Action: Call Your Reps (About Steve Bannon)

Are you ready to feel like a Legit Citizen?

Calling your representatives in Congress is ridiculously quick—and effective. They need to hear from constituents (and waves of constituents calling on an issue? Even better). People in the know say that handwritten letters and phone calls (not emails) are the best way to make your voice heard. Let's get used to doing it.

Today, I called about Donald Trump's appointment of Steve Bannon, Breitbart News executive chairman, to the position of White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor. 

Why care?

As chairman and editor at Breitbart, Bannon has been responsible for a steady stream of harassment and bigotry aimed at groups including the following (see end of post for citations):

  • Women ("Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy")
  • Jewish people ("Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler and Renegade Jew")
  • Transgender people ("World Health Organization Report: Trannies 49 Xs Higher HIV Rate").
Not Steve Bannon. Source

Not Steve Bannon. Source

Bannon knowingly stokes vitriol among his supporters; in an email to one of his editors, he said: “Let the grassroots turn on the hate because that’s the ONLY thing that will make [Republican leaders] do their duty.” As chief strategist and senior counselor to the President, he would constantly have the President's ear. If past predicts future, his "strategy" and "counsel" would bend toward white nationalism and other forms of explicit bigotry.

This isn't a partisan matter, as there many principled Republican alternatives to Bannon. It's a matter of decency and care for all Americans.

Why call?

I went back and forth on this one. The "chief strategist" position isn't subject to congressional approval. My Twitter feed is yelling that I should demand that my reps refuse to work with Trump's transition team until he drops Bannon, but that seems both juvenile and likely to backfire. 

A better option, from Bloomberg: register your disapproval with your representatives, and insist that they go on record either supporting or opposing Bannon's appointment. If you have time (after calling your reps!), read the article, but here are the key paragraphs:

Bigotry isn't just immoral. It puts democracy at risk by threatening the equal citizenship of those who are targeted...
Win or lose, this is a battle worth fighting. But how?
White House staff positions, unlike cabinet and other executive-branch appointments, are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. That’s how it should be: These crucial positions are responsible only to the president, whereas the top officials in executive-branch departments and agencies have to answer to Congress as well as the president.
But outside opposition can raise the cost, perhaps even higher than Trump is willing to pay. Organized groups and individual constituents can demand that every member of Congress, in both parties and both chambers, go on record as supporting or opposing the selection of Bannon. It's true that presidents are entitled to the staff they want, but members of Congress routinely offer their opinions on such selections -- and so those opposed should push hard to get a response. 
If Bannon is to be defeated, the Republican senators who opposed Trump in the election might be the key. [emphasis mine]    

Upshot: We let our reps know that we oppose institutionalized bigotry, and that we won't forget their stance (or silence) on this first of many issues.

How to contact your reps

1. Go to Who Is My Representative, and enter your zip code to find contact info for your two US senators and one member of the House of Representatives.

2. Call (don't email), and use the script below if you'd like.

NB: The first time I did this, I was sweating and practicing and expecting that the phone-answerer would challenge me to a duel. Didn't happen. Instead:

DUDE @ SENATOR'S OFFICE: Good morning, Senator Toomey's office.

ME: Hello, my name is Michelle Bard, a constituent from zip code 1xxxx. I'm calling to voice my strong opposition to Steve Bannon's appointment to President-Elect Trump's White House staff. I'd like to ask that Senator Toomey go on record either supporting or opposing Bannon's appointment.

DUDE: OK, I'll make sure that message gets to the Senator. Thank you.

ME [with surge of citizenship and relief]: Thanks, goodbye.

THIRTEEN SECONDS.

3. Repeat with other two reps.

Extra Credit Opportunity #1: Let us know below that you did it, and whom you called! If you haven't commented before, you'll need to register (super-quickly) with Disqus, which helps administer our comment section and keeps us on the up-and-up.

Extra Credit Opportunity #2: Put your reps in your phone's contacts, because we're doing this again, y'all.

What do you think?

Scripts, Speak UpMichelle Bard