For those of you who have the highest trained consciences: HappyIndependenceDay!
It's one of my favorite holidays, and like you, I'm sad today. It is a bit of a struggle today to feel good about America. All around social media, I saw pessimism and dismay today. Like this:
and comments such as:
My answer is this. Being disgusted and outraged is Patriotic! The reason you feel outraged, disgusted, and less-than-patriotic is because you instill the very hope and the values that are at our base. We must not abandon American ideals now! We must, now more than ever, embrace the standards that have driven America for the last 242 years. Yes! Enjoy your hotdogs and watermelon today. Engage in some introspection and self-care. Dig down and find your strength as individuals so that we can, together, lift America out of this pit. America is great -- we need to work hard to make it better!
Why must we be Patriotic? Because it's hard.
“Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. No kind of life is worth leading if it is always an easy life. I know that your life is hard; I know that your work is hard; and hardest of all for those of you who have the highest trained consciences, and who therefore feel always how much you ought to do. I know your work is hard, and that is why I congratulate you with all my heart. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” ― Theodore Roosevelt, American Ideals: And Other Essays, Social and Political
Go Team Resistance!
Little Sister Resister with a cuppa (gifted by Big Sister Resister!) and a good book.
"Now in November nearer comes the sun down the abandoned heaven." -- D.H. Lawrence
******Only 125 days until Election Day!******
Happy Independence Day!
Today I look forward from today, Independence Day, July 4, to four short months from now: Tuesday, November 6.
Twenty states still have federal primaries to go, including Louisiana, whose primary, strangely, is on Election Day. But with the majority of states having had their primaries, the fields are shaping up.
What are things looking like across the country? Will the left go more left? Where should we Bleeding Heart Leftie Libtard Snowflakes put our energy and our money?
There are 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats up for grabs, and I of course would be hard-pressed to look at all the races. The Cook Report and Ballotpedia are good sources for that! But I'll try to hone in on some races, some battlegrounds, and some close to home here in California. For House races, I'll especially look in California, Texas, Oregon, and New Mexico, as that is where some of my favorite readers reside. I'll also look at other important races across the country.
The House of Representatives
California has about 10 battleground elections, all held by Republicans. Dems need to take several of those seats to turn the House blue. I'm going to look at only a few. Read more at the LA Times or ballotpedia.org.
Daniel Issa (CA 49th) - Daniel Issa is one of the Republicans to turn tail and run, and his seat is up for grabs after he chose not to run for re-election. He had won the last election by only a half a percentage point. His district is turning blue. The two candidates going against each other in November are Democrat Mike Levin and Republican Diane Harkey. This is a hot race.
Edward Royce (CA 39th) - Ed Royce also decided to leave his seat. This is one of the hottest races in the country. Republican Young Kim will go against Democrat Gil Cisneros. It's generally considered a toss-up at this time. This one may be a good one to get behind.
Devin Nunes, (CA 22nd) is considered a battleground, but it is doubtful he will lose, as his district is solidly red, in the heartland of the California Valley. Last election, Nunes won by 35 points, but SCROTUS won here by only 10%. Nunes has had some backlash from his behaviors while chair of the House Intelligence Committee. It would be great if his challenger, Democrat Andrew Janz, could pull off a victory. I despise Devin Nunes.
Mimi Walters (CA 45th) will go up against Democrat Katie Porter. Though Walters won handily in 2016, the district went for Hillary. In the past, this district was solidly Republican. It should be an interesting race.
Dana Rorerbacher (CA 48th). Hillary squeaked by in this district, and it is a competitive race, with the incumbent Republican Rorerbacher going against Democrat Harley Rouda. It's considered a toss-up to slight tilt Republican.
Steve Knight (CA 25th) is another hot seat. Hillary won here in 2016, but Republican Steve Knight won the seat by 6 points. Democrat Katie Hill is challenging him in November. It's a toss-up to tilt Republican race. I think this race is where I may send some support.
Read more about Battleground races across the country at Ballotpedia.
I wanted to outline more elections across the country, but it's turning out to be a big project. So, I'll leave you with some links. Texas has some important battlegrounds. New Mexico has one. Oregon, true to his Dark Blue bent, has no battleground elections. Four out of five of Oregon's districts are held by Democrats, and they are expected to hold on to their seats.
There is hope for our country. There are exciting races coast to coast.
Last week, this exciting upset happened. Twenty-eight-year-old Alexandria Ocasio Cortez handily beat 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley for the Democratic nomination to represent New York's 14th District, and given the district's Democrat history, she is likely to take the seat. She is a far-left candidate who beat a reliably progressive incumbent. She is a ray of hope for the far left. We need to go far left to right our ship.
I am not a huge fan of Trevor Noah, but I like his report on Cortez's victory:
Nationwide, whites over the age of 60 with college degrees now favor Democrats over Republicans for Congress by a 2-point margin, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling during the first three months of the year. During the same period in 2016, that same group favored Republicans for Congress by 10 percentage points.
WE WILL TAKE THE HOUSE IN NOVEMBER!
The Senate
Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs, 13 are considered battlegrounds. It's a little tricky for Democrats, as they are defending more seats than Republicans are, and of the Democratic seats that are being defended, 10 of them are in states that went for DumbHead, whereas Republicans are defending only one seat in a state that voted for Hillary. Dems need to flip only two seats, but it is a tall order this year.
I'll outline just a few exciting races.
North Dakota: Democrat incumbent Heidi Heitkamp is defending her seat vs Kevin Cramer (R). North Dakota is deep red, and the Puke Orange One won in ND with 63%; now he's at 57%. Still, Hietkamp, though a moderate Democrat, is in good position to keep her seat. She has a 47% approval rating, 37% disapproval, in this Red state.
Nevada: Representative Jacky Rosen could take the seat from incumbent Republican Dean Heller. Nevada voted for Hillary in 2016, and Heller had a damaging flippy-floppy in his stance on Obamacare, first siding with the unpopular Republican governor, then acquiescing to pressure from SCROTUS. His political missteps are positive for Rep. Rosen.
Arizona: Arizona hasn't had its primary yet -- it's happening August 28 -- but Senator Jeff Flake is retiring, and there's a chance a Democrat could win, namely Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who looks like the de-facto Democrat nominee and who is leading polls against all three Republican contenders. We need Arizona to flip blue. We need Joe Arpaio's (who is one of the Republican candidates) stain on Arizona to be cleansed. This is one race I can get behind. We need Arizona to redeem herself.
Texas: A long-shot, but ooooh how I hope Ted Cruz will leave Washington! He is wildly popular in Texas, though, but I'm rooting for underdog Beto O'Rourke to pull it off! Go, Beto!
...and Tennessee. Tennesee! Tennesee might flip. Republican Bob Corker is stepping down, and presumptive nominees Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) and former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) will duke it out. Blackburn is solidly, rabidly pro-TЯUMP, but Bredesen is old-school and hugely popular. This one will be interesting to watch. Go, Tennessee!
I would love to go through all of the Senate races, but I'll point you to Ballotpedia and Politico.
It's important that we all continue to work hard to flip seats in both chambers. The stakes are huge.
And most of all, participate. Find a candidate to get behind. Donate money or time. Put up signs. Man a voter registration booth. Get people to the polls. This is the most important part! We need to get out the vote! It's critical!
To vote is to resist! Celebrate your Freedom today, and on Election Day!
"Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life." Sophocles
I joined my friend Lindsey, with whom I started my career in protests at the 2016 Women's March, and participated in the nationwide protest, Families Belong Together, calling for immigrant families to be reunited and kept together, calling for all of us to rethink immigration in general, calling out the Nation's racist roots, calling on white people to use their white privilege to help, and calling for action. It is encouraging and gives me hope that so many good people are out there, protesting, working, and resisting.
There were at least 1500 in De la Guerra Plaza yesterday. There were many inspirational speakers. And we marched in the streets.
We learned that words matter. We learned that immigrant children are at risk for horrors when they finally make it to the US and are captured. We learned that there are plenty of networks of helpers, ready to give legal aid to those in need. We learned that our white privilege should be wielded to support and advocate. We heard from immigrants who are truly grateful for the opportunities in our Land, and who still appreciate being in the US, despite being "scared shitless."
There was one moment that was wonderful to me in the sense that it affirmed to me that concerned citizens on the Left have reason and independent thought. When a speaker was describing some inflammatory, graphic, and shocking things about unspeakable horrors that some children face, people called out, "What are your sources?" I just don't see those kinds of shouts at a White Supremacy rally, for example.
And we made our voices heard.
My sister resister Lindsey and me
The dress I chose is symbolic. My daughter and I bought matching dresses. I wore mine, as I can't imagine the unspeakable anguish those mothers are experiencing.
The speaker's sign is made of wire and it reads, "Don't cage our children"
Surprisingly, there wasn't much coverage of the march in local media. At least, not yet. Noozhawk had an article. The Los Angeles Times outlined the marches in LA and across the Nation. Interestingly, the local TV news did stories on Santa Maria and Ventura, but nothing about our march. And, predictably, the local rag, The Santa Barbara News-Suppress (ok, its real name is News-Press), the only paper in the Nation to endorse the Fascist Cheeto, ignored the story as well.
After the March, I came home and donated to causes that are helping during our immigration crisis. And you should too. Find a charitable organization here. Or here. Or here.
And if you don't have money to spare, Volunteer. Call your Members of Congress. Protest. RESIST!
