A group called The Fund for American Studies is hosting a luncheon on September 28 in Washington, DC. The keynote speaker is The Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch. As we all know, Justice Gorsuch was appointed after the GOP took unprecedented and unpatriotic steps to block President Obama's Supreme Court pick. Now it seems Justice Gorsuch is repaying the favor to President Trump by keynoting an event at Trump's hotel! How are we to trust Justice Gorsuch's professional work when he's running around DC doing something like this? While the White House may lack honor and integrity at this moment, let's not let the Supreme Court justices slip into a clear conflict of interest. Tell Justice Neil Gorsuch to cancel his appearance at President Trump's hotel. Source: https://tfas.org/event/defending-freedom-luncheon/

I am potentially adversely affected as are all citizens of the United States of America if the President does have a personality disorder that may prevent him from carrying out his duties. Congress can direct a physical and mental examination to make that determination.

In rhetoric and in policy, Donald Trump continues to coddle white supremacists. What's more, Trump continues to surround himself with white nationalists, appointing Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Stephen Miller to serve alongside him in the White House. It’s just not enough for our Republican colleagues to issue statements against violence in Charlottesville. They must act against the rise of domestic terrorism and white nationalism -- especially when the man in the White House refuses to do so. Sign on to the petition urging Congress to censure Trump for refusing to denounce domestic terrorism and surrounding himself with white supremacists in the White House.

Donald Trump has surrounded himself with advisers who have deep ties to racist and ultra-nationalist groups. We cannot let their vision be the beating heart of our nation’s decision making and continue promoting hateful and dangerous policies that run counter to our values, weaken our security, and risk fueling extremism and conflict both at home and abroad. It is time to get hate out of the White House. Congress must demand the White House immediately fire all members of the President's top circle who are closely tied to the white nationalist neo-Nazi movement responsible for the terror in Charlottesville -- including Stephen Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Stephen Miller.

Each state must proclaim the positive value of inclusion and diversity. There must be no place in America for white supremacy and neo-Nazism. Show President Trump that America will not devolve to what we fought against in WWII!

This petition is urgent! We are in a state of emergency! White Supremacists are murdering and harming people of color, threatening people, creating socio-economic hegemonies, and endangering everyone in the country by escalating racial tensions and grotesquely misappropriating American values.

As a US citizen, outraged by the actions of an incompetent President, I ask for restoration of my ability to peacefully co-exist in accordance with the tenets of our Constitution and the laws of the United States of America.

A group from Gainesville's Women's March organized painting a mural in Gainesville titled, "Seeds of Resistance". In the mural, they painted seed packets symbolizing justice and equality for all. The mural was immediately defaced with hate speech. When I publicly posted my disappointment about that on Facebook, I became the target of more than 1000 posts of derision and hate. This is not the way for us interact with each other. We need to stop the hate speech. There is no room for you in Gainesville Mr. Spencer. Spencer fought with police at the Charlottesville rally, according to the Los Angeles Times. On his Twitter, Spencer blamed local police and protesters for the bloodshed and retweeted praise for himself and David Duke, a former KKK leader who also attended the rally. Spencer previously led a torch-lit rally in May protesting the sale of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville. When Spencer went to speak at Auburn University in April, officials cited safety concerns and canceled the event, according to CNN. However, a judge sided with Spencer and said the university had to host him.

In light of recent events, we feel as Norfolk citizens that to display in public areas these memorials is not only antiquated but provokes discrimination and violence. This memorial commemorates a time in our nation’s history when Americans clashed geographically and ideologically. The Confederacy was established with the intention of creating a division within the United States - to form a new nation. We see in retrospect that a nation cannot survive when there is division within. In addition to this horrible time of pitting the North against the South, racial discrimination reached a fervor that carried over into the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. We are on the precipice of another such movement. The monument commemorates the last reunion of surviving Confederate soldiers. Unveiled in May 1907, the soldier was created by Norfolk artist William Couper. According to the Timeline of African American History compiled by the Library of Congress, during the years between 1905 and 1910, 344 black Americans are known to have been lynched. On December 19th, 1910 the City Council of Baltimore approved the first city ordinance designating the boundaries of black and white neighborhoods. This ordinance was followed by similar ones in Dallas, Texas, Greensboro, North Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, Norfolk, Virginia, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Richmond, Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia, and St. Louis, Missouri. Recent domestic terrorism in Charlottesville reveals that we stand just as divided as in the Civil War. The removal of such a monument in Charlottesville prompted a violent and fatal response from white supremacist organizations, who today are vowing to organize more such demonstrations. As long as these memorials exist, so do the discriminatory ideologies. Call to Action If the City of Norfolk truly values diversity, then the city will listen to its citizens and fight vigorously for the removal of this monument. We are not asking for these memorials to be destroyed. We cannot erase history and as decisive a time as the CIvil War was, we accept that it is part of the fabric of America’s tapestry. Rather, we suggest placing it in a museum where it can be properly understood in the accurate historical context. Please sign below so our representatives can see all our signatures. Our community, our city, does not want this tribute to slavery and Jim Crow encroaching on our space. We recognize that this will not be an easy process. After seeing our signatures, we hope that our representatives will begin work on repealing and/or amending Memorials for war veterans Virginia Code § 15.2-1812. Once that process is complete, cities across the state of Virginia can determine for themselves whether these Confederate memorials are appropriate for their public spaces. By signing this petition, you are saying there is no space for hate, racism, white supremacy, and bigotry in the City of Norfolk. ** Please feel free to sign even if you do not live in the City of Norfolk because we want all Virginia representatives to hear our voices *** Resources State Law: https://vacode.org/2016/15.2/II/18/3/15.2-1812/ Removal Effort: http://wavy.com/2015/06/25/norfolk-civil-rights-group-wants-removal-of-citys-confederate-monument/ Recent City Council Decision: https://pilotonline.com/news/government/local/norfolk-council-decides-to-keep-confederate-monument/article_5c483dcb-4285-5733-a603-835d04f960ab.html United Front for Justice: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/repeal-152-1812-memorials-war-veterans-united-front-for-justice?articleId=8534407212133230453 Norfolk Website https://www.downtownnorfolk.org/go/confederate-monument Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/timelin3.html

Our congress can fix once and for all, the injustice brought by the Roberts Court that undermined the Voting Rights Act. Amend Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act in light of all the repressive state laws passed to limit voting rights since Section 4 was struck down by the Roberts Court. Since its passage in 1965, there have been consistent attempts to undermine the Voting Rights Act, especially in the southern states where pre-clearance or Section 5 of the voting rights act was mandated. Our new Bigot-In-Chief and his notoriously racist Attorney General, along with a majority on the Supreme Court to back him up are working nonstop to suppress the vote among those who don’t agree with the status-quo crowd. In 2006, Congress overwhelmingly voted to reauthorize the VRA for 25 years, yet, in 2015, 50 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the Roberts Supreme Court voted to gut the act by declaring section 4 unconstitutional (the section that lists the states and localities that must “preclear” any voting laws with the federal government). The reason given for the reversal was because we as a country have changed and don’t need to be precleared. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the number of states where pre-clearance is mandated should be expanded. The Court did, however, leave section 5 in place. Section 4 was the teeth behind Section 5. It’s time to strengthen the Voting Rights Act by amending Section 4. This is imperative at a time when blatant attempts at voter suppression and terrorist attacks by neo-Nazis, xenophobes, and bigots on people of color, immigrants, and Muslims are being escalated at an alarming pace. This is what institutional racism looks like: Charlottesville, Virginia, one of the Section 5 states, was the scene of a large neo-Nazi demonstration over the decision to remove a Confederate war memorial. A large group of counter-protestors was also on the scene and were attacked by the right-wing attendees. One woman was killed and dozens injured as a neo-Nazi driver plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters. There were attacks by the right-wing extremists on the peaceful counter-protesters. President Trump’s initial messaging seemed to reassure right-wing groups that he didn’t necessarily oppose those gathered in hate. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time." It wasn’t until pressure urging him to issue a stronger more targeted message about the terrorist act in South Carolina, did Trump finally issue a statement condemning the act of white-supremacists, KKK, and other hate groups. However, just a few days later, Trump's messaging again showed a twisted logic, indicating he still supports racists like KKK leader, David Duke. Its clear Trump doesn't want to alienate his base. In the face of numerous terrorist acts involving minorities, immigrants, and places of worship, mostly in southern states, the time is now to strengthen the Voting Rights Act, not to weaken it. Amend Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act in light of all the repressive state laws passed to limit voting rights since Section 4 was struck down by the Roberts Court.

If criminals connected to the Trump campaign or administration are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for conspiracy against the United States or any other crime--but then allowed to be pardoned by Donald Trump--the political system in our country will face a constitutional crisis.

Continuing to participate in President Trump's Manufacturing Council, particularly after the CEO of Merck resigned in good conscience only to be attacked by President Trump, is at this point an endorsement of the president's behavior. Many of these firms have released statements, but the people need action, not words. Until then we should boycott all products from General Electric, Dow Chemical, Whirlpool, Campbell Soup, International Paper, Nucor and Dell.