Courtesy of Pro Bono Photo. Here are two.
Author: Andrew J. Lazarus
Big protest in the Elmwood
Let me thank all of you who came, yelled, waved signs, gave leaflets to passerby. The troops are ready; the D.C. leadership is still mostly missing in action. My own iPhone photographic skills are modest. If you have some good pictures you’d like to share, please email them to me, and I can post them here.
Use the “Contact” link above to request a subscription to this site. You will get an email for every new posting, including the upcoming meetings. We had so many members at our last meeting, I have set up an RSVP system. Please let me know if you are coming by accepting the event at Mobilize. I will use the signups to alert people of the meeting location.
New visitors: Scroll down for our recommended Resistance Reading Diet and other PDFs of possible interest.
Update: By popular request, today’s handout.
Not my President’s Day protest
National Indivisible has called for non-violent protest this Monday. We will be at the corner of College & Ashby Monday February 17, noon–1:00, holding signs (BYO) and giving out action items (e.g., Congressional phone numbers to call). Bring your favorite placard and join us!
The Resistance media diet
I’ve reformatted the media diet that was given out at the last meeting, adding links. (I deleted a few art journals; you can get them from Naomi if you want.)
Notes from the February 9 meeting
Record attendance! The Resistance grows. Welcome new members.
Some other local Indivisible chapters: Indivisible Marin claims 10,000 members. Zoom meetings and action items. Indivisible East Bay has monthly meetings, sometimes in person, large scale action items. Indivisible Elmwood has in-person meetings bi-weekly, returning politics to a socially-engaged experience. We also do action items: postcarding, joining phone banks, fundraising, and sidewalk presence. (Our meetings alternate between two members’ houses. We realize that yesterday’s meeting was crowded. We may set up an RSVP system.)
Anyone who wants to post to this blog: email me, and I will authorize you. If there is interest, I will also explain how to post.
February 9 agenda
- Courage is contagious: How to be brave and mentally stable
- Support vital media [copy of the handout will appear here after beautification]
- Recruitment of activists: Goal 3.5% of the population
- Daily political flossing: Many, many actions to choose from
- Future meetings: learning about social media, BlueSky, vital readings, action items
Yesterday’s handouts are available in the post right below this one.
We also wrote nearly 400 postcards for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford.
Handouts from the February 9 meeting
This came into our inbox from author Susan Austin. (Naomi fixed the phone number: this one is correct.)
Here are some specific requests we can make of our Senators.
We have postcards and addresses for WI Supreme Court
Our candidate is Susan Crawford.
This is one of the most consequential elections of the year, to retain our 4–3 majority. Among other accomplishments, the Court nuked one of the two most extreme state legislative gerrymanders in the country, where one year Republicans attained a veto-proof supermajority with fewer total votes than the Democrats. (North Carolina also has an extreme gerrymander, where the State Supreme Court may award the 2024 Supreme Court judicial election to the loser on some-or-another pretext. Best guess is that the most moderate Republican on that court will follow the law instead of his party; the other three are definite weasels.)
Welcome to new subscribers
Those who found us from the national Indivisible search link, we look forward to meeting you in person.
Let me also mention, for everyone, that political commentary of Yours Truly, grumpy guy, can be found on Substack.
Minutes of January 26 meeting
The vote for DNC Chair is February 1st. We support Ben Wikler, currently Chair of the Wisconsin State Democrats. He has done a fantastic job there, with grassroots organizing and fundraising. (His principal opponent appears to be Ken Martin, who holds the corresponding post in Minnesota and is currently a Vice Chair of the DNC. In Minnesota, we are at best standing still.)
We distributed a list of California DNC voting delegates. VotePro has a Google doc of the delegates’ contact info. The list of current DNC officers and their phone numbers is here. Please contact the officers, or any of the California delegates, especially if you know them.
Our DC representatives need us to help stiffen their spines. Well, maybe not Lateefah Simon, but I’ll include her number for convenience.
- Lateefah Simon, DC number (202)225-2661
- Alex Padilla, DC number (202)224-3553, SF (415)981-9369
- Adam Schiff, DC number (202) 224-3841
The first significant 2025 election (other than DNC) is for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, April 1st. Wikler helped flip this court, with immediate benefits on gerrymandering and reproductive rights. Our candidate is Susan Crawford. Our postcards and addresses for her have not arrived yet, but we will write them when they come. You can donate at that link via ActBlue.
We also have the entire Virginia House of Delegates and the statewide offices up in November 2025. Our gubernatorial candidate will be Abigail Spanberger, formerly a Member of Congress. The current Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor, both MAGA nuts, will fight it out in the Republican primary. In 2023 Naomi and I (and our son in Brooklyn) knocked on doors for Delegate Michael Feggans who flipped HD-97 (Virginia Beach). We’ll help him again.
Special Guest this Sunday
Nicole Zambrano of Sister District will be joining us at 4:30 via Zoom.
Indivisible Elmwood 