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GNR for Friday, September 5, 2025: Home of the Brave [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-09-05
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
There’s lots of bad news in our country. And there’s lots of cowardice.
But there’s also good news, and there’s a lot of bravery.
I’m totally inspired by the Epstein survivors. But I’m also embarrassed by the GOP who are too intimidated by the current administration to demand that the truth be revealed.
I’m inspired by citizen patrols, and by grand juries, and by independent journalists, and by late night comics, and by judges and lawyers, who are speaking truth to power.
I’m inspired by us.
Come on in, gnusies, and see what some of the brave 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 🗽
Loved this:
x Resistance against harmful policies can often yield effective results. We must continue to hold our values close and push back when necessary. @wsna.bsky.social — Justin Gill (@justin-gill.bsky.social) 2025-09-02T17:44:20.121Z
The above is just one example of The Anti-Trump Strategy That’s Actually Working Michael Scherer The Atlantic (🎩 T. Maylse)
Since Inauguration Day, executive orders have been defanged or blocked, agency closures delayed, government-employee firings reversed. Deportation flights have been delayed, law firms have freed themselves from Trump’s retaliation, and foreign students have won the ability to continue studying at U.S. universities. Courts have forced the president to restore cut services and spending to AmeriCorps, the U.S. African Development Foundation, the CDC, and other agencies. They have upended an effort by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to make it more difficult to release unaccompanied minors from government custody and forced Trump to pay for foreign-aid bills he had hoped to stiff-arm. A federal appeals court ruled Friday that many of Trump’s tariffs were illegal, setting up a likely hearing by the Supreme Court. ✂️ The groundwork for these victories was laid before Trump was even reelected, in a series of summits in 2023 and 2024. Universities hosted symposiums. Organized labor held private meetings. International experts, who had been studying Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, warned that Trump would move quickly and try to overwhelm his opponents. “We needed to flood the zone with rule-of-law shock and awe,” Eisen told me after the Zoom call. The plan that emerged was not focused on centralizing a response, but on running a barrage of coordinated efforts. Attorneys general would represent states, advocacy groups such as Public Citizen and the ACLU would focus on their areas of expertise, and the unions would gather stories from their members and identify plaintiffs who could show harm. Atop this infrastructure, new organizations took shape, bringing in tens of millions of dollars to pay for it all. ✂️ Democracy Forward’s first filing, to gain access to the deliberations of DOGE, hit the docket of the D.C. district court within hours of Trump taking the oath of office. Eisen’s Democracy Defenders Fund, which has about two dozen attorneys, and three other legal groups filed similar suits at the same time. The decision to sue so soon was controversial. Perryman remembers some elected Democrats, among others, urging her to hold back. But she had been gaming out the moment for more than a year. She had a theory of the case and a coalition that saw the moment as she did. “Right now, it’s fight versus no fight, rather than left or center-left,” she told me. ✂️ “The demand for lawyers that are willing to defend people from the government is exponentially greater today than it was on day one,” Perryman told me. “We believe the next 200 days are going to be even more significant than the first 200 days.”
🎩 zman157, for the DKOS diary on Citizen Patrols in DC. It shows how DC Night Patrols Are Showing How to Fight Trump’s Occupation Dave Zirin and Chuck Modiano, The Nation, August 29
With only their cell phones, medical kits, and the confidence to assert their rights, volunteer night patrols follow and record the armed troops who have taken over the capital. These night patrols watch over the city to ensure that people are protected from state violence, false arrest, abduction, and harassment. Failing that, their goal is to document the constitutional violations or brutality they witness, so people can see the truths about the occupation that a compliant, largely incurious media are not showing. Their footage has gone viral and exposed the mainstream media’s lies about how happy DC residents are to see the South Carolina National Guard marching by their kid’s elementary school. ✂️ This week a group of fed-up military veterans associated with the group FLARE USA, which stands for For Liberation And Resistance Everywhere, have joined in on the overnight cop-watch efforts. “We are also here to disrupt ICE Raids,” retired marine Mathew Gordon told us. “ICE is kidnapping people off the streets, and we are doing everything they possibly can to make their lives miserable.” These vets go to ICE checkpoints and pepper the agents with harsh questions on camera about the immorality and illegality of their actions until they leave. When FLARE vets approach National Guard members, they employ a calmer, less confrontational strategy, educating them about their rights to challenge orders they think could be illegal. Gordon said this was more effective since “most are much younger and don’t want to be here.” FLARE will have a series of actions next week.
I was so excited to see this because I was hoping people were doing this: giving these military folk the idea that they do not need to obey unconstitutional orders.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos and Cowards 💣
This, if they cave, shows that the GOP is not the party of the brave:
x NEW: Massie tells CNN that there is significant pressure from the White House to BLOCK the release of the Epstein files. — Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) 2025-09-02T18:20:37.452Z
Out of disgust, I admit that I have not contacted my GOP rep for a while. But I’m contacting him on this.
Some of this information came out a while ago, but I missed it. Maybe you did too, maybe you didn’t, but repetition is good! Anyway, Cory Mills, who represents Florida’s 7th district, seems to be as corrupt and nasty as the rest of the GOP Steve Benen MSNBC (Aug 6th)
All things considered, House Republican leaders didn’t need another controversy surrounding one of their members, but they apparently have one anyway. Politico reported on a police report that suggests Rep. Cory Mills not only had a mistress, but the married Florida Republican also allegedly threatened to release nude videos of her after she broke off their relationship. From Politico’s report: Lindsey Langston, a Florida Republican state committee member and 2024 winner of the Miss United States beauty pageant, told authorities on July 14 that Mills also threatened to harm any of her future romantic partners, according to a report she made to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department that was obtained Tuesday by Politico. Her allegations were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for review, said Steven Khachigan, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department. ✂️ That said, the allegations add a new chapter to a story about a politician who has faced a series of difficulties of late. It was in February, for example, when Mills first generated national headlines after NBC News reported that the local police department in Washington, D.C., had begun an investigation into the congressman, following a report of an alleged assault. NBC News went on to report soon after that the Metropolitan Police Department in the nation’s capital “sent an arrest warrant” on Mills to then-interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin’s office, but the warrant went unsigned by the hyperpartisan Trump-appointed prosecutor.
Also, Mills claims some military awards but that seems not to be true, either.
According to the Politico article above, the GOP isn’t doing anything about this guy because the seat seems safe. But maybe it isn’t. Look at what just happened in Iowa. Drey flipped a seat by about 20 points and now Joni Ernst is running away.
Who else can we chase away?
How about RFK Jr, who is determined to make America as unhealthy as he is? 🎩 Nanny Ogg: (Senator Cassidy voted for RFK Jr because he was afraid). Profile in Cowardice.
x SEN. CASSIDY (R) : “Do you agree Trump deserves the Nobel Prize for Operation Warp speed?” RFK JR.: “Absolutely.” SEN. CASSIDY: “But you just told Senator Bennet the COVID vaccine killed more people than COVID.” RFK JR.: “….”😬 🤷🏻♂️ — The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T15:27:28.572Z
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
RFK Jr is against vaccines, but blue states are working to get them to their people
x Blue states can also buy vaccines in bulk and distribute them via their chief medical officer or via doctors, says @sbagen.bsky.social. The idea would be to make vaccines available to all, including those restricted under RFK lunacy. Great stuff from Sam here: newrepublic.com/article/1998... — Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) 2025-08-29T17:42:29.408Z
Another example of a blue state stepping in:
Even when we don’t win the special elections, we’re overperforming:
x Florida counts quick! And they've just tallied up two more sizable overperformances for Dems: • In #SD15: +22 vs. 2024 presidential results • In #HD40: +15 Dems now averaging +15.7 vs. 2024 across 38 qualifying special elections. Complete Big Board: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... — The Downballot (@the-downballot.com) 2025-09-02T23:33:54.079Z
💜 Unity? 💜
From Jessica Craven, Chop Wood, Carry Water (9/4):
Good news! Five Republicans joined House Democrats yesterday to table Rep. Clay Higgins’ motion to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) and remove her from the Homeland Security Committee. The defectors were Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio). All five are relatively moderate Republicans. If one of them represents you please be sure to call and thank them! You can say something simple like: I’m a constituent calling to thank the representative for joining Democrats in voting to table the motion to censure Rep. McIver. These performative and damaging attacks on lawmakers acting within their Constitutional bounds harm Congress, erode trust, and damage American democracy. I appreciate his being on the right side of this thing.
Left and right are joining forces to stop trading stock Leah Askarinam and Kevin Freking AP
An unusual alliance emerged in the House on Wednesday as lawmakers who agree on little else rallied support for a bill that would prohibit members of Congress and their families from owning and trading individual stocks. The group included darlings of the far right, the left, moderates and many in between. They gathered to promote a ban that polls well with voters and appears to be finding new momentum after stalling out in previous sessions of Congress. “It’s not every day you see this cast of characters up here,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican who represents a perennial swing district in Pennsylvania. “You’re all smirking out there. That’s a good thing. It speaks to the power of this cause.”
People were united in wanting to listen to the survivors
x Wow — check out the INCREDIBLY MASSIVE crowd at this morning’s Massie/Khanna press conference with the victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein!! 👀 — Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) 2025-09-03T14:59:50.784Z
And, well, I had to include this because the name of the poster is “Home of the Brave”
x Trump is blocking the Epstein Files Transparency Act. We just launched ads targeting nine Republicans telling them to support the Act and release the Epstein files — you can see our video here! — Home of the Brave (@ofthebraveusa.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T01:15:40.931Z
I contacted my representative.
📥 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 😈
💣 Ukrainian drones hurting Russian refineries Gabriel Gavin, Veronika Melkoreova, Victor Jack and Seb Starcevic Politico (🎩 T. Maylse)
A creeping barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure has knocked out a major share of the country’s crude refining capacity in recent weeks, triggering domestic shortages and leaving the Kremlin’s most important strategic industry teetering on the brink. The crisis comes as Ukraine’s Western allies say economic pressure is the best way to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war. Three European officials told POLITICO of a shared assessment that a combination of sanctions and targeted disruption would press Putin to come to the table. The Ukrainian armed forces reported another round of explosions over the weekend at facilities across the south of Russia, including at the Krasnodar and Syzran plants, which produce a combined 11 million metric tons of gasoline a year.
In case you don’t remember, this is Tapper’s book about Biden’s health
x Happy to report that Jake tappers dumbass book is already 50% off at Barnes & Noble — Kayla B (@queenofthesouth.bsky.social) 2025-09-01T19:42:25.537Z
No one was ever interested in this hit job. I mean, part of Biden’s whole problem was that he’s just a bit too boringwith Biden is that there was something about him that was boring anyway.
Florida taxpayers on the hook for Alligator Alcatraz
x A federal judge has ordered Florida to shut down "Alligator Alcatraz," after the state spent a staggering $218M to build the now-vacant detention camp. Closing it will run taxpayers another $20M. An utterly cruel and costly waste. — Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) 2025-08-29T19:40:07.691698Z
Stop electing criminals, Florida, and you will do better!
And the Rs are going after the lifeline to home owning in rural communities. FAFO
x NEWS: Trump and House Republicans' budget cuts seek to eliminate the HOME affordable housing program that’s built/rehabbed 1.3M homes in 30 yrs, including 540k in rural areas. 84% of those homes are in districts that voted for him. Rural families now face losing their lifeline. — MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-08-31T16:08:43.414Z
It is so weird to think that James O’Keefe might produce something that is honest, but here it is:
x The GOP usually LOVES these O’Keefe hidden cameras. Let’s see what they have to say about this one admitting the Epstein coverup. — Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T22:47:29.529Z
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
Epstein survivors
x Epstein survivors say they’re compiling their own client list. “We know who abused us. We saw who came and went. This list will be survivor-led—for survivors” — Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) 2025-09-03T15:57:30.097Z
Remember they are not just reliving their trauma, they are putting themselves at risk when they speak. I mean, the felon is threatening congress, so they can certainly expect to be threatened as well.
On the other hand, a survivor who was abused at age 14 by Epstein was on the September 3rd edition of The Last Word. She talked about how, for the first time, she felt waves of support for her after speaking out.
She also said she voted for the felon, which seems a very poor choice on her part.
x Joining @lawrenceodonnell.msnbc.com, Epstein survivor Jena-Lisa Jones reacts to Donald Trump calling the Epstein scandal a "hoax," saying "I voted for him. I voted for Trump ... he's supposed to protect us." youtu.be/lZtsyPBMXGo?... — The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell (@lastword.msnbc.com) 2025-09-04T03:27:39.372Z
More morsels from that show included how Rep Ro Khanna got a hug from Marjorie Greene (!!!) because the latter was so moved by some testimony (in a meeting, not the press conference). And how other sources, such as the Epstein estate, are poised to deliver information.
What is in these files that has the felon going so crazy? Inquiring minds want to know...
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Mile High City Does Mile Long Table Good News Network
Longer Tables, a nonprofit that believes in the power of shared meals to connect people, welcomed over 3,400 locals who signed up to sit down at the first-ever “Mile Long Table”. The 5,280-foot long table at the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, Colorado, served up tons of produce from local farmers, as the perfect side dish for the community on the beautiful Saturday afternoon. “The community response to our first Mile Long Table has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Tim Jones, founder and executive director of Longer Tables. “It’s really powerful and deeply encouraging to hear guests talk about how eager and appreciative they are to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. ✂️ Longer Tables began its mission of promoting shared meals in 2013. The organization has since hosted more than 100 gatherings in five states to ‘help cities, organizations, businesses and neighborhoods create cultures of connection and belonging’.
Viewing your neighbors as people instead of strangers is a really good thing to do. You don’t have to become best friends but it’s good to have connections.
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
🐙 This was too cute not to share:
x Octopus Playing With Divers Grabs the Camera and Takes Underwater Selfie (WATCH)
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/111119/ Octopus hugs diver and plays with camera – SWNS / Chris Mullen Two stunned divers have spoken about… — (@ca-nb.bsky.social) 2025-09-01T04:40:09+00:00
Note the video link wasn’t working there, so I found it on YouTube:
*
🐐 Goat-inspired robot doing work in forests Andy Corbley Good News Network
With 30% of Poland still covered in forests, the nation’s foresters play many critical roles—soon to be aided with the world’s first goat-inspired forestry robot. The robogoat is envisioned to perform many crucial tasks that foresters are trained to do in difficult terrain, including compiling tree inventories, land surveys, tick collection, species counting, and even archaeological surveying. It’s being designed at the University of Life Sciences in Poznan (UPP) with the help of scientists from Italy and Cyprus, making it a cross-continental effort predicted to substantially aid in addressing forest-related issues as the continent struggles with a severe dearth of employees in the forestry profession.
Ugh, ticks! I had Lyme disease once so I am not a fan of these creatures.
🐦 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:
We need just 3 seats to take back the House. GoodNewsRoundup (a.k.a. Goodie or Madam Mayor) has put together a page for donations via ActBlue. Note you can opt out of emails.
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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