Robert, I appreciate your belief that Trump's defiance of court orders will not cause us to lose our democracy. Your examples make a lot of sense.
That view allows us the breathing room to keep fighting no matter how he flaunts the rules in his desperate overreach for money and power to fill that forever empty hole where his heart and self-esteem were supposed to be.
Thank you too, for continuing to be positive about the fact that if we don't give up, we will win. We will win.
But as we citizens do all we can do, I suggest that the Democrats catch up to their unelected, unpaid constituents ASAP. There is no longer any excuse for elected Democrats to be trailing their voters when it comes to uniting and fighting for our freedoms and the rule of law.
If they don't start working as a smart, aggressive, united group to save democracy and help the people in this country, then they are sending a message that they don't understand how dangerous and lawless the white "christian" nationalist party in the White House has become to our current and future health, happiness and safety.
If they keep sending that message, we will need to find more intuitive, tough and effective leaders, because the stakes are too high for any other kind.
Peace and thanks to everyone working--in big ways and small ways--to preserve this country as a free, healthy, law-abiding and prosperous land for ALL of its citizens.
“To the contrary, I am bewildered that the streets are not overflowing with protesters.”
I’ll be honest. I have a finite amount of time. I’m retired and healthy and have the wherewithal to spend multiple hours a day, calling members of Congress, writing letters to the editor, staying informed, registering voters, volunteering for (currently) local candidates, etc., but maybe these traditional activist strategies are not what’s needed now. I don’t know.
I’m happy to and have joined organized protests, and I think they’re important, but I am out of time!
Texas makes it hard to register and vote. That’s where much of my time goes, but the legislature is matching that effort by making it even harder!
I won’t quit fighting, but I have to say this is where we need leadership.
On Saturday mornings, take an hour to meet your friends and neighbors at a weekly protest. Read the ACLU link on right to protest without a permit, make a sign protesting the topic du jour and just get out there!
Three saturdays ago, our village saw 25 protesters, the next weekend, 45 showed up and last week 70. Cars and pick up trucks driving by honked support for an hour. Reclaim the flag, have a cathartic yell and return the following week.
HA! You wanna come see MY neighbors? Notice that Tennessee isn't even MENTIONED in news about protests! That's because there ARE none! My daughter and I will travel 4 hours to Knoxville on April 5 for the nationwide protest by many groups that have joined together and I am honestly wondering if anyone but us will be there. We have THREE Tesla dealerships in the state and NO ONE has gathered to protest there. It really feels hopeless from this blood red, land-locked, ignorant state. Bernie, PLEASE come HERE!!
Jan, I feel your pain! My husband and I lived in Tennessee for seven long years, and it felt as if our votes were utterly useless. But I want you to know how grateful we are to you and your daughter for standing up for what is right in a place where you won't get any "atta girls" for your efforts! It takes courage. Thank you (from the very blue state of California.)
I get it. Easy for me in a Blue state to say get out there. Glad you can make the trip to DC April 5!
I just met up with a family from Missouri taking a week out of their lives to protest in DC. They made nice signs, put their four kids in the car, drove 13 hours and took to the sidewalks of Capitol Hill.
Just in case you'd like to send your message directly to Bernie's office, you can find his contact information here: https://berniesanders.com/contact/
I will follow that advice. Thank you! With voter registration, here in Texas, I feel like we’re chipping away at a hole with spoons…thousands of us, all the time. Then the legislature comes in with a bulldozer and wipes out any potential gains through new “voter integrity” laws and gerrymandering. . What we’ve been seeing in red states for years is just now becoming clearer to some blue states folks, I think.
You are right, Cathy, even in red states like mine (Indiana), the slow grinding mechanism of voter repression does not get much attention. (Please continue you work. How can we help?). It's complex; it's behind closed or only partially opened, and the news ignores it. And MSNBC gives a few minutes to 350 killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, and five minutes to a new novel by Emma Donoghue (nothing wrong with that, says this English teacher, but it emphasizes that the news and literature for that matter is all about entertainment), and sets up the Constitutional Crisis as a one-on-one between the defiant DOJ lawyer and the Judge who "chides" him for not answering poor judgie-wudgie's question. Boy that must honk off the judge. Stay tuned for this dramatic battle.....And this is 1,000 times better than FOX, cheering the illegal cruelty to whoever these men are.now incarcerated in another country, out of reach of our laws.
I help from the red state of Kansas by writing postcards for postcards@tonythedemocrat.org. Right now we are writing for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April I. It's not too late to join.
Robert, thanks for your writing and your welcome confidence in our long term success. I share your view and the commitment to never give up.
I’m not surprised that people are not yet overflowing in the streets. That kind of momentum takes time to build. We need only look to the most recent examples in our history, the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, the anti-war and feminist movements of the 60s and 70s, and the Black Lives Matter movement that actually began with the murder of Trayvon Martin, but came into its own after the murder of George Floyd.
And Cathy, the leadership we need is emerging. Not in the form of a single charismatic politician, but in grassroots organizations like Indivisible, Move On, Working Families Party, and 50501 who are working collaboratively to build the level of resistance and refusal to this latest assault on our democracy by the billionaires.
We need to be more than activists. We need to be organizers. Does that sound scary? It’s not. It just means inviting a few friends to take an action with you. Let’s do it!
Love that you’re working on voter registration. That is a critical piece to counter the Republican’s continued voter suppression. I hope the DNC is doing this work in every county of every state.
This Friday I will be going to the Denver Civic Center Park to hear Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They are leading the way for Democrats. Let’s be calling and writing our Reps and Senators to get them active. Actually, my Representative is Brittany Pettersen who flew to D.C. with her four week old baby to vote. She came back to her district and held a packed Town Hall and participated in a Support Ukraine Rally.
Let’s get others fired up and keep our energy by staying balanced and strong. Thank you.
I am heartened when I read your posts, even if I am terribly frightened.
I have a genetic terminal disease and am now unable to sit up, never mind move my body. It is a terrible feeling, to have been a trained Holocaust scholar and yet be unable to use that at all when the time came that it was all being relevant. So I am glad that there ARE people who are working all facets in order to save our democracy.
I worry a lot about Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security, both because of household income and because the minute that Medicaid and/or Medicare are not covering me, I will die shortly thereafter. Supports from both direct medical care and having paid home health care have bought me an extra 16 years in ways big and small. And currently I am alive solely because of those supports. Losing drugs at this point would end my life quickly enough.
Too much staring at my own mortality in ways big and small for sure.
Hi, Rebecca. I am sorry to hear of your challenges, but know that you are an inspiration to others. Your voice matters, so keep posting here. And share your knowledge to the extent you can, given your need to tend to your health. Bless you and your family.
Your post is raw and gut-wrenching. Thank you for sharing what must also be true for countless other Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Please keep the faith. We must keep fighting! Sending a virtual hug.
I’m so sorry to hear your story and wish you well. You said you’d like to make use of your knowledge. If you are willing, I suggest either writing an op-ed AND/OR making contact with journalists highlighting the personal stories of those at high risk of the threatened cuts to Medicaid, Medicare & Soc Security. The perspective of your scholarly expertise combined with your medical challenges create a compelling and impactful human interest case. 😢
Rebecca, thanks and take care as best you can. Know that you are not alone. I colleague and friend posted on FB yesterday that a former co-worker had been notified recently that her social security monthly check would be reduced by 600/month. Guess they needed more for the billionaires.
All of it is outrageous. Let’s us never not be outraged and continue to fight as best we can.
I am sorry for your situation 😔! I am healthy and am grateful every day. I'm also grateful to my daughter-in-law who shared on Facebook the Letters From an American by historian Heather Cox Richardson. You will gain hope if you check her out. 3 million people from around the world are followers and she gives us hope. She has opened a YouTube account that's new but her Facebook page has everything she's written. She will do her weekly live broadcast today at 4 pm Eastern which I will watch.
Thanks for sharing this, Rebecca, and much courage to you. Please take care as best as you are able. Holocaust, scholarship, illness, state medical insurance . . . so much of this resonates.
What you have done, and continue to do, resonates. It strengthens the collective memory in favor of truth and critique. You have helped us. I am a firm believer that writing, especially after the advent of the internet, is a viable and legitimate outlet that facilitates enlightenment, access, activism and community. The able-bodied and less vulnerable can go out in the streets. Yet those who think, write and communicate also embody solidarity. It is no less valuable.
Rebecca - I am so sorry for your predicament. How frustrating for you to have this knowledge and not be able to share it at this time! But I'm so glad you sent in this comment, and the next time I write a postcard or go to a protest or make my voice heard in any way, I will be doing it for both of us. (And so many others who are scared and suffering in this country.) Blessings.
Thank you for your continued diligent and concise reporting.Last week I sent the following message to all nine of the SCOTUS justices. I urge others to do likewise.
Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20543
Dear Justice Roberts,
At this inflexion point in the history of the United States, nothing is more important than upholding the rule of law. I request that, as lawsuits brought against President Donald Trump make their way to the Supreme Court, you address this matter with the utmost urgency, at every juncture, by ruling in alignment with the oaths you took in assuming your seat on the Supreme Court:
• To support and defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies both foreign and domestic; and
• To administer justice without respect to persons . . . and with equal right to the rich and the poor.
Janina, this letter to the Justices is excellent. I have been wondering and asking about why a letter writing campaign like this wasn’t being organized. With you great example, I’m going to promote the idea as you have done.
I agree fully with Robert: we have not lost democracy, but we do face grievous injury from accelerated decimation. I am hurt by the attacks on scientific research, as well as broader attacks on research universities now. There are a number of developments on the legal front. They are following an autocratic playbook, and it is up to us, as well as the courts, to continue resistance. The Heritage Foundation is plotting to dismantle the EU under similar, pro-nationalist grounds. https://www.desmog.com/2025/03/14/heritage-foundation-project-2025-allies-mcc-ordo-iuris-discuss-dismantling-the-eu-european-union/
This development on blocking far right Bosnian separatists last week went under the radar for me, and maybe for many -- perhaps because focus has largely been on Ukraine. It is really quite something, led by Rubio (yes, that Rubio). While he circumvented the EU proper, which is troubling, even European allies were surprised by the positive American intervention. Well worth the read: https://www.justsecurity.org/109078/rubio-europe-bosnia-separatists/
Already, there has been DOJ defiance to Judge Alsup's injunction to reinstate probationary workers. They have been placed en masse on admin leave, directly contravening Alsup's order. Yesterday Alsup ruled he needs lists of all employees who were wrongfully placed on leave by today: March 18th. Alsup is damn serious and thorough -- and now seriously pissed off -- if you caught his original ruling a few days ago.
From above article (Slate) on Judge Pryor, in the Florida case: "It is hard to overstate the significance of these words coming from the pen of a deeply conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Federalist Society stalwart like Pryor. He is arguably the most influential appeals court judge active today: Supreme Court justices regularly cite him by name, invoking his authority to bolster their own arguments—a rare honor reserved for marquee lower-court jurists. By embracing the constitutionality of Florida’s law, he has instantly increased the odds that SCOTUS will say such age restrictions comply with the Second Amendment."
It is! And it also made me think of a counter-strategy: this successfully pushes back against FS-aligned ideology from the inside. It's like the Overton window is pulled a bit to the center from the extremist fringe by an older conservative.
That's what Alsup seeks today in court. He wants receipts because his first injunction was very thorough. He even told them point blank: you don't have to wait for a written order (which he provided). This is the order.
Indivisible is organizing a nationwide mobilization for Saturday, April 5th. "We're taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!"
My group, Indivisible Onondaga County, has been growing rapidly in members the last few weeks. There are 1600 Indivisible groups in the nation, and 73 new Indivisible groups cropped up just last week- to include Alaska and Montana!
One US Government expense that I feel confident is multiples of Biden's is the expense of securing the president and transporting him. From what I've read, Trump plays more golf than any other president by a lot and he travels to Florida at the drop of a hat, often just to play golf. Funds for Golf ("FFG") is absolutely sacrosanct and will never be subject to DOGE scrutiny. This strikes me as the 21st Century equivalent of "Let them eat cake".
Why aren‘t Democratic organizations publicizing the expense of transporting DFT to and from Florida? Taxpayers pay a pretty penny for his upkeep in DC.
100% THIS, and we each must do our best to advocate to our circle of friends, family, and the next generation. The current political system is all these 20-somethings have known since they legally became adults.
====== Robert writes: =====
"To the contrary, I am bewildered that the streets are not overflowing with protesters. I do not understand how so many Americans can passively watch the dismantling of the federal government. I do not understand how our congressional leaders can act as though we are powerless to resist the unfolding constitutional crisis."
I think there are a couple of reasons behind this.
One, we *have* seen multiple pretty significanty sized protests already. However, much of legacy media has already "bent the knee" and downplay them, if they bother to report on them at all. IMO, this inhibits the growth of the protest movement because many Americans who oppose Trump may feel like they're a minority or all alone, even though they're not.
Two, the biggest truism about American politics was articulated by James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid." Trump/Musk/MAGA haven't completely wrecked the American economy yet. More mass protests, and regular Marches on Washington and state capitols, aren't going to occur until far more Americans feel it in their pocketbook. They also haven't (yet) fully touched the third rail of American politics: SS and Medicare/Medicaid.
We may not see the economic fallout, and ensuing mass protests/civil disobedeance from their dystopian/libertarian cuts until sometime in 2025.
Call out your local media if they’re not accurately reporting about protests or DOGE.
My Gannett paper is slowly coming around with pressure.Multiple emails to Exec Ed and Op Ed. Also ask them who they rely on for feeds (Reuters,USA TODAY +) and send links with requests to publish.You may just be surprised!
Do you live in an area where a SS office is closing? 📣
“An internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo, sent on March 13 and obtained by Popular Information, details proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving benefits.”
Chris, you may be right but I offer two observations. First, loud mouth and offensive James Carville is overrated. Second, there are many citizen voters who care about our country’s democracy and constitutional law and other.
Yes! It may take some time to get people to recognize that this lawless administration is gutting the very fabric of our social contract that another jerk, Newt Gingrich, was promoting in the 90s in an egregious manner.
We citizens must rally our compatriots and build a long term collaborative effort with a broader understanding of our shared values and governing principles. Not an easy task. So, in the meantime we need to fight like hell, getting a louder and broader ranging megaphone to push back against misinformation and distrust.
“Are you worried?” That is always the first question.
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
I have had a version of this conversation on and off for years. Since Jan. 20, 2025, I have had it nearly every day.
During his first term Trump posted on Twitter that I was the Democratic Party’s “best Election stealing lawyer.” At the time I took it as an odd form of compliment. Since then, his focus on me has become both more intense and more sinister.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what triggered his current hatred. Recently, Trump and his supporters have pointed to my work as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 general counsel. But his obsession — and that of his loyal minions — did not truly take hold until 2020.
That year, I litigated dozens of cases to ensure citizens could vote in the middle of a pandemic. That meant expanding opportunities to vote by mail and reducing the number of ballots wrongfully rejected by overburdened election systems.
In the aftermath of that election, my team and I defeated Trump’s effort to overturn the results — winning more than 60 court cases on behalf of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
During the height of that effort, on Dec. 7, 2020, an angry Lou Dobbs chastised Stephen Miller on TV for losing so many cases to me. “Marc Elias, why don’t you put together a half-billion dollars and go hire him and get him out of your way?” Miller looked stricken.
In the years that followed, Republicans regularly blamed me for their election losses. Steve Bannon described me as “the gold standard” and frequently complained to his audience that Republicans needed to either recruit me or find someone to match me.
In a 2023 video, Kash Patel, now the FBI director, stated: “He is the enemy of the Republican Party because he always finds a way to win in state court and federal court on election matters, and he has been doing it like a machine for the last decade.
So, if you want someone who is that talented and that good, there is only one guy, and I hate to say it—it’s Marc Elias.”
But during that time, something had changed in Trump. In the closing weeks of his administration, Trump’s attorney general appointed John Durham as a Special Counsel to investigate the origins of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Durham’s investigation ultimately led to the indictment of two individuals — one of whom was a law partner of mine. Both men were acquitted after short jury deliberations.
Despite this outcome, Trump’s anger only deepened. In 2022, he named me, along with many others associated with the 2016 campaign, as a defendant in a rambling RICO lawsuit. The complaint was so frivolous that when it was dismissed, several other defendants were able to recover attorneys’ fees, leaving Trump and his lawyers on the hook for $1 million. Appeals in the case are still ongoing.
When Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he would seek revenge and retribution, I knew to take him literally and seriously. When he came into office claiming he wanted to punish those who had “weaponized government” against him, I knew what he really meant — he would weaponize government against his political opponents.
Then, two weeks ago, out of the blue, Trump issued an executive order against my old law firm — a firm I left in 2021 — centered largely on my work there. It was a wildly unhinged and unconstitutional order that sought to punish the firm and its 1,200 lawyers in a myriad ways, from stripping security clearances to barring their lawyers from entering federal buildings.
After signing that executive order, Trump was asked if additional steps would be taken “against other people involved in the Russia collusion hoax.” He responded: “I do, but that is ultimately up to the attorney general and various other people.”
In case Pam Bondi and her senior team needed a reminder of how Trump felt about me, they received one in person a week later. Speaking in the Great Hall at the Department of Justice, Trump described me and another lawyer as “bad people, really bad people” and “radicals” who were trying “to turn America into a corrupt, communist, third-world country.”
All of this brings me back to my answer to the question I receive every day.
I worry because Donald Trump has targeted me and those associated with me for retribution. I worry because the attorney general is an election denier eager to please her boss. I worry because the FBI director published an enemies list and has called me “an enemy of the Republican Party.” I worry because the Department of Justice is being hollowed out — its principled career prosecutors replaced by Trump loyalists. I worry because Trump’s hatred inspires the hatred of others, which could lead to violence. I worry because our courts are not equipped to handle widespread, politically motivated, spurious investigations and prosecutions.
Most of all, I worry because, to do my job — to fulfill my duty as a lawyer and as a citizen — I must regularly say and do things that will enrage Trump and his supporters.
But here is the key point: Despite that worry, I cannot stop standing up for what is right. I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. I cannot ignore what Trump is doing to our democracy and our country. Or more precisely, I will not.
So, I won’t.
Before the election, when Biden was in office and many assumed Kamala Harris would win or that Trump wouldn’t be so bad, it was fashionable to speak about the threat Trump posed and the need to protect democracy.
Now that Trump has proven to be a ruthless autocrat, too many have grown timid and silent.
That is simply not who I am. It is not what I believe, and it is not what I will do.
Instead, I will worry. I will hope. And I will fight.
I also receive Marc's Members Only Newsletter. I'm using quotes from this letter in my letter to Minority Whip Durbin requesting he step aside. Durbin is also the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We repeatedly wrote to him requesting a blanket hold on DOJ nominees (like Brian Schatz did for Department of State). Durbin did not do this. And now we have the weaponization of the DOJ.
Mass movements do not emerge completely spontaneously. They have leaders/facilitators. I would be happy, after decades of demonstrations, to go to another, but if I just walk down the street with a sign and a cane, nothing will happen. We need strategists who are looking beyond Tesla dealerships, marvelous as that movement has been. (Musk can afford to lose the price of X and the Tesla businesses. He can’t begin to spend his wealth in ordinary ways. He is after megalomaniac levels of power, and that is expensive to acquire; 40 billion here, a car business there, these are the price he is comfortable paying. Look what he has acquired: total access to government communications and likely control of the world’s biggest army. Hegseth is just a dry drunk serving as a place holder for now.)
My nightmare, likely from reading the wonderful Cartoonist Clayton Jones (Substack as Claytoonz) before sleeping was of a seemingly cartoonish blue airplane flying backwards low in the sky then tail-diving (upside down) into a busy intersection with cars and pedestrians. Still trying to interpret that - but it seems that the unlikely-absurd-unfathomable is happening before our eyes and all is left is to witness and be victim to it… and clean up the damage later. Totally depressing. And I won’t give up either, no matter what is in the nightmares.
On Sunday a friend and I joined others at a local church to witness John Pavlovitz (see his work from his website, Substack) give the sermon. Quietly with him after only enhanced my respect and admiration. He brings a unique challenging and calming perspective. Now I am watching him weeknights this week to receive more of this basic but pure approach at embracing my faith.
We must continue to be bold, but please to not lose site of caring for each other and ourselves. You Robert and Jill are exemplars to me. In the silence I read (or sometimes do listen to) your words. That is central. And there is a consistency.
Finally, I will quote you:
'Because we have broken faith with the Constitution on numerous occasions in our past but always managed to return to our founding document, which serves as our north star and moral compass. We will do so again.'
I had only NPR on my car radio and in my cubicle starting in 1984. I retired in 2002 but kept it in my car till 2015 or 16 when all I seemed to hear was the name of the current president. Haven't returned. Thanks for letting me know I made the right decision.
To be clear, I haven’t been listening to morning edition for years, since my husband died four years ago. He listen to it all the time when he was able. But I haven’t been listening too much mainstream media including NPR but have been relying on reading all the wonderful Substack writers. But I still like NPR for its cultural content.
Sometimes it is solid. But I turn it on less frequently now. On the Media, Reveal, local WUNC (but some syndicated) shows Embodied, The People's Pharmacy, and Due South are all excellent.
Serious question: when do we stop paying our federal taxes?
Congress has ceded its power of the purse, leaving Trump and unelected Musk allocating our money for their perverse ends. I don’t want my tax dollars paying their illegal and inhumane activities.
I don't understand where our tax money is going or what it will be used for. If our Social Security, Medicare, and all the other allocated distribution of money collected by the federal government is no longer used for those purposes, if those purposes no longer exist, what will our money be used for?
That is why I have asked before if there is any organized plan for withholding tax payments. Not never paying taxes, but having the money go into a separate holding account until the government actually reforms itself to act for the people, us. To use tax money collected to run a proper, efficient government instead of the farce of DOGE.
Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg of Indivisible address the question of withholding taxes. They point out that it is not feasible to make it a unified action to be effective, and they advise that political action stay within the law.
Home sick with COVID and I've been taking a break from the news to rest but mom wanted to hear your latest newsletter so I played it. My Mom is 77.5 and she is not political but lately-- I guess because of seeing me engage and your newsletter-- she is writing postcards for special elections. While we both are alarmed by the direction our nation is going, we are both committed to the fight. Thanks Robert and the rest of you for being the wing beneath our wings!
Dear Hope in Hard Times, take care of yourself and blessing on your mother. The turn of the "not political" people to action is the best sign ever. No fanfare needed, no declaration of loyalty to renewed activism, just a calm smile of welcome and thanks from all of us who are given courage from her actions and work. I'm just a wee younger than your Mom, and I will think of her when my spirits flag. Thanks.
About galvanizing large scale strikes-I am reminded of the shooting of unarmed students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard in 1970. This resulted in millions of student strikers around the country and a turnaround of public opinion which previously had tended to go along with what the government said about the war. People now may not turn out in droves because of the mistreatment of *alleged* gang members, but we're not far away from it happening to people we know.
Like many, I am encouraged by your determination, Robert. Like many, I am worried, particularly about the use of the US Marshals and the FBI, a consequence I think of Patel’s appointment as FBI director. I am trying to do what I can —sharing info, calling Congress, etc. I agree that we need more coordinated, peaceful demonstrations. It sounds like the April 5 event could be the massive protest we need.
Our constitutional crisis is code for who is in charge if promises (agreements made in words between people and to ourselves) are not kept? Clearly, no one is inherently in charge, or there would be no need for a constitution. The inherently in charge would continue to be in charge. The constitution itself is fundamentally a documentation of agreements made between people. The question then is who is in charge of our agreements? Who is in charge of our honoring our promises made? Who is accountable for our promises when we individually act without honor and fail to keep our promises? Who is accountable to clean up the mess we make when we fail to honor our agreements?
That’s the question before us today. Ultimately, the constitution is simply a proxy for honoring our agreements on how we say we are going to live together in community.
Someone suggested that members of Congress are giving up their power to the President because they do not want to be the ones to hold the honor and accountability for their word given to the people. In giving it to the President, the impact of not keeping their word is passed on to him. This is an interesting move in that he has no issue with not keeping his word. He has no concern for being dishonorable.
The crisis we each face today is in giving up our own power to a host of “higher authorities” to hold us to account for not honoring our agreements, for not keeping our word, and these higher authorities are now passing the buck to others up the hierarchy to the top honor keeper, the top oath keeper, which is POTUS. Now with POTUS free to not keep his word, our honor which has been passed up to him simply dissolves into the air, and there is no one left but ourselves to hold us, to hold us accountable for our word, for our agreements, for our honor. We have become unbounded. We are now a nation of children without parents.
This is our moment to reclaim the power that arises with honor, the power of accountability, the power of word, the power of being the adult who draws the line and does the right thing, does what must be done.
Trusting in a higher authority, a higher power, is great, and as the saying goes, “Trust in God and row away from the rocks.” It is time to row and be thankful for the opportunity to row.
Yes row! God helps those who help themselves! Remember, politicians are not leaders. They test the wind and go with the direction it’s blowing. Be the wind!
Robert, I appreciate your belief that Trump's defiance of court orders will not cause us to lose our democracy. Your examples make a lot of sense.
That view allows us the breathing room to keep fighting no matter how he flaunts the rules in his desperate overreach for money and power to fill that forever empty hole where his heart and self-esteem were supposed to be.
Thank you too, for continuing to be positive about the fact that if we don't give up, we will win. We will win.
But as we citizens do all we can do, I suggest that the Democrats catch up to their unelected, unpaid constituents ASAP. There is no longer any excuse for elected Democrats to be trailing their voters when it comes to uniting and fighting for our freedoms and the rule of law.
If they don't start working as a smart, aggressive, united group to save democracy and help the people in this country, then they are sending a message that they don't understand how dangerous and lawless the white "christian" nationalist party in the White House has become to our current and future health, happiness and safety.
If they keep sending that message, we will need to find more intuitive, tough and effective leaders, because the stakes are too high for any other kind.
Peace and thanks to everyone working--in big ways and small ways--to preserve this country as a free, healthy, law-abiding and prosperous land for ALL of its citizens.
“To the contrary, I am bewildered that the streets are not overflowing with protesters.”
I’ll be honest. I have a finite amount of time. I’m retired and healthy and have the wherewithal to spend multiple hours a day, calling members of Congress, writing letters to the editor, staying informed, registering voters, volunteering for (currently) local candidates, etc., but maybe these traditional activist strategies are not what’s needed now. I don’t know.
I’m happy to and have joined organized protests, and I think they’re important, but I am out of time!
Texas makes it hard to register and vote. That’s where much of my time goes, but the legislature is matching that effort by making it even harder!
I won’t quit fighting, but I have to say this is where we need leadership.
Cathy, you are a one person dynamo! No apologies necessary. If everyone were like you, we wouldn't be in this mess!
On Saturday mornings, take an hour to meet your friends and neighbors at a weekly protest. Read the ACLU link on right to protest without a permit, make a sign protesting the topic du jour and just get out there!
Three saturdays ago, our village saw 25 protesters, the next weekend, 45 showed up and last week 70. Cars and pick up trucks driving by honked support for an hour. Reclaim the flag, have a cathartic yell and return the following week.
HA! You wanna come see MY neighbors? Notice that Tennessee isn't even MENTIONED in news about protests! That's because there ARE none! My daughter and I will travel 4 hours to Knoxville on April 5 for the nationwide protest by many groups that have joined together and I am honestly wondering if anyone but us will be there. We have THREE Tesla dealerships in the state and NO ONE has gathered to protest there. It really feels hopeless from this blood red, land-locked, ignorant state. Bernie, PLEASE come HERE!!
Understood. But we are by your side in spirit. If Tesla's sales decline by 25% nationally, it doesn't matter how many autos they sell in Tennessee.
Stay strong! You are part of a national movement. And Thanks for all you do!
Jan, I feel your pain! My husband and I lived in Tennessee for seven long years, and it felt as if our votes were utterly useless. But I want you to know how grateful we are to you and your daughter for standing up for what is right in a place where you won't get any "atta girls" for your efforts! It takes courage. Thank you (from the very blue state of California.)
I get it. Easy for me in a Blue state to say get out there. Glad you can make the trip to DC April 5!
I just met up with a family from Missouri taking a week out of their lives to protest in DC. They made nice signs, put their four kids in the car, drove 13 hours and took to the sidewalks of Capitol Hill.
We’re with you in Spirit!
Heroic!!
Just in case you'd like to send your message directly to Bernie's office, you can find his contact information here: https://berniesanders.com/contact/
✨💙💫
I will follow that advice. Thank you! With voter registration, here in Texas, I feel like we’re chipping away at a hole with spoons…thousands of us, all the time. Then the legislature comes in with a bulldozer and wipes out any potential gains through new “voter integrity” laws and gerrymandering. . What we’ve been seeing in red states for years is just now becoming clearer to some blue states folks, I think.
You are right, Cathy, even in red states like mine (Indiana), the slow grinding mechanism of voter repression does not get much attention. (Please continue you work. How can we help?). It's complex; it's behind closed or only partially opened, and the news ignores it. And MSNBC gives a few minutes to 350 killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, and five minutes to a new novel by Emma Donoghue (nothing wrong with that, says this English teacher, but it emphasizes that the news and literature for that matter is all about entertainment), and sets up the Constitutional Crisis as a one-on-one between the defiant DOJ lawyer and the Judge who "chides" him for not answering poor judgie-wudgie's question. Boy that must honk off the judge. Stay tuned for this dramatic battle.....And this is 1,000 times better than FOX, cheering the illegal cruelty to whoever these men are.now incarcerated in another country, out of reach of our laws.
I help from the red state of Kansas by writing postcards for postcards@tonythedemocrat.org. Right now we are writing for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April I. It's not too late to join.
Great job, Linda!
If anyone is able to donate to Judge Crawford's campaign, please use this link. https://www.crawfordforwi.com/
Thank you!
And isn’t MSNBC’s interminable self promotion just the worst?! For crying out loud, we are already watching!!
Robert, thanks for your writing and your welcome confidence in our long term success. I share your view and the commitment to never give up.
I’m not surprised that people are not yet overflowing in the streets. That kind of momentum takes time to build. We need only look to the most recent examples in our history, the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, the anti-war and feminist movements of the 60s and 70s, and the Black Lives Matter movement that actually began with the murder of Trayvon Martin, but came into its own after the murder of George Floyd.
And Cathy, the leadership we need is emerging. Not in the form of a single charismatic politician, but in grassroots organizations like Indivisible, Move On, Working Families Party, and 50501 who are working collaboratively to build the level of resistance and refusal to this latest assault on our democracy by the billionaires.
We need to be more than activists. We need to be organizers. Does that sound scary? It’s not. It just means inviting a few friends to take an action with you. Let’s do it!
Love that you’re working on voter registration. That is a critical piece to counter the Republican’s continued voter suppression. I hope the DNC is doing this work in every county of every state.
Like you, I am retired. Can’t write the postcards but can make calls and I do. GO CATHY GO!! We’re not on our way out, we are on a helluva journey!
This Friday I will be going to the Denver Civic Center Park to hear Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They are leading the way for Democrats. Let’s be calling and writing our Reps and Senators to get them active. Actually, my Representative is Brittany Pettersen who flew to D.C. with her four week old baby to vote. She came back to her district and held a packed Town Hall and participated in a Support Ukraine Rally.
Let’s get others fired up and keep our energy by staying balanced and strong. Thank you.
I am heartened when I read your posts, even if I am terribly frightened.
I have a genetic terminal disease and am now unable to sit up, never mind move my body. It is a terrible feeling, to have been a trained Holocaust scholar and yet be unable to use that at all when the time came that it was all being relevant. So I am glad that there ARE people who are working all facets in order to save our democracy.
I worry a lot about Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security, both because of household income and because the minute that Medicaid and/or Medicare are not covering me, I will die shortly thereafter. Supports from both direct medical care and having paid home health care have bought me an extra 16 years in ways big and small. And currently I am alive solely because of those supports. Losing drugs at this point would end my life quickly enough.
Too much staring at my own mortality in ways big and small for sure.
Hi, Rebecca. I am sorry to hear of your challenges, but know that you are an inspiration to others. Your voice matters, so keep posting here. And share your knowledge to the extent you can, given your need to tend to your health. Bless you and your family.
Your post is raw and gut-wrenching. Thank you for sharing what must also be true for countless other Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Please keep the faith. We must keep fighting! Sending a virtual hug.
I’m so sorry to hear your story and wish you well. You said you’d like to make use of your knowledge. If you are willing, I suggest either writing an op-ed AND/OR making contact with journalists highlighting the personal stories of those at high risk of the threatened cuts to Medicaid, Medicare & Soc Security. The perspective of your scholarly expertise combined with your medical challenges create a compelling and impactful human interest case. 😢
Tell your story over and over. It's powerful. Good luck. That sounds trite, but I sincerely wish you every good fortune.
Rebecca, thanks and take care as best you can. Know that you are not alone. I colleague and friend posted on FB yesterday that a former co-worker had been notified recently that her social security monthly check would be reduced by 600/month. Guess they needed more for the billionaires.
All of it is outrageous. Let’s us never not be outraged and continue to fight as best we can.
I am sorry for your situation 😔! I am healthy and am grateful every day. I'm also grateful to my daughter-in-law who shared on Facebook the Letters From an American by historian Heather Cox Richardson. You will gain hope if you check her out. 3 million people from around the world are followers and she gives us hope. She has opened a YouTube account that's new but her Facebook page has everything she's written. She will do her weekly live broadcast today at 4 pm Eastern which I will watch.
Sending hope and good thoughts to you!
Thanks for sharing this, Rebecca, and much courage to you. Please take care as best as you are able. Holocaust, scholarship, illness, state medical insurance . . . so much of this resonates.
What you have done, and continue to do, resonates. It strengthens the collective memory in favor of truth and critique. You have helped us. I am a firm believer that writing, especially after the advent of the internet, is a viable and legitimate outlet that facilitates enlightenment, access, activism and community. The able-bodied and less vulnerable can go out in the streets. Yet those who think, write and communicate also embody solidarity. It is no less valuable.
Rebecca - I am so sorry for your predicament. How frustrating for you to have this knowledge and not be able to share it at this time! But I'm so glad you sent in this comment, and the next time I write a postcard or go to a protest or make my voice heard in any way, I will be doing it for both of us. (And so many others who are scared and suffering in this country.) Blessings.
Thanks, Rebecca, for sharing these thoughtful and powerful comments!
Thank you for your continued diligent and concise reporting.Last week I sent the following message to all nine of the SCOTUS justices. I urge others to do likewise.
Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20543
Dear Justice Roberts,
At this inflexion point in the history of the United States, nothing is more important than upholding the rule of law. I request that, as lawsuits brought against President Donald Trump make their way to the Supreme Court, you address this matter with the utmost urgency, at every juncture, by ruling in alignment with the oaths you took in assuming your seat on the Supreme Court:
• To support and defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies both foreign and domestic; and
• To administer justice without respect to persons . . . and with equal right to the rich and the poor.
The world is watching.
Thank you for your service and your bravery.
Respectfully yours,
Ask Roberts what type of future he envisions for his children and grandchildren.
Janina, this letter to the Justices is excellent. I have been wondering and asking about why a letter writing campaign like this wasn’t being organized. With you great example, I’m going to promote the idea as you have done.
Thank you very much,
Janina,
Thank you for a great sample letter.
Great suggestion, Janina! I have copied your letter and will use it as a template to write my own. I will also share it. Thank you, thank you!
I agree fully with Robert: we have not lost democracy, but we do face grievous injury from accelerated decimation. I am hurt by the attacks on scientific research, as well as broader attacks on research universities now. There are a number of developments on the legal front. They are following an autocratic playbook, and it is up to us, as well as the courts, to continue resistance. The Heritage Foundation is plotting to dismantle the EU under similar, pro-nationalist grounds. https://www.desmog.com/2025/03/14/heritage-foundation-project-2025-allies-mcc-ordo-iuris-discuss-dismantling-the-eu-european-union/
It is difficult to follow all cases. A few positive: this is a positive ruling on youth gun bans in Florida that will likely make it to the SC, with a good chance of winning. That's because the judge himself is a major player within the Federalist Society, and SC justices regard him well. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/03/conservative-ruling-supreme-court-youth-gun-bans.html
This development on blocking far right Bosnian separatists last week went under the radar for me, and maybe for many -- perhaps because focus has largely been on Ukraine. It is really quite something, led by Rubio (yes, that Rubio). While he circumvented the EU proper, which is troubling, even European allies were surprised by the positive American intervention. Well worth the read: https://www.justsecurity.org/109078/rubio-europe-bosnia-separatists/
Already, there has been DOJ defiance to Judge Alsup's injunction to reinstate probationary workers. They have been placed en masse on admin leave, directly contravening Alsup's order. Yesterday Alsup ruled he needs lists of all employees who were wrongfully placed on leave by today: March 18th. Alsup is damn serious and thorough -- and now seriously pissed off -- if you caught his original ruling a few days ago.
From above article (Slate) on Judge Pryor, in the Florida case: "It is hard to overstate the significance of these words coming from the pen of a deeply conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Federalist Society stalwart like Pryor. He is arguably the most influential appeals court judge active today: Supreme Court justices regularly cite him by name, invoking his authority to bolster their own arguments—a rare honor reserved for marquee lower-court jurists. By embracing the constitutionality of Florida’s law, he has instantly increased the odds that SCOTUS will say such age restrictions comply with the Second Amendment."
The Slate article about the originalist reasoning regarding age-restrictions for guns is fascinating.
It is! And it also made me think of a counter-strategy: this successfully pushes back against FS-aligned ideology from the inside. It's like the Overton window is pulled a bit to the center from the extremist fringe by an older conservative.
When the regime is ordered by the court to reinstate workers and release funds, where is the information that proves the regime has in fact complied?
That's what Alsup seeks today in court. He wants receipts because his first injunction was very thorough. He even told them point blank: you don't have to wait for a written order (which he provided). This is the order.
Indivisible is organizing a nationwide mobilization for Saturday, April 5th. "We're taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!"
https://handsoff2025.com/
My group, Indivisible Onondaga County, has been growing rapidly in members the last few weeks. There are 1600 Indivisible groups in the nation, and 73 new Indivisible groups cropped up just last week- to include Alaska and Montana!
Thanks,Lynn!
This brought a smile to my face…The largest (pro-MAGA )retirement community in the country.⬇️
Hands Off! The Villages Fights Back
One US Government expense that I feel confident is multiples of Biden's is the expense of securing the president and transporting him. From what I've read, Trump plays more golf than any other president by a lot and he travels to Florida at the drop of a hat, often just to play golf. Funds for Golf ("FFG") is absolutely sacrosanct and will never be subject to DOGE scrutiny. This strikes me as the 21st Century equivalent of "Let them eat cake".
Why aren‘t Democratic organizations publicizing the expense of transporting DFT to and from Florida? Taxpayers pay a pretty penny for his upkeep in DC.
100% THIS, and we each must do our best to advocate to our circle of friends, family, and the next generation. The current political system is all these 20-somethings have known since they legally became adults.
====== Robert writes: =====
"To the contrary, I am bewildered that the streets are not overflowing with protesters. I do not understand how so many Americans can passively watch the dismantling of the federal government. I do not understand how our congressional leaders can act as though we are powerless to resist the unfolding constitutional crisis."
I think there are a couple of reasons behind this.
One, we *have* seen multiple pretty significanty sized protests already. However, much of legacy media has already "bent the knee" and downplay them, if they bother to report on them at all. IMO, this inhibits the growth of the protest movement because many Americans who oppose Trump may feel like they're a minority or all alone, even though they're not.
Two, the biggest truism about American politics was articulated by James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid." Trump/Musk/MAGA haven't completely wrecked the American economy yet. More mass protests, and regular Marches on Washington and state capitols, aren't going to occur until far more Americans feel it in their pocketbook. They also haven't (yet) fully touched the third rail of American politics: SS and Medicare/Medicaid.
We may not see the economic fallout, and ensuing mass protests/civil disobedeance from their dystopian/libertarian cuts until sometime in 2025.
Call out your local media if they’re not accurately reporting about protests or DOGE.
My Gannett paper is slowly coming around with pressure.Multiple emails to Exec Ed and Op Ed. Also ask them who they rely on for feeds (Reuters,USA TODAY +) and send links with requests to publish.You may just be surprised!
Do you live in an area where a SS office is closing? 📣
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/social-security/social-security-offices-close-after-doge-cuts
There are many MAGA about to retire:📣
“An internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo, sent on March 13 and obtained by Popular Information, details proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving benefits.”
https://popular.info/p/exclusive-memo-details-trump-plan?
Here on the Space Coast 🚀of Fl our protest movement has launched…and it’s growing!
Clear, actionable advice, thanks. Helping me and others to Focus on what matters.
Most Americans will not care until or unless they are personally affected by Trump's malevolent folly.
Chris, you may be right but I offer two observations. First, loud mouth and offensive James Carville is overrated. Second, there are many citizen voters who care about our country’s democracy and constitutional law and other.
Yes! It may take some time to get people to recognize that this lawless administration is gutting the very fabric of our social contract that another jerk, Newt Gingrich, was promoting in the 90s in an egregious manner.
We citizens must rally our compatriots and build a long term collaborative effort with a broader understanding of our shared values and governing principles. Not an easy task. So, in the meantime we need to fight like hell, getting a louder and broader ranging megaphone to push back against misinformation and distrust.
It seems important to share this.
From Marc Elias, Democracy Docket.
.https://www.democracydocket.com/.
“Are you worried?” That is always the first question.
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
I have had a version of this conversation on and off for years. Since Jan. 20, 2025, I have had it nearly every day.
During his first term Trump posted on Twitter that I was the Democratic Party’s “best Election stealing lawyer.” At the time I took it as an odd form of compliment. Since then, his focus on me has become both more intense and more sinister.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what triggered his current hatred. Recently, Trump and his supporters have pointed to my work as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 general counsel. But his obsession — and that of his loyal minions — did not truly take hold until 2020.
That year, I litigated dozens of cases to ensure citizens could vote in the middle of a pandemic. That meant expanding opportunities to vote by mail and reducing the number of ballots wrongfully rejected by overburdened election systems.
In the aftermath of that election, my team and I defeated Trump’s effort to overturn the results — winning more than 60 court cases on behalf of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
During the height of that effort, on Dec. 7, 2020, an angry Lou Dobbs chastised Stephen Miller on TV for losing so many cases to me. “Marc Elias, why don’t you put together a half-billion dollars and go hire him and get him out of your way?” Miller looked stricken.
In the years that followed, Republicans regularly blamed me for their election losses. Steve Bannon described me as “the gold standard” and frequently complained to his audience that Republicans needed to either recruit me or find someone to match me.
In a 2023 video, Kash Patel, now the FBI director, stated: “He is the enemy of the Republican Party because he always finds a way to win in state court and federal court on election matters, and he has been doing it like a machine for the last decade.
So, if you want someone who is that talented and that good, there is only one guy, and I hate to say it—it’s Marc Elias.”
But during that time, something had changed in Trump. In the closing weeks of his administration, Trump’s attorney general appointed John Durham as a Special Counsel to investigate the origins of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Durham’s investigation ultimately led to the indictment of two individuals — one of whom was a law partner of mine. Both men were acquitted after short jury deliberations.
Despite this outcome, Trump’s anger only deepened. In 2022, he named me, along with many others associated with the 2016 campaign, as a defendant in a rambling RICO lawsuit. The complaint was so frivolous that when it was dismissed, several other defendants were able to recover attorneys’ fees, leaving Trump and his lawyers on the hook for $1 million. Appeals in the case are still ongoing.
When Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he would seek revenge and retribution, I knew to take him literally and seriously. When he came into office claiming he wanted to punish those who had “weaponized government” against him, I knew what he really meant — he would weaponize government against his political opponents.
Then, two weeks ago, out of the blue, Trump issued an executive order against my old law firm — a firm I left in 2021 — centered largely on my work there. It was a wildly unhinged and unconstitutional order that sought to punish the firm and its 1,200 lawyers in a myriad ways, from stripping security clearances to barring their lawyers from entering federal buildings.
After signing that executive order, Trump was asked if additional steps would be taken “against other people involved in the Russia collusion hoax.” He responded: “I do, but that is ultimately up to the attorney general and various other people.”
In case Pam Bondi and her senior team needed a reminder of how Trump felt about me, they received one in person a week later. Speaking in the Great Hall at the Department of Justice, Trump described me and another lawyer as “bad people, really bad people” and “radicals” who were trying “to turn America into a corrupt, communist, third-world country.”
All of this brings me back to my answer to the question I receive every day.
I worry because Donald Trump has targeted me and those associated with me for retribution. I worry because the attorney general is an election denier eager to please her boss. I worry because the FBI director published an enemies list and has called me “an enemy of the Republican Party.” I worry because the Department of Justice is being hollowed out — its principled career prosecutors replaced by Trump loyalists. I worry because Trump’s hatred inspires the hatred of others, which could lead to violence. I worry because our courts are not equipped to handle widespread, politically motivated, spurious investigations and prosecutions.
Most of all, I worry because, to do my job — to fulfill my duty as a lawyer and as a citizen — I must regularly say and do things that will enrage Trump and his supporters.
But here is the key point: Despite that worry, I cannot stop standing up for what is right. I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. I cannot ignore what Trump is doing to our democracy and our country. Or more precisely, I will not.
So, I won’t.
Before the election, when Biden was in office and many assumed Kamala Harris would win or that Trump wouldn’t be so bad, it was fashionable to speak about the threat Trump posed and the need to protect democracy.
Now that Trump has proven to be a ruthless autocrat, too many have grown timid and silent.
That is simply not who I am. It is not what I believe, and it is not what I will do.
Instead, I will worry. I will hope. And I will fight.
I also receive Marc's Members Only Newsletter. I'm using quotes from this letter in my letter to Minority Whip Durbin requesting he step aside. Durbin is also the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We repeatedly wrote to him requesting a blanket hold on DOJ nominees (like Brian Schatz did for Department of State). Durbin did not do this. And now we have the weaponization of the DOJ.
Thank you for posting this!
Mass movements do not emerge completely spontaneously. They have leaders/facilitators. I would be happy, after decades of demonstrations, to go to another, but if I just walk down the street with a sign and a cane, nothing will happen. We need strategists who are looking beyond Tesla dealerships, marvelous as that movement has been. (Musk can afford to lose the price of X and the Tesla businesses. He can’t begin to spend his wealth in ordinary ways. He is after megalomaniac levels of power, and that is expensive to acquire; 40 billion here, a car business there, these are the price he is comfortable paying. Look what he has acquired: total access to government communications and likely control of the world’s biggest army. Hegseth is just a dry drunk serving as a place holder for now.)
My nightmare, likely from reading the wonderful Cartoonist Clayton Jones (Substack as Claytoonz) before sleeping was of a seemingly cartoonish blue airplane flying backwards low in the sky then tail-diving (upside down) into a busy intersection with cars and pedestrians. Still trying to interpret that - but it seems that the unlikely-absurd-unfathomable is happening before our eyes and all is left is to witness and be victim to it… and clean up the damage later. Totally depressing. And I won’t give up either, no matter what is in the nightmares.
Robert,
On Sunday a friend and I joined others at a local church to witness John Pavlovitz (see his work from his website, Substack) give the sermon. Quietly with him after only enhanced my respect and admiration. He brings a unique challenging and calming perspective. Now I am watching him weeknights this week to receive more of this basic but pure approach at embracing my faith.
We must continue to be bold, but please to not lose site of caring for each other and ourselves. You Robert and Jill are exemplars to me. In the silence I read (or sometimes do listen to) your words. That is central. And there is a consistency.
Finally, I will quote you:
'Because we have broken faith with the Constitution on numerous occasions in our past but always managed to return to our founding document, which serves as our north star and moral compass. We will do so again.'
Yes.
I had only NPR on my car radio and in my cubicle starting in 1984. I retired in 2002 but kept it in my car till 2015 or 16 when all I seemed to hear was the name of the current president. Haven't returned. Thanks for letting me know I made the right decision.
I’m disappointed to hear about NPR. Maybe it’s because Trump has threatened their funding.
NPR has been a mass of both-sides crap for at least a decade.
NPR neutered itself quite some time ago. It was a cowardly response to cynical conservative attacks.
To be clear, I haven’t been listening to morning edition for years, since my husband died four years ago. He listen to it all the time when he was able. But I haven’t been listening too much mainstream media including NPR but have been relying on reading all the wonderful Substack writers. But I still like NPR for its cultural content.
Sometimes it is solid. But I turn it on less frequently now. On the Media, Reveal, local WUNC (but some syndicated) shows Embodied, The People's Pharmacy, and Due South are all excellent.
Serious question: when do we stop paying our federal taxes?
Congress has ceded its power of the purse, leaving Trump and unelected Musk allocating our money for their perverse ends. I don’t want my tax dollars paying their illegal and inhumane activities.
I don't understand where our tax money is going or what it will be used for. If our Social Security, Medicare, and all the other allocated distribution of money collected by the federal government is no longer used for those purposes, if those purposes no longer exist, what will our money be used for?
That is why I have asked before if there is any organized plan for withholding tax payments. Not never paying taxes, but having the money go into a separate holding account until the government actually reforms itself to act for the people, us. To use tax money collected to run a proper, efficient government instead of the farce of DOGE.
Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg of Indivisible address the question of withholding taxes. They point out that it is not feasible to make it a unified action to be effective, and they advise that political action stay within the law.
https://youtu.be/zysZ9DoqR4w?si=HlR21wBcfFlstYYY
Withhold paying your taxes and see how fast local law enforcement shows up at your door.
Most Americans do not care. If they think at all, they tell themselves that only those awful libs/Democrats/feminists/illegal immigrants will suffer.
Our fellow citizens chose to put this horrible man back into the presidency.
How many of us are ready to go to war with our neighbors?
Home sick with COVID and I've been taking a break from the news to rest but mom wanted to hear your latest newsletter so I played it. My Mom is 77.5 and she is not political but lately-- I guess because of seeing me engage and your newsletter-- she is writing postcards for special elections. While we both are alarmed by the direction our nation is going, we are both committed to the fight. Thanks Robert and the rest of you for being the wing beneath our wings!
Dear Hope in Hard Times, take care of yourself and blessing on your mother. The turn of the "not political" people to action is the best sign ever. No fanfare needed, no declaration of loyalty to renewed activism, just a calm smile of welcome and thanks from all of us who are given courage from her actions and work. I'm just a wee younger than your Mom, and I will think of her when my spirits flag. Thanks.
Will do Patrick! Thankful for Paxlovid and cough syrup and good folks here.
About galvanizing large scale strikes-I am reminded of the shooting of unarmed students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard in 1970. This resulted in millions of student strikers around the country and a turnaround of public opinion which previously had tended to go along with what the government said about the war. People now may not turn out in droves because of the mistreatment of *alleged* gang members, but we're not far away from it happening to people we know.
„Alleged gang members“ –
Maybe they are „bad hombres“ (DFT), but for that we have only the words of DFT and his minions.
In any case, we (not just they) are entitled to full and honest disclosure, which has not been forthcoming.
Like many, I am encouraged by your determination, Robert. Like many, I am worried, particularly about the use of the US Marshals and the FBI, a consequence I think of Patel’s appointment as FBI director. I am trying to do what I can —sharing info, calling Congress, etc. I agree that we need more coordinated, peaceful demonstrations. It sounds like the April 5 event could be the massive protest we need.
Who is the keeper of our honor?
Our constitutional crisis is code for who is in charge if promises (agreements made in words between people and to ourselves) are not kept? Clearly, no one is inherently in charge, or there would be no need for a constitution. The inherently in charge would continue to be in charge. The constitution itself is fundamentally a documentation of agreements made between people. The question then is who is in charge of our agreements? Who is in charge of our honoring our promises made? Who is accountable for our promises when we individually act without honor and fail to keep our promises? Who is accountable to clean up the mess we make when we fail to honor our agreements?
That’s the question before us today. Ultimately, the constitution is simply a proxy for honoring our agreements on how we say we are going to live together in community.
Someone suggested that members of Congress are giving up their power to the President because they do not want to be the ones to hold the honor and accountability for their word given to the people. In giving it to the President, the impact of not keeping their word is passed on to him. This is an interesting move in that he has no issue with not keeping his word. He has no concern for being dishonorable.
The crisis we each face today is in giving up our own power to a host of “higher authorities” to hold us to account for not honoring our agreements, for not keeping our word, and these higher authorities are now passing the buck to others up the hierarchy to the top honor keeper, the top oath keeper, which is POTUS. Now with POTUS free to not keep his word, our honor which has been passed up to him simply dissolves into the air, and there is no one left but ourselves to hold us, to hold us accountable for our word, for our agreements, for our honor. We have become unbounded. We are now a nation of children without parents.
This is our moment to reclaim the power that arises with honor, the power of accountability, the power of word, the power of being the adult who draws the line and does the right thing, does what must be done.
Trusting in a higher authority, a higher power, is great, and as the saying goes, “Trust in God and row away from the rocks.” It is time to row and be thankful for the opportunity to row.
Yes row! God helps those who help themselves! Remember, politicians are not leaders. They test the wind and go with the direction it’s blowing. Be the wind!
Best writing ever. Please continue your honest, legally correct, passionate writing.
It has broken through and continues to do so.
Dismantling of DEI, Lack of respect grievance, and the most harmful attack on the Constitution since the Civil War are the culprits.