Summary of our virtual meeting Thursday, October 3, 2024

What We Talked About Tonight

Project 2025 - we feel that too many people are still unaware of the details in this plan.  What else can we do to get the word out about this dangerous document?

SPREAD ANNETTE'S CARDS:   Annette still has the cards that she’ll send you to pass out to people or, if you have concerns about that, you can  leave the cards behind in restaurants, cleaners, stores, etc. for others to find. They are about the size of a credit card or business card. Email her at annettedion7@gmail.com and she’ll send you some.

JOIN THE "IT'S PERSONAL" CAMPAIGN FROM STOP THE COUP 2025:    Under Action Items below, see the project underway by the group called Stop the Coup 2025. They’ve put together all you need for social media posts.  There's also another campaign from Citizens Against Project 2025 in our Actions section.

INCREASE IN NIHILISM: We are frustrated by the number of people we reach out to who say they don’t want to hear it. Some of them say that they’ll vote for Harris/Walz and other Democrats, but the nihilism is concerning. By that, we mean the belief that there is no purpose to having values or beliefs, there is no truth, and everything is meaningless.

    YOU KNOW THE TRUTH. YOU ARE NOT POWERLESS. YOUR ACTIONS COUNT.

We then brainstormed on what we can do to make the most of the time we have before the election.

OUR PLAN:

Week 1:  

• MAINSTREAM MEDIA: We will be resending the email to the Grassroots group asking that you send our letter to mainstream media asking for more pro-democracy coverage and to present Trump & Vance as the dangers they are. We feel it’s important to re-send it since it’s getting so close to the election.

• PRINT MEDIA: Revise the letter to send to editors of the major print media - or as a Letter to the Editor.  We need email addresses for major print media Editors, especially in the swing states. Warren will look into this for us and provide a list to Terri in preparation for our work on Saturday.

• USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE DANGERS OF PROJECT 2025 - use graphics from Stop the Coup 2025 and Citizens Against Project 2025 (see actions below) to raise concern about Project 2025 and what it will personally mean to people.

Week 2-3-4: tbd or repeat week 1

RACES WE’RE WATCHING:

Arizona: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) vs Kari Lake ( R) and  Amish Shah (D) vs Rep. David Schweikert ( R)
California:  Adam Gray  vs Rep. John Duarte ( R)
Florida: Sen. Rick Scott ( R) vs Debbie Mucarsel-Powel (D)
Maine: Rep. Jared Golden vs Austin Theriault ( R)
Maryland: Angela Alsobrooks vs Larry Hogan (  R) (vying for seat of Sen. Ben Cardin)
Michigan: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) vs Mike Rogers ( R)
Missouri:  Lucas Kunce (D) vs Sen. Josh Hawley ( R)
Montana: Sen. Jon Tester (D) vs Tim Sheehy ( R)
Nevada:  Sen. Jacky Rosen (D)  vs Sam Brown ( R)
New York: Laura Gillen (D) vs Rep. Anthony D’Esposito ( R)
New Mexico:  Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) vs Nella Domenici
North Carolina: Joel Stein (D) vs Mark Robinson ( R) - North Carolina Governor’s Race
Ohio: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) vs Bernie Moreno ( R)
Pennsylvania: Sen. Bob Casey (D) vs. Dave McCormick ( R) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D) vs Rob Bresnahan ( R)
Texas: Rep. Colin Allred vs Sen. Ted Cruz ( R) (for Cruz’s senate seat)
Washington:  Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez vs Joe Kent (re-match from 2022)
West Virginia: Glenn Elliott vs. Gov. Jim Justice II
Wisconsin: Tammy Baldwin (D) vs Eric Hovde ( R)

Pick whom you want to support and write postcards, make calls, donate, etc. whatever you can do to help.

Update on Gun Safety

Barbara E sent in these updates:

OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH: Unfortunately, domestic violence, murder-suicides occur more than once a day in the United States and most cases involve a firearm. In 25% of these cases, the perpetrators were legally prohibited from having a gun. It is vital that stricter background checks be enacted and enforced nationally.

LEGISLATION: There have been no updates to any of the cases previously mentioned. She continues to monitor them. 

LAWSUITS: 

* Mother files wrongful death lawsuit against Scheels

On September 9, 2024, Markie's mother, Sarah Bogart (represented by Everytown Law and 2 other firms) filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Scheels, a national sporting goods store) and the employee who provided the gun to her son on the date of his suicide, because of the employee's failure to request ID and failure to follow safety protocols.

   In August, 2022, 19 year old Jordan Markie went to a Scheels Store in Minnesota. He went to the gun section and asked for and was handed a gun. The gun did not have a trigger lock or any other disabling device on it. Markie was able to put a bullet into the magazine of the gun and used it to take his own life in the store minutes later. The employee of the store never asked Markie for identification, nor did he ask him his age. In Minnesota, you have to be 21 to buy a handgun.

*  With Assistance from Everytown Law, D.C. and Maryland Sue Three Gun Stores for Facilitating Illegal Gun Trafficking

Attorneys General for Washington D.C. and Maryland along with Everytown Law, have sued 3 Maryland gun stores. Armament, United Gun Shop and Atlantic Guns for making it possible to illegally distribute firearms in the D.C. Metro area. The suit alleges each store was involved in straw sales.  Straw sales is when the dealer transfers a weapon to a buyer who is buying the weapon for a third party. The third party is usually someone who can't pass a background check, thereby putting profits over safety.

    The suit is seeking to hold the stores accountable for violations of State and Federal laws against the facilitation of straw law purchases.

SEE THE ACTION YOU CAN TAKE BELOW TO ASK CONGRESS TO REMOVE THE GUN INDUSTRY’S CIVIL LIABILITY SHIELD THAT HAS PREVENTED GUN VIOLENCE SURVIVORS FROM SEEKING JUSTICE IN THE CIVIL COURTS.

Sent in from our Members

RumorGuard alert from Terri: Natural disasters are often exploited by political opportunists. Remember to get news from credible sources to avoid false and misleading claims and images, like Trump wading through storm flood waters or Biden vacationing during the storm. Share this entry and make sure your contacts aren't duped in the aftermath. https://www.rumorguard.org/post/false-hurricane-helene-rumors-spread-rapidly-in-storm-s-wake

STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM TO RISE AGAIN: A federal judge has ruled that he will let the temporary restraining order against President Biden's sweeping new student loan forgiveness plan expire. This, as Kyle Griffin writes, is a “massive win for the administration. The ruling, from a Bush 43 appointee, means Biden may move forward with the plan just weeks before the election.

Please Join Us For Our Work Session on Saturday

430-6P ET / 130-3P PT THIS SATURDAY Join us for a work session consisting of three 25-minute sprints. The Zoom call information is sent to this Grassroots of Democracy group so watch for the email. If you didn’t receive it, email grassrootsofdemocracy@gmail.com
This Saturday, we’ll continue working on our joint letter to mainstream media among other things.

Easy Actions You Can Take to Make a Difference

PROJECT 2025 - IT’S PERSONAL: An important new October Offensive launched today with free downloadable outreach materials for you to use to help sound the alarm about Project 2025. It’s sponsored by Stop the Coup 2025 and they are pushing to reach all corners of America and the globe about its profound threats to our democracy.

   The goal this month is to show how Project 2025 is personal – it will affect us all deeply. The countdown is on… They’re excited to share a slew of new tools for tailored messaging to different communities on 15 core topics of Project 2025. We’ve launched a new outreach campaign in swing states, with branded and unbranded key messages and social media squares for anyone to use. Check them out here and share them freely.

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WHAT DOES PROJECT 2025 MEAN FOR YOU? This 2-page summary from Citizens Against Project 2025 spells it out for various groups of people. It can be printed or emailed or feel free to post the link on social media.

Project 2025 Summary - What it Means for You

     The Facebook group, Citizens Against Project 2025, has additional short videos and written materials that we can use to get the word out.

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REMOVE THE GUN INDUSTRY’S CIVIL LIABILITY SHIELD THAT HAS PREVENTED GUN VIOLENCE SURVIVORS FROM SEEKING JUSTICE IN THE CIVIL COURTS - Email your senators and reps using THIS EASY TOOL to ask for action on the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun violence Act.  You enter a bit of your information, and the tool does the rest!

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET THE WORD OUT:  In the wake of the blatantly political SCOTUS immunity decision, United For Democracy has created an electoral arm, Power Back to the People, and with it, The SCOTUS Election Nerve Center. 

Their goal is to equip folks with useful tools and content to keep the Supreme Court—and the MAGA justices—at the forefront of voters’ minds when they cast their ballots. 

Every week, the Nerve Center provides updated social media content via this toolkit to connect the dots between our votes and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

This week’s content is focused on reproductive freedom — so download and copy/paste videos, graphics, alt-text and caption language here!

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WRITE POSTCARDS / LETTERS: Click the link for ACTIVE POSTCARDING / LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGNS 2024

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ASK YOUR SENATORS TO CALL FOR A VOTE FOR EXTRA DISASTER ASSISTANCE FUNDING (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I’m calling because I know that Republican House members blocked extra disaster assistance funds during the latest spending fight. As we could have predicted, that funding is now necessary. I know everyone in the House has left on recess, but I’m asking the Senator to call on them to return to Washington and pass a supplemental funding bill now so that states impacted by Helene have the resources they need. Also, we’re in a climate emergency. Congress needs to do more and faster. No more delay. We need aggressive climate action and a transition away from fossil fuels as soon as possible. I will only vote for lawmakers who feel the same. Thanks.

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ASK YOUR REPS TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON AND VOTE FOR EXTRA DISASTER ASSISTANCE FUNDING Find yours here

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I’m calling because I know that Republican House members blocked extra disaster assistance funds during the latest spending fight. As we could have predicted, that funding is now necessary. I know everyone in the House has left on recess, but I’m asking the Congressmember to return to Washington and pass a supplemental funding bill now so that states impacted by Helene have the resources they need. Also, we’re in a climate emergency. Congress needs to do more and faster. No more delay. We need aggressive climate action and a transition away from fossil fuels as soon as possible. I will only vote for lawmakers who feel the same. Thanks.

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CONTRIBUTE ENERGETICALLY BY LISTENING TO THIS 20-ON-TUESDAY GUIDED MEDITATION

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PICK YOUR ACTION FROM SWING BLUE ALLIANCE: Here is a list of various action items - find your favorite and complete it! Easy-peasy

Upcoming Events

Thu, Oct 10th at 1pm ET/10am PT Zombie Law: The Comstock Act and the Future of Health and Rights - The Cancel Comstock Coalition is partnering with the Progressive Caucus Action Fund for a virtual briefing on one of this country’s oldest zombie laws, a Victorian-era “anti-obscenity” law that extremists claim they can use to ban abortion nationwide without a single vote in Congress. A panel featuring special guest Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), author of the Stop Comstock Act, and experts in law, policy, and public health will discuss Comstock’s potential impact on our health and rights, attempts by anti-abortion extremists to “resurrect” it, and how we are building momentum to get rid of this archaic law. Register for this free Zoom call here

Tue, Oct 29 | Noon ET / 9a PT Electing the President: The Popular Vote vs. The Electoral College

Join Jesse Wegman, author of Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College, and professor Robert Hardaway, author of Saving the Electoral College: Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy, for a program examining the history and current debate over the Electoral College. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Learn more

  Can’t make it? No worries, a recording will be available in the Media Library

Tue, Nov 5: Presidential, Congressional Elections

Tue, Nov 26: Trump sentencing for 34 convictions in election fraud case

Tue, Dec 17: State Electors Cast Their Votes (Electoral College)

Fri, Jan 3: 119th Congress Convenes

Mon, Jan 6: Congress counts the electoral votes

Mon, Jan 20 at Noon: Inauguration Day

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS TO SAVE DEMOCRACY.
TOGETHER, WE'VE GOT THIS !