Freedom Writers 3/4/25
Return the children.
Hello, Freedom Writers!
In Today’s Post:
Return the children.
Letter from Lech Walesa to Donald
TONIGHT: Calling BS: Live-chat and Prebuttal to Trump’s Address (with Sens. Chris Murphy and Ed Markey)
‘The Interview’ podcast with Gov. Maura Healy
INFO SHEETS - For Your Information
Actions » Actions » Actions
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Return the children.
What kind of person kidnaps children to raise them for his own cannon fodder?
A monster.
That’s all we need to say.
Letter from Lech Walesa to Donald
In this moving letter written by Lech Walesa (Poland’s former Labor Leader) and 38 former Polish political prisoners, the writers call out similarities between the bullying tactics Trump used on President Volodymyr Selenskyy and those used by Communist-era interrogators.
(Posted by Polish Reddit user karpaty31946)
Here's a translation of the today's letter to Trump about his actions in the Oval Office on Friday if anyone's interested (with some context)...
Dear Mr. President,
We look upon the relations [interactions] in your meeting with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky with anger and distaste. We see your waiting for him to show respect and gratitude for material help given by USA in exchange for Ukraine fighting Russia as insulting. Gratitute is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who spilt their blood in the cause of fighting for a free world. For over eleven years, they fell on the front in the name of these values and for the freedom of their fatherland, which was attacked by Putinite Russia. We don't understand how a leader of a nation which is the symbol of the free world is unable to see that.
Us being insulted brought back to us, that the atmosphere in the Oval Office at the time of this conversation reminded us of [the kind of discussions] that the SB [Soviet-era Polish secret police] held in interrogation rooms and Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, on the orders of the Communist political police also explained to us, that they held all the cards and we held none. They demanded for us to stop our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people are suffering due to us [the activities of the Solidarity opposition in the 70ies and 80ies]. They took away our freedom and citizens' rights, since we didn't agree to work with the authorities and we didn't show them gratitude. We are shocked that [Trump] treated Mr. President Vladimir Zelensky similarly.
The history of 20th century shows that every time when the USA wanted to show distance from democratic values and its European allies, it ended with a threat to [the USA] itself. Woodrow Wilson understood that; he decided to enter the USA into WW I in 1917. FDR also understood that, deciding after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that the war in defense of the USA won't be only in the Pacific, but also in Europe [in support of] allies who were attacked by the Third Reich nations.
We remember that without Pres. Ronald Reagan and American financial involvement, the collapse of the USSR empire [wouldn't have happened]. Reagan had the understanding that in Soviet Russia and countries colonized by it, millions of enslaved people were suffering, among them thousands of political prisoners, which for their sacrifice in the defense of democratic values, paid with their freedom. His greatness comes from, among other things, that without wavering, he called the USSR the "Evil Empire" and he brought a forthright fight. We won, and a monument to Pres. Reagan stands in near the US Embassy in Warsaw today.
Mr. President, material help - military and financial - cannot be the equivalent of blood spilt in the name of freedom and independence of Ukraine, Europe, and the entire free world. Human life is priceless, and it cannot be measured financially. Gratitude is needed for those who sacrificed their blood and freedom. For us, the people of "Solidarity", former Communist political prisoners of the regime serving Soviet Russia, this is clear.
We appeal to the USA to hold itself to the guarantees, that they gave along with Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which is written an obligation to defend the immovable borders of Ukraine, in exchange for [Ukraine] giving up its nuclear arms. Those guarantees are without conditions: they don't contain a single word about treating such help as an exchange for commercial benefits.
Lech Wałęsa followed by names of 38 other former Solidarity members and dissidents against the Communist Polish regime.
(Thanks to Freedom Writer, Alison Perrin, for making us aware of this!)
TONIGHT: Calling BS: Live-chat and Prebuttal to Trump’s Address (with Sens. Chris Murphy and Ed Markey)
From 8:15pm - 10:30pm ET tonight, while Trump is whining about how the egg prices are all Biden’s fault in his State of the Union Address, we will be looking toward the future in a live chat with …
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Governor Matt Meyer, Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Akilah Hughes, Wajahat Ali, Jay Willis, Lauren Bishop, Michael Ian Black ... and more!
Sign Up at this LINK
(Thanks to the Longmeadow Town Democratic Committee for sharing this!)
‘The Interview’ podcast with Gov. Maura Healy
Check out this episode of the NYT’s 'The Interview' podcast where Gov. Maura Healey Wants Democrats to Put Up a Fight! You should be able to listen to this without logging into Amazon Music.
(Thanks to Freedom Writer, Mary Friedman, for sharing this!)
INFO SHEETS - For Your Information
If you’re new to the Freedom Writers, WELCOME! Check out these INFO SHEETS with lots of great background information:
Actions > Actions > Actions
These actions are designed for you to take either with your Action Group or by yourself. By ‘Action Group,’ we mean any group that meets regularly to protect our country’s democracy and freedom. It can be a church group, an Indivisible or Swing Left group, a Democratic Town Committee, or even just a pro-active group of neighbors.
These are scary times and we need to stay connected with each other. In order to protect our country, we’re going to need thousands of these groups to be educated and ‘at the ready.’ So, whether you join an existing group or start your own, the bottom line is this: find a group, build it up so it can split into 2 if possible, get connected through information channels like this Substack and local coalitions, and teach others to do the same.
Action 1: Call your Elected Officials on 3 issues - This is top priority, and it really does make a difference!
If you’re new to calling your Elected Officials through ‘5 Calls,’ PLEASE read our 5 Calls App info sheet to get started.
If you’re not sure why calling Elected Officials is so critically important, PLEASE watch these videos from AOC.
Today’s Actions: Use the 5 Calls app to call about these 3 issues. You should find these 3 titles in the app.
Protect Social Security Benefits
Stop RFK’s Attacks on Vaccine Access and HHS Transparency
Condemn the Illegal Firing of NOAA and NWS Employees
Action 2: Research/Call each of your 3 Congresspeople to find out when they are holding their Town Halls in the March 15-23 recess.
From Indivisible National: Congress is heading home for recess from March 15-23, and after all the heat the Republicans got last time, they are avoiding their constituents. EVERY Member of Congress -- Republicans and Democrats -- should be holding public town halls during this recess. We need Republicans to face the fury of their constituents, and we need Democrats to commit, like Maura Healy did, to fighting back.
First, if you haven’t done it already, get the contact and website information for your 2 US Senators and 1 US Representative Here: League of Women Voters. Put ALL the contact info into your Contacts on your phone so you don’t have to do this again.
Go to each official’s website and find out if they are already planning a town hall.
IF THERE IS NO INFO ON A TOWN HALL: Call them, state your name and address, and ask them when they will hold their town hall in the next recess, March 15-23.
Action 3: Write to WI Voters about their Special Election on April 1st
Order packets for the 3/9/25 Distribution - Freedom Writer’s Postcard Distribution of postcards for WI Voters. The Freedom Writers have distribution points in Western Mass, but we also mail packets of postcards to anywhere in the US. Order your packets for our March 9 Distribution here: ORDER FORM.
We support Sen. Schumer’s vote to keep the gvmt open. Shutdowns accomplish nothing and cause a lot of harm. We have done a lot of harm to our resistance by our very public divide. Let us concentrate on making sure the public understands how mag policies are impacting them. Eileen and David Pratt