We got your recommendations and are planning on making these calls! We made some yesterday but today, we will call the Attorney General's office. Thanks
Are there discussions about what happens when Trump ignores court orders? I saw something from Connolly but I haven't looked yet. It seems more clear that Trump is going to ignore both Congress and the Courts.
I think this is the bright line that calls for a massive response. I don't know what that would look like but it feels like it is coming.
That's a good question. I think you should call the Mayor and City Council person and ask them to be fighting for the tens of thousands of district residents who work in the federal govt. being terrorized by Trump and Musk. Can they join existing law suits, or be part of others to come?
To repeat; there's a difference between "actions that will result in the death of" and "killing". While it may not be convenient to spell out those words, words matter and substituting "killing" is a distortion of the facts, something that should be avoided strenuously. It's the kind of tactic that creates tabloid journalism and "alternate facts". COVID killed; the Orange one simply made a fool out of himself over it and potentially mislead many people too foolish to think for themselves. Likewise, Musk is creating mayhem, but it's poverty, infectious disease, illicit drugs and other factors that are doing the actual killing. Please don't fall for the fatal journalistic tendency to hyperbole. That will most certainly kill the message!
Do not agree with this at all. Turning off food to starving people is killing them. Turning off medicine to people who need it to live is killing them, on purpose, maliciously.
I spoke to a leading counter terrorism official in our govt this weekend who said that the anger towards the US because of the deaths and disruption to come is a huge counter terrorism problem for us, and will leave us far less safe. There is simply no reason to soften the language around what is happening here.
I totally agree with the issue of counter terrorism. I've been thinking about this issue for days. I remember September 11 so well. It could easily happen here with the horrible people trump wants in key judicial and national intelligence positions.
Totally agree. Common sense and what has happened before dictates we are fanning flames of anger and retaliation here. I tell that to my Rep when I call
Scanning the comments for advice on what to tell| ask for action on, when calling a R Congressman, who is in Trump’s pocket. I call every day. I usually discuss an issue that I’ve written a letter to the editor on. For example, my last letter about tariffs with Canada, based on the absurd idea of lowering their fentanyl across the boarder. It is 0.2% of the fentanyl coming into the country. So how did this border bullying help with that?
Any ideas on what the best approach is with R Congressman in making the daily calls? I do use the five calls app for suggestions. I always want to tell the person answering what I want the Congressman to do. So it’s not just a complaint, it’s an action. Thanks.
I think that's all you can do-- give them action steps and make it personal if you can.
I just called the new Republican representative for my US House district and was surprised by the emotion in my voice (I did remain respectful). Rather than blame him or Trump, I decided to focus on Musk (make him the bad guy) b/c I genuinely feel like HE is the most pressing issue we need to focus on now (most other issues come from his illegal power grab). The female staffer was, surprisingly, empathetic in her response to me.
I think more fentanyl comes from Mexico through underground tunnels. Tomorrow I’ll comment on research I’m doing on tariffs because Simon likes us to document our sources.
data security, impact of tariffs on agriculture [as Simon mentions] freezing of Medicaid SNAP due to confusion, fear of losing social security, ask for a forum to pose questions [town hall],
Although they vote with T, they know their constituents depend on the safety net programs and are concerned about data breaches. imo no need to engage voting record, talk about vital concerns. imo ok to mention 1 or 2 strongly, next day explain is a follow up call, etc.
in some instances the whole mo. is thinking they're fooling constituents w. blandishments and slick talk. other instance sincere concern (on the part of staffers).
Flying cross country on a jetliner and contributing tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, contributing to climate change, melting of glaciers, desertification of places where people depend on dry-land farming is only a degree further down the trail of cause and effect. That makes you complicit in the killing of millions. The Walton family must be killers because Walmart sells ammunition in their stores. I stand by my point. I am not condoning a single thing being done by the Orange Emperor or his sycophantic band of miscreants. I'm suggesting that one can take the high ground without debasing the language. Perhaps what's underlying this point of conflict is the definition of the enterprise. Journalism and Activism are two related but non-identical things. I'm arguing to defend the standard of journalism, whereas you are arguing the potency of activism through language; two different things. I'll stand down and accept that activism will use the language to it's greatest potential impact while journalism, on the other hand, attempts to present facts devoid of any form of bias. I'll look elsewhere for journalism.
No insult intended, but you are making my point for me! "Please do better..."
I read another line referring to 28 "A**hole Attorney's general". Really? Who's being ridiculous now? I may just consider voting with my feet, i.e. my paid membership. It appears that the author is too sensitive to withstand critique from the readership. Sad, even pitiful, perhaps. It's possible the blog has morphed into an echo chamber while I was busy reading something else.
When you order the contract killing of someone, like in the Mafia, are you performing actions that will result in the death of someone or are you killing?
Hmmm. I get your point. But if someone pulls the IV out of a Cancer patient and they die; or if you shut down infant an premie ward’s care by firing all of the caregivers and turning off the electricity, they are dying of “natural causes” but you did indeed cause their deaths. You killed them.
This is a distinction without a difference. And more importantly, a distinction without a moral difference, and a distinction without a practical difference.
I agree there are ways and places we shouldn't follow them--lying, disinformation, and suppression come to mind--but when a president and a vice president both openly signal their intention to ignore both Congress and the courts while taking actions only a fraction, if any, of even their own supporters favor (pre-election polling showed that *socialism* was more popular than Project 2025), we have to accept that what we're engaged in at this point is a *war*.
In that light, I actually have more of a problem with some things some are saying that are likely *absolutely* true, eg that it will take decades to undo the damage these people are doing, or worse, that what has been done is irreparable. If you accept we are in a war here, this kind of talk in its raw form would be considered providing aid and comfort to the enemy, by telling both him and our own supporters that he's winning, and we're losing; in fact, for many it will even come across as he's already won and we've already lost, especially in the current environment, when so many on our side are already demoralized (while theirs is fueled by triumphalism).
In wartime, stories about defeat and the scope of defeat are routinely suppressed for this reason (the Post would be on trial for sedition for its damaging drip, drip, drip coverage of the Discord Leaks, for example). You want the message to come across, I think, as "**if we don't do anything to stop them**, the damage will be irreparable and take decades to undo," rather than "the damage *is* irreparable and *will* take decades to fix."
But if we convey such a message directly and transparently, I fear we'll find ourselves on the usual turnout tightrope, walking the tough line between complacency and despair. I think it's better to say it without saying it by focusing on the stories of *people* being hurt *right now*, which is what more people respond more to anyway than more abstract, relatively bloodless projections about the future. Calculations showing we spend smaller percentages of our budget on foreign aid than many other countries are useful, but they always overlook the fact that the American people are by far the most generous in the world per capita in providing *personal* foreign aid, especially in response to emergencies and disasters, which makes sense since the vast majority of us are descended from people who believed the way things were and what was being done wasn't good enough, and were willing to put everything on the line and come here to prove it. That's the spirit of hope and sacrifice that needs to be unleashed, imnsho.
Disagree - we need to stop caveating and weakening our language. It needs to be a strong as possible. Otherwise, we are bringing knives to a gun fight.
Burmese refugee dies after discharge from shut US-funded clinic, says family
By Shoon Naing
February 7, 2025 9:01 AM EST Updated 3 hours ago
- Trump's aid freeze closes US-funded refugee hospitals
- Patient, 71, died after breathing problems at home
- Thai officials, refugees struggle to replace health services
Feb 7 (Reuters) - A Burmese refugee with lung problems died after she was discharged from a U.S.-funded hospital on the Myanmar-Thai border that was ordered to close as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's freeze on foreign aid, her family said.
sometimes what separates truth from fiction is the width of a hair. Language is subtle, nuanced and oh, so powerful. It's like a weapon; one moment it can put food on the table, the next moment it commits a capital crime.
I’m making calls routinely to my blue state sens., rep, and atty gen. Does it help to call Any red state sen? Or speaker johnson or chairman thune if im not from their state?
Just call your reps. But if you have more time start learning about and calling down ballot reps - state senate and state house, mayor and city council, state AG. I hope what happens in our community is that calling our reps, weighing in, becomes something that we all do forever. It is an essential part of our democracy works. Hopium = big citizens!
Called my state Attorney General, state senator, state rep, as well as county commissioners' and township commissioners' offices. As an aside, the states also have (sometimes elected, sometimes appointed), statewide Auditors and Treasurers, not to mention Lt. Governors -- not always on ballot with or even same party as Gov.
Yesterday at my Dem. Congressman's virtual town hall, he told us to call "red" state governors, senators, etc. I was quite surprised. I thought it was an accidental gaffe, but then he repeated it as part of our marching orders. He also said calls, contacts thru their official websites are all supposed to be separated by subject matter and counted. Let them know D's and R's how angry we are.
There are tens of thousands of Democrats in every red state, millions even. We need to be encouraging them to get active, get loud, as I do here. The DNC and other national political orgs have lists of active Dems in the red states. We need to turn them on. Calling from CA into Idaho is silly. Hopium has at least 250 subscribers in every red state. We need all of you to get active. And yes some may hesitate due to fear of retribution. Understand. Just have to do what you can, what you are comfortable with.
I actually suggest that if you have relatives or friends in those states you should contact them, let them know how dire the situation is and ask them to contact their representatives. This can be friends/ relatives in blue states and/ or red states. As I said, I was surprised that the long-term Congressman said what he did, since I am sure he would not like red state constituents calling/contacting him. I think what I am suggesting is the better option.
I’ve already made my calls and sent longer messages on the email contact forms regarding firing the IG’s. I heard about this from someone in my grassroots group really early today. Now I need to absorb the tariffs issue. I also contacted our state Director of Public Health about NIH. Per your instructions my donations are all set up on monthly, recurring. By the end of the day I will have mailed 200 postcards to voters for Judge Crawford. Kamala Harris is sending emails encouraging us to donate directly to the DNC. My son, who worked for a Democrat in the Senate, and I are drafting a letter to Ken Martin with suggestions. I watched his interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, thanks to @ArcticStones, twice. My Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, goes on national news regularly. I will find the most recent link asap. Grateful for this community 💙
Could you repost and/ or link to Ken's interview w BTC? Also, maybe having a place to "land" and find these types of resources quickly would be useful to others, I know it would be to me. Wonder how that could be set up on Substack.
In addition to Simon’s 4 actions to fight back, may I suggest a 5th: “Good trouble” - Elected Democrat officials should rip a page out from John Lewis and organize and engage in acts of civil disobedience.
In less than the last five minutes I’ve called both of my senators, both Senator Warnock and Senator Ossoff, and given them the information suggested above. They answered right away, so perhaps now is a good time for anyone to give his senators a call.
Sen. Cornyn’s voicemail is full. It’s been this way since last week.
After a well publicized protest march to the San Antonio office of Sen. Cornyn, our Bexar County Party is organizing a protest at Rep. Chip Roy’s office this week.
I believe there will be many more of these protests in the future!
In person protests and rallies need to be organized by experienced people. Encourage your local parties to start taking responsibility for these events to help protect folks, and make it less likely bad things happen.
We had police protection for the San Antonio march to Cornyn's office. They stayed with us the entire time and escorted us as we walked to and from a nearby park.
Chip Roy is very concerned about the national debt and budget deficits. Although he is an extremist, Roy may be vulnerable to arguments that Musk & Trump are making government *less efficient* by removing people whose job it is to point out waste, fraud, etc. Such as all the Inspector Generals that were fired!
Also, by neutering the CFPB, Vought and Musk are removing financial protections from ordinary people. Read: Chip Roy’s voters.
Even Republicans can be moved in surprising ways. If I recall correctly, Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley (!!) are proposing legislation to cap credit card rates at 10 percent.
Friends, as you prep for today realize Congressional offices track volume closely. If they get less calls today than Friday they will note that, and believe things are settling down. it is why you must call everyday.
Calling representatives and AG, donated big amount to DNC, attending rallies in front of the Seattle federal building and visited senators local offices, making calls for Wisconsin. The fight of our lives.
Simon, it might be very interesting to bring somebody to speak about what might be the role of the army when confronted with a scenario that triggers a conflict between maintaining their loyalty to the constitution and their obligation to follow orders from their civilian superiors.
Forgot to say: Donated to the organizations filing suits against Musk’s and Trump’s actions!
Personally, I think we should be collectively creating a Google Doc that comprehensively and compellingly lays out all the evidence that this guy not only disrespects the military, but has taken numerous actions harmful/detrimental to those who serve, then do whatever we can (person to person, via stickers w/QR codes linking to the doc, etc) to get this catalog in front of everyone who is on active duty or a vet. It's long past time to seriously Swift Boat this mfer. That Atlantic article covered only a fraction of his sins (the more comprehensive, the more authentic, esp if it comes from someone one knows and trusts--only CEOs find one pagers believable any more), and I'd be willing to bet fewer than 1% of Americans ever saw it, let alone read it, and it wasn't formatted or written for this audience, nor did it come close to leveraging new media's capacity to powerfully convey a message.
If we've learned anything from 2024, it's that people are grossly mis, dis, and uninformed about pretty much everything, and we can't count on the media to change that, not only because they're conflicted but because it's an educational process and that's not how media rolls--media rolls the way Trump rolls, everything new every day. We're all already doing so much, but I feel the time to start putting something like this together and get it out there is now, b/c if Trump, Musk, and Vance are serious about defying the courts, this situation could escalate to the moment of truth faster than any of us have been thinking.
Dems need to offer alternatives and a slogan to go with them. “Enough gimmicks, Fix Immigration NOW!” Put forward the failed compromise bill with a pathway to citizenship added In and a definition of “under the jurisdiction thereof”. Maintain the protection of citizenship for those born here when no other option was made available but eliminating the loophole, even if uncommon, of demanding the whole family be allowed to stay because you gave birth to a child while here through illegal means.
Senator Kim is all in on the fight to save USAID -- we are not taking this opening punch on the chin -- as someone who worked there as a new college grad, he has firsthand knowledge of the agency's work and importance.
Rep Jimmy Panetta (CA-19 and son of Leon) is also having a town hall this evening at 5:30 pst. Apparently Leader Jeffries encouraged the entire caucus to do this so check with your rep everywhere, because it's likely to be happening. "Sign up to receive a call and participate in the discussion at: panetta.house.gov/live"
I’m trying to get my MA town selectboard to issue a resolution condemning the actions by trump musk. If you know of any other towns anywhere doing this, can you let me know where and who to contact if I need to?
We got your recommendations and are planning on making these calls! We made some yesterday but today, we will call the Attorney General's office. Thanks
yes, thanks
Are there discussions about what happens when Trump ignores court orders? I saw something from Connolly but I haven't looked yet. It seems more clear that Trump is going to ignore both Congress and the Courts.
I think this is the bright line that calls for a massive response. I don't know what that would look like but it feels like it is coming.
When it happens - and it will - we will engage. But it hasn't happened yet and we have work to do today.
Who should people in DC best be calling?
That's a good question. I think you should call the Mayor and City Council person and ask them to be fighting for the tens of thousands of district residents who work in the federal govt. being terrorized by Trump and Musk. Can they join existing law suits, or be part of others to come?
Eleanor Holmes Norton is the Congresswoman for DC. Although she has no vote, she is a good voice in the House of Representatives.
To repeat; there's a difference between "actions that will result in the death of" and "killing". While it may not be convenient to spell out those words, words matter and substituting "killing" is a distortion of the facts, something that should be avoided strenuously. It's the kind of tactic that creates tabloid journalism and "alternate facts". COVID killed; the Orange one simply made a fool out of himself over it and potentially mislead many people too foolish to think for themselves. Likewise, Musk is creating mayhem, but it's poverty, infectious disease, illicit drugs and other factors that are doing the actual killing. Please don't fall for the fatal journalistic tendency to hyperbole. That will most certainly kill the message!
Do not agree with this at all. Turning off food to starving people is killing them. Turning off medicine to people who need it to live is killing them, on purpose, maliciously.
I spoke to a leading counter terrorism official in our govt this weekend who said that the anger towards the US because of the deaths and disruption to come is a huge counter terrorism problem for us, and will leave us far less safe. There is simply no reason to soften the language around what is happening here.
Using blunt language and not rhetorically obeying in advance is/are some of the most powerful tools we have right now.
since when is accuracy rhetorical?
I totally agree with the issue of counter terrorism. I've been thinking about this issue for days. I remember September 11 so well. It could easily happen here with the horrible people trump wants in key judicial and national intelligence positions.
Totally agree. Common sense and what has happened before dictates we are fanning flames of anger and retaliation here. I tell that to my Rep when I call
Scanning the comments for advice on what to tell| ask for action on, when calling a R Congressman, who is in Trump’s pocket. I call every day. I usually discuss an issue that I’ve written a letter to the editor on. For example, my last letter about tariffs with Canada, based on the absurd idea of lowering their fentanyl across the boarder. It is 0.2% of the fentanyl coming into the country. So how did this border bullying help with that?
Any ideas on what the best approach is with R Congressman in making the daily calls? I do use the five calls app for suggestions. I always want to tell the person answering what I want the Congressman to do. So it’s not just a complaint, it’s an action. Thanks.
I think that's all you can do-- give them action steps and make it personal if you can.
I just called the new Republican representative for my US House district and was surprised by the emotion in my voice (I did remain respectful). Rather than blame him or Trump, I decided to focus on Musk (make him the bad guy) b/c I genuinely feel like HE is the most pressing issue we need to focus on now (most other issues come from his illegal power grab). The female staffer was, surprisingly, empathetic in her response to me.
I think more fentanyl comes from Mexico through underground tunnels. Tomorrow I’ll comment on research I’m doing on tariffs because Simon likes us to document our sources.
data security, impact of tariffs on agriculture [as Simon mentions] freezing of Medicaid SNAP due to confusion, fear of losing social security, ask for a forum to pose questions [town hall],
Although they vote with T, they know their constituents depend on the safety net programs and are concerned about data breaches. imo no need to engage voting record, talk about vital concerns. imo ok to mention 1 or 2 strongly, next day explain is a follow up call, etc.
in some instances the whole mo. is thinking they're fooling constituents w. blandishments and slick talk. other instance sincere concern (on the part of staffers).
I didn't say anything about softening; in contrast, I was referring to precision and accuracy.
Flying cross country on a jetliner and contributing tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, contributing to climate change, melting of glaciers, desertification of places where people depend on dry-land farming is only a degree further down the trail of cause and effect. That makes you complicit in the killing of millions. The Walton family must be killers because Walmart sells ammunition in their stores. I stand by my point. I am not condoning a single thing being done by the Orange Emperor or his sycophantic band of miscreants. I'm suggesting that one can take the high ground without debasing the language. Perhaps what's underlying this point of conflict is the definition of the enterprise. Journalism and Activism are two related but non-identical things. I'm arguing to defend the standard of journalism, whereas you are arguing the potency of activism through language; two different things. I'll stand down and accept that activism will use the language to it's greatest potential impact while journalism, on the other hand, attempts to present facts devoid of any form of bias. I'll look elsewhere for journalism.
This is a ridiculous comment. You are insulting us now. Please do better.
No insult intended, but you are making my point for me! "Please do better..."
I read another line referring to 28 "A**hole Attorney's general". Really? Who's being ridiculous now? I may just consider voting with my feet, i.e. my paid membership. It appears that the author is too sensitive to withstand critique from the readership. Sad, even pitiful, perhaps. It's possible the blog has morphed into an echo chamber while I was busy reading something else.
When you order the contract killing of someone, like in the Mafia, are you performing actions that will result in the death of someone or are you killing?
Hmmm. I get your point. But if someone pulls the IV out of a Cancer patient and they die; or if you shut down infant an premie ward’s care by firing all of the caregivers and turning off the electricity, they are dying of “natural causes” but you did indeed cause their deaths. You killed them.
Well, I guess defenestration also leads to "death of natural causes": In other words, "high velocity impact with the asphalt below the window".
It’s not being thrown from a window that kills you, it’s the "abrupt deceleration".
This is a distinction without a difference. And more importantly, a distinction without a moral difference, and a distinction without a practical difference.
Also it's just silly.
more like, "when they go low, we follow them"
I agree there are ways and places we shouldn't follow them--lying, disinformation, and suppression come to mind--but when a president and a vice president both openly signal their intention to ignore both Congress and the courts while taking actions only a fraction, if any, of even their own supporters favor (pre-election polling showed that *socialism* was more popular than Project 2025), we have to accept that what we're engaged in at this point is a *war*.
In that light, I actually have more of a problem with some things some are saying that are likely *absolutely* true, eg that it will take decades to undo the damage these people are doing, or worse, that what has been done is irreparable. If you accept we are in a war here, this kind of talk in its raw form would be considered providing aid and comfort to the enemy, by telling both him and our own supporters that he's winning, and we're losing; in fact, for many it will even come across as he's already won and we've already lost, especially in the current environment, when so many on our side are already demoralized (while theirs is fueled by triumphalism).
In wartime, stories about defeat and the scope of defeat are routinely suppressed for this reason (the Post would be on trial for sedition for its damaging drip, drip, drip coverage of the Discord Leaks, for example). You want the message to come across, I think, as "**if we don't do anything to stop them**, the damage will be irreparable and take decades to undo," rather than "the damage *is* irreparable and *will* take decades to fix."
But if we convey such a message directly and transparently, I fear we'll find ourselves on the usual turnout tightrope, walking the tough line between complacency and despair. I think it's better to say it without saying it by focusing on the stories of *people* being hurt *right now*, which is what more people respond more to anyway than more abstract, relatively bloodless projections about the future. Calculations showing we spend smaller percentages of our budget on foreign aid than many other countries are useful, but they always overlook the fact that the American people are by far the most generous in the world per capita in providing *personal* foreign aid, especially in response to emergencies and disasters, which makes sense since the vast majority of us are descended from people who believed the way things were and what was being done wasn't good enough, and were willing to put everything on the line and come here to prove it. That's the spirit of hope and sacrifice that needs to be unleashed, imnsho.
Disagree - we need to stop caveating and weakening our language. It needs to be a strong as possible. Otherwise, we are bringing knives to a gun fight.
not a matter of strength or weakness; but accuracy. Hyperbole weakens, just as does obfuscation.
Burmese refugee dies after discharge from shut US-funded clinic, says family
By Shoon Naing
February 7, 2025 9:01 AM EST Updated 3 hours ago
- Trump's aid freeze closes US-funded refugee hospitals
- Patient, 71, died after breathing problems at home
- Thai officials, refugees struggle to replace health services
Feb 7 (Reuters) - A Burmese refugee with lung problems died after she was discharged from a U.S.-funded hospital on the Myanmar-Thai border that was ordered to close as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's freeze on foreign aid, her family said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/burmese-refugee-dies-after-discharge-shut-us-funded-clinic-says-family-2025-02-07/
This is hairsplitting, Just Sayin.’
sometimes what separates truth from fiction is the width of a hair. Language is subtle, nuanced and oh, so powerful. It's like a weapon; one moment it can put food on the table, the next moment it commits a capital crime.
Judge to Trump-terminated ethics watchdog: You’re un-fired
Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger won an order allowing him to remain in his job for now.
By JOSH GERSTEIN
02/10/2025 09:51 PM EST
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/10/judge-trump-ethics-watchdog-unfired-00203503
First lawsuit targets Trump’s foreign aid freeze
The groups said the freeze violates Congress’ wishes and is endangering lives in developing countries.
By CARMEN PAUN
02/10/2025 08:57 PM EST
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/10/nonprofits-sue-trump-foreign-aid-00203493
Unions sue to stop DOGE from accessing federal data
The legal complaint marks yet another challenge to the sweeping access and authority granted to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
By JUAN PEREZ JR.
02/10/2025 08:32 PM EST
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/10/unions-doge-musk-lawsuit-federal-data-00203489
I’m making calls routinely to my blue state sens., rep, and atty gen. Does it help to call Any red state sen? Or speaker johnson or chairman thune if im not from their state?
Just call your reps. But if you have more time start learning about and calling down ballot reps - state senate and state house, mayor and city council, state AG. I hope what happens in our community is that calling our reps, weighing in, becomes something that we all do forever. It is an essential part of our democracy works. Hopium = big citizens!
Called my state Attorney General, state senator, state rep, as well as county commissioners' and township commissioners' offices. As an aside, the states also have (sometimes elected, sometimes appointed), statewide Auditors and Treasurers, not to mention Lt. Governors -- not always on ballot with or even same party as Gov.
Yesterday at my Dem. Congressman's virtual town hall, he told us to call "red" state governors, senators, etc. I was quite surprised. I thought it was an accidental gaffe, but then he repeated it as part of our marching orders. He also said calls, contacts thru their official websites are all supposed to be separated by subject matter and counted. Let them know D's and R's how angry we are.
I don't think this is smart or right.
There are tens of thousands of Democrats in every red state, millions even. We need to be encouraging them to get active, get loud, as I do here. The DNC and other national political orgs have lists of active Dems in the red states. We need to turn them on. Calling from CA into Idaho is silly. Hopium has at least 250 subscribers in every red state. We need all of you to get active. And yes some may hesitate due to fear of retribution. Understand. Just have to do what you can, what you are comfortable with.
As you were posting this, I was posting what I think might help, I really was surprised at what my Congressman said.
I actually suggest that if you have relatives or friends in those states you should contact them, let them know how dire the situation is and ask them to contact their representatives. This can be friends/ relatives in blue states and/ or red states. As I said, I was surprised that the long-term Congressman said what he did, since I am sure he would not like red state constituents calling/contacting him. I think what I am suggesting is the better option.
Called AG and reps this AM. Recommended criminal charges with a pounding heart. So angry.
I’ve already made my calls and sent longer messages on the email contact forms regarding firing the IG’s. I heard about this from someone in my grassroots group really early today. Now I need to absorb the tariffs issue. I also contacted our state Director of Public Health about NIH. Per your instructions my donations are all set up on monthly, recurring. By the end of the day I will have mailed 200 postcards to voters for Judge Crawford. Kamala Harris is sending emails encouraging us to donate directly to the DNC. My son, who worked for a Democrat in the Senate, and I are drafting a letter to Ken Martin with suggestions. I watched his interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, thanks to @ArcticStones, twice. My Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, goes on national news regularly. I will find the most recent link asap. Grateful for this community 💙
Amazing Linda. Thank you.
Could you repost and/ or link to Ken's interview w BTC? Also, maybe having a place to "land" and find these types of resources quickly would be useful to others, I know it would be to me. Wonder how that could be set up on Substack.
Here is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwBqk8aKB18
I reposted it above. Go to "Newest First".
I live a block south of Evanston and would love to join your group, Linda!
There is an Indivisible Evanston group in South Evanston. I’m two blocks from Wilmette. The South Evanston group is real active.
Thanks!!
Wow. You rock!
In addition to Simon’s 4 actions to fight back, may I suggest a 5th: “Good trouble” - Elected Democrat officials should rip a page out from John Lewis and organize and engage in acts of civil disobedience.
In less than the last five minutes I’ve called both of my senators, both Senator Warnock and Senator Ossoff, and given them the information suggested above. They answered right away, so perhaps now is a good time for anyone to give his senators a call.
Sen. Cornyn’s voicemail is full. It’s been this way since last week.
After a well publicized protest march to the San Antonio office of Sen. Cornyn, our Bexar County Party is organizing a protest at Rep. Chip Roy’s office this week.
I believe there will be many more of these protests in the future!
It is important our local Dem parties start organizing these actions. This is great to hear.
In person protests and rallies need to be organized by experienced people. Encourage your local parties to start taking responsibility for these events to help protect folks, and make it less likely bad things happen.
We had police protection for the San Antonio march to Cornyn's office. They stayed with us the entire time and escorted us as we walked to and from a nearby park.
It felt good to know they were there.
💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻🙌🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸!!!!
Chip Roy is very concerned about the national debt and budget deficits. Although he is an extremist, Roy may be vulnerable to arguments that Musk & Trump are making government *less efficient* by removing people whose job it is to point out waste, fraud, etc. Such as all the Inspector Generals that were fired!
Also, by neutering the CFPB, Vought and Musk are removing financial protections from ordinary people. Read: Chip Roy’s voters.
Even Republicans can be moved in surprising ways. If I recall correctly, Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley (!!) are proposing legislation to cap credit card rates at 10 percent.
Friends, as you prep for today realize Congressional offices track volume closely. If they get less calls today than Friday they will note that, and believe things are settling down. it is why you must call everyday.
Calling representatives and AG, donated big amount to DNC, attending rallies in front of the Seattle federal building and visited senators local offices, making calls for Wisconsin. The fight of our lives.
thank you Amalia!
Thank you for leading us!
Simon, it might be very interesting to bring somebody to speak about what might be the role of the army when confronted with a scenario that triggers a conflict between maintaining their loyalty to the constitution and their obligation to follow orders from their civilian superiors.
Forgot to say: Donated to the organizations filing suits against Musk’s and Trump’s actions!
Personally, I think we should be collectively creating a Google Doc that comprehensively and compellingly lays out all the evidence that this guy not only disrespects the military, but has taken numerous actions harmful/detrimental to those who serve, then do whatever we can (person to person, via stickers w/QR codes linking to the doc, etc) to get this catalog in front of everyone who is on active duty or a vet. It's long past time to seriously Swift Boat this mfer. That Atlantic article covered only a fraction of his sins (the more comprehensive, the more authentic, esp if it comes from someone one knows and trusts--only CEOs find one pagers believable any more), and I'd be willing to bet fewer than 1% of Americans ever saw it, let alone read it, and it wasn't formatted or written for this audience, nor did it come close to leveraging new media's capacity to powerfully convey a message.
If we've learned anything from 2024, it's that people are grossly mis, dis, and uninformed about pretty much everything, and we can't count on the media to change that, not only because they're conflicted but because it's an educational process and that's not how media rolls--media rolls the way Trump rolls, everything new every day. We're all already doing so much, but I feel the time to start putting something like this together and get it out there is now, b/c if Trump, Musk, and Vance are serious about defying the courts, this situation could escalate to the moment of truth faster than any of us have been thinking.
Thank you Amalia!🙏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Dems need to offer alternatives and a slogan to go with them. “Enough gimmicks, Fix Immigration NOW!” Put forward the failed compromise bill with a pathway to citizenship added In and a definition of “under the jurisdiction thereof”. Maintain the protection of citizenship for those born here when no other option was made available but eliminating the loophole, even if uncommon, of demanding the whole family be allowed to stay because you gave birth to a child while here through illegal means.
"This one is going to hurt. Let it hurt and get better because of it." Travis Kelce. Feb 9, 2025 Good advice. Let's get better, because it sure hurts.
Quick note for New Jersey Hopiates -- Senator Andy Kim has a town hall this evening from 6:30 to 7:30. Join the livestream from his website. https://www.kim.senate.gov/february-2025-town-hall/
Senator Kim is all in on the fight to save USAID -- we are not taking this opening punch on the chin -- as someone who worked there as a new college grad, he has firsthand knowledge of the agency's work and importance.
Yes, please share events like this with the community. Hope that will become a common, daily part of what we do here together.
Rep Jimmy Panetta (CA-19 and son of Leon) is also having a town hall this evening at 5:30 pst. Apparently Leader Jeffries encouraged the entire caucus to do this so check with your rep everywhere, because it's likely to be happening. "Sign up to receive a call and participate in the discussion at: panetta.house.gov/live"
I’m trying to get my MA town selectboard to issue a resolution condemning the actions by trump musk. If you know of any other towns anywhere doing this, can you let me know where and who to contact if I need to?
This is good. Let us know how it goes. Every community is being impacted by their illegal crime spree.
I've already called one of my state senators (Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa) twice. Does that help?
Yes! Every call matters! We are helping teach them what is expected of them now!