Are you feeling exhausted? Good lord this is exhausting!
And it can feel demoralizing.
But take heart: you are not in this alone and we are winning many battles.
With hard work and bravery, we can save this country. We really can.
Below I have 10 things to keep you going.
After those 10, there is a long list of ways to get involved.
I know most of you are involved and working hard. THANK YOU! If you are not, get to it. Lots of ways to act at the end of this.
Now lets get those spirits up!
1. Words of inspiration
here are some things that inspired me this week
They want us to quit. We won't.
I know it feels overwhelming right now, like the corruption and cruelty go so deep there’s no other side to them, but history shows us that even the most crooked and depraved governments can be brought down eventually, if the populace bands together and peacefully resists. The trick is to not give up, even though such governments try to make us do exactly that.
Chop wood. Carry water. One day at a time we’ll keep doing this work. In time we will prevail. I promise.
Why I am optimistic about the long term.
I am optimistic about the long term. We will survive and recover from this challenging period. Although progress will be painful and hard fought, our nation will emerge as a more resilient, smarter, and more just democracy. Adversity makes us stronger. Although America is imperfect and deeply flawed, it is a great nation because its character has been chiseled by the repeated journey from defeat to victory, sorrow to joy, and enmity to charity.
The foundation for our eventual success is being laid every day, brick by brick, with every protest, letter, postcard, call, text, and meeting in living rooms across the nation. The scale and distributed nature of our efforts to reclaim democracy ensures that the new foundation will be stronger than the buckling footings under siege by the president.
We should take heart from the steadfast support of the judiciary during our nation’s hour of need. While expected and appropriate, the judiciary’s robust response was not guaranteed. Many (including me) have been surprised by the breadth and vigor of the judicial response.
the first phase of Trump’s second term — the “flood the zone” shock-and-awe blitzkrieg — is over.
Without Musk, or the power to unilaterally levy tariffs willy-nilly, or the momentum to enact his “big beautiful bill,” Trump is left only with his vindictive rage.
Trump II Part 2 may not be easy for America.
But the frenzy of Part 1 is now over. There will still be bonkers executive orders and many headlines, but much of the damage so far has been contained.
2. The Loser Legislation is stalled
the loser legislation will eventually pass in some form, but it is taking a long time. Good.
Trump’s “big beautiful bill” — his effort to slash taxes, mostly on the wealthy — is stymied in the Senate
Senate Republicans are deeply divided, setting up a battle in the upper chamber that’s likely to drag on well into July.
GOP senators are vowing to rewrite the bill, but they’re still weeks away from putting together a package that can muster the 51 votes it needs to pass.
The more senators change the legislation, the more difficult it will be to pass again through the House — where Republicans control a slim 220-212 majority. (Identical legislation must be approved by both chambers before it can go to Trump for his signature.)
3. They talk loud and then often fold quickly (ie Trump Always Chickens Out)
In addition to the joy that was TACO week, he generally folded on a lot.
Trump administration backtracks on Harvard foreign student policy
Ahead of a federal hearing over Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a letter Thursday giving the school 30 days to challenge the administration's revocation of that certification.
The letter formally notifies the school that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification would be withdrawn -- but backtracks from the administration's earlier stance by giving Harvard 30 days to achieve compliance.
Trump administration says it’s working to return a Guatemalan man deported to Mexico
The Trump administration said in court filings Wednesday that it was working to bring back a Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico in spite of his fears of being harmed there, days after a federal judge ordered the administration to facilitate his return.
Officials in the Phoenix field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, spoke with the man’s lawyers over the weekend and are working to bring him back to the U.S. on a plane chartered by ICE, the court filing said.
4. The Asshole we worried about the most is mostly gone
I remember plenty of ink spilled in the early days of this shit show about how musk was worse than trump and the biggest danger we face.
Well that is done. They are claiming he will be “in and out” but that is mostly saving face. He is done.
Musk confirms exit from Trump administration amid image rehab tour
Elon Musk pivoted to damage control in his final days as a "special government employee," publicly recommitting to Mars, cars and robots after a bruising year in the political limelight.
Why it matters: The billionaire CEO confirmed Wednesday he is departing the Trump administration
but he is still legally responsible… Judge Says Musk Must Face Lawsuit Over His Role In DOGE
A federal judge in D.C. Tuesday greenlit lawsuits challenging Elon Musk’s position in the federal government and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as unconstitutional.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said 14 states and a group of advocacy organizations plausibly argued that Musk and DOGE’s efforts to slash the government violate the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
The judge said Musk appears to lack the legal authority to direct alterations to the government because he is not a Senate-confirmed official and DOGE was never authorized by Congress.
“The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency pursuant to Executive Order and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only,” Chutkan wrote.
Chutkan said plaintiffs have also sufficiently alleged that they were harmed by DOGE’s “unauthorized access” to “private and proprietary information” and other actions.
Pentagon sunsets Elon Musk's "what did you do last week" email mandate
In the wake of Musk's short but consequential time leading DOGE, the move suggests elements of the government are starting to move on from some of his more controversial policies.
State of play: Defense Department official Jules Hurst told employees on Friday that the weekly "What You Did Last Week" initiative would end the following Wednesday, per the statement.
5. Fuck around and find out is officially here
CEO confidence plunges at fastest rate in nearly 50 years
U.S. CEO confidence recorded the largest quarterly decline in nearly 50 years of data, per a Conference Board report out Thursday.
What they're saying: "All components of the Measure weakened into pessimism territory," Conference Board senior economist Stephanie Guichard said in a statement.
- Guichard also acknowledged the impact of the China deal — which softened, but did not remove, CEOs' concerns.
- "CEOs responding before and after May 12 reported similar very negative views about the current state of the economy and their own industries. However, the CEOs who responded after May 12 tended to be somewhat less pessimistic about the future and fewer expected a deep recession."
Between the lines: The Conference Board used the word "collapsed" multiple times to describe the dramatic fall in sentiment.
6. They continue to suck at this
Yes, they are awful. But they are also incompetent. And that is literally my favorite thing about them
Trump Accused of ‘Unforced Error’ Over Latest Pardons
President Donald Trump has been accused of making an “unforced error” in his recent round of pardons.
Panelists on CNN This Morning said in a debate on Wednesday that the White House’s latest pardons have slipped from the ideological into the blatantly corrupt.
Hyma Moore, a strategist for the Democrats, said the latest round “feels like an unforced error for Donald Trump to go this far on these pardons.”
“Sometimes these pardons have been used to sort of reinforce a narrative that you want to sort of be an umbrella of your administration, and I don’t know what Donald Trump is doing right now with these with these pardons and what’s happened over the last couple of months,” Moore added.
Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster, said most Americans see the pardon system as “kind of gross and broken.”
Trump's attack on Harvard hampered by his inability to STFU
The administration is violating the First Amendment, and he's tweeting through it.
The Trump administration would be getting slapped down in court even if the president and his minions didn’t constantly announce their intent to violate the law. But their incessant chest thumping does make things go a lot faster.
Case in point: the temporary restraining order barring the government from canceling student visas at Harvard University. The order was issued just hours after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvard’s visa “privilege” for foreign students. The administration teed up the ruling by declaring that it intended to flagrantly violate the First Amendment. But they telegraphed their punch so thoroughly that Harvard’s lawyers had a 72-page complaint with 28 exhibits ready to be filed the second Noem announced the plan.
7. The legal system is holding up
It really has been a star
Federal judge blocks Trump admin from pulling Biden-era migrant protections
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Wednesday from suspending Biden-era temporary migrant protections and ordered officials to resume applications.
What they're saying: "This ruling reaffirms what we have always known to be true: our government has a legal obligation to respect the rights of all humanitarian parole beneficiaries and the Americans who have welcomed them into their communities," Anwen Hughes, a lawyer for Human Rights First, which is representing plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement Wednesday.
Judge Rips Trump Administration Over Failure to Give Deportees Due Process
A Boston-based federal judge lambasted the Trump administration for misrepresenting his order and falsely attacking him Monday, amid a dispute over the administration’s illegal effort to deport undocumented men to South Sudan without first giving them due process.
“Defendants have mischaracterized this Court’s order, while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry,” U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said Monday.
Murphy had previously prevented the government from moving migrants to countries other than their own, so-called “third-country deportations,” without first giving them adequate notice and a chance to express fear of persecution or torture if they are transferred.
Judge Intends to Block Trump Effort to Stop Harvard From Enrolling Foreign Students
Students and faculty waged small acts of protest at Harvard’s graduation ceremonies as the university’s lawyers temporarily beat back the Trump administration’s attacks in court.
A federal judge in Boston said on Thursday morning that she would issue an order blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students.
The ruling was a win, at least temporarily, for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has waged an all-out battle to undermine Harvard’s finances and global influence.
Trump Loses Another Battle in His War Against Elite Law Firms
President Trump’s campaign of retribution against elite law firms that have resisted his efforts to subjugate them is, so far, not going well.
On Tuesday, a judge struck down his executive order seeking to crush WilmerHale, one of several firms the president says have wronged him or have done work for his political opponents. The decision was the latest in an unbroken string of victories for the handful of firms that have sued to stop him.
Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the order was unconstitutional and “must be struck down in its entirety,” adding that Mr. Trump appeared intent on driving the firm to the bargaining table by imposing “a kitchen sink of severe sanctions.”
The ruling seemed to validate the strategy, embraced by a minority of firms, of fighting the administration instead of caving to a pressure campaign and making deals with Mr. Trump to avoid persecution. Judges have already rejected similarly punitive executive orders aimed at the firms Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block, and lawyers representing Susman Godfrey asked a fourth judge earlier this month to issue a final decision in their case.
Trump Tariffs Ruled Illegal by Federal Judicial Panel
A panel of federal judges on Wednesday blocked President Trump from imposing some of his steepest tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners, finding that federal law did not grant him “unbounded authority” to tax imports from nearly every country around the world.
The ruling, by the U.S. Court of International Trade, delivered an early yet significant setback to Mr. Trump, undercutting his primary leverage as he looks to pressure other nations into striking trade deals more beneficial to the United States.
The 96% Rebellion: District Courts Mount Historic Resistance, But the Supreme Court Looms,
1. Judges are ruling against Trump at an accelerating pace, with the monthly percentage of losses by Trump from February to May trending upward: 53%, 74%, 76%, and 96%.
2. Judges appointed by presidents of both parties are ruling against Trump: 72% of Republican appointed judges ruled against Trump in cases before them, while 80% of Democratic appointed judges ruled against Trump in cases before them.
8. Their coalition is falling apart
LOL
Cracks in the GOP Coalition
The Republican coalition has always been an uneasy one. It consists loosely of far-right MAGA fascists like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, big corporations and tech oligarchs like Elon Musk, and Christian Nationalist and other religious extremists like Russ Vought and Leonard Leo.
They all see the Trump presidency as an opportunity to advance their own agendas. But recent developments reveal that they are often at cross-purposes and getting in each other’s way. And this week, things blew wide open.
While Wall Street initially cheered the news of the ruling of the U.S. Court of International Trade, which deemed most of Trump’s tariffs illegal, the MAGA faction quickly signaled it would fight on and would even find other ways to reimpose high tariffs through other presidential powers.
This has upset corporate leaders, who have been quietly urging Trump to abandon his chaotic ways, reduce tariffs, and bring stability back to trade. Lately, confidence among top CEO has cratered, with the Conference Board reporting on Thursday that it had collapsed during the second quarter at the fastest pace in some 50 years—faster even than occurred during the pandemic. Extended tax breaks are great, say the CEOs, but you still need a healthy economy for business to truly thrive.
Assuming Trump continues to pursue an America First agenda, and proceeds to throw his erstwhile allies in the Federal Society and the business world under the bus, MAGA diehards in the administration may quickly find themselves with far fewer allies just when they need them.
Trump, of course, isn’t thinking about any of this, focused as he is on grievance, self-aggrandizement, grift and retribution. But a fracture of the uneasy GOP coalition is now a distinct risk, even if Trump is blind to it and is driving the wedges in ever further with his latest attacks.
9. We the people are showing our power
I continue to be so impressed by all of you. Keep it up.
Crowd Loses It at GOP Rep Over Trump Comments at Town Hall
Rep. Ashley Hinson faced heckling from constituents at a town hall in her Iowa district on Wednesday when she defended Donald Trump and his massive spending bill.
The crowd at the event in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District repeatedly booed and shouted “no” at the Republican as she praised the president and his policies, including the One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed the House last week following GOP infighting. She was also labelled a “fraud” and laughed at several times throughout the event.
“The president is, I believe, fighting for you and fighting for me,” she added, prompting more angry shouting.
The crowd erupted with particular force when Hinson said Trump was “helping deport criminal illegal aliens, rather than letting them roam our streets.”
At another point, Hinson was drowned out by boos when she told the audience, “I was also proud to vote for President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last week.”
Town Hall Erupts at GOP Rep’s Confession About Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Bill
A Republican congressman faced intense backlash from his constituents after admitting in a town hall that he hadn’t actually read crucial parts of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
“I am not going to hide the truth, this provision was unknown to me when I voted for that,” Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood said in response to an audience member’s questions about proposed measures that would make it easier for the U.S. government to defy court orders.
His admission prompted loud yells and cheers from the crowd, even as he assured them he had told GOP members of the Senate of his concerns after learning about the provision.
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Students across America are standing up and speaking out against the unhinged Trump regime. Protests erupted on Harvard’s campus, in response to Trump’s war on the university. And yesterday, more than 500 students from dozens of NYC high schools walked out of class to protest ICE’s abuse of power.
— Scott Dworkin (@dworkin.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T15:23:58.912Z
10. Other Good news
The Byrd Rule will block portions of the reconciliation bill
I continue to receive emails from readers expressing concern about the provision of the reconciliation bill that would allow a defendant to ignore an injunction unless the plaintiff posts a bond to cover the defendant’s potential damages if the injunction is reversed on appeal.
As I have previously explained, the Byrd Rule would effectively block the “bond requirement” in the reconciliation bill. Under the Byrd Rule, provisions that do not directly affect expenditures or revenues must pass by a 60-vote margin. That won’t happen in this Senate.
Something remarkable is happening with violent crime rates in the US
By the 2024 election, for the first time in awhile, violent crime was a major political issue in the US. A Pew survey that year found that 58 percent of Americans believed crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress, up from 47 percent in 2021.
And yet even as the presidential campaign was unfolding, the violent crime spike of the pandemic had already subsided — and crime rates have kept dropping. The FBI’s 2023 crime report found that murder was down nearly 12 percent year over year, and in 2024 it kept falling to roughly 16,700 murders, on par with pre-pandemic levels. The early numbers for 2025 are so promising that Jeff Asher, one of the best independent analysts on crime, recently asked in a piece whether this year could have the lowest murder rate in US history.
Ukraine hasn’t won over Trump. But it might not need to.
Trump, for all his current frustration, clearly still views the conflict in a way that is much more sympathetic to Russia’s interests than Joe Biden or many members of his own party. But in terms of actual material support, not much has actually changed since Trump took office.
He has frequently suggested he’d be willing to lift sanctions on Russia as part of a ceasefire agreement, but he has not done so, and in fact, has signed executive orders extending the sanctions that Biden imposed. Many of these sanctions could not be lifted without congressional approval. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently put it, “When Vladimir Putin woke up this morning, he had the same set of sanctions on him that he’s always had since the beginning of this conflict.”
Aside from a week-long pause following the contentious Oval Office meeting, US weapons shipments to Ukraine have continued. In fact, the rate of weapons deliveries actually increased in the early weeks of the Trump administration because of moves the Biden team made to rush aid out the door before leaving office.
The intelligence sharing vital to Ukraine’s targeting systems has also continued, as has — despite Elon Musk’s threats — the Ukrainian military’s access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.
America might finally make childbirth free
Now, a rare bipartisan solution could directly address at least the problem of expensive childbirth. The Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act, introduced in the Senate last week, would require private insurance companies to fully cover all childbirth-related expenses — from prenatal care and ultrasounds to delivery, postpartum care, and mental health treatment — without any co-pays or deductibles. (Medicaid, which insures roughly 41 percent of American births, already covers these costs.)
The bill was introduced by Republican Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) and Josh Hawley (MO), and Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (VA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY). A companion bipartisan version is expected in the House soon, with Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (ME) among the forthcoming cosponsors.
The world’s largest emitter just delivered some good climate news
For decades, China’s emissions soared ever higher as its economy grew, burning extraordinary volumes of coal, oil, and natural gas to light up cities, power factories, and fuel cars. The trend seemed unstoppable: At one point, China was approving two new coal power plants per week.
But now, for the first time, there’s been a shift: China’s greenhouse gas emissions have actually fallen even as energy demand went up.
According to a new report at Carbon Brief by Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have dropped for the first time, thanks largely to the country’s aggressive build-out of clean energy. Looking at official statistics and commercial data, the analysis shows greenhouse gas output fell 1 percent over the past year, even as China’s overall energy use and economic activity increased.
What can you do to save democracy?
Remember, the good news happens BECAUSE we fight! So let’s do this. What can you do?
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.
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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. ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 💙❤️💛💚✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
