Sunday, July 16th

Small Victories

(Adapted from the [email protected] newsletter)

We were floored by this story about 80 people who formed a human chain to rescue a drowning family, and we immediately thought of Rebecca Solnit’s essay comparing the conservative ideology of isolation to the reality of our communion with each other and the world:

“The modern right may wish that every man were an island, entire of himself, but no one is wholly independent. You can’t survive without taking air into your lungs, you didn’t give birth to or raise yourself, you won’t bury yourself, and in between you won’t produce most of the goods and services you depend on to live. Your gut is full of microorganisms, without which you could not digest all the plants and animals, likely grown by other people, on which you rely to survive. We are nodes on intricate systems, synapses snapping on a great collective brain; we are in it together, for better or worse.”

(Adapted from Jen Hofmann's Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience)

Acts of Gratitude

Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.

• Thank Sen. Lindsey Graham for speaking out about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with the Russians.  Suggested text: "Your tenacious grilling of FBI director nominee Christopher Wray revealed that election interference should be reported to the FBI. Thanks." [Include your state and party.]
  
  Address:290 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510

• Thank Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) for her ingenious way of highlighting discrimination. Her proposal requires citizens claiming more than $150,000 in tax deductions to pass a drug test.  You could write: "I appreciate your advocacy for equality for the poorest Americans."
  
  Address: 2252 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
  
  
• Thank Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor, for getting one right by posting the EPA’s deleted climate science data and forcing the current administration to face climate facts. You can start by saying: "I appreciate your leadership."
  
  Address: City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602

• Thank Brigitte Macron. You can tell Madame Macron (in French or English): "Mme. Macron, Je suis desolé que notre président soit brut et dégoûtant. Je n'ai pas voté pour lui. Merci pour votre hospitalité et grâce." (I am sorry our president is rude and gross. I didn’t vote for him. Thank you for your hospitality and grace.)
  
  Address: 55, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, France
  International mail requires $1.15 in stamps.