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Image by Creative Wannabe via Amplifier

Hi, all, and happy Thursday.

It’s not a particularly happy one for our family, as we lost our young cat Georgia yesterday. She was only two, but had been sick on and off the whole time we had her. Still, we were caught very much by surprise by the suddenness and intensity of her latest illness, and to say that no one in our household saw this coming is an understatement.

It’s hard to metabolize any personal loss when also dealing with this overwhelming news cycle, as I know you know. It’s gutting to lose a cat, but it’s a good deal more so when also grieving ICE’s terrorizing of immigrant communities, misogyny winning medals, children in detention centers, pedophiles escaping accountability, people losing their healthcare, and more.

We get through such personal tragedies, of course, by reaching even harder for community—the same way we’re getting through this brutal political moment. Fortunately, then, those of us in this work, and therefore already connected to community, are better positioned to withstand the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” than those who are not. It’s yet another argument for being in this work together!

Anyway. I’m doing a newsletter today, because this is my job, because I love what I do, and because the country is in crisis. But I will keep this opening short, because my heart is a bit wrecked.

Thank you for the well wishes this week. We will be fine. Grieving is a sign that you’re alive, and that you’ve loved. It’s something else that separates us from the fascists. I’ll take it over the alternative.

Let’s get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

First, I want the Senator to vote no the confirmation of wellness influencer Casey Means to be surgeon general. Means is an anti-vaxxer; she doesn’t have a medical license, she embraces numerous unscientific theories, and has absolutely no business being the top doctor in the country. I expect the Senator to vote no.

Second, I want the Senator to vote no on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (S.128) and the SAVE America Act (S. 1383), which would make it harder for eligible Americans to vote. I cannot overstate how opposed I am to these bills. Vote no.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I’m calling to urge the Congressmember to support H. Con. Res. 38, the bipartisan war powers resolution, and stop the Trump administration from launching military strikes on Iran without congressional authorization. Congress needs to maintain its war powers authority and prevent a military escalation in Iran. [H/T]

Also Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are obviously participating in a coverup in the Epstein case. We demand the release of the three missing victim interviews—as well as all of the other files that are still missing. And both Patel and Bondi need to be impeached and removed. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Love this! Cosmopolitan and JBC just launched a toll-free hotline where anyone — fans, founders, little girls with big dreams — can call and leave a voicemail for the women of Team USA. Tell them they inspired you. Tell them you saw them. Tell them congratulations.The number is 1-833-SHE-WON1 (1-833-743-9661)Let’s make sure these champions feel the full weight of what they just accomplished. I just left my message. It felt really good!

[H/T Shannon Watts]

Get Smart! 📚

Join Americans for Financial Reform on Mar 5, at 7:30 PM ET for a virtual town hall to learn about the pipeline of crypto corruption, President Trump’s crypto conflicts of interest, how crypto industry backed legislation could expose us all to crypto’s dangerous risks, and how we can fight back.

Trump’s crypto corruption has been unprecedented. From the Oval Office, the President and his family have promoted scammy memecoins used to fleece investors and auction off White House access. They have made billion dollar deals with crypto CEOs convicted of financial crimes, and now regulators he appointed are poised to give his family firm - World Liberty Financial - a federal bank charter. Big crypto has donated millions to Trump-affiliated SuperPACs, the President’s Inaugural Fund, the Trump military parade, and the White House ballroom fund. This crypto largesse appears to have led to lawsuits being dropped, pardons granted, enormous favors for foreign investors despite national security risks, and kid-glove treatment from Trump’s financial regulators.

Attendees will have the chance to hear from experts on crypto and on corruption about the dangers all of this creates for our financial security and our democracy, and what we can do to fight back!

Give 💰!

Y’all, the family of Dr. Linda Davis, the teacher killed by a driver fleeing ICE in Savannah, Georgia, has a Go Fund Me and, unlike those for Alex Pretti’s and Renee Nicole Good’s families, this one has raised only 20K or so.

The fund has been established to help replace Linda’s lost income and provide financial stability. Contributions will help the family sustain their household, meet daily needs, and have the time and space to grieve without immediate financial pressure.

This woman sounds so wonderful—she leaves behind a gaping hole—can we please send her family some love?

The Go Fund Me is here.

Win Races! 🗳

Phone Banks for the 2026 Midterms

Swing Left San Francisco is co-sponsoring weekly phone banks with the Bay Area Coalition to contact voters about the Midterm Elections. They’re using the state-of-the-art autodialer Scale To Win and employing deep canvassing techniques such as active listening to open conversations and learn which issues are important to voters.

Thursdays from 5:30 - 7:30 PM (PT).

SIGN UP

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T Each Step Home] [Text SIGN PASHYS to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]

(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)

I’m calling on you today to demand the closure of ICE family detention centers. There are humane alternatives to detention. The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for these detention centers to be shuttered, and you should too. Children are not criminals and should not be imprisoned. Every day locked away denies the child of a day of healthy development.As a Member of Congress, you need to stand up for children. A detention cell is no place for a child. They deserve love and care, but these ICE facilities offer them undrinkable water, food that can be inedible, unsanitary living conditions, and dangerous medical neglect.They committed no crime, yet we are the ones robbing them of their childhood.We are unjustly locking up vulnerable people in inhumane conditions, many of whom are legally seeking asylum. We cannot allow policies that inflict such harm on innocent families.

OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess

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