A democracy teetering on the precipice

My god, I am INCANDESCENT with rage, heartbreak, and disgust tonight. The Senate impeachment trial started today, and so far, the GOP has refused to do anything but deny evidence and fact and cower in cowardice and obsequiousness. It is disgraceful and pathetic. The Senate Republicans are disgraceful and pathetic. Please contact your senators* and urge them to demand to see and hear from the abundant witnesses and evidence that trump has thus far silenced. WHO, as Hakeem Jeffries and so many others have asked, has heard of a trial with no witnesses?

The truth sets us free; shadows and secrecy are but ugly tools of injustice.

Please watch this.

*Text 50409 with ‘Remove Trump’ to easily craft letters that are directly sent to your senators via Resistbot,

and/or

check my Political Resources/Elected Official Contact Info for direct office phone numbers for your representatives.

And for our democracy’s sake, get out and PROTEST! Make your voices heard. Otherwise you’re complicit in helping throw our country into the abyss.

In case you need any additional fire behind you, read this: trump’s stunning tirade against American generals.

I swarmed! And appreciate the Senate bill graveyard.

Several months ago, one of my very dearest pals and I decided that rain, shine, or whatever life was throwing at us, we’d walk together every Thursday morning. I believe the only exception we’ve made is when we stayed in to watch Fiona Hill conquer her hearing during the impeachment trial. That was infinitely worth it.

This Thursday tradition is one of my favorite parts of every week, time with a rare gem of a human that I treasure. Yesterday after we walked, I used my new juicer (the Breville juice fountain; I could not recommend it more) to make us fresh carrot-orange juice, and as we drank our vitamins, I confided that with Tom out of town and the pace I’ve been keeping, perhaps I wouldn’t head downtown to join the #SwarmTheSenate protest at noon.

“I’m tired, but I do want to go.”

“Well, you don’t have to go. You certainly go enough. But it does always make you feel better.”

It does, she was right, and I’m so glad I hauled it down to the Hart Senate Building to join the swarm, not least because just after we began, the House walked the articles of impeachment to the Senate and Chief Justice Roberts began swearing in each senator as an impartial justice (we’ll see about that as not a few Republicans have already made clear they refuse to call witnesses, hear new evidence, or listen to anything that goes against ‘our dear leader is perfect’).

Swarm is a committed, welcoming bunch from all over the country: California, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey. They have black shirts that together spell out a variety of phrases and others that have Article 2 Section 4 of the Constitution on the back. Some have been adorned with colorful pieces of fabric on which Remove Trump has been printed. Fortunately, I was wearing a charcoal shirt and navy pants so I didn’t stand out too badly. And they have rolls of Remove Trump/Swarm the Senate stickers, so I stuck two to my chest.

We gathered inside the Hart atrium, in front of a towering black steel Calder sculpture called Mountains and Clouds. Quietly, peacefully, we stood in front of it in rows, the sun streaming down on us through skylights overhead. Periodically, perhaps because of the stringent rules around gatherings and protests in government buildings or perhaps to infuse a bit of performance art into our protest, we walked silently around, a solemn conga line punctuated by silent resisters standing firmly in newly adopted places.

An 85-year-old woman named Barbara had brought a folding stool to sit on rather than stand. The guards told her she was not allowed to sit in the atrium unless she used the stone benches scattered around the perimeter of the space. After some respectful discussion about was that discrimination or not -I mean, would they not let someone in a wheelchair stay put?- Barbara relocated to a bench. We gathered around her in solidarity (see second photo, above).

in the second floor atrium

Roughly forty-minutes in, we made our way to the second floor of the Russell Senate building where the gorgeous, multi-floor round atrium is. I saw a woman I’d marched with and met several years ago, the NRA -> DC march, and also met a great woman from New Jersey. I felt so deeply and sadly that so many of the people who sit behind the wooden desks in the marbled offices in the hallowed halls of Hart don’t remotely respect the country or office enough to deserve the positions of power they hold.

Someone unfurled an enormous Remove Trump banner, and we did calls-and-responses with an ever-growing crowd of protesters until we got our third warning from Capitol Police. I could not afford to get arrested yesterday, nor could the NJ woman I’d met, so we walked around the Capitol grounds. I stopped suddenly in front of a new visual I’d not seen before: a graveyard of House bills the Senate, McConnell, has refused to bring to the floor.

It’s powerful. Rows of headstones each with a bill as epitaph. 347 House-passed bills just languishing on McConnell’s desk. Bipartisan bills that would help Americans in so many ways.

I don’t know what will happen this November , but I do know that it’s worth fighting every single day until then to protect what democracy we have left, to get enough people informed and inspired to vote in new members of Congress who will actually care about oaths, regular citizens, infrastructure, our dying planet, equity, justice, and the future.

What are you doing to help bring about change this year? Please share all acts, big or small. I’d love to hear about them!

#SwarmTheSenate, and 15 January 2020 :: Reading List

Hi Friends,

I’m so touched by how many new readers have joined this community. Thank you! Pass it on!

Now in the navigation bar you’ll see two new tabs: Political Events, and Political Resources. Political Events in an interactive calendar two ways: a traditional calendar format, and an events list below. I’ll keep it updated with protest, advocacy, educational, speaker, author, and other cool opportunities. For example, please note that at noon every day this week at the Senate Hart Building (120 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002), #SwarmTheSenate will be hosting #Remove45 protests. I’ll be there in a couple days. The group is doing incredible work, and it needs all the support it can get not least because it seems likely that tomorrow (Wednesday), the House will vote to formally send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. This.is.it! Make your voices heard!

Political Resources will be a landing spot for information about candidates running in local, state, and federal elections, contact information, websites and other resources, and so forth. Please check out both, and let me know what you think.

And as promised, here is my week one compilation of standout reading and cool stuff:

More evidence for impeachment released today.

This is just remarkable and well worth your time. My Semester With the Snowflakes

If you’re not moved to near-tears by this, I’ll spit! Who Killed the Knapp Family?

Heartbreak the size of Yosemite. The Great Dismantling of America’s National Parks is Underway

The power of even the smallest idea. Just another brick in the wall?

Innovative, attractive, and cool. City Trees.