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Sunday 6/22 special edition of Democrats speaking up about the attack on Sen. Padilla & in MN [1]

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Date: 2025-06-22

I’m mixing things up a bit for today’s diary. I’m still feeling upset about the attack on my senator, Alex Padilla. There’s so much happening that it’s easy to move on, so I want to take a few minutes and remind us what has happened in the past 10 days or so.

I’m a first generation Mexican American and seeing Sen. Padilla taken to the ground still leaves me shaken. He’s my Primo! Not in the literal sense but in the cultural sense. I don’t look like him because my Mother was not Mexican; and my last name isn’t “Mexican” because I changed it when I married. But my actual Primas look like him. Some of my brothers look like him and they, too, have “Mexican” last names.

Then there’s the whole threat to democracy portion of this, which cannot be forgotten or ignored. Democratic senators spoke up in the immediate aftermath of the attack and called out the grave risk to our democracy.

With that as my inspiration, I want to highlight several speeches that I think did an excellent job of capturing the seriousness of that attack, and the outrage of Democratic members of Congress.

I’m going to start with the powerful speech by Senator Padilla, himself. At about the 10’ 15” mark his voice breaks as he says, “What will my wife think? What will our boys think?” He’s trying hard to hold it together but it’s difficult when it becomes personal. He’s one man, and I know that he recognizes that everyone who is being cuffed by ICE thinks the same thing. x x YouTube Video

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks was on fire, and rightly so. She caught my attention as soon as I heard her speaking. “We have now crossed the line. This is a dangerous day for America.” x x YouTube Video

Next up is Sen. Patty Murray, who was close to tears as she spoke. She’s stronger than me — I cried a lot that day. She spoke about how the attack on Sen. Padilla was an attack on democracy. x x YouTube Video

Senator Booker speaks mostly extemporaneously and brings in history lessons along with his righteous rage. x x YouTube Video

I hadn’t planned on sharing this one but I finally watched it and it’s definitely worth the 3.5 minutes of your time. “This is the stuff of dictators!” x x YouTube Video

As a child of the 1960s I’m also still very disturbed about the assassination and assassination attempt in Minnesota. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith gave us all some insight to the impact of, and therefore, the loss of Melissa Hortman. Rep. Hortman sounds like someone that would have been a terrific US House or US Senate member. An incredible loss to her community, her state and her party. More importantly a horrific loss to her family and friends.

As Sen. Smith says about her, “Millions and millions of Minnesotans are better off because of the work she did. Her record of accomplishment is so extensive that it’s hard to capture it all in just a few short minutes and so it’s so bitter to realize she was only fifty-five.”

I’m not including all the categories that I usually do because of the focus on Sen. Padilla and the assassination in Minnesota.

Democratic victories

x Today’s decision out of Rhode Island isn’t getting a lot of attention, but it’s very important. Trump tried to withhold fed’l funds from states that won’t help with his immigration policy & mass deportations. A Judge just told him he can’t do that. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan... — Joyce White Vance (@joycewhitevance.bsky.social) 2025-06-20T04:41:39.939Z

x Some good news. DOGE tried to shut down the water quality office in Norcross. @ossoff.senate.gov and I successfully stopped them. — Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (@warnock.senate.gov) 2025-06-17T20:06:30.558Z

The Blueprint & Democratic Daily Download

x Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill will force hundreds of rural hospitals to close. On today’s Democratic Daily Download, @adams.house.gov breaks down this dangerous bill and how Democrats are fighting to stop it. — House Democrats (@housedemocrats.bsky.social) 2025-06-20T18:08:38.818Z

x On today’s Democratic Daily Download, @algreen.house.gov pays tribute to the great American holiday of Juneteenth. — House Democrats (@housedemocrats.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T16:03:10.691Z

Chair Ken Martin

x Last night’s vigil was another reminder of just how many Minnesotans’ lives were touched by Melissa and Mark Hortman. Our DFL family is deeply lucky to have known them. — Ken Martin (@kenmartin.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T18:14:04.816Z

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