Open Thread: The Impossible Possible

/98 Comments/in /by

[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

One of the more effective messages about activism I’ve seen this year is this post by Robert Reich:

Robert Reich @[email protected]

Jun 26, 2025, 10:03 PM

(If the embedded video doesn’t appear for you, click on the link at the date.)

It might seem childish but the message is that simple: we are incredibly strong together.

Community members express distress over their frustration with the current White House and Congress. Some ask what will change and when; others ask what they can do to effect change.

Take action, but know that you are stronger when you act with others. Organize others or work with others already organized.

~ ~ ~

What organizations, you might ask. Here’s a few to get you started:

Indivisible.org

This link is home to Indivisible Project, a registered 501(c)(4), and Indivisible Action, a Hybrid Political Action Committee.

Indivisible is currently working on communications focused on the Epstein files. Check their page for more specifics about activities in which you can participate: https://indivisible.org/epsteinfiles

Women’s March Network

Women’s rights are people’s rights; this organization focuses on organizing and training feminists to defend women, fight fascism, and free the people. It’s the heir to the 2017 Women’s March that first protested against Trump’s first term.

Sister organization Women’s March – a 501c(4) organization – has ongoing Free America study sessions. See https://www.womensmarch.com/initiatives/free-america-study-sessions

Check their list of events for one near you.

MoveOn.org

Yes, MoveOn is still actively pursuing progressive issues through MoveOn.org Civic Action, a 501(c)(4), and MoveOn.org Political Action, a federal political action committee.

In fact they’ve organized a march for this weekend on July 26. Find details in their Events list: https://www.mobilize.us/moveon/

Organizations near you

These aren’t the only groups organizing and mobilizing. There are more near you.

— Your county Democratic Party organization is working on both organizing responses against fascism, but preparing for the next election. That next election could be a special election depending on where you live, and those races could really use your help. With enough special election wins for House seats, the GOP could lose control of the House.

Some states like mine are currently preparing for a Senate race. Primary candidates are emerging; throw support behind one now, and/or help the local and state party prepare for the mid-term election. We need every Democratic senate seat and then some if Trump’s Project 2025 agenda is to be stopped.

And of course the local Democratic Party is working on state and local races. These are extremely important as backstops to lawlessness at federal level. Who’s going to run in 2026? What can you do to help them now?

— Other state-wide progressive organizations are also working to organize and mobilize. Don’t just read their emails, find out what they’re working on and what they need to achieve discrete goals. What are those progressive  organizations in your state? Share their contact information in comments below.

— Follow the work of those who are organizing language against fascism, because our message is stronger when we are on the same page, singing from the same choir book.

Subscribe to Jason Sattler’s (a.k.a. LOLGOP) at The Farce.

See also Gil Durán and Dr. George Lakoff’s work at the FrameLab.

(Both of the above are hosted on Ghost, thank goodness.)

~ ~ ~

What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.

— John Lewis

Let’s make the impossible possible. Let’s fight fascism together, and build a better future in the process.

This is an open thread. Bring all your comments unrelated to Trump’s Epstein scandal here.

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98 replies
  1. Troutwaxer says:

    Tonight my wife and I are hosting a sign-making… for the kinds of people who carry signs in public. We’re gonna hang out and talk politics and show off our work tomorrow at the Friday Vigil in our little town. The same group we’re part of is also supporting the local food bank as part of the groups ‘constructive action,’ which is something Ghandi wrote about.

    I’ll be making a sign which says “STOP and sign our mailing list.” Someone else is going to have to carry the sign I made which reads, “Trump, the shallow end of the deep state!”

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      One of the posts in the thread below that Robert Reich video Rayne posted above is a protest sign:

      1st Amendment
      Use it
      Or lose it!

  2. bgThenNow says:

    (I deleted comment because of typo in name.) Thank you, Rayne. I appreciate the community here. I joined Indivisible after decades of working on the left because Indivisible is getting things done. We have a weekly meeting, 2 weekly protests, and regular social opportunities at local businesses to help build community and hold each other up. We also organize the big protests with national. At the weekly meetings we have speakers, candidates, and activists, the meetings broadcast on Zoom. Perhaps there is a local Mutual Aid that welcomes help. Install an ICE app like ICEBlock. Renew the Summer of Love, meet new people, hug them. Never Give Up.

  3. Reggie M. says:

    I very much appreciate this website. I check in every day, and have passed links on to others. I joined my local Indivisible group. They put me on the planning committee. We made signs for John Lewis Day. I want to up my game though by putting together “pop up” protest art making. Folks can bring their art supplies, we can meet, talk, make art. It’s about building community. I heard on a podcast, that it is important for others to see us out there, and see our numbers growing because it shows we are not afraid and this fascism will be defeated!

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “Regina” triggering auto-moderation; it has been edited to reflect your original established username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. *”Regina” is your third username to date.* /~Rayne]

  5. CaptainCondorcet says:

    I want to strongly echo that commitment to local political races. Here in California, MAGA has basically realized they’re never winning statewide and really only specific state districts, so they are targeting frequently uncontested or undercontested committee-style positions, especially school boards. I’m sure that story is on repeat in allegedly “safe” blue areas across the country.

  6. James O'Connor says:

    Don’t overlook the ultra local bodies. Like Town Meeting if you have it. Get involved and speak up. After attending my TH in May, I was shocked at the degree to which the MAGA mindset has become metastasized, even in a generally liberal area.

    • Rayne says:

      And don’t overlook running for local office. Far too many roles have been ceded to MAGA, like seats on the parks and recreation commission or the roads commission.

      Look at what happened in Kerr County, Texas in no small part to a MAGA-influenced county board of commissioners — people died because MAGA locals pursuaded MAGA board members not to spend money on a flood alert system.

  7. BRUCE F COLE says:

    I may have posted this here before, but the Lewis quote Rayne posted prompts me now, since love isn’t often enough cited in moments like these:

    “An Opening”

    This is the time
    We will remember well;
    These are the signs:
    That we will find ourselves.

    So dry the wind will blow
    So high the sea

    Don’t close your eyes
    Don’t look the other way;
    No more disguise.
    Now let us seize the day

    So dry the wind will blow
    So high the sea

    (Bridge:)
    You say
    You can’t cry anymore,
    and who can fault you for that;
    I say
    Love is an opening door…
    Let’s go and find ourselves.

    Don’t turn your head
    Don’t walk the other way;
    And like the Prophet said,
    “Don’t wait another goddam day!”

    So dry the wind will blow
    So high the sea.
    ——————–

    I often don’t know who I’m referring to when writing lyrics, and this song, probably 10 years old, is in that category (although I’ve known for a couple years that it could be relevant this year). I realized this morning that the Prophet in the song is Lewis, even though he probably wouldn’t have used “goddam”. Thanks, Rayne.

  8. Critter7 says:

    We’ve been having regular protests here in our medium-sized town in semi-rural Virginia. Even though we are months into Trump 2.0, the protest gatherings continue with numbers and enthusiasm.

    I’ve been thinking about the protests, what are we trying to accomplish? One is to communicate with those driving by, to let them know that this new Trump era is wrong. In that light, I’ve decided to cut the snark out of my signs and appeal to patriotism. Trump 2.0 is not what our nation’s founders envisioned. Trump’s efforts to consolidate authoritarian power undermines our constitutional system.

    New sign says “Freedom, Truth, Democracy” with a big American flag for visual emphasis.

    I am building a frame using PVC pipe that will hold an American flag up above our heads, hanging it horizontal so it can be seen by the drivers-by without any need for us to swing it on a flagpole. We who are opposing the would-be autocrat are the patriots.

    • -mamake- says:

      Attended a small Good Trouble on the 17th, wondering the same thing, ‘what are we doing/hoping for?’ Basically we were on sidewalks along an intersection during commute time in a longtime red voting town in foothills of N. Calif. 95% of feedback from drivers was positive – some shouting out “Thank you! I thought I was alone up here!!” That message really struck me. We cannot become so isolated that we believe that WE are the outliers, because we are NOT!
      Thanks, Rayne for always holding up the power of the positive in the face of some of us feeling defeated and overwhelmed at times. Bless you truly, and all of yours.

  9. ernesto1581 says:

    OT from Dept of Fresh Hell:

    Over the weekend, the school superintendent of Winooski, VT, Wilmer Chavarria, a US citizen, was detained and interrogated at a Texas port of entry as he returned from a family visit to Nicaragua. He was separated from his spouse (whose relationship with Chavarria was repeatedly mocked), commanded to hand over his phone & laptop, and ordered to provide access to confidential school records, which he refused to do citing FERPA. He was informed by several “officials,” none of whom showed any ID, that he had no rights at a port of entry and was threatened with the loss of his job if he did not cooperate. Chavarria was finally released six hours later without explanation or apology. (vtdigger 7/23/25)

    Mr Chavarria is a state official who happens to head the most diverse school district in the state, one containing children of refugees from around the world speaking over 30 different languages.

    I have contacted both the Governor, Phil Scott, and the Secretary of Education, Zoie Saunders, and received nothing but stupid boilerplate in response.

  10. Patriot 47 says:

    (Rayne, I don’t remember the user name I have previously used. I have filed this one away.)

    I want to put in a plug for Run for Something. They help young progressives run for local and state offices. Aside from money, they use volunteers to connect with candidates. I have found talking to them to be very inspiring.

    As to Chavarria, they also canceled his global entry.

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the same username and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You’ve now had FIVE usernames — DonnaB, Donnab, Donnab47, Votingrights, and now Patriot 47. If you are going to use the last one, you absolutely MUST stick with it going forward. You’ll find yourself in auto-moderation until the system recognizes you as the same person, and it may take a while with so many different usernames. If you can’t do this you risk being banned for sockpuppeting. /~Rayne]

  11. rosalind says:

    some things i’m doing:

    * emailed the new health reporter for our local paper welcoming him, and recounting issues i’ve had with our one hospital provider. he followed up with some questions, and has already published one article on the subject. local papers, even hollowed out McClatchy ones, have reporters looking for stories. you can find their contact info and email them story ideas, or make them aware of a protest you’re doing. also works for local radio/tv. keep the ask short and specific. Letters to the Editors always good. Pitch an op-ed.

    * when national news breaks, i seek out a local paper or tv station to get the story. for the Texas floods, i paged down (and down) past the AI slop until i got to Texas Tribune, then clicked and made sure it was actually their website and not an AI clone and got updates through them and followed their bluesky acct. with reports that people are simply reading the AI summary and not clicking on links anymore, it is critical that we drive traffic to reliable news sources. i’ve also found they are very appreciative if you send them a general email thanking them for their coverage and hard work. i also send in a donation.

    * as i am extremely concerned how Musk/Thiel/et al can use all the data they’ve hoovered up to depress or raise voter turnout to achieve their preferred outcome, i am constantly looking for things we can do now to help counter this.

  12. Rayne says:

    Welp. Trump’s votes went down by one…

    Hulk Hogan Dead at 71
    Exclusive By TMZ Staff
    Published July 24, 2025 8:36 AM PDT | Updated July 24, 2025 9:22 AM PDT
    https://www.tmz.com/2025/07/24/hulk-hogan-dead/

    I get the impression TMZ had a obit-profile already written for Hogan.

    This wasn’t the obituary I was hoping to see this morning but it offsets losing Ozzy Osbourne this week.

  13. HorsewomaninPA says:

    I have been searching for something I can do that gets real results. By real results, I mean, that it actually influences people (MAGA people, Trump supporters, etc) to do things differently. I’ve been writing frequently to my R Senator, addressing him and his office support who actually read the stuff people send in. Please, no on should take offense to my next statement, but I don’t see protests or sign-making changing minds. I’ve often wondered about a citizen-populated russian-like active measures effort on right-wing social media (sans identity theft, money laundering, fabricating or anything illegal) aimed at placing doubt in the minds of Trump supporters, offering up the truth and using critical-thinking / question posing as ways to encourage people to think and not simply absorb everything they see / hear on right wing media. According to both the Mueller report and the Senate Intel Committee, the Russians achieved a lot with little effort – something like 180 personas. With the stuff I see about the MAGA response to the Epstein thing, they may be ready / open to stepping away from the huge brainwashing machine.

    • Matt Foley says:

      I can relate. It’s hard to know if our actions change any MAGA minds. I get incredibly angry and frustrated at times. Some people can’t be reasoned with. But our choices are to give up or keep trying, and I know for damn sure nobody who reads this blog is about to concede.

    • thewhitetiger says:

      I do not think we need to change minds at this point. What we need is to mobilize people to resist. Americans are steeped in anomie right now. The point is to stand up. We are the majority by a good measure.

      And as we stand up and inspire others to stand up, our ranks will swell.

      We cannot end this regime unless there is an active resistance. That resistance can and should take many forms, but just getting out there with signs is critical to making ourselves visible and inspiring others.

      • HorsewomaninPA says:

        I don’t think that carrying signs is enough at this point. It is symbolic resistance. I agree that it is more inspirational and it feels good, but there must be tangible results.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          Au contraire! Symbolic resistance, as you call it, was what stopped the first Trump Muslim Ban: people showed up at airports in surprising numbers *before* the injunctions got issued, and that’s what got the WH on its heels.

          Humans are hardwired to watch each other for cues. When other humans see us marching with signs, it provides an internal signal of liberation. You too can do this! At the John Lewis/Anti-Avelo protest last week, we got three (3!) vocal counterprotestors carrying Trump signs. One guy, the leader it seemed, yelled “Get out of my country!” I wanted to go question where we were supposed to go, but wise friends grabbed my elbow and steered me away.

          The thing is, far MORE folks driving past us honked and cheered our protest gathering. Out of all the protests so far, this was the most audible positive response to date. People feel something when they see you out there. They feel liberated. Reinforced. Seen. It’s not just “symbolic.” It’s power.

    • Rayne says:

      “but I don’t see protests or sign-making changing minds.”

      Organizing isn’t about changing minds. It’s about creating community that acts together, because a community is more powerful than individuals acting alone. A community can support each other in getting past influence operations brainwashing those who have fallen for right-wing talking points.

      A community has more power collectively to demonstrate to the brainwashed their manufactured reality isn’t shared.

      A community has more power persuading elected officials because they rely on numbers to tell them what to do when they aren’t completely corrupted or utterly chickenshit.

      And while Trump’s power is beginning to lose its grasp on the brainwashed, it’s important that organized communities grow bigger, faster, move more firmly to resist.

      • Sandor Raven says:

        “Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people don’t care about them. You are not alone.'” Kurt Vonnegut; Timequake.

        We make signs for others to see so that we and they know that WE are not alone. Otherwise … how could we possibly manage?

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      There are no magic bullets, no home runs, that accomplish the desired result in a single action that requires no work from those of us watching in the peanut gallery.

      To follow Rayne, success is an expression of prior organization and community building.

      • Mike from Delaware says:

        Just because the results aren’t obvious, doesn’t mean community organizing and protests don’t have an impact. During the late 60’s the antiwar movement mobilized for two massive protests. At the time, it seemed the effort didn’t change much. It wasn’t until much later that we learned those protests prevented an escalation of the Vietnam war and most likely the use of nuclear weapons. For a fascinating and inspiring look at those protest see “The Movement and the Madman” on PBS’s American Experience.

        • HorsewomaninPA says:

          Thanks, I will watch it. But, Nixon was not what Trump turned out to be. We didn’t have separate media / communication spheres. We didn’t have a network of a variety of profit-centered organizations telling people that we were only days away from winning the war in Vietnam. Nixon didn’t have an entire cabinet of sycophants and incompetents. I can’t gauge how much the protests contributed to ending the war, but this is a very different landscape today and it calls for innovative and creative ways to deal with this problem.

      • HorsewomaninPA says:

        Not suggesting a single action. Not a magic bullet. The Russian influence operation worked. And it continues to work. Why not use something that has been proven to work, except turn it on its head and make it work for un-brainwashing? It took a year or more to accomplish what they did.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          What you say about separate media spheres is all the MORE reason to join other humans with signs.

    • Rockygirl says:

      I am in a “mixed marriage” – my spouse isn’t MAGA but leans R and believes the dreck put out by the likes of Greenwald, Taibbi, et al, ugh, and so in order to keep the peace, I have to keep my activism on the down-low.

      I have found the best way for me to do that is to donate to candidates and causes where I think it will help. I’m also an election chief in my local precinct, and to avoid any appearance of impropriety I won’t donate to any candidates that I or my voters could vote for, so I donate in other races. Definitely going to increase those contributions in the months going forward.

      • Rayne says:

        I am in a similar mixed marriage. Spouse leans libertarian-R. We have had some doozy fights though most of the time he looks the other way since I don’t complain about his obsession with golf.

        But he knows my activism, VERY hard to turn a blind eye to it when wifey’s name ends up on a ballot. LOL

        You keep doing your thing. :-)

    • Troutwaxer says:

      Results start small. But the same people who, right now, can’t get someone to sign a mailing list at their protest, because they don’t know they should have a mailing list signup sheet… in a couple years from now will be seasoned activists who get shit done. How to remove Trump, and Trumpism, and all the things that cause it is something that’s still gathering steam. The baby-activists are just beginning their journeys of learning. They’ll study the various forms of nonviolent action and figure out what works for their group/situation and start stuff happening that works. So don’t despair… just remember that everyone who wants to oppose Trump has a learning journey to go on. (Including me.)

    • HorsewomaninPA says:

      I wasn’t hoping to stir the people’s love of protesting – that is why I said, please don’t take offense at my next statement. I was hoping for some thoughts on my idea, but it got buried in the defensivenss. The russians got real results from trying to go directly at the people who would ACT – why couldn’t we? None of the people who voted for Trump in 2016 or 2020 or 2024 did it because they saw protest signs. MAGA must (and will) collapse from within. With a little help, it could happen sooner.

    • RealAlexi says:

      I think you’re 100% right.

      You have to inhabit their spaces. You have to argue their points. You have to be sure that your POV exists as real as opposed to a lampooned joke on Fox.

      And, MOSTLY, what you must remember at all times is that you may never ever ever ever ever see that you’ve changed a single mind with your replies.. because you’re not addressing the writer; you’re addressing the audience.

      A large number of folks are tuning in to hear what’s being said and when they only hear the lying they’re only going to believe the lying.

      Also, it’s not easy to always be the one telling the truth; to be the one constantly argueing. People will actually hate you. You get a lot of static from folks like that and it can hurt.

      But you’re writing for the ones on the fence, the ones with questions, the ones who are curious and that’s what works. It’s the propaganda tactic but with a fire-hose of truth.

      The marching and protests are important to build community and to be seen by the adversary so they know they aren’t getting away with the BS.

      But I think it’s presence in the conversations that can move the mountains.

      Finally, the argument cannot be wonkish.

      People are moved via their emotions and an emotionally morally grounded argument.. backed up by facts.. is what can work.

  14. -mamake- says:

    Love this thread and opportunity to share whatever we can do.

    I have been a part of Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Lucid Friday Q & A’s since she started in 2021. There are members from 190 countries and many of the folks on the weekly sessions have decades of experience as activists, or are in politics, journalism, academia, media, medicine (public policy), and are otherwise well informed. Good to get perspective from folks in other countries too. Ruth has guests now and then, like Sherrilyn Ifill, Mark Elias and others. I push ew all the time. Ideas spread as we keep talking and acting on the good ones.

    Also, I have found good support and resources on Red, Wine and Blue (gap after wine):
    https://redwine .blue/

    Love the pop art meetings to make posters. Will do this.

    Also Book Passage in Marin is hosting SC Justice Sotomayer in SF on Sept 11. A $5 ticket is good for one adult and one child. Am sure it will sell out. I mention it because I am sure it will be so inspiring to be in the room with her AND all the young people who a burning bright with hope and passion.

  15. Greg Hunter says:

    For those of you on Facebook, I would invite you to watch this recent iteration of the Laramie Progressive Voter Alliance meeting held on July 21, 2025. The group is non partisan and the premise is that they invite two-5 minute speakers to present on a topic, then allow anyone to speak on subject that concerns them for two minutes.

    The meeting starts in the middle of the first presentation about AI and then Anthony Serrano of the Wyoming ALCU speaks for 5 minutes. While not an invited speaker, the Sheriff of Albany County, Aaron Applehans, speaks after Anthony about why his department is not participating in the ICE 287 (g) program. If you want to ignore the other speakers, including me, then do so, but at the end the exchanges between Applehans and Serrano are worth watching IMHO as the audience gets to ask more questions of each speaker.

    We have not lost all the good things yet but the re-election of Sheriff Applehans, in a County that went for Trump, will be a bellwether for me.

    https://www.facebook.com/PVALaramie/videos/1381129429659962/

  16. Matt Foley says:

    I’m creating some MAGA Bingo cards.So far I have:
    “Trump is a sinner just like all of us.”
    “We didn’t elect Trump for his morality, we elected him for his policies.”

  17. Matt Foley says:

    Fox is now making you pay (oops, I mean giving you the freedom of choice to become a member) to watch their propaganda. Examples: “One Nation Under God (Patriot Premium Starter 6-pack)”.

    Daddy must be so proud of them!

    • Rayne says:

      Huh. They’re going to aggressively collect personal data about their audience. What will they do with that data?

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        And the cognitive dissonance Trump is praying his fans won’t experience, as he issues his fatwa on Rupert and the WSJ while never once acknowledging Rupert’s connection to the machine that keeps the lies humming (Fox News) just for him…most recently, by pleading the case of poor, mistreated Ghislaine Maxwell.

        • Rayne says:

          Dawned on me last night after reading the anti-eulogy for Hulk Hogan that the Epstein files scandal is a kayfabe problem.

          In other words, Epstein breaks Trump’s kayfabe. Hogan was part of that kayfabe, sustaining it with his own racist kayfabe; Trump’s choices for cabinet and other executive branch roles are functions of kayfabe (quite literally in Linda McMahon’s case at Dept of Ed – useless wrestling promoter now wrestling with education).

          Trump’s demands of media outlets like ABC, CBS, and now NewsCorp via Fox and WSJ are based on sustaining his kayfabe. He’s furious that WSJ isn’t propping up his image and instead actively deconstructing it with their reporting on his relationship with Epstein.

          I wonder if there was a conscious effort to create QAnon to help prop up Trump’s kayfabe. Without QAnon to provide that reinforcing function, it’s easier for WSJ and other media to pick apart the facade, breaking the brainwashing effects of right-wing media which has also reinforced the kayfabe.

          IMO the kayfabe is fractured and can’t be repaired, especially if the media continues to press on the Epstein story. What’s being constructed to replace it, because there will be a void in the brainwashed will want to fill — and that’s what we should be watching for if not building ourselves.

  18. gmokegmoke says:

    “Be realistic, demand the impossible” – attributed to Che Guevara, painted on walls by the Situationists in Paris in 1968. I heard MIT Professor Donald Sadoway say he uses it to inspire his students. There is also The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice by Vaclav Havel which may give us all a few ideas.

    I find the Situationist conception of the society of the spectacle to be extremely useful in navigating our media environment and what is laughingly called our culture:
    My notes on DeBord’s The Society of the Spectacle are at https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2017/04/notes-from-society-of-spectacle.html
    and my notes on his Some Comments on the Society of the Spectacle are at
    https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2025/07/notes-on-some-comments-on-society-of.html

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      My notes on advertising your own blog in comments here: ….

      Try summarizing it, instead.

      • gmokegmoke says:

        My notes are almost exclusively quotes from the books I read. Sometimes they are extensive. They are already summaries.

        Everything I publish is free and public domain. The only thing I want is for people to use the information I provide.

        If that doesn’t sit well with you, that’s your choice.

    • RealAlexi says:

      “There is a time in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries,”
      Shakespeare:
      Julius Caesar, Brutus. Act 4, Scene 3.

      Che was a murderer. Quote him as you will. But that is guaranteed to put off anybody you’re trying to sway. Badly.

  19. P J Evans says:

    SCOTUS does something:
    https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-north-dakota-redistricting-289e84539fcb2b309c8d00fb6a077097

    The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower-court ruling in a redistricting dispute in North Dakota that would gut a landmark federal civil rights law for millions of people.

    The justices indicated in an unsigned order that they are likely to take up a federal appeals court ruling that would eliminate the most common path people and civil rights groups use to sue under a key provision of the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act.

    The case could be argued as early as 2026 and decided by next summer.

    (Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch were against taking it.)

    • pdaly says:

      Looks like Trump’s attempt to create a pretext for firing Powell (cost overrun, fiscal mismanagement) has failed epically on camera.

      Still creepy that Trump et al are trying (however poorly) to undermine the Fed Chairman’s independence.

  21. OldTulsaDude says:

    Think NRA, and no, I don’t mean arm ourselves but to copy their dependable voting block that was the real source of their power.
    I firmly believe getting out the votes should be the #1 activity of all democracy loving people.
    We must stomp these dirtbags into the ground and then remember it can happen here.

    • P J Evans says:

      You mean, the NRA after the manufacturers took over and turned it into a political group? It wasn’t one, before the 70s.

    • Troutwaxer says:

      We cancelled our Paramount Plus soon afterwards and told them why. I guess we’ll have to get our Strange New Worlds fix off YouTube.

  23. Thequickbrownfox says:

    The major problem, that I see, is the red states, with majority R legislatures, are going to redistrict to make it impossible for Democrats to gain house seats (and probably, to lose house seats). Texas is already into that process, and Missouri is likely next.
    How do you counter a plan to prevent Democrats from having representation? Keep in mind that Democratic voting states, for the most part, have non-partisan redistricting commissions. That fact makes it extremely difficult to redistrict Republicans out of their house seats. The Democratic belief in democracy seems to have left us with one hand tied behind our backs, so to speak.
    Serious question. Does anyone have a strategy that can effectively counter this Fascist Republican strategy?

    • Rayne says:

      Follow the National Democratic Redistricting Committee at https://democraticredistricting.com which is working on fair redistricting.

      Also follow Marc Elias’ work fighting in court against biased redistricting at Democracy Docket: https://www.democracydocket.com/

      Find out if there’s an independent organization pushing for fair, impartial, and transparent redistricting in your own state. Michigan eliminated gerrymandering two years ago with a citizens’ ballot initiative – see https://votersnotpoliticians.com/redistricting/ – which could be a model for more states.

      • P J Evans says:

        California has that, and Newsom wants to redistrict to lower the (already small) number of GOP elected reps, which would require ENDING non-partisan redistricting. All because TX is doing it to force more GOP reps.

  24. Curious2024 says:

    What to do?

    Loved this conversation between Heather Cox Richardson and Senator Mallory McMorrow of Michigan.

    Senator McMorrow talks about lessons learnt (and written up in her book), beginning with finding the one issue that one is motivated to work on a little every day.

    Grateful for the insights shared!

    [Link broken with space inserted before .com; with the talk starting when they talk about how to get involved]

    https ://www.youtube .com/live/OFyfwmWabTU&t=1114

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “curious2012” triggering auto-moderation; it has been edited to reflect your established username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. /~Rayne]

  25. chocolateislove says:

    In 2020, a few Ottawa County Christian Nationalist created a PAC because they were unhappy that their parental rights to infect and possibly kill their children and their children’s teachers were “usurped” by the state government. They got organized and funded and recruited someone to run for each Ottawa County Commissioner seat in 2022. Memorial Weekend 2022 their signs went up all over Ottawa County. And they started running ads and door knocking. The current commissioners and most of the rest of the county were completely taken by surprise. Ottawa County is a red county and many of the local political positions are either decided in the GOP primary or a GOP candidate is running completely unopposed — no primary opponent, no other party opponent.

    The Ottawa Impact Commissioners won most of their seats and then made a bunch of unforced errors — mostly over very expensive lawsuits and administrative personnel changes. Enter the newly invigorated Ottawa County Democrats and the new Ottawa Integrity PAC. They were at every town festival, homecoming parade, July 4th celebration, etc. with information on their policies and plans from 2021 forward. They have regular meet ups in different parks around the county. In 2024 they had someone running for each county commissioner seat and several other local township seats that didn’t usually have Democrats running. The Dems did win a few of the township seats and did much better than expected with the county commissioners. Ironically, several of the Ottawa Impact incumbents were primaried. I think the Dem candidates would have won against a couple of the OI incumbents had they not been primaried. The Ottawa Dems are still going strong — getting out there and making themselves visible and known. We’ll see what the Big Ugly Bill does to this mostly rural county. The current administrations policies may well help the Ottawa Dems in 2028.

    As for me personally, it’s mostly donations. I’ve been donating to Voters Not Politicians since they started. I donate to 2 migrant rights groups that have local offices. One non-political local place I donate is Kids Food Basket. They work year round but their main focus is making sure kids who rely on school breakfast and lunch to eat get those breakfasts and lunches in the summer. I find myself rage donating quite often.

  26. rockfarmer says:

    Indivisible is the group I’m most active in. We have a great chapter in a nearby small town http://www.lsrindivisible.org. Also, check out One Million Rising. A friend and I are going to host an OMR gathering next week. I’m all in. Check it out: http://www.nokings.org/rise I cover it in the current issue of The Anti-Tyrant’s Almanac (#18). A closely placed source told me that Hulk Hogan read an issue of The Almanac and keeled over on the spot. Waiting for official medical confirmation of this.
    https://mailchi.mp/dad6f993ada2/the-anti-tyrants-almanac-18

      • rockfarmer says:

        Damn you, Ozzy! Here I was getting all ready to take credit for this. Had my tux at the dry cleaners, got final edits done on my award dinner speech, even got a haircut…

  28. Alan Charbonneau says:

    The Union is a pro-democracy clearinghouse with a myriad of organization under one umbrella.
    They have affiliated organizations under these groupings: Voter Registration, Voting Assistance, Voting Rights, Grassroots Issue Focused, Education, Candidate Focused, Youth, Messaging & Social Media.

    A lot of these orgs are regional or state-specific (eg. Arizona Coalition for Change), others have a national presence (eg. Swing Blue Alliance)

    https://www.jointheunion.us/

  29. harpie says:

    Since about mid-April, I’ve been saving GIFT links to articles that might pertain to various topics that we cover, in order to share them here. I put them under various headers
    [ie: “NEWS / POLITICS” and “GENERAL DESTRUCTION”] [I admit those could be better.]

    It wasn’t until today that I added 12] FUN / INTERESTING…and this from Jeff Jarvis, is why:

    https://bsky.app/profile/jeffjarvis.bsky.social/post/3lursssontc2e
    July 25, 2025 at 6:13 AM GIFT link to

    Saving New York’s Midcentury Signs
    The New York Sign Museum in Brooklyn preserves the stories of shuttered local businesses.
    New York Times; Anna Kodé / Photographs by Karsten Moran
    [Anna Kodé reported this story from the New York Sign Museum in East New York.]
    July 25, 2025

    The comments are also good.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      That was definitely fun, harpie. It reminded me of some abstract graphic drawings I did with felt tip markers in the 70s. I intended them as conceptual designs, to then be made into neon lights. But I didn’t have the wherewithal to make them. I think I might still have the drawings, though, lol.

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks for sharing that, harpie, it’s a nice change of pace. I once worked for a sign company; the business of signage is as much of a story in itself as the signs produced. If the public only understood what they see is like the visible part of an iceberg.

    • Magnet48 says:

      I loved this. So many memories! I learned to read longer words from a Harvester International neon sign in NJ & my favorite sign of all time was a neon Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow, with a girl in a bonnet watering plants that burst into neon bloom. Magical! Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane.

    • P J Evans says:

      Way, way back, the first time I was in college, a friend and I went to a show at the localish art museum, of works using light. Neon stuff, things you could walk on, all kinds of light in sculptures.

  30. Pedro_06JUL2025_0919h says:

    Indeed, strength through community and activism is too often undervalued. Although I don’t agree with all of MoveOn’s positions, I’ve been a fan for years and have volunteered to help raise awareness of issues in my lovely New England rural community, which is politically active and rather well funded thanks to a cadre of generous deep-pocket donors who own vacation homes here. A long ski lift to the top can present a unique opportunity for gentle advocacy.

    [Moderator’s note: see your comment today at 03:12 PM ET. /~Rayne]

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