Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

This blog will pay for itself.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

The words do not have to be perfect.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Postcard Writing and Music Thread

Postcard Writing and Music Thread

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It’s postcards and music time!

There are two postcard-writing opportunities for Ohio, and one for Virginia.  (That we’re aware of!   Chime in if you know about others!)   There are two letter-writing campaigns for VA, as well.

All the details on options for writing for Ohio Issue 1 and for Virginia – and images of postcards – are always available in the sidebar.  To make it extra easy to find, I have copied it just below the postcard image.

Send me a photo of your postcards and I’ll post it in the thread and add it to the link in the sidebar.

Postcard Writing Party & Music Thread 3
(click the image to see a bigger version)

Political Action

Postcard Writing Information

Music!

Brendancalling is giving us a jump start tonight with a great playlist of Protest and Organizing Songs!

And of course, add your musical links in the comments!

Reader Interactions

41Comments

  5. 5.

    H.E.Wolf

    The music links and the YouTube playlist are great – thank you to all the recommenders!

    I’m only here for a quick fly-by tonight (the fountain-pen ink is drying on my current batch of postcards, and I’m due at the supper table) – so a huge thank-you to WaterGirl for hosting the party, and to everyone who is volunteering their time to GOTV for these 2 important state elections. Together we will win.

  7. 7.

    H.E.Wolf

    First of 2 quotations for tonight:
    Maya Lin, on the inspiration for her Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL [bold is mine]:

    “On my first site visit to Montgomery, on the flight down, as I was reading about the civil rights movement, I came across a passage from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I have a dream speech, in which he quotes from the book of Amos:

    ‘We are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.‘

    Immediately I knew that the memorial would be about water and that these words would become the inspiration for the design. I scribbled a small sketch on a napkin that would evolve into a design of a curved water wall separating the upper and lower plaza and a circular stone water table engraved with a brief history of the civil rights movement. As I further researched this history I realized that the civil rights struggle in this country was a people’s movement, where individual actions were able to truly change history. “

  10. 10.

    H.E.Wolf

    2nd of 2 quotations:
    Playwright Claire Willett on supporting the WGA strike, and on taking action in general: https://nitter.net/clairewillett/status/1705767550284640540#m

    “sorry to be optimistic about the future of humanity on main I know that’s cringe

    but in general I think it’s not a bad idea to live your life as if someday a kid reading about historical events you lived through in real time is going to ask for your stories about them and you don’t just want to be like ‘well, Bobby, I tweeted about that a lot’ ”

  11. 11.

    Scout211

    Maren Morris is leaving country music and is moving to pop music.  The songs like Jason Aldean’s Try that in a Small Town and other country singers who have turned their music into right wing theme songs, has finally forced her to leave country music.

    The Tree  is a single off her new album that hints at why she is “getting the hell out of country music” (LA Times) or (from Fox News), “Country music’s Maren Morris goes woke, blasts Trump. Why did she take her ’80s Mercedes out of town?”

    Added: Get the Hell out of Here is also the same theme, essentially part 2 of the story.

  13. 13.

    H.E.Wolf

    The 2 quotations above are why I’ve been writing postcards: to take part in the current effort to make this a more perfect Union, and to be part of the long long history of others who’ve done the same.

    Small, concrete actions, in company with one another, will see us through….

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    This makes me cry every time I see it.  Seeing Obama inaugurated, and Pete Seeger on stage singing this, was just perfect.

    So. Much. Hope.  I want to get back to that.  That’s part of what we have to fight for.

    This Land Is Your Land

    I say this every time, but I am so glad Pete Seeger got to see that day. Watching them singing on stage – Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen and Pete’s grandson – it occurred to me just now that there were 3 generations up there. It takes all of us, and the fight for democracy is apparently never over.

  15. 15.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I made some postcard templates scavenging (plagiarising) some bumperstickers off the web:

    Voting is just like Driving. To go backward, choose “R”, To go forward, choose “D”
    #Save Democracy. Vote Blue. Make Truth Great Again!
    End the war against women. VOTE DEMOCRAT
    Capital D with a circle around it (in blue, of course).

    If you have Word, you can print these on 8-1/2 x 11″ card stock and cut in half for 4-1/4″x5-1/2″ post cards. You print one side that has the “logo” and then reverse and print the other side with lines for your script and address.

    I’m working on a PDF version. For some reason, it doesn’t print correctly. Adobe has really fucked with the free version of Acrobat.

    If you’re interested in these templates, please say so and I’ll send to Watergirl so she can post a linkie.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    Mousebumples mentioned that she has a headache, not sure if we will see her tonight.  Is anyone writing postcards?  If not, we might just have ourselves the music thread.

  21. 21.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: I’m here, but I’m my way to bed shortly, hoping to sleep this off. Thanks to everyone for postcarding – tonight or on your own schedule. And thanks for the music links. I’m going to cue up a few as I go curl up on bed.

    Are we still on for Saturday night? I’m hoping to be doing better by then. 😊

  24. 24.

    mvr

    @Scout211: It is a shame that country music is a marketing niche and not an actual kind of music defined by something intrinsic to the music.  Sort of anything sung with a twang that  isn’t too complicated and can appeal to a certain audience.

    There is good stuff within that marketing niche, but you can do good stuff just like it out of that niche and not be stuck there.

    I’m a fan of lots of country music including Jimmy Rodgers and Hank Williams but also Freddie Fender and a wider swath of things that would not get played much except on oldies night at a country radio station if they had one of those.

  26. 26.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: Thanks! I’m not sure if it’s a weather front or some daycare crud I’ve caught from my kids. Got some great tunes, and some of satby’s excellent scented creams, and we’ll see how it goes in the am. 🤞

  29. 29.

    schrodingers_cat

    You wanted rousing music , Deva Shri Ganesha, from Agnipath (path of fire) and its good luck to start your endeavors by invoking by Ganesha. Its also 10 days of Ganesha festival in Maharashtra my ancestral home state

    *Composed by brothers, Ajay-Atul Gogavle.

  31. 31.

    brendancalling

    Hey folks, a little bit late to the party. I had a run—marathon training—and then grading, which is odious.  Glad y’all liked the playlist.

    On a completely unrelated note—and in some shameless self-promotion—if any jackals are in Philly this weekend, I’m playing at the Philly Brewing Company‘s first “Harvest From the Hood” release since 2021. Last year, the city cut down their hops by mistake. Big oopsie!

    Anyway, there will not only be two great country/Americana bands—my own, the Country Gold Classics, and Yonder Hearts—we will also have a two step lesson, led by Yonder Hearts’ singer Jess and me. Two-stepping makes country music so much more fun. So come on down to the Brewery in bee-yoo-teeful Fishtown (exact address at the link)! Dance lesson from 1:00-1:30, bands start shortly thereafter. I’m the uglier one playing bass.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    For your reading enjoyment: Rebecca Traister, who is almost always on point, gets it. The Return of the Marriage Plot

    It’s clear that at least some of what is motivating conservatives is the threat of women in positions of power. When Roe was overturned, Ohio’s J. D. Vance, then running for the Senate, tweeted that “if your worldview tells you that it’s bad for women to become mothers but liberating for them to work 90 hours a week in a cubicle at the New York Times or Goldman Sachs, you’ve been had.” The sentiments, like Brooks’s plea to Times readers to focus more on weddings than careers, give away part of the game: the fantasy that a return to a traditional family structure would take high-achieving women out of the job market.

  37. 37.

    Mai Naem mobile >44

    @HumboldtBlue: i don’t think it’s underrated. It won country single the year it was nominated and the album won a country music Grammy. I used to listen to country music at that time. I had to look up Randy Travis because i vaguely remembered the song winning big awards.  Jeez, I knew he’d had problems because of his alcoholism but I didn’t realize he’d had a bad stroke in 2013 and lost the use of one side of his body.  That’s just really sad.

  39. 39.

    wonkie

    I’ve written around two hundred letters to Ohio through VOte Forward. I need a new printer ribbon and stamps.

  41. 41.

    Raymond Smith

    Sending postcards and the connection to music is such a delightful topic! Postcards have this charming way of capturing a moment in time and sending it across distances. Pairing them with music, whether it is lyrics from a favorite song or the ambiance of a particular genre, can evoke powerful memories and emotions. It is like creating a soundtrack for your travels and experiences. I have always found that certain songs instantly transport me back to places I have visited, and those musical memories are just as vivid as the snapshots on postcards. It is a beautiful blend of two art forms, each with its unique ability to touch our hearts.

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