Rebecca Solnit's magnificent speech at the Hands Off protest in San Francisco on April 5 is deeply moving and deeply inspiring.
And here's something I know and you know and they don't know: when they destabilized the most stable democracy in history, they opened up the possibilities. They think they have all the power, because they don't understand power. They don't understand that we have power, but we do.
Read the whole thing.
Bookmark it to reread days or weeks from now.
Marcy Wheeler at Empty Wheel contrasts the administration's false claims that trans service members lack honesty and integrity with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's lies and refusal to accept responsibility for his illegal actions which put national security at risk.
Pete Hegseth is lying about how dangerous his actions were. In doing so, he’s putting his career above those doing the riskiest work.
And all the while he’s slandering others about lacking honesty, integrity, and humility.
Two days before the Senate passed the disastrous budget Continuing Resolution, Senator Adam Schiff posted a short video explaining the Continuing Resolution and the stakes for the country:
So is the government shutting down? Well, that depends on Donald Trump and the Republicans. They control the White House. They control the House. They control the Senate. It's really up to them.
Do they want to shut down their government? They're acting like they do.
On March 12, 2025, Rep. John Larson (D-CT) made headlines when he blasted the Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee for blocking testimony from Elon Musk about plans to privatize Social Security:
I do not understand why you would relegate this committee to no longer being of significance and resort to saying you will do whatever Elon Musk and Donald Trump tell you to do -
The video was mentioned in Chop Wood, Carry Water:
On March 5, 2025, four organizations:
filed a lawsuit against
On February 3, 2025, with Elon Musk breaching US databases, Jay Kuo posted a thorough and clear summary of the actions officials are taking at various levels of government:
March on Washington - August 28: gather in Washington DC to Defend the Vote
Join this peaceful, nonpartisan, interfaith, and intergenerational gathering as we defend the right to vote and protect democracy. We are not gathering simply to remember history - we are gathering to make it.
Take action:
Action is the antidote to fear and despair.
You can make a difference.
It's okay to start small.
Action is the antidote to fear and despair.
Even doing small things - learning more about how we can strengthen our democracy, sharing what you know with others, making a phone call - can make a difference.
Right now is a great time to take action.
