Christopher Gerken

A new day will rise

What he said about Social Security payments has been repeatedly debunked - so the question isn’t whether he’s lying about this, the question is why.

What is this a pretext for? He and the GOP have long shown interest in going after Social Security. What are they going to try?

Y’all aren’t mad enough yet, and that’s why things are still the same. The real change starts when you finally get pissed off.

‎5 Calls: Contact Your Congress ‎**As seen on MSNBC...**

This a great tool to assist in calling:

apps.apple.com/us/app/5-cal...

From experience: If you hate being on the phone & feel awkward (which is a lot of people) don't worry about it - there are a bunch of scripts (Indivisible has some, there are lots of others floating around these days). After a few days of calling, it starts to feel a lot more natural. 🧵

F) They may get to know your voice/get sick of you - it doesn't matter. The people answering the phones generally turn over every 6 weeks anyway, so even if they're really sick of you, they'll be gone in 6 weeks.
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E) Be clear on what you want - "I'm disappointed that the Senator..." or "I want to thank the Senator for their vote on..." or "I want the Senator to know that voting in _____ way is the wrong decision for our state because..." Don't leave any ambiguity. 🧵13

D) Pick 1-2 specific things per day to focus on. Don't go down a whole list - they're figuring out what 1-2 topics to mark you down for on their lists. So, focus on 1-2 per day. Ideally something that will be voted on/taken up in the next few days, but it doesn't really matter 🧵12

C) If you can make it personal, make it personal. "I voted for you in the last election and I'm worried/happy/whatever" or "I'm a teacher, and I am appalled by XYZ," or "as a single mother" or "as a white, middle class woman," or whatever. 🧵11

B ) Give them your zip code. They won't always ask for it, but make sure you give it to them, so they can mark it down. Extra points if you live in a zip code that traditionally votes for them, since they'll want to make sure they get/keep your vote. 🧵10

If you get transferred to that person, awesome. If you don't, that's ok - ask for their name, and then just keep talking to whoever answered the phone. Don't leave a message (unless the office doesn't pick up at all - then you can.) 🧵9

So, when you call:
A) When calling the DC office, ask for the Staff member in charge of whatever you're calling about ("Hi, I'd like to speak with the staffer in charge of Healthcare, please") - local offices won't always have specific ones, but they might. 🧵8

They said that Republican callers generally outnumber Democratic callers 4-1, and when it's a particular issue that single-issue-voters pay attention to (like gun control, etc.), it's often closer to 11-1, and that's recently pushed Republican congressmen on the fence to vote with the Republicans. 🧵

Every single day, the Senior Staff and the Senator get a report of the 3 most-called-about topics for that day at each of their offices (in DC and local offices), and exactly how many people said what about each of those topics. They're also sorted by zip code and area code.
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Any sort of online contact basically gets immediately ignored, and letters pretty much get thrown in the trash (unless you have a particularly strong emotional story - but even then it's not worth the time it took you to craft that letter).

Calls are what all the congresspeople pay attention to. 🧵5

2. But, those in-person events don't happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling.

You should make 6 calls a day: 2 each (DC office and your local office) to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative. 🧵4

Go to their local offices. If you're in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the "mobile offices" that their staff hold periodically. When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better. 🧵3

▪️▪️You should NOT be bothering with online petitions or emailing.▪️▪️

1. The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time - if they have townhalls, go to them.
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There are two things that all Democrats should be doing all the time right now, and they're by far the most important things.

Sharing great advice from a high-level staffer of a US Senator. A lengthy read for social media, but definitely worth it:

Thread worth reading 🧵1

7. 🔹Build community. Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.

Remember…They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.

6. 🔹Use aggregators & experts. Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.

🔹Remember, feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.

5. What to do about it now:

🔹Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.

4. Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage.

The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.

3. Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.

2. The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.

Don’t become overwhelmed. This is a tactic.

Wise and important words, from sociologist Jennifer Walter, about what is happening in this country right now and what to do about it.

“As a sociologist, I need to tell you, your overwhelm is their goal.” (1) 🧵

Spanish Sunrise #Benalmadena

Buen fin de semana

Winter in Malaga.

Believe it or not, it does get a little chilly here in Southern Spain, despite our 350+ days of sunshine. Lately the range is between 45F at night to 65F during the day. The cooler temperatures bring the clear skies and incredible views.