Events to Know

Impeachment Update.  Needless to say, the biggest story of the bunch is the impeachment trial that started on Tuesday and likely will conclude on Saturday. The process technically began with an entire day’s debate about whether the whole thing was constitutional before the Senate deciding that it was by 56-44 vote. The impeachment managers’ arguments, as previously mentioned, kicked off with truly stunning riot footage and continued with the notion that Trump’s speeches were singularly responsible for the insurrection attempt. They then concluded on Thursday by noting the horrifying standard of Presidential misconduct created if Trump is not convicted. In contrast, Trump’s lawyers took a hot minute on Friday to reprise a truly impressive array of nonsense defenses from their 78-page brief–everything from claiming incitement is free speech (spoiler: it isn’t) to claiming the Senate doesn’t have constitutional authority to hold a trial (spoiler: it does).  And in a striking and unusual open letter, over 370 Congressional aides described the attack on their workplace that led to the impeachment charges and asked Senators to convict Trump so that he could never hold office again.
Key links:

1. Washington Post – Senate Sets Stage For Rapid Trump Impeachment Trial
2. Associated Press – Trump Trial Gets Go-ahead After Emotional, Graphic First Day
3. Politico – Impeachment managers unveil dramatic footage of Capitol attack
4. NPR – Impeachment Managers Argue Trump Is ‘Singularly Responsible’ For Capitol Attack
5. New York Times – Trump’s team concludes incendiary defense, seeking to rewrite the narrative of his actions on Jan. 6.

MTG Tapped Out. The past couple of weeks have involved a lot of discussion of resident QAnon Congressperson Marjorie Taylor Greene, largely because people spent a lot of time arguing that she shouldn’t get to sit in Congress after supporting death threats to the current Speaker when there was a credible threat to the Speaker’s life only a few weeks ago. QAnon Congressperson was also in the news this week for, among other things, calling Cori Bush and the Black Lives Matter movement terrorists and saying fires in California were caused by Jewish space lasers. (I feel like this is a good time to remind people that Violent QAnon Lady comes from a state that created its own KKK movement and also hosted the most famous lynching of a Jewish person in American history, so, y’know, probably not a coincidence that those fictional lasers were Jewish.) House Democrats warned that they were planning to bring the issue to the House floor if the GOP minority leader didn’t remove QAnon Lady Marjorie Taylor Greene from several committees.  As the week dragged on, despite significant pressure on the issue and some choice words from Mitch McConnell, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy proved unwilling to censure her.  So as was foretold by prophecy, the House put it to a vote.  Greene ended up removed from her committee appointments by a 230-199 vote, with 11 fellow Republicans voting to remove her.

Key links: 

1. Politico – Rep. Jimmy Gomez Drafts Resolution To Oust Marjorie Taylor Greene From Congress
2. CNN- Marjorie Taylor Greene Indicated Support For Executing Prominent Democrats In 2018 And 2019 Before Running For Congress
3. Media Matters – Marjorie Taylor Greene Penned Conspiracy Theory That A Laser Beam From Space Started Deadly 2018 California Wildfire
4. CNN – House Republicans Weigh Stripping Greene From Committee Assignments As Gop Senators Repudiate Her Views
5. CNBC – House Votes To Strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Of Committee Assignments

Confirmation Tango (Reprise). We saw a few more noteworthy confirmations this week. Notably, Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed as the first-ever Latino Secretary of Homeland Security, and it will be interesting to see what he has planned for immigration policy. Meanwhile, Mayo Pete Buttigieg was confirmed as the first openly-gay Secretary of Transportation, and though I’m still not clear on how leading South Bend made him qualified for this, he’ll probably still be better than Elaine Chao. Buttigieg and Mayorkas join Antony Blinken, who was confirmed as Secretary of State the previous week.

Key links: 

1. NPR – Senate Makes Alejandro Mayorkas First Latino Head Of Homeland Security
2. Washington Post – From Mayor Pete To Secretary Buttigieg: Appearances Hint At Expansive Role For Next Transportation Chief
3. Associated Press – Senate Confirms Antony Blinken As 71st Secretary Of State

Recent Resilience

Vaccination and Transmission News.  Not all of this week’s COVID news is bad, and some of it is pretty promising.  As I mentioned above, case, death, and hospitalization rates have been going down at the national level.  Early studies suggest the Oxford/AstraZenca vaccine is about 67% effective, which is about on par with the Johnson and Johnson findings–and incidentally, Johnson and Johnson is now seeking FDA approval, which means we might soon have a single-dose vaccine.  In the meantime, Moderna is working with the Biden administration to increase vaccine access at pharmacies. Additionally, a new study suggests that recovered COVID patients are likely protected for at least six months after infection.

Key links:

1. Guardian – Single Dose Of AstraZeneca Vaccine Could Cut Transmission By 67%
2. Guardian – Johnson & Johnson Asks FDA To Approve World’s First Single-dose Covid Vaccine
3. NPR- Biden Administration Will Ship Covid-19 Vaccines Directly To Pharmacies
4. Reuters – Recovered Covid Patients Likely Protected For At Least Six Months, Study Finds

Things to Watch

State of the COVID-19.  COVID news has some silver linings this week, which I will talk more about below, but there were some low points as well. Testing is apparently declining, which is baffling experts, and the Supreme Court removed restrictions on indoor, in-person worship that were put in place due to severe outbreaks in California.  Experts are also concerned that the Super Bowl may create superspreader events, particularly in the hosting city of Tampa, which is particularly dispiriting when transmission rates had finally been going down nationally.  The first U.S. Congressperson has died of COVID infection.  And finally, the FDA is expected to release guidance on how to deal with new variants.  The move is particularly timely, as the U.K variant is spreading rapidly in the U.S. and South Africa just halted use of one of its vaccines because it did not work on the new local variant.
Key links:

1. New York Times – As U.S. Vaccinations Ramp Up, Some Recipients Struggle To Secure A Second Dose
2. Washington Post – Supreme Court Says California Worship Restrictions Violate Religious Rights
3. CNN – To Safely Enjoy The Super Bowl, Watch At Home With People With Whom You Live, CDC Says
4. Washington Post – Rep. Ron Wright Has Died After Battle With Covid-19
5. Washington Post – FDA Will Propose Guidelines To Deal With New Variants
6. Los Angeles Times – South Africa Suspends AstraZeneca Vaccine Drive After Study Shows Minimal Protection [against local variant]

Insurrection Attempt Updates.  There was a bit more news about insurrection charges this week. With the latest set of arrests, we’re now up to 198 people charged, and the charges remain very varied. The FBI is also alleging in its documents that the Proud Boys were trying to retaliate against police because they were angry about response to an earlier stabbing incident. It’s still an open question whether anyone will be charged with murder.

Key links:

1. New York Times – Arrested In Capitol Riot: Organized Militants And A Horde Of Radicals
2. Washington Post – Proud Boys May Have Planned Capitol Breach To Retaliate Against Police For Member Stabbed At Earlier March, FBI Alleges
3. New York Times – People Died At The Capitol. Will Rioters Be Charged With Murder?

Dismantling the Deportation Machine. I mentioned last week that I want to pay particular attention to how we’re mopping up in the aftermath of the Zero Tolerance policy, and we’ve had further updates on that. President Biden passed several more immigration executive orders on the topic last week, including one that created the anticipated task force to address family separation and two others that order studies of immigration processes. He’s expected to continue to make further changes to enforcement this week such as returning to priority enforcement, and we’re also rejoining the UN Human Rights Council. However, ICE deportations are continuing despite Biden’s order to stop them, and a few outlets noted that ICE contract agreements made by Trump may limit how much Biden can do in the short-term.

Key links:

1. Washington Post – A Visual Breakdown Of Biden’s Barrage Of Executive Actions In His First Weeks
2. NBC – Biden Signs Immigration Executive Orders To Address ‘Moral Failing’ Of Trump’s Policies
3. NBC – Biden Administration To Rejoin U.N. Human Rights Council In Another Reversal Of Trump
4. Guardian – New Claims Of Migrant Abuse As ICE Defies Biden To Continue Deportations
5. The Hill – ICE Union Contract Prompts Fear Of Resistance To Biden

Actions for Everyone

Things are slowly getting better. Around 10% of the population has now received at least 1 dose of the Covid vaccine. Our numbers are slowly going down. We all need each other to make it. Don’t forget to check on your loved ones, even if they seem ok.

Black History Month –  All of February is Black History Month and here are some nice ways you can still observe the month within pandemic restrictions.

CW: Suicide/Mental Illness

It’s February and my mind/body knows- For a lot of us, we’re currently going through winter and it’s R O U G H T. I thought it would be a good idea to make one of our actions this week to try to keep the winter blues at bay.

What can you do to help yourself fight Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Up your dose of Vitamin D! – Try to get as much sun as you can and if that’s hard for you, consider talking to your physician to see if you can start taking Vitamin D supplements.

Try to stay active! – It’s always natural to want to settle down a little more during the cold months but if you add Covid into the mix, lots of us are not going out or walking anywhere. Try to add some type of exercise; be it yoga, walking, dancing, stretching, doing some spring cleaning. Anything helps! Just try to move a little to help your brain.

Consider getting a SAD lamp- These lamps are made to mimic the sunrise and sunlight and will help you battle the sad away.

Reach out – 

Text 741741 for a free crisis text line

Call 1-800-662-HELP, the National helpline for substance abuse or emotional distress

Call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Go to Open Path Collective to find an accessible and affordable online therapist

The USPS is not out of the weeds yet – The USPS has been under attack for a while now, specially all throughout 2020 with the appointing of Trump follower Louis DeJoy and the campaigns of mistrust regarding the role of the postal service in the elections. Currently, DeJoy is trying to make the mail more expensive and also slower by installing new measures. The USPS is an extremely important institution and it must be protected.

Call your House representatives to voice your opinion against these attacks. There will be a House Oversight Committee hearing on February 24th.

Push on Biden to fill the seats left of the postal Board of Governors that could overturn the Postmaster General’s decisions and ultimately replace him.

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Events to Know

Further Updates from the Insurrection. Though a few of the immediate consequences for Trump underlings have been pretty funny–Pompeo canceling his EU trip because officials refused to meet with him and Trump telling his team not to pay Rudy Giuliani spring to mind–much of the new updates about the attempted insurrection are far less amusing. Early in the week, Rep Mikie Sherill asserted that GOP colleagues had given “reconnaissance” tours of the site the day before the attack, and over 30 Democrats are seeking an investigation into this matter. Those reports appear supported by a Stop the Steal organizer’s statement that he had the support of three reps in Congress as he planned. Eventually, CNN aired footage of Rep Steve Cohen accusing Rep Lauren Boebert of leading such a tour the day before the attack; though he did not have concrete proof beyond saying he had seen her lead a group, that proof might not exist because reps are not required to sign their guests in. Either way, many of the people who stormed the Capitol Building have proven to have good working knowledge of the building complex; a group apparently nearly made it to the Senate chamber while Mike Pence was still there before being diverted away by a lone police officer who made himself a target. Many of the insurrectionists are also very well-trained; several off-duty members of police forces and current or former members of the U.S. military have been identified as participants. All of this, of course, sets the stage for high concern about reports of repeat attacks in the week leading up to inauguration, which I’ll talk about more below.

Key links:

1. Reuters – Luxembourg, EU Snub Pompeo In Final Europe Trip, Diplomats Say
2. Politico – Dems Demand Details Of ‘Suspicious’ Capitol Visitors Day Before Attack
3. CNN – Us Capitol Police Banned Building Tours On Day Of Riot After Democrats Raised Security Concerns
4. CBS – Black Officer Seen Risking His Life To Lead Capitol Mob Away From Senate Chamber Hailed As A Hero
5. Associated Press – Capitol Rioters Included Highly Trained Ex-military And Cops
6. Cnet – FBI, DOJ Provide Update On Capitol Riot Arrests Amid Concern About Future Attacks

Last-Minute Pardons and Executions.  Three different federal executions were conducted in the past week, marking thirteen total federal executions in the past seven months after seventeen years without any executions at all. This would be monstrous enough to place as a priority during a pandemic, but the full context of these executions makes this particularly horrifying. Firstly, this is an incredibly high number for federal executions–in fact, a brief for one of the recent defendants notes it is more than three times the total for the past sixty years. But the part of this story that I consider most noteworthy is the fact that two of the three executions had been stayed by appeals courts, and were then summarily overturned by the Supreme Court this week. This news is bracketed by the developing story that Donald Trump has essentially been selling pardons, which contextualizes why he pardoned or commuted the sentences of over 140 more people before he left office on Wednesday, including former aide Steve Bannon— who was criminally charged for defrauding Trump’s own base. This kind of corruption seems pretty obvious on its face, but Margaret Love insightfully summarized the whole fetid ball of earwax by calling it “a basic violation of the longstanding effort to make this process at least look fair.”

Key links:

1. Washington Post – Trump Administration Carries Out 13th And Final Execution
2. SCOTUSblog – Reversing Several Lower Courts, Justices Allow Execution Of Lisa Montgomery
3. New York Times – Prospect Of Pardons In Final Days Fuels Market To Buy Access To Trump

Inauguration Process.   As I mentioned last week, it remained a strange and scary time as we geared up for inauguration and officials remained vigilant, concerned about potential further attacks that ultimately, thankfully, did not materialize.  We limited public access to the Capitol grounds, and in fact, the National Mall was closed along with most major public bridges all week. The many National Guard troops stationed in the complex were vetted to prevent infiltration, and twelve people have been removed as a result.  There were also numerous checkpoints around the city, and one of them resulted in the arrest of a guy with 500 rounds of ammunition on Friday.  The Biden administration ended up moving many celebrations online to try to keep a festive atmosphere against this backdrop, but nonetheless had a poignant outdoor swearing-in ceremony despite the somber circumstances.  Main highlights include Youth National Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s reading of her phenomenal poem, “The Hill We Climb,” and the truly impressive number of memes about Bernie Sanders’s mittens.

Key links:

1. Washington Post – Far-Right Groups Make Plans For Protests And Assaults Before And After Inauguration Da
2. Associated Press – FBI Vetting Guard Troops In DC Amid Fears Of Insider Attack
3. New York Times – A  Man With A Gun Arrested By Capitol Police At A Security Checkpoint Calls It An ‘Honest Mistake.’
4. CNN – Joe Biden And Kamala Harris Drop A Playlist For Your Inauguration Watch Party
5. Today – Amanda Gorman, 22, delivers powerful inaugural poem: ‘There is always light’
6. NBC News – Biden sworn in as president, calls on Americans to ‘end this uncivil war’ of political division

Recent Resilience

Recent Court Resilience. We had a few promising court moments this week.  In Pennsylvania, a federal judge ordered that a rightfully-elected state senator must be seated in the Senate, ending a multi-week standoff that echoed our Presidential spectacle.  And in New York, the Attorney General’s office is suing the NYPD for misconduct during the Floyd protests.

Key links:

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – Federal judge rules in favor of Democratic Pa. Senate candidate GOP refused to seat
2. Associated Press – NY attorney general sues NYPD over Floyd protest response

Things to Watch

State of the COVID-19.   COVID news continues to be rough, but hopefully will shift over time.  Seven different House representatives have tested positive for COVID after being forced to shelter in place with colleagues who refused masks, prompting Democrats to seek $1000-per-day fines for mask infractions moving forward.  Meanwhile, news broke that this administration had completely exhausted its vaccine reserve, despite its announcement that it planned to expand access to said nonexistent reserve only a few days prior.  Needless to say, this has implications for President Biden’s vaccine distribution plans, and comes despite a lag in vaccine distribution generally over the last few weeks.  Officials are now recommending the vaccine be given to anyone over 65 in an effort to speed things up.  We also crossed the threshold of 400,000 deaths.  But there is more positive news as well; articles also started appearing about the vaccine’s excellent track record for preventing deaths–though it is not 100% effective against COVID infection, those inoculated near-uniformly experienced milder and non-lethal symptoms.  President Biden has also unveiled a comprehensive and aggressive set of Presidential orders that are designed to change the way the country handles the pandemic in several fundamental ways, and we will likely see impact from this over time.
Key links:

1. Associated Press – Covid Fears Grow In Capitol As Three Lawmakers Test Positive
2. Washington Post – Democrats Want To Fine Colleagues $1,000 A Day If They Refuse To Wear A Mask On Capitol Grounds
3. Reuters – Trump Administration Accused Of Deception In Pledging Release Of Vaccine Stockpile
4. NBC – In Push To Get More Vaccines Into Arms, Officials Recommend States Give To Anyone 65 And Up
5. Science – ‘Absolutely Remarkable’: No One Who Got Moderna’s Vaccine In Trial Developed Severe Covid-19
6. NPR – On Day 2, Biden Focuses On COVID-19 Strategy With 10 Executive Actions

Further Insurrection Consequences.  Unsurprisingly, given the information above, insurrection consequences continue on both criminal and non-criminal fronts. At this point, 117 people have been criminally charged, with charges ranging from simple trespass to sedition, and the first indictments have been issued as well. All told, officials are investigating over one hundred and seventy people. Countless people have given FBI tips about their own family members, disgusted by the destruction and multiple deaths caused by the mob. Meanwhile, various corporations have begun to pull their donations to the 147 members of Congress who appeared to support challenging Biden’s election win, which many people are taking as tacit support of the attempted coup itself. Trump himself, of course, continues to be banned from half the Internet and suffer a whole host of business consequences for his role in the storm of the Capitol building, including several contracts pulled by New York City itself. Now that he’s no longer protected from prosecutorial immunity, we are likely to see several forms of criminal consequences for him as well.

Key links:

1. Washington Post – Justice Dept. Investigating Sedition And Conspiracy Charges And Any Terror Links To Violent Storming Of U.S. Capitol
2. New York Times – Companies Pull Back Political Giving Following Capitol Violence
3. New York Times –  An Urgent Reckoning For The Trump Brand
4. NPR – House Impeaches Trump A 2nd Time, Citing Insurrection At U.S. Capitol

Shifting of Policy.  The Trump administration crammed a variety of last-minute policy changes through on the way out the door, piling onto the destructive policy that was a hallmark of the last four years. There have been a spree of final environmental rollbacks from the Department of Interior, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule permitting social service groups to discriminate based on orientation and gender identity. And the FDA and CDC finalized a rule that essentially imposes term limits on health experts and scientists, because forcing leading health experts out is definitely a reasonable and safe thing to do in the middle of a pandemic. However, the Biden administration has been immediately tackling these and so many other policy abuses from basically their first moment in office, and at the time that I type this on Friday evening there have already been about 30 Presidential proclamations designed to undo or fix Trump-era abuses on an extremely broad range of issues–everything from new COVID protections to additional nutritional supports and economic supports to countering workplace discriminations to acknowledging climate change to extending environmental protections to creating immigration supports to extending eviction and loan moratoriums. It’s a truly impressive amount of work in a 48-hour period, and we look forward to activism under this new administration.

Key links:

1. Washington Post – In Trump’s Last Days, A Spree Of Environmental Rollbacks
2. NBC – In ‘Nasty Parting Shot,’ HHS Finalizes Rule Axing LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
3. Politico – Trump Admin Races To Enact Term Limits For Top Health Scientists
4. New York Times – Biden Seeks Quick Start With Executive Actions And Aggressive Legislation
5. Washington Post – On his first day, Biden signs executive orders to reverse Trump’s policies

Actions for Everyone

Happy Inauguration Week! Feels better already, doesn’t it? All I have to say is:  Amanda Gorman. Amanda Gorman. Amanda Gorman. Also, I will no longer refer to the name Tr*mp, I will henceforth be calling him the predecessor. 

Beyond The Stoplight: If you’re a teacher, provide child care, or are a parent, you might want to look at Beyond The Stoplight – creating equitable and caring classrooms for children. Although January 6 was a few weeks ago, and much has happened since then, it was a traumatic event that hasn’t gone away for most Americans, including kiddos. It also seems inevitable that the insurrection will come up for weeks, months, years to come as we deal with the aftermath of the predecessor. Beyond the Stoplight has resources and language to talk with your classroom or kids about the attack on the Capitol and on Democracy.

Support Youth Arts Programs: In my opinion, the star of the inauguration was Amanda Gorman. Hands down. Her incredible poem made me feel hope for the first time in a while, and I’m not alone. She was able to paint a picture of today’s climate and somehow connect with each of us on a deeply personal level on how we imagine moving forward. If you haven’t already heard or read her poem, check out my website www.google.com  

So here’s the thing. While I am in literal awe of Ms. Gorman, there is talent like Amanda Gorman’s at high schools across this country that may not get recognized because they get written off as “low performing, urban youth” and/or their public school arts programs get cut because of budget cuts – maybe because 40-50% of city budgets goes to policing, but I digress. If we learned anything from Inauguration Day it has to be that the arts are as important in building a healthy democracy as any other field. So, an action I would LOVE you to make is to find a youth focused arts organization and give them your money and/or time. I’m really banking on your research to find a group near you, but I did a little search myself and found The Wallace Foundation whose mission is to foster equity and improvements in learning and enrichment for young people, and in the arts for everyone.​

Celebrate Environmental Justice: I am cautiously optimistic about the Biden/Harris administration, but holy wow, cancelling the Keystone Pipeline within the first AFTERNOON in office feels like a great start. The argument for the pipeline is always “Americans rely on oil and natural gas, so you need these resources and the pipeline is the best way to get them to you,” but can we please agree to move away from this logic of dependency and use our imaginations to move toward an environmentally just future? In the long term, there is no alternative.

Have you all read The Green New Deal? Check it out. It’s short and shows the urgency of making moves like cancelling new pipeline builds.

In addition to showing us that environmental and social justice is important to the new administration, this is also a flex on the Big money in oil and natural gas. It shows us that there’s an agenda of economic equity here, too. Of course, there are people in the energy industry that are good, working class people, but there are also wealthy oil executives motivated by greed that drive destruction. I guess this action is to read The Green New Deal, and take steps in your life to be ready for a transition between our current energy system and the new one.

Also, just for good measure, look at all these other executive orders signed into action on Day One and please know that the predecessor only signed two executive orders on their first day in office. 

I’m sure by now, many readers are aware of the insurgent attack on the Capitol building yesterday, which interrupted electoral procedure for nearly six hours.  It’s hard to make sense of that mob, which unquestionably perpetrated terrorism in their own nation’s seat of power, and it’s hard to make sense of Trump’s role in their organizing.  If you are struggling with what just happened, you are not alone, and we are here.  And as always, we have suggestions for ways to respond below.

Events to Know

Attempted Coup at the Capitol Building.  On Wednesday early afternoon, at a rally held at the Ellipse, Trump encouraged thousands of his supporters to storm the Capitol building, noting that “I’m going to be watching because history is going to be made.”  His armed mob of supporters then did exactly what he instructed, breaching the Capitol building and planting at least two explosive devices on the grounds.  They forced congresspeople to shelter in place or evacuate and delayed proceedings for several hours, looting and vandalizing and generally scaring people.  Trump openly condoned the behavior in a released video, prompting Twitter to lock his account for 12 hours and then eventually ban him entirely.  Five people died from the fray, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was fatally assaulted by rioters.  A federal murder probe has begun regarding the death of the officer, and Congress is still assessing the full damage done to property.  Virginia and Maryland ultimately sent in their national guard to deal with the chaos, and eventually Vice President Pence stepped up and ordered the DC National Guard in as well.  Mayor Bowser imposed a 6pm curfew on the city and declared a state of emergency for the next fifteen days.  Eventually after the mob was cleared, Congress resumed, and did finish counting the electoral college votes around 3:40am that morning.  Those arrested include a West Virginia state representative, a guy who photographed himself stealing a congressional podium, and a man who had eleven Molotov cocktails in his truck when he was apprehended; total arrests number at least 70 so far.

Key links:

1. Washington Post – Woman dies after shooting in U.S. Capitol; D.C. National Guard activated after mob breaches building
    
2. NBC News – 4 dead, Congress evacuated, National Guard activated after pro-Trump rioters storm Capitol
    
3. Politico – Justice Department warns of national security fallout from Capitol Hill insurrection
    
4. CNN Politics – Pence took lead as Trump initially resisted sending National Guard to Capitol
    
5. New York Times – Resuming electoral counting, McConnell condemns the mob assault on the Capitol as a ‘failed insurrection.’
    
6. Twitter.inc – Permanent Suspension of @realDonaldTrump

We Found the Election Fraud.   It’s a bit overshadowed now, but let’s not lose sight of the other impeachable offense Trump committed this week.  On Saturday, Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and, in a surreal, audio-recorded hour-long conversation, appears to pressure the sitting Secretary of State to “find” 11,780 votes in his favor or suffer unnamed political consequences.  A transcript is available of the entire call, but you can also read or listen to some choice bananas quotes if you don’t want to wade that far in.  Apparently, Trump tried calling Raffensperger 18 times before he gave in and answered the phone, which sends its own message, and I don’t blame Raffensperger for being ready with a tape recorder when he finally answered.  Although the New York Times cautiously says this call “might” violate state and federal law, that underplays the seriousness of what just happened–as the GA elections board member requesting investigation has noted, the whole call is extremely textbook illegal election tampering. 

Key links: 

1. Washington Post – ‘I Just Want To Find 11,780 Votes’: In Extraordinary Hour-long Call, Trump Pressures Georgia Secretary Of State To Recalculate The Vote In His Favor
    
2. CNN – There Were 18 Attempted Calls From The White House To GA Secretary Of State’s Office, Sources Say
    
3. Washington Post –  Georgia Elections Board Member Calls For Probe Into Trump’s Call Seeking To Pressure Raffensperger

Black Lives Still Matter.   There was another police extrajudicial shooting of a Black man in Columbus, Ohio last week–which makes two in that location in the past month alone. Incredibly, the police officer involved in the first Columbus shooting was also in the news because a tape surfaced of him advocating extrajudicial violence in a church sermon. In Kenosha, no police were charged in the shooting of Jacob Blake.  Meanwhile, there was yet another police shooting of a Black man in Minneapolis.  Needless to say, this is an awful backdrop to the white supremacist violence earlier this week, and now is an excellent time to support communities of color and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Key links: 

1. New York Times – Columbus Police Kill Black Man Weeks After Protests Against Brutality
    
2. Washington Post –  Black Man’s Fatal Shooting By The Police Exposes Ohio Congregations’ Bitterly Opposing Interpretations Of Faith And Justice
    
3. Washington Post  – No Charges To Be Filed Against Kenosha Police Officer Who Shot Jacob Blake
    
4. New York Times – Minneapolis Police Fatally Shoot Man During Traffic Stop

Recent Resilience

Georgia Runoff Results.  Amid the chaos of the past 48 hours, the Senate runoff election results haven’t fully sunk in, but these elections were both encouraging and the Warnock results are historic. Both Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff ultimately won their races, returning control of the Senate to Democrats and illustrating the sheer power of organizing for enfranchisement. The results mark the first time a Black American has ever served as a Senator from Georgia, and the first time Georgia has sent Democrats to the Senate floor in over twenty years. Much like the general election, it’s also worth noting that early turnout was very high, particularly among young voters.   

Key links:

1. Associated Press – Warnock, Ossoff win in Georgia, handing Dems Senate control
    
2. New York Times – Raphael Warnock’s Win Is One for the History Books
    
3. Washington Post – Democrats win control of U.S. Senate as Ossoff defeats Perdue

Recent Organizing Efforts. Employees of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, also announced today that they are organizing an Alphabet Workers’ Union in conjunction with Communication Workers of America.  The new union represents years of work within the company, and the Alphabet Workers’ Union already has over 400 members as I type this.  This is really encouraging news, and I hope we see a cascade of organizing efforts as a result.  

Key links:

1. Verge – Google Workers Announce Plans To Unionize
    
2. New York Times – The Great Google Revolt

Recent COVID Resilience. We did see some positive policies relating to COVID this week, and it’s worth drawing attention to them. New York held a special legislative session to extend their moratorium on most evictions during the pandemic, which would have otherwise expired on December 31. And in Washington DC, a new law was passed this week facilitating early release for old or ill prison inmates who are particularly high-risk for COVID complications.  

Key links:

1. ABC 7 – Coronavirus NY: Lawmakers Extend Eviction Moratorium In Special Session
    
2. Washington Post – Sick, Elderly Prisoners Are At Risk For Covid-19. A New D.C. Law Makes It Easier For Them To Seek Early Release.

Things to Watch

State of the COVID-19.    This was another weird, bad week for COVID news.  We’re starting to see impact from the unusually high travel rates for Christmas, and the results are not encouraging–hospitalizations continue to rise, we’ve eclipsed 20M cases, and the presence of a new, more contagious strain of COVID isn’t helping anything.  Meanwhile, vaccine distribution has encountered a number of issues: 1) Several states are not following CDC guidelines; 2) In West Virginia, people were accidentally given antibodies instead of the vaccine; 3) There’s renewed concern about whether pregnant women can take the vaccine; and 4) Over 500 doses of Moderna vaccine were intentionally destroyed by a pharmacist in Wisconsin, who has since been arrested and charged with recklessly endangering safety.  There was also a story about distilleries who emergency-produced hand sanitizer being charged heavy fees for their production, but thankfully that decision was reversed by Health and Human Services a day later. 
 
Key links:

1. Politico – U.S. Coronavirus Cases Eclipse 20 Million
    
2. Washington Post – Some States Buck Federal Vaccine Recommendations And Prioritize The Elderly Over Essential Workers
    
3. CNN – Health Officials In West Virginia Mistakenly Gave 42 People Covid-19 Antibodies Instead Of The Vaccine
    
4. Washington Post – Pregnant Women Agonize Over Whether To Get Coronavirus Vaccine
    
5. NBC – Wisconsin Hospital Employee Fired, Arrested After ‘Intentionally’ Destroying 500 Doses Of Covid Vaccine
    
6. Reason – In A Last-minute Reversal, HHS Voids FDA Fees On Distillers Who Produced Emergency Hand Sanitizer

What Happens Now?  At the time that I type this, it’s not fully certain what will happen in response to this week’s news. Several prominent Congresspeople are calling for another impeachment, invocation of the 25th Amendment, or both. Perhaps because of the threat of getting roped into a 25th Amendment discussion, several members of Trump’s cabinet have resigned in the past day. Everything is even further complicated by the fact that Congress is supposed to be on break as of Thursday, and members need to be called back in order for impeachment proceedings to begin, though Nancy Pelosi has indicated impeachment proceedings will begin on Monday (and Mitch McConnell has begun circulating procedures accordingly). Meanwhile, news recirculates that Trump plans to pardon himself, and the banning reckoning happening on social media platforms like Reddit, app stores, Facebook, and Twitter will likely impact any further white supremacist organizing.  All told, there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of calls for action, but also a lot of potential for change, so we need to be calling our reps and watching the next few days very carefully.  

Key links:

1. Anchorage Daily News – Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls on President Trump to resign, questions her future as a Republican
    
2. Washington Post – Twitter warns of new violence to come, brewing again on social media, as reason for Trump ban
    
3. New York Times – Trump Is Said to Have Discussed Pardoning Himself
    
4. Axios – Exodus begins for White House staff after pro-Trump siege on Capitol
    
5. NBC News – Over 200 lawmakers are calling for President Trump’s removal. Here’s who they are
    
6. The Hill – McConnell circulates procedures for second Senate impeachment trial of Trump

Actions for Everyone

Well, Happy New Year! This week’s newsletter is pretty much in direct response to the DA ruling in Kenosha, WI and the attack on Capitol Hill. While there is already so much we can’t control (eg. Trump continuing to be unfit for office, the National Guard being denied by the Department of Defense in DC, Winter bringing on Vitamin D deficiencies, etc), there is still plenty that is within our control and well within our ability to act on. Ready to see change in 2021? Let’s put in the work. 

Check Your White Privilege: If you identify as white, and you get defensive at the mere mention of white privilege, you are struggling with white fragility. It’s important not to get defensive, or feel guilt or shame, because those feelings will keep you in a state of fragility and not able to be anti-racist, which is what ya need to be. Practice saying the words – supremacy, power, colonization, fragility, privilege. Think of them through the lense of whiteness. Sit with those concepts and reflect on how you benefit from a society that rewards proximity to whiteness. Dwell in the difficulty of it. I think one step in the right direction would be to work on acknowledging privilege to the point that you atleast feel neutral around those concepts. 

Subscribe to Anti-Racist Daily, which has some great content on how to process yesterday for BIPOC and also for white folks. Robin DiAngelo has a book titled White Fragility. I’ve heard criticisms of the book because DiAngelo is white woman who wrote the book, which is in some ways problematic because she’s benefitting from the book. I still recommend reading it, but also make sure you decolonize your bookshelves with all genres of BIPOC authors.  

Nix The Six: This is sort of a two in one. I want to tell you about the work of Campaign Zero. They encourage policymakers to focus on solutions with the strongest evidence of effectiveness at reducing police violence. One of their programs is called Nix The Six, a campaign to hold police unions accountable. “The Six” refers to disallowing the following:

1. Police union contracts block accountability.
2. Rehiring officers fired for misconduct.
3. Police bill of rights laws.
4. Police union influence over budgets.
5. Police unions buying political power.
6. Negotiations without community representation.

Another amazing aspect of this campaign is the ability to check in on your City and State to find out what police union protections are in place, as well as when the policing contract expires so you can plan your local campaign to change policing before the next contract is created. Read up on their research and sign up to volunteer for a campaign near you.

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Events to Know

Trumped-Up Election Challenges.    As I mentioned above, the electoral college vote went… exactly how people expected it too, which by this point is deeply unnerving. It’s extra jarring, to be fair, because election challenges abounded the entire week beforehand. Trump asked the Pennsylvania House Speaker to overturn election results there, marking the third state he has pressured to throw out legal election results. Meanwhile, Texas sued to toss out legal election results and two dozen states countersued to stop them.  (Within a few days of the suit being filed, the Supreme Court had tossed it out the door with a subtle note to Texas to stay in its own lane, and rejected a case challenging Pennsylvania’s results while it was at it.)  While the case was pending, 126 GOP lawmakers urged SCOTUS to throw out election results in support of the Texas suit, and some prominent officials even began alluding to secession.  Against that backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that at least one retiring Republican has officially left the party over the matter.  Now that the challenge has been tossed, Trump is telling his base to “fight on,” whatever that means, and is still saying the election isn’t over.  Here’s hoping he’s not thinking about telling Pence to mess up the official count, which will be held on January 6.

Key links:

1. NBC – After Electoral College Cements Win, Biden Unleashes Scathing Attack On Trump’s Refusal To Concede
2. Washington Post – Trump Asks Pennsylvania House Speaker For Help Overturning Election Results, Personally Intervening In A Third State
3. New York Times – Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking To Subvert Election
4. Rolling Stone – Rush Limbaugh Goes Viral For Talk Of Secession, Now Claims It Wasn’t His Idea
5. Washington Post – After Supreme Court Dismisses Texas Case, Trump Says His Efforts To Challenge Election Results Are ‘Not Over’

State of Unrest.  As an unfortunate corollary to the legal challenges above, we also saw a fair amount of rallies and resulting violence about the election results. In Olympia, Washington, members of the Proud Boys shot counterprotesters on two separate occasions in an eight-day period. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, four people were stabbed and Proud Boys also vandalized several prominent D.C. Black churches. Michigan also reported credible threats of violence ahead of the electoral college vote, although there are no reports of violence at the building today.
Key links:

1. New York Times – 4 Stabbed And One Shot As Trump Supporters And Opponents Clash
2. Washington Post – Multiple People Stabbed After Thousands Gather For Pro-Trump Demonstrations In Washington
3. Washington Post – Michigan Closes Legislative Buildings Due To ‘Credible Threats Of Violence’ Ahead Of Electoral College Vote

Goodbye Barr!   Apparently I still have some skill with tea leaves, because as I predicted last week Attorney General William Barr did indeed get resigned-slash-fired. He leaves too late to prevent the execution of Brandon Bernard, but his departure may have implications for the remaining scheduled executions between now and late January. Given his methods of upholding the law while serving included acting as the President’s personal attorney on more than one occasion and lying about the contents of the Mueller report, I can’t imagine much of the country is sad to see him go.

Key links:

1. NPR – William Barr To Step Down As Attorney General Before Christmas
2. CNN – Brandon Bernard Executed After Supreme Court Denies Request For A Delay
3. Washington Post – Trump Administration Sets Wave Of Executions For Days Leading Up To Biden Inauguration

Recent Resilience

COVID Vaccine Approved. In a historic move, the FDA cleared the Pfizer vaccine on Friday, and the first batch was shipped very quickly; at the time that I type this, the first recipients have already received their first shots. Naturally, people have a lot of questions about how the vaccine works and what we can expect, but this is nonetheless a monumental moment and a bright spot in what promises to be a dark winter.

Key links:

1. New York Times – F.D.A. Clears Pfizer Vaccine, And Millions Of Doses Will Be Shipped Right Away
2. NBC – How To Get A Covid Vaccine: Everything We Know, From Cost To Effectiveness
3. CNBC – U.S. Administers First Shots Of Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine, Launching A Historic Rollout

Things to Watch

State of the COVID-19.   We continue to have horrifying new records of daily death, infection, and hospitalization counts in this country.  Congress is considering another modest relief bill, which first appeared to be enjoying more support than previous efforts, and outlets are again saying that we may be nearing a deal that includes another stimulus payment as well as enhanced unemployment benefits.  The FDA did approve the Pfizer vaccine for use, as noted above, but not before Trump threatened to fire the head of the organization because it was taking too long.  News broke that a former Trump advisor was actively trying to get people sick with COVID because he (falsely) believed it would lead to herd immunity.  And Florida police raided the home of a scientist who drew attention to the state’s COVID data manipulation earlier in the summer.
Key links:

1. New York Times – U.S. Sets Record For Daily Deaths As Hospitals Nationwide Near Or Exceed Capacity.
2. Washington Post – White House Proposes Dramatically Lower Unemployment Benefit In Exchange For $600 Stimulus Check
3. ABC – White House Threatens FDA Chief’s Job Over Vaccine Approval
4. CNN – Raid Of Former Florida Covid Data Scientist’s Home Could Affect Other State Employees, Legal Experts Warn

From Russia, We Think.*  News broke over the weekend that several government entities had been hacked, with the security breaches bearing hallmarks of Russian cyberespionage.  The attacks also appear tied to a recent attack on FireEye, a cybersecurity company with many government contracts–FireEye reports that the perpetrators stole their own hacking software.  Needless to say, Russia spying on our internal emails at several different U.S. agencies, including the Commerce Department, National Security Council, and Department of Homeland Security, is not great news.  This is especially true when the head of cybersecurity at DHS was just let go for saying there was no election fraud.

Key links:

1. Reuters – Suspected Russian Hackers Spied On U.S. Treasury Emails – Sources
2. New York Times – Scope of Russian Hack Becomes Clear: Multiple U.S. Agencies Were Hit
3. Associated Press – US Agencies Hacked In Monthslong Global Cyberspying Campaign

Transition Tidings Continue.    President-Elect Biden appears to be continuing the trend with this week’s proposed appointments.  His pick for Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, is a potentially problematic pick, as he hasn’t been retired from the military long enough to be a civilian commander in accordance with federal law.  (Austin would, however, be the first Black Secretary of Defense if confirmed, and that part is awesome.)  He also proposed new heads of HUD and DOA, Marcia Fudge and Tom Vilsack respectively, and both of those picks look very
traditional.  He proposed Mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation.  And his suggestion for Secretary of Interior, Rep Deb Haaland, will be the nation’s first Native American to fulfill the role.
Key links:

1. NPR – Biden Explains Defense Pick Amid Concerns There Be Civilian Control Of The Military
2. New York Times – Biden Picks Marcia Fudge For HUD And Tom Vilsack For Agriculture Secretary
3. Washington Post – With historic picks, Biden puts environmental justice front and center

Actions for Everyone

Hoping everyone has been having a safe holiday season thus far! This week, we’ve got some holiday related actions as well as some equity related actions, and last, but not least, some Trump post-transition karma news.

Give to TranSanta: Indya Moore, along with their friend Chase Strangio, has launched TransSanta which allows you to anonymously give gifts to trans youth and adults in need. Almost 200 children have sent letters that you can read on their Instagram page. Users can then select a child to be taken to a Target registry with their wish list. There’s a 15-year-old in Tennessee asking for a cozy color-blocked sweater, while an 8-year-old in California asks for a tablet pen. Other gift requests range from a basketball to a rice cooker. It’s estimated that LGBTQ youth make up 40% of the youth homeless population in the United States, despite representing 7% of the general youth population, according to True Colors United.

Check out the gift list, and donate to this great holiday program!

Tax The Rich for COVID-19: This week marks the first mass distribution of COVID vaccines being circulated throughout the country. This round, termed Tier 1A, will most likely make for a big learning opportunity and hopefully will be a huge step closer to the end of this pandemic. I’m cautiously optimistic.

That said, I wanted to let you all know that Argentina passed a Millionaire’s Tax aimed at anyone with $2.5 million to pay for virus expenses. “Tax the rich” seems prettier than “Eat the rich,” and as a vegetarian, I’d much rather have a Millionaire’s Tax in the good ol’ US of A. So far, six states have passed a Millionaire’s Tax – California, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Washington D.C (not a state). This summer, several millionaires actually asked to be taxed.  If your state isn’t on this list, write to your state elected officials.

Support BIPOC Farmers: Related to my last post, “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich” – Jean Jacques Rousseau. Again, I’d rather tax the rich and eat the food grown at family farms and by farmers who have a living wage. So, this is some great news about that. The Justice For Black Farmer’s Act would provide land grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture that allows Black farmers to reclaim up to 160 acres each that has been lost over the past 100 years due to system racism. You can read over the whole bill and then engage with your senators and representatives to tell them you support this bill. This feels like a step toward reparations for Black Americans that our country needs.   

Support farmers internationally, as well! Have you heard about the farmer strikes in India? Nearly 60% of Indian’s rely on income from Agriculture for their livelihoods, and are striking against three new agriculture reforms that will drive down crop prices without subsidizing their income.

Farmers have been protesting the laws for nearly two months in Punjab and Haryana states. The situation escalated three weeks ago when tens of thousands marched to New Delhi, where they clashed with police.

Transition of Power: There aren’t any action items here, but just some fun headlines:

Trump must turn over financial documents to New York attorney general, judge rules. 

The 126 GOP House Reps Who Tried To Overthrow Democracy Must Not Be Seated.

Mar-a-Lago neighbors say Trump can’t live there after White House.

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