Freedom Writers 2/18/25
Fear
Hello, Freedom Writers!
In Today’s Post:
Fear
Top Priority Action
Fear
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself,” Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The video below is the deeply emotional closing to the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC), in which Christoph Heusgen, the chairman since 2022, addressed the conference's conclusion on February 16. This address was in response to the U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s speech that criticized Europe for suppressing a Nazi group. That’s right: Vance wants Europe to give Nazis more free speech. (Yuck. This is where we are, folks.) You Tube Video of Christoph Heusgen
My father helped fight the Brownshirts in Germany. I’m proud of my father. If you don’t know what “Brownshirts” are, please find out. This is important information. It’s one word, no space. You can read about them here. Kinda like ‘RedHats.’
They want us to be afraid. They want us to shrink away. But ANY living German will tell you, if you shrink away now, when it really counts, then your children, your grandchildren and your great grandchildren will be ashamed of you. Forever. The German people will tell you: Do not shrink away. Stand up for democracy and freedom.
That’s why Christoph Heusgen cried about what Vance said. That’s why we should all be crying about what Vance said.
We cannot let this happen on our watch. We HAVE to fight back.
On Saturday, 2/22, The Freedom Writers will publish a new INFO SHEET with a Reading List of the Top 4 Books and 1 Streaming Series on Nazi Germany. We all need to know this history well, and be on the (tragic and weary) alert of its repetition. Our future depends on it.
In the meantime, let’s take action …
Great news! If you’ve been keeping up with our posts, you’re caught up with the actions 5 Calls has. If not, GET SET UP on 5 Calls and do those calls first. Then ..
3 Top Priority Actions for today:
Action 1 Name: Don’t allow the banks to rip us off like they did in 2008!
Prep: Get the phone numbers of your 2 US Senators and your 1 US Rep from here: League of Women Voters
Then call with this script:
(Remember to make it your own as much as you can. Specific stories of how you are impacted are best.)
Hello, my name is _________ and my address is __________. I’m calling to tell you how upset I am about losing the CFPB. In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank reform act to protect us from predatory banks and lenders after the housing catastrophe of 2008. Part of that reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which Senator Elizabeth Warren helped establish. The CFPB protects us consumers from banks who want to rip us off. Now, Trump wants to give these banks free reign to rip us off again with no consequences. The people who voted for Trump didn’t vote to get robbed by their banks and didn’t vote to see a repeat of 2008.
So, I urge ___(Name of Official)___ to stand up and defend the CFPB loudly and clearly, and do everything they can to bring it back.
Please ask __(Name of Official)___ to get back to me with how they plan to protect our consumer rights.
Thank you.
Action 2 Name: Protect our privacy from the DOGE.
Prep: Get the phone numbers of your 2 US Senators and your 1 US Rep from here: League of Women Voters
Then call with this script:
(Remember to make it your own as much as you can. Specific stories of how you are impacted are best.)
Hello, my name is _________ and my address is __________. I’m calling to urge you to protect our privacy from the DOGE hackers. DOGE's access to data at Treasury, Health and Human Services, and other agencies is out of compliance with legal requirements that these executive agencies have as stewards of our data. I am also concerned about how these data hacks could break down the checks and balances between government branches that protect our rights.
So, I urge ___(Name of Official)___ to do everything in their power to gain oversight of DOGE and protect our privacy.
Please ask __(Name of Official)___ to get back to me with how they plan to control DOGE.
Thank you.
Action 3 Name: Deny extra DHS funds for mass deportation.
Prep: Get the phone numbers of your 2 US Senators and your 1 US Rep from here: League of Women Voters
Then call with this script:
(Remember to make it your own as much as you can. Specific stories of how you are impacted are best.)
Hello, my name is _________ and my address is __________. I’m calling because I’m angry that President-elect Donald Trump is making our immigration policy more xenophobic and racist than it already was. We need fair and civil policies to keep our communities safe, not policies that terrorize our immigrant friends, neighbors, co-workers and employees with the threat of mass deportation. So, I urge ___(Name of Official)___ to use their power in Congress to deny funds to DHS for this terrorism.
Please ask __(Name of Official)___ to get back to me with how they plan to vote on DHS funding.
Thank you for helping us save our democracy!
EBFreed and Billy J