Volume I, Issue 12 The Newsletter of Minuteman Indivisible Lexington May 25, 2017
Muster (verb) – assemble, especially for inspection or preparation for battle
MI HAPPENINGS
Come visit MI at Lexington's Discovery Day this Saturday
Lexington’s Greatest Street Fair, Discovery Day is this Saturday and MI will be joining in the festivities. It's a fun-filled day for the entire family with live music, dancing, food, local retailer, and exhibits from town departments and organizations. Minuteman Indivisible has a booth and we would like to have all teams represented. We'll have unique giveaways, information to distribute, and the ability to sign up new members.
Save the Date! Meet the Candidates Evening Next Thursday
June 1st, Lexington Community Center Dining Room, 7:30-9PM
Come meet the candidates to fill Ken Donnelly's state Senate seat. Three candidates, Cindy Friedman, Mary Ann Stewart and Sean Garballey are running for the seat. We are still finalizing the details for the evening so stay tuned for more information. However, we do know it will be an opportunity to meet with candidates, hear their positions on upcoming legislation and ask them about issues of particular interest to you. There is also a candidates forum, co-sponsored by Arlington and Lexington Democratic Town Committees, scheduled at the Arlington Town Hall on the evening of June 5th, 7-8:30pm.
MI Members learn to Post and Tweet for Change at the MI Social Media Workshop
MI's own Tweeter Lisa Baci and Teresa Wright from the Battle Road Action Committee gave an informative workshop on how to use Twitter and Facebook as a research tool as well as a voice for political change. We discussed how to manage settings for posts, tweets and retweets to optimize the goal of the post. We learned how to make and manage Twitter lists and the ins and outs of Facebook closed groups, secret groups and public pages. We will be summarizing the notes from the workshop and making them available to our members. At the end of the meeting there was also discussion about the need to provide conflict training: how to handle encounters with those of an opposing viewpoint, especially as situations grow heated.
UPCOMING MI MEETINGS
Democracy Team Meeting Tuesday, May 30th
7PM - 9PM Lexington Community Center, Room 221
39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Come to the next meeting of the Democracy Team. Get the status on our actions related to RussiaGate, Conflicts of Interest, Human Rights, and more.
Climate and Environment Team Meeting Wednesday, May 31st 7:30PM - 9PM Cary Library
1875 Mass Ave., Lexington
The Climate and Environment Team is meeting to discuss carbon pricing legislation in Massachusetts. We will also discuss other issues facing the environment and how we can address them. Newcomers with specific concerns welcome.
Healthcare Team Meeting Tuesday, June 6th
7:15-9PM Lexington Community Center, Room 221
39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Ongoing work to oppose the AHCA in the Senate, both in MA and through outreach to other Indivisible groups. All are welcome. Additional questions can be directed to healthcare@minutemanindivisible.org.
MORNING COFFEE ACTIONS
(Actions you can do while enjoying your morning cup!)
AHCA and the Trump Budget
The CBO score for the AHCA just came out and it looks like it leaves 23 Million uninsured, while reducing the budget by $119B. This means that the bill will proceed to the senate. Now it is time to protect healthcare in the Senate. Even Republican senators realize that the House bill is untenable in its current form. However, we need to make sure they are aware of just how unacceptable it is.
Also released this week was the Trump Budget. It has been pronounced dead on arrival for many of the same reasons the AHCA was declared untenable. This NY Times piece breaks down, in close detail, the impact of the proposed cuts. This CNN piece details which departments are slated to be eliminated or drastically cut. This is an attempt to balance a budget through a 40% reduction in small scale social programs while increasing defense spending.
What to do about this proposed double-dismantling of our social infrastructure and protections? It is good to call our MA MoC's and thank them their strong opposition to the AHCA and to any budget that guts so much social basic infrastructure. But please also call your friends with Republican Senators and ask them to call as well. Ted Cruz in Texas, Jeff Flake in Arizona and Dean Heller in Nevada are especially good targets as they are all up for reelection in 2018.
Give a Little to Keep MI and National Indivisible Building and Growing
Especially as the summer months face us, it is tempting to become complacent. It has been a rough four months and we are all just exhausted from the incessant shock and horror that faces us as we tune into the news each day. However, we need to acknowledge that real change takes sustained effort and engagement. We must be in it for the long haul.
One way to help this effort is with a simple donation. Both the national organization and our own MI group are building tools and infrastructure so that we can coordinate to have a stronger voice here in Massachusetts as well as nationally as we carry this work forward to the 2018 and 2020 elections. This all takes a bit of cash. Please donate to the national organization or to Minuteman Indivisible to help us continue this work.
ELECTIONS: Help Archie Parnell Flip SC 5th and Jon Ossoff flip the GA 6th
Archie Parnell needs our help to win the South Carolina 5th District's seat in the House. We are writing postcards to voters now - if you can commit to adding a handwritten note to 25 pre-printed postcards and mailing them before June 14, please contact elections@minutemanindivisible.org to receive instructions and cards.
Further, you can phone bank and text in both the GA 6th and SC 5th campaigns. For further details, please check out the MI elections page.
CLIMATE/ENVIRONMENT: Sign up to support carbon pricing legislation
Sign up on the Climate and Environment team's page on the MI website to join our Massachusetts carbon pricing campaign. There are currently bills pending in the Massachusetts legislature that would place a price on carbon, ending free carbon pollution. The bills would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10%, save 340 lives, and save $2.9B in health costs, all without raising taxes!
EVENTS CALENDAR
Jay Kaufman Four Part Workshop "Democracy Demands Engagement" - Part III Thursday, May 25th
7PM - 9PM
Temple Isaiah, 55 Lincoln St., Lexington.
State Rep Jay Kaufman is hosting the third of his four part public workshop "Democracy Demands Engagement" this evening, May 25th. In the first two sessions, participants discussed what moved/concerned them and how to unite around these concerns as well as the systemic roots of divisions. The third session is entitled “Values-Based/Moral Action.” Join Jay and other members of our community as we engage in these very important discussions. For more information on the series, see Rep. Kaufman's website.
Lexington Discovery Day May 27th, 10am to 3pm
Downtown Lexington, Massachusetts
Minuteman Indivisible will be represented at Discovery Day in Lexington. This is a great opportunity to let the people of Lexington know about our organization and to answer questions about our climate, democracy, healthcare, elections, marches and outreach teams. If you are willing to take a shift at the booth, please sign up here.
4th Middlesex Senate Candidates Night Thursday, June 1st
7:30PM - 9PM Lexington Community Center Dining Room
39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Come meet the candidates to fill Ken Donnelly's state Senate seat. We are still finalizing the details for the evening. However, it will be an opportunity to meet with them, hear their positions on upcoming legislation and ask them about issues of particular interest to you.
Sign Making Workshop Thursday, 6/1
6:30PM
Monroe Center of the Arts, 1403 Mass. Ave., Lexington
Please join us to make your own sign to bring to the March for Truth, which is taking place on Saturday, June 3rd on Boston Common. All materials provided free of charge to make your sign, just bring a slogan! To sign up for the free workshop, please click here.
March for Truth June 3rd, 12pm to 3pm
Brewer Fountain on the Boston Common, Boston, Massachusetts On June 3rd we will be joining the March for Truth in Boston. The purpose of the march is to call for an impartial investigation into Russian interference in the US election and ties to the Trump administration. The march is from 2pm-5pm. If you are interested in carpooling, contact mcemenska@minutemanindivisible.org. We will also be holding a a sign-making workshop at the Munroe Center for the Arts on Thursday, 6/1 (See above).
Carbon Pricing Lobby Day Tuesday, June 13th, 9am Beacon Hill, Boston
Supporters of carbon pricing in Massachusetts will be lobbying state representatives on Beacon Hill. You can sign up to participate here. For more information on carbon pricing and how you can get involved, see the MI climate team's web page.
Recommended Reading
Russiagate:
What a week it’s been! For those who may not have been looking at the news, in just this past week Robert Mueller has been appointed as Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference, Trump publicly confirmed that Comey was fired because of the Russian investigation. Trump also had a meeting in the Oval Office with the Russian Ambassador and foreign minister and during that meeting divulged “highly sensitive” information, Trump asked Coats (Director of National Intelligence) and Rogers (NSA Director) to “push back” on allegations of collusion with Russia And... Michael Flynn, (aka Mr "Lock Her Up") invokes the 5th Amendment.
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Hillbilly Elegy offers one type portrait of the rise of the right in the US. This book by New Yorker writer/reporter Jane Mayer offers up quite a different story. Through extensive research, she illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats, headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys, all of whom have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system.
“Deeply researched and studded with detail . . . Seems destined to rattle the Koch executive offices in Wichita as other investigations have not.” --Washington Post
GET INVOLVED
Learn More about MI Teams
Are you new to Minuteman Indivisible? Join one or more of our issues and actions teams! (See our website for more information on the teams.)
If you'd like to contact one of our team leaders their contact emails are below. ( Although many teams have more than one team leader, for simplicity's sake, we list just one contact point.)
If you haven't had a chance to sign up for a team and would like to get more involved, just fill out this form: TEAM SIGN-UPS
To Submit to Minuteman Muster:
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Our Mission:
We the peopleof Minuteman Indivisible unite to uphold the rights and dignity of all people. Our mission is to exercise and defend our Constitutional rights and democratic institutions. Our principles are informed by our humanitarian values and respect for well-established scientific knowledge and governance expertise.
Minuteman Indivisible · 5 Castle Road · Lexington, Ma 02420 · USA
