September 2020. Election season in the USA is now in full swing. California is burning, and Trump has refused to release adequate federal funds to fight the fires. Covid-19 is surging across the country; Trump is doing nothing to stop the spread of the pandemic. No other country on earth will allow Americans to enter. Trump has truly built his wall – around us. We are trapped. Will we ever escape his bungled, corrupt, authoritarian rule?
This month may be the most crucial month in the history of the human species. Even if you believe that the Democrats have served the American people badly, think about this: under a Democratic administration we’ll still have the possibility of improvement, but if Trump gets another four years, the devastation he and his thugs will cause to democracy, civil society, social justice, and the environment will be irremediable for generations to come—possibly forever.
If it succeeds in taking another four years of power, the Trump cartel will drill and frack every last drop of Mother Earth’s lifeblood, despoiling our national parks, forests, monuments, and marine sanctuaries, and escalating global warming until the ice caps have melted away and life as we know it on this planet has been laid to waste.
This is IT! Early voting started in Alabama on September 9th. (See calendar of early voting state by state.) NOW is our last chance for a Free and Fair Election in the USA. Now is the time to pause your “business as usual” and put your whole self into SAVING the WORLD from Trump.
In Georgia in 2018 alone, more than 200,000 voters were wrongfully purged from voter rolls — the majority of them black (ref. The Best Democracy Money Can Buy). This year the purges have continued aggressively, especially in the Swing States. (See the film Rigged; or read How Trump Stole 2020 by Greg Palast.) In-person voting is now fraught with obstacles such as long lines and insufficient poll workers; broken, missing, and insecure voting machines; and the out-and-out double danger of Covid-19 and right-wing armed extremists summoned to the polls as “poll watchers” by Trump.
Volunteers are urgently needed NOW to re-register purged voters, register young voters for the first time, help people obtain Vote by Mail ballots, give citizens accurate information about the safest and most secure way to vote in their county and how to track their vote to assure that it’s been counted, and give people access to 24-hour voter help lines.
Many democratic groups, such as SwingLeft.org and FieldTeam6.org, have organized volunteer phone and text banks, coordinating efforts to Dump Trump, flip the Senate, hold the house, and end gerrymandering across the country. Find volunteer opportunities that fit your schedule: Ditch “Moscow Mitch” McConnel in Kentucky, end the reign of Devin Nunes in California (email the organizer); fire Martha McSally, help register college students, and elect Gabby Giffords’ husband – the astronaut Mark Kelly – in Arizona; reinstate purged voters in Pensylvania (email the organizer), help flip the state legislature and restore voters’ rights in North Carolina, phonebank with Beto in Texas, get out the Vote in Georgia, defend Wisconsin (email the organizer), help flip Florida blue, and more you can do.
Sign up to volunteer today!
For a deeper exploration of the various scenarios that may play out on election day, and our best shot at protecting our Democracy, see Hold the Llne: A Guide to Defending Our Democracy
So Do Something! Spare yourself the agony of having to look back later, filled with regret that you could have done more. Go ahead and take a knee to honor the dead. Then stand up with our ancestors who have fought and bled for liberty and justice. Be a patriot. Be a hero. Do the right thing. Act now to Save the World! Whatever the outcome, you’ll feel better inside your skin knowing you gave it your best shot. I promise.
“I am not throwing away my shot! . . . Hey, yo. I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy, and hungry. And I’m not throwing away my shot! I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal, tryin’ to reach my goal, my power of speech, unimpeachable! . . . I shoulder every burden, every disadvantage I have learned to manage, I don’t have a gun to brandish, I walk these streets famished! The plan is to fan this spark into a flame, but damn, it’s gettin’ dark . . .” — Hamilton