holliswein's blog

This week we celebrated July 4th and the 54th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act while we wait for President Trump to announce his next Supreme Court nominee. These two events, nearly 188 years apart, are linked by the "unalienable Rights" of life, liberty and happiness. It is the pursuit and the protection of those rights that brings us to this pivotal moment in our nation's life - the next Supreme Court Justice.

We knew this day - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement -  was coming. We have been waiting in fear. We don't know who his replacement will be, but we do know the nominee will be an extreme conservative committed to Donald Trump's anti-woman, anti-family and anti-immigration agenda.

Innocent, helpless children are being used for political gain by Donald Trump and the Republican party.

More than 2,000 children, as young as two-years-old, have been ripped from their parents at the border and held in detention camps. By July, that number could rise to 30,000 despite the GOP immigration "compromise" plans and Trump's executive order. There are no plans to reunite these children with family members.

Last Monday, JAC held its annual Power of Women Luncheon in Chicago. Nearly 400 women (and a few men) attended the event. The theme, SEE SOMETHING. SAY SOMETHING. DO SOMETHING was a call to action to end gun violence by voting and supporting candidates who will stand up to the NRA.

Fred Guttenberg and Parkland students, Alex Wind and Sofie Whitney, joined us for an emotional and inspiring afternoon. Their courage and resiliency empowers all of us to take action. They cannot change this country alone. They need our help.

As we inch towards the midterm elections in November, we cannot let early Democratic primary victories lull us into complacency. We still have a long way to go and still need to encourage more people to vote.

Primaries generally bring out the base, those voters who are more engaged and who are extremely partisan. Since primaries are not a contest between two candidates of different parties, the results are a more direct proxy for partisanship preference.

By the time today ends, 96 more people will die from gun violence, while hundreds more will be injured. This is not a one-time occurrence. This happens every day in America.

More children have been killed by guns since the Sandy Hook school shooting than U.S. soldiers in combat following 9/11. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that 57 percent of U.S. teenagers are worried that a shooting could take place at their own school - and one in four are "very worried" about the chance.

President Trump today announced a domestic gag rule preventing doctors from sharing information -- sometimes life-saving information -- with women if it involves abortion services. The Trump administration is using censorship as a road block to undercut Roe v Wade.

This week, we honored the victims of the Holocaust. According to a study from the Claims Conference, there are critical gaps both in awareness of basic facts as well as detailed knowledge of the Holocaust amongst young adults. Nearly half of millennials cannot name a single death camp.

Since the tragic shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, our nation has been captivated by the spirit of those students and other young people from across the country. 

Like Nachson, who jumped in and took the first steps to split the Red Sea for the Jews to escape the approaching Egyptian forces, these young people have parted the political waters. They have also leapt into the unknown with nothing but their faith and courage guiding them as they forge ahead.