February 9, 2024
Flipping the Santos seat and North Carolina, blocking the book banners… and stopping an execution
Contact all members of Congress:
- By phone: (202) 224-3121
- By email: democracy.io
- By US mail: Representatives / Senators
- By fax: Representatives / Senators
- By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- GET OUT THE VOTE AND FLIP THE SANTOS SEAT
With Rep. Al Green having to leave his hospital bed to stop the Republicans from an evidence-free impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week, we’ve had about as clear an illustration as we can get: having even one more representative in the House is incredibly important right now. And on Tuesday, we have a chance to send one more Democrat to Washington in the special election to replace George Santos in the New York Third District. The pundits have this race as a toss-up and polls show former Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi with a very narrow lead – turnout will matter immensely. So let’s do what we can to get folks out to the polls! We can sign up to phonebank from home to turn this seat blue a) at 3:00pm EST tomorrow here; b) at 1:00pm EST Sunday here; c) at 4:30pm EST Sunday here; d) at 6:30pm EST Monday here; and/or e) at 1:00pm EST Tuesday here. - GAMESMANSHIP ON CAPITOL HILL WHILE UKRAINE BLEEDS
With the crisis they insist is happening on the border apparently not as important as pleasing Donald Trump, Republicans killed a bipartisan border deal – which included crucial funding for our allies they have been holding up until they secure concessions on the border. Yesterday the Senate advanced a motion to begin debate on a separate aid package that does not give in to their hostage demands. Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and tell them we’re tired of the political games and want to see them re-commit support to Ukraine without any further delays and machinations and without selling out immigrants and asylum seekers.
- KEEP A BOOK BURNER OUT OF OFFICEValentina Gomez is running for Missouri Secretary of State. kelly jensen at the Literary Activism blog is warning us that a cornerstone of her campaign is a promise to burn books if she’s elected. Here’s Gomez’s campaign ad showing herself using a flame thrower to burn the library books Naked: Not Your Average Sex Encyclopedia and Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens. Ballotpedia shows Gomez and three others running for the Republican primary, but no Democrats running for the Democratic primary. In a phone call, the Secretary of State’s office told a Rogan’s List contributor that the filing period for primary candidates is 2/27/2024 to 3/26/2024. Let’s contact the Missouri Democratic Party and tell them to make sure they have a candidate file in time to run for the August 6, 2024 primary so that Book Burner Gomez or one of her Republican rivals will face a Democratic challenger in November. Contact info: 573-777-1364; Chair Russ Carnahan russ@missouridems.org; or use this form: https://www.missouridemocrats.org/contact. (We can also subscribe to Literary Activism for similar updates).
- RAISE UP DEMOCRATS IN NORTH CAROLINA – EVERY SUNDAYIn email blasts, Swing Blue Alliance has been promoting efforts to help organizers in North Carolina to build a strong Democratic Party in that state—to hold the Governor’s office (where we are likely to face anti-abortion extremist Mark Robinson), break the Republican supermajority in the state legislature, and deliver the state’s 16 electoral college votes to President Biden in November. One of the ways Swing Blue Alliance is doing this is by recruiting 10,000 local Democratic party volunteers in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County—an area rich in Democratic voters but low in voter turnout. Whether we live in NC or elsewhere, we can help by making phone calls with Swing Blue Alliance to engage volunteers and voters—Sunday evenings from 6-8PM EST. Let’s sign up to make calls!
- SAVE IVAN CANTU FROM TEXAS EXECUTIONIvan Cantu who was sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of his cousin – and his cousin’s fiancée says that there is enough new evidence is enough to overturn his conviction and stop his scheduled February 28 execution. Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun who has long called for the ending of the death penalty, is speaking up for him. Let’s join others in signing this petition to Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis and the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals asking that his execution be delayed to allow time for an evidentiary hearing on Ivan’s behalf.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- UT, FL, IA, OK: PROTEST COLLEGE CENSORSHIP LAWS PEN America, the venerable freedom-to-write organization, has flagged “Six Dangerous Bills That Would Censor Speech On Campuses Across The Country.”
- Utah—a new law, among other things, prohibits the use of the term “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and has a chilling effect on discussing topics like “critical race theory” and bias at the college and K-12 level. If we’re in Utah, let’s tell our state’s ACLU to contest UT HB0261: 801-521-9862 or aclu@acluutah.org
- Florida—a bill would prohibit public and private universities from teaching future K-12 teachers how to discuss race, gender, and related topics with their students. If we’re in Florida, let’s tell our state legislators that we oppose SB 1372, and we expect them to oppose it, too.
- Florida—companion bills in the state senate and house would withhold in-state tuition and state financial aid to any student who “promotes” a federally recognized terrorist organization, in violation of the First Amendment. If we’re in Florida, let’s tell our state legislators to oppose SB 470 and HB 465.
- Iowa—in violation of First Amendment free speech rights, a bill would require public colleges and universities to deny recognition of student groups for endorsing or promoting terrorism. If we’re in Iowa, let’s tell our state legislators to oppose HF 2077.
- Oklahoma—if SB 1305 passes, students would not be able to take courses for general education credit that include the teaching of whiteness, gender identity, implicit bias, intersectionality, cultural competence, critical theory, systemic racism, allyship, race- or gender-based diversity, equity, or inclusion, microaggressions, or social justice. If we’re in Oklahoma, let’s tell our state legislators to oppose SB 1305.
- Indiana—a bill would require universities to post all syllabi, reading lists, assignments, and final grades online to route out whether a “divisive” concept was included in the curriculum. If we’re in Indiana, let’s tell our state legislators to oppose SB 191