Over 100 people had signed up by showtime. Per MM’s earlier post, the organizers asked people to go to Hick’s office as the assumption was most were going to Bennett’s. Turns out we had about 50 people show up. Dunno about Bennett other than his Metro Regional Director was in today and was going to speak with them.
Hick’s staffers had everybody come into the lobby (plenty of room). Four of em, all young, came down to say a few things and field questions, listen to a few statements.
The spokesperson from our assemblage started off pretty rambly, not saying anything that hasn’t been said here many times. But, BJer Lobo will appreciate that she ended her spiel with the 4 bullet points they post here regularly:
-Deny Quorum
-Block Unanimous Consent
-Max Out Debate Time
-Blanket Opposition to all nominees.
One person who got their late managed to get recognized by the staff and hammered home that last point.
What did the staffers say?
-At least in Hick’s office, *all* communications count more or less equally but they said that not all Senate offices operated that way.
-They had received 45K calls via the DC phones (I think I got the number right); yesterday the various CO offices got a total of 2K calls. The staffer indicated that not only was that unprecedented as far as Hick’s office specifically, but that the entire House/Senate have been hammered via communications that no one has any memory of experiencing before.
– Basically, keep it coming folks! Congressional Dems are using this outpouring of communications as…something…to show Republicans and to trot out as part of any media/messaging efforts.
Finally, and this shows why we’re Democrats, one woman gave a short statement along the “story telling” line, mainly that she had a special needs child, funding was currently on hold because nobody in her assistance chain (I couldn’t hear her very well) knew what was happening regarding federal funding.
As soon as she was done, wallets opened and the $20s started to flow. My wife saw $100 in there. Total spontaneous collection by a group of strangers that didn’t need to be “moved” in order to act. They heard, they donated.
We talked with the staff for 30 minutes, they then had to head back for a scheduled staff meeting. Heh heh, nothing ever changes.
There was no press. Photos aren’t the greatest but when it’s basically nothing but 50 people milling about smartly, there’s only so much you can do.
Best part: a fellow BJer was in attendance who’s been around just after Schiavo and has *never* made a comment. Ultimate lurker! Came up and introduced himself recognizing me from the meetup photos. I was standing on a planter to get an “aerial” shot. He’s gonna be at the Capitol rally tomorrow so hopefully we’ll all run into each other again.
Baud
Didn’t know that was a thing in the Senate, at least if all the Republicans are there.
ETA: Good showing
zhena gogolia
I have Murphy and Blumenthal, but I guess I’ll make it my morning ritual to call them. I can’t think of anything else to do other than my monthly to ACLU and DNC.
BENNET
TBone
This warms me, thanks for keeping the fires lit. Every. Purpose. Matters.
zeecube
Ultimate Lurker is a good nym.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
KatKapCC
That is a level of self-control I don’t think many of us could ever hope to attain.
Ohio Mom
Re: The ultimate lurker. I’m reminded of wedding receptions where everyone applauds the guests who traveled the furthest.
Who has lurked the longest, I’d applaud them but by definition, we’ll never know. This fellow is definitely in the runnning.
Jackie
This seems important:
My bold.
KatKapCC
@Jackie: This is the kind of crap that makes no sense to me. If a plane goes down, it’s not like anyone who likes Musk will miraculously survive or something.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
I’m sure the panels use “woke words” and that’s a big no-no for the political commissars of the Musk-Trump administration
Trivia Man
Tomorrow i will call F Ron Johnson, i assume tammy is getting lots of madison feedback.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I know.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
One thing I didn’t mention was that the staffers were obviously “on our side”. They realized the crowd was a bunch of pissed off, mostly older, white Dems, who weren’t there to roast Hick on some of his dumbass Kabinet votes but to remind them that we’re frustrated, we’re facing a crisis this country hasn’t faced probably since the Civil War and that our message for an elected person from our party is XYZ.
My normie wife doesn’t ever go to stuff like this, she falls into the “it won’t make a difference” crowd whereas I’ll tilt at a windmill with the best of em. Nevertheless, she came away more positive than she went into it. Sure, Dems have little we can actually do but the fact 50 of us showed up sends a message because it doesn’t happen every day. Combine that with what the staffers told us in terms of communications and she was glad she went and lent her presence to the effort.
It’s about all we can do but standing silently on the sidelines isn’t an option.
Ohio Mom
@Jackie: Two weeks ago, Trump disbanded the longstanding aviation safety committee. It was one of the first things he did:
“ Members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee received a memo Tuesday saying that the department is eliminating the membership of all advisory committees as part of a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security…
The aviation security committee, which was mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, will technically continue to exist but it won’t have any members to carry out the work of examining safety issues at airlines and airports. Before Tuesday, the group included representatives of all the key groups in the industry — including the airlines and major unions — as well as members of a group associated with the victims of the PanAm 103 bombing. The vast majority of the group’s recommendations were adopted over the years.”
From: https://apnews.com/article/coast-guard-homeland-security-priorities-committees-trump-tsa-d3e4398c8871ada8d0590859442e092c
I should learn how to embed links already.
Anyway, looks like an attempt to privatize safety efforts. The fox guarding the henhouse privately, without any public input or accountability, what could go wrong?
Peale
@Jackie: Im just going to put out the reminder that the whole damn reason the FAA is toast is that they probably looked at his plans to build a launchpad to fly rocketships carrying passengers between New York and Singapore and said “Nah ah. Nope.” He does believe that if we just forego saftey concerns, he’d be up and running by now.
azlib
I have called my Republican rep and Senator Gallego. Kelly’s line was busy. I guess there are a lot of people calling.
scav
@Ohio Mom: Fly Air Titan! So there’s AirGate, can TerraGate be far behind?
Steve LaBonne
@Peale: It’s even simpler than that, FAA has been slapping SpaceX on the wrist for the safety violations involving its exploding rockets.
Ha Nguyen
Trump declaring USA taking over the Gaza Strip and we’ll be in control of it!!!!
H.E.Wolf
Thank you to comrade scott and Valued Lurker for showing up at your Senator’s office!
Starfish (she/her)
@Ha Nguyen: Can we just make a XXL aviator suit and put him on a boat with a mission accomplished banner and have him STFU?
Steve LaBonne
@Ha Nguyen: In this falafel restaurant in Dearborn, locals talk about how bad Joe Biden was.
gratuitous
Making a personal appearance at a congressional office every day is obviously not going to work for any individual, but a rotating bunch of folks can still command some attention. If you can’t show up, call. If you’re not comfortable calling (I generally hate talking on the phone), e-mail. If that doesn’t float your boat, send a regular letter by first class mail. Keep reminding our elected officials, friendly and hostile, that we’re out here and we are not going away.
Another Scott
Thanks for this, and thanks to everyone in the trenches doing what they can.
Relatedly, NPR.org – Juana Summers interviews Ken Martin on ATC. She sounds like many a frustrated Democrat, she asks very good questions, and he gives pretty good answers.
Worth a click and 5 minutes of your time. (I assume a transcript will be there sometime tomorrow.)
Best wishes,
Scott.
Eric S.
@Jackie:
As part of a utility and consumer advocate group I was supposed to virtually attend a energy efficiency meeting Friday. It was cancelled because the presentation was to be given by the EPA. The EPA canceled because of the turmoil caused be DJT and Musk.
Lobo
To everyone who went, you are heroes and sheroes. These make the point that something is seriously wrong. None of us like doing this. We want the freedom to just be.
I appreciate shout out on those Statements of the Apocalypse.
-Deny Quorum
-Block Unanimous Consent
-Max Out Debate Time
-Blanket Opposition to all nominees.
Easy talking points to keep in mind and to repeat. Plus, they are exactly what McConnell had the Repubs do against Obama.
Good work. Treat yourself tonight and take a bit of joy somewhere. :)
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@gratuitous:
Staffers made it clear that *any* kind of communication is welcome, the more, the better.
One reason I wrote this up is that most of us share a common bond on what it means to be liberal, a Democrat and recognizing the assault on good government.
Also too, to share the common experience of “doing something”, no matter how little. One person at the event posted this afterwards which speaks to what I just said:
Sally
Trump, who has commented on the slovenliness of his cult, will turn green with envy. You are all so smartly presented and well turned out.
Proud to be a Democrat!
Joy in FL
Thank you for this post. Thank you for attending.
The “No One Voted for Elon Musk” sign spurred me to call my Maga Rep here in Florida. I pointed out that when he voted for Mr. Trump to be president, I doubt that he also was voting for Musk to be co-president. I asked him to use the power of Congress to rein in this unelected individual, also, of course.
Dan B
Wonderful to read your post. We’re 90 miles from the state Capitol but I’m checking on offices in the Seattle area. I got a boilerplate response from Adam Smith to my email. Sigh.
Ohio Mom
@Dan B: You always get a boilerplate response. I wrote my Democratic Rep that I wanted to see Democrats oppose everything and got back a letter saying that he will continue to support bipartisan efforts blah blah blah.
You have to laugh.
Miss Bianca
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: good for you! And your wife!
Thor Heyerdahl
@Jackie: Thanks Jackie.
I own single shares in most of the US airlines (to get the reporting data). I’m going to write their investor relations departments and advise that I’m not planning to fly with them while this insanity is going on.
**edit** FAA has changed their story
Jackie
@Thor Heyerdahl:
Gloria DryGarden
@Peale: let’s forego safety. Cool. Sure. Like the Titan submersible. Can Elon go first?
Gloria DryGarden
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: thank you for going, and for this write up. Moved by your wife’s response, and by the spontaneous donations to that mom..
I called my senators and rep yesterday, guess I’ll try to call every other day. I am so glad to hear they got so many calls.
TONYG
@Ohio Mom: I didn’t even get a boilerplate response from Gottheimer, Booker and Kim. I demand a boilerplate response!
TONYG
@Ohio Mom: I usually do not agree with the “leftist” ideology that “both major parties are the same”. But, in times like this, I can see their point.
TONYG
@TONYG: And don’t get my started about the anemic response to this crisis by the New York Times.
DEBG
@mistermix, you make me proud to be a Coloradan.
TONYG
@TONYG: If the Democratic Party was an actual opposition party they would be keeping track of and making noise about each and every instance of an individual or group being harmed by this lawless takeover. This “business as usual” shit is pissing me off.
TONYG
@TONYG: Aside from the bland content of NPR, the tone of their broadcasts in recent years just drives me up a wall. (“It’s certainly a mystery why Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing this. Tee-hee!”)