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GNR for Friday, July 18, 2025: Good Trouble in Our Day [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-07-18

Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!

“I prefer peace. But if there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” ― Thomas Paine

What with the wannabe dictator that we stupidly elected, these days, quotes from the time of the Revolutionary War seem particularly apt.

When Thomas Paine wrote those words, democratic experiments had only been tried out a few times. We can say now that we know that no generation can take democracy for granted. Still, we have good reason to do our best to leave a better country and planet for the next generation.

Come on in, and see what those who prefer peace but who will take on trouble — and make good trouble — are doing.

Regular Scheduled Programming

No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, and the chaos. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country and the planet from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know.

Remember:

💜Although they lie all the time, reality matters. And our goals — based on reality — are more popular.

💙 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, make sure to protect yourself, your family and your friends, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.

🗽 Reports on Resisters 🗽

First, we need to note that Daily Kos has apparently won its battle against the tRump DOJ kos, Daily Kos

This, as we know, is not something we can take for granted. Look what just happened to Stephen Colbert!

Yesterday was the Good Trouble rally day, in honor of Congressman John Lewis, who died 5 years ago on July 17. From what I am seeing, the turnout was nothing like the turnout a few weeks ago. This is disappointing, but we must remember it took place on a Thursday instead of a weekend, and in deep summer, when the heat and the holidays make

x 'Good Trouble' protests bring anti-Trump rallies back to Florida ✊ — Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T00:33:17.785Z

There were other rallies, but I did not see many reports yet.

There are efforts being made by lawsuits and in courts. And many are working. From the article, This Federal Judge Made Me Feel Better About Our Democracy Michael McConnell and David Leonhardt, New York Times

One analysis found that Democratic-appointed judges have ruled against Trump 80 percent of the time, and that Republican-appointed judges have ruled against him 72 percent of the time. It really feels like these rulings have mattered. I mean, when you look at every law firm that has fought one of Trump’s punitive executive orders, they’ve all won, and they’ve prevented the orders from going into effect. So I’m curious if you think I’m right that it is historically unusual to have an administration lose as often in court as this administration is losing?"

I know, SCOTUS is primed to reverse too much of this, but this is still important. And they will not undo it all.

Still, the oxygen is all being taken up by the Epstein scandal.

💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣

tRump is not healthy. That’s not news. But what is news is that the WH is admitting it:

x yeah I'll bet *LEAVITT: TRUMP UNDERWENT MEDICAL EXAM OVER LEG SWELLING — George Pearkes (@peark.es) 2025-07-17T17:51:06.805Z

As mentioned above, the Epstein scandal is still rocking the GOP:

For those who want to understand it:

x Mystified as to why DOJ’s withholding of the Epstein files so upsets Trump’s base? It’s simple. 👉 A third of MAGA Republicans are QAnon. 👉 QAnon teaches that government, media, and financial elites are Satanic sex-trafficking pedophiles. prri.org/spotlight/th... — George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway.bsky.social) 2025-07-13T10:25:40.768Z

Here’s some more insight from Michael Cohen via Substack and his connection with MeidasTouch

This is hitting hard. Not just for the left, not for moderates, but deep in the heart of the right wing MAGA. The very people who saw themselves as warriors against elite evil are realizing the people they trusted; the Bannonites, the Carlson cultists, the flamethrowers of the right, may have lied to them. Worse, that they may be part of the cover-up. It’s a gut punch of betrayal and disloyalty. Because MAGA didn’t just vote. They believed. They gave up family, friends, jobs; everything, all for the cause. And now, they’re left wondering: were we just pawns in someone else’s game? In someone else’s lie? Do they think we are stupid? ✂️ Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Dan Bongino; these aren’t loyal soldiers. These are vultures, circling what they think is a vulnerable beast. They see a movement that is disoriented, disillusioned, and ripe for hijacking. And, let me be clear, they don’t want to save MAGA. They want to own it. Control it. Mold it into something that serves them. Not Trump. Them. ✂️ Together, these men aren’t critics. They’re contenders. They’re not pushing for justice; they’re pushing for control. They see a wounded MAGA base, still loyal to Trump, but wavering. They smell blood. They think they can seize the movement, declare moral authority, and become kingmakers for 2028, or even kings themselves. And the most damning part? They’re using the Epstein scandal; the very issue that galvanized so many on the right, as the knife in Trumpworld’s back. They’re weaponizing the silence. MAGA was told for years that the elites were trafficking children and that Trump was the only one with the guts to stop them. But now, those same true believers are watching as Republicans block the release of the evidence. As Trump’s DOJ goes mute. As Bondi fades into the walls. The betrayal is total. The people who believed they were fighting evil are now staring it in the face; and realizing it’s wearing the same red MAGA hat. This isn’t a war between right and left. This is a war within the right. It’s a palace coup, and the walls are closing in.

Even Murdoch is in on things:

x Rupert Murdoch, welcome to The Resistance. — Tim Onion (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T01:01:33.935Z

Here it is with a gift link (I have not yet checked to make sure it works)

x Everyone in America needs to read this FREE—I’ve gifted it below—report from the conservative WALL STREET JOURNAL about Trump and Epstein. Apparently the president has now threatened to sue the WSJ over this 100% accurate report due to how damaging it is. — Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T23:33:22.889Z

More from SA’s thread

x Holy actual literal shit OMG — Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T23:37:23.304Z

and

x By the way, the answer to the riddle in the note (in effect, “What do you get for men [Trump and Epstein] who have everything?”) is “You get them something one isn’t *allowed* to have.” Trump then writes that he and Epstein have the thing they want in common—and it “never ages.” — Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T23:44:40.658Z

And this seems to be having an impact Sarah Fortinsky, the Hill

President Trump’s disapproval rating is at its highest level since the start of his second term, according to the latest Economist/YouGov poll. The survey, conducted over the weekend, shows 55 percent disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job, compared to 41 percent who approve. , when 53 percent disapproved and 42 percent approved of the job he was doing as president. The week before that saw the same results. The most recent poll marks a slight shift from the prior week’s , when 53 percent disapproved and 42 percent approved of the job he was doing as president. Thesaw the same results. Trump started his second term with 49 percent approval and 43 percent disapproval. Trump saw lower support in mid-June, when 40 percent approved of his handling of the presidency, but only 54 percent disapproved at the time — 1 percentage point shy of the latest poll’s.

🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚

Representative Ro Khanna forced the rules committee to vote on releasing the Epstein files Andrew Solender, Axios

House Republicans on Monday night voted against attaching a Democratic amendment to landmark cryptocurrency legislation that would force the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Why it matters: It's the outcome Democrats anticipated, and one they plan to gleefully cite as President Trump continues to grapple with the MAGA fallout over the DOJ's handling of the documents. "The question with Epstein is: Whose side are you on?" Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the author of the Epstein measure, told Axios ahead of the vote.

"Are you on the side of the rich and powerful, or are you on the side of the people?" he said, promising to introduce the amendment "again and again and again."

Who is on the House rules committee? I looked it up here.

All 4 Ds voted for the release, as did R Ralph Norman. We must note, too, that R Chris Roy missed the vote. But the other Rs — Virginia Foxx, Michelle Fischbach, Erin Houchin, Nicholas A Langworthy, Austin Scott, H Morgan Griffith and Brian Jack — they all voted to protect pedophiles.

We need to keep painting the GOPs as the party that protects pedophiles and the associates of Jeffrey Epstein.

Mamdami fundraises off of Cuomo launch video Tara Suter The Hill

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani fundraised off a new campaign video from former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the two are set to battle in the general election later this year. “Only 13 percent of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it. My opponent, Mr. Mamdani, offers slick slogans, but no real solutions,” Cuomo said in a campaign video, which was posted Monday on the social platform X. In response to the earlier campaign video Cuomo posted on X, Mamdani posted a link to donate money to his campaign. Mamdani’s response had earned 95,000 likes by later Monday night, with Cuomo’s original video at 2,900 likes. Mamdani’s recent win in the Democratic primary shocked the political world, with a mostly previously unknown democratic socialist taking down Cuomo, a notable political heavyweight. Cuomo has formally announced he is running as an independent in the Big Apple’s mayoral race later this year.

20 States (I assume Ds) sue tRump administration for slashing disaster mitigation program Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch

A group of 20 states sued the Trump administration on Wednesday over the shutting down of a multibillion-dollar grant program with the purpose of strengthening natural disaster preparation and mitigation. The lawsuit filed in a Boston federal court contends that the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unlawfully eliminated its Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities (BRIC) program, overriding Congress. The states said in the complaint that the shutdown’s impacts have been “devastating,” reported The Hill.

💜 Unity? 💜

Attempting to do a discharge petition, Massie and Khanna…! House gov

Washington, D.C.- Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) announces that he has introduced the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), which would force the House of Representatives to vote on the complete release of the government's files related to Jeffrey Epstein. If EFTA is not considered by the House within seven legislative days, a discharge petition will be circulated. "We all deserve to know what’s in the Epstein files, who’s implicated, and how deep this corruption goes," said Rep. Thomas Massie. "Americans were promised justice and transparency. We’re introducing a discharge petition to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on releasing the complete files. If your Representative won’t sign the discharge petition, ask why." A discharge petition is a procedural tool for bypassing House leadership. When the petition is signed by 218 Members, the House must vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is an original cosponsor of the Massie resolution and will be assisting in the effort to collect Member signatures. The text of H.Res.581, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is available here.

One area where there’s some agreement with red and blue states is that cell phones are really bad for students. So more are banning them or at least restricting their use. Ballotpedia

As of July 2, 2025, 32 states had enacted laws or policies on K-12 classroom or school cellphone usage. Twenty-five states—Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Ohio, Oregon, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia—ban or limit cellphones in classrooms. ✂️ Below, you'll find the four most recent state actions on cellphones in schools. Click here to see a full timeline. July 2, 2025 : Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) signed an executive order prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day. [11]

: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) signed an executive order prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day. July 1, 2025 : North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) signed HB 959, which requires districts to prohibit student cellphone use during the school day. [12]

: North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) signed HB 959, which requires districts to prohibit student cellphone use during the school day. July 1, 2025 : Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 96, requiring districts to adopt a policy prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day. [13]

: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 96, requiring districts to adopt a policy prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day. June 27, 2025: Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed HB 480, a bill banning K-12 public school cellphone use during the school day.[14]

The tRump policies against immigration is uniting Americans in favor of immigration! Sort of reassuring, that Americans are not as heartless as we might have believed ourselves to be...

x A new poll shows the backlash to Trump's immigration cruelty has begun The Gallup survey showed a record-high number of Americans who see immigration as a good thing for the country. — Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) 2025-07-14T13:50:30.705Z

I loved this:

x This right here about sums it up. Trump and crew can lie all they want but they are pulling people off the streets, people of colour just to kidnap them even the ones following with the law, even the ones with no criminal history. with no due process and send them to concentration camps. #FuckIce — Maple Mama (@maplemama20.bsky.social) 2025-07-15T16:15:15.316Z

📥 Actions You Can Take 📤

Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?

Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are),you can support and contact these organizations:

ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union

Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.

Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams

🌱Grass roots. Join with local communities to make a difference. It could be your local Dems. It could be your school board or your library. Reach out to people. We all need each other these days.

🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help.

👎 Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.

🐍 Schadenfreude 😈

tRump’s efforts to snuff out the Epstein story backfired.

‘Multiple Trump advisers and others in the president’s political orbit concede that the president’s sustained endeavor to snuff out the story has only made it seem more important. “It’s been weighing on him,” another administration source says.'

x Hoo boy, from me and @swin24.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... — Ryan Bort (@ryanbort.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T00:47:41.435Z

This guy is a holocaust denier, and I would not normally post him. But:

x When you lose Nick Fuentes Nick Fuentes to Trump: "Fúck you. You suck. You're fat, you're a joke, you're stupid, you're not funny... This entire thing has been a scam. We're gonna look back at MAGA movement as the biggest scam in history. The liberals were right we will see Trump as a scam artist." — Barbara Sobel (@barbarasobel.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T19:57:13.222Z

“The liberals were right!” Wow...

Again, I will not often post Laura Loomer, but...

I think there’s evidence of breaking away from others: Alex Jones, Joe Rogan and more.

📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️

This week we’re honoring Rick Wilson of The Lincoln Project.

This is from Influence Magazine, an interview for their column What I’ve Learned

At the end of the day, being brave about what you believe in will change your life fundamentally. ✂️ But I’ve slept better in the last eight years than I did in the previous 30 and I really came to believe, at this point, that saying no to something that I publicly and privately believed was evil was something that changed my life in a good way.

Rick Wilson, as many know, worked for Republicans as a consultant for years. He did some terrible things. This is from his Wikipedia entry and has to do with a campaign for which he consulted in 2002 (a US Senate race in Georgia):

As Wilson reflected in 2016, "The Cleland ad was powerful because it went to his strengths [...] Everyone assumed Cleland was immune to critiques on national security issues. [...] they didn't calculate that I have no moral center when it comes to political ads, and I will destroy the innocent and the guilty".[10] Following Cleland's death in 2021, Wilson received criticism from journalists such as Glenn Greenwald and Charlie Pierce.[11][12]

But as Rick reflected in 2025, he has been sleeping better the past 8 years, because he is doing things he believes in. In 2016, after the election of tRump, he co-founded the Lincoln Project.

With his insight and the fact that he doesn’t pull punches, he’s a useful warrior on our side. I enjoy his podcasts and his way of looking at things.

”

And this week’s offering, about tRump’s health, but when I looked for it, it was not yet available on YouTube.

Note that not all his work is for hire. From that Wikipedia article:

Also in 2022, Wilson joined the board of directors of VoteRiders, an American non-partisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure that all U.S. citizens over 18 years of age are able to exercise their right to vote.

It takes courage to turn away from a career of 30 years.

🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️

How could I resist this story? Well, I did not try hard:

x A small pet dog is being hailed as a “four-legged hero” for helping to save his owner’s life after he fell down an icy crevasse in the Swiss Alps. — hopebuilding (@hopebuilding.bsky.social) 2025-07-13T08:14:12.823Z

📎 Odds & Ends 📎

From Reasons to Be Cheerful, reading a story in the New York Times about water usage in LA

We’ve all heard stories about the water challenges Los Angeles has faced over the years. But a New York Times story shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas reveals a surprising fact: As more and more people have moved to L.A., the total amount of water used by residents and businesses has actually decreased. How? As writer Michael Kimmelman puts it: through “simple, practical, boring fixes, like better plumbing, alongside larger transformations in social norms, policies and politics.”

Insects can hear trees!!! Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch

In the first study of its kind, scientists from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have documented an acoustic interaction between insects and plants. The ultrasonic distress sounds emitted by plants were detected by female moths who used them to decide where to lay their eggs. “Insects rely on plants’ visual, chemical, tactile, and electrical cues when making various decisions. Recently it has been found that plants emit ultrasonic sounds, which are in the hearing range of many moths, especially under dehydration stress,” the authors of the study wrote. “We reveal evidence for a first acoustic interaction between moths and plants, but as plants emit various sounds, our findings hint to the existence of more currently unknown insect-plant acoustic interactions.”

Bamboo being used to heal parts of India Andy Corbley Good News Network

In Western India, bamboo is being used to rejuvenate lands choked with ash from thermal power plants. One of the largest coal-burning nations owing to its large population and drive for economic development, India has nevertheless likely contaminated thousands of acres of marginal and arable land with “fly ash.” Fly ash is the heavy particulate matter ejected during coal and wood burning, and in the case of coal, the presence of heavier minerals like silica make farming under its influence all but impossible. In the Indian state of Maharashtra, Dr. Lal Singh from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR) has spent 12 years pioneering a 5-step program to restoring fly ash-degraded lands using bamboo and soil amendments. Working in the Vidarbha region, three thermal power plants had significantly polluted the surrounding lands. In villages like Ubagi and Khapari, 24 acres of small-holder farms were covered covered in ash, strangling the livelihoods of any who would otherwise farm there.

Go, bacteria, go!

x Dealing with plastic waste is a real headache. But with a little help, bacteria can turn plastic into a painkiller. — Science News (@sciencenews.bsky.social) 2025-07-07T13:10:26.251Z

🐦 I do a lot of other writing. Newest offerings: Messing with the Myths — two books so far in this series. Older offerings: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction (Hunters of the Feather). Mysteries based on Jane Austen’s novels, such as The Meryton Murders. Others based on history and Greek mythology, e.g., Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus. All titles also available through Kindle Unlimited. Want to support me but not interested in my books? Buy one and donate to a library.

💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙

It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.

I know it’s tough to see the path forward. And I can’t guarantee that there is a path forward. But people who are smarter and braver than I have seen ways to move ahead.

Their (the fascists’) plans really are dark, but many of them are also dumb, in the sense that they don’t make sense. So many of them cannot succeed.

Here are some quick hits.

Stay involved. Yeah, that’s tough. I want to look away too, but by taking simple actions you can make a difference. Keep contacting your representatives, both in DC and at home.

Support causes that will fight. Send money if you can. Also, spread their news with clicks and conversation.

Slow them down. Oppose and block at every turn.

Make tRump unpopular. Doing this weakens him. And it should not be that difficult. The GOP made a lot out of Biden is old and eggs cost too much. Well, tRump is older than Biden was at the beginning of his term and tRump has no policies that are going to bring down inflation. And a host of other problems, like he’s a convicted felon.

Divide the GOP from each other. They are a coalition based on contradictory promises, so there’s plenty to work with.

Keep telling the truth and showing love.

Make sure to pace yourselves in this marathon and to practice self-care.

Current projects:

Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters

And Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny Lessons:

(1) Do Not Obey in Advance; (2) Defend Institutions; (3) Beware the One-Party System; (4) Take Responsibility for the Face of the World; (5) Remember Professional Ethics; (6) Be Wary of Paramilitaries; (7) Be Reflective if You Must Own a Gun; (8) Stand Out (this means, speak up, even when others do not); (9) Be Kind to Our Language; (10) Believe in Truth; (11) Investigate; (12) Make Eye Contact and Small Talk; (13) Practice Corporeal Politics; (14) Establish a Private Life; (15) Contribute to Good Causes; (16) Learn from Peers in Other Countries; (17) Listen for Dangerous Words; (18) Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives; (19) Be a Patriot; (20) Be as Courageous as You Can.

🌻

💙 President Joseph R. Biden: “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.”

💙 Sir Winston Churchill: When you’re going through hell, keep going.

🌹 🌹 🌹

TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.

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