My fellow Americans,
Wasn’t it great to hear that from the lips of our President-Elect on Saturday? Wasn’t it wonderful to have him act and sound and be Presidential? At least we can breathe again. I hope you celebrated some the last couple of days. “The next chapter of American politics won’t be easy,” writes a columnist from the New York Times. “But this one — squalid, terrifying, degrading, tragic — is almost over.”
YES, THERE IS WORK TO BE DONE.
GEORGIA
We all know the numbers. There are two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5th. Both Senate races are up which means that it is POSSIBLE that the Democrats could gain two seats in the Senate. And this is critical because if we win these, the numbers will be 50-50. Meaning that any tie votes in the Senate will be decided by the Vice President’s vote, Kamala Harris.
The Rev. Raphael Warnock did lead incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler but did not reach 50% of the vote. U.S. Sen. David Perdue was forced into a January runoff against Democrat Jon Ossoff when the former’s total of votes went under 50%. Wow! Two incumbent Republicans in Georgia are forced to reface their Democrat challengers.
On Wednesday I got a text from Reid McCollum (from postcardstoswingstates.com) He said the postcards were on the way to the printer and that they’d be available by next weekend, and how many did I want?
I am telling him 10,000. These will need to be mailed on Dec. 26. The message is simple, Reid claims. So now I need help from you. I already have people asking for about 2,000 cards. That leaves maybe 8,000. Will you step up and help?
The postcards will be packed in 100s. You will be provided with names and addresses, and a simple message that you must write on the card. And you will need to put stamps on the cards. And think of it: if we send out 10,000 postcards to Georgia, we will need 10,000 postcard stamps (35 cent stamps). That means we need $3,500 to send out these cards. Now some folks are able to easily cover the cost for the 100 or 200 they write. But we have some very passionate writers who will write many more cards than they can afford. And this is where everyone can help. Maybe you can’t write cards, but you can contribute to the postage fund. Whatever--we ALL need to be part of this push to get two more Senate seats. Please let us know by clicking here that you will be part of this effort!
And there are phonebanks coming! We already have signup info for John Ossoff’s campaign. You can sign up here for daily phonebank shifts.
WE HAVE MEETINGS
Yes, we will still be Zooming to stay connected and to get things done.
Tuesdays at 10 AM we have our weekly Coffee Klatch. Zoom info is this: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85844306450 Meeting ID: 858 4430 6450
Or by phone at 312-626-6799
Then there is our weekly Happy Hour, which is always at 4:30 PM on Fridays, where we have cocktails being mixed up and we talk about what has been happening and what we can do. This week our Happy Hour will be shortened to a half hour and then we will start our regular monthly meeting at 5 pm. This only goes to 6 pm and we will talk about all the ways we can influence the Georgia race. And will talk about what the priorities should be for the new administration. Finally, we'll talk about the truths we should be spreading instead of amplifying falsehoods from the other side. Please join us at 4:30 if you can, but definitely by 5 pm.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81077985273
Meeting ID: 810 7798 5273 Or by phone at 312-626-6799
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, TELL THE TRUTH
Well of course, we learned as children not to lie. Unfortunately some of our behaviors help to spread lies. That is if we repost something on Facebook or Twitter. Or if we respond to a post. Or if we comment, even to debunk it. Any of those things just amplify the lie. And we have to stop doing that.
Join The Truth Brigade and start spreading the truth. Here’s the link. You’ll get instructions on how to do this, and information on the latest truth-telling campaigns. Also, you can share or cut and paste posts that we create on our Twitter Account or our Facebook Page. Here’s a sample post you can use:
We all need to have confidence in #Election2020. And so we can: Claims of #VoterFraud have been examined & they're not holding up. George W. Bush agrees: "This election was fundamentally fair. Its integrity will be upheld & its outcome is clear." #TruthBrigade
Please be part of this.
WHAT IF HE DOES SOMETHING REALLY CRAZY?
Of course, it is something we all think about. Of course, we don’t know how Trump will respond during these 70 plus final days. I’ve got to think there are some cooler heads around him that will moderate his impulses--to save their own butts if nothing else.
But it could be that we will need to protest some action and their may be a call to obilize very quickly. To be a part of this national mobilization, you can sign up at this link:
https://www.mobilize.us/ptr/event/362696/
It has a placeholder date of December 1 and a placeholder location. If you sign up, you will be notified immediately of an action that is scheduled. We may not need this but if you are interested in protesting, please sign up.
UNTIL FRIDAY
And I do hope I see you Friday. Please take a walk today if you can and enjoy the fresh air and sun and the sense of hope.
We keep on fighting,
Etta
