Toning the Muscles of Democracy
We practice something everyday. Maybe it is a religion, a musical instrument, yoga, healthy eating, a new language, or being kind. Personally, I am trying to eat more protein and strengthen my muscles as I enter that stage of life called menopause.
Let’s practice something together, as a community, let’s tone our muscles for democracy.
In service of democracy,
Erika Poethig
LESSON TWO : DEFEND INSTITUTIONS
“It is institutions that help us preserve democracy. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless they are defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about – a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union – and take its side.” – Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
Each day I wake up to another pillar of our democracy that is under attack. It is overwhelming isn’t it? My friend Elwood Hopkins, who recently survived the LA fires, reflected with me that sometimes we have to risk losing something to be reminded why we care so much. Our “house” is on fire and we need to mobilize to save it.
Today’s lesson from “On Tyranny” invites us to reflect on what would we “go to the mat” to protect. I invite you to meditate on the institution you chose to defend.
If you feel comfortable, please share that institution by replying all to this email. If we each pick one institution that we will defend, invest in its long term vitality, and be part of necessary institutional reforms, we can make a collective difference.
What can we do to defend institutions?
Key actions fall into these buckets:
Financial Backing – Fund nonprofit organizations, lobbying campaigns, legal defense funds, and individuals fighting on the front lines.
Share Information – Use your networks, social and personal, to share information about why an institution is important to you and offer ways others can join you in the fight. Consider writing letters to the editor. Teach a class about that institution. Write articles. Host a conversation.
Show Up – Join peaceful protests when that institution is under threat.
Collect Stories – Do short videos that tell stories about “real people” who benefit from that institution and share those to social media and journalists.
Gratitude – Express gratitude for and to the people who are serving in these pillars of democracy. They need to know you are fighting for them.
Here are some specific actions you can take to bolster the institution YOU want to defend (sample list of institutions, but apply these types of actions to the institution that you will defend):
Civil Service – The Constitution “lives and breaths” in the people who execute our laws.
Tell a civil servant that you appreciate them and the work they do.
Help a federal employee that was recently fired (likely illegally) find a new job OR connect with pro bono legal assistance. Refer them to www.civilservicestrong.org
Donate to Democracy Forward/Civil Service Strong
Write a Letter to the Editor about a civil servant who did something to help you and why you value their work and why the Trump administration actions to degrade the civil servants will hurt our democracy but also all the services we count on from the civil service.
Use the 5Calls App to call your members of Congress and ask them to stand up for civil servants that are being unfairly targeted by the Trump administration.
Join the local, state, or federal government.
Courts– “The Constitution is worth saving, the rule of law is worth saving, democracy is worth saving, but these things can and will be lost if everyone waits around for someone else.” – Timothy Snyder
Help legal advocates identify people or organizations who have been harmed by the Trump administration who have “standing” to sue the government.
Write or co-sign amicus briefs if you can provide unique and relevant information not already presented by parties in the case. Clearly explain why the amicus has a legitimate interest in the case.
Provide pro bono legal assistance.
If your Attorney General has joined the coalition to file suit, send them a thank you note. If your Attorney General is not filing suit, send them a letter or make a call and ask why.
Serve on a jury.
Laws – All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives (Article I: Constitutions).
Use the 5Calls App and call your members of Congress at least 3-4/week about the laws you care about the most.
Call the White House switchboard (1-202-456-1414) and ask to speak to the White House Counsel’s Office when you see that the Administration has violated a law and ask them to justify why they broke a law.
Help to write new laws or reform existing laws in your area of expertise. Share those ideas with your member of Congress.
Run for Office.
Labor Unions – "Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America." – Representative John Lewis
Call your member of Congress about the illegal firing of Gwynne Wilcox, one of the members of the National Labor Relations Board.
Call the White House Switchboard (1-202-456-1414) and ask to speak with the Office of the General Counsel and complain about the illegal firing of Gwynne Wilcox that leaves the National Labor Relations Board with two members and unable to set policies.
If you are in an eligible position and you’ve not already, join a union.
Religious Congregations & Separation of Church and State –“Democracy is finding proximate solutions to insoluble problems.” – Reinhold Neibuhr
Activate members of your religious organization to stand up for democracy and the protections granted under the First Amendment.
Contact your religious congregation’s DC Office to see what resources they can provide to your congregation.
File an amicus brief in support of the case that 27 religious groups filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the immigrant deportation policy of the Trump administration that gives immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at "sensitive locations," including houses of worship.
K-12 and Higher Education – “While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. . . As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. . . As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows.” – John Dewey
Run for a school board.
Become a teacher or a substitute teacher.
If you are a parent, let your voice be heard through letters to the editor and testifying at a school board hearing. Join the PTA or Local School Council.
If you donate to your child’s school, consider making a similar sized donation to a school that serves predominantly low-income children.
Use the 5CallsApp and call your member of Congress and ask them to pass a law that protects research funding for higher education (at agencies like Education and HUD, Energy, NIH, NSF).
LESSON ONE : DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE
The first lesson in “On Tyranny” is about "anticipatory obedience." Snyder writes, “Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
Where are the signs of anticipatory obedience?
There are a lot of examples of anticipatory obedience, but let’s focus on one that has broader implications. One of the first actions Donald Trump took was to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America". Once the U.S. National Geographic Survey, an agency of the U.S. Government made the change in its maps, Google and Apple followed suit in their mapping software. News organizations followed, but not the Associated Press, which was then blocked by the White House Press Office from participating in some newsworthy events in retribution. The AP responded, "The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech. It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say." Although the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico is a big example, it is a much bigger stand down with the freedom of the press.
In October, before the election was called, Columbia Journalism Review wrote about the media and anticipatory obedience and highlighted ways Trump is copying Victor Orban's "autocratic technique of using the regulatory state to punish media outlets whose coverage he dislikes." In anticipation of this retribution, media outlets are capitulating. They are offering statements of support from the AP but saying things like this: “Our top priority at Axios is to provide readers with clinical, fact-based reporting,” Axios said in a statement. “Our standard is to use ‘Gulf of America (renamed by U.S. from Gulf of Mexico)’ in our reporting because our audience is mostly U.S.-based compared to other publishers with international audiences.”
Some think this is just a distraction from other more existential threats. I see it as pointing to a broader threat to the freedom of the press.
So what can we do to ensure the press, or "Fourth Estate," is not captured by the emerging autocratic state?
We are all consumers of the news. Our consumption patterns and subscriptions matter to news organizations. We need to support those organizations that are applying ethical standards to their content and have the courage to stand up for the Constitutional right of "freedom of the press" free from retribution from the government.
Here are some Democratic Practices you can use to bolster news organizations that are holding their ground and actions to let news outlets that you subscribe or listen to know that you see how they are capitulating to the regulatory state and we expect more as their consumers/customers:
1) Write a Letter to the Editor
I reached out to friends who are trained journalists for their ideas and they said one of the most important things we can do is write to news outlets. Societies fall into "anticipatory obedience" because they see others around them doing the same OR just don't see enough resistance. We submit rather than resist. "Letters to the Editor" are powerful tools to let the press know: 1) we (citizens) think they are an important part of our democracy; 2) we expect the press to be independent and not propaganda for the state; and 3) as the "Fourth Estate" that holds special privileges granted by the Constitution, we expect them to be a bulwark for democracy. Please see a letter to the editor that I plan to submit today to all the outlets I subscribe to:
Dear Editor --
I object to the Trump administration's recent actions to punish the AP News for its decision to not change the name of the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America" in its heralded style guide that is used around the world. This action signals a much broader and troubling trend, used by autocratic rulers around the world, to block access when the "state" does not like the reporting. In October, before the election was called, Columbia Journalism Review wrote about the media and anticipatory obedience and highlighted ways then candidate Trump is copying Victor Orban's "autocratic technique of using the regulatory state to punish media outlets whose coverage he dislikes."
Ethical journalism is a bulwark for democracy. The press, or "Fourth Estate," is the only industry granted special rights and freedoms in the Constitution. Our democracy starts to weaken if press organizations do not exercise those rights and become captured by any political party or Administration.
As a reader and subscriber to this publication, I call on you to stand up for the Associated Press through a public statement and ask the White House Press Association to boycott any future press events that block access to the Associated Press.
Sincerely, Erika Poethig
2) Support Fair Journalism: Make a Donation and/or send a thank you note to AP News
AP is a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members with the highest standard of neutrality. The Trump administration's retribution is largely about the AP Style guide, which they have deemed "woke." Send a contribution and thank you comment to the AP News for standing up for journalistic independence. See my sample note below as an example. Post it on your social media feed.
Dear AP Newsroom and Editorial Committee --
I have been reading Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny". The first lesson is "Do Not Obey in Advance" but I see evidence of press outlets capitulating to the government even though they have every reason to stand by their reporting. Thank you for standing up for the freedom of the press and journalistic independence in the face of retribution from the Trump administration. I see you and support you.
Erika Poethig
3) Write to the White House Correspondents' Association
Heard of the "Correspondents' Dinner"? It is the annual event to raise money for scholarships for early career journalists, but the organization is responsible for managing access to the White House. They released a statement last week about the White House's retribution. Send them a note calling for a full boycott of White House press events until AP's access is restored. See sample note below.
Dear White House Correspondents' Association --
As a reader, viewer, and subscriber to many of the outlets you represent, I am calling on you to boycott White House press events until the AP's access is restored. There is no "freedom of the press" as long as one news organization is subject to retribution for reporting well-researched facts. As this Columbia Journalism Review article noted back in October 2024, President Trump is copying Victor Orban's "autocratic technique of using the regulatory state to punish media outlets whose coverage he dislikes." This cannot stand if we are to keep our democracy, which as one of its first principles grants an entire industry -- the press -- unalienable rights. In fact, the press is the only industry called out in the Constitution. For these reasons, the press must live up to this high bar and be a bulwark for democracy when it is threatened.
Erika Poethig
4) Contact the White House
Since the White House is the one exacting retribution, it is also good to let them know that you see this happening and you can register your support for freedom of the press. Call the Switchboard and ask to speak with the Press Office.
Call the Switchboard and ask to be transferred to the Press Office (1-202-456-1414) and ask them to restore AP's access
Leave a message on the White House comment line (1-202-456-1111) between 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. (ET) and ask them to restore AP's access