This network was previously an external American propaganda arm, subsidized but not government-run. It also was carefully non-partisan.
Now, the US Government will be directly funding them, they now are also going to be broadcast in the US as well as abroad, and the formerly non-partisan board is being replaced by a presidentially-appointed staff.
So, you know, we can be assured this new venture of theirs will be fair and balanced.
Fight this, people. Combined with the gag orders, we’re seeing an intentional campaign to control our information. And information control is fascism at work.
Trump has been president for literally 4 days and he’s already settling us into our new authoritarian regime. A few updates in case anyone hadn’t been keeping up:
At least twice now he or a member of his staff have made completely false claims that have been proven wrong already and offered no evidence to support what they were saying, then refused to take questions about it
As a general rule, before you protest, ask yourself why this is one of your chosen forms of action. Question your tactics, not your motives. In this case, the obvious first question for any activist ought to be: why deploy a communal march in the streets as a form of protest?
Sometimes, the people march. Other times we hold general assemblies, tar and feather opponents, occupy pipelines, go on strike, dance in a circle, riot in the streets or pray together. In each case, behind every act of protest is an often unarticulated theory of social change: a story we tell ourselves about why the disobedient behavior we’ve chosen will usher in the change we desire.
… Today’s social activists have succumbed to one of the most enduring myths of contemporary American protest: the comforting belief that if you can get enough people into the streets from diverse demographics, largely unified behind a clear message, then our representatives will be forced to heed the crowd’s wishes.
… The absolute failure of the 15 February 2003 anti-war protest, the largest synchronized global march in human history, was the last gasp of this tactic. Today’s nominally democratic governments would be more concerned by the absence of our marches, as that might suggest something darker is in the works.
The only way to attain sovereignty – the supreme authority over the functioning of our government – is to use social protest to win elections or win wars. Either we can march to the ballot box or the battleground; there is no third option.
… That Trump was elected demonstrates that an anti-establishment outsider can sweep into power through elections – a fact activists should learn from and begrudgingly celebrate.
Before Trump’s victory, it was widely assumed that a candidate without the backing of the establishment could not possibly win a presidential election. Good news: now we know that it is possible. It is finally conceivable that a revolutionary movement beholden to the people could take power in America by winning elections and without violence.
… The number one challenge standing in the way of an effective protest in America today is the inability of our social movements to actually govern. There might be a slight chance our protests could oust Trump, but there is no chance that our present-day movements could govern at all, let alone effectively.
… May the angry women return home the day after the march to lead us toward a women-led hybrid movement-party in every state that is disciplined enough to govern, militantly local and single-mindedly devoted to actualizing a force capable of seizing control of city councils and mayorships during midterm elections across America in preparation for an electoral coup against the presidency in 2020.
Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Ted Lieu introduced legislation intended to prevent Trump from using nuclear weapons in a first-strike scenario without the explicit approval of Congress on Tuesday.
The legislation is titled the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017.“
The two legislators issued a press statement on the bill co-signed by William Perry, who served as secretary of defense in former President Bill Clinton’s administration. Read more
Are you an American? Do you have a sec to stand up for the millions of poor people, disabled people, people with pre-existing conditions and freelancers who rely on the ACA to keep them, y’know, not-broke and not-dead? (Hi!)
Do you live in Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee or West Virginia?
Congrats: you have a Republican Senator who has publicly expressed some concern about repealing the ACA without a replacement plan! If you haven’t already, this is your reminder to give their offices a call and help them make up their minds!
Alaska – Lisa Murkowski:
(202)-224-6665
Arizona – John McCain:
(202) 224-2235
Arizona –
Jeff Flake:
(202) 224-4521
Kentucky – Rand Paul:
202-224-4343
Louisiana – Bill Cassidy:
(202) 224-5824
Maine – Susan Collins:
(202) 224-2523
Nevada – Dean Heller:
202-224-6244
Ohio – Rob Portman:
(202) 224-3353
Pennsylvania – Pat Toomey:
(202) 224-4254
Tennessee – Bob Corker:
(202) 224-3344
Tennessee
–
Lamar Alexander:
(202) 224-4944
West Virginia – Shelley Moore Capito:
202-224-6472
Sample call script:
“My name is [YOUR NAME]. I’m a constituent calling to thank [YOUR SENATOR’S NAME] for having the integrity and foresight to see how disastrous it would be to [YOUR STATE] and to the rest of America if Congress votes to repeal the ACA without first agreeing on a solid replacement plan. Not only would it jeopardize the health and economic security of millions of Americans, it would also place a tremendous financial strain on our hospitals and our entire healthcare system, costing potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs. As you know, in [YOUR STATE], we [SOMETHING PERSONAL ABOUT HEALTH CONCERNS SPECIFIC TO YOUR STATE; YOU MIGHT WANNA DO A 30-SECOND GOOGLE. IF NOTHING ELSE SURFACES, JUST SAY YOUR STATE BELIEVES IN SOME POSITIVE CHARACTER TRAIT THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH KEEPING HEALTHCARE AFFORDABLE FOR AMERICANS, LIKE “LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR” OR SOMETHING.] As a voter, this is a vital issue to me, and I will be paying close attention to how [SENATOR’S NAME] votes.”
Call today if you haven’t already, and bug your local friends/family to call, too!
We only need to flip three senators, so it’s not impossible. Do this before this Friday, the 27th.
I’m sorry to ask this of you–I know there’s a lot of these things going around right now–but I depend on the ACA for my healthcare and I’m pretty damn terrified.
If you live in one of these states and y’all can do this, I HIGHLY recommend it. I’ll be trying on my own boulders, Cruz and Cornyn, and they’re not likely to shift but they better know where we stand.
Donald Trump just approved the Keystone XL tarsands pipeline — overturning Obama’s 2015 rejection. [1]
Keystone XL would threaten dozens of rivers with oil spills, and make it virtually impossible for Canada to meet our climate targets. [2]
Today, Trump warned that he plans to “renegotiate the terms” of the project — and the media is already reporting that this could mean higher costs for Canada. [3]
Unbelievably, the Liberal government is giving Trump’s plan the thumbs-up, without any additional review of the changes to the project that Trump negotiates. That gives Trump a blank cheque to change the project terms without our approval [4]
What’s worse, Keystone XL has never faced a serious review in Canada. Harper rubber-stamped the pipeline after a sham process that didn’t even consider climate change.
A project this massive needs a careful and thorough review — especially now that Trump is promising to negotiate changes that could make Keystone even worse for Canada.
If enough of us speak out, we can convince the Liberal government to suspend Harper’s approval of Keystone XL, and put the project — including any of Trump’s changes — through a new, credible review process.
Canadians! Here is a tangible thing we can do to block Trump’s administration from overturning all Obama’s work. They have a conservative government, but we don’t. They need our cooperation to finish this pipeline. Let’s make sure it never happens.
Americans please reblog for your Canadian followers! There are more of you than us, so it will help us reach people we normally wouldn’t.
A Middleground 