The Democrats are still sitting on the house floor. We have to keep the pressure on today. Here's the cover of the Daily News.
Here's The New York Times from 4 am.
This has to stay front-page news today and until the House gets a chance to vote. Paul Ryan is on vacation. Called recess until July 5. The Dems haven't left and there's a sit-in building outside the Capitol building.
Use these hashtags:
#SilentNoMore
#NoBillNoBreak
Post updates and signs of solidarity on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapshot. Keep calling your Congresspeople today. Here's another idea from some random guy on Twitter:
This has to be what our discussion is today and for all the days going forward until a conversation begins. These are teeny, tiny first steps in passing sensible gun control. The vote won't pass. But the discussion will start. We can't allow this inaction to go on. We're all complicit in the inaction when we go on without doing anything. I think we're complicit, too, when we wet blanket the conversation by saying, "Nothing's going to change." For goodness sake, women have only been voting since 1917. We began the country on the backs of slaves and continued that way for nearly 100 years. Things take time. But this is a spark. It's hope. It's something. It's more than something. Of course it's going to take a long, hard fight but now there's a fight at least. Now we're in the ring.
Here's The New York Times from 4 am.
This has to stay front-page news today and until the House gets a chance to vote. Paul Ryan is on vacation. Called recess until July 5. The Dems haven't left and there's a sit-in building outside the Capitol building.
Use these hashtags:
#SilentNoMore
#NoBillNoBreak
Post updates and signs of solidarity on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapshot. Keep calling your Congresspeople today. Here's another idea from some random guy on Twitter:
W/ GOP on recess, we (the constituents!) can go to district offices & ask why members thought gun debate wasn't pressing enough to stay inDC— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) June 23, 2016
This has to be what our discussion is today and for all the days going forward until a conversation begins. These are teeny, tiny first steps in passing sensible gun control. The vote won't pass. But the discussion will start. We can't allow this inaction to go on. We're all complicit in the inaction when we go on without doing anything. I think we're complicit, too, when we wet blanket the conversation by saying, "Nothing's going to change." For goodness sake, women have only been voting since 1917. We began the country on the backs of slaves and continued that way for nearly 100 years. Things take time. But this is a spark. It's hope. It's something. It's more than something. Of course it's going to take a long, hard fight but now there's a fight at least. Now we're in the ring.
Love it. I heard they might stop & continue on July 5? Not sure though. Called Rep Maloney to support the sit in. And left Paul Ryan a message on his voicemail...but I think it's full now.
ReplyDeleteI hope they don't stop now. You have Maloney? I have Nadler - funny!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea re: calling Ryan also.
Apparently still going on...
ReplyDeleteThey're going to stay through July 5...
ReplyDeleteIt's over :-(
ReplyDeleteThanks for your updates Bearette. I'm really disappointed they're taking a break after all!
ReplyDeleteI do like what Michael Tomasky says in The Daily Beast: "The Day the NRA's Gun Dam Began to Crack" - he makes the point that unlike in the Civil Rights movement, it's not a matter of convincing the public. We're already that much ahead here.
ReplyDelete"The stranglehold will end. And maybe in time, after LaPierre has gone off to whatever place eternity has reserved for him, the NRA will again become what it used to be, which is an organization that promotes reasonable Second Amendment rights but stops insisting that these death machines that were never intended to be in civilian hands deserve constitutional protection.
And when that time comes, historians will point to June 22, 2106 as the day the dam started to crack. I’m clear about which side I’m on."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/23/the-day-the-nra-s-gun-dam-began-to-crack.html
Excellent point made here--unlike the Civil Rights Movement, it's not a matter of convincing the public. Instead we're seeing a blatant disregard for the voice of the people.
ReplyDeleteThe NRA's stranglehold is more complex than I'd realized. This article examines gun violence as a public health issue, and the ripple effect of budget cuts to CDC's gun violence research. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/06/14/the-disease-approach-a-public-health-intervention-for-us-gun-violence/?utm_source=Daily+Newswire&utm_campaign=7364126b0c-Daily_Digest_23286_14_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_94063a1d17-7364126b0c-12394537
"After a $2.6 million cut from the CDC’s budget, the exact amount spent on gun violence research, the CDC was threatened with more cuts if the research continued. In 2003, the language was expanded to include the phrase “in whole or in part,” and in 2012, this ban was further expanded to encompass all Health and Human Services agencies. During 2012, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama attempted to lift the ban on gun violence research. Unfortunately, after 16 years with no federal funding, the top researchers in the field moved on to different projects, and very few students were encouraged to pursue research in this area."
Absolutely sickening. Thanks for the article and the pull-quotes - I've heard about a research ban. I don't know if it's a lack of funding or an official ban or both, but it sounds like the AMA is stepping up to demand some kind of change. It's unbelievable to not allow medical research into the effects of gun violence. This is the positive news I've lately heard:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-14-gun-violence-lobby-congress.page