Relish & Rededicate
Relish our Wins | Rededicate our Efforts
As we become more deft, more incisive about which of our democracy defense efforts are working, it’s critical to acknowledge and celebrate our successes.
Here are three in just the past few days:
On Monday morning my partner and I discovered on Reddit-Portland that Oregon Senate Bill 210 would "make in-person voting on the date of an election the standard method for conducting an election" in Oregon.
Wikipedia: “The U.S. state of Oregon established vote-by-mail as the standard mechanism for voting with Ballot Measure 60, a citizen's initiative, in 1998. The measure made Oregon the first state in the United States to conduct its elections exclusively by mail. The measure passed on November 3, 1998, by a margin of 69.4% to 30.6%. Political scientists say Oregon's vote by mail system contributes to its highest-in-the-nation rate of voter turnout, at 61.5% of eligible voters.”
Oregon has had vote-by-mail for 27 years. It was a citizen initiative.
This was yet another attempt - at the state level - to suppress voter turnout.
Public comments were only permitted for a period of up to 48 hours after the senate hearing which was scheduled for 1:00 the same day. We texted, emailed and jumped on social media to marshal public comments on the Oregon Legislative Information System. Over 9,000 people submitted comments against the legislation. The OLIS fell to its knees under the strain of the activity.
The lesson for me was to stay abreast of what legislative activity is moving through the legislature. Please consider getting on your state’s legislative email list to remain informed.
This was a great victory for us!
Talk about victories! Millions of democracy defenders from all around the country coalesced around the Wisconsin Supreme Court race to thrust circuit court judge Susan Conway to victory! Texts, phone banks, donations, canvassing.
This is a huge defeat for democracy destroyer Elon Musk who contributed $21,000,000 to the MAGA challenger Brad Schmiel, who lost by ten percentage points. Musk himself handed out $1,000,000 checks (“giveaways”?) to people to buy their votes, as reported in The Guardian.
This is so energizing! Why? The sleeping giant - Americans who defend democracy and fight fascism - forcefully exercised our power as people who will not be bought.
Tesla Takedowns! Last Saturday, at 200 Tesla showrooms nationally and 500 worldwide, protestors lined the streets enthusiastically to protest against Musk’s illegal invasion of our government’s agencies. Here’s the fruit of our efforts:
Tesla has lost $460 billion in market cap in the first quarter of 2025. This drop in value is partly attributed to a 13% year-over-year drop in first-quarter deliveries. Additionally, Tesla's stock plunged 36% during this period, marking its steepest decline since the fourth quarter of 2022 - as the pandemic was concluding.
In a capitalistic society, consumers - not tech bros or oligarch wannabes - have the power. When we really come to terms with this, ALL the power will shift back to where it has always resided - with us.
Saturday, April 5 is our next opportunity to demonstrate the power we know we possess. More than 1,000 “HANDS OFF” protests are scheduled all over the country. Please consider participating actively. These are exuberant, peaceful protests that allow us, in no uncertain terms, to say what we mean: HANDS OFF what we value, such as threats to:
Medicare, Medicaid
Social Security
Bodily autonomy
Climate justice
Every threat to democracy
These are national actions, and are organized by Third Act, a group focused on older Americans engaging in activism, and other advocacy groups such as Indivisible and MoveOn.
Check any of these websites to search for a protest near you. Newsweek has a map and list of scheduled protests here. The HANDS OFF website to sign up via Mobilize is here.
One more note. Take ordinary safety precautions whenever you attend a protest. If this is your first protest,
of Pathfinder Chronicles on Substack has a comprehensive post on everything you need to know. Read through it here.Communities of people - who imagine, build and take action together - will see us through. That’s us.
We join communities, not only as places to belong, but as a way of building something meaningful with others. We’re committed to doing the work to regain and protect our democracy.
Seeing others actively involved helps us know we can do it, too.
Jessica Craven: “We know what to do, and we’re doing it. “We’re at the start of something massive. And if we stay sharp, strategic, and relentless - we will win.”
When we work together, we win!