Action 169 - Prep for October 18
Background: No Kings is again happening Oct. 18. Hancock County will have demonstrations in Blue Hill (noon), Bucksport (12:30 pm), Castine (1 pm), Ellsworth (noon), Southwest Harbor (11 am). There may be others within the county, but there does not seem to be a truly comprehensive listing in one place. There are at least 45 demonstrations planned in Maine. Be present at one of them, carry a sign, take photos. There is power, as well as safety, in numbers.
About signage: These are NON-VIOLENT protests. (1). It is important that signage, as well as actions, reflect that. We don’t want to give the fascist goon squad an iota of an excuse to harass us. Here are some ideas about signage: https://substack.com/home/post/p-175554078
About NO on 1:
· Graham Platner’s campaign has joined the effort to defeat the voter suppression referendum. You can join too. Go HERE to volunteer as part of that campaign.
· Also, carry a NO on 1 sign on Oct. 18. Do not carry a sign with a metal stake protruding from it. Remove the metal stake and substitute stiff cardboard (not wood), or just carry the sign with no handle.
· Hancock County Democratic Committee (HCDC) is starting a postcarding campaign to defeat Question 1. The plan is to mail 2000 postcards starting next weekend. Cards, addresses, message scripts, and stamps will be available in packs of 30. Those of us with postcarding experience can arrange with friends to get the work done. To participate, call the HCDC office at (207) 664-6012, indicate how many packs of 30 you need, and arrange for pickup at the office in Ellsworth, possibly after the No Kings rally. The office will be open from 10 am – 2 pm through the November election.
About Persistence: Consider that the activists and historians whose blogs you read, as well as numerous other courageous media and political figures, a large number of judges and lawyers, and many others, are not backing down. They are much more in the cross hairs of the Trumpians than you or I will ever be! We need to persist. Eventually we will prevail, because “our cause, it is just” - like it says in the final verse of our national anthem (2). Do not run out of outrage, do not run out of courage, and do not abandon the fight we are in! Marc Elias of Democracy Docket, who is personally being attacked by Trump, makes a persuasive case for persistence in this YouTube presentation: https://youtu.be/QDs3oonUFZY (sorry about the horrible advertising interruptions!)
Extra Credit:
(1) They can shout “hang Mike Pence”, physically assault police, and receive a pardon. We cannot safely reciprocate. Instead, try this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPnU0Lcjjqv/
(2) https://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-lyrics.aspx. You may not already know this, but the tune was not written by Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics. The tune was originally “To Anacreon in Heaven” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song), which was written by John Stafford Smith around 1775 for a London “gentlemen's music club”. I find it highly amusing that our national anthem’s tune was a drinking song.