This post includes a review of Trump’s 100-Day Agenda and of new legislation introduced in Washington to make civil disobedience “economic terrorism,” and a class-C felony, allowing five years in prison for organizing anything deemed “disruptive.” We’ve known this was gonna be hard. It just got hard.
A Protest or a Felony. Soon it could be both.
OK, maybe this legislation won’t pass, but the mere surfacing of the idea that the authorities can define “disruptive” however they please and sentence not just the peaceful protesters but the organizers (yikes, that’s me) to five years in prison is nothing less than chilling. Shrugging our shoulders, assuming it can’t happen, just normalizes this idea. Not raising our voices is tacitly saying that this abomination is something worthy of public debate. How many of us shrugged our shoulders at the Trump candidacy? Enough said. Click here for more information, a video, and a link to sign a petition opposing this atrocity.
Before more on Trump, please see the end of the blog for actions and opportunities including Progress Now NM’s Progressive Action Summit this Saturday with Sen. Heinrich, Rep. Lujan-Grisham, all 8 ABQ Mayoral candidates, and a slew of tremendous breakouts. And also of note, the very last piece in this blog. A link to 100 things that were very, very good about 2016. It isn’t a joke. It is real. And we need to celebrate incremental progress while readying for the fight to come. Also today, is the last day to provide comment on the Verde Transmission Line, click here for info on how to provide comment to the BLM. On to Trump’s agenda.
More On Trump: His 100 Day Agenda
100-Day Resistance Agenda. Every president since FDR has, to a degree, been judged on what they accomplish in their first 100 days. And Trump’s 100-day agenda is truly terrifying. Our good friend and former NM gubernatorial candidate, Alan Webber, just spoke about his 100-Day Resistance Agenda on KSFR. As usual he is very insightful. Click here to listen in. His ideas were so compelling, Robert Reich took them and published them in his own blog. Click here to read Reich’s commentary. I have conferred with Alan many times in the past months and am grateful for his insights as they inform a good deal of what Retake Our Democracy is doing and plans to do.
Trump’s 100-Day Agenda. If you don’t think we need a 100-Day Resistance Agenda, here are just a few of the proposed actions from Trump’s 100-day agenda.
- Lift restrictions on the production of $50 trillion worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal
- Lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone Pipeline to move forward.
- Cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.
- Cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum, and order issued by President Obama;
- Begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution;
- Cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities;
- Begin removing the more than two million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.
This is what we are up against. To be effective in countering this chilling agenda, all of us need to carve out significant time each week to take action. One form would be to share this blog with others. We have over 750 supporters now. We need ten times that and then ten times that. Only you can make that happen.
Please provide your comments as to what we might do as part of our own 100-day agenda.
Other local actions and opportunities
Verde Transmission Line. PLEASE, today is the last day you can comment on the Verde Transmission Line that will deface 33 miles of the Pojoaque Valley unless we act. Click here for contact information and background information. It will take five minutes to send a comment. Let’s bury them with input.
Progress Now NM, Progressive Action Summit.
Sat. Jan 7, 9am-4pm. I just spoke with Pat Davis from Progress Now NM and this is going to be an extraordinary event. Keynote Speakers are Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative and announced Gubernatorial candidate Michelle Lujan-Grisham. Additional speakers include State Auditor Tim Keller talking about how the state budget is not without funds to support progressive legislation, and a round robin of all 8 Albuquerque Mayoral candidates. For location, information, and tickets for this important event, click here
Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club Citizen Lobbying Trainings in Albuquerque (Jan 11) and Santa Fe (Jan 19). For those of you who are wanting to lobby on environmental issues, this is a tremendous opportunity. To RSVP and for more information, click here.
Santa Fe City Council, Wells Fargo Withdrawal, Jan 11, 5pm-7pm, Santa Fe City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave. Santa Fe is the City Different and yet it deposits almost all its revenue in a bank that does things we all protest. Roxanne and I will be there to coordinate, but use the link below to better understand the issues. Come and be prepared to make a 2 minute statement from your heart–HOW CAN OUR CITY FUND ALL THAT WE RESIST? In your own words. For those of you with artistic skills, create signs. Bring friends. Bring kids. The more there, the more impactful. And use this link to find out more of the details.
2016–Not All Bad. Lastly, if it all seems too unbearable, click here for 100 reasons why 2016 was actually a very good year in many, many important respects. Certainly we need to be vigilant, to recognize the challenges and to gird ourselves for the fight, but we also have to smile, take time to reflect on what has gone well and also just to watch that Santa Fe sunset that is so glorious damn near every night.
In solidarity,
Paul & Roxanne
Categories: Actions, Civil Disobedience, Immigrant Rights, Justice, Standing Rock
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