Day 1828: Congressional staff

I did something new today along with forty other citizens.  Members of the Chautauqua County Women's Action Group attended the meeting with Congressman Reed's representative at village hall this morning.  Janet spoke first and she was burning with anger over the constant lies coming from DT.  She demanded to know what the Congressman was going to do about the steady stream of lies coming out of the White House.  I was quaking when I spoke next.  I read the first amendment outloud and asked what the Congressman was going to do about the gag rule that DT placed on the EPA.  

More speakers followed, each one calmer than Janet and me, and it became a productive discussion.  About ten speakers covered a variety of topics, although the ACA, the environment, the folly of the wall, free speech, Trump's failure to release his tax returns and his vast conflicts of interest dominated  the conversation.

Every day, more horrors.  He ordered the wall to be built at a cost of billions.  He's stopping all immigration for Syrians refugees and a four month ban on immigrants from specific Muslim countries.  He is cutting off funding for sanctuary cities which is another unconstitutional act.  He signed executive actions permitting the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline.  Will the Congress fund any of these actions?  Will any Congressmen or women stand up to him?

I learned a great deal. First and foremost, I  have been too complacent, too casual and uninvolved for many years.  I thought keeping informed, reading and teaching were enough.  What a fool!  I've been too cautious, too reserved.  Because I wished to remain neutral for my students, I kept quiet.  The young woman who recorded our comments handled the crowd effectively and respectfully.  I realized she's doing a job and should not be the target of our anger.    She doesn't know when Reed will be hosting a town hall meeting, but we will be there whenever it is.

I've written three letters to DT this week and plan to continue.  No doubt they will be tossed in the trash, but I'm going to do it anyway.  He's cut off the White House comment line so we can't even call and leave a message.  He thinks he's king.

On the book front, in the last few days I've reviewed another nine chapters as I prepare the bibliography.  Should be able to finish by Sunday, especially since a huge lake effect snow storm is on the way!  It has hardly felt like winter.  64 degrees on Saturday, 45 today.  It's been lovely and we're going to pay for it now.   No such thing as global warming?  HA!  2016 was the warmest year on record!