Welcome once again to a $27-group / Political Revolution open thread — a weekly place where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy some inspiring quotes, good music, and (most importantly) a picture or two of Noble Fur.
As usual I’m running late on everything this week. In contrast, Nature is running a bit early on everything. One of my apricot trees bloomed earlier this week, the other looks like it will be starting to bloom tomorrow, with several plums close behind. Weather has been very uncooperative, with lots and lots of rain to accompany the sudden switch from temps in the teens to temps in the 60s, but I finally finished pruning my 3 rows of grapes and 1 row of kiwi, got a few miscellaneous small trees done and a couple of the larger trees done, but I still have a good number of good-size trees to go. Oh — and the grass is starting to grow pretty fast, so I need to get the lawn mower out tomorrow and start getting to work on that, at least in the places which aren’t little lakes from all the rain we’ve been getting, before the yard turns into a jungle …
Anyway, quotes. I’ve got a really good one to start with, although hopefully you’ve already seen it:
It would be remiss of me not to discuss my own activism. As a child of the '60's, I came of age during the Vietnam era. If you were young, poor, black or "other", you were destined to be affected. This shaped my mindset and, combined with a personality that will always choose "fight" over "flight," I've been propelled to act ever since. But it wasn't until my late '20's that I realized that activism wasn’t all about marching in the streets, chanting, and burning my bras.
In 1985, John Ashcroft became the governor of Missouri. As it happened, the state was in the process of allowing lotteries, something Ashcroft opposed. But he promised that if he won, he'd take the money generated by the lottery and plow it back into public education. After being elected he moved to renege on that promise. So I wrote a letter, and since I was raised in the Pentecostal church, I knew what language would have the best effect. I chided him for lying and assured him God would not bless him for his deception, then I sent it off and thought no more about it, believing it would have no effect.
To my surprise, he backtracked and did as he’d promised. And when asked why he'd changed his mind, he said he'd gotten letters that persuaded him he was wrong. How many letters? Less than a dozen. This turn of events had a profound effect on how I approached activism going forward. Never again did I doubt the power of small acts...
~ Got a Grip
If you haven’t already seen that, go immediately to These Revolutionary Times: The Making of an Activist. and read the rest of Got a Grip’s story, along with excerpts from and commentary on a number of good articles. This $27 Quotes diary will still be here when you get back, and by then there should be another picture of Noble Fur at the end of this diary.
More quotes coming up for you to read when you’re ready...
Tonight’s first quote was from Daily Kos. Tonight’s second quote is from Daily Kos as well:
Have you ever met someone that touches you to your very soul? You know the kind of person I am talking about — warm, caring, genuine, fierce, brilliant, passionate. There is simply an energy that attracts you to this person. You want to be with them, want to have conversations with them, and want to learn from them.
The weird experiences of my life over the last decade brought me back to the Democratic Party (after having served as a Republican elected official and seeing that side of the murkiness of politics). When I walked into a local Democratic party meeting late in 2015, with thoughts of running for office, I remember seeing this very person I’m talking about. I remember it like it was yesterday. Her smile was genuine and accepting — even when the room was decidedly not so (not trusting that I was really a FORMER or RECOVERING Republican).
Gayle Jordan is that person. Period. Full-stop. She is the type of person that cares and cares deeply. She see the heart of a person and their great worth without any pretense or ulterior motivation.
We ran together in 2016. We were part of the team of Crazy Dancing “Gals” in ruby red Rutherford County and the State of Tennessee to run for office when being a Democrat was something people did not simply talk about out loud. If you understand the value of that first person in a movement, Gayle is one of the most significant voices in the movement that has rallied Democrats in Tennessee to take action.
~ Laura BaMom
That’s an excerpt from The Most Huggable Woman to Run for State Senate. It’s well worth your time to read (if you haven’t already done so), and Gayle Jordan is well worth whatever support you can give her (even if it’s just to drop by one of her diaries to wish her well) She’s been posting fairly regularly, so if you’d like to be sure to see her diaries when they go up you can visit her profile page and add her to your follow list.
The special election will be March 13th — just a little over 2 weeks from now. Winning this seat will be difficult, but it’s very much worth the effort. Just by running the campaign she has, Gayle Jordan is making good changes in the way people here in Tennessee see Democrats. If you’d like to show her some support, here’s a link to Gayle Jordan’s campaign website.
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This next quote is another long one, and it’s from… Hmmm, that’s odd. The URL on this one seems to be from Daily Kos, too:
A few days ago, a colleague asked me what it felt like to run for office. I flippantly answered, “It’s a lot like being pregnant.” I was cracking a rather weak joke, but in retrospect it is actually not that bad an analogy. Especially considering the timing of my announcement with respect to Election Day — nine months!
- The enormity of what you are doing is sometimes frightening and other times exhilarating.
- No one else can do it for you.
- Only someone who has been in the same condition can truly appreciate what you are experiencing.
- It is time delimited with no way of grasping what your life is going to be like going forward.
- Everyone has advice.
My favorite piece of advice so far is from a seasoned candidate who has run for office four times. I spoke to him after I had made the decision to run, but before I made the formal announcement. He said, “Ann, write down everything you know because the minute you announce, you are going to become instantly stupid.”
I laughed. He said, “just wait.”
Of course I did not write down everything I know because I had no idea he meant literally everything. Everything!
How to put a shirt on right side out. No joke. Getting dressed may require my husband’s critical eye before I leave the house for the next eight months.
That’s from Running for Office Feels a Lot Like Being Pregnant by Ann Fuller. Even though she’s running in Florida rather than Tennessee, she’s someone I think is worth supporting. Her website is still somewhat under construction so doesn’t have an issues section I can quote from yet, but it’s worth checking out in the days ahead.
There’s a really long quote coming up later in this diary, so perhaps now is a good time for a short video break. This video is about 30 seconds long:
That’s from Laura Moser, who’s competing in a Democratic primary in Texas to run against John Culberson for the district 7 seat in congress. Here are a few words about her from Jim Dean, the chair of Democracy for America:
If you don't know Laura Moser, she's an amazing Democratic candidate running to flip a critical U.S. House seat from a Republican in Texas ...
Laura has generated a wave of energy -- more door-knocking, more calling, and more small dollar donations than any other candidate in the race ...
~ Jim Dean
Here’s a recent quote from Laura Moser:
It's a truism to say that my state, Texas, isn't a red state: It's a nonvoting state. We consistently rank in the bottom five states in the country in voter turnout. Perhaps Texans, especially the Democrats among us, stay at home because they don't have any clear sense of what we stand for. I have one idea of how to get more Democratic women to polling stations: Stand up for them. Let's cut out the whimpering and stop reducing us to an "interest group."
We are the base of the Democratic Party, so let's start talking about what happens in states like mine where reproductive rights have been attacked and eroded over and over and over again, and let's start defending women's rights to make their own decisions about their health and families. And let's extend the principle of treating people decently -- regardless of their sex, religion, race, or sexuality -- and start talking to them like adults. It's about time we had some of those in Washington.
~ Laura Moser
If you like what she’s saying and would like to learn more, you can visit her website here.
(You can also learn more about her by reading From Freelance Writer to Congressional Candidate: My Unlikely Journey to the Front of the Resistance, an article she wrote last year for Vogue explaining how and why she came to be running for a seat in congress.)
(For myself, I plan to learn more about her by reading her young adult series of books about a 10th grade social climber.)
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All right, here’s the long quote I mentioned a little ways up the page. Brent Welder is running for congress in Kansas, and this is his issues page.
I try to feature quotes which I think are inspiring in these $27 Quotes diaries. I receive a lot of e-mails from different candidates and candidate groups, and some of the e-mails I find very uninspiring. They don’t tell me anything about where the candidate stands, and what they plan to do when elected — they just speak in vague terms about how important it is to elect the candidate and to give lots of money right now before the crucial fundraising deadline at midnight tonight. And some candidates issue pages are similarly uninspiring to me because they are vague and platitudinous in what they say. In contrast, I find an issues page like this one very inspiring. I hope you will too:
Fighting for US, Not Billionaires or Giant Corporations
Brent is sick and tired of big corporations calling the shots in Washington. He is committed to fighting for hard working Kansas families, not Wall Street CEO’s. That’s why he won’t accept corporate PAC money. In 2016, as a member of the Democratic National Platform Committee, Brent wrote an amendment to ban corporate money from elections. He will fight to end Donald Trump’s corporate welfare. Brent wants to wipe out corrupt tax loopholes for giant corporations and billionaires, so we can invest in our local communities and small businesses.
Fighting for a $15 Minimum Wage
A higher minimum wage boosts the local economy, reduces national and state deficits, and creates good paying jobs at all income levels. Brent believes that no one who works a full-time job should live in poverty, especially while corporate CEO’s make as much in an hour as their workers make in a year. Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour will pump billions of dollars into local communities, and ease underpaid workers off government assistance. In order to do this, we need real, actual change in Washington.
Fighting for Middle Class Workers and Labor
Throughout his life, Brent has fought alongside workers across the country for higher wages, safer workplaces, and better benefits. As National Field Director for the Teamsters union, Brent organized over a million union members to help elect pro-worker candidates at the national, state, and local levels. After law school, instead of joining a corporate law firm, he became a labor lawyer for a national labor union, and continued to fight the biggest, greediest corporations on behalf of middle class workers. Brent strongly opposes federal so-called “Right to Work” legislation, and will fight to expand union workers’ ability to organize.
Fighting for Medicare for All
Every woman, man, and child in the United States deserves quality health care as a right. No one should have to choose between going to the doctor, taking their medicine, and having food on the table. Big drug companies should not be able to drive the price of medications to twice what they cost in Canada and other countries. Brent will fight to end the double standard in health care—where members of Congress give themselves premium health care while everyone else gets second-rate insurance or goes without.
Fighting for Women’s Equality
As a husband and father of two young girls, women’s rights, equal pay, and health care are personal to Brent. In our rigged economy, the average woman makes 80 cents for every dollar a man makes in the same job. With misogynist Donald Trump as President, it’s now more important than ever to draw a line in the sand on women’s rights. Brent pledges to stand up to Trump, and support equal wages for equal work. He also believes in a woman’s right to choose, and will fight all efforts to defund community health centers, such as Planned Parenthood.
Fighting for Racial Justice
Brent knows that black lives matter. He is committed to stopping unconstitutional police violence and brutality. Brent understands that racial justice extends to creating more equitable legal, political, and economic systems. He is running for Congress to fix our rigged economy that results in lower wages, unsafe workplaces, and discriminatory hiring practices for minority workers. He is also committed to investing in minority communities by supporting minority owned businesses and educational opportunities.
Fighting for Immigration Reform
Trump has made fear of immigrants a center point of his administration. Brent will fight for the dignity and safety of all immigrants and the aid of international refugees. He is dedicated to seeing Dreamers thrive and maintaining DACA. He believes in fair and compassionate comprehensive immigration reform that doesn’t break up families, provides a pathway to citizenship, and fixes our broken immigration system.
Fighting for LGBTQ Equality
Love is love. Brent believes that all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve equal rights and protection at work, in our communities, and at home. Brent has always supported LGBTQ rights. As a community organizer, he helped fight the battle for marriage equality from the very beginning. He also worked with Congressman Patrick Murphy to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” law that banned openly gay and bisexual people from military service.
Fighting for Debt-Free College
Higher education is one of the best ways to ensure better wages, make our workforce more productive, and boost our economy as a whole. Brent will fight to make sure that students don’t have to decide between huge amounts of debt and going to college. He believes that if students work hard, they deserve the opportunity to succeed just like everyone else—regardless of how much money their parents make. He also will work to end crippling student loan debt for those who have already finished their college education.
Fighting for Pre-K Education for Every Child
Brent and his wife Kristie are parents of two young girls. They realize the importance of a quality education, and the doors it can open. Education starts early. That’s why they support Pre-K for every child to ensure high quality preschool is available to all families, so every child can start off on equal footing.
Fighting to Protect Our Environment
We can’t survive without clean air and water. Part of being a good parent and citizen is ensuring that the world we leave our kids is just as good or better than the world we came into. Climate change is a real threat to our country and the world. We must rejoin the Paris Accord, and invest in energy through renewable resources. Brent supports clean energy that that creates good American jobs, boosts our economy, and keeps us safe by ending our dependence on foreign oil.
Fighting for Veterans Benefits
If we can afford to go to war, we can afford to take care of our veterans. Brent worked with Patrick Murphy, the first Iraq War veteran elected to Congress, and has fought his entire career to help veterans. In the 3rd District of Kansas, we have over 40,000 veterans. Brent will continue to fight to make sure that the VA is fully funded and that our veterans in Kansas and across the country get the full benefits they deserve.
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Well, drat! I had intended to include another long quote, this one from Daniel Biss (candidate for governor of Illinois) and Litesa Wallace (candidate for lieutenant governor of Illinois), but I’m already about 45 minutes past the time I intended to publish this diary and it’s another long quote to add to a diary which already has an adequate supply of long quotes, so I guess I’ll save that one for next week. Instead, here’s a short quote to close out the quote section on a nice upbeat note:
I'm proud that the Vermont Senate voted to raise the state minimum wage to $15/hour, which will give a much–needed raise to more than 65,000 Vermonters. I will continue to fight for a $15 federal minimum wage, because no worker in America should earn starvation wages.
~ Bernie Sanders
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All right, here’s a song to close tonight’s diary with. This is one of my favorite Judy Small songs:
Have a great night!