Captain’s Log: Day 14
Stardate: 2-3-25
Song Playing: Bruce Springsteen - This Land is Your Land
Recorded a month before I was born at his concert in New York, this song has an incredible history you can read about here. It’s very pertinent to what’s currently happening, as most of history will teach us. I enjoy listening to it when I’m feeling especially sad about our country.
I love this country, flaws and all. I know you do too. I’ve been sick with worry about its trajectory as of late. I know you are too.
I won’t peddle platitudes nor will I engage in fear-mongering meant to divide us and “other” them. Remember, no matter how the “landslide” marketing is spun, the popular-vote margin1 was the second-closest since 1968. More importantly, while he did win the popular vote with 64% of eligible voters casting a ballot—approximately 90 million2 people didn’t vote.
We are not destined for failure. But it is up to us.
If your last civics class was decades ago or you don’t have the experience of navigating the legislative branch (that's the House and Senate) or worst of all, you have an empathetic heart during this chaos—you are probably wondering, “Okay, great. But WHAT DO WE DO?”
3 Actionable Steps to Take
It begins with simple, yet effective, tasks. I’ve listed these in order of most importance and effectiveness.
1. Talk to your Senators (But you don’t actually have to talk to them)
I give you the exact script to use too.
The very same senators you’ve elected have many tools at their disposal to slow the extreme consequences of what’s been going on. The three biggest actions they can take as the minority in the Senate: Blanket opposition, quorum calls, and blocking unanimous consent. Read more about it here.
Ask Senators to do what we’ve hired them to do: their job. If picking up the phone makes you itchy, have I got the thing for you! I’ve used ResistBot for nearly 10 years now and it’s gotten even better recently.
Write your Democrat US Senators:
Type the word RESIST to Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, or by texting it to 50409.
Type Write. It will ask you questions regarding your name and where you live (so it can send communications to your state’s US Senators).
Select your target audience. This part is key:
FYI: These are my Senators and Reps. If you live outside of Hawaii, yours will be different. You want to contact your US Senators in the Democratic party. Find out which party they are in by simply typing in your zip code here.
Choose your Democratic Senator(s). You will have the option to select one or both of your Senators. In my case, both Senators are Dems, so I selected US SENATE. (If you don’t have Democratic Senators, you can still use the script below, but you’ll need to adjust a few things to your liking.)
Copy/paste this script below into the messenger.
I am a concerned constituent wondering where the unifying voice is of those I’ve elected. As Americans we’ve routinely been taught the importance of, “We the People,” and your people are asking you to not only use your voice but also the many tools that are at your disposal as US Senators.
You have the power to slow down this deeply unpopular, extremist agenda with procedures that at one point we may have considered arbitrary formalities. Use them.
We need:
• Blanket Opposition: Every Democrat should vote “No” on every Trump nominee. If your Republican counterparts want an easier path, they can stop the extremist agenda. I hope to see your “No” votes.
• Quorum Calls: No Majority, No Business. Any senator can call for a quorum check at any time, we know this will delay and slow down the process. I hope we hear your voice calling for a quorum.
• To Block Unanimous Consent: Any senator can object to a unanimous consent request which will delay fast-track confirmations. I realize this isn’t business as usual, but we aren’t in business-as-usual-times. I hope to see you’ve used your ability as my Senator to object.
This administration is trying to shut down the functions of the federal government while it hands unchecked power and access over to an unelected billionaire and we are worried for our country that we love.
Please know that we are waiting for leaders to step up and watching if they do. This is how you take the fear and uncertainty of your constituents seriously. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read this.
(Select Email and if it asks for a subject line, here’s the one I used: A concerned constituent. Please use procedural tools to fight back. )
We need Senate Democrats to step up and they literally have the tools to do so. They need to hear from all of us as their constituents. Without sounding like a Boomer, we pay their salary.
Why aren’t they doing this right now? Great question. We don’t have insider access to the congressional halls to know this isn’t in their plan. But, what I do know is, the time of waiting for the perfectly crafted message to get out to their constituents, the time of playing by the old rules, the time of being reasonable while dirty, illegal tactics are taking place before our very eyes are over. Over. Oh-ver.
We need to make them worry about keeping their damn jobs at Midterms.
2. Sign up for a local group
If it feels uncomfortable—good.
Nothing will change if you keep doing the same thing. Trust me when I say I despise going into something unknown with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. But, with the advent of the internet, you know, it makes things a bit easier.
Trust and an indivisible community starts with…community.
You may not feel like your lil’ ol’ bookclub helps amongst the grand scheme of things. You may not think showing up to volunteer at your YMCA to wipe down tables after Girl Scout troop meetings is contributing to a thriving democracy.
But you couldn’t be more wrong.
Embrace this wild notion that a sense of belonging is incredibly important to a voting base and it starts locally. It starts with interacting within your community. It starts with showing what your moral compass is by you being exactly who you are.
Now this part will require more leg work on your part than copying and pasting from above.
You need to Google what’s important to you and add the word specific to where you live.
How to help immigrants in (insert your city or state)
How to help the gay community in (insert your city or state)
How to support (a cause that matters to you) in (insert your city or state)
I’ll leave you with one last thought.
If you aren’t doing anything beyond the circle of your family and friends, are you really part of the change or are you just talking about it on social media?
Change takes action. Sometimes those actions are uncomfortable.
3. Take a 20 Minute Daily Digital Detox
Don’t mess with my joy.
Damn, it’s all so heavy. I’m not even watching the news (much) nor on social media (much) and my body can feel the existential identity crisis going on in America now. (Because fascism is a crisis.) That’s the point too. This overwhelming barrage of Executive Orders and federal employee firings are meant to make us feel hopeless.
Let’s laugh in the face of that. Let’s have fun.
Some tips:
When you’re out with friends, don't pick up your phone for 20 minutes. Dare you.
When you’re at home making dinner, turn on some tunes and put your phone in another room for 20 minutes. Dare you.
When you hop into bed, pick up a book that’s not on your phone. Dare you.
Go on a 20 minute walk and don’t take your phone. Dare you.
Open up your kids coloring book, turn on your 20 minute phone timer, put it in another room and enjoy coloring outside the lines. Dare you.
Taking a digital detox does not make you a disengaged citizen, especially if you’re doing the two steps above. Sometimes I think people who say they can’t be away from their phone use that as an excuse to exist in the chaos and think they’re actually doing something. There is an addiction to feeling like knowing the things is the same as doing the things.
Take a breath with me. We’re down. We’re not out. You are in control of the actions you take (or don’t take).
I’m sending all the love and solidarity in this tumultuous time.
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-s1-5213810/2024-presidential-election-popular-vote-trump-kamala-harris
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-11-15/how-many-people-didnt-vote-in-the-2024-election