I think Pritzker's win in Illinois is really amazing. He stood up to Trump and Trump tacoed. Standing up to this bully is almost always better than yielding to him.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to ask them to do even more to get rid of RFK. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
A sign of their desperation: an ad for ICE ran on ESPN during the Pat McAfee show saying how Chicago was allowing criminals to run free and that law enforcement should join ICE instead. I mean who is going to give up the security of a pension to join a domestic terrorist organization that will make you virtually unemployable in about 3 years?
It seems that certain conservative pastors in Red States have another type of TALK in mind with their children than that of Black parents in America - relative to safety. Here is a hint: for them, all men are not created equal. Here is a fantastic segment by the women of the“I’ve Had It”Substack (so, racism is very real in the MAGA base): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEFdY_jEG8U .
“Trumpism is a white power movement.”
- Stuart Stevens as told to the Wajahat Ali on “The Left-Hook” podcast.
So when you hear Dolos (or the ghost of Republican operative, Lee Atwater) talk about “crime”, just replace the word with Black to understand the true meaning of their intent. The “Southern Strategy” is a perennial of American conservative politics. Also, always remember that Dolos and Rupert more than likely had the pastor’s version of the TALK with their respective fathers. Please see below.
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.
ON REPEAT - IN THE MEMORY OF THE SPECIFIC BIAS HELD BY SOME OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS:
DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS: PLEASE GO ON CONSERVATIVE MEDIA AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!! There should be no safe traditional (skip 8kun/8chan) communication spaces for the other side. You have Epstein (emotional salience) and the economy (invite them to pay tariffs or go grocery shopping) on your side.
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," [LBJ] said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
- Lyndon Baines Johnson, #36
Folks:
One patriarch was an advocate of the “White Australia” movement, and the other was tagged by the Nixon Administration for blatant housing discrimination (Mr. Guthrie lived at Beach Haven) and was arrested and arraigned (but eventually let go) as a twenty-something with five or six others (the individuals not named Trump would later be identified as card-carrying members) at a Queen’s Klan Rally in the 1920s. I would be curious about the thoughts of others in the community about father-son influences.
Are we dealing with the sins of the fathers? Do fathers have an influence on their sons, especially when the sons inherit the family business? I will provide two “citations” below:
“Racial purity is the sacred object, far more sacred to the new generation of Australians than any other worldly tie. Certainly to-day it has become more sacred than the tie with Britain. Can you doubt that it should be so, you who are a great family people and have seen in so many parts of the world the horrors of merging a coloured race with white?”
- Keith Murdoch [Murdoch (1921, as cited in Roberts, T. D. C. (2015). Before Rupert, Keith Murdoch and The Birth of A Dynasty. University of Queensland Press.]
Old Man Trump
Words by Woody Guthrie Adapted by Ryan Harvey, Music by Ryan Harvey
I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts When he drawed that color line Here at his Beach Haven family project Beach Haven ain't my home! No, I just can't pay this rent! My money's down the drain, And my soul is badly bent! Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower Where no black folks come to roam, No, no, Old Man Trump! Old Beach Haven ain't my home! I'm calling out my welcome to you and your man both Welcoming you here to Beach Haven To love in any way you please and to have some kind of a decent place To have your kids raised up in. Beach Haven ain't my home! No, I just can't pay this rent! My money's down the drain, And my soul is badly bent! Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower Where no black folks come to roam, No, no, Old Man Trump! Old Beach Haven ain't my home!
In the earlier part of the last century, the National Socialists committed historical atrocities and pushed the planet into a World War that only ended with the emergence of the Atomic Age. If I remember correctly, they were pushing a “Master Race” concept (along with “Racial Purity”); it was their stated “why”. So, what is the “why” of Dolos and his followers? Is it something similar? There is always a reason.
The term “White Australia” is self-explanatory, and the original KKK was created to prevent newly enfranchised Black Men (sorry to all the sisters of all races) from actually voting by murdering them and using other forms of intimidation: https://www.history.com/articles/ku-klux-klan . Thus, in 2008, the election of the first Black President was a warning shot that a certain group could not ignore: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-draper-anti-obama-campaign_n_1452899 . Does anyone remember what conspiracy theory made Dolos politically relevant?
It is 2025. This country is about to transition demographically. So, some are taking action to try to deport millions prior to the next Census, and others have an urgent need to degrade the “Reconstruction Amendments” (i.e. 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments). Ms. Reid may have some answers.
Why is birthright citizenship now a question? Why are voting protections being diminished? I’m asking for a friend because racism can be a “helluva” drug!
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST (via nonviolence).
P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
Today's response from Senator Heinrich re. my immigration concerns...
September 15, 2025
Dear Dr. Potter,
When it's working properly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) helps arrest, detain, and deport individuals within the United States who commit violent crimes, pose a real threat to our national security, and are here unlawfully. Instead, the Trump administration is using ICE to sow fear in our communities and trample constitutional safeguards. This misuse of the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) makes us less safe, not more.
Masked, unidentified federal law enforcement officials arresting both immigrants and citizens, often without warrants or any probable cause, are deeply alarming for many reasons, including the use of racial profiling. Going to church, the hospital, or a grocery store should not require carrying proof of citizenship, but for many, it may now. That is wrong and un-American.
Let me be clear: I oppose the Trump administration using masked, unidentified federal officers to sweep up individuals indiscriminately, without due process, and often based solely on their ethnicity, endangering the rights of citizens, legal permanent residents, and undocumented immigrants alike. That is why I opposed the recent decision by the Supreme Court's radical majority effectively allowing racial profiling by ICE and Border Patrol in Los Angeles. And it is why I was proud to cosponsor S. 2212, the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act. Introduced by Senators Alex Padilla (CA) and Cory Booker (NJ), the VISIBLE Act would require immigration enforcement officers, including DHS personnel, other federal agents detailed to immigration officers, and deputized state or local officers, to display their faces and clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. It makes limited exceptions for the use of masks when it is necessary to ensure officer safety or when they are conducting covert operations or non-public actions, and it directs DHS to establish disciplinary procedures to handle violations of these new requirements. The VISIBLE Act is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
I believe ICE should focus its limited resources on apprehending and deporting violent criminals, not the detention of citizens, immigrants with documented status, and undocumented immigrants without criminal records. And I share New Mexicans' well-founded concerns about the lack of due process afforded to those arrested and detained by DHS, as well as the health and safety of those individuals while in ICE’s custody. To that end, I have long demanded the humane treatment of those detained by ICE.
While everyone can agree that work must be done to fix our immigration system, the Trump administration’s brazen disregard for the rights of both noncitizens and citizens is not the answer. I will continue to work with both sides of the aisle to keep our border communities safe, protect our national security, and create a fair immigration system for all.
Finally, thank you for reaching out to me. Your experiences, ideas, thoughts, and concerns inform my work and decisions. I hope you will keep writing me about this and other issues that are important to you.
For more information and additional details about legislation, please visit my website, Heinrich.Senate.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter (@SenatorHeinrich) and join me on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenatorHeinrich.
Thanks for posting these stories, Simon. I certainly don't want any hardworking person to endure economic hardship like that, especially those who feed the country and the world. Even though they're getting exactly what they voted for, it's sad to read, and I hope we can fix this mess for them and the rest of us.
Thanks to everyone for their hard work. 8 months in, we'll get there.
I finished 50 postcards to the PA SC election. Waiting for another box of cards to keep going. I also signed up next week for a local Indivisible meeting.
It is sad about the farmers, but it will always mystify me why they were unable to see this coming. It happened in the first term as well. Maybe worse now, I'm not exactly sure. When those markets disappear I'm not sure what bailouts will do. I suppose they can turn to laundering Russian money or launching their own meme coins. That seems to work for some people.
Self reporting from Berkeley: In addition to other smallish actions, like the silk-screened patch attached to the back of the vest I wear daily:”NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL. KEEP FIGHTING,” and ending calls to Customer Service, with “If you’re eligible, remember to register to vote AND vote Democrat,” a friend initiated a call to draft a resolution to our Alameda County Supervisors to honor veterans this Veterans Day, November. Now, three of us, all seniors, have finalized a 1+ page draft that highlights the patriotic military service and sacrifices of immigrants and more. We’re exploring the path to advance the resolution for ultimate approval by the Board and then to the county’s cities. This morning, I emailed the sups@johnsoncountyiowa.gov, Subject: THANK YOU Jon Green. Green is the Council Chair who defied Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ order to lower the flag to half-staff to honor Charlie Kirk; Green refused. There’s local media coverage.
That's wonderful, Bobbie S, that you are exploring a resolution that includes praise for the patriotic military service and sacrifices of immigrants. Please let us know you progress with introduction by the County Board of Supervisors and in Berkeley and other cities within Alameda County (CA). I just mentioned your plans in the resolutions chat. https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/hopium-resolutions-project-discussion/comments
Agree - Democrats should exploit Trump’s (utterly predictable) betrayal of rural voters EVERYWHERE. And in doing so, accept that what plays in rural PA might not play on the Upper West Side of NYC or Vermont. We are the big tent party organized around some non-negotiable principles, e.g. social security, Medicare, Medicaid, equal opportunity and commitment to the rule of law.
Glad Hochul publicly endorsed Mamdani. Her piece in NYT was very good.
It always feels good to complete the 5 calls! Of particular note today, was to oppose confirmation of Stephen Miran for Fed Reserve (Supposedly Senate vote today so if you haven't checked in yet....); protecting our rights to use our passports freely in and out of the country - by opposing Rep. Mast's provision to give power to State Dept. to revoke based on vague support of bad actor groups; and finally, requesting support to release Epstien files, framing this request that I know my Rep. believes in rights, as do I, and that it would be the right thing to do in light of Charlie Kirk's desire for the release as well - free speech and transparency. Also donated to Mikie Sherrill, Abigail Spanberger (I am a proud, plucky Virginian) and local delegate candidates. Postcarding and canvassing!!!! So happy to be part of this Hopium community.
My weekly congresspersons calls script that anyone can riff off of. This one is important b/c HR 5300 goes to a hearing this week. We can’t expect SCOTUS to strike down the unconstitutional provision given that they just gutted the 4th Amendment for Latinos in the last couple of weeks.
1. Don’t be afraid to shut down the gov’t. DON’T capitulate to bail out the GOP w/o extracting meaningful concessions. Schumer & Jeffries need to show some spine & leadership b/c their failure to do so up to this point has demoralized the Dem voter base which will make it harder to win the midterms.
2. HR 5300, Sec. 226 would give Secretary Rubio unilateral authority to revoke passports of US citizens in violation of the 1st Amendment. It replicates the section of the INA that they used to have Mahmoud Khalil & the other pro-Gaza campus protestors arrested for their political speech. This bill MUST NOT PASS w/ this section intact, & when Dems are back in power the INA must be amended to protect the free speech rights of visa-holders.
Still working hard to get Prop 50 over the finish line here in CA. Collaborated with a fellow activist and wrote talking points for Prop 50 to share with our Commit To Democracy group as we talk to friends, family and anyone who will listen!
Good news on the vaccine front here in AZ. Last week Governor Hobbs signed an executive order for the COVID vaccine to be available to all those who want it without a prescription. She joined other governors signing executive orders. I had previously sent her office an email decrying the lack of availability. As a senior, on Medicare and a licensed health care professional I let her know that RFK JR 's vaccine disinformation was a danger to the health of the public.
The D response to Trump's highly exaggerated "crime crisis" can be found in polling among Gen Z voters, particularly males, as reported by John Della Volpe. This group wants a greater sense of security--both personal and financial--as so many voters do. But the way they expressed it to Della Volpe is crucial: "There is no security without democracy." All our D governors and mayors, who are under such threat of having National Guard or Marine troops on their streets, should be saying exactly this. Security and democracy are inextricably tied together.
Simon, thank you for coming to the Twin Cities, and thank you for scheduling it so we can be home in time to watch the Lynx playoff game afterwards.
I wrote my senators asking them to do everything they could to ensure that ICE funding doesn’t go through, and will call Ilhan Omar as well just so she can say her constituents want this. Trying to enjoy a new week before whatever chaos strikes us next.
After a hiatus due to family commitments, I got into gear. I wrote a script based on Simon's points and called Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and Congressman Garamendi this morning. I also signed up to text for passage of Proposition 50 and signed up to canvas with a local community group for the Proposition. I picked up 4 yard signs this weekend - everyone in my family is displaying. The group bought 300 yard signs and they were gone within 48 hours! The fight is on!
Self report: Contacted my MI rep and senators with the following:
I am old enough to remember the 1960s. The political violence then, and now, was so destructive. Please do not allow the destruction of what this country has stood for, has evolved toward. Specifically:
- Act in every way to roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are destroying farmers, re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
- Block the expansion of ICE, restore due process, and end the use of the military on our streets against citizens and the occupations of our cities
- Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; demand the removal of extremist Robert Kennedy from HHS position
- Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia and China
Reclaim the American experiment that the Founders envisioned. This nation's work is not done.
Judge J. Michael Luttig has written a powerful condemnation of Trump’s unconstitutional acts for "...Constitution Day, September 17, 2025, “We the People” declare these twenty-six grievances against the forty-seventh President of the United States, as the American Colonists declared their twenty-six grievances against King George III on Independence Day, July 4, 1776..." on Telos News. (Link to follow.)
Thanks, Simon!
I think Pritzker's win in Illinois is really amazing. He stood up to Trump and Trump tacoed. Standing up to this bully is almost always better than yielding to him.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to ask them to do even more to get rid of RFK. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
A sign of their desperation: an ad for ICE ran on ESPN during the Pat McAfee show saying how Chicago was allowing criminals to run free and that law enforcement should join ICE instead. I mean who is going to give up the security of a pension to join a domestic terrorist organization that will make you virtually unemployable in about 3 years?
It seems that certain conservative pastors in Red States have another type of TALK in mind with their children than that of Black parents in America - relative to safety. Here is a hint: for them, all men are not created equal. Here is a fantastic segment by the women of the“I’ve Had It”Substack (so, racism is very real in the MAGA base): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEFdY_jEG8U .
“Trumpism is a white power movement.”
- Stuart Stevens as told to the Wajahat Ali on “The Left-Hook” podcast.
So when you hear Dolos (or the ghost of Republican operative, Lee Atwater) talk about “crime”, just replace the word with Black to understand the true meaning of their intent. The “Southern Strategy” is a perennial of American conservative politics. Also, always remember that Dolos and Rupert more than likely had the pastor’s version of the TALK with their respective fathers. Please see below.
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.
ON REPEAT - IN THE MEMORY OF THE SPECIFIC BIAS HELD BY SOME OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS:
DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS: PLEASE GO ON CONSERVATIVE MEDIA AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!! There should be no safe traditional (skip 8kun/8chan) communication spaces for the other side. You have Epstein (emotional salience) and the economy (invite them to pay tariffs or go grocery shopping) on your side.
If you have a moment, take a look at the amazing HCR’s thoughtful take on our present moment (yes, race and class): https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-20-2025 . Also, LBJ’s observation has proven to be prescient (please review Charles Blow's piece, formerly of the NYTimes): https://www.wral.com/story/-the-lowest-white-man-/17250344/. Again, here is his 1960s quote to his then-Press Secretary Bill Moyers:
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," [LBJ] said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
- Lyndon Baines Johnson, #36
Folks:
One patriarch was an advocate of the “White Australia” movement, and the other was tagged by the Nixon Administration for blatant housing discrimination (Mr. Guthrie lived at Beach Haven) and was arrested and arraigned (but eventually let go) as a twenty-something with five or six others (the individuals not named Trump would later be identified as card-carrying members) at a Queen’s Klan Rally in the 1920s. I would be curious about the thoughts of others in the community about father-son influences.
Are we dealing with the sins of the fathers? Do fathers have an influence on their sons, especially when the sons inherit the family business? I will provide two “citations” below:
“Racial purity is the sacred object, far more sacred to the new generation of Australians than any other worldly tie. Certainly to-day it has become more sacred than the tie with Britain. Can you doubt that it should be so, you who are a great family people and have seen in so many parts of the world the horrors of merging a coloured race with white?”
- Keith Murdoch [Murdoch (1921, as cited in Roberts, T. D. C. (2015). Before Rupert, Keith Murdoch and The Birth of A Dynasty. University of Queensland Press.]
Old Man Trump
Words by Woody Guthrie Adapted by Ryan Harvey, Music by Ryan Harvey
Contact Publisher - Woody Guthrie Publications/BMG Chrysalis
I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts When he drawed that color line Here at his Beach Haven family project Beach Haven ain't my home! No, I just can't pay this rent! My money's down the drain, And my soul is badly bent! Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower Where no black folks come to roam, No, no, Old Man Trump! Old Beach Haven ain't my home! I'm calling out my welcome to you and your man both Welcoming you here to Beach Haven To love in any way you please and to have some kind of a decent place To have your kids raised up in. Beach Haven ain't my home! No, I just can't pay this rent! My money's down the drain, And my soul is badly bent! Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower Where no black folks come to roam, No, no, Old Man Trump! Old Beach Haven ain't my home!
© 2016 Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI) & Ryan Harvey (ASCAP)
In the earlier part of the last century, the National Socialists committed historical atrocities and pushed the planet into a World War that only ended with the emergence of the Atomic Age. If I remember correctly, they were pushing a “Master Race” concept (along with “Racial Purity”); it was their stated “why”. So, what is the “why” of Dolos and his followers? Is it something similar? There is always a reason.
The term “White Australia” is self-explanatory, and the original KKK was created to prevent newly enfranchised Black Men (sorry to all the sisters of all races) from actually voting by murdering them and using other forms of intimidation: https://www.history.com/articles/ku-klux-klan . Thus, in 2008, the election of the first Black President was a warning shot that a certain group could not ignore: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-draper-anti-obama-campaign_n_1452899 . Does anyone remember what conspiracy theory made Dolos politically relevant?
It is 2025. This country is about to transition demographically. So, some are taking action to try to deport millions prior to the next Census, and others have an urgent need to degrade the “Reconstruction Amendments” (i.e. 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments). Ms. Reid may have some answers.
Why is birthright citizenship now a question? Why are voting protections being diminished? I’m asking for a friend because racism can be a “helluva” drug!
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST (via nonviolence).
P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
Today's response from Senator Heinrich re. my immigration concerns...
September 15, 2025
Dear Dr. Potter,
When it's working properly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) helps arrest, detain, and deport individuals within the United States who commit violent crimes, pose a real threat to our national security, and are here unlawfully. Instead, the Trump administration is using ICE to sow fear in our communities and trample constitutional safeguards. This misuse of the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) makes us less safe, not more.
Masked, unidentified federal law enforcement officials arresting both immigrants and citizens, often without warrants or any probable cause, are deeply alarming for many reasons, including the use of racial profiling. Going to church, the hospital, or a grocery store should not require carrying proof of citizenship, but for many, it may now. That is wrong and un-American.
Let me be clear: I oppose the Trump administration using masked, unidentified federal officers to sweep up individuals indiscriminately, without due process, and often based solely on their ethnicity, endangering the rights of citizens, legal permanent residents, and undocumented immigrants alike. That is why I opposed the recent decision by the Supreme Court's radical majority effectively allowing racial profiling by ICE and Border Patrol in Los Angeles. And it is why I was proud to cosponsor S. 2212, the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act. Introduced by Senators Alex Padilla (CA) and Cory Booker (NJ), the VISIBLE Act would require immigration enforcement officers, including DHS personnel, other federal agents detailed to immigration officers, and deputized state or local officers, to display their faces and clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. It makes limited exceptions for the use of masks when it is necessary to ensure officer safety or when they are conducting covert operations or non-public actions, and it directs DHS to establish disciplinary procedures to handle violations of these new requirements. The VISIBLE Act is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
I believe ICE should focus its limited resources on apprehending and deporting violent criminals, not the detention of citizens, immigrants with documented status, and undocumented immigrants without criminal records. And I share New Mexicans' well-founded concerns about the lack of due process afforded to those arrested and detained by DHS, as well as the health and safety of those individuals while in ICE’s custody. To that end, I have long demanded the humane treatment of those detained by ICE.
While everyone can agree that work must be done to fix our immigration system, the Trump administration’s brazen disregard for the rights of both noncitizens and citizens is not the answer. I will continue to work with both sides of the aisle to keep our border communities safe, protect our national security, and create a fair immigration system for all.
Finally, thank you for reaching out to me. Your experiences, ideas, thoughts, and concerns inform my work and decisions. I hope you will keep writing me about this and other issues that are important to you.
For more information and additional details about legislation, please visit my website, Heinrich.Senate.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter (@SenatorHeinrich) and join me on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenatorHeinrich.
Sincerely,
MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator
Thanks for posting these stories, Simon. I certainly don't want any hardworking person to endure economic hardship like that, especially those who feed the country and the world. Even though they're getting exactly what they voted for, it's sad to read, and I hope we can fix this mess for them and the rest of us.
Thanks to everyone for their hard work. 8 months in, we'll get there.
I finished 50 postcards to the PA SC election. Waiting for another box of cards to keep going. I also signed up next week for a local Indivisible meeting.
It is sad about the farmers, but it will always mystify me why they were unable to see this coming. It happened in the first term as well. Maybe worse now, I'm not exactly sure. When those markets disappear I'm not sure what bailouts will do. I suppose they can turn to laundering Russian money or launching their own meme coins. That seems to work for some people.
Self reporting from Berkeley: In addition to other smallish actions, like the silk-screened patch attached to the back of the vest I wear daily:”NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL. KEEP FIGHTING,” and ending calls to Customer Service, with “If you’re eligible, remember to register to vote AND vote Democrat,” a friend initiated a call to draft a resolution to our Alameda County Supervisors to honor veterans this Veterans Day, November. Now, three of us, all seniors, have finalized a 1+ page draft that highlights the patriotic military service and sacrifices of immigrants and more. We’re exploring the path to advance the resolution for ultimate approval by the Board and then to the county’s cities. This morning, I emailed the sups@johnsoncountyiowa.gov, Subject: THANK YOU Jon Green. Green is the Council Chair who defied Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ order to lower the flag to half-staff to honor Charlie Kirk; Green refused. There’s local media coverage.
That's wonderful, Bobbie S, that you are exploring a resolution that includes praise for the patriotic military service and sacrifices of immigrants. Please let us know you progress with introduction by the County Board of Supervisors and in Berkeley and other cities within Alameda County (CA). I just mentioned your plans in the resolutions chat. https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/hopium-resolutions-project-discussion/comments
Agree - Democrats should exploit Trump’s (utterly predictable) betrayal of rural voters EVERYWHERE. And in doing so, accept that what plays in rural PA might not play on the Upper West Side of NYC or Vermont. We are the big tent party organized around some non-negotiable principles, e.g. social security, Medicare, Medicaid, equal opportunity and commitment to the rule of law.
Glad Hochul publicly endorsed Mamdani. Her piece in NYT was very good.
It always feels good to complete the 5 calls! Of particular note today, was to oppose confirmation of Stephen Miran for Fed Reserve (Supposedly Senate vote today so if you haven't checked in yet....); protecting our rights to use our passports freely in and out of the country - by opposing Rep. Mast's provision to give power to State Dept. to revoke based on vague support of bad actor groups; and finally, requesting support to release Epstien files, framing this request that I know my Rep. believes in rights, as do I, and that it would be the right thing to do in light of Charlie Kirk's desire for the release as well - free speech and transparency. Also donated to Mikie Sherrill, Abigail Spanberger (I am a proud, plucky Virginian) and local delegate candidates. Postcarding and canvassing!!!! So happy to be part of this Hopium community.
My weekly congresspersons calls script that anyone can riff off of. This one is important b/c HR 5300 goes to a hearing this week. We can’t expect SCOTUS to strike down the unconstitutional provision given that they just gutted the 4th Amendment for Latinos in the last couple of weeks.
1. Don’t be afraid to shut down the gov’t. DON’T capitulate to bail out the GOP w/o extracting meaningful concessions. Schumer & Jeffries need to show some spine & leadership b/c their failure to do so up to this point has demoralized the Dem voter base which will make it harder to win the midterms.
2. HR 5300, Sec. 226 would give Secretary Rubio unilateral authority to revoke passports of US citizens in violation of the 1st Amendment. It replicates the section of the INA that they used to have Mahmoud Khalil & the other pro-Gaza campus protestors arrested for their political speech. This bill MUST NOT PASS w/ this section intact, & when Dems are back in power the INA must be amended to protect the free speech rights of visa-holders.
Still working hard to get Prop 50 over the finish line here in CA. Collaborated with a fellow activist and wrote talking points for Prop 50 to share with our Commit To Democracy group as we talk to friends, family and anyone who will listen!
Good news on the vaccine front here in AZ. Last week Governor Hobbs signed an executive order for the COVID vaccine to be available to all those who want it without a prescription. She joined other governors signing executive orders. I had previously sent her office an email decrying the lack of availability. As a senior, on Medicare and a licensed health care professional I let her know that RFK JR 's vaccine disinformation was a danger to the health of the public.
The D response to Trump's highly exaggerated "crime crisis" can be found in polling among Gen Z voters, particularly males, as reported by John Della Volpe. This group wants a greater sense of security--both personal and financial--as so many voters do. But the way they expressed it to Della Volpe is crucial: "There is no security without democracy." All our D governors and mayors, who are under such threat of having National Guard or Marine troops on their streets, should be saying exactly this. Security and democracy are inextricably tied together.
That might be an effective protest sign. "There is no security without democracy"
Pithy.
Simon, thank you for coming to the Twin Cities, and thank you for scheduling it so we can be home in time to watch the Lynx playoff game afterwards.
I wrote my senators asking them to do everything they could to ensure that ICE funding doesn’t go through, and will call Ilhan Omar as well just so she can say her constituents want this. Trying to enjoy a new week before whatever chaos strikes us next.
After a hiatus due to family commitments, I got into gear. I wrote a script based on Simon's points and called Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and Congressman Garamendi this morning. I also signed up to text for passage of Proposition 50 and signed up to canvas with a local community group for the Proposition. I picked up 4 yard signs this weekend - everyone in my family is displaying. The group bought 300 yard signs and they were gone within 48 hours! The fight is on!
Self report: Contacted my MI rep and senators with the following:
I am old enough to remember the 1960s. The political violence then, and now, was so destructive. Please do not allow the destruction of what this country has stood for, has evolved toward. Specifically:
- Act in every way to roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are destroying farmers, re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
- Block the expansion of ICE, restore due process, and end the use of the military on our streets against citizens and the occupations of our cities
- Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; demand the removal of extremist Robert Kennedy from HHS position
- Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia and China
Reclaim the American experiment that the Founders envisioned. This nation's work is not done.
Thank you.
Judge J. Michael Luttig has written a powerful condemnation of Trump’s unconstitutional acts for "...Constitution Day, September 17, 2025, “We the People” declare these twenty-six grievances against the forty-seventh President of the United States, as the American Colonists declared their twenty-six grievances against King George III on Independence Day, July 4, 1776..." on Telos News. (Link to follow.)
https://open.substack.com/pub/telos/p/americas-grievances-against-its-king?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=197kn