Governors Newsom (CA) and Pritzker (IL) warn: Trump's goal is to destroy our democracy.

In the last few weeks, Donald Trump has blown past all the norms that make our democracy possible, activating reluctant members of our military against our own citizens and removing everyone who would speak out against him or act to stop him. He's well on his way to realizing his vision of a fascist authoritarian regime under his complete control. 

In response, Governors Gavin Newsom (CA) and J.B. Pritzker (IL) have each issued an urgent call to action for all of us. These are below. Please watch them. Then figure out how you can join them in opposition to Trump, the wannabe dictator.

The Trump Resistance: Fighting Back Against Fascism

A Trump Resistance is Born!

Many of us watched in stunned disbelief that so many of our fellow citizens had been seduced by, voted for and elected a 34-count convicted felon, misogynist and insurrectionist to be our next president. For a lot of us it was a gut punch that left us reeling! But now it's time to regain our balance and fight for this democracy that the cult-leader Donald Trump has managed to steal from us. 

The Trump Resistance movement is already organizing and swinging into action, even as Trump and his core team assembles and plots to destroy democratic norms and the government organizations that defend them. The Resistance Movement needs our help, both as volunteers and as donors. Below is a list of articles describing the prominent organizations that are now up and running. Check them out and then connect with them and give what you can of your effort or cash to support them. Nothing less than the future of the country is at stake! 

"Here are 26 organizations fighting Donald Trump that you can donate to"

https://www.advocate.com/politics/anti-donald-trump-charities?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic

Quoting: 

"A second term under Donald Trump endangers the well-being of LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants, people of color, and everyone else. It will also most likely lead to more censorship and rolling back protections against climate change. But the activists and organizations advocating for these causes aren't going quietly — they're getting louder. Many have resisted during Trump's first term, and are ready to do so again..."

"New wave of movements against Trumpism is coming"

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/a-new-wave-of-movements-against-trumpism-is-coming/

Mission:

"Our job is to translate outrage over his agenda into action toward a truly transformational vision."

TRM - Trump resistance movement on Facebook

https://m.facebook.com/TrumpResistanceMovement/

Mission: 

"Please join us in Peaceful Resistance to the criminality, intolerance, racism and bigotry of trumpism."

[Background from NBC News] "A reformed anti-Trump resistance movement seeks to move forward under his second administration"

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna179115

DONATE TO (or otherwise support) the ACLU 

The ACLU is legally savvy, fired up and ready to go! In fact they are already battling Herr Trump all over the place! But they need volunteers and money to do the work.  How you can help:  https://www.aclu.org/how-you-can-help

FOLLOW Robert Reich (former Secretary of Labor) on Facebook

 In particular, check our his daily "Resistance Report" quick videos: 

 https://m.facebook.com/pg/RBReich/videos/?mt_nav=1 

CALL Your Congresspeople!

READY TO ACT? Use and share these tools with your allies to help influence your member of congress: 

Find your House of Representatives member (& CALL them!!): 

• https://www.house.gov/htbin/https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.findrep

Find your Senator's contact info: (& CALL them!!): 

• https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Fun fact: I was once told by a congressperson's staffer that they assume that the opinion expressed by a single caller is shared by about 10 other constituents who are simply not bothering to call... but may bother to vote on the issue! So make that call!! It really counts!

An Appeal to My Republican Friends & Family Members: Please Don't Vote for Donald Trump

(Image from article "Is An Insane President The Result Of A Society Losing Its Mind?" from PlanetSave.com)

Dear Republican Friends & Family - 

I am writing to appeal to your patriotism and your humanity and ask you to NOT vote for Donald Trump. If the Republican Party had nominated Marco Rubio, George Bush, Mitt Romney, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz... indeed, pretty much anyone you can think of, I would not be making this personal appeal to you. But this is an emergency. 

Donald Trump's presidency has a track record. He is no longer an outsider thumbing his nose at the elite and promising to shake things up. We've seen, first hand, how he works and the chaos he creates. His presidency is profoundly divisive, literally lethal to our health and safety and threatens the rule of law and foundations of our democracy.  In any other election, as you know, I would noisily advocate for my party, but I would not ask you outright not to vote for your party's candidate. But this is different. We, together as American citizens, are facing an existential threat. 

I am not asking you to change political parties. I'm just asking you to join many, many of your fellow Republicans who oppose this lethal president. Look at this Who's Who of Republicans who refuse to support his re-election:

• Former Secretaries of Defense Colin Powell, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel & Jim Mattis

• Former PA Gov. & Sec of Homeland Security Tom Ridge

• Former Governors John Kasich (OH) & Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA)

• Michael Steele (former Republican Party Chairman)

• Senator Mitt Romney

• Former Senators Jeff Flake & John Warner

• Former US Rep (PA) Charlie Dent

• ... and many, many more. 

You can see the long list of others here at this apolitical, fact-based Wikipedia page: "List of Republicans who oppose the 2020 Donald Trump presidential campaign"

And also there's this this article from Forbes:  "All The Republicans Who Have Endorsed Joe Biden For President"

Among the people who have worked in the Trump administration and have seen his methods and character first hand, there are many who are actively supporting Joe Biden. Think of it! What a potentially career-ending risk these GOP folks are taking to abandon Trump and support Biden!  It's a real measure of the powerful negative impact of working with Trump and seeing him up close and personal.

Trump's former Defense Secretary & ex-Marine Jim Mattis has called Trump "a threat to the Constitution..." See this brief article for the positions of some of the other former administration officials:

"'Country over party': List of former Trump officials backing Biden is growing" 

And then there are the many members of the military who are growing weary of their Commander in Chief. See:  "Half of the Military Disapproves of Trump as Commander in Chief: Poll

And many of the evangelicals who once supported him are growing tired of Trump. Billy Graham's granddaughter says, "By supporting Donald Trump, evangelical leaders are failing us and failing the Gospel. Christian women must step up where our church leaders won't."  See this article in USA Today:  "I'm Billy Graham's granddaughter. Evangelical support for Donald Trump insults his legacy." 

Finally, you can listen to the voices and see the despair and disgust on the faces of ordinary Republican citizens like yourselves, including many veterans, as they explain their opposition to Trump in this Republican Voters Against Trump YouTube Channel.

If you have read this far, Thank You!  Please consider checking out some of the respected sources above. And please DO NOT VOTE for another four years of this chaos. 

I deeply believe that to vote for Trump is to endanger all our lives by the immediate threat of Trump's continuing bungled response to the pandemic (nearly 200,000 U.S. dead and counting!!) and the longer-term threat to our democracy and rule of law. But you don't have to take my word for it. Just listen to some of those powerful GOP leaders identified above.

Thanks for your consideration,

Mike

P.S. - Feel free to forward this letter to anyone, particularly any Republican of good conscience, who might join us in doing the right thing in this election. 

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