Three Action Items for the Orange Menace's 100th Day
Various candidates and political action committees have had monies expropriated via “theft, fraud, embezzlement, unauthorized charges or other financial shenanigans”. Full details. (If you check the link, your first question will be “Jessica, why do you read the South Dakota press?” And my answer is that someone has to support local journalism.)
Does this mean you should cease donating? NO.
Action Item 1: Donate
If you are an American, please donate $5 today to any candidate or political group via ActBlue. Even if you’ve given money before, even if you’re afraid it will be stolen (ActBlue is much safer from fraud than mailing a check.) Why? Because Shitler is trying to get DoJ to go after ActBlue for fake foreign contributions and this is a way you can stand up and say you won’t be cowed. Source. Donate here.
Let’s be honest, no one has raised more money from foreign sources than the Orange Menace himself. NO ONE. And that’s not just direct donations, but payments to hotels, merchandise sales, and heaven knows what else.
Candidates need money, as do causes. And $5 is a small price to pay for a middle finger to the fascist regime.
Action Item 2: Participate
Thursday is May Day. I’m not sure how many scheduled protests there are, but I’ve read it’s at least 600. You can find a protest here. Or here. Or here. And there are a ton of other sites if you need to find a hyper-local event. As always - if you need help, reach out to me with your zip code, and I’ll help you.
The May Day protests will call for:
An end to the billionaire takeover and corruption under the Trump administration;
Full funding for public schools, healthcare, and housing for all;
Protection and expansion of Medicaid, Social Security, and other critical social programs;
An immediate halt to attacks on immigrants, Black, Indigenous, trans, and other targeted communities; and
Union protections, fair wages, and dignity for all workers.
Please plan to protest. If you cannot attend a protest, get on social media and promote events in your local area, bug local media to cover the protests, “Like” and “Share” posts to help get the word out.
Action Item 3: Message
The Progressive Change Institute and Data for Progress got together and tested messaging. What works, what doesn’t, by party affiliation. Full results here. Below are the most effective messages:
Your action item is to memorize these messages. If you need to slightly modify for “your voice” that’s okay, but keep as close to the message as possible.
And then spread the messages: on signs that you carry to protests, in social media posts, in newsletters, and to people with whom you interact.
People are always complaining that we Democrats message poorly. Here are messages we know will work, and which are clear, concise and effective.
USE THEM!
The Hundredth Day
Why they use this as a marker, I don’t know. But historically, it’s a new President’s “honeymoon period”, where his popularity should be high as people give him a chance. Someone isn’t doing so well. The only time any other president was this close was in 2017. He’s a failure, and it shows in every marker.
If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you know that I kept saying (and I’m still saying) that they won an election, and things will be dark for a while. But while they won the first battle, WE THE PEOPLE will win the war. Eventually, good always triumphs over evil.
I also said that as soon as people started taking to the streets, the tide would begin to turn, and we’re seeing that. People are not going to one protest, they are going to multiple protests. There are multiple protests EVERY SINGLE DAY across these United States. Some are large, some are small, but they HAPPEN. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Many people are attending multiple protests, and they are paying off.
May 2025 is an important month for protests. Not just for the historical significance of May Day, but because the House and Senate are screwing around with the tax and funding bills: their aim is to have the package on VonShitzenpants’ desk by 31 May.
It’s protests, and calls to the offices of elected officials, that will prevent the evisceration of Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP, Veterans’ Benefits, and all the rest.
Also, while not yet scheduled, there will likely be rescission votes soon. If you want to know everything I know, read this. (It will likely hurt you.) Here’s the sentence you care about:
In this special rescission process, if the President thinks it is necessary or desirable to withhold funding from some office or program, he may suggest that Congress cut certain spending. If Congress adopts a rescission bill or joint resolution within 45 days, government officials may not spend the previously appropriated money.
Rescission bills are privileged, meaning they will get to the floor of the House, and expedited in the Senate, meaning they cannot be filibustered. And so, it’s possible that Congress, if it wants to, can make the Executive Branch spend what they’ve been withholding.
Protest, protest, call and write!!!
Remember, if you start a snowball on the top of a mountain and it starts rolling, it will become a snow-boulder and eventually an avalanche (I don’t excel at analogies but you get the idea.) WE THE PEOPLE are between a snowball and a snow-boulder - change is coming.
Bernie's here in Philly on May Day!
The tide is really beginning to turn which only means the so-called Administration will get meaner. Rescission will be one way for them to go.