So many powerful things are happening at once that it gets a little hard to keep track--but that's a good kind of problem to have.

First thing: a huge front page story in the WashPost this a.m. making it completely clear that this has broken through as a first-tier issue, something that seemed impossible until August, when 1253 Americans put their bodies on the line and went to jail. The story isn't perfect--looking for drama, it overstates the enviro vs labor aspect. (Two of the country's most progressive unions, the Transport Workers and Amalgamated Transit, which were immediate #ows supporters, are very strong opponents of the pipeline).

Later in the day, a wonderful editorial in the Baltimore Sun and another in the Nation made it very clear that the message is getting through at every level of the media. Sometimes that takes a few months, but eventually it can happen.

Even better, we're hearing almost endless reports from around the country of groups organizing wherever the president goes to visit. Today it's Ashevile North Carolina, and in the past few days it's been Pittsburgh, Florida--you name it. The president is hearing it at every turn--from former volunteers who are visiting his offices en masse to people who went to jail to say no to Keystone. They reminding him this is an environmental scandal, but also a political one: it's simply wrong that the State Dept. let Transcanada pick the company to review its project, and that the company they picked is a major client. Ugh. But people are noticing--that's why Bernie Sanders wrote a powerful letter, and 33 House members added one of their own.

The bottom line: we've got serious momentum. And now we're headed back to Washington. This time not to get arrested. This time to tell the president that he's really got to do the right thing. On Nov. 6, one year before the election, we're circling the White House in people. No attacks--just quotes from the 2008 election. "Time to end the tyranny of oil." "On my watch the rise of the oceans will begin to slow and the planet begin to heal." "I'll have the most transparent government in history." We need to see if that 2008 Obama is still in there somewhere--since on this issue, without Congress in the way, he can do the right thing.

Please tell everyone you know about November 6. The link for signing up is here at tarsandsaction.org. And so many thanks to so many who are do much this glorious fall!