November 7, 2024 - Reckoning
Thoughts on what's ahead and a few actions to take
For immediate steps, scroll to the bottom.
Like all of you, our team is shaken and heartbroken and infuriated and fearful after the authoritarians’ victory in ways impossible to find words for. We are already grieving the terrible price people will pay for this defeat. We so wish we had a clear answer for you as to what the path forward is, what we can do right now to make things better, what the battles to come for a better America look like. But we are struggling to figure out what comes next, and as our task is suggesting what actions to take we want to be honest with you about that.
What we are sure about, however, is that we will not stop taking action. Ever.
The first lesson Timothy Snyder offers for resisting tyranny is do not comply in advance. There is nothing they want more than for us to give up, to admit their victory and accept resistance is pointless and there’s nothing we can do to stop them. We have an obligation to make it clear we will not do that. It will throw a wrench in their plans and infuriate the right wingers currently gloating about their triumph that we refuse to kneel.
Moreover, the efforts we make matter. Even on a hard Election Night our field work made a difference. We defeated the violent extremists downballot in North Carolina and broke the supermajority in their legislature. We advanced reproductive rights in seven different states, actually reversing bans in Arizona and Missouri. The House will be, at worst, a painfully thin GOP majority as we continue to see flips confirmed.
And what we do will continue to matter. We are in a terrible position, but we can and will get in the way of the Trump agenda being carried out. We can mitigate some of the damage, slow their work, save some lives, and those small victories will mean the world to those they benefit. And we will start the hard journey of clawing back what we lost. Nothing in politics is permanent. This is a brutal reality when the current state is something you’d struggle to keep, and a kind one when the current state is something you cannot accept.
We understand that at this moment it can be difficult to have the hope required to put the effort in. In Paul Kix’s history of the Birmingham civil rights protests, he notes that in his research, “one thing became clear: Those guys in the movement had hope long after they should have.” We’ve taken comfort in that in this dark moment. Every tiny bit of progress we’ve made towards a fairer, more just, safer world for us all has started with people who took on a fight all logic and all reason said they should lose. And all logic and all reason are nowhere close to being weighted against us here in November 2024. Nothing will be easy. But we truly believe better days lie ahead – if we do the work necessary to create them.
We will stay in the fight. And we love and thank you for staying in it, too.
On a practical note: our post schedule may be abbreviated or irregular over the next few weeks, and we hope you will be patient with us. We will, however, aim to continue providing you at least one action per day. As always, if you have suggested actions please send them to us at roganslisttips@gmail.com - or drop them in the comments. We will do this together.
PROGRESSIVES GATHERING FOR THE NEXT STEPS TONIGHT AT 8PM
Multiple progressive coalitions are holding post-election mass meetings to process, grieve together and discuss their plans for the coming months. More than 20,000 activists joined calls with United for Democracy, SURJ, Sunrise and Indivisible yesterday. Now, more than 200 progressive organizations are coming together TONIGHT AT 8PM to discuss the meaning of the moment and the path forward and lay out concrete actions people can take this week. Let’s sign up here to join them.
MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO BALLOT CURE
Taking control of the House - with its committee hearings, investigative and subpoena power and central role in appropriations - may be a significant obstacle to Trump’s plans. It will certainly disrupt the narrative of total victory the right is telling about this election. While the GOP is a slight favorite, we should continue to do what we can to maximize our chances by ensuring our votes get counted. Let’s sign up to ballot cure for House races in Arizona, California, Nevada and wherever is neccessary. (h/t Indivisible)
Heartening commentary! Thank you!
Thank you for staying on! Somehow that 2016 activist part of me has already kicked in.