Soulforce Activists Needed, Hate Crimes Bill

[antonyh]

If you would like to assist in writing an Open Letter to the Senate or any feedback would be great.

[antonyh]

Any feedback on the idea would be welcome as well.

[Dash]

I'm willing to help with research or anything else. If there's anything of value to you in the outline I was working on in the other hate crimes thread, feel free to make use of it.

[andrewlittle]

Monday will be a very bad day to do anything, but the rest of the week should be fairly open.

Let me know how I can help.

Andy

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Dash

I'm willing to help with research or anything else. If there's anything of value to you in the outline I was working on in the other hate crimes thread, feel free to make use of it.

Any assistance would be great.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by andrewlittle

Monday will be a very bad day to do anything, but the rest of the week should be fairly open.

Let me know how I can help.

Andy

I sent you an email

[Zerbie]

This is an excellent idea. The lies need to be exposed for what they are, point for point.

I don't know if I could help - I may have my hands full - I'm going to spend some time working on a letter to my senator complaining about the staffer who lied to me on the phone AND tried to back me into a corner with a false argument.

Well but - I wouldn't mind letting a lot more people know that at least one congressional staffer is lying to constituents on the phone.

[Alecto]

I honestly don't know how much time I could commit, but I did want to add a suggestion about listing people's representatives (should be available already on HRC by state), and also maybe a template for a printed letter? I've just heard that in general, online petitions don't get much notice, whereas printed letters and phone calls hold more sway.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Alecto

I honestly don't know how much time I could commit, but I did want to add a suggestion about listing people's representatives (should be available already on HRC by state), and also maybe a template for a printed letter? I've just heard that in general, online petitions don't get much notice, whereas printed letters and phone calls hold more sway.

Thank you for the advice. We're definitely going to take the Letter / Phone call approach. http://www.hatecrimesbill.org.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

This is an excellent idea. The lies need to be exposed for what they are, point for point.

I don't know if I could help - I may have my hands full - I'm going to spend some time working on a letter to my senator complaining about the staffer who lied to me on the phone AND tried to back me into a corner with a false argument.

Well but - I wouldn't mind letting a lot more people know that at least one congressional staffer is lying to constituents on the phone.

Hope the idea helps. We're in the letter writing stage and I have Dash and Andrewlittle on the team. I finished the draft today and now Andrew has it...then on to Dash. Hopefully the masterpiece will be complete by Sunday.

Then we'll need to start getting people of good will to the http://www.hatecrimesbill.org.

[Dash]

Anthony, regarding the website... You link to the text of the bill two ways--through Thomas and GovTrack. I don't know about GovTrak, but my recent experience with Thomas is that a link to those search results does not last. After awhile the link may lead to a page informing that search results are discarded after a time. You might want to check that link later to make sure it is still good.

Dash

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Dash

Anthony, regarding the website... You link to the text of the bill two ways--through Thomas and GovTrack. I don't know about GovTrak, but my recent experience with Thomas is that a link to those search results does not last. After awhile the link may lead to a page informing that search results are discarded after a time. You might want to check that link later to make sure it is still good.

Dash

Will do. I sent the letter off to Andy so you should get it by Wednesday.

[Zerbie]

Maybe the site could collect the results of contacts with congressional staffers. I think folks should know that at least one (the one I talked to last week) is lying to constituents when they call in about the hate crimes legislation.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Maybe the site could collect the results of contacts with congressional staffers. I think folks should know that at least one (the one I talked to last week) is lying to constituents when they call in about the hate crimes legislation.

Sounds like a great idea. We'll need to get our letter out of the box first Hopefully we can come up with a good one.

[antonyh]

Do you think it is OK to link to Soulforce for "Discuss S 1105" or should I create a Google Group for it?

[Zerbie]

This may just be me, but I would prefer it if you created a separate group. Rather than direct a lot more purely "debate" traffic over here. We've got enough already, imo. Make it specific.

[Sherrie Z]

Thanks, Antony!

I'm very glad you're working on this legislation!

In the interests of avoiding "too many cooks syndrome" ... I would like to support your efforts, but it looks like you're well underway ... for now I think I'll just be on standby for if and when you might need more help further into the process ... I'll watch this thread for developments ... thanks for keeping us posted and best wishes on this project! : )

Hugs,

Sherrie Z

[antonyh]

We are making great progress with http://www.hatecrimesbill.org. Our letter is now in the second revision phase. I am very thankful to have the very skilled assistance of andrewlittle and dash. These men are smart cookies

[andrewlittle]

Originally Posted by antonyh

We are making great progress with http://www.hatecrimesbill.org. Our letter is now in the second revision phase. I am very thankful to have the very skilled assistance of andrewlittle and dash. These men are smart cookies

Believe me when I say that Antony and Dash are making me look good - kind of carrying me along for the ride. Nice work, gentlemen.

[davidb]

Looking forward to the letter. I feel blessed to live on the Chicago lakefront. My Representative, Jan Schakowsky, voted a resounding yes on the legislation.