Dear Fellow Kossacks:
It's time to get off our tushies - strike that - stay on our tushies and do what we do best: WRITE! Two issues have recently been discussed on these pages, which we CAN and SHOULD work to influence: voting accountability and legislation intended to protect pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. You can either post your progress right here, or start your own diary if you decide to "own" a state - which others can then hotlist and keep adding onto until you have your own page/link. (Sorry - I'm a computer troglodyte, or I'd help with the logistics myself...)
Anyhow, here we go - and with great thanks to Meteor Blades for helping to mobilize yours truly --
(and PS to PastorDan: of course I'm in on a convention -- you must have been posting your "to arms" diary while I was drafting mine!)
"Defend American Democracy" Act/Initiative:
Who would be unwilling to support good government? Ballot accountability should be a no-brainer - and it's a win-win for the progressives: we get what we, as voters, deserve, and any rightwing opposition can rightfully be tarred with the "obstructionist" brush. Here are a few preliminary steps:
1. Determine whether your state will provide a paper trail by 2006. I have a partial (?) list of the yeses, thanks to RegenerationMan's Diary: CA, MO, NH, OH, OR, WA.
2. If your state needs accountability and has a friendly legislature, start a letter writing campaign, natch! Every state website has a list of contacts. This should be a great issue to get the 527's involved in, too.
3. If you want to help get an initiative campaign going in those states that permit it, first go to the Initiative and Referendum Institute (at U.S.C.) website for tips, restrictions, requirements, etc: http://www.iandrinstitute.com/statewide_i&r.htm. The applicable states are AK, AZ, AR, CO, FL, ID, IL, ME, MA, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA & WY. I live in NY, but if anyone out there wants help with organization, I'm there!
"Religious Objector" Pharmacists:
Whether we agree on whether a private pharmacy should allow one of its employees to refuse to fill a particular prescription, it is crystal clear that this is NOT a "problem" that deserves STATUTORY protection. It is, of course, just another transparent attempt by the reactionary right to define America - one in a series that has been all too successful recently, because they've just been better at playing legislative politics. Now's our turn! Write to the elected officials in one of the 10 states considering this legislation (thanks to The Mockingbird for providing this list) and demand they protect their citizens' autonomy:
INDIANA: http://www.in.gov/legislative/contact/
MICHIGAN: http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192-31940-102990--,00.html
MINNESOTA: http://www.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?programid=536879891&id=-8494&agency=
NorthStar
MISSISIPPI: http://www.state.ms.us/contact_us.jsp
MISSOURI: http://www.state.mo.us/mo/govoffices.htm
OHIO: http://ohio.gov/contacts.stm
RHODE ISLAND: http://www.state.ri.us
VERMONT: http://vermont.gov/egovernment/govindex.html
WASHINGTON: http://support.access.wa.gov/caseSubmitForm.html
WISCONSIN: http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/government.html
Organize boycotts, too, if you wish - but that won't stop the reactionaries from getting their way at the government level, and once it's on the books, the camel's body ain't far behind.... We will never be seen as an alternative to the reactionaries if we don't show what the alternatives are!
Here's to more fun in the trenches.....