From a Google Image Search - Citizens United - www.history.com
To all the Democrats elected as representatives in the House and the Senate:
Since Citizens United v FEC became the law of the land, money is the way we show approval for those who represent us. You and your staff members are assigned the burdensome duty of asking your constituents for money as a show of grassroots support. Your constant demands create anxiety in your constituents because they cannot show backing with as many dollars as you would like to have them donate. You do seem to understand this. This obsession with fundraising seems congruent with public suspicions that politicians are only in government for materialistic reasons. Voters can argue that both parties are "on the take." While depending on grassroots funding is intended to dilute the funds from wealthy donors and thus the powers of monied interests over policy, since the Republicans do accept funds from big donors, it puts pressure on your constituents whose resources are small.
It might be a good idea to put your staff to work learning what other contributions your constituents are making in your support that are not as easy to measure as is accounting for monetary donations. Many of us cannot give to each campaign or even commit to contributing monthly. It is painful to send a STOP message to your texts or to delete your entreaties. Some of you even accuse us of being Trump supporters to guilt us into contributing. If you use humiliation as a hook, you force us to unsubscribe from your emails.
You are ignoring some substantial contributions from loyal Democrats offered in forms other than money. Several groups on Facebook post insightful memes that favor Democrats. There are activist sites like Move On and Daily Kos. Democrats get lots of good press on some Substack newsletters. Activists write on Medium and Tremr.com. I have been blogging since 2008 against what has been an increasingly active and empowered right wing with an entire cast of incomprehensibly diabolical "stars" leading us straight to Donald J. Trump. The Heritage Foundation has emerged as particularly problematic, even outpacing the Koch web. Calling out power grabs from both right-wingers and the religious right has occupied almost as many hours of constituent time as it has taken up the time of our representatives.
You might appoint a staff member to take some time to recognize and thank activists who often work in anonymity and rarely win prizes. Just a simple note to let a commenter know that they are appreciated might suffice. You could buy their books. To become an influencer on your behalf takes time, dedication, research, social media interactions, and wrangling with obstreperous Trumpers. Many of us do not wish for fame, but without some kind of recognition our words are discounted, and our hard work goes unnoticed by those to whom we would like to speak the truth. If Democrats don't acknowledge our input and value it, then Trump's followers look far more passionate than your followers which is not the case. Your followers make arguments that are just as passionate and far more factual than those made by the MAGAs. Words are powerful and they have value.
Enclosed is a copy of what I have been doing on behalf of our democracy and our planet because these words are my cash donations when I cannot make actual cash donations. I hope that, occasionally, you will find ways to offer positive feedback to supporters that are not tied to requests for dollars. We appreciate the headwinds you face in Congress and the mud you must wade through to accomplish progress on the few issues that we have been able to address. Your dedication is appreciated. The presentation of the January 6 Committee was worthy of a Pulitzer. It offered a more gripping, contemporary, and inclusive way to investigate misbehavior or sedition.
Republicans have found ways to turn checks and balances against us, in some cases even nullifying these important guardrails (How Democracies Die) We rely on Democrats to stick to regular order and remind us of how our government was designed to function. We try to tell this story to all Americans, although we face the same headwinds you do, and our opposition is often from friends and family. We know you have to raise money, but sometimes we just can't afford to weigh in with donations.
Thanks for listening to the ramblings of this citizen.
Sincerely,
N. L. Brisson
From a Google Image Search - Apache Helicopter - Photowall (Read my fiction)
My work is documented in this series of yearbooks that cover the years from 2010-2021. This work traces how we arrived at a moment I would never have imagined with an insurrectionist Trump squaring off against a leader with a true love of our Constitution and our democracy/republic - Joe Biden. These essays reflect philosophical thoughts in reaction to events as opposed to a record of historical events. The essays appeared in a blog called The Armchair Observer, a blog called Armchair blog, on a site called Tremr.com. Essays for 2023 and 2024 appear in my Substack newsletter and on Tremr.com. N. L. Brisson, born in 1945, assistant professor at SUNY EOC, BA from SUNY Potsdam MEd from the University of Arizona at Tucson began writing in 2008 and blogging in 2010. N. L. sits in the cheap seats and did not intend to weigh in on politics but was driven by the racist rhetoric of the Republicans in the Obama years to tune in and write about what appeared to be an incipient coup to establish single-
party rule.
These books are all available on Amazon for author N. L. Brisson (except that 2018 notes author as N. Brisson) (I'm attempting to fix this).
The following two books are a fictional representation of what America might be like if Trump becomes "president for life." They are social commentary rather than true dystopian science fiction, but since they are set in the future, they are science fiction, and they are predictive. (I tried not to go all George R.R. Martin.)