Persist & Resist – Nov. 11, 2020
Only Sixty-Nine Days to Go!!
AZ continues to be a “squeaker” – as of 10 pm on Tues., Nov. 10, Biden had a
12,813 vote lead with 40,565 still to be counted.
Click here for an exciting video!
It is Veterans Day – Please honor all veterans who have served our country.
A change of pace:
Two commentators – Blue by Mavis Brauer, PI Chair
Purple by Maria Lynam, Editor of P&R
Biden and Harris won!
After 4 years of working to get Trump out of the White House, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are our next U. S. President and Vice President. For those of you who were active participants, thank you for all that you did! There is much to celebrate. President-Elect Biden’s message has been consistently one of unifying the nation and compassion for all. Trump has shown a consistent pattern of compulsive lying, self-serving behavior and destroying anyone who is not loyal to him. Not surprisingly, he’s continuing this same pattern by trying to block the transition from happening smoothly. History will not treat him well.
Yes, Biden won, and Indivisible is one of the reasons–we are mentioned by all the talking heads. We have been working for four years to achieve this–thanks to you all for sticking in with us. The next 69 days until the Inauguration will be excruciating. The president has the power — institutional and political — and apparently the motivation to create a great deal of disruption before returning to civilian life. On 11/9, he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper by tweet! This may be a rout of the heads of the security agencies–Defense Dept. officials fear that the president might initiatie operations against Iran or other adversaries during his last days in office.
Read “Showing 2020 the Door” – Indivisible has listed five items that have priority.
- Taking the two senate run-offs in Georgia on January 5th
- Fending off any final Trump catastrophes
- Bolstering House progressive voting bloc power headed into next year
- Ensuring Biden makes good early personnel choices
- Winning on the coming COVID response legislative fight
Information about each item is listed in Showing 2020 the Door. You will hear more about these efforts in the weeks that come. On the 11/10 National Activist Call, Ezra Levin reminded us that we need to remember that we are not part of the Democratic Party; Indivisible is promoting a progressive agenda.
Protect the Results – Indivisible, as well as Prescott Indivisible, did a lot of organizing around the possibility of Trump contesting the election results. Since that doesn’t look like it’s going to be a huge issue, Indivisible is shifting from Protect the Results to organizing around Biden’s transition team. If there is action we need to take, I will let you know with an email. For those of you who signed up for Protect the Results, thank you for being ready to take action.
Georgia’s Senatorial Race – Georgia has 2 undecided senate races because none of the candidates received a majority of the vote. The Democratic candidates are Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. If they both win, Democrats will have fifty senators (No more Republican majority!) and Kamala Harris (as the new VP) will decide tie votes in the Senate. It’s easy to see the importance of this election so the nation is turning the spotlight on the January 5, 2021 runoff election. Indivisible is backing Stacey Abrams and giving her a week to finish developing the plan. At that time, we will be given direction on how we can support that effort.
In the meantime, you can sign up directly with the campaigns if you want to help.Jon Ossoff; his Mobilize link. Rev. Raphael Warnock – volunteer.
Both candidates are taking donations on their campaign sites.
If you miss writing postcards, go to gapostcard.org and sign up. Fill in their form and they will contact you.
From the Indivisible Georgia Coalition: “We are respectfully asking our wonderful friends in other states to stand down for a few days while we pivot and have a chance to do our planning meetings and retool”. They are accepting donations through ActBlue.
Democracy is not a spectator sport! We have seen in the past 4 years and before that if we do not actively participate in the political process, our democracy will suffer and possibly collapse. All of us need to participate. All of us. If you do not know what to do, my suggestion is that you find out what you love to do or are good at, make a time commitment of at least 1-2 hours each week, and find a volunteer opportunity that supports our democracy. It’s like committing to exercising daily. We do it to keep our bodies healthy and strong. That’s why we commit to political activism because it keeps our democracy healthy and strong. Just do it!
Re committing to activism – check out the PI website and click on Take Action. One thing you can do immediately: read all the info from Save the Dells – read the proposal and write your letter. Mayor Mengarelli got 50 letters in a few days, let’s send him and the councilmen and the other city personnel 500!
Think about running for office. If you live in the City of Prescott, three council seats and mayor will be on the ticket in Nov. 2021. Contact info@prescottindivisible.org if you have an interest.
Protect Yourself and Your Family!
Yavapai County has had an increase of 301 new Covid cases in 9 days!
Please take all the usual covid precautions. Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US are at an all-time high of 61,964 (11/10), as the raging pandemic continues to shatter record after record and strain medical facilities. Kathy Hoffman, Supt. of Public Instruction and Dr. Cara Crist, AZ Dept. of Health Services put out a joint statement, asking families whose children are in school, limit their outside activities. School superintendents and their boards continue to assess their community’s needs and local covid spread.
The upcoming holidays are problematic for extended families. What will you do? We are bringing our families together from Oregon, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Japan. We will take zoom photos and even try breakout rooms for the kids.
Info re Refusal of the General Services Administration (GSA)
to grant the Biden team resources to begin the transition process
There has been lots of PI Facebook chatter about this, but read Washington Post, “A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources to Biden — and she isn’t budging.” While many are directing their anger to the hapless administrator charged with signing the memorandum authorizing the transition process, Trump is to blame. The GSA Administrator considers many factors in deciding whether to release government funds for the transition, including whether the outgoing president has conceded. Trump has not conceded. Until he does, it is not unreasonable for the GSA official to act with caution. She is not empowered to determine the winner of the 2020 election—certainly not until the Electoral College has voted. (per R. Hubbell, 11/9)
Donate to Prescott Indivisible’s Outreach Effort
PI placed four ads on Facebook – for our endorsed candidates: Judy Stahl, John Lutes, Delina DiSanto and the Vote! card with critical dates and official ballot box locations. We reached 21,787!
Though our endorsed candidates did not win, their willingness to step forward to represent us, share their views and challenge the status quo was truly an inspiration. We contributed to “moving the needle”.
Such an effort comes with a cost and the Steering Committee requests that you continue your generosity in supporting our efforts. Thank you to those who have donated. If you haven’t, help us move forward and donate on our website via PayPal. The donate page also gives the opportunity to choose to pay with your credit/debit card; then select General Contribution to PI on the dropdown menu. If you would prefer, send a check to Prescott Indivisible, PO Box 12694, Prescott 86304.
What to do with those Signs?
Operation Deep Freeze – Keeping the Homeless Safe!
Operation Deep Freeze is an overflow shelter that opens when temps reach 32 Degrees or Below.
No one should be left out in the cold.The Salvation Army and the Quad City Interfaith Council are working together to ensure that anyone experiencing homelessness can find a place to escape freezing temperatures- even when our regular shelters are full. Watch the Video “72 Cents” which tells the Story Here
Operation Deep Freeze offers a safe place to shelter and a Hot Meal.
Operation Deep Freeze is not fully funded at this time.
You can Donate any amount at the following sites:
Coalition for Compassion & Justice Website: Donate here
Salvation Army Website: Donate Here
You and your friends can organize and help provide a hot meal for OPERATION DEEP FREEZE – Use our MEAL TRAIN APP to sign up! Click here
You can even sign up to use Grub Hub to deliver a Meal!
If you have any questions or would like to Donate or Volunteer, contact azfaithbridge@gmail.com
Other Opportunities for Activism
Citizens Water Advocacy Group – FACEBOOK! Calendar of Meetings and Events – November 9, 2020
Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance – go to their website for a list of their virtual events. They are hosting, along with the
Yavapai Co. Democratic Party Monthly Meeting, Climate Change Possibilities in Arizona – 2020, Thurs., Nov. 12, 2020, 6:30-8:30pm Zoom Link.
PRESCOTT INDIVISIBLE
Start a discussion on:
TWITTER: @IndivisPrescott
Facebook (Public page) /Facebook (Closed group)
prescottindivisible.org
New email – info@prescottindivisible.org
Prescott Indivisible on YouTube
Photo by Sheri Hooley on Unsplash
