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Hi, all, and happy Monday.

I’m running quite behind this morning, so I’ll keep this message brief.

Chop Wood, Carry Water is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I know the news is hard to bear. I know the temptation to check out is huge. Thank you for being here.

They are trying to overwhelm us. Don’t let them. We have a country to save.

Take these simple actions. Know that that’s enough. If you want to do more, amazing! Pick a lane and get in it. But if all you do is make these calls, send the Resistbot, and take the extra credit action, that’s huge! If you sign up to make calls for an election even better. If you RSVP for a webinar to learn more about protecting our elections, super! If you can donate some money for North Carolina races, outstanding!

But do anything you can. Every single action matters.

They want to overwhelm us. Our response is to keep our heads down, take deep breaths, and chop wood, carry water.

It’s all we can do. It WILL make a difference. And it will help us stay sane.

Sending love, y’all. This is tough. We’re tougher.

Let’s get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that Donald Trump is threatening to grind all legislation to a halt if the Senate doesn’t pass a more extreme version of the Save America Act that includes a ban on mail-in voting and new attacks on transgender Americans. The Senator needs to vote no. If Republicans can’t win without suppressing the vote then they should change their policies.

Also, I am furious about this war in Iran. American servicemembers are dying, gas prices are skyrocketing, and we are spending a billion dollars a day when Americans can’t even afford healthcare. Pass a War Powers Resolution now! As for the 50 billion dollars in supplemental funding Trump wants? Absolutely not.

Finally, the Senator MUST oppose Casey Means for Surgeon General. She is utterly unfit and dangerous. I want him/her to oppose Mark Wayne Mullin to run the DHS as well. He’s an incompetent hothead and an extremist. He won’t rein in ICE, and people will keep dying. Vote no.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

First, I am furious about this war in Iran. American servicemembers are dying, gas prices are skyrocketing, and we are spending a billion dollars a day when Americans can’t even afford healthcare. Pass a War Powers Resolution now! As for the 50 billion dollars in supplemental funding Trump wants? Absolutely not.

Second, I want the Representative to oppose H.R. 7757, the KIDS Act bill package that includes KOSA. This legislation does nothing to protect anyone. Instead, it blocks state level laws and shields big tech companies from accountability. It must be opposed. Thanks. [H/T and more info]

Extra Credit ✅

[From reader Randi C.]

Last week, the New York Times published an opinion piece by Jesse Singal, a journalist who is so consistently anti-trans that GLAAD has a webpage debunking his work. The piece he wrote was intentionally misleading, for example describing two leaders of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) as merely concerned members of the American Academy of Pediatrics. SEGM is an anti-trans organization designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This is part of a pattern of anti-transgender coverage in the New York Times.

I have written a letter to the New York Times calling them out for their bias against a vulnerable group of Americans. I encourage you to do the same.

Edit the template below and click here, select Feedback about our News Coverage in the drop down, and paste it in. Or write directly to editorial@nytimes.com

Template:

I am deeply disappointed by the New York Times’ biased reporting on transgender healthcare. Jesse Singal’s February 24 op-ed is a perfect example because it is full of misleading claims. For example, he states European countries are skeptical of gender-affirming care for youth, but he ignores the fact that France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland recently released supportive guidelines. He also claims American medical groups are weakening their support, not mentioning explicit statements to the contrary by the American Psychological Association and new supportive guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association. Even the Science Times section often features anti-trans activists instead of focusing on the medical consensus: that gender-affirming care saves lives for trans people of all ages. By publishing such biased articles, the New York Times is helping the Trump administration to convince the public that transgender people shouldn’t have essential healthcare. Shame on you.

Get Smart! 📚

Join Big Tent on Tuesday, March 10 at 7pm ET for a timely virtual conversation on what’s at stake—and what must be done—to safeguard the 2026 midterm elections in the face of renewed threats to democratic norms from MAGA-aligned forces and Donald Trump.

Featuring former U.S. Attorney and author of the Civil Discourse Substack, Joyce Vance election law expert and Democracy Docket Founder, Marc Elias, this discussion will break down the legal, political, and institutional pressures already shaping the 2026 landscape. Together, they’ll examine where democracy remains most vulnerable, how election subversion efforts are evolving, and what warning signs Americans should be watching right now.

RSVP here.

Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣

The Trump administration is apparently putting together a 50B supplemental funding bill for the war in Iran. Obviously we are going to oppose it with every fiber of our being. One of the best ways to do that is to make voters aware of what else that money could be covering.

Fortunately Defend America Action put together a one-pager that shows exactly that. It’s well worth reading, sharing, and internalizing so your messaging is accurate.

Find the one-pager here.

Give 💰!

**Defend Immigrants & Turn Out Latine and Asian American Voters!**Thursday, March 19, 7:00 PM ET

On Thursday, March 19, 7-8pm ET, All In for North Carolina (AINC) is going all-in for two organizations who will reach out to 240,000 Latine and Asian-American infrequent voters for the November midterms. This is the largest such program ever in the state’s two largest—and fastest growing—immigrant communities.

Keynote speaker US Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) will be joined by the leadership of Siembra NC and North Carolina Asian Americans Together In Action (NCAATIA). With your financial support, they will have the resources to spend the next eight months connecting with voters—canvassing, texting, and posting on social media. Siembra NC has talked with over 1,000 businesses through their “4th Amendment in the Workplace” campaign, and NCAATIA has already put out materials in eleven of the Asian languages spoken in North Carolina.

Donate here and join them on March 19.

Win Races! 🗳

From the folks at Environmental Voter Project:

This week, we’re continuing one more week of calls to voters into Pima County, AZ where voters are voting on two ballot measures that could determine billions of dollars of funding for transporation across the region, including public transit and wildlife connections across major highways. Additionally, voters across much of New Hampshire have their town elections next week as well; we’re calling environmental voters actoss a whopping 170 individual towns!

Please help if you can. These calls are so fun and so important!

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

[To all 3 reps] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PUGZFD 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.)

Nine days into the escalating war with Iran, the United States faces growing economic, humanitarian, and strategic risks. Congress cannot remain on the sidelines while the nation moves deeper into a potentially catastrophic conflict.Global energy markets are already reacting. Oil prices have surged above $100 per barrel and recently climbed past $115 amid fears that instability in the Persian Gulf could disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments pass. Economists warn that the conflict risks triggering a global energy shock that could slow economic growth while driving prices higher — the classic conditions of stagflation.

Americans are already feeling the impact. Gasoline prices have risen sharply in the past week, and economists warn that sustained oil prices above $100 could push inflation higher while weakening economic growth. If the conflict continues, analysts warn that oil prices could climb significantly further, raising the risk of recession in multiple regions of the global economy.The humanitarian consequences are equally alarming. A devastating strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ primary school in Minab killed more than 160 people, most of them children. Video evidence and satellite analysis indicate that a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck a nearby Iranian military compound at the time of the attack. U.S. officials have acknowledged that the incident is under investigation, and international organizations have called for a full accounting of what occurred.

[Read the rest of the letter here. It’s good!]

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

Talk soon.

Jess