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Dear John,
Today, the future of U.S. politics faces a crucial test in Texas, where the state's 28th congressional district is holding a runoff pitting the most conservative Democrat in the House against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros.
Cisneros is facing headwinds including the substantial weight of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who outrageously supports Cuellar despite mouthing support for abortion rights.
Can you join us today to hold hypocrisy accountable?
Earlier this week, Pelosi was in the national news—yet again—for reasons that appear absurd on reflection. The reality is frankly so ridiculous that we hope to see sketch comedians explain what the news has obscured.
The archbishop of San Francisco denied Nancy Pelosi communion, citing her supposed support for abortion rights. There are so many things wrong with this that I'll just summarize them quickly.
- It's an impermissible attack on the separation of church and state. Our Constitution includes an Establishment Clause for many good reasons.
- It's an offensive projection of a religious leader's preferences on the democratic process to undermine fundamental human rights. We invite the archbishop to stay in his lane.
- It's a sad reflection of outright ignorance, since Pelosi is actively undermining the right to choose today, long after having abandoned it years ago. We invite the archbishop to get his facts straight.
- It's yet another example of how journalists construct cults of personality, undermining democratic accountability and their own profession by ignoring facts. We invite editors to expose the hypocrisy that both Pelosi and the archbishop share.
- It distracts the news cycle from alternative subjects that could, with any independence, enable change. For instance, the press not only fabricated a narrative that Pelosi is paying a personal price for her supposedly stalwart defense of rights that she is undermining in practice, but continues to ignore stories that could actually help. We invite editors to cover our proposal for states, including California, to pass bills that would activate boycotts of states poised to deny basic rights should Roe fall, in order to threaten commerce and compel the Justices to reject the draft opinion leaked a few weeks ago.
I know what it means to pay a personal price for standing up for progressive principles. An oligarch born with a silver spoon in her mouth most certainly does not.
Would you like to be represented in Congress by someone who has actually faced obstacles and overcome them, demonstrating a deep commitment to our principles, or instead a dynastic oligarch who mouths support for them while repeatedly undermining them in practice?
Since Pelosi is continuing to duck debates for the 35th year in a row, we’ve been forced to inform voters not only about our campaign, but also the basic facts—including the fact that an election is even happening at all.
Until this morning, no print publication serving San Francisco had ever covered the election currently underway through June 7. Earlier today, a local newspaper published an opinion column that we look forward to sharing with you later this week.
Today, we aim to show solidarity with the Cisneros campaign, and Texans who have been clamoring for real representation despite the machinations of corporate Democrats. We're grateful that many voices from around the country have rallied behind Cisneros, while also sadly aware that—from labor unions to "progressive" organizations, and even stalwart national figures by whom we've been inspired—the vast majority of them remain too timid to challenge Pelosi.
Can you contribute today to help us inform more voters about the contrasts between their choices on the ballot here in San Francisco? Your support makes a crucial difference as we work to overcome the continuing media whiteout and failures of "progressive" organizations to stand up for their own stated principles.
Thanks for standing with us as we work to defend the future from the failures of the past!
Your voice,
Shahid
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