You are not alone in this.
Slate has a great article yesterday called How to Survive Trump’s Presidency Without Losing Your Mind. I suggest reading the whole thing. It is smart and well-written.
In it the author makes the point that none of this is normal and none of it is ok and yet we all still need to keep leading our lives through this mess. And that can feel crazy. Here the world is going on like it normally does and there is a man in the white house who lies more than he tells the truth, makes decisions based on whim, fear, and ignorance, and threatens our democratic institutions. And the world goes on. Our lives go on. The author uses the analogy that we all still buy broccoli.
Then he tells this story:
HARVEST OF MADNESS
There once was a king who was also an astrologer. By studying the stars he learned that the harvest of wheat that year would be tainted, and anyone who ate of it would go mad. The king revealed this prophecy to his friend, the prime minister, and asked if there was anything they could do. The prime minister said, “Let us set aside some of last year’s wheat. That way we will not have to eat the tainted grain.” The king thought about this for a while, and then he said, “It’s not possible to set aside enough of last year’s wheat for everyone. But if we alone eat the good wheat, we will be the only sane people in a mad world. All the others will look at us as if we were the ones who are mad. So, we will have to eat the tainted wheat. But let us place a mark on our foreheads to remind each other that we are mad, like everyone else.”
And the point is that is us. We are the ones with the marks on our foreheads, trying to get through these weird, scary days and get to the other side. The author of the article tells it better:
The people who organize and vote and march and run for office, the people who track down and report news, the folks who file lawsuits and who hear those lawsuits—they all do it in a world that makes no internal coherent sense anymore. But they see the other marks on other people’s foreheads, and they forge ahead. And I salute you, fellow broccoli people, and want to affirm that your marks are not as faint as they may seem. As long as we hang on to the marks and the memory and the promise, perhaps we can eat the wheat and not lose ourselves to it. The story holds fast so long as there are two people left to recognize each other. We eat the madness, as we may have to for a while longer, but we are not yet mad, and not yet alone.
Y’all that is us. It is all of us who gather in person and on websites and encourage one another and commiserate and remind each other that these are crazy times. And more than that: that we are not alone.
If you find yourself feeling low and down and hopeless, the best path forward is action. I know it seems exhausting and scary, but meeting up with other like-minded people can be amazing. We can save one another.
How do you do it? One way is to find your local indivisible chapter. Another is to join a local group working to swing a red distinct to blue. Here is a List of swing left groups from all over the country
here is a link to Find close race you can work to flip to blue. You can also find a local race from the dccc.
You might think that you are so stressed, that being involved would make it worse. You might think that meeting with other like minded people and talking about all this will just make you feel worse. It won’t. Believe it or not, it will make you feel better. You will feel better because you are a part of the solution. You will feel better because you are sharing your light. You will feel better because you will not be alone.
I’ll admit, I have ulterior motives. I want your help in November ❤️ But I really really mean it that helping will make you feel better. In particular, if you can find a way to connect to other like minded people. Other people with marks ❤️
Onto the good news!
The Legal Noose is Tightening
Mueller's Probe Is Even More Expansive Than It Seems
The special counsel’s team has interviewed a number of big names. But their interest in more obscure players tells a story, too.
FBI agents working for special counsel Robert Mueller allegedly detained a lawyer with ties to Russia who is closely associated with Joseph Mifsud, the shadowy professor who claimed during the election that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
Mifsud is one of several key figures among a complicated cast of characters shaping the Russia probe. In the spring of 2016, Mifsud told a young Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, that Russia had “dirt” on Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to the special counsel’s statement of the offense against Papadopoulos, who was indicted for misleading federal agents about his conversations with Mifsud. Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee months earlier, and would soon break into Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s inbox. It is still not clear how Mifsud seemed to know in advance that Russia sought to compromise Clinton’s candidacy.
Trump is not acting like an innocent man
The president vents to associates about the FBI raids on his personal attorney Michael Cohen — as often as “20 times a day,” in the estimation of one confidant — and they frequently listen in silence, knowing little they say will soothe him. Trump gripes that he needs better “TV lawyers” to defend him on cable news and is impatient to halt the “witch hunt” that he says undermines his legitimacy as president. And he plots his battle plans with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, his new legal consigliere.
and Mueller is gathering more and more info on Trump world’s shady, shady deals. For example:
Ukrainian politician behind controversial peace proposal to appear in Mueller probe
A Ukrainian politician who communicated with Trump associates about a controversial plan to resolve Ukraine’s conflict with Kremlin-backed rebels said Monday that he has been called to testify before a grand jury connected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Artemenko’s testimony could help Mueller’s team fill in the gaps on the peace plan, which he has been investigating in part because of the roles of Cohen and Sater, who also worked together to try and launch a Trump-branded development in Moscow starting in early 2015.
The plan may also be of interest to Mueller because it reportedly was hatched shortly after Flynn discussed dropping sanctions against Russia in a call with the Russian ambassador that was intercepted by intelligence officials. Flynn was fired from the White House after it became clear that he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations about Russian sanctions.
I know it feels like it is taking forever, but the truth will come out.
People are starting to see the light
from an article in a newspaper in Kentucky → 'Tricked by the devil.' They backed Trump. Now, his foreign labor cuts may ruin them.
Eddie Devine voted for President Donald Trump because he thought he would be good for American business. Now, he says, the Trump administration’s restrictions on seasonal foreign labor may put him out of business.
“I feel like I’ve been tricked by the devil,” said Devine, owner of Harrodsburg-based Devine Creations Landscaping. “I feel so stupid.”
Good News from Around the World
Some badly needed good news for democracy
mass uprisings against corrupt and autocratic rulers last week in both Armenia and Malaysia ought to be celebrated as badly needed good news.
On Tuesday, the Armenian parliament voted to make opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan prime minister even though his supporters hold just nine of 105 parliamentary seats. The legislature was forced to act after hundreds of thousands of people thronged the streets of Yerevan, the capital. Mr. Pashinyan unabashedly called his victory a “velvet revolution,” a term that is anathema to Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. Yet Mr. Putin, whose regime has long had a chokehold on Armenia, felt obliged to offer Mr. Pashinyan his congratulations.
The next day brought another shock. An election in Malaysia that had been heavily rigged in favor of the ruling party nevertheless resulted in victory for an opposition coalition led by a 92-year-old former prime minister and his imprisoned coalition partner. Prime Minister Najib Razak, who appeared all but certain to hold power despite allegations of epic corruption, was ousted — and Malaysia saw its first change of ruling parties since its independence in 1957.
Liberal democracy isn’t dead after all
No one in the world lived in a democracy in the 18th century if defined to mean universal suffrage; today, 39 percent of the world’s population lives in free countries and 24 percent in partially free countries. And wherever you look, you see the struggle for liberty.
On Saturday, more than 10 million Iraqis voted in elections that were competitive and free of violence. Turnout was low, but it was an indication that Iraq’s democracy — which appeared to be stillborn in the dark days of the American war, 2003-2007, and again during the Islamic State war, 2014-2017 — remains alive.
Protesters in Nicaragua haven’t been as successful, but they keep coming out in force against the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega even though more than 40 people have already been killed in clashes with security forces.
Finally, in Poland, more than 50,000 protesters took to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday to protest the growing corrosion of democracy at the hands of the populist Law and Justice Party.
I don’t mean to suggest that democracy is destined to prevail in Iraq, Malaysia, Nicaragua or Poland. But the fact that so many people in those countries, separated by vast differences in history, religion, ethnicity and culture, are struggling for similar rights is a sign that self-determination retains universal appeal.
Unfashionable as it may be to say so, President George W. Bush was right when he told the U.N. General Assembly in 2004: “The desire for freedom resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained forever by prison walls or martial laws or secret police. Over time and across the Earth, freedom will find a way.” It’s just going to take longer — maybe a lot longer — than Bush imagined.
Good Election News
Dems getting more votes for their money
One big warning for Republicans in the midterm elections: Democrats got more votes for their money in every competitive special election since President Trump took office, Axios' Alexi McCammond reports:
- Why it matters: Republicans still won most of the races, but Democrats narrowed the partisan gap in each race by an average of 16 points compared to each district's GOP leanings.
- The takeaway: In most of the races, Democrats got more votes for their money even in elections they didn't win.
Also, I am LOVING all these stories about the diminishing blue wave! They are the best news possible. Why? Because, first, they aren’t based in reality. The cook report hasn’t reduced our chances and we continue to do well in special elections.
Nothing is a done deal, but our chances are still just as good as they were for November. Nothing. has. changed.
The media just likes a new story.
Why does this story make me happy? Well, I have seen three main effects of it and two of them are awesome. First, it is making those on the right less nervous and that is GREAT. We need them to stay home. Second, it is energizing some people on the left, which is great too. If you need to be nervous about this to make calls, donate money, and give your time, then awesome, be a little nervous.
The only bad thing i have seen is people turning on one another — this is the fault of the democratic party, this is the fault of the left wing, the moderates, etc. Y’all let’s keep the blame where it belongs: we are in this situation because of trump, the criminals that work with him, and the evening “news” people on Fox who lie to Americans.
Turning on one another will not help. We are in this together. It is hard to get real info through the right wing noise and lie machine. All we can do is get word out where we can.
Democrats continue to do amazing things by actually fighting for Americans. Democrats continue to fight for healthcare for all Americans. They continue to fight for net neutrality. Indeed, Dems to force Senate vote on net neutrality bill today! They continue to fight for a living wage. In addition, Democrats are finding creative ways to fight. For example, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed wants to give people cheap Internet. Democrats are fighting against monopolies that only help the rich. Also, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) jumped to the vanguard of those lawmakers pushing the federal-job-guarantee initiative when his office formally introduced a bill on the matter. Finally, Gillibrand is working hard on immigration.
It is hard to get these messages out because all cable news wants to talk about is Russia and related scandals. So although Democrats try to get their hard work out there, it is tough to always do so.
But honestly, what will matter in November will be each individual candidate and her or his message. This is going to happen at the grassroots, just like every special election so far.
The best thing we can do is help these individual candidates.
So once again, here are things you can do. Pick one and do it this week! Or do something else and tell us about it in the comments so we can all do it too!
Donate to ActBlue
Donate to Swing Left
Send postcards to voters in other districts
Sign up to go door to door in your district
Sign up to drive people to the polls
That is it for today everyone. Be kind to one another. Be kind to yourselves. Spread love and hope, they are the only things that keep out darkness and hate.
From the very bottom of my heart, I am super proud and super lucky to be in this with all of you. ❤️ ✊ ❤️