Social Psychologist Phil Zimbardo famously said, “All evil begins with 15 volts” in reference to the infamous Milgram electric shock experiments where he found that ordinary Americans would give life threatening electric shocks to a stranger if told to do so by an authority figure.
Before Milgram ran his original study, he asked experts, students, and ordinary citizens how they thought people would react. Would people give another participant a shock of 300 volts – a point at which the other participant had already been screaming in pain and begging to stop? of course not. Every single person who Milgram asked said that no one would go that far — certainly they would never do that! — and yet every single participant in Milgram’s original study did go to 300 volts. And 2/3 of Milgram’s participants went to 450 volts. (Many people learn about the 67% who went to 450. Fewer know about the 100% who went to 300. You can read about it on the Milgram study Wikipedia Page)
Why did they give that inhumane level of shock? Because the study began with 15 volts. The first shock was just 15 volts – a minor shock. And then each shock increased by only 15 more volts. Each shock was only a little worse, and so participants got used to the increase slowly – what was inhumane became normal. Only the most sadistic among us would start with 300 volts, but all of us have the ability to get used to evil; to get used to cruelty; to get used to inhumanity.
And that is what is threatening to happen now. This onslaught of cruelty, inhumanity corruption, and indifference. Each of these is a tick of 15 volts. Dehumanizing trans children. Attacking immigrants. Killing people who depend on USAID. It is where we will end – what our 450 volts will be - that worries all of us.
Luckily there is something that can fight that tick tick tick of volts: a dissenter.
In Milgram's studies (he followed up that famous original with many more), when participants saw others refuse to comply, they also refused. Milgram wrote "given social support, most subjects refused to continue to administer shocks, suggesting that social solidarity serves as a kind of a defense against destructive obedience to authority."
In fact, other researchers have found that one lone dissenter can reduce the conformity of others by 80%.
80%.
When everyone is staying quiet and moving on with their lives and getting used to the ticks of conformity and inhumanity, one dissenter, one lone person willing to speak up and say “No. Enough. Not on my watch” is enough to change behavior.
And even more powerful — when multiple people refuse to give in. Multiple people can change the norms.
When we are brave and stand up against evil up we can give other good people, with just a little less courage, the boost they need to add their voices.
We can bring that voltage down.
The more people who stand up and refuse to be moved — refuse to accept the terrible — the more courage all people will have. Being brave will make other people brave.
Remember, being brave doesn’t mean that you are not afraid. It means acting despite the fear.
And this is where I feel the most hope and the most upbeat than I have felt in eight years. Because something special and strong and loving and fierce is building. I feel it all around me in people who follow a lot of politics and people who normally don’t. Yes, people are distressed and worried and overwhelmed but they are also motivated. They are not giving up. They are fighting and they want others to fight with them.
Our movement hasn’t found its final shape yet but it is strong and loud and determined and kind and angry — all at once. I haven’t seen anything like this in my life — including in the first Trump years.
There is no minimizing the terrible damage that trump and musk are doing to our country and the world. But there is also no minimizing us and our ability to protect as many people as we can — together.
The biggest enemies we have are not trump and musk (although they are awful). Our biggest enemies are defeatism and acceptance and cowardice. But we can defeat those.
Each one of us, in our own little (and sometimes big) ways can maintain kindness and caring and fight like hell against evil.
We can do this. And we will.
I always bet on us. And I never lose.
More Pep Talks
The power of a single voice.
We have all been in a situation where an audience sits in awkward silence as a loudmouth makes rude and offensive comments that disrupt the event. People look nervously at one another for social cues to confirm what everyone is thinking: “This guy is a jerk. Someone should tell him to shut up.”
And then a single voice says, “Be quiet. Sit down. You are ruining it for everyone.” And then a chorus arises, “Sit down! Boo! Hiss!” The power of a single voice can unleash the strength of collective action.
Being the first mover is risky and (depending on the situation) dangerous when the stakes are high. It takes courage and moral conviction. On Thursday, the acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle R. Sassoon, demonstrated courage and moral conviction. She refused to dismiss the indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams—as she had been ordered to do by Emil Bove, the acting US Deputy Attorney General.
Danielle Sassoon explained her decision not to dismiss the charges against Eric Adams in a carefully crafted, respectful, thoughtful letter, which is here: Letter from Danielle R. Sassoon to AG Pamela Bondi.
We should all be proud of Danielle Sassoon. She has taken the first step to remediating the disgrace visited on the legal profession by dozens of Trump's legal sycophants.
Emil Bove accepted Sassoon’s politely tendered offer of resignation in her letter. Bove then went shopping for a lawyer cowardly enough to carry out the corrupt dismissal of the charges against Adams—which Sassoon argued “amounted to a quid pro quo” of dismissal in exchange for cooperating with Trump's lawless immigration raids.
Bove believed he could find corruptible lawyers in the DOJ’s Public Integrity unit, so he transferred oversight of the case to D.C. As I write, five lawyers from that unit have resigned rather than carry out Bove’s order to dismiss the well-founded charges of corruption against Eric Adams. See NYTimes, Order to Drop Adams Case Prompts Resignations in New York and Washington. (Accessible to all.)
The power of one voice is all it takes to start a wave of resistance. That voice could be yours. Take heart from the events of Thursday and use your voice to urge others to resist and act.
From Joyce Vance -—
who could pay attention to everything?
It’s important that we understand that and recognize the effort to overwhelm us. They want us to give up. They want us to resign ourselves to the inevitability of whatever Trump is going to do for the next four years. That, of course, is what we can’t do. This is the time to summon our moral outrage, call it the coup that it is, and make sure we don’t let up on our senators, representatives, or even the White House; we have to continue to express our concerns and our outrage.
Lest you think it doesn’t work, following the public outcry over the weekend after the vice president seemed to suggest that the administration should flout judges’ orders if they lost in court, three Republican Senators went to bat for the rule of law. Josh Hawley said the president doesn’t have the power to defy the courts. That might seem like civics 101, but in today’s context, it was critical for him to say it. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley chimed in to say that he had “learned in eighth grade civics about checks and balances, and I just expect the process to work its way out.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed his belief that the courts play an important role in the balance of power between the branches of government. These aren’t folks who tend to make statements like this—ones that cut against the leader of their party—just for fun. It was a response to the alarm bells we raised. So, let’s keep going. Don’t let the crazy overwhelm you.
We’re in this together,
from Bernie Sanders
I do not often find myself in the habit of thanking Elon Musk, but he has done an exceptional job of demonstrating a point that we have made for years — and that is the fact we live in an oligarchic society in which billionaires dominate not only our politics and the information we consume, but our government and economic lives as well.
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That has never been more clear than it is today.
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But given the news and attention Mr. Musk has been getting over the last few weeks as he illegally and unconstitutionally dismantles government agencies, I thought it was an appropriate time to ask the question that the media and most politicians don't seem to be asking: What do he and other multi-billionaires really want? What is their endgame?
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In my opinion, what Musk and those around him are aggressively striving for is not novel, it is not complicated and it is not new. It is what ruling classes throughout history have always wanted and have believed is theirs by right: more power, more control, more wealth. And they don’t want ordinary people and democracy getting in their way.
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Elon Musk and his fellow oligarchs believe government and laws are simply an impediment to their interests and what they are entitled to.
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In pre-revolutionary America, the ruling class governed through the “divine right of kings,” the belief that the King of England was an agent of God, not to be questioned. In modern times, the oligarchs believe that as the masters of technology and as "high-IQ individuals,” it is their absolute right to rule. In other words, they are our modern-day kings.
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And it is not just power. It’s incredible wealth. Today, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg have a combined worth of $903 billion, more than the bottom half of American society — 170 million people. Since Trump was elected, unbelievably, their wealth has soared. Elon Musk has become $138 billion richer, Zuckerberg has become $49 billion richer and Bezos has become $28 billion richer. Add it all up and the three wealthiest men in America have become $215 billion richer since Election Day.
Meanwhile, while the very rich become much richer, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 85 million are uninsured or under-insured, 25% of seniors are trying to survive on $15,000 or less, 800,000 are homeless and we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth.
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Do you think the oligarchs give a damn about these people? Trust me, they don’t. Musk’s decision to dismember U.S. AID means that thousands of the poorest people around the world will go hungry or die of preventable diseases.
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But it’s not just abroad. Here in the United States they’ll soon be going after the healthcare, nutrition, housing, and educational programs that protect the most vulnerable people in our country - so that Congress can provide huge tax breaks for them and their fellow billionaires. As modern-day kings, who believe they have the absolute right to rule, they will sacrifice, without hesitation, the well-being of working people to protect their privilege.
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I am not going to kid you — the problems this country faces right now are serious and they are not easy to solve. The economy is rigged, our campaign finance system is corrupt and we are struggling to control climate change — among other issues.
But this is what I do know:
The worst fear of the ruling class in this country is that Americans — Black, White, Latino, urban and rural, gay and straight — come together to demand a government that represents all of us, not just the wealthy few.
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Their nightmare is that we will not allow ourselves to be divided up by race, religion, sexual orientation or country of origin and will, together, have the courage to take them on.
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Will it be easy? Of course not.
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The ruling class of this country will constantly remind you that they have all the power. They control the government, they own the media. “You want to take us on? Good luck,” they will say. “There's nothing you can do about it.”
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But our job today is to not forget the great struggles and sacrifices that millions of people have waged over the centuries to create a more democratic, just and humane society:
* Overthrowing the King of England to create a new nation and self-rule. Impossible.
* Establishing universal suffrage. Impossible.
* Ending slavery and segregation. Impossible.
* Granting workers the right to form unions and ending child labor. Impossible.
* Giving women control over their own bodies. Impossible.
* Passing legislation to establish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, a minimum wage, clean air and water standards. Impossible.
In these difficult times despair is not an option. We’ve got to fight back in every way we can.
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We have to get involved in the political process — run for office, connect with our local, state and federal legislators, donate to candidates who will fight for the working class of this country. We have to create new channels for communication and information sharing. We have to volunteer not just politically, but to build community locally.
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Whatever we can do is what we must do.
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Needless to say, I intend to do my part — both inside the beltway and traveling throughout the country — to stand up for the working class of this country. In the days, weeks, and months ahead I hope you will join me in that struggle.
Believe in our power.
I remain cautiously optimistic that the opposition is at last finding its sea legs.
A few reasons for this are:
1) House Democrats announced this morning that they have formally established a Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group! Good! We need a committee specifically dedicated to this fight, and this one, it seems, will be. I also happen to know that a huge political influencer is meeting with the Democrats this morning (and all week) to teach them how to make effective posts for social media. It’s overdue, and I’m very glad it’s happening.
2) There are now several big rallies or actions in the works—a nationwide protest on February 17, a one-day general strike on February 28, and a “total shutdown” on March 15. I’m sure many more things are being planned. There’s also now a website for a General Strike, and 200K people—including me—have already signed a strike card. The organizers offer a weekly Discord discussion, by the way, if you have questions about how a general strike might work. All are welcome.
3) Finally, my sister Lily went to her first Indivisible meeting last night. She called me from her car—in high excitement, I might add—to tell me that the meeting, which was hosted by a brand new Indivisible group, Rockland Indivisible, was so full that she couldn’t even get into the parking lot of the library where it was being held! Cars were backed up on the freeway trying to get in! She eventually found parking a ways away and walked over, but the room was so full she couldn’t get inside. She listened from the hallway and was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm of the 300 people (!!) in the room. More were watching on Zoom. This kind of out-of-control enthusiasm for (and turnout at) a new Indivisible group is just wildly encouraging.
I could go on. It’s building. It’s coming. I feel it. We just need to keep fanning the flames.
Our job is to not quit while it’s hard. They want us to. They’re counting on it. They literally think we’re snowflakes. They think their orgy of destruction will force us to walk away in exhaustion.
They’re going to find out that they’re very wrong.
Breathe in strength. Breathe out fear. I’m not downplaying the danger. It’s real. I simply believe in our power more than I fear their malevolence. You should too.
This gave me chills (the good kind)
Pete Buttigieg Slams Trump And Delivers A Message We All Need To Hear
Pete Buttigieg said it best yesterday: “You are not powerless, and he is not unstoppable. Look at, and learn from, the funding freeze and how quickly he was forced to surrender.”
Over the last 9 years, I’ve learned that taking on Trump is a marathon—not a sprint. It might be hard to see right now, but we have some real momentum growing.
Last week we saw protests in all 50 states, as tens of thousands of Americans began rising up and speaking out against Trump.
Pete also slammed Donald for failing to deliver on one of his biggest campaign promises: “Huh I thought he was elected to bring prices down and make our lives better. Even my Trumpiest neighbors weren’t looking for you to cut cancer research, cut off Head Start, and try to freeze road funding.”
From Chop Wood Carry Water
Living through an attempted coup is exhausting. And yet here so many of you are—more every day! Our movement, or whatever we’re calling it now, is growing by leaps and bounds. This newsletter has gained well over 50,000 new subscribers in the last thirty days. That’s NUTS, and also shows that Americans continue to be fired up and determined to fight back. I am so glad.
I know it feels like Trump and Musk are “getting away with everything” right now, but I want to remind you that, as they say in twelve step programs, sometimes we have to just “let time take time.” We’re not even a month into this thing yet. Already the country has seen large demonstrations, swamped Congressional phone lines, mass Senate office visits, the first Stop-Shopping day scheduled (for February 28), and the rise of the 50501 movement. Indivisible groups are exploding, new coalitions are being built, and new connections being formed.
This is a moment when old heroes to many—Adam Schiff, the New York Times, Snoop Dogg?—are proving disappointments, but also when new ones—Chris Murphy, the AP, Kendrick Lamar— are rising with brilliant fierceness. Entire media empires are crumbling, yes, but out of those ashes are emerging a whole new crop of great publications and tough, fearless journalists. Political content creators are taking their rising visibility seriously and forming new groups to coordinate their messaging. State Attorneys General and Governors are stepping up in a big way. Career Prosecutors at the DOJ are, as we speak, exhibiting stunning courage in standing up to Trump.
Progress, in short, is being made, and the work being done. Not always by whom we want, and not always as fast as we want. But that stands to reason: There is a massive and necessary reorganization taking place in response to Trump’s attacks. It can’t be instant—that simply defies the laws of physics. We’ve never been here before, so it stands to reason that none of the old rules apply.
So we’re all going to have to keep building the plane while flying it, remembering that new mechanics and pilots are joining us all the time.
OK, all. I’m running way behind today, so I’m going to leave you with my favorite Vaclav Havel quote; I resort to it often in moments of duress:
Either we have hope within us or we do not.
It is a dimension of the soul and is not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world.
HOPE is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.
HOPE in this deep and powerful sense is not the same as joy that things are going well or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not because it stands a chance to succeed.
HOPE is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.
It is HOPE, above all which gives the strength to live and continually try new things.
—Vaclav Havel
Perfect for this moment, right?
Now let’s get to work.
We Are Strong
Armed Nazis Flee as Local Heroes Burn Their Flags
Armed Nazis thought they could waltz into Cincinnati, brandish their hate symbols, and scare a community into silence. They thought wrong.
These neo-Nazis arrived armed and emboldened, protected by police under the guise of “free speech.” Their pathetic goal? To spread fear and intimidate a predominantly Black neighborhood.
But despite what Donold and his goon squad want you to believe, this isn’t 1930s Germany, and this community wasn’t about to let history repeat itself.
The real story isn’t the Nazis—it’s the everyday heroes who said not today. A local church congregation, armed with courage and righteousness, confronted these cowards. They drove them out, torched their Nazi flags, and sent a clear message: hate has no home here.’
Do not be frightened by Nazis. That’s exactly what they want.
They’re weak, insecure incels clinging to hate because it makes them feel powerful.
Fear is their weapon, but only if you let it be. These local heroes remind us where the real power lies: in unity, defiance, and standing up together.
Some Good News In A World Of Trump's Mayhem
All across America, the opposition continues to rise up. In the last few days we’ve seen thousands of anti-Trump protesters gather in California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, DC, and other states across the country.
Just yesterday, Democrats held a large demonstration outside of the VA building to oppose Trump and DOGE’s slashing of the federal workforce.
Standing alongside union leaders, Veterans, and dozens of agency employees, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said: “Elon Musk: Nine million veterans are watching you give them the middle finger, and we're not going to stand for it.”
In courts and lawsuits all over the country, Trump’s unhinged executive orders are being picked apart one at a time.
On Wednesday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ripped Donald for unlawfully firing a top government watchdog, and ordered they be reinstated—at least for now. In a scathing footnote of the order, the Judge wrote: “It's as if the bull in the china shop looked back over his shoulder and said, ‘What a mess!’”
PA Gov. Josh Shapiro is suing the Trump Administration for the ongoing federal funding freeze. And Kentucky joined a list of nearly two dozen states that have filed a larger suit to reinstate around $1.2 billion in suspended federal grants.
Following a sharp decrease in attendance, Denver’s public school system is suing the Trump Administration over its policy of allowing ICE in schools. If successful, the lawsuit could result in a nationwide ban of ICE entering classrooms.
Attorney Norm Eisen also filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and DOGE for “violating the Constitution.” Norm, who was once President Obama’s ethics czar, has also filed suit to prevent the release of identities of FBI agents who investigated Trump.
The courts aren’t the only place Trump is getting embarrassed. After Donald announced that he and Putin would broker a peace deal for Ukraine, world leaders stood up and spoke out.
Trump won’t block immigration arrests in houses of worship. Now these 27 religious groups are suing
More than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites and Unitarian Universalists — filed a federal court lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, contends that the new policy is spreading fear of raids, thus lowering attendance at worship services and other valuable church programs. The result, says the suit, infringes on the groups’ religious freedom — namely their ability to minister to migrants, including those in the United States illegally.
California AG Rob Bonta is taking on Trump...and winning.
People often ask what Democrats are doing to resist Donald Trump in this moment. It turns out, much of the most effective resistance is playing out at the state level, with Democratic governors and attorneys general leading the fight.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is one of those Democrats fighting back and winning.
When Trump signed an executive order attempting to ban birthright citizenship, Bonta joined Democratic state AGs to sue to block the unconstitutional order, and they won a nationwide preliminary injunction. When Elon Musk recently unlawfully accessed Treasury Department data, Bonta immediately sued and won an emergency order blocking Musk. And just yesterday, in a suit filed by Democratic blue state attorneys general including Bonta, a federal judge issued an emergency order blocking the Trump administration from halting $4 billion in critical NIH funding for biomedical research.
Bonta’s efforts to push back against Trump didn’t just begin after Trump was sworn in. He’s been committed to “Trump-proofing” California ever since the election. We spoke with Bonta about how he has worked to protect Californians, and ultimately all Americans, from the worst effects of this new president’s executive orders.
Backstopping the courts!
Here is the topline: Defenders of the rule of law are on a judicial winning streak. At the same time, it appears unclear whether Trump and Musk are complying with existing orders compelling them to cease their unlawful behavior. The ‘overwhelming question’ that confronts our democracy is, “What happens if Trump and Musk refuse to obey court orders?”
Legal analysts and political commentators are focusing on that question and often conclude their analysis with something like, “It will be a constitutional crisis.”
That is a highly unsatisfying and incomplete answer. None of the analysts or commentators mention the role of American citizens in pushing back against the ongoing billionaire coup. Yes, we may indeed end up with a constitutional standoff between the executive and the courts, but to pretend that the people have no say in the outcome is an oversight of profound dimensions.
As I wrote yesterday, a system in which the leaders claim to be exempt from the rule of law contains an inherent instability: If the rule of law does not apply to the leaders, it does not apply to the people. That is not a threat but an observation of how other nations have brought dictators to heel. Trump and Musk should, therefore, stop their lawless spree well short of mass action by citizens fed up with a lawless “government.”
The power of mass protests, strikes, stoppages, and boycotts will be particularly potent in America. The US is the largest economy in the world because its markets are stable, its political climate is (relatively) corruption-free, and the rule of law is enforced.
Business thrives on order, predictability, and risk management. If the rule of law is overthrown, business profits will take a nose-dive. The bond market is acting in an unnatural manner, suggesting a deep-seated suspicion that something bad may be happening. The markets are not worried only about Trump's tariffs increasing inflation. They are beginning to price in a risk premium for political instability. (That is my personal opinion based on reading the financial press; I am not an economist.)
Moreover, the full faith and credit of the US depend entirely on American citizens' belief that their tax dollars are spent under the system established in the Constitution—appropriations made by Congress through legislation, signed into law by the president, and implemented by the executive departments and agencies. If Trump and Musk break that system, it raises the obvious question: “What’s in it for the American taxpayer?”
I raise these points not to frighten anyone but rather to give us confidence by following the logic of the current crisis to its inevitable conclusion: The people will prevail.
Even if Trump and Musk lack the emotional intelligence or self-awareness to intuit that fact, the business community that is providing Trump a free pass at the moment is keenly aware of the consequences of breaking the social compact.
I don’t think the crisis will get that far because I believe those around Trump understand the consequences of “crossing the Rubicon” of disregarding court orders. But if it does get that far, I feel pretty good about the prospects of the American people in a political tug of war with Trump and Musk.
Blue States to the Rescue. Again.
It was another “Avengers Assemble!” moment for our country yesterday with blue state attorneys general coming to the rescue, this time to save the biomedical scientific community.
The latest crisis began, as so many do, late on a Friday. Trump’s evil wrecking crew once again launched a weekend assault, targeting $4 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The announcement cut deeply into research funding that had already been approved and was underway, imperiling thousands of existing projects at universities and medical centers.
As panic swept across labs around the country, a call went out to state attorneys general to protect the interests of their citizens. Twenty-two blue states responded quickly, filing a complaint in federal court in Massachusetts. By Monday afternoon, they had obtained a temporary restraining order.
New York won’t comply with extradition of abortion provider, governor says
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will not comply with a request to extradite to Louisiana a New York doctor who faces a criminal charge there for allegedly prescribing abortion-inducing drugs despite a near-total abortion ban.
Defiance in New York
The acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, has submitted her resignation to Attorney General Pam Bondi, an implicit refusal to seek the dismissal of charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, as Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered her to do on Monday. I’ve noted several times over recent days that despite that order, which most people — including me, before this was flagged to me — thought ended the matter, the dismissal hadn’t actually been carried out. A motion to dismiss should have shown up in the trial docket. But it wasn’t. And, as I noted, that suggested they couldn’t find someone in the New York office (SDNY) to carry it out.
and more on that:
The Thursday Afternoon Massacre
There was a bloodbath over at the Justice Department, signaling real trouble ahead for the Trump administration.
In the first major challenge to Trump’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi, the resignation of acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, a top prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, set off a chain reaction that has shaken the Justice Department to its core.
Enter Sassoon, who was in charge of the Adams case. When she learned of the plan to dismiss all charges against Adams, she offered her resignation in a polite but damning letter. In it, she laid out why she could no longer in good faith work for the Department, which had put political considerations above the rule of law.
It’s important to know something about Sassoon’s political leanings. She’s a conservative, Federalist Society attorney who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia. So this is not some progressive or liberal, though I have no doubt that the MAGA ghouls will try to paint her that way. She was the lawyer the Department picked to head the Southern District of New York, an office so important and so aboveboard that it’s often referred to as the Sovereign District of New York.
Sassoon carried on that important tradition by refusing to debase herself and abandon her principles.
After Sassoon resigned, Bove sent the file over to the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department in D.C. There, he expected that the heads of the Section, Kevin O. Driscoll and John Keller, would obey his order and dismiss the case.
Instead, they resigned as well.
Bove went to other lawyers down the line, including one who reportedly was in the hospital giving birth. The response was the same: We quit.
In all, there were six resignations, including Sassoon’s. This is twice the number of people who were sacked when President Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was investigating Watergate. They had to go three officials down the line until they got to Robert Bork, who was unprincipled enough to order Cox’s firing. That series of dismissals became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” and it soured the public badly against Nixon who was clearly trying to obstruct the investigation.
The multiple resignations, especially by respected Department leaders in both New York and D.C., are reverberating across the nation, in the halls of Congress and in our courts. Bove is on a tear to try to reshape the entire Justice Department into a political weapon of the White House, trashing its historic independence from politics, and he just hit a major roadblock.
Through all of this, one thing is now crystal clear: This story has gone from a local case of mayoral corruption to a stunning and significant national case of embarrassment for the Justice Department. The resistance to the behavior of top officials, explosively displayed by the mass resignations of top Department lawyers on Thursday, spells real trouble for Bove and Bondi as they seek to bend the entire DOJ to the will of the Trump White House.
and this from Corey Robin
Whatever the outcome of this cascade of unprecedented resignations of Justice Department prosecutors involved in the Eric Adams case turns out to be, we should note that two of the most high-profile resignations—of Danielle Sassoon and Hagan Scotten—were by former clerks to Antonin Scalia and John Roberts; Sassoon is also a Federalist Society member. I point this out NOT to make any claims about the wonderful personal ethics of these brave dissenters (I find that whenever someone on the right does something the left likes, that person suddenly becomes a figure of great integrity and honor; whenever they act in accordance with the right, that character disappears in the left's estimate; it's a strange world where people can win and lose and win again their fundamental character in the same day, but that's what happens when you see everything through a moralistic/psychological lens). Instead, I want to remind us that the alliance between Trump and the Federalist Society over Trump's judicial appointments was always an alliance of convenience, an alliance that Trump bitterly complained about during and after his first term whenever those judges ruled against him, particularly during the 2020 campaign. Those people, the Federalist Society judges, are now ensconced in the judiciary. Whatever the outcome in this particular moment, these resignations by Scotten and Sassoon point to a lot of internal conflict and trouble for Trump down the road.
DOGE is hiring. The response did not disappoint.
This week, word got out that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was looking to hire “world-class talent to work long hours identifying/eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.”
It turns out that people had a lot of ideas about who should apply for those jobs.
Now, the hiring site join.doge.gov has become a focal point for the outrage as people submit mock applications.
Hitler, Mussolini and Franco all “submitted” applications. One comment quipped “There’s a lot of out-of-work fascists since WWII.” Under qualifications, their applications mentioned things like “good at getting rid of bureaucratic red tape” and “leader in downsizing populations.”
Cruella De Vil (using the email hatespuppys@disneyvillainsunited.com) let Musk know that she has experience in breaking up Black/white relationships, views DOG(E)s as part of her brand, and has conducted round-ups before. Ebenezer Scrooge, though ineligible for being a British citizen, nonetheless lauded his world-famous “penny-pinching” and “ruthless cost-saving measures” and “willingness to work on holidays.” The Grinch wrote, “I stole Christmas. What more do you need?”
At one point, the website threw up blocks to prevent online attacks. It’s back now (in case you were wondering).
A photographer offered free headshots to federal workers: ‘I have to help’
One by one they filed in to the photography studio in the basement of Ginny Thomas’s Silver Spring, Maryland, home Thursday morning, hoping to take at least one step toward stabilizing their futures.
Thomas was offering to take headshots for federal workers, free of charge.
“I know times are tough right now, especially for federal employees or anyone affected by the current administration’s changes. If you’re feeling the impact and could use a professional headshot — for LinkedIn, job hunting, or just to boost your confidence — I want to help,” she posted on LinkedIn last week. “No strings, no catch — just a little something to support you during this uncertain time.”
‘I’m Getting More and More Furious’: Chuck Schumer Is Changing Directions
I asked Senator Chuck Schumer what Americans want from Democrats right now.
“They want us to beat Trump and stop this shit,” he told me. “And that’s what we’re doing.”
It was a welcome sign of life.
Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries are seasoned dealmakers. But in the minority and facing a president bent on laying waste to the very meaning of the U.S. Congress, both men have struggled to shed the familiar rhythms of business as usual.
It isn’t that the Democrats haven’t acted. They are mounting a serious legal campaign to fight the Trump administration in the courts, which could be among the most effective tools of Democratic opposition. Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries may gain some leverage in the months ahead, when Republicans will probably need some Democratic support to negotiate raising the debt ceiling and budgets.
Mr. Schumer’s approach at least appears to be evolving, and quickly. After voting yes on two of Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees, the minority leader said in recent days he plans to vote no on Mr. Trump’s remaining picks and has urged other Senate Democrats to do the same. On Monday the Senate started a whistle-blower hotline to collect evidence for legal challenges and allow civil servants to report abuses of power and threats to the public.
“I’m getting more and more furious,” Mr. Schumer told me. “At first the voters were just down in the dumps, but I think they were like me when they saw how bad this was. They said we can’t just — you know, my father taught me a lesson. He said, ‘When you’re doing something important, look in your heart.’ He would say, ‘Make sure it’s the right thing to do. And then persist, persist, persist and don’t give up, and you will succeed.’”
They are weak
Trump Is In A Far More Vulnerable Place Than It Appears Right Now. He Is Weak, Not Strong And Making Mistakes
The good news today is that courageous judges are blocking elements of the extraordinary Trump/Musk crime spree and attack on the government of the United States. Trump continues to lose in courtrooms of all kinds all across the US. Yes, Trump keeps losing, and having him be seen as a loser, a failure, a weak, desperate and old man, not a strong man is critical to these next phase of our work together. As we say here, we need to keep pulling the curtain back on the Wizard, every day.
Another place where Trump is struggling out of the gate right now is on the economy. Here’s the summary of the new University of Michigan consumer confidence survey that I shared on Friday. Folks are not buying what Trump is selling:
Consumer sentiment fell for the second straight month, dropping about 5% to reach its lowest reading since July 2024. The decrease was pervasive, with Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all posting sentiment declines from January, along with consumers across age and wealth groups. Furthermore, all five index components deteriorated this month, led by a 12% slide in buying conditions for durables, in part due to a perception that it may be too late to avoid the negative impact of tariff policy. Expectations for personal finances sank about 6% from last month, again seen across all political affiliations, reaching its lowest value since October 2023. Many consumers appear worried that high inflation will return within the next year.
This important survey was their first of the Trump Presidency. It was taken after he became President. And consumer confidence dropped. It is one third lower at the beginning of this Trump Presidency that it was throughout his last one.
Conservatives are no longer the only concern for House GOP leaders.
Speaker Mike Johnson has cleared a major hurdle toward unlocking the massive, party-line bill he’s pursuing to enact President Donald Trump’s vast domestic agenda. Now he’s got more jumping to do.
On Thursday, as Republican hard-liners celebrated a concession they won from party leaders to force deeper spending cuts as part of the GOP’s sweeping policy push, centrists expressed deep alarm about the trajectory of the massive legislation that will include border security, energy, defense and tax provisions.
The emerging fault lines are many: GOP members in high-tax blue states are concerned that the plan doesn’t leave enough room to expand the state and local tax deduction. And Senate Republicans and some House hard-liners aren’t ready to give up on a competing two-bill plan
But Johnson’s most immediate problem comes from swing-district Republicans who believe that the steep spending cuts Johnson wants across Medicaid, food assistance and other safety-net programs for low-income Americans could cost them their seats — and Johnson his razor-thin GOP majority.
Republicans May Find It Harder to Cut Medicaid Than They Think
Republicans may have just gotten an alarming glimpse of the future.
Amid the chaos of President Donald Trump’s now-rescinded domestic funding freeze, Medicaid portals across the country went offline, which meant states couldn’t get their Medicaid dollars. It was something the administration said was never supposed to happen and which provoked public outrage and a bipartisan outcry.
As the blowback over the portals foreshadowed, going after Medicaid will be harder than it looks. That’s because the program has evolved and expanded significantly over the years — and its constituency has expanded along with it. Some 80 million people now get health care from Medicaid, including many working-class voters in the president’s base.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump frequently reassured jittery Americans that he wouldn’t lay a finger on their Social Security or Medicare. Medicaid didn’t get the same protective promises, though Trump last month remarked he’d “love and cherish” the program. In recent days, Trump and his aides have said privately that they are worried steep Medicaid cuts would be politically radioactive, POLITICO reported.
Trump Is Not Winning
he is weaker than he appears. Inflation is rising. The economy is slowing. Consumer confidence is falling. Trump has the highest disapproval of a President at this point their Presidency ever. His levying of tariffs this week is likely to accelerate price hikes and further slow the economy. He keeps losing in court, badly.
Defense Secretary Hegseth booed and heckled by military families protesting DEI push
Military families protesting the Defense Department's anti-DEI push heckled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his arrival at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany on Tuesday.
On a visit to the U.S. military’s key European military hub in Stuttgart, Hegseth was booed by around two dozen people who live at the base in an apparent demonstration against the policies being implemented by the Trump administration.
The demonstrators at the short protest repeatedly chanted “DEI,” apparently in a reference to Hegseth’s recent ban on some books in Defense Department schools. Hegseth last week ordered the restriction of learning materials covering subjects that included psychology and immigration in Defense Department schools.
Trump Deportations Hit Major—and Costly—Snag
The president promised on Inauguration Day in January that he would see to it that “millions and millions” of people would be flown out of the U.S. But to deport just one million illegal “aliens” would mean that Trump’s administration would need to repatriate some 2,700 individuals daily for a full year. And reports suggest that Immigration and Customs Enforcement are nowhere near that figure due to a cocktail of dwindling funds, huge bills and there being no space to hold individuals.
Trump’s blitzkrieg assault on our federal government has revealed big vulnerabilities
When I was younger—well, a lot younger—I was an avid chess player. At age four, I’d sit down every day with my father over lunch to play, and I was a proud second chair on my junior high school chess team. (Yes, I was that kid.)
Even as a young player, I understood the importance of having a clear strategy. And I learned to recognize, within moments of beginning a game, whether an opponent was a true chess player with an actual plan in mind.
On the surface, the full-on assault upon our federal civil service, the rule of law, and our constitutional democracy looks like the work of a strategist. It feels well-planned and swiftly executed, with the Trump administration coming out swinging and launching an effective attack at multiple levels.
And yet, now that the administration has executed its opening gambit, to this chess player’s eye the assault seems haphazard and even at odds with itself. The White House pushed out quickly and aggressively, but without sufficient thought as to what would happen next. Defenders, initially huddled against the onslaught, prepared counterattacks and launched them, predictably, in the form of dozens of lawsuits, sometimes referred to as “lawfare.” Despite having initiated this war, however, within days the White House appeared oddly unprepared to defend its legal positions.
Within those questions lies a key truth: This isn’t some grand strategy hatched in the mind of the “stable genius” in the White House. Rather, it’s a mad rush by three competing factions within the administration. These factions sometimes have overlapping goals, but often advance competing ones. Two of them—the MAGA right and the tech broligarchy—are already feuding as their interests diverge. Think cheap immigrant H-1B labor versus racist white nationalism.
How Trump Is Cooking His Own Goose.
Nobody, especially Trump, knows it yet.
His fate, his downfall, and his doom is, as we speak, being set in stone. And considering the roll he is on, few will believe what I am writing here. Just as well. Best not to believe or repeat what I’m telling you. Fortunately, Trump is so full of himself and too stupid to see what he is doing to his sweet victory. He will continue to do what he’s doing — shock and awe, slash and burn, rape and pillage, a collective cattle-prod to us all — because he believes he is seriously wounding what he considers to be the “enemy from within.” You and me. But what he is actually doing, and what he doesn’t understand, is that with every drop of blood he takes from the collective liberal American soul, he is carving out a pound of his own flesh, large self-inflicted wounds, many times each day, every day, right now, at such a breathtaking pace. He is incapable of moderation — “I must not let up!” “I CANNOT LET UP!” — even though he is digging the graves of perhaps hundreds of thousands of Americans as Gravedigger-in-Chief (with his Mad Enabler, the new Secretary of “Health,” who has guaranteed there will be no vaccines available for the massive and deadly bird flu that may be on its way — over 150 million chickens in the US have already been euthanized). He will, in his own fevered mind, not be interrupted. He will be cheered on by his sociopathic handlers and his sad and frightened MAGA Nation followers who know deep in their bones that they have so little time left before the Orange Man’s reign comes to a screeching end. Trump does not even understand how he is creating his own ultimate doom.
I’ve debated whether or not I should be writing this, first because I want to see no harm come to a single individual anywhere on this planet. But I also know, as do all of you, the awful truth that in these early weeks, in the very short term, we hold little or no power in our hands to put a stop to him immediately. But that doesn’t mean we should not be using all parts of the apparatus to do exactly that. Yes, I worry that he will find out too soon that he has cast the die and has sealed his own bitter fate. For he has committed the Original Sin of the megalomaniacal and the malignant Super Narcissists: He thinks he is King. He believes he has the powers of God. He has already said there will not be a need for another election. He means it.
So perhaps it’s best that the Trumpsters don’t know yet that the jig is up. Actually, they’re so high right now, they will never believe that Trump has lit the fuse to their demise — even if I showed them the physical evidence of Trump himself with the match in his hand.
But I am convinced that it will not be long before this wannabe dictator overplays his hand. Trust me, there is a point where the citizenry will have seen enough. George W. Bush had a 70% approval rating after he invaded Iraq. 70% of the country supported his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things looked bleak. But within 2 years, and after a narrow re-election win, the voters turned on him — and in the 2006 midterms, the voters took the House and Senate away from him. I believe Trump’s Overreach will face a massive backlash, even from some of his own voters. The day will come where he will have insulted enough law enforcement officers and first responders just one too many times. The day will come after his hundreds of insults hurled at the men and women in the armed forces, including those whom he calls “suckers and losers,” — the dead on the battlefield — where the volunteer members of the military and their families will have had enough.
utocracy has always felt like poison. And yes, even now the majority of our people will not be force fed a meal of conformity, cruelty, obedience and apathy. Those who were Overwhelmed at first, those who know an Overreach when they see one... NO King is going to be allowed to overplay his hand. We don’t know how this will happen, but we should know how this will end. We’ve seen far lesser men — and far stronger men — brought down in humiliating defeat, crumbling under the weight of what we still call Democracy. We are lucky to be living in a moment where we get to be witnesses once again to the power of the people.
What if I, and a whole bunch of others are, right now, devising a plan for all of us to Take America Back Again.
I’m up for it. How about you?
and some cracks in their coalition:
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker is breaking with the line from the Trump White House.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” when he said a return to Ukraine’s pre-war borders was “unrealistic,” Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker said Friday.
Hegseth on Thursday pulled back some of the comments he made about Ukraine a day earlier, where he said that NATO membership for Kyiv was off the table and that the country could not return to its internationally recognized borders.
“There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys,” Wicker said. “They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated. And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it.”
Wicker has been one of the Senate’s chief advocates for Ukraine aid and pressed the Biden administration in its final days for a surge in U.S. weapons for Kyiv’s forces. He wanted President Joe Biden to pull out the stops and lift restrictions preventing Ukraine from using donated weapons to strike inside Russian territory and accused the former president of “slow-walking” deliveries.
and this:
Vance Slaps Down Hegseth by Threatening Putin With U.S. Troops
Vice President JD Vance issued a stark warning to Russia, threatening the potential deployment of U.S. troops to Ukraine—a move that directly undercut Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was forced into an embarrassing reversal on his earlier remarks.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vance said the U.S. may take military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to negotiate a deal that guarantees Ukraine’s long-term independence.
and this:
GOP lawmakers urge Trump to respect federal court rulings
Senate Republicans are urging President Trump to respect the rulings of federal judges who have blocked his executive actions to freeze spending on federal grants and loans, dismantle the U.S. Agency on International Development (USAID) and ban birthright citizenship.
GOP lawmakers have been reluctant to criticize Trump’s actions, fearing it could make them targets for primary challenges next year.
But they are growing increasingly worried about the nation plunging into a constitutional crisis if Trump ignores court orders halting his most aggressive actions.
“The White House should comply with court rulings. The Congress should comply,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.
“We have a judicial system. If you don’t like the ruling, you can appeal the ruling and you can follow that through. But we are a nation of laws and it is not necessarily for you or I to be the final arbiter here. This is why we entrust the judiciary with this responsibility,” she said.
“The courts have a way of mediating — or refereeing if you will — some of the disputes between the Article I and Article II branches of government. That’s what you’re seeing here,” Thune said.
“Do I believe that the courts have a very valid role and need to be listened to and heard in that process? The answer is yes,” he said.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said the president should honor the checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution, which gave the courts the power to check both the president and Congress.
“We have three branches of government,” he noted. “In the first Trump administration, they honored the courts then.”
Trump later Tuesday said he would abide by court rulings, and that he would appeal those with which he disagreed.
and more to come:
The 9 Trump World Breakups Waiting to Happen
Trumpworld seems on the verge of a messy breakup — or, more likely, many of them.
In January, everyone was in a celebratory mood during Inauguration festivities, from RFK Jr.’s MAHA moms to New Right “cruel kids” to the whole extended Trump clan, exes and all. All the Instagrams and unbanned TikToks underscored a cohesive lovefest, papering over conflicts of bygone eras. But just beneath the surface, trouble was already brewing: Within just a couple of weeks of Trump’s election win, Vivek Ramaswamy, former co-chief of the Department of Government Efficiency, was out, exiled after he went on a rant on X about the need for high-skilled immigrants, inflaming a very different part of Trump’s base that Ramaswamy had little connection to.
Trump’s ascent and his, ahem, unique governing style has also pitted Republicans in Congress and the rest of Washington against each other. And then there are the people who just don’t like each other, for all the normal venal and trifling reasons that arise when two combative personalities are in the same room. Already, Bannon is waging war on Elon Musk, and the Treasury secretary and likely Commerce secretary have to get past a very rocky start to work together.
Defying the courts could bring a steep cost.
But despite the extraordinary benefits that Trumpers have derived from the pliant and partisan Court that Mitch McConnell packed for them, they’ve never hidden their dissatisfaction, particularly at the fact the federal courts did not validate Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election. Now, in the face of the injunctions that have placed modest limitations on their crime spree, Trumpers have declared that they are prepared to challenge the principle of judicial review and attempt to transform the presidency into an actual dictatorship, with no enforceable limitations on its exercise of power.
The dark irony of this powergrab is that it is hugely self-destructive to Trump and Trumpism. Given the brazenness of his actions, Trump more than ever needs his Supreme Court majority to come through for him and lend a veneer of legitimacy to his actions, even if doing so comes at the cost of clipping his wings along the edges.
If Trump proceeds in open defiance of the courts he will risk turning the huge asset of a politicized rightwing Supreme Court into a liability. More importantly, Trump may call into immediate question the legitimacy of his own authority — legitimacy the Supreme Court has lent to him through key rulings it bent over backward to issue in his favor.
Good Legal News
Judge orders Trump administration to restore funds for foreign aid programs
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for hundreds of foreign aid contractors who say they’ve been devastated by President Donald Trump’s abrupt — and in their view illegal — 90-day blanket freeze.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said the Trump administration failed to account for the extraordinary harm caused by the broad-based halt to foreign aid.
A federal judge Monday ordered the Trump administration to resume payments for federal programs after the White House violated a previous order blocking a federal funding freeze.
In a blistering opinion, District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island warned that not complying with a court order could lead to contempt of court, which is a crime.
What can you do to save democracy?
if you have not already done so you MUST sign up for Chop wood, carry water. She’ll send you emails a few times a week that are inspirational, honest, and give you super easy action items so you can be involved without letting it ruin your life.
Go here → chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com
Also, continue to find joy in your life! Don’t let that fuckface live rent free in your mind! This is your life!!!!!
There are many ways to get involved. Everyone can find something that works for them.
Here are some ideas.
-
If you can, I strongly recommend going to an in person meeting in your area. One way to find a local group is through indivisible: indivisibleproject.formstack.com/…
- Join the truth brigade! Grassroots-powered lie-stopping. Person by person; mind by opened mind
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Election Response Center is a project hosted by Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible, and Public Citizen. They are organizing lots of events to get people fighting. Join one at this link
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The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link.
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Get involved with the Democratic party. We aren’t perfect, but they are fucking evil.
- Get involved with the States Project They are working on turning state legislatures blue
- Get involved with Swing Left. They are working on races right now!
- People For the American Way is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. Get involved with them here
- Center for American Progress Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute and advocacy organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Get involved with them here
Looking for something more specific?
Want to focus on the ENVIRONMENT:
Want to focus on CIVIL RIGHTS:
HUMAN RIGHTS - GENERALLY:
LGBTQ+:
WOMEN:
Huge thanks to DKos used dabug for help with this list.
Don’t let the options overwhelm you! Try to pick one thing and see if it calls to you. If it doesn’t find something else.
There are so many ways to get involved and help!
Some inspiration before I say goodbye
“Whatever happens, stay alive.
Don't die before you're dead.
Don't lose yourself, don't lose hope, don't lose direction.
Stay alive, with yourself, with every cell of your body, with every fiber of your skin.
Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.
Stay alive, stay alive inside you, stay alive also outside, fill yourself with colors of the world, fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.
Stay alive with joy.
There is only one thing you should not waste in life,
and that's life itself..."
I am so proud and so lucky to be in this with all of you. ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 💙❤️💛💚✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
