Submitted by NYCD16-INDIVISIBLE member “Julia”
The past few weeks have brought us a bit of a “world turned upside down” phenomenon; the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Devin Nunes, seeks to make public a memo attacking the FBI and the Justice Department for bias against the president, as a way to discredit Special Council Robert Mueller’s investigation in Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion on the part of the current administration. The contents of the memo are spurious; a thinly viewed excuse to point fingers and distract. But they are treated as legitimate by a cynical Republican majority, desperate to cement their power. As Jon Favreau of “Crooked Media” tweeted, ‘Whoa, things went banana republic real fast….’
The creeping and sinister feeling that we are more than half way down the slippery slope towards autocracy, accompanied by the many insults on legal and civic norms that this administration has succeeded in visiting upon the American public, can overwhelm.
Take a deep breathe. Never doubt your agency as a citizen-activist. Make a promise to yourself: Act every day, in some way, to push back, and reclaim our democracy. By now, the numbers of your MoCs should be on auto dial. Be sure to always let them know what is on your mind. Go to actions and protests when you can. The more people who can lend their voices to a cause, the louder our collective voice. Never underestimate the value of showing up!
However, the most important work we can do, by far, is election work. Democrats, as the minority party in all branches of the federal government, don’t have enough leverage to do much more than kick and scream. The best help we can give our MoC’s, ourselves, and our country, is a Democratic majority. So that means ELECTIONS!!!
We’re asking all our members and readers to commit to Election work.
That can mean:
registering people to vote.
Working on a specific campaign, whether local, state or federal. (NYCD16 has prioritized a few campaigns.)
Fundraising for candidates.
Donating to candidates.
Working help get candidates on the ballot.
Election Day poll watching
Working with politicians we have helped to elect.
At our next general meeting on February 11, we will go into detail about campaigns and ways to get involved in all these activities, as well as training for them.