Let us look at what’s at stake here. A sitting president refused to acknowledge his defeat in a legitimate election, which is the bedrock of democracy. Instead, he mobilized all his legal, political, and eventually paramilitary power in an effort to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States of America. “Incitement to insurrection” is understated- this is treason. The Constitution says: “Treason against the United States, shall consist (only) in levying War against them…” The outcome of the trial is far from decided, even though forty-five Senate Republicans voted last week to declare it unconstitutional. They fear retaliation, both physical and political, from Trump’s violent supporters and his loyal base. A secret ballot would shield them from harm. Who is on trial here? It’s not only Trump, but also 50 GOP senators. Any of them that refuses to convict him is essentially collaborating with an enemy of the United States. A new book, American Kompromat- How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery by Craig Unger lays out in detail, from trustworthy sources, how Trump became and remains a Russian asset. The only way to stop Trump and Trumpism is to ban him from politics. If he were prohibited from holding political office, his base would probably drift away, allowing the GOP to return to civilized conduct. And such a ban can only happen if the Senate convicts him of the impeachment charges. Then it would only take a simple majority to get him out of the political arena. Let’s look at his defense. His first team of lawyers resigned en masse because he insisted on defending the lie that the election was stolen from him. Evidently he’s seen reason, because the new team plans to argue 1) It’s unconstitutional to try an ex-president; 2) his speech on Jan. 6th, stirring up the crowd to invade the Capitol where Congress was sitting to certify Biden’s election, was protected by the First Amendment. As to 1), the House prosecutors will point out that Trump was still in office when impeached, and there are precedents for trial of an ex government official after he/she (all men so far) leaves office. As to 2), more and more evidence is coming to light about Trump’s role in the attempted coup, starting with his message to the Proud Boys to “Stand back and stand by” during the first presidential debate last September. He spent the fall laying groundwork for questioning the validity of the November election. After losing 60 lawsuits challenging Biden’s victory, in December he replaced key civil servants in the Defense Department with loyalists, who excluded the incoming Biden team from information for 2 weeks. On Jan 6th, 2021, these new appointees forbade Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the DC National Guard, to call for additional help until the acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, approved it. Approval was delayed for several hours. Meanwhile the crowd rampaged through the Capitol, forcing Congresspeople into hiding, some afraid for their lives. Last week, Seth Abramson published a powerful piece at Proof on the role in the coup attempt/insurrection of Trump and his innermost circle. Fifteen hours before the insurrection began, Trump's closest advisors met at Trump's private residence at Trump International Hotel down the street from the White House. A couple of them had helped recruit the mob, via robocalls and social media. Blogs posted afterwards by some of those who met that evening indicate they were planning the coup. There are several smoking guns here. The Senate will convict Trump, if they are allowed to vote by secret ballot. Tell Senator Chuck Schumer to insist on a secret ballot. He can be reached at http://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck And continue to spread this petition, https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/secret-ballot-for-senate-vote-on-trump-2nd-impeachment-trial-1

It is an embarrassment to the city of Gainesville, education professionals, UF alumni, and higher education that the nation’s #6 public university is fighting against basic human rights. UF's treatment of their employees is garnering national attention. The university has chosen profit over people, consistently refusing to listen to the protests of their employees. In addition to creating an unsafe work environment, the University of Florida is violating workers' rights by refusing a majority of ADA accommodations. Furthermore, these policies are disproportionately affecting BIPOC and vulnerable community members.

We need to get our lives back. We need a plan and a means to execute that plan that will ensure that as many people that want to get the vaccine can as soon as possible. Governor Ron DeSantis needs to accept federal assistance to help Florida get vaccinated.

President Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion COVID rescue package featuring an expansion of emergency paid leave, providing economic security to nearly 200 million working people, as well as our nation’s long-term recovery from COVID-19. This bill closes the loopholes in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, it provides over 14 weeks of paid sick, family, and medical leave. It also provides a maximum paid leave benefit of $1,400 per week for eligible working people, and extends emergency paid leave measures until September 20, 2021. This couldn’t come at a more urgent time, as Congress allowed the previous paid leave provisions to lapse in December, right as we hit new, devastating peaks in the coronavirus crisis. President Biden’s plan to reinstate and improve emergency paid leave is a critical step to supporting working families while reducing the spread of the virus. Congress must pass President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, NOW!

We have 10 years to turn this around. Even though Mont Vernon is a small town, we still throw out an AVERAGE of 3,516,496.2 pounds of trash a year. This is unacceptable, and also the weight of 2,583 grizzly bears. People also throw away about 5.1 pounds of trash A DAY, while only 1.4 gets recycled. And the EPA estimates that 75% of human waste could be recycled, however only 30% is. Each year, each person tosses out roughly 220.96 pounds of food waste, which is especially tragic since so many children are going hungry in the United States. The EPA also estimates that 1/3 of edible food is thrown out or wasted, and every single year, the US as a whole, disposes of 21.5 pounds of food waste. We don't have to stand back and watch!! Yes, we're a small town, but we could be the bridge to creating a healthier, greener world!! It's little things like this that can help us fight -and stop- climate change.

The United Nations Resolution 194 states: "Resolves that, in view of its association with three world religions, the Jerusalem area, including the present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most Eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most Southern, Bethlehem; the most Western, Ein Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most Northern, Shu'fat, should be accorded special and separate treatment from the rest of Palestine and should be placed under effective United Nations control." The location of the US embassy in the vicinity of Jerusalem, violates UN mandate of special and separate treatment of Jerusalem and is a cause of distress to local people of Palestinian origin.

Our Constitution prohibits excessive bail and yet over 412,000 innocent people sit in jail every day, most, because they can’t afford to pay their bail. Excessive bail can cost the incarcerated their livelihood, homes, and children plus costs America $15.26 billion a year. The money bail system serves only bail bondsman. D.C. has proven that a system that uses public safety and likelihood to return to court as a measurement for release work and that the cash bail system is NOT NECESSARY. This change will: 1. Prevent individuals from remaining in jail due to lack of funds. 2. Stop wealthy/well-connected individuals from being able to get out of jail despite their danger to society and prevent. 3. Bring equity to a system that disfavors those who are not wealthy.

Cincinnati has increasingly become known as a destination for its variety of restaurants and bars, but the pandemic has caused dozens of incredible local establishments to close their doors permanently. Those that have been able to weather the storm have done so at significant cost: reducing capacity, focusing on curbside pickup and delivery as well as the mandated curfews have resulted in significant revenue losses for our city’s establishments. The reduced capacity has hit hourly waged workers the hardest since we are dependent on tips, as we are paid well below the federal minimum wage. In addition, exposure to the virus among staff forces many businesses to close for weeks at a time, further hurting workers by preventing them from making any income in the interim. Ohio and Cincinnati leadership must step up now and act in the best interests of the working class service industry by allowing us to protect ourselves. A safer service industry is a safer Cincinnati.

With Michael Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, showing up at the White House in January with written notes to give to Donald Trump that were instructions to overturn the election by way of martial law. I no longer think a great company like Costco should allow MyPillow a place to set up and sell their products. MyPillow should be banned from ALL Costco facilities, as Mr Lindell has engaged in treasonous behavior.

Those who attacked the Capitol, democracy, and the rule of law—resulting in at least 5 deaths — had help and even encouragement from some members of law enforcement. Intelligence experts have warned for years about a major, growing problem with white supremacists and other far-right extremists in law enforcement. But police unions have fought and undermined attempts to investigate the problem and fire violent, racist, anti-government, and white supremacist extremists. Several prominent police union leaders have associated with white supremacists, and police unions often perpetuate a culture of violence and impunity. They do everything possible to shield officers from accountability, including officers who are compromised by bias, racism, and connections to white supremacists groups. Police unions have successfully defended officers who used racial slurs, who made posts calling for racist violence, and who have white supremacist tattoos. They have kept these officers in their jobs, on the streets with a badge and gun, and in a position to carry out violence against groups they hate (or to simply fail to protect them). This must change. The consequences of failing to address white supremacist infiltration of the police are clearer than ever. It puts all of us in danger and threatens the basic functioning of our government and democracy. Join us in calling on law enforcement leaders—police chiefs, sheriffs, and others—to root out white supremacists and extremists in the agencies they lead, and directly confront any attempts by police unions to undermine the process or protect dangerous police officers.

The leaders who fueled last year's attack enabled acts of domestic terrorism and bolstered white nationalist groups who brought symbols of hate into our Capitol, inflicted violence on others, and threatened the lives of our elected leaders and others. Despite this violence, those who sieged the Capitol were undeniably treated with higher regard than so many Black Lives Matter protesters and people of color in their daily interactions with police. They have continued to put the lives of others and our democracy at risk. Americans have put up with this type of behavior for the last four years. Do we really need this for another two years? Congress must take action towards their behavior and make it clear that this will not be tolerated. Boebert and Greene should be expelled from Congress and charged with a crime. And most recently, Boebert and Greene continually heckled President Biden throughout his 2022 State of the Union address. This sort of behavior is absolutely unacceptable for a sitting Congressperson, and just provides another reason why these two must be expelled from Congress.

For more than four years, Mike Lee has not only lacked the courage and the moral compass to denounce con man Trump’s reprehensible behavior, he’s aided and abetted Trump’s deception and domestic abuse of the American public by standing by instead of standing up.