Since a number of folks in the comments and over e-mail said they liked a round-up of the better online actions that may have been buried in your inbox, or you didn't hear about, I'll go with it again and try and make it a regular thing at least once a week. If you missed last week's round-up, it's here. I'm marking those who advertised on OpenLeft with special recognition, as it helps us keep the lights on and keep writing and organizing for you. If you're interested in advertising or partnering with OpenLeft, drop me a line via e-mail at adambink at gmail dot com.
OpenLeft advertiser Earth Day Network is having a massive Earth Day rally in DC on Sunday with a range of people from Sting to John Legend to AFL-CIO President Trumka to author Margaret Atwood. There are also free buses leaving from area cities including NYC, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Columbus and others if you want to come down. All the details are here.
OpenLeft advertiser Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition has a petition to Congress to close the gun show loophole regarding background checks. This is the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, which happened in part because the shooters obtained their weapons without background checks at gun shows. One interesting number I didn't know is that polling shows 85% of surveyed gun owners support closing the loophole (and that's from a Frank Luntz poll commissioned by the group). As Chris wrote yesterday, it's sometimes scary as an urban resident with gun laws rapidly being undone or already lax. I remember when DC's own police commissioner testified in front of Congress for stronger gun laws, practically begging for the renewal of the assault weapons ban to protect his cops and residents, and Congress ignores him. Sign the petition here.
OpenLeft advertiser TrueMajority.org has a letter to Holy Joe and his gang regarding his Cold War-mentality opposition to Obama's nuclear treaty to reduce warhead stockpiles. Sign here.
Equality California is having a candidate forum to get the candidates running for statewide office on the record on LGBT issues. Notable absence is Jerry Brown, who's running for governor, but multiple other candidates are there. It's this Sunday in West Hollywood and free. RSVP to attend here, or watch online here, and submit your candidate questions at mythoughts at eqca dot org.
I took a walk at lunchtime the other day over to the DADT protest in which six veterans chained themselves to the White House fence to again ask the President to insert repeal language in the defense authorization bill. The Park Police reaction was really bizarre in terms of shutting down the park and not letting the media any closer. Their message to the White House is here, which is especially important since just today Robert Gibbs again refused to commit to repeal this year, and recommitted to a December 1st deadline for the Pentagon's review. Also, if you missed this week's earlier protest in Los Angeles on the same issue, you can read about it and folks' comments in this Quick Hit.
Over 34,000 people have signed Courage Campaign's letter to Obama with the message that sexual orientation should not be a factor in selecting a Supreme Court justice. I'm mainly concerned about this because of the White House's over-the-top response to rumors about Elana Kagan's orientation, and because as Courage Campaign's letter says, the right-wing fundies are already mobilizing.
Darrell Issa pushes back on the SEC's civil fraud case against Goldman Sachs. PCCC and Marcy Kaptur counter with thousands of calls and signatures to Congress to do one better- a criminal investigation. Add your name here.
One of the better tactics on health care reform is to collect horror stories of despicable insurance company efforts. Same can be used with ordinary people getting hurt by Wall Street corruption. If you've been screwed over by a Wall Street bank, share your story.
And again, last week's round-up is here for those who missed it. If you have any good actions you're working on or that landed in your inbox, leave them in the comments.
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