraordinary goings on during the voting in Michigan. As this clip shows Carone’s statements are so wild as to be totally laughable. Her demeanor suggests she had ingested some substances before testifying.

Given the farcical nature of her testimony, ingesting substances would be a testimony strategy.

This is but one of many videos of people making wild, non-factual statements in support of Trump’s wild claims of election tampering. Like so many things Republicans claim, just saying something is so doesn’t make it so. Evidence is needed, not just wild claims.

The farcical nature of her testimony pretty much sums up just what the Trump team has for their claims. Nothing but laughable people and laughable claims. The Trump presidency has been little but a string of crazy claims with no evidence. Unfortunately for America major decisions were made on such crap and Americans have paid dearly with their lives and treasure.

At this point who wouldn’t just love to sweep the whole Trump experiment and family into the dustbin of history? But we can’t. It is simply too important that the whole Trump administration be investigated and analyzed to see what decisions were made for what should have been illegal reasons, such as getting dirt on an opponent to making huge money for the president or his family to destroying evidence or any of a long list of other potential criminal activities.

This simply must be done so our country, our democracy does not let such criminal activities happen again. The check and balance system must be strengthened with some real laws with real punishments for the perpetrators. Among the first things to change is to make all elections take place with traceable paper ballots, and with enough polling places so no one has to wait more than a few minutes to vote.

There are many who are reluctant for an administration of one party to investigate the administration. There is a fear tat this will begin a round of administrations doing little but investigating each other. That is a concern, but a greater concern is to have laws and norms violated with no consequences. That will lead to the end of our democracy in a short time.

The government in a democracy is supposed to reflect the will of the people. The will of the people in a democracy should always be to keep those with power in check so they ( those in power) do not aggregate their power and move to autocracy and ending democracy.

Therefore one administration should not be investigating another. Such investigation should fall on some sort of special committee invested with the power to bring charges. They must also have subpoena power with the power to jilting those who fail to cooperate. It would make sense if such a committee were set up under the House of Representatives as a check on the presidency.

To let the executive branch get away with such lawlessness with impunity is to give up on the very concept of our democracy. The separation of powers and the check and balance system demands the Trump administration be investigated. Ideally party should not make a difference in such an investigation. However given that the whole Republican Party acted as accomplices to the administration in its commission of crimes that may have o be looked at.

If nothing is done we can pretty much be assured that we will be looking at more of the same when the next Republican administration checks in.

Posted in #trumpresistance, 2020 election campaign | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Farce

Sunday Funday: Republican Voter Fraud Edition

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Dave Bradley

from democraticunderground.com

About all we have heard on the cable newsers since the election has been the claims of election fraud from the right. The claims are increasingly strange and detached from reality. What is seldom brought up is that the Republican Party as a whole has been engaged in a decade plus of legalized voter suppression. 

Throughout the country Republican legislators and governors have passed various laws that are specifically aimed at voters most likely to vote for Democrats. From laws that suppress the votes of students living on campus to making it difficult for elderly to vote to laws that make very unprofessional signature matching a basis for rejecting votes, Republicans have dug deep into every aspect of voting habits to try to cull Democrats votes. 

You may even recall that one of the rationalizations for Dear Leader to do nothing about the pandemic back in March was the assessment by Glorious Son-In-Law Jared Kushner that the corona virus was hitting Democrats much harder than Republicans. Therefore the pandemic could be a plus for that president if enough Democrats died. 

Show of hands out there  – who will be sorry to see that group long gone? No one? I thought so.

  1. Iowa’s 2nd congressional district has produced the closest race for the House in decades. The current outcome has been appealed to the US House by which of the contestants?
  1. What is the basis of this appeal?
  1. In an almost comical juxtaposition, Governor Ducey of Arizona was certifying election results while refusing to answer a call from what politician?
  1. Great Britain will be among the first western countries to begin corona virus inoculations. When will they begin?
  1. In a startling development, what deep insider cabinet member delivered a message to Dear leader last week that there was no evidence of election fraud in a long meeting?
  1. Former DHS Cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs suggested he will pursue legal retribution after presidential lawyer Joseph diGenova said Krebs should be what?
  1. Just hours after Great Britain announced their plan to begin corona vaccinations, what dictator announced that his country would begin vaccinations before Britain, thus being the first country to offer vaccinations?
  1. Can you name four governors who currently have recall petitions being circulated against them? 
  1. Hey! Today is major holiday in the month of holidays that is December. What holiday is celebrated on December 6th that is a major holiday in many countries?
  1. One of the rumors coming out of the White House these days has Dear Leader issuing a pre-emptive pardon for what group of people?
  1. What White House corona virus adviser who believed in ‘herd immunity’ quit suddenly Tuesday?
  1. What famous and iconic space telescope collapsed last week and will no longer be useable?
  1. A shopping mall in what Iowa city was temporarily shut down last Sunday after groups of people exchanged gunfire?
  1. December 6th, 1492 – What explorer landed on Hispaniola?
  1. Former president Barack Obama said he screwed up by not giving what country music star a Medal of Freedom?
  1. An innovative method of replanting forests ravaged by fires in the US west involves using what type of machine to plant seed and distribute fertilizer?
  1. A standoff in Sioux City Tuesday morning had a man barricaded in his house holding off police with what weapon?
  1. The CDC has changed its recommended quarantine length after exposure to the corona virus for 14 days to what, if a person does not develop symptoms?
  1. A UN report called humanity “suicidal” for not addressing what world wide ongoing calamity?
  1. Qanon (quit laughing) claims that the boot on President Biden’s foot is actually there to hide what?

Answers:

  1. Democrat Rita Hart
  1. That there are more ballots that haven’t been counted especially from military overseas that could easily erase the 6 vote difference. An appeal in Iowa would not allow time for these ballots to be counted.
  1. Dear Leader. Ducey has a specific ring tone for Dear leader. It went off just as Ducey was signing the certifications.
  1. Early next week
  1. AG William Barr. From accounts the news was not well taken by Dear Leader.
  1. Executed.
  1. Putin said Russia will begin quickly, probably before Great Britain.
  1. DeWine, Ohio; Whitmer, Michigan; Ducey, Arizona; Newsome, California.
  1. Saint Nicholas Day. Nicholas is the prototype for our Santa Claus. St. Nicholas day is a day when children in many countries in Europe receive gifts.
  1. His children. Funny, Obama never issued a pardon for Sasha and Malia.
  1. Scott Atlas
  1. The telescope on Puerto Rico at Arecibo.
  1. North Park Mall in Davenport.
  1. Columbus
  1. Dolly Parton
  1. Drones.
  1. A bow and arrows
  1. 10 days.
  1. Climate change. The UN noted the last decade has been the hottest on record (note Australia is experiencing a super hot spring)
  1. Not broken bones, but an ankle monitor because he was secretly arrested. Arrested for what? Being a Democrat probably

from democraticunderground.com

Posted in #trumpresistance, Covid-19, Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Republican Voter Fraud Edition

Hope

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Dave Bradley

Perhaps one of the most lasting icons of the 2008 presidential election was the poster down by Shepard Fairey of Barack Obama looking out with the word “HOPE” at the bottom of the poster. Everyone in the US and possibly the world saw that poster. At the time when the world was on the very edge of a world wide economic collapse, the hope of the whole world was put on to this young man.

Obama came through. Twelve years later and one Republican term in the presidency and once again Americans and many in the world are once again are looking to a Democrat to work some miracle and once more pull the world back from the precipice. This time we look to a much older man. However, what these two have in common is that both are Democrats. One was even the vice-president in the other’s presidency.

So once again the Republicans have left an economy in tatters, a world on the edge and a nation turns its eyes to the Democrats to put the country and the world back together. FDR had to do it after Hoover. Obama had to do it after Bush II. Now our hope rests on Joe Biden. In slightly less precarious times, Carter inherited a shaky and battered nation from Nixon/Ford and in 1992 Bill Clinton revived and economy run down by Reagan/Bush I.

Biden also inherits a country driven to large social divides by an administration that used division as a tactical policy. Healing such a divide will be hard. At the same time Biden will be making a real effort at giving traditional minorities a real voice in joining in running what is their country also.

Never have we seen the number of minorities and women being nominated to the cabinet and other major administrative posts. These are not just folks being named to fill some quota. These are quality people. Considering the people they are following into these offices they will have their hands full. We can expect a top-notch job from all.

Thus while we look to Joe Biden with hope to save our futures, women and minorities can look to the new administration with the hope that they will be given an honest chance to show what they can do. They in turn will be the beacons that will give hope to the younger generations of women and minorities in the future.

Don’t you feel like we are slowly crawling out from the dark and into the light? Don’t get ahead of the vaccine. The pandemic must be taken care of first. Then we can act on our hope.

Hope for the end of the pandemic.

Hope for our kids as schools are truly reopened and we no longer have Betsy DeVos ruining schools.

Hope for more stability in the world, especially with our traditional allies and with an Iranian nuclear deal back in place.

Hope for the environment and healing the damage we have done.

Hope for minorities and women to take their deserved places in running the place.

Hope for the re-establishment of our democracy.

Hope for re-establishing the rule of law in the US where NO ONE is above the law!

Hope that America will once more be the beacon of the world.

Posted in #trumpresistance, 2020 election campaign, Barack Obama, Joe Biden | Tagged | Comments Off on Hope

Fear

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Dave Bradley

The past couple of weeks I have written some criticism of the Democratic Party suggesting some things I see as reasons why we go beat up pretty badly in lower ballot races not only in Iowa, but across the country.

In the first I noted that Democrats get active for elections while Republicans are essentially campaigning 24X7X365 using the large swaths of various media they control. Via local radio, local TV and local newspapers Republicans are pumping their propaganda and setting America’s agenda daily in all corners of the country especially the forgotten small towns and rural areas.

In the second I went deeper into the Republican owned media doing the job of deciding what issues would be discussed and how those issues would be framed. Thus even on the few liberal outlets and NPR the discussion flows from how an issue has been discussed in social media or how it has been presented in other media – controlled by Republicans.

I see both of these as weaknesses of the Democratic Party since Democrats do not have the money or people for a full time effort like the Republicans have. Republicans also depend on a lot of help from aligned groups and corporations for their set up. Once again, this is something Democrats do not have.

One other point here is that the Republican Party and its aligned groups and corporations literally take direction on what their objectives and daily talking points are. Thus whether you pick up a newspaper, sign in to social media or turn on your local radio station you will probably run into today’s talking points with the same solutions. In short they act like a disciplined army with one objective. Plus they all use the same crowd tested language to get the response they desire.

Every Democrat knows that even if we had media and allies, the likelihood of all Democrats steering the same path for very long is unlikely. We think and thinking leads us into different ideas. That is a good thing but not the best for disseminating propaganda.

When we talk about Republicans all using the same talking points, one of the things they are the very best at is creating fear and making people fearful of things that they may never deal with or that in many cases doesn’t even exist. They create stuff to fear and also create the images that go with the object or people to fear.

Remember the Red Scare of the 1950s led by Republican Joseph McCarthy with the aid of folks like Senator Richard Nixon? McCarthy created imagery of the horrors of Communism and then proceeded to tie the Democratic Party to communism through language manipulation and outright accusation. Despite being somewhat crude in his methods that association between Democrats and communism still exists in Republican minds.

How about immigrants? Non-white immigrants have always been disparaged. Those brought here from Africa as slaves have ben the object of hate and fear from day one. This is a way of dehumanizing people to justify slavery or facing such people into lower stations in life. It was used against Native Americans from our early invasions.

Turning  people into objects of fear has been one of the right’s favorite tools as immigration from countries to our south has increased. There is almost a standard profile for those people we must fear – just the nationality needs to be filled in. They are dirty, they are drunks, they use drugs, they have sex all day and have lots of illegitimate kids that they don’t pay for, we do through welfare. They are lazy, they are dumb. I do not wish to go on.

We have all heard these characterizations since we were kids. As I said they are the same characterizations no matter what the ethnicity. We all know they are bullshit. But these characterizations have worked forever to instill a fear of “others” by the right. They keep using such crap because it obviously works. With the coming of Trump we saw an almost resurrection of these characterizations – because it works.

Lastly there is the tying of Democrats or the left to => socialism which can be rolled in with => communism. It has been fashionable to fear communism since the Bolshevik revolution.

It is a sad commentary on America that using such fear tactics works in America in the 21st century. Wish I had a good counter to fear tactics. The old response is that education is the best antidote. That doesn’t seem to work, especially when trying to counter the incessant RW media.

With that I will end my short post-mortem on the last election except to say that perhaps the greatest thing in our favor is this. Democrats are the party of hope. That is one thing Republicans can’t say. Republicans are the party of autocracy with a few at the top and the rest following orders. You see even senators following order from the current autocrat.

Posted in #trumpresistance, Republican mythology, Republican Policy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

More Reasons To Help Win The Georgia Senate Runoff

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Trish Nelson

“Randi Rhodes Number-one ranked progressive radio talk show host, political commentator, entertainer, and writer. The Randi Rhodes Show was broadcast nationally on Air America Radio, and Premiere Radio Networks from 2004–2014. Rhodes represents aggressively independent media.

The Miami Herald described her as “a chain-smoking bottle blonde, part Joan Rivers, part shock jock Howard Stern, and part Saturday Night Live’s ‘Coffee Talk’ Lady. But mostly, she’s her rude, crude, loud, brazen, gleeful self.”

Rhodes and her show won numerous awards for journalism and broadcasting, including Radio Ink’s Most Influential Woman, Radio Ink’s Most Influential Women’s list (multiple years), TALKERS magazine’s Woman of the Year, and the Judy Jarvis Memorial Award for Contributions to the Talk Industry by a Woman.”

###

Donate!

1. Volunteer (canvass/phone/text) for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock
Volunteer for Jon Ossoff:
https://www.mobilize.us/electjon/

Volunteer for Raphael Warnock:
https://warnockforgeorgia.com/take-action/

Phone bank for both Ossoff & Warnock:
https://togetherfor2020.org/…/phone-bank-for-georgia-r…/all/

2. Donate to the following groups working to register voters in Georgia. Let’s make sure these community groups have the resources they need to do everything possible to get out the vote:

Fair Fight: https://fairfight.com
Black Voters Matter: https://www.blackvotersmatterfund.org/
Spread The Vote Georgia: https://www.spreadthevote.org/georgia
New Georgia Project: https://newgeorgiaproject.org

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Iowa Legislature And Governor In For The NRA

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Trish Nelson

A message from the Chair and Executive Director of Iowans for Gun Safety

We know that we will have a legislature and a governor that are in the corner of the NRA for the next two years. You should know that the Legislature is poised to present Iowa voters with an important question on the November 2022 ballot: should Iowa join the likes of Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri in passing a “strict scrutiny” amendment to Iowa’s constitution that will make it even harder to pass reasonable measures to protect the public and our communities from the dangerous use of guns?

It is also likely that the legislature and the governor will continue to advocate for more guns in more places. While just a few years ago we would have been shocked to see protestors at our Capitol in Des Moines openly carrying firearms with the incontrovertible intent to threaten others, we now have to ask not if but when this will happen in Des Moines – unless we join together and make our view clear that this scene is simply not acceptable in Iowa.

This is, yes, a request to support us with your donation. But given the challenges that lie ahead, we are also looking for individuals to help us in a variety of ways and on terms each individual chooses. If you are interested in bringing your talents and skills – research, communications, technical support – to Iowans for Gun Safety, please contact us.

Our goal is to be a bigger and better voice in Des Moines, particularly in a time when gun rights advocates seem unwilling to address the real public health and safety issues that guns present. Please help us by donating online or send a check to: Iowans for Gun Safety, P.O. Box 8834, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

Finally, to those who have contributed in the past, thank you for your support and for your confidence in us to continue the work to make Iowa a better and safer place to live.

Scott Peterson
Iowans for Gun Safety

info@iowansforgunsafety.org

Follow us on Facebook

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Republicans Are Blocking Covid Relief

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Trish Nelson


“Iowans need relief. Chuck Grassley & Joni Ernst are failing them.”

“As the pandemic continues its uncontrolled spread, Americans are also facing a flatlining economy. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are dead set on blocking robust relief for people who are unable to pay rent, put food on the table and are struggling to make ends meet. At the same time, we’re seeing skyrocketing unemployment and businesses closing,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “New polling makes clear what we’ve known all along — Americans want and need comprehensive COVID relief immediately. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are destroying our economy by obstructing meaningful measures to control the virus and provide economic relief to Americans.”

Read the New Polling Memo Here

SCRIPT:

Nine months into this pandemic, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are sabotaging our economic recovery.

Historic levels of unemployment.

Thousands of small businesses closed for good.

Uncertainty about the future of our economy.

Millions of Americans have fallen into poverty.

Millions of hardworking families need meaningful relief now, but Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Congress are making things worse, refusing to take action that could get this virus under control and save lives and American jobs.

They are blocking real relief like a second stimulus check for qualified Americans, health insurance coverage for those laid off and urgent aid for Red and Blue states to pay for first responders and essential workers.

Without this robust relief package, our economy faces the prospect of another great recession that will hurt families and businesses.

Tell Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Congress that they must work with Democrats to take strong action now to combat the virus and fix the economy.

Paid for by Protect Our Care.

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Rita Hart For Iowa Statement On State Certification In IA-02

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Trish Nelson

November 30, 2020

Rita Hart for Iowa Statement on State Certification in IA-02

“The process must continue to ensure all Iowans’ voices are heard”

WHEATLAND, IOWA — Rita Hart for Iowa campaign manager Zach Meunier issued the following statement on the latest phase of the race for Congress in IA-02:

“Throughout this entire recount process, our goal has always been to ensure that Iowans’ votes are thoroughly and fairly counted. When we began this recount, Rita Hart was down by 47 votes. As more Iowans’ voices were heard, the margin has narrowed dramatically and is now down to a mere 6 votes — making this the closest congressional race in recent history, and one of the very closest in the last hundred years.

This is despite the fact that, at every turn, the Miller-Meeks campaign has sought to keep legitimate votes from being counted — pushing to disqualify and limit the number of Iowans whose votes are counted.

Under Iowa law, this recount process was designed to count ballots that had already been tallied, meaning that additional legal ballots may have yet to be counted. Over the next few days, we will outline our next steps in this process to ensure that all Iowans’ voices are heard.”

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