Simon, thank you for last night’s great subscriber chat. I think you hit on a very important point when you said that what Trump is doing to us is best described as sabotage. The Britannica Dictionary defines sabotage as “the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly.” That’s exactly what Trump is doing to America. We don’t need to know the exact terms of the deal between Trump and Putin to recognize and – importantly – to name sabotage when it’s right in front of our eyes.
I believe that to name something is to get power over it. Framing an issue is such an important act. We Democrats sometimes don’t take the time to figure out how to best frame an issue, especially with a focus on our audience. Think of “Defund the Police.” We knew what we meant, but the framing we chose made it sound as if we were against the laws and on the side of criminals. Republicans were able to seize on it and use it very effectively against us. Framing matters. As an appellate lawyer, I always knew that if I could get the court to accept my framing of the issue, I’d be much more likely to win. Conversely, if I had to spend my limited pages fighting against my opponents’ framing, I’d be more likely to lose. Once the court accepted a frame, they were unlikely to move off of it.
I agree with you that sabotage better describes what Trump is doing than “oligarchy” or “fascism.” Trump isn’t trying to be the dictator of a strong nation. He is doing everything he can to make America a weak, failed, impotent nation. Sabotage is a much better way to frame the discussion.
Sabotage is also good framing because it gets at your point that Trump is making us weaker, poorer, less respected, less safe, more alone. It opens up the second front that you’ve been talking about. And, it provides the framework for your Letter to America. Everything Trump is doing can be hung on the scaffolding of his sabotage of us, our Constitution, our tripartite form of government, our courts, our Congress, our economy, and his usurpation of our rights. Sabotage makes the other side weak and Trump is making America weak. “Stop the Sabotage” is a short, pithy, quotable motto. I think we need to move this into our national discourse as soon and as fully as possible. A good frame is only effective when it gets repeated over and over. Thank you so much for doing the deep thinking needed to get at this vital point.
Catherine I liked what you said so much I am sending an edited version (below( to both my senators today. So this is my self report too. Thank you!
Dear Senator:
What Trump is doing to us citizens and this country is best described as sabotage. The Britannica Dictionary defines sabotage as “the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly.” That’s exactly what Trump is doing to America. We don’t need to know the exact terms of any deal between Trump and Putin to recognize and – importantly – to name sabotage when it’s right in front of our eyes.
The term sabotage describes what Trump is doing to this country far better than “oligarchy” or “fascism.” Think about disappearing people who are denied due process. Think about going after people and institutions who disagree with him or his policies. Trump isn’t trying to be the dictator of a strong nation. No, he is doing everything he can to make America a weak, failed, impotent nation.
Trump is making us weaker, poorer, less respected, less safe, more alone. Everything being done can be hung on the scaffolding of his sabotage of us, our Constitution, our tripartite form of government, our courts, our Congress, our economy, and his usurpation of our rights. Sabotage makes the other side weak and Trump is making America weak. Call this out with a clear letter to America about what is happening and what needs to happen to stop the abuse of power that is happening on so many fronts. Repeat these words every day. Stop the Sabotage!
Who among us in this chat is going to suggest the phrase Stop the Sabotage to Bernie and AOC? They need to start using it at their rallies!!! Anyone in this group who can do that????
Great idea!, I'm going to do this too! Stop the Sabotage! By the way, for the word nerds out there, the original French noun, saboter, means to walk in clunky wooden shoes, bungling things. I hope a cartoonist picks up on this and illustrates all of that craven crew in big wooden shoes, stomping all over our beloved country.
And weren’t Russian planes reported flying in American airspace off Alaska yesterday? Heard very little about this since our local media picked up wire service. Highly likely that the saboteur label is accurate.
Calls made and always recorded, and, cut off in 2minutes.
Right on, Catherine!!!! And it may be worth reminding people that this isn't his first rodeo on this front, either. The leading scientific journal in the world described his COVID response (once he was safely out of office) as "not just ineptitude, but sabotage."
Covid really started to hit us five years ago at this time. By the time Trump slithered out of the White House and back to Mar-a-Lago in January of 2021, Covid had claimed 400,000 US lives. As many as we lost on the battlefields in nearly four years of World War Two.
By comparison, Japan lost about 5000 (five thousand) in the same period.
Right on Thomas. In fact, if you combine Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, you will have:
* A combined population greater than ours was
* All countries closer to ground zero than we were
" All countries with fewer resources and considered less prepared than we were
* All far more densely populated than the US except Australia and New Zealand
* Collectively representing a diversity of ethnicities
* Collectively lost only about 20K of their citizens while we lost 400K, and that excludes an additional million+ excess deaths they occurred while Trump was doing everything he could to suppress testing (which he admitted doing )
I spent most of the 1970s in Asia -- and most of that in Japan, which I consider my second home. From the start of the outbreak, I was extremely interested in how they would handle it. Like you say, much more densely populated -- put 1/3 of the USA in California -- and also about ten years older on average.
And... they never locked down their economy as China did. I was praying and begging that our leaders would see what the successful countries were doing and show the metrics of success -- and save lives.
(Like) .. South Korea got hit very hard. It's a predominantly Christian country and people go into churches and really shout and sing out. A big no-no for Covid -- and they paid a steep price.
In Japan -- which are 99% non-church goers -- they early on closed karaoke rooms and banned that singing from bars. They were not sure about their pinball (pachinko) parlors -- where hundreds of people sit shoulder to shoulder for hours on end -- so they tried leaving them open, and found through their first-rate contact tracing system that nobody contracted Covid from one of those sites.
I like "Stop the sabotage" but we need to be very careful to make sure that people understand that we mean Trump's sabotage because the right will immediately switch it to "Stop the radical left's sabotage of Trump". I suggest we say: "Stop Trump's sabotage of America".
Catherine, I'm about to post a sticker pack you inspired on today's chat (crediting you), and thought I'd go back to the original thread to make sure you see it. The sticker shows an angry eagle on top of the Capitol with wings outstretched; he/she is angry b/c someone (or someones) have removed so many of his/her wing feathers that they can no longer fly. We can see who those someones are b/c they're up in the clouds laughing. The slogan on the sticker is yours: Stop The Sabotage, with Sabotage written in a font that has, itself, been sabotaged; stop is a shade of white, the is a shade of blue, and sabotage is orange red. Thanks much for the inspiration :) Hope you like it! :)
Self reporting here. I am part of Indivisible Twin Cities and on Tuesday morning, our group along with MN50501 and Women's March Minnesota decided to hold a protest at the El Salvadoran consulate in St. Paul. The rally was yesterday at 3 pm and over 500 people showed up! We had coverage on at least two local news stations and the cherry on top was that MAGA Congressman Pete Stauber, who is from a totally different area of Minnesota issued a statement questioning our priorities! Somebody needs to give Stauber some better advice because he's too afraid to meet constituents, but he's a Trump collaborator in a fascist power grab to eliminate the constitution he swore to defend. We are going to take him for a ride today.
So, with little planning and little time, we put more than 500 people on the street outside the consulate!
Just keep doing the work! We are on the right side here. The polling is favoring us and Trump is getting desperate. Last night, Seb Gorka went on TV to threaten anyone who supports releasing Garcia with jail time. They are afraid and they are weak and we are strong!
As I've been saying here for some time the more local actors can plan and run these kind of events the more sustainable and effective we will be. Local ownership is key.
Thank you Tim. Word is Congressman Pete is meeting with republicans only in the Cloquet public library on Monday. Cloquet’s Individual group will be protesting.
What a great idea, Tim. If I were in a cartoon strip, you would see a light bulb turn on over my head. The Salvadoran consulate in Silver Spring, MD, is a mere 15 minute walk from my house. I think my neighbors and I can organize a protest there.
Hi Meg, please let us know a date and time if you're able to get something organized and post on this thread. I have family who live in Silver Spring and they would love to participate.
Great job Tim - I live in Staubers district... people are waning on him a bit. Cheater at Hockey (hockey is the world around here) some reports he's been abusive to down syndrome son but of course he received an award years ago for it. He was a cop. His own city of Hermantown voted against him in 2024.
I agree, last night was excellent, and I felt such a sense of community. Thank you. And I will continue to call my Senators daily and support our VA candidate for Governor, Abigail Spanberger.
I went to a rally to support our Senator Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador. Maybe 300 people there, including the County Executive, Council President, other county council members and our three delegates to the General Assembly, among others. Also called my Senators and Congressional rep. I am fortunate in that Jamie Raskin is my representative and Van Hollen is one of my senators.
I am a Md. resident also - very grateful to be living in Maryland.
I have made calls to my reps and tuned in to town halls. They don’t need to be pushed to fight … they are working hard and doing their best. Look at Chris Van Hollen. I wish I could call some red state reps.
They do not need to be pushed, but. they need to know what we are interested in having them do. I called Van Hollen's office to thank him for what he did. I let Alsobrooks know that I approved of Chris's actions, too. I have also called the MD AG's office to thank him for standing with the other Dem AG's and filing suits against the Trump admin.
Simon Please stop!!!! We are strong he is WEAK means so little to us after you repeated it so many times before the election...PLEASE PLEASE pick some other way of speaking....this is such a turn off when you say it because it is meaningless now after hearing you say it so many times during the election and we clung to that then ..not now. Judy Williams Cincinnati
Judy, I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism but I am not open to people impulsively telling me what I must do. Please take this post down and rewrite it so the tone is more appropriate to how we talk to one another here.
I will also remind you and everyone else that 7 of the 8 major forecasters incl 538 and Nate Silver had Harris winning. I understand your point here but what I have written is true and I stand by every word of it.
Respectfully Judy, Trump is the epitome of weakness. An incompetent bully who retreats when challenged. If our government is failing us, it has far more to do with craven members of Congress, almost exclusively Republicans, who prioritize greed and the perception of power over principle.
I felt like this after the election, but after a while I realized that hope from the Hopium Chronicles was one of the few things keeping me sane during the election. Hope from the Hopium Chronicles is keeping me sane now. I have seen people I follow on YouTube post videos saying that at this point there is nothing we can do to make a difference. That's how DJT wants you to feel. I refuse to give up. We need hope.
I find myself demoralized but I struggle not to give up. Hopium, MeidasTouch, Jim Acosta and others on Substack give me hope. It also helps enormously to know that I am not alone. Do I get frustrated (hello Schumer)? Yes. But I will continue to stay informed, albeit in smaller doses that I used to and do my small part in ways that I feel comfortable. For now, I am not ready to donate to anyone outside of becoming a paid subscriber to a few on Substack - it gets expensive. When I am ready to donate what I can, I will go with Simon's suggestions.
Taking news in small bites helps keep the anxiety from crippling me. I look forward to reading Simon daily - he is a well-informed, hard working straight shooter who does his best to keep us lifted and encourages us to stay in the game !! Thank you, Simon
I resonate with this, Emily. I was saying to my husband yesterday as we listened to Simon during the webinar that I don’t know how I’d be handling things without him and Hopium. Not in a cultish way, but just seeing the bigger picture and noting what is important to focus on. I’m very grateful for him and the Hopium community.
I agree. Just yesterday someone on my local Indivisible FB group was saying that she had given up on calling our NC senators because it was pointless. I wrote that I disagreed because silence = consent (something I learned here). And then someone else wrote in to say that she had gone to Ted Budd's office because she heard he was looking for people to tell their personal stories about tariffs. As a small business owner, she was able to detail to his aide what is happening with her business, and he told her that 70% of the calls now are negative. The aide was very sympathetic and respectful. So cynics, lean into hope! Act hopeful even on the days when the clouds blot out the sun. What can it hurt?!
So I think about this (strong/weak) differently. I think of Winston Churchill when England stood alone and was getting bombed, and meanwhile my grandmother was hiding in an attic to prevent being murdered by nazis. If you prefer an American example consider the Continental army. My point is, whether you are weak or strong you have to fight for what is right, because fighting is the only choice we have.
After reading more comments on this thread I want to clarify my comments. It's not that it doesn't matter whether we are weak or strong. To me it matters in the sense that understanding one's relative strength/weakness against the enemy dictates the strategy/tactics one uses. The goal is always to win. To become stronger and stronger.
The most important thing is to never give up. That is actually a strength -- and history is full of examples that demonstrate this.
Last night was terrible. I alternated between insomnia and nightmares and I woke up shaking and crying.
The first thing I did when I finally dragged myself out of bed, before coffee even, was grab my iPad and look for Hopium. Somehow, overnight, I had forgotten that we are strong and they are weak. I needed a reminder, as I often do.
We are strong because we are compassionate. We stick together, we don’t give up. History tells us that these things matter.
If those words are meaningless to you, then they aren’t harming you. But some of us are grateful every single day to read them.
I first heard about Simon in February 2024, later than a lot of others. He was on with Lawrence O’Donnell, and I watched that clip over and over last year, to keep going.
Respectfully, Judy Williams, there are more constructive ways to comment and offer suggestions. I would also, kindly, suggest that we not use terms that speak for everyone - especially when criticizing Simon, Hopium or the Hopium community.
I get your point and feel your frustration, but this STRONG/WEAK rubric sets a tone that inspires... However, I agree it needs a little tweaking. Trump is strong not weak in his use of presidential power. Dems have been weak for so long in their response.
Morally, of course, there is no comparison, He is out to destroy so he can take over.
I looked up "republic" coming from the Latin "res publicus" . which washes down to - the power resides with the public. Right now power is not where it should be, but I feel we are gaining. We are becoming stronger.
I have a completely different reaction than you Judy, and I think the full phrasing that Simon uses sometimes helps a lot:
We are stronger than we think we are, and Trump is weaker than he thinks he is.
I have shared that version in many places with different people and groups, and it consistently hits people - they ask me to repeat it, they sit up straighter, they feel more ready to move to action, etc.
Dems have a confidence problem that Simon has talked about partly emanating from the communications we all get, but whatever the source, it really gets in the way. We have to coach each other to separate from it. And the strong man who is actually a weak man has been articulated well by Simon and Timothy Snyder. Last fall was last fall; I can't dwell there, and I heard Simon's message differently then anyway -- which way was momentum moving, how close it all was, etc. That momentum shifted at the end was horrifying and a surprise to just about everyone I follow.
Can you link to it? I will review. We do know that among Gen Z those over 24-25 voted more D, and that younger Gen Z are more open to Rs. I have discussed many times as all three of my kids are younger Gen Z and I think growing up with Trump as President, COVID and Biden's age/distance/struggle created a different politics for them.
Newsweek is all click bait now and you cannot trust anything they write about anything. I will review the poll separately and get back to you but this poll was conducted two weeks ago and Trump has fallen a lot since then. The data I provided today and yesterday is much more current as things are moving quickly.
I've read a little bit about this poll and it sounds like it's simply an under 30 poll and they've extrapolated the 18-21 year olds out to the whole cohort without weighting it to look like what the demographic look likes. In other words, you're looking at a cross tab which is always going to be noisy. Not saying they're not swinging 12 points to the Republicans, but we need to understand how they came to this number and that it's got a lot of uncertainty that they didn't weight for.
without knowing more, i'd suspect the numbers of young men are part of the problem, as a significant number are attracted to right wing ideas of masculinity and so on. trump spent hours appearing on brocasts over the past two years, and that is what these guys listen to.
It's almost as if randomly disappearing hispanic people from the streets lowers popularity with that group. Why there is still 25% approve.... who could possibly sort that out? But it looks like progress.
Set to make my 4-6 (depending on how I feel) calls to my Senators. I don't generally bother Maxwell Frost's people, who actually answer the phones and listen to me, and when I do it is generally only to thank them.
Having spoken with one of the 25% recently, on a long Uber ride, I can give a little insight into that. This gentleman, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told me that Bukele is the most popular leader in Latin America, and that many who hail from that part of the world wish there was a Bukele-like dictator to clean up the corruption and bring the gangs to heel in their countries. The 71% who disapprove of Trump are likely those who have been here long enough to know there's a better way.
What I've heard is Bukele plays both sides of the whole gang thing. He's not about breaking up the gangs so much as curating and managing them. Co-opting them perhaps.
YES, along with other outreach, it increases turnout by an average of 1-1.5%. That's not nothing in a close election. Statistics prove it. See my post below.
Rosemary, I recently moved to Montgomery County and would love to get involved in this effort. Is there a link you could provide or something? Thank you so much!
I'm really proud of Van Hollen for what he did. That's the kind of action we need to be seeing. Hopefully we keep seeing more of this from Dems. I feel like the urgency has really come after Booker's speech.
I’m dismayed to see an article about Dems being divided about how big a deal they should make of this. We cannot be the party of pusillanimity. Grateful to those showing a spine, and making phone calls to encourage my reps to do more.
We hosted our NM CD2 Congressman Gabe Vasquez at our home last night after his Town Hall in Silver City New Mexico. He wanted a more intimate gathering of local supporters for one on one discussions around the issues. I asked him what could be done about the destructive trade war trump has launched and specifically what the House could do to take back the responsibility granted them by the Constitutions around tariffs. He said that the House voted to capitulate to trump in the Budget Reconciliation vote in February and in fact ceded their authority to perform their duty and that there is really nothing that can be done until they retake the majority in 26.
My question for fellow Hopium members and Simon, if he cares to weigh in, is how that squares with what Senator Kaine is proposing? Is this true?
Thank you for last night's inspiring chat! I was busy all day, so reporting what I did yesterday. In the afternoon, I called Sen. Booker & Sen. Kim to urge them to speak out for Mr. Abrego Garcia, and am thrilled that Sen. Booker will be heading down to El Salvador soon. They don't know what they're in for!
Also called Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ04) to reprimand him for NOT speaking out since he professes to be an advocate for trafficking victims. Reminded the person who answered that what happened to Mr. Abrego Garcia was not deportation, it was abduction!
this will probably happen at some point
Simon, thank you for last night’s great subscriber chat. I think you hit on a very important point when you said that what Trump is doing to us is best described as sabotage. The Britannica Dictionary defines sabotage as “the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly.” That’s exactly what Trump is doing to America. We don’t need to know the exact terms of the deal between Trump and Putin to recognize and – importantly – to name sabotage when it’s right in front of our eyes.
I believe that to name something is to get power over it. Framing an issue is such an important act. We Democrats sometimes don’t take the time to figure out how to best frame an issue, especially with a focus on our audience. Think of “Defund the Police.” We knew what we meant, but the framing we chose made it sound as if we were against the laws and on the side of criminals. Republicans were able to seize on it and use it very effectively against us. Framing matters. As an appellate lawyer, I always knew that if I could get the court to accept my framing of the issue, I’d be much more likely to win. Conversely, if I had to spend my limited pages fighting against my opponents’ framing, I’d be more likely to lose. Once the court accepted a frame, they were unlikely to move off of it.
I agree with you that sabotage better describes what Trump is doing than “oligarchy” or “fascism.” Trump isn’t trying to be the dictator of a strong nation. He is doing everything he can to make America a weak, failed, impotent nation. Sabotage is a much better way to frame the discussion.
Sabotage is also good framing because it gets at your point that Trump is making us weaker, poorer, less respected, less safe, more alone. It opens up the second front that you’ve been talking about. And, it provides the framework for your Letter to America. Everything Trump is doing can be hung on the scaffolding of his sabotage of us, our Constitution, our tripartite form of government, our courts, our Congress, our economy, and his usurpation of our rights. Sabotage makes the other side weak and Trump is making America weak. “Stop the Sabotage” is a short, pithy, quotable motto. I think we need to move this into our national discourse as soon and as fully as possible. A good frame is only effective when it gets repeated over and over. Thank you so much for doing the deep thinking needed to get at this vital point.
Catherine I liked what you said so much I am sending an edited version (below( to both my senators today. So this is my self report too. Thank you!
Dear Senator:
What Trump is doing to us citizens and this country is best described as sabotage. The Britannica Dictionary defines sabotage as “the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly.” That’s exactly what Trump is doing to America. We don’t need to know the exact terms of any deal between Trump and Putin to recognize and – importantly – to name sabotage when it’s right in front of our eyes.
The term sabotage describes what Trump is doing to this country far better than “oligarchy” or “fascism.” Think about disappearing people who are denied due process. Think about going after people and institutions who disagree with him or his policies. Trump isn’t trying to be the dictator of a strong nation. No, he is doing everything he can to make America a weak, failed, impotent nation.
Trump is making us weaker, poorer, less respected, less safe, more alone. Everything being done can be hung on the scaffolding of his sabotage of us, our Constitution, our tripartite form of government, our courts, our Congress, our economy, and his usurpation of our rights. Sabotage makes the other side weak and Trump is making America weak. Call this out with a clear letter to America about what is happening and what needs to happen to stop the abuse of power that is happening on so many fronts. Repeat these words every day. Stop the Sabotage!
Thank you.
I will do the same!!
Who among us in this chat is going to suggest the phrase Stop the Sabotage to Bernie and AOC? They need to start using it at their rallies!!! Anyone in this group who can do that????
Great idea!, I'm going to do this too! Stop the Sabotage! By the way, for the word nerds out there, the original French noun, saboter, means to walk in clunky wooden shoes, bungling things. I hope a cartoonist picks up on this and illustrates all of that craven crew in big wooden shoes, stomping all over our beloved country.
And weren’t Russian planes reported flying in American airspace off Alaska yesterday? Heard very little about this since our local media picked up wire service. Highly likely that the saboteur label is accurate.
Calls made and always recorded, and, cut off in 2minutes.
Well said!
Catherine, I love "Stop the Sabotage!" It is pithy like "Stop the Steal" which we know worked for the R's.
Right on, Catherine!!!! And it may be worth reminding people that this isn't his first rodeo on this front, either. The leading scientific journal in the world described his COVID response (once he was safely out of office) as "not just ineptitude, but sabotage."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02800-9
Covid really started to hit us five years ago at this time. By the time Trump slithered out of the White House and back to Mar-a-Lago in January of 2021, Covid had claimed 400,000 US lives. As many as we lost on the battlefields in nearly four years of World War Two.
By comparison, Japan lost about 5000 (five thousand) in the same period.
Right on Thomas. In fact, if you combine Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, you will have:
* A combined population greater than ours was
* All countries closer to ground zero than we were
" All countries with fewer resources and considered less prepared than we were
* All far more densely populated than the US except Australia and New Zealand
* Collectively representing a diversity of ethnicities
* Collectively lost only about 20K of their citizens while we lost 400K, and that excludes an additional million+ excess deaths they occurred while Trump was doing everything he could to suppress testing (which he admitted doing )
I spent most of the 1970s in Asia -- and most of that in Japan, which I consider my second home. From the start of the outbreak, I was extremely interested in how they would handle it. Like you say, much more densely populated -- put 1/3 of the USA in California -- and also about ten years older on average.
And... they never locked down their economy as China did. I was praying and begging that our leaders would see what the successful countries were doing and show the metrics of success -- and save lives.
thank you.
Thanks much for the additional context, Thomas :) One thing I just realized--I left out one country that went into that statistic: Hong Kong.
(Like) .. South Korea got hit very hard. It's a predominantly Christian country and people go into churches and really shout and sing out. A big no-no for Covid -- and they paid a steep price.
In Japan -- which are 99% non-church goers -- they early on closed karaoke rooms and banned that singing from bars. They were not sure about their pinball (pachinko) parlors -- where hundreds of people sit shoulder to shoulder for hours on end -- so they tried leaving them open, and found through their first-rate contact tracing system that nobody contracted Covid from one of those sites.
You might even call COVID a dry run for this
I like "Stop the sabotage" but we need to be very careful to make sure that people understand that we mean Trump's sabotage because the right will immediately switch it to "Stop the radical left's sabotage of Trump". I suggest we say: "Stop Trump's sabotage of America".
Catherine, I'm about to post a sticker pack you inspired on today's chat (crediting you), and thought I'd go back to the original thread to make sure you see it. The sticker shows an angry eagle on top of the Capitol with wings outstretched; he/she is angry b/c someone (or someones) have removed so many of his/her wing feathers that they can no longer fly. We can see who those someones are b/c they're up in the clouds laughing. The slogan on the sticker is yours: Stop The Sabotage, with Sabotage written in a font that has, itself, been sabotaged; stop is a shade of white, the is a shade of blue, and sabotage is orange red. Thanks much for the inspiration :) Hope you like it! :)
https://creativepoli.net/stop_sabotage_stickers
Self reporting here. I am part of Indivisible Twin Cities and on Tuesday morning, our group along with MN50501 and Women's March Minnesota decided to hold a protest at the El Salvadoran consulate in St. Paul. The rally was yesterday at 3 pm and over 500 people showed up! We had coverage on at least two local news stations and the cherry on top was that MAGA Congressman Pete Stauber, who is from a totally different area of Minnesota issued a statement questioning our priorities! Somebody needs to give Stauber some better advice because he's too afraid to meet constituents, but he's a Trump collaborator in a fascist power grab to eliminate the constitution he swore to defend. We are going to take him for a ride today.
So, with little planning and little time, we put more than 500 people on the street outside the consulate!
Just keep doing the work! We are on the right side here. The polling is favoring us and Trump is getting desperate. Last night, Seb Gorka went on TV to threaten anyone who supports releasing Garcia with jail time. They are afraid and they are weak and we are strong!
You go Tim. This is great work!!!!
Amazing Tim. Thank you.
As I've been saying here for some time the more local actors can plan and run these kind of events the more sustainable and effective we will be. Local ownership is key.
Exactly right. The fact that is local people organizing and showing up is what gets the local media coverage as well.
Wonderful idea, Tim! Good for you!
Thank you Tim. Word is Congressman Pete is meeting with republicans only in the Cloquet public library on Monday. Cloquet’s Individual group will be protesting.
Sending good wishes from Mpls
That’s great to hear. The more we tie him to Trump, the better.
What a great idea, Tim. If I were in a cartoon strip, you would see a light bulb turn on over my head. The Salvadoran consulate in Silver Spring, MD, is a mere 15 minute walk from my house. I think my neighbors and I can organize a protest there.
Yes! And once people see you doing this, they will know it's ok to join!
great idea!!!
Hi Meg, please let us know a date and time if you're able to get something organized and post on this thread. I have family who live in Silver Spring and they would love to participate.
Here are some links to our local news coverage and some YouTube videos that may give you some ideas for your rally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqYXUfFK7ew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJtDC50avS4&list=PL2svnUWcQOUXkNno03F03CqhXF6KqMy4V
Fantastic!!!
Tim, I was there! It was so well done. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Also I’m very curious about the ride you are taking Stauber on!
Going to issue some statements making clear that he is a Trump collaborator and is working to destroy the very constitution he swore an oath to.
Thank you for being there. We may do more in the near future, so stay tuned!
Great job Tim - I live in Staubers district... people are waning on him a bit. Cheater at Hockey (hockey is the world around here) some reports he's been abusive to down syndrome son but of course he received an award years ago for it. He was a cop. His own city of Hermantown voted against him in 2024.
He's such a terrible person.
They also voted against him in 2018 and 2022.
Wonderful! Excellent!
I agree, last night was excellent, and I felt such a sense of community. Thank you. And I will continue to call my Senators daily and support our VA candidate for Governor, Abigail Spanberger.
I went to a rally to support our Senator Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador. Maybe 300 people there, including the County Executive, Council President, other county council members and our three delegates to the General Assembly, among others. Also called my Senators and Congressional rep. I am fortunate in that Jamie Raskin is my representative and Van Hollen is one of my senators.
lucky you!!
I am a Md. resident also - very grateful to be living in Maryland.
I have made calls to my reps and tuned in to town halls. They don’t need to be pushed to fight … they are working hard and doing their best. Look at Chris Van Hollen. I wish I could call some red state reps.
They do not need to be pushed, but. they need to know what we are interested in having them do. I called Van Hollen's office to thank him for what he did. I let Alsobrooks know that I approved of Chris's actions, too. I have also called the MD AG's office to thank him for standing with the other Dem AG's and filing suits against the Trump admin.
Simon Please stop!!!! We are strong he is WEAK means so little to us after you repeated it so many times before the election...PLEASE PLEASE pick some other way of speaking....this is such a turn off when you say it because it is meaningless now after hearing you say it so many times during the election and we clung to that then ..not now. Judy Williams Cincinnati
Judy, I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism but I am not open to people impulsively telling me what I must do. Please take this post down and rewrite it so the tone is more appropriate to how we talk to one another here.
I will also remind you and everyone else that 7 of the 8 major forecasters incl 538 and Nate Silver had Harris winning. I understand your point here but what I have written is true and I stand by every word of it.
I think it's fine Simon. Everywhere else on the internet we have to hear the defeatism, it's fine to have someone here pumping us up a bit.
I was referring to Simon's post, not JW's.
I am so grateful for Hopium. “Little cracks can become big cracks.” It’s also clear that pressure is working.
Respectfully Judy, Trump is the epitome of weakness. An incompetent bully who retreats when challenged. If our government is failing us, it has far more to do with craven members of Congress, almost exclusively Republicans, who prioritize greed and the perception of power over principle.
I felt like this after the election, but after a while I realized that hope from the Hopium Chronicles was one of the few things keeping me sane during the election. Hope from the Hopium Chronicles is keeping me sane now. I have seen people I follow on YouTube post videos saying that at this point there is nothing we can do to make a difference. That's how DJT wants you to feel. I refuse to give up. We need hope.
Yes the cynics, we suck and nothing matters people are doing MAGA's work for them.
I find myself demoralized but I struggle not to give up. Hopium, MeidasTouch, Jim Acosta and others on Substack give me hope. It also helps enormously to know that I am not alone. Do I get frustrated (hello Schumer)? Yes. But I will continue to stay informed, albeit in smaller doses that I used to and do my small part in ways that I feel comfortable. For now, I am not ready to donate to anyone outside of becoming a paid subscriber to a few on Substack - it gets expensive. When I am ready to donate what I can, I will go with Simon's suggestions.
Totally agree, Cindy!
Taking news in small bites helps keep the anxiety from crippling me. I look forward to reading Simon daily - he is a well-informed, hard working straight shooter who does his best to keep us lifted and encourages us to stay in the game !! Thank you, Simon
I am so appreciative that we have Simon and other strong voices on Substack.
Positive engagement with Simon and the Hopium Community helps me in many ways, and fits me like a glove!!
I resonate with this, Emily. I was saying to my husband yesterday as we listened to Simon during the webinar that I don’t know how I’d be handling things without him and Hopium. Not in a cultish way, but just seeing the bigger picture and noting what is important to focus on. I’m very grateful for him and the Hopium community.
I agree. Just yesterday someone on my local Indivisible FB group was saying that she had given up on calling our NC senators because it was pointless. I wrote that I disagreed because silence = consent (something I learned here). And then someone else wrote in to say that she had gone to Ted Budd's office because she heard he was looking for people to tell their personal stories about tariffs. As a small business owner, she was able to detail to his aide what is happening with her business, and he told her that 70% of the calls now are negative. The aide was very sympathetic and respectful. So cynics, lean into hope! Act hopeful even on the days when the clouds blot out the sun. What can it hurt?!
So I think about this (strong/weak) differently. I think of Winston Churchill when England stood alone and was getting bombed, and meanwhile my grandmother was hiding in an attic to prevent being murdered by nazis. If you prefer an American example consider the Continental army. My point is, whether you are weak or strong you have to fight for what is right, because fighting is the only choice we have.
After reading more comments on this thread I want to clarify my comments. It's not that it doesn't matter whether we are weak or strong. To me it matters in the sense that understanding one's relative strength/weakness against the enemy dictates the strategy/tactics one uses. The goal is always to win. To become stronger and stronger.
The most important thing is to never give up. That is actually a strength -- and history is full of examples that demonstrate this.
Last night was terrible. I alternated between insomnia and nightmares and I woke up shaking and crying.
The first thing I did when I finally dragged myself out of bed, before coffee even, was grab my iPad and look for Hopium. Somehow, overnight, I had forgotten that we are strong and they are weak. I needed a reminder, as I often do.
We are strong because we are compassionate. We stick together, we don’t give up. History tells us that these things matter.
If those words are meaningless to you, then they aren’t harming you. But some of us are grateful every single day to read them.
I first heard about Simon in February 2024, later than a lot of others. He was on with Lawrence O’Donnell, and I watched that clip over and over last year, to keep going.
https://youtu.be/0GqqxkQH1Fs?t=738
Respectfully, Judy Williams, there are more constructive ways to comment and offer suggestions. I would also, kindly, suggest that we not use terms that speak for everyone - especially when criticizing Simon, Hopium or the Hopium community.
I get your point and feel your frustration, but this STRONG/WEAK rubric sets a tone that inspires... However, I agree it needs a little tweaking. Trump is strong not weak in his use of presidential power. Dems have been weak for so long in their response.
Morally, of course, there is no comparison, He is out to destroy so he can take over.
I looked up "republic" coming from the Latin "res publicus" . which washes down to - the power resides with the public. Right now power is not where it should be, but I feel we are gaining. We are becoming stronger.
The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.
Good Tweak.. thanks
I have a completely different reaction than you Judy, and I think the full phrasing that Simon uses sometimes helps a lot:
We are stronger than we think we are, and Trump is weaker than he thinks he is.
I have shared that version in many places with different people and groups, and it consistently hits people - they ask me to repeat it, they sit up straighter, they feel more ready to move to action, etc.
Dems have a confidence problem that Simon has talked about partly emanating from the communications we all get, but whatever the source, it really gets in the way. We have to coach each other to separate from it. And the strong man who is actually a weak man has been articulated well by Simon and Timothy Snyder. Last fall was last fall; I can't dwell there, and I heard Simon's message differently then anyway -- which way was momentum moving, how close it all was, etc. That momentum shifted at the end was horrifying and a surprise to just about everyone I follow.
To be fair, he was WEAK in November...
It just turned out we were weaker :)
Sorry. Just some dark humor.
Just remember, "either we hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Ba-dum, tsshhh.
Thanks Simon! What are your thoughts on the latest Yale Poll showing 18 to 21 year olds swinging 12 percentage points to republicans?
Can you link to it? I will review. We do know that among Gen Z those over 24-25 voted more D, and that younger Gen Z are more open to Rs. I have discussed many times as all three of my kids are younger Gen Z and I think growing up with Trump as President, COVID and Biden's age/distance/struggle created a different politics for them.
https://www.newsweek.com/republican-support-poll-young-gen-z-2060258
Newsweek is all click bait now and you cannot trust anything they write about anything. I will review the poll separately and get back to you but this poll was conducted two weeks ago and Trump has fallen a lot since then. The data I provided today and yesterday is much more current as things are moving quickly.
Why is trump
Acceptable to these young people?
I've read a little bit about this poll and it sounds like it's simply an under 30 poll and they've extrapolated the 18-21 year olds out to the whole cohort without weighting it to look like what the demographic look likes. In other words, you're looking at a cross tab which is always going to be noisy. Not saying they're not swinging 12 points to the Republicans, but we need to understand how they came to this number and that it's got a lot of uncertainty that they didn't weight for.
without knowing more, i'd suspect the numbers of young men are part of the problem, as a significant number are attracted to right wing ideas of masculinity and so on. trump spent hours appearing on brocasts over the past two years, and that is what these guys listen to.
I agree there is an issue with young men, but there's also an issue with what is being inferred from this poll.
It's almost as if randomly disappearing hispanic people from the streets lowers popularity with that group. Why there is still 25% approve.... who could possibly sort that out? But it looks like progress.
Set to make my 4-6 (depending on how I feel) calls to my Senators. I don't generally bother Maxwell Frost's people, who actually answer the phones and listen to me, and when I do it is generally only to thank them.
Having spoken with one of the 25% recently, on a long Uber ride, I can give a little insight into that. This gentleman, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told me that Bukele is the most popular leader in Latin America, and that many who hail from that part of the world wish there was a Bukele-like dictator to clean up the corruption and bring the gangs to heel in their countries. The 71% who disapprove of Trump are likely those who have been here long enough to know there's a better way.
What I've heard is Bukele plays both sides of the whole gang thing. He's not about breaking up the gangs so much as curating and managing them. Co-opting them perhaps.
The Democratic club of Montgomery County,MD are writing postcards to Virginia to voters who sat out the last election.Rosie E.
Does this really make any difference? So much junk mail in the postal mail and email.
YES, along with other outreach, it increases turnout by an average of 1-1.5%. That's not nothing in a close election. Statistics prove it. See my post below.
Thank you
Yes. Please see the book Get Out the Vote by Donald P. Green.
Rosemary, I recently moved to Montgomery County and would love to get involved in this effort. Is there a link you could provide or something? Thank you so much!
I'm really proud of Van Hollen for what he did. That's the kind of action we need to be seeing. Hopefully we keep seeing more of this from Dems. I feel like the urgency has really come after Booker's speech.
I’m dismayed to see an article about Dems being divided about how big a deal they should make of this. We cannot be the party of pusillanimity. Grateful to those showing a spine, and making phone calls to encourage my reps to do more.
We hosted our NM CD2 Congressman Gabe Vasquez at our home last night after his Town Hall in Silver City New Mexico. He wanted a more intimate gathering of local supporters for one on one discussions around the issues. I asked him what could be done about the destructive trade war trump has launched and specifically what the House could do to take back the responsibility granted them by the Constitutions around tariffs. He said that the House voted to capitulate to trump in the Budget Reconciliation vote in February and in fact ceded their authority to perform their duty and that there is really nothing that can be done until they retake the majority in 26.
My question for fellow Hopium members and Simon, if he cares to weigh in, is how that squares with what Senator Kaine is proposing? Is this true?
I do not agree with this interpretation. A majority of the House can pass a non-emergency bill. It is unlikely but it is not impossible.
Thanks, I'll relay that to Gabe and if you happen to talk to him or his staff please do the same.
Thank you for last night's inspiring chat! I was busy all day, so reporting what I did yesterday. In the afternoon, I called Sen. Booker & Sen. Kim to urge them to speak out for Mr. Abrego Garcia, and am thrilled that Sen. Booker will be heading down to El Salvador soon. They don't know what they're in for!
Also called Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ04) to reprimand him for NOT speaking out since he professes to be an advocate for trafficking victims. Reminded the person who answered that what happened to Mr. Abrego Garcia was not deportation, it was abduction!
Keep Going!
Abduction. Kidnapping.
Letter to America. Need language yes yes 👍 🙌🏼
Hi Simon
thanks for your insights, your writing, the videos and yes to your Substack!
Trump never had any competence
I’m a Manhattanite since 1978 and I second that emotion!
Thank you for the chats. He is a critical threat and saboteur! We must stop him, at all costs.