Meeting the Moment: Things to do TODAY

As we await what’s coming, there are important things that each and every one of us can do today. Right now. I know you can do them, because you have internet access reading this.

Local Governmental and Political Tasks

1. If you don’t know them already, Google everything on the list below and get the websites:

• Your County Government

• Your Town/City Government

• Your Local School Board

• Your Local Democratic Committee

2. Then, visit each site to find out when the next meeting is scheduled.

3. Attend the meetings! As many as you can.

“Why?” you ask. Because government works best when it is participatory, and showing up is 90% of the battle.

Find out what is going on, and ask questions. You are allowed to speak. You are allowed access to information.

Here are a few things to think about:

• Next year’s elections will be mostly local (the exceptions being New Jersey and Virgina which have statewide elections plus local elections). Find out who is running. Consider running for School Board or Town/City Council, or a row office if there are no Democrats running.
  
  If there are already good Democratic candidates, sign up NOW to help them win election/re-election.

• At the County level, or the city level, go to the meeting and ask if the cops will align with ICE deportation raids, or if they will be precluded from doing so. If a decision hasn’t been made yet, start a petition, and go around to your friends, family and neighbors so you can go back and show that people are opposed.

• At the School Board meeting, ask what plans are being made. There is a chance that MAGA World will endeavor to dismantle the Department of Education (DoE). As you may know, it is the DoE funds 100% of all IEPs in the country. That’s 7.5 million kids, or 15% of all kids in school. Source. Is your local School Board ready to absorb those costs? What will the tax impact be? What options will be available?
  
  As an aside, write to your Congressman/Congresswoman¹ NOW. Whether you are in a red or blue area, let your Rep know you will NEVER vote for their re-election if they vote against funding the DoE. This will matter in December when the current CR expires. It will matter next year (when your rep might have changed) when they look at the on-going budget allocations². Get used to writing your Rep. When there are issues that matter to me, especially when I used to have a Rethuglican Rep, I write DAILY³. You can also call⁴.

• Attend your local Zone meetings⁵. First, you want to know what the party has planned. Then, you might want to run for a local party position. For example, where I live, there are two committeepersons for each precinct, and together the precincts comprise the zone, and the zones together comprise the county organization. There are executive boards at the zone and county levels. The committepeople, zone leaders, and county board members, along with local Democratic elected officials are the people who vote on nominations for the slate for the primaries. Being on “the slate” is what helps people win Democratic primaries. (Other parties operate differently.)

Again, ATTEND MEETINGS. As the Washington Post used to say “Democracy Dies in Darkness”⁶ - and showing up at meetings is the light that’s needed.

Outside Groups

Attend meetings of local “other” organizations. I, personally, am a huge fan of Indivisible⁷. I recommend going to Indivisible.org to find (or start) a local group and to make use of all of their resources. Also at the site, read the **NEW** Indivisible Guide. Seriously, READ IT. It is fantastic. You won’t be sorry. READ IT!!!

There are other good, solid, local organizations in which you can participate. I know a lot of local groups in my own geographic area, but even if you live elsewhere, let me know where you are and I’ll hook you up.

There are national organizations, too, and you may be interested in their positions and actions, but it’s all going to come down to what Tip O’Neill famously said “All politics is local”⁸.

That should keep you busy for a bit. I have more lists coming.

WE STAND TOGETHER!

1. Google the name of your rep, or use this link if you don’t know who your rep is, and on their official webpage will be a “Contact” option.

2. We don’t know if the current CR will result in another CR to March, or if the loonies will agree to the current budget levels and fund through the end of the fiscal year (30 September) to avoid their master having to sign something he won’t like. We won’t know for another month, so start writing NOW.

3. Your Congressman or Congresswoman is accessible to you when Congress isn’t in session. (And if there’s Rethuglican leadership, that’s A LOT). They all hold office hours, town halls, visit various schools and businesses. You can find them. Always be polite. Remember smile, eye contact, head nod. EVEN IF YOU DISAGREE with them. More info later on how to interact if there are in-person town halls. I have stories.

4. Yes, you can contact your Senator, but the big push for appropriations will come out of the House. This may change next year, but I doubt it.

5. “Zone“ is used to describe the most local level of party organization in some counties. In other places, like larger cities, they use “precincts”. Point is to find your local organization via Google whatever it’s called, and then show up.

6. Yeah, they still have it on their masthead, but it’s a bad situation over there.

7. I was the chair of our county’s Indivisible group from 2017 - 2021.

8. If you don’t know who Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. was, you’re missing really important history and you should learn about him. Things he did made the country better for everyone, and you may even want to read his books. A true giant.