The situation is outrageous — we have so many conflicts with our government right now, all thanks to the mob of ghastly Republicans that have abandoned all moral authority and are supporting our capitol’s resident incompetent thug. What can we do?
Here’s one easy solution: use the 5 calls service right now. Go to that site, enter your zip code, and it lists a collection of progressive liberal causes that are under assault right now, lists the phone numbers of your representatives, and prompts you through a quick phone call to register your position. It’s simple. My wife and I just sat down and fired off a bunch of phone messages to Klobuchar and Franken (and tried to get through to our representative, Collin Peterson, but his voice mail is clogged with calls).
You can do it. Do it. Do it NOOOOOW.
You don’t like phoning strangers? I don’t blame you. I have phone anxiety, too. Another thing you can do is donate to good causes — the ACLU is a great choice right now. Minnesotans: here’s a directory of racial equality resources. Donate to CAIR, or the ADL, or the Hmong Resource Center, the Native Vote Alliance of Minnesota. Or if you’d rather, here are some LGBTQ and allied organizations. Help ’em out if you can.
And don’t forget to stand up and march in protest when the opportunities come around.
Experience tells me I run out of spoons after an average of 2 phone calls, so 5 is asking a bit much— and I have to reserve my 2 phone calls for dealing with the damn disability office bureaucracy.
Ah, well all of mine are Democrats so I guess I don’t have to feel too bad that I can’t make 5 calls every day.
Done.
Hum… what would be a good zipcode to use for those of us not in the US ? I presume one that “hits” as many obnoxious facists / thugs as possible; or Perhaps one that offers support to the dummies or not-fully-facist thugs (if there are any?)?
From the Grauniad’s live blog (16:58 mark).
blf#4, thanks for the google document. Both my Senators, Duckworth and Durbin, have come out opposed to the Trumpian fuckwittery.
2 calls so far:
NoDAPL
NoRepealACA
I found the advice in this video on how to talk to your representatives fairly clear and extensive.
Most of you will already know that We Hunted the Mammoth is running regular ResistTrump links/suggestions etc., including those that are specifically thought of with social-anxiety type people in mind, who might find it hard to make phonecalls.
For those of us who are Brits: you might like to check http://www.peoplesmomentum.com for details of protests planned for tomorrow in different cities up and down the country (there’s a London one at Downing St., 6pm, but plenty of other cities are planning their own).
Lately I’ve started thinking that words are wind, since leaders have done such a fine job just doing whatever the hell they felt like doing in the first place no matter what we say to them.
Lawsuits are the only solution that seems to have any real teeth these days. Donating to the ACLU seems like a good bet.
Just to note before you call – they will ask for full name and full address (and might check against voter rolls).
Also a reminder – I doubt that anyone here would do it, but be sure that you’re not calling from a work phone during the day, or during work hours when you aren’t supposed to be doing personal business. Even if you normally get generous dispensation to conduct a certain amount of personal stuff (like calling to make doctor’s appointments from work), using it for political activity could be a firing offence.
Those commentators who are UK citizens or UK residents (Only) may like to sign the second petition doing the rounds, find it here
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/172220
This calls on the UK government to make cooperation with the US contingent on a respect for Human Rights.
good news everybody [farnsworth voice]
When trying to make the third call of the ACA task: 1st was Markey [deposited voicemail], 2nd was Warren [voicemail deposited], 3rd was McGovern [uh-oh]. McGovern’s voicemail said it was full and could not accept any more voicemails.
Cheers, everybody!
seems at least some are getting active in the 5calls campaign.
@3 blf: I’d recommend against calling if you aren’t a US voter. If representatives start thinking that some calls are coming from foreigners, that’ll give them an excuse to disregard potentially-legitimate calls they don’t agree with.
If you have money to spare, donations to organizations like the ACLU will probably be the best way you can help. Otherwise, you can look into protesting the local US embassy/consulate (though I have my doubts about how effective this is), or you can call your government and urge them to put pressure on the US to do something about this chaos.
Infophile@13, I am a dual-national native-born US citizen. Whether or not I am a registered voter is immaterial. The complication is living outside the US, in what happens to be a third country (which I’ve done for decades), it’s opaque who the hell “my” congresslimers are.
@Jessie Harban
You should still be calling. Representatives are people, too, and they like being told they are doing a good job. Support them if they are doing well, hold their feet to the fire if they’re doing poorly.
@14 blf: In that case, it goes by wherever you last lived in the US. And yes, the fact that you’re not registered to vote is immaterial for this, but they do care about whether you potentially could vote in your district (which is why they ask for your zip code). And since you are a US citizen, the Military and Overseas Voting Act guarantees that you can vote if you want to (though it doesn’t clarify where, the assumption is that you’ll go with where you last lived).
blf: register to vote, it’s easy!
https://www.fvap.gov
You register at the place you last lived in the US. If you’ve never lived there, you register where your parent(s) last lived.
(I hate that rule; I feel like a Pittsburgher, that’s where I have roots — but I vote in Chicago. Still, I vote.)
The people who seem to have jumped to the conclusion I am not registered to vote mystify me. What I said was(@14): “Whether or not I am a registered voter is immaterial.” Neither that nor any other statement I have made states or hints one way or the other whether or not I am registered to vote. And why do I not clarify further? Because it’s none of your business! Just as it’s none of the congresslimer’s business whether or not I am registered to vote.
Having said that, I am sure people do appreciate the useful links provided, and I concur that being registered to vote for free & fair elections is sensible.
#18 / BLF: If you’re registered to vote, you have a Congressperson and Senators. The fact that you were wondering who to call led to a pretty natural assumption that you weren’t registered. Unless you were planning on misrepresenting yourself, in which case it wouldn’t matter if you were living outside the US or not, or calling up a random Congressperson…
A few articles I read today left me profoundly, profoundly worried. Trump is following through with his campaign rhetoric, that rhetoric included forced deportation of 11 million people….. it’s difficult for me to envision that level of forced deportation as being functionally different to genocide.
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/how-mass-deportations-work-c191da20e4f1#.er8qvia3i
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.iczhujs2n
Sorry if that’s slightly off topic, had to vent just a bit.
Horsepucky. I know from previous experience contacting those individuals is pointless as an ex-pat (in normal-ish circumstances), is useless: They don’t care, in particular, letters from foreign addresses are not answered. That never happened to me when I lived in the States. Hence, I ignore them to the point of not bothering to work out who the feck won. They don’t give a shite about non-zillionaire ex-pats, I will not waste my time with time with them in normal circumstances.
What I was asking is what is the “best” zipcode to use? Where any phone calls might have the most effect?
It now seems clear people are stuck up on this idea the so-called congress represents them. Since they patently don’t if you are a non-zillionaire ex-pat, I hereby withdraw the question(@3).
Well, if you’re going to be an ass about it, I hereby withdraw the help I offered.
If you used to live in the US, use the zip code of the last place you lived here, if the person who answers the phone asks about that. They may not: I’m not being asked for an address or zip code when I call my senators’ and representative’s office and say “I’m $name,” a constituent from Arlington.”