Month: March 2018

• FW: Sign Our Petition: Civil rights violations cannot be ignored
• FW: The largest show of support for gun reform in history
• FW: Sign the petition: Guns don’t belong in schools
• FW: Petition-No Armed Federal Agents at Polling Places
• FW: SIGN ON: Robert Mueller
• FW: How the U.S. can pursue peace with North Korea
• FW: Sherrod Brown’s courageous vote on Yemen
• FW: fascinating video on cambridge analytica and the manipulation of national elections worldwide
• FW: Socioeconomics; Law & Disorder; Devos’ Head in the Sand; Defending Trump; Cambridge Analytica; War on US Intel Community
• FW: 15 Senate Dems voted with Republicans on [against] Dodd Frank
• FW: Voices, The Peoples News: THINK THIS LADY IS PISSED?

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From: Eric H. Holder, Jr. via Daily Kos
Subject: Sign Our Petition: Civil rights violations cannot be ignored

The fight for justice and equality has been the cornerstone of my career. It’s why I became a lawyer — and why, after I left public service, I worked with the support of President Obama to launch the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

One of the most shameful aspects of gerrymandering is that it disproportionately hurts the voting power of communities of color. Like voter ID laws, and poll taxes before them, in many states rigged maps were clearly put in place to dilute the political power of people of color.

Our struggle, then, is a civil rights struggle. If the NDRC is successful in undoing rigged maps, we’ll be able to achieve a system in which everyone’s vote counts.

Munsup, 2018 will be a seminal year for our work. Will you sign our petition to condemn racial gerrymandering and join the fight for a more inclusive democracy?

SIGN NOW

A large component of our 2018 plans involves engaging with communities of color to ensure they are motivated and active during this election year. Some of the most gerrymandered states — like Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia — have a history of drawing maps that violate the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. President Obama and I have plans to campaign with and to engage those communities who have been silenced in the past and help them claim their rightful seat at the table in the next round of redistricting.

To achieve a fair and inclusive democracy, a democracy consistent with our founding documents, we need to fix gerrymandering. It’s as simple as that. At the NDRC, we have a comprehensive strategy for the next four years, but we need you to join our fight. Will you add your name to fight for progress on one of the biggest civil rights battles of our time?

ADD YOUR NAME

Paid for by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

 

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From: Michael, Schuyler, Kenia, Jackie, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: The largest show of support for gun reform in history

Only days after the massacre at their school, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School decided what they were going to do next: march for their lives.

As march organizer and Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg said, “We’re trying to make sure that these politicians know that their actions can and will have consequences if they don’t listen to their constituents and their future constituents—which are us—because right now they’re not doing a good job of keeping us alive.”¹

In just a few weeks, their idea turned into a nationwide movement. And today, hundreds of thousands of people joined them in more than 800 March for Our Lives marches in all fifty states and around the world—as far away as Ghana, Vietnam, and Australia.^2,3

The images from today’s marches are astounding, and this movement represents the single largest show of support for gun law reform in history. But these students aren’t stopping now; they know that if this historic outpouring doesn’t change our laws, elections can.

These activists are gearing up to register millions of young voters and to make sure that young people march to the polls in November. Will you help MoveOn stand with them?

Click below and help MoveOn invest in a major effort to register young voters across the country before the midterms, so that they will have a voice to fight the NRA and GOP politicians that are in the NRA’s pocket.  Donate

As Jaclyn Corin, a student activist from Marjory Stoneman Douglas said, “We want everyone to know that their voice and their checkmark on a box matters. We don’t want people to continue thinking that they’re just one person, they’re not going to make a difference in the election, [so they’re] not going to go vote.”⁴

If we can support a massive millennial registration effort, we will fundamentally change not only the conversation about gun legislation, but the entire electorate of the United States. We will take back the House, make gains in the Senate, and set the stage to throw Donald Trump out of the White House.

The bottom line? This is a crucial and heroic effort for America’s political future. And if these young activists have shown us anything today and over the past month, it’s that they can succeed—but they can only do it if allies from around the country pitch in.

Can you chip in right now to help us support these amazing student leaders by dramatically increasing young voter turnout in 2018? Donate

Back in 2008, MoveOn members funded a massive young voter registration effort, which led to thousands of canvassers reaching out to young voters in 14 crucial battleground states, ultimately registering hundreds of thousands of new voters.

MoveOn already has the systems in place to do that again—and more. We’re investing in new technology, like our groundbreaking texting program and video persuasion tools, training our massive volunteer base, and strengthening strategic partnerships with other grassroots organizations. Together with these young activists, we will register a wave of new voters who will challenge the NRA, its GOP enablers—and hold them accountable at the ballot box, and change the balance of power in America’s electorate.

David Hogg said it best: “We’re going to change history with or without [these politicians], and if they choose to be on the wrong side of history that’s fine, because we’re going to write the history books.”⁵

Let’s start writing the history books now. Click below to chip in. Donate

Sources:

1. “Parkland Students David Hogg and Jaclyn Corin Interview | Pod Save America,” Crooked Media YouTube channel, March 21, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/36894?t=6&akid=202166%2E1195276%2EW3sqS_?v=IPKDb0qU0xA&t=11s
2. “March for Our Lives Updates: Chants of ‘Enough is Enough’ at Huge Rallies on Guns,” The New York Times, March 24, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/36901?t=8&akid=202166%2E1195276%2EW3sqS_
3. “March for Our Lives – Find an Event,” March for Our Lives, accessed March 23, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/34702?t=10&akid=202166%2E1195276%2EW3sqS_
4. “Parkland Students David Hogg and Jaclyn Corin Interview | Pod Save America,” Crooked Media YouTube channel, March 21, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/36894?t=13&akid=202166%2E1195276%2EW3sqS_?v=IPKDb0qU0xA&t=11s
5. Ibid

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?  Donate

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

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From: Scott, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: Sign the petition: Guns don’t belong in schools

Today, thousands of young people are taking to the streets in a March for Our Lives because they have had enough. Yet, Trump and the NRA’s answer to their demands for safety is to put more guns and police in schools.

Following the announcement of Trump’s plan to arm teachers and school staff, bills have been popping up in state legislatures across the country. And in Florida, this dangerous plan has become law with SB7026, which allows for teachers and school staff to be armed as well as increase funding for police in schools. We need to act fast to demand that bills like this don’t get passed in other states and that schools can be safe for Black children–with no guns and no police.

Just a week ago, a school officer in Virginia accidentally fired his gun in a Middle School. Fortunately, no one was hurt but this is yet another example of the dangers of having guns in schools, no matter who is holding them.

Munsup, over 30,000 people have signed on to fight Trump and the NRA and to make sure schools are gun free. Will you sign too?

P.S. Below is the email we sent a couple weeks ago:

Black kids will be the victims of armed teachers. We can’t allow the gun industry to drive up profits by arming teachers. Keep our schools gun free! Take Action!

Teachers with guns.

No, that’s not a horror film title–it’s Trump’s and the NRA’s deadly answer to school shootings, and we can’t let it happen. More guns in our schools won’t make them safer–especially for Black children who are already criminalized and violated inside and outside of schools. At a young age, Black students are heavily policed by the presence of police officers, metal detectors in school buildings, and a system of punitive discipline that funnels them through the school-prison pipeline.

Imagine what could happen when the same teacher that disproportionately punishes Black children for their “behavior” is armed with a gun. That reality is too much to bear–schools must be gun free.

This ridiculous and dangerous response to arm teachers and increase police presence in schools is sadly not new. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, resulting in the death of twenty children and six adults, the NRA introduced a new strategy to exploit school shootings to benefit the gun industry by driving up gun sales. According to National Center for Education Statistics, Trump’s plan would require arming up to 700,000 more people in schools with guns.¹ This terrible idea has nothing to do with safety, it’s all about making money–and exploiting the families who’ve lost their loved ones in tragedy.

Bills are already popping up in state legislatures to approve measures that would arm teachers–including a bill in Florida that Gov. Rick Scott just signed into law. That’s why we must all stand together and show these lawmakers, and Trump, that we will not allow gun companies to get rich while putting our children in danger.

Sign the petition: Guns don’t belong in schools. Keep our schools gun free.

Black students already face violent discipline in schools–with Black students as young as four years old being more likely to be hit by their teachers than white students.² This violence against Black children in school is normalized, we saw this in 2015 when a video went viral of a white police officer in South Carolina body slamming a 15-year old Black girl who was sitting at her desk, and dragging her across the classroom floor. Despite this violent video, captured on three cell phones, showing that the officer was clearly in the wrong the Justice Department deemed that there was not enough evidence to charge the officer with any criminal civil rights violations.³ We would see this type of violence happen time and time again if teachers were armed.

Teachers are some of the most hardworking people and carry a huge responsibility every day to educate our youth, often with limited funding, support, and resources. Instead of arming teachers with guns they should be armed with more resources and funding. Many teachers have already spoken out against this plan to arm them, saying that their “desires are not being reflected in the tone-deaf suggestions being made by lawmakers as a solution to America’s gun problem..asking us to now carry the burden of having the responsibility to kill is irreparably damaging, even if we never have to discharge our weapon.”⁴ Just two weeks ago at a high school in Dalton, Georgia a social studies teacher fired shots in the classroom. Fortunately, no students were injured but this just reinforces the lack of safety that happens when teachers are armed.⁵

We must keep guns out of schools to protect our kids.

Trump and the NRA are gearing up to turn a quick profit from preventable tragedy. This new plan is in direct response to the Parkland shooting–but is opposed by the shooting survivors, community members and parents as it would allow teachers who are trained by law enforcement to carry a gun in the classroom.⁶

Being trained by law enforcement, who shoot first, ask questions later, and are notorious for excessive use of force means that teachers will have the same dangerous mentality and practices as the police. Guns are not safe, no matter who has them- teachers, police officers, or school security guards, and the last place guns should ever be are in schools.

The NRA and Trump are working to make the Parkland shooting result in an increase in gun sales, but we have time to make sure that none of these dangerous and potentially fatal bills pass. Sign the petition today–keep our schools gun free.

References:

1. “Trump: 10 to 20% of teachers are ‘very gun-adept.’ Reality: not even close.”, Vox, 25 February 2018. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/25755?t=11&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m
2. “Children of color already face violent discipline in schools. Arming teachers will get them killed.”, The Intercept, 28 February 2018. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/25751?t=13&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m
3. “Former school office will not be charged, sues sheriff, school district”, The State, 13 January 2017.http://act.colorofchange.org/go/25756?t=15&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m
4. “Teachers are using #ArmMeWith to demand they be armed with supplies, not guns”, Time, 23 February 2018.http://act.colorofchange.org/go/25758?t=17&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m
5. “Shots fired in Georgia high school; teacher taken into custody”, Daily Kos, 28 February 2018. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/25753?t=19&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m
6. “Emotional Florida House appears on verge of approving bill on guns and school security”, Tampa Bay Times, 6 March 2018. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/25754?t=21&akid=10138%2E239715%2Etrex7m

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

 

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From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: Petition-No Armed Federal Agents at Polling Places

I just signed a petition demanding that the Senate block any bill that would allow Donald Trump’s regime to station armed federal agents at polling places. I h ope you will sign and share it via email, tweet and Facebook. Thank you.  Margaret Peters

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/noarmedagents_voting?sp_ref=397559159.4.186765.e.601571.2&referring_akid=27787.1920731.DlJmAl&source=mailto_sp

 

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From: ADD YOUR NAME (via DCCC)
Subject: SIGN ON: Robert Mueller

BREAKING: GOP HELPING TRUMP COVER UP TIES WITH RUSSIA

2OO,OOO SIGNATURES NEEDED: Demand Republicans
PROTECT the Mueller investigation, NOT help Trump derail it >>

Trump is clearly hiding something from Americans. And Republicans are ALL helping him cover it up.

We’re the only ones who can protect the Russia investigation.

2OO,OOO SIGNATURES NEEDED: Condemn Republicans for doing NOTHING to protect the Mueller probe and doing NOTHING to stop Trump from derailing it. >>

Sign Your Name >>

Trump is absolutely hiding something big.

His suspicious attempts to derail the Russia probe have erased ALL doubt of that.

But the scariest part? Republicans in Congress are helping him cover it up.

After Trump fired FBI Director Comey? Republicans cheered.

After he attacked Special Counsel Mueller? Republicans egged him on.

And after he JUST fired FBI Deputy Director McCabe? Republicans are STILL backing him.

Together, Trump and Congressional Republicans have launched a full-scale attack on our democratic institutions and the safety of our elections from foreign meddling.

It’s sickening. It’s unethical. And it’s downright dangerous.

We’re the only ones who can protect this investigation. Sign our petition IMMEDIATELY to demand the truth.

ADD YOUR NAME: Condemn Republicans for standing silently by
while Trump dangerously ATTACKS the Russia investigation >>

Paid for by the DCCC | 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 | (202) 863-1500 | www.dccc.org | Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

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From: AFSC Now
Subject: How the U.S. can pursue peace with North Korea

How the U.S. can pursue peace with North Korea

Photo: AFSC/Asia
Dramatic real-time news coverage may leave you wondering
whether peace between the U.S. and North Korea is even possible. The answer is absolutely yes.

HEALING JUSTICE 

Why we must end cash bail 

We must stand up and say no to a legal system that offers freedom only to those who can afford to pay for it.

SANCTUARY EVERYWHERE

Creating sanctuary spaces

Read stories of nontraditional places of refuge created by and for communities targeted by discrimination.

QUAKER ACTION 

What’s new in international peace building?  

Check out the latest issue of our magazine, featuring stories from AFSC’s work in Kenya, Guatemala, Cambodia, and other communities around the world.

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From: Cassandra, Amy, Aubrey, and the Win Without War team
Subject: Sherrod Brown’s courageous vote on Yemen

On Tuesday, your senator Sherrod Brown sent a loud and clear message that Saudi Arabia’s deadly war in Yemen must end, and it must end now. Let your senator know how grateful you are >>

This week, something amazing happened. Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, Chris Murphy, dozens of organizations like Win Without War, and hundreds of thousands of activists like you forced the U.S. Senate to confront the suffering our public dollars are causing in Yemen.

The resolution lost — barely — but Senator Sherrod Brown’s courage to vote the right way sent an undeniable message to the world that the American people are done with our tax dollars fueling famine in Yemen.

By refusing to accept the Trump administration’s bogus justification for helping to put 8 million people on the brink of starvation, Sen. Sherrod Brown risked angering not only the administration, but also powerful Senators in their own party. So your senator needs to know you — their constituents — have their back.

>> Thank Senator Sherrod Brown for taking a stand on the 15th anniversary of the Iraq War and refusing to keep American bombs falling on Yemeni civilians.

Meanwhile, your other senator, Rob Portman, voted against S.J.Res. 54 and chose to keep fueling a famine that has left 8 million people on the brink of starvation. So he needs to hear from you, too.

>> Click here to let Sen. Portman know how angry you are that he voted the wrong way on ending the U.S. war in Yemen.

15 years ago this week, American bombs hit Baghdad. An incalculable number died in that war. Trillions of our public dollars flowed into the belly of the war machine. The human cost and suffering of the disaster still cannot be quantified.

On Tuesday, one of your senators remembered the lessons of the Iraq War. Sen. Sherrod Brown refused to let our military help Saudi Arabia bomb weddings, hospitals, and schools in Yemen. Your senator stood up against the lie that our role in Yemen somehow makes Americans safer — when in fact the US-Saudi bombing campaign fuels extremism and strengthens al-Qaeda and the self-described Islamic State.

>> Let Senator Sherrod Brown know how you are proud and grateful you are for their vote to end America’s unauthorized war in Yemen.

Americans like you have been very clear that we reject wars of choice that harm innocent people in our name. But your other senator, Rob Portman, forgot he works for the American people, not the war hawks or the Pentagon. So it’s on us — his constituents — to remind him.

>> Tell Sen. Portman you are ashamed of his vote to prolong America’s unconstitutional war of choice in Yemen.

 

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From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: fascinating video on cambridge analytica and the manipulation of national elections worldwide

cambridge analytica …. “ghosting in and ghosting out” to influence elections through data analytics and dirty tricks.     Fascinating video – was behind US 2016 election, for Trump campaign

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750321/-CEO-of-Cambridge-Analytica-Caught-on-Video-Offering-Election-Dirty-Tricks-Services

 

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From: Thomas Scott
Subject: Socioeconomics; Law & Disorder; Devos’ Head in the Sand; Defending Trump; Cambridge Analytica; War on US Intel Community

• Study By MIT Economist: U.S. Has Regressed To A Third-World Nation For Most Of Its Citizens – The Intellectualist
• Officer shouts ‘gun, gun, gun’ then shoots unarmed man – CNN Video
• Democrats Tell DeVos Her ‘Head Is in the Sand’ on Racial Bias
• The biblical story the Christian right uses to defend Trump
• Cambridge Analytica, Trump-Tied Political Firm, Offered to Entrap Politicians
• Trump’s War on the U.S. Intelligence Community

 

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: FW: Bold Progressives: [These] “15 Senate Dems voted with Republicans on [against] Dodd Frank”

Sen. Ed Markey put people ahead of big bank profits, and for that we’re grateful. Too many other Democrats did not. When Dems are as irresponsible as Republicans, we all lose. So we’re holding accountable those who put Wall Street profits over people last week.  Watch the ad. Then, chip in $3 to run ads like it in states where Democratic Senators turned their backs on voters.

Last week, the Senate passed a terrible bill Elizabeth Warren calls the “Bank Lobbyist Act.” The Washington Post calls it “the biggest loosening of financial regulations since the economic crisis.”

The Congressional Budget Office found that the bill makes it more likely that big banks will crash the economy again, and more likely that taxpayers will have to bail out Wall Street again.

The majority of Senate Democrats knew that with zero voters clamoring for this bill, the choice was easy — stand with Elizabeth Warren and put people first. That’s why most Dems voted against this bill, including Sen. Ed Markey.

However, too many Senate Democrats chose to stand with the big banks and they should be held accountable. We’re reminding them that the American people want to vote for Democrats who work for them, not big Wall Street banks.

Watch the ad. Then, can you chip in $3 to run it in states where Democratic Senators put big bank profits over protecting everyday people?

Not that long ago, even more Democrats might have voted with Republicans. But we are clearly standing in a new era. Corporate Democrats and Dems who think voters are interested in bipartisanship just for the sake of bipartisanship — with no regard to what happens as a result — are a dying breed.

But it’s important to speak up when Democrats in Congress are as irresponsible as Republicans, because we all lose when they that happens.

Republicans could not have passed this bill without the help of those Democrats who joined  them in putting big banks over people. Help hold them accountable.

Can you chip in $3 to run our accountability ads online in states where Democratic Senators put bank profits over people?

Want to support the Warren wing? Senator Elizabeth Warren says, “When PCCC members donate millions in small-dollar donations and make millions of phone calls for progressive candidates, leaders in Washington, they take notice.” Chip in $3 here.

Progressive stickers, T-shirts, and more!
store.boldprogressives.org

Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.BoldProgressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

From: Jedith
Subject: Voices, The Peoples News: THINK THIS LADY IS PISSED?

THINK THIS LADY IS PISSED?

If you are over 50, you need to read this. If not, don’t bother, you are already screwed.

Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared “Social Security ” to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. Here’s a response in a letter from Patty M in Montana … I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!

“Hey Alan, let’s get a few things straight!!!

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently,  just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and “your ilk” pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age, 67. NOW, you and your “shill commission” are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now “you morons” propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because “you idiots” mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?

Because you “incompetent bastards” spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” to your incompetence.

Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU:

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself  and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the “greedy” ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.

And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it. And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

And stop calling Social Security benefits “entitlements”. WHAT AN INSULT!!!!

I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It’s my money” – give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself  on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks .

• FW: Sunday: Call for Peace with North Korea
• FW: State Election Information For Voting
• FW: Billboards to stop the NRA.
• FW: Paul Ryan EXPOSED [the NRA owns him!]
• FW: it’s official
• FW: Public schools in Puerto Rico are headed for privatization with the assistance of Betsy DeVos
• FW: The resignation of Betsy DeVos
• FW: Racket Busting: Get rid of the NCAA amateurism rules
• FW: Tweet to end Google’s deception
• FW: Why White Evangelicalism Is So Cruel

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From: Michelle, Aubrey, Cassandra, and the team at Win Without War
Subject: Sunday: Call for Peace with North Korea

Can you join a live global video call this Sunday, featuring Senator Bernie Sanders,
to build a diplomatic path to peace with North Korea? Click here to RSVP.

Last week, Donald Trump announced historic direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Then, Tuesday, Trump booted Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State and nominated war hark and torture supporter Mike Pompeo as his chief diplomat.

The last few days have been dizzying. But one thing is clear: This is an emergency that affects all our lives, and we can’t wait to demand solutions. If we’re going to prevent war with North Korea, we need to mobilize every voice we can to insist on true diplomacy.

That’s why this Sunday, Win Without War is joining forces with partners from more than a dozen countries around the world. Together, we’ll gather with tens of thousands of activists to hear from Sen. Bernie Sanders, policy experts, and global thought leaders on a worldwide video call for peace.

Can you join us to strategize about how we can leverage our global people power to ensure a diplomatic path to peace with North Korea? Click here to reserve your spot on the worldwide video call on Sunday, March 18 at 2 p.m. ET.

What: Global Video Call for Peace
When: Sunday, March 18th, 2pm ET / 1 p.m. CT/ 12 p.m. MT/ 11 a.m. PT
Who:

• Activists spanning 17 time zones;
• Sen. Bernie Sanders, leading activists for peace in Korea Christine Ahn and Jenny Town, and Raed Jarrar of Amnesty International, who watched from Iraq as the “coalition of the willing” rushed in;
• and you!

Details: Once you register, you’ll get a reminder on the day of the call, and you can join right from your computer, tablet, or phone. It’s as simple as that. (And your email will not be shared with any other organizations!) RSVP Here >>

Nearly 15 years ago to the day, a different president dragged us into a catastrophic war of choice in Iraq. George Bush’s deceptive rush to war was made possible by a “coalition of the willing”—a handful of nations that gave political and military cover to sidestep the United Nations and enable the invasion.

Today, our global community has the chance to write a different history. Sunday’s call is a unique chance to connect with international allies, understand the fast-changing news out of the Korean Peninsula, and discuss what Win Without War members and our partners must do.

In Seoul, dedicated activists will represent some of the most important civil society organizations in the country, despite the 3 a.m. call time. In Tel Aviv, Israeli and Palestinian activists will join together against militarism. Grassroots activists will call in from Canada, the U.K., Ireland, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, and Poland. Can you join us?

Take an hour this Sunday afternoon to link arms (virtually!) with people
across the globe who share Win Without War members’ unwavering and unyielding commitment to peace.

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From: Honorable Dr. Doris P. Sartor, National President, Blacks In Government
Subject: State Election Information For Voting

2018 Mid-Term Elections
BLACKS IN GOVERNMENT
BIG Members Get Involved

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote
except the American people themselves
and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
32nd President of the United States

YOUR VOTES MATTER
Find everything you need to vote in your state election centers by clicking on your below state link name.

Alabama election center Alaska election center Arizona election center Arkansas election center California election center Colorado election center Connecticut election center Delaware election center Florida election center Georgia election center Hawaii election center Idaho election center Illinois election center Indiana election center Iowa election center Kansas election center Kentucky election center Louisiana election center Maine election center Maryland election center Massachusetts election center Michigan election center Minnesota election center Mississippi election center Missouri election center

Montana election center Nebraska election center Nevada election center New Hampshire election center New Jersey election center New Mexico election center New York election center North Carolina election center North Dakota election center Ohio election center Oklahoma election center Oregon election center Pennsylvania election center Rhode Island election center South Carolina election center South Dakota election center Tennessee election center Texas election center Utah election center Vermont election center Virginia election center Washington election center West Virginia election center Wisconsin election center Wyoming election center D.C. election center

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From: Emma, Robert, Shari, Kate, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: FW: Billboards to stop the NRA.

Tens of thousands of students, from elementary school children to college students, bravely walked out of their schools today to say #Enough to the epidemic of gun violence in America and to demand stricter gun laws. A week from this Saturday, on March 24, hundreds of thousands of people, led by young activists, will join the March for Our Lives events in Washington, D.C., and in communities across the country.

MoveOn members have already helped pay for billboards exposing just how much money individual Republican members of Congress are getting from the NRA and how the NRA’s influence controls them. But we want to make sure that constituents in more districts with Republican representatives beholden to the NRA know about it and hold them accountable, so we’re asking for your help to secure even more billboards. Click here to chip in $25 now.

Together, let’s keep supporting this truly awe-inspiring youth leadership, which is changing America’s broken politics on guns and giving us hope for tomorrow. See Emma’s recent email for more details on our plans. –Anna

On Monday, Donald Trump buckled under pressure from the NRA—backing away from his call for stricter gun laws, made during a televised meeting with senators.¹ At that meeting, he mocked other Republicans for being too scared of the NRA!

That’s what cowardice looks like.

And today, tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of students all across the country, in poor communities and wealthy ones, in blue states and red states, walked out of their classrooms at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes, one minute for each student murdered in the Parkland massacre. They were joined by teachers, parents, and other people of all walks of life, who are sick and tired of politicians crumbling before the NRA.

And that showed us what courage looks like.

I know which side MoveOn members are on every day—as together we make calls, tweet, sign petitions, donate, and prepare to march with hundreds of thousands of people on March 24 in Washington, D.C., and at sister marches across the county, to confront the NRA and break its stranglehold on American politics.

And that’s why we want to make sure voters know which side Republican members of Congress are on—the side of Trump and the cowards or the side of American’s schoolchildren, families, and communities.

MoveOn is launching billboards in key districts over the next 10 days—in time for the March for Our Lives actions around the country—to shine a spotlight on just how much money individual Republican lawmakers have taken from the NRA and hold them accountable. MoveOn members have already contributed enough to purchase 10 billboards, but as Congress continues to refuse to act, we want to go even bigger.

Will you chip in to allow us to double our ad buy to 20 billboards around the country? We want them up by March 24, which means we need to place our final order by this Friday, March 16. And we need to know how much MoveOn members can contribute. Will you help out?

In the wake of the Parkland massacre, student activists have succeeded in forcing a conversation about gun control at the national level. But instead of listening to them, Trump and the NRA-backed GOP have called for the arming of school teachers.² They’ve pushed to pass a law that would make it even easier to carry concealed weapons everywhere in the United States.³ And not a single Republican has announced that they will return or refuse money from the NRA.⁴

They have shown their true colors, and now they need to answer for them.

These billboards will be a visible and unmistakable reminder to the constituents in key districts across the country of just how cowardly their members of Congress have been on this issue and how out of step they are with the overwhelming majority of Americans who support legislation to curb gun violence.

Media-grabbing visuals like this, in the home districts of pro-NRA Republicans, will also force Republican members of Congress to respond and be held publicly accountable for their inaction.

So let’s go big. Click below to chip in right now to help us expand this campaign to even more districts across the country.

Donate

Last week, in response to the growing backlash against them, the NRA released another one of their ominous, fearmongering ads, telling members of the public and elected officials who oppose them that our “time is running out.”⁵ But we know the truth: It is the NRA and their enablers who are running out of time.

Sources:

1. “White House defends its walkback on gun law proposals,” CNN, March 12, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/36032?t=6&akid=201338%2E1195276%2EkCqoRt
2. “Trump backs off raising age limit to buy some weapons and focuses on arming teachers,” Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2018
   http://act.moveon.org/go/36033?t=8&akid=201338%2E1195276%2EkCqoRt
3. “Congress Focuses on Leftover Gun Bill After Florida Shooting,” Slate, February 20, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/35893?t=10&akid=201338%2E1195276%2EkCqoRt
4. “How the NRA won the obedience of the US government,” Quartz, March 2, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/36035?t=12&akid=201338%2E1195276%2EkCqoRt
5. “Parkland student warns NRA spokeswoman: Your time is running out,” The Hill, March 6, 2018
   http://act.moveon.org/go/36036?t=14&akid=201338%2E1195276%2EkCqoRt

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Because you’ve saved your payment information with MoveOn, your donation will go straight through. Donate

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

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From: Breaking News in Wisconsin
Subject: Paul Ryan EXPOSED [the NRA owns him!]

Paul Ryan was just HUMILIATED in Wisconsin:

We just exposed the truth behind Paul Ryan’s HUGE debt to the NRA:

That’s right! We just put up a HUGE billboard in Paul Ryan’s district to EXPOSE him.

But angry gun-nut Republicans in Ryan’s district want our billboard gone.

So we need to raise $15,000 TODAY to pay for it. Otherwise, they’ll tear it down!

Our billboard is speaking truth to power. We need to END the NRA’s all-powerful stranglehold on Congress and END Paul Ryan’s career.

BUT we need your help to pay for our billboard. It’ll be taken down if we fall short!

So please do your part to educate voters and publicly HUMILIATE Paul Ryan.

Munsup, will you chip in $5 by MIDNIGHT to keep our billboard up in Ryan’s district?

Donate

Together we can make a difference!

 

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From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: FW: it’s official.

I made a small contribution in response to this appeal to advance Andrew Janz’ campaign to unseat Devin Nunes and to take Congress back from the party of Trump, corruption, the flouting of democratic values, and treason. Andrew
———- Forwarded message  From: Andrew Janz ————–
Today is a big day for our campaign. Today we make this thing official by filing for a spot on the ballot to retire Devin Nunes and bring the voice of California’s 22nd back to Congress!

Will you help me get to Congress by pitching in $7 right now to make sure we have the resources we need to fight back against Devin Nunes and his army of dark money donors?

For months now, we’ve been holding Nunes’ feet to the fire by calling him out for every single act of treason and betrayal. His constant missteps in Washington and his absence from the district have given us a lot to work with – but the truth is that this race isn’t about him.

This is about bringing sanity and ethics back to a broken Congress. We need someone to step in, put country over party and work to fix the system. I’m going to take that stand for my country. I always have. That’s why I’m running.

But I need you to join me by donating whatever you can now, so we can head into this election ready to fight for what we believe in! Contribute here >>

I’m beyond honored to have your support in this race.   – Andrew

Paid for by Andrew Janz for Congress

Subject: Public schools in Puerto Rico are headed for privatization with the assistance of Betsy DeVos

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/23/1744196/-Public-schools-in-Puerto-Rico-are-headed-for-privatization-with-the-assistance-of-Betsy-DeVos

 

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From: Ronen Kauffman
Subject: The resignation of Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos: Resign

Sign the Petition

Betsy DeVos has proven time and time again that she is completely unqualified to serve as Secretary of Education.

Recently, she struggled to answer even basic questions about schools in her home state of Michigan, where she implemented a private charter school system that has drained public education funds and worsened both public and private school performance statewide.

Enough is enough. Will you sign and share my petition demanding the immediate resignation of Betsy DeVos?

Sign the Petition

From: Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Jade, Johnny, Future, Corina, Chad, Mary, Angela, Saréya, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: Racket Busting: Get rid of the NCAA amateurism rules

The NCAA is making billions off the backs of unpaid Black athletes. Tell the NCAA to drop the amateurism rules and allow players to profit off of their own images.

March Madness begins. Over the next three weeks, student-athletes will become legends as they strive to reach the Final Four. Like many of you, I love this time of year – the frenzied pace, desperation shots, rooting for the underdogs. However, I’m also intimately familiar with the exploitative nature of college sports and how even the stars that shine this month are still just unpaid laborers supporting the billion-dollar behemoth that is the NCAA. I know this because my dad was one of those stars. While leading upstart New Mexico State to the Final Four in 1970, he earned national accolades and found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But while his image was being used to sell magazines across the country, he lived in relative poverty and had to scramble to make ends meet financially.

Fast forward 50 years and things are as bad as ever for student-athletes. While the NCAA rakes in billions in TV revenue, fired coaches receive 8-figure payouts, and shoe companies flood athletic departments with multi-million-dollar apparel deals, players see none of it. In fact, they can be ruled ineligible and have their reputations sullied simply by having someone pay for their dinner.

Tell the NCAA to drop the amateurism rules and allow players to profit off of their own images.

Black athletes are disproportionately impacted by the NCAA’s draconian policies, in particular, the rules that say that in order to maintain “amateur status” and thus be eligible to play, athletes cannot accept any money or gifts. Even though Black students only make up about 3 percent of all full-time students, Black athletes make up more than half of the players on the largest revenue sports, football and basketball.^{1 2} In 2015, the top programs made a combined $9.1 billion, and the NCAA itself just signed $8.8 billion dollar TV deal with CBS to air its March Madness tournament. Yet these players are criminalized if they dare try and turn their skills and labor into a source of income. Because of practice and game schedules combined with their academic courses, many athletes cannot work while under scholarship and often go hungry or have difficulty paying rent as a result.^{3 4}

This has to change – other sports institutions, like the Olympics, changed their rules about amateurism over 30 years ago to allow their athletes to financially benefit, the NCAA should follow suite.⁵

Removing the “amateur status” rules would also kill the black market that currently allows agents and shady middlemen to prey on young talent, with the athletes taking the fall when their hands get caught in the proverbial cookie jar.⁶ Even though it’s Black athletes generating the money, white coaches, corporations, agents, school administrators and predominantly white schools reap the rewards and serve as modern-day overseers.⁷ More than 82 percent of college basketball coaches are white, over 92 percent of top division head football coaches are white, and more than 86 percent of conference commissioners are white – with not a single person of color ever serving as commissioner of one of the “Power Five” conferences.^{8 9} Yet these people regularly make $500,000 a year, with some making multi-millions each year.

Demand the NCAA immediately allow student-athletes to profit off of their likenesses.

In the big-money sports environment, where the historical pattern of white profit from Black bodies is regularly apparent, it’s time that the NCAA let athletes financially benefit from their work to build this exploitative sporting empire.

References:

1. “The difference in how much money schools make off of college sports is jarring, and it is the biggest obstacle to paying athletes”, Business Insider, 14 October 2016 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/28175?t=8&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
2. “The NCAA’s new March Madness TV deal will make them a billion dollars a year”, SB Nation, 12 April 2016 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/25769?t=10&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
3. “National champ U-Conn.’s Napier says he goes to bed starving”, Washington Post, 4 April 2016 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28176?t=12&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
4. “Ole Miss’ Bo Wallace: Shabazz Napier was right, players go hungry at night”, CBS Sports, 17 July 2014 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28177?t=14&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
5. “OLYMPICS TO ALLOW PROS IN 3 SPORTS”, New York Times, 1 March 1985 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28178?t=16&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
6. “This Is How To Pay College Athletes”, Deadspin, 6 March 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28179?t=18&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
7. “College sports exploits unpaid black athletes. But they could force a change.”, Washington Post, 8 January 2016 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28179?t=20&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
8. “The 2012 Racial and Gender Report Card: College Sport,” The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida (UCF), 10 July 2013 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/28180?t=22&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh
9. “Regression throughout Collegiate Athletic Leadership: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference Leaders for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools in the 2015-16 Academic Year,” The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida (UCF), 11 November 2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/28181?t=24&akid=9930%2E239715%2E9Q1dHh

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

 

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From: Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Shannon, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, and Ryan, the UltraViolet team
Subject: Tweet to end Google’s deception

Google is still running ads that allow anti-choice clinics to pose as abortion clinics.

When a woman searches for “abortion clinic near me,” Google Search or Google Maps will include ads for fake clinics that manipulate women out of seeking abortion treatment–rather than offering the health care they purport to provide.¹ These clinics tell women all kinds of medically inaccurate information, like abortion will increase one’s risk of breast cancer, infertility, and even suicide.²

Google said it is investigating, but it hasn’t taken action yet, so we need to ramp up the pressure.

Google execs pay attention to social media, so it’s a great way to increase the pressure and force them to take down these ads–and stop new ones from showing up. Can you take a second to tweet at Google and demand it stop deceiving women?

Hey @Google, take down ads that allow anti-choice clinics to pose as abortion clinics! #ExposeFakeClinics

Hey @Google, stop lying to women. Take down ads from FAKE clinics that lure, lie to, and shame pregnant women. #ExposeFakeClinics

Hey @Google, when women search for abortion care, they should see factually accurate results–NOT fake clinics run by anti-choice extremists. #ExposeFakeClinics

When I use @Google I expect accurate results, not lies. So why do some women see ads for FAKE health clinics? Google needs to stop. #ExposeFakeClinics

Sources:

1. Google search results for abortion services promote anti-abortion centers, The Guardian, February 13, 2018
   Google points abortion-seekers toward anti-abortion clinics, East Bay Times, February 12, 2018
2. The Truth about Crisis Pregnancy Centers, NARAL Pro-Choice America, accessed March 4, 2018

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
Join our rapid response team — sign up for UltraViolet text updates.

 

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From: Eric Kramer
Subject: Forbes.com : Why White Evangelicalism Is So Cruel

Rather interestingly (or, perhaps, suspiciously) this op-ep piece was apparently scrubbed from the Forbes website within 24 hours of it first appearing.  Apparently, some important hackles were raised….However, I’d somehow stumbled upon it, just after it was first posted, and thought it interesting enough to actually copy and paste, in its entirety, into the draft of an email, which I now share with you, which now seems rather fortuitous.  Any thoughts??   – Eric

Politics #TrumpsAmerica
MAR 11, 2018 @ 12:50 PM
Why White Evangelicalism Is So Cruel

Chris Ladd , CONTRIBUTOR Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisladd/2018/03/11/why-white-evangelicalism-is-so-cruel/#16f345b271f6

Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and an avid supporter of Donald Trump, earned headlines this week for his defense of the president’s adultery with a porn star. Regarding the affair and subsequent financial payments, Jeffress explained, “Even if it’s true, it doesn’t matter.”

Such a casual attitude toward adultery and prostitution might seem odd from a guy who blamed 9/11 on America’s sinfulness. However, seen through the lens of white evangelicals’ real priorities, Jeffress’ disinterest in Trump’s sordid lifestyle makes sense. Religion is inseparable from culture, and culture is inseparable from history. Modern, white evangelicalism emerged from the interplay between race and religion in the slave states. What today we call “evangelical Christianity,” is the product of centuries of conditioning, in which religious practices were adapted to nurture a slave economy. The calloused insensitivity of modern white evangelicals was shaped by the economic and cultural priorities that forged their theology over centuries.

Many Christian movements take the title “evangelical,” including many African-American denominations. However, evangelicalism today has been coopted as a preferred description for Christians who were looking to shed an older, largely discredited title: Fundamentalist. A quick glance at a map showing concentrations of adherents and weekly church attendance reveals the evangelical movement’s center of gravity in the Old South. And among those evangelical churches, one denomination remains by far the leader in membership, theological pull, and political influence.

There is still today a Southern Baptist Church. More than a century and a half after the Civil War, and decades after the Methodists and Presbyterians reunited with their Yankee neighbors, America’s most powerful evangelical denomination remains defined, right down to the name over the door, by an 1845 split over slavery.

Southern denominations faced enormous social and political pressure from plantation owners. Public expressions of dissent on the subject of slavery in the South were not merely outlawed, they were a death sentence. Baptist ministers who rejected slavery, like South Carolina’s William Henry Brisbane, were forced to flee to the North. Otherwise, they would end up like Methodist minister Anthony Bewley, who was lynched in Texas in 1860, his bones left exposed at a local store to be played with by children. Whiteness offered protection from many of the South’s cruelties, but that protection stopped at the subject of race. No one who dared speak truth to power on the subject of slavery, or later Jim Crow, could expect protection.

Generation after generation, Southern pastors adapted their theology to thrive under a terrorist state. Principled critics were exiled or murdered, leaving voices of dissent few and scattered. Southern Christianity evolved in strange directions under ever-increasing isolation. Preachers learned to tailor their message to protect themselves. If all you knew about Christianity came from a close reading of the New Testament, you’d expect that Christians would be hostile to wealth, emphatic in protection of justice, sympathetic to the point of personal pain toward the sick, persecuted and the migrant, and almost socialist in their economic practices. None of these consistent Christian themes served the interests of slave owners, so pastors could either abandon them, obscure them, or flee.

What developed in the South was a theology carefully tailored to meet the needs of a slave state. Biblical emphasis on social justice was rendered miraculously invisible. A book constructed around the central metaphor of slaves finding their freedom was reinterpreted. Messages which might have questioned the inherent superiority of the white race, constrained the authority of property owners, or inspired some interest in the poor or less fortunate could not be taught from a pulpit. Any Christian suggestion of social justice was carefully and safely relegated to “the sweet by and by” where all would be made right at no cost to white worshippers. In the forge of slavery and Jim Crow, a Christian message of courage, love, compassion, and service to others was burned away.

Stripped of its compassion and integrity, little remained of the Christian message. What survived was a perverse emphasis on sexual purity as the sole expression of righteousness, along with a creepy obsession with the unquestionable sexual authority of white men. In a culture where race defined one’s claim to basic humanity, women took on a special religious interest. Christianity’s historic emphasis on sexual purity as a form of ascetic self-denial was transformed into an obsession with women and sex. For Southerners, righteousness had little meaning beyond sex, and sexual mores had far less importance for men than for women. Guarding women’s sexual purity meant guarding the purity of the white race. There was no higher moral demand.

Changes brought by the Civil War only heightened the need to protect white racial superiority. Churches were the lynchpin of Jim Crow. By the time the Civil Rights movement gained force in the South, Dallas’ First Baptist Church, where Jeffress is the pastor today, was a bulwark of segregation and white supremacy. As the wider culture nationally has struggled to free itself from the burdens of racism, white evangelicals have fought this development while the violence escalated. What happened to ministers who resisted slavery happened again to those who resisted segregation. White Episcopal Seminary student, Jonathan Daniels, went to Alabama in 1965 to support voting rights protests. After being released from jail, he was murdered by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, who was acquitted by a jury. Dozens of white activists joined the innumerable black Americans murdered fighting for civil rights in the 60’s, but very few of them were Southern.

White Evangelical Christians opposed desegregation tooth and nail. Where pressed, they made cheap, cosmetic compromises, like Billy Graham’s concession to allow black worshipers at his crusades. Graham never made any difficult statements on race, never appeared on stage with his “black friend” Martin Luther King after 1957, and he never marched with King. When King delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech,” Graham responded with this passive-aggressive gem of Southern theology, “Only when Christ comes again will the little white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children.” For white Southern evangelicals, justice and compassion belong only to the dead.

Churches like First Baptist in Dallas did not become stalwart defenders of segregation by accident. Like the wider white evangelical movement, it was then and remains today an obstacle to Christian notions of social justice thanks to a long, dismal heritage. There is no changing the white evangelical movement without a wholesale reconsideration of their theology. No sign of such a reckoning is apparent.

Those waiting to see the bottom of white evangelical cruelty have little source of optimism. Men like Pastor Jeffress can dismiss Trump’s racist abuses as easily as they dismiss his fondness for porn stars. When asked about Trump’s treatment of immigrants, Jeffress shared these comments: “Solving DACA without strengthening borders ignores the teachings of the Bible. In fact, Christians who support open borders, or blanket amnesty, are cherry-picking Scriptures to suit their own agendas.”

For those unfamiliar with Christian scriptures, it might helpful to point out what Jesus reportedly said about this subject, and about the wider question of our compassion for the poor and the suffering: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.”

What did Jesus say about abortion, the favorite subject of Jeffress and the rest of the evangelical movement? Nothing. What does the Bible say about abortion, a practice as old as civilization? Nothing. Not one word. The Bible’s exhortations to compassion for immigrants and the poor stretch long enough to comprise a sizeable book of their own, but no matter. White evangelicals will not let their political ambitions be constrained by something as pliable as scripture.

Why is the religious right obsessed with subjects like abortion while unmoved by the plight of immigrants, minorities, the poor, the uninsured, and those slaughtered in pointless gun violence? No white man has ever been denied an abortion. Few if any white men are affected by the deportation of migrants. White men are not kept from attending college by laws persecuting Dreamers. White evangelical Christianity has a bottomless well of compassion for the interests of straight white men, and not a drop to be spared for anyone else at their expense. The cruelty of white evangelical churches in politics, and in their treatment of their own gay or minority parishioners, is no accident. It is an institution born in slavery, tuned to serve the needs of Jim Crow, and entirely unwilling to confront either of those realities.

Men like Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy group, are trying to reform the Southern Baptist church in increments, much like Billy Graham before him. His statements on subjects like the Confederate Flag and sexual harassment are bold, but only relative to previous church proclamations. He’s still about three decades behind the rest of American culture in recognition of the basic human rights of the country’s non-white, non-male citizens. Resistance he is facing from evangelicals will continue so long as the theology informing white evangelical religion remains unconsidered and unchallenged.

While white evangelical religion remains dedicated to its roots, it will perpetuate its heritage. What this religious heritage produced in the 2016 election, when white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump by a record margin, is the truest expression of its moral character.

You will know a tree by its fruit.

Chris Ladd, former GOP Precinct Committeeman, author of The Politics of Crazy and creator of PoliticalOrphans.

From: Munsup @Siscom Seoh
Subject: FW: The real threat to Higher Ed; Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation; Tell Congress to #DefundHate and more

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• FW: Video — Commissioner In Georgia Faced Felonies For Helping First-Time Voter
• FW: The Real threat to Higher Ed  &  FW: Why so many of us are thru with those white, Evangelical Trump supporters
• FW: A bill to arm teachers could cost Black and Brown students their lives
• FW: NYT Today’s Headlines: (1) Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation to Discuss Its Nuclear Program
  (2) White House Prepares to Formalize Tariffs but Floats Exemptions
  (3) Gary Cohn Says He Will Resign as Trump’s Top Economic Adviser
  (4) Trump Reaffirms Commitment to Tariffs but Opens Door to Compromise
• FW: A potential North Korea gamechanger
• FW: CALL TODAY: The Senate could vote on Yemen MONDAY
• FW: Your hard work got us here.
• FW: Sign the petition: Tell Congress to #DefundHate
• FW: Meet the #HumansOfDACA
• FW: Take a look at the electoral map
• FW: March for Our Lives. Will you be there?

 

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From: Olivia Coley
Subject: FW: Video — Commissioner In Georgia Faced Felonies For Helping First-Time Voter

Here is the link! https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1954967977868016/

 

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From: Eric Kramer
Subject: The real threat to Higher Ed  &  FW: Why so many of us are thru with those white, Evangelical Trump supporters

• https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-cottom-campus-racism_us_5a8afb80e4b00bc49f471b41
• I’m a big fan of Pavlovitz,  who easily ranks among the most intellectually Liberal-Progressive of Evangelical Christians.  – 😉E
  https://johnpavlovitz.com/2018/01/24/white-evangelicals-people/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=johnpavlovitz

 

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From: The Advancement Project, Dream Defenders, and Power U Center for Social Change via OrganizeFor
Subject: A bill to arm teachers could cost Black and Brown students their lives

The Advancement Project, Dream Defenders, and Power U Center for Social Change, just started a petition to demand that Florida Governor Rick Scott veto Senate Bill 7026, which would allow teachers and school staff to carry guns. Sign now The Florida Legislature approved a bill this week that would allow teachers and school staff to carry guns. This bill would also allocate $400 million toward increased police presence and surveillance in schools. The bill was approved by the Florida Legislature this week, with both the House and Senate passing the legislation. However, we are still able to stop this bill from passing–the last stop is with Governor Rick Scott who has the power to veto the bill. If we act fast and work together, we have the power to make Gov. Rick Scott veto this dangerous bill. Join me in demanding that Governor Rick Scott veto the bill to fund the militarization of Florida schools. This bill is in direct response to the Parkland shooting three weeks ago where 17 students and school staff were murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This shook Florida to its core. Students, teachers, and families, have been rising up and organizing to make sure that a senseless shooting like this doesn’t happen again. However, our elected officials have been completely tone deaf to our calls for safety and instead are wanting to increase the presence of guns and police in schools–we know all to well that this is not what safety looks like for our community.  We must stop this dangerous bill, we need your signature NOW to demand that Gov. Rick Scott veto this bill, we only have a few days left.  School is already a hard place for so many Black and Brown children with police, security guards, and metal detectors not only funneling our children through the school to prison pipeline but having schools increasingly resemble prisons. If this bill passes, the school to prison pipeline will be even further expedited and will likely cost many Black and Brown children their lives. What would school look like for our kids with armed teachers, coaches, librarians and counselors? In addition to even more funds dedicated to police and high level surveillance security in schools. This piece of legislation is Florida’s attempt at a “solution” to make schools safer, but the outcome will be devastating for students of color. Please show your support for Florida’s students and add your name to the petition–let’s kill this bill together! Sign now

Join us and start your own petition on OrganizeFor today!
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

 

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From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today’s Headlines: (1) Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation to Discuss Its Nuclear Program
(2) White House Prepares to Formalize Tariffs but Floats Exemptions
(3) Gary Cohn Says He Will Resign as Trump’s Top Economic Adviser
(4) Trump Reaffirms Commitment to Tariffs but Opens Door to Compromise

Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation to Discuss Its Nuclear Program
By MARK LANDLER
No sitting American president has ever met a North Korean leader, and the meeting with Kim Jong-un would be a breathtaking gamble.

White House Prepares to Formalize Tariffs but Floats Exemptions
By ANA SWANSON
The administration is expected to formally announce tariffs on Thursday despite pushback from Republican lawmakers and as officials began signaling carve-outs for certain countries.

Gary Cohn Says He Will Resign as Trump’s Top Economic Adviser
By KATE KELLY and MAGGIE HABERMAN
Mr. Cohn had made clear his opposition to the steel and aluminum tariffs that Mr. Trump plans to impose. It’s the latest departure from a White House in chaos.

Trump Reaffirms Commitment to Tariffs but Opens Door to Compromise
By ANA SWANSON, MARK LANDLER and MAGGIE HABERMAN
Republicans intensified pressure on Mr. Trump to relent on his steel and aluminum tariffs while the president indicated he might provide exemptions for certain countries.

 

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From: Cassandra Euphrat Weston
Subject: A potential North Korea gamechanger

Breaking: South Korea just announced a diplomatic breakthrough on North Korea!
Tell Congress: The U.S. must support diplomacy — not war — with North Korea >>

Today’s diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea is a potential game changer.

Now, the world is looking to the United States to respond. But Donald Trump couldn’t have put us in a worse place to seize this breakthrough moment. After more than a year in office, Trump hasn’t even appointed an ambassador to South Korea. And the State Department’s point person on North Korea resigned just last week.

It’s clear that Donald Trump won’t pursue American diplomacy with North Korea unless he’s forced to. That’s where we come in.

Today’s news gives us a major opening to demand Congress use its megaphone to speak out for diplomacy. But we need to act fast — before the news cycle moves on.

Tell Congress: Demand that President Trump pursue diplomacy with North Korea.

Sign Now!

Instead of appointing key diplomats to lead our response to North Korea, Trump has spent the past year throwing people with zero diplomatic training — like Ivanka Trump and Mike Pence — into the middle of the incredibly delicate situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Even scarier? When Trump’s original choice for an ambassador to South Korea refused to go along with his dangerous plans to attack North Korea, the White House rescinded his nomination. [1] Then just last week, the State Department’s senior diplomat in charge of North Korea resigned, leaving his crucial position empty.

We have a chance to follow South Korea’s lead and win real diplomatic solutions. But Trump is on the path to plunge us straight into war instead.

Congress can play a critical role in shutting down the Trump administration’s diplomatic stonewalling by demanding real diplomacy. And today’s breakthrough gives us a narrow window to push Congress into speaking out.

Add your name and demand Trump appoint trained diplomats for North Korea before it’s too late >>

Thank you for working for peace,

Cassandra, Erica, Stephen and the Win Without War team

[1] Washington Post, Disagreement on North Korea policy derails White House choice for ambassador to South Korea

 

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From: Amy Frame; Amy and the team at Win Without War
Subject: CALL TODAY: The Senate could vote on Yemen MONDAY

Did you see Mark’s email? The Senate could vote as soon as MONDAY on this unprecedented bill. It’s our biggest, best shot to end America’s shameful role in bombing and starving Yemeni civilians.

But Senate offices are closed over the weekend. That means today could be our last chance to get our senators on board before the big vote.

Call your senators TODAY (even if you’ve already called!) and ask them to vote for the Sanders-Lee resolution >>

We have a chance to save millions of lives by ending America’s shameful role in the war in Yemen.

Vermont progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and constitutional conservative Senator Mike Lee of Utah have introduced a resolution to cut off  U.S. support for this illegal war. Because Congress has never authorized the war in Yemen, Bernie’s resolution is guaranteed a vote within days. This is huge. And we have just a few days to get our senators on board.

Will you watch my video message, then call your senators and ask them to vote for Bernie’s resolution?

For three years, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been waging a secretive war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and its allies have deliberately put 8 million people a step away from famine. Meanwhile, the United States continues to funnel bombs, planes, and fuel into enabling Saudi and UAE brutality.

In the movie Spotlight, I play a journalist who is determined to uncover abuse, no matter how powerful the abuser. Spotlight shows us that harm against innocents can only persist when no one is watching. In Yemen, the powerful figure enabling human rights abuse is our own government.

I believe that when the American people are presented with the facts, we will act to stop our tax dollars from being used to bomb and starve innocent Yemenis simply to advance the Saudi dictatorship’s military ambitions.

Please watch my video, then call your senators and urge them to vote for the Sanders-Lee resolution to end the unauthorized war in Yemen.

Thank you for working for peace,

Mark Ruffalo and the Win Without War team

 

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From: Tom Steyer — Need to Impeach
Subject: Your hard work got us here.

We started our call to impeach the president on Oc‌tober 20‌th. In the first week, we had the first million people sign on and this effort became a movement. To be honest, I never quite imagined just how powerful our call to action would be — and how Americans from every corner of every state would respond.

Today, I’m excited to announce that our movement has crossed five million people! This is a huge moment and people like you are the reason we’ve been this successful. You are the power behind one of the biggest movements in our country — thank you.

Now that we are five million strong to impeach Donald Trump, people have been asking, where do we go from here? Well, first, we want to hear from you.

Take our short survey and share your thoughts on where we go from here.

This is our movement — we’re building it together. It’s important we hear from you as we move into the next phase of our campaign. We need to hold our members of Congress accountable on impeachment and elect strong progressives across the country.

We may ask you to attend events in your community, recruit friends to vote in the primary and general election, or share content online to engage your friends and family.

Let us know which actions you’re willing to take by filling out our short survey.

As a movement that relies on the voice of the people, it’s vital that we hear from you. I’ve instructed my team to collect these responses so we can review your feedback.

Your responses will directly impact this next phase of our program. We’ll be sure to share results with you — along with additional details about the next phase of our campaign — in the coming weeks.

I can’t thank you enough for being part of this movement to impeach this dangerous president.

Take the Survey
	Paid for by Tom Steyer

 

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From: Kathryn Johnson; Policy Impact Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Subject: Sign the petition: Tell Congress to #DefundHate

As the Trump administration has launched attack after attack on immigrants over the past year, we’ve seen communities stand up and take bold action to keep their members safe. We’ve seen people reject hateful political rhetoric and affirm what we know—immigrants are integral parts of our communities and tearing them away hurts all of us.

Right now, Congress is making decisions about funding for the rest of the year leading up to a March 23 deadline. President Trump and Republicans in Congress have asked for $21.5 billion to ramp up immigrant detention and deportations and further militarize our border.

Sign our petition to tell Congress: #DefundHate, protect our communities, and refuse to fund Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities. 

We know that more funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol puts lives at risk. Money for detention means more immigrants locked up in deadly conditions and separated from their families. Money for border militarization terrorizes communities and leads to more migrant deaths. Money for ICE agents means more people torn from their homes.

Congress can wield its power of the purse and stop this expansion. Sign this petition, and we’ll join partners at MoveOn, CREDO Action, and Detention Watch Network to take your message to the Capitol later this week.

Take Action

 

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From: Nancy Treviño, Reform Immigration FOR America
Subject: Meet the #HumansOfDACA

Six months ago, President Trump broke a commitment when he ended DACA, a program is backed by a majority of Americans, which gives 800,000 youth a chance at achieving their dreams. Since that day, young immigrants from across the country have pushed back against a Congress and a President that would rather use their lives as bargaining chips than pass a permanent legislative solution.

We must remember their names and honor their lived experiences.

The Humans of DACA, like Diana, Paola, Ivan and Ricardo, have been leading the fight to uphold this protection and defend their families and communities against indiscriminate deportation. Today, they will be rising up with thousands from across the country to demand that Congress pass the DREAM Act.

Join us in sharing their #HumansOfDACA stories so the lawmakers that control their fates understand the real people behind their political games.

Click to share this tweet: “Today young immigrants across the country are hitting the streets to demand a #DREAMActNow. Read their powerful stories and share your own using #HumansofDACA. https://ctt.ec/sDFjU+ #HereToFight”

Are you a DACA-mented person with a story to tell? Share your experience and a photo and use the #HumansOfDACA hashtag!

 

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From: Robert B. Reich
Subject: Take a look at the electoral map

What if I told you that I see three ways forward to get us out of the mess we’re in as a nation—and the smartest choice is the hardest?

We could choose to bang on the dinner table and swear every time we see Trump on TV.

Or we could cover our ears and make a “la la la” sound when we hear the man’s voice.

But I’d bet just about anything that you’re choosing the third—and best—way forward: fighting with all your might to help elect progressive candidates who have a transformative vision for America.

Because I know one thing for certain: MoveOn members simply never give up. You have the drive. The guts. And the faith it takes to muscle through adversity and win.

And I’m betting that you also see the writing on the wall about this upcoming election: Trump’s Republican Party is in deep trouble. And we can win big in November if we pull together now—putting our shoulders to the wheel, pushing to end Republican control of the House, block Trump’s agenda, and rebuild our nation.

But—and I want us to be really clear-eyed about this—we can also still lose. If we take this moment for granted, if we underestimate the virulence of the right-wing Trump backers and their billions of dollars, or if we fail to offer the powerful vision and program we need to win.

That’s why I need to ask you, Munsup, will you join me and commit to chip in each month to MoveOn’s massive, people-powered elections program? Just click below to get started.  Donate monthly  or  make a one-time gift

Let’s consider the electoral map. In November, 34 Senate seats, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 36 governorships, and countless other state and local seats will all be decided. MoveOn is gearing up to make a jaw-dropping 200 endorsements: 100 critical House candidates, who could reshape Congress with the largest incoming class in a generation, and 100 diverse and inspiring state and local candidates. And MoveOn members will organize to elect progressive champs by making calls, knocking on doors, sending millions of text messages, and doing whatever else it takes to reach every last voter and win.

Endorsements from MoveOn mean a range of practical and strategic support, but they require massive resources: financial contributions to sometimes cash-strapped progressive campaigns, leveraging MoveOn’s enormous media reach and new (and proven) video persuasion capabilities, and a massive turnout push by MoveOn’s millions of members, organized by some of the best organizers in the country.

When we end Republican control of the House by winning just 24 more seats, we can help grind Trump and the GOP’s agenda to a halt. And when we launch new progressive stars—including women, people of color, and younger candidates who are stepping up to lead in cities and towns across our nation—we can begin to change the face of U.S. politics and the direction of our country’s future.

The promise is that great.

And just thinking about it now, I feel a wave of gratitude that MoveOn is helping to lead the way forward.

I want to be able to tell my friends and family that I had something to do with kicking Trump and his cronies out of the White House and Congress.

And with just eight short months to Election Day, I’m asking you to join me and commit to making a monthly contribution so that we can both be part of something truly great. .  Donate monthly  or  make a one-time gift

Before I go, I’d like to talk about one more piece of this high-stakes puzzle.

Even as MoveOn races toward winning in November, it’s remaining staunchly committed to advocacy, including working with student leaders to demand commonsense gun safety legislation and an end to the NRA’s chokehold on Congress, standing with Dreamers in the fight against Trump’s aggressive anti-immigrant agenda and deportation machine, defending and protecting the independent investigation into the Trump team’s Russia ties and subsequent cover-up, working to prevent a war with North Korea, standing up to Islamophobia, and so much more.

In other midterm elections, such a costly dual focus might not be necessary.

But these are strange, perilous times that ask much of all of us. And MoveOn is rising up and standing stronger than ever before.

As part of my work, I get to crisscross the nation. And I see the power of MoveOn-led, people-powered action firsthand. I see that you’ve made the choice—the commitment—to fight.

Now, will you help make sure the fight continues by making a monthly donation to MoveOn? .  Donate monthly  or  make a one-time gift

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us? .  Donate monthly  or  make a one-time gift

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

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From: Matt Deitsch and #NeverAgainMSD
Subject: March for Our Lives. Will you be there?

I stood outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the day of the school shooting, terrified for my siblings, friends and teachers who were inside. My friends and I are now organizing a national day of action on March 24 to make sure this never happens again.

Not one more.

Not one more student should hide in fear as my siblings did, while an active shooter was killing our friends and teachers.

Not one more parent should sit in fear, as ours did, waiting for a call or text to say we were OK, that might never come.

Not one more person should die from a senseless act of gun violence.

Join students like me on March 24 to March for Our Lives and demand action to end the epidemic of mass shootings in America. There are hundreds of marches being planned across the country including one near you. (And if you can’t find an event near you, you can help organize one in your community.)

We’re using the hashtag #NeverAgainMSD to show our commitment to ending gun violence because our lawmakers are not doing enough to protect innocent lives. I’ve spoken to elected officials from representatives in the Florida legislature to countless representatives on Capitol Hill, and though conversation is happening, action remains slow.

So we have to speak up. We can’t let school shootings fade from our memory until more dead students shock us into action. That’s why students across the country are leading the March for Our Lives to say that enough is enough. Congress and states across the country need to do more than speak out against gun violence—they need to take action. By taking to the streets on March 24, we’ll create a show of force that the media and members of Congress can’t ignore.

Sign up now to march with students across the country for commonsense reforms to end gun violence. Join us at our national march in Washington, D.C., or one of the hundreds of marches around the country.

The march is just one step in a long journey. We know that reform does not happen overnight, but it starts with a single step. Our lives are on the line, so we can’t wait. Please join the march today.

P.S. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/neveragainmsd

By choosing to attend this event, you are committing to participate non-violently and in accordance with the law, to work to de-escalate confrontations with others, and to obey the orders of authorized event marshals and of law enforcement. You also acknowledge that you are solely responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring during this event, and that you release MoveOn.org Civic Action and MoveOn.org Political Action (and their officers, directors, employees, and agents) from any liability for that injury or damage.

Some of the events listed may include or invite participants to engage in civil disobedience or illegal activity – these events are organized independently of MoveOn, and MoveOn does not solicit or encourage your participation in these activities.

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End of MPEN e-Newsletter

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape; End war in Yemen; I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School; The NRA Is Tanking! and more

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• FW: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape
• FW: NYT Today’s Headlines: Today’s Headlines:
  (1) As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
  (2) Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
  (3) Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War
• FW: The FCC Gutted Net Neutrality. Congress Only Needs #OneMoreVote to Overturn Them
• FW: The emperor has no clothes
• FW: “The brutality of this war will be beyond the experience of any living soldier.”
• FW: End war in Yemen
• FW: I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School
• FW: The NRA is in deep, deep trouble
• FW: Demand that FedEx #DropTheNRA
• FW: The NRA Is Tanking!
• FW: Add your name >> End Gerrymandering Now

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From: People For the American Way
Subject: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape –>

RIGHT NOW, the most important election in the country is the special congressional election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district… and a BRAND NEW POLL of likely voters from Emerson University now has Democrat Conor Lamb BEATING radical Trump Republican Rick Saccone by 3 points!!!

We have the momentum! But there’s only ONE WEEK from tomorrow to lock up this CRUCIAL victory!

Democrats and progressives are being MASSIVELY outspent in this race by right-wing super PACs (including Paul Ryan’s).

Republicans are treating this race as an all-out emergency, because they know that if we can beat them here, it could solidify a national BLUE WAVE that flips control of the US House and maybe even the Senate!

Donate today to flip this GOP-held seat to the Democrats and to help us defeat Trump Republicans all across the country>>

The Republican, Trump-endorsed Rick Saccone, is a far-right extremist who:

• says he was “Trump before Trump,”
• has written extensively in support of torture,
• once introduced legislation that would allow customers at Chuck E. Cheese to carry guns, and
• when he was considering a run for Senate last year, told a Christian Nationalist radio program he was running because God wants Christians “to rule over us.”

Saccone would be another GOP rubberstamp for Trump’s dangerous, un-American agenda. That’s why we’re running digital ads, phonebanking voters in the district to turn out every last progressive, and more…

Election Day is just 1 week from tomorrow!

Please rush your most generous donation right now to flip this seat
and defeat Trump Republicans up and down the ballot in 2018!>>

 

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From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headlines: (1) As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
(2) Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
(3) Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War

As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS
Primary elections in Texas on Tuesday and Illinois this month will test the growing divide in the Democratic Party between bold liberalism and tradition.

Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
By MARK MAZZETTI, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MAGGIE HABERMAN
The special counsel has asked about the role of the adviser, George Nader, in White House policymaking, indicating that he is examining Emirati influence on the Trump administration.

Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War
By JIM TANKERSLEY
A global tit-for-tat on trade could crimp economic growth, undermining the stimulative effects of President Trump’s deregulation push and his signature $1.5 trillion tax cut.

 

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From: Evan, Rashad, Arisha, Brandi, Jade, Johnny, Janaya, Corina, Chad, Mary, Saréya, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: The FCC Gutted Net Neutrality. Congress Only Needs #OneMoreVote to Overturn Them

The Senate Needs #OneMoreVote to Save Net Neutrality Tell the Senate to Pass the CRA!

This past week marked the 6th anniversary of the murder of Trayvon Martin and as we reflect back on how movements for justice have grown, much of the organizing would not have been possible without an open internet. From the creation of #BlackLivesMatter, to the canceling of a book deal for one of the jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman¹, to the creation of organizing tactics that have been used in social movements all over the world, and currently in use by the students of Parkland, FL², an open internet has made the advocacy for Black human rights and the amplification of our stories possible. All that may come to a halt if one more Senator doesn’t sign on to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the FCC’s decision to gut the net neutrality rules put in place by the Obama Administration.

Tell the Senate to Pass the CRA and Save Net Neutrality

The FCC’s decision to repeal rules that made the internet an equal and open space is just an updated version of the tactics used in the past to silence Black voices and deny opportunities to marginalized communities. Before net neutrality was in place, the 5 major internet service providers (AT&T, Time Warner, Charter, Comcast and Verizon), who provide broadband service for 75% of the country, were regularly slowing traffic speeds to popular websites.³ Now that there’s a Verizon lobbyist in charge of the FCC and a presidential administration that caters to big business, there’s almost nothing to stop these corporations from controlling what you can consume on the internet, even as you’re paying for it.

If you’ve ever used the internet to say #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, or to remind the world that Flint, Michigan doesn’t have clean water, then you know how vital an open internet is to sharing our stories and advocating for human rights. Major corporations like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T shouldn’t get to decide which messages are heard, based on what’s good for their profit margin. Join the rest of the internet as we come together and flood the Senate with phone calls, texts, and tweets demanding they protect net neutrality.

We Only Need #OneMoreVote in the Senate to Save Net Neutrality

References:

1. “Zimmerman Juror Wins, Loses Book Deal All In A Day”, LA Times, 16 July 2013. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/22276?t=9&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv
2. “Black Teens Have Been Fighting For Gun Reform For Years”, Teen Vogue, 23 February 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/22277?t=11&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv
3. “Major Internet Providers Slowing Traffic Speeds For Thousands Across US”, The Guardian, 22 June 2015 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/22278?t=13&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

 

 

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From: Robert B. Reich
Subject: The emperor has no clothes

I’ve been a teacher for more than 30 years. My job is to teach, challenge, and enrich my students’ minds.

Donald Trump’s response to the latest tragic school shooting—to put even more guns in our schools—is just the latest Trump scam. It’s a distraction. It’s meant to divide us. And it certainly won’t make our kids safer.

But the Parkland students aren’t falling for it, nor are young people and students all over the country—including many who have been organizing against gun violence for years. Over the coming weeks, they are coming together to organize marches and other protests all across the country. I’m standing with these students, and so is MoveOn—by mobilizing its millions of members to participate in the protests and by pressuring corporations to cut their support for the NRA.

Will you stand up to the NRA by making a donation to MoveOn today? Just click below. Donate

We know how to reduce gun violence: for starters, universal background checks and bans on high-capacity magazines and AR-15s and other military-style assault weapons like the ones used in Parkland—and in Sutherland Springs, San Bernardino, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Newtown. And we know the way to get there: direct pressure on corporations, demanding action from politicians at the federal and state levels, and—ultimately—breaking the stranglehold of the NRA by isolating it from its corporate and political enablers.

Republicans in Washington are so completely bought by the NRA that new federal laws are unlikely in the short term. But the students leading the movement to end gun violence—from Parkland and from communities across the country that have been impacted—aren’t waiting for the Republicans in Washington, and neither is MoveOn.

Student-led groups and their allies, including hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members, are calling on corporations to stand up to the NRA, and this #BoycottNRA movement is catching on like wildfire. The retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods is the latest to defy the NRA by taking AR-15s and high-capacity magazines off its store shelves, while Walmart and others are raising the age of who can purchase guns. Indeed, the NRA isn’t invincible. (Remember the old “emperor has no clothes” parable? That’s the NRA right now.)

MoveOn is joining students in keeping the pressure on corporate America and pushing to pass new laws in state legislatures. And MoveOn will hold the NRA’s enablers in Congress accountable, so we can finally start to move forward with commonsense gun legislation in Congress, too.

I pledge to stand with students—not by carrying a gun but by standing up to the NRA.
Will you join me in the fight against gun violence by making a donation to MoveOn today? Donate

Want to support MoveOn’s work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that all of us must never give up on. And to do it MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?  Donate  Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

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From: Stephen, Erica, Cassandra, and the team at Win Without War
Subject: “The brutality of this war will be beyond the experience of any living soldier.”

The U.S. military is secretly rehearsing for a bloody war with North Korea.

Top military brass gathered in Hawaii last week to draw up plans for evacuation helicopters and troop movements. [1] They said 10,000 Americans could be wounded in just a few days.

Munsup, this is our push moment to prevent war with North Korea.

Win Without War is using every possible tactic to pressure Congress to step in, from grabbing headlines to flooding phone lines. But we need your help. The truth is, if we don’t get in Trump’s way right now, we could be looking at war with North Korea in a matter of months.

After the military’s planning exercise, the Army’s Chief of Staff warned that a war with North Korea would be the most brutal any living soldier has ever seen.

If you’re scared — well, so am I. But his warning is also a huge opportunity.

Powerful people are speaking out to say that the human costs of this war would be awful beyond imagining. We have a major chance to turn this growing murmur of worry into a massive outcry for common-sense diplomacy.

Can you pitch in $6 to seize this moment and drag Trump off the brink of war?

[1] New York Times: “U.S. Banks on Diplomacy With North Korea, but Moves Ahead on Military Plans”

Donate

 

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From: Kaili Lambe; Director of Organizing, CREDO Action
Subject: End war in Yemen (signatures needed)

Tell the Senate: No war in Yemen

The petition to the Senate reads: “We urge you to co-sponsor and support S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.”Add your name: Sign the Petition

 

Last August, an American-made laser-guided bomb killed seven children in Yemen’s capital city. Before the strike, a 5-year-old named Buthaina had five brothers and sisters. After the strike she had none.¹ Buthaina and her siblings were just a few of the estimated 5,000 killed or injured in the Saudi-led war in Yemen that started in 2015 – an average of five a day.²

Right now, American military forces are refueling the Saudis’ American-made planes so that the Saudis and their coalition can drop American-made weapons to carry out a devastating war that is killing civilians, destroying crops, cutting off access to ports and wreaking havoc on the people of Yemen. As a result of American support for the war, millions are facing starvation and the country is battling what may be the worst cholera epidemic in history.³

We must speak out now to stop this deadly war in the Middle East. Fortunately, progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders just introduced bipartisan legislation to invoke the War Powers Resolution, which would require a vote in the next few weeks on ending U.S. support for this Saudi-led war.⁴ We have a short window to demand that the Senate vote to end U.S. military involvement and withdraw its support from the conflict that has led to what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.⁵

Tell the Senate: Pass S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click here to sign the petition.

For nearly three years, under the guise of reassuring our allies and “confronting Iran,” the United States has quietly assisted Saudi Arabia in their conflict with the Houthis – a Yemeni Shiite militia group originally formed around the historical economic and political marginalization of Yemen’s northwest. The United States has provided weapons, provided logistical and intelligence support, and helped refuel coalition jets as they dropped bombs on Yemeni civilians. But the Houthis have limited ties to Iran and absolutely nothing to do with Al Qaeda, ISIS or any other terrorist organization that could conceivably fall within the scope of military intervention covered by the current Authorization for Use of Military Force.⁶

This unauthorized war started under the Obama administration, and in the face of egregious civilian casualties, President Obama scaled back U.S. involvement. But Trump has given the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates the green light to double down on its disastrous air campaign.⁷ The civilian death toll in Yemen has been heart-wrenching – with over 10,000 casualties and rising – but the United States continues to offer resources to the Saudi-led coalition.

In October 2016, a coalition airstrike targeted a funeral procession, killing over 130 innocent people and injuring 500 more.⁸ During the 10 day period from Dec 6 – 16, Saudi airstrikes killed 136 civilians, including at least seven civilians when they Saudi-led coalition struck a hospital on Dec. 10.⁹ Then on Jan. 1, Saudi airstrikes killed 23 people in the port city of Hodeida.¹⁰ In providing the Saudi-led coalition targeting intelligence, mid-air refueling and other logistical support, the United States is complicit in violations of international law.

Tell the Senate: S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click here to sign the petition.

Beyond the direct violence, the ongoing war in Yemen has forced millions to flee their homes, resulted in the world’s worst cholera outbreak, and has left more than two-thirds of Yemen’s population – more than 20 million people – not knowing where their next meal will come from.¹¹ According to the UN 400,000 Yemeni children are acutely malnourished – that is at risk of death from starvation – while as many as 8.4 million people in Yemen are on the verge of famine.¹² That is because Saudi forces are using food as a weapon of war – enforcing a blockade that has stopped much needed food, medicine and supplies from entering the country.¹³

What’s more, the war has contributed to a fast-moving cholera outbreak – the largest documented in modern history – that has already affected more than 1 million people.¹⁴

U.S. tax dollars are directly financing this Saudi-led war, even though U.S. involvement has not been authorized by Congress – whose responsibility it is to debate, vote on and authorize military action. By participating in this war in this way, Congress and Donald Trump are robbing the American people of their right to be represented in these decisions.

Congress must remove us from this conflict, immediately. Tell the Senate: Pass S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click the link below to sign the petition.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/End_War_in_Yemen?t=8&akid=27493%2E1004336%2E7VBtgf

Add your name: Sign the Petition

References:

1. The New York Times, “Young Yemeni Girl Is Sole Survivor After Airstrike Topples Her Home,” Aug. 26, 2017.
2. AFP, “Yemen war: 5,000 children dead or hurt and 400,000 malnourished, UN says,” The Guardian, Jan. 16, 2018.
3. Bethan McKernan, “Yemen: almost one death per hour as cholera epidemic spreads like wildfire,” Independent, June 9, 2017.
4. Lee Fang and Alex Emmons, “Bernie Sanders Wants to End U.S. Support for Yemen War. Saudi Lobbyists Fought Similar Measures Last Year,” The Intercept, Feb. 28, 2018.
5. Robert Naiman, “Rand Paul: Unconstitutional Saudi War In Yemen Is Not In Our Interest, And Congress Should Vote,” HuffPost, Sept. 19, 2017.
6. Joost Hiltermann and April Longley Alley, “The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah,” ForeignPolicy, Feb. 27, 2017.
7. Samuel Oakford, “U.S. Doubled Fuel Support for Saudi Bombing Campaign in Yemen After Deadly Strike on Funeral,” The Intercept, July 13, 2017.
8. Catherine Thorbecke, “US-Made Bomb Used in Airstrike on Funeral in Yemen, Human Rights Watch Says,” ABC News, Oct. 13, 2016.
9. U.N. Commission on Human Rights, “Press briefing on Yemen and Gaza,” Dec. 19, 2017.
10. The Washington Post, “World Digest: Jan. 1, 2018,” Jan. 1, 2018.
11. Reuters, “More than 8 million Yemenis ‘a step away from famine’: U.N.,” Dec. 11, 2017.
12. AFP, “Yemen war: 5,000 children dead or hurt and 400,000 malnourished, UN says.”
13. Clarissa Ward, Salma Abdelaziz and Scott McWhinnie, “In Yemen, the markets have food, but children are starving to death,” CNN, Dec. 19, 2017.
14. Bel Trew, “One million cases in Yemen cholera crisis,” The Times, Dec. 22, 2017.

 

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From: Gard of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the American Federation of Teachers, Parkland, FL
Subject: I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School

I’m Jim Gard, a math teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I started a petition because I’m shocked that the White House has issued press credentials for a right-wing conspiracy theory blog that is spreading lies about students at my school.

It is outrageous enough that outlets such as Gateway Pundit are spreading lies and driving attacks on students like saying one of them was coached into using anti-Trump talking points when expressing his grief about the school shooting. But it is even more outrageous that an outlet that peddles lies and conspiracy theories holds a White House press credential and the authority that carries.¹

Sign my petition if you agree Donald Trump and this administration must make it clear that these attacks are unacceptable by pulling this blog’s credentials and permanently banning the site and its publishers from the White House.

The White House must show that there are consequences for driving vicious personal attacks on student victims of gun violence and peddling conspiracy theories. It must pull Gateway Pundit’s press credentials, permanently ban them from official events, and commit to not giving credentials to any outlet that engages in these types of conspiracy theories or attacks on vulnerable students and victims.

Sign Jim’s petition

In the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, students who survived the attack have bravely stood up to demand action for safe schools and safe communities. I know these students.

But now, right-wing blogs are pushing wild conspiracy theories about the students who survived, claiming they are plants, actors, or being manipulated by politicians.²

By giving Gateway Pundit press credentials, the White House is validating the site and these attacks.

I have worked with these students. These courageous young people survived a horror beyond what any person should have to face, and now they stand with moral courage and strength to call us all to action.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Sources:

1. “Gateway Pundit’s White House correspondent accuses mass shooting survivors of ‘milking the deaths of their peers,'” Media Matters for America, February 20, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/34663?t=17&akid=200414%2E1195276%2ElSMz-Y
2. “What is Gateway Pundit, the conspiracy-hawking site at the center of the bogus Florida ‘crisis actors’ hype?” The Washington Post, February 23, 2018
   https://act.moveon.org/go/34664?t=19&akid=200414%2E1195276%2ElSMz-Y

It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?  Donate monthly  or  make a one-time gift

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

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From: Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Shannon, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, and Ryan, the UltraViolet Action team
Subject: RE: The NRA is in deep, deep trouble

Two weeks ago, 17 students and teachers were murdered by a gunman using an AR-15.

Since then, corporations have been scrambling to distance themselves from the NRA.

The First National Bank of Omaha just announced that it will no longer issue its NRA-branded credit card. Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, and National rental cars announced they are canceling their discount program for NRA members.¹

Now we’re focusing on two companies–Visa and MasterCard–that have the power to stop processing payments for the sale of assault weapons, like the ones used in Parkland, Las Vegas, and Newtown.

PayPal and Apple Pay have banned these purchases, and UltraViolet Education Fund is launching a hard-hitting ad campaign focused in Foster City, California, and Purchase, New York–the corporate headquarters of Visa and MasterCard–to demand that they stop processing these sales as well.

Will you chip in $5 to UltraViolet Action to help fight back against the NRA?

After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, media pundits said that Congress wouldn’t do anything.

But Congress isn’t the only one with power. Corporations–especially the financial institutions that do business with the gun industry–have enormous power to slow or even stop the sale of guns.

There’s no reason that Visa and MasterCard can’t do this. In fact, they already don’t allow their cards to be used to purchase marijuana in states where it’s legal, and some of the biggest card issuers won’t let them be used to buy Bitcoin either.^2,3

But most people have no idea that Visa and MasterCard have the discretion to stop these purchases. That’s why our ad campaign has the potential to be so effective–to alert the public that these credit card companies could be stopping the sales of guns like the one used in Parkland–but they are choosing not to.

UltraViolet Education Fund will start the ad campaign in the cities where these credit card companies are headquartered, and make them hard-hitting to generate media coverage as well. Judging by how quickly other corporations are running away from the gun industry, we think Visa, MasterCard, and the other credit card companies will fold as well.

Will you chip in $5 to UltraViolet Action to help fight back against the NRA?

CONTRIBUTE

Sources:

1. NRA fallout: See the list of companies that cut discounts for NRA members after Parkland, Florida school shooting, USA Today, February 26, 2018
2. Ten Things You Can’t (Easily) Buy With Credit Cards, Fox Business News, January 25, 2016
3. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America & Citi bar people from buying bitcoin with a credit card, CNBC, February 2, 2018

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

 

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From: The Guns Down team
Subject: Demand that FedEx #DropTheNRA

Dear friend, FedEx is still standing by the gun lobby. We now know that they even made special behind-the-scenes deals with the NRA and gun manufacturers to cut shipping rates and make it easier for companies to ship guns from coast to coast. And they are doing all that just so that they can get a leg-up on their competitors and make extra money, no matter the cost. That’s why, as activists around the country are boycotting FedEx and other boosters of the NRA and its deadly “guns everywhere” agenda, we’re launching the next stage of our campaign demanding that FedEx end their relationship with the NRA: DropTheNRA.org. The website is just the first step; we’ll be bringing our message, and our demands, straight to FedEx headquarters soon. Visit the site and share it with your friends Click here to go to the site The gun lobby and their corporate allies won’t go down without a fight. They’re expecting the pressure to lessen, and for all of us to just forget about what they are doing. We aren’t going to forget or let-up on the pressure until FedEx cuts ties with the NRA. We stood firm in our fight against the NRA’s Carry Guard murder insurance, and Chubb and Lockton relented and cut ties. Advocates around the country demanded that companies end agreements with the gun lobby, and the companies agreed. FedEx is no different. Corporate partnerships are a huge part of the NRA’s strategy; they give them an easy way to make money and gain undue credibility. Ending the relationships, and holding companies accountable for the choices they make and the deals they enter can make a real difference. When those partnerships collapse, the gun lobby loses power. And when the gun lobby loses power, America gets closer to a safer future with fewer guns which are harder to get. Please join us in the next step of our bold campaign against FedEx’s work with the NRA, and please share DropTheNRA.org with your networks. Thank you, The Guns Down team P.S. — The kind of bold, aggressive campaign tactics we are planning for FedEx, and which were successful in getting Chubb and Lockton to end their Carry Guard murder insurance and their partnership with the NRA, aren’t easy to pull off. They aren’t inexpensive either. Contribute today and help us go as big, and as bold, as possible.

 

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From: Rashad Robinson and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: The NRA Is Tanking!

STOP THE NRA! Chip-in $$65

We have more great news!

Chubb Limited and Lockton Inc. have both cut ties with the NRA’s murder insurance!

As a result of a public campaign we launched in October with Guns Down, an advocacy group fighting against the dangerous NRA organization, the underwriting insurer Chubb silently backed out of the deal for the NRA’s murder insurance. In the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Chubb went public with their decision last Friday. And we just received news that Lockton is following their lead. Yesterday, 6 years to the day that Trayvon Martin was murdered, Lockton announced that they would no longer provide brokerage services for the NRA’s Carry Guard. We have made a huge impact in crippling the operation of the NRA. But the fight has just begun.

We must continue to apply pressure on corporations who shamelessly do business with the NRA. By targeting corporate sponsors who enable the gun industry we get one step closer to weakening the NRA’s grip on society as a whole.

Will you donate $65 to support our work as we continue to defeat the NRA?

Your donation will go towards:

• Building out more impactful campaigns targeting the NRA and the companies that support them.
• Digital marketing and promotion of future gun violence prevention campaigns.
• Organizing and supporting offline actions, like petition deliveries and mobilizing people to offline direct actions targeting the NRA.

Taking down the NRA is not easy, but our collective efforts are making difference. Chubb and Lockton’s decisions came as a result of over 100,000 members like you taking action with allies across this country demanding corporations and politicians put people over gun violence enablers like the NRA. This win is for Trayvon Martin, John Crawford II, Philando Castile, Marissa Alexander, Keegan Von Roberts and countless other Black folks who have fallen victim to the NRA’s tactics to criminalize Black people while protecting white vigilantes.

There are still a number of other companies who are doing business with the NRA, like FedEx, Apple, AGIA Affinity, Vinesse Wines, the Regency and the Omni Hotel Chains, and we must stop them.

Donate $65 to stop the NRA from protecting killers and monetizing murder.

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

 

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From: Unfit to Serve Team
Subject: Add your name >> End Gerrymandering Now

Republican politicians across the country have been choosing their constituents instead of constituents choosing their politicians.

To put it simply, Republican leaders in state legislatures are rigging the system.

And it’s time for this to stop.

The majority of Americans want more balance in their legislatures and in Congress so more consensus can be built and more bad ideas stopped. Thankfully, people are standing up across the country — to demand an end to this rigged system.

We are standing with a coalition of leaders and organizations across the country to restore our democracy and end gerrymandering. Will you join us?

Using diabolical gerrymandering, Republicans are re-drawing maps that try to give them supermajorities in state legislatures and in Congressional delegations nationwide.

Their partisan maps just don’t add up — Republicans have created wildly contorted districts to gain victory for their party, regardless of what voters want.

If you’re as fed up with gerrymandering as we are, add your name today
to the grassroots movement that’s working to restore our democratic values.

PAID FOR BY UNFIT TO SERVE PAC

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End of MPEN e-Newsletter