With the anticipated thousands [million+?]] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days!) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-24-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper, then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Annne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah--
American Bar Association, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU et al. And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Thanks Larry I appreciate your positive drive. I hope people turn out to protest in great numbers daily and countrywide. My concern is that I'm not seeing enough young people involved. We need a shot of youthful energy. This old white guy would also love to see people of color join the protests in big numbers. The bigger the numbers the more politicians will pay attention. The GOP doesn't care about the country, but they want to keep their cushy seats. The overpaid do nothing strutting sycophants will look up if thousands of people in their districts make themselves heard.
Here in upstate NY, we have many younger folks standing up and speaking out. Along with us oldsters with less to lose and more time to protest! And we are out there!
All those groups are Republicans.First isssue is the axis ov=f evil.
Second is economic. Only on local bassis. If all their members are going under due to Musk/Trump policies, they will object.
Where I live our 3 MAGA House members object on the bnasis of immigration. On the basis that a lot of their constikuents and donors are Canadian or have business with Canada. We have a Canadian American chamber of commerce.
In the midwest, farmers are in a state of panic. It's not just tarriffs. Some farmers borrowed to buy styate of the art equipemt thst is alt-enegry and have lost their government subsidies. Crop subsidies cancelled.
Check out Jessica Denson & Cliff Cash on YT Jessica won a lawsuit against Trump, she refused to be silenced & still isn’t. Cliff organized the Veterans March on DC for the weekend of Mar 14-16
Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden were willing to aggressively exercise the power granted them by a hopeful electorate, their restraint smelling of neoliberal inclinations, their failure twice resulting in the election the worst president in American history. Dems must learn from their mistakes and support leaders for whom actual liberal (and Liberal) democracy is the overarching goal. Bernie and AOC are showing the way. The crowds they are attracting speak loudly to the popular desire.
A great entertainer, singer, comedian, made great speeches did nothing, the great black hope of Grant Park, did nothing for civil rights or advancement of blacks, But he did drink beer with a racist sheriff.
I say with full confidence, that the reason that we are in this situation and why Putin attacked Ukraine is because the beloved Barrack Obama said and did nothing while Putin invaded Ukraine.
I’ve wondered about that, now that I’ve become more deeply involved in politics. Why didn’t he & our Congress do something when Putin invaded & took Crimea? Can you point me to a specific article or book that would enlighten me?
No P.J. as you know I have the same question as you, There are no books that will answer the question as you know. And I don't judge a book by it's cover, only it's contents and the book of Obama is pretty much devoid of contents.
The much lauded 600 page ACA was not the life saver it is held out to be, it was in fact a gift to AHIP (Association of Health Insurance Providers) , we could have had medicare for all which would have requirednothing more than a few word change to 42 U.S. Code §§ 1395c–1395i-5 , to wit: change eligible at age 65 to eligible at birth.
But the Democratic party is dependent on donor cash, so Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi stood in the way.
Obama a nice guy, but D.C. politics a blank slate and he was jumped on and taken advantage of by the beltway insiders, the corporate obliged.
Biden’s economic policies were the most classic Keynesian since Nixon. Obama’s immediate turn to Harvard ensured more neoliberalism. Reagan’s “supply side” nonsense (tax cuts pay for themselves bc freed from the heavy hand of the Deep State the wave of entrepreneurship more than outweighs the revenue lost to tax cuts. This is pure Keynesian stimulus … cut taxes more spending income rises.
The Republicans didn't sign up Daniel, but they caved pretty damn fast, and so have too many Democrats, personal survival over rides principle or saving our country.
The Democratic party is eerily silent, except for a very few brave souls like AOC and Chris Murphy. There is no leadership in the Democratic party, do you know how to stiffen their spines?
Nothing is going to happen if Trump regime prospers except get worse.
Only a collapse of the economy will matter.
Anarchism is only a threat, it is an opportunity for change. We have already tasted authoritarianism, so there won't be change in that direction.
Those boys of 1775, were what you would call anarchists, destroying the old order, to build a new.
Poverty and slavery do not necessarily follow and internal collapse
But the direction we are now headed in, is poverty and slavery.
If Trusk succeeds in taking down Social Security, Medicaid, the social safety net, we have that poverty and deaths from starvation, exposure and lack of medical care.
As to slavery, well most of us are already wage slaves, a slave is dependent upon others for continued life, and under their control.
Chattel slavery is only one form of slavery, heck people are even a slave to "love".
Actually the leaders were virtually all institutionalists and "capitalists." In 1775 the richest man in the US was John Hancock -- who signed the Declaration as president. Jefferson owned slaves, was a planter -- but he espoused "liberal" concepts, mostly taken from John Locke. Life, liberty and property evolved into life, liberty an the pursuit of happiness. Inalienable rights.
Yes Daniel I know that they were institutionalists and capitalists, but tearing down the old order is an act of anarchy, they succeeded then set about rebuilding it as a Republic.
And that is what I was saying, we need to tear down the old order, that it can be rebuilt.
It is too late to salvage it, Trump has already destroyed it and it can't be salvaged. There is no going back, There is only going forward with Trump's theocratic autocracy or tearing it all down (anarchy) and rebuilding a new and healthy democracy.
But Republicans are too cowardly to show up at town halls & don't seem to get the message. I was watching someone on a weekend show & they were saying that republicans now won't stand up because they fear for their lives & their families' lives. Well, seems to me that keeping their damn mouths shut is not going to protect them so better to do down fighting & set a good example for your kids.
It only takes 3 in the House. Jerry Weiss has been working on several via Feathers of Hope, I've given you 3 more.
Some Congressional Republicans objected to US NATO policy last week, Besides Mike Rogers and Roger Wicker, many other Congressional Replublicans have called out Trump on national security. Mike Turner R Ohio and many others in essence call Trump a liar re Putin and Ukraine.
This is a relevant summary to be sure but it does leave out NAFTA and the financial collapse of 2008 which had the government propping up the big banks while leaving millions of homeowners in the dust. I also feel our democracy has been erased by AIPAC and the power of lobbyists for decades if not longer, and democracy as a practice has been applied selectively by the US over its entire existence to those of a specific race and class distinction. Ultimately, there can be no democracy in a country that thrives on perpetual war and aspirations of empire and that is a wholly bipartisan endeavor of the donors and ideologies shared by both political parties.
This post is a thumbnail sketch of the history of the class war that was transmitted like a virus to our shores from Europe. This era is going to come to an end soon (not soon enough, I realize) with the country a total wreck, but opening onto a new progressive era.
It's a sad state of affairs,Thom, and I can honestly say that I'm really starting to feel anxious?! Thank you, good topic this morning☕ looking forward to your program today, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Signing up for organizations that want change is about all elderly Americans like myself have the energy to do. However, this is not likely to cut it. We are too civil nowadays. The politics of MAGA fascism involve extortion via threats of violence and actual violence - including using wealth to financially ruin those who dare defy the MAGA Reich including mass firings both in government and the private sector.
To trigger change, one must fight fire with fire as AOC and Sanders are beginning to demonstrate. Civil letter-writing campaigns and donations to candidates is what got us into this mess. We, our neighbors, voted for the treasonous Sinemas, Manchins, and Fettermans as well as the MAGA majority in Congress. The DNC cannot even screw up the courage to kick that slob Fetterman out of the party. The GOP is as olde and useless as the current Democratic Party that is still dominated by wealthy old people like Pelosi. Ironic perhaps, olde Bernie Sanders is about the only true Democrat exception left on the Hill. He is not writing letters. He is out in the countryside with young AOC trying to stir up some action.
As I watched the recent Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," there was a scene where Dylan walked down a NYC street after having run away from home. He was talking about his daily schedule, and mentioned attending CORE meetings. I thought to myself "Holy moley, I was just like that as a teen." In 1961, I too had technically run away from home, Whiteflightburbia, by convincing my folks to send me to a seminary prep school in downtown Chicago near Holy Name Cathedral.
Most of my 130 classmates and I were, marching for civil rights and opposing the Vietnam War. After school, many of us did volunteer work in Chicago's ghettos running organized activities for kids until their parents got home from work to help keep them out of trouble. At age 16, I was like a mascot for the Northside CORE, and like Dylan, now-n-then played my guitar at Saturday-night singalongs. I did not participate in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests because I was doing volunteer work in Southern Mississippi at the time. But many of my pals were there raising hell to try to wake up the Democratic Party "machine."
Eventually, the Civil Rights Act was passed. Eventually, right-inspired violence against protesters on college campuses like Kent State soured voters on the Vietnam War. Today, Trump's AG Blondy Bondi is threatening the prosecution of protesters as terrorists and deporting them to inhumane prisons in foreign countries. Police are once again beating students protesting MAGAs efforts to cripple voting rights, and trying to stop genocide in the Middle East enabled by a demented Democratic president and continued by a maniac fascist one.
It is hard to see how able-bodied Democrats joining letter-writing campaigns will stop the madness. If Americans do not fight fire with fire, democracy will continue to weaken as Trump's drill-baby-drill assault drills more and more holes into our government to let our democracy bleed out all over those ignored protest letters.
Many of you reading may not know of or remember from history what WWs 1-2 were about. Huge numbers of our ancestors died repressing oligarchs, fascists and Nazis across 29 years or more. Now they are in our neighborhoods, and if you do not know what they are capable of, you should do some actual, careful research, and not get sucked into some propaganda machine.
Suck it up folks. Judges everywhere, regardless of political posturing, need to know the public will back them up against intimidation. Some judges are maga, so they need to know the public is waiting for them to do the correct thing, without intimidation. Public servants need pep talks, and corrective surgery if they choose to ignore the public. Lincoln and others before him knew that divisiveness among the population would work for tyranny. No one can agree on everything, but we must, as sovereign citizens, make sure that political types understand that we are the bosses, not them. Some R brand rep. somewhere actually laughed at the angry crowd he invited in, and most were his own party. This is hubris at its best, and callousness at its worst.
It is too soon to say what will continue to occur. The media are lax in many areas, so we must dig deep into the critical thinking process to sort lies from truths. Do you really want to be a punching bag or call girl for some Nazi? Sound like fun? Do not let the impossible perfect be the downfall of the decent and reasonable. Hate and fear eat energy like candy. Do you enjoy being exhausted?
The problem is that Trump is ignoring the courts and he is immune (thanks to Roberts).
He wants to change voting rights so no democrat can be elected, he is also suggesting that he may not leave in in 2028.. Trump and his minions already rigged the 2024 presidential election (never before has a candidate won ALL swing states).
Harris had much bigger crowds than Trump but refused to do an audit (like Hillary) I guess fear of violence. Nathan Taylor and Stephen Spoonamore both studied the results and came to the conclusion that it was mathematically impossible for Trump to have won all swing states.
Democrats are not fighters except for a handful. Bernie is an idependant and Liz Cheney and Kissinger are Republicans. Do the Dems think that Trump will selfdestruct, that is magical thinking.
The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs. This battle is half mass mobilization and half asymmetric warfare. Over the next year those tactics will matter more than traditional political messaging as it has been practiced here in living memory.
Once you accept that reality, our next steps become clear.
Join now
The rough roadmap for how to proceed goes like this:
Demonstrate popular power in the provinces through large-scale rallies.
Use these events to organize the resistance into a mass movement that can be called into action.
Direct the mass movement into targeted political strikes: Getting blowout wins in special elections; boycotts of Tesla; etc.
Politicize everything: Attack the authoritarians for every bad thing that happens, anywhere in the world. Flood the zone.
Elevate the corruption/graft in a way that pits the billionaire insiders against the “forgotten man.”
When the moment is right, bring this movement to the Capital for a show of strength.
Use this demonstration as a slingshot to take back legislative power in the 2026 elections.
More importantly, use it to send a message to the institutional actors that people will have their back if they show courage.¹
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2. The Near Term
Winning in 2026 will not be sufficient to stop the authoritarian push; but it is necessary.
And the only way to win is people power. That’s it. No institutions are going to save us. The courts won’t stop the authoritarians. Corporate interests won’t stop them. The Democratic party won’t stop them, either. If the authoritarians can be stopped then the Democratic party will be the vehicle through which people wield power. But the Democratic party, as an institution, is too weak and desiccated to stage a real fight against Trumpism. It will have to be pushed into fighting by a mass popular movement.
AOC’s public events over the last week have been exactly what the opposition needs.
She is making herself a rally point and telling everyone who wants to resist that they have a place to go. She should do these rallies, over and over, across the country. But not in Washington or New York. Not yet.
When you look at the history of dissident movements, they almost always begin in the outer provinces.
The autocrats’ power is greatest near the literal center of the government they control. The further you get from their power center, the weaker their hold and the more risks they have to take if they want to put down demonstrations.
AOC went to Denver and Phoenix last week. She needs to go to Nashua and Nashville. Houston and Chicago. Oakland and Oklahoma City.
The bigger these rallies get, the better. Make them ongoing events.
She will need an infrastructure. It’s not enough to get 30,000 people in the streets. You need to get them organized. People in the pro-democracy space will need to help figure out how to do that—how to turn live attendance into lists that can be activated.
And when I say “activated” I do NOT mean for fundraising. Keep Act Blue away from this project: These lists should never be used for ginning up donations. They should be used to direct people into actions. Getting them registered to vote. Getting them to turn out for elections. Getting them to show up at the next rally; to organize their friends.
This will require a sophisticated data operation. AOC will need help. It would be great if Mark Cuban or Scott Galloway could step in here. The dissident movement will need its own platform.²
It will also need its own media. Because believe me, the New York Times is never going to be explicitly anti-authoritarian.
My mood is impacted by some health issues so take this post with a grain of salt or a glass of wine, or a shot of your favorite alcoholic beverage.
I'm posting this a little later in the day so I've seen the news about the Security breach concerning attack plans for Yemen & Kristi (puppy killer) Noem eliminating FEMA, so my outlook for the US is rather bleak.
I'm tired of hearing that the people who voted for trump didn't vote for 'this'. Well, dumbasses, you were told over & over & over again that this is what to expect if you had paid attention to Project 2025. Besides trump told you to what he was going to do. What is it that you didn't understand!
WHAT?
Well, now that he's going to gut education from top to bottom not only will you remain dumbasses but your kids won't even have the chance to break the dumbass mold!
And, I hope that the people who read this will scream at people when they tell you they didn't vote or don't vote because their vote doesn't mean anything because this past election is proof positive that voting matters, education matters, empathy matters, laws matter, kindness matters.
I call representatives, I write letters, I donate to the ACLU, to charitable organizations. I support Substack authors that support democracy & health permitting I will protest, though my guess is if I don't protest I won't have health care to begin with so I guess I shouldn't worry about my health when it comes to protesting. Maybe hobbling around with my cane will make more of an impact. I need to keep that in mind.
So in the end it is up to "we the people" to form a more perfect union regardless of how hard we have to work. Better to work at this then working in some sweatshop for some "entitled" multi-billion dollar corporation.
Not much can succeed when media is dedicated to misinform the public. Democracy requires a free press that informs the people to enables them to make informed decisions. Be prepared to hear the voice of God. God will make his views known to you and everyone in his profound way.
Just wathched MSNBC. Talking head was Jose Diaz Balart. Most of the program was devoted to immigration, but a lot of it was about Democratic division.
Diaz Balart is in Miami. On the front page of the Miami Herald, "South Florida congressional reps react to Trump ending humanitarian parole program."
One of those Republican reps is Mario Diaz Balart, Jose's brother..
"South Florida congressional members say they are concerned for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans suddenly under threat of deportation now that the Trump administration is ending a program that gave more than 500,000 immigrants a temporary legal pathway into the United States. “Let’s give them the opportunity to apply for the protections they were promised,” Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said in a statement Saturday afternoon."
The backbone of the tyranny now upon us is the replacement of capitalism with corporatism. Corporatism is a savage predator of small businesses. Again, the business of growth of corporations is the elimination of small businesses. Florida, known by many as the state most friendly to corporations (and therefore the alpha enemy of small businesses) has, by my own personal witness and others, has used electric companies, real estate companies, etc to commit atrocious financial presssures on small businesses while concurrently granting huge financial relief to corporate entities. Corporations for years hid from public scrutiny with the help of a specific corporate conglomeration--main stream media. In times when circumstantial referrence emerged, the word corporation was always avoided and the term lobbyist was surplanted. Lobbyists worked for corporations, but this simple gambit escaped the general population. It worked well. The CEO's of huge corporate interests are the backbone of the silent strength, invisable, that direct the politics in DC. Along with the intentionally high, blinking neon visibility of fascist billionaires, corporations rule the roost. Americans refuse to admit it into their psyches. Corporations are their everyday source to essentials and goodies. They are regarded as familial, warm caretakers. Today, coup in place, the corporations are fleecing the public at large, prices daily increased with no causitory legal or otherwise justification other than simple greed.
I disagree with your description of George III as an absolute monarch. He was a model constitutional monarch. He gave his assent to every Act passed by parliament. When George III was Prince of Wales he wrote an essay against slavery. If you want villains, you will need to look elsewhere.
Obviously, a person with multiple personalities. But that was then, this is now. We must face present facts, and the truths they tenaciously validate. That is the difficult part, due to emotional intelligence being at, perhaps, an all time low. There is a TV station near me that has the anchor stating, in an ad for the station, that they only dig for the best facts they can validate, but they are not in the business of 'truth.' They leave that up to the listeners. This is classic, laissez faire dualism. Hear or see facts, and then do what you want with them. Is this how critical thinking is now taught? Cranial and endocrine-based emotions cannot be mixed in with vetted factual information. As you point out, that king, when a prince, wrote publicly against slavery. How did he decide that was the correct conclusion? Facts must substantiate truths, or they are not really facts.
George III was like his successors, In the thrall of the real powers, that wielded power via the House of Lords through the East India Company and the Bank of England.
The Bank of England is the real sovereign today. When the King visits the City, as the Financial District of London is called, he must make an appointment, shows up in street clothes and is met by he Lord Mayor bedecked in jewels, and ermine.
The Bank became the Sovereign when Charles II gave up the symbols of sovereignty for collateral on a loan and never paid them back. The symbols are the Crown, the Orb and the scepter.
It was . Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer (England) whose policies of money and taxation led to the American Revolution
It always is as you say with the psychopath class of narcissists. The Wizard of Oz made this clear in the 'murka that most Europeans would never understand. Mostly illiterate peasants working dry land to scratch out a living, while being under the thumb of marauding bands of corporate cowboys stealing everything, burning, looting, raping, killing livestock and horses. This sorry ass play acting of foppish fools with glitz and hidden trillions in jewels, precious metals, stocks, bonds, bearer bonds, ancient land deeds, water rights, forest rights, mining rights is never known by most, but this is where the power lies, and it is protected by its silence and its camouflage.
George III had to serve as a constitutional monarch, and he couldn’t act on his own volition without the advice and consent of Parliament. James II refused to learn from the experience of the English civil war and his father’s execution, and he tried to govern without the participation of Parliament. He soon found himself ousted and living in exile as a permanent guest of his cousin, the absolutist Louis XIV.
I stand with those who recognize the difficulty of fighting against people who would not play by the rules, and thereby recognize we must also think and act outside the box to prevail. Quite a few have offered this notion, the question is to what end? Everyone who wants to stop DJT needs to contribute into a pool of monied resources to buy America back again.
Just as the republicans captured Manchin, and Cinema and are now doing so with Letterman (I would leave the mechanics of doing so to others more familiar with the means to do so), but I would make the process of raising the money fund as big a deal as a presidential campaign.
I think its obvious republican senators and congressman are unprincipled greedy people How many need be bought out to turn effective control of the house and senate over to the democrats?
This is a way to get this done. Isn't that what we need ?
With the anticipated thousands [million+?]] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days!) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-24-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper, then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Annne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah--
American Bar Association, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU et al. And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Add: The great blue State of Illinois wishes to add the following officials who support our democratic ideals:
Governor J.B.Pritzker,
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Illinois Representative Delia Ramirez!
All added. Thanks
Dane Butswinkas, the Williams & Connolly lawyer who argued on behalf of Perkins Coie, is the former general counsel of Tesla!
Munger—the firm preparing an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie—is the former employer of Usha Vance.
Thanks Larry I appreciate your positive drive. I hope people turn out to protest in great numbers daily and countrywide. My concern is that I'm not seeing enough young people involved. We need a shot of youthful energy. This old white guy would also love to see people of color join the protests in big numbers. The bigger the numbers the more politicians will pay attention. The GOP doesn't care about the country, but they want to keep their cushy seats. The overpaid do nothing strutting sycophants will look up if thousands of people in their districts make themselves heard.
Here in upstate NY, we have many younger folks standing up and speaking out. Along with us oldsters with less to lose and more time to protest! And we are out there!
Besides everything else, Trump costs every NY household, every business big time.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5186029-ontario-surcharge-us-tariffs/
Pressure Republican donors like the American Manufactirers', the auto indusgtry, the cattle and meatpacking industry, local Chambers of Commerce, etc.
BTW I know for a fact that many, if not most of the partners of law firms you've mentioned are Republicans.
How would we pressure the Chamber? They’re hardly progressive.
All those groups are Republicans.First isssue is the axis ov=f evil.
Second is economic. Only on local bassis. If all their members are going under due to Musk/Trump policies, they will object.
Where I live our 3 MAGA House members object on the bnasis of immigration. On the basis that a lot of their constikuents and donors are Canadian or have business with Canada. We have a Canadian American chamber of commerce.
In the midwest, farmers are in a state of panic. It's not just tarriffs. Some farmers borrowed to buy styate of the art equipemt thst is alt-enegry and have lost their government subsidies. Crop subsidies cancelled.
I can go on for a month.
Check out Jessica Denson & Cliff Cash on YT Jessica won a lawsuit against Trump, she refused to be silenced & still isn’t. Cliff organized the Veterans March on DC for the weekend of Mar 14-16
Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden were willing to aggressively exercise the power granted them by a hopeful electorate, their restraint smelling of neoliberal inclinations, their failure twice resulting in the election the worst president in American history. Dems must learn from their mistakes and support leaders for whom actual liberal (and Liberal) democracy is the overarching goal. Bernie and AOC are showing the way. The crowds they are attracting speak loudly to the popular desire.
Obama had the veneer of MLK but none of the substance. He talked a good talk but his execution was lacking.
A great entertainer, singer, comedian, made great speeches did nothing, the great black hope of Grant Park, did nothing for civil rights or advancement of blacks, But he did drink beer with a racist sheriff.
I say with full confidence, that the reason that we are in this situation and why Putin attacked Ukraine is because the beloved Barrack Obama said and did nothing while Putin invaded Ukraine.
I’ve wondered about that, now that I’ve become more deeply involved in politics. Why didn’t he & our Congress do something when Putin invaded & took Crimea? Can you point me to a specific article or book that would enlighten me?
No P.J. as you know I have the same question as you, There are no books that will answer the question as you know. And I don't judge a book by it's cover, only it's contents and the book of Obama is pretty much devoid of contents.
The much lauded 600 page ACA was not the life saver it is held out to be, it was in fact a gift to AHIP (Association of Health Insurance Providers) , we could have had medicare for all which would have requirednothing more than a few word change to 42 U.S. Code §§ 1395c–1395i-5 , to wit: change eligible at age 65 to eligible at birth.
But the Democratic party is dependent on donor cash, so Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi stood in the way.
Obama a nice guy, but D.C. politics a blank slate and he was jumped on and taken advantage of by the beltway insiders, the corporate obliged.
Biden’s economic policies were the most classic Keynesian since Nixon. Obama’s immediate turn to Harvard ensured more neoliberalism. Reagan’s “supply side” nonsense (tax cuts pay for themselves bc freed from the heavy hand of the Deep State the wave of entrepreneurship more than outweighs the revenue lost to tax cuts. This is pure Keynesian stimulus … cut taxes more spending income rises.
I have learned to despise supply side or trickle down economics; I believe it to be pure unadulterated BS
Spot on, Tom.
Trump's downfall is that many Congressional Republicans did not sign up to be members of the axis of evil. Pressure them.
Call. Write. Picket. Sit in.
https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Indivisible.org and FiftyFifty.one can apply the pressure. Politicians react to their consituants and donors.
E.G. American automotive companies, car dealers, cattle ranchers, etc all have an economic reason to reject Trump/Musk.
The Republicans didn't sign up Daniel, but they caved pretty damn fast, and so have too many Democrats, personal survival over rides principle or saving our country.
The Democratic party is eerily silent, except for a very few brave souls like AOC and Chris Murphy. There is no leadership in the Democratic party, do you know how to stiffen their spines?
I'm not waiting for the Mesiah.
We will be moved by circumstance. Right now, the BATNA is we win the upcoming interim elections and/or Feathers of Hope works.
The WATNA is we lose democracy and all become impoverished.
One thing I have learned Daniel is don't rely on institutions, especially the rule of law.
The only thing that will save us is internal collapse and 1789
Anarchism.
Inteernal collapse means poverty and slavery.
Internal collapse of the Trump regime.
Nothing is going to happen if Trump regime prospers except get worse.
Only a collapse of the economy will matter.
Anarchism is only a threat, it is an opportunity for change. We have already tasted authoritarianism, so there won't be change in that direction.
Those boys of 1775, were what you would call anarchists, destroying the old order, to build a new.
Poverty and slavery do not necessarily follow and internal collapse
But the direction we are now headed in, is poverty and slavery.
If Trusk succeeds in taking down Social Security, Medicaid, the social safety net, we have that poverty and deaths from starvation, exposure and lack of medical care.
As to slavery, well most of us are already wage slaves, a slave is dependent upon others for continued life, and under their control.
Chattel slavery is only one form of slavery, heck people are even a slave to "love".
Actually the leaders were virtually all institutionalists and "capitalists." In 1775 the richest man in the US was John Hancock -- who signed the Declaration as president. Jefferson owned slaves, was a planter -- but he espoused "liberal" concepts, mostly taken from John Locke. Life, liberty and property evolved into life, liberty an the pursuit of happiness. Inalienable rights.
Yes Daniel I know that they were institutionalists and capitalists, but tearing down the old order is an act of anarchy, they succeeded then set about rebuilding it as a Republic.
And that is what I was saying, we need to tear down the old order, that it can be rebuilt.
It is too late to salvage it, Trump has already destroyed it and it can't be salvaged. There is no going back, There is only going forward with Trump's theocratic autocracy or tearing it all down (anarchy) and rebuilding a new and healthy democracy.
But Republicans are too cowardly to show up at town halls & don't seem to get the message. I was watching someone on a weekend show & they were saying that republicans now won't stand up because they fear for their lives & their families' lives. Well, seems to me that keeping their damn mouths shut is not going to protect them so better to do down fighting & set a good example for your kids.
It only takes 3 in the House. Jerry Weiss has been working on several via Feathers of Hope, I've given you 3 more.
Some Congressional Republicans objected to US NATO policy last week, Besides Mike Rogers and Roger Wicker, many other Congressional Replublicans have called out Trump on national security. Mike Turner R Ohio and many others in essence call Trump a liar re Putin and Ukraine.
What a great history lesson. Thank you.
This is a relevant summary to be sure but it does leave out NAFTA and the financial collapse of 2008 which had the government propping up the big banks while leaving millions of homeowners in the dust. I also feel our democracy has been erased by AIPAC and the power of lobbyists for decades if not longer, and democracy as a practice has been applied selectively by the US over its entire existence to those of a specific race and class distinction. Ultimately, there can be no democracy in a country that thrives on perpetual war and aspirations of empire and that is a wholly bipartisan endeavor of the donors and ideologies shared by both political parties.
This post is a thumbnail sketch of the history of the class war that was transmitted like a virus to our shores from Europe. This era is going to come to an end soon (not soon enough, I realize) with the country a total wreck, but opening onto a new progressive era.
1789
It's a sad state of affairs,Thom, and I can honestly say that I'm really starting to feel anxious?! Thank you, good topic this morning☕ looking forward to your program today, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Now to turn that anxiety into anger into action! 🤔
Signing up for organizations that want change is about all elderly Americans like myself have the energy to do. However, this is not likely to cut it. We are too civil nowadays. The politics of MAGA fascism involve extortion via threats of violence and actual violence - including using wealth to financially ruin those who dare defy the MAGA Reich including mass firings both in government and the private sector.
To trigger change, one must fight fire with fire as AOC and Sanders are beginning to demonstrate. Civil letter-writing campaigns and donations to candidates is what got us into this mess. We, our neighbors, voted for the treasonous Sinemas, Manchins, and Fettermans as well as the MAGA majority in Congress. The DNC cannot even screw up the courage to kick that slob Fetterman out of the party. The GOP is as olde and useless as the current Democratic Party that is still dominated by wealthy old people like Pelosi. Ironic perhaps, olde Bernie Sanders is about the only true Democrat exception left on the Hill. He is not writing letters. He is out in the countryside with young AOC trying to stir up some action.
As I watched the recent Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," there was a scene where Dylan walked down a NYC street after having run away from home. He was talking about his daily schedule, and mentioned attending CORE meetings. I thought to myself "Holy moley, I was just like that as a teen." In 1961, I too had technically run away from home, Whiteflightburbia, by convincing my folks to send me to a seminary prep school in downtown Chicago near Holy Name Cathedral.
Most of my 130 classmates and I were, marching for civil rights and opposing the Vietnam War. After school, many of us did volunteer work in Chicago's ghettos running organized activities for kids until their parents got home from work to help keep them out of trouble. At age 16, I was like a mascot for the Northside CORE, and like Dylan, now-n-then played my guitar at Saturday-night singalongs. I did not participate in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests because I was doing volunteer work in Southern Mississippi at the time. But many of my pals were there raising hell to try to wake up the Democratic Party "machine."
Eventually, the Civil Rights Act was passed. Eventually, right-inspired violence against protesters on college campuses like Kent State soured voters on the Vietnam War. Today, Trump's AG Blondy Bondi is threatening the prosecution of protesters as terrorists and deporting them to inhumane prisons in foreign countries. Police are once again beating students protesting MAGAs efforts to cripple voting rights, and trying to stop genocide in the Middle East enabled by a demented Democratic president and continued by a maniac fascist one.
It is hard to see how able-bodied Democrats joining letter-writing campaigns will stop the madness. If Americans do not fight fire with fire, democracy will continue to weaken as Trump's drill-baby-drill assault drills more and more holes into our government to let our democracy bleed out all over those ignored protest letters.
Tom I thought that you were a retired Admiral
Many of you reading may not know of or remember from history what WWs 1-2 were about. Huge numbers of our ancestors died repressing oligarchs, fascists and Nazis across 29 years or more. Now they are in our neighborhoods, and if you do not know what they are capable of, you should do some actual, careful research, and not get sucked into some propaganda machine.
Suck it up folks. Judges everywhere, regardless of political posturing, need to know the public will back them up against intimidation. Some judges are maga, so they need to know the public is waiting for them to do the correct thing, without intimidation. Public servants need pep talks, and corrective surgery if they choose to ignore the public. Lincoln and others before him knew that divisiveness among the population would work for tyranny. No one can agree on everything, but we must, as sovereign citizens, make sure that political types understand that we are the bosses, not them. Some R brand rep. somewhere actually laughed at the angry crowd he invited in, and most were his own party. This is hubris at its best, and callousness at its worst.
It is too soon to say what will continue to occur. The media are lax in many areas, so we must dig deep into the critical thinking process to sort lies from truths. Do you really want to be a punching bag or call girl for some Nazi? Sound like fun? Do not let the impossible perfect be the downfall of the decent and reasonable. Hate and fear eat energy like candy. Do you enjoy being exhausted?
The problem is that Trump is ignoring the courts and he is immune (thanks to Roberts).
He wants to change voting rights so no democrat can be elected, he is also suggesting that he may not leave in in 2028.. Trump and his minions already rigged the 2024 presidential election (never before has a candidate won ALL swing states).
Harris had much bigger crowds than Trump but refused to do an audit (like Hillary) I guess fear of violence. Nathan Taylor and Stephen Spoonamore both studied the results and came to the conclusion that it was mathematically impossible for Trump to have won all swing states.
Democrats are not fighters except for a handful. Bernie is an idependant and Liz Cheney and Kissinger are Republicans. Do the Dems think that Trump will selfdestruct, that is magical thinking.
Apologies for cross posting, but people want to know how to resist, well here is an idea
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-think-and-act-like-a-dissident-in-trumps-america
The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs. This battle is half mass mobilization and half asymmetric warfare. Over the next year those tactics will matter more than traditional political messaging as it has been practiced here in living memory.
Once you accept that reality, our next steps become clear.
Join now
The rough roadmap for how to proceed goes like this:
Demonstrate popular power in the provinces through large-scale rallies.
Use these events to organize the resistance into a mass movement that can be called into action.
Direct the mass movement into targeted political strikes: Getting blowout wins in special elections; boycotts of Tesla; etc.
Politicize everything: Attack the authoritarians for every bad thing that happens, anywhere in the world. Flood the zone.
Elevate the corruption/graft in a way that pits the billionaire insiders against the “forgotten man.”
When the moment is right, bring this movement to the Capital for a show of strength.
Use this demonstration as a slingshot to take back legislative power in the 2026 elections.
More importantly, use it to send a message to the institutional actors that people will have their back if they show courage.¹
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2. The Near Term
Winning in 2026 will not be sufficient to stop the authoritarian push; but it is necessary.
And the only way to win is people power. That’s it. No institutions are going to save us. The courts won’t stop the authoritarians. Corporate interests won’t stop them. The Democratic party won’t stop them, either. If the authoritarians can be stopped then the Democratic party will be the vehicle through which people wield power. But the Democratic party, as an institution, is too weak and desiccated to stage a real fight against Trumpism. It will have to be pushed into fighting by a mass popular movement.
AOC’s public events over the last week have been exactly what the opposition needs.
She is making herself a rally point and telling everyone who wants to resist that they have a place to go. She should do these rallies, over and over, across the country. But not in Washington or New York. Not yet.
When you look at the history of dissident movements, they almost always begin in the outer provinces.
The autocrats’ power is greatest near the literal center of the government they control. The further you get from their power center, the weaker their hold and the more risks they have to take if they want to put down demonstrations.
AOC went to Denver and Phoenix last week. She needs to go to Nashua and Nashville. Houston and Chicago. Oakland and Oklahoma City.
The bigger these rallies get, the better. Make them ongoing events.
She will need an infrastructure. It’s not enough to get 30,000 people in the streets. You need to get them organized. People in the pro-democracy space will need to help figure out how to do that—how to turn live attendance into lists that can be activated.
And when I say “activated” I do NOT mean for fundraising. Keep Act Blue away from this project: These lists should never be used for ginning up donations. They should be used to direct people into actions. Getting them registered to vote. Getting them to turn out for elections. Getting them to show up at the next rally; to organize their friends.
This will require a sophisticated data operation. AOC will need help. It would be great if Mark Cuban or Scott Galloway could step in here. The dissident movement will need its own platform.²
It will also need its own media. Because believe me, the New York Times is never going to be explicitly anti-authoritarian.
My mood is impacted by some health issues so take this post with a grain of salt or a glass of wine, or a shot of your favorite alcoholic beverage.
I'm posting this a little later in the day so I've seen the news about the Security breach concerning attack plans for Yemen & Kristi (puppy killer) Noem eliminating FEMA, so my outlook for the US is rather bleak.
I'm tired of hearing that the people who voted for trump didn't vote for 'this'. Well, dumbasses, you were told over & over & over again that this is what to expect if you had paid attention to Project 2025. Besides trump told you to what he was going to do. What is it that you didn't understand!
WHAT?
Well, now that he's going to gut education from top to bottom not only will you remain dumbasses but your kids won't even have the chance to break the dumbass mold!
And, I hope that the people who read this will scream at people when they tell you they didn't vote or don't vote because their vote doesn't mean anything because this past election is proof positive that voting matters, education matters, empathy matters, laws matter, kindness matters.
I call representatives, I write letters, I donate to the ACLU, to charitable organizations. I support Substack authors that support democracy & health permitting I will protest, though my guess is if I don't protest I won't have health care to begin with so I guess I shouldn't worry about my health when it comes to protesting. Maybe hobbling around with my cane will make more of an impact. I need to keep that in mind.
So in the end it is up to "we the people" to form a more perfect union regardless of how hard we have to work. Better to work at this then working in some sweatshop for some "entitled" multi-billion dollar corporation.
Not much can succeed when media is dedicated to misinform the public. Democracy requires a free press that informs the people to enables them to make informed decisions. Be prepared to hear the voice of God. God will make his views known to you and everyone in his profound way.
Just wathched MSNBC. Talking head was Jose Diaz Balart. Most of the program was devoted to immigration, but a lot of it was about Democratic division.
Diaz Balart is in Miami. On the front page of the Miami Herald, "South Florida congressional reps react to Trump ending humanitarian parole program."
One of those Republican reps is Mario Diaz Balart, Jose's brother..
"South Florida congressional members say they are concerned for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans suddenly under threat of deportation now that the Trump administration is ending a program that gave more than 500,000 immigrants a temporary legal pathway into the United States. “Let’s give them the opportunity to apply for the protections they were promised,” Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said in a statement Saturday afternoon."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302584254.html#storylink=cpy
The backbone of the tyranny now upon us is the replacement of capitalism with corporatism. Corporatism is a savage predator of small businesses. Again, the business of growth of corporations is the elimination of small businesses. Florida, known by many as the state most friendly to corporations (and therefore the alpha enemy of small businesses) has, by my own personal witness and others, has used electric companies, real estate companies, etc to commit atrocious financial presssures on small businesses while concurrently granting huge financial relief to corporate entities. Corporations for years hid from public scrutiny with the help of a specific corporate conglomeration--main stream media. In times when circumstantial referrence emerged, the word corporation was always avoided and the term lobbyist was surplanted. Lobbyists worked for corporations, but this simple gambit escaped the general population. It worked well. The CEO's of huge corporate interests are the backbone of the silent strength, invisable, that direct the politics in DC. Along with the intentionally high, blinking neon visibility of fascist billionaires, corporations rule the roost. Americans refuse to admit it into their psyches. Corporations are their everyday source to essentials and goodies. They are regarded as familial, warm caretakers. Today, coup in place, the corporations are fleecing the public at large, prices daily increased with no causitory legal or otherwise justification other than simple greed.
I disagree with your description of George III as an absolute monarch. He was a model constitutional monarch. He gave his assent to every Act passed by parliament. When George III was Prince of Wales he wrote an essay against slavery. If you want villains, you will need to look elsewhere.
Obviously, a person with multiple personalities. But that was then, this is now. We must face present facts, and the truths they tenaciously validate. That is the difficult part, due to emotional intelligence being at, perhaps, an all time low. There is a TV station near me that has the anchor stating, in an ad for the station, that they only dig for the best facts they can validate, but they are not in the business of 'truth.' They leave that up to the listeners. This is classic, laissez faire dualism. Hear or see facts, and then do what you want with them. Is this how critical thinking is now taught? Cranial and endocrine-based emotions cannot be mixed in with vetted factual information. As you point out, that king, when a prince, wrote publicly against slavery. How did he decide that was the correct conclusion? Facts must substantiate truths, or they are not really facts.
Mick see my response to Chris. Even Henry VIII and Elizabeth were manipulated by the House of Lords and the nobility.
Where yanking their broadcast license is censorship & insisting on “facts” in the news infringes their free speech. Thru the looking glass we go.
George III was like his successors, In the thrall of the real powers, that wielded power via the House of Lords through the East India Company and the Bank of England.
The Bank of England is the real sovereign today. When the King visits the City, as the Financial District of London is called, he must make an appointment, shows up in street clothes and is met by he Lord Mayor bedecked in jewels, and ermine.
The Bank became the Sovereign when Charles II gave up the symbols of sovereignty for collateral on a loan and never paid them back. The symbols are the Crown, the Orb and the scepter.
It was . Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer (England) whose policies of money and taxation led to the American Revolution
Parliament presents the king provides.
Love this. You should write a novel.
Thanks Susan, don't have the time or inclination, besides nobody reads books anymore and the last thing I want is notoriety or publicity.
It always is as you say with the psychopath class of narcissists. The Wizard of Oz made this clear in the 'murka that most Europeans would never understand. Mostly illiterate peasants working dry land to scratch out a living, while being under the thumb of marauding bands of corporate cowboys stealing everything, burning, looting, raping, killing livestock and horses. This sorry ass play acting of foppish fools with glitz and hidden trillions in jewels, precious metals, stocks, bonds, bearer bonds, ancient land deeds, water rights, forest rights, mining rights is never known by most, but this is where the power lies, and it is protected by its silence and its camouflage.
He was also nutsy koo koo.
Nutsy koo koo makes him all that much easier to manipulate. We have a prime example at hand
True. But at least he wasn't a slave driver.
That should be the lead news story --
"President Trump issued fourteen (14) nutsy koo koo orders today....."
How about selling naming rights to the Whit House East egg roll ---- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/trump-sponsors-easter-egg-roll
George III had to serve as a constitutional monarch, and he couldn’t act on his own volition without the advice and consent of Parliament. James II refused to learn from the experience of the English civil war and his father’s execution, and he tried to govern without the participation of Parliament. He soon found himself ousted and living in exile as a permanent guest of his cousin, the absolutist Louis XIV.
I stand with those who recognize the difficulty of fighting against people who would not play by the rules, and thereby recognize we must also think and act outside the box to prevail. Quite a few have offered this notion, the question is to what end? Everyone who wants to stop DJT needs to contribute into a pool of monied resources to buy America back again.
Just as the republicans captured Manchin, and Cinema and are now doing so with Letterman (I would leave the mechanics of doing so to others more familiar with the means to do so), but I would make the process of raising the money fund as big a deal as a presidential campaign.
I think its obvious republican senators and congressman are unprincipled greedy people How many need be bought out to turn effective control of the house and senate over to the democrats?
This is a way to get this done. Isn't that what we need ?
Read Feathers of Hope. Jerry Weiss has developed a list.