He, remember when I ordered 50 postcards to contact voters in the crucial off-year elections in Virginia? Well, they arrived a couple days ago. Today I stopped at the post office and did something I haven’t done since dinosaurs roamed the earth: I bought postcard stamps. Which are about 20 cents cheaper than standard postage.
I also printed off a list of 50 swing voters selected by the Postcards for Virginia campaign. Going out of town in a couple days; I plan to write postcards during the flight.
Today I started a recurring monthly donation to VTDigger. We need strong independent media now more than ever. I actually thought we were already recurring donors, but I couldn’t find any sign of such activity in recent bank statements. Anyway, on the day where I posted a piece with some bad stuff about Digger, I wanted to make sure I was on board as a supporter of this vital enterprise. As I wrote earlier, I hate to imagine what our media ecosystem would be like if Digger didn’t exist.
Today we renewed our subscription to Consumer Reports, which had lapsed a few months ago. Considering that Trump is trying to drag us back to the days before the federal government even tried to regulate the safety and reliability of consumer products and services, CR may soon become as vital a watchdog as it was back in its early days.
A small thing today. We raided our pantry and set out a bag of nonperishable food items next to our mailbox for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. With our food banks facing high demand plus the effect of federal cuts to food assistance programs, it seemed like a good, if small, thing to do.
Pretty obvious move today. We made a donation to the brand-new Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, launched on Thursday by a group of prominent political figures. Mostly Democrats, but Thom Lauzon, the mayor of Barre and longtime Friend of Phil, is on the “Team,” as is former Republican lawmaker turned lobbyist Patti Komline.
Oh, heck, here’s the whole list, in the order they appear on the VILDF website.
Road trip! Today I attended an afternoon rally outside the Veterans Administration Medical Center in White River Junction. About 100 people gathered outside the gates; you’re seeing about two-thirds of ’em in this picture. Some were across the road from the entrance, including me.
The planned decimation of the VA system is one of the more shameful acts of Cadet Bone Spurs, and that’s saying quite a lot. He may fetishize the military, he may propose a massive increase in Defense Department spending, but he wants to slash health care for our veterans? And he’s installed a former Congressman as head of the VA who can’t seem to talk his way out of a paper bag when it comes to defending the cuts. The primary purpose of today’s rally was to show support for VAMC workers, who are facing about a 20% chance of losing their jobs. And those still employed will be forced to work that much harder to try to make up for the staff cutbacks.
The VA system is a promise we make to those who put their lives on the line in our defense. Whether the conflicts they served in were principled or predatory, we should not fail to do whatever is necessary to care for the well-being of our veterans.
Today I wrote an email to U.S. Rep. Becca Balint thanking her for introducing a bill to protect the health care rights of transgender people. She introduced the Transgender Health Care Access Act a while ago and it’s not going to get anywhere in a Republican Congress, but her public advocacy is important — and encouraging — when trans folk are under attack from their own damn government. And it’s important to let our elected representatives know when they’re fighting the good fight.
Today I signed up (via LeanLeft Vermont) to write postcards to voters in Virginia, which will have state elections this fall. This involved buying postcards, since they want a unified look to the campaign. They cost about 55 cents apiece and look like this:
LeanLeft Vermont is promoting actions in states holding elections this year, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The most productive way to convince Republicans to back off is beating them at the polls, and the sooner the better.
Today the Loyal Spouse and I took a road trip to Woodstock, where a small but dedicated group gathers along Route 4 every day to protest what one homemade sign described as “The Turd Reich.” (We were carrying a “Tyranny Shall Not Prevail” flag from Flags for Good.) They started doing this early in our new national nightmare and they’re planning a bigger rally on May 17 to mark their 100th day of protest.
There were about 20 or so people on hand. One of the organizers said they manage to get at least 10 or so people out there each day, which is impressive. There was plenty of enthusiasm from passing motorists, and only one dissenter who gave us the “thumbs down.” It was a bit of a drive, but it was nice to connect with like-minded folks from another part of Vermont.
The Vermont Political Observer. 