Saturday, January 20, 2018

It's time for a reckoning

Today, it's been exactly one year since Donald Trump's inauguration. For someone who, on almost all fronts, seems to prefer behaving as a political talk-show host to being the actual President, we shouldn't be surprised (though it is disappointing) that we're marking this anniversary with the government shut down.

Take away the spin and the pundits, and the reality in Washington, D.C. is this: The GOP controls the federal government. Donald Trump and congressional Republicans had a chance to negotiate a bipartisan deal to keep the government open. They refused.

This shutdown comes at the end of what has been an almost unthinkably bad first year in office for Donald Trump. Each day seems to bring a new controversy or outrage, and it all follows this basic structure:

1. Trump says or does something bad (likely on Twitter).
2. Americans are disgusted and angry.
3. Americans speak up.
4. Americans are forced to move on because Trump has done the next outrageous thing.

And so the cycle continues, and each outrage blurs with the one before until everyone can feel too exhausted to even move. But anniversaries are a time for reflection, so today we're looking back at the "greatest hits" of each month of Trump's presidency to remind ourselves what we're fighting against when we roll up our sleeves to elect (or re-elect) progressive leaders in Congress. This is a long email, but it's time for a reckoning, so read on if you're ready for one:

January 2017: Trump signs his first travel ban, effectively blocking people from Muslim countries, including Syrian refugees, from entering the United States.

February 2017: Trump reverses guidelines put in place by the Obama Administration that allow transgender students in public schools to choose which bathroom to use.

March 2017: It's reported that the FBI has information suggesting possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016, prompting one of Trump's all-too-frequent "fake news" tweets.

April 2017: Trump takes some time away from his busy schedule watching cable news to have dinner *in the White House* with pals Sarah Palin, Kid Rock, and Ted Nugent (whose past comments about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, among others, are so offensive we can't even type them here).

May 2017: Trump fires FBI Director James Comey, telling Lester Holt it was because of "this Russia thing." Soon after, Robert Mueller is appointed as special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in the election.

June 2017: Trump announces his plans to withdraw from the Paris climate deal.

July 2017: With urging from Trump, congressional Republicans come dangerously close to repealing the Affordable Care Act. The repeal is prevented by just one vote in the Senate.

August 2017: After white supremacists descend on Charlottesville with hatred and violence, Trump reacts to the tragic events by noting that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the issue.

September 2017: Trump directly attacks NFL players who chose to peacefully protest racial violence, calling for them to be fired.

October 2017: Republicans Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, fed up with a lack of responsible governing, voice their frustrations with Trump. Neither plans to return to the Senate after their terms end.

November 2017: Trump defends Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore despite multiple credible accusations of sexual abuse of underage girls.

December 2017: Trump signs a deficit-busting 1.5 trillion dollar tax cut into law benefitting corporations and the wealthiest in the country, and leaving the middle class and working people holding the bag.

January 2018: Feeling defensive -- and as he taunts North Korea over the prospect of a nuclear strike -- Trump tweets out a reminder to his 46 million followers that he is a "stable genius."

Well, there you have it. One year in office. And this, of course, doesn't even come close to covering all that's happened. The cruel reversal of DACA. Ending protections for workers. Rolling back Wall Street reform. Appointing the anti-public education Betsy DeVos and anti-civil rights Jeff Sessions to his cabinet. Countless insults and untruths.

If you made it this far down, you're probably feeling a little frustrated and dispirited. We get it. But here's the thing: There may be three more years in Trump's term, but we have a chance this fall to earn a Democratic majority in the Senate, which would give us a progressive brick wall against the dangerous and divisive agenda being pushed by this administration. It would create a real check to this presidency that we so desperately need.

Ready? Add your name if you're mad that this is our reality. Add your name if you're ready to fight for change. Add your name if you're ready for Democrats to win big in 2018.

Thank you for all you do. It's not easy, and we're with you every step of the way.

In solidarity,

Team Kaine
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Monday, January 15, 2018

Dr. King's legacy:

Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a moment when our country feels hopelessly divided.
American Possibilities

DianeA --

Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a moment when our country feels hopelessly divided.

But I still have hope. And I'll tell you why.

Three months before I graduated from law school, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. Riots broke out in cities across America, including my own. Wilmington, Delaware was burning.

The governor, Charles Terry, had called in the National Guard when rock and bottle throwing escalated to sniping, looting, and arson. As a young trial attorney heading in to work each day, I walked by six-foot-tall uniformed soldiers carrying rifles. Apparently, they were there to protect me.

Over in East Wilmington, mothers were terrified their children would make one bad mistake and end up dead. National Guardsmen patrolled their streets with loaded weapons. Curfews were in effect.

Dr. King told us that "true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." And as a young public defender, I remember imagining how we might heal this God-awful situation. How justice might be done. How we could rise out of the ashes -- and find a way out together.

Because back then, we were made to believe that we couldn't.

Forty years later, I found myself standing on a railroad platform in Wilmington, Delaware once again.

It was January 17th, 2009 -- a bitter, cold, but glorious day. Thousands of people were in the streets of Wilmington and the parking lots, waiting for the same thing I was.

I was being picked up by a friend, President-Elect Barack Obama, who was about to be sworn in as this nation's first African American President.

As I stood on that platform and waited, I looked out over my city -- the very same part of the city that was in chaos 40 years earlier, when I had imagined and prayed that we might all live together.

That's what can change in 40 years in this country.

Last year, this country elected a president who plays off our differences for political gain. It often feels as if we retreat behind those differences. But we simply cannot allow them to prevail once again.

Here's what I believe, DianeA -- and I'll believe it until the day I die: All those differences hardly measure up to the values we hold in common.

I believe we will once again move forward together. But to do that, we must realize what Dr. King realized -- that opportunity is the only road to true equality.

This nation cannot be what it's capable of being until it has offered that opportunity, equally, to all Americans.

May he continue to rest in peace, and inspire us for generations to come.

-Joe



 

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Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Add your name to demand a DREAM Act now

I am one of more than 800,000 young people granted protection from deportation through DACA.
My name is Gabriela, and I'm a DREAMer. I am one of more than 800,000 young people granted protection from deportation through the DACA program started by President Obama.

When the Trump administration announced in September that it was ending DACA, I was worried for my future. I did not know whether I would be able to remain in the U.S. -- the only country that's ever felt like home to me.

Last night's court decision on DACA is further proof that Donald Trump's elimination of the program was never about the rule of law. It was about holding our futures hostage and deporting DREAMers as bargaining chips in future political negotiations.

It is still up to Congress to pass legislation to provide permanent protection for DREAMers -- which is why I am asking you to join me today:

Add your name to call on Congress to pass a permanent DREAM Act by January 19th that will protect DREAMers like me from deportation.

When I was 12 years old, my family made the decision to leave El Salvador and come to the U.S. Our neighborhood back in El Salvador was afflicted by gang violence and my parents wanted to protect me.

During the first several months, I felt so frustrated that I didn't know the language here. So I would go to the library and check out two of the same books: one in Spanish and another in English. I would read one page in English and then one page in Spanish -- and that's how I learned.

When President Obama created DACA in 2012, my life changed. I knew I didn't have to go back to El Salvador and put myself at risk.

At that moment, that 12-year-old that didn't know how to speak English came to mind. And I thought of how far I had come.

I am telling you my story today because I refuse to go back into the shadows. We can't stay quiet when there is injustice happening.

Our fight is far from over. We must continue coming together to oppose this administration's inhumane immigration agenda.

Add your name to demand that Congress pass legislation by January 19th to allow DREAMers like me to stay in the only country we've ever considered home.

ADD YOUR NAME

There are hundreds of thousands of other DREAMers who have stories like mine. To them I would like to say this: Your presence in the U.S. is not wrong. You were meant to be here.

Thank you for reading my story today.

In solidarity,

Gabriela





























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