When Good People Do Nothing

“Listen, I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power. To not give up. To remember we are a huge power that his being oppressed by these bad dudes. We don’t realize how strong we actually are. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. So don’t be inactive.” ~Alexei Navalny

“What Putin did to Navalny is what Trump says he can do to you.” ~Timothy Snyder, Levin Professor of History at Yale University and author of On Tyranny

I woke up on Friday to the news of the murder of Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian dissident who had been (unsuccessfully) poisoned by Putin and thrown into a Siberian gulag on trumped-up charges.

Almost immediately, a clip of Navalny – speaking straight to the camera, and seemingly to each of us personally – made the rounds on social media.

His crystal clear blue eyes locked with ours.

“If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong,” he says.

“We need to utilize this power.”

It seems strange, maybe, to write about a Russian opposition leader in a newsletter that’s about American freedom. But Alexei has not been far from my thoughts since I read the news of his murder. I mentioned as much to my husband, who admitted that he, too, had been thinking about Navalny off and on all weekend.

Perhaps you have been, too.

I think it’s because Navalny was Russian, but his cause was global.

We are at a turning point, not just in the United States, but in the world. The question that is facing people across the globe is, again and again, whether we will fight for freedom. Will we stand up? Will we rise?

Alexei did.

And over the weekend, Alexei’s wife Yulia, a towering presence of her own, announced that she would continue his work. (Watch her powerful video, in its entirety, here.)

That she is doing so is poetic all on its own. Putin has always equated masculinity and virility with power – a short-sighted narrative, as his aging body betrays him. For his fiercest and most fearsome opponent to be a young, stoic wife and mother feels … destined, somehow.

Alexei’s death and Yulia’s announcement that she won’t let his death be in vain stings my American conscience. Right now I can do things they only dream of. I can call and complain to my elected officials, write opinion letters to the newspaper, gather for protests – the right to do all of those things is both more precious and more fragile than we imagine.

Right now, we have the collective power that Alexi and Yulia have longed for and dreamed of. To keep that power we have to pay attention, stand up, and speak out.

Trump admires Putin – a murderous dictator. He wants Putin’s ability to exact revenge on enemies and reward his loyalists. Trump’s “statement” (if you can call it that) on Navalny’s murder came three days late and equated what he called Navalny’s “sudden death” with his own legal woes. Notably absent was any mention of Putin’s responsibility.

In the last week, Trump said that he would let Russia invade whomever it wanted. He killed the bipartisan border/Ukraine funding bill – a bill that gave Republicans nearly everything on their wish list and was even supported by the uber-conservative National Border Patrol Council. Whether he killed that legislation to keep immigration as an election issue or to deny funding for Ukraine, the result is the same.

Friend, he is not hiding who he is, nor where his allegiances lie. We must take him at his word.

And we must fight back. Navalny devoted his life to the belief that collective action could change the world. He was right – it can.

But, to work, it requires all of us.

Not just Ukrainians. Not just Russians.

All of us.

Denmark got the memo – it’s donating its entire artillery to Ukraine.

And what of the U.S.? Well, the message the pro-Putin wing of the Republican Party (led by Speaker “Moscow Mike” Johnson) is sending is that America won’t stand by its allies and won’t come to Ukraine’s aid, even when it is in our national security interest and boosts our local economies. (A recent study showed that 90% of Ukrainian funding actually stays in the U.S., going toward manufacturing weapons like javelins made in Alabama and rocket launchers made in West Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas. All told, thousands of jobs have been created across 38 states.)

We are not – you are not – powerless to change that message. Instead, imagine what the world would see if We The People jammed the congressional phone lines – every single day – with demands for funding for Ukraine?

Because we could, you know.

Don’t you think that’s what Navalny would have wanted us to do?

To not mourn his death by wringing our hands and shaking our heads, but by picking up our phones and saying – enough!

That is what you can do today. That is what we can to today. Right now.

Together.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. So don’t be inactive.” ~Alexei Navalny

Let’s get to work.

Actions for the Week of February 20, 2024

Call Congress: Bring Ukraine Funding to the Floor Now. (H/T to Sue Rogan!)

First, read this excellent essay by an American soldier who trains and works with Ukrainians on the front lines: https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1759295578482106674?s=20

And then read this report about why Avdiivka is so important: https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/why-the-fall-of-avdiivka-matters?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

And then read this great summary by Sue Rogan, of Rogan’s List: While Russia pushed into Avdiivka in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military retreated due to lack of ammunition. There is a Senate-passed bill for Ukrainian funding, but the House is on vacation and Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to bring it up for a vote. For some background, Heather Cox Richardson explains how we got here and why it is important that this funding go through. The House has an option to override Johnson’s decision by using something called a discharge petition. Lawmakers can “discharge” legislation that’s been sitting in committee if 218 members, a majority of the lower chamber, sign a petition to do so, effectively bypassing the speaker to bring a bill before the full House for a vote. There is reason to believe that there are enough Republicans who want this funding to be passed that this could be a realistic solution, and perhaps moreso in the wake of recent revelations about fears Russia will nuclearize space. Let’s contact our representatives and tell them to get back to work, introduce a discharge petition, and get this passed.

And then pick up your phone because you’re a good person – and just like Navalny said, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people like us to do nothing.

Script: Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent at [zip]. I’m calling today to ask the Congress(wo)man to support a discharge petition to get funding for Ukraine before the full House for a vote. That the speaker has not brought that legislation to the floor is a gift to Putin. Not funding Ukraine is a gift to Putin. Let’s show the world that America stands with its allies, not a murderous dictator.

Need a Boost? Watch This

If you’ve been reading Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles, you’ve heard it before: Dems need to be out and proud about our accomplishments – both today, and historically. Well someone finally created a commercial that does exactly that.

Watch here: https://x.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1759655250913599725?s=20

Wednesday: Join Indivisible For Persuasion to Power: Know your Audience w/ Loretta Ross

From the event description: Everyone we speak to, whether neighbor, friend, community member or family, carries a slightly different set of values and expectations. In organizing conversations, it’s up to us to listen well and make strategic, thoughtful assessments of how to move our goals forward by taking into account the other person’s responses. Join us and veteran activist Loretta Ross (featured in The Persuaders!) for a conversation on how to assess and adjust our communication approaches based on the person we’re talking to and how closely they already align with our goals.

It’s at 7pm central. Register here: https://indivisible.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEucO-rpjgoHdNwP2f8uH-TMCykIUmrtN-B#/registration

Text Banks for the Win!

I love love love text banks. Help register Democrats from your couch? Yes please! So I was excited to see Field Team 6 and Building Bridges for American Action Fund’s text banks to text unregistered voters in Virginia, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia. They’re using Field Team 6’s BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) Text-Banking Program – which means you go at your own speed and on your own time.

Sign up once for the training and text all you like in 2024. Send just a few texts a day in 2024 and you’ll make a big difference!

Phone Bank to Register Ohio Democrats

Join Field Team 6 in making phone calls to unregistered likely Democrats… and turning them into registered Ohio Democrats!

After the DECISIVE victory for abortion rights, we need to register more new Dems in order to re-elect Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in 2024 is crucial to holding our Senate majority!

Phone calls are one of the most effective possible ways to do this. So let’s GOOOO!

We need your help. Join us as we turn voices into votes! All training provided!

ALSO NOTE: All times listed are Eastern Time! But just to be abundantly clear, the event will be taking place from 1-3p PT/4-6p ET

WHEW! GO TEAM!

P.S.: Why don’t you make someone’s day and send this pep talk to a friend or two? I bet they need it.

If you’d like to sign up to get this pep talk and action list in your in-box each week, you can do that here. Welcome, friend!

P.P.S.: If you want to help support this work you can do so via Patreon at
https://www.patreon.com/smalldeedsdone or via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/smalldeeds
My deepest gratitude in advance.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for writing. I read and respond to every email! We’re in this together. Don’t you forget it.