Every one of them knew that as time went by
— Dale Carrico (@dalecarrico) December 31, 2018
They'd get a little bit older and a litter slower, but
Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All
Monday, December 31, 2018
Year's Last Tweet
ABBA New Year To You All!
2018 turned out to be a better year than 2017 was for me personally, even if the first few months were something of rough patch, to say the least, but at least this New Year's doesn't feel like these last two did...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
As 2018 ends, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your support of our campaign, our historic wave of Democratic victories & our progressive movement.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 31, 2018
As I look ahead to the new year, I am excited that we will continue to work together for progress, peace & justice.
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Sunday Walk
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The Trump administration is holding our government hostage over demands for his immoral border wall. This week, when we assume the majority in the House, Democrats will move swiftly to reopen the government and get to work on a bold, progressive agenda for the American people. pic.twitter.com/crsJXndX5n
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 30, 2018
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Please spread the word: there’s still time for Californians to sign up for health insurance at https://t.co/YmgtLnuXye! California’s open enrollment period goes through January 15. #GetCovered
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 27, 2018
Blame Disclaim
I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it. pic.twitter.com/IHI7JvePnI
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 29, 2018
Friday, December 28, 2018
Today's Random Wilde
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Visitor centers closed, trash piling up for days - our national parks are suffering because of the #TrumpShutdown. Check to see which federal programs in California are impacted here ⬇️https://t.co/Yx5KNLhXel
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 28, 2018
Thinking About Resolutions...
CLARA: No. Stop it. You’re saying goodbye. Don’t say goodbye!
DOCTOR: Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends. CLARA: Stop it! Stop this. Stop it!
DOCTOR: Never eat pears. They’re too squishy and they always make your chin wet. That one’s quite important. Write it down.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
In a span of 3 weeks, both Felipe Alonzo-Gomez and Jakelin Caal Maquin died while in CBP custody. Let’s be clear: this is a crisis created by President Trump’s zero tolerance policy. These are children — we have a responsibility to keep them safe. pic.twitter.com/hvPtv6RLaw
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 27, 2018
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We can’t let this get drowned out with the news of the shutdown. As a young mom, I relied on food stamps to help feed my two boys. This is a shameful move. https://t.co/vL3ZVICg9o
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 24, 2018
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
And What Have We Done
Monday, December 24, 2018
Hark, the Herald Fugelsang
Merry Christmas Eve, Feliz Navidad and Happy Birthday to my favorite brown-skinned Jewish radical. pic.twitter.com/TRVC7s0wH6
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) December 25, 2013
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
This video will warm your heart this Christmas Eve Eve. pic.twitter.com/h84vE4tG54
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 24, 2018
Christmas Effects by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
What’s “queer?” Here’s one train of thought about it. The depressing thing about the Christmas season -- isn’t it? -- is that it’s the time when all the institutions are speaking with one voice. The Church says what the Church says. But the State says the same thing: maybe not (in some ways it hardly matters) in the language of theology, but in the language the State talks: legal holidays, long school hiatus, special postage stamps, and all. And the language of commerce more than chimes in, as consumer purchasing is organized ever more narrowly around the final weeks of the calendar year, the Dow Jones aquiver over Americans’ “holiday mood.” The media, in turn, fall in triumphally behind the Christmas phalanx: ad-swollen magazines have oozing turkeys on the cover, while for the news industry every question turns into the Christmas question -- Will hostages be free for Christmas? What did that flash flood or mass murder (umpty-ump people killed and maimed) do to those families’ Christmas? And meanwhile, the pairing “families/Christmas” becomes increasingly tautological, as families more and more constitute themselves according to the schedule, and in the endlessly iterated image, of the holiday itself constituted in the image of "the" family.
The thing hasn’t, finally, so much to do with propaganda for Christianity as with propaganda for Christmas itself. They all -- religion, state, capital, ideology, domesticity, the discourses of power and legitimacy -- line up with each other so neatly once a year, and the monolith so created is a thing one can come to view with unhappy eyes. What if instead there were a practice of valuing the ways in which meanings and institutions can be at loose ends with each other? What if the richest junctures weren’t the ones where everything means the same thing? -- Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Tendencies, Duke University Press, 1993, pp. 5-6
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Sunday Walk
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Because of the #TrumpShutdown, millions of survivors who rely on programs funded by the Violence Against Women Act will not have the resources they need to stay safe right before the holidays. Shame on this President. https://t.co/Oi1xvt5JYF
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
This shutdown is completely on Trump. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill to keep the government open — and he rejected it. Now federal employees are paying the price of his temper tantrum during the holidays.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 22, 2018
Better uses of $5.7 billion than a wall:
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 21, 2018
✅Revitalizing our nation’s infrastructure
✅Investing in quality education for our children
✅Medicare for All
✅Address affordable housing
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. You would think they’d at least be able to keep the government open.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 21, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Justice Ginsburg has shown so much strength on and off the bench. Wishing her a speedy and complete recovery soon. #RBG
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 21, 2018
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
While I agree we must bring home our troops in Syria as soon as possible and end unauthorized forever wars, the manner in which we do it MATTERS. We can't continue to have a commander-in-tweets instead of a commander-in-chief.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 20, 2018
Vacation, Reading
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (MundiMuster!)
If we want to protect affordable health coverage for tens of millions of Americans, protections for patients with preexisting conditions, and no-cost birth control for women, we need to stay diligent and fight back. Add your name now:https://t.co/WNbKyVJP0Z
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 19, 2018
Not Wrong
Grades are a key ideological tool for laundering class domination as individual merit. https://t.co/SYJbLIBS5M
— Natalia Cecire (@ncecire) December 19, 2018
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Progress from our global partners – but the US still sits on the sidelines in the fight against #climatechange.@HouseDemocrats are ready to #ActOnClimate on the first day of the new Congress. We can’t afford to waste any more time.https://t.co/pQwtuvgcbI
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 17, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Sunday Balk
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Yesterday, a federal judge in TX did the unthinkable & sided with a group of Republicans trying to take down the Affordable Care Act through the courts, threatening health care for tens of millions of Americans. But this isn’t the end: we’re fighting back. https://t.co/4mlqnGce7I
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 15, 2018
Friday, December 14, 2018
Grades Turned In So... Xanadu!
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
It’s unbelievable that six years after 26 innocent children and educators were murdered at Sandy Hook, Congress has yet to do anything to end the gun violence epidemic. It is a public health crisis. Enough is enough. Time to pass commonsense gun safety reform.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 14, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
The Zinger
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (MundiMuster!)
We cannot let this President get away with his temper tantrum and threats to shutdown the government if he doesn’t get what he wants: a $5 billion border wall. Add your name to show Trump we will not give in to his anti-immigrant agenda:https://t.co/iARHmIKJ3I
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 13, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Clean water shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Everyone, regardless of party, should oppose the Trump Admin’s #DirtyWaterRule, which would put the drinking water for tens of millions of Americans at risk of pollution. #PeopleOverPolluters #ProtectCleanWaterhttps://t.co/mtkC065kiJ
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 12, 2018
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Grading, Grating
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (Well Deserved Congratulations Are In Order Edition)
It’s official – my colleagues have elected me as co-chair of Steering and Policy alongside @RepSwalwell and @RosaDeLauro! It’s an honor to join @HouseDemocrats leadership, and I will keep fighting to make sure every voice is heard at the leadership table.https://t.co/dHBjZEOBjC
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 11, 2018
Monday, December 10, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
It is past time to act on climate. I am proud to support the #GreenNewDeal so we can put our country back on a path towards a clean energy future while creating new jobs and averting climate disaster. Our present and future generations depend on it.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 10, 2018
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Sunday Walk
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (All The Best People Edition)
The role of UN Ambassador should be filled by an experienced diplomat, not a Fox News personality. This appointment once again shows President Trump’s disregard for the role of the UN and our leadership in the world.https://t.co/MVTWB12xRr
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 8, 2018
Kathy Kraninger has no experience in consumer protection. But she has been involved in some of the most egregious policies of the Trump Admin, including the family separations at the border & the botched response to Hurricane Maria. This is a disastrous choice to lead the @CFPB. https://t.co/haZOYbifdd
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 8, 2018
Friday, December 07, 2018
Grading Grading
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
In 2019, a record 35 diverse, talented & brilliant women will come to Congress, bringing us one step closer to a government that looks like the people it represents.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 7, 2018
I am excited & honored to serve with them all – it’s time to get to work #ForThePeople.pic.twitter.com/s4G6lg401W
Thursday, December 06, 2018
This Is Us
A young Honduran boy was separated from his father at the border.
— 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 (@RAICESTEXAS) December 5, 2018
He is our client and he told us what it feels to be locked up in a cage.
This must stop. pic.twitter.com/x7snHfwrGL
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
This is an outrageous abuse of power by Republicans in Wisconsin. It’s clear they have no interest in actually representing their constituents, just their own self-interests. https://t.co/s5Tt0QYb45
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 6, 2018
Wednesday, December 05, 2018
...Le Deluge
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
In 2019, SCOTUS could take up multiple cases dealing with LGTBQ rights – and with Trump’s conservative picks, it could be dire for LGBTQ equality. Whatever happens, we’ll fight back.https://t.co/6weS7HLo07
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 4, 2018
Tuesday, December 04, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Studies confirm what we know to be true: while no one is immune from the ravages of climate change, hard-working families and minority communities are burdened with more environmental hazards than wealthy neighborhoods. We must take action to combat climate change. Not later—now.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 4, 2018
Monday, December 03, 2018
Last Day First
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Trump slashed funding for open enrollment assistance, and it shows: health care enrollments have dropped by more than 20% in multiple states this year. Spread the word: you have until Jan. 15 to enroll in CA.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 2, 2018
Find a plan that works for you at https://t.co/I0jd78xlNs!
Sunday, December 02, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For (Us All) Daily -- Congratulations Edition
I am honored to serve with the House Democratic leadership team and look forward to working with all my colleagues on the Steering and Policy Committee.https://t.co/khp1O1Kvfi
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) December 2, 2018
Saturday, December 01, 2018
Calm Before The Storm
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
On #WorldAIDSDay, we remember those we have lost to HIV/AIDS and honor their memory by recommitting to this fight. To help #EndAIDS, please get tested and #KnowYourStatus. pic.twitter.com/VYs0R4Ck6R
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) December 1, 2018
And, a reminder:
George H.W. Bush has died & it is World AIDS Day. Here's a pic of ACT UP protesting outside his vacation home in Kennebunkport, which many thought was appallingly "uncivil" then. I'm sure some still do. #dontgetoffthelawn pic.twitter.com/BNpy0HSKhI
— Richard Kim (@RichardKimNYC) December 1, 2018
Friday, November 30, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
It’s past time to end the U.S. complicity in the barbaric war in Yemen. Congress must stop abdicating our responsibilities and send a powerful message to the world. https://t.co/pQWwcgiR8A
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
A Green New Deal
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (A Day And A Vote Short Edition)
Thank you, Harvey. You showed the world that hope will never be silent.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 27, 2018
Today, your legacy lives on in an unstoppable movement. #RememberHarveyhttps://t.co/cPHVt8QgnV
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The tear-gassing of women and children at the border is an atrocity. It’s a violation of human rights. And it is a grotesque betrayal of our founding promise, as a nation built by immigrants.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 26, 2018
I’ve called for @UN inspectors on the border, and I reiterate that call today. https://t.co/k5mXSs0oFU
Monday, November 26, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The Trump Admin doesn’t want you to read this. At every turn, they have prioritized polluters over people.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 23, 2018
But here’s the truth: Climate change is real. It’s impacting the US. And we are running out of time to stop it. Congress must put #PeopleOverPolluters before it’s too late. https://t.co/Q4lYJYwgSB
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Where We Are
We're tear gassing toddlers now, so a criminal conspiracy masquerading as a political party can keep old white people in a constant state of panic. https://t.co/wVBBOJ6u6n
— David Roberts (@drvox) November 25, 2018
Sunday Walk And What Comes After...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily... Let's Speak Up For Her For Caucus Chair
Thank you @IndivisibleTeam for your kind words supporting my bid for House Democratic Caucus Chair: “This is a huge moment for our country, and her fearlessness and vision could make it the moment when we turn toward a better world.”
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 25, 2018
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Holding Out Hope But Not Holding My Breath...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
There’s a lot on our to-do list in Congress. Whether it’s restoring voting rights, making health care more affordable, raising the minimum wage, or passing immigration reform — we won’t stop fighting for a better future for all.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 24, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
So, A Day Off
Thursday, November 22, 2018
"A Thanksgiving Prayer"
Every Year I Do These Things...
Beyond the thanks, think:
— Dale Carrico (@dalecarrico) November 22, 2018
Beyond the feast, famine.
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Thanksgiving Day
This Thanksgiving, I’m reflecting on this past year. From all of your support — to the people across the country who helped make history on Election Day — there is so much to be thankful for.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 22, 2018
Wishing you and your family have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Relief is on its way. Until then, please be sure to wear a N95 mask when going outdoors. https://t.co/HPqywEoODh
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 20, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Teaching Day
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Let’s be clear: voter suppression and disenfranchisement is an attack on our democratic principles that cannot go unanswered. I am proud that the first thing on @HouseDemocrats agenda will be protecting and strengthening voting rights. #ForThePeoplehttps://t.co/eXwu2bHPaQ
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 20, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Cancelled
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We have a lot on our plate when the new Congress convenes. I can’t wait. pic.twitter.com/1iGtPZ1F4S
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 19, 2018
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sunday
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Instead of standing up for sexual assault survivors, Secretary DeVos wants to put traumatized students on trial. Students deserve so much better than Betsy DeVos. #HandsOffIXhttps://t.co/uNNLhV2Rv8
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 16, 2018
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Want to hear what Republicans’ first big legislative move was since the midterm elections? They blocked the War Powers Resolution in order to keep the United States involved in the Yemen civil war. It’s appalling.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 17, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
.@UNICEF is right: the war in Yemen has become a war on children. #YemenCantWait, and neither can these kids. Congress MUST put an end to US complicity in this horrific war. https://t.co/YKNrYxe9M0
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 15, 2018
Mundi Muster! Extinguish the Slavery of Incarcerated Firefighters in California
Wildfires are raging across northern and southern California, and have killed at least 44 people since the most recent wildfires started. Over the past year, the fires have caused over $1 billion in damage to property and nearly 7,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed. These wildfires have also had a big impact on California's incarcerated population who have risked their lives fighting wildfires-- two inmates have already been killed this year in the line of duty.And the incarcerated workers fighting these fires are making as little as $1/hour.
Incarcerated firefighters, not protected under any work safety regulations, often return from fighting fires with broken ankles, arms, burns, and suffering from extreme exhaustion. Fighting fires is backbreaking labor and in the state of California, many people who are doing this work have been forced. The common refrain from proponents of the program is that it is completely voluntary--but inmates often face disciplinary action if they refuse to participate. To make matters worse, many of the prisoners doing this work are women, most of whom are mothers, and children. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) boasted in July that over 2,000 incarcerated adults and 58 incarcerated youth were fighting fires. Mothers and children often choose to take on this dangerous work because they are told that it could accelerate their release date and get them back with their families by earning “good behavior, ” but it usually results in just a mere two days off a sentence. On top of all of this, incarcerated firefighters can't even get jobs as firefighters once they are released from prison--because they have felony records.
The CalFire program is not a mutually beneficial exchange, it's a ruthless exploitation of forced, deadly, and essentially unpaid labor. That's why we're calling on the CDCR to end the practice of employing children to fight fires, ensure that incarcerated firefighters receive the same wage as firefighters who aren't incarcerated and that a pathway is created for them to have a real job on the outside.
This is the message we'll send to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Governor Jerry Brown: Here is the Petition:We're calling on you to end the practice of employing children to fight fires, ensure that incarcerated workers in the CalFire firefighter program receive the same wage as firefighters who aren't incarcerated, and that a pathway is created for prisoners working as firefighters while in prison to be able to to do the same job once they are free.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Please take precautions when heading outside. #CaliforniaWildfireshttps://t.co/NSbP9UYE1E
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 15, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Today's Random Wilde
Barbara Lee Speaks for Me Daily
While Republicans have prioritized tax cuts for the rich and trying to repeal health care for hardworking American families, we’re going to work to reinvigorate the Voting Rights Act and end Congressional gerrymandering.https://t.co/g6byUYdbLG
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 14, 2018
And while we're on the subject of Barbara Lee, I ferociously endorse this sentiment as well:
Frankly unless the people suggesting Pelosi step down are advocating someone like Barbara Lee to take her place, I'm uninterested. I'm not going to be giving rhetorical cover to DLC type white men who want to oust her & replace her with a Blue Dog. No thanks.
— #Prisonculture (@prisonculture) November 14, 2018
Mundi Muster! Demand House Democrats Investigate Voter Suppression
I'm telling House Democrats to investigate voter suppression and save Black political power! I'm joining Color Of Change to demand Democrats use their new majority in the House of Representatives to open investigations into voter suppression. This year we saw widespread suppression of voters in Black communities and other communities of color, and it's time we fight back! Color of Change Petition
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Mundi Muster! Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
While it’s great news that courts have once again ruled Trump’s DACA termination was unlawful, it’s past time for Congress to pass permanent protections for Dreamers. Add your name if you agree:https://t.co/xNwIc4wEZh
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 12, 2018
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Imagine what our country would look like if gerrymandering and voter suppression weren’t so rampant in communities of color. We must restore the Voting Rights Act.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 11, 2018
https://t.co/NEeIZTJ7mY
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Good Question for Governor-Elect Newsom:
Has the newly elected California Governor @GavinNewsom said whether he’ll act to make sure incarcerated firefighters are paid a fair wage and able to be firefighters post-release for risking their lives to save Californians from this fire?
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) November 10, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
"My son was in Las Vegas with one of his friends and he came home. He didn't come home last night. And I don't want prayers, I don't want thoughts, I want gun control.”
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 10, 2018
Thoughts and prayers don’t save lives — action does. pic.twitter.com/cFITLrWnrN
Friday, November 09, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Birth control is health care. Period. We cannot and will not let the extremists in the Trump administration roll back the clock on our reproductive health care. Congress must #Fight4BirthControl.https://t.co/rCxamBfgo7
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 8, 2018
Yes We Cannabis
The movement to legalize marijuana had a lot riding on Tueday, & it scored a number of important victories. Voters legalized marijuana while electing DAs who favor curbing prosecutions & governors who favor legal pot. New on @TheAppeal Political Report:https://t.co/7U4i8GmyAn
— Taniel (@Taniel) November 9, 2018
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Ned to Beto...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Let’s be clear: this is a blatant attempt to undermine the Mueller investigation. In January, we will have a new Democratic majority in the House that can be trusted to put our country & our democracy first. Pres Trump is going to learn that NO ONE is above the law, not even him. https://t.co/F2w376akyw
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 7, 2018
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
MundiMuster! Sign SPLC's Petition
Last night, Americans shifted the balance of power in the House of Representatives, creating a Democratic majority. The new Congress now holds the responsibility to take a stand for civil and human rights. Here are four immediate steps Congress must take to put America back on the right track. Add your name in support.
1. Reauthorize and Strengthen the Voting Rights Act. Congress must enact a new Voting Rights Act to ensure fair elections and unfettered access to the ballot for everyone.
2. Investigate America’s resurgent white supremacist movement. President Trump’s role in electrifying the white supremacist movement cannot be ignored. Congress must hold hearings to investigate the rise in hate and extremism in this country and on possible solutions.
3. Stop the Trump deportation machine. The Trump administration is operating an inhumane deportation machine that rips families apart, terrorizes communities, and flouts due process and American values. Congress must hold the administration accountable for its abuses and enact sensible reforms to our broken immigration system.
4. Stop the Census from being rigged. By including a question about citizenship, the Trump administration wants to use the decennial Census as a weapon of intimidation against immigrants, one that would distort the results. Congress must take steps to stop this scheme.
Hot Take-O-Matic Redux
This yields the impression -- and I think this squares with the feelings many are experiencing this morning -- of a divided result, almost a wash, and hence a disappointment. That the highest-profile contests, Abrams, Gillum, and O'Rourke seem to have gone the Republicans' way may buttress that sense of disappointment especially here and now, as the results remain raw, and the criminality in Georgia (and elsewhere) and the megaphoned racism in Florida and Georgia (and elsewhere) are especially demoralizing and enraging. The brutal Senate result this cycle (which I have been worrying about since well before 2016) is enormously consequential since Trump will use it to continue his ongoing reactionary dismantlement of the courts on which we will depend so much in the next years to implement voting reforms and maintain tattered but vital environmental and healthcare regulations and supports. But Democrats won the House, the repudiation was geographically widespread in ways that suggest the 2016 Presidential result did not portend the loss of a nationally viable electoral coalition even as it also confirmed (to those who needed such confirmation) that the white supremacy that has shaped the entire history of this nation continues to do so in ways that always undermine and now imperil our notionally and yet aspirationally democratic tendency. Democrats now can put a check on the worst impulses of Trump-era Republicans, and will also provide a foil for Trump to demagogue in his run for re-election -- which he would have done anyway, but don't doubt for a second he can win re-election in this racist country with such methods. Like W, Trump's election was something of a fluke, but his re-election would not be. Notice that even in the terms of the hot take-o-matic, Democratic House gains are actually on the cusp between a good result and a wave, suggesting the better night for Democrats than Republicans this mid-term actually represented. A lot of truly vile figures went down and others felt vulnerable as they have not before. Medicaid expansion, felon re-enfranchisement, medical and recreational cannabis legalization, protections for queers, minimum wage increases, progressive voter reforms won across many states, making life a bit better for many here and now and setting virtuous forces loose to redress anti-democratic gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement schemes. Because Democrats won, government is coming to better reflect the diverse reality of our lived nation, with historic victories for women, black folks, queers, native Americans, young people and others. This night was not a mixed result, but an overall victory amidst real defeats. We can fight on from here, when with a worse result we might not have done. Too many of those who seem utterly demoralized must have formed unrealistic expectations about the structural disadvantages the Resistance overcame to win last night, and too many seem to me to underestimate just how entrenched white supremacy is -- perhaps it is a good thing that the result was mixed enough and ugly enough that privileged straight white "progressives" couldn't just retreat back into their comfortable shells and idiotic "post-racial" America and "lean in" white feminist stasis narratives. Here's hoping the stealth-reactionary tech-fetishization that has so long undermined left discourse is truly on the wane in the aftermath of facebook and google and amazon shenanigans. Here's hoping fewer people will fall for berniebrocialist purity-cabaret next time around (and that people of genuine socialist conviction will organize with environmentalist BDS work and prison abolition work and gun regulation work and union organizing work and on-the-ground disability activism and real support for undocumented folks and asylum seekers rather than pretend sniping at voting on social media is some kind of revolutionary activity), and people of and adjacent to the Resistance will vote and do more than vote through the next couple of years and the next few hundred crises soon to come. Trump is already behaving like he is fully aware that he is in a fight for his life... and the democratizing, diversifying, secularizing, planetizing majority must understand that we are in a fight for our lives too. We are all we have. I, for one, am much more encouraged than not and feel ready to rumble.OK, here was my pre-election "Narrative Calculator," and where things look like they're heading:https://t.co/ecGqhPjeg1 pic.twitter.com/AGIbCxnBzt— Micah Cohen (@micahcohen) November 7, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
A big THANK YOU to CA-13 for re-electing me to another term! I look forward to serving you and fighting back against Trump’s fear-mongering agenda. pic.twitter.com/3RA9rwTYo4
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Tonight we accomplished a remarkable feat — we took back the House from Republican control. This is your victory. pic.twitter.com/Q2kACvakYW
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Across the country, we elected fearless women who aren’t afraid to speak up and speak out in pursuit of equality. I look forward to having so many new, diverse, and inspiring colleagues working by my side. https://t.co/O0GcyjCpAf
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
Take Octavia Butler into the Voting Booth
“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Did my part to help make our future a little brighter for the next generation. Have you voted yet? Get to the polls by 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/hv5ZJ9zH2o
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 6, 2018
Monday, November 05, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
With enough people power, I know that Democrats across the country can bring the blue wave and take back the House this Tuesday. But we need every single one of you to vote.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 5, 2018
Long Teaching Day
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The blue wave is coming 🌊https://t.co/ztLDnl0jT6
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 4, 2018
Saturday, November 03, 2018
Captain, My Captain!
She gave me my very own communicator 😭🖖🏽✨ https://t.co/IdSXZhohcR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 3, 2018
Still Grading
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We’re just three days away from the most important midterm elections in our lifetime, but there’s still time for you to make a difference before voters head to the polls. Go knock on doors this weekend. Join a phone bank. Talk to friends and family about what’s at stake.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 3, 2018
Friday, November 02, 2018
Grading
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Another day, another lie. But here’s the truth:
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 31, 2018
Democrats are fighting #ForThePeople – for affordable health care, protections for pre-existing conditions, Medicare, and Medicaid. Republicans are trying to steal from these programs to pay for their #TaxScam. That’s it. https://t.co/yfda3D8XVN
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
White supremacy and hate have no place in our country, and especially not in our government.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 31, 2018
Make your voice heard next week -- #vote. The future of our democracy depends on it.https://t.co/ldocK9JYyG
Democrats As The Party of Freedom
With the current political system in turmoil, we face a generational opportunity to redefine liberalism and the Democratic Party. Over the last decade, once-fringe arguments about how we organize our economy and society, and on whose behalf, have moved into the mainstream. Today, vocal and powerful progressive constituencies are pushing the spectrum of these debates well beyond the status quo...
With Trump’s ascendance to the head of their party, Republicans moved towards the past, the jingoistic, and the nativist. But liberals need to move left not only to match the Right. They need to move because the ideological assumptions controlling liberalism over the past decade have collapsed, as we’ll outline in this essay, leaving people searching for new alternatives, which we’ll also describe. Progressives now have an opportunity to propose not just a new set of policies, but a new set of values... [W]e believe there is a clear organizing principle that provides a path forward: freedom. And history provides a guide.
From abolition to the fight against segregation and Jim Crow, from women’s suffrage to the fight for women’s liberation, from the establishment of the minimum wage to the push for democracy in the workplace and greater protection from economic insecurity, a vibrant and critical element of progressive movements has always been freedom. Throughout our nation’s history, we have fought both ideological and actual battles over the definition of freedom, how it is achieved, and for whom it is offered. These have gone hand-in-hand with fights over how we structure our economy and who it serves.
We can take this moment to expand the idea of what what it means to be truly free. Progressives can reclaim a long history of American political thought that ties economic power to political and personal freedom. We can demonstrate that progressive economic policy is essential to creating the conditions in which individuals can have agency and power over their lives.
To accomplish this, liberals need to embrace three key ideas and goals:
Guarantee the public provisioning of truly universal goods.
Ensure a level and quality of jobs that provide autonomy and dignity.
Curb corporate power.
These three commitments, we believe, are essential to structuring an economy in which Americans across gender, geography, race and class can thrive. Our vision is rooted in the idea that our economy should indeed entitle individuals to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It harkens back to an older version of the Democratic Party, lead by such presidents as Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, that recognized that the government can be used as a tool that secures this freedom.
This essay is not meant to give the specific agenda, full of bullet points and specific budgetary projections. It instead sets boundaries and provides a compass.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Rachel Maddow Has A Word For Our Fellow Californians
If you or anyone you know lives in California, you need to know about this election that maybe more than any other state in the country it is the votes of Californians that may decide, in a very big way, the political direction of this country for the next two years. pic.twitter.com/5etXemOju3
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) October 31, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We need more women (especially women of color!) in Congress— women who aren’t afraid to take a stand, who fight for justice, who won’t back down. For more, listen to my interview on @NPRATC ⬇️https://t.co/tiVNwPHJ8E
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 31, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Hot Take-O-Matic for Next Week
So, I wanted to set up "narrative guidelines" beforehand. Here's what I came up with (this is from Dem's POV); please suggest edits. pic.twitter.com/EaZTRUU1sO
— Micah Cohen (@micahcohen) October 30, 2018
If the title seems entirely snarky, the truth is I will indeed use this, or something much like it, as a horizon within the terms of which to initially assess the result.
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The 14th Amendment is clear, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) October 30, 2018
Another shameful attempt to spread anti-immigrant hatred before Election Day. https://t.co/c8iTcdrhLq
Monday, October 29, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
When you’re in the voting booth, don’t forget that Republicans celebrated at the White House after casting their votes to strip health care and pre-existing condition protections away from millions. Time to elect people who will work to protect and strengthen our health care. https://t.co/9W73iYIdDo
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) October 29, 2018
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Sunday Walk
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The strength of our party and our country lies in our diversity. Let’s do everything we can to elect inspiring women of color into office this November and keep moving forward toward equal representation in our government.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) October 28, 2018
Quite So
The citizen in me hates what America has become under Trump. The historian in me knows that this is what America always has been.
— David Silkenat (@davidsilkenat) October 27, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Voting Rights Are on the Ballot in Thirteen States
Amendment 4 is the most important voting-rights referenda this fall—but there are so many more that would usher in big change. https://t.co/58Jw4EpSti pic.twitter.com/E64m6mPk62
— Taniel (@Taniel) October 27, 2018
Your Lips, Goddess' Ears
November 6, 2018 could be the final blow to the Republicans’ long war on health care and a devastating message to those nationalists who believe they are taking our country.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) October 27, 2018
Hope springs eternal.
Midterms Are A Referendum on Trump
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
As Frederick Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without demand." This November 6th, DEMAND that your voice is heard. Vote.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) October 27, 2018
"The Stakes Are Dire"
What we're seeing with Trump's GOP is white supremacy and white supremacy is the furthest thing from a "fluke": it defines American history as much as any other single factor and more than most. But, yeah, girl, I kinda sorta see what you mean and we're all there, feeling the stress strobing like a pulse as the days to the election grow short. HRC should have won and nearly did and won a sizable majority of the vote, and some of the worst excesses, the Court shenanigans and immigration crimes and abandonment of international agreements would not have taken place under HRC, tho' to be honest I'm not sure Republicans majorities would not have tried to impeach Clinton by now for who knows what kind of trumped up nonsense yielding something close to the same shit-show we now face soon enough. It's all true, though, what he says. If Dems don't regain the House and enough governnor's mansions to put a check on the latest white supremacist formation of the GOP (not to mention its cruelty, sexism, homophobia, climate-change denialism, macroeconomic illiteracy, belligerence, gun-nuttery, stubborn stupid parochial death-dealing greedhead anti-intellectualism) Trump will treat it as an endorsement, a mandate, an excuse to unleash his worst authoritarian impulses. The world will rightly abandon America as an unreliable partner and fascism's spread will accelerate under the amplifying pressures of climate change beyond help or hope. It remains to be seen what a best-case outcome and its break on this runaway anti-democratizing Trump train can accomplish even if we win... Trump will likely be brazen, Dems will likely be overcautious, the left base is prone to demoralization after an exhausting couple of years of rage and fear, and the stakes in two years will either be higher than they are even now... or by then the election won't quite matter at all and people will be wondering if it's years too late to make an escape plan. In the longer term, demographics suggest revolutionary possibilities, and the realities of climate catastrophe demand revolutionary adaptations. But it feels like this election tells me whether or not I get to live to see those changes or must live through and probably die in a pointless torment of fascist violence and social upheaval first instead as the clock winds down and the Greenhouse storms arise in earnest.I have mentioned several times in recent days my anxiety about the election less than two weeks from now, one that is caused less by my sense of the likely outcome than the gravity of the stakes involved.... 2016 can be seen as a fluke. A series of perfect storm factors coming together to make Donald Trump President with a minority of the popular vote and razor thin margins in three critical states. 2018, if it’s a winning election for the Republicans, will be a choice. A ratification of everything we’ve seen over the last two years. That will be a reality we’ll all have to contend with for what it says about the state of the country. It will send a signal abroad that this is now the American political reality and unquestionably accelerate all the geo-political processes Trump has spurred or which drove him to the White House in the first place. Domestically the impact will be worse. The political message will be simple: you can do all this stuff and suffer no political consequences. It goes without saying that the climate of violent incitement against the press will accelerate. The President’s ability and willingness to protect himself and his loyalists from the law will grow and be treated as normal. It is difficult to imagine he won’t find a way to end the Mueller probe. At the end of the day, the only real restraint on officeholders isn’t norms or even laws. It’s elections.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Our #EastBay community is bearing the brunt of this housing crisis. This report is a wakeup call - we must work urgently to make sure that all members of our community can live with dignity. https://t.co/Cu1EcUq6xI
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 25, 2018
One Book Leads To Another...
The Phony "Caravan Crisis" Is Trump's (Latest) Reichstag Fire
President Trump is now in the process of revealing to the country that his agenda on the signature issue that he believes got him elected is a complete and abject failure. This was inevitable, because — and this is also being unmasked for all to see right now — that agenda rests on a foundation of lies. We are now learning that Trump, who is in rage over the Central American migrants straggling their way through Mexico, may declare a national security emergency in order to completely close down the southern border to Central American asylum seekers. It is perfectly legal for people to present themselves at the border and seek asylum. [emphasis added. --d] But according to The Post, the White House is considering an “executive order” that “would suspend that provision and bar Central Americans as a matter of national security” ... The idea that the migrant “caravan” represents an emergency for the U.S. is absurd. Estimates from Mexican authorities indicate that the caravan, which remains over 900 miles away, has already dramatically dwindled in size, and is now mostly made up of destitute families who are traveling with children and living off of food supplied by people along the way. Indeed, the very fact that Trump has had to lie relentlessly about the caravan’s makeup — he has claimed it is infiltrated by criminals and terrorists, which is utterly false — itself neatly illustrates that it does not present the emergency he and Republicans have hyped into existence. The backdrop to this is an even bigger lie — Trump’s constant suggestion that the border is overrun by undocumented immigrant invaders. In fact, illegal crossings are substantially lower than the levels in recent years. To turn this fake emergency into fodder for a closing campaign message, Trump and Republicans have layered additional lies on top of all those other ones: Democrats orchestrated the caravan; Democrats want to give undocumented immigrants cars and support open borders; and so on.... This is Trump’s Reichstag fire. Not in the sense that Trump is Hitler, but rather in the more general way this term is sometimes used: Trump is perverting imagery of a real event to create a false narrative about what is happening and why; to justify his chosen response to it; and to manipulate public opinion toward other ends...