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We Are the Leaders of this Resistance: GNR [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-15
Before we get to all of the good news, l want to let you know that I feel you all who are in pain at Schumer and his friends sending this bill forward. It feels awful to work hard for something and have it not happen. We are all trying so hard and working so hard to fight them and we made so many calls to their offices and I totally get how it feels like a slap in the face.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if it is the right move or not. I hear their arguments about how a shutdown would help musk (and we know he wanted one). It makes sense. But the arguments for not passing this AWFUL CR make sense too. Honestly, this was a lose/lose.
What worries me the most isn’t that this passed, it is that people feel so betrayed and awful. And I totally understand that. We want leaders who see this moment and are acting at every possible moment. I, personally, think that there was no “right” choice and that people did what they thought was the best of bad options. But I get that, for some people, Schumer doesn’t feel like the leader for this moment.
But here is the thing: Schumer isn’t the leader for this moment. Neither is AOC or Walz or Bernie any of them.
We are the leaders of this moment. Just like we were in the last trump administration. No one came to save us then. We saved us.
And we don’t quit because we had a huge disappointment. We don’t give up because we don’t agree with our allies on one move.
We don’t forget that we are actually gaining in strength and they are actually losing in strength.
We don’t forget that we are dedicated to this country. To democracy. To freedom. To one another.
This is not the first time we will disagree with one another.
It is not the last time.
But we let ourselves feel what we feel and we move on. Maybe we push for new Senate leadership. But we move on.
We remember who the real enemy is. We remember that, although we don’t always agree, we are allies who work together.
that is our only option. And we can do this.
I have so much faith in us!
And now I want to get to what I originally planned for this: showing how much winning we are doing (and how much losing they are doing). Because other than getting this 6 month budget passed, they really have had an awful week. Don’t forget that in your sorrow.
Let’s do it!
we are showing that we are loud, mad, and the majority!
Another example of a GOP Rep holding a disaster town hall because we are mad, loud, and here!!!
GOP Rep Mercilessly Taunted in Another Wild Town Hall Clash
North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards found himself on the receiving end of serious fury from voters over the policies Trump administration in another Republican-held town hall-gone-wrong on Thursday. The town hall initially began fairly courteously, as the audience were warned to remain respectful ahead of Edwards’ appearance in Asheville, a city in western North Carolina. But things quickly went downhill. Other noteworthy moments from the town hall included the very first question from the crowd. “What do you plan to do to make sure North Carolina does not get taken over by dictatorship and fascism?” one individual asked. “Do you represent all citizens, even though they may not have voted for you? Or do you work for Donald Trump?” one person inquired. “I represent all the citizens,” Edwards replied. One man told Edwards bluntly, “Do your job that you were sent there to do: to represent us all.” He added: “You’re lying! I’m a veteran, and you don’t give a f--k about me.” He eventually closed the grating town hall by yelling, “Hey, this has been fun.” He added: “I appreciate the opportunity to spend the last 89 minutes with you. I really appreciate the energy that you brought, the contradiction of opinions from time to time, the passion that I hear... and I hope that you will certainly stay engaged with my office.” The crowd continued to respond negatively.
And not just at town halls! But at protests! We are so amazing!!!
Protests
A committee hearing in the Tennessee House was shut down by protesters yesterday, as racist Republicans are trying to pass a law refusing to enroll undocumented students. Opponents of the bill filled every seat in the room, while hundreds more gathered in the hallway. After members voted, protesters chanted “Let us learn!” and “If they don’t drop it, shut it down!” One organizer told the crowd, “We are definitely going to be back, this is not the end of our fight. This is not the end of our struggle.”
The Tesla protests are getting bigger — and rowdier
Last weekend, protests escalated at Tesla showrooms across the nation. Hundreds of people gathered to boycott Elon Musk and his involvement in the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is overseeing a massively disruptive effort to fire thousands of federal workers to slash government spending. Most of these protests are associated with the Tesla Takedown movement that first emerged in February. It encourages supporters to “sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines” as part of efforts to “stop Musk.” But momentum has ramped up significantly in the past week, leading to bigger turnouts and some arrests.
Veteran Chains Himself Outside White House to Protest Trump and Musk An 80-year-old veteran chained himself to a sign near the White House Monday to protest Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s massive cuts to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Richard Hobcraft Allan III, a resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, locked himself to a metal post outside of the presidential building Monday morning, holding a pipe around his hands reading “King Trump and Pres Musk are killing veterans.” Allan said he and his fellow veterans “are marshaling on [March] 14th at noon and marching all over the country to say one simple thing: Veterans will not stand for this any longer.” “We believe that an unelected leader is killing our fellow veterans and something must be done. All over our country, people are standing up, making noise in the streets, and stating ‘we cannot go on as usual,’” Allan continued. He later joked with one of the Metropolitan Police officers who responded to the scene. “I’ve been told that some of you guys are real humane,” he said. “We try to be,” the officer replied. “If you could slip over here with just a shot of bourbon—” Allan said, causing the officer to laugh. Ultimately, police decided to leave Allan attached to the post. Oh! and speaking of how awesome we are WE ARE KILLING IT IN SPECIAL ELECTIONS!!! Check it out: Minnesota House special election More than 13,000 people and nearly 47% of registered voters cast ballots in a special election for a suburban Minnesota House seat this week, far outpacing voter turnout in any other House special election over the last decade. Democrats say it’s the highest turnout in any special election in state history, likely due to the seat’s significance in the ongoing power struggle in the Minnesota House and a burst of energy for the party nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term. The Secretary of State’s Office does not track historic turnout for special elections. “The results of special elections all around the country show how deeply unpopular Trump is, and how motivated Democratic and Independent voters are to vote against Republicans,” said DFL House Leader Melissa Hortman. DFL candidate David Gottfried received more than 70% of the vote for the Roseville-area seat, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the DFL candidate received in the district last November. He also outperformed former Vice President Kamala Harris' margin in the district. Outperforming our past numbers!!! We are THERE! And this local election in Florida where we flipped a seat! Flipping Gulfport City Council’s seat in Ward 2 And this one we lost, but it is was actually a huge win. Check it out:
Republicans keep House seat in tight Iowa special election victory
BUT -— Watkins won 52% of the vote and Griffin received 48%. “ Tonight, Nannette Griffin proved Democrats are on their way back — performing competitively in a district that Donald Trump won by 27 points,” Hart said. "Democrats from across the state came together and knocked on doors, made phone calls and worked hard, and tonight’s results show their efforts moved the needle in HD-100.
Did you get that? We moved a +27 R to a +4 R.
And trump just keeps getting more and more unpopular
• 83 percent opposed Trump’s pardons of violent Jan. 6 defendants (Washington Post-Ipsos) • Around 70 percent of Americans opposed the administration’s move to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” (Ipsos and Marquette University Law School) • 70 percent opposed dismantling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Ipsos) • 62 percent in one poll and 74 percent in another opposed Trump’s plan to take control of Gaza (Quinnipiac University and Ipsos) • 67 percent opposed freezing funds for public health agencies (Ipsos) • As many as 65 percent opposed trying to take the Panama Canal (Marquette) • 64 percent opposed his 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada (Post-Ipsos) • 60 percent in one poll and 64 percent in another opposed trying to make Canada the 51st state (Economist-YouGov and Reuters-Ipsos) • 59 percent opposed his 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico (Post-Ipsos) • 58 percent and 59 percent in two polls opposed dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (Ipsos and Washington Post-Ipsos) • 58 percent opposed laying off large numbers of government workers (Post-Ipsos)
A Seriously Bad CNN Poll
- Trump’s job approval is 45%-54%, a 5 point drop in the last 2 weeks. The only other President who was consistently underwater this early in their Presidency since polling became widely used in the 1950s was the first Trump. And that President lost the 2018 midterms badly and was voted out in 2020.
Recession Fears and Elon Musk Batter Trump’s Approval Rating
One of the trends that Donald Trump and his supporters wanted to reverse with his big speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4 was a steady erosion of his job-approval ratings in the polls from the mildly positive “honeymoon” levels he registered just after returning to the White House. It didn’t work. And there’s increasing evidence concerns about the economy and reaction to Elon Musk’s assault on federal services and employees are beginning to take a toll on the new administration’s base of support. On Thursday, the S&P 500 entered correction territory, having lost more than 10 percent of its value in three weeks. Silver Bulletin’s comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of the polls show Trump’s approval-rating averages now clearly underwater at 47.3 percent positive and 49.0 percent negative. RealClearPolitics, which produces simple arithmetical averages from a database that includes several dubious pro-Trump pollsters, shows his net job-approval averages dropping from 1.2 percent on March 4 to minus-0.7 percent on March 13. Beyond the overall numbers, the most recent polls show that worries about the economy continue to hound the 47th president. Here’s how Emerson College explained the trends: As President Trump reaches his first 50 days in office, his approval rating has declined from 49%-41% to 47%-45%, reflecting a nation deeply divided … Voters are most supportive of Trump’s immigration policy, but they disapprove of his handling of the economy, believe tariffs will hurt economic growth, and are skeptical of his cryptocurrency policy.
And he hates it
Trump’s Anger Spins Out of Control at Presser as Another Bad Poll Hits
With Trump seeming unusually angry in remarks to reporters, a shrewd observer of Trump-MAGA psychology plumbs the darker undercurrents of his discontent—and explains the political trap he’s landed himself in. . Trump is trapped in an unusual dynamic: He’s clearly taking a beating over his tariff threats right now, but he’s also gotten it into his head that the tariffs are what make him appear strong and formidable, making it hard for him to back out of them.
Oh and even the kids hate him!
And young people?
Donald Trump’s war on education is in full swing, and young voters are making their voices heard—almost 70% disapprove of Trump, according to new polling. Maybe that’s because he’s actively working to steal their futures—gutting funding, killing opportunities, and now trying to abolish the Department of Education entirely.
and why does this matter (other than just for our enjoyment)? Because he wants to be loved! So when he isn’t he folds.
Trump touted sweeping tariff, DOGE plans — then adjusted as backlash grew
Adjustments on DOGE and tariffs suggest the president isn’t immune to political pressure, despite the scale of his proposals. President Donald Trump touted his administration’s early work in his prime-time speech to Congress last week, especially on two of his top priorities: tariffs to transform the global trade order and the work of the U.S. DOGE Service to cut spending at home. Two days later, Trump had watered down tariffs on Mexico and Canada that took effect only hours before the speech, scaling back plans for economic transformation in the face of slumping stock markets worldwide. The same day, he also put new limits on DOGE, telling his Cabinet secretaries at a closed-door meeting that they — not billionaire adviser Elon Musk and his team — had control over which workers their agencies fire. The moves represent the latest abrupt shifts by a president whose political career has been marked by sudden reversals. They also reflect how Trump is not immune to political, economic or diplomatic pressure,
They had to pull this:
Weldon’s history of vaccine skepticism helped tank his CDC nomination
A key Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee shared concerns about CDC director nominee Dave Weldon’s vaccine views with the White House before his nomination was pulled Thursday morning. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was so troubled about Weldon’s vaccines stance that she shared her concerns with the White House, and she was not surprised that his nomination had been pulled. The decision to pull Weldon’s nomination appears to have been closely held until Thursday morning. “It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to him,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Democrats, however, largely celebrated the news.
Trump is weaker now (loser! loser! loser!)
He has retreated, begun to desperately change course. Inside the White House and Republican circles in DC they know this thing isn’t working. It has become far harder for his enablers to pretend he is anything other than an idiot, a disaster. Wall Street has lost confidence in him. The American people are turning on him. Protests are growing in frequency and size and it is freaking Trump out (crowd size is a thing with him!). The free world has turned on him, and it is not clear he will even be able to visit any traditional American ally in the coming years. The curtain has begun to be pulled back from the Wizard. Trump the strong and mighty is becoming Trump the idiot, the weak, the fuckup, the betrayer.
Remember how they were going to scrap the phone services for social security? they had to undo it.
Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report
The Social Security Administration late Wednesday abandoned plans it was considering to end phone service for millions of Americans filing retirement and disability claims after The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team was weighing the change to root out alleged fraud. The shift would have directed elderly and disabled people to rely on the internet and in-person field offices to process their claims, curtailing a service that 73 million Americans have relied on for decades to access earned government benefits.
And and their plan for using Gitmo for migrants? total failure!
ICE Returns All Migrants From Guantánamo to Stateside Facilities
The Trump administration has abruptly cleared out a second group of migrants it brought to the American military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, returning to the United States 40 men it had flown there in the past few weeks, according to officials familiar with the matter. It is the second time the administration has brought people to Guantánamo Bay only to remove them after a few weeks, a costly and time-consuming exercise.
And things are falling apart for his bff
Here’s How Tesla’s Sales Have Been Hit Around the World
Tesla sales have been faltering worldwide as consumers push back against the company’s CEO Elon Musk and his political involvement with the Trump Administration. The company’s stock dropped 15% as of end of day on Monday, its steepest drop in five years, as the stock market plunged after President Donald Trump hinted at a recession on Sunday. And the president seems to have taken notice of Tesla’s dip—in a post on Truth Social Monday night, he blamed "radical left lunatics" for the boycott of Musk’s EV company and pledged to "buy a brand new Tesla."
and trump can’t get out of his own way.
Trump’s Own Advisers Are Freaking Out About His Tariff Chaos
President Donald Trump’s stop-start tariff warring and fluctuating economic messaging is causing anxiety among some of his own advisers, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The newspaper reported Monday evening that some staff on the National Economic Council (NEC) have been startled by his insistence on remaking U.S. trade policy into a game of will-he-won’t-he tariff threats, worried that Trump is fuelling a stock market selloff and potentially contributing to inflation.
AND instead of impowering assholes, he is making good leaders more popular!
Trump is improving liberals all over the world
Canada: The governing Liberals were set for a major election defeat. But in the last few weeks, as Trump instituted tariffs, the party’s polling has rebounded by at least 10 points. In the race for prime minister, Carney is now tied — and running ahead in some polls. The escalating trade war may simply induce Canadians to dig in. Mexico: President Claudia Sheinbaum, the country’s leftist leader, saw her support rise to 80 percent in one poll as she negotiated with Trump on tariffs. Tens of thousands rallied in Mexico City last weekend to celebrate her success in delaying the levies. Britain: Starmer has been careful to stay close to Trump. He hasn’t retaliated on tariffs. But he loudly backed Zelensky after Trump withdrew support for the war. As a result, the prime minister’s ratings rose. British voters now see Starmer’s Labour Party as better at dealing with foreign policy and defense challenges than the Conservative Party is. (Voters usually regard the Conservatives as better at defense.) Ukraine: Zelensky’s fight with Trump may have saved his job. As the war dragged on, his political opponents saw an opportunity to oust him. After his trip to Washington, his approval ratings rose, according to two recent polls, and his opponents have said publicly that now is not the time for elections.
And many Democrats are stepping up and showing how people who ARENT morons behave:
Tim Walz to launch national tour of town halls in Republican House districts
Tim Walz is headed back out on the road – this time, for a tour of House districts represented by Republicans who have stopped holding in-person town halls amid the raucous receptions some of their colleagues have gotten across the country. The Minnesota governor and 2024 vice presidential candidate will start on Friday in Iowa, in the district represented by Rep. Zach Nunn, then head across the border to Nebraska, for the district represented by Rep. Don Bacon – both of whom won tight races for re-election last year. Walz’s team is already planning stops in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio for the coming weeks, with more stops expected to be added. Given his national profile after his time on the Democratic ticket last year, Walz said he felt obligated to step up.
Oh! And I didn’t even bring up the place they lose the most! In court!!!! Like this:
Trump Suffers Huge Loss as Judge Overturns “Unlawful” Mass Firings
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the mass firing of federal employees was an “unlawful” directive by the Office of Personnel Management. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered several agencies to “immediately” reinstate all fired probationary employees. Those agencies included the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the Departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Agriculture. That would also restore numbers at the Internal Revenue Service, which falls under the helm of the Treasury Department and has been hit hard by job cuts in recent weeks. In a hearing leading up to the decision, Alsup torched the Trump administration’s decision not to submit OPM director Chad Ezell for questioning as a “sham,” and accused the White House’s effort to cast the firings as performance failures as “a gimmick.” “It is sad, a sad day, when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
and this!
Judge Beryl Howell holds the line
Judge Beryl A. Howell, who recently took senior status on the D.C. district court after seven years as chief judge, has been among the most impressive. In her opinion granting Perkins Coie’s request for a temporary restraining order halting implementation of a vindictive executive order barring the firm’s lawyers from government buildings and prohibiting the federal government from hiring the firm or from using contractors who work with it. “To the extent that this executive order appears to be an instance of President Trump using taxpayer dollars in government resources to pursue what is a wholly personal vendetta, advancing such political payback is not something which the government has a cognizable interest,” she wrote. She added, “Regardless of whether the president dislikes the firm’s clients, dislikes the litigation positions the law firm takes in vigorous representation of those clients or dislikes the results Perkins Coie achieved for its clients, issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the president’s dislike of the political positions of the firm’s clients or the firm’s litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head-on into the role of First Amendment protection.” And, adding zing to her ruling, she wrote: “This may be amusing in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where the Queen of Hearts yells, ‘Off with their heads!’ at annoying subjects and announces a sentence before a verdict. But this cannot be the reality we are living under.” Howell also commended Williams & Connolly, Perkins’s counsel. “I have enormous respect for Williams & Connolly and enormous respect for them taking this case when not every law firm would.” She left no doubt this was about more than one law firm. “Our justice system is based on the fundamental belief that justice works best when all parties have zealous advocates," she said. "That fundamental promise extends to all parties, even those with unpopular ideas or beliefs or causes disliked by President Trump." In short, she not only reached the indisputably right result but, in defiant tones, helped educate other lawyers and the public at large about Trump’s authoritarian actions. And it’s not the only time she has taken Trump to the woodshed recently.
And this!
Democratic attorneys general sue over Trump gutting of education department
A group of Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block significant cuts to the Department of Education made by the Trump administration this week. Led by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, the coalition of more than 20 states filed suit in federal court after the agency cut about half of its workforce. More than 1,300 employees were laid off in a single day, the latest move toward Donald Trump’s goal of dismantling the department entirely. The lawsuit alleges the cuts to the department have “devastating effects” on the states, which receive anywhere from millions to billions of dollars from the federal education department annually, James said in a press release. The cuts will hurt students, including those with special needs and those from low-income households.
and this from Judge Allsup this week:
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth. This is the U.S. District Court. Whenever you submit declarations, those people should be submitted to the cross-examination, just like the plaintiffs’ side should be. Then we get at the truth. … I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth whenever we hear all the evidence eventually. Why can’t you bring your people in to be cross-examined or deposed at their convenience? I said two hours for Mr. Ezell. A deposition at his convenience. And you withdrew his declaration rather than do that? Come on. That’s a sham. It upsets me, I want you to know that. I’ve been practicing in this court for over 50 years and I know how we get at the truth. And you’re not helping me get at the truth. You’re giving me press releases, sham documents. I’m getting mad.”
and then he granted the preliminary injunction and ordered the government to rehire workers across six agencies.
And even his “friends” (he has no friends) are turning on him (these are from Amy Suskind)
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board calls Trump trade war with Canada “ dumbest in history,” and says he “behaves as if his manhood is implicated because a foreign nation won't take his nasty border taxes lying down.” and this
BREAKING: Fox News hatchet man Peter Doocy goes scorched earth on the Trump administration for destroying the economy with tariffs: "You're sure nobody here at the White House shorted the Dow?" And that wasn't even the worst part of this train wreck press briefing… Before the showdown began, Doocy made remarks in the White House Briefing Room that made it abundantly clear that he's deeply displeased with the Trump-inflicted economic downturn. "We also expect the White House to try to reassure folks who are sitting there looking at their 401(k)s going down and down and down," Doocy said. "This is a White House that came in trying to get federal workers to retire by the hundreds of thousands. But it's tough to make the argument that you should retire if your retirement accounts are getting throttled which is what is happening right now," he continued. "So we expect, we hope, for answers to all of these curiosities any minute," he added. It must be noted that Doocy has been a reliable soldier for the MAGA movement in the past. During the Biden administration he served as an attack dog for the Republican Party, lobbing loading questions at the White House constantly. His sudden turn on Trump shows that even conservatives are getting worried about the recession predictions. Shortly after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt entered the room, Doocy pounced— "So you said that the Dow dropping and dropping and dropping is a period of transition. You're sure nobody here at the White House shorted the Dow?," he asked. "No, I don't think so," replied Leavitt, trying to play the question off with a laugh.
Before I get to ways you can help save democracy. Here are some ways to take care of yourself
Some Practical Ways to Unplug from the Panic Machine (Without Going Numb)
Move Your Damn Body: 2. Breathe Like You Mean It 3. Find Your People (And Actually Talk to Them) 4. Let Joy Be a Middle Finger to the Apocalypse 5. Create One Tiny Ritual That Grounds You 6. Name What’s Happening, But Don’t Let It Own You And let’s be clear: self-care isn’t a luxury right now. It’s not an indulgence. It’s not for the people who can “afford” it — it’s for the people who can’t afford not to. You can’t afford to let your nervous system hijack this whole situationship, because we need you. You, fully here, alert, steady. The revolution — the real, daily, ongoing fight for democracy and human dignity — requires people who are present, clear-eyed, and ready. The people before us fought, suffered, and sacrificed so that you and I could sit here and Google “how to regulate my nervous system.” Pick any social justice movement in the past 30 years — hell, the past 300 — and someone fought so you could live a little easier. Who made that possible for you? Whose struggle helped secure your freedoms? Name them, thank them, and then pay it forward. Take care of yourself so that you can keep going, so that you can show up for someone else, so that this moment isn’t the one where we let it all slip away. Because democracy isn’t just a system. It’s a living, breathing organism that needs tending. And right now, your nervous system is part of that care. Take care of it. Take care of us. Let’s keep going.
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