Heart of LA Democratic Club Statement on the Appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Dear Friends,
The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court marks a truly dark time in our nation’s history, especially for women, girls, and all survivors of sexual assault. If you’re like us, you feel like you’ve taken a punch to your heart, your gut, and your soul. We understand. If you’re a survivor of sexual assault, we hear you, and we believe you.
As House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says, “Courageous women risked their safety and well-being to speak truth about this nomination. Tens of thousands more joined them to share their own harrowing stories of sexual assault, at great personal risk. Yet, Senate Republicans chose to send a clear message to all women: do not speak out, and if you do – do not expect to be heard, believed or respected.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein says, “The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh shifts the court far to the right, putting women’s reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental protections, worker’s rights, the ability to implement gun safety rules and the ability to hold presidents accountable at risk for a generation.”
It is clear by their gleefully mocking tones, calling women who opposed Kavanaugh a shrill angry “mob,” the GOP seeks to continue to try to marginalize and bully us so that we will sit down, shut up, and go away.
Well, we refuse to go away. We choose to fight.
The Heart of LA Democratic Club was founded to advocate for women, and to get feminist candidates of all genders elected. We were established to help pull us out of dark times like these. We began with a plan, and together, we have been working to elect more Democratic women to office and to flip the House and the Senate on November 6, and we will elect a Democrat to the White House in 2020.
We have endorsed exciting Congressional candidates such as Katie Hill, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda, Mike Levin and Gil Cisneros right here in Southern California, Senate candidates Krysten Sinema in Arizona and Jacky Rosen in Nevada, and Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor of Georgia. All have energy and support behind them and real chances of beating their Republican opponents and winning. But we have to help.
As Senator Kamala Harris says, “We can't stop fighting. Progress doesn't happen overnight. It can be painful. It can be slow. But now is the time to roll up our sleeves, knock on doors, and register people to vote. In one month we have the chance to vote and stand up for the country we love.”
We agree. NOW IS THE TIME. Please join us. We have a list of action events on our website, including canvassing, phone-banking, writing postcards to voters, and more. Some actions are big, and some are small. But they all make a difference. There’s something for everyone!
And finally, VOTE on November 6!
The Heart of LA Democratic Club
HEART OF LA DEMOCRATIC CLUB STATEMENT ON THE NOMINATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH TO SUPREME COURT
THE BAD NEWS
This week, President Trump nominated DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge and longtime right-winger Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Don’t let the 53-year-old father of two girls fool you: Kavanaugh is an extremist. He is so extreme that over 400 (and growing) students, faculty and alumni of Yale Law school (Kavanaugh’s alma-mater) wrote an open letter denouncing him. He was hand-picked by the Federalist Society, the powerful legal organization whose number one goal is moving US courts far to the right. He has proven through his well-documented career that when given the chance, he will turn back the clock on our fundamental rights.
Here’s just a small but powerful sampling of what’s at stake:
The dismantling of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), by removing popular and critical components, such as protections for people with pre-existing conditions and disabilities, and the ability of the government to provide Medicare/Medicaid thus putting millions of Americans, including our senior population at great risk.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade, thus eliminating all women’s right to choose what happens to their own bodies. 70% of Americans do not want Roe v. Wade overturned.
Protections for consumers (in a 2016 opinion, Kavanaugh wrote that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a “threat to individual liberty”).
Protections against discrimination, including protections for LGBTQ+ persons.
Protections for workers. Llast year, he ruled against employees' right to bring a lawsuit under the Occupational Safety and Health Act retaliation provision, and wrote that employers can deny employees their right to picket.
Significantly, he argued that sitting presidents can’t be criminally indicted and should have absolute power over any independent investigation of themselves.
The list goes on and on and on. You’ll find links to articles at the bottom of this post.
MAKE CALLS! It’s all hands on deck time. We need you to make calls. Below is a link to how to contact your own senators. If your senator is a Democrat, thank him or her for fighting. They really appreciate this and it helps them know that they are representing your interests.
If he or she is a Republican, speak from the heart. Tell your senator that you oppose Kavanaugh and you want NO VOTE UNTIL AFTER NOVEMBER. If you have extra time (really, each phone call only takes a few minutes), call Senators in other states, especially potential Republican swing voters such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.