This is both fascinating and disturbing coming from Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04), given that she is most definitely NOT an alarmist; that she’s very level-headed, smart and politically astute; that she’s considered by many Virginia politicos to be the likely successor to Tim Kaine in the US Senator when he retires; etc. So for her to say, without equivocation, the following, is really jarring:
“I mean look, so here whenever anybody asks me, ‘how are you doing?’, I try to answer ‘excellent’, because in the grand scheme of things, all of my family members are alive, I’m alive, God woke me up this morning, it could be a lot worse. And when I remember that I almost died in childbirth, both my daughter and I, that puts everything in perspective. So my number one piece of advice for everybody today is find you’re excellence and don’t let anybody take it away from you. Couple other mantras for the year before I kind of jump into the the update, because it’s going to be rapid fire yeah: try to control, try to focus on what you can control and let go of the rest; you cannot control everything, you can’t impact everything, and if you try you’re going to kill yourself or drive yourself crazy…that is easier said than done, I know, but if you constantly every morning remind yourself, focus on what you can control and let somebody else handle the rest, it’ll help; and this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.
And those are kind of the mantras that I have told my team and…how we are approaching every day. Because this is a coup, yeah this is a coup. And it is not a coup by Donald Trump, it is a coup by Russ Vought and Elon Musk. I’m not even sure Donald Trump knows half of the things that he’s on…”
There’s a lot more after this, including:
- “Only the Speaker of the House has standing to sue on behalf of Congress, and so for many of these actions that overstep presidential authority and infringe on con Congressional authority, we are not in a position to challenge that in the courts, we have to work with allies.”
- “Every member of Congress is sort of picking those three or four areas where they’re going to laser focus on and… that’s the only way we can handle this sort of all hands-on-deck approach“
- “Where we can file legislation in response, we’re doing it. But remember, we’re the minority party…we need three Republicans in the House to join us, to do anything. And the Senate needs Republicans to join them, to do anything. So while we know my office has gotten hundreds of calls a day – and that’s great, keep them coming – but those of you that live in Republican districts or those of you who friends that live in Republican districts they need to feel the pressure…the only way they will grow a spine is if they understand there’s electoral pressure, that if they don’t there are going to be consequences.”
- “Be strategic about what you share. So perfect example – I was flooded with people…saying have you noticed that all the federal government websites have a flag that has nine stars on the top, is that the Confederate flag? Well, number one, no it’s not the Confederate flag. Number two, there are reasons behind that. And number three, should our priority right now be on…what the flag looks like on websites, or should our focus be on the trauma that’s being inflicted on the federal workforce? So please pick your battles in a way that are going to really have an impact, but check the facts before you share something.”
- “Every time in this country that marginalized communities, especially black people, gain social political and economic power, there is a backlash. That backlash involves three things: voter suppression, violence and propaganda. We are in the backlash now. We are in the backlash of all backlashes. But don’t get dispirited, because we we are fighting that backlash from a position of more power than our ancestors ever dreamed. And so when you get tired – because you will, when you get angry, when you are on the verge of I don’t know what to do, remember that power and remember what John Lewis said, ‘democracy is a state that requires every generation to do its part to build the beloved community’. And we cannot give up…we can’t become complacent, because the backlash always comes. But together we are in this fight against the backlash, and I’m so proud to be in this fight with each and every one of you watching this right now.”
Brilliant. Definitely watch the entire interview – great information, motivation and advice from Rep. Jennifer McClellan in these extremely dark times!
P.S. Also check out this brilliant, spot-on – and disturbing! – piece by Thomas Zimmer. According to Zimmer, “We are witnessing an unprecedented autocratic power grab. If the different MAGA factions can just dissolve whatever parts of the government they don’t like and functionally suspend the constitution, then democratic self-government is over.” and “What we are faced with is a rightwing “counter-revolution” unleashed – and in this moment, no one on the Right cares all that much what form it takes, or what script it follows, or who is in charge: Just be maximally radical and ruthless, destroy the enemy.” UGH.
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