Dear friends,
On Tuesday, Brittany Ramos DeBarros called me to check in. The polls hadn’t yet closed on the June primary in NY and she wanted to know how I was holding up, given what she called “the dumpster fire out there.” We commiserated over the recent court decisions and the alarming state of the nation.
In March, I attended a Zoom meet-and-greet with her, before the maps changed again. At that time, it appeared that NY-11 would stretch into Park Slope. Now, that neighborhood is in the hotly contested NY-10, which I will write about on another day.
Having attended other meet-and-greets, I told Brittany that she still stands out for her well-informed answers on tough questions and her passionate determination. It is harder to be memorable on Zoom, and she gets points for that, too.
The congressional primaries in August matter a great deal, and Brittany is up against a former Congressman, Max Rose. She is the real rose in this race, however. I have followed her closely since she first announced her candidacy.
Ramos DeBarros, who hails from North Texas and now lives in Staten Island, has served in the military. She developed a thinking-person’s critique of military spending and US foreign policy and became an organizer with the Poor People's Campaign and About Face, an organization of veterans against militarism and war.
Brittany is a voice for all of the justice issues that matter — care, climate, anti-racism, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gun control, and anti-poverty efforts.
New York is our home and this seat is our responsibility. Nicole Malliotakis has to go; she does not represent the people of any iteration of NY-11. Our neighbors want peace and climate resiliency, here and elsewhere, as well as health care and a renewal of the Child Tax Credit.
Max Rose failed against Malliotakis; Brittany Ramos DeBarros represents a real alternative. The donation link below is my link. I want to deliver for Brittany because I believe she will deliver for all of us if we can get her elected.
Support Brittany Ramos DeBarros for Congress. You can also volunteer with her campaign remotely or in person!
Congresswoman Cori Bush and the rest of the squad need back-up from a progressive like Brittany Ramos DeBarros with purple-district credibility.
We have to fight to keep Cori Bush in office, too. If you doubt her effectiveness, note that she pushed through one hundred million dollars of new funding
in the upcoming Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies annual appropriations bill [that] would give the president resources to accelerate the production of solar panels, transformers, and other green technologies.
That’s the money that Biden will need to execute his orders to use the Defense Production Act.
Congresswoman Cori Bush has also called on the president to declare a ‘public health emergency’ in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Hers is an invaluable voice for justice in Congress and we must stand behind her.
Black women, Latina women, Indigenous women, and Asian and Pacific Islander women face unique difficulties raising money compared to their white and male counterparts, according to previous research. This is notably apparent when looking at large donations, especially for Black women. Black women raised the least amount across all race and gender categories.
It is incumbent upon us to turn that around.
Support Congresswoman Cori Bush in her bid for reelection!
The dumpster fire that Brittany Ramos DeBarros was referring to includes the ongoing threats to democracy and election integrity.
The stunning facts revealed in Tuesday’s hearing of the Jan 6 committee are both unsurprising and truly appalling.
Cassidy Hutchinson provided some of the most damning testimony against the former president that we’ve heard. Hutchinson understood that Trump’s earnest efforts to foment violence in the capitol, threaten the life of the vice president, and endanger officers, elected officials, and democracy were beyond the pale.
Hutchinson knew that Trump’s enablers in the White House and in Congress sought pardons because they knew what they were doing was illegal.
No matter how you feel about her politics, Liz Cheney deserves credit (¡sí, se puede!) for her role in bringing the events of January 6 to light and framing them clearly:
“Our nation is preserved by those who abide by their oaths to our constitution,” she said in closing. “Our nation is preserved by those who know the fundamental difference between right and wrong.”
Incredibly, 2021 was worse than 2020, something that did not seem possible to most of us on the morning of January 6. Our appreciation for those who have testified does not absolve those who came forward too late to stop the madness.
Heather Cox Richardson ended her superb summary of Tuesday’s testimony with this observation:
. . .yet no one in the White House either spoke up to warn us before January 6 or testified at Trump’s second impeachment trial, where he was charged with incitement of insurrection and, thanks to Republican senators, acquitted.
It may not be possible to successfully prosecute Trump for his crimes; it certainly cannot be done quickly enough. But that doesn’t mean that the former president can escape accountability.
Yesterday, I read an opinion piece that affirmed my plan for today’s action: “Cassidy Hutchinson Changes Everything” makes the case that we have what we need to stop Trump and that the hearings are shifting public option.
Only Congress has the power to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to prevent public officials from future government service when they have engaged in insurrection against the US or assisted those who did.
At the completion of the Jan 6 hearings, Congress must act to enforce this provision (the bold is mine):
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
It is in our national interest to end Trump’s political career and those of the malefactors who made January 6 possible. This is urgent business as well as an opportunity to move forward as a nation. It will not solve all of our problems, but it would help to bind up the nation's wounds.
Call on your Congressional delegation to enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. This is ready-made!
We’re also going to try to control the dumpster fire here in NY. The legislature is in emergency session today to consider the Equality Amendment to the state constitution which would advance reproductive justice and bodily autonomy:
Section 1. Resolved That article 1 of the constitution be amended by adding a new section 20 to read as follows:
§ 20. (a) No person shall be denied equal rights under the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof based on that person's race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or sex including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
Later sections of the amendment explicitly state that its passage would not invalidate other constitutional protections related to the aforementioned characteristics nor block additional laws or regulations “to prevent or dismantle discrimination.”
The legislature is also meeting on new gun legislation:
Lawmakers are poised to designate a host of locations — including government buildings, parks, mass transit, schools, health care facilities, polling places, day cares and other places where children gather — as “sensitive” place where it should be illegal to carry a firearm. As for private businesses, the default will be no guns allowed unless the business chooses to post a sign saying otherwise.
Tell your legislators that passage of the Equality Amendment is a top priority for you AND that you want to know what the legislative options are for strengthening concealed-carry laws in our state. Ready-made!
I know that school’s out. You get extra credit for taking more than one action today.
with love,
L