Reading the following message from Senator Chris Murphy might help keep your food down...
Despite how it may appear to some, America is not a different place today than it was yesterday. I am uncertain of many things today, but of this I am sure.
Donald Trump won last night. He may not have won the votes of the majority of Americans, but under our system of presidential voting, he won the election fair and square. It was like a gut punch to those of us who didn’t see it coming, or who refused to allow ourselves to see it coming. I won’t lie to you – I didn’t sleep last night, and I might not sleep much tonight either.
But America is still the same place. We are a spectacularly imperfect nation. We lurch back and forth between competing visions for our future, between the natural twinned instincts of hopefulness and fearfulness. We have moments of great courage, but we are also capable at times of immense panic and worry. We take all comers, and ask everyone to keep a bit of where they came from while adopting something common to the whole of us. Our heterogeneity is our strength, but it also creates frictions and tensions. None of this is new.
Last night hurt. Never in our lifetime has a candidate for president ran a more hate-filled, bigoted campaign. It felt like we took a step backward in our progress toward a more compassionate, inclusive nation. But that doesn’t have to be our fate. We can choose to take Donald Trump at his word last night and take steps to heal the wounds caused by this bitter and divisive election. We can refuse to reflexively back ourselves into a dark, angry corner, and choose instead to be fair-minded umpires – calling the balls and strikes as we see them, working with our new President when he proposes good, and fighting him like hell when he proposes bad.
And we can put our heads down, and keep working on the things that still matter. Hell, last night, three out of the four state referendums tightening guns laws passed. Nevada, California, and Washington are safer places today because of these victories. And the top targeted Senate race for anti-gun violence groups, New Hampshire, looks like it went our way. If you are passionate about changing our nation’s gun laws, you can see a pretty bright silver lining in last night’s cloud-filled sky. It inspires me to fight on.
And so I walked into my Hartford office this morning and declared to my weary staff (who were, by the way, all at their desks at 9AM today – miraculously), “It’s another day to do good things in the world.” They awkwardly smiled at me, but I meant it.
Last night, everything changed and nothing changed. We have a new President – one that half the country didn’t want. But let’s be honest – had Hillary won, we would still have a President that half of America didn’t want. So it’s still the same complicated, imperfect nation that it was before. And our job – to do good in the world, to be good parents and spouses and neighbors and friends – that doesn’t change either.
I might not sleep tonight, just like last night. But I’ll walk out my door tomorrow morning, Diet Mountain Dew in hand as always, and get back to work. And so should you.
04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school
06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
