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The illusion of freedom

Saturday, on my morning walk with my dog, I see my neighbor’s gardener, and his son, Gustavo, who comes help his father, on weekends. He gives my dog a biscuit, and loves the kisses he gets in return. This has become our Saturday ritual. And I always ask Gustavo if he’s had a good week in school. Whenever I’ve seen Gustavo he has been all smiles. I learn that he loves baseball, and math and Pokémon. He’s no different than my grandson, who is also eight. But this last Saturday Gustavo was not smiling.�� He nodded hello and went back to raking, no cookies for my dog. I ask his father if everything is ok and I learn that ICE picked up a family member, and they are very worried. I can see it in Gustavo’s face. He is worried. 

It’s not safe out there. There are knocks on the front door, people are being pulled over because they fit a profile, plain-clothes officers, from ICE, are snooping around workplaces. It’s stressful to drive, and you worry if you will be pulled over for something you didn’t do. Even though the law says that you are not required to show your papers, you’re worried the police will ask. And it’s up to the cops to decide if they are going to turn suspects over to ICE.   

This kind of persecution is happening all across America. And Gustavo has every right to worry about who he talks to. This proud young man no longer knows who to trust. What happens when those who are apart of our everyday life, the familiar faces we have come to know and care about, start to disappear?

The mood is unsettling. People are whispering about where to hide.

I didn’t expect this widespread fear in Los Angeles. I thought we are a sanctuary city? But what does that mean?

Enrique Marones, director of the Angel Border project, explains that sanctuary cities are nothing new. We in LA have been a sanctuary city since the Reagan administration. Being a sanctuary city is misleading. The city does not have the authority over the federal government but can object to providing their law enforcement to assist ICE. Enrique underscores that everyone who is arrested and detained is entitled to a trial before they are deported. Those arrested are given two choices: sign a paper that says they will not re-enter the United States and they will be brought back to the country of their origin (which usually means they drive you to the Mexican border). Or if you ask for a trial that will mean a long wait in detention, often six months to a year, or longer. Immigration courts are beyond backed up. Trump’s machine has a business opportunity here because they will be contracting with private prisons, demanding a big increase in the need for detention centers.

LA Mayor Kevin Garcetti is opposed to asking his police force to work on behalf of immigration and customs enforcement. He does not endorse the practice of rounding up undocumented, law-abiding citizens. Since Trump signed his executive order Garcetti has gone out of his way to temper the fears of the Latino community. He holds meetings at high schools, and offers ways that his office can help families, who are victims of the recent and ongoing, round up. He can’t stop the detentions and the subsequent deportations. But his office has told me that they are providing information on how to procure legal aid and also how to help children who come home to an empty house, if their parents are taken.

Mayor Greg Stanton of Phoenix is in a tough spot. Phoenix cannot be a sanctuary city because of SB 1070, the controversial law that was passed in 2010. It was partially repealed in 2016, but a portion of the law is still on the books. But Mayor Stanton refuses to uphold the 289 (g) portion of SB 1070, and will not allow his police force to work tandem with ICE enforcement. Mayor Stanton is proud of his diverse city and is seeking multiple ways to offer help to the Latino community.

After days of speaking to immigration lawyers and human rights advocates on the struggles of undocumented immigrants, all agree that there is a humane problem regarding the back log of cases in immigration courts across the country. There is a shortage of judges. Until President Trump and his Justice Department, and Attorney General Sessions, can truly grasp the necessity of hiring new judges, the problem is only going to get worse, especially given the increase in new arrests.

We all may be familiar with the case of Sara Beltran Hernandez, 26 who has been in detention since November of 2015. Last January Sara asked for asylum to escape violence in El Salvador. Sara has been in detention waiting for her trial. She began complaining of headaches a few months ago. Then suddenly she got dizzy and passed out. She has a brain tumor. Sara almost died before she was brought to the hospital. Once the condition was ‘considered’ under control, immigration officials brought Sara back to detention, refusing to allow her to go stay with her family in New York to get treatment for the tumor.

Amnesty International released this statement:

"We are asking for immediate humanitarian parole. We can’t wait for a bond redetermination hearing. She doesn’t have days, she has hours ... we need her to get out,” Zuniga said. “This is the 13th day she has not had this surgery, and we do not understand why. People like Sara who are seeking asylum for horrific violence should not be treated like criminals while their cases are processed. We must do everything we can to ensure protection for people who are fleeing violence."

Story after story is coming out, like that of Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of four who is now living her life in the sanctuary of a church basement in Denver to avoid deportation.

Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23-year-old a DACA recipient, had twice been granted deferred action and employment authorization under the DACA program. ICE picked him up on a charge of being in a gang. ICE has no standard by which to prove Daniel’s affiliation to a gang but just mentioning a possible gang affiliation will not bode for him in court. Daniel has a three-year-old son.

"Undocumented immigrants who wind up in removal proceedings are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney, the standard rules of evidence do not apply, (and) hearsay can come in."  -- Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School

Josue Romero Valasquez’s case stands out because he is like a lot of average American teenagers. He hangs out with his friends, at the skate park. He is a good student. He got a scholarship to art school, and is considered gifted. Josue wants to become an architect; he mentors younger kids to teach them art. Two weeks after Trump’s executive order, Josue, a DACA recipient, was stopped by San Antonio police. He was on his way home from the skate park. Was he stopped because of profiling? The cops searched him. The officers found a half of a joint in his pocket. He was arrested and turned over to ICE. Fortunately for Josue, the pro bono legal defense fund, RAICES, agreed to represent him. Jonathan Ryan is handling Josue’s defense. So far he has been lucky and continues to be protected under DACA. There is a misdemeanor B charge, for the small amount of marijuana. He is clearlyno threat to his community.

Josue’s case got the attention of the press. Most of those arrested, wont have the visibility of these early DACA cases. Although DACA has not been repealed, as yet, all of those in the program are frightened.  Every person who signed up for this protection gave immigration their personal information. They have reason to be worried.

Homeland Security has called for raising the number of immigrants ICE incarcerates daily, to 80,000 people. Mother Jones magazine recently interviewed ACLU attorney Carl Takei, who gave them this statement: “Last year, ICE detained more than 352,000 people. The number of detainees held each day, typically between 31,000 and 34,000, reached a historic high of about 41,000 people in the fall, as Customs and Border Protection apprehended more people on the southwest border while seeing a simultaneous rise in asylum seekers. But doubling the daily capacity to 80,000 would require ICE to sprint to add more capacity than the agency has ever added in its entire history. And we don't know if 80,000 is where he'll stop."

We are at the beginning of this. It will never be okay to let our guard down, and moreover not to put ourselves in the way of an injustice, to try and protect those who are at risk. We are witnessing a rounding up, in huge numbers, of hard working, decent human beings. This series of cases describes but a microscopic example of the harassment hundreds, even thousands, are experiencing every day now.

I was inspired by California State Senator Kevin de León when he recently said, "I can tell you half of my family would be eligible for deportation under the executive order, because if they got a false Social Security card, if they got a false identification, if they got a false driver’s license prior to us passing AB 60, if they got a false green card—and anyone who has family members, you know, who are undocumented knows that almost entirely everybody has secured some sort of false identification. That’s what you need to survive, to work.”

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Save net neutrality

The new Federal Communications Commission chairman, Ajit Pai, has already thrown out plans to subsidize internet access for low-income homes, and is an open critic of net neutrality. Ending net neutrality would restrict the open exchange of information, and undermine fair competition. This could open the door for oligarchies and higher prices, hurting small businesses and leaving working families behind.

Act: protect net neutrality and a free, open internet

Send a message to Mr. Pai that net neutrality is here to stay, and get the people you care about to do it too

Is your Senator on the Senate Commerce Committee? Tell them about the importance of net neutrality for your community.

Is your Representative on the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee ? Tell them too!

Share this message or some of its links to let people know net neutrality is and why it matters

For more conservative reps:

My name is [your name], and I’m one of [representative’s] constituents. [If you’re leaving a message, include your address and ZIP code.] I’m calling to ask that [representative] stand up for net neutrality. Market competition, jobs for small businesses, and educational opportunities for our young people are at stake. Protecting net neutrality will ensure free and fair market competition, and make sure hardworking families have open access to information. Will you please share my message with [representative]?

For more progressive reps:

My name is [your name], and I’m one of [representative’s] constituents. [If you’re leaving a message, include your address and ZIP code.] I’m calling to ask that [representative] stand up for net neutrality. Consumer protection and the democratic ideal of equality for all are at stake. Protecting net neutrality can help ensure that everyone has fair access to the incredible opportunities the internet provides. Will you please share my message with [representative]?

Learn more: why net neutrality matters

What is net neutrality? It is an extension of the founding principles of our democracy. Net neutrality is the idea that all internet access should be treated “equally.” Republican Senator John Thune (SD) plans to create legislation to enshrine some aspects of net neutrality into law. Even though this sounds like a progressive policy, Thune wants to create this law in order to roll back key powers the FCC has to regulate internet service provision--all but ending a number of consumer protections on internet access. This would make it easier to deprive poor people of internet access, while limiting the range of options available to consumers to the benefit of a handful of powerful corporations.

Image: “Protest Sign15” by a.mina is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://c5.staticflickr.com/7/6229/6227021158_8772487b60_o.jpg

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2.26.17: End taxpayer bankrolling of Trump's lavish lifestyle

This post is shared from our friends at 2 Hours a Week, a member of the Action Alliance.

In one month, the Trump administration has spent on travel a little less than what the Obama administration spent in a year. The new POTUS has been out of the office practically every weekend he’s been on the job and American tax payers are footing the $10 million bill. Those are your federal tax dollars. Adding to travel and security for his family are other ancillary costs such as:

$60,000 in overtime pay a day for local law enforcement officials every time he visits Mar-a-Lago = $2.9 million annually at the rate of two visits a month

$500,000 dollars a day to guard Trump Tower, or $182.5 million annually

$1.5 million dollars a year for the Secret Service to rent a floor of Trump Tower, which goes directly into his pocket

$100,000 hotel tab that taxpayers covered when his sons travelled for business - that’s $1.2 million annually if they travel once a month.

And that comes out to an estimated $308.5 million annually! That is 25 times more than the average $12 million the Obamas spent in one year. It's also three times more, in a single year, than the $97 million the Obamas spent in EIGHT YEARS!

...[Here's] how much that expenditure is worth. Ready? Take a deep breath:

123,790 Veteran families’ rapid rehousing when they become homeless at a cost of $2,480 per household.

322 fulltime credit counselors to provide Veteran’s with financial advice when they fall on hard times at a cost of $35,060 per counselor, per year.

2,300 law enforcement jobs created or saved via the Community Oriented Policing Services – COPS – program at a cost of $119 million for 900 jobs protected or created.

2 years of funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help small and medium sized manufacturing companies stay competitive and create jobs.

1 year of funding for the Economic Development Administration to help economically depressed communities negatively impacted by globalization spur entrepreneurship, investment, economic growth and job creation.

61% of the annual budget for Legal Aid Societies across the U.S. which provides free legal representation for the poor.

64% percent of the annual budget for the Office of Violence Against Women.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

CALL your Senators (here) and Representatives (here) and urge them to call the President out on his excessive spending!

USE THIS SCRIPT (feel free to ad-lib, of course)

Hi, I’m ____ with the group 2 Hours a Week. I’m calling Senator/Representative ___ to express my concern about the President’s excessive traveling and lifestyle at the expense of tax payers.

In a single month Trump has spent what Obama spent on travel and security in an entire year. If he continues at this pace, including other security and travel costs for him and his family, it will cost taxpayers upwards of $308.5 million dollars a year!

That is 25 times the rate of the Obamas expenditure on travel

I urge Senator/Representative __ to call the President out on wasting tax payer money to play golf and subsidize his family’s business travel! This is fiscal irresponsibility of the government at the highest level!

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Stand up for press freedom (with educator resources!)

Yesterday, in an unprecedented (unpresidented?) move, the White House banned reporters from major news outlets that have criticized Donald Trump from a press briefing. The move was petty, stupid, and dangerous: free press is critical to our democracy, and dismantling press freedom is a frequent move of dictators (a fact that even Sean Spicer knows). At the same time, you don't need to look any further than the New York Times' fact check of Trump's CPAC speech to see why free press is so important. 

Act: Protect press freedom in America

Retweet this tweet from Fox News anchor Bret Baier that blasts the administration for excluding reporters - when conservatives speak out against Trump, it's important and should be noted.

Use social media to thank Time, USA Today, and the Associated Press for boycotting the briefing in solidarity with the barred journalists

Contact ABC, NBC, CBS, Reuters, Bloomberg, Fox News, and McClatchy to tell them they should boycott any further briefings where other outlets are excluded, or commit to sharing information with excluded groups and asking questions on their behalf:

ABC News: Jori Arancio, VP of Corporate Communications - jori.arancio@disney.com

Bloomberg: 212-318-2000 (general switchboard)

CBS News: Christa Robinson, Senior VP of Communications - 212-975-2888, robinsonc@cbsnews.com

Fox News: Irena Briganti, EVP of Corporate Communications, irena.briganti@foxnews.com

McClatchy*: Tina Tedesco, Head of Corporate Communications - 916-321-1860, ttedesco@mcclatchy.com

Reuters: David Girardin, Corporate Affairs - 646-223-4870, david.girardin@thomsonreuters.com

*McClatchy owns over 30 newspapers across many states - check to see if your local newspaper is one of them, and consider writing a letter to the editor asking McClatchy to boycott press briefings where other news outlets are excluded.

Donate to Freedom of the Press Foundation, which protects journalists and whistleblowers, or contribute to one of their crowdfunding campaigns to fund open-source security resources like Signal and SecureDrop  

Share this guide to covering the Trump administration with friends and family who work in media, and start a conversation about how their organization is fighting back against Trump's attacks on press freedom  

Check out our earlier posts on press freedom and how to bring down Breitbart for more resources

Learn more: resources for educators on press freedom and fake news

Article: 5 ways teachers are fighting fake news (NPR)

Article: Best ways for fighting fake news in the age of Trump (Teen Vogue)

Article: Freedom of the press (Time for Kids)

Article: Practical sources for teaching news literacy (NYT Learning Network)

Lesson plan: Evaluating sources in a 'post-truth' world: ideas for teaching and learning about fake news (NYT Learning Network)

Lesson plan: How to teach your students about fake news (PBS)

Lesson plan: Teaching and learning about governmental checks and balances in the Trump administration - includes press freedom component (NYT Learning Network)

Lesson plan: The price of a free press: is journalism worth dying for? (PBS)

Curriculum toolkit: Digital Resource Center at the Center for News Literacy

Curriculum toolkit: Lesson plans on press freedom (First Amendment Schools)

Video: How to choose your news (TedEd)

Worksheet: Censoring the press (NYT Learning Network)

image source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/02/24/in-december-spicer-said-barring-media-access-is-what-a-dictatorship-does-today-he-barred-media-access/

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Protect our ecosystems

ACT: Save the environment from a concerted attack

Protections for our climate, environment and wildlife are being undermined. This threatens the quality of life for every person, plant and animal living in the United States.

Find and support environmental organizations. Raising money, sharing information in awareness campaigns and engaging in peaceful civil disobedience are all ways of resisting. Which group and method of resistance is right for you?

Get your town, school, business and loved ones to divest from the fossil fuel industry. There’s probably already a campaign near you. If not, start your own!

Use your social media accounts to support the EPA workers resisting this dark new direction.

Call your Senators to say you support the protection of all animals in all national wildlife refuges.  (The House has already passed H.J. Res. 69, undermining the ‘Fair Chase’ rule and exposing animals on public lands to cruel hunting practices.)

Call your members of Congress to say that you support the EPA and species preservation. Use our call scripts, or visit 5calls.org to get more help calling.

For more conservative reps:

My name is [your name], and I’m one of [representative’s] constituents. [If you’re leaving a message, include your address and ZIP code.] I’m calling to ask that [representative] stand up for conservation and defend the air we breathe and the water we drink. Protecting the EPA and the Endangered Species Act will save jobs, ensure that all Americans live safe, high-quality lives, and help us in our role as stewards of this beautiful land. Will you please share my message with [representative]?

For more progressive reps:

My name is [your name], and I’m one of [representative’s] constituents. [If you’re leaving a message, include your address and ZIP code.] I’m calling to ask that [representative] stand up for our ecosystems. Fighting to strengthen the EPA and saving the Endangered Species Act are the best ways we can create new green jobs, and stop climate change and mass-extinctions. Will you please share my message with [representative]?

LEARN More:

Trump and his enablers are trying to undermine critical environmental protections.

Trump has rammed through the DAPL and Keystone XL projects which will compromise our water and air, signed executive orders to hobble EPA regulations and is threatening to do even more. Complicit lawmakers have already decided to roll back protections keeping the coal industry from polluting our water, and in addition to trying to end the EPA, they also want to scrap the Endangered Species Act. Earlier this week, new EPA head (and 14-time EPA suer) Scott Pruitt gave a speech in front of his new staff that earned him the description "condescending and hypocritical" and increased fears about his leadership.

This concerted attack on the environment is dangerous for every American. It undermines the integrity of ecosystems in the United States and leaves the quality of air and water and the safety of living things exposed to the whims of Trump and his cronies.

image source: http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/470B/production/_86778181_climatechangeprotest_alamy.jpg

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Say "no" to Trump's anti-trans discrimination

Last night, the Trump administration announced plans to withdraw Title IX protections for transgender students. Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, was expanded under President Obama to include the right of transgender students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity. Removing this protection puts one of the most vulnerable groups of Americans at risk, and it's unacceptable.

Act: fight back against discrimination against trans kids

Call the White House comment line and your Congressional representatives to tell them your opinion on this policy. Here are some scripts:

For the White House comment line:

My name is [your name] and I live in [city/town, state]. I'm calling today to tell the president that I disagree with his decision to lift Title IX protections for transgender students. Transgender children are at incredibly high risk of bullying, violence, and even sexual assault. As adults, it's our job to protect them. Allowing children to use the bathroom corresponding to their sexual identity doesn't cause crime - it protects people at risk of being victimized. Please, I urge you to reconsider this policy immediately.

For your Congressional representatives:

My name is [your name] and I'm a constituent of [representative]. I'm calling today to ask [rep's name] to do everything in his or her power to stop the president from lifting Title IX protections for transgender students. Transgender children are at incredibly high risk of bullying, violence, and even sexual assault. As adults, it's our job to protect them. Allowing children to use the bathroom corresponding to their sexual identity doesn't cause crime - it protects people at risk of being victimized. Please, I urge you to make a public statement opposing this policy today, and to introduce and support legislation that reintroduces protections for transgender students.

Find out what your state is doing to protect or discriminate against transgender people, and urge your state representatives and governor to take action. Here's a list of legislative action to-date that discriminates against transgender people and a map of state laws and policies that affect LGBT people.   

If you're an educator, parent, or caregiver of a transgender student, read this resource from the National Center for Transgender Equality about trans student rights and consider printing and sharing in your place of education. You can also take action to encourage your school to allow children to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Here's a good resource from the NYC DOE that you can use to request something similar in your school.  

Make a donation to organizations that will be fighting discrimination against transgender people on the front lines, like Lambda Legal, National Center for Transgender Equality, Silvia Rivera Law Project, or one of these groups.

Learn more: get to know the facts

Let's get this straight, first of all: allowing people who are transgender or gender nonconforming to use the bathroom of their choice doesn't cause crime. To date, zero people in America have been attacked by transgender individuals, or people pretending to be transgender in bathrooms. However, discriminating against transgender people, especially children, does come with risk. Here are some statistics from GLAAD on violence against trans youth: 

According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 55% of all reported LGBT homicide victims were transgender women, and 50% were transgender women of color. Furthermore, in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 78% transgender/gender non-conforming students in grades K-12 experienced harassment, while 35% experienced physical assault and 12% experienced sexual violence.

Transgender people in our country face numerous obstacles -- higher risk of poverty, suicide, assault, housing and workplace discrimination, and barriers to obtaining healthcare. Can we really risk putting our nation's transgender children in even greater danger?

Image source: http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/images/issues/transgender-human-rights.jpg

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Never look at the top

A Maine logger in the State House wants working people to refocus their attention

“Most of the time what I heard was ‘Shut your mouth and keep your head down or you’ll be made an example of’,” Troy Jackson says. He’s in a suit and tie and seated across from me at a small conference table in the Maine Senate Minority Leader’s Office. We didn’t borrow the key for our meeting or commandeer the first unoccupied office we could find. He is the Maine Senate Minority Leader. Which I take to mean he has since learned not to shut his mouth.

The first and only time I saw him speak he was in jeans and a Maine Loggers union t-shirt, addressing a packed room – lit like a morgue, in the style of American community centers – on a Sunday evening. It was just outside Portland. Friendly turf. To say the crowd was receptive is an understatement. “Troy for governor!” came a shout from somewhere in the back. He had barely cleared his throat.

It makes sense. If the nation is divided, Maine is a miniature model of the divide. In the State House, rank-and-file Democrats are generally from small urban areas. Theirs is an academic liberalism that hasn’t scored a clear victory for working people in a few generations. The conservatives who outnumber them aren’t necessarily picking up that slack; in fact, they’re legislatively worse for working people than the large rural areas electing them probably realize. But they talk like kin, and they’ve tapped a feeling.

To the Mainer who understands that, a rural progressive is almost magic. Hence the receptive crowd. Whether or not he runs for, and is elected, governor – an office now occupied by Paul LePage, the nationally famous two-term “Trump before there was Trump,” an accident of back-to-back three-way races – Senator Troy Jackson represents, to some, the future of the Democratic party in Maine.

Or anyway, he represents an endangered species. Americanus bipartisus. The guy who understands where we’re all coming from. To say our salvation is encoded on his DNA would be too much magic. But the way he talks about his conviction, about where his belief comes from, does ring with a sense of duty we may be losing, and of perspective we may have already lost. We can learn from it, if we get off of social media and out into the Maine woods.

“You can literally see the prosperity line in these woods,” he says, taking out his phone and showing me an aerial photo. The US-Canada border at Saint-Pamphile, Quebec. And he’s right. Success appears to begin where Canada does. In his childhood he saw Canadian labor stream in on H-2 temporary agricultural work visas. Favorable exchange rates and socialized healthcare back home made them cheap, and Maine loggers for hire, according to Senator Jackson, frequently lost work to them.

(I have a passing thought, listening to his story. No one’s proposed a wall on this border. To understand the dynamics of cross-border movement is to better know the racism, I conclude, in what those who live nowhere near a border sometimes choose to care about.)

His logging family, he says, felt the squeeze. He attended strikes with his father where managers told their at-will employees to disperse or find themselves with even less work; the first inculcations of mouth-shut, head-down thinking. But then, as a young man, he made the fateful decision to join friends in a dramatic protest. They went to the border and stood in the way. Foreign workers trying to cross drove a few more miles up the road. And the protesters followed, intercepting them three times before the week was out.

“A lot of folks in Congress weren’t giving us any time,” Senator Jackson says. “They always sent aides. Finally, when we did that, they said ‘Come down, we’ll meet with you’.” That was seventeen years ago. Troy Jackson the veteran public servant reflects warmly now on the naivete of Troy Jackson the first-time candidate, inspired to run by that small triumph.

“The first time, I ran as a Republican. George Bush [41] was a Republican and from Maine. That’s all I knew. I was asked how I wanted to register and I said Republican.” The district was mixed but favored Democrats then. He went door to door and told people what he stood for. “They listened, and they said ‘You’re not a Republican.’ I lost. I ran as an Independent the next time and won.”

And though he says it wasn’t typical at the time for Independents to get on committees, he wanted House Labor badly, and the Speaker relented. The more the committee convened, the more he realized he didn’t want to be an Independent anymore. “Minimum wage came up. Republicans wouldn’t go for it. American loggers having a preference came up. Republicans wouldn’t go for it. The things I thought were important for everyday working people. Republicans just wouldn’t support them.”

He changed affiliation a second time and became a Democrat. It wasn’t a matter of graduated loyalty but of learning on the job. “I wasn’t partisan at all when I ran or when I got in,” he tells me. “Then it became a matter of who was voting for the things I believed in.”

The naïveté has worn off with experience, but the belief hasn’t. Ask him what his issues are and he doesn’t check headlines or a polling sample first.

Student debt. “We’re such a low wage state, people can’t work here and make a living and pay off college debt. My wife is still paying hers off. My son is coming up behind us and we want to help him out. But it’s a generational effort to get out of debt. When [Bernie] Sanders came to Portland last July I had the honor of introducing him. I sat down, my wife was with me, and he immediately started talking about student debt. It’s the only thing you can’t declare bankruptcy on.”

Healthcare. “The Affordable Care Act didn’t go far enough. Some people got relief from it, that’s why Republicans are going after it. They like to keep people on the edge, because when you keep people on the edge they’re less likely to say anything. And we have a bill for prescription drugs that Maine can buy at the same cost as the VA. Drugs in Canada are cheaper. They’re the same drugs. Big pharma talks about safety, but it’s a smokescreen. Some pharma guys just toured the State House the other day. But they didn’t stop by this office. They know better.”

Civic engagement. “We have a student debt bill. A bill to keep the best provisions of ACA if it’s repealed. People need to take an active role in what’s going on here. And get educated on who’s actually working for them. There’s a lot that’s bad for people in the governor’s budget. It’s trickle-down economics. Tax cuts for the rich. Where’s the economic opportunity?”

I can tell when conversation has touched on the senator’s own core values. He’s more natural, more animated. His sentences come faster, easier. It happens twice as often as I’m used to with elected officials, half as often as I’d like to see. I have a sense he’d sooner be back in that Loggers t-shirt. I have a sense he knows who he is. But who to be next is a question that troubles anyone tossed among large forces. I want him to hold on.

I ask him what Democrats are doing wrong. What they could be doing better.

“You have to stand up for working people if you want them to vote for you,” he begins, having already once wondered aloud if the party is torn between its base and its big business ties. “You think they’re uneducated and not paying attention, but they know something’s wrong when they keep seeing premiums go up. When it’s the end of the month and they’re in the red. You need to start reaching out to people across the state. Don’t just cater to the people who show up in the State House.”

“Working people aren’t showing up in the State House,” he says, “because they’re working,” and is momentarily quiet as he perhaps tries to reconcile this observation with his own thunderous charge to the average citizen, a few minutes earlier, to “take an active role.” He knows what stands in their way. Work, sure, but also that old warning: Shut your mouth and keep your head down or you’ll be made an example of.

When he described to me how he’d agonized before finally deciding to take part in that dramatic border protest, I had an idea of how hard a mentality it can be to overcome. But he suggests that the future depends on more people in hard-up places overcoming it. Making that kind of decision. Because otherwise, he predicts, “all they’ll hear from Republicans is ‘Blame everyone below you, never look at the top.’ And that’s what they’ll do.”

I have no idea what he says to hometown constituents when they cross paths at the grocery store and it’s off the record. I’m guessing, more and more, it has to do with looking at the top. And right now that may be all the magic we need.

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Now more than ever: protect undocumented immigrants

We've asked you before to take action to protect immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, but now the call is more urgent than ever. With the Trump administration's announcement today of mass deportations (don't believe them when they say these are not mass deportations!), it's time for every American to step up to protect vulnerable immigrants in our communities. 

Act: six ways to protect undocumented immigrants today

First and foremost: recognize that your privilege as an American is a huge asset, especially if you are a white American. Consequences for risk-taking are minor for you compared to what people of color might experience. Use this to your advantage.  

Share this guide from United We Dream (in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and English) on what to do if ICE comes to your door. Post it in community centers, churches, government buildings, street corners, and schools. If someone takes it down, that's okay -- keep posting it. If you're an educator and want to talk to people in education who can help, email us for more information.  

Support organizations that protect undocumented immigrants: make a donation today to the United We Dream, The Center for Popular Democracy, Make the Road New York, or the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.  

Share information on how immigration raids are affecting innocent people: here's a video from the Center for American Progress, a story about the arrest Daniel Ramirez Medina (a Dreamer whose story has inspired the hashtag #FreeDaniel), and another story about a mother of four seeking sanctuary in a church to avoid separation from her children  

Find out whether or not your city, town, campus or place of worship provides sanctuary to undocumented immigrants, and if not, petition leaders to join the sanctuary movement. Even if you don't live in a sanctuary city, you can take action in your own neighborhood to support immigrants.  

Call everybody. This includes the White House comment line, your Congressional representatives, your governor and state representatives, and the people who represent you locally (the first link has information about most of these). Here's a call script you can use, building on 5calls.org's governor call script:

Hi, my name is [Name] and I'm a constituent from [CITY, ZIP].

I’m calling to ask what steps [elected official] is taking to protect our immigrant community from aggressive deportation tactics of the Trump administration.

[IF CLEAR STEPS ARE IDENTIFIED]: Please tell [elected official] I thank them for standing for the immigrants in our state, and expect them to continue to resist Trump’s agenda. Thank you for your hard work answering the phones.

[IF UNKNOWN OR CLEAR STEPS ARE NOT IDENTIFIED]: I urge [elected official] to take action in supporting and protecting the immigrant communities in [our state/community] We have undocumented immigrants who are productive and valued members of our community and I demand [he/she] shield them from the Trump agenda. Thank you for your hard work answering the phones.

Did you take action today? Click our social share links to tell friends what you did and get them involved. 

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When you blatantly admit that the president is anti diversity

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Milo’s New Low, from Matt Bors.

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Re: Milo

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*catches breath*

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*catches breath again*

*wipes tears from eyes*

So good.

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When you wake up to the news that another fascist was called out for what he is and even got d r a g g e d by his own party

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This is not censorship. This is a business decision based on backlash and the actions of those who protested the decision, as well as a couple brave authors who spoke out, particularly Roxane Gay, who pulled her book and faced a lot of hate for it (her book has already been re-picked up). 

Milo Yiannopoulos can self-publish if he wants. He can find another publisher. There is free speech and there is the support of hate speech. Milo can say whatever he wants. That doesn’t mean we have to listen, and that doesn’t mean anyone is obligated to publish him. 

I’m glad that after considerable opposition, Simon & Schuster has done the right thing. 

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And when your President and your rising stars are perverts, that pretty much means the party is a party of perverts.

Shaun King - …‘The Republican Party becomes the Party of Perverts’ - Daily News (via vauxyte)

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donald trump: you look at what's happening last night in sweden, SWEDEN!! who would believe this? Sweden!!!

sweden: literally what the fuck is he talking about

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A good take on why Trumpkins don’t hear what the rest of us hear when President Trump spews incoherent word salad.

Also why I have limited interest in, or energy for, trying to persuade them through rational debate.

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Join the #ResistanceRecess