Some self-reporting again. When the judge was arrested in Milwaukee yesterday morning, by 10:30 am CDT, Indivisible Twin Cities, MN50501 and Women's March Minnesota put together a plan to have protesters in front of the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis at 3 pm. By noon, we had a press release and social media posts and emails to all members. By 3 pm, more than 200 people showed up to protest the arrest and we had significant local news coverage. Here's an example. It was the lead story last night on our NBC affiliate https://www.kare11.com/video/news/live_stream/kare-11-news-at-10-sports-extra/89-25118664-5500-403d-8b50-085c8bdbbe10
This becomes a virtuous cycle as more people see that it's ok to join the opposition. Then the news covers the story and more people see it's ok to join. And so on.
Finally, this was the front page story today in the Star Tribune here in Minneapolis.
Again, it shows that it's just normal, everyday citizens getting involved. It's taken us about 3 months of consistent action to get the news outlets to start covering this. So, be patient and keep doing what you are doing. Everywhere! It matters!
Exactly right. The idea that one person can't make a difference is dead wrong. One person's involvement becomes another person's involvement, and so on. It all definitely matters!
That's great. We should do a Hopium gathering when you come back some time. I meant to have one with another Hopium member, Lisa I, a few weeks back, but I couldn't swing it.
One thing you have to give the GOP - they are great at parroting MAGA talking points from Fox News! They all believe that we are being paid to attend the protests and rallies. Oh and we are all radical commie leftists too! (/s). I loved the response from the organizers from Indivisible Twin Cities ! Although I do know a few of today's protesters who cut their eye teeth on Vietnam War protests and I bet they got the same label back then!
I guess it is also in part projection (another skill at which they excel!) since it is the GOP that pays its canvassers to go door to door. Unlike the Democrats, who convinced out-of towners to temporarily relocate to Charlotte, NC to help with the canvassing! And Tim, weren't you one of those super volunteers?
Well, we *should* be paid to protest, with the money he is stealing out of our pockets with the tariffs. Give it back, give it all back, Trump, not to the billionaires, but to the people you stole it from!
I agree, but as a dedicated GOTV postcard writer, I am actually PAYING to volunteer when you consider the price of postage! And it looks like postage rates will be going up again in July!
We volunteers could probably power a few nstions' economies with everything we have to pay for to volunteer. If our leadership knew, maybe they would listen to Simon and stop treating us like ATMs (that only dispense money when you hotwire and shock them)
Thanks, Simon. I am contacting Maryland officials to ask them to join the suit. Also writing lots of postcards today.
On another topic, George Lakoff, in his book Don't Think of an Elephant, explains that negating a meme often simply reinforces it. Think of Nixon saying, "I'm not a crook," or Bill Clinton saying, "I did not have sex with that woman." Running a Dem campaign called "Not Weak or Woke" is some of the worst framing I can imagine. It simply reinforces Republican memes about Dems and indicates that they must have had some validity if we now have to say "We're not weak or woke." I hope the person pushing this wakes up.
Yes one of the most fundamental rules of politics is not making the other side's argument for them.
Here we always begin with our understandings, our arguments and never, ever begin with theirs.
I was in the War Room in 1992 and our goal was to win the argument every day. Rapid response was a tool to do that. For if all you do is respond you are allowing your opponent to dictate the terms of the debate.
I was on the Clinton "citizen rapid response team" - they sent out materials in the mail, buttons, etc. It made me feel empowered to do more, even in disenfranchised DC.
Thanks for the linl Claire. This is a rather different twist from the original post made.
My concern is Slotkin going it alone as reported versus taking Liz Cheney's advice and bring in some miitary strategy types. et al. The Dems really need at this point to bring in new ideas, allies who think differently. Ditch Democrats Care while you're at it Slotkin.
Right, and I have no problem with calling what we're in what it is--a war--nor with using militaristic language to describe it. What that implies we're ready to do may scare some people. Good. They should be scared, and ready.
But if we're going to do that, I think we need to double down on our outreach to Trump supporters ten-fold. A lot of Trump supporters don't like oligarchy any more than we do, and believe it or not, think we support it, when the reality, as I tell them, openly paraphrasing MLK, "when the Trump supporters and the Bernie supporters get together, that's the beginning of the end of oligarchy."
Khruschev promised he would take over our country "from within, without firing a shot." We can and should be able to do the same (we know the place better than he did!), but it starts, I think, with being starkly realistic about the road ahead and doing everything we can to separate Trump from those who've supported him in our framing.
Sounds to me like this is what Slotkin is trying to do, in this plan and in her speeches. Needless to say, I think "not weak, not woke' is terrible. If you want people to believe those things, you have to say things that aren't weak or woke, not just say you're not. At a minimum, if you want to say "no puppet, no puppet," you have to say "you puppet" too ;)
Lakoff has consulted with and been hired by many Democratic candidate and electeds (and institutions) and, at times, the party’s messaging has reflected his advice. The thing is it was not enough because good messaging, when not amplified, can’t over come constant negative messaging from the other side (which is being widely amplified). We don’t really have a messaging problem, we have an amplification problem. The constant focus on (and fetishization of) messaging and the idea that if we were perfect that we will win is a red herring and a waste of time. We need to focus on building a big old noise machine.
Excellent comment Lojo. I was not aware of Lakoff's use by Dems. Some on the Hill could obviously use more help, I will say that.
I agree the big problem here is the lack of amplification-lack of a noise machine. Messaging continues to be important, but an overfocus on that has distracted Dems/others from the build out of our noise machine. This has been a frustration of mine for years. Example, we have 5 or 6 right wing radio stations in the St Louis metro and nothing comparable on the left. I could go on but work remains.
As Simon points out, the polling for Trump is devastating, even on issues where he previously enjoyed a distinct advantage. Clearly we’re seeing a "reverse Midas touch": everything Trump touches turns to sh*t.
Another telling trend is this years special elections, of which there have been 17 so far. The average Democratic overperformance this year is 11.1%. Democrats have won 11 of 17, two of them flips of deep-Red seats – and we came within 7% of flipping an additional three races.
The DownBallot has a terrific overview of the 2025 Special Elections. I encourage you to have a look, perhaps even bookmark this spreadsheet:
While a lot can happen politically between now and the 2026 Midterm Elections, the political landscape looks increasingly receptive to a massive Blue Wave. No wonder Republican senators and representatives are deeply worried about the impact of Trump’s policies!
And don't forget Virginia's big elections THIS November. A big loss for Republicans this year would set the stage nicely for 2026 and convince some on-the-fence Republicans that they need to cut themselves loose from Trump.
Please do not forget NJ! The Democratic primary is in June and is quite competitive. Whoever emerges as the winner needs united support. It’s going to be tough in NJ this year & we have a long history of electing GOP governors.
Undecided!! It’s a truly competitive primary thanks to Andy Kim. I’m considering Sherrill, Fulop & Baraka. Would love feedback from fellow New Jerseyans.
to me the best bet is spiller; because of high property taxes which no one outside nj believes are possible, the schools take a much bigger role in elections, and spiller is a former educator and njea head. it's time we had an actual educator in the governor's mansion. that said, the only one running who i'd say we should all be opposed to is steve sweeney, a christie enabler who is running, it seems, to take revenge on the njea. ras baraka simply isn't ready for prime time and is probably not electable. many are rumbling that the party bosses are behind sherrill, but i have seen no evidence, and so what, she's a great candidate.
i'm happy with all of them except sweeney. electability though, is a concern; we are due for a gop thug. spadea is threatening to go doge on state workers; ciatarellie is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and bramnick i know nothing about, and don't need to.....
I push that message every few days in my calls to NC's GOP senators (that they are on the wrong side of history and that they need to act now before the electorate turns against them).
Only problem is they appear far more frightened of Trump than their own electorate. I don’t know what threats are being voiced behind closed doors, but so far it has them pretty close to marching in lockstep.
I continue to be astonished by the disjointed/unfocused response from the Dems. Feels like everyone is flailing without a clear leader or strategy to guide them. Where's the cohesive plan to challenge Trump? Grassroots seems to be okay, but what about top-down too?
Scott, you need to do better here. There has been clear across the board focus by all Democrats on degrading Trump's economic standing. That has been the clear focus so far. Dems have run ads in target districts, held townhalls in those same districts, held daily press conferences in Congress. And Trump's numbers have come way down. Congressional Dems are now going to shift to battling the budget, which already has gotten 12 House Rs to break from the leadership on the Medicaid cuts. I could go on but yes while we came out of the box late this kind of "where are the Democrats now" means you aren't looking, and choosing not see what is happening, and the things that are clearly working. Can we do more as I say in my video this week? Should we be happy with where we are? No. But this idea Dems are doing nothing may been something that was appropriate to say two months ago but is not now.
And to add - today's post and my posts all this week have been about Trump's stumbles, his growing weakness and our gathering strength. Choosing to ignore all that and then choose to be disappointed is a habit that Democrats simply must unlearn for it is a corrosive negation of all the real and clear progress that we have made. We must acknowledge the progress and our gains and keep planning for how to improve, gain greater strength and keep winning.
For sides that are always losing, always never good enough cannot win.
Simon, I admit defeatism is an enemy unto itself, and maybe I'm just losing my nerve. What would help is a critical mass of traditional Republicans renouncing MAGA, enough to shift the balance of power towards Democracy and away from Autocracy, especially before budget votes this summer.
Probably not going to happen but that does not mean we will lose democracy. The fight is on and we the people will prevail. My Italian friends (we also live in Rome) reminded me once again that Mussolini once said, "Governing Italians isn't impossible, it is useless." Our biggest strength at this point is probably our decentralized messiness.
Ariella Elm posts lots and lots of exciting news about what Dems are accomplishing on Substack every day of the week. She's up to Day 89 on "Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise, and Fighting Back," and she also posts "Three Wins Today," which highlights specific things that are helping our pro-democracy movement. Initially (months ago now!), she didn't have too much to report. But as the Dems have regained their footing, her posts are getting longer and juicier. You would be amazed and impressed by what's going on amongst our Reps and Senators all over the country. I often refer to her posts to catch up on the latest news of my reps, which I can then use in my phone calls to those folks. She is a tireless champion of our electeds, who are out there doing their best to change the hearts and minds of independents and those traditional Rs you reference in their states, or nearby districts, with their town halls, news conferences, meetings with constituents, social media, etc. It's not flashy or glamorous, but there is a LOT of hard, focused work going on every single day and I am proud to be one little part of it.
Hey Scott. Read SO YOU WANT TO BE A DISSIDENT, by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, the weekend essay in The New Yorker April 12. It's a terrific and deep look into how dissident movements are successful. It will give you a perspective on why we just have to keep ALL working at what we are working on, and build the numbers. It's not about 1 organized coordinated thing happening with one leader at the top. Evidently it doesn't work that way. Read it; your nerve will come back.
Thank you. All I have been hearing from pundits and David Hogg this week is that Democrats are weak and that if elections were held today instead of 2026 Dems would lose by a large margin, possibly even in safe blue districts. This is not only unhelpful but ridiculous!
I hate to say it, but most of this is coming from the “progressive” wing lately. I like the energy that folks like Hogg bring, but they tend to focus on critiquing what’s wrong with democrats, along with their followers who fall into doomer-ism. Instead, the focus needs to be on the fighters like Booker, Crockett, and even Al Gore whose speech the other day was off the charts!
I just heard from Rep. Frank Pallone on this subject this afternoon (minority chair of House Commerce Cte) and budget is indeed their focus. He says they have to pass legislation to keep stuff going, so they do have to work with Rs on that, but the funding battle is what House Dems will be focusing their attention on. He also said the "empty chair" town halls are great, but he can't do them in the same way others have bc what his committee is doing literally affects almost every other aspect of what Congress does. Sounded plausible to me, as a DC native. Wonder what your thoughts are.
Simon, I think you're giving the 12 House Rs too much credit. My Congressman, Nick LaLota is one of them and while he says he's against cutting Medicaid, he's only talking about the nominal amount of the benefits. He's trying to say that he's supporting Medicaid while making people who need it unable to get it. He's
He wants "common-sense reforms. These include work requirements for able-bodied adults, limiting benefits to legal residents, and increasing eligibility checks from every 12 months to every 6 months to help prevent fraud and abuse." This while the staff is being reduced and offices closed. I expect he will cave, just Zeldin would have before him.
Simon - I agree but also think it is useful to acknowledge that there is branding, perception issue (which still exists) that - along with fighting Trump and MAGA - that the Dems need to overcome and which is hurting us (which Scott’s comment is part of, reflective of). I agree that buying into this perception is a problem but acknowledging it as a challenge is not. Yes, the Democratic Party is moving and doing good work but the bad branding we are dealing with is a separate problem. To wit, Chappell Roan’s incredibly frustrating Tik Tok - here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjM1nHhr/. Yes, Chappell Roan is an idiot but her - unreasonable and unshakeable- disdain for (and desire to blame) the Democratic Party is not an outlier or uncommon. Unfortunately, to win, we have to fight Trump, MAGA and rebuild our brand (I do think that fighting Trump is a big part of the way we do this). I know you know this but think it is important to call this out. I am confident with leaders like you we can, again, rebuild the party and our brand.
The strength of a coalition is the sum of its parts. I think we’re motivated to engage in the parts of the overall opposition that personally resonate, i.e., the threat(s) to what hits closest to home, as it were. The diversity of signs and speeches at the protests reveal just that, as do conversations with allies at those events. We gather as a pro-democracy coalition, protesting the Administration's cruel and unconstitutional sabotage of our at-risk democracy.
Was at a concert last night, filled will 25-50YOs, all chanting "f*ck Trump" when the singer was talking about how he struggles to wake up -- but that going out, and seeing everyone getting together to fight back, keeps him (and the band) going. We are going to beat Trumpism & fascism, and the work is having a positive effect.
In Milwaukee yesterday, we had coalition members at the federal Courthouse within 2 hours of Judge Dugan's arrest. I was at the afternoon protests and we had at least 400-500 people. Lots of national press because of Bucks playoff game and NFL draft. Today, we are protesting outside of the Milwaukee FBI building. The coalitions that are being built are starting to pay big dividends enabling quick responses.
Of all the places to pull this stunt, he picks *Wisconsin?* After we just kicked his ass, and would've kicked it a lot worse, according to losing candidate Schimel, if Musk hadn't dumped $25 million into the race (even our losing Republican candidates have more integrity than MAGAs elsewhere)? They think they can do this in the state where the *real* Republican Party got its start, before it sold its soul to Gilded Age oligarchs? Lol.
I have a book Trump should have read to him. It's one of Ben Wikler's favorites:
It's the story of how thousands of Wisconsin abolitionists broke into the "Milwaukee* jail and spirited away an enslaved person who had escaped, been caught, and was about to be "sold down the river" (in the original meaning of that unfortunate phrase).
Nine days later, a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin, involving the ringleaders of the jailbreak, resulted in the formation of the Republican Party. When the Feds arrested the leader of rhe jailbreak, Sherman Booth, the Wisconsin Supreme Court became the first and only state Supreme Court to declare the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional, freeing Booth.
The US Supreme Court, though not nearly as corrupt then as it is now, overruled Wisconsin in the infamous Dred Scott decision. The Wisconsin State Legislature responded by passing laws making the Fugitive Slave Act null and void in our state, in open defiance of the Court.
Wisconsinities repeatedly tried to break Booth out of federal prison and succeeded the ninth time. He was eventually re-arrested, but as one of the last acts of the presidency historians considered the worst until Trump’s first term, James Buchanan threw in the towel and paid the fines owed by Booth, which resulted in his final release.
Nothing has changed. Wisconsin is Wisconsin, only more so. Yet these clowns think they can get away with doing this to a *judge*, one of *our* judges? Smh. To paraphrase Tweety Bird, "they don't know we vewy well, do they?"
Excellent commentary again today Simon. Reading/listening to Trump's constant assertion of his own greatness reminds me of something my grandmother used to say if she thought someone was getting boastful: "Self praise is no recommendation". He is cunning, aggressive, ruthless - but ultimately stupid. At last his polling numbers are indicating that most American people see Trump in the same way as many in this community. Let's hope that the opposition grows and that an alternative agenda comes to the fore - based on truth, honour, dignity.
Thank you for the Ken Griffen video. I will use that this week for my calls to Republicans senators and Congressman. I have a list of things that will take at least four days of calling.
Thank you Simon for helping us keep our sanity in check. Day in and day out life under the Trump regime seems impossible to deal with and go forward. Everyday you have solid advice and give the bare facts on almost every front of the times that we are in. Trump has thrown up so much for all of us to deal with on a daily basis. I realize that is the 2025 plan and to make it almost impossible to keep up on all of the fronts. I read your Chronicle everyday and watch every episode that you publish. You are the light and remind us to keep up the hard work.
Simon, thanks again for the daily posts and it's great to be reminded that as much as things are horrible right now, we can, and must fight back. It definitely helps defeat the doomerism that can take hold from time to time.
I feel like i'm the only one in my friend circle that isn't dooming, and the reason why is exactly what you say about how Trump's actions betray weakness, not strength. One of the main reasons why I don't think we're going to backslide as much as Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, El Salvador, Russia etc. is because unlike Chavez/Maduro, Erdogan, Orban, Bukele, and Putin, trump, and to an extent the GOP, isn't popular. They were able to make changes riding on popular support and when people turned, it was too late. That's not the case here.
So, as limited as I am legally since I'm active duty military, I can contribute to fight. We all should. A republic...if we can keep it. And we can.
Jon, some reasons we have proven to be as resilient as we are 1) we are Americans. Fighting for freedom and democracy is what we do and have been doing for 250 years. 2) The design of the American system - divided government, Federalism - makes it much harder for a single person to take it over. 3) He is making crazy mistakes and turning the country against him.
Exactly! I mean, it ain't like the administration is trying, but there's a limit to what you can do, as we're seeing this week. The problem with flooding the zone is...well it's quite indiscriminate and he's hit everyone....which just might be detrimental to popular support lol
I’m so glad to read your post. My daughter’s BF is active duty military, too. It’s very comforting to read there are others actively serving who reject Trumpism. Thank you.
I'm wondering if you can comment on the mood and thoughts of your peers. Every soldier swears an oath to the constitution, yet every day Trump shreds the constitutional order. He is defying court orders, he has usurped the role of Congress for managing the purse strings as well as deconstructing or defunding the agencies Congress have created, he has essentially and literally created a transparent attempt at and executive branch coup to eliminate the checks and balances of our 3 part government, while ignoring the bill of rights, particularly free speech and due process.
Do people in your unit talk about it?
There may come a day when the military has to choose between the orders of their commander-in-chief and the constitution, because clearly they are at odds. I understand if you are limited in what you can discuss, but any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm quite worried about what role the military will have in this unfolding crisis. Thank you.
The US Armed Forces are a reflection of society. The folks I worked with over the past few months reflect that, with some supporting what the president is doing and others alarmed. That being said, there are things that the president is doing that we're not keen on, to understate it, and we've all talked crap about SECDEF's incompetency and DOGE.
So there are plenty that do not like the way the current admin is going, and plenty that do. That being said, most of us acknowledge that we do swear an oath to the constitution first (enlisted oath does include "I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice", officers do not include that). We're good at following orders. COVID vaccine wasn't hugely popular, for example, but by and large, we got our jabs. The trick, will be the upper chain of command.
I can speak for the Navy, and the candidates for Chief of Naval Operations are good people. But, I would more pay attention to the Combatant Commanders since they're the operational commanders (chairman of the JCS is administrative). In our case here, NORTHCOM. A lot of the military support of border ops is overseen by him.
Also note there's a difference between USCG and the other services. They're DHS, not DoD so they aren't as restricted by posse commitatus as the others.
Thanks for your insight. Much appreciated. My House Rep, Sam Liccardo spoke with General Milley recently who said that soldiers are trained in what is and is not a legal order, and Milley believes they understand Uniform Code of Military Justice and will follow it.
As I understand it, generally when these authoritarians have taken over, there’s a major problem their people are facing like runaway inflation or some kind of complete chaos. In the immediate short-run, these leaders have actually done something to improve the situation. People accept the authoritarian bc he does something that they see as better than before. (That’s before it gets worse again of course). That’s not the case here. People had legitimate complaints for sure. But what Trump and co. have done is only make things worse, not better. There’s no benefit.
Simon, love your column! And not sure why you (anyone) give t***p’s tweets the light of day. Look at the number of retweets and likes. Totally pathetic. Nobody reads his💩.
As usual, Jamelle Bouie is right on the money today in the New York Times. He writes about trump's inability and unwillingness to govern. Certainly a major weakness to add to the growing list. Trump claims he works hard, but all he does is work hard at golf. Unfortunately, the entire Republican Party seems unwilling to govern.
Someone remarked today: "If Trump was competent, he'd be a lot more dangerous."
Trump, the Trojan Horse. There is a "hero" waiting in their wings, who will take over with a great deal more competence. These people don't invest hundreds of millions to a completely vain purpose. (Or for a photo op at the White House.)
Many of these tech billionaires have a philosophy of needing to smash things to pieces, and then build from the rubble. (We ARE witnessing things breaking apart.)
Trump suits their purpose to a T. For the time being.
Vance is the VP, and has some ties to the tech-billionaires, but I don't view him as "the hero." The hero, IMO, will nearly certainly come from those who the people perceive as not being close to Trump -- who the hero will vanquish. In another thread, someone was hoping for someone to come from the ranks of the Republicans to denounce MAGA. He will --- it will be a he -- and the people will cheer.
All true. Trump is a moron, and infinitely manipulable. So yes, he does suit their purpose. But I am hopeful that the American people are seeing through their disdain for democracy.
My calls yesterday were about the need to remove Pete Hegseth, preferably through impeachment, but I bet Trump would rather spin it and fire him or get him to resign to “spend more time with his family” or maybe to work on his makeup. Hegseth makes us all less safe, and obviously should have never been confirmed.
Trump and Co. vastly under estimated the sleeping giant that is America. Trump is in retreat and Elon Musk is running away as fast as he can, with his tail between his legs!
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..
I was looking at the responses to those NYT poll questions; I was recalling familiar phrases about the “current administration” spoken by Supervisors in my very own rural red county and I’m thinking, “Hey! Wow! These ideas are taking form in the language we are supplying! Not Bad! Not Bad at all! Let’s keep flooding social media with our language because it is taking root!”
It is snowing at 4500 feet in these Sierra Nevada mountains. It feels like Narnia out there, but daffodils are carrying on. I sense a metaphor. Time to resume my daily prodding and thanking. But first…
THANK YOU SIMON for shepherding us through the morass.
Some self-reporting again. When the judge was arrested in Milwaukee yesterday morning, by 10:30 am CDT, Indivisible Twin Cities, MN50501 and Women's March Minnesota put together a plan to have protesters in front of the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis at 3 pm. By noon, we had a press release and social media posts and emails to all members. By 3 pm, more than 200 people showed up to protest the arrest and we had significant local news coverage. Here's an example. It was the lead story last night on our NBC affiliate https://www.kare11.com/video/news/live_stream/kare-11-news-at-10-sports-extra/89-25118664-5500-403d-8b50-085c8bdbbe10
This becomes a virtuous cycle as more people see that it's ok to join the opposition. Then the news covers the story and more people see it's ok to join. And so on.
Finally, this was the front page story today in the Star Tribune here in Minneapolis.
https://www.startribune.com/who-is-behind-the-resistance-to-trump-in-minnesota/601332620?utm_source=gift
Again, it shows that it's just normal, everyday citizens getting involved. It's taken us about 3 months of consistent action to get the news outlets to start covering this. So, be patient and keep doing what you are doing. Everywhere! It matters!
thanks for the inspiration. the more we do the more others feel safe to do. and it all matters.
Exactly right. The idea that one person can't make a difference is dead wrong. One person's involvement becomes another person's involvement, and so on. It all definitely matters!
Excellent!
Amazing work Tim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So encouraging to read your posts, Tim. Every one of your self-reports are deeply inspiring!
Thank you! We have a great team here in Minneapolis that is doing some great work.
I was there! It was fantastic! You really are doing an amazing job, and thank you.
ETA: when I was driving home from the protest, I passed another protest.
Thank you for being there!
also Maddow mentioned it!
I have Minnesota roots - my mom was from Minneapolis and I was born there. I sill have lots of cousins there!
That's great. We should do a Hopium gathering when you come back some time. I meant to have one with another Hopium member, Lisa I, a few weeks back, but I couldn't swing it.
Dominoes. Really nice work, Tim!
I spenr some time in Minneapolis, enough to recognize that the sane people there are aways committed to working to make things saner.
ABSOLUTELY 100% YES!!
Bravo Tim - you all got great coverage and I've seen several talking heads discussing your quick response.
That’s great to hear. We are building organizing muscle everywhere!
One thing you have to give the GOP - they are great at parroting MAGA talking points from Fox News! They all believe that we are being paid to attend the protests and rallies. Oh and we are all radical commie leftists too! (/s). I loved the response from the organizers from Indivisible Twin Cities ! Although I do know a few of today's protesters who cut their eye teeth on Vietnam War protests and I bet they got the same label back then!
I guess it is also in part projection (another skill at which they excel!) since it is the GOP that pays its canvassers to go door to door. Unlike the Democrats, who convinced out-of towners to temporarily relocate to Charlotte, NC to help with the canvassing! And Tim, weren't you one of those super volunteers?
I was one of those volunteers! And I wasn’t alone! Every accusation they make is an admittance of their guilt.
I Thought so! I believe we had an online conversation about Charlotte.
I think we did too! I loved being there and doing the work!
I loved that our co-leaders laughed at it too!
Well, we *should* be paid to protest, with the money he is stealing out of our pockets with the tariffs. Give it back, give it all back, Trump, not to the billionaires, but to the people you stole it from!
I agree, but as a dedicated GOTV postcard writer, I am actually PAYING to volunteer when you consider the price of postage! And it looks like postage rates will be going up again in July!
We volunteers could probably power a few nstions' economies with everything we have to pay for to volunteer. If our leadership knew, maybe they would listen to Simon and stop treating us like ATMs (that only dispense money when you hotwire and shock them)
Thanks, Simon. I am contacting Maryland officials to ask them to join the suit. Also writing lots of postcards today.
On another topic, George Lakoff, in his book Don't Think of an Elephant, explains that negating a meme often simply reinforces it. Think of Nixon saying, "I'm not a crook," or Bill Clinton saying, "I did not have sex with that woman." Running a Dem campaign called "Not Weak or Woke" is some of the worst framing I can imagine. It simply reinforces Republican memes about Dems and indicates that they must have had some validity if we now have to say "We're not weak or woke." I hope the person pushing this wakes up.
Yes one of the most fundamental rules of politics is not making the other side's argument for them.
Here we always begin with our understandings, our arguments and never, ever begin with theirs.
I was in the War Room in 1992 and our goal was to win the argument every day. Rapid response was a tool to do that. For if all you do is respond you are allowing your opponent to dictate the terms of the debate.
I was on the Clinton "citizen rapid response team" - they sent out materials in the mail, buttons, etc. It made me feel empowered to do more, even in disenfranchised DC.
OMG, are they really using that language? Remember "I'm not a witch"?
Yes I do!
Never should we adopt their language…I hope that’s not in Ohio!
It's Elissa Slotkin's new messaging
surely not. Yikes. Always thought Lakoff should be invited by Dems on the Hill to give classes.
oh-- it's much more nuanced than that-- https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/slotkin-has-a-war-plan-to-beat-trump-dont-be-weak-and-woke-00308176
Thanks for the linl Claire. This is a rather different twist from the original post made.
My concern is Slotkin going it alone as reported versus taking Liz Cheney's advice and bring in some miitary strategy types. et al. The Dems really need at this point to bring in new ideas, allies who think differently. Ditch Democrats Care while you're at it Slotkin.
Right, and I have no problem with calling what we're in what it is--a war--nor with using militaristic language to describe it. What that implies we're ready to do may scare some people. Good. They should be scared, and ready.
But if we're going to do that, I think we need to double down on our outreach to Trump supporters ten-fold. A lot of Trump supporters don't like oligarchy any more than we do, and believe it or not, think we support it, when the reality, as I tell them, openly paraphrasing MLK, "when the Trump supporters and the Bernie supporters get together, that's the beginning of the end of oligarchy."
Khruschev promised he would take over our country "from within, without firing a shot." We can and should be able to do the same (we know the place better than he did!), but it starts, I think, with being starkly realistic about the road ahead and doing everything we can to separate Trump from those who've supported him in our framing.
Sounds to me like this is what Slotkin is trying to do, in this plan and in her speeches. Needless to say, I think "not weak, not woke' is terrible. If you want people to believe those things, you have to say things that aren't weak or woke, not just say you're not. At a minimum, if you want to say "no puppet, no puppet," you have to say "you puppet" too ;)
Lakoff has consulted with and been hired by many Democratic candidate and electeds (and institutions) and, at times, the party’s messaging has reflected his advice. The thing is it was not enough because good messaging, when not amplified, can’t over come constant negative messaging from the other side (which is being widely amplified). We don’t really have a messaging problem, we have an amplification problem. The constant focus on (and fetishization of) messaging and the idea that if we were perfect that we will win is a red herring and a waste of time. We need to focus on building a big old noise machine.
Excellent comment Lojo. I was not aware of Lakoff's use by Dems. Some on the Hill could obviously use more help, I will say that.
I agree the big problem here is the lack of amplification-lack of a noise machine. Messaging continues to be important, but an overfocus on that has distracted Dems/others from the build out of our noise machine. This has been a frustration of mine for years. Example, we have 5 or 6 right wing radio stations in the St Louis metro and nothing comparable on the left. I could go on but work remains.
Great example, BD!
that's just embarrassing. I also automatically discount anyone who uses the word "woke" seriously, so..,
DEVASTATING POLLS – MASSIVE DEMOCRATIC OVERPERFORMANCES
As Simon points out, the polling for Trump is devastating, even on issues where he previously enjoyed a distinct advantage. Clearly we’re seeing a "reverse Midas touch": everything Trump touches turns to sh*t.
Another telling trend is this years special elections, of which there have been 17 so far. The average Democratic overperformance this year is 11.1%. Democrats have won 11 of 17, two of them flips of deep-Red seats – and we came within 7% of flipping an additional three races.
The DownBallot has a terrific overview of the 2025 Special Elections. I encourage you to have a look, perhaps even bookmark this spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JGk1r1VXnxBrAIVHz1C5HTB5jxCO6Zw4QNPivdhyWHw/edit?gid=415249345#gid=415249345
While a lot can happen politically between now and the 2026 Midterm Elections, the political landscape looks increasingly receptive to a massive Blue Wave. No wonder Republican senators and representatives are deeply worried about the impact of Trump’s policies!
Let’s have a closer look at the 2025 Special Elections spreadsheet:
– In three races, the Democrat overperformed by more than 20%.
– In eight races, our overperformance has been in the 10–19% range.
– Four races saw a single-digit Democratic overperformance.
– Only two races had slight Republican overperformance.
And don't forget Virginia's big elections THIS November. A big loss for Republicans this year would set the stage nicely for 2026 and convince some on-the-fence Republicans that they need to cut themselves loose from Trump.
Absolutely! Virginia is a big one – and we fight for another victory!
Yes and our community has already raised almost $100,000 for Spanberger.
DON'T SLEEP ON NJ, he is coming for the Garden State in 2025 bc he owns properties here...
Please do not forget NJ! The Democratic primary is in June and is quite competitive. Whoever emerges as the winner needs united support. It’s going to be tough in NJ this year & we have a long history of electing GOP governors.
Who do you favor?
Undecided!! It’s a truly competitive primary thanks to Andy Kim. I’m considering Sherrill, Fulop & Baraka. Would love feedback from fellow New Jerseyans.
to me the best bet is spiller; because of high property taxes which no one outside nj believes are possible, the schools take a much bigger role in elections, and spiller is a former educator and njea head. it's time we had an actual educator in the governor's mansion. that said, the only one running who i'd say we should all be opposed to is steve sweeney, a christie enabler who is running, it seems, to take revenge on the njea. ras baraka simply isn't ready for prime time and is probably not electable. many are rumbling that the party bosses are behind sherrill, but i have seen no evidence, and so what, she's a great candidate.
I disagree on a couple of these statements, but the main point is to vote blue and build coalitions. And thank Andy Kim for opening up our elections!
DM me and we can chat further.
i'm happy with all of them except sweeney. electability though, is a concern; we are due for a gop thug. spadea is threatening to go doge on state workers; ciatarellie is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and bramnick i know nothing about, and don't need to.....
What I just said, LOL!
I push that message every few days in my calls to NC's GOP senators (that they are on the wrong side of history and that they need to act now before the electorate turns against them).
That is the way!
Only problem is they appear far more frightened of Trump than their own electorate. I don’t know what threats are being voiced behind closed doors, but so far it has them pretty close to marching in lockstep.
I continue to be astonished by the disjointed/unfocused response from the Dems. Feels like everyone is flailing without a clear leader or strategy to guide them. Where's the cohesive plan to challenge Trump? Grassroots seems to be okay, but what about top-down too?
Scott, you need to do better here. There has been clear across the board focus by all Democrats on degrading Trump's economic standing. That has been the clear focus so far. Dems have run ads in target districts, held townhalls in those same districts, held daily press conferences in Congress. And Trump's numbers have come way down. Congressional Dems are now going to shift to battling the budget, which already has gotten 12 House Rs to break from the leadership on the Medicaid cuts. I could go on but yes while we came out of the box late this kind of "where are the Democrats now" means you aren't looking, and choosing not see what is happening, and the things that are clearly working. Can we do more as I say in my video this week? Should we be happy with where we are? No. But this idea Dems are doing nothing may been something that was appropriate to say two months ago but is not now.
And to add - today's post and my posts all this week have been about Trump's stumbles, his growing weakness and our gathering strength. Choosing to ignore all that and then choose to be disappointed is a habit that Democrats simply must unlearn for it is a corrosive negation of all the real and clear progress that we have made. We must acknowledge the progress and our gains and keep planning for how to improve, gain greater strength and keep winning.
For sides that are always losing, always never good enough cannot win.
Simon, I admit defeatism is an enemy unto itself, and maybe I'm just losing my nerve. What would help is a critical mass of traditional Republicans renouncing MAGA, enough to shift the balance of power towards Democracy and away from Autocracy, especially before budget votes this summer.
Probably not going to happen but that does not mean we will lose democracy. The fight is on and we the people will prevail. My Italian friends (we also live in Rome) reminded me once again that Mussolini once said, "Governing Italians isn't impossible, it is useless." Our biggest strength at this point is probably our decentralized messiness.
Decentralized by design
Yes. Although founding fathers never thought we could be this stupid to elect the thug, they had designed a masterpiece in our decentralized republic.
Hi Scott,
Ariella Elm posts lots and lots of exciting news about what Dems are accomplishing on Substack every day of the week. She's up to Day 89 on "Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise, and Fighting Back," and she also posts "Three Wins Today," which highlights specific things that are helping our pro-democracy movement. Initially (months ago now!), she didn't have too much to report. But as the Dems have regained their footing, her posts are getting longer and juicier. You would be amazed and impressed by what's going on amongst our Reps and Senators all over the country. I often refer to her posts to catch up on the latest news of my reps, which I can then use in my phone calls to those folks. She is a tireless champion of our electeds, who are out there doing their best to change the hearts and minds of independents and those traditional Rs you reference in their states, or nearby districts, with their town halls, news conferences, meetings with constituents, social media, etc. It's not flashy or glamorous, but there is a LOT of hard, focused work going on every single day and I am proud to be one little part of it.
https://ariellaelm.substack.com/
Hey Scott. Read SO YOU WANT TO BE A DISSIDENT, by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, the weekend essay in The New Yorker April 12. It's a terrific and deep look into how dissident movements are successful. It will give you a perspective on why we just have to keep ALL working at what we are working on, and build the numbers. It's not about 1 organized coordinated thing happening with one leader at the top. Evidently it doesn't work that way. Read it; your nerve will come back.
Thank you. All I have been hearing from pundits and David Hogg this week is that Democrats are weak and that if elections were held today instead of 2026 Dems would lose by a large margin, possibly even in safe blue districts. This is not only unhelpful but ridiculous!
I hate to say it, but most of this is coming from the “progressive” wing lately. I like the energy that folks like Hogg bring, but they tend to focus on critiquing what’s wrong with democrats, along with their followers who fall into doomer-ism. Instead, the focus needs to be on the fighters like Booker, Crockett, and even Al Gore whose speech the other day was off the charts!
I just heard from Rep. Frank Pallone on this subject this afternoon (minority chair of House Commerce Cte) and budget is indeed their focus. He says they have to pass legislation to keep stuff going, so they do have to work with Rs on that, but the funding battle is what House Dems will be focusing their attention on. He also said the "empty chair" town halls are great, but he can't do them in the same way others have bc what his committee is doing literally affects almost every other aspect of what Congress does. Sounded plausible to me, as a DC native. Wonder what your thoughts are.
Simon, I think you're giving the 12 House Rs too much credit. My Congressman, Nick LaLota is one of them and while he says he's against cutting Medicaid, he's only talking about the nominal amount of the benefits. He's trying to say that he's supporting Medicaid while making people who need it unable to get it. He's
He wants "common-sense reforms. These include work requirements for able-bodied adults, limiting benefits to legal residents, and increasing eligibility checks from every 12 months to every 6 months to help prevent fraud and abuse." This while the staff is being reduced and offices closed. I expect he will cave, just Zeldin would have before him.
Simon - I agree but also think it is useful to acknowledge that there is branding, perception issue (which still exists) that - along with fighting Trump and MAGA - that the Dems need to overcome and which is hurting us (which Scott’s comment is part of, reflective of). I agree that buying into this perception is a problem but acknowledging it as a challenge is not. Yes, the Democratic Party is moving and doing good work but the bad branding we are dealing with is a separate problem. To wit, Chappell Roan’s incredibly frustrating Tik Tok - here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjM1nHhr/. Yes, Chappell Roan is an idiot but her - unreasonable and unshakeable- disdain for (and desire to blame) the Democratic Party is not an outlier or uncommon. Unfortunately, to win, we have to fight Trump, MAGA and rebuild our brand (I do think that fighting Trump is a big part of the way we do this). I know you know this but think it is important to call this out. I am confident with leaders like you we can, again, rebuild the party and our brand.
The strength of a coalition is the sum of its parts. I think we’re motivated to engage in the parts of the overall opposition that personally resonate, i.e., the threat(s) to what hits closest to home, as it were. The diversity of signs and speeches at the protests reveal just that, as do conversations with allies at those events. We gather as a pro-democracy coalition, protesting the Administration's cruel and unconstitutional sabotage of our at-risk democracy.
Was at a concert last night, filled will 25-50YOs, all chanting "f*ck Trump" when the singer was talking about how he struggles to wake up -- but that going out, and seeing everyone getting together to fight back, keeps him (and the band) going. We are going to beat Trumpism & fascism, and the work is having a positive effect.
In Milwaukee yesterday, we had coalition members at the federal Courthouse within 2 hours of Judge Dugan's arrest. I was at the afternoon protests and we had at least 400-500 people. Lots of national press because of Bucks playoff game and NFL draft. Today, we are protesting outside of the Milwaukee FBI building. The coalitions that are being built are starting to pay big dividends enabling quick responses.
Great work, Jayne! Keep it going!
Amazing. Thank you.
We are trying to build that here in NJ. People have fooled themselves long enough--it will happen here, too.
Of all the places to pull this stunt, he picks *Wisconsin?* After we just kicked his ass, and would've kicked it a lot worse, according to losing candidate Schimel, if Musk hadn't dumped $25 million into the race (even our losing Republican candidates have more integrity than MAGAs elsewhere)? They think they can do this in the state where the *real* Republican Party got its start, before it sold its soul to Gilded Age oligarchs? Lol.
I have a book Trump should have read to him. It's one of Ben Wikler's favorites:
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Freedom-Untold-Joshua-Runaway/dp/0870203827#:
It's the story of how thousands of Wisconsin abolitionists broke into the "Milwaukee* jail and spirited away an enslaved person who had escaped, been caught, and was about to be "sold down the river" (in the original meaning of that unfortunate phrase).
Nine days later, a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin, involving the ringleaders of the jailbreak, resulted in the formation of the Republican Party. When the Feds arrested the leader of rhe jailbreak, Sherman Booth, the Wisconsin Supreme Court became the first and only state Supreme Court to declare the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional, freeing Booth.
The US Supreme Court, though not nearly as corrupt then as it is now, overruled Wisconsin in the infamous Dred Scott decision. The Wisconsin State Legislature responded by passing laws making the Fugitive Slave Act null and void in our state, in open defiance of the Court.
Wisconsinities repeatedly tried to break Booth out of federal prison and succeeded the ninth time. He was eventually re-arrested, but as one of the last acts of the presidency historians considered the worst until Trump’s first term, James Buchanan threw in the towel and paid the fines owed by Booth, which resulted in his final release.
Nothing has changed. Wisconsin is Wisconsin, only more so. Yet these clowns think they can get away with doing this to a *judge*, one of *our* judges? Smh. To paraphrase Tweety Bird, "they don't know we vewy well, do they?"
Excellent commentary again today Simon. Reading/listening to Trump's constant assertion of his own greatness reminds me of something my grandmother used to say if she thought someone was getting boastful: "Self praise is no recommendation". He is cunning, aggressive, ruthless - but ultimately stupid. At last his polling numbers are indicating that most American people see Trump in the same way as many in this community. Let's hope that the opposition grows and that an alternative agenda comes to the fore - based on truth, honour, dignity.
Thank you for the Ken Griffen video. I will use that this week for my calls to Republicans senators and Congressman. I have a list of things that will take at least four days of calling.
Thank you Simon for helping us keep our sanity in check. Day in and day out life under the Trump regime seems impossible to deal with and go forward. Everyday you have solid advice and give the bare facts on almost every front of the times that we are in. Trump has thrown up so much for all of us to deal with on a daily basis. I realize that is the 2025 plan and to make it almost impossible to keep up on all of the fronts. I read your Chronicle everyday and watch every episode that you publish. You are the light and remind us to keep up the hard work.
Simon, thanks again for the daily posts and it's great to be reminded that as much as things are horrible right now, we can, and must fight back. It definitely helps defeat the doomerism that can take hold from time to time.
I feel like i'm the only one in my friend circle that isn't dooming, and the reason why is exactly what you say about how Trump's actions betray weakness, not strength. One of the main reasons why I don't think we're going to backslide as much as Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, El Salvador, Russia etc. is because unlike Chavez/Maduro, Erdogan, Orban, Bukele, and Putin, trump, and to an extent the GOP, isn't popular. They were able to make changes riding on popular support and when people turned, it was too late. That's not the case here.
So, as limited as I am legally since I'm active duty military, I can contribute to fight. We all should. A republic...if we can keep it. And we can.
Jon, some reasons we have proven to be as resilient as we are 1) we are Americans. Fighting for freedom and democracy is what we do and have been doing for 250 years. 2) The design of the American system - divided government, Federalism - makes it much harder for a single person to take it over. 3) He is making crazy mistakes and turning the country against him.
Exactly! I mean, it ain't like the administration is trying, but there's a limit to what you can do, as we're seeing this week. The problem with flooding the zone is...well it's quite indiscriminate and he's hit everyone....which just might be detrimental to popular support lol
I’m so glad to read your post. My daughter’s BF is active duty military, too. It’s very comforting to read there are others actively serving who reject Trumpism. Thank you.
Jon, Sincere thanks for your service.
I'm wondering if you can comment on the mood and thoughts of your peers. Every soldier swears an oath to the constitution, yet every day Trump shreds the constitutional order. He is defying court orders, he has usurped the role of Congress for managing the purse strings as well as deconstructing or defunding the agencies Congress have created, he has essentially and literally created a transparent attempt at and executive branch coup to eliminate the checks and balances of our 3 part government, while ignoring the bill of rights, particularly free speech and due process.
Do people in your unit talk about it?
There may come a day when the military has to choose between the orders of their commander-in-chief and the constitution, because clearly they are at odds. I understand if you are limited in what you can discuss, but any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm quite worried about what role the military will have in this unfolding crisis. Thank you.
The US Armed Forces are a reflection of society. The folks I worked with over the past few months reflect that, with some supporting what the president is doing and others alarmed. That being said, there are things that the president is doing that we're not keen on, to understate it, and we've all talked crap about SECDEF's incompetency and DOGE.
So there are plenty that do not like the way the current admin is going, and plenty that do. That being said, most of us acknowledge that we do swear an oath to the constitution first (enlisted oath does include "I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice", officers do not include that). We're good at following orders. COVID vaccine wasn't hugely popular, for example, but by and large, we got our jabs. The trick, will be the upper chain of command.
I can speak for the Navy, and the candidates for Chief of Naval Operations are good people. But, I would more pay attention to the Combatant Commanders since they're the operational commanders (chairman of the JCS is administrative). In our case here, NORTHCOM. A lot of the military support of border ops is overseen by him.
Also note there's a difference between USCG and the other services. They're DHS, not DoD so they aren't as restricted by posse commitatus as the others.
Thanks for your insight. Much appreciated. My House Rep, Sam Liccardo spoke with General Milley recently who said that soldiers are trained in what is and is not a legal order, and Milley believes they understand Uniform Code of Military Justice and will follow it.
As I understand it, generally when these authoritarians have taken over, there’s a major problem their people are facing like runaway inflation or some kind of complete chaos. In the immediate short-run, these leaders have actually done something to improve the situation. People accept the authoritarian bc he does something that they see as better than before. (That’s before it gets worse again of course). That’s not the case here. People had legitimate complaints for sure. But what Trump and co. have done is only make things worse, not better. There’s no benefit.
My apologies in advance if I’m not interpreting history correctly here.
Simon, love your column! And not sure why you (anyone) give t***p’s tweets the light of day. Look at the number of retweets and likes. Totally pathetic. Nobody reads his💩.
Actually, the entire world reads his posts every day. It is how he speaks to the world.
As usual, Jamelle Bouie is right on the money today in the New York Times. He writes about trump's inability and unwillingness to govern. Certainly a major weakness to add to the growing list. Trump claims he works hard, but all he does is work hard at golf. Unfortunately, the entire Republican Party seems unwilling to govern.
Someone remarked today: "If Trump was competent, he'd be a lot more dangerous."
Trump, the Trojan Horse. There is a "hero" waiting in their wings, who will take over with a great deal more competence. These people don't invest hundreds of millions to a completely vain purpose. (Or for a photo op at the White House.)
Many of these tech billionaires have a philosophy of needing to smash things to pieces, and then build from the rubble. (We ARE witnessing things breaking apart.)
Trump suits their purpose to a T. For the time being.
I comfort myself that their hero is Vance, who has the charisma of a potato. Even Bill Maher doesn't want to have a beer with that guy.
Vance is the VP, and has some ties to the tech-billionaires, but I don't view him as "the hero." The hero, IMO, will nearly certainly come from those who the people perceive as not being close to Trump -- who the hero will vanquish. In another thread, someone was hoping for someone to come from the ranks of the Republicans to denounce MAGA. He will --- it will be a he -- and the people will cheer.
All true. Trump is a moron, and infinitely manipulable. So yes, he does suit their purpose. But I am hopeful that the American people are seeing through their disdain for democracy.
My calls yesterday were about the need to remove Pete Hegseth, preferably through impeachment, but I bet Trump would rather spin it and fire him or get him to resign to “spend more time with his family” or maybe to work on his makeup. Hegseth makes us all less safe, and obviously should have never been confirmed.
That's exactly what I've been doing, especially since my Senator is on the Armed Services Committee.
Trump and Co. vastly under estimated the sleeping giant that is America. Trump is in retreat and Elon Musk is running away as fast as he can, with his tail between his legs!
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")
I was looking at the responses to those NYT poll questions; I was recalling familiar phrases about the “current administration” spoken by Supervisors in my very own rural red county and I’m thinking, “Hey! Wow! These ideas are taking form in the language we are supplying! Not Bad! Not Bad at all! Let’s keep flooding social media with our language because it is taking root!”
It is snowing at 4500 feet in these Sierra Nevada mountains. It feels like Narnia out there, but daffodils are carrying on. I sense a metaphor. Time to resume my daily prodding and thanking. But first…
THANK YOU SIMON for shepherding us through the morass.