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Action: Be Kind to Your Democratic Congresscritters (and Their Staffers!)
This article on HuffPo about the harassment that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar are receiving gave me an action idea, specifically for those who have Democratic or otherwise-friendly Congresscritters--- especially if any of you are represented by AOC or one of the other new, high-profile Democratic Reps and Senators, especially if they're not of the "straight White dude" persuasion.
Namely, that if you're calling your Congresscritter, that's a minute or so of voicemail or conversation that they and their staff are NOT getting harassing messages from non-constituents, even if you don't have anything to say beyond, "Keep up the good work!". Go ahead and fill up their inboxes and ears with messages of support even if they're general. Again, that's like half a minute that they're not hearing verbal abuse from non-constituents. (Something I've heard going around occasionally is that if you have a Congressperson you agree with there's no point in calling them; this article suggests that at least for some of the Congresspeople, just letting them know you support them is not only good information but gives them a break from what sounds like some pretty awful harassment.)
(Seriously, the first thing I thought reading that was, "Wow, given the kind of vitriol we all know that 'anonymous' men are happy to spew at women--- Gamergate, anyone?--- I'll bet some of those staffers are getting burned out or worse, especially with the staffs of new Congresspeople who are also new to politics in general.")
If you need a more precise talking point, H.R. 1, "For the People", which is the campaign-finance and ethics resolution, and H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act, are probably two good ones to support at the moment. (Sample script: "Hi, I'm a constituent of [Congressperson]; my name is [your name], and I'm so glad to be represented by [Congressperson]. Please let them know I support [bill of your choice]!")
Namely, that if you're calling your Congresscritter, that's a minute or so of voicemail or conversation that they and their staff are NOT getting harassing messages from non-constituents, even if you don't have anything to say beyond, "Keep up the good work!". Go ahead and fill up their inboxes and ears with messages of support even if they're general. Again, that's like half a minute that they're not hearing verbal abuse from non-constituents. (Something I've heard going around occasionally is that if you have a Congressperson you agree with there's no point in calling them; this article suggests that at least for some of the Congresspeople, just letting them know you support them is not only good information but gives them a break from what sounds like some pretty awful harassment.)
(Seriously, the first thing I thought reading that was, "Wow, given the kind of vitriol we all know that 'anonymous' men are happy to spew at women--- Gamergate, anyone?--- I'll bet some of those staffers are getting burned out or worse, especially with the staffs of new Congresspeople who are also new to politics in general.")
If you need a more precise talking point, H.R. 1, "For the People", which is the campaign-finance and ethics resolution, and H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act, are probably two good ones to support at the moment. (Sample script: "Hi, I'm a constituent of [Congressperson]; my name is [your name], and I'm so glad to be represented by [Congressperson]. Please let them know I support [bill of your choice]!")