The Project on Government Oversight helps you tell your Congressfolk to repeal all of the "war on terror"-era authorizations to use military force (or AUMFs). (Say terror-era too fast and you'll likely say "terror-error." Funny how that works.) Congress passed the 2001 AUMF right after 9.11 and the 2002 AUMF in the run-up to the Iraq war, and Presidents from both parties have used these AUMFs as excuses to wage war wherever they like, without the Congressional authorization mandated by our Constitution. Also, too, these AUMFs are not both over 18 years old, which means most of today's Congressfolk weren't in Congress when they became law, and gosh, might they have something interesting and important to say about that? We've spent a lot of blood and treasure in overseas wars the last two decades, and our little adventure in Iraq eventually gave us ISIS, which I'm sure was a completely unintended consequence. We should honor the folks we've lost by repealing the AUMFs that sent them to their deaths, and then maybe we'll learn to value the lives of those we love a bit better.
Meanwhile, you've no doubt heard that big pharma corporation Pfizer has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine (developed with BioNTech) is 90% effective with has minimal side effects, but you also know that means we're not all getting it tomorrow, because Pfizer must submit its data for peer review and to our FDA for approval. And this is something you don't want to get wrong! If Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine isn't nearly as effective as advertised or has side effects they've hidden from us, then we'd be derelict in our duty as a civilization to just hand it out because we're 10 months into a pandemic. A lot of folks don't get that because they're anxious, but a lot of other folks pretend not to get it for the Greater Glory of Our President. Hopefully they're seeing the futility of that strategy now! But Public Citizen helps you tell our FDA not to cut corners in approving any COVID-19 vaccine. Remember: in the old days, conservatives would have said don't make the solution worse than the problem.
Finally, if you've missed previous opportunities to tell your Congressfolk to end felony disenfranchisement, then the Hip Hop Caucus still helps you do that. In 11 states, you lose your right to vote even after you've completed your sentence, but if you don't believe in rehabilitation, then what claim do you have to being civilized? And in these states, you'd have to petition your governor to get your rights back; if we leave the restoration of rights up to the whim of a state Executive, then again, what claim do we have to being civilized? You shouldn't lose your right to vote even if you're still serving time, in my view, but it should really be a no-brainer to restore voting rights to folks who have paid their debt to society as mandated by a judge. And not for nothing, but the architects of felony disenfranchisement didn't intend to punish people like Paul Manafort -- they meant to punish the folks of color who might vote them out of office. And if it's all about keeping your job, then again, what claim do you have to being civilized?
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