5 Ways to Channel Your Seething Rage into Activism

The Trump administration is under investigation for possible treason.

Possible treason.

We learned this March 20 when FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee, informing the world that an investigation began last July into whether the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election. The inquiry is also probing links between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to dismantle our democracy.

As if Trump’s narcissism, lies, sexism, racism and xenophobia weren’t enough to make your blood boil, we are now looking at the possibility that this administration colluded with a foreign government to undermine our election.

Our nation was already seething with rage. As Deborah Quinn Hensel wrote so eloquently in Your President May Be Making You Sick, stress and anxiety are on the rise across America. But you have choices. Rather than medicating your anger with alcohol, drugs or a big ol’ box of doughnuts, might I suggest … activism? Wouldn’t you like to be one of the heroes who help topple this Treasonous Tyrant?

Here are 5 ways to channel your seething rage into activism.

ResistBot. Tired of trying to reach your elected officials on the phone? Some nerdy, lovable programmers have invented ResistBot, an insanely easy way to use text messaging to fax your elected officials. Simply create a new contact in your smartphone called ResistBot and fill in the contact number 50409. Click “Send Message” and put “Resist” in the subject line. This clever little bot will ask your name and zip code, identify your representatives, ask you for a couple of pithy sentences, format your letters and then fax them to your senators and congresspeople. Voila! Your opinions will be tallied.

If you’re looking for ideas, you could text “Please reject the Trump budget” or “I’d like to request that a bipartisan select committee with an independent special prosecutor investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.”

Attend a Town Hall. Ready to vent your spleen in person? Visit the website Town Hall Project and type in your zip code. When I type in mine, for example, I’m alerted that my representative, Suzan DelBene, will be hosting one at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, April 1 at Redmond High School. If your senator or representative is on “the same side” as you, that’s great, but don’t assume they are mind readers. They still need to hear your concerns. You can also call your elected officials directly and ask if they’re planning town halls. Here at The Shinbone Star, we suspect that you’ve already memorized their names, but if you haven’t, just visit the Elected Officials website and search your senators by state or your representatives by zip code. You can also use the Call My Congress website to track them down.

Join a Tax March. Sure, The Rachel Maddow Show teased us with two pages of Trump’s 2005 tax return, but we need to see all of them, and current ones, please. Make a ruckus and demand them by joining one of the many Tax Marches that are scheduled across the country on April 15. Visit the Tax March website to find events all the way from Washington, D.C., to Alaska, and even a few international marches if you happen to be in Germany, Japan, New Zealand or the United Kingdom.

Download the Indivisible Guide. If you’re ready to do more than just make phone calls and sign petitions, download The Indivisible Guide, a Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. Former congressional staffers who witnessed the rise of the Tea Party got together and created this crowdsourced online document, which has already been downloaded more than 1 million times. It aims to replicate the Tea Party’s success in getting Congress to listen to a small, dedicated group of constituents. You can learn about “How Grassroots Advocacy Worked to Stop Obama,” “How Your Member of Congress Thinks, and How to Use that to Save Democracy,” “Organize a Local Group to Fight for Your Congressional District” and “Four Local Advocacy Tactics That Actually Work.” You can also click on “Act Locally” to find a local Indivisible group that has already hit the ground running.

Help flip the House in 2018. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election in 2018. Swing districts are those where the winner of the last House of Representatives election was determined by a thin margin, so they can use your help this time around to ensure they go blue. Visit the Swing Left website, input your address and easily locate the closest swing district. You can sign up to receive email alerts. If the swing district is close by, you can help out by registering voters, knocking on doors or working on a team. If the swing district is not close by, you’ll still get a toolkit to help build the community and raise awareness on social media.

Still seething with anger? Stop jumping up and down on that bag of Cheetos. You’ll find more constructive ideas in my earlier column, 14 Ways to Resist the Trump Agenda.