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resistance rear-guard

12/17 belated?

SEE NO KINGS MARCH

1 25 broaden to include state govt allies CA team Blue

see indivisible

SEE BADASS CONF

this refers to defensive strategies to slow down damage of alec koch trumpocalypse

SEE 2024 POST MORT

often legal

million rising bruce h

Bonhoffer.tv - teslatakedown

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BS

GAI’s Seamus Bruner Reveals Left-Wing Funders Such as Roy Singham Behind Antifa Riots

PIX PEACE SIGN Elizabeth Weibel9 Oct 2025

Seamus Bruner, the Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) revealed that left-wing funders such as billionaire Neville Roy Singham were behind left-wing Antifa riots and protests.

During a roundtable event on Antifa with President Donald Trump, Bruner explained that he, GAI President Peter Schweizer, and their team “followed” a trail of money and “followed it to the top of what” they called the Protest Industrial Complex, or Riot Inc. Bruner explained that the so-called “Riot Inc.” was made up of many different divisions, and that “dozens of radical organizations” have received millions of dollars from Riot Inc.

“We found a network of NGOs, it’s not just the Soros network, the Open Society Network. It’s other funding networks, the Arabella Funding Network, the Tides Funding Network, Neville Roy Singham and his network, foreign cash,” Bruner explained. “And, it’s also big left-wing funders — some of them are not citizens of this country.”

Bruner continued to note that these left-wing funders were “pouring money into this entire ecosystem.”

Bruner continued to share “three money facts” about Riot Inc., explaining that there were “many divisions” such as “PR divisions, marketing divisions” and even a “well-funded legal division.”

“Number two, we have identified dozens of radical organizations, not just the decentralized Antifa organizations, but dozens of radical organizations that have received more than one hundred million dollars from the Riot Inc. investors,” Bruner added. “These would be the lawyer groups, these would be the groups that advocate for calling good, honest Americans fascists.”

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“And then, three, I think the most shocking thing is that we have found that more than one hundred million dollars in U.S. taxpayer funding has flowed into these funding networks, including at least four million dollars to these very groups themselves,” Bruner added.

Bruner’s mention of Singham comes after an investigation by the Breitbart News Foundation reported that while “records from the United Kingdom confirm” that Singham resigned from Thoughtworks, Inc., which he founded in 1993, “Chinese government records suggest otherwise.”

After founding Thoughtworks, Inc. in 1993 and building the company into a software consulting powerhouse, Singham helped orchestrate its sale in October 2017, for approximately $785 million to a group of funds managed by London-based private equity firm Apax Partners. Corporate records from the United Kingdom confirm Singham’s resignation from Thoughtworks the same month, and his own LinkedIn profile says he has been retired since 2017. Thoughtworks’ English-language website relegates him to its “alumni” section, reinforcing the image of a clean break.

But Chinese government records suggest otherwise. These records list Singham as a corporate officer of Thoughtworks’ Chinese subsidiary, Thoughtworks Beijing, as recently as June 17, 2025, and for at least as far back as 2022. These records are from the National Enterprise Credit Reporting System (NECIPS), China’s corporate registry. Other documents, including trade show profile and “help-wanted” ads, listed Singham as Thoughtworks Beijing’s official contact in 2021.

The New York Post reported in June that Singham was set to be called to testify before a congressional committee regarding him funding “radical anti-Israel and Marxist groups” behind the Los Angeles riots.

In an article written by Bruner in June, Bruner detailed how the GAI had uncovered how the “official partners” behind the “No Kings” protests “bagged $114.8 million since 2019 from the Arabella Avisors dark money network an how professional protest organizations use tax dollars as a force multiplier.”

Bruner reported:

The expected worldwide mobilization of protests against President Donald Trump this weekend will hardly be a spontaneous eruption. On the contrary, the tumult is a carefully plotted production organized by The Indivisible Project and financed by the progress dark money network managed/advised by Arabella Advisors, which has perfected the mounting of made-to-order protests. Since 2019, the Arabella network has dumped more than $100 million into the coffers of the official “No Kings” protest partners—including the creator of the official protest song book.

This “grassroots” “nationwide days of defiance” targets Trump and his “billionaire allies,” according to organizers. The Arabella network’s biggest benefactors are the left’s own billionaire heroes, including George Soros, Bill Gates, Hansjorg Wyss, Mark Zuckerberg, and Reid Hoffman.

During the roundtable event, Bruner vowed to “keep following the money,” and expressed that he appreciated “everything” Trump was doing.

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robt r 8 25

Blue Future, Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund, Civic Shout, Defeat Republicans, Democracy for America Advocacy Fund, Democratic Values PAC, HollywoodDemocrats.com, Inequality Media Civic Action, Left Click, Patriotic Millionaires, People Power United, Progress America, Progressive Reform Network, Solidarity Action, TakeItBack.Org, The Juggernaut Project, The Labor Force, United for Democracy, and Social Security Works,* the sponsors of this letter campaign.

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no kings

celebs

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rww 6 25 NO KINGS MARCH

06/14/2025

by

Peter Montgomery

Christian-right media outlets, which function as an unofficial public relations operation for President Donald Trump, set out this week to smear in advance the ‘No Kings’ protests being held across the country on Sat. June 14 to protest Trump’s authoritarianism and defiance of the law and Constitution.

“As America prepares to honor the birthday of President Donald J. Trump on June 14,” began a screed that ran on the right-wing “America Faith” platform and was republished by the Pentecostal-oriented Charisma News—not even bothering to sustain the official fiction that Trump’s military parade is more about honoring the armed forces than a presidential exercise in self-glorification.

The diatribe was written by right-wing southern California pastor Phil Hotsenpiller, who founded American Faith after Trump was defeated in the 2020 election.

In this week’s column, Hotsenpiller warned of the “disturbing agenda” of the No Kings rallies: “to crush Donald Trump’s influence, undermine constitutional authority, and destabilize American sovereignty.”

“Let’s be clear,” wrote Hotsenpiller, “this is not about preserving democracy—it’s about preventing Trump from returning to power.”

Huh? Trump has already returned to power and is flagrantly abusing that power. That’s why Americans are rallying to defend the rule of law and the constitutional checks and balances Trump’s team is working so hard to dismantle.

Hotsenpiller spun a conspiracy theory about the “Walton-Weingarten Nexus”—WalMart heiress and philanthropist Christy Walton and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, two “dangerous” women “merging to push a vision of America that looks more like socialist Europe—or communist China—than a constitutional republic.”

“June 14 is not just a protest,” Hotsenpiller ranted. “It’s a declaration of war—against populism, against Trump and ultimately against the America our Founders envisioned.”

While MAGA religious leaders portray themselves as the voice of American Christians, many Christians and other faith leaders are urging Americans to participate in peaceful No Kings protests—and have been on the front lines this week protesting the brutality of the administration’s militarized anti-immigrant operations.

Trump has threatened “very heavy force” against anyone who protests his parade. No Kings organizers have not planned an event in D.C., encouraging locals to join a flagship rally in Philadelphia, participate in Virginia or Maryland events, or take part in DC Joy Day.

American Faith hosted the ReAwaken America Tour, a traveling cavalcade of far-right conspiracies, Christian nationalism, and pro-Trump propaganda. Last year, Hostenpiller’s Influence Church hosted Christian nationalist MAGA activist Charlie Kirk, who used the occasion to rail against seminaries “infiltrated with wokeism, social justice nonsense” and “overly feminine ‘pastor-men.’” Hotsenpiller has also teamed up with MAGA musician Sean Feucht.

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an 4 25

On Saturday, April 19, large demonstrations protesting against President Donald Trump's policies were held in major U.S. cities ranging from Boston to New York to Portland, Oregon. And a recurring theme is that the Trump Administration, from mass deportations without due process to bullying universities and law firms, is pushing the United States into authoritarianism.

The Washington Monthly's David Atkins, in an article published on April 23, emphasizes that the Democratic Party can play a key role in preventing the U.S. from sinking into "authoritarianism" but will need to be a lot more forceful in its efforts.

"When pressed, (Democratic) Party leaders often respond that they can do little substantively," Atkins explains. "That protests are performative. That voters are tired of drama. But that's not the point. The point isn't what Democrats can do today. It's what they're signaling they're willing to do when they return to power. If Trump and his allies face no meaningful consequences, they have no reason to stop."

READ MORE:'I believed what Trump said — but not any more!' Behind the voters dumping Donald

Atkins continues, "If Republicans don't believe that Democrats will act with equal force to protect democracy —legally, aggressively, unapologetically — then there's no deterrent to further escalation. As Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker put it, 'Bullies respond to one thing only: a punch in the face.'"

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Democrats, Atkins argues, "don’t need to mimic MAGA's tactics" but "must prove they have the spine to make authoritarians pay."

"Otherwise," Atkins warns, "they're not a political opposition but a speed bump…. MAGA doesn't fear Democrats because history tells them they need not. They don't believe that future Democratic presidents will use the IRS to crack down on Project 2025 architects, the (U.S. Department of Justice) to investigate Christian nationalist groups, or the FBI to follow foreign influence trails back to their political donors. But they should."

Atkins continues, "Democrats don't need to become liberal authoritarians. But they need to show they're not afraid to use the levers of power to defend democracy, not just in lofty speeches but in institutional terms: subpoenas, audits, investigations, regulation, and prosecution…. If MAGA believes it can consolidate power without consequence, then why not roll the dice on permanent minority rule?"

READ MORE:At what point are Trump voters finally going to get it?

*David Atkins' full article for The Washington Monthly is available at this link.

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SYSTEMIC FAIL?!

AN 2 25

According to the Washington Post, as many as 200,000 federal workers may be fired because of efforts by the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to greatly downsize the United States' federal government. And the criticism of their efforts is coming not only from Democrats, but also, from voices on the right.

Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania), during a February 17 appearance on MSNBC, slammed Trump and DOGE for carrying out mass government layoffs in a "haphazard" way. And the next morning, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough (a Never Trump conservative and ex-GOP congressman) argued that while government "waste" needs to be reduced and the U.S. needs to balance its federal budget, the Trump Administration and DOGE are recklessly jeopardizing "food safety" and "air safety."

The Guardian's George Monbiot also fears that Trump's second term could trigger some type of major crisis.

READ MORE:George Conway: Trump’s 'pathological narcissism' is fueling 'full-scale' DOJ 'revolt'

In a February 18 opinion column, Monbiot lays out a variety of frightening scenarios and offers some tips for surviving a worst-case scenario.

"Though we might find it hard to imagine," Monbiot warns, "we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure…. A financial crisis in the U.S. would immediately become a global crisis."

Monbiot continues, "But the hazards extend much further. Musk, calling for a 'wholesale removal of regulations,' sends his child soldiers to attack government departments stabilizing the entire U.S. system. Regulations, though endlessly maligned by corporate and oligarchic propaganda, are all that protect us from multiple disasters. In its initial impacts, deregulation is class war, hitting the poorest and the middle classes at the behest of the rich. As the effects proliferate, it becomes an assault on everyone's wellbeing."

The columnist warns that undermining regulatory government agencies could make everything from a pandemic to "future climate disasters" worse.

READ MORE:'Brutal': Ex-federal prosecutor reveals why Trump DOJ’s 'illegal order' was 'so corrupt'

"As Trump rips down environmental protections and trashes federal responsiveness," Monbiot explains, "the impacts will spiral. They could include non-linear shocks to either the insurance sector or homeowners, escalating into U.S.-wide economic and social crisis. If, or when, another pandemic strikes, which could involve a pathogen more transmissible and even more deadly than COVID-19 — which has so far killed 1.2 million people in the U.S. — it will hit a nation whose defenses have been stood down."

Monbiot urges Americans — as well as residents of the U.K., where The Guardian is published — by doing a lot of networking.

"So, though there is no substitute for effective government, we must seek to create our own backup systems," the Guardian columnist advises. "Start with this principle: don't face your fears alone. Make friends, meet your neighbors, set up support networks, help those who are struggling. Since the dawn of humankind, those with robust social networks have been more resilient than those without. Yes, we also — and urgently — need national and global action, brokered by governments. But it's beginning to look as if no one has our backs. Prepare for the worst."

READ MORE:John Roberts is to blame for Trump challenge of federal courts: analysis

*George Monbiot's full Guardian column is available at this link.

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lawsuits 2 5 25

:{Jay Michaelson

sdSrtoepno6l 6c5:F32tPm1a856tr7uc93 1ba1Mtue407a1u 8cl3ycmr

Hello! I'm posting in response to the many sincerely anguished claims that not enough is being done to stop Trump. This is not reflected in the facts.

And there are many more - I'll link to a great list of them in the comments.

Yes, there are Trump judges in the courts, and if Aileen Cannon types get these cases, Trump may prevail. But most judges are not like her. These actions are clearly illegal and/or unconstitutional, and they WILL be stopped.

Just like the tariffs were not meant to prevail -- Trump won that round, "forcing" Canada and Mexico to take "action" on fentanyl -- these actions are not meant to prevail. They're meant to flood the zone with shit, confuse and immobilize us. They said they'd do "Shock and Awe" and that's what they've done. Nothing here should be surprising.

Shock and Awe is up to YOU. I am not shocked, I am not in awe.

Oh, and the "mainstream media" has reported on all of these. The info above has come from Newsweek, the NY Times, and other mainstream sources. Please stop attacking journalists when we are being threatened by the FBI. Who do you think you're helping by doing that?

Stop it with the doomsaying and gloomsaying. Want to make a difference? Give thousands of dollars to Public Citizen, the ACLU, and similar groups. Show up at marches. Put your ass on the line and help protect people from ICE. If you're safe, do simple symbolic things (like changing your social media pictures) to support people who are not safe. Just like we should not obey in advance, we should not panic in advance either. This is not the end of democracy. That is just what the bad guys want you to think. Get over it and fight.

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no lnx

Alternet

Reminder: Trump is a demented criminal president

John Stoehr January 23, 2025

I just want to remind everyone that America elected a demented criminal president and as a consequence, we can no longer assume what we used to assume when it came to matters of law and politics.

I know that sounds like a sweeping generalization, but sometimes you gotta swing hard if you’re going to get people’s attention, and right now, given that liberals and Democrats got their heads in the sand, I think it’s prudent to swing hard, even if I’m proven wrong in the end.

And I know that saying something as sweeping as this can sound pessimistic, as if I’m suggesting that nothing can be done about a demented criminal president, but I don’t see it that way. I think liberals and Democrats still believe Donald Trump is going to overreach, and they still believe public opinion is going to turn, and when it does, thank God! Liberals and Democrats won’t have to fight so hard!

Again, we elected a demented criminal president.

We can no longer assume what we used to assume.

Case in point is the reaction to Donald Trump’s executive order claiming to “end birthright citizenship,” in the words of USA Today.

Liberals and Democrats were correct to point out that the president can’t do any such thing on his own, as ending the legal right to be called a US citizen due to being born on US soil would require a constitutional amendment. It was said that the order would be stopped almost immediately by the courts. Yesterday, 18 attorneys general from states run by Democrats filed suit to do just that.

While this reaction is correct as a matter of fact, it is wrong as a matter of politics. This is a demented criminal president we are talking about, and while the courts may end up stopping his order, the courts can’t stop a demented criminal president from ignoring the courts and acting, you know, like a criminal. We assume that a demented criminal president will obey the law and I don’t see why we should assume that.

Even if the president himself said OK, OK, I can’t end birthright citizenship by myself, there are plenty of people in his administration, not just political appointees, who would be happy to break the law and just pretend that the children of immigrants who are born on US soil are not citizens. They would also be happy to stop doing for them what they would do for any other (white) baby born on US soil, such as issuing Social Security cards or other important federal documents.

Even if it came to light that this rogue federal agency was responsible for infringing the rights and privilege of tens of thousands of natural-born citizens, who would prosecute the offense? The same Justice Department that is, right now, planning payback against the members of the Congress who investigated the J6 insurrection?

Even if that Justice Department actually did manage to prosecute and convict these rogue federal agents (who were only doing what Trump wanted them to do), should we assume that the same demented criminal president who pardoned virtually all the paramilitaries who sacked and looted the US Capitol would not pardon them as well.

And even if public opinion turned against Trump’s lawlessness, what reaction could we reasonably expect? The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Will Bunch said the inauguration was “a dangerous display of rapid mental decline” and that the biggest takeaway was “seeing how rapidly the oldest new president in America is declining right in front of us.”

“We’ve just flipped the car keys of this 248-year-old republic to a grandpa who starts his four-year road trip already in a serious state of mental decline, with all the guardrails of yesteryear stripped away by a corrupt Supreme Court, a feckless and increasingly useless Democratic Party, and a bended-knee elite media,” he said (my italics).

Again, it bears repeating: this is a demented criminal president we are talking about. The things that would normally constrain a president – the institutions, the courts and public opinion – are probably not going to constrain this one. I would suggest that they almost certainly won’t.

And while liberals and Democrats console themselves into believing the only way to end birthright citizenship is by amending the Constitution, they’re missing the real goal, which is getting around all those quaint little rules that everyone else plays by and going straight to the US Supreme Court. Trump’s executive order really could end birthright citizenship if he can force five justices to agree with it.

Like a lot of liberals and Democrats, I don’t yet know how to resist a president who is criminal enough to ignore the courts (or turn a blind eye to crimes committed in his name) and demented enough to ignore public opinion. I don’t yet know how to think about politics as applied to a president who won’t act like any president who came before him.

What I do know is we have to try – if not for ourselves, then for our children, and for those who came before us and did figure it out.

NOW READ: Trump's MAGA America revives a Confederate nightmare

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POD SAVE resist 1.o not fail, trump passed one bill, failed on xyz

1 25

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an 125

Only one day into Donald Trump's second term, The Atlantic's David A. Graham is able to pinpoint the biggest factors that make this time around so "different" from the MAGA leader's first presidency.

Noting that, in 24 hours, the 47th president of the United States has already "pardoned more than 1,500 January 6 rioters, including some involved in violence," moved "to end birthright citizenship," removed the US from the "World Health Organization, attempted to turn large portions of the civil service into patronage jobs, and issued an executive order defining gender as a binary," Graham submits these actions "would have caused widespread outrage and mass demonstrations if he had taken them during his first day, week, or year as president, in 2017."

Furthermore, The Atlantic staff writer adds that these steps have "been met with muted response, including from a dazed left and press corps," when just eight years ago, "hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington, and Americans flocked to airports at midnight to try to thwart Trump’s travel ban."

READ MORE:**'Like a unicorn': Legal analysts demolish Trump’s 'lunatic fringe' arguments on key issue**

Graham submits,"The difference arises from three big factors. First, Trump has worked hard to desensitize the population to his most outrageous statements. As I wrote a year ago, forecasting how a second Trump presidency might unfold, the first time he says something, people are shocked. The second time, people notice that Trump is at it again. By the third time, it’s background noise."

He added, "Second, Trump has figured out the value of a shock-and-awe strategy. By signing so many controversial executive orders at once, he’s made it difficult for anyone to grasp the scale of the changes he’s made, and he’s splintered a coalition of interests that might otherwise be allied against whatever single thing he had done most recently."

Finally, "American society has changed," Graham emphasizes. "People aren’t just less outraged by things Trump is doing; almost a decade of the Trump era has shifted some aspects of American culture far to the right."

READ MORE:**Trump kept his promise — and made some Democrats look like fools**

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ari

ink: rt has radicalization funnel start w small annoyance and leads to trump/nAZI

XITTER > FOX

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12 24 ymail jay kuo status big pict -->

It’s been nearly 50 days since the soul-crushing election, and many of us are still in a bit of shock and experiencing continued denial. The headlines have been disturbing, to say the least, as they preview what the next four years could be like here in the U.S. and around the world. We are in dire need of some coping mechanisms.

With 2024 drawing to an end, I figured it might be useful to compile some strategies and tips, gleaned from experts and from my conversations with many readers, on ways to survive these next four years, both individually and collectively as a democracy. These are in no particular order, and some of them may or may not resonate with you. I hope you nevertheless find them helpful and even practical.

Avoid the lure of nihilism

You feel it sometimes in your gut, and you see it in others’ comments: a sense of doom and despair. “There is nothing we can do.” “They will get away with everything.” “Nothing we can say will ever get through to the other side.” “Face it, it’s the end of our democracy.”

Let me first say that anyone who hasn’t indulged in even a bit of this thinking hasn’t been paying attention. Things are bad, and in fact quite bad. So it’s perfectly natural and human to entertain these thoughts.

But we can’t remain stuck in such thinking. So I want to offer some perspective from a great man who has seen and overcome many great challenges in his life.

I worked for years with the actor and activist George Takei, who spent his childhood in Japanese American internment camps during World War II. He and 125,000 others in his community experienced what a fascist America really looked like: families rounded up and forced from their homes at gunpoint, forced to live for weeks in horse stables then for years behind barbed wire fences, with no charge and no trial, all for the “crime” of looking like the enemy.

It would have been understandable for George to become embittered and to turn his back on this country. Instead he dedicated his life to a cause, working to deliver reparations for his community and to teach the history of the internment so that we would never repeat that terrible chapter of our history.

He taught me a word in Japanese that I still think about a lot to this day: gaman. It means to face challenges with dignity and fortitude. Things have been bad before, and for many racial minorities, far worse than now. But they didn’t give up. They persevered, even in the face of the terrible dysfunction and injustice of our system.

When I feel like throwing up my hands, I remember George Takei, and people like the late John Lewis, and I draw strength from their example. They did not let despair paralyze them or cause them to surrender.

Be a voice of hope, not fear

One of the ways fascism succeeds is through fear. And one way fear spreads is through public repetition and normalization. Some of our corporate and media leaders are already setting terrible examples by “obeying in advance” and capitulating to Trump’s threats. We shouldn’t be like them. But beyond that, it’s important to consider what impact our own attitudes have on others.

Author Robert B. Hubbell often sees defeatism and capitulation in the comments of readers of his Today’s Editionnewsletter. While these reactions are understandable, they are not helpful. Here is what he said about them recently:

And a word of restraint to every reader who is itching to write in the Comment section, “What makes you so sure that Trump will leave office” or “There won’t be any more elections,” I urge you not to give voice to dark fears that are not likely to materialize. If you repeat such warnings in response to every hopeful rallying cry, you unwittingly normalize the notion that Trump can stay past his expiration date. That is exactly what he wants you to do. Don’t help him out. Instead, direct your energy into ensuring that Democrats are as successful as possible in 2026 and 2028.

Others are working hard to find hope and a path forward. They, too, feel frustrated and scared. But the last thing they need is more weight dragging upon their hopes and actions.

I wouldn’t stand by a firefighter battling a blaze and exclaim, “Why bother, it’s all just going to burn down anyway!” Likewise, I wouldn’t want to deflate the hopes of those striving to push back against MAGA Trumpism.

It takes but a moment to pause and realize that a defeatist comment may feel cathartic in the moment, but could negatively affect the mood and the spirits of others fighting hard against creeping authoritarianism.

Unplug from the network news

I often receive texts and DMs from friends and colleagues asking about the events of the day, and I can almost always tell if they’ve been watching CNN or MSNBC. (I don’t personally know anyone who watches Fox, but my friends whose parents do report similar behavior.) They want to know my take on what such-and-such pundit said, and my response lately has been the same: Turn off your TV.

The 24 hour news cycle has one mission: to draw you into its drama. Whether it’s to enrage audiences on the right with stories about the woke left or to outrage audiences on the left with the dangerous antics of the right, there is very little critical thinking going on and a whole lot of reacting. There are still a few good programs on these networks, but nothing is worth keeping it on more or less full time.

I want to share a personal story here. My own mother was a free thinker in her youth. She formed her own opinions and wasn’t afraid to challenge orthodoxy. Sometimes she got things terribly wrong, but she was willing to admit to that. But as she got older, she watched Chinese state-supported media more and more, and she began parroting the talking points of the CCP. It was like watching her become a Fox-addicted viewer, but from the Chinese perspective. She even refused to believe there were camps built by the Chinese government to hold hundreds of thousands of Uyghur prisoners for “re-education.”

So I got her a copy of the New York Times to read (I know, I know, but it was at least a very different take on China). I only learned after her death that this added news source had made an impact. She had cut out and highlighted a long article about the Uyghur camps and left it in a folder in her office with my name on it. She knew I would find that folder, and she had let me know that she believed me now about the camps.

Support independent journalism

Many of our major papers, from the Washington Post to the LA Times, have billionaire owners who have recently demonstrated that they would rather please, or at least not ruffle the feathers of, the incoming administration than hold themselves up to basic standards of journalistic integrity. A small but collectively significant thing we as consumers can do is to vote with our eyeballs and our dollars.

There are many independent sources of news with terrific reporting still happening. ProPublica was the one to break the stories on the corruption of Justice Clarence Thomas and the purchase of his support by wealthy benefactors, and I support them with an annual subscription. Another great outfit is Popular.info, which regularly exposes corporate malfeasance among other important topics. I have a favorite set of Substack journalists and analysts I support including Heather Cox Richardson for news with a historical perspective, Joyce Vance for legal news and analysis, Robert Hubbell for a daily news summary, and Talking Points Memo for political analysis.

While these sources admittedly lean left, I also regularly read and support more centrist reporting from The Bulwark.

Stop wondering what Trump is distracting us from

A very common but I believe mistaken take is that Trump’s daily dose of crazy is there to distract us from what he really wants to get done while we’re not paying attention. But after nine years of following Trump, I believe this is neither a helpful nor correct way to think about him.

Trump has no master plan. He acts impulsively, often based on something he recently saw or someone said to him. For example, it was one of his wealthy New York friends, Ronald S. Lauder, who put the idea of buying Greenland into his head, where it is still rattling around to the dismay of the Western allies. And as I wrote yesterday in The Status Kuo, it may well have been internet troll Laura Loomer who got Trump fixated on Panama and the false idea that the Chinese are somehow angling to control both the canal and the “invasion” of migrants who are passing through the Darién Gap at the border with Colombia.

Often, Trump acts so impulsively that his own advisors are caught off guard, such as when he suddenly invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the inauguration. That news set off alarms not only across Washington but also within Trump’s own camp. (Xi has declined the invitation, but geez.)

It’s better to view Trump as a kind of pyromaniac who will set many things aflame, with the rest of us there to stomp out fires before they become conflagrations. The good news is that many of his ideas wind up going nowhere, even if we have to spend time creating fire walls or wetting down the roofs. (For example, Denmark is never going to sell us Greenland.)

The bad news is that some of his other ideas are backed by people hell bent on seeing them through, such as the mass deportation of undocumented migrants or the politicization of our civil service under Project 2025. It is those people we need to watch carefully, who will take advantage of the chaos Trump causes daily to accomplish his nefarious goals.

High among these actors stands the unofficial president, Elon Musk. He has already shown that he will goad the GOP and Trump into chaos then take full advantage of the moment, just as he did with the crisis over the continuing resolution and the looming government shutdown, where he wound up killing key provisions that would have hurt his businesses.

In short, while Nero fiddles and Rome burns, watch who is entering and exiting the treasury.

Defend institutions

There’s been a lot of attention paid to historian Timothy Snyder’s first rule in fighting fascism, which is not to obey in advance. But there’s not enough attention on his second rule.

In his book On Tyranny, Snyder writes,

Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.

The great thing about this rule is that all of us can do something meaningful to help. Speak up for our court system and the rule of law, even when (or perhaps especially after) they fall short of expectations. The goal is to improve them as institutions, not to cast them aside. Support your local newspaper with a subscription. Rally at your state capital in support of laws protecting abortion rights. Support striking workers by avoiding companies that are anti-union.

These acts seem small, but collectively they matter a great deal, and our institutions cannot succeed without support from the public.

Don’t feed the rage cycle

In our social media driven politics, it’s often the loudest and most obnoxious voices that the algorithms amplify. They find and uplift these voices based upon the reactions of others. Just as we must turn off the network television, we need to recognize online trolling and not give it added oxygen.

What does this look like in practical terms? When a troll (or Russian or AI bot) leaves a comment meant to provoke a reaction from you, ignore it. Or report it. Do not engage; do not respond. Tag an administrator if you’re so inclined. Your experience online will be greatly improved if you practice this non-engagement.

On a related note, when a person seems genuinely upset and is lashing out or even making inappropriate or hyperbolic statements, resist the urge to shame them, temping as that might be. I personally employ a technique I learned from a parenting podcast (yes, a parenting podcast) called “Most General Interpretation.” I ask myself, “What is the best way I can look at what this person has just said?”

Sure, they may have gotten the facts totally wrong. They may have called me a name or questioned my knowledge or motives in an unfriendly or hostile way. But perhaps they are upset or tired or just had a bad day. That doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but it does allow me to respond more compassionately and without judgment.

Beginning with, “I hear you, and I get it” or “I’ve felt that way sometimes, too” is a great starting place before you make whatever point you were considering in response. It’s amazing how often people who seem like trolls are actually just having very human emotions in the moment and need a compassionate listener.

Okay, enough kumbaya for now.

Support the front line fighters

Most of us have jobs, responsibilities, families and busy lives outside of politics. Still, we read the news, we stay informed, we vote regularly, we donate to candidates, and sometimes we still lose elections and the consequences are very bad. When that happens, as we just experienced, is there anything ordinary citizens should be doing more of to remain helpful in the fight to save our democracy?

Sometimes the best thing an ordinary citizen can do is support those who are the political equivalent of first responders. These are the activists, lawyers, community organizers and local candidates who form a protective shield and provide a safety net for the most vulnerable.

It’s really important to identify which communities are likely to be most impacted by draconian policies put forth by the incoming administration. These include immigrants, trans people, and women needing access to abortion care. Donating to immigrant rights groups, LGBTQ+ rights organizations (I serve on the board of the Human Rights Campaign and fundraise for it regularly), and women’s reproductive rights organizations will deliver the most impact by directly supporting the folks in the trenches who are fighting the far-right agenda and have real expertise in the matter.

Not everyone has the time to volunteer. But many of us have a few bucks to spare each month. Make your contributions recurring and part of your monthly budget so that these organizations don’t have to spend time coming back to you for more. And when your own personal financial situation improves, up your monthly contributions.

Find your community

A powerful antidote to the challenges of our times lies in the strength not just of our institutions but of the communities that work to uphold them. And the internet has made it easier than ever to join civic minded groups and participate in democracy, whether in person or online.

The power of community is particularly important when disaster strikes. Writer Rebecca Solnit has been a strong voice and compelling advocate of turning to community to overcome great loss and tragedy. She studied the aftermath of tragedies like September 11th and Hurricane Katrina, which led to her book A Paradise Built in Hell. Solnit found that people often respond to collective trauma with solidarity, courage, and a commitment to create change for the better—a kind of broader take on what Fred Rogers once advised in the face of disaster: “look for the helpers.”

We should understand that the 2024 election was a disaster, too, though a slow moving one that will take time to play out. The fear and uncertainty that naturally arises from it can be compounded by a sense of isolation and detachment from others.

On the other hand, a solid sense that we are facing this threat together, community beside committed community, leads to a secure and even profound belief that they cannot overcome us all because we are in fact half the electorate, united in our resolve to defend our democracy and republic.

Commit small acts of resistance

It’s easy to imagine a terrible outcome. After all, most of us see the dangers and are watching many of our fellow citizens slow march themselves straight toward a political cliff.

But just as we can imagine a really bad outcome, we can also imagine a far better one, where for example Democrats retake the House and maybe even the Senate in 2026, where criminals like Steve Bannon are sent to state prison for money laundering and fraud, and where the worst of Trump’s appointments are either rejected or stymied by their own incompetence and institutional resistance by the departments they hoped to disrupt.

But the experts say that it is not enough to simply imagine a better outcome. To help relieve anxiety and combat despair or paralysis, it’s critical to picture that better outcome and then take one small, positive step toward it.

Maybe it’s donating to a cause, or calling your senator (Senate hotline: (202) 224-3121) or showing up at a local school board meeting to resist censorship in schools.

In taking that small step toward an envisioned outcome, you become an active participant in helping to bring it about. It can unstick you from that feeling of helplessness or resignation that justthinking about a terrible outcome can often produce. In this way, we can all consider not just what we are going to say and think about our future, but what we are actually going to do about it.

Stronger than before

The above is by no means an exhaustive list. It’s more like a baseline or starting point for engaged resistance. At the very least, I hope this framework opens you up to what’s possible and to the important idea that none of us is wholly powerless in the face of a second Trump term and rising MAGA fascism.

Indeed, and somewhat paradoxically, the worse things grow and the crazier things get, the more opportunities and incentives there will be for active, organized resistance. We can use Trump’s own hubris and sense of invulnerability to rally our side and strike a powerful counterblow in 2026. In fact, the first test of this is just weeks away where two special elections will determine the balance of power in both chambers of the Virginia legislature. (To help out, see Ben Wikler’s thread on Bluesky here.)

Look to our team here at The Big Picture, too, where we’ll continue to bring our perspective, ideas and resources to the fight ahead. Together, we can and will survive the next few years, in solidarity with all who want to see restored the values of American democracy and adherence to the rule of law

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Although President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election was hardly the "landslide" that many of his allies claim it was, Democratic strategists and organizers were clearly disappointed this year.

Trump, according to Cook Political Report, picked up 312 electoral votes compared to 226 for Harris. The president-elect won the popular vote as well, defeating Harris by roughly 1.5 percent in Cook's vote count (as of Friday, November 22). That's a close election — not a "landslide" — but it's a victory nonetheless.

Moreover, Republicans held the U.S. House of Representatives while flipping the U.S. Senate, where they will have a 53-47 majority in 2025. Longtime Democratic Senators Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio were voted out of office.

READ MORE:'Wrong': Christian GOP senator fears 'slippery slope' of OK school chief’s Bible push

But Democrats, for all their disappointments in 2024, had their share of wins as well. And The American Prospect's Luke Goldstein, in an article published on November 22, stresses that the Democrats who fared well on Election Night had a "compelling economic message."

"Across the country," Goldstein explains, "candidates not named Kamala Harris found success by more effectively selling the achievements of the Biden Administration and casting a more convincing economic message.… By looking at frontline swing races, it’s very clear that candidates who anchored their messaging specifically in fighting corporate power overperformed the national ticket."

Goldstein adds, "These economic positions weren't branded as progressive or radical but instead, addressed what exit polling showed was top of mind for voters in this election: inflation and overall cost of living."

Goldstein points to Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), who was reelected, as an example of a Democrat who prevailed with a strong economic message. Others include Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington State), Rep. Pat Ryan (D-New York), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania) and Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Maryland).

READ MORE:House passes bill 'giving Donald Trump unlimited authority' to target political enemies

Zac Donley, Davids' communications director, told The American Prospect, "High costs, particularly for groceries, have been a top priority that many Kansans mentioned while Rep. Davids was on the campaign trail. She is working hard to reduce these costs through a variety of solutions."

Goldstein notes, "Harris' suburban coalition carried her in blue states, but it couldn't bring in enough working-class voters to win nationally. A compelling economic message was better equipped to do that not just in Massachusetts, but in frontline districts and red states across the country."

READ MORE:Ron DeSantis slams the door on Matt Gaetz's hopes of being a senator

*Luke Goldstein's full article for The American Prospect is available at this link.

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ymail 11 24

At People For the American Way, we’re leading the charge for a better future. This is a pivotal moment, and it demands bold action. That’s why we’ve launched a nationwide campaign to Resist Project 2025, protect our progress, and empower communities to fight back.

**None of what we have planned will be possible without your support – please chip in today. >>**

Federal Resistance Efforts: Resist Project 2025

Resist Project 2025 will combat the threats posed by the Trump administration and his subservient House and Senate. The campaign lays the foundation for local, state and federal-level resistance and envisions an America where democracy thrives, every vote counts equally, and courts deliver justice for all – not just the wealthy and powerful.

Our work through Resist Project 2025 focuses on three critical areas:

This initiative is about more than just resisting – it’s about building a vision for a better future and empowering Americans to take action in the face of authoritarianism.

**Join us by supporting our Resist Project 2025 campaign! >>**

Advocating at the State and Local Levels

Resistance doesn’t just happen in Washington – it’s built in communities across the country. That’s why we’re expanding our focus to include advocacy and activism at the state and local levels, where so many decisions that affect our daily lives are made. With your support, we’ll:

**Help us mobilize activists in your community! >>**

How We’re Taking Action

This is just the beginning. With your support, we’ll also:

Your Role in This Movement

This fight is urgent, and it requires all of us. **Your donation** powers the tools, training, and advocacy needed to stand up to Trump and his authoritarian allies.

With Your Help, We Can:

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an 11 24

In the wake of Republican Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is helping to lead a new initiative that aims to protect state-level democratic institutions against federal overreach.

Polis, a Democrat with two more years in his term, is co-chairing Governors Safeguarding Democracy, alongside Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat.

“We founded GSD because we know that simple hope alone won’t save our democracy. We need to work together, especially at the state level, to protect and strengthen it,” Polis said during a call with reporters on Tuesday.

The two governors did not offer details on who else is part of the initiative, though they emphasized it’s nonpartisan and said they have engaged in outreach to Republican governors across the country.

The action items are vague. Pritzker described the goal as one to “leverage our collective strength, experience and institutional knowledge to drive policies that protect the rule of law” among the states.

“We’ll design and implement affirmative strategies to protect the rule of law and deliver for people in the states. We’ll work to reinforce key state institutions to protect executive agencies, elections, state courts and other democratic bodies. Then we’ll develop playbooks to enable governors and their teams to anticipate and swiftly respond to emerging threats,” he said.

When fully implemented, the initiative will be a “peer opportunity for governors to learn from one another on best practices and policies,” Polis said.

GSD was born out of anxiety that a second Trump presidential term will erode democratic institutions and roll back federal protections in such areas as the environment, health care and civil rights. Some observers worry about possible threats to the integrity of the nation’s election system, independent judiciary and overall civil society. Trump himself pledged to be a “dictator” on the first day of his term to enact campaign promises, and former top staffers in the first Trump administration, such as John Kelly, have said he fits into the definition of fascist.

The new Trump administration is planning an unprecedented mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, an effort that would involve use of the National Guard. Pritzker said the challenge this poses to states is “exactly the kind of question this group would be considering.”

Polis agreed that such a policy would likely not be allowed under the federal code that governs the National Guard and that, as governors, they would not cooperate.

“In terms of safeguarding democracy, making sure that the U.S. military is not used for police actions domestically and is used to defend our freedoms abroad is very consistent with our Constitution, as well as the law,” Polis said.

GSD will be supported by Governors Action Alliance, a new nonpartisan organization, and funded by philanthropic donations. Neither Pritzker nor Polis disclosed donors.

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YIKES OMG 11 24

LIST

demand progress $

moveon

oxfam jayapal Oxfam America is joining with partners including MoveOn, the ACLU, Public Citizen, Indivisible, leah greenberg}:

WOODWARD-HENDERSON WORKING FAM PTY;

rahna epting moveon; indiv? hpoe is fuel but not a strategy; 66 mil voted ~ maga;

hist shows setback --> bigger strength/wave;

trump will shed change image and go for very unpop 2025 bs; long game strat for 1 yr;

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Oxfam America is joining with partners including MoveOn, the ACLU, Public Citizen, Indivisible,

100 orgs 1ook on call? becky pringle nea; seiu aft

WOODWARD-HENDERSON WORKING FAM PTY;

rahna epting moveon; indiv? hope is fuel but not a strategy; 66 mil voted ~ maga;

hist shows setback --> bigger strength/wave;

trump will shed change image and go for very unpop 2025 bs; long game strat for 1 yr;

lisa gilbert public citizen take on corp pwr; trump 1st term BS egs, he will do it again;

push back scott pruit had to quit; 3 cab secs; not above the law gp coalition expose COI; foia and sue; yolo joe XO to protect xyz moveon petition.

auntie judith lablanc; crow rez montana; 4k voted only blue dot; election is tactic, does not solve our problems, build org; blm standing rock interupted the narrative, but did not change it; 1st nat sec int; pipelines stopped; maj agree w us on issues but did not vote on that basis; organizing is medicine; study what happened on gd;

jayapal when ht brk it is most open; let grief out to make rm for hope; 2 assess 3 acting bbring pwr to working ppl; 3 trump states raised min waGE; GOP DEFUNDED GOVT SO DOES NOT WORK FOR PPL, and pwr not always used for ppl when it did exist; we need to earn votes; we need to offer contrast, not go to ctr / trump light; reps outperformed top of tkt; we beat him before, eg baby jail, lost 2020; strength comes from crisis;

pol crises:

ctx interlock crises;

author takeove of gop; dem pty controlled by rich and corps; dems lose working class from New deal, unions raised std of living; civil rts movement; historic inequality, work ppl do not share in money from inc productivity; govt job just to protect capital and ---; lee atwater days perception is reality" ; culture wars, blame; fractured media envor, ez to spin BS; uk tory taken over by hard rt; germany afd is 2nd; rt less willing to play by rules; 2 pty sys US zero sum;

workingfamilies.com

weareworthfighting.org

raskin; BO says all covid incumb defeated; inflation weimar germany; rescue act bipart but dems got blame for inflation; envy of the world; problem is inequality; need unions; more cretive and nimble, complex situation; john dewey says only fix for democ is more democ; gerry, voyter suppress. RW jud activism shelby cty; 150 changes to voting, eg closing polls; purge; PR DC statehood no votes; ex prisoner Fla vote pay for incarc = poll tax; civilizing movements;

1 block protect comm

we will not concede or consent

mo working fam

cynic is surrender;

advacement pjt atty 40 bomb threats atlanta russian bots;

ctr popualr democ --- only movement can beat corps

tarso luis ramos PRA 1st 100 hrs; XO political res.org

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pub

AGENDA HOW TO GATHERING weareworthfightingfor

Protect People.

We are going to need to advocate to protect people directly targeted by these policies who are at the spear-tip of these policies. Trans people. Folks choosing abortions. Immigrants and beyond. This may look like pushing your state or local government to adopt protective policies, or - if your local government is hostile - organizing to stop them from taking additional harmful action. It includes open and underground organizing for health care, safety in schools, safe homes. Wherever we are, we need to use the tools at our disposal.

Defend Democracy, Civic Institutions, and Electoral Competition_

We will also need to focus on defending civic institutions. We know Trump will go after our civic institutions, from attacking the civil service and weaponizing government agencies to do his bidding to undermining the ability to hold competitive elections. We’ll need to model a culture of dissent and support for those resisting and trying to uphold their missions on the inside of government. We’ll need to organize to mount overwhelming public pushback on efforts to undermine the key constitutional and legal rules that uphold our democracy. And we’ll need to push actors with power in American society - from our own state governments to corporations to faith communities - to hold those red lines.

A note on elections - it likely feels premature to talk about future elections in this moment, when we’re all exhausted and disheartened from the last campaign. And you may hear Trump and the MAGA movement try to squash hope that future elections will matter. That’s part of the fascist playbook, too. That’s why it’s important to be clear: we will have elections in the future, and - if we protect our institutions and build our own power - we can and will win them. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Disrupt and Disobey._

This goes beyond protesting for better policies into the territory of people intervening to stop bad policies or showing resistance. Some of that will be fierce and in your face, but others will be quiet strikes and work slowdowns.

In other authoritarian regimes, there are two ways to remove dictators: vote them out, or mass nonviolent noncooperation by the people to force them. This wing is the part that would help design that second strategy.

Build Our Power._

We have to build our own political power to insist on something better. This means organizing locally to transform power in your own community. It means fighting for better policies, wherever you are. It means investing in new leaders who can go on offense against MAGA. We can’t just be reacting. Some of us are going to have to focus on a new path forward.

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aha: crit of 2nd wave green was too based in lawsuits? nb CBDiv

lunatic slapp/foia of greenpeace makes sense?

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history

https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/how-the-ww2-resistance-fought-nazi-propaganda-with-fake-news-of-their-own-and-what-that-can-teach-us-about-2020/

no lnx

How the WW2 resistance fought Nazi propaganda with fake news of their own — and what that can teach us about 2020

Written by Salon August 11, 2019

By E.R. Ramzipoor

About half the information you’ll encounter online today will be fake. By 2022, you might encounter fake content online more often than you encounter real content.

Businesses and governments are quickly investing in technology to parse real information from fake. But our focus on technology is misplaced. Sure, machine learning and other automated tools are crucial for taking down fake information. But to truly fight fake news, we need better intellectual tools too — and these tools predate the internet.

Losing the Battle Against Fake Content

On the internet, reality has become more of a suggestion than a rule. In the first quarter of this year, Facebook removed 2.2 billion fake accounts. Half of the web traffic on YouTube is fake. Russian cybercriminals have built a shadow internet populated by fake people with fake cookies, clicks, and social media accounts.

Fake content has even begun to warp public policy. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) invited the public to debate net neutrality on an online forum. That’s not unusual: government agencies often hold public debates before introducing policy. But something unusual did happen: people started noticing anti-net neutrality comments on the FCC’s forum in their name — even though they’d never actually commented. It wasn’t just anti-net neutrality comments: About 20% of the pro-net neutrality posts were fake too.

To push back against content fraud, actors as diverse as Facebook, Google, the New York Times and the European Union are investing in cutting-edge technology like machine learning. But it’s not so simple. As methods to combat fake content evolve, so does fake content itself. Even the most advanced machine learning models can’t keep up with deepfake videos. Bad actors use bots to commit fraud at a dizzying rate. Criminals steal technology and share it freely, whereas anti-fraud companies are straitjacketed by nondisclosure agreements. In this arms race, only one side is playing by the rules — and it’s the losing one.

This Section is Fake News

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Russia carried out a misinformation campaign throughout 2016 to confuse, frighten and demoralize voters. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, news outlets and government agencies are fighting to reclaim the narrative.

While we’ve bolstered our technological tools, however, we’ve neglected the intellectual ones. We can spend years training machine learning models to find fake news, but without a nuanced understanding of misinformation, we will forever debate the meaning of both “fake” and “news.” To beat fraudulent content, we must leave Silicon Valley and step onto the battlefields of World War II.

When the Germans occupied the Netherlands in 1940, they turned the Haarlemsche Courant into a Nazi propaganda newspaper. Years later, as D-Day approached, the Nazis scrambled to distribute an issue of the Courant that downplayed the Allies’ impending arrival. At the same time, a group of ordinary citizens put together a “fake” version of the Courant that more accurately described the Allied invasion. So two versions of the Courant came out on D-Day: the “true” Nazi version and the “fake” subversive version.

The Belgian underground executed a similar scheme. In 1943, ragtag resistance fighters risked everything to produce a “fake” version of a Nazi propaganda newspaper, which brought to light some embarrassing truths the Nazis would’ve preferred to hide.

Why do these cases matter? Today, we associate fake news almost exclusively with the bad guys. And to be clear, it is often the “bad guys” who are producing it. But during World War II, ordinary people were able to reclaim the narrative — and win tactical victories — because they were armed with a nuanced understanding of (mis)information.

This Section Isn’t Fake News [?]

At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. government authorized a group of researchers to study misinformation. One of the researchers, Robert Knapp, later published his recommendations for “rumor control.” We would do well to heed two of them: instilling faith in the media, and ensuring quality information remains accessible. However, neither goal is feasible if people lack the intellectual tools to parse fake and real content.

Facebook has taken a positive first step. They’ve placed an information icon next to news stories so readers can easily access context on the article and publication. Other social media sites should follow suit. News organizations themselves should consider publishing “codebooks” that document fact-checkers’ tools and methods.

But if people can’t interpret this context, then it’s a waste of resources. To that end, information-literacy programs should become a mandatory part of elementary and high school curricula. Kids should learn how to spot fake content while they’re learning how to cite sources. Accessibility isn’t just a matter of putting an information icon next to a news article; it’s about giving people the tools they need to interpret that information.

As 2020 approaches, the war on fake news will intensify, and democracy might become collateral damage. To win, we’ll need a combination of 21st century technology and 20th century insight. Reality itself hangs in the balance.

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https://www.alternet.org/activism/foreign-policy-can-change-everything-everyone

We’re in the midst of an unprecedented social, political and environmental crisis that will require us to change everything. Including the one thing we won’t discuss: war.}:

War is the weaponization of discrimination, classism and misogyny. So why are so few women talking about it?

We talk about #MeToo and the first time (or worst time) it happened to us. We put on our pussyhats and resist and persist and insist. But the resistance that rose up in opposition to the Trump administration does not resist war, and anti-war messaging is still missing from the Women’s March. While virtually every women’s television talk show and radio program in the country now talks about politics on a daily basis, they’re still not talking about the politics of war. We’ve been told that war isn’t our concern. That was a lie, ladies. Foreign policy is a feminist issue.  Want more money for health care, jobs and education? More than two-thirds of federal spending is defense-related. Let’s check that checkbook first.

Domestic abuse your cause? Let’s talk about how wives of combat vets with PTSD are more likely to be killed by their spouses than any other demographic. Or how traumatized combat vets are responsible for 21 percent of domestic violence nationwide, according to a Yale study.

Got a problem with gun violence and assault weapons in schools? Let’s discuss the way weapons of war are coming home and how many United States gun manufacturers are also military contractors.

Concerned about climate change? The U.S. military uses more fossil fuelsthan the majority of nations, and the billions of dollars wasted on the Iraq warcould have converted the whole planet to green energy.

Women are leading the way to protect our water and create a mass climate mobilization that responds to our ecological crisis like the existential emergency it is. Why then are we still so silent about how the war on women isthe war on the world? Why so silent about America’s de facto foreign policy of using armed force to safeguard the capitalism that is destabilizing the climate? Why so silent about the fact that women—particularly women of color, women living in poverty and marginalized women—disproportionately bear the burden of war and the violence it begets?

Dateline: America, 2018. All roads lead to war.When #WomenDisobey and righteously demand an end to putting immigrant children in detention centers, we also should demand an end to military contractors like General Dynamics and MVM, Inc., which are profiting from those centers. And making money on the misery this country creates for children overseas.

We can talk about intersectionality and proclaim "gender justice is racial justice is economic justice," as Women’s March organizers did in their powerful Unity Principles. But economic justice is a fiscal impossibility when defense-related spending accounts for slightly more than two-thirds of the national budget. This country puts more money into the military than the next 10 nations combined while tens of millions of women and children living in poverty struggle to survive. In fact, war spending makes social inequality worse, according to a June 2018 report by the Costs of War project at Brown University. An analysis of past and present wars since 1812 "suggests that the current combination of domestic borrowing to pay for war, accompanied by continuous tax cuts, have led and will continue to lead to rising social inequality in the US."

There will be no justice without peace.

Legitimate racial justice cannot be achieved while we are bombing brown people abroad and up-armoring a militarized police force that too often puts bullets in black Americans.

A feminist foreign policy would hold the long-term prevention of violence and armed conflict as its main goal. According to Professor Jacqui True, author of "The Political Economy of Violence Against Women," that policy would identify and address economic inequality and other "underlying gendered globalized structures … that contribute to violence and conflict." That policy "must link demilitarization and disarmament to investment in people-centered development and justice."For as long as men are making the decisions about war and women are bearing the brunt on the war front and the burden on the home front, we will not realize gender justice. We won’t get there until we have a foreign policy that is feminist, too.

Feminist foreign policy is the worldwide integration of the Unity Principles and the paradigm for a peace where justice can be born. It is the ideological foundation to build a movement to divest from the war machine. Because a feminist foreign policy is not just about the common good—it’s about the globalgood. It is capable of deconstructing the baseline of violence upon which this nation was founded, violence that is holding us and much of the world hostage to a white patriarchal consumer culture funded and fueled by an extractive war economy.

The feminine force rising around the world has had enough of that.

So, ladies, let’s end our silence about America’s endless wars, and start talking about peace as if justice depends on it. Because it does. The thing we’ve been avoiding is the one thing—perhaps the only thing—that will change everything.

This article was produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-waste-gulf-of-mexico-2515883905.html

Lawsuit Launched Against Trump EPA for Approving Fracking Waste Dumping Into Gulf of Mexico

The Center for Biological Diversity filed on Thursday a formal notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for allowing oil companies to dump waste from fracking and drilling into the Gulf of Mexico without evaluating the dangers to sea turtles, whales or other imperiled marine life.

In September the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a Clean Water Act permit for new and existing offshore oil and gas platforms operating in federal waters off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The permit allows oil companies to dump unlimited amounts of waste fluid, including chemicals involved in fracking, into the Gulf of Mexico.

"The Trump administration is letting the oil industry turn our oceans into toxic-waste dumps. The EPA's supposed to protect water quality, not help pollute the Gulf," said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "It's time for the courts to remind this agency that its mission is to safeguard the environment and public health."

Thursday's notice letter highlighted the fact that the agency's approval of the permit without studying risks to imperiled species in the Gulf of Mexico is a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.

Fracking chemicals and other contaminants in produced water raise grave ecological concerns because the Gulf of Mexico provides important habitat for whales, sea turtles and fish—as well as being federally designated critical habitat for imperiled loggerhead sea turtles. Dolphins and other species in the Gulf are still suffering the lingering destructive effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Federal waters off Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi host the largest concentration of offshore oil and gas drilling activities in the country. Previous records requests revealed that oil companies dumped more than 75 billion gallons of wastewater into these waters in 2014 alone. Records also show that fracking has been on the rise in the Gulf of Mexico, and the EPA has failed to conduct any meaningful review of the environmental impacts of dumping fracking waste into the water.

In October the Trump administration announced plans to auction off more than 76 million acres of Gulf of Mexico waters to oil companies. That lease sale, which is scheduled for March 2018, will be the largest oil sale in U.S. history. It includes federal waters off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and could vastly expand drilling and fracking in the Gulf.

"Only the courts can stop Trump's assault on our oceans," Monsell said. "Oil-industry pollution was already a problem in the Gulf, but this administration isn't even trying to protect wildlife from fracking chemicals. We need to fight back on behalf of marine wildlife."

At least 10 fracking chemicals routinely used in offshore fracking could kill or harm a broad variety of marine species, including marine mammals and fish, Center for Biological Diversity scientists have found. The California Council on Science and Technology has identified some common fracking chemicals to be among the most toxic in the world to marine animals.

Today's 60-day notice of intent to sue is required before a lawsuit can be filed to compel the federal government to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

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