Fighting Oligarchy
April 15, 2025
I maintain — and I’m certainly not alone — that it’s essential that we show up. All the historians, all the scholars who study authoritarian/fascist regimes, all the resistance leaders.. are clear about the importance of being counted, using your voice, fighting in whatever way possible (including checkbook activism). But showing up is key because it shows everyone — those who are on the other side, those who are on the right side and those who are on the fence — that there is energy and momentum in the movement, that it’s big, it’s real, it’s powerful. Energy begets energy, mo begets mo.
If we’re going to deny trump’s takeover and makeover of our government, we need the people to rise up. We need a massive resistance movement.
They say that in order to beat back an authoritarian takeover of government you need to mobilize around 3-4% (of the general public, I think). That the only time authoritarian advances have succeeded is when the resistance falls below those numbers. Or put another way, authoritarian takeovers can be stopped if the resistance can actively mobilize at least 3% of the population. Analysts and pollsters right now are saying we are close to that number. I haven’t done the math and don’t pretend to understand it well enough to defend the theory, I’m just happy (desperate) to do my part. I do NOT want to sit on the sidelines and watch trump and his goons destroy our country.
I’m 100% convinced that’s exactly his goal: to completely tear down government. It’s become evermore evident since he’s taken office and as Project 2025 has become so publicly visible as their obvious blueprint. Destruction of the state is exactly what their strategy is and I’m not here for it. If all I have to do is show up when asked, call my reps, give some money, stay informed… I can do that.
Especially when it’s fun and inspiring, especially when it includes hanging out with friends, especially when it involves some of the key leaders and fighters of our time, in our history, like Bernie and AOC.
To that end: The Fight Oligarchy rallies that are happening all over the country, headlined by two lions of the progressive left, Bernie and AOC. The rallies are attracting tens and tens of thousands of attendees at all of their stops.. even in red zones like Idaho, Salt Lake City, Bakersfield (and Montana tomorrow). It’s just awesome what these two are doing. They’re educating millions of people, and inspiring them to action.
Today, the tour came to Folsom… right up the street! Folsom is probably the only Northern Californian stop on this historic tour so it attracted folks from all over this part of the state.
I met Sarah, Gabe and their daughter Rachel in line on the campus of Folsom Community College. We arranged to meet at noon-ish and stake out a place in line. We set up our chairs, like everyone else in line, and ate our lunches. Organizers came by handing out free water, vendors sold t-shirts, hats and buttons. People were super friendly and joyful (and inside: angry, anxious and quaking in their boots). We were fairly close to the first entry point, which they opened up at 2:00. We made our way down to the security check point and waited there for almost an hour and a half. We were early enough to be in the first wave of folks to be checked and scanned; they had about 15-20 lines, we were about 6 or 7th in our line. That’s all to say, we got into the venue early (the college’s track) and found a place on the grass next to a pair of giant speakers and within about 25-30 yards of the stage. No obstacles.
Music started around 4:00 or so — two pretty great groups — then at 6:00 a number of pre-speakers spoke, then at 6:30 AOC came up to the podium and spoke for about a half an hour, then Bernie, also about a half an hour. Things wrapped about 7:30. The whole thing was exceptionally inspiring.
I like Bob Dunning’s stats on it: 35,000 folks in attendance (that may or may not include the people who did not make it inside, and def didn’t include the many who left because they couldn’t get inside), and a line to get in that stretched 3 miles.
Some pics:
As seen in the crowd (check out the t-shirt with a vintage picture of Bernie being hauled out of a protest):
The main attractions:
It was a beautiful day and a glowy, beautiful evening:
They greeted the crowd a final time, then walked together off the stage:
Here are a few other photos worth sharing, with attributions:
This was from Bernie, himself:
Well Organized!
February 7, 2025
I’m telling ya. I am very taken with these two — Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, founders of Indivisible. In the dark days of the first term of the president who would be dictator, they launched Indivisible and successfully lead demoralized dems through some well-fought battles to thwart some of the worst of trump’s early agenda. He was (thankfully) green, the resistance effort was green, but Indivisible’s ramp up was swift and their impact significant. It’s safe to say the big Obamacare repeal — a central feature of trump’s campaign — never materialized thanks in huge part to a massive grassroots campaign masterminded by Indivisible. The resistance was born.
Their organization has mushroomed and become incredibly well-oiled and Ezra and Leah are effectively mobilizing shell-shocked progressives once again. They are in coordination with a lot of great partners in the effort — MoveOn, the Working Families Party and many, many others. These guys are so smart, so easy and inspiring to listen to, so motivating. They have gotten the attention and earned the respect of so many in the media, in the resistance space and, AND, democratic lawmakers (who are now reaching out to them for advice on messaging and tactics).
I am just so grateful to be a part. I have made a priority their weekly checkins (Thursdays), that attract many thousand of activists from all over the country. Their most recent coalition gathering (with MoveOn, WFP and others) attracted 53,000 folks! They motivate, yes, but far more importantly develop strategies and accessible tool kits.. they always have action items at the ready so people can immediately step in, get activated, and add to the tremendous wave of folks who collectively ARE having an impact.
It’s the absolute best: an antidote to despair, action that adds up to influence, community that makes you feel like you’re not alone… and part of something important. It’s doable and sustainable.
It’s way too early to know whether trump is all bluster and recklessness or whether his goals of retribution, government destruction and authoritarian rule will succeed. It’s also too early to know whether courts will stand up for the rule of law, whether lawmakers will uphold their oaths to the Constitution and whether dems and progressives will sustain an effective resistance.
But I’m satisfied with my part in this, guided by people like Leah and Ezra.
What is Strength?
January 12, 2025
This is what I want:
This is what we got:
After he invades Greenland, swallows up Canada and takes by force the Panama Canal, little trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America… or as the below suggests:
Meanwhile, one by one, major newspapers and social media platforms are bending to his will. His latest conquest Mark Zuckerberg, who’s decided that Facebook doesn’t need fact checkers after all.
Robert Reich wrote a piece a couple days ago about the incoming administration’s strategy to neutralize four key backstops of democracy. I found this substack terrifying:
Trump and his MAGA allies are already targeting the four major pillars of resistance to Trump during his first term.
As we prepare for Trump’s second regime — which promises to be far worse than the first — it’s important to do what we can to protect and fortify these four centers of opposition.
1. Universities
University faculties are dedicated to finding and exposing the truth — which has often meant calling out Trump’s lies. But Trump has warned that he’ll change the criteria for university accrediting in order to force university faculties into line.
In a campaign video, he said, “Our secret weapon will be the college accreditation system … When I return to the White House, I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist Maniacs.”
Authorized by the federal government, these accreditors are essential to college operations. If a college isn’t accredited, it can’t get federal funds.
Trump’s Project 2025 calls for replacing the current system of independent, nonpartisan accreditors with more politically pliable state accreditors. This would have disastrous effects.
Many of the worst educational gag orders at the state level, along with DEI bans and faculty tenure bans, have been voted down or toned down because state legislators realized they were putting their schools’ accreditation status in jeopardy. If Project 2025’s recommendations are adopted, that guardrail disappears.
Trump has also threatened to increase taxes on university endowments.
Republicans in Congress believe they were instrumental in getting the presidents of Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard to resign over their alleged failures to stop protests against Israel’s bloodbath in Gaza. Some are eager to resume their attacks on major universities.
2. Nonprofits
America’s nonprofits have been at the forefront of efforts to protect the environment, voting rights, and immigrants’ rights. Trump and his allies are seeking to stop nonprofit activism.
The Republican House has already passed a bill that would empower the Treasury to eliminate the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it deems to be supporting terrorism. An identical or similar bill could come across Trump’s desk after being reintroduced in the next Congress.
The legislation doesn’t distinguish between foreign and domestic terrorism — whether real or imagined — thereby making it easier for Trump’s authorities to intimidate nonprofit personnel and donors.
We’ve already seen something like this at the state level. In Texas, state authorities have attempted to shut down charities that assist immigrants. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has launched a probe of nonprofits, including the God Is Good Foundation, that have allegedly conspired to bring noncitizens to the state.
3. The media
I’ve been a critic of the mainstream media’s tendency to give “both sides” credence even when one side is clearly in the wrong and to “sanewash” some of Trump’s and his enablers’ rants.
But journalists are an important bulwark against tyranny — which is why Trump and his allies are seeking to intimidate news outlets that have criticized or questioned Trump.
The flurry of defamation lawsuits — such as Trump launched against ABC (and ABC caved to) and the Des Moines Register — is the latest sign. Trump and his allies have also discussed revoking networks’ broadcast licenses and eliminating funding for public radio and television.
Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, has threatened to “take on the most powerful enemy that the United States has ever seen, and no it’s not Washington, D.C., it’s the mainstream media and these people out there in the fake news. That is our mission!”
Already social media platforms such as Musk’s X and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram have caved to Trump, allowing vicious authoritarian lies to be magnified unimpeded.
4. Organized labor
In the 1950s and 1960s, labor unions were viewed as a source of countervailing power because of their activism on behalf of the working class and their significant political clout.
In those days, a third of workers in the private sector were union members. But today, only 6 percent of private-sector workers are union members, and it’s far from clear that organized labor will be an active source of resistance to Trump. (If government workers are included, the percentage of American workers who are members of unions is around 10 percent.)
Trump has warned organized labor that he will oppose their efforts to organize. The president of the Teamsters Union even appeared at the National Republican Convention in support of Trump.
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Each of these centers of resistance to Trump has been a powerful source of truth-telling in America. It’s no surprise that all have been targeted by Trump and his allies.
We need to be vigilant and do what we can to protect and fortify them. Remember: We lose only if we stop fighting.
Life of Wry 