If you don't see yourself as the sort of person who calls your representatives in Congress and urges them to vote to end the war in Afghanistan, stand up and take a bow. This is your moment of special recognition. The American peace movement is calling on you – you – to call your representatives in Congress now to urge votes against the wars, and we want you to do this so badly that the Friends Committee on National Legislation has established a toll-free number for you to reach your representative: 1-888-231-9276.
The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act is expected on the floor of the House this week, and the House is expected to consider, among others, amendments to limit and end the war in Afghanistan, to limit and end the war in Libya and to strip from the bill the “permanent war” authorization inserted by Representative McKeon. Voting on these amendments may happen as early as Wednesday afternoon, Eastern time.
A suggested call script, with information on many proposed amendments, is here. If your schedule doesn't permit you to call, you can write here.
Polls show that America – Blue America, Red America and Purple America – is done with these wars. But the wars grind on.
One reason that these wars grind on is that, while members of Congress do obviously care about polls, polls are not all they look at to gauge public opinion. They want to know what people in their particular district think, and they want to know not only where the majority of opinion lies, but the intensity with which people hold their views. It's one thing to say that the majority wants to end the wars; it's another thing to say that the majority wants to end the wars, and furthermore, people in my district see this as a priority.
And a key way that members of Congress gauge whether people in their district not only want to end the wars, but see it as a priority, is whether the phone is ringing off the hook in their office. It's a striking fact, that even as polls register more and more public opposition to the wars, some members of Congress say: People aren't calling us about this.
And that's why peace groups collaborate to organize call-in days to Congress. Judging from a quick scan of my email, this one includes, among others: Peace Action, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Council for a Livable World, Win Without War, USAction/TrueMajority, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Progressive Democrats of America, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, Voices for Creative Nonviolence and Just Foreign Policy.
That's a range of groups, in terms of their philosophies of social change. They all agree on one thing: you need to call your representatives now and urge them to vote against the wars. If you can't call, you can write.
The most important thing right now is not how you feel about your Representative, or how you think the vote is going to turn out. The most important thing right now is how many calls there are. An opinion poll is being conducted right now: how do you really feel about the wars? Stand up and be counted. Call your representative now: 1-888-231-9276.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.