Joe Trippi mentioned a recent Zogby poll that found a majority is “ashamed” that Trump is their president. Wow. Simon, can you tell us anything about Zogby or his polling? Is this the big deal it sounds like?
The way I see it is that a majority of the country is now firmly against Trump and not really available to him any more. Whether that number is 52, 53, 54, 55 I don't know but he struggling to get out of the 30s and low 40s on any issue or question, which suggests his ceiling is returning to where it was for most of the last 10 years around 46%.
If we factor in the significant downward revisions for May and June, only around 85,000 jobs per month have been added under Trump through July.
Things have clearly worsened under Trump/MAGA/Republicans in all respects. I would just caution against using too many statistical comparisons in touting Dems on the economy, as everday experiences with jobs and inflation, health care and living costs can tell a powerful story in town halls and social media.
Fred - 1) my math is different from yours. Not sure how. Feel free to share. 2) Never, never going to walk away from the basic data of the last generation of our politics that the economy performs far better under us than it does under them, something Trump is once again confirming. How we talk about it all is a different conversation but it is important to start from what is true and work out from there and not let an info environment shaped by right wing narratives dictate our understandings of what is true.
For whatever it's worth, when I hear people talk about how their close friends voted for Trump bc of Biden's economy, I ask what they mean. Often, they don't really know. I say, I am no expert but the economy has been better under Dem administrations and offer to send them links. Often, they say oh ok. I told close friends we may not make a big splashy difference in changing mindsets, but we can make a smaller difference just among our friends, then, hopefully, they tell their close circle and so on. That's how we make a difference.
Mrs.CQ, good!! It's important to keep repeating the truth in the face of mis/disinformation, and that nugget is surely untrue. People who know you may well believe what you say over what they see on social media or news. Please keep it up! I know it's hard, though.
I agree we should never walk away from the fact that the economy has performed far better under us than them. We need to counter their disinformation and blamecasting at all times. I just wasn't sure that people got the full story in 2024 on how much better things were under Biden and Dems (of course disinformation was a big part in this).
I will go back and check my math and see if I can cite a table, news item or graph.
Roughly, 782,000 jobs created from January to June 2025
Add 73, 000 jobs created in July 2025
Subtract 258,000 downward revisions for May and June
Net total 597.000 jobs created January through July
Fred I finally had time to go back and check my work and I did get the March jobs number wrong. I had it at 228,000 and it was 120,000 (bad AI in fact). I have recalculated everything on line in the post. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. And for those following along Trump's job performance is actually worse than I originally had it. Biden averaged close to 400,000 jobs created per month. Trump is averaging 81,000 in his first six months.
I recently was listening to a podcast where the person speaking said that in their entire lifetime, Democrats have always been the party creating jobs. I think your important message is breaking through.
Having lived my life in and around DC, I'm heartsick to learn that Trump is going to disfigure the White House to add on a gigantic, tacky, gold-embellished balloom. He's literally going to take a wrecking ball to OUR White House, the people's house. I sure hope Dems send a film crew because we should at least get good footage for commercials. I hope someone is keeping a list of all the shitty things he's done so we can just undo them once we're back in power.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to ask them to get louder about the tariffs and to do whatever they can do in the budget process to stop Trump from creating an army of brownshirts via ICE. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
I called my Senators and Rep to say we need a law that prohibits the President from making substantial (unreversible) changes to the White House without Congressional approval. We own the White House, not Trump.
"Trump took a wrecking ball to the People's House, but that's just the beginning of the damage he's doing. His illegal tariffs are wrecking our economy, his DODGE is wrecking FEMA and other critical agencies, and his rich friend Robert Kennedy is wrecking our public health system. Worse, Candidate X supports him." All with pictures of a wrecking ball swinging into the White House and tractors tearing up the Rose Garden in the background.
“ Yes, here, we will be working together to keep busting the ridiculous myths that the economy does better under Rs (no fucking way) and they are fiscally responsible (also no fucking way).”
He's stumbling but I think we keep working. No Quarter.
I think the Democrats need to try to break through with messaging, but maybe this will improve as we get into 2026. The opening to do that starts now, all the time. I get nervous if it feels like we are relying on wins because Trump fucks things up.
I called yesterday my Senators about the Epstein files. I will call them again today to oppose Judge Box O Wine as well as about the Epstein files. I should have 75 postcards done to mail on Saturday.
But sometimes when I listen to people I feel like there is a certain amount of complacency about what happens after Trump messes up, that we just win by default. Not at Hopium for sure, but elsewhere I get this feeling. I don't get that sense from you or from others who are regulars here, no. I wasn't implying anything like that.
It is discouraging, maybe understandable, that Democrats approval ratings are so low as well. It's been on my mind today.
I can only speak for myself, but when I hear extended Dem bashing or Dem criticism among friends, I listen and I say, I know it feels that way but actually Dems are fighting and things are changing, not in the way I always like or as fast. I find it best to acknowledge the frustration and overwhelming feeling of doom, bc, let's face it, a lot of us feel that way. But the key then, for me at least, is to say I am not giving up. I want to win and keep voting and doing whatever I can to help. I am not a canvasser or phone banker, but I do my little part and I always answer questions when I am asked. I constantly encourage friends to listen to Simon and others on Substack. I forward interviews, etc. Some watch, some don't. Acknowledge the frustration and despair, I often feel it, but then focus on what can be done. Helps me anyway. Just my two cents.
I am not "bashing Dems" and I agree it is counterproductive. I am just hoping that more of them break through and that the party image improves a bit.
From my perspective, I'm not sure why it is so low, although I understand people want more fight from the dog. Acknowledging the party isn't perfect and doesn't always get it right is just admitting they are humans.
Probably the "extended Dems bashing Dems" is at least part of the reason for where we are at. It is a vicious circle rather than the virtuous circle Simon talks about.
I appreciate all you are doing, and everyone else. I'm very grateful for that. In Trump 1.0 it wasn't clear to me there was as much fight as there is now.
I am sorry. I apologize. I was inarticulate. I did not mean to say or insinuate you were Dem bashing. I was speaking merely from my experience. I hear it a lot. The circular firing squad is also not helpful which some in the party do as well. We all here want the same thing - an end to this horrible fascist takeover.
I think that the idea of a hero in a cape has become baked into our cultural imagination. We aren't seeing that on the Democratic side, but what is happening is that millions of ordinary citizens have been activated. There are tons of Democratic politicians at every level of government doing the work every day. It's just hard to break through the noise that the Trumpers are trumpeting. The zone is so flooded! But underneath all that is a formidable opposition. We know the Republican leadership sees it -- why else would they be trying to gerrymander more districts in Texas if they didn't fear a strong Democratic uprising? But John Q. Public isn't seeing it because of the lack of the hero flying overhead, cutting down all the GOP mosquitoes making the airwaves and the zeitgeist seem ruby red and devoid of blue.
For the New York Times to say, about his economic policies, “whether they will succeed is an Open question” is an absurdity. Succeed in doing what? Destroying the American brand? Destroying the American economy? It's already clear that Trump's policies, just on climate, have enormous economic costs. Just a sampling of the problems: more pollution means more strain on the American healthcare system; the cheapest sources of energy we now have will become more expensive; any manufacturing related to clean energy Will decline, leaving the field to China and costing us thousands of jobs; Insurance costs will rise even more than they already are;
And the costs of mitigating climate disasters Will also grow.
So many phrases in the NYT article deserve groans. His tariffs "will take effect on Aug 7" - more accurate would be, T says his tariffs will take effect Aug 7, but he has set __ dates so far and declined or postponed __ of them. Or: "preliminary trade deals struck recently with countries that offered favorable concessions to the United States." More accurate would be: T has posted in social media about trade discussions that more closely resemble outlines or lists of intents, but not written contracts, and about which every other nation has interpreted differently once the discussion is over and T has gotten his post about success out, with favorable concessions turning out to be hollow.
I agree so emphatically with your points about climate disasters that you may actually be able to hear me shouting YES, through the cloud of wildfire smoke over my house!
Oh no. So sorry about the smoke. I lived through this many times in Colorado. Take care. Do you know about the Purple Air App? It will give you exact air quality readings for everywhere. We lived by this thing when there was a fire....
Can one country, or a group of countries, sue DT and the US for harm to their economies that these illegal tariffs have created and will continue to negatively impact?
Self report from WI. Daily sets of calls are in to Rep members of congress regarding tariffs, ICE, attack on science etc. and a reminder that they are not honoring the oath they took to defend our constitution. I sent an email to AG Kaul to thank him for his work defending our constitution and the rule of law.
Today the Irish Times reported on the government's warning about how the tariffs will affect their economy:
"They warned it would reduce economic activity here by roughly 1.5 per cent over a five-year timeline against a baseline of no tariffs while reducing employment growth by 2 per cent, which equates to 56,000-70,000 fewer jobs being created."
The stock market is sending a message about tariffs and jobs slowdown today. For some time I had wondered how the market could remain so stable under this.
Here is something I haven't seen reported elsewhere:
"Thousands of license applications by US companies to export goods and technology around the globe, including to China, are in limbo because turmoil at the agency in charge of approving them has left it nearly paralyzed, reports Reuters.
"While the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, has long touted Trump’s tariff and trade deals, sources said the export bureau under Lutnick’s command has failed to issue expected new rules, stifled communications with industry representatives, pushed out experts, and lost staff through buyouts and resignations.
"Shipments of artificial intelligence chips from tech giant Nvidia to China are the most high-profile example of licenses not being swiftly approved. The company said on 14 July that the government assured it licenses would be granted for its H20 chip, and it hoped to start deliveries soon.
"Lutnick and other officials confirmed sales would be allowed. But sources said this week no licenses have yet been issued, and billions of dollars of AI chip orders are at stake.
"One US official said the backlog of license applications is the lengthiest in more than three decades."
The regime has found so many ways to mess things up. Add this to the list.
I wanted to report on my current activities to help save our ailing country! First, I have decided to host a version of a One Million Rising meeting, as requested by the current series of Zoom calls cosponsored by national Indivisible, NoKings.org, and some other organizations.
One of the trainers on these calls was a trainer on the request for neighborhood meetings after the election back in November, when we were all extremely traumatized and attending gazillions of Zoom meetings to figure out how to not lose our minds…at that time, they called the neighborhood meetings they were asking for “Worth Fighting For,” and I hosted one back in early December.
My little group of about 9 people decided they wanted to continue meeting after that first get together, where I had planned to give them a number of resources, which I did, including Hopium Chronicles, of course, and turn them over to Indivisible Evanston, my wonderful, active Indivisible group. But when my group wanted to keep meeting occasionally, I agreed, and we meet about every 2 months in person, and we have a text group where I send out messages about activism opportunities, and some of us have demonstrated together here in Chicago.
I’m especially proud that one young couple in our group from the north side of Chicago, drove up to Kenosha, WI to canvass for the first time in the Supreme Court race there! Thrilled to have mentored the younger generation into door knocking! That can be a tough sell, but they loved it.
Anyways, I’m going to have a meeting on August 10th in my home to get more folks together to talk about what else we can do to engage in active non compliance with creeping authoritarianism. I hope to add some folks to my already existing group.
Next, I’ve decided to work on a Resolution of Condemnation for my community, Evanston, IL and have already reached out to the mayor, whom I have known for years, to see what he thinks of the concept…he got back to me right away with a phone message that said that he’s very intrigued at the notion, so I’m looking forward to connecting with him about it and learning about how to pursue it with the city council.
I’ve also done some phonebanking for the Georgia Democratic Party, which is calling folks in danger of being knocked off the voter rolls if they don’t update their registrations before Aug. 18th. I reached a lot of folks who have moved out of state, but also some who agreed to update their registrations…always worth doing!
Great tasks/projects! I've been doing some 1M Rising conversations less formally so far, like with our rally team (group that is already formed but eager to understand the bigger picture and how they fit in) and some one-to-ones with people who'd rather have a private conversation. I'm planning to hold a group conversation later this month.
The Resolution project is really worth doing - it's opened up a bunch of conversations with elected officials, candidates, and community members, despite ours not passing yet, or more likely because it didn't pass yet. Barely anybody knows the role of articles of dissent from the 1770's and so many people are aware of a piece of the current horror - like the abductions and scapegoating of immigrants, but aren't yet connecting the dots to the full autocratic threat.
Joe Trippi mentioned a recent Zogby poll that found a majority is “ashamed” that Trump is their president. Wow. Simon, can you tell us anything about Zogby or his polling? Is this the big deal it sounds like?
That trend tracks with the favorability ratings from reliable polls reported by Simon in Hopium Chronicles.
The way I see it is that a majority of the country is now firmly against Trump and not really available to him any more. Whether that number is 52, 53, 54, 55 I don't know but he struggling to get out of the 30s and low 40s on any issue or question, which suggests his ceiling is returning to where it was for most of the last 10 years around 46%.
If we factor in the significant downward revisions for May and June, only around 85,000 jobs per month have been added under Trump through July.
Things have clearly worsened under Trump/MAGA/Republicans in all respects. I would just caution against using too many statistical comparisons in touting Dems on the economy, as everday experiences with jobs and inflation, health care and living costs can tell a powerful story in town halls and social media.
Fred - 1) my math is different from yours. Not sure how. Feel free to share. 2) Never, never going to walk away from the basic data of the last generation of our politics that the economy performs far better under us than it does under them, something Trump is once again confirming. How we talk about it all is a different conversation but it is important to start from what is true and work out from there and not let an info environment shaped by right wing narratives dictate our understandings of what is true.
For whatever it's worth, when I hear people talk about how their close friends voted for Trump bc of Biden's economy, I ask what they mean. Often, they don't really know. I say, I am no expert but the economy has been better under Dem administrations and offer to send them links. Often, they say oh ok. I told close friends we may not make a big splashy difference in changing mindsets, but we can make a smaller difference just among our friends, then, hopefully, they tell their close circle and so on. That's how we make a difference.
Mrs.CQ, good!! It's important to keep repeating the truth in the face of mis/disinformation, and that nugget is surely untrue. People who know you may well believe what you say over what they see on social media or news. Please keep it up! I know it's hard, though.
I realized Dem Messaging begins with ME. THAT’S how we improve the Dem messaging. It starts with us.
Simon,
I agree we should never walk away from the fact that the economy has performed far better under us than them. We need to counter their disinformation and blamecasting at all times. I just wasn't sure that people got the full story in 2024 on how much better things were under Biden and Dems (of course disinformation was a big part in this).
I will go back and check my math and see if I can cite a table, news item or graph.
Roughly, 782,000 jobs created from January to June 2025
Add 73, 000 jobs created in July 2025
Subtract 258,000 downward revisions for May and June
Net total 597.000 jobs created January through July
Divide by 7: 85, 300 monthly average
-Fred
I found a link where my numbers above add up:
and it's from the BLS.
https://www.bls.gov/ces/publications/highlights/2025/current-employment-statistics-highlights-07-2025.pdf
Maybe a bar chart can be created and compared to the first 7 months of 2024:
1,075 net jobs created January 2024-July 2024 (Biden)
Average 153, 571/month (Biden)
597,000 net jobs created January 2025-July 2025 (Trump)
Average Jan 2025-July 2025 85, 286/month (Trump)
Fred I finally had time to go back and check my work and I did get the March jobs number wrong. I had it at 228,000 and it was 120,000 (bad AI in fact). I have recalculated everything on line in the post. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. And for those following along Trump's job performance is actually worse than I originally had it. Biden averaged close to 400,000 jobs created per month. Trump is averaging 81,000 in his first six months.
Correction on my Biden net job creation Jan 2024-July 2024
1,075,000
Thanks, Simon!
I recently was listening to a podcast where the person speaking said that in their entire lifetime, Democrats have always been the party creating jobs. I think your important message is breaking through.
Having lived my life in and around DC, I'm heartsick to learn that Trump is going to disfigure the White House to add on a gigantic, tacky, gold-embellished balloom. He's literally going to take a wrecking ball to OUR White House, the people's house. I sure hope Dems send a film crew because we should at least get good footage for commercials. I hope someone is keeping a list of all the shitty things he's done so we can just undo them once we're back in power.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to ask them to get louder about the tariffs and to do whatever they can do in the budget process to stop Trump from creating an army of brownshirts via ICE. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
I don't even have words for how angry this makes me, esp. after the destruction of the Rose Garden. Versailles, anyone?
Yup.
Visit Versailles and you understand the French Revolution and visit the Vatican, and you understand the Reformation
I called my Senators and Rep to say we need a law that prohibits the President from making substantial (unreversible) changes to the White House without Congressional approval. We own the White House, not Trump.
Same! It seems like it should be illegal.
That is a great idea (to film the demolition and gold gaudy addition).
"Trump took a wrecking ball to the People's House, but that's just the beginning of the damage he's doing. His illegal tariffs are wrecking our economy, his DODGE is wrecking FEMA and other critical agencies, and his rich friend Robert Kennedy is wrecking our public health system. Worse, Candidate X supports him." All with pictures of a wrecking ball swinging into the White House and tractors tearing up the Rose Garden in the background.
Perfect
Maybe it'll be like his border wall, and remain mostly unbuilt long enough for him to leave office.
Whatever happens they will have to rip off all the gold shit. Hopefully they got a damage deposit before he moved in.
The images I have seen make it look like the architects and designers were the firm of Liberace and Torrence.
All work and no play...
“ Yes, here, we will be working together to keep busting the ridiculous myths that the economy does better under Rs (no fucking way) and they are fiscally responsible (also no fucking way).”
Preach, GD it!
He's stumbling but I think we keep working. No Quarter.
I think the Democrats need to try to break through with messaging, but maybe this will improve as we get into 2026. The opening to do that starts now, all the time. I get nervous if it feels like we are relying on wins because Trump fucks things up.
I called yesterday my Senators about the Epstein files. I will call them again today to oppose Judge Box O Wine as well as about the Epstein files. I should have 75 postcards done to mail on Saturday.
Patrick i truly do not understand what you are saying here. Every single post here is about the opportunity we now have and how must seize it.
I wasn't saying otherwise.
But sometimes when I listen to people I feel like there is a certain amount of complacency about what happens after Trump messes up, that we just win by default. Not at Hopium for sure, but elsewhere I get this feeling. I don't get that sense from you or from others who are regulars here, no. I wasn't implying anything like that.
It is discouraging, maybe understandable, that Democrats approval ratings are so low as well. It's been on my mind today.
I can only speak for myself, but when I hear extended Dem bashing or Dem criticism among friends, I listen and I say, I know it feels that way but actually Dems are fighting and things are changing, not in the way I always like or as fast. I find it best to acknowledge the frustration and overwhelming feeling of doom, bc, let's face it, a lot of us feel that way. But the key then, for me at least, is to say I am not giving up. I want to win and keep voting and doing whatever I can to help. I am not a canvasser or phone banker, but I do my little part and I always answer questions when I am asked. I constantly encourage friends to listen to Simon and others on Substack. I forward interviews, etc. Some watch, some don't. Acknowledge the frustration and despair, I often feel it, but then focus on what can be done. Helps me anyway. Just my two cents.
I am not "bashing Dems" and I agree it is counterproductive. I am just hoping that more of them break through and that the party image improves a bit.
From my perspective, I'm not sure why it is so low, although I understand people want more fight from the dog. Acknowledging the party isn't perfect and doesn't always get it right is just admitting they are humans.
Probably the "extended Dems bashing Dems" is at least part of the reason for where we are at. It is a vicious circle rather than the virtuous circle Simon talks about.
I appreciate all you are doing, and everyone else. I'm very grateful for that. In Trump 1.0 it wasn't clear to me there was as much fight as there is now.
I am sorry. I apologize. I was inarticulate. I did not mean to say or insinuate you were Dem bashing. I was speaking merely from my experience. I hear it a lot. The circular firing squad is also not helpful which some in the party do as well. We all here want the same thing - an end to this horrible fascist takeover.
I think that the idea of a hero in a cape has become baked into our cultural imagination. We aren't seeing that on the Democratic side, but what is happening is that millions of ordinary citizens have been activated. There are tons of Democratic politicians at every level of government doing the work every day. It's just hard to break through the noise that the Trumpers are trumpeting. The zone is so flooded! But underneath all that is a formidable opposition. We know the Republican leadership sees it -- why else would they be trying to gerrymander more districts in Texas if they didn't fear a strong Democratic uprising? But John Q. Public isn't seeing it because of the lack of the hero flying overhead, cutting down all the GOP mosquitoes making the airwaves and the zeitgeist seem ruby red and devoid of blue.
I agree with all of that. People want a single leader to emerge before we've even started the 2028 cycle. It doesn't seem realistic to me.
The opposition is much stronger than in Trump 1.0. It is much more intense and much deeper.
Agree 💯
Good morning, some action links for you:
DNC is organizing calls in to TX to engage & inform voters re the redistricting shenanigans. Training is provided: https://ak.democrats.org/signup/phone_bank_texas/
Second from DNC: Survey on conversations w voters in your networks. https://ak.democrats.org/signup/os-weekly-conversation-report/
DNC tools for social media sharing: https://share.democrats.org/toolkit/f34d2060-ad38-4c05-8421-b1eec01b1ccb
And sign up to help voters get the ID they need and are informed:
Fair Fight: https://www.fairfight.com/lfgv
VoteRiders: https://www.voteriders.org/volunteer/
Will make my calls to Booker & Kim re tariffs and Rep. Smith (Traitor-NJ04) will get his weekly email about Medicaid & tariffs.
Hope everyone has a great weekend of action!
Keep going!
Great links, thanks!
For the New York Times to say, about his economic policies, “whether they will succeed is an Open question” is an absurdity. Succeed in doing what? Destroying the American brand? Destroying the American economy? It's already clear that Trump's policies, just on climate, have enormous economic costs. Just a sampling of the problems: more pollution means more strain on the American healthcare system; the cheapest sources of energy we now have will become more expensive; any manufacturing related to clean energy Will decline, leaving the field to China and costing us thousands of jobs; Insurance costs will rise even more than they already are;
And the costs of mitigating climate disasters Will also grow.
So many phrases in the NYT article deserve groans. His tariffs "will take effect on Aug 7" - more accurate would be, T says his tariffs will take effect Aug 7, but he has set __ dates so far and declined or postponed __ of them. Or: "preliminary trade deals struck recently with countries that offered favorable concessions to the United States." More accurate would be: T has posted in social media about trade discussions that more closely resemble outlines or lists of intents, but not written contracts, and about which every other nation has interpreted differently once the discussion is over and T has gotten his post about success out, with favorable concessions turning out to be hollow.
I agree so emphatically with your points about climate disasters that you may actually be able to hear me shouting YES, through the cloud of wildfire smoke over my house!
Exactly why I have been saying a few years now that this Republican Party is a death cult.
Spot on, Diane
I’m waving from Mpls, but you can’t see me through the smoke
My condolences on the smoke, Anne! As I lapse into a coughing fit...
Oh no. So sorry about the smoke. I lived through this many times in Colorado. Take care. Do you know about the Purple Air App? It will give you exact air quality readings for everywhere. We lived by this thing when there was a fire....
Thanks- I will check that out!
Krugman left NYT so I'm not sure why I would read their perspectives anymore about the tariffs. So I read his Substack every day instead:
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-a-weak-jobs-report
Me too. No longer even give the NYT feedback. they are so useless; in the guise of being SO erudite. I'm mad mad mad at them!
Is it possible to include a link to 5 Calls when you recommend calling legislators? It’s so handy!
Today’s scary moment is when they announced even the Smithsonian has caved and has removed mention of YKW’s Impeachment from its History section.
I called to remind my MAGA rep that "only Commies airbrush history."
Thank you Simon,
Can one country, or a group of countries, sue DT and the US for harm to their economies that these illegal tariffs have created and will continue to negatively impact?
Self report from WI. Daily sets of calls are in to Rep members of congress regarding tariffs, ICE, attack on science etc. and a reminder that they are not honoring the oath they took to defend our constitution. I sent an email to AG Kaul to thank him for his work defending our constitution and the rule of law.
Today the Irish Times reported on the government's warning about how the tariffs will affect their economy:
"They warned it would reduce economic activity here by roughly 1.5 per cent over a five-year timeline against a baseline of no tariffs while reducing employment growth by 2 per cent, which equates to 56,000-70,000 fewer jobs being created."
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/2025/08/01/us-tariffs-will-mean-70000-fewer-jobs-created-in-irish-economy-department-of-finance-warns/
The stock market is sending a message about tariffs and jobs slowdown today. For some time I had wondered how the market could remain so stable under this.
Because trump kept TACO-ing
Why aren’t Independents included in the polls?
Of course they are included in all polls. True independents run about 10% of the electorate.
Here is something I haven't seen reported elsewhere:
"Thousands of license applications by US companies to export goods and technology around the globe, including to China, are in limbo because turmoil at the agency in charge of approving them has left it nearly paralyzed, reports Reuters.
"While the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, has long touted Trump’s tariff and trade deals, sources said the export bureau under Lutnick’s command has failed to issue expected new rules, stifled communications with industry representatives, pushed out experts, and lost staff through buyouts and resignations.
"Shipments of artificial intelligence chips from tech giant Nvidia to China are the most high-profile example of licenses not being swiftly approved. The company said on 14 July that the government assured it licenses would be granted for its H20 chip, and it hoped to start deliveries soon.
"Lutnick and other officials confirmed sales would be allowed. But sources said this week no licenses have yet been issued, and billions of dollars of AI chip orders are at stake.
"One US official said the backlog of license applications is the lengthiest in more than three decades."
The regime has found so many ways to mess things up. Add this to the list.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/aug/01/donald-trump-trade-tariffs-latest-us-politics-live-news-updates
I wanted to report on my current activities to help save our ailing country! First, I have decided to host a version of a One Million Rising meeting, as requested by the current series of Zoom calls cosponsored by national Indivisible, NoKings.org, and some other organizations.
One of the trainers on these calls was a trainer on the request for neighborhood meetings after the election back in November, when we were all extremely traumatized and attending gazillions of Zoom meetings to figure out how to not lose our minds…at that time, they called the neighborhood meetings they were asking for “Worth Fighting For,” and I hosted one back in early December.
My little group of about 9 people decided they wanted to continue meeting after that first get together, where I had planned to give them a number of resources, which I did, including Hopium Chronicles, of course, and turn them over to Indivisible Evanston, my wonderful, active Indivisible group. But when my group wanted to keep meeting occasionally, I agreed, and we meet about every 2 months in person, and we have a text group where I send out messages about activism opportunities, and some of us have demonstrated together here in Chicago.
I’m especially proud that one young couple in our group from the north side of Chicago, drove up to Kenosha, WI to canvass for the first time in the Supreme Court race there! Thrilled to have mentored the younger generation into door knocking! That can be a tough sell, but they loved it.
Anyways, I’m going to have a meeting on August 10th in my home to get more folks together to talk about what else we can do to engage in active non compliance with creeping authoritarianism. I hope to add some folks to my already existing group.
Next, I’ve decided to work on a Resolution of Condemnation for my community, Evanston, IL and have already reached out to the mayor, whom I have known for years, to see what he thinks of the concept…he got back to me right away with a phone message that said that he’s very intrigued at the notion, so I’m looking forward to connecting with him about it and learning about how to pursue it with the city council.
I’ve also done some phonebanking for the Georgia Democratic Party, which is calling folks in danger of being knocked off the voter rolls if they don’t update their registrations before Aug. 18th. I reached a lot of folks who have moved out of state, but also some who agreed to update their registrations…always worth doing!
This is wonderful! Bravo!
Great tasks/projects! I've been doing some 1M Rising conversations less formally so far, like with our rally team (group that is already formed but eager to understand the bigger picture and how they fit in) and some one-to-ones with people who'd rather have a private conversation. I'm planning to hold a group conversation later this month.
The Resolution project is really worth doing - it's opened up a bunch of conversations with elected officials, candidates, and community members, despite ours not passing yet, or more likely because it didn't pass yet. Barely anybody knows the role of articles of dissent from the 1770's and so many people are aware of a piece of the current horror - like the abductions and scapegoating of immigrants, but aren't yet connecting the dots to the full autocratic threat.
Fantastic!
Pay day; Donated to the candidates! Also, called my R- Rep and R-Senator, citing Simon's job numbers, tariffs, etc.
Enjoy everyone's comments, and will be checking out the links!