Quote of the Week “In the past few days, I’ve heard many people say, ‘I don’t know how to do this. My grief is too deep and my anger has me unfocused.’ The thought I share today is that we know how to do this. We know how to be strong. We know how to be true. We know how to love. We know how to lean into what matters most. All the details are still uncertain… But we know how to do this. We have been leaning into love for a long time and that has not changed.” – Carrie Newcomer, November 12, 2024 OI Special Event: All-member Invitation: Gather for Democracy, Saturday, November 23rd  Saturday, November 23rd: Gather for Democracy. Olympia Indivisible invites you to mark your calendar, save the date, RSVP, and come to this first post-election, in-person gathering at the Abigail Stuart House (1002 Washington St. SE, Olympia). We’ll open the doors at 9:30am with coffee, tea, and snacks on board. Our gathering starts promptly at 10am. We’ll take a deep collective breath, welcome our new members, and share highlights from Indivisible National's new guide for 2025. We’ll also share information about how our Governor, state legislators, County Commissioners and municipal councils are planning to protect democracy and civil rights in 2025. AND we’ll do some collective brainstorming about how Olympia Indivisible can do our part. Potluck lunch from 11:45 until 12:30. RSVP Required. Register HERE. IMPORTANT NOTES:
Federal Actions: Tell our Senators to Fill Every Judicial Vacancy Now Congress is reconvening for the final session of the year and Senate Democrats only have a few more weeks in the majority. With another Trump presidency and a Republican-controlled Senate looming, Democrats must make the most of this time and do everything in their power to safeguard our democracy and our rights. That’s why they must prioritize confirming pro-democracy judges in the final session. President Biden has nominated a slate of diverse, highly qualified candidates to federal judgeships. The Senate has confirmed over 200 of these judges, but there are 30 more nominations still pending – and that number could grow before Biden leaves office. Confirmations can be slow because there are a number of procedural hoops to jump through in the Senate – but with determination and long hours, Democrats can get this done. Federal judges have lifetime appointments, so it’s crucial that these positions are filled by jurists dedicated to upholding the Constitution and our democracy. Action: Send them an email AND call them: Sen. Cantwell: (202) 224-3441 Sen. Murray: (202) 224-2621 Suggested Script: As a constituent, I urge you and your colleagues in the Senate to prioritize confirming pro-democracy judges during the final session of Congress. The Senate has already confirmed over 200 of President Biden’s judicial nominees, but there are still 30 nominations pending. We need to ensure that those vacancies are filled by judges who will uphold the Constitution and our democracy before Trump returns to the White House. We cannot afford to have these lifetime appointments filled by Trump’s judicial picks, who will just further his MAGA agenda from the bench. Thank you for your past work to protect our democracy. I’m counting on you to use these last few weeks to do everything you can to continue safeguarding our democracy before Republicans take control of the Senate. That includes confirming all pending judicial nominees. Tell Rep. Strickland to Do Better to Protect Civil Liberties Photo Source by Michael Hanscom, Flickr creative commons, 2006 The ACLU recommended a NO vote on H.R. 9495. Under H.R. 9495, any tax-exempt organization that criticizes the government could have its status stripped away arbitrarily by a designation that it is “terrorist supporting” which would grant Donald Trump and his handpicked secretary of the Treasury power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization — including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups — by stripping them of tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. Reps. Marilyn Strickland and Kim Schrier voted YES! Action: Please email Representative Strickland AND please call her DC office at (202) 225-9740 with this message. Script: As a constituent who has supported your re-election, I am deeply disappointed in your YES vote on H.R. 9495 - Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. The ACLU stated that H.R. 9495 would grant Donald Trump and his handpicked secretary of the Treasury power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization — including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups — by stripping them of tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. Do not become an accomplice to the anti-democracy Trump regime. Release the Ethics Report on Matt Gaetz  Photo Source: From Rep. Gaetz’s US Congress website Source: Politico, November 15, 2024 Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House, has indicated he does not want the Ethics Committee to release its investigation of Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for Attorney General. His justification is that Gaetz faces a Senate confirmation next year and Johnson wants to do everything in his power to ensure he gets confirmed. “I'm going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House,” Johnson said. “And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.” Mike Johnson Action 1: Email your Congressional representative and let her know you insist the public have access to the report AND call at the number below.
----- Action 2: Also, we encourage you to send a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Ethics Committee.
WA State Actions: Help Set Indivisible Legislative Priorities for 2025 Want to make a difference in standing up for democracy, civil rights, and a just, sustainable path forward in Washington State in 2025? Great! Take this 10-minute survey, courtesy of WILA, the team of volunteers from Indivisible chapters across Washington state who track bills during the state legislative session. Indivisible bill trackers and action takers have been an important part of keeping our legislature working for the people of Washington. Despite a blue trifecta in Washington, Republicans continue to introduce legislation to censor education, restrict or ban gender affirming care and suppress voting rights. We cannot take our system for granted; we must continue to work for a Washington that leads the way in progressive policy. After completing the brief survey, please consider joining the 2025 WILA team (you can do this on your survey). As a WILA member you will:
Action: Take the Washington Indivisible Legislative Action Survey. Local Actions:Support Your Favorite Good Causes  Give Local South Puget Sound is an annual online giving campaign that promotes community generosity and collaboration as we all come together to support nonprofits across Lewis, Mason, and Thurston counties. During Give Local, everyone who loves the South Puget Sound can boost their favorite local causes by donating to one or more participating nonprofits or volunteering to help nonprofits reach their fundraising goals. Since 2017, our communities have raised $3.9 million through Give Local to care for and support local nonprofits. Those nonprofits have used the funds to care for our communities by turning them into meals, winter clothes, children’s books, medicine, shelter, solar panels, healthy lands and rivers, music, art, and so much more! Building community resilience is always important, but never more so than now. In the uncertain times ahead, building the bonds that can sustain us into the future and making the commitment to being there for our neighbors, is a power we all can wield. Action: Visit Give Local South Puget Sound and donate to your favorite non-profit. Have You Scheduled This Event?Come to the Action Cafe! Action Cafe is a weekly, Monday noontime virtual cafe where OI members meet, make new friends, and take actions together. Every Cafe comes with a side order of live music and a heapin’ helpin’ of good cheer! Cafe patrons receive an email on Sunday with a sneak-peek at what we'll do at the cafe the next day. On Monday morning, Chef Lisa will send you a pdf "Menu" which has links to the actions we'll take together at the Cafe. Action: Register HERE. We will send you a Zoom link and tomorrow morning, Chef Lisa will send your "menu." You Might Also Like to Attend:Saturday, November 23rd, 2pm: the family of Riley McLaughlin invites you to a celebration of his life at the Olympia Universalist Unitarian Congregation (2306 E End St NW, Olympia, WA 98502). A Zoom link will be provided for those who would like to join remotely. Information at OUUC.org. A word about Riley: Riley was a gentle-hearted, generous individual, a multitalented multi-media professional, a composer and musician, and a longtime member of Olympia Indivisible where he used his media skills to produce beautifully edited videos of OI meetings and Town Halls with candidates. He is greatly missed. Your Work Pays Off:We shared this information with you at our Nov. 11th Zoom gathering, but it is worth sharing again (and again, and again) so we are able to clearly understand not only our losses, but our gains. There is a real challenge of holding space for happiness in a moment of great grief, but it is essential for us as individuals and as an organization to acknowledge both these realities with all of their nuances, complexities, and contradictions. To respond with wisdom and clarity, we need to actively recognize circumstances as they are. We want to avoid drifting into "all-or-nothing" thinking that robs us of legitimate cause for joy and the energy to take action together.
So take a moment to look at what we achieved in Washington by helping to elect pro-democracy, pro-civil rights, pro-reproductive justice candidates at federal, state executive, legislative, and County levels:
Your work has helped make Washington a bulwark for protecting democracy and civil rights in our state and across the nation. Take a moment and think of all the work you did AND the people you worked with. Take a deep breath and let that sink in. Comments are closed.
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