1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

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You’re the reason I can keep doing this work, and I’m indescribably grateful. Chop Wood, Carry Water 4/30 (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=362618&post_id=195562743&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=6jq11&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDk5Nzg5MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk1NTYyNzQzLCJpYXQiOjE3Nzc1NzYwNjAsImV4cCI6MTc4MDE2ODA2MCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2MjYxOCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.Xvpefro5BgU8T5IWRKsknUXXbhfXT9iIym0_LvyVffI) 42 Dems take a bad vote / No ICE funding / Let states protect their food sources / No on Kevin Warsh / Help a 19-year-old former ICE detainee afford college / Vaclav Havel on hope JESS CRAVEN (https://substack.com/@jesscraven101) APR 30  (https://substack.com/@jesscraven101)    (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=362618&post_id=195562743&utm_source=substack&isFreemail=false&submitLike=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDk5Nzg5MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk1NTYyNzQzLCJyZWFjdGlvbiI6IuKdpCIsImlhdCI6MTc3NzU3NjA2MCwiZXhwIjoxNzgwMTY4MDYwLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMzYyNjE4Iiwic3ViIjoicmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.dpbz48lpoOpU0ANXYyMuVOn643sAftXozehq3dgXhGI&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-reaction&r=6jq11)  (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=362618&post_id=195562743&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&isFreemail=false&comments=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDk5Nzg5MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk1NTYyNzQzLCJpYXQiOjE3Nzc1NzYwNjAsImV4cCI6MTc4MDE2ODA2MCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2MjYxOCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.Xvpefro5BgU8T5IWRKsknUXXbhfXT9iIym0_LvyVffI&r=6jq11&utm_campaign=email-half-magic-comments&action=post-comment&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)  (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=362618&post_id=195562743&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=false&r=6jq11&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDk5Nzg5MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk1NTYyNzQzLCJpYXQiOjE3Nzc1NzYwNjAsImV4cCI6MTc4MDE2ODA2MCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2MjYxOCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.Xvpefro5BgU8T5IWRKsknUXXbhfXT9iIym0_LvyVffI)  (https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9vcGVuLnN1YnN0YWNrLmNvbS9wdWIvY2hvcHdvb2RjYXJyeXdhdGVyZGFpbHlhY3Rpb25zL3AvY2hvcC13b29kLWNhcnJ5LXdhdGVyLTQzMC01MzY_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.RPy50mXDK83wNxLkl462Vz_G0vaq1lHiRvkMEj6dZeA?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) READ IN APP (https://open.substack.com/pub/chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions/p/chop-wood-carry-water-430-536?utm_source=email&redirect=app-store&utm_campaign=email-read-in-app)    (https://substack.com/redirect/731597c0-47f4-4c5f-af5d-eb58169092f9?j=eyJ1IjoiNmpxMTEifQ.IbSn3F3hUP05vkx4kNQYRPfbBfbFQ-sjr7KXi3uRrmc) Hi, all, and happy Thursday. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. What a week. As if yesterday’s absolutely shattering Supreme Court decision wasn’t bad enough, this morning we had Louisiana’s Republican government announce that it was going to cancel their primaries so it could redraw maps (this may or may not succeed in court). They’re likely not the only ones. It’s going to be ugly for a little while, folks. The good news, such as it is, is that the ruling in Callais came late enough that some states, at least, will be prevented from redrawing their maps before the midterms —simply because they’ve already had their primaries. Thank goodness for that. 2028, of course, will be harder, but by then hopefully the political winds will have changed enough that we can still prevail. I was on a meeting this morning with the indomitable Eric Holder of the NRDC (https://substack.com/redirect/1e843208-f0c4-4f5f-8e98-4b54ebe5a5c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNmpxMTEifQ.IbSn3F3hUP05vkx4kNQYRPfbBfbFQ-sjr7KXi3uRrmc). He was disappointed, of course, and angry, but nevertheless uncowed. His org will fight back, hard; I hope we’ll all support them. He urged us to keep our eye on the long game. Things, he said, will be very difficult until we’re in a position to make fundamental changes—and that won’t be until 2029. But if we succeed in electing Democratic majorities in the House and Senate then, as well as a president willing to throw down, we can, indeed, fix this. And we will. Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Almost everything is awful right now. But times like this are exactly when the phrase “chop wood, carry water” takes on the most relevance, and our daily actions the most importance. It’s at times like this, too, that I always turn to Vaclav Havel’s passage on hope. I’ve quoted it in this newsletter somewhat recently, but will put it here again this morning, because we need it. Remember, Havel wrote this passage from prison. He had no reason then to believe that his movement would ever succeed (it did.) The kind of hope I often think about (especially in situations that are particularly hopeless, such as prison) I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us or we don’t; it’s a dimension of the soul; it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. We’re going to have to dig deep now, folks. The hope we cling to must not be one of “prognostication,” but rather of will and determination. We must, and will, keep fighting for what’s right not because it’s certain to come about, but because THE thing worth fighting for. Also, of course, because we are certain to lose if we don’t try. I’m sending real strength and love to you all this morning. This is tough. But we were made for this moment, and we’re going to meet it. Let’s get to work. P.S. — Hope to see some of you on Indivisible’s emergency call on the Callais decision (https://substack.com/redirect/c905c7f5-b910-4a7d-8b88-f2231c6