Good morning. We are focusing on the illegal actions in Venezuela that President Trump has taken. For a copy of the regular newsletter from Friday that has information about the MLK Jr. events and other items, please click here. ~~George
Following this newsletter is today’s Emanuel’s Daily Action Email from Augusta; the daily action along with a link to his great list of important actions and information. Today’s call to action is to contact our congressional representatives again to support a war powers resolution and to call Reps. Pingree and Golden to have them support ACA tax credit extension. The vote is Thursday.
Two new actions from Hancock County Democrats: Action 189 – Voting 2026 (1/2), Action 190 – Support Small-Scale SOLAR (1/2), and an addendum to Action 191 that was promoting yesterday’s protest. This addendum is a graphic that shows the amount of oil reserves that countries have, showing Venezuela at the top. More HCD actions here.
Also, two new actions from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance, Bold Coast Civic Alliance (1/5), discussing the illegal war on Venezuela, impeaching Trump, the Epstein Files, and other actions, and a special edition, Bold Coast Civic Alliance Special Edition (1/4), with information on what we can do in response to these war actions . More BCCA actions here.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
And THANK YOU to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund! Planning events and maintaining the website and email list take money, so these donations are appreciated!
Current News:
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Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
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TODAY!!!!
Tuesdays
Weekly Vigil at the Federal Building in Bangor – 11:00 am
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Wednesdays
Weekly Orono Vigil in the town center,
noon to 1:00 pm.
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THIS Thursday, 1/8/26
Thursday, January 8, there is a one-time protest against Trump’s weekend action in Venezuela. Anyone who is interested in joining, please meet at 3:00 in front of the Federal Building on Harlow Street. From the Federal Building, there will walk to City Hall.
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Fridays
Bangor Visibility Brigad
The week finishes with two highway overpass actions! There is the Visibility Brigade on the Essex Street I-95 overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
Upcoming Events:
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For upcoming events, including information about the MLK events later this month as listed in Friday’s newsletter, please click here.
Other News:
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As mentioned in the BCCA Special Edition action, Indivisible has a toolkit to help us relay the message to Stop Trump’s War in Venezuela:
“The Trump administration is dragging us into war with Venezuela. On the night of January 2, they launched an attack that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro.
“Now Trump has declared that the US will “run” Venezuela and control oil production until a transition of power can take place. He is disregarding national sovereignty and forcing a regime-change all without authorization from Congress and without citing evidence of a legitimate threat to the United States.
“And it’s all in service of his own authoritarian ambitions. If he’s not stopped, Trump will continue this power grab, escalating violence in the region and putting US service members and civilians in danger unnecessarily.
“We need Congress to check this regime’s lawless violence, or there’s no telling where this will end. The Constitution states clearly that war powers belong to Congress—not the White House.
“Every Member of Congress must do everything in their power to stand up to Trump and prevent war with Venezuela.”
Go to Take Action: Stop Trump’s War in Venezuela to see what you can do.
How Maine Politicians Reacted to Trump’s Illegal Actions in Venezuela
From the Bangor Daily News article, “How Maine politicians reacted to the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro,” by Michael Shepherd on January 3, 2026. See it here. You will need a paid account to read it, but here are some important excerpts:
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins
The Republican senator said in a statement that she was personally briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying Maduro was “a narco-terrorist and international drug trafficker who has been indicted twice in U.S. courts and who should stand trial in this country.”
“Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and needs to be involved as this situation evolves,” she said.
Gov. Janet Mills
Mills, who is running for the Democratic nomination to face Collins in 2026, said on X that Trump was moving the U.S. “closer to a costly, unnecessary, and unjustified war” in part because he knows Republicans in Congress won’t hold him accountable.
Graham Platner
The progressive military veteran facing Mills in the primary had one of the most aggressive lines against Trump’s move, noting Collins’ vote in the Senate against a war powers resolution on Venezuela. He reacted to a Trump video touting the invasion by saying he watched friends die in Iraq in the wake of similar speeches.
“From Iraq to Venezuela, you can count on Susan Collins to enable illegal foreign wars,” he said on X.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree
Trump’s move is “a breathtaking abuse of power,” the Democrat from Maine’s 1st District said in a statement. While she called Maduro “a ruthless dictator,” she said Trump does not have the power to pursue regime change without congressional approval.
“This reckless move risks destabilizing an already fragile region, puts millions of civilians at risk, and further isolates us from our friends and allies,” she said.
State Auditor Matt Dunlap
The Democratic candidate for the 2nd District called Trump’s move “absolutely reckless” in a statement.
“In a functioning democracy, this kind of reckless, unilateral action would be condemned across party lines,” he said. “Instead, one party is bending over backwards to justify it.”
Jordan Wood
Wood, a former Democratic political operative who ran for the U.S. Senate before switching into the 2nd District race, said on social media that “no president can unilaterally take us to war.”
“Yes, Maduro is a lawless dictator, but that does not give Trump permission to invade,” he said.
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Also, from Senator Angus King:
His podcast conversation with Senator Jon Tester on Saturday
His interview with CNN News Central this morning
Please call your representatives in Washington. Go to Take Action: Stop Trump’s War in Venezuela to see what you can do.
Trump Protest on Thursday, 1/8/26, Bangor
Thursday, January 8, there is a protest against Trump’s weekend action in Venezuela. Anyone who is interested in joining, please meet at 3:00 in front of the Federal Building on Harlow Street. From the Federal Building, there will walk to City Hall.
No War in Venezuela Protest
Sunday 1/5/26 Recap
Around 100 people braved the freezing temperatures on Sunday, January 4, 2026, to show their opposition to the war actions in Venezuela. “No Blood For Oil” was seen on many signs. Graham Platner, Jordan Wood, Paige Loud, and other spoke out against the war actions.
See the television news coverage here: WABI and WVII. More to come later.
As Seen in Today’s Printed Bangor Daily News
Today is January 6th, and it was 5 years ago today that Donald Trump called upon his followers to attack the Capitol to try to keep him in power, even though he lost the 2020 election. Maine resident Dave Hobbins has not forgotten, and neither have we. Thank you, Mr. Hobbins, for paying to have this reminder printed in our local paper.
Join Indivisible Bangor!
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and visibilty actions or be a peacekeeper? Or do you just want to keep up with what we’re doing? Sign up to volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! Your level of involvement is up to you!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the link below to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings, which will resume after the holidays!
Donate to a Food Bank or Pantry
The shutdown is over, but the need is not. There are still cuts to programs that help people with food and other needs.
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
The Maine ICE Watch Hotline
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition ICE Watch Resource Hub.
Read more about it here in this Newscenter Maine article.
| Other Ways to Take Action (Courtesy of Indivisible Cumberland County: Maine’s ICE Watch Hotline Training: Get trained to field, verify, and document potential community ICE sightings and provide trusted, reliable information on ICE activity to immigrant communities. Action Alert on LD 1917: Contact Governor Mills and tell her to sign into law this bill to protect Maine’s immigrant communities, workforce, public safety, and future! Donate to the Maine Solidarity Fund: Fund pools resources from across communities into a shared fund we can draw from immediately when urgent needs arise. NO I.C.E. for Maine: Learn more about this effort to reign in ICE. |
Make Some Calls!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
Write Some Emails!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We are on Blue Sky, Instagram, and Facebook!
Follow us! Invite your friends! Comment! You’ll be glad you did!
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangor and tell them to put it on the account of Indivisible Bangor. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
Thank you for all you do! – George and Indivisible Bangor
Emanuel’s Daily Call to Action:
Action Tuesday January 6th: Contact Pingree and Golden to Support the ACA Tax Credits Extension + Flood Congressional Representatives With No War in Venezuela Calls
Good Morning Folks, the “zone is flooded”. A cornered Trump and his sycophants are spewing ill considered and dangerous actions at us non-stop. It’s increasingly difficult to rank what to respond to. First, please contact your representatives to act on stopping the war in Venezuela by voting for the War Powers Act; once that is done move on to the domestic issues which this action is distracting us from.
Top Action to Take Today:
* First call Collins, King, Pingree or Golden, and ask them to support the War Powers Act. ( telephone numbers and email are below). If you have the bandwidth, Join anti war demonstrations near you and invite a friend. More information on this action go right below this section in blue.
* If you’ve done that call Pingree and Golden to support a “ clean extension” of the Affordable Care Act Tax Credits. They will be voting on this tomorrow or Thursday. Today begins the “Stop the Healthcare Heist
Emergency Action Week”. For a full toolkit on how to support action on this go here. If you have a story about how these health care cuts will affect you directly or someone you know please contact Esther at the MPA. Personal stories matter!
For “More Actions Today if You Have the Bandwidth” from Emanuel’s Daily Call to Action (1/6), click here.
With great appreciation for all the engagement everywhere!
As always, throw a little sand in their gears!
~~Emanuel
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Senator Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Senator Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Congressman Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Our government in Augusta:
Governor Janet Mills
Email Governor Mills
Call (207) 287-3531
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows
Contact Secretary Bellows
Call (207)626-8400
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey
Contact Mr. Frey
Call (207) 626-8800
Questions or comments? Contact George!
