Trial Ballon for a Coup

[lynnenne]

I think someone might have linked to this article already, so, apologies if this is a double-posting. But it's an excellent (and scary) analysis.

Trial Balloon for a Coup - analysis of the weekend's events

A couple of other good reads:

How to Build an Autocracy - The Atlantic

Throw Sand in the Gears of Everything - The Nation

1/30/17 link roundup

[snickfic]

Yes, I know it's the 31st, but these are yesterday's links.

Activism / resources
* A Nervous Wreck’s Disabled Guide to Stepping Up (Medium)

* bill that would prevent any discriminatory registration, based on religion or national origin in MA (ACLU via Twitter). MA folks, call your reps!

* I'm not saying you should call this number to tell White House staff what you think. I'm also not saying you shouldn't. (Twitter). Supposedly the number listed is the White House switchboard.

* "A cool-ass Mennonite pastor in my town went to one of Pat Toomey's offices today. Great insight here on EFFECTIVE protest. Widely applicable". This is the ffa transcript; the original image post on Twitter is here.

Good News
* Starbucks pledges to hire thousands of refugees in response to Trump ban (The Hill)

* Fear of authoritarianism pervades Koch network seminar, as billionaire donors grapple with Trump (WaPo). To my thinking, if very rich Republicans are scared of Trump for some of the same reasons we are, that is a Very Good Sign, because those are the guys who help the Republicans in Congress get re-elected, and they will be putting pressure on them that we can only dream of. And they're also concerned by a huge backlash against Republicans, which is just bonus.

Bad News
* a thread on how much evil ordinary citizens have already done under this regime in last seven days (Twitter)

Analysis
* A matched set: Trial Balloon for a Coup? (Medium) and a critique of it, Weak and Incompetent Leaders act like Strong Leaders (professor at Cornell)

* Why the Women’s March may be the start of a serious social movement (WaPo). The latest in a WaPo series analyzing the Women's Marches through the lens of social science. Earlier pieces linked at the top of this one.

* In Venezuela, we couldn’t stop Chávez. Don’t make the same mistakes we did. (WaPo)

Congressional Tracker

[executrix]

How do you know how your Senators and Congress reps vote on the Trump agenda?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/?ex_cid=story-facebook

Indivisible Guide Emergency Call on Muslim Ban

[executrix]

Archive of the livestream from Monday night:

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/stand-against-the-muslim-and-refugee-ban

Confirmation Hearings - Secretary of Veterans Affairs: David J. Shulkin

[tanaqui]

Pending Nomination of David J. Shulkin, M.D., Nominee to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs

When: Wednesday 01 February 2017 from 2.30pm

( Committee Members and what the committee should be concerned about )

Suggested action: Amazingly enough, this is apparently a GOOD pick! Whether Shulkin will be able to stand up to Trump and reject his agenda -- and whether he'll be able to keep his job if he does, given the events of the past week -- is another matter. However, it looks like this is one nomination where there's no need to call your representatives.

Housekeeping note: This is the only confirmation hearing so far scheduled for this week, but there are several votes taking place in committee today and tomorrow, which will then move to votes in the full Senate.

NOW-NYC Trump Week #2 Newsletter

[executrix]

Focused on NY but with important information with national implications.

Trump Week #2

Each week, we'll be sending you an update of major actions taken by the Trump administration and at least one weekly action that you can take NOW.

In the past week, Trump and his administration have:

Proposed eliminating 25 Violence Against Women grants. This means cutting programs that prevent campus sexual assault, enforce laws keeping guns away from domestic violence abusers, and investigate gender bias in policing.

Supported the "March for Life" in Washington D.C. last Saturday, with V.P. Pence becoming the first V.P. to address the crowd in-person. Pence promised to work with Congress on the anti-abortion bill, H.R.7 and declared "life is winning."

Signed an executive order suspending immigration from 7 Muslim-majority countries for at least 90 days, and banned all refugee re-settlement for at least 120 days. The ban created chaos at airports as people were detained and left families in limbo.



Take Action NOW to Stop Sessions and DeVos

Today, Senate panels will vote on Jeff Sessions as nominee for Attorney General and Betsy DeVos as nominee for Secretary of Education. The Sessions vote has just been delayed, but DeVos cleared her committee vote. These nominations are still on track to go to the full Senate for confirmation.


Jeff Sessions was blocked for his lifetime appointment as a federal judge because of his record of racist comments. He has voted for a 20-week abortion ban and against funding Planned Parenthood, contraception, fair pay, and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).



Betsy DeVos has absolutely no experience with public education. She has shown to have 102 financial conflicts of interest in part due to her involvement with student loan debt collection agencies. DeVos has already demonstrated her lack of knowledge of crucial education programs, like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title IX, and basic security measures, like banning guns in schools.

Call your U.S. Senators:

Senator Charles Schumer: 212-486-4430

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: 212-688-6262


Here's what you can say:

"Hello my name is , and I'm a constituent. I support your opposition to the Cabinet nominations of Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos. Both nominees have shown that they will not responsibly serve the American people or their departments. Please consider the millions of individuals that will be negatively impacted by these nominations. Thank you.

1/31/17 link roundup (take 2)

[snickfic]

Activism / Resources
* Anonymous Group Reveals Direct Phone Numbers For White House Staff (Gothamist)

* March. Organize. Win. It's Much More Than One Women’s March (Glamour). Glamour saw what Teen Vogue was doing and decided to get in on the action, I guess. (I'm being snarky here, I have no idea how politically conscious Glamour generally is.)

* Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump (538)

* Spreadsheet: List of known town halls for all members of Congress

Good News
* Two GOP senators still undecided on final DeVos vote (The Hill)

* Diplomats defy White House warning, criticize travel ban (AP). To me the really striking bit is at the end, where it talks about diplomats trying to rush visas for people from countries they thought would be affected.

* Believe it or not, #TheResistance is working. These are not small things. [LIST] (Twitter). I had no idea about some of these. (Please note, I have not verified.)

* White House says it won’t roll back LGBTQ protections (Seattle Times). I'm deeply suspicious, but I won't complain, I guess.

* How Chuck Schumer Found His Spine (Slate)

* This is from an American friend of mine working with the UN in Iraq. (Twitter). An anecdote that made me a bit wibbly, in a good way.

* Southern Baptist Convention sends letter condemning Muslim ban (WaPo)