Subject: Urgent Call to Override the Mayor’s Veto and Pass the FAAR Act into Law
March 30, 2026
Dear Honorable Councilmember,
Thank you for your March 3 vote to pass the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting (FAAR) Emergency Amendment Act of 2026. DC residents need and deserve absolute transparency in the actions of federal agents operating in our communities. Therefore, as a DC citizen and resident, I urge you to override Mayor Bowser’s March 23 anti-democratic veto when the FAAR Act again comes up for a vote tomorrow, March 31.
Mayor Bowser’s veto of the FAAR Act is a betrayal of those she ostensibly represents, at a time of military occupation and the absence of constitutional protections, such as due process of law. Bowser’s action sends a clear message that not only is she complicit in enabling the Fascist Trump regime to advance their illegal and unconstitutional agenda, but she is doing so in the face of your democratically representative vote.
FAAR provides basic and straightforward steps to improve safety in DC — as you and your colleagues testified on March 3. As you know, it would require MPD officers to record in arrest reports and probable cause affidavits whether federal officers are present at the scene of an MPD arrest, the names of those federal officers, and whether any of those federal officers used force. It would require MPD officers to report any instances of federal agents’ use of force, and to provide body-worn camera footage whenever possible.
This legislation was written to prevent more incidents like the one where Department of Homeland Security officers shot at Phillip Brown. MPD officers were not only present, but they participated in that incident and later attempted to cover up the shooting by failing to document the case in official reports.
We have also seen MPD officers riding with federal agents, making arrests with federal agents, sharing information with federal agents, and patrolling neighborhoods with federal agents. Transparency and accountability regarding these interactions is the bare minimum we should expect. It is infuriating that our mayor seems to believe that we, DC citizens and residents, do not deserve basic protection from, and open reporting about, such activity.
I join with all concerned community members to urge you to override Mayor Bowser’s veto and pass FAAR again, at tomorrow’s legislative meeting.
Thank you in advance for representing all DC neighbors, citizens, and residents,
Chuck Pennacchio, Ph.D.
1425 Monroe Street, NW
Washington, DC 20010
cpennacchio@gmail.com
Congress Can Stop World War III; Much More Likely, It’s On Us
The House is expected to vote today (*Friday 6 March) on a Khanna (D)-Massey (R) Iran War Powers Resolution that would direct the Trump regime to halt further military action against Iran unless and until Congress authorizes it. Two days ago the Senate rejected the same-language Kaine (D)-Paul (R) resolution in a near-party line vote, 47-53. The only Members who broke ranks were Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
*Update: on March 6 GOP members Thomas Massie (KY) and Warren Davidson voted for the resolution; Dems Henry Cuellar (TX), Jared Golden (ME), Greg Landsman (OH), and Juan Vargas (CA) voted against the resolution in a 212-219 final tally.
On February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury,” a joint operation that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and began an ongoing campaign of strikes inside Iran without a formal declaration of war. The vast majority of Democrats and a small group of libertarian‑leaning Republicans argue these actions exceed any existing authorization and therefore require new congressional approval.
The war is quickly expanding across the Middle East and to points beyond. The assassination of Khamenei (now a martyr to Shi’ite Muslims) threatens to globalize Trump’s unconstitutional, internationally illegal, reckless, strategy-less, self-serving, Netanyahu-provoked and -partnered, right wing media-stoked and -supported, and (so far) congressional-enabled, yet wildly unpopular and fascistic (violent, chaotic, anti-democratic, irrational, anti-diplomatic, deceitful, dictatorial) war of choice. A war that lines up, at least so far, with the “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq — only this time with a the potential cataclysmic outcomes of more devastated economies, accelerated refugee flights, and nuclear war. Unless we mass-organize urgently and effectively.
For those who want to believe the opposite could also be true? They may be right, in a world of unpredictable scenarios. Such as a mass-democratic uprising, as mentioned above. Still, as I say to my organizing peers and political friends: Wishful thinking is not a strategy. Only strategy is strategy.
Next time, let’s discuss what that strategy needs to like like.
Yours in radical hope, with eyes wide open.
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We Ran, We Run, Once Again, To Iran
I heard the reports of Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran, fresh from the field, at 1:30 am ET, Saturday 28 February. Hardly a surprise to me, as the incentives for two fascist heads of state, Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump, think only in terms of their immediate self-interest. Neither can lose power or they will face the consequences of their uber-corrupt activities, covering decades.
Moreover, Israel has been priming for a take-down of Iran for more than the 30+ years Netanyahu has been prime minister or prime minister-in-waiting. Israel’s Intel and Special Ops agency, Mossad, has been plotting regime change for Iran much longer, ever since Shah Pahlavi (junior) was overthrown in 1979 and radical Shi’ite clerics prevailed in the Iranian Revolution of the same year. Similarly, the CIA has thirsted for revenge ever since their removal of democratically-elected Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 and installment of the Shah Pahlavi (senior) led to the loss of Shah junior, opening the way for the Ayatollah Khomeini to come to power in 1979.
Expanding on the failed 11-day, June 2025, campaign to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Israel and the United States are in for not only a likely defeat to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capacity and likely failure to trigger “democratic” regime change, but the latest assault on heavily-armed Iran and spiritual center for 15% of Shi’ite Muslims worldwide will almost certainly lead to a protracted global conflict, potentially the “Third World War” scenario so many scholars and military analysts have warned about under similar scenarios.
Stay tuned. Much more to come.
Building Social Justice Strategy and Tactics in a Time of Fascism
No Kings I & II, Yes! But Now Let’s Talk Strategy
Visioning Forward, Looking Backward; Looking Backward, Visioning Forward
One Payer States President’s Update (10/02/25 Quarterly Newsletter):
The United States stands on the cusp of our 250th birthday (1776-2026), in the midst of an ongoing and expanding fascist coup – one hell-bent on destroying our fragile democracy and tearing down entirely our already weakened public health care system. As founders and supporters of One Payer States (OPS) who believe that “out of crisis comes opportunity,” we stand in solidarity with: (1) our nation’s founding democratic vision, (2) Teddy Roosevelt’s 1912 call for national health insurance for all, and (3) the unanimously-embraced 10 December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Article 25’s call for comprehensive health and health care for all. (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights)
These historic turning points and documents are deeply woven into OPS’s vision, mission, values, and purpose. They help drive the future visioning and careful implementation of a comprehensive strategy that borrows from numerous successful campaigns and adapts core principles to our systematic planning process. (See https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu)
That said, our strategic organizing plan sees the enactment of Sen. Ed Markey’s and Rep. Ro Khanna’s “State-Based Universal Health Care Act” (SBUHCA) in 2029, and – with SBUHCA’s boost to one or more states implementing single-payer systems in the same time frame – the passage of Sen. Sanders’ and Rep. Jayapal’s “Medicare for All” bills in 2031. See it, say it, plan it, win it.
Working backward after seeing forward – that is, reverse-engineering tomorrow’s utopia, step by step – from these designed accomplishments and timelines, we celebrate this past summer’s remarkable 15 July 2025 Capitol Hill press conference and House-Senate legislative rollout of SBUHCA (H.R.4406 and S.2286), as well as the extraordinary steps toward adopting state-based single-payer models across the country: CA, CO, ME, MN, NM, NY, OR, WA, and 12 more!
Also notable are the multi-state collaborations, known as “Regional Public Health Coalitions,” on both the West Coast and the East Coast, which address the void in childhood vaccination schedules now being abandoned at the increasingly politicized HHS, CDC, NIH, and related federal health agencies. This is yet another sign of the prescient work we are doing at OPS: bridging state and federal efforts, but going it alone, if necessary, for the time being, at the state and regional levels. (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/nyregion/northeast-public-health-collaborative-trump.html) (Paywall).
Finally, having been a full-time citizen lobbyist on Capitol Hill for the past two years – while doing the organizing, planning, and strategizing work with others, from our 2009 founding to the present – I am deeply grateful to our dedicated board members, super-volunteers, work group leaders, multi-issue activists, policy thinkers, and YOU, without whom this critical work could not be forged and achieved – forged and achieved for the bountiful outcomes we envision in the near future, on the other side of the deep crisis referenced above.
Even in darkness, the light is present.
With eyes wide open, we go forward with resolute vision and purpose, nimble planning, radical hope, and solidarity, always and forever.
Chuck Pennacchio, Ph.D.
President, One Payer States