You got a dictionary kicking around?

[sovay]

Our internet is no longer ass because it is now supplied by RCN instead of Verizon, almost exactly two months after I reluctantly signed up for Verizon because RCN had misinformed me that they did not cover our address. This whole chain of events has been something of a comedy of monopoly, but since it means I no longer have to leave the house to get my work done, I can live with it. Which is a good thing, because due to a holiday-related deadline I spent almost this entire weekend glued to my computer working and today was no exception.

I did take some time in the afternoon to call the office of Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and leave a message encouraging him to make—and live up to—the same offer of refuge as Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York and the California Legislature. I got the idea from a friend on Facebook, who had gotten it from a friend of hers. She was hoping for the telephone equivalent of a flash mob. It was a surprisingly nerve-wracking experience for three minutes of conversation with a tired-sounding aide. I paced around my living room talking about the examples set by the aforementioned states as well as the mayors of Chelsea, Cambridge, and Somerville who have all pledged to stand by their immigrant communities and their status as sanctuary cities and stressing that since Massachusetts' traditional reputation as a liberal hotbed (when it wasn't having blue laws and inspiring banned-in-Boston jokes) has demonstrably not inoculated it against the opportunistic expressions of racism etc. that we are seeing all over the country, it is all the more important that its governor be seen to take an official position and a progressive one; in short, I ran off at the mouth, but I did take care to mention that I am a taxpayer and registered voter and I have no interest in re-electing a governor of Massachusetts who supports, even through silence and inaction, the ideals and programs of Donald Trump. The aide said she would tell him. I hope she does. I hope she had to tell him about a lot of calls and some letters and e-mails and that they make a difference to him, if only when he contemplates the disappointing returns of his midterm election. In the meantime, I was pleased to learn that although Boston is not formally a sanctuary city [edit: see correction in comments], Mayor Walsh has spoken firmly in favor of its immigrant population: "If they come out and say we're building a wall around America, we are not doing that in Boston, Massachusetts." Right on. Someone has to make up for the Alien and Sedition Acts, John.

So that was one thing. Not a big thing. There will need to be others. First, sleep, and getting up in six hours to catch a train to New York City.

Comments

[sovay]

You're inspiring me; I just spent some time drafting my statements ahead of time, so I won't stammer or hesitate too much on the phone.

That's great. Go, you!

I know I could call now and potentially get a machine, but now that I've committed to this course of action I want to say my say to a live person.

I think that will have more effect, anyway. You can always fast-forward a voicemail message. (Or just skip them. I bet people just skip them now.) You cannot make one of your governor's constituents get off the phone any faster than they feel like doing. Plus real people can say valuable things back, like the City Council.

"That is incorrect -- Boston already is a sanctuary city, and the Councilor was saying that it had to continue to be one."

Okay! That was not at all clear either from my own understanding of the situation or the news as I was reading it.

There you have it: Boston is officially a sanctuary city as far as its own City Council is concerned, at any rate.

Well, I am delighted to hear it. Thank you for coming up with accurate information!

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks. I'll come back for a rallying shout when I've actually done it. Back when the Governor was refusing to consider harboring Syrian refugees, I remember telling you that I was going to write a sharp letter. Then I never actually did it. Telling you about my plans here is my way of keeping myself relatively honest.

Thank you for coming up with accurate information!

You're welcome. It'd be a lot better civic policy if it was stated somewhere people could find it without having to phone the City Council and be told about it. I'm still not 100% confident in stating the "sanctuary city" thing without a concrete statement I can point to.

[sovay]

Telling you about my plans here is my way of keeping myself relatively honest.

I am happy to be your friendly neighborhood accountability.

It'd be a lot better civic policy if it was stated somewhere people could find it without having to phone the City Council and be told about it. I'm still not 100% confident in stating the "sanctuary city" thing without a concrete statement I can point to.

Agreed. Maybe they will start making some. Certainly it's a thing I would like to be able to advertise.

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Well, my friend, I phoned Charlie "Not A Military Code, Honest" Baker. Thank goodness you took the hit first, because I was scared to do it and would probably have backed out and never talked about it again if I hadn't known you had done it already. Even my occasional power of "The Girl Who Did Not Know How To Shiver" bravery through incomprehension can only get me so far. I *do* comprehend the situation here and I don't like it one bit. I got up hours ago, but I've been procrastinating for a long time.

What felt like hours of ringing, but what was actually a couple of minutes or less, gave way finally to a polite male aide. I requested to speak to the Governor, because why not, and was told as I had expected that he was not available but that the aide would transmit a message to him on my behalf. I told him that I urged the Governor very strongly to make a stand and offer refuge to Americans threatened by the policies of the oncoming administration. I diverged from my notes a bit, so I'm not sure of my choice of words, but I remember I said that Governor Baker not only had to take a stand against bigotry and intolerance, but that he had to be seen, publicly, to do so. I may have said that we the people of Massachusetts have to set an example for the rest of the country, and that example must be to stand against intolerance and deportation, and that I was sure the Governor had often thought of Winthrop's statement that the eyes of the world would be upon us, and that they're upon us NOW, and we have to visibly take a stance now that the world will see us, and that stance must be against intolerance. I was angry, I got emotional, my voice shook, and to my surprise I teared up, but I hope it lent force to my statement rather than making me inaudible.

I didn't say half of what I'd meant to say. The aide seized the first chance he had to shut me down in a genteel fashion and end the conversation. I did manage to wrap up by saying that I was a lifelong citizen of Massachusetts, a taxpayer and a voter, and that I would be awaiting Governor Baker's official reaction with great eagerness.

This concludes today's episode of Adrenaline Theater.

[sovay]

Charlie "Not A Military Code, Honest" Baker

SERIOUSLY.

This concludes today's episode of Adrenaline Theater.

*hugs*

You rock. If what you write above is only half of what you meant to say, it was a very good half. I hope Baker listens—derspatchel just read me a report from WGBH that he's been inundated with calls, so he can hardly pretend his constituency doesn't care. You are part of the flood.

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm proud to be in that flood with you. I hope it will carry our point where it's needed.