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10 Reasons for Hope (I bet you didn't know number 8) GNR [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-01
The actions that have been taken and threatened by the Trump administration will hit Americans hard. And the days of reckoning are not far away. Indeed, for some Americans who have been laid off or been denied healthcare, they understand how the Trump/Musk policies are destroying the working class of America. Republicans know that Trump and Musk are extremely unpopular. Republicans in the House have rightly concluded that they can no longer hold town halls to meet with their constituents because of the unbridled anger directed at GOP representatives. See Axios, House Republicans hit the brakes on town halls after blowback over Trump's cuts. And US Senators are privately expressing frustration with Musk’s “break things fast” approach to “governing.” See The Hill, GOP senators vent Elon Musk frustrations at closed-door meeting with Susie Wiles. Trump is (again) playing rope-a-dope with the media over whether he supports cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. But Trump clearly supports decimating the Social Security agency’s workforce. See AP, Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce. If Social Security staffing is cut by 50%, retirees who paid into Social Security the entire working life will be the victims of shoddy or non-existent services. This is a five alarm fire! Tell everyone you know who depends on Social Security that Trump is trying to destroy the agency’s ability to operate. And if Trump continues to support the House spending resolution, the likelihood of significant cuts to Medicaid increases substantially.
The oligarchy has never been more exposed.
An important aspect of the era we’re in is that a record share of the nation’s wealth is in the hands of a small group of people who are now revealing themselves to be remarkably selfish, shameless, and insensitive to the needs of America. This is a further reason for modest optimism because as the oligarchy exposes itself for what it is, the dangers it poses to average people become more apparent — and the odds increase of a fierce public backlash to it.
Rage over unelected billionaire Elon Musk sends protesters to Tesla showrooms as America wakes up to the reality of our oligarchy.
There was a mad-as-hell-can’t-take-it-anymore moment for every one of the dozen or so sign-waving protesters who stood on the side of busy Route 30 in suburban Devon on a brisk but brightly sunny Saturday morning, urging motorists to boycott billionaire Elon Musk and his Tesla showroom directly behind them. Consider these pickets the first green shoot of an early spring uprising across America, after a winter of discontented hibernation by many of the 78 million who’d voted against Trump and his antidemocratic vision. At first, some were demoralized, and many argued, reasonably, that there was no point protesting Trump’s plurality victory in a free and fair election. Instead, they’d wait to see if the GOP election winner really kept his unholy campaign promises to rule America by diktat — which he has done, in blitzkrieg fashion.
6. The Resistance is Just Getting Started
At first, people were wondering if folks who voted for Kamala would just roll over for Trump this time.
The answer: Nah.
The anti-Trump resistance begins to wake in earnest
Rowdy crowds are showing up at lawmakers’ town hall meetings to protest President Donald Trump’s actions. Some people are launching into chants such as “No king!” or shouting down Republican House members. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is drawing overflow crowds of his own as he seeks to mobilize voters against Trump’s budget cuts. At the same time, a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general is methodically filing lawsuits against Trump’s orders, and in six out of seven cases, it has been successful in persuading judges to halt them. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governors Association and liberal groups are seeing a surge in fundraising. And Democratic members of Congress are seizing on a budget clash as an opportunity to coalesce against the president’s plans. Little by little, after an initial phase of stunned confusion, the broader resistance to Trump is beginning to wake up. “There is a lot more anger building, such that we are seeing in deep-red Republican-held districts that people are coming out,” said Faiz Shakir, Sanders’s chief political adviser. “They are surprising those [Republican] members of Congress who don’t expect that when they try to defend Elon Musk they will get aggressive booing. You couldn’t manufacture this if you tried.” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the progressive group Indivisible, said it has grown roughly from 1,000 local groups to 1,500 since the election. Activists from MoveOn organized 60 events last week, including protests outside the offices of Republican House members, some drawing several hundred participants.
People are rising against corporate power.
For all these reasons, a backlash is beginning. Popular rage that this country is now run by an oligarchy, a small group of billionaires and corporate elites, is surging. Today’s “economic blackout” has enlisted millions of Americans who have stopped buying and thereby demonstrated our power. Meanwhile, protests are breaking out against big predatory corporations. On the eastern shore of Maryland, a bright red Republican area, 20,000 have signed a petition demanding an investigation of Delmarva Power, a subsidiary of utility giant Exelon, for overcharging them. That’s almost 5 percent of Delmarva’s entire customer base. The same anger is mounting in New York City at Con Edison. And in St. Joseph, Missouri, at Evergy. When House Republicans were in their home districts last week, they were deluged with angry questions about corporate power, Elon Musk, and big money. A few Senate Republicans even explained to their constituents that they voted to confirm Robert Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services because he’s “hated” by Big Pharma. Meanwhile, Bernie is back. While not running for president again, 83-year-old Bernie Sanders this week launched his “National Tour to Fight Oligarchy” — to overflow crowds in deep-red Nebraska and Iowa. Bernie is showing that even in red America, opposition to oligarchy and Trump is becoming the dominant view of a large swath of the public. Record-breaking crowds are also appearing for other notable progressives. A record-sized group showed up to Representative Jim McGovern’s town hall. The same thing happened in Massachusetts with Senator Elizabeth Warren.
People are all over doing great things
Union del Barrio, an immigrant activist group in Alhambra, California, interrupted an ICE operation at a local Target on Sunday. The group is actively patrolling Los Angeles neighborhoods, alerting residents when apparent ICE raids are underway. Activist Ron Gochez said: “once the agents saw that they were being recorded, and that people were alerting the community with megaphones, nobody was taken, and those ICE agents—they retreated and left the community.” In Belton, Missouri, GOP Rep. Mark Alford hosted a town hall, where he was met with constant boos and shouting. At least 150 people showed up to the venue that was made to hold 50. Alford didn’t seem to care about the firings of federal workers, even though his wife was one of those laid off. He even had the gall to say “God has a plan” for those who were fired. Daniel Scharpenburg, VP of the NTEU local labor union, responded with: “We don’t need thoughts and prayers…We need people to stand up for us.” In Kansas this weekend, GOP Sen. Jerry Moran refused to show up to a virtual town hall, where hundreds of residents from across the state had gathered. The organizers taped a picture of the Senator to an empty chair, and held the event anyway. For nearly 3 hours, folks lambasted Moran’s inaction in the face of Musk and Trump’s tyranny. One attendee said: “We are imploring you to act. Musk needs to go, Trump needs to be reined in. He is not a king.”
Screens at HUD Headquarters Show AI Video of Trump Kissing Musk’s Feet
Television screens at the Department of Housing and Urban Development showed what appeared to be an AI-generated video of President Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet on Monday. Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media, which showed the screens displaying the video emblazoned with the caption: “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING.” It’s not clear who might be responsible for the incident. According to Rachel Siegel, a Washington Post reporter who covers housing, the video played on TVs “across the building.” The AI footage appears to be an edited version of another clip posted online at least as early as last week.
Heroes of the Week
When Trump fired senior military officials last Friday, most of the people best equipped to speak out stayed silent. This week, however, five former defense secretaries spoke up in clear terms to denounce the move and ask Congress to conduct oversight. It was particularly noteworthy that Chuck Hagel, a former GOP Senator was on the list, as was Jim Mattis, who was Trump’s own Defense Secretary in his first term. I have no illusions that it will cause Republican politicians to grow a spine, but it is still heartening to see.
7. The awful budget is far from done
Lots of panicking about the R’s budget which I totally get — it is craven, cruel, and awful.
But just because they passed it (barely) does not make it so. We still have a lot of fight left
The Budget Blueprint Is No 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
You’ve probably heard the news. On Tuesday evening, the House GOP narrowly passed a budget resolution by a vote of 217 to 215, with only one GOP member (Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a deficit hawk) voting with the Democrats. Based on worried reader comments and the crowing of GOP members busily spreading misinformation, you’d think the budget had been sealed, along with the fate of programs like Medicaid, and delivered to Trump for his signature. Not so. The resolution that passed is just a blueprint. That is to say, it gives instructions on how to move forward with the full budget, including instructions to House committees to find cuts that fit within the blueprint. It also has to line up with a companion bill from the Senate that does the same basic things. That means we are still a very long way from the enactment of tax cuts for the uber-wealthy and draconian cuts to government health services in places like Medicaid. And that means we have time to mobilize and see the budget go down to defeat, just like we have seen every other GOP budget bill fail over the past two years. In sum, House Republicans may have a budget blueprint, but they still don’t have a politically viable way to build what it demands. As Trump would say, it’s “a concept of a plan.” And as Joe Biden would respond, “Good luck in your senior year.”
8. There is often good news we just don’t see
Remember earlier this week when that wonderful and brave woman was dragged out of that meeting in Idaho?
A friend texted me to tell me was the last straw and now she was sure that democracy was over in America.
Which I get! It was awful! And worrying!
But here is the thing, if you only read the awful headlines, you only know the awful story.
This kind of thing is only the end of democracy if we let it be.
If people fight back and there are consequences then this is not the end of anything.
Instead of the end of democracy, an event like that can be the start of a movement to never let this happen again.
Every mainstream news outlet only reported on the event and how awful and scary it was (and it was!) Every main stream news outlet left us demoralized.
But if you go to the hyperlocal outlets (which I did) you actually get a different story — one in which this behavior is not seen as ok and does have consequences! One in which ordinary people and local officials do the right thing. Even Republicans.
We find a story that actually brings hope!
Here it is:
If we look a little closer we see that the Security firm lost its license after she was dragged from Idaho town hall
CDA Police report that Lear Asset Management's business license has been revoked for violating Coeur d'Alene City ordinances regarding security agencies and agents. The CDA Police continue to investigate the incident and battery charges against Borrehpohl have been dropped by the prosecutor.
Got that? Charges against her for biting the guy who grabbed her were dropped, what they did is under investigation AND they lost their license.
AND a GoFundMe was set up with the goal of raising 30k for her legal fees.
Guess what is has raised? over 300,000.
That is good news.
Need more evidence that this actually ended in a way that can give us hope? It was condemned by The North Idaho Republicans who posted:
"North Idaho Republicans (NIR) supports free speech, whether one likes what is being said or not. NIR condemns the dreadful manner in which events at the (KCRCC) Legislative Town Hall were handled, which clearly appears to include the assault of a woman attendee.
Girl, when you have lost North Idaho Republicans….
And finally — Sheriff Bob Norris and other parties will face investigation into conduct after a woman was dragged from a Coeur d’Alene town hall
Two days after private security guards dragged a woman by her arms out of a legislative town hall in Coeur d’Alene at the signaling of Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, he and others at the event are now facing investigations into their conduct. Norris is also poised to be the subject of an outside investigation to determine if his conduct at the meeting violated any policy, according to a separate release from his own sheriff’s office.
An outside investigation. For the Sheriff in the room.
The mainstream media gives us reason to panic. We have to find, for ourselves, how strong we are and how much reason there is for hope.
This is just one example.
9. These inspiring acts of bravery
This week two videos had me in tears and full of hope.
First, The US Army Chorus sang and performed the Epilogue Finale from Les Miserables at the White House Governors Ball Trump. Doing this to his face is a major act of defiance!
As one commenter said “I truly hope people understand how ballsy it was to do this. These are very brave people.” And someone else said “This is 100% subtle protest and I’m all for it”
The second was Jane Fonda’s amazing speech. Hollywood has been slow this time, but I think she just opened the floodgates.
10. The Democrats are great
Please save your “why aren’t they doing anything…” they are doing a lot. Push them to do more if you want, but don’t ignore all the good.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen brings newborn with her for close House vote
The final result wasn’t what Democrats had hoped, but Rep. Brittany Pettersen was glad she made it in time to cast a “no” vote against the House Republican’s budget blueprint Tuesday night. The resolution, which passed 217 to 215, is a key opening step to passing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. “I wasn't going to sit back and not vote for anything where I could potentially be the difference,” the Jefferson County Democrat said after the vote, holding her sleeping four-week-old, Sam, in her arms. “I knew this was going to be very close. I'm very disappointed that we didn't ultimately kill it, but our power is in the numbers that we have in the House for Democrats.” Pettersen, who is on maternity leave at her home in Jefferson County, said it was difficult making the trip with just her and the baby and not having her husband to help. “Nothing is easy when you're traveling with a newborn, and doing it alone was challenging,” she said. “Then just being here, because he sleeps one or two hours here and there, so I am exhausted.”
and from just one day:
On the Lighter side
Just a few things that made me laugh this week
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