As I write this, the issue with the government bringing back Kilmar Abrego Garcia is causing lots of us lots of stress. Me included. It is important to keep in mind that this is not over. It is very frustrating to have the trump admin playing semantic games with the semantic nonsense SCOTUS gave them, but that is what is happening. No, they are not just ignoring what the supreme court says. No, this is not over. For now, this is kicked back a level and we will have to see what happens there. Will it get kicked back to SCOTUS by the lower court? Will the lower court take care of this in some way? As I write this I don’t know. But I do know that (a) this is not over (b) the trump white house is full of total assholes who are trying to get away with not bringing him back and © they aren’t doing it by ignoring a ruling but parsing its wording and (d) we will know more eventually.
In the meantime here are 30 political things for which I am grateful.
First, Democrats doing GREAT things
Elizabeth Warren
On Sunday news shows, Dems absolutely slammed Trump. Sen. Elizabeth Warren appeared on ABC’s This Week, saying: “There is no tariff policy. It's just all chaos and corruption. That's all we have going on. And how can you believe any of these guys?”
Warren also went on CNN’s State of the Union, calling on the House and Senate to strip Trump of his tariff powers: “Congress has a job right now, and that is to step up and take this authority away from Donald Trump.”
Cory Booker
Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Booker was on NBC’s Meet The Press, where he condemned Trump’s wrongful deportations, saying: “This is about every American understanding that this president is making an assault on the due process rights that are afforded to people in our country ... you cannot disappear people off American streets.”
Later, Booker joined a town hall in Tucson, AZ, with Dem Sen. Mark Kelly and former Dem Rep. Gabby Giffords. At least 800 fired-up people attended, including a large number of Republicans. Kelly said: “One thing we're hearing loud and clear at tonight's town hall is how much Donald Trump and Elon Musk are hurting Arizonans.” We “are going to keep fighting to hold them accountable,” Kelly stated.
Bernie
On top of the town halls, Sen. Bernie Sanders made a surprise appearance at Coachella on Saturday night. When he brought up Trump’s name, the entire festival erupted in boos. Sanders responded by saying: “I agree.”
Dem Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders continued their “Fight Oligarchy” tour in Salt Lake City, UT, on Sunday. They easily filled a 15,000-seat arena, with another 5,000 people in the overflow area. Not only did they address the crowd inside, they also took time to speak to those in the overflow.
With loud chants of “tax the rich!” and thunderous applause for folks shown on the Jumbotron wearing “f**k Trump” t-shirts, the energy was once again electric.
AOC
AOC’s speech ignited the crowd, as she received thunderous applause and a number of standing ovations—especially when she said: “It looks like living wages, Utah. It looks like stable housing, Utah. It looks like guaranteed healthcare, Salt Lake City. And it looks like respect for all of our differences, no matter who we are or where we come from.”
“We do have power in this moment,” AOC stated. All of us do. You do. And every day people do. And it will never be just institutions and officials alone that uphold our democracy. It will always be the people, the masses—who refuse to comply with authoritarian regimes—who are the last and strongest defense of our country and our freedoms.”
We are the people AOC is talking about. We are the ones who have the power to help turn this all around. And not let Trump’s tyranny drag us down to where he wants us to be.
Adam Schiff
Schiff Wants Tariff Pause Investigation Over Insider Trading
Senators Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin
Senators Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin led a bicameral spotlight hearing on the attacks by President Trump and his allies against lawyers, law firms and the courts. Democratic members of both chambers of Congress attended the hearing, which featured, among other things, incredible, brave testimony from Liz Oyer, a fired DOJ pardon attorney.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Sen. Richard Blumenthal has announced that he plans to place a hold on ALL Trump nominees going forward. This will force Republicans to hold individual votes to override each hold, which will greatly slow down their agenda.
Sen. Brian Schatz
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is placing holds on over 50 Trump nominees. He has also placed holds on all nominations at the State Department, bringing his total to over 300 positions. Bravo!
The SAVE act will NOT pass the senate
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today released the following statement after House passage of the SAVE Act, which would disenfranchise American citizens, stymie free and fair elections, and fan the flames of election denialism:
“Let me be clear, under my Leadership Senate Democrats will make sure this power grab does not pass the Senate.”
Next, ways trump is losing
China is targeting Donald Trump where it hurts most, his MAGA base; here's how it could be costly for the President
China Trade War Strategy Targets Trump’s MAGA Base — China is quietly hitting President Donald Trump where it could hurt most: his core political support. Instead of raising tariffs, Beijing is blocking U.S. exports like beef, poultry, and natural gas using behind-the-scenes trade barriers. These non-tariff moves directly affect deep-red states like Iowa and Nebraska—places that were key to Trump’s victory. From canceled licenses to safety accusations, China’s strategy is precise and calculated.
Murdoch Paper Floats Impeaching Trump Over Tariffs
A Wall Street Journal columnist placed his bets on a future Trump impeachment after the president’s chaotic tariff rollout sent markets spiraling last week.
Holman W. Jenkins Jr., a columnist and editorial board member at The Journal, wrote in a blistering opinion piece Friday that President Donald Trump appears to be asking for impeachment with his “ill-founded trade war.”
The Beginning of the End of Trump
This was the week that the Supreme Court showed they too would be part of the opposition to Trump’s autocracy. That assessment emerged from three wins for the rule of law and losses for the Trump administration at SCOTUS—some nuanced, some less so.
In case after case the Court refused to countenance Trump‘s illegality. The most outstanding example was their 9-0 rejection of Trump‘s position that he could illegally deport innocent migrants in the Abrego Garcia case. That was the case of the Maryland dad who was wrongly deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison. The court unanimously ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate“ his return.
Yes, there was some SCOTUS compromising and baby-splitting involved. A lot, in fact. In Abrego Garcia, the lower court had ordered that the administration not only facilitate but also “effectuate” his return. The Roberts Court held that the latter term may have gone too far—the courts can’t mandate the outcome. But ordering facilitation—i.e. making the administration do everything in their power—is still a win. It gets to the same result just a bit more slowly. Indeed, the District Court judge who has the case is already using it to push for return.
In the other parallel case about hundreds of deportations of Venezuelans to that same El Salvador prison, the “Alien Enemies Act” case, SCOTUS also rejected the Trump position. The Trump regime had argued that they could use that Act to simply disappear migrants with no due process. Not so fast, the Court replied—migrants do have rights, but DC was not the right venue to litigate them. They should be raised in the US judicial district or districts with a closer geographic connection to the dispute, such as where the migrants were held in custody. The next day, the plaintiffs immediately initiated such proceedings in multiple lower federal courts.
The third SCOTUS case was similar. It was the litigation brought by unions, NGO’s, and others combating the illegal firing of thousands of probationary employees. There, too, SCOTUS laid out a roadmap for eventual relief. It ruled that the NGO plaintiffs did not “presently” have standing to bring the case, leaving the door open to NGO standing being established by additional proceedings, or to the unions and other types of plaintiffs establishing their own standing. Like in the AEA case, the plaintiffs were in the federal district court the next morning pushing on that open door and a ruling is expected shortly.
To be fair, the news in these three Roberts Court cases was not all good. In all three, a lower court order that was even better was set aside in whole or in part. In each of the cases, there were outcomes not to like (and we discussed them candidly in our Contrarian coverage this week). It was a series of half-full glasses. But when you pour them together you get an overflowing cup. In my view that’s positive and hopefully augurs more favorable rulings to come.
In their own nuanced way, a shifting pro-democracy majority on the Roberts Court joined the dozens of lower court judges (appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents) who have been holding the line against Trump’s worst autocratic excesses. Taken together with the political opposition at the polls (such as in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race), the popular pushback (e.g. the millions who joined last week’s Hands Off rallies), and Trump’s own bumbling (with his economy-crushing flailing on consumer taxes, AKA tariffs), no wonder his popularity is dropping like a rock.
Trump’s poll numbers are crashing
Trump’s poll numbers are crashing, and on Friday we saw the 2nd lowest consumer confidence number in the last 70 years, lower than COVID and the Great Recession. So he is not just a governing failure, he is a political failure too as our strong electoral performances this year also confirm.
CNN Data Guru Reveals ‘Americans Are Not Buying What Trump Is Selling’
Support for President Donald Trump is plummeting after the president’s disastrous economic policies caused the stock market to crash last week, a new poll shows.
Breaking down the numbers on CNN, data guru Harry Enten revealed that 53 percent of Americans believe the economy is getting worse—up from 42 percent when Trump won re-election—with a majority now blaming him more than former President Joe Biden for current economic chaos.
In what has been called “the worst poll that Donald Trump has received in his second term,” 54 percent of voters say Trump bears the brunt of responsibility for the economic downturn, compared with just 21 percent who still fault Biden.
Next, bad news stories that end well (although too often we never see the good end!)
Rural Americans Stand Up to Tom Homan, Stand With Immigrant Mom and Kids
Over the weekend, more than 1,000 demonstrators, some carrying U.S. flags and signs reading “TOM HOMAN TOOK OUR KIDS,” took to the streets in the border czar’s small hometown of Sackets Harbor, New York – population 1,400 – to protest his vile and shocking arrest of a local mother and her three children. The mom, a local dairy worker and contributor to her local community, was reportedly swept up as part of an investigation that didn’t even involve her. Other dairy farm workers were also swept up in the indiscriminate raid. Officials then cruelly detained her three children, the youngest of whom is in elementary school.
On Monday, after days in detention, the Sackets Harbor Superintendent announced that the family would be returning home
It’s unclear at the moment how much of the pushback from reporting and local community members like Jenkins factored into the family’s release, but what is known is that they’re returning to a community that turned out in full force for them.
and this → 'We love them': Small N.Y. town embraces a family freed from immigration detention
When the three children come back to Sackets Harbor Central School, they'll find signs and decorations celebrating their return — and the end of an ordeal that started in late March.
"We've had third graders bringing in cards and leaving it on their classmate's desk," principal Jaime Cook told NPR. "And the third grade class has created a large welcome back sign that they have hung in their classroom."
National Park Service restores original Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad webpage
The National Park Service has reversed edits and restored content to its webpage about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.
“Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership,” NPS spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said late Monday in an email. “The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.”
Initial changes to the NPS site included removing Tubman’s picture from the top of the page and making multiple edits to the text to exclude references to slavery.
Coeur d’Alene police recommend criminal charges for town hall security team
After a weekslong investigation, police recommend that Coeur d’Alene city prosecutors file misdemeanor charges against security personnel who dragged a woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium and allegedly battered others during a chaotic legislative town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.
The investigation reports prepared by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department are under review by city prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges.
Police also recommended a battery charge against Michael Keller, a member of the public who allegedly shoved one of Borrenpohl’s friends. Police said footage from the town hall “shows the battery by Keller very clearly” and said he declined to speak with investigators through his attorney.
US restores urgent food aid
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has reversed new cutoffs in emergency food aid to several nations but maintained them in Afghanistan and Yemen, two of the world’s poorest and most war-ravaged countries, according to the State Department and officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
It marks the latest round of abrupt cancellations of foreign aid contracts run through the U.S. Agency for International Development and equally sudden reversals. The whipsawing moves come as the Republican administration and Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency dismantle USAID and dramatically reduce foreign assistance, asserting that the spending is wasteful and advances liberal causes.
The shift amounts to a wholesale retreat by Musk’s team and the Social Security leadership in their bid to dramatically curtail telephone access to services.
Next, good news from various places
Plan to study social housing sails through Portland City Council with unanimous support
If it's found to be feasible, Portland could end up in the business of public housing, keeping rents permanently affordable in those city-owned buildings.
Four countries that have successfully reversed democratic decline in recent years
Several countries have recently managed to stop and even reverse the erosion of their democratic institutions.
The chart illustrates these turnarounds using the liberal democracy index from the Varieties of Democracy project. This index measures key aspects of democracy, such as the fairness of elections and checks on government power. It ranges from 0 (highly autocratic) to 1 (highly democratic).
The four countries in the chart all saw serious declines in democracy over the past 20 years—these declines are shown in red. In Thailand, democracy eroded quickly, while in Zambia, it happened more slowly.
Still, in each case, people resisted growing authoritarianism. As a result, these countries were able to partially or fully restore previous levels of liberal democracy.
These examples show that when democracy deteriorates, its fate is not sealed, and democratic institutions can be reclaimed.
Next, great legal news
a group of Harvard professors
Meanwhile, a group of Harvard professors are suing the Trump Administration for threatening to withhold nearly $9 billion in federal funds—unless they comply with the administration’s demands. It’s good to see some of these educational institutions are willing to stand up to this dangerous nonsense—as they should.
Judge orders Trump administration to lift its ban on The Associated Press covering White House events
The AP sued after in February it was excluded from events and travel for refusing to change references to the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” in its coverage.
federal judge on Tuesday called The Associated Press’ exclusion from White House events “contrary to the First Amendment” and ordered the Trump administration to treat the newswire as it would any other media publication.
Judge Orders Additional Declarations in American Oversight’s Case on Use of Signal by Top Trump Official
a federal court ordered multiple government agencies to provide additional details about their preservation efforts in American Oversight’s lawsuit against top Trump administration officials for their use of Signal for official government business. Despite the Trump administration’s argument that its declarations demonstrated its “best efforts to preserve” all relevant Signal communications
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who led 2020 election probe agrees to surrender law license
A former Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice who spread election conspiracies and led an investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in the swing state agreed Monday to surrender his law license to settle multiple misconduct violations.
Judge refuses to dismiss Central Park Five’s defamation case against President Trump
A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump ‘s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against him filed by the men formerly known as the Central Park Five who were exonerated after spending more than a decade in prison for the 1989 rape and beating of a woman who was jogging.
U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia denied Trump’s motion to dismiss in a brief Thursday night order.
The five men sued Trump in the midst of last fall’s presidential election campaign, accusing him of making “false and defamatory statements” about them during the Sept. 10 debate in Philadelphia with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Next other good news
First month on record: fossil fuels drop below 50% of US power mix
Fossil fuels just hit a record low in the US electricity mix last month, while solar and wind soared to all-time highs, according to fresh data from global energy think tank Ember.
In March 2025, fossil fuels accounted for less than 50% – 49.2% – of electricity generated for the first month on record. This beats the previous monthly record low of 51% set in April 2024.
Oil company Chevron must pay $744.6 million to restore damage it caused to southeast Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, a jury ruled on Friday following a landmark trial more than a decade in the making.
The case was the first of dozens of pending lawsuits to reach trial in Louisiana against the world’s leading oil companies for their role in accelerating land loss along the state’s rapidly disappearing coast. The verdict – which Chevron says it will appeal – could set a precedent leaving other oil and gas firms on the hook for billions of dollars in damages tied to land loss and environmental degradation.
It's official: The Tesla Cybertruck is a flop
The Tesla Cybertruck has done what very few modern-day vehicles have been able to achieve – become one of the most recognizable cars on the road. However, Tesla has a major issue on its hands: Its angular electric pickup isn't selling in the numbers it had hoped for.
Tesla has about US$200 million worth of these vehicles in stock in the US – which translates to around 2,400 Cybertrucks – as the company is having trouble moving units.
This has caused Tesla to scale down production in order to control the growing inventory. But declining sales is not Tesla’s only worry. Numerous recalls, Tesla’s refusal to accept Cybertrucks as trade-ins, plummeting stock prices, and mass protests against the company itself have led to a tricky situation for Elon Musk’s company.
What can you do to save democracy?
You can 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
Consider joining some peaceful protests! They are making a big difference!
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
Also, continue to find joy in your life! Don’t let that fuckface live rent free in your mind! This is your life!!!!!
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 user 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..."
At Albany Bulb with Elaine
By Alison Luterman
Side by side on a log by the bay.
Sunlight. Unleashed dogs,
prancing through surf, almost exploding
out of their skins with perfect happiness.
Dogs who don't know about fired park rangers,
or canceled health research, or tariff wars,
or the suicide hotline for veterans getting defunded,
or or or. We've listed horror upon horror
to each other for weeks now, and it does no good,
so instead I tell her how I held a two-day old baby
in my arms, inhaling him like a fresh-baked loaf of bread,
then watched as a sneeze erupted through his body
like a tiny volcano. It was the look of pure
astonishment on his face, as if he were Adam
in the garden of Eden making his debut achoo,
as if it were the first sneeze that ever blew,
that got me. She tells me how her dog
once farted so loudly he startled himself
and fell off the bed where he'd been lolling,
and then the two of us start to laugh so hard
we almost fall off our own log. And this
is our resistance for today; remembering
original innocence. And they can't
take it away from us, though they ban
our very existence, though they slash
our rights to ribbons, we will have
our mirth and our birthright gladness.
Long after every unsold Tesla
has vaporized, and earth has closed over
even the names of these temporary tyrants,
somewhere some women like us
will be sitting side by side, facing the water,
telling human stories and laughing still.
I am so proud and so lucky to be in this with all of you. ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 💙❤️💛💚✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
