Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends. If you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.
Soon, Roger Stone will find his home in the slammer, which is what happens when you make false statements to the FBI and indulge in some witness tampering. The rule of law will be upheld in the face of a relentless assault by the President.
We are left to arguing over whether Attorney General Bill Barr genuinely chastised the President over his tweets about federal cases, or whether his push back was designed to cover his own attacks not just upon the Department of Justice, but on justice itself. It turns out both things are true. Barr’s remarks were unapproved, and may even rankle Donald Trump, since everything else does. But those remarks will help Barr do bad things regarding Mike Flynn, or the FISA court, or some other Trump grievance.
Barr may even have a tiny bit of regret as the President boxes him in and destroys the rest of his reputation. Those who have received Presidential blessings in the past—John Bolton, chief of staff John Kelley, General Jim Mattis, even Steve Bannon realize that ministrations must be offered and accepted weekly or no comfort will ensue. Mike Pompeo, be forewarned. Others have thought that they could still make a little public policy and be a sycophant all at once. When you make a list of who has done so, you realize no one is on that list because just when they think their counsel is valued it will be discarded, or mocked. Mike Pence, Trump’s base doesn’t care for you at all. What will you do after we take back the presidency?
Three big cases are going just fine, demonstrating that judges remember the oaths they swore. In United States vs. Roger Stone, Judge Amy Berman Jackson does not have to listen to Barr’s revised sentencing recommendation, way below the guidelines set in federal statute. Because she doesn’t have to, she won’t.
On March 31, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on three separate court rulings requiring Donald Trump to release his tax returns. Actions to compel Trump have been filed by New York State attorney Cyrus Vance, by the House Oversight Committee, and separately by the House Intelligence and Financial Services Committee. These are promising because Trump’s attorneys have been seeking to establish an unprecedented level of presidential immunity, well beyond the level that Chief Justice Roberts is likely to accept. The Court is expected to rule by late June.
There is good news as well in the relentless Trump-led effort to find people who need food and take it away from them. A three-judge federal appellate panel has rejected an Arkansas effort to impose Trumps’ onerous work rules on food stamp recipients. The rules had cut aid to 18,000 people. Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, the new rules will remain frozen.
There have been notable successes in using the courts as the last and often best defense against Trump. These include the ruling overturning the participation-limiting citizenship question the administration tried to add to the Census. Unfortunately, the courts ultimately approved a revised and a tiny bit less onerous Trump travel ban and his misuse of appropriated funds to build the wall.
All resisters understand that it would be a spectacularly bad idea to let the assault upon the rule of law to go on another four years. That would be unbearable outcome. As we all know, it is entirely preventable on November 3.
We learned a lot in the congressional election of 2018. Not least, we learned how to attract five million more votes from independents, many from the suburbs. Are we going to forget it all, and instead bet that we can tutor Americans on their understanding of “democratic socialism?”
Our ranks are filled with smart people who can explain what parts of our society are socialistic, and why the American public should not feel concerns about Bernie Sanders’ self-professions. These attempts are of note because the Gallup Poll just found that 53% of Americans won’t vote for a socialist.
The problem is that even with that continued counsel from Sanders supporters, we are not even close to controlling this narrative at present. We will be even further away from controlling this narrative in the middle of the summer if we serve up to Donald Trump a premium way to divide us from the voter. “Democratic socialism” is a club with which to hit us over the head, each day from now until November 3. We must not and cannot have this be the central bet we will place in the most consequential election of our lifetimes.
Let’s be strong from within our extraordinary movement. A tiny number of delegates have been distributed, so we can keep on listening to debates and sorting our candidates. Advocates, let’s keep our thumb off the scale when we report on candidate’s voting records. (That includes you, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund and your “case” against everyone except your two favorite candidates). Let’s show some care as well with our own personal candidate evaluations. With regard to Mayor Pete, when did earnestness get identified as an undesirable trait? We all get to decide whether we should be swayed by Michael Bloomberg’s ad buys, but calling him “corrupt” generally means he is doing something illegal, which he is not. We might also want to stop pretending that Michael Bloomberg ever supported redlining, which he did not. Stop and frisk was wrong in its time and during any time. It’s up to us to judge what he is saying about it now, and whether it disqualifies him from our vote.
No one is telling us we can’t glory in our passions, and fiercely debate who we should pick. Might that be Senator Amy Klobuchar, fresh from as good a three minute debate speech as we have heard this year? Millions of us are going to do everything we can between now and November 3 to defeat Donald Trump. Since flocks of us will be traveling to swing states, this missive will soon address how to make sure such traveling campaigner adventures can generate the highest possible election value. The first thing to remember is the selection of an on-the-ground partner. It is hard to do worse than going three thousand miles and then be handed a doorbelling list for a neighborhood which has just been covered.
If you are in a blue state from which travelers will migrate, look for groups in your area that are traveling together, that are well briefed and organized, and that have already secured a solid in-state partner. Washington State’s Common Purpose is an exemplar of this approach.
In the meantime, now that we are nine months away from independence, let’s do these three things:
| 1) Support the Major Defense Against Trump’s Offenses | |
 | State Attorneys General have been an indispensable litigant trying (and often succeeding) to keep Trump within the constraints of the rule of law. They have filed over a hundred lawsuits. Many are pending. This excellent summary from Canada’s largest newspaper charts the considerable success of these states. These include highly notable cases in the areas of immigration and the Affordable Care Act, and great “under the radar” wins, such as blocking the Trump administration from allowing the online release of blueprints for making guns with 3-D printers. It’s time to check the performance of your state’s Attorney General, see the extent to which she or he has been a player, and thank them for standing up to Trump. |
2) Give Fair Fight a Fair Chance to Battle Voter Suppression in Georgia | |
 | Led by their Secretary of State, Brian Kemp (himself running for Governor), Georgia Republicans spent all of 2018 working on new ways and time-tested ways to suppress the African-American vote. Over five years, they closed 214 polling places and thus decreased voting access. As a direct result, Democrat Stacey Abrams ending up losing the Governor’s race by just 50,000 votes out of nearly two million cast. Stacey is fighting back with her new voting rights and voter registration organization, Fair Fight. This organization would be a key place to invest in any year. This year they are even more important since a resignation and a retirement leave open both Georgia seats in the U.S. Senate. You can boost Stacey’s efforts and help put Mitch McConnell in the minority all with the same click! |
3) Figure Out Multiple Ways to Help Amy Klobuchar | |
 | Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis is right. It’s suddenly obvious Amy Klobuchar is the Democrat’s best bet. One could read similar sentiments two missives ago! There’s nothing wrong with supporting another viable candidate. We’re all trying to figure this out. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with giving Amy a look if you haven’t already. |
You can feel it intensifying as the weeks go by. You could let the Trumpian mean-spiritedness and daily assault on our country wear you down. The alternative would be to cause it to propel you, every day until November 3. Let’s choose that option.
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
