NO, TRUMP. WE DON’T HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT!
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because it appears Trump won’t fight the coronavirus. But we don’t have to live with it. On Monday, France, Spain and even Viet Nam had no new cases. Zero. This is not complex, but we need a country-wide commitment to fight it. Please lead a national campaign against the pandemic. “Wear a mask” should be a patriotic pledge. Lead by example, and constantly call out Trump’s murder of 133,000 Americans.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because it appears Trump won’t fight the coronavirus. But we don’t have to live with it. On Monday, France, Spain and even Viet Nam had no new cases. Zero. This is not complex, but we need a country-wide commitment to fight it. Please lead a national campaign against the pandemic. “Wear a mask” should be a patriotic pledge. Lead by example, and constantly call out Trump’s murder of 133,000 Americans.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: ACT FOR AN ANTI-RACIST FUTURE
Listen to challenge yourself on the issue of racial justice: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/12/31/761932806/your-body-being-used-where-prisoners-who-can-t-vote-fill-voting-districts
Work to get out the vote (GOTV):
- We host virtual letter writing events every Saturday — sign up at https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write letters to voters from home, whenever it’s convenient for you. Register with Vote Forward to get started at votefwd.org
- Host your own virtual letter-writing party. Get started here at https://swingleft.org/p/virtual-letter-writing-party
BACKGROUND:
In a public health emergency, the most important characteristic of leadership is truthfulness.
But Trump lies. He lies to shape the views of his followers. They believe him. Recently, Trump has been telling them that:
- 99% of coronavirus infections are “totally harmless.”
- the spike in the numbers of Covid cases results from more testing.
- the virus is going to “just disappear.”
That’s changing. The White House is reportedly preparing to sell the line that: “ . . . we need to live with it.”
Wrong. The fact that Trump delayed and then decided against an all-out fight against the virus, or to even wear a mask, is a monstrous failure of leadership.
China didn’t just live with it. It mounted a campaign of widespread testing, tracing and isolation. On Monday, China reported 8 cases.
Compared to the US, other countries are accomplishing what Trump isn’t even trying:
- United States (46,727 new cases Monday)
- Germany (219)
- France (0)
- Viet Nam (0)
- Spain (0)
Former CDC director Tom Frieden says: “We are heading in the wrong direction, and we are heading there quickly.”
Trust science. Wash your hands. Keep social distance. Wear a mask.
