After the three most recent mass shootings by white male supremacist terrorists, we are all morally obligated to take action. If you don’t know what action to take … no problem! I’ll give you five assignments this week.
Start by taking a few minutes tomorrow morning to call your senators. Why? Because the House has already passed a bill requiring universal background checks for gun purchases, but Mitch McConnell refuses to bring it up for a vote in the Senate, instead offering his worthless “thoughts and prayers” to victims of gun violence. Call! Tell your senators what you think of what’s happening in this country. Tell your personal stories. Demand they cut short their recess and return to D.C. to put pressure on McConnell to hold the vote.
The offices of all your elected officials track the number of calls they get from constituents and what topics those calls are about. Never underestimate the impact of a phone call! Also, phone calls are preferable to email because they tie up staffers’ time. Disrupting business-as-usual is the way to go.
If you’re truly phone-shy or can’t call during business hours, use Resistbot instead of email — I’ve gotten better results from this tool. Just text the word RESIST to 50409 and follow the instructions. It’s free, it’s available nationwide, and you can use it 24/7. Once you get it set up the first time, you can send a message to both senators in two minutes at any time of the day or night. Do it while you’re at a bar, on the train, walking the dog, or waiting for water to boil. It’s that easy.
Let me know in the comments when you’ve done your task so I can applaud you. (For my activist readers in Canada, I recommend sending a letter to the editor of a U.S. newspaper.)
Serious question: what do you do if your senators are already A+ and active on the issue? Years ago we were told to call anyway and support them, but as the issues (race hate/gun love) have become much more clear and extreme, it feels weird and weak to call and say, “hey, great job not applauding the apocalypse.” Of course I aporeciate that I am relatively fortunate, but I’m still not sure what to do
Got Dems? Good! Assuming you’re not from NY, tell your senators to get in touch with Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, and let him know they want to cut the recess short in order for the entire Democratic caucus to return to DC and highlight McConnell’s obstructionism.
If you’re in NY, tell Schumer to lead the Dems accordingly!
(There’s usually something specific you can ask for depending on the situation. I’m always happy to help craft something personalized if I know who you’re targeting!)
Liz Warren! Ed Markey!
Specifics for great senators in a terrible world?
Ooh! Those are good ones.
For Warren, if you want to stick with the gun control/terrorism theme, I’d ask her to gather with the other Dem presidential candidates/senators in DC and demand that McConnell brings the gun bills passed by the House to a vote. This is a crisis situation that calls for a hiatus in the campaigning and the cancellation of the Congressional recess. I’ve sent the same message to my senator, Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. The entire party should be in DC showing their unity and highlighting GOP obstructionism. So I’d basically I’d make the same request to Markey — go to DC. No recess! The twist with Warren would be requesting a show of force with the others running for president.
If you want a different topic for Warren, I’m not sure she’s signed onto the Run for Something #DownBallotPledge yet? https://twitter.com/hashtag/DownBallotPledge?src=hashtag_click