“
You have to take that long hard look and just believe that if you are consistent, you will succeed.”
One of the simple, distilled, profound quotes of Civil Rights Leader, Rep. John Lewis.
Just at the time we need his steady, dig-deep optimism, we have lost his light. As an activist, committed to any nonviolent struggle for good, you had to feel stronger with his strength and example present in the world.
Thankfully, he lived to see the Confederate flag finally come down across the South. Before he died, he also walked hand-in-hand with President Obama across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. And, he knew that the name Edmund Pettus, a Grand Duke of the Alabama KKK, will likely soon be removed from that Bridge, where Lewis nearly lost his life.
How appropriate the timing of the many Confederate statues at last being removed
and consigned to a museum or to deteriorate in forgotten storage. Maybe that will make room for statues of real American icons like Lewis. Then those who stand and gaze at his image might be reminded that lives of integrity, actively committed to peace and justice always rise above. Maybe they will be reminded of the America we are striving to be, and be inspired by John Lewis's patriotism and courage.
Republicans could learn something from the life of Congressman John Lewis. They could get this President to stop obstructing competent handling of the pandemic. How many people have the opportunity to save literally thousands of lives by demonstrating leadership? Speaking up and out for truth would not even take the “raw courage” Lewis talked about. You don’t have to face death to do the right thing. You only have to “Get in good trouble. Get in necessary trouble.”
Renee Ramirez Keaney, MDTC Chair
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Trump & COVID-19
TAKE NOTE THEN VOTE
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that mandating masks is an affront to our Constitutional liberties, no matter how it affects our fellow Americans, up to and including death.
As we face a global pandemic, President Donald J. Trump has:
- Questioned the competence of the CDC and directed hospitals to now submit their data to the federal government instead of the CDC
- Impugned the credibility of top infectious disease experts and incited public distrust of medical science
- Ignored research findings that federal funding sources were insufficient to deal with a severe influenza pandemic
- Insisted on the “global superiority” of US COVID-19 testing despite repeated warnings that the US lacked sufficient testing
- Contended (as early as February) that we were “very close” to a vaccine and COVID-19 was “just like a flu”
- Publicized—and bought vast supplies of—hydroxychloroquine, a medication with potentially lethal side effects and no proven value in fighting the Coronavirus
- Compelled states to compete with one another—and even the federal government—to acquire PPE and other life-saving medical supplies
- Appropriated PPE supplies from some states for distribution to other states whose governors publicly supported him
- Suggested injecting disinfectant into the human body and using UV light to quell the virus
- Falsely claimed that increased cases were simply due to more testing
- Refrained from talking about the virus as infections skyrocketed, deaths increased, and his poll numbers were dropping
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VOTING IN MASSACHUSETTS THIS YEAR?
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Watch the CD6 Congressional Debate
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