This is a post i started putting together a few weeks ago, but then never posted. It’s from Dan Pfeiifer, and I think it’s as true today as it was when I put it together.
After Trump won, a raft of “whither the Resistance” pieces were published suggesting Democrats simply didn’t have the energy to oppose Trump with the same ferocity as the last time around. Those articles may have overstated the case, but they were fundamentally true. From the party leadership down to neighborhood activists, Democrats were depressed and disillusioned by the election result. Nothing we did seemed to matter. In Trump’s first week, Congressional Democrats remained bizarrely silent and compliant as Trump unleashed a barrage of dangerous executive orders. Some Senate Democrats even felt compelled to support Trump’s nominees out of a demented desire to adhere to norms.
But in the last ten days, Democrats have gotten up off the mat. Trump and Elon Musk’s legally and constitutionally dubious attempt to tear down the federal government agency by agency reinvigorated the Democratic base. We can (and will) debate whether our party leaders have the chops to drive a compelling message about the dangers of Trump, but to their credit, they are out there fighting.
This is about more than what happens at the top. As my old boss used to say, “Change comes from the bottom up.” Anecdotally, it’s clear the Democratic grassroots are ready to fight. My friends, family, Message Box subscribers, and Pod Save America listeners are asking for specific ideas on how they can fight back.
There are no silver bullets that will make Trump disappear tomorrow. This fight will be long and challenging, but you are not powerless; and you do not need to wait for the upper echelons of the Democratic Party to get their shit together.
Here are some things you can do right now to channel your anxiety and anger into action.
1. Send a Political Message by Winning Key Elections This Year
There are two types of accountability for people like Donald Trump: legal and political. Over the last several years, it has become clear that our legal system is not set up to hold rich, powerful, and politically connected people accountable. The relatively open and shut federal cases against him collapsed before the election. Now, Trump has complete control of the Department of Justice and the FBI. He and his friends can commit crimes without fear of prosecution.
While Trump won this election, he has been unskillful at eluding political accountability. Since winning in 2016, Trump and his party lost the 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023 elections. Winning elections — or even outperforming expectations in a tough race — are an opportunity to send a message that there is a political price to pay for what Trump is doing to the country.
The first key race will happen in Wisconsin on April 1st. Liberals currently have a 4-3 advantage on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal, is retiring, so the balance of the court is once again up for grabs. This is technically a non-partisan election, but Jan Crawford is a liberal running against yet another MAGA extremist. Control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is essential. The Liberal majority finally undid the horrific gerrymandering that gave the GOP a stranglehold on the legislature in this quintessentially 50-50 state.
If you want to contribute to or volunteer for Crawford’s campaign, you can do so HERE.
If you want to help the Wisconsin Democratic Party with their efforts in this race, you can do so HERE.
A few Congressional special elections are happening later this spring to replace House members who are retiring to go into the Trump Administration. All of these are in Republican districts — and even Trump is not dumb enough to nominate someone in a swing district with such narrow margins.
There is one race that I will be taking a close look at — the election in NY-21 to replace Elise Stefanik. The date of the election has not been set yet because Stefanik won’t resign from Congress until she is confirmed. This is an R+9 district in a state where Trump improved his performance by nearly 6 points over 2020. While special election results are hardly predictive, if Democrats can make this a real race, it will frighten the many vulnerable House Republicans who are being asked to take tough votes on unpopular Trump proposals.
Finally, later this year, there will be gubernatorial and legislative elections in New Jersey and Virginia. There are primaries in those races, so the candidates are still unknown. Once again, a Republican victory in these Blue(ish) states would be seen as a MASSIVE validation of Trump’s moves and give even the most vulnerable Republicans permission to vote for extreme policies.
As we wait for candidates, you can contribute or donate to the Virginia Democratic Party HERE; the New Jersey Democratic Party HERE; the Democratic Governors Association HERE; and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee HERE.
2. Call Congress
Does calling Congress really work? Do they care?
Well, let’s delve into how a typical Congressional office works. Once a week — sometimes once a night — the staff sends around a report on the calls and emails received — their content and the sentiment of the messages. If there is a surge in calls about a topic, it is noticed by the staff and reported to a member. A bunch of calls won’t force a member to do something that they totally disagree with or runs counter to their political self-interest, but it doesn’t go unnoticed either.
So, if you are represented by a Republican who is blindly supporting Trump, call them and yell at them. If your Democratic member isn’t fighting hard enough against Trump — call them and let them know. Conversely, if your Democratic member is doing the right thing, call them and thank them — especially if they are looking down the barrel of a tough race. These ‘thank you’ calls may be the most impactful.
Make your voice heard. The main switchboard for Congress is (202) 224-3121.
3. Work on Winning the House
Democrats need to win the House in 2026. The election seems far away, but if we can take the House, Donald Trump will never pass another bill without Hakeem Jeffries’ permission. Democrats will also gain the ability to investigate rampant corruption within a Trump Administration being run by some of the world’s richest people. This is very doable. Republicans have the narrowest majority in decades. Our electoral coalition is now dominated by college-educated frequent voters, so Democrats perform well in non-presidential elections (a problem to solve another day). History is also on our side, as the opposition tends to do very well in a President’s first midterm. Here is the Cook Political Report’s list of most vulnerable members:
You can start by supporting the incumbent ten Democrats in the toss-up category and watching the races of the eight Republicans in toss-up races. You can also donate to the DCCC HERE.
4. Take the Messaging Into Your Hands
Trump and Musk’s demands for attention combined with the firepower of Fox News and an army of Right Wing digital influencers and media operations means that the Right dominates the information wars. They are setting the agenda, pushing misinformation, and drowning out Democratic messaging. The traditional media has been crippled by changes in technology and the economy and cowed by threats of retribution from Trump.
Democrats can build a counterweight with progressive outlets like Crooked Media, but the GOP has a massive headstart. Despite this, each and every one of us has agency. Research shows that influential messaging does not come from the media or political ads but from people we know and trust. That’s right. You are more persuasive to your friends and family about the dangers of Trump and the Republicans than some Democratic politicians or media figures. You can post on your social media platform, pop into the family group chat, or bring stuff up at dinner. Additionally, I can provide you with guidance — based on my experience and public opinion research — on the most effective ways to talk about those issues.
This is just a partial list. If you have other ideas, please leave them in the comments. There is a long road ahead of us and no easy answers. As time goes on, opportunities to resist will continue to pop up. Trump wants us to think all is lost. We are meant to give up and go along with whatever he wants, but this is the time to make our voices heard in any way possible.
No One You Know
I would love to have a how-to on how to talk to people about messaging. I miss the Trumpy sister- in-law who lectured me when I tentatively reached out to ask “if we could talk about Harris” back in the heady days when I thought it was possible.
The force of her “no” was stunning. Cold, absolute, and final. I didn’t respond to the last message. She can’t defend Trump but Harris was worse. “We’re fucked either way,” she declared. This is the same woman who called me to apologize about what Trump did in Portland, which endangered my family. “We didn’t know this was going to happen” is what she said then, and I had some hope of her then. No longer.
I hated being told by so many organizers that it’s up to me to bring “them” along without being given any tools to do it.
I miss her, but I won’t go after her. And I’ll never again risk this talk. The people who claim it’s so easy aren’t actually doing it in the face of committed, educated bigots, who really want their words back.
Baud
@No One You Know:
There are definitely lost causes you shouldn’t waste your time on.
I don’t think there’s a one size fits all for talking to people. Different audiences have different triggers.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Nice chart that I’ve now saved.
We political nerds here in CO have talked about CO-08 before (Valued Commenter Scamp Dog lives in his district). What’s interesting is that Totebagger Radio is starting a new variation of the Cletus Safari, that according to my normie wife. They’re searching out Trump voters in 08, specifically found some in Greeley, and will be “returning to interview them again” between now and the mid-terms.
The district was deliberately drawn as to be “competitive” which leads one to believe that in a fertile environment, and I’m not all doomer when it comes to that, we’ve got more than a shot. The usual will come down to who the state Dems nominate and how they campaign.
WaterGirl
From a substack this morning:
Morning all. Big day in DC today. Speaker Johnson intends to bring up the Trump-House GOP budget framework for a vote. The one that will 1) dramatically cut health care for 72m Americans 2) cuts taxes for the wealthy and corporations 3) explode the deficit. While #1 and #2 have gotten the most attention #3 – a huge increase in the deficit – matters for it makes them liars about wanting to “save money” through whatever the fuck Musk is doing right now. Republicans are planning on dramatically increasing the deficit and debt, not cut it.
As of this morning Mike Johnson doesn’t have the votes to pass this first step in the House budget process. Here’s the latest from Politico, Big beautiful budget on life support:
WaterGirl
Rachel Interviews Hakeem Jeffries:
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: from the video
chaos
confusion
crisis
corruption
All hands on deck. Push back aggressively in Congress. Budget fight – every Democrat will stand strong against GOP tax scam. In the courts. Mobilizaiton in communities across the country.
People asking for new tactics, new stratgies, new leverage.
artem1s
Choose to not whinge ‘DO SOMETHING. Just go do something and you’ll find there are a lot of leaders. Just because they aren’t getting air time from the FYNYT or FYMSNBC traitors, doesn’t mean there’s nothing being done.
Choose Democracy
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
Personally, I’m never going to trust anyone who steps up in this moment and makes promises based on lies the way the GOP has been doing for 6 decades. It’s time to grow up. The news is horrible and no one who spins a fairy tale ending that takes 60 minutes to bring the bad guys to justice is a trustworthy leader or messenger.
Jeffries is rightly pissed at someone like Maddow sitting in her safe tower and questioning the commitment of those who have been on the front line of this battle since Nixon. The media is not doing anything especially different than they have any other GOP WH fuck up. In fact, they are leading the pack in complying. He should be pissed at her and her complacency.
CCL
Elections Security and CISA being dismantled
Another reminder that the structure to maintain “safe and secure” elections is being dismantled.
John S.
I found an interesting website the other day called http://www.5calls.org which helps to connect talking points on numerous subjects with congresspeople for more targeted/effective calling. Not sure if anyone has mentioned it around here.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Thank you for this post, WG!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@John S.:
I’ll second that. Some of my fellow old-fart liberals here have been promoting the site.
Keep those calls and emails coming!
NightSky
I greatly appreciate this post to begin to think through what we can possibly do as the little guys to realize our power of our numbers.
What do you guys feel about the planned “No Buy Friday” — i.e., this Friday, 2/28 from midnight Thrs to midnight Fri, not buying from major corps like Amazon, Walmart, Target, oil companies, fast food chains, etc that caved to Trump and ended DEI or that generally screw their employees and customers, the climate, and other Dem values? But DO buy from small local businesses. [I’ll check out Artem1s’ list but wanted to ask my Q now]
Evidently there are further boycotts planned, acc to USA Today.
It seems like it could possibly be another way for many of us to at least put our hand up to say, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.” — whereas protesting in the streets could give TrumpMusk the excuse he wants to deploy “his” military (or militias) against protesters. I’d appreciate opinions of the Jackaltariot before I start promoting the idea. thanks!
WV Blondie
OT, but: AP is reporting that more than 20 engineers, data scientists and product managers – all of them part of U.S. Digital Services, which got swallowed whole by DOGE – have resigned en masse. From the article:
We also always need to acknowledge the sacrifices being made by those directly in the line of fire!
mali muso
@NightSky: I’ve definitely seen a lot of people sharing about the no-buy this Friday and I’m planning to participate. Seems like we need multiple angles of action.
I met up with some IRL folks in my town last week before they went to the office of our local Rethug congress critter. (I had to get back to work at the time of their visit). We discussed talking points and one of the main take-aways was to press his staff for a town hall. I was pleasantly surprised to see that about half of the folks there were former Rs and nominally “conservative”.
LAC
@NightSky: It is a good idea and one that I plan to do. Look, the boycott hurt Target where it counts since being a decent company is so hard.
I contacted my elected reps to encourage them to keep up the good work fighting against this reebo regime. Every bit counts!
BarcaChicago
Great post – thank you so much! This Wisconsin girl living in Chicago will be canvassing weekly in WI until the April Supreme Court election. Also am calling my reps – today Rep. Schakowsky’s staff member said that she is 100% on board with NO HELP on budget/debt ceiling/CR for Rs until criminal conduct stops. BTW, I also hate calling and get very nervous – I just do it anyway. If you also feel like that, push through and make that call. You’ll feel better and it makes a difference.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: This is a good interview, and it’s not that long. I highly recommend you listen.
Rachel is asking the questions that a lot of people here want our leaders to be asked, and Hakeem is answering them. Worth your time!
H.E.Wolf
Actions for Introverts! aka write a few postcards.
PostcardsToVoters.org is writing a nice, short message to Democratic voters in WI, for Judge Susan Crawford, who is mentioned in the post.
Minimum number of cards: 4
Maximum number of business days in which to send them: 3 (if you ask for addresses on a Thursday, the due date is Monday = 1 extra day to write)
Bonus: WI has really cool addresses in some parts of the state, like nothing I’d seen before. Mind blown! Horizons expanded!
To sign up: [email protected]
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Called my rep!
Old School
DougJ is joining Substack, but he also added this tidbit:
Emily B.
#TeslaTakedown protests at Tesla dealerships are cropping up around the country. Has anyone attended any? From what I see on Mobilize, it looks as though some demonstrations are being organized by local Indivisible groups.
(Hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go!)
ewrunning
Some good news again today out of the federal district court here in Seattle. https://apnews.com/article/trump-refugee-seattle-ruling-lawsuit-eef485154e2a3f008a01d6790ce0ee06
The Lutheran Crime Syndicate strikes again! Nice photo in the article with some good signs.
wonkie
I know it sounds dorky, but letters to the local press are read. Write as if you were talking to some nice uninformed person about the effects of the pussygrabber on your immediate area.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@WV Blondie:
Thanks for bringing this up. PBS has an extensive look at what happened:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/21-federal-tech-workers-resign-rather-than-help-musk-dismantle-critical-public-services
JoyceH
I’ve mentioned this on another thread and it got no pickup, but I propose that one thing that needs doing as a matter of some urgency is to DESTROY Tesla. If not bankrupt it, drive its value down to the point where the directors give Musk the boot. (And it’s easy to make a case for mental incapacity about a guy who’s prancing around on stage with a chainsaw.)
We need to take Musk down for his own damaging actions and also as an example to the others. Currently all or most of the billionaires are either siding with Trump or at least not opposing him. They’re doing it for their own self-interest, so the self-interest equation needs to change. New equation- assisting in the destruction of democracy destroys your personal wealth.
Musk is the richest man in the world, but his fortune doesn’t sit in a Scrooge McDuck vault, it’s company shares. If the shares go down, his wealth diminishes. As his wealth diminishes, his reputation as some sort of tech and business genius goes down with it. And it also diminishes Trump’s claim to have a plan for the government.
Detaching the Trump administration from the broligarchs isn’t everything but it’s something and it starts a chain reaction. Look, when you’re besieging a castle and your sappers tunnel under a tower and set off a charge that brings down a wall, the other walls are still standing – but one wall is all you need.
wonkie
@BarcaChicago: I’m writing GOTV letters. I committed to 200.
BarcaChicago
@wonkie: YES!! That’s fantastic! Also, a lot of work – all my appreciation for taking that task on.
Captain C
@JoyceH:
Just adding to the list of causes for firing.
Captain C
@JoyceH:
As I understand it, he’s also leveraged those shares to the hilt, so if they go down it causes him some real problems.
gene108
What right-wing media does extremely well is give their listeners canned answers to swat aside liberal criticism. The responses are built on logical fallacies. I’ve found I’m usually off to Google to put together enough facts to rebut the right-wind talking point, while they’ve been spoon fed comebacks.
For example, leftists talk about how bad Trump was in handling COVID, but more people died from COVID in 2021, under senile sleepy Joe Biden, than under Trump.
True statement. To counter it and the logical fallacy requires explaining (1) the delta variant was more lethal than the initial strain of COVID, (2) the omicron variant was more contagious, and (3) thanks to Trump and Republican disinformation COVID vaccinations were rejected by large parts of the country. Then I’d have to pull out state or county wide info on vaccination rates and mortality rates, for example, to make the connection to the right-winger.
We really need our media to help us out with information to both counter right-wing propaganda, and promote the good things Democrats do without having to do our own research.
dmsilev
@JoyceH:
Very unfortunately, Tesla’s board is stacked with Musk relatives and cronies. While it certainly is a great idea to try to hammer away at his net worth, it’s hard to imagine even a total stock collapse leading the board to oust him.
I mean, how much time is he spending actually CEO’ing right now? That, for a normal board, should already be disqualifying. Instead, they’re trying to shovel tens of billions more dollars into his apparently insatiable maw.
TBone
Some Keep On Truckin’ music, lyrically accurate!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-u1Kzcs-z3c
WaterGirl
@ewrunning: Lutheran Crime Syndicate?
WaterGirl
@JoyceH:
How would we do that? Do you have ideas you can share?
Baud
Via reddit
oldgold
The SOTU is scheduled for March 7.
The rebuttal will be our best opportunity to make our case.
Historically, the rebuttals to the SOTU have been awful, but they do not have to be.
The Democratic Party needs to invest whatever is needed to make this rebuttal a speech for the ages.
We need the best speech writers, best orator, best setting and best audience. The cash to make this so must be spent.
It needs to be hyped in advance and as must hear – must see.
Baud
Melancholy Jaques
@gene108:
I know we are always encouraged to be kind & generous in our considerations of normie voters, but if “He refused to admit he lost the election & incited a violent mob to attack the congress to overthrow the government” wasn’t enough to convince people not to vote for the asshole, there is really nothing we can say about policies that will get through.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Nice.
zhena gogolia
@oldgold: See #35. Short and sweet.
ArchTeryx
@JoyceH: This does have historical precedent. A lot of billionaires study history, and they read about the German industrialists and their companies that made bank during the Third Reich.
What they don’t read is all the industrial tycoons that said the wrong thing about Hitler, or just fell out of favor, and ended up in the death camps with everyone else – or shot in the street by the SS.
So they think pre-complying, keeping their heads down and supporting the regime will keep their fortunes intact. Maybe. But you still may end up sharing the same fate as the people you hate.
And for them, that’s the best case scenario. The worst case is Pol Pot, who killed a quarter of the total population of his country, appropriated all the wealth of the Cambodian business community, and executed them as no longer useful. He almost literally burned his country to the ground.
They don’t read enough history. And they’re playing with high explosives and a book of matches when they decide to go along with Trump and his Unmerry Muskrats.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Maybe Crockett can do the rebuttal with Samuel L Jackson.
hueyplong
@WaterGirl: I’d guess that the best thing to do to destroy Tesla is for all news/propaganda/internet commentary be about how horrible the cybertruck is (and other Tesla models as well).
Their success was based on their customers being considered the cool kids, and having the entire country perceive them as rubes and marks ranks about even with having their members cut off.
Once Tesla’s name is poison, there is no coming back.
So essentially point and laugh at Musk/Tesla whenever, wherever possible. Forward/promote videos showing the vehicles being outperformed by golf carts in off-road settings (I amused myself for over an hour watching such things on YouTube last night).
They’ve always been a meme stock. Such things cannot survive being clown memes.
TBone
@artem1s: thank you for that list! February 28 is a day when we pledge to NOT do something!
https://www.fastcompany.com/91282923/economic-blackout-february-28-boycott-social-media-what-to-know
No gas or fast food either!
Baud
@TBone:
What about those of us who don’t do anything every day?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@NightSky: We are going to do it.
TBone
@Baud:
– Will Rogers
hueyplong
@Baud: My wife showed me the list of upcoming boycotts and it was kind of a downer to note that we were already effectively boycotting most of them. But we’ll make damn sure to boycott the others on Friday, while actually spending money at local places whose owners are known to lean left, or at least are non-assholes.
Baud
@TBone:
I feel seen.
TBone
@hueyplong: the idea is to not spend any money that day.
TBone
@Baud: 👀
Princess
Watergirl, I love the way you never give up on mobilizing this unruly pack of feral kittens. Much appreciated.
Baud
@Princess:
100%
Old School
@WaterGirl:
It’s a joke that came about after Mike Flynn and Elon Musk claimed Lutheran organizations were engaged in money laundering and illegal payments. (Twitter link)
ewrunning
@WaterGirl: Here’s the reference. Just over three weeks ago now, though I understand if that seems like an eternity. The subversive Lutheran organizations Flynn listed include my alma mater. Lutheran Social Services is now fundraising by selling tee shirts that say “Just another member of the Lutheran Crime Syndicate, a diabolical group strengthening community.” The local affiliate here is Lutheran Community Services Northwest, one of the plaintiffs in the court case I mentioned. https://religionnews.com/2025/02/03/musk-spotlights-federal-funds-for-lutheran-social-services-calls-them-illegal-payments/
Geminid
I’m glad to see freshman Rep. Janelle Bynum’s race in the Oregon 5th CD is rated “Lean Democrat.” Last November Bynum beat the Republican incumbent by a fairly close margin.
Bynum’s district runs from the Portland, Oregon suburbs east through exurban and rural areas. Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez flipped a similar district in 2022. That would be Washington’s 3rd CD, which runs from a suburban county across the Columbia River from Portland north into exurban/rural counties. Perez’s district is rated “Tossup” again.
These two two districts interest me. There both “swing” districts with economies and demographics similar to other northwestern and western districts adjacent to growing cities. They might have elements in common with the Colorado 8th, which is a Republican tossup.
Both Democrats are interesting as types; Rep. Perez is a young (37?) Millenial whose family– herself, husband and son– look like they stepped out of a granola ad. Perez’s sole elective experience before she ran for Congress was on her local District Soil and Conservation Board. Perez helped her husband operate an auto repair business before she won her House seat.
Bynum is older (53?) and served 2-3 terms as an Oregon State Rep before running for Congress. She was born Janelle Sojourner Irick in the District of Columbia, and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering at Florida A&M. Then she went to work for GM and earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Bynum got to Oregon by way of Japan. She and her husband were working in the automotive industry there when the husband’s mother asked for help running her set of Portland-area McDonald’s franchises. They moved their family to Portland and then Janelle Bynum got into politics. One campaign biography described Bynum as a “restauranteur.”
TBone
@Baud: my spirit animal after watching Judgment at Nuremberg today, which included real footage and gut wrenching photography as well as stellar acting by all involved.
Spencer Tracy’s speech while debating his fellow judges and while making pronouncement of Judgment is *chef’s kiss.
hueyplong
@TBone: I kind of disagree. If someone goes to the trouble to investigate overall numbers and notes that spending was relatively steady, with only Trump toadies having bad days, that would be difficult to explain away as “a bad weather day” or some such bullshit implying that politics had nothing to do with the dip.
But if the instruction is not to spend anywhere, as opposed to just not spending at Trumpy places, we’ll reward our lefty locals on Thursday.
hueyplong
@TBone: Having grown up in Virginia, I squirm some during Maximilian Schell’s cross-examination of Montgomery Clift.
TBone
@Old School:
@ewrunning:
I learn so much at this full service blog, thank you!
TBone
@hueyplong: 🎯
WaterGirl
@Old School: @ewrunning:
Oh, duh. Yes, of course! thank you
JoyceH
@WaterGirl: For destroying Tesla it’s simple – keep up what we’re already doing. My fear is that protesters will picket Tesla for a while and then go on to something else. No! Don’t do that! Keep it up! The anti-abortion crowd protested at clinics for years, for decades! Well obviously we don’t have decades but the good news is that we won’t need decades. With abortion, the “customer” has an urgent time-sensitive need and only one place to “shop”. But nobody NEEDS a Tesla. Maybe they need a car, but there are other cars, there are other EVs, probably cheaper and better. There are used cars or keeping your current car another year or two. So buying a Tesla is optional! So our job is to make it unpleasant to buy a Tesla and unpleasant to work for Tesla. Nothing violent or illegal, just show up with angry or mocking signs.
Rusty
Called my Rep. Goodlander in NH second district. She and Pppas in the 1st NH district are listed as likely Dem above. Hoping she won’t go wishy-washy thinking she will gain moderates by being soft on the budget fight. I’ve had good luck getting a human being with local offices over Washington offices. Kept it to two points, protect Medicaid and stop the the illegal unilateral closing of agencies funded by Congress.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: There are a lot of mf-ing snakes on this mf-ing plane.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Here’s a nice protest that’ll never happen. College Presidents pulling the plug on March Madness as well as the upcoming football season.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@WaterGirl: Mr. Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI more than once, called Lutheran Family Services “money launderers.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/lutheran-groups-push-back-on-elon-musk-s-allegation-tax-dollars-were-used-for-illegal-activity/ar-AA1yp7Ak
The ketamine flyer posted a government account spreadsheet (private probably) for Lutheran Family Services that did not reveal what he claimed it did.
Not to be left out of the loop, J.D. Vance, from a green loveseat?, proclaimed that Catholic Family Services was also crooked.
The ketamine flyer errs more often than your average bear. Lots of people are saying one of his favorite things is bearing false witness, especially against dastardly do-gooders like Lutherans.
zhena gogolia
@hueyplong: I already boycott all of them except Amazon, so I’ll refrain on that day.
raven
@Old Dan and Little Ann: shut yo mouth!
HopefullyNotcassandra
@ArchTeryx:
So true
Examine the graves. The last executed thought they were part of the “screw you” right up until the moment they were screwed right down into the dust to join those they helped lead to the slaughter.
hueyplong
@zhena gogolia: Haha, Amazon is also our (usual) exception to the We Already Boycott Those Horrible People rule.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@hueyplong:
Tesla does sell the two most dangerous cars on the road.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2024/11/24/tesla-named-deadliest-car-brand-in-america/
ewrunning
Just called and left messages with my Member of Congress and both Senators. To all 3, I urged no Democratic member vote in favor of extending the continuing resolution or raising the debt ceiling unless and until the Trump/Musk crime spree ends. To the Senators I said that in light of yesterday’s disgraceful US UN General Assembly vote siding with Russia, they need to withhold Unanimous Consent for any and all appointments for the Departments of State and Defense until the administration firmly and unequivocally recommits to honoring our treaty commitments to our NATO allies.
Old School
The Trump Administration is going to decide who gets to ask them questions. (Twitter)
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
I feel seen.
p.a
Speaking of winning, any more news on the Dem NC judge (IIRC) who won election that the MAGAts are trying to deny the bench?
pajaro
Thank you, thank you
On Congress, Representatives are more accessible than you might imagine. If you have a group, and if you are associated with a local non-profit that is affected, consider trying to schedule a meeting at the district office of your representative. If you can’t meet directly with the representative, try meeting with a member of staff. Please keep calling, in the meantime.
TBone
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
German lesson of the day:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desk_murderer
Now watching Burt Lancaster & Arthur Kennedy in Elmer Gantry, also 👀 an eye popper with Mrs. Partridge playing the hooker!
Emily B.
@WaterGirl: Another option is moving IRA money out of mutual funds that hold TSLA stock. It can be tricky to find a large-cap growth or balanced fund that doesn’t invest in TSLA, unfortunately, and I don’t want to try to give anyone investment advice. For me, it was a relatively easy move to transfer some IRA money into an ESG fund at Brown Advisory that holds no TSLA stock (evidently, the fund managers take the G in ESG seriously). It is harder to get out of TSLA if you prefer to be in index funds or ESG funds.
WaterGirl
@p.a: Our NC friends are calling it a judicial coup. But I don’t believe it’s resolved yet.
Joy in FL
@Baud: I would watch that. Repeatedly.
“Maybe Crockett can do the rebuttal with Samuel L Jackson.”
HopefullyNotcassandra
@ewrunning: You said it better and with t-shirts, too
HopefullyNotcassandra
@TBone: That is a new one for me.
Eunicecycle
@oldgold: Mayor Pete should do it!
sentient ai from the future
@Emily B.: to expand on this, the logistics of excluding tsla are difficult. all the big index funds hold tesla if they are covering the US market, and the overwhelming majority of them are market-cap-weighted.
i just looked at vanguard’s S&P500 index fund and it holds 2.21% tesla. after today’s bloodbath, that means that you hold about one share of tesla for every $15k you hold of that particular fund.
jumping through additional hoops in order to try and offset that holding is likely to be more expensive than it’s worth.
now, if you hold tesla stock directly, that’s another story. sell that shit because it is fucking tanking, lock in your gains or limit your losses now.
there is also TSLS, one of the “direxion” ETFs that is effectively betting on a particular stock will go in a particular direction. i will note that this fund has a really steep expense ratio. i consider this straight up gambling, and in general i think part of the problem with US markets is degenerate gamblers.
in the interests of full disclosure, i own some tsla stock via my holdings in other index funds (i’ve done the work to see how to offset that risk, because i’ve been concerned about it since getting some investable funds dropped into my lap a couple years ago) and have already done a fair amount of moving my US-equities holdings into fixed income, overweighting international fixed income funds, as well as non-US equities. i’ve shifted pretty quickly from an aggressive posture to a conservative one, because i fear the volatility the shitbird is introducing into markets both domestic and foreign.
WaterGirl
@Eunicecycle: I confess to having the same thought.
Emily B.
@sentient ai from the future: Totally agree that it’s impossible to avoid TSLA in broad-based index funds. In my case, my investment advisor had recommended splitting my IRA savings into a bunch of separate funds—large-cap growth, large-cap value, mid-cap growth, etc.—so that when I start taking distributions, I can take out money from the funds that are doing well and avoid drawing down those that aren’t performing well at that particular point in time.
So it wasn’t too hard for me to switch the large-cap growth portion of my IRA into a Brown Advisory fund that excluded TSLA. The fund is actively managed, so the expenses are higher, but I decided I can live with that.
My 403(b), however, is in a target date fund. That’s harder. I think I’m stuck holding TSLA there unless I really change my investment strategy.
cain
@WaterGirl: But if it is a GOP majority forever, don’t they need Democrats to force them to pay all the deficit? I mean that’s the pattern right?
artem1s
Bullshit. “Don’t interrupt your enemy while they are in the process of destroying themselves.”
grabbing the spotlight away from POTUS Musk could be a fatal mistake right now.
cain
@Geminid:
We’ve been gearing up on going after the school boards at least in the primary Beaverton school district.
Our education system in Oregon is really bad. They way they hold up mediocre administrators is just astounding. Clearly people who can’t do the job and I don’t know how you can fix it.
I mean we see the Feds just going in and fiirng people – apparently you can’t do that in the state?
FelonyGovt
Thank you for this thread. I don’t engage politically with those of my husband’s relatives who I suspect are MAGA (Cubans in Florida). But one thing I can do is educate and motivate my normie, liberal but not very up on things relatives. I feel I’m helping them see that the house really is on fire.
Gretchen
@hueyplong: do you have any Tesla/golf cart race videos to recommend?
I think it’s notable that both Musk and Trump really, really want to be the cool kids and know that they’re not. Just see Trump’s body language when laughing with Epstein. It says “Like me!”
musk hangs out with 20 year olds because they’re the oldest people who think he’s cool.
Mousebumples
Do you mean the grid style W1234 N567 Main St style, or something else? There were tons of those when we wrote for Jodi Habush Sinykin a few years ago!
Late to the thread, but I just emailed WaterGirl about the Wisconsin Superintendent Race, which is also on the April ballot, but less high profile vs SCOWIS. I’m supporting Underly (incumbent) vs the Moms For Liberty supported challenger
Eta – link if anyone wants more background on the Superintendent race https://www.therecombobulationarea.news/p/could-brittany-kinser-win-the-race