Fifty weeks! Fifty weeks since we decided that chronicling injustice cannot be enough. Fifty weeks since we decided that in addition to protests, and popular appeal, and voting we also needed to use the law as a weapon to fight back. "Heck," we thought, "ALEC is using the law to push their agenda, why can't we?"
The Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act (MBOPRA), and the #LetOurPoorPeopleLive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) campaign came out of our determination to fight back with more than just words and outrage.
There is no legislation that can change the hearts of evil, racist men and women. No legislation that will force Darren Wilson, George Zimmerman, Ray Tensing, Michael Slager, or Brian Encinia to respect the black body; to see black people of deserving to live, even. No legislation that will allows us to predict which cop will feel threatened by the flailing elbow of an eight year-old boy, or the toy gun of a 12 year-old playing in a park. No, it is impossible to legislate empathy, or compassion, or bravery.
But we can force people who put on the uniform of law enforcement to adhere to certain minimum rules and regulations. We can work to change the culture that currently allows the police to kill 695 people since the beginning of 2015. We can, and indeed we must, enact legislation to police the police.
a) Print out the law and send it your representatives
b) Email the law to your representatives and to civil rights organizations
c) Tweet the law to your representatives and to the Democratic presidential candidates
d) Call your representatives and ask what are they doing about police brutality in general and implementing our law in particular.
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We have it! Kansas sent their full and unconditional surrender. Now we have all of the responses, and it only took about 32 certified letters, two lawsuits and one threatened lawsuit!
Kansas now joins all the other GOP Governors who have acceded to our requests or caved to our demands. Only Texas investigated to see how many poor people would suffer and die. None of these hardhearted Governors expanded Medicaid.
Not one.
They don't give a s$$t. They don't give a rat's a$$. They don't give a flying f$ck how many poor people die, how many suffer, how many lose their homes. From one side of their mouths they boast about being G-d fearing, Jesus-loving, holier-than-thou Christians, from the other side they talk death and suffering to our poor.
If you, like us, believe that the current state of affairs is unacceptable and unsustainable; then we ask that you join us in any or all of the following activities:
a) Call, email, write the governors who have yet to accept the Medicaid Expansion Program
b) Write letters to the editor re governors not accepting the Medicaid Expansion Program
d) Contact progressive journalists (Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O'Donnell, ) and remind them of the numbers of people dying every day only because Republican Governors have refused to help them.
In addition, if you haven't already, please do sign these petition:
Here's a daily kos petition dealing with Florida Governor Rick Scott and Medicaid Expansion. Here's a moveon.org petition for Medicaid Expansion in Texas. And one for North Carolina. Here's a daily kos and CREDO petition for Medicaid Expansion sent to all Republican Governors. Here's another for Louisiana. And still another for Georgia. Would you please consider signing these petitions? If YOUR state has a petition that does not appear here, please let us know, and we will add it to our next list of petitions.