PHEW! This has been quite the roller coaster ride.... and, we are only 3 months +/- into 45's reign. Along the way, we have won some and lost a big one - the Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court. While we all know that the resistance effort would be fraught with peril - some known (like the constant "tweets" from the Prez) and some unknown (like some unprincipled Senate Dems abandoning ship and supporting the Trump agenda, Gorsuch included) - the sting of the Gorsuch appointment may very well turn out to be the "gift" that keeps on giving.... for decades. Only time will tell just how much damage Gorsuch can do from his new lifetime perch. On the other hand, your resolute activity in resisting the reactionary agenda of the new administration has produced stunning results. So, at this period - the second "district work period" - as Congress is home for the Easter break and yet another opportunity for "Town Hall" activism presents itself - let's re-cap where we have traveled so far. And, although we did not win the recent Kansas 4th District special election to fill a seat in the House that had been held by Republican Mike Pompeo, now CIA Director, in a district that Trump carried by 20+ points, we did come within 7 points of the Republican candidate, reducing the margin of victory by 19 points! If that trend were to be projected all the way to the next House elections in 2018, we would easily win control of the House and the Senate! But, the road to that day is a long one. This month the race to fill a vacancy in the Georgia 6th District previously held by Health Secretary Tom Price (don't you really want to slap his face for lying with a smile?), is a coin toss. Although Price easily won that district last fall by 24 points, right now the Democratic candidate is well ahead in a field that is crowded by more than dozen Republicans seeking to get to the run-off. Tuesday, 4/18 is round one of the election and if no one gets 50% of the votes cast, a run-off will take place between the top two. Looks like the Dem and one of the Rs will face off... But, just maybe.... Jon Ossoff can pull off the upset of the decade and win the seat outright this week.... If not, he will surely be in the run-off election against one of 18 Republicans seeking the party spot. Hold on tight!
Again, congrats to all the
members and activists engaged in the resistance! Nunes is off as chair of the
House Intel Committee Russia investigation; Bannon is off the NSC; the AHCA failed to pass;the Muslim
travel ban is blocked by the Courts so far; for the most part, Senate Dems held and the Gorsuch
nomination filibuster was in place but the Senate Rs pulled the "Nuclear Option" trigger and succeeded in the Gorsuch appointment; Prez T is sinking in the polls to new lows -
presently at 38%, the lowest of a new President in history; Mike Flynn requested
immunity; the Senate Intel Committee, headed by a Republican, so far looks legit.;
and, public sentiment has taken a dramatic turn against the Trump reactionary
policies and programs of this fake president.
Right from the Women's march on
January 21st, your active engagement has proven to be the factor that
galvanized the resistance movement across the nation which is saving our
democracy from those who would dismantle, hobble, or destroy what took a
century to carefully craft. From conservation and environmental protection and voting rights, to
advancing the cause of encouraging quality education and civil rights, to caring for our poor,
sick, and elderly, you are leading the way in defending our values that are
under attack from the right-wing nuts currently at the switch.
Post cards, letters, phone calls,
e-mail, rallies, marches, demonstrations, town halls, voter registrations and
all the rest are making a real difference. But, know this..... You and I are engaged in the long
game - with a common goal of taking our country back! Our commitment must be
strong and continuous. We cannot let up, we cannot sit down, we cannot shut up
until the goal is reached. And, that goal may take 2 years until the next
congressional election or 4 years until the next presidential. Between now and
then, the challenges will be great and they will be many. Our opponents will
not go easy into the night. They have schemed far too long and worked too hard
to lull the majority to sleep or to awaken their fears and prejudices, turning
them into voters voting against their own interests. But, this shell game
cannot work in the long term. People ultimately wake up... and, when they do,
they will take their pound of flesh with a ferocious anger against those who
tricked them, lied to them, and led them down a dark alley lined with false
promises. That will be a day of reckoning and also the day when the fog of war
blows away, and the smoke clears, and the American promise will again become a
beacon of hope and a shining symbol of freedom, equality, and opportunity
around the globe.
Make no mistake, many battles loom ahead and we must be ever vigilant. Without doubt, health care will again be under assault. Then comes the Trump budget already proposed with massive cuts to education, environmental protection, social programs, women's health supports and Planned Parenthood, and numerous other programs reflective of American needs and values, and a massive expansion of spending on the US Military war machine - already the largest and strongest on the planet with spending levels greater than the next 20 nations added together! Drain the swamp? Nope. Actually, drain the treasury - and our tax dollars - away from investments to build America and to educate and care for our people, to fund the military/industrial complex and the US War Machine to advance the corporate interests pulling the strings behind the scenes. And, then comes tax cuts for the large corporations and the wealthy at the expense of everyone and everything else. Aside from dismantling of regulations that were designed over decades to protect us from bad food, ineffective drugs, corporate collusion and excess profits, consumer fraud, and threats to the environment, we are in the midst of defending the American future - the America that our children and their children will experience in the decades ahead. The architecture of that alternative future is being designed and implemented RIGHT NOW. The choices that we make today will shape the America of tomorrow. We must engage. We must stand up. We must speak out.... WE MUST MARCH ON! Stay engaged, stay active, and know that the future is counting on you and all of us.
RESIST! Bobby J
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