The growing sense of doom encased me as I watched the results rolling in on Super Tuesday. Of course, I was watching MSNBC where I would expect more progressive framing. But even there, as the states reported in, TFGs victories were always announced before Biden’s. The election map depicting where primaries were being held was filled in with red even though democratic primaries were also being held and Biden was pulling in bigger percentages of the vote than TFG. Was this on purpose? Was their coverage being subliminally slanted to leave us with the impression of the overwhelming power of the MAGA movement?
As the live coverage was winding down, my angst grew exponentially when Rachel Maddow and her team discussed how TFG is turning to Elon Musk for funding, From the NYT Wednesday:
Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, and a few wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion.
-snip-
It’s not yet clear whether Mr. Musk plans to spend any of his fortune on Mr. Trump’s behalf. But his recent social media posts suggest he thinks it’s essential that Mr. Biden be defeated in November — and people who have spoken to Mr. Musk privately confirmed that is indeed his view.
Although Musk announced on X that he has no intention of supporting either of the two presidential candidates, I was gripped by the similarities between how I feel about the election and the sense of hopelessness I feel in the face of Big Oil and our futile efforts to address global warming. There are many similarities.
With the Supreme Court, much of the media, big business, and the whole of the Republican party in his corner, TFG can seem too powerful to beat. I was reminded of all the years of climate activism I have engaged in only to find us at the point we are now, where within a decade (or decades) the dire warnings we have been receiving will become reality. Lessons in futility.
Should TFG regain office, he has vowed that “Drill, Drill Drill” will be one of his first orders of business on day one. We can forget about our continued involvement in the Paris Agreement. We can kiss the IRA good-bye.
Both TFG and the climate crisis have resulted in a feeling of learned helplessness for me, a futile feeling of being inconsequential, insignificant, overwhelmed, and overpowered. Both the judicial and the legislative branches of government continue to fail us: the judicial, for its handling of TFGs appeals, its rulings on the EPA; the legislative, for its failure to find TFG guilty in his impeachment trials, for refusing to pass legislation to fund Ukraine, and for cow towing to TFG by refusing to take up the immigration bill; and the media, by its biased over-the-top coverage of Biden’s ‘shortcomings,’ continuing to provide a stage for TFG to spew his venom and lies, and its failure to aggressively cover the climate crisis. I could go on.
The Courts and the EPA
In a span of 11 months, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a one-two punch against the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to combat air and water pollution in twin rulings that cloud future EPA regulatory moves, according to legal experts.
Rulings last week and in June 2022 constrained the EPA's regulatory powers over
protected wetlands and the emissions of
greenhouse gases from power plants. Environmental groups decried the decisions as putting the interests of polluting industries and landowners ahead of public health and the environment. Many Republicans and conservatives lauded the rulings as necessary checks on the power of federal agencies and unelected officials.
www.reuters.com/...
The media and Trump
“But by itself that doesn’t really explain the minute-by-minute broadcasting of his private plane arriving in New York Monday or the blanket coverage of his speech yesterday evening. That kind of saturation approach suggests the networks could return to a model that simply allowed Trump to monopolize coverage.”Has the media forgotten lessons learned from covering Trump in 2016?
Former President Trump has said he’d be a dictator for one day, echoed anti-immigrant words of Adolf Hitler, called for terminating the Constitution, lied about America’s election system and vowed to use the power of the Justice Department as his personal tool for revenge. So how should the press cover Trump in the coming year? Laura Barrón-López discussed that with Jeff Goldberg and Jay Rosen. KQED
At the conclusion of her stint in the anchor chair Tuesday night, Maddow said it wasn’t going to be enough for us to just show up and vote for Biden in November. We had to get involved in this election. True, there is no way I will be able to summon up the fervor shared by so many of us in supporting Obama in 2008 and 2012. I recall the joy of being involved in the Obama campaign. Working out of the headquarters in the East Bay, hosting phone banks in my home, being active in the online Rapid Response team created by the folks responsible for the Obama website, the rallies I attended. The time I met him and shook his hand.
Nope, no way I’m going to recapture that magic. But the reality is that the choice has been made: it’s Biden or Trump. And there can be no sitting this one out.
Rachel is right. We have to become involved now! We have to feel that come election day we each have done everything in our power to prevent TFG from retaking the White House. We don’t have time for inertia.
I went over to check out the Biden website Wednesday morning to see what they’re doing to generate interest and involvement. For starters, if you are looking for employment, they are actively recruiting people to work with them … ”from field organizers to digital directors and communications staff. All levels of experience and fields of interest are encouraged to apply.”
Here are some virtual events you can participate in:
Organize Your Community: Friendbank: Wednesdays and Saturdays
Join us to organize people you know and learn about our campaign objectives and priorities. We’ll take action from the lists we build and learn how to use Reach to support our outreach.
We’re building an organizing program around a simple principle: that YOU are the best advocate with the people in your life. Join us for a friendbank & training on organizing the people in our lives with our relational organizing tool, Reach!
Please RSVP so we know if you can make it. This is a virtual training hosted on Zoom, so we recommend joining from a computer and having your phone accessible for our tool onboarding process. You'll receive the link to join on Zoom once you sign up.
For more information on Reach, visit: https://democrats.org/reach/
National Organizing Call w/ President Joe Biden & Other Special Guests: Saturday March 9
Get ready to be part of a historic moment as we bring together President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, National Organizing Director Roohi Rustum, and other special guests for a National Organizing Call!
Join supporters from across the country to get the inside scoop on our campaign's roadmap to victory in 2024 and learn more about how you can play a pivotal role in our campaign throughout the month of March. You won't want to miss this event.
Sign up today and invite a friend to join, too!
This event will be hosted virtually. RSVP today to receive details to join the call.
In their volunteer section they write:
In the final stretch, we want you and your community to volunteer with us! We have a wide variety of opportunities for volunteers depending on availability, experience and location. We have in person and virtual roles to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to help elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Volunteer opportunites are not yet active but along with in person opportunities in your area, you’ll be able to train to participate in phone banks or texting. There will also be opportunities to attend regional organizing strategy sessions and participate in slack communities.
And then, of course, there’s donations. The NYT reports that the president’s campaign had about $46 million in cash on hand at the end of the year, compared with $33 million for Mr. Trump. But TFG has been meeting with big money donors to close the funding gap.
Reuters reports: “While much of Trump's Republican base skews white and working class, he retains support among some wealthy Americans who espouse conservative social values or are eager for Trump-led tax legislation that benefits the wealthy.”
One complication for Trump: The more he needs funds for his legal defense, the more some donors say they are reluctant to send money that is meant to help promote his candidacy with voters but that could be used to pay legal fees.
"I'm not going to write him a check for $50,000 when I don't know where the hell it's going - to lawyers or who knows what else," said a major California-based donor.
"The biggest grumbling I hear from donors is they don't want to give money if Trump turns around and uses it on his legal fees," he added. He said he had heard that from more than half a dozen donors.
Trump is expected to make a fundraising trip to California in the next few weeks, according to a source briefed on the plans, which he cautioned were still tentative.
Currently, in California, Biden outpaces Trump $14.4M to $8.9M in fundraising.
Head over to the official Biden campaign site and make a donation now.
Let’s do this.
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