Tonight we say farewell to 2019 and turn our thoughts to the new and pivotal year that lays before us.
[link removed] [[link removed]]Friends,
Tonight we say farewell to 2019 and turn our thoughts to the new and pivotal year that lays before us. As we celebrate the turning of the calendar, and the hope and possibility that every new year offers, we should reflect back on all that we’ve accomplished and remember that with new opportunities come new challenges as well. Luckily, we proved in 2019 that together we are up to any task when our liberty is on the line.
At Stand Up Republic, we’ll remember the last year not for the many difficult moments, but for the important work that we as a community were able to accomplish. Some of those accomplishments include:
The second National Summit for Democracy, bringing academics, activists, and advocates for American democracy together for a 2-day working summit to address the threats to our self-government.
Campaigns against unfit political candidates. Including efforts that severely weakened Dan Bishop in a typically safe district, and a campaign now running against Jim Jordan for his role in spreading conspiracies and putting politics ahead of his state.
The launch of www.DefusingDis.info, a platform for essays and ideas about the threat of disinformation and ways to fight back.
SUR’s second annual ‘Hill Days’ event, bringing citizen advocates from across the country to Washington, DC to lobby their representatives for secure elections and accountable government.
Combating xenophobic policies and presidential abuses of power. From barbaric family separation policies and emergency powers abuses, to obstructing Congress and Justice, we’ve demanded the president be held accountable, culminating his impeachment.
Growing our nation-wide community of cross-partisan advocates who put our liberty and democracy above partisan self-interest.
Taken together, these accomplishments are a broad-based effort to address some of the most critical issues plaguing our democracy and our society. They’re also ongoing efforts. No one act can protect our right to self-government or secure forever our liberty. Instead, it requires constant work, innovation, and determination.
That’s why we have to carry that work forward into 2020. The year ahead is especially critical, and there is much to do. No matter how difficult or daunting the year before us seems, we can - by working together - rise to the moment and secure our future for the better.
First and foremost, next year is an opportunity for America to choose a new direction, and a new government - from President to Congress - that will respect our American ideals, norms, and institutions. Doing so will require not just hard work, but passion and compassion, as we seek to persuade our fellow citizens that their democracy is more important than their party. The future and sustainability of our great experiment in human freedom is at stake.
We will also watch as our country goes through one of the most difficult and sober processes enshrined in our Constitution: impeachment. The fight for a fair and full trial is already raging in Congress, but we have to do our part to ensure that the Senate gives full weight to the evidence known and yet to be discovered, and carries out their solemn duties with integrity.
More broadly, we must confront partisan polarization head on. The divide between our parties seems like an unbridgeable gulf; one that’s growing wider by the day. We can’t let partisanship tear apart a country that, when unified, is capable of the greatest achievements the world has ever known. That means reorienting or reinventing our political parties.
The Republican Party in particular has moved away from many Americans who once identified with them, leaving them politically homeless. They’re abandonment of principles is not only a tragedy, it threatens to unravel a philosophical approach to governing that is important in balancing and guiding our country. But ideological extremism is threatening to do the very same to the Democratic party, and all Americans - Republican, Democrat, independent, or otherwise - should fight for parties that put country before their political interests.
Lastly, America is suffering from a crisis of political and religious violence. There is nothing more abhorrent to a free society than violence against anyone based on their beliefs. In 2020, we must commit ourselves wholly to the protection of all people, and we must fight back against the pervasiveness of bigotry, xenophobia, prejudice and hate.
These missions are a tall order. And we cannot accomplish them by ourselves. We must reach out across political, ethnic, religious, social and any other lines, to build a coalition of pro-democracy voters. We must work within our communities to build a stronger, more unified country. And we must stop at nothing to secure liberty and justice for all.
No matter what trials and tribulations we face in the year to come, that’s where we must keep our focus. And if we keep our faith in freedom - if we trust in our power as citizens - we can prevail. That is our calling for the new year.
Evan and Mindy
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