Call to Sen. Al Franken

I recited the message below to Sen. Al Franken's Duluth office.  Supposedly, a call is more effective than a letter or an email.  Surprisingly, the office worker didn't take my name or address.  Maybe the caller ID on her screen showed that I was local.

I hope you can keep up your opposition to Donald Trump.

I hope you can convince some of your more realistic Republican colleagues that it is not in their interest to give Trump carte blanche.

I enjoyed your books “Lies and the Liars Who Tell Them” and “Why Not Me”.  When I finished the latter I thought that a comedian would make a far better President than a clown.

I hope you, dear reader, can think of something similar to send to your Representative or Senators.

I plan to call something similar Rep. Rick Nolan and Sen. Amy Klobuchar later.  It kind of exhausted me just to say the above.

See also http://magree.blogspot.com/2017/01/thousands-of-phone-calls-are-better.html.

Thousands of phone calls are better than thousands of protestors

I posted the following to the comments section of “The Alt-Majority: How Social Networks Empowered Mass Protests Against Trump”, Farhad Manjoo, New York Times, 2017-01-30

Anti-Trump demonstrations are shedding harsh light on much of Trump’s arrogance, but my big question is what percentage of the protestors voted.

As stated in the article, the protests are getting attention and making Trump nervous.  But are the protests going to change the minds of those in Congress who enable Trump?

A better way to make a protest is to call your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives, even if they are Democrats.  Calling Democrats will help give them more backbone.

The best way is to call, not send email or a letter.  You can find your Senators phone numbers at https://www.senate.gov/ and your Representative’s number at  http://www.house.gov/.

Keep your message brief: 200 words or less.  Be polite.  If you have a another message, don’t hesitate to call at another time.

Also call your state senators and representatives, especially if you live in a gerry-mandered state.

If you voted in the last election, the American people thank you.  If you did not make sure to vote in each and every election from now on.  And in your phone call, remind the office holder that you intend to vote.

The Trump White House doesn’t list a phone number, but it does have an email form at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.  Gosh, what would happen if every protester filled out this form.  Would it bring down one of the White House servers?