The real question is : When are WE coming for Pam Bondi? She is now completely running a criminal organization. She is directing the Trump version of the SS. They are the police -- they are also the judge, jury, and executioner.
This cannot allowed to stand in America. There must be consequences for her total disregard for the Constitution, and her abuse of power. John Mitchell went to jail for a lot less.
Jon, it seems to me they are two sides of the same coin. Neither set are functioning legally and are working to see what they can get away with, and so far, they have gotten away with a lot. It seems it is going to have to be the states who will have to stop them, tagging their vehicles, releasing the "prisoners" from their vans and vehicles, arresting those who wear masks and disguises and those who enter public buildings like courthouses, buildings where people have to report if they are undocumented. I would also love to see the prison in El Salvador bombed open and the prisoners released from the hellhole. We need a shadow group to do it, one who has the expertise and ability to get in and out quickly. That would keep El Salvador's appalling president busy for a while.
Betty, oh, she's blonde? She sounded like the traditional blonde of jokedom, but I didn't realize she actually is one of Trump's bimbettes. I was thinking she was his pseudo-mommy. She is truly ignorant, though, just the kind of blonde Trump likes and I understand he has several that work near him, his press secretary for one, a bimbette if there ever was one. I can't help but wonder if she went to school for media or just took classes for getting in with toddleresque old white men.
I attended another protest today. My sign was a compilation of cartoon caricatures of BonDEI, Miller, Trump (with pursed lips), Leavitt (will call her “leave it” from now on), Crazy-Eyed Patel, and Not-so-Nice ICEman, Homan. On the backside was JD with a bunch of cats clawing at him and also a two-faced Hegseth. It got a lot of likes, I have to say. I specifically said on the sign that these people were EVIL and I drew Swastikas near each of them. We must cajole our congressional reps to speak out and loudly against these atrocities. Keep hounding them, daily! Even if you have a Repub, go after them, hold an empty-chair meeting or call Tim Walz. And Beto O’Rourke. They will show up and conduct a town hall for everyone.
That’s the question. Another one I keep asking is when will the media grow a backbone and stand up to him!!! Fox News is so complicit at being a state run propaganda network and unfortunately people are still listening to the lies!!
Believe me, I regularly post on Fox but now I’m banned because I imagined Trump being hauled away in handcuffs and sent to do Salvador to be stripped, shaved and tossed in the slammer.
Anyway, my sign is read to use: “Make America SmArt Again: Impeach Trump. Instead of my state capital, I’ll sit in front of the federal building in Hartford one or two lunch hour breaks a week.
I did it once in front of my Republican dominated housing community and even got a lot of honking and thumbs up! I hoping to get some to stop and join me next time I do it.
Do it again and again, maybe they will make friends with the gal with the signs, and hold them too.. I got good reactions from people who are most likely different opinions than me today in my one person protest on our rural county road...they need to see their neighbors (you and I and anyone else who will) and that they stand up for justice, equality and rule of law..My dsings said: "WHERE LAW ENDS TYRANNY BEGINS" and "UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION" and the one I plugged in the ground was "Greed and racism are destroying the country". Thank you for what you do, and keep it up!
What is "the media?" Fox is a small part of "the media." Substack is part of "the media." NYT, which has clearly made a change and moved into the anti-Trump camp (where, true, it should have been all along) is part of "the media."
I think you might mean that the WSJ has now moved into the anti-Trump camp. I’ve been happy to see the editorial change…but also gobsmacked. The Times has taken a dim view of Trump for years.
Thank you for this Tammy. I completely agree, the NYT has been my bedrock for the entire "Trump Era". It has pained me to see so many people on this and other Substack attack the NYT without actually reading the articles and editorials. There are a few pro Trump editorial page writers but that is fair, an objective newspaper should have varying opinion page writers but generally their editorial policy has been to oppose Trump's worst tendencies and in their news pages to be for the most part a fair and objective source.
And yes the WSJ despite being owned by Murdoch has become much less pro Trump in the past month which is also good, but I am way of them. We shall see.
Only if they seriously believe their seats of power will be taken away by the voters themselves... They don't care if DJT takes control as long as they remain in the position and can at least act like they're in charge of something... And let's face it, a lot of them think what DJT is doing is just fine... They'll only care if there are consequences for them...
In the meantime, prior to elections, we need to be vocal and persistent in our peaceful opposition. People are getting hurt. These are not abstract policy debates. Leverage what influence you have, resources you have, skills you have, in the service of protecting whom ever you can support and protect. 2 years is a long time to allow others to be discriminated against, denied basic rights and be targeted and retaliated against for opposing actions that harm real people. AND vote in in single election available to you including town, county, state elections. This battle will be won starting at the local level. Uprising means start small and grow big. Small acts, including non violent acts of civil disobedience, multiply into a movement and movements multiply into change.
Selling your soul to the devil is rarely a long term strategy for success. Though, to be fair, it has worked for Donald Trump since he was galavanting around Manhattan with Roy Cohn.
Since many of these people at least appear to think they are Christian, they don't see it that way... I honestly think they are faking it as much as they can just to have the power... I cannot believe that true believers would think acting as they do would gain them anything in Heaven... I'm an Atheist and I act more Christian-like than they seem to...
As the economy and the stock market decline, so will Trump’s power.
The acclaimed economist, Thomas Piketty, is now referring to the US as a failing state. Due to Trump’s inconsistent attempts at tariffs and other economic policies it has become clear that he has no understanding of how the world works, or of what the consequences of his actions will be. The world cannot trust him, and therefore is losing faith in the US as a place to invest, and the dollar as the most reliable currency. This will not only make inflation rise, it will make the interest we have to pay on our already dangerous debt rise, which will cripple our government and economy.
The US is about to enter a time when we can’t export our products, importing necessary products will become much more expensive, and we can’t make most of our own products without parts or materials for other counties. We are isolated and are alienating our allies.
Trump thinks Putin is going to save him. Putin is dancing on Trump’’s head.
Generally agree here Daniel. One question I would have though is why have we never argued that past administration's including Biden should not be held accountable for THEIR biases and failures in immigration? We have let over 10,000,000 illegal immigrants stay in the US for years without taking almost any actions to curb this?
As I have said, personally I am for fixing this by eliminating all restrictions on immigration (open borders to all who are not actual criminals, not counting immigration violations) but if we stick to our immigration policies of the past/ present there are literally millions who SHOULD be deported. Yes there are some like Garcia who deserve to stay but not millions. Most people who are here illegally under our current laws should be sent away.
Yet people only focus on Trump's inane handling of someone like Garcia rather than in the millions who SHOULD be deported under our current law.
It just seems so duplicitous to me to ignore the fact that Trump is in fact dealing with the TOPIC of illegal immigration correctly according to our current law (although his processes are ugly and draconian) while also ignoring the fact that Biden and many other Presidents mostly looked the other way at the massive border problem.
Again my belief is that we need to fix the law. But if you support the current laws, it is hard to ignore the fact that in the past virtually no one wanted to deal with this.
And it seems disingenuous to now only attack Trump on his relatively isolated and random failings like Garcia rather than applauding the fact that he IS sending illegals out even if his approach is ugly.
“Trump is in fact dealing with the TOPIC of illegal immigration correctly according to our current law….”
Wrong. Due Process is our current law!
Most if not all of those being deported were not given Due Process. How many of them were here illegally? We’ll never know because none, zero, were given Due Process. They have been deported for just for being Hispanic.
This is just silly. First there are serious questions about what "due process" must be given to non citizens. If someone violates your border and manages to get into your country illegally, you have the right to kick them out (if that is your law). We have rarely granted people picked up at the border with no evidence of citizenship due process rights. I lived in Tucson for almost 15 years and people who jumped the border were usually just dumped right back in Mexico.
And with almost 10 million illegal immigrants already here in the country you would create a line of court cases several decades long (at least) if you really wanted to do that. And during that time. You would have to house and feed them all at government expense because you aren't going to let them just go back into the society, are you?
Today you are arguing due process but with 10 million illegal immigrants you are creating an awful expensive problem. And who pays for that? We do.
There is no real solution to this if we don't eliminate our immigration restrictions which are what creates the problem.
We are not a small European country which can relatively easily restrict immigration. We have thousands of miles of border with Mexico and Canada plus countless air corridors and ocean ports that make illegal entry a breeze.
If you don't want open immigration, then you have to face the fact that mass deportations are going to happen.
Perhaps you missed the Bipartisan Bill regarding immigration reform during the Biden administration. A Bill worked out in the Senate which gave Republicans pretty much everything they wanted. But House Majority leader Mike Johnson wouldn’t bring it to the floor for a vote. Why? Because Trump opposed it! Trump wanted to continue using immigration as a campaign issue!
And so here we are with what you say is “….disingenuous to now only attack Trump……” Put the blame where it belongs. And what about those with a legal right to be here, those with green cards and visa’s getting arrested and deported. They are not illegal aliens!! They are not here illegally!
Trump and the Republicans now have their scapegoats for all of America’s ills. With Hispanic’s they have their “Jews”. Welcome to the the fourth reich. With all due respect perhaps it’s Time to Wake up.
Boy, you sure missed the forest for the trees, eh?
The so called bipartisan immigration bill was at best a small patch on an ugly cancer. Sure it would have been better than what we have today but almost anything would be.
You (and most people I confront with this issue) have competent missed the major point. You can paper over our current immigration issue in many ways but it stillcl completely begs the question. Are we a nation of laws which will properly enforce them or not?
I like to think we are (or were) but our lack of enforcement of immigration laws suggests otherwise.
Do you believe that we do NOT have almost 10 million (some say maybe 20 million but let's be generous) illegal immigrants here in the US (that is the lowest estimate in have ever seen)?
If we do, then what is the proper and legal answer to how do we fix that?
1. Ignore the problem (again) and maybe it will go away. Right, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.
2. Give them all legal status and start all over again without changing any laws. That just kicks the can down the road and we will (as we have before) gave this problem again in 5, 10, maybe 15 years time and nothing will have been accomplished.
3. Follow the law and deport all of the illegal immigrants. That is the Trump solution and although it is painful, i think it is a better solution than either 1 or 2.
4. Change the law to make all immigration legal (except for people who have been convicted in their own countries of felonies and who can't show evidence of those convictions being politically motivated). I.e. get rid of the notion (for the most part) that ANY immigrant is illegal. This drastically reduces the need for enforcement by ICE (a horrible institution) and eliminates for the most part deportation of any kind. We would need fewer federal judges and the DOfJ could go back to prosecuting ACTUAL criminals instead of those who we make criminals by our own laws.
I think 1 and 2 are useless exercises. That includes the bipartisan immigration bill which was just a big useless variation on #2.
#3 is draconian Trumpism but at least it follows the law.
#4 is what a truly progressive country would want to do.
I keep asking the same question. When did we become a country where the executive branch has a goon squad that kidnaps people off the streets and makes them disappear? Looks like Putin’s KGB.
They are part of the depravity, so no. And, there are the Tech bros too. The US is getting hit with the double whammy that it created. One there has been tolerance of all kinds of crazy stuff as legitimate religion, enter Christian Nationalists and their drive to take over by getting people into powerful positions.
Then, with runaway capitalism and coddling of rich people, we created the Silicon Valley monsters who promote The New Feudalism. Zev Shalev talks about it.
The People, the protectors of Democracy, are out and about. What "people," out where, about what--and why? First, millions said "Hand Off"to Trump/Musk et al, then on the 19th via 50501" (50 protests, 5o states, 1 Movement) millions more protested the mess in WDC. Also on the 19th we celebrated the "the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, starting the Revolution and our country. On the 22nd protectors of the environment cleaned up a different kind of mess on Earth Day.
As important as the participants in environmental mess cleanup and American history are, this post is dedicated to the named and unnamed protestors fighting the Trump/Musk Washington, DC, tyrannical mess. Or as Susan Grymes calls it: "Protectors" of democracy, and so shall I in this post.
Who are the Protectors of democracy on April 5, 19th, May 1st--or all the everydays in between and into the future?? We will never know the names of each individual marcher, sign holder (or just standing together in solidarity). But we do know by name some people, advocacy groups, judges and law firms, and other entities who have not been cowed, and have fought back publicly--sometimes under threat of death.. Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names of many of the army of protectors of democracy--and remember Courage is Contagious:
(Of course, the list is imperfect, Additions are welcomed. Also re-posting is permitted and encouraged.
PROTECTORS OF DEMOCRACY (By pen, voice, sign, or act)
(Updated April 25, 2025 Individuals
Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American,"
Jess Piper/"View from Rural Missouri,"
Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse,"
Rep. AOC,
AGs, 23 Blue States,
Aaron Parnas,
Adam Kinzinger,
Sen. Adam Schiff,
Adam Smith,
Alex Wagner,
Alexander Vindman,
Ali Velshi,
Alison Gill
Alvin Bragg (and the unnamed Manhattan jurors),
Amb. Susan Rice,
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales/Democracy Now,
Anand Giridharadas,
Anat Shenker-Osario,
Andrew Weissmann,
Andy Borowitz,
Ann Telnaes,
Anne Applebaum,
Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation),
Ari Melber,
August Flentje,
Ben Meiselas,
Beth Benike,
Brett Meiselas,
Brian Tyler Cohen,
Cassidy Hutchinson,
Charlotte Clymer,
Chris Hayes,
Chris Krebs,
Col. Susannah Meyers,
Congressman Jim Himes,
D. Earl Stevens,
Dan Barker, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)
Dan Pfeiffer,
Dan Rather,
Daniel Berulis,
Daniel Morton-Bentley,
David Hogg,
Dean Obeidallah,
Delia Ramirez,
Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
Sen. Elyssa Slotkin,
Erez Reuveni,
Rep. Eric Swalwell,
Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025),
Garrison Keillor,
Garry Kasparov,
George Conway,
Glenn Kirschner,
Gov. Beshear,
Gov. Janet Mills,
Gov. Kathy Hochul,
Gov. Maura Healey (MA),
Gov. Tim Walz (MN),
Gov. Tony Evers (WI),
Greg Olear,
Harry Litman,
J.B. Pritzker,
Jake Auchincloss,
Rep. Jamie Raskin,
Rep. Jasmine Crockett,
Jay Kou,
Jeff Danziger,
Sen. Jeff Merkley,
Jeff Stein,
Jeff Tiedrich,
Jen Rubin And the Contrarians,
,Jeremy Seahill,
Jessica Craven,
Jessica Yellin,
Jim Acosta,
Jim Hightower,
Jimmy Kimmel,
J-L Cauvin,
John Cusack,
John Larson
Sen. Jon Ossoff,
Jonathan Bernstein,
Jordy Meiselas,
Josh Johnson (stand-up comedian),
Josh Marshall/TPM,
Joy Reid,
Judd Legum (Popular Information),
Julie Roginsky,
Katie Phang,
Ken Harbaugh,
Lawrence O'Donnell,
Liz Cheney,
Lucian Truscott IV,
Marianne Williamson,
Mark Fiore,
Marvin Kalb,
Mary L. Trump,
Maxwell Frost,
Mayor Michelle Wu,
Mehdi Hasan,
Melvin Gurai,
Michael Bennett,
Michael Cohn,
Michel Zeitgeist,
Miles Taylor,
Nicolle Wallllace,
Noel Casler (former and current staff of the Inter-American Foundation, a small but mighty federal agency for Latin America)
Olga Lautman,
Oliva Troye,
Paul Krugman,
Prof. Lawrence Tribe,
Qasim Rachid,
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
Rachel Cohen,
Rachel Maddow,
Rebecca Solnit,
Rep. Andrew Egger,
Rep. Emily Randall,
Rep. Jessica Denson,
Rep. Jonathan V. Last,
Rep. Noe Casler,
Rep. Pramila Jayapal,
Rep. Sarah Longwell,
Rep. Al Green,
Rep. Don Beyer,
Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,
Rev. William J. Barber II,
Rez Reuveni (acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, and his supervisor),
Rich Wilson,
Robert B. Hubbell,
Robert Reich,
Roger Parloff,
Ron Filipkowski,
Ruth Ben-Ghait,
Sarah Inama,
Scott Dworkin,
Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
Sen. Andy Kim,
Sen. Angus King,
Sen. Bernie Sanders,
Sen. Chris Murphy,
Sen. Chris Van Hollen,
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,
Sen. Lisa Murkowski,
Sen. Maria Cantwell,
Sen. Patty Murray,
Sen. Raphael Warnock,
Sen. Ron Wyden,
Sharon McMahon,
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,
Simon Rosenberg,
Stacey Abrams,
Stephanie Miller,
Stephen King,
Steve Brodner,
Steve Schmidt,
Sue Nethercott,
Sen. Tammy Duckworth,
Tennessee Brandon,
Thom Hartmann,
Tim Snyder,
Timothy Snyder
Tristan Snell,
Will Bunch,
Zev Shalev,
ADVOCACY GROUPS, MEDIA NETWORKS
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union),
AICN (North Carolina),
American Oversight,
Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers,
Blue Future,
Blue Missouri,
Blue Wave,
Bluesky,
Bulwark Media,
CODEPINK,
CREW,
DemCast,
Democracy Forward,
Democracy Index,
DemocracyLabs,
Every State Blue,
Feathers of Hope,
Field Team 6 (North Carolina),
FiftyFifty one (50501),
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF),
Fred Wellman/On Democracy,
"Hands Off,"
Indivisible,
Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday,
Lambda Legal,
League of Women Voters,
Marc Elias/Democracy Docket,
MeidasTouch Network,
MoveOn,
MSNBC (an exception to corporate news, and their suppressing news0,
No Kings,
Olivia Troye,
Protect Democracy,
Public Citizen/Co-president Robert Weissman,
Run for Something,
Seneca Project,
Substack,
Team Sunrise,
The 19th/Errin Haines,
The American Manifesto,
The Bulwark,
The Civic Center,
The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,
The Dr. Martin Luther King Center
The Lincoln Project,
The Politics Girl,
The States Project (North Carolina),
The Union (North Carolina)
Third Act,,
Thomas Zimmer/Democracy Americana,
We the People Dissent,
Working Families Party,
LAW FIRMS/ORGANIZATIONS, LAWYERS, COURTS, ACADEMIA
American Bar Association,
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer,
Big Ten Universities,
Brenna Trout Frey
David Pepper,
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services),
Harvard/President Alan M. Garber,
Hogan Lovells (seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care),
Jenner & Block (also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding),
Judge Hannah Dugan,
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III,
(former) Judge J. Michael Luttig,
Judge James Boasberg,
Judge Paula Xinis,
Judge Royce Lamberth,
Justice Elena Kagan,
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,
Justices Sonia Sotomayer,
Northwestern University,
Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling (have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams& Connolly),
Presidents of 328 U.S. colleges and universities who have signed a letter condemning “government overreach" (including St. Louis University),
Ropes & Gray (seeking to block cuts to medical research funding), Susman Godfrey law firm,
UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (per the ABA Journal, representing fired inspectors general),
Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters,
Southern Poverty Law Center,
Letter signed by 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration),
To paraphrase Churchill: We shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them on the sidewalks, we shall fight them on the internet, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the voting booth--We shall never surrender. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. SOLIDARITY..
Omitted is the one guy who actually has a viable, practical solution. Jerry Weiss. Not a politician. Not asking for your money. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
IMHO the people who should be making the rounds of MSM news shows tomorrow are Don Bacon, R., NE and Mike Turner, R, OH.
I certainly agree that Weiss is supporting the right thing to do. I just do not think it is at all likely that it will ever succeed. It blithely glosses over the fact that while IMPEACHING Trump and Vance only takes 218 votes in the House, REMOVING them from office so take 67 Senators and right now that seems virtually impossible. The Senate is 53 Gop, 47 Dem and so assuming all Dems vote to remove, you still need TWENTY GOp Senators to join. That is just politically unfathomable. Yes you might get Collins and Murkowski to join and he'll even maybe old McConnell might agree, but TWENTY more GOP Senators?
Do you really believe IF we have midterms that the majority will vote for the GOP especially in the Congress already? Those running for reelection might think twice about letting Don tha Con-Felón to continue in office. But that’s my take as the Pollyanna I am.
I've been saying since the beginning that we are living in Nazi Germany and he keeps proving me right. I don't know when people are going to wake up to it. Those of us on Substack seem to be the only ones aware and caring about what's happening.
Sorry, no. We are living in the United States of America, not Nazi Germany. The US of A has its own homegrown history of racism, misogyny, antisemitism, nativism, etc., to deal with. It goes back to well before the founding of the Republic. Not to mention -- Adolf Hitler was inspired by the example of the Jim Crow South.
Thank you for the reminder. I've been an (amateur) student of the Middle East most of my life. I read Franz Werfel's novel THE FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH when I was still in high school or not long after.
actually, sadly they did learn a lot from us and put it into practice.. and now we are again magnifying what they did...we need to REFORM democracy and really practice it fully... not just restoration... the racism and greed must go.
One thing that has to go is the Citizens United decision. It's not the root of all evil, but unfettered capitalism eats democracy alive whenever it gets the chance, and too many USians still aren't getting the memo.
But, John, it *didn't* "mostly [stick] to the constitution and [uphold] the rule of law" -- except (maybe) for white men. Consider the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Jim Crow. Women didn't get the vote till 1920, and that sure didn't include all women. Native Americans didn't get the vote till the 1920s. Internment of Japanese Americans in 1942. Too many white USians have a rather whitewashed view of U.S. history.
Just realized I left out Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), among other things. DeSantis and the right/white wing are trying to suppress the 1619 Project for a reason, for many reasons. It is so, so important that we don't help them do it.
I'm very well aware of all those things and every one of them was wrong. However, compared to what Trump is attempting to do now they are minor events. With an intact court system and a Congress that isn't in the pocket of the president there is hope for change. As in the civil rights movement. The way things are headed now there is no hope of change for the better. You sound like you're defending him since things have been fucked up since the Founding. If that's not the case I apologize, but I'm probably as well read in history as anyone and this moment is as close to Germany in the 1930s as you're going to find.
Sorry I duplicated a lot of what you said. As soon as I read his post I had to respond myself. It is absurd to say we are s model country "except for the Civil War".
So you're saying since things have been fucked up since the Founding what Trump is doing is okay? Got it. If we have a functioning 3 branch system as the founders intended there is a way to move forward and improve. Abolishing slavery and the civil rights movement for example. Right now we are headed to a dictatorship just like 1930s Germany.
I NEVER said anything is okay. I simply objected to your totally misleading statement that suggested this country was more or less perfect except for this little war we had 160 years ago.
What a crock of BS to suggest that I am saying things are okay under Trump. If you really want to be an idiot go do it somewhere else.
Leading up to the Civil War you had 70 years of human slavery.
Following the Civil War after a few shot years at attempted reconstruction you had decades of Jim Crow.
And in tandem you had the massacres of Native American tribes.
The robber barons who accumulated massive wealth at the expense of murdered immigrants and union leaders.
The disenfranchisement of women until the early 20th century by law and then by custom for many years thereafter.
The internment of Japanese CITIZENS during WW2.
The outrageous violations of civil rights by the anti communists of the 50s.
The attacks on student protestor during the Vietnam War.
It is just laughable to say that "except for the Civil War" this country mostly "stuck to the Constitution".
You need to go back and reread history after taking your blinders off. This country has RARELY been a model of democracy and fairness despite what we teach our children.
FoxNews and AG Bondi are heavily propagandizing the FBI arrest of Judge Dugan as a"deranged judge" who "obstructed justice something something", and I suppose we should be grateful that Dugan isn't already in El Salvador under "protective custody"...I mean, she isn't, right?
Please forgive me for being OT, but this is a good one. Today is Independent Booksellers Day. Many are offering free shipping. Amazon book sales have resulted in a loss of 31% of independent book stores since 2020. I went on Amazon to look at a book for my daughter. It was 60% off. I had heard Amazon was having a big sale today, to counter the independent's day. Buy a book today. Buy Independent. Do not use Amazon.
Thanks for the heads-up, Janey! I have been meaning to purchase Sarah Kendzior’s new book, The Last American Road Trip. Gonna buy it today from Left Bank Books!
But what can we do?? What can I do? 78 retired was part of the 60’s change. It’s terrifying! And I know the history of Hitler and the London bombings from my family who lived through it!
You can always protest wherever you are ...YES! right there, with yourself and whoever you can invite to come along... this is what I am doing in-between the larger organized gigs.. just get out there somewhere and let people know you are in their corner rooting for justice, freedom, equality and democracy and reformation! Tell your story vividly, and make it be known how this is similar and what is different and how it will affect us all... everyone has a part to play here! Thanks (in advance!) for being you, and getting it out there, okay?! ~;0). (ps ... things are always changing... and each turn we need to beat hate, fear, greed and racism/caste out... it has no place in a civilized society.. as you already know!
It’s the ground level protests in cities, suburbs and small rural towns that are invigorating everyday citizens.
I loved talking with folks at the nearby rally site of Clarkston, WA (pop. 7,000) on 4/19 who told me that this was their first protest rally! 300+ people attended.
Multiply that by thousands of cities, suburbs and towns, and what you get is too big for trump/musk/DOGE and the MAGAs to ignore.
Unlike the trumpists, no one needs to pay us to stand up and fight for our country. We were born to it.
We have crossed the Rubicon. The administration touts mirages as victories. Arresting a judge on false pretenses. Negotiating 200 tariff deals aka zero. Continuing to deport illegally American citizens and others. This is where we are. If the Courts do not act soon, we the people must stare at that fork in the road and make the decision. Yes, we have crossed the Rubicon now! Defenestration must be the goal. Use pine tar for the tar and feathering. The other type or tar is too hot. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forking-roads?r=3m1bs
Yesterday ICE tore her 1 yr old nursing infant (who has medical issues) from the breast of a Cuban woman who is married to a US citizen while she was conducting her annual visit and reporting to Immigration and they hustled her to Cuba without her baby for no apparent reason! Husband is here with the baby and is desperate! We have arrived folks at “Heil TRUMP and ICE—all powerful American Nazis”
several times now immigrants following the law (reporting to immigration) are hustled away and deported. Quite the discouragement from following the law.
We crossed the Rubicon a long time ago. The difference now is that it's happening to white people. People of color are still getting by far the worst of it, but it *is* happening to white people, like Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee. This was also the case during the civil rights movement and in the years following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. It's never too late to learn more U.S. history -- and these days, this is a good way to learn about the courage and strategies of our predecessors.
while we’re watching fascism consolidate power in real time.
This administration is not simply “a different ideology.”
It is a coordinated, authoritarian machine — with the Supreme Court, the House, the Senate, and the executive pen all under its control.
And you?
You’re still asking for decorum and donations. WTF.
That won’t save us.
I don’t want to hear another polite floor speech.
I want strategy.
I want fire.
I want action so bold it shifts the damn news cycle — not fits inside one.
Every time I see something from the DNC, it’s asking me for funds.
Surprise.
Those of us who donate don’t want to keep sending money just to watch you stand frozen as the Constitution goes up in flames — shaking your heads and saying,
“Well, there’s not much we can do. He has the majority.”
I call bullshit.
If you don’t know how to think outside the box…
If you don’t know how to strategize…
If you don’t know how to fight fire with fire…
what the hell are we giving you money for?
Some of us have two or three advanced degrees.
Some of us have military training.
Some of us know what coordinated resistance looks like — and this ain’t it.
Yes, the tours around the country? Nice.
The speeches? Nice.
The clever congressional clapbacks? Nice.
That was great for giving hope.
Now we need action.
You have to stop acting like this is a normal presidency that will just time out in four years.
We’re not even at Day 90, and look at the chaos.
Look at the disappearances.
Look at the erosion of the judiciary, the press, and our rights.
If you do not stop this, we will not make it 1,460 days.
So here’s what I need from you — right now:
⸻
1. Form an independent, civilian-powered investigative coalition.
You need money to fight, to get the word out! Why don’t YOU do all of the things you described. The problem is people are afraid. Afraid of Trump’s unlimited power unleashed by the SCOTUS. We will fight peacefully. WE ARE PROTESTING IN THE STREETS EVERY SINGLE DAY! I don’t find your backlash at podcasters asking for donations helpful. In fact, I think that may help silence them.
Use this spreadsheet to call/email/write any of our representatives as often as possible. Not just your own state reps, reach out to those in other states. Be as loud as you can and share this. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
Just read a comment from pope’s funeral…. The crassness of it…… something like. We did well with the Catholics( he means vote) so we had to come!!!
This disgusting man needs tape over his mouth at all times. How can Melania stand to be near him?? I don’t think there would be any lavish lifestyle worth it to most of us!!
What would it take for the 35-40% of Americans who still support Trump to understand that this is fascism? Why don’t they care about their fellow Americans?
I fear that our country has already crossed the line into the police state. We just haven’t realized it yet. First felon assured his followers that they’d never have to vote again. We all should have believed him.
Is there nothing that will cause these depraved Republicans to stand up to Trump and his terrible activities?
AG Bondi: "...we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”
Here is the essence of tRumpism, pithy and on point...fascism 2.0.
The real question is : When are WE coming for Pam Bondi? She is now completely running a criminal organization. She is directing the Trump version of the SS. They are the police -- they are also the judge, jury, and executioner.
This cannot allowed to stand in America. There must be consequences for her total disregard for the Constitution, and her abuse of power. John Mitchell went to jail for a lot less.
Actually, KKKristi (the puppy-killer) Noem is directing ICE and CBP, which are more like the SS than the FBI. At least, so far.
Jon, it seems to me they are two sides of the same coin. Neither set are functioning legally and are working to see what they can get away with, and so far, they have gotten away with a lot. It seems it is going to have to be the states who will have to stop them, tagging their vehicles, releasing the "prisoners" from their vans and vehicles, arresting those who wear masks and disguises and those who enter public buildings like courthouses, buildings where people have to report if they are undocumented. I would also love to see the prison in El Salvador bombed open and the prisoners released from the hellhole. We need a shadow group to do it, one who has the expertise and ability to get in and out quickly. That would keep El Salvador's appalling president busy for a while.
Don't bet on it.
Time fo h to be hit..and hit hard where it hurts...perhaps her license? All bets are off when it comes to this bleach bottle bimbo with power....
Her law license sounds about right.
Emily, she has a law license? I thought you had to know the Constitution and the law for one of those!
Betty, oh, she's blonde? She sounded like the traditional blonde of jokedom, but I didn't realize she actually is one of Trump's bimbettes. I was thinking she was his pseudo-mommy. She is truly ignorant, though, just the kind of blonde Trump likes and I understand he has several that work near him, his press secretary for one, a bimbette if there ever was one. I can't help but wonder if she went to school for media or just took classes for getting in with toddleresque old white men.
Pam Blondie (and KKKristy Noem, and KKKaroline Leavitt) give bimbos a bad name.
I attended another protest today. My sign was a compilation of cartoon caricatures of BonDEI, Miller, Trump (with pursed lips), Leavitt (will call her “leave it” from now on), Crazy-Eyed Patel, and Not-so-Nice ICEman, Homan. On the backside was JD with a bunch of cats clawing at him and also a two-faced Hegseth. It got a lot of likes, I have to say. I specifically said on the sign that these people were EVIL and I drew Swastikas near each of them. We must cajole our congressional reps to speak out and loudly against these atrocities. Keep hounding them, daily! Even if you have a Repub, go after them, hold an empty-chair meeting or call Tim Walz. And Beto O’Rourke. They will show up and conduct a town hall for everyone.
It sounds so much better on her own turf of FOX than it sounds coming out of Main Justice.
As 45, he attacked judicial independence of administrative law judges. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/13/2018-15202/excepting-administrative-law-judges-from-the-competitive-service
Simultaneously SCOTUS diminished independent authority, gutting the due process provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.
These days, there is no judicial infdependence in administrative adjudication left.
The Biden administration could have rescued it...but didn't. .
That’s the question. Another one I keep asking is when will the media grow a backbone and stand up to him!!! Fox News is so complicit at being a state run propaganda network and unfortunately people are still listening to the lies!!
Believe me, I regularly post on Fox but now I’m banned because I imagined Trump being hauled away in handcuffs and sent to do Salvador to be stripped, shaved and tossed in the slammer.
Anyway, my sign is read to use: “Make America SmArt Again: Impeach Trump. Instead of my state capital, I’ll sit in front of the federal building in Hartford one or two lunch hour breaks a week.
Hooray for you! we need more people doing this! I am holding single person protests too!
I did it once in front of my Republican dominated housing community and even got a lot of honking and thumbs up! I hoping to get some to stop and join me next time I do it.
Do it again and again, maybe they will make friends with the gal with the signs, and hold them too.. I got good reactions from people who are most likely different opinions than me today in my one person protest on our rural county road...they need to see their neighbors (you and I and anyone else who will) and that they stand up for justice, equality and rule of law..My dsings said: "WHERE LAW ENDS TYRANNY BEGINS" and "UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION" and the one I plugged in the ground was "Greed and racism are destroying the country". Thank you for what you do, and keep it up!
and I am blocked on X
What is "the media?" Fox is a small part of "the media." Substack is part of "the media." NYT, which has clearly made a change and moved into the anti-Trump camp (where, true, it should have been all along) is part of "the media."
I think you might mean that the WSJ has now moved into the anti-Trump camp. I’ve been happy to see the editorial change…but also gobsmacked. The Times has taken a dim view of Trump for years.
Thank you for this Tammy. I completely agree, the NYT has been my bedrock for the entire "Trump Era". It has pained me to see so many people on this and other Substack attack the NYT without actually reading the articles and editorials. There are a few pro Trump editorial page writers but that is fair, an objective newspaper should have varying opinion page writers but generally their editorial policy has been to oppose Trump's worst tendencies and in their news pages to be for the most part a fair and objective source.
And yes the WSJ despite being owned by Murdoch has become much less pro Trump in the past month which is also good, but I am way of them. We shall see.
Fox is well aware that if you control the message, you control the people.
Only if they seriously believe their seats of power will be taken away by the voters themselves... They don't care if DJT takes control as long as they remain in the position and can at least act like they're in charge of something... And let's face it, a lot of them think what DJT is doing is just fine... They'll only care if there are consequences for them...
Yes, we need to vote BLUE in EVERY election to stamp out this evil movement.
In the meantime, prior to elections, we need to be vocal and persistent in our peaceful opposition. People are getting hurt. These are not abstract policy debates. Leverage what influence you have, resources you have, skills you have, in the service of protecting whom ever you can support and protect. 2 years is a long time to allow others to be discriminated against, denied basic rights and be targeted and retaliated against for opposing actions that harm real people. AND vote in in single election available to you including town, county, state elections. This battle will be won starting at the local level. Uprising means start small and grow big. Small acts, including non violent acts of civil disobedience, multiply into a movement and movements multiply into change.
Selling your soul to the devil is rarely a long term strategy for success. Though, to be fair, it has worked for Donald Trump since he was galavanting around Manhattan with Roy Cohn.
Since many of these people at least appear to think they are Christian, they don't see it that way... I honestly think they are faking it as much as they can just to have the power... I cannot believe that true believers would think acting as they do would gain them anything in Heaven... I'm an Atheist and I act more Christian-like than they seem to...
You can talk the talk, but if you don't walk the walk, it's pretty obvious. It's not hard to act more like a Christian than they do.
"Is there nothing that will cause these depraved Republicans to stand up..."
Unfortunatley, I don't think immigration or due process violations have enough of an effect of Congressional Republicans.
But national security is another matter. Hegseth/SIGNAL may be the call to arms. https://www.wired.com/story/pete-hegseths-signal-scandal-spirals-out-of-control/
Compound that with tariffs, hatred for Musk and his Muskovites.
Did you (Congressional Republican) enlist in the axis of evil?
Feathers of Hope. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
As the economy and the stock market decline, so will Trump’s power.
The acclaimed economist, Thomas Piketty, is now referring to the US as a failing state. Due to Trump’s inconsistent attempts at tariffs and other economic policies it has become clear that he has no understanding of how the world works, or of what the consequences of his actions will be. The world cannot trust him, and therefore is losing faith in the US as a place to invest, and the dollar as the most reliable currency. This will not only make inflation rise, it will make the interest we have to pay on our already dangerous debt rise, which will cripple our government and economy.
The US is about to enter a time when we can’t export our products, importing necessary products will become much more expensive, and we can’t make most of our own products without parts or materials for other counties. We are isolated and are alienating our allies.
Trump thinks Putin is going to save him. Putin is dancing on Trump’’s head.
Time is of the essence.
they are founding members
Generally agree here Daniel. One question I would have though is why have we never argued that past administration's including Biden should not be held accountable for THEIR biases and failures in immigration? We have let over 10,000,000 illegal immigrants stay in the US for years without taking almost any actions to curb this?
As I have said, personally I am for fixing this by eliminating all restrictions on immigration (open borders to all who are not actual criminals, not counting immigration violations) but if we stick to our immigration policies of the past/ present there are literally millions who SHOULD be deported. Yes there are some like Garcia who deserve to stay but not millions. Most people who are here illegally under our current laws should be sent away.
Yet people only focus on Trump's inane handling of someone like Garcia rather than in the millions who SHOULD be deported under our current law.
It just seems so duplicitous to me to ignore the fact that Trump is in fact dealing with the TOPIC of illegal immigration correctly according to our current law (although his processes are ugly and draconian) while also ignoring the fact that Biden and many other Presidents mostly looked the other way at the massive border problem.
Again my belief is that we need to fix the law. But if you support the current laws, it is hard to ignore the fact that in the past virtually no one wanted to deal with this.
And it seems disingenuous to now only attack Trump on his relatively isolated and random failings like Garcia rather than applauding the fact that he IS sending illegals out even if his approach is ugly.
Thanks for your opinion on this critical issue.
“Trump is in fact dealing with the TOPIC of illegal immigration correctly according to our current law….”
Wrong. Due Process is our current law!
Most if not all of those being deported were not given Due Process. How many of them were here illegally? We’ll never know because none, zero, were given Due Process. They have been deported for just for being Hispanic.
This is just silly. First there are serious questions about what "due process" must be given to non citizens. If someone violates your border and manages to get into your country illegally, you have the right to kick them out (if that is your law). We have rarely granted people picked up at the border with no evidence of citizenship due process rights. I lived in Tucson for almost 15 years and people who jumped the border were usually just dumped right back in Mexico.
And with almost 10 million illegal immigrants already here in the country you would create a line of court cases several decades long (at least) if you really wanted to do that. And during that time. You would have to house and feed them all at government expense because you aren't going to let them just go back into the society, are you?
Today you are arguing due process but with 10 million illegal immigrants you are creating an awful expensive problem. And who pays for that? We do.
There is no real solution to this if we don't eliminate our immigration restrictions which are what creates the problem.
We are not a small European country which can relatively easily restrict immigration. We have thousands of miles of border with Mexico and Canada plus countless air corridors and ocean ports that make illegal entry a breeze.
If you don't want open immigration, then you have to face the fact that mass deportations are going to happen.
Crying due process is just pissing in the wind.
Perhaps you missed the Bipartisan Bill regarding immigration reform during the Biden administration. A Bill worked out in the Senate which gave Republicans pretty much everything they wanted. But House Majority leader Mike Johnson wouldn’t bring it to the floor for a vote. Why? Because Trump opposed it! Trump wanted to continue using immigration as a campaign issue!
And so here we are with what you say is “….disingenuous to now only attack Trump……” Put the blame where it belongs. And what about those with a legal right to be here, those with green cards and visa’s getting arrested and deported. They are not illegal aliens!! They are not here illegally!
Trump and the Republicans now have their scapegoats for all of America’s ills. With Hispanic’s they have their “Jews”. Welcome to the the fourth reich. With all due respect perhaps it’s Time to Wake up.
Boy, you sure missed the forest for the trees, eh?
The so called bipartisan immigration bill was at best a small patch on an ugly cancer. Sure it would have been better than what we have today but almost anything would be.
You (and most people I confront with this issue) have competent missed the major point. You can paper over our current immigration issue in many ways but it stillcl completely begs the question. Are we a nation of laws which will properly enforce them or not?
I like to think we are (or were) but our lack of enforcement of immigration laws suggests otherwise.
Do you believe that we do NOT have almost 10 million (some say maybe 20 million but let's be generous) illegal immigrants here in the US (that is the lowest estimate in have ever seen)?
If we do, then what is the proper and legal answer to how do we fix that?
1. Ignore the problem (again) and maybe it will go away. Right, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.
2. Give them all legal status and start all over again without changing any laws. That just kicks the can down the road and we will (as we have before) gave this problem again in 5, 10, maybe 15 years time and nothing will have been accomplished.
3. Follow the law and deport all of the illegal immigrants. That is the Trump solution and although it is painful, i think it is a better solution than either 1 or 2.
4. Change the law to make all immigration legal (except for people who have been convicted in their own countries of felonies and who can't show evidence of those convictions being politically motivated). I.e. get rid of the notion (for the most part) that ANY immigrant is illegal. This drastically reduces the need for enforcement by ICE (a horrible institution) and eliminates for the most part deportation of any kind. We would need fewer federal judges and the DOfJ could go back to prosecuting ACTUAL criminals instead of those who we make criminals by our own laws.
I think 1 and 2 are useless exercises. That includes the bipartisan immigration bill which was just a big useless variation on #2.
#3 is draconian Trumpism but at least it follows the law.
#4 is what a truly progressive country would want to do.
Some of us have been calling attention to this all along, Jon. Alas, apparently not even convincing folks on our own side to pay attention.
Maybe when the first Republican gets deported, or thrown in jail.
It is up to us to stand up over and over and over. We must fight like Ukrainians.
A little boy at one of our marches told me his Dad said he had the heart of a Ukranian fighter. I told him we all should.
When Trump comes for their families. We're all game.
“Corporeal protest”, people demonstrating PEACEFULLY (please). Maybe every saturday at your state capitols at a minimum?
Www.indivisible.org and www.fiftyfifty.one
I keep asking the same question. When did we become a country where the executive branch has a goon squad that kidnaps people off the streets and makes them disappear? Looks like Putin’s KGB.
They are part of the depravity, so no. And, there are the Tech bros too. The US is getting hit with the double whammy that it created. One there has been tolerance of all kinds of crazy stuff as legitimate religion, enter Christian Nationalists and their drive to take over by getting people into powerful positions.
Then, with runaway capitalism and coddling of rich people, we created the Silicon Valley monsters who promote The New Feudalism. Zev Shalev talks about it.
Here is the first of Zev's series https://www.narativ.org/p/the-new-feudalism?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
We the People at Work
The People, the protectors of Democracy, are out and about. What "people," out where, about what--and why? First, millions said "Hand Off"to Trump/Musk et al, then on the 19th via 50501" (50 protests, 5o states, 1 Movement) millions more protested the mess in WDC. Also on the 19th we celebrated the "the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, starting the Revolution and our country. On the 22nd protectors of the environment cleaned up a different kind of mess on Earth Day.
As important as the participants in environmental mess cleanup and American history are, this post is dedicated to the named and unnamed protestors fighting the Trump/Musk Washington, DC, tyrannical mess. Or as Susan Grymes calls it: "Protectors" of democracy, and so shall I in this post.
Who are the Protectors of democracy on April 5, 19th, May 1st--or all the everydays in between and into the future?? We will never know the names of each individual marcher, sign holder (or just standing together in solidarity). But we do know by name some people, advocacy groups, judges and law firms, and other entities who have not been cowed, and have fought back publicly--sometimes under threat of death.. Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names of many of the army of protectors of democracy--and remember Courage is Contagious:
(Of course, the list is imperfect, Additions are welcomed. Also re-posting is permitted and encouraged.
PROTECTORS OF DEMOCRACY (By pen, voice, sign, or act)
(Updated April 25, 2025 Individuals
Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American,"
Jess Piper/"View from Rural Missouri,"
Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse,"
Rep. AOC,
AGs, 23 Blue States,
Aaron Parnas,
Adam Kinzinger,
Sen. Adam Schiff,
Adam Smith,
Alex Wagner,
Alexander Vindman,
Ali Velshi,
Alison Gill
Alvin Bragg (and the unnamed Manhattan jurors),
Amb. Susan Rice,
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales/Democracy Now,
Anand Giridharadas,
Anat Shenker-Osario,
Andrew Weissmann,
Andy Borowitz,
Ann Telnaes,
Anne Applebaum,
Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation),
Ari Melber,
August Flentje,
Ben Meiselas,
Beth Benike,
Brett Meiselas,
Brian Tyler Cohen,
Cassidy Hutchinson,
Charlotte Clymer,
Chris Hayes,
Chris Krebs,
Col. Susannah Meyers,
Congressman Jim Himes,
D. Earl Stevens,
Dan Barker, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)
Dan Pfeiffer,
Dan Rather,
Daniel Berulis,
Daniel Morton-Bentley,
David Hogg,
Dean Obeidallah,
Delia Ramirez,
Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
Sen. Elyssa Slotkin,
Erez Reuveni,
Rep. Eric Swalwell,
Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025),
Garrison Keillor,
Garry Kasparov,
George Conway,
Glenn Kirschner,
Gov. Beshear,
Gov. Janet Mills,
Gov. Kathy Hochul,
Gov. Maura Healey (MA),
Gov. Tim Walz (MN),
Gov. Tony Evers (WI),
Greg Olear,
Harry Litman,
J.B. Pritzker,
Jake Auchincloss,
Rep. Jamie Raskin,
Rep. Jasmine Crockett,
Jay Kou,
Jeff Danziger,
Sen. Jeff Merkley,
Jeff Stein,
Jeff Tiedrich,
Jen Rubin And the Contrarians,
,Jeremy Seahill,
Jessica Craven,
Jessica Yellin,
Jim Acosta,
Jim Hightower,
Jimmy Kimmel,
J-L Cauvin,
John Cusack,
John Larson
Sen. Jon Ossoff,
Jonathan Bernstein,
Jordy Meiselas,
Josh Johnson (stand-up comedian),
Josh Marshall/TPM,
Joy Reid,
Judd Legum (Popular Information),
Julie Roginsky,
Katie Phang,
Ken Harbaugh,
Lawrence O'Donnell,
Liz Cheney,
Lucian Truscott IV,
Marianne Williamson,
Mark Fiore,
Marvin Kalb,
Mary L. Trump,
Maxwell Frost,
Mayor Michelle Wu,
Mehdi Hasan,
Melvin Gurai,
Michael Bennett,
Michael Cohn,
Michel Zeitgeist,
Miles Taylor,
Nicolle Wallllace,
Noel Casler (former and current staff of the Inter-American Foundation, a small but mighty federal agency for Latin America)
Olga Lautman,
Oliva Troye,
Paul Krugman,
Prof. Lawrence Tribe,
Qasim Rachid,
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
Rachel Cohen,
Rachel Maddow,
Rebecca Solnit,
Rep. Andrew Egger,
Rep. Emily Randall,
Rep. Jessica Denson,
Rep. Jonathan V. Last,
Rep. Noe Casler,
Rep. Pramila Jayapal,
Rep. Sarah Longwell,
Rep. Al Green,
Rep. Don Beyer,
Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,
Rev. William J. Barber II,
Rez Reuveni (acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, and his supervisor),
Rich Wilson,
Robert B. Hubbell,
Robert Reich,
Roger Parloff,
Ron Filipkowski,
Ruth Ben-Ghait,
Sarah Inama,
Scott Dworkin,
Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
Sen. Andy Kim,
Sen. Angus King,
Sen. Bernie Sanders,
Sen. Chris Murphy,
Sen. Chris Van Hollen,
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,
Sen. Lisa Murkowski,
Sen. Maria Cantwell,
Sen. Patty Murray,
Sen. Raphael Warnock,
Sen. Ron Wyden,
Sharon McMahon,
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,
Simon Rosenberg,
Stacey Abrams,
Stephanie Miller,
Stephen King,
Steve Brodner,
Steve Schmidt,
Sue Nethercott,
Sen. Tammy Duckworth,
Tennessee Brandon,
Thom Hartmann,
Tim Snyder,
Timothy Snyder
Tristan Snell,
Will Bunch,
Zev Shalev,
ADVOCACY GROUPS, MEDIA NETWORKS
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union),
AICN (North Carolina),
American Oversight,
Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers,
Blue Future,
Blue Missouri,
Blue Wave,
Bluesky,
Bulwark Media,
CODEPINK,
CREW,
DemCast,
Democracy Forward,
Democracy Index,
DemocracyLabs,
Every State Blue,
Feathers of Hope,
Field Team 6 (North Carolina),
FiftyFifty one (50501),
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF),
Fred Wellman/On Democracy,
"Hands Off,"
Indivisible,
Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday,
Lambda Legal,
League of Women Voters,
Marc Elias/Democracy Docket,
MeidasTouch Network,
MoveOn,
MSNBC (an exception to corporate news, and their suppressing news0,
No Kings,
Olivia Troye,
Protect Democracy,
Public Citizen/Co-president Robert Weissman,
Run for Something,
Seneca Project,
Substack,
Team Sunrise,
The 19th/Errin Haines,
The American Manifesto,
The Bulwark,
The Civic Center,
The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,
The Dr. Martin Luther King Center
The Lincoln Project,
The Politics Girl,
The States Project (North Carolina),
The Union (North Carolina)
Third Act,,
Thomas Zimmer/Democracy Americana,
We the People Dissent,
Working Families Party,
LAW FIRMS/ORGANIZATIONS, LAWYERS, COURTS, ACADEMIA
American Bar Association,
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer,
Big Ten Universities,
Brenna Trout Frey
David Pepper,
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services),
Harvard/President Alan M. Garber,
Hogan Lovells (seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care),
Jenner & Block (also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding),
Judge Hannah Dugan,
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III,
(former) Judge J. Michael Luttig,
Judge James Boasberg,
Judge Paula Xinis,
Judge Royce Lamberth,
Justice Elena Kagan,
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,
Justices Sonia Sotomayer,
Northwestern University,
Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling (have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams& Connolly),
Presidents of 328 U.S. colleges and universities who have signed a letter condemning “government overreach" (including St. Louis University),
Ropes & Gray (seeking to block cuts to medical research funding), Susman Godfrey law firm,
UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (per the ABA Journal, representing fired inspectors general),
Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters,
Southern Poverty Law Center,
Letter signed by 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration),
To paraphrase Churchill: We shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them on the sidewalks, we shall fight them on the internet, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the voting booth--We shall never surrender. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. SOLIDARITY..
E pluribus unum ( "Out of many, one")
Also William Tong, Attorney General of Connecticut and many Connecticut voters who protest peacefully at least once a week.
I included AG Tong by implication in "AGs, 23 Blue States,"--too many to list individually by name.
Omitted is the one guy who actually has a viable, practical solution. Jerry Weiss. Not a politician. Not asking for your money. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
IMHO the people who should be making the rounds of MSM news shows tomorrow are Don Bacon, R., NE and Mike Turner, R, OH.
I certainly agree that Weiss is supporting the right thing to do. I just do not think it is at all likely that it will ever succeed. It blithely glosses over the fact that while IMPEACHING Trump and Vance only takes 218 votes in the House, REMOVING them from office so take 67 Senators and right now that seems virtually impossible. The Senate is 53 Gop, 47 Dem and so assuming all Dems vote to remove, you still need TWENTY GOp Senators to join. That is just politically unfathomable. Yes you might get Collins and Murkowski to join and he'll even maybe old McConnell might agree, but TWENTY more GOP Senators?
NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN.
Do you really believe IF we have midterms that the majority will vote for the GOP especially in the Congress already? Those running for reelection might think twice about letting Don tha Con-Felón to continue in office. But that’s my take as the Pollyanna I am.
IMHOn the House managers in the #45 impeachment casers didn't know how to try a case.
There are several law professors who have been counting heads and on the corruption issue think Dems can win.
As I told you previously, at a minimum, even if we don't impeach, a majority in either house stops the entire agenda, the budget , etc.
Note Feathers of Hope IS listed in Advocacy Group list.
YES! ....do what you can where you can with whatever you have! one person at a time means each of us...
Please add Lawyers for Good Government. We’ve been here since November 2016. See you at Law Day next week.
Added. Tnx for info.
Dr. Allan Lichtman and The League of Women Voters. Thanks for your list
The League is already on the list. I'll add Dr. Alan's name. Thanks. Great org.
Thank you very very much. You know that you speak for many of us—
I've been saying since the beginning that we are living in Nazi Germany and he keeps proving me right. I don't know when people are going to wake up to it. Those of us on Substack seem to be the only ones aware and caring about what's happening.
Sorry, no. We are living in the United States of America, not Nazi Germany. The US of A has its own homegrown history of racism, misogyny, antisemitism, nativism, etc., to deal with. It goes back to well before the founding of the Republic. Not to mention -- Adolf Hitler was inspired by the example of the Jim Crow South.
Hitler said, "Who remembers the Armenians?" He was referring to the Ottoman Empire's savage attempt to destroy a group within its midst.
Thank you for the reminder. I've been an (amateur) student of the Middle East most of my life. I read Franz Werfel's novel THE FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH when I was still in high school or not long after.
actually, sadly they did learn a lot from us and put it into practice.. and now we are again magnifying what they did...we need to REFORM democracy and really practice it fully... not just restoration... the racism and greed must go.
One thing that has to go is the Citizens United decision. It's not the root of all evil, but unfettered capitalism eats democracy alive whenever it gets the chance, and too many USians still aren't getting the memo.
But, John, it *didn't* "mostly [stick] to the constitution and [uphold] the rule of law" -- except (maybe) for white men. Consider the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Jim Crow. Women didn't get the vote till 1920, and that sure didn't include all women. Native Americans didn't get the vote till the 1920s. Internment of Japanese Americans in 1942. Too many white USians have a rather whitewashed view of U.S. history.
Just realized I left out Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), among other things. DeSantis and the right/white wing are trying to suppress the 1619 Project for a reason, for many reasons. It is so, so important that we don't help them do it.
I'm very well aware of all those things and every one of them was wrong. However, compared to what Trump is attempting to do now they are minor events. With an intact court system and a Congress that isn't in the pocket of the president there is hope for change. As in the civil rights movement. The way things are headed now there is no hope of change for the better. You sound like you're defending him since things have been fucked up since the Founding. If that's not the case I apologize, but I'm probably as well read in history as anyone and this moment is as close to Germany in the 1930s as you're going to find.
Lol "minor events"?
You are showing your extreme stupidity sir. You probably should go back to school and learn something.
It obviously eluded you.
Sorry I duplicated a lot of what you said. As soon as I read his post I had to respond myself. It is absurd to say we are s model country "except for the Civil War".
We have mostly been anything BUT.
So you're saying since things have been fucked up since the Founding what Trump is doing is okay? Got it. If we have a functioning 3 branch system as the founders intended there is a way to move forward and improve. Abolishing slavery and the civil rights movement for example. Right now we are headed to a dictatorship just like 1930s Germany.
Are you are really that obtuse?
I NEVER said anything is okay. I simply objected to your totally misleading statement that suggested this country was more or less perfect except for this little war we had 160 years ago.
What a crock of BS to suggest that I am saying things are okay under Trump. If you really want to be an idiot go do it somewhere else.
Typical "white man privilege" in action.
"With the exception of the Civil War"?
You are drinking some heavy kool-aid sir.
Leading up to the Civil War you had 70 years of human slavery.
Following the Civil War after a few shot years at attempted reconstruction you had decades of Jim Crow.
And in tandem you had the massacres of Native American tribes.
The robber barons who accumulated massive wealth at the expense of murdered immigrants and union leaders.
The disenfranchisement of women until the early 20th century by law and then by custom for many years thereafter.
The internment of Japanese CITIZENS during WW2.
The outrageous violations of civil rights by the anti communists of the 50s.
The attacks on student protestor during the Vietnam War.
It is just laughable to say that "except for the Civil War" this country mostly "stuck to the Constitution".
You need to go back and reread history after taking your blinders off. This country has RARELY been a model of democracy and fairness despite what we teach our children.
FoxNews and AG Bondi are heavily propagandizing the FBI arrest of Judge Dugan as a"deranged judge" who "obstructed justice something something", and I suppose we should be grateful that Dugan isn't already in El Salvador under "protective custody"...I mean, she isn't, right?
She was released on her own recognizance. However, it was right for you to ask, as we can take nothing for granted with the Trump regime.
Every time they use the word "deranged" you know they are lying -- same with "radical left" -- both are 'tells'
Please forgive me for being OT, but this is a good one. Today is Independent Booksellers Day. Many are offering free shipping. Amazon book sales have resulted in a loss of 31% of independent book stores since 2020. I went on Amazon to look at a book for my daughter. It was 60% off. I had heard Amazon was having a big sale today, to counter the independent's day. Buy a book today. Buy Independent. Do not use Amazon.
Thanks for the heads-up, Janey! I have been meaning to purchase Sarah Kendzior’s new book, The Last American Road Trip. Gonna buy it today from Left Bank Books!
Here is an excerpt: https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/excerpt-of-the-last-american-road
They’ve now come for children who are American citizen, with no due process. A flagrant FU to the Constitution and SCOTUS.
Not just impeachable. Criminal. But they control the DOJ and the Senate. We're fucked.
The Supreme Court got is SOOOOOOO WRONG with immunity!! Keep HOPE alive!!
Seems as though there are several sides to the 2 year old being deported. Let's be careful to use facts, not one sided stories.
as scotus is a FU to us
This protest song must go viral!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqFibmmXz5Y
Thanks !
Thanks for the heads up. Great words and band.
Add Harry Dunn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sherillyn Ifill to the list.
But what can we do?? What can I do? 78 retired was part of the 60’s change. It’s terrifying! And I know the history of Hitler and the London bombings from my family who lived through it!
You can always protest wherever you are ...YES! right there, with yourself and whoever you can invite to come along... this is what I am doing in-between the larger organized gigs.. just get out there somewhere and let people know you are in their corner rooting for justice, freedom, equality and democracy and reformation! Tell your story vividly, and make it be known how this is similar and what is different and how it will affect us all... everyone has a part to play here! Thanks (in advance!) for being you, and getting it out there, okay?! ~;0). (ps ... things are always changing... and each turn we need to beat hate, fear, greed and racism/caste out... it has no place in a civilized society.. as you already know!
Find local action at
www.indivisible.org
www.fiftyfifty.one (Aka 50501 - not a zip code)
It’s the ground level protests in cities, suburbs and small rural towns that are invigorating everyday citizens.
I loved talking with folks at the nearby rally site of Clarkston, WA (pop. 7,000) on 4/19 who told me that this was their first protest rally! 300+ people attended.
Multiply that by thousands of cities, suburbs and towns, and what you get is too big for trump/musk/DOGE and the MAGAs to ignore.
Unlike the trumpists, no one needs to pay us to stand up and fight for our country. We were born to it.
Resist. Fight. Never obey in advance.
We have crossed the Rubicon. The administration touts mirages as victories. Arresting a judge on false pretenses. Negotiating 200 tariff deals aka zero. Continuing to deport illegally American citizens and others. This is where we are. If the Courts do not act soon, we the people must stare at that fork in the road and make the decision. Yes, we have crossed the Rubicon now! Defenestration must be the goal. Use pine tar for the tar and feathering. The other type or tar is too hot. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forking-roads?r=3m1bs
Yesterday ICE tore her 1 yr old nursing infant (who has medical issues) from the breast of a Cuban woman who is married to a US citizen while she was conducting her annual visit and reporting to Immigration and they hustled her to Cuba without her baby for no apparent reason! Husband is here with the baby and is desperate! We have arrived folks at “Heil TRUMP and ICE—all powerful American Nazis”
several times now immigrants following the law (reporting to immigration) are hustled away and deported. Quite the discouragement from following the law.
We crossed the Rubicon a long time ago. The difference now is that it's happening to white people. People of color are still getting by far the worst of it, but it *is* happening to white people, like Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee. This was also the case during the civil rights movement and in the years following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. It's never too late to learn more U.S. history -- and these days, this is a good way to learn about the courage and strategies of our predecessors.
Dear Democratic Party,
I need more from you.
You keep sending emails begging for $15,
while we’re watching fascism consolidate power in real time.
This administration is not simply “a different ideology.”
It is a coordinated, authoritarian machine — with the Supreme Court, the House, the Senate, and the executive pen all under its control.
And you?
You’re still asking for decorum and donations. WTF.
That won’t save us.
I don’t want to hear another polite floor speech.
I want strategy.
I want fire.
I want action so bold it shifts the damn news cycle — not fits inside one.
Every time I see something from the DNC, it’s asking me for funds.
Surprise.
Those of us who donate don’t want to keep sending money just to watch you stand frozen as the Constitution goes up in flames — shaking your heads and saying,
“Well, there’s not much we can do. He has the majority.”
I call bullshit.
If you don’t know how to think outside the box…
If you don’t know how to strategize…
If you don’t know how to fight fire with fire…
what the hell are we giving you money for?
Some of us have two or three advanced degrees.
Some of us have military training.
Some of us know what coordinated resistance looks like — and this ain’t it.
Yes, the tours around the country? Nice.
The speeches? Nice.
The clever congressional clapbacks? Nice.
That was great for giving hope.
Now we need action.
You have to stop acting like this is a normal presidency that will just time out in four years.
We’re not even at Day 90, and look at the chaos.
Look at the disappearances.
Look at the erosion of the judiciary, the press, and our rights.
If you do not stop this, we will not make it 1,460 days.
So here’s what I need from you — right now:
⸻
1. Form an independent, civilian-powered investigative coalition.
I’m talking experts. Veterans. Whistleblowers. Journalists. Watchdog orgs.
Deputize the resistance. Build a real-time archive of corruption, overreach, and executive abuse.
Make it public. Make it unshakable.
Let the people drag the rot into the light.
If you can’t hold formal hearings, hold public ones.
If Congress won’t act, let the country act.
This isn’t about optics — it’s about receipts.
Because at some point, these people will be held accountable.
And when that day comes, we’ll need every name, every signature, every illegal order, every act of silence—documented.
You’re not just preserving truth — you’re preparing evidence for prosecution.
The more they vanish people and weaponize data, the more we need truth in the sunlight.
⸻
2. Join the International Criminal Court.
Yes, I said it. Call their bluff.
You cannot control what the other side does.
But you can control your own integrity.
So prove it. Prove that your party is still grounded in law, human rights, and ethical leadership.
Join.
If you’ve got nothing to hide — join.
Show the world who’s hiding bodies, bribes, and buried bank accounts.
Force the GOP to explain why they’d rather protect a war criminal than sign a treaty.
And while you’re at it, publicly invite ICC observers into U.S. borders.
Make this administration explain — on camera — why they’re terrified of international oversight.
⸻
3. Fund state-level resistance infrastructure.
Don’t just send postcards. Send resources.
Channel DNC funds into rapid-response teams, legal defense coalitions, sanctuary networks, and digital security training.
If the federal government is hijacked, build power underneath it.
If the laws become tools of oppression, help people resist them legally, locally, and boldly.
This is not campaign season — this is an authoritarian purge.
Stop campaigning.
Act like this is the end of democracy, because it is.
We WILL REMEMBER the warriors come primaries.
Fighting this regime should be your marketing strategy.
And let’s be clear:
The reason the other side always seems three steps ahead is because they ARE.
They prepared for this.
They infiltrated school boards, courts, local legislatures, and police unions.
They built a machine while you wrote press releases.
We’re reacting — they’ve been executing a plan for years.
It’s time to shift from panic to blueprint.
You should already be working with strategists and military minds on PROJECT 2029 —
a coordinated, long-term plan to rebuild this country when the smoke clears.
You should be publicly laying out:
• The laws and amendments you’ll pass to ensure this never happens again
• The systems you’ll tear down and the safeguards you’ll enshrine
• The plan to hold perpetrators of human atrocities accountable
• The urgent commitment to immediately bring home those sold into slavery in El Salvador
You say you’re the party of the people?
Then show the people the plan.
⸻
4. Use your platform to educate the public on rights and resistance tactics.
If they’re going to strip us of rights and lie about it — arm the people with truth.
Text campaigns. Mass trainings. Downloadable “Know Your Rights” kits. Multilingual legal guides. Encrypted phone trees.
Give people tools, not soundbites.
We don’t need more slogans.
We need survival manuals.
⸻
5. Leverage international media and watchdogs.
Stop hoping U.S. cable news will wake up.
They’re too busy playing both sides of fascism.
Feed the real stories to BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Reuters, Der Spiegel — hell, leak them to anonymous dropboxes if you have to.
Make what’s happening in America a global scandal.
And stop relying on platforms that are actively suppressing truth.
Start leveraging Substack. Use Bluesky.
That’s where the resistance is migrating. That’s where censorship hasn’t caught up.
If the mainstream won’t carry the truth — outflank them.
Get creative. Go underground. Go global.
If our democracy is being dismantled in broad daylight, make sure the whole world sees it — and make sure we’re still able to say it.
⸻
6. Create a digital safe haven for whistleblowers and defectors.
Not everyone inside this regime is loyal.
Some are scared. Some want out.
Build the channels.
Encrypted. Anonymous. Protected.
Make it easy for the cracks in the system to become gaping holes.
And while you’re at it?
Stop ostracizing MAGA defectors.
Everyone makes mistakes — even glaring, critical ones.
We are not the bullies.
We are not the ones filled with hate.
And it is not your job to shame people who finally saw the fire and chose to step out of it.
They will have to deal with that internal struggle — the guilt of putting a very dangerous and callous regime in power.
But they’re already outnumbered. Don’t push them back into the crowd.
We don’t need purity.
We need numbers.
We need people willing to burn their red hats and testify against the machine they helped build.
⸻
7. Study the collapse—and the comeback.
You should be learning from South Korea and how they managed their brief rule under dictatorship.
They didn’t waste time chasing the one man with absolute immunity.
They went after the structure.
The aides. The enforcers. The loyalists. The architects.
They knocked out the foundation one pillar at a time —
until the “strongman” had no one left to stand on.
And his power crumbled beneath him.
You should be independently investigating every author of Project 2025,
every aide who defies court orders,
every communications director repeating lies,
every policy writer enabling cruelty,
every water boy who keeps this engine running.
You can’t stop a regime by asking the king to sit down.
You dismantle the throne he’s standing on — one coward at a time.
⸻
Stop being scared to fight dirty when the other side is fighting to erase the damn Constitution.
They are threatening to disappear AMERICANS.
A M E R I C A N S.
And your biggest move can’t be another strongly worded email.
We don’t want your urgently fundraising subject lines.
We want backbone.
We want action.
We want to know you’ll stand up before we’re all ordered to sit down — permanently.
We are watching.
And I don’t just mean your base.
I mean millions of us who see exactly what’s happening.
I’ve only got 6,000 followers — but the groups I’m in? The networks I touch? Over a quarter million.
Often when I speak, it echoes.
But when we ALL
speak, it ROARS with pressure that will cause change.
We need to be deafening.
You still have a chance to do something historic.
To be remembered for courage, not caution.
To go down as the party that didn’t just watch the fall — but fought the hell back with everything they had.
But the clock is ticking.
And the deportation buses are idling.
(Credit: Dr. Pru Lee)
SEND THIS TO EVERYONE OF YOUR REPRESENTATIVES! THAT IS WHAT I DID.
You need money to fight, to get the word out! Why don’t YOU do all of the things you described. The problem is people are afraid. Afraid of Trump’s unlimited power unleashed by the SCOTUS. We will fight peacefully. WE ARE PROTESTING IN THE STREETS EVERY SINGLE DAY! I don’t find your backlash at podcasters asking for donations helpful. In fact, I think that may help silence them.
You read the handwriting on the wall, Joyce.
And now even Xi and/or his comrades are calling trump an obvious liar! Judie
Keep being loud!
Use this spreadsheet to call/email/write any of our representatives as often as possible. Not just your own state reps, reach out to those in other states. Be as loud as you can and share this. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit
Just read a comment from pope’s funeral…. The crassness of it…… something like. We did well with the Catholics( he means vote) so we had to come!!!
This disgusting man needs tape over his mouth at all times. How can Melania stand to be near him?? I don’t think there would be any lavish lifestyle worth it to most of us!!
What would it take for the 35-40% of Americans who still support Trump to understand that this is fascism? Why don’t they care about their fellow Americans?
No, they don't care about their fellow Americans. They also think that it will never happen to them. However, Trump's history shows it will.
I just don’t get it! How can smart people be so blind?
It’s discouraging. I guess no one is coming to rescue us, so we have to step up.
I fear that our country has already crossed the line into the police state. We just haven’t realized it yet. First felon assured his followers that they’d never have to vote again. We all should have believed him.