11 Comments
User's avatar
Greg Rushford's avatar

This is much-needed, wise advice. Everyone can do something. To surrender, silently, is to dishonor those who came before us —- often at great price.

Steve Bucher's avatar

Thanks so much for your articulate response to the very existential question you raise

Frank Moore's avatar

You people have beautiful souls.

Robin Gilmartin's avatar

Calling members of Congress is far more important than people think. All calls are logged and stats are reported to members regularly. This is a mid-term election year do they pay attention!

Martha Ture's avatar

I met a friend I hadn't seen for a month. We sat down beside each other on the stone wall. Nightmares? I asked. She nodded. In my women's group we sometimes share our nightmares out loud. It lightens the load. We wind up laughing.

Here's another thing we can do. Vote with our wallets. A website named Goodsuniteus identifies corporations whose officers donated to the GOP and those to the Democrats.

One more thing: we can defeat outside money in politics. Look at the campaigns of Zohran Mamdami and Susan Crawford, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. Both were outspent and both emphasized the role of outside money in politics. The public voted them in overwhelmingly. We can do this.

john@johnmdowd.com's avatar

Thanks but we have no representation in Congress. They are greedy and gutless.

We are on our own!

Max Girard's avatar

In my opinion, what we need is a nonprofit user funded social media platform,

no manipulation, no trolls, no one anonymous, so that we can talk to each other,

vote, rank our concerns, and come to some sort of consensus.

The propaganda dome directly over our head is not working

as well as it used to. So that's a good thing.

Tony Payne's avatar

Thank you Margaret & Jennifer and to all your colleagues in The Steady State 1

Tony Payne's avatar

Here’s my tool kit for engagement: Below are names from Ballotpedia.com to known primary candidates who hope to be Maine's next U.S. Senator, Governor or Member of Congress. Many are novices in the realm of elected or appointed public service. Others are seasoned politicians who have sought and often won elections. Please get involved though I, for one, will not be supporting any Republican who failed to openly oppose Trump and his MAGA GOP.

U.S. Senate (Maine)

Natasha Alcala (D)*

Carmen Calibrese (R)

Susan Collins (R)

David Evans (D)

Tucker Favreau (D)

Dan Kleban (D)

Andrea LaFlamme (D)*

Janet Mills (D)

Graham Platner (D)

Phillip Rench (I)

Daira Rodriguez (D)

Daniel Smeriglio (R)

GOVERNOR of MAINE

Shenna Bellows (D)

Jason Cherry (D)

Troy Dale Jackson (D)

Angus King III (D)

Kenneth Forrest Pinet (D)

Hannah Pingree (D)

Nirav Shah (D)

Jonathan Bush (R)

Ken A. Capron (R)

Bobby Charles (R)

David Jones (R)

James Libby (R)

Owen McCarthy (R)

Ben Midgley (R)

Steven Sheppard (R)*

Robert J. Wessels (R)

Richard Bennett (Independent)

W. Edward Crockett (Independent)

John Glowa (Independent)

Alexander Murchison (Independent)*

MAINE’S FIRST

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Chellie Pingree (D)

Tiffany Roberts (D)

Joshua James Duprey (R)*

Andrew Piantidosi (R)

Ronald C. Russell (R)

MAINE’S SECOND

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Matthew Dunlap (D)

Jordan Wood (D)

James Clark (R)*

Paul LePage (R)

* No campaign web site listed at this time

Pick a candidate now who will protect the Constitution from further assault and then get involved for the June 2026 primary.

Please remember, YOU ARE OPINION LEADERS in Maine.

People listen to you. Make it count.

---

Recommended reading/viewing:

The United States Constitution

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Heather Cox Richardson, contextual historian

Colin Woodard, Nationhood Lab

Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney & federal prosecutor

Angus King Declaration of Conscience Speech

What do you think and what are you going to do about it?

Thanks for reading and please forward this to your circle of influence.

FIND ME ON SUBSTACK, BLUESKY, LINKEDIN AND NOW BACK ON FACEBOOK

Here's Your Opinion Leader's Tool Kit (just click)

Write/Call Our Congressional delegation and the Governor

Angus King, U.S. Senate

Susan Collins, U.S. Senate

Chellie Pingree, Congress

Jared Golden, Congress

Janet Mills, Governor

Write letters-to-the-editor in Maine

Portland Press Herald

Lewiston Sun Journal

Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel

Bangor Daily News

Ellsworth American

Midcoast Villager

Star Herald

Post or Re-post Content to your social media from these FREE trusted sources

Maine Public Radio

Maine Monitor

National Public Radio

Axios

CNN

Associated Press

...subscribe to

The Boston Globe

The New York Times

The Chicago Tribune

The Atlantic

Heather Cox Richardson

Joyce Vance - Civil Discourse

Democracy is like a muscle -

it works best when it's exercised.

What do you think and what are you going to do about it?

The Steady State's avatar

Thanks Tony!!! Loving your reading list.

Martha Duncan's avatar

Combined 55 years of experience in national security, these words are to be taken seriously. We must embrace one another, while taking time for self strength. Together we are stronger and our voices must be heard to save our democracy and rule of law.