Dear Friends:
I was pleased to listen to Andrea Pitzer’s latest podcast about the betrayal of Ukraine and hear her recommend flying Ukrainian flags among other things to do.
The Ukrainian flag I put up last week over I-395 was old and the strong winds tattered it. Before that happened however, I saw that someone had tried to secure it for me several times. On Friday, I took a new Ukrainian flag and an American flag and put them up again. Two people stopped to help and several people on the highway below and driving by gave honks of support. These small acts of protest are very important and certainly make me feel better. It seems they make others feel better, too, which is the point. Those flags were taken down over the weekend….so I have ordered several more.
Saturday was International Women’s Day. I love this historic example of women’s strength from our sisters in Canada. The photo shows a 2-mile long picket of women and children in the 1941 Kirkland Lake gold mine strike; see accompanying article.
If you’d like a really clear and bracing rebuttal to Trump’s speech to Congress, take a listen (and/or read the subtitles) of French senator Claude Malhuret. It’s short and right to the point. I think we need more clear speeches like this from our own elected leaders. That said, first-term Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin did a good job in her rebuttal showing how Trump is harming all Americans…. “making it local” for people… and called everyone to action.
If you’d like a gentle read that puts our current crisis in context with other similar times in US history, I highly recommend this article “The State of the Union is… On the lies he tells, and the truths we must repeat to one another” by Garrett Bucks. While he is clear that we are in great danger right now, his Quaker perspective is gentle and even reassuring. It’s a little long, but I found it comforting. We could all use some reassurance and the long perspective right now.
If you couldn’t make the Science rally on Friday or the Federal Employee Resource Fair on Saturday (picture: friends and me supporting workers); 50501 is working on events across the country for March 14 (March on Washington)and April 5 (Nationwide Day of Action: 435 Congressional Offices – 435 Demonstrations). I think the approach of many events at frequent intervals is really good. Many events mean it’s harder to target protestors, shows broad support, and gets us all in the habit of coming out to protest. We really cannot be silent and need to build up our social push back muscles. We need acts of protest to grow and grow.
On the idea of a “shadow government” of experienced former officials to push back on Trump/Musk diktats mentioned in a previous blog, I appreciate the suggestion from a reader to just call it the “loyal opposition” as they do in England. Seemed obvious once I read it!
I hope you’ve found this post helpful. Keep the comments and suggestions coming!
Best,
Libby
P.S. On a slightly different subject: the toll road text scam. You may have gotten some texts telling you that you owe money and have to get in touch right away, I got them, too. I hope none of my readers fell for it. Scammers are getting more and more ubiquitous and clever. Appropriate for a time when we have a Scammer in Chief in the White House, I guess.
