As unsettling, scary and just plain eerie as last week was, I expect that it is only going to get weirder and worse over the next weeks. Today we offer thoughts and tools for enduring & a look back at last week’s posts.
After a few coronavirus observations, we share a video from the ever inspirational Valarie Kaur and links to last weeks posts. If you are reading this because you had the post forwarded to you, this is an excellent post to become familiar with what Retake Our Democracy does. Most importantly, it sends out four posts a week focused on climate, social, economic justice with a NM focus. We review scores of blogs each week to draw from the best of those blogs and share them with you. Our goal is to make it easier for you to be informed and hopefully motivated to take action. Click here to subscribe to the blog.
Quote of the day: “We have the virus under tremendous control.” My question: how “in control” do you all feel about now? Other national leaders have been unflinchingly honest about what is to come, preparing people for the inevitable sacrifice and suffering. Our leader, prefers to paint it with rose colored lipstick.
Second quote of the day: Asked whether hundreds of thousands of Americans could die, Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “It could happen, and it could be worse.” Fauci added that the limits on public life were designed to “try and make that not happen.””If we go about our daily lives and not worry about everything,” the death toll could be high, Fauci said.
Who do you believe?
Question for the Day: It has been remarkable to see what this nation and this state can do in the face of an urgent health crisis: $1.5 trillion invested in securities, shutdowns of cities and states, severe restrictions on travel. And it is highly likely that we will look back on the past week as the easy one, as I expect any day now, a full shutdown nationwide as implemented in France, Italy and Spain and the sooner the better. We will be asked to make many sacrifices and it seems that most Americans are eager to do their part.
The coronavirus is a serious pandemic and we need to be aggressive and timely in our action. The looming climate catastrophe is an existential threat that dwarfs coronavirus. What does it take for our leadership (or we, the people who elect that leadership) to ask for the same level of sacrifice to address extinction? We would have a far brighter future if we could summon up the same urgency to address the climate crisis as is being mounted to face down the coronavirus.
Tuesday, March 17, 6:30 – 8 :30 pm, Retake Our Democracy Community Meeting: Roundhouse Debrief and 2020 Primary and General Election Campaigns. PLEASE NOTE: Due to Coronavirus precautions, our in-person meeting will now take place online via Zoom. The good news is, you can participate no matter where you live! Just click this link https://zoom.us/j/314963117. As a heads-up, Tuesday, April 21 6:30 — 8:30 pm, Zoom with Retake with guest Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard and the lead attorney for the Land Commission. We will be discussing what power the Commission has to limit, regulate, tax and penalize the gas and oil industry, along with other climate, environmental, and political challenges the Commissioner faces. To get a preview, click the button on the right of the home page: “Retake on KSFR” where you can listen to the podcast of Retake’s interview with Garcia Richard that aired Saturday.
If you’ve used Zoom before, you will go right to the meeting. If not, you will be asked to download the Zoom app, click download and in 15 seconds you’ll be in the Zoom meeting.
We will begin with a debrief of the 2020 Legislative Session, but a good amount of time will be devoted to planning for the 2020 elections. We believe the 2020 election is likely the most important election of our lives, so this is a critical meeting. We will lay out plans for how you can be involved in the NM state primary and in the national election and our effort to depose the despot. This would be a good meeting for you to ask friends to Zoom with us and then coax them into getting active for June and November. Eric Griego, the State Director of Working Families Party, NM and Bruce Roach from Indivisible Nob Hill will describe how their organizations are advancing plans for fixing the NM State Senate in the June 2020 primaries and lay out how Retake as an organization or you as an individual can become involved.
Stay Home. If You Must Go Out, Keep Your Distance, Wash Your Hands. When wash your hands, wash them like you just diced a bunch of jalapenos and you are about to put your contacts on. And if you are buying produce, whatever you touch, buy. This is not a time to gently touch four avocados looking for the perfect one. Every single one of us is important right now and we have to pull together and make sacrifices.
What If the Darkness Is Not the Darkness of the Tomb, But the Darkness of the Womb
If ever we needed to be uplifted, we do now. If ever there was a video that could uplift you, this is it.
A Look Back At An Insane Week
Retake reported extensively on the coronavirus last week. How could we not? It is all anyone can think of. Given that most of us are sequestered in our homes, we can catch up on house chores and reading. So I hope that if you missed any of the posts below, today you catch up.
Enough Is Enough: Time to Take Personal Action NOW
Tuesday, March 10. This was a very emotional and I hope motivating post that unfortunately called for a sit-in at the Governor’s office the day before she declared a state of emergency in NM. Clearly this is not the time to be calling for protests or sit-ins. But the evidence pointing to the urgent need for action remains valid; the timing, not so good.
The article outlines the litany of moral offenses perpetrated by our President and two New Mexico related environmental offenses: evidence of radiation from fracked “produced water” and benzene emissions in Artesia NM refinery that is spewing cancer causing emissions directly across the street from an elementary school. Taken together, I was led to question: when is enough enough. A very worthwhile read. Click here to read the full post.
Governor Declares State of Emergency, Retake Cancels In Person Meeting, Will Use Statewide Zoom
Thursday, March 12. It is hard to imagine a greater difference in the leadership shown by our President and our Governor. While DT goes about doing almost every thing wrong, Gov. Lujan Grisham has done precisely what is required in this moment: a steady authentic, calm voice and the exact actions that the situation demands. The post contrasts the inaction, misinformation, and lack of empathy emoted by our president with the reaction and actions of our Governor. Kudos to her.
Even before Friday’s ban of gatherings over 100, Retake determined it made no sense to even try to convene folks next week, or for that matter, for our April meeting. So, Tuesday, Mar 17 from 6:30 — 8:30 pm, Retake will conduct its planning meeting (above) via Zoom. Click here to read the full post.
Social Distancing: What It Is, Why It is Critically Important, and How You Can Apply to Your Daily Routine
Saturday, March 14. The term Social Distancing is bandied about in most every article about the coronavirus, but how does it apply to the myriad of daily actions that had been part of our routines? This post offers excerpts from an excellent Atlantic interview with three CDC experts who explain how social distancing can be implemented in relation to a variety of situations. The post also excoriates DT for his lack of leadership, while praising our Governor for stepping up big time. We close with a very funny Trevor Noah video skewering our president, followed by Bernie Sanders’ take on how we must take on the coronavirus. Click here to read the full post.
A Message On the Virus from LANL Scientist Albert Hsu & Another from Daniel Levy, a Buddhist Spiritual Leader
Sunday, March 15. Two very different perspectives upon the coronavirus with Hsu offering a very clear explication of what the virus is, how it spreads, and why social distancing may only be the beginning. Paul Levy takes a much different perspective to describes what we must learn from this virus and what it is telling us about our relationships with each other and other living things. Click here to read the full post.
Hang in there.
In solidarity, caution, caring, and health,
Paul & Roxanne
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