At the end of November there were several diaries about a postcard avalanche in opposition to Steve Bannon.
Activists were planning to mail postcards to T***p Tower all on the same day, with a picture of their state on one side and NOT BANNON on the other, and if enough people did it, then… well… I’m not sure what they expected to happen.
It was a fanciful idea, clearly influenced by the memory of the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street, where bags and bags and bags of mail are carried in and poured out onto the judges desk, causing him to reconsider whether Kris Kringle is the real Santa Claus:
Isn’t it a great image, the denizens of Trump Tower slip sliding on postcards, and then wading ankle deep, and then knee high...oh, I love it!
Unfortunately, mail in the modern era does not work that way.
In all likelihood DJT would never even know the postcards arrived. They would probably languish in some basement mail room somewhere and never see the light of day, much less cause T Tower employees to wade through them ankle deep and knee high.
There was a great parallel idea of taking a photo of your postcard and sharing it on social media, but again, there is no way to ensure that information reached DJT.
As I commented in that diary, we would get more mileage out of sending postcards to someone on OUR side.
If Chuck Schumer gets a postcard avalanche, asking him to hold the line against the Supreme Court nominee, for example, he can use that for a POSITIVE photo op: calling in the press to see the bags and bags of mail he has received from all over the country saying NO GORSUCH. Staff would certainly separate out the ones that are from New York and the ones that are from elsewhere, but as Senate Minority Leader he represents us all.
Action item 1: ENCOURAGEMENT
Buy/create three post cards with a photo that either has the name of your state, or some landmark immediately recognizable as from your state.
Address one postcard to each of your Senators. Write HOLD THE LINE, NO DE VOS, NO GORSUCH, NO JEFF SESSIONS or something similar in the message area.
If you do not live in New York, send the third postcard to Chuck Schumer.
If you do live in New York, I recommend sending your third postcard to my senior Senator, Elizabeth Warren.
Snail mail addresses for all current U.S. Senators are available here.
Mail to the local offices are even more powerful, since it takes only a few letters arriving at the local office to get staffers to sit up and take notice. Less than a minute on google will uncover the local/regional office address for each of your U.S. Senator.
Action item 2: THANKS
Pick somebody who has done something good for the resistance lately and send a thank you note.
Buy/create a postcard with a positive image of some kind, or with just the word THANKS.
Or if you really want to be old skool, pull out your best notecards (do people still have those?) or stationery (do people still have that?) and write a brief message; or buy a thank you card at the store.
Thank yous sent by snail mail take the most effort and therefore have the biggest impact. But since incidents of praise are few and far between in the current climate, even an email containing praise may be passed along by staffers to the person you are writing to. Sending a tweet with praise, asking your followers to RT if they agree, can multiply the feeling of gratitude in a ripple effect beyond where you ever expected it to go.
Some people you might thank:
Sen Franken for standing up to Rcon hypocrisy and standing his ground against Sen. Cornyn.
Kirsten Gillibrand for being the only D Senator to vote no on ALL the Trump nominees so far.
Nancy Pelosi for calling Steve Bannon a white supremacist.
One of your Senators if s/he voted NO on a Trump nominee or made a good speech about resistance.
Calling and writing to complain and protest is great and useful. But calling to say thanks gets a lot of attention too because it is relatively rare. Congresscritters, like most other human beings, crave praise and recognition. Times are weird—who knows, your and your sincere thanks might give someone the strength to get up and do it all again.
Action Item 3: APOLOGIES (hat tip to Paul Bibeau)
As most of you know, DJT has has some insulting phone calls recently with various world leaders.
Some people have been tweeting out apologies!
@TurnbullMalcolm is the Twitter handle of Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia.
Enrique Pena Nieto, president of Mexico, seems to have three Twitter accounts:
@PresidenciaMX is a Presidential page with a lot of official announcements
He also uses @EPNMexico and there are a fair number of tweets in English to that twitter address.
Here is a tweet from a third account, @EPN that seems like it might be less official and more conversational:
I don’t speak Spanish but i can tell this has something to do with not wanting the border wall. If you do speak Spanish, let him know we don’t want the wall either, and apologize that our President is such a… well… describe him any way you like.
Saving the best for last: BE GOOD TO YOURSELF
Continuing in the same vein as the diary from Tuesday, think of some small way to give encouragement to yourself. Find a song that lifts your spirits. Read inspirational quotes from historical figures who battled against great odds and won. Watch Gandhi or some other biography of someone who triumphed in a cause that was thought to be impossible.
Or give yourself a little “thank me” treat for doing a resistance action—we have to learn to pat ourselves on the back sometimes if no one else will. You sent your letter to the editor from last week? Great—rent a funny movie and relax. You made phone calls to your Congresscritters? Have a mini-cup of Americone Dream ice cream (don’t over indulge and feel worse later!). Buy a small amount of scented oil to help you fall into deeper sleep, or a toy car in the model you would like to have in real life! Call a friend and commiserate and/or make big plans.
And if you are feeling bad about not getting anything done yet, don’t feel bad. Apologize for putting yourself down. It’s ok to be struggling, lots of people are. But we will pick each other up and get through this and connect with one another and we will win because we outnumber them.
So good luck with finding a big or small action to end the week with a bang.
And take some time to lift your mood and replenish your spirit to fight again tomorrow.
Previous TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010.
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners: Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense