A white supremacist like Steve Bannon should be unacceptable as chief strategist in the White House, whether you supported Trump or not. President-elects have had to back down on appointments before, for comparatively minor reasons. Let’s not assume this is a done deal.
Social media activism can help raise awareness, but concrete action is important. My friend offers these steps you can take to prevent this appointment:
1) If you live in the US, call your Senators and Representatives and tell them this is unacceptable. Note that the Senate must approve Cabinet appointments: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact. [See script at end of post. Also, I know this isn’t a Cabinet post but it’s still important to register your objection.]
2) Paul Ryan is feigning ignorance again. Call his office at (202) 225-3031 and let him know that this is not ok. Same with Majority Leader McConnell, (202) 224-2541.
3) Call out the media when they report the Bannon appointment as a straight news story or refer to him as a “Breitbart executive” or a “provocateur,” but don’t call him what he is: a white supremacist, anti-Semite, and misogynist. Don’t let them normalize.
4) Where protests are ongoing, make this a focus, with signs, chants, etc. Speak out on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
5) Reach out to any groups you know that might join this effort, from religious groups to community organizations.
6) Contact other people of influence—college presidents, high-profile coaches and anyone else who has a public megaphone—and ask them to speak out against Bannon’s appointment.
7) Sign and share this petition from the Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/stephen-bannon-has-no-business-white-house
*If you are unsure of what to say when you call your reps, here is a script that worked for someone else:
“Hi! My name is redacted and I am a constituent of Rep. Smith’s. I’m calling to see if and when he’ll be condemning the appointment of Steve Bannon to the White House.”
Them: The Congressman isn’t in yet today and I’m not sure anyone has had a chance to ask him.
“When you do, please also remind the Congressman that he has Jewish constituents in his district, including me, and we are highly concerned about having a white nationalist in the White House.”
Them: Hold please.
Them: Yes, just checked again, and we are not sure his response.
“OK. Well, I’d like a call back, [gives info] and I hope the Congressman is looking carefully at what this man has said and what he believes.”
a white man taking a job he doesn’t even want from a white woman who’s worked for it her whole life then forcing a black man to defer retirement for the sake of training him for this job he doesn’t want
a white man taking a job he doesn’t even want from a white woman who’s worked for it her whole life then forcing a black man to defer retirement for the sake of training him for this job he doesn’t want
Call Your Dang Reps
I
just stumbled into a prime example of a local action I could take that
matters right this instant. This afternoon @thedeadparrot tweeted a link
to an article about a Boston city councilor who yesterday expressed his
desire to make Boston a “sanctuary city” immigrants, i.e. defy Trump
& co. by barring local law
enforcement from initiating or participating in deportation actions.I
googled the City Council’s phone number, called, and got put through to
an aide right away. Here follows an illuminating conversation:Me:
Hi, my name is [Stulti]; I’m a resident of [neighborhood]. I just read
in the Herald that Tito Jackson wants to make Boston a sanctuary for
immigrants. I’m calling to express my support.
Aide, choking a little: Support??
Me: Yes, I want Boston to do everything possible to protect immigrants, documented or not.
Aide: You’re actually the first person to call in support of that.
Me: Really?
Aide: It’s been a rough day.
Me: Oh, jeez. Well, I hope it improves. I feel very strongly about this issue.
Aide: Thank you for calling.
Me: Thank you. Hang in there. Bye.Moral
of the story: There are legislators out there right now, trying to get
the damage control in motion. They’re being harangued by, at a guess,
right-wing retirees with nothing better to do. Plug their numbers into
your phones and even the score.If
no one on your city council has proposed such a measure, call to
suggest it. I’ve been told phoning is best, but if telephones give you
hives, send an email.
Call Your Dang Reps
I
just stumbled into a prime example of a local action I could take that
matters right this instant. This afternoon @thedeadparrot tweeted a link
to an article about a Boston city councilor who yesterday expressed his
desire to make Boston a “sanctuary city” immigrants, i.e. defy Trump
& co. by barring local law
enforcement from initiating or participating in deportation actions.I
googled the City Council’s phone number, called, and got put through to
an aide right away. Here follows an illuminating conversation:Me:
Hi, my name is [Stulti]; I’m a resident of [neighborhood]. I just read
in the Herald that Tito Jackson wants to make Boston a sanctuary for
immigrants. I’m calling to express my support.
Aide, choking a little: Support??
Me: Yes, I want Boston to do everything possible to protect immigrants, documented or not.
Aide: You’re actually the first person to call in support of that.
Me: Really?
Aide: It’s been a rough day.
Me: Oh, jeez. Well, I hope it improves. I feel very strongly about this issue.
Aide: Thank you for calling.
Me: Thank you. Hang in there. Bye.Moral
of the story: There are legislators out there right now, trying to get
the damage control in motion. They’re being harangued by, at a guess,
right-wing retirees with nothing better to do. Plug their numbers into
your phones and even the score.If
no one on your city council has proposed such a measure, call to
suggest it. I’ve been told phoning is best, but if telephones give you
hives, send an email.
Gwen Ifill dies at age 61
Gwen Ifill, the longtime PBS news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS’s NewsHour and as moderator of “Washington Week,” has died, PBS has confirmed. She was 61.
“I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington,” WETA president and CEO Sharon percy Rockefeller wrote in an email to staff at the public TV station Monday. “I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends… Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers.”
Ifill had been absent from PBS’s election coverage last week due to ongoing health issues. She also took a leave of absence from the public broadcaster in May to address those issues.
“Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change. She was a mentor to so many across the industry and her professionalism was respected across the political spectrum. She was a journalist’s journalist and set an example for all around her,” said PBS NewsHour executive producer Sara Just, in a statement. “So many people in the audience felt that they knew and adored her. She had a tremendous combination of warmth and authority. She was stopped on the street routinely by people who just wanted to give her a hug and considered her a friend after years of seeing her on TV. We will forever miss her terribly.”
Ifill was set to receive the 2016 John Chancellor Award from Columbia University this Wednesday. A spokesperson for the university did not immediately have a comment.
Ifill, who was born in New York, graduated from Simmons College, a women’s college located in Boston, in 1977, before beginning her career at the Boston Herald-American. She held reporting positions at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC before becoming a moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week in Review” in 1999.
She moderated the 2004 vice-presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards and the 2008 vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. She also moderated a primary debate between Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton last year.
Gwen Ifill dies at age 61
Gwen Ifill, the longtime PBS news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS’s NewsHour and as moderator of “Washington Week,” has died, PBS has confirmed. She was 61.
“I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington,” WETA president and CEO Sharon percy Rockefeller wrote in an email to staff at the public TV station Monday. “I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends… Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers.”
Ifill had been absent from PBS’s election coverage last week due to ongoing health issues. She also took a leave of absence from the public broadcaster in May to address those issues.
“Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change. She was a mentor to so many across the industry and her professionalism was respected across the political spectrum. She was a journalist’s journalist and set an example for all around her,” said PBS NewsHour executive producer Sara Just, in a statement. “So many people in the audience felt that they knew and adored her. She had a tremendous combination of warmth and authority. She was stopped on the street routinely by people who just wanted to give her a hug and considered her a friend after years of seeing her on TV. We will forever miss her terribly.”
Ifill was set to receive the 2016 John Chancellor Award from Columbia University this Wednesday. A spokesperson for the university did not immediately have a comment.
Ifill, who was born in New York, graduated from Simmons College, a women’s college located in Boston, in 1977, before beginning her career at the Boston Herald-American. She held reporting positions at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC before becoming a moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week in Review” in 1999.
She moderated the 2004 vice-presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards and the 2008 vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. She also moderated a primary debate between Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton last year.
Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline
Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline
Holy shit.
HOLY SHIT
This is a fake. Sorry. And it’s slowing down real donations.
(Snopes says they’re reaching out for confirmation but I can tell you that I just donated to the legal fund like four hours ago (11/10/2016) and they’re not in the clear yet – they’re also accepting Paypal donations but they’re only 75% of their goal on the crowdfunding website. Lawyers are expensive, legal fees are expensive, they arrested well over a hundred people and are trying to stick them with felony charges. Bail alone is four figures. Please don’t let them disrupt NDN lives and break up NDN families and social structures with a prison sentence – not any more than they already are.)
They are struggling right now. Please boost.
Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline
Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline
Holy shit.
HOLY SHIT
This is a fake. Sorry. And it’s slowing down real donations.
(Snopes says they’re reaching out for confirmation but I can tell you that I just donated to the legal fund like four hours ago (11/10/2016) and they’re not in the clear yet – they’re also accepting Paypal donations but they’re only 75% of their goal on the crowdfunding website. Lawyers are expensive, legal fees are expensive, they arrested well over a hundred people and are trying to stick them with felony charges. Bail alone is four figures. Please don’t let them disrupt NDN lives and break up NDN families and social structures with a prison sentence – not any more than they already are.)
They are struggling right now. Please boost.
