We did not intend to change the off-week parity when we cancelled last week. However, we have some appropriate May Day activities!

The Focus for Democracy people are doing another fundraiser for their downballot election work.

To attend our next event for the States Project Sunday, May 1st, at 5pm PT/8pm ET, click here or below to register and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Bruce brings us some reading material for next week. (This may or may not preview on the web page, depending if WordPress notices which price plan we are on. If not, it should have a download option.)

And perhaps with the distance of time, the experience of these Assembly candidates may seem droll.

‘Zoom-bombers’ drop lewd video, racist comments at Sacramento candidate forum.

Due to Covid exposure concerns on top of other issues, we are cancelling our meeting for today. We will meet next Sunday May 8th for a gala re-charge for the election season. At the meeting we will celebrate the fact we helped get Mallory McMorrow elected in the first place (with Sister District), Bruce will lead a discussion of a complex political issue, Naomi will release her first Twelve Angry People production and Andy will look into his crystal ball to tell us about the future. Please stay safe during this period of continuing Covid challenges and collect your favorite slogans/memes/rants for our next meeting.

Postcards available in the Little Free Library and printed out Vote Forward letters on request. See everyone May 8th.

McMorrow is a member of the Michigan State Assembly whom we helped get into office. Her race was adopted by Bay Area Sister District in 2018. One of the Republicans in the MI Assembly wrote a campaign fundraising letter featuring the new blood libel that Democrats—in particular, McMorrow—are grooming children for sexual molestation.

This was her response.

Senator Lana Theis accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an attempt to marginalize me for standing up against her marginalizing the LGBTQ community…in a fundraising email, for herself.

Hate wins when people like me stand by and let it happen. I won't. pic.twitter.com/jL5GU42bTv

— Mallory McMorrow (@MalloryMcMorrow) April 19, 2022

I can’t help thinking that if Terry McAuliffe had confronted Republican slander with this outrage, he’d be Governor of Virginia today.

[UPDATE] James Carville seems to agree with me. Two months ago he said the Dems needed to abandon “faculty lounge” wokeness. But it turns out he didn’t mean abandoning the marginalized. He meant abandoning mealy-mouthed evasive defense. He’s a huge fan of this clip.

Usual place.

Remember, we are learning how to be Sith Lords, using our anger. No more “When they go low, we go high.” Look how badly that worked out for the Jedi.

Thanks for a lively A+ meeting! Based on our spirited discussion of the current state of the world, we have decided to add to our usual plans (postcards, letters, etc.) a new level of action. [Postcards are available in our Little Free Library along with URLs to obtain addresses.] We are going to give social media a try—with the hopes of reaching younger voters.

Homework:

1. Watch the Lincoln Project ads at lincolnproject.us
2. Check up on what Rachel Bitecofer is arguing at her PAC.
3. Ask young people they thoughts about the most effective social media platforms and send in the results (either as a comment below or an email).

We will meet again on April 10th 4:00–5:00 for the next stage in unveiling our new action plan.

Twelve Angry Persons/People/Elders (name is in progress)

I have turned my Little Free Library into a political out-reach tool, loading the top shelf with postcards and posting info about how to get addresses. We’ll see how this goes.

Lots to talk about Sunday including the tragic war in Ukraine and its reverberations in American politics, Clarence Thomas’ problems, Supreme Court pandering to Republicans, and political activities from SisterDistrict, Indivisible and East Bay Activists Alliance.

We have an event at our house this Sunday, 4:00–5:00 pm. But not Indivisible Elmwood. I will be talking about J Street’s congressional delegation to Israel and Palestine, which included, inter alia, Rep. Jared Huffman of Marin, Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, whom we supported for her first race in 2018, and Yours Truly.

The delegation met with

• Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh
• Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid
• Mansour Abbas, leader of the first Arab Party to join an Israeli governing coalition
• Numerous non-government officials.

I will talk for about half the time and will take questions. Rabbi Andrew Strauss, the Regional Director for J Street, will also be attending.

Due to a number of conflicts, today’s meeting is being postponed. We will meet again on Sunday, March 27th 4-5:00 pm. Meanwhile good luck to Judy with her move and if anyone wants to hear Andy’s presentation on his JStreet trip (Sunday, March 20th, 4:00 our house) please RSVP. Finally, here are some places to donate to support the Ukrainian people:

https://kse.ua/support/donation

Razom for Ukraine

Credit card, SWIFT, check, crypto, PayPal Non-profit organization supporting the people of Ukraine in their pursuit of a democratic society https://razomforukraine.org/donate/ https://www.facebook.com/RazomForUkraine

International rescue committee

Credit card, PayPal, check

Crisis in Ukraine

https://help.rescue.org/donate/ukraine-web

Kyiv School of Economics humanitarian aid campaign

Credit card, PayPal, bank transfer, SWIFT, crypto

The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), together with Ukrainian businesses and state-owned companies, have launched a humanitarian aid campaign for Ukraine. The aim is to provide food supplies, transportation, refugees help for Ukrainian citizens affected by the war and purchase necessary medicines, first aid and protective kits for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian Paramedic Association, and the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces to shield them against Russian aggression.

Usual place! That is, the usual in-person place. (I suppose we need to qualify that now.)

I suggest we think about how the invasion of Ukraine can affect our elections, and in particular how to exploit the Republicans’ difficulty, given their pro-Putin wing, in formulating a response.

The loathsome Marjorie Taylor Greene has not one but two Democratic opponents, raking in massive donations from small donors.

Trump won this district by 39 points. There is no missing decimal point there. Thirty-nine.

Marcus Flowers seems like a great candidate. Maybe he can trim the margin to 20. Maybe he can bring in some voters to help the up-ballot races. But he won’t need a massive advertising campaign to do that.

Reminder: Don’t give out of spite.