Tag Archives: 50501

Doing Something.

1 Reply

I did two related things today. I made a donation to the Vermont chapter of 50501 and signed on to their email list. 50501 is a brand-new national organization that’s been promoting days of protest against the Trump regime, starting with April 5 and continuing with April 19, with much more in the pipeline.

The Vermont chapter seems to consist of a handful of volunteers, and they’re having an impact far greater than their numbers. As of this writing, they’re more than halfway to their starter goal of $20,000. Chip in if you can, but definitely sign up for email updates.

The next national day of protest is May Day, Thursday, May 1. So far it looks like a lot of the gatherings will be in the late afternoon because weekday. Some protests are aiming for Sunday, May 4 because “Star Wars Day” seems like a great time to strike back at the Evil Empire. Many rallies are being announced close to the last minute, so keep informed and come on out.

Do Something.

3 Replies

Like many disheartened liberals, I almost completely withdrew from following national politics after the November election. I just didn’t have the capacity to deal with a flood tide of bad news about what Donald Trump was going to do.

I still spend less time consuming national news than I used to. But I can no longer enjoy the luxury of abstinence. Things are just too bad and too consequential.

The above passage is from Chapter 24 of the Book of Proverbs. I came upon it while tracking down the famous quotation, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” It’s usually and wrongly attributed to Edmund Burke; as with many famous quotations, its actual origin is murky at best.

That sentence started rattling around my head as I was writing about the many ways in which Trump is already having a corrosive effect right here in Vermont, and about Gov. Phil Scott’s refusal to acknowledge the harm being done or speak out against it.

The last straw was the Friday, April 11 edition of the Rachel Maddow Show, in which she went deep on the crisis in the Social Security Administration the damage Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is doing at the Department of Health and Human Services.

So. I decided to do something.

Not just one thing. I decided to do one thing every day. Indefinitely.

Continue reading →