Standing Against Fascism

How are you taking action?

Watching the terrorism in the capitol last week was incredibly disturbing for most of us, and the FBI's warning that further armed protests are planned in every state capitol is unsettling as well. We all want to do something in these uncertain times, but what can we do?

Supporting our local leaders on the Left with donations and calling on elected officials to condemn these actions and impeach leaders who were involved are a given. Caring for ourselves by not watching the news on loop (which I did) is important as well. It's also helpful to contact and boycott the companies that fund the leaders responsible for the insurrection. Many have already stopped supporting these politicians, and Hallmark even asked for theirs to be returned! Disney just recently joined in, too.

What are you doing while we wait for impeachment hearings to proceed? How else can we help and get the leaders responsible out of office? Share your links in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Defying Our Constitution

The ironic sedition of the Republican Party

How is it possible that the same people who routinely chant "Lock her up!" years after an election is over are truly the criminals who defy the Constitution and other precedents left and right, from holding rallies at the White House to taking down a president's portrait, calling election officials to demand ballots be "found" to filing dozens of lawsuits against a U.S. election... Seriously, how are these people still in office, let alone not arrested for treason?

There are elected officials contesting the very elections that got THEM elected! We can't make this stuff up! How is it that they think people's votes shouldn't count toward Biden but they should toward themselves? It's like watching toddlers try to have an election. Even representatives I've disagreed with for years are calling them out on this ridiculousness.

Where do we even go from here? What do you think should happen to all of these seditious people trying to overthrow democracy as we know it?

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Stimulus Checks Begin Arriving This Week

Sanders continues to push for more

Remember how long it took for Congress to enact a stimulus, not only when the pandemic first began, but recently? Payments for the approved $600 appear to be making their way to checking accounts much more quickly this time around, with some people already receiving them in their bank accounts. Many people will continue to receive them into next week while others wait for checks to arrive.

In the meantime, Bernie Sanders is pushing to delay Congress's holiday until they approve more aid for Americans. It's still mind-boggling how the country that is supposed to be the richest of them all, and that has had the most Covid-19 deaths this year, still hasn't given much aid to the people while so many other nations have given not only larger amounts but monthly payments in order to keep people home and safe--and to stop the spread.

Do you think Congress will approve more aid? Do you think it should be retroactive like some representatives are saying? Share your thoughts in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Termaine Hicks Exonerated

Hicks Paid 19 Years Of Life For Crimes He Didn't Commit

While celebrating Termaine Hick's exoneration after he's spent 19 years in jail for crimes he didn't commit is important, it's even more important to stop this from happening in the first place. I read about two more incidents of police officers shooting Black men today. When is enough going to be enough? 

Hicks had been trying to help someone when police officers shot him, then blamed him to cover up their own mistakes. There's a long string of incidents like these in this country that have to stop. To get involved in the Innocence Project, click here.

Have any other actions for us to take this week? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Devos Gives Chilling Parting Words

As if her entire career as secretary of education hasn't been scary enough

Representative Pascrell's call for 126 members of the Republican party to be denied membership in Congress due to the 14th amendment came to mind when I read words that Betsy Devos, one of the most grossly mis-appointed people by Trump, stated to her department.

"Let me leave you with this plea: Resist. Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what’s right for students. In everything you do, please put students first — always," she said. We're really not sure to laugh or cry between the seditious phrasing and the irony of the whole thing. Devos has been a joke for our education system at best, and she's harmed so many students with her policies and complete inexperience with public schools. ALL of the people I know who work in education find her akin to one Dolores Umbridge.

What other ironic statements have you read this week? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Student Loan Borrowers Get Extension

It's only for a month, for now

The U.S. Department of Education is extending the payment and interest pause that's currently on loans for student borrowers until the end of January, which is great news for the millions of Americans struggling right now. The extension is only until the end of January, and hopefully President Biden will have more relief in progress by then to continue to help citizens.

Many are hoping Biden's promises to forgive student loans will come to fruition by next year. Plenty of citizens are also hoping for more stimulus aid, perhaps in the same vein as other nations who've paid citizens to stay home through the pandemic. It won't be long before we find out.

What kind of changes are you hoping for within the next few months? Share your hopes in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

What are Your Hopes for the Biden-Harris Administration?

Dream big in the chat!

While Joe Biden wasn't most people's first choice for president (actually, wasn't he? He was for those who bothered to vote in the primary, after all...), but he and Kamala Harris are already shattering glass ceilings, appointing the most diverse cabinet positions we've ever seen and giving a lot of us high hopes. Part of me wants to remain cautious but another part of me wants to really just dream big here and hope for something wild and wonderful.

Hoping to get Covid under control is a given. We're all hoping for that, I'm sure, and I know we're also hoping for economic relief for all Americans after this year. But I'm also hoping for universal healthcare, a Green New Deal and student loan forgiveness. I'm hoping for minimum wage reform and a SCOTUS expansion and unions restored and so much more. I know this isn't the most progressive team we could have, but they are working with some pretty progressive people and if we stay on them asking for these things we can accomplish something, right? Harris herself has one of the most progressive voting histories in the Senate!

What are your highest hopes? How about your bare minimums?

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Biden's Cabinet Picks

Share your reactions and predictions in the chat!

Joe Biden has finally won the election--or he's won for the fifth or eighth or 12th time, depending who you ask and where you live in this circus--and he's started to announce his team. While some of his picks aren't particularly exciting, some are milestones for the country. We actually have a climate change position on the national security team, which is long overdue.

I used to think that these announcements, which are released over time instead of all at once, were like our own national reality show. Now I'm not nearly as bothered by the pace after witnessing the past four years in action.

Which appointments are you surprised by? Which did you predict? I'm still hoping for some key positions for Sanders and Warren, although they'll continue to do good things wherever they are, I'm sure.

Klat Categories: 
Politics

Canada Bans Plastic Bags

Let's join in the fight!

While we all know that the world's largest polluters boil down to a few very wasteful companies, we can all also help do our part to cut down on waste. Canada is taking a step in the right direction and joining other countries who've already banned single-use plastic bags, which kill wildlife and clutter the environment every year. The ban is expected to be fully enacted by the end of next year. Let's join them!

So many countries are running circles around the United States, which is easy to do when your administration doesn't even address environmental concerns at ALL and thinks climate change is a hoax. Hopefully we'll be able to join back in soon and help curb this global crisis.

Have you read any other uplifting environmental or political news this week? Share it with us!

 

Klat Categories: 
Environment

Post-Election Feelings

How is everyone feeling?

Every election we've had in my adult life has felt tumultuous and scary, particularly when Bush II was in charge. Then we had Trump's reign of horrors and I discovered I missed Bush II. Does anyone else think this is an incredibly toxic way to elect a leader? Something this divisive and often mean-spirited needs to be changed, especially when we get someone so abusive and hate-mongering in charge afterward who refuses to accept election results.

I really think we'd be better served with the following system: each candidate is tasked with raising GOBS of money that they can't use on ads at all. They must instead compete, reality TV style (since that's what at least half the nation seems to enjoy), and see who can make the biggest difference with their funds raised. Imagine how we'd all look forward to seeing the change every four years as the candidates combat homelessness or help raise drug treatment center funds or get thousands of people jobs. Amazing! Then they all get ONE ad each during which they may only speak of themselves and what they've accomplished, and they are fact-checked. Boom.

Until we reach a day when our politics can reflect that kind of growth and togetherness, and until we can dismantle white supremacy and the patriarchy and too many marginalized people aren't asked to "let bygones be bygones" by the people who voted against their very lives, we'll have to settle for clinging to hope and to one another as we wait for January 20. How are you holding up?

Klat Categories: 
Politics

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