Friday, January 22, 2021
Monday, January 18, 2021
Choosing Democracy: Martin Luther King, Economic Justice, Workers’ Rig...
Choosing Democracy: Martin Luther King, Economic Justice, Workers’ Rig...: by Thomas Jackson In 1968, a united black community in Memphis stepped forward to support 1,300 municipal sanitation workers as they demande...
Friday, January 15, 2021
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Presentation: Sacramento Poor People's Campaign
Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival Statement on the Events of January 6, 2021
Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign Honors Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day
Join Us!!!
The Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign, on Friday, January 15, will announce its stance against the mob emboldened by hate, lies, and racism that laid siege to the US Capitol, and other state capitols across the country, in an attempt to subvert our democracy. This attack was carried out at the behest of President Trump and his enablers using a divisive political strategy that is as old as the deconstructionists of the 1870s and the Southern Strategy of the 1960s. We know that the only antidote to this poison is a moral fusion coalition committed to reconstructing democracy.
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Friday, January 15, at 10:30AM in front of the California State Library (914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814, members of the Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign will read the statement issued by Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on the Events of January 6, 2021 by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
Date/Location/Time: January 15, 2021 / California State Library, 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814 / at 10:30AM. Masks and social distancing required.
RSVP Info for Virtual Community Discussion: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sacramento-poor-peoples-campaign-honors-dr-martin-luther-kings-day-tickets-136332617529.
- Please read the Statement from the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on the Events of January 6th at: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/january-6th-statement/
- 14 Policy Priorities to Heal the Nation for the #First100Days of the Biden-Harris administration & the 117th Congress. Learn more & add your name: bit.ly/PPCFirst100Days.
For more info and questions please contact: SacPPC2019@gmail.com
Thank you!!
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Friday, January 8, 2021
PPC Campaign Responds to Coup
Los Angeles PPC Regional Newsletter
We’re still reeling from what we all saw in the nation’s capital, but we know it didn’t take place in a vacuum. Here, we share a few words from Reverend Barber on Wednesday’s antecedents. You’ll also find an inside look at our fight against local “Let Us Worship” events and a recap of our GOTV efforts in Georgia. Read on, and don’t miss our regional meeting this Sunday.
photo by Vasilis Asvestas
BREAKING
“We've seen this kind of mob mentality.”
Wednesday evening, Reverend Barber posted a brief reflection on the events in DC. We quote it here in full.
“In this moment that we're seeing tonight, some say that we've not seen anything like this since 1812, when the British broke into the capitol and burned down the capitol building. But I would suggest that for oppressed people—native people, Black people, Latinos—we've seen this many times, whether it's the mob destruction of the native people's lands, whether it was the mob destruction of our sacred sanctuaries after slavery—before slavery, as a matter of fact—the terrorizing of communities, the Wilmington riots, Roseville, the riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the riots of 1919, the Klan marching down the streets of Washington DC, brazenly, in the early 1900s, black men coming back from war being beaten...
"We've seen this kind of mob mentality. Maybe it wasn't in the capitol building, but it was in our sacred spaces and on public streets; all the capitol is is a public building. And so what you're seeing today has an element of America in it. It is not non-American. It's un-American, it should be, based on our Constitution, but it's not non-American. There's been times that we've seen it throughout America.”
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Between the results of the Georgia runoff, the next Let Us Worship events, local activities and the PPC’s plans for 2021, there will be a lot to cover.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Responding to the Coup plotters
This afternoon, a rally of Trump supporters — after being whipped up by Trump, repeating myths of a stolen election — stormed the Capitol building and stopped the electoral vote certification. Yes, it's an attempted coup.
Let's take a moment to acknowledge the emotional weight of this moment. This is awful and another line crossed by Trump's behavior. He called for the protest, spoke at it, and told his supporters to march to the Capitol. It is outrageous — broken windows, shots fired, explosive devices planted, 13 arrested with weapons confiscated inside the Capitol and one person shot under unclear circumstances. As members of the public, we're feeling angry and disheartened.
We always said a coup needs legitimacy to be successful. If the goal of today's seizure of the Capitol was to gain legitimacy, the action has backfired spectacularly.
The pillars of our democratic society are largely standing and supporting our democracy. This coup is not gaining traction or convincing the majority of lawmakers, particularly those required to certify election results. Police have successfully regained control of the Capitol (though questions will need to be answered about their taking selfies with occupiers inside the Capitol and the obvious disparate treatment of black protestors previously and the armed white protestors who just invaded the Capitol).
And it's not playing well in the public arena. In fact, the seizing of the Capitol is being decried widely by the right (some calling it domestic terrorism) — and even by politicians who supported stymying the election. This is a fluid situation.
Some other happenings of note:
Before the Capitol was breached, Pence signalled he will not and cannot stop certificationwith a letter to Congress;
Immediately after the insurrection at the Capitol, Politico reported a series of rapid condemnations of it from Trump-world — including people pleading with Trump to order protestors to go home;
Biden made a national speech demanding Trump unequivocally tell protestors to go home;
Eventually, Trump called on his supporters to "peacefully go home," while repeating myths about the election;
Meanwhile, calls are flooding in for Trump's resignation (e.g. from Piers Morgan), impeachment (e.g. from the NAACP), and for Pence to institute the 25th amendment (from the National Association of Manufacturers);
Twitter removed at least some of Trump's tweets;
Nancy Pelosi announced intention to resume the vote tally tonight.
You can be sure we are monitoring this situation. We are in discussion with allies around what development might call for a national mobilization. But strategically we think this is a last gasp and the risks are huge if we simply tell people to rush into the streets.
At this moment, we are not calling for mass protest. We think one of the most dangerous cocktails would be violent clashes between civilians. Tonight, we encourage people in the DC area to honor the curfew and stay home. Everyone at the Capitol should go home.
This violent coup attempt appears to be backfiring on its perpetrators, and they seem to be losing both in the electoral process and in the sphere of public opinion. They look out of control.
Tonight, the most effective action is to let the coup plotters expose how isolated and unsupported they are. Their actions are doing that.
We think it is strategic to get on with certification and finish it. Contact your Representatives to urge them to certify the results of the election ASAP. It's time to end this.
We are keeping a close eye to see if things change course. Some indications we're looking for are leaders of societal pillars — other than politicians or the Stop the Steal protestors — encouraging taking to the streets to support the coup OR, people successfully occupying the Capitol building and again delaying the vote certification.
Violence could escalate overnight, so it may be helpful to mentally prepare for that possibility. We think that behavior would only further isolate and discredit their effort to overturn the election.
We don't believe this coup attempt has the support necessary to overturn the election result. We believe we will see a democratic — if not peaceful — transfer of power on the 20th. And we return to the collective feeling: this is bad. This President's lies, urges to violence, and support of a coup attempt have done damage to our democracy that will take all of us to heal.
With gratitude,
The Choose Democracy Team
and, deal with Trump.
Arrest the Coup Plotters
Sacramento Bee Editorial Board
The crime of sedition is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sedition as “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”
The American public got a good illustration of sedition in action today when hundreds of angry Trump supporters rioted at the United States Capitol, smashing windows and invading the building in an attempt to overthrow our democracy. Outraged because they lost a fair and free election, Trump’s supporters derailed the congressional ceremony to finalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.
Their violent attack on the heart of our government forced our elected leaders to evacuate the U.S. Capitol as police struggled to regain control of the situation. Anyone who took part in this astonishing attempt to subvert the will of the American voters should be arrested, charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. People should go to prison for this — and for a very
Of course, the ringleaders of this coup attempt weren’t the people crashing through the Capitol’s windows. Many of them are sitting members of Congress who were in the building giving anti-democracy speeches as their supporters launched a treasonous insurrection. The main ringleader of this seditious and treasonous conspiracy — President Donald Trump — was sitting in the White House.
“We love you, you’re very special,” said Trump in a video message in which he once again made false claims about the election.
These leaders must also be held accountable for their shameful efforts to overthrow our government and install a Trump dictatorship. These elected officials, Republicans all, have repeatedly betrayed their oaths of office and demonstrated an utter lack of loyalty to this nation and its people. Their seditious and treasonous behavior, which directly resulted in an attempt to
Especially guilty of fomenting sedition are several prominent California congressmen. Chief among them: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, a soulless anti-democracy conspirator who would be glad to see this nation fall so that his political ambitions might live. He is joined by the following traitors to democracy who engaged in direct attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election:
- Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale
- Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove
- Ken Calvert, R-Corona
- Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita
McCarthy, LaMalfa, McClintock and Calvert all supported a Texas lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory. Garcia announced plans to vote against the certification of Biden’s victory. All of their actions were designed to create the violent coup attempt that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Today’s top headlines
Sign up for the Daily Afternoon Bulletin and get a quick summary of the day's news.
Their attempt to overthrow our democracy will fail — this time. But this is only the beginning of a new movement to overthrow the legitimacy of our political system and install an authoritarian government. If the despicable actions of these leaders and their violent shock troops go unpunished, they will try again. And next time they might succeed at destroying democracy and the rule of law.
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article248319910.html?ac_cid=DM358812&ac_bid=-940588554#storylink=cpy
Sedition:
The crime of sedition is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sedition as “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”
The American public got a good illustration of sedition in action today when hundreds of angry Trump supporters rioted at the United States Capitol, smashing windows and invading the building in an attempt to overthrow our democracy. Outraged because they lost a fair and free election, Trump’s supporters derailed the congressional ceremony to finalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.
Their violent attack on the heart of our government forced our elected leaders to evacuate the U.S. Capitol as police struggled to regain control of the situation. Anyone who took part in this astonishing attempt to subvert the will of the American voters should be arrested, charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. People should go to prison for this — and for a very
Of course, the ringleaders of this coup attempt weren’t the people crashing through the Capitol’s windows. Many of them are sitting members of Congress who were in the building giving anti-democracy speeches as their supporters launched a treasonous insurrection. The main ringleader of this seditious and treasonous conspiracy — President Donald Trump — was sitting in the White House.
“We love you, you’re very special,” said Trump in a video message in which he once again made false claims about the election.
These leaders must also be held accountable for their shameful efforts to overthrow our government and install a Trump dictatorship. These elected officials, Republicans all, have repeatedly betrayed their oaths of office and demonstrated an utter lack of loyalty to this nation and its people. Their seditious and treasonous behavior, which directly resulted in an attempt to
Especially guilty of fomenting sedition are several prominent California congressmen. Chief among them: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, a soulless anti-democracy conspirator who would be glad to see this nation fall so that his political ambitions might live. He is joined by the following traitors to democracy who engaged in direct attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election:
- Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale
- Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove
- Ken Calvert, R-Corona
- Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita
McCarthy, LaMalfa, McClintock and Calvert all supported a Texas lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory. Garcia announced plans to vote against the certification of Biden’s victory. All of their actions were designed to create the violent coup attempt that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Today’s top headlines
Sign up for the Daily Afternoon Bulletin and get a quick summary of the day's news.
Their attempt to overthrow our democracy will fail — this time. But this is only the beginning of a new movement to overthrow the legitimacy of our political system and install an authoritarian government. If the despicable actions of these leaders and their violent shock troops go unpunished, they will try again. And next time they might succeed at destroying democracy and the rule of law.
Sacramento Bee Editorial Board
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article248319910.html?ac_cid=DM358812&ac_bid=-940588554#storylink=cpy
Democracy has won ! For now,.
In a damning and treasonous call, President Trump laid out his game plan to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state."
The Republican Secretary of State did his job and did not budge. Such acts of conviction mean Trump is not going to get the coup he wanted. (We've always said pro-Democracy creates unusual bedfellows and this is the case — Brad Raffensperger has been solid on preventing Trump from stealing the election, though he's still very bad on voter access.)
The transcript, released by the Washington Post, shows Trump as a man convinced he cannot lose ("There's no way I lost Georgia. There's no way."). He repeats myths and easily debunked conspiracy theories.
The most likely outcome remains: President Trump will vacate the White House on January 20. He will take with him a significant portion of the public who will believe he is the legitimate President, but we do not believe he is close to changing the outcome of the election.
Many major pillars of society have moved on. Ten former defense secretaries have urged acceptance of the election result. The current military has continued to reiterate that it will not step in to resolve a political dispute. Notably, 170 business executives sent a public letterurging Congress to quickly accept the election results. Other business groups concurred, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The courts have reduced Trump's attempts to legal ashes.
Outside of a loyal base and a torn Republican party, there are no significant pillars of society supporting Trump's claims.
All that is left is the typically boring approval on January 6 of the election results. To throw out state's electors would require a majority of the House and the Senate — a political impossibility.
A statement of ten bipartisan senators noted the political math does not get near overturning the results. The signatories included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah. Their votes alone would be determinative.
But stalwart Trump backers like Mitch McConnell have found Trump's actions finally a bridge too far. Mitch has been trying to corral the Senate away from a public fight. Many Republican Senators have slammed this dangerous political stunt (Axios and AP both quote the extensive Republican opposition to Trump).
Still, 140 members of the House of Representatives may go along with Trump's attempt to decertify certain states, and rumors suggest upwards of a dozen Senators say they may join, too.
Those numbers remain very far from a tipping point to overturn the election. But this actually may be why the number of objectors is growing. It's a way to appeal to an angry, radical base without changing any outcomes.
In a scathing Facebook post, Republican Senator Ben Sasse said: "When we talk in private, I haven't heard a single Congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent — not one. Instead, I hear them talk about their worries about how they will 'look' to President Trump's most ardent supporters."
The danger isn't a successful coup. We won that battle. The danger is that public trust in our democracy is being degraded by blatant lies and an echo chamber devoid of fact-checking.
Here we're in different territory than stopping a coup. We're seeing blistering splits in the Republican Party. We see a rise in a right-wing media echo chamber's ability to create myths like a "stolen election" out of thin air, devoid of hard facts and unwilling to self-correct. We see polarization that makes it harder to interact and engage meaningfully with each other. If unchecked these could prove fatal to democracy; it certainly means we will have more political instability and uncertainty in the future.
These shameful ploys do not merit the kind of national mass mobilization to stop a coup. Those could severely backfire by giving Trump an excuse to call in the troops.
The deeper work of preserving and expanding our democracy remains ahead: fighting for greater voter access, working to transform the media landscape, and pressuring politicians to reform the electoral system. Contact your House and Senate representatives — especially if you live in a Republican district — to send a message that Trump supporters are not the only ones they have to worry about in the next election.
It's not a miracle that Trump's coup won't work. It didn't work because we built a context that made it harder (and yes, some of their own lack of planning and incompetence played a role).
We think in the coming days we'll be able to breathe easier about a peaceful (if ungracious) transfer of power, but the work of Democracy very much lies ahead.
Choose Democracy
Sunday, January 3, 2021
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