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This was an exciting week for Mission: Democracy, as we released a new ad, “Kick the Can,” that struck a nerve across the nation. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out:
In honor of the ad’s release, we’re pleased to welcome today’s guest writer, Michael Welch, the lead actor in the ad, whose character learns a tough lesson about fascism...
My political awakening came as a teenager, when I was jolted out of apathy due to a series of world-altering events. I was 13 years old at the turn of the century, 14 during 9/11, and 15 at the start of the 2nd Gulf War.
Those formative years made me realize something very important—that Patriotism is about valuing and defending a set of ideals and principles; it is NOT an exercise in blind fealty. That when you see the foundational principles of your country being eroded from within, the greatest act of Love is to Resist those forces with all your might. That Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; the Rule of Law; and this absolutely brilliant Constitutional Republic, built firmly with the bricks of Western Liberal Democracy, must be cared for and maintained by The People, if it is to survive the test of time.
What I and so many of us are seeing now is the greatest threat to the building blocks that make this country what it is, certainly in my lifetime, probably since the Civil War. We have an authoritarian strain that has been set loose on one of our major political parties, and it must be squashed. Fascism and freedom cannot co-exist. Our systems have held up thus far, but we have an opportunity over the next 14 months to derail this toxic movement.
We need a sound, definitive stomping at ballot boxes across America of the party that has been willing to hoist this darkness onto our society. We need to show the world, and ourselves, that MAGA in 2024 and beyond has no place anywhere, especially in the United States of America. And conversely, if it makes its way BACK into the White House or gains traction in our sacred halls, I’m not convinced our systems will be able to hold them at bay once again.
So I thank Mission: Democracy for the work they do and am honored to play a small role in helping move this agenda forward. Hopefully, we can once again have two viable parties that function in a way that is worthy of our people and the values that make this country truly great. But first things first—we must defeat MAGA now and extinguish the embers that made it possible in the first place.
Thank you. God bless. —Michael Welch
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She owns him
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Friday that he will strip the $300 million earmarked for Ukraine out of the Pentagon appropriations bill currently making its way through Congress. Why? Because MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told him to. Greene withdrew her support for the legislation on Thursday and joined the GOP’s far-right flank to stall efforts to pass it. The leader of the House majority is in thrall to his party’s extremist minority. It’s gotten so bad that Republicans couldn’t even agree to debate the bill, which usually passes by wide margins. “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” said McCarthy, clearly a little slow on the uptake.
In the midst of all this, the beleaguered but unbending Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Capitol Hill. The reception he received was considerably different than the one he got nine months ago, when he was lauded with a two-minute standing ovation. Dozens of Republicans used the visit as an opportunity to snub Ukraine’s requests for U.S. support and even to mock Zelensky himself. Six Republican senators and 22 House members sent a letter to the White House on Thursday opposing Biden’s request for additional aid for Ukraine.
House Republicans try long-shot strategy to avoid government shutdown —Reuters
Schumer in talks with McConnell as shutdown fears grow: ‘We may now have to go first’ —CNN
Senate confirms C.Q. Brown as chair of Joint Chiefs after months-long Tuberville hold —CNN
Why the Senate is debating dress code change —Katie Couric Media
‘Eating away at democracy’
Book bans in U.S. public schools have increased by 33% over the last school year, according to a study by the nonprofit Pen America. And, as attempted bans surge in schools, the trend is now increasingly extending to public libraries, according to the American Library Association. More than 40% of all school book bans occurred in Florida, which overtook Texas as the state with the most bans, followed by Missouri, Utah, and Pennsylvania.
But not everyone is appalled by the bans. A Republican candidate for Missouri governor vowed to burn books if elected, after he was criticized for burning cardboard boxes with a flamethrower in a viral video. “You bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I’ll burn those too—on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion,” said state Sen. Bill Eigel. The problem is, they’re very often not “pornographic” books. To wit, a Texas teacher was just fired for showing an Anne Frank graphic novel to her eighth-grade class.
A West Texas city is seeing a tense battle of book censorship and bans —NPR
Embattled Washington library wins lawsuit, won’t shut down after book ban fight —The Seattle Times
Biden administration names book ban coordinator, but authority is limited —The Boston Globe
New school year highlights book, curriculum bans facing America’s teachers —Yahoo News
State laws restricting curriculum, pronoun use cause confusion and chaos in schools —Education Week
Texas’ ‘alarming’ rise in hate and extremism
A new report released by the Anti-Defamation League partly attributes a recent rise in hate and extremist activity in the Lone Star State to the presence of the Patriot Front. Founded in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs in the wake of the “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia, the group made Texas the top state in the country for the spread of white supremacist propaganda between 2021 and 2022, with more than 850 reported incidents. Patriot Front was responsible for 71% of those incidents, which included banner drops and the spread of fliers in public areas. In 2022, the number of antisemitic incidents in Texas reported to the ADL rose 89% from the previous year, compared to a 36% increase nationally. “There’s a phenomenon afoot across the country that does seem to be concentrated in the Lone Star State,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
Here’s what else happened this week:
Republican Texas AG Ken Paxton is acquitted of 16 corruption charges at impeachment trial —Associated Press
Trump wrote aide’s to-do lists on backs of classified docs: report —The Hill
Attorney General Merrick Garland says ‘no one’ has told him to indict Trump —CBS News
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One more thing…
MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has set her sights on something bigger than the House of Representatives. She hopes the tell-all book she’s writing lays the groundwork for higher office. “I have options,” she says. “Anything from a governor’s race to a Senate seat.” Also reportedly a potential vice presidential pick for Donald Trump’s 2024 run, Greene said she hasn’t “closed the door on anything.” Thanks for the warning?
If you don’t live in Greene’s district or state, you can’t vote her out, but you can help us demote her. Mission: Democracy is taking back the national narrative from the MAGA extremists. Help us do it with a donation today!
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Pennsylvania will add new voters in 2024
Fulfilling a campaign promise, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday announced that Pennsylvania will become the 24th state to implement automatic voter registration. “It’s a safe, secure, streamlined way to get [eligible voters] to register and participate in our democracy,” said Shapiro, speaking on National Voter Registration Day. Shapiro said there are 1.7 million eligible Pennsylvania voters who are not registered. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt estimates there will be tens of thousands of new registrants in the first year alone. —PennLive.com
David Thornburgh: Keep an eye on the independents this year in Pennsylvania —Bucks County Courier Times
It’s nice to get reminders that, at its best, government can still work for the public interest. Share a story of hope from your community for a future issue of Democracy Defender. Please include your name and state with your submission. Thank you!
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Looking for something to read this weekend? This commentary by Tom Nichols is a sobering but important read: Americans are sleepwalking through a national emergency —The Atlantic
Looking for something to listen to this weekend? Our own Marcus Flowers and Joe Walsh talk all things Mission: Democracy on this latest episode of Joe’s podcast, “White Flag”:
224. White Flag with Joe Walsh: Marcus Flowers White Flag with Joe Walsh |
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In defense of democracy
“We will defend democracy: our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. We’re working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to people’s lives.” —President Biden addressing the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, New York, September 19, 2023
If you received this issue of Democracy Defender by email, it’s because you subscribed to it on Substack, signed up to receive mailings from Mission: Democracy, or have an awesome friend who forwarded it to you (make sure to thank them🙂).
We want to hear from you! Let us know what we’re doing right—or wrong. Send your feedback to Melissa Amour, Editor, at [email protected]. Thank you for defending American democracy!
Democracy Defender is the weekly newsletter of Mission: Democracy, a political action committee founded to defend democracy against extremists in Congress. To learn more about Mission: Democracy, please visit our website at www.missiondemocracy.org.
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