I know, I know, no one wants to learn anything from Trump. No one wants to think about Trump. The most wonderful thing about him not being president is being able to go DAYS without his disgusting presence coming into our minds. I am with you. I hate thinking about that creep.
But hear me out on this one. One thing Trump did, that we could learn from, is ignore the fact that no one thought he could win the Republican nomination in 2016 (let alone the presidency) and just kept going as if he could never lose anything and (at least that time) it worked.
No one thought Trump would get the Republican nod. Here is one article saying Trump will never win. Here is another one. Here is one titled “Trump Will Never Make the Ballot” . Here is a podcast in which the FiveThirtyEight experts gives him (on a scale of 0 to 100) odds of 2, 0, and -10 of winning. Here is Sabato saying Trump cannot win. Finally, here is John Oliver begging Trump to run because he could never win:
Here is the lesson:
that fucker kept going. He kept running. He kept believing he could win.
And that is what we need to learn from him.
The odds are not in our favor for this November. They just aren’t. Gerrymandering. Inflation. Biden’s poll numbers. Historical trends for midterms. All of those things are very real and are making this an uphill battle.
But the stakes are high — if we lose the House and Senate we lose Biden’s ability to get things done.
Please remember: uphill battles can be won. They are all the time. Just ask the biggest asshole in the universe.
So in this case (and in this case ONLY) be like Trump. Ignore the odds. Ignore the articles. Ignore the polls.
Be confident. Put all you have into this. And keep fighting.
WE CAN WIN if we work hard.
What can you do?
I set up a place where we can donate and the funds will be distributed evenly between the tossup House and Senate races. Think of it as a one stop shop for using your $$$ to save democracy. Here is the link:
***** Click Here to Donate for House and Senate Races ****
Here are some other things you can do:
And don’t lose hope. Together, we can do this!
We are the majority
The things Democrats fight for are the things Americans want. The awful minority is loud but they are the minority.
Polling is clear: Americans want gun control
Overall, the vast majority of Americans support the right for private citizens to own guns, and more than 40 percent of households own at least one firearm. That doesn’t mean they’re against tighter rules on their guns. Nearly three-quarters of Americans think that gun violence is a big or moderately big problem, according to a survey last year by Pew Research Center. And a majority of Americans think that the epidemic of school shootings could be stopped with drastic changes in legislation, according to a poll this week by YouGov.
A vast majority of Americans supports universal background checks, keeping people with serious mental health issues from buying guns, bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and so-called “red flag laws” that would allow police and family members to seek court orders to temporarily take guns away from those considered a risk to themselves and others. A majority of Americans, of both political parties, oppose carrying concealed weapons without a permit.
Democrats are doing great things
And, every week, we see Democrats doing more and more great things for Americans (even if the stories aren’t exciting enough to get much press coverage)
Education Dept. to clear $5.8B in debt of Corinthian Colleges students
In the Education Department’s largest group cancellation of federal student loans, the Biden administration will forgive $5.8 billion in debt held by 560,000 former students of the defunct for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges, the department said Wednesday.
“As of today, every student deceived, defrauded, and driven into debt by Corinthian Colleges can rest assured that the Biden-Harris Administration has their back and will discharge their federal student loans,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a news release. “For far too long, Corinthian engaged in the wholesale financial exploitation of students, misleading them into taking on more and more debt to pay for promises they would never keep.”
NYS Lawmakers pass legislation banning anyone under the age of 21 to buy or own rifle
Lawmakers in Albany have passed a comprehensive package of gun control legislation in the wake of two mass shootings including on in New York State.
On Thursday, legislative leaders announced the passage of the bills, aimed at strengthening New York State's already tough gun laws.
The 10-bill gun control package includes tightening the state’s red flag law to allow health care providers to report someone they feel is a danger to themselves or others, and addressing the role social media plays in violence and acts of domestic terrorism.
Also headed to the governor's desk is the bill raising the minimum age to purchase and own a semi-automatic rifle to 21 by requiring a license.
EPA will Overturn Trump Era Policies that Incentivized Pipeline Projects
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released a proposed draft rule of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act that would overturn Trump-era changes making it harder for Tribes and communities to fight back against damaging pipeline and infrastructure projects. According to a fact sheet on the proposed draft rule changes, the Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule would allow for more early engagement on proposed projects, allow for additional transparency on projects’ impacts on bodies of water, and offers Tribes, states, and territories more of a voice in the permitting and licensing process.
US employers added 390,000 jobs despite fears of slowdown
US employers added 390,000 jobs in May, representing a robust but slower pace of hiring, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report released Friday.
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.6%, slightly higher than the half-century low recorded in February 2020, before the pandemic hit.
While the number of jobs added was down from the revised total of 436,000 in April, it was better than many were forecasting. The consensus of economists surveyed by Reuters had been for a gain of 325,000 jobs. And while the unemployment rate did not fall to 3.5% as predicted, it remained at a level considered to be full employment by many economists.
Bad News for Bad Guys
I don’t like to dwell on feeling good about bad happening to them, but damn, there was a LOT of it this week!
The panel investigating January 6 will be trying to shock open-minded Americans with new details of the Trump presidency
Key pieces of the plan to recreate the madness and fear of January 6, 2021, when American democracy itself was on the brink, began to fall into place Thursday as details of key witnesses for an upcoming hearing emerged – as well as new and powerful evidence that saw the light of day for the first time.
It’s now clear that the committee investigating the Capitol Hill insurrection – which said the first of its series of hearings this month will take place next Thursday night – plans to showcase the horror of the crazed day when supporters of then-President Donald Trump tried to stage a coup after the 2020 election and to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
New glimpses of the mountain of evidence piled up by the committee suggest the panel will take viewers deep into Trump’s inner circle before and during the insurrection to pose the question of why he didn’t try to stop it as hours passed.
January 6 hearings could be a real-life summer blockbuster
The January 6 committee hearings are expected to be an eight-episode extravaganza. Some installments are even scheduled to air in prime time.
- “The story of the worst presidential political offense against the Union in American history,” declares US Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the January 6 committee.
- The hearings will have “tens of thousands of exhibits” and a cast of “hundreds of witnesses,” says Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman.
The January 6 committee hearings, meanwhile, have the vitally important goal of making the case to the American public that Trump and key players in his entourage engaged in a behind-the-scenes effort to overthrow the 2020 election. And the proceedings aim to show that they may have had more than a bit part in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
John Durham Tried to Prove Trump’s Russiagate Theory. Instead He Debunked It.
Trump and William Barr have spent years alleging that the Russia investigation was a criminal plot by the FBI. The Department of Justice’s inspector general found the Russia investigation was adequately predicated, but Barr disagreed. So he selected a prosecutor, John Durham, who would supposedly uncover this scheme and begin frog-marching its perpetrators to justice.
However focused he may be, Durham is not winning prosecutions. His investigation has produced a single guilty plea from one extremely small fish for a likely immaterial error that the Inspector General already found. And now he is losing prosecutions. Durham abused his authority by trying to prosecute Michael Sussmann, a lawyer working for Hillary Clinton, whom Durham tried to convict on a single perjury charge. And the case turns out to have been so pathetically threadbare that it resulted in a rapid acquittal.
The fact Durham even had to bring this case was a testament to the failure of his probe. He had set out to uncover the FBI’s crimes against Mr. Trump. He was reduced to trying, and failing, to prosecute somebody for lying to the FBI.
Grand jury indicts former Trump adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress
A federal grand jury has indicted former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate in the House January 6 committee’s investigation.
During a court appearance in Washington, DC, on Friday, Navarro said that he still wants to represent himself without a lawyer and accused prosecutors of using “hardball” tactics by arresting him at an airport and not allowing him to make a phone call.
Navarro said he was arrested at a DC-area airport Friday on his way to Nashville.
Up to 50 Subpoenas Expected as Grand Jury Begins Trump Inquiry
As many as 50 witnesses are expected to be subpoenaed by a special grand jury that will begin hearing testimony next week in the criminal investigation into whether former President Donald J. Trump and his allies violated Georgia laws in their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
The Good News in Georgia That’s Bad News for Trump
In Georgia, the state at the center of the 45th president’s attempt to defy the public will and stay in office, there were two Republican primary races that doubled as referendums on the Trumpian demand that G.O.P. officials follow him into a constitutional crisis — and in both of them his candidate lost badly.
Moreover, the primary balloting in Georgia saw record early-voting turnout and no evidence of meaningful impediments to voting
Putin fires five more generals: report
Russian President Vladimir Putin fired a slew of generals earlier this week as Moscow continues to experience losses among its top officers and generals during its invasion of Ukraine.
Five top generals — Maj. Gens. Vasily Kukushkin, Alexander Laas, Andrey Lipilin, Alexander Udovenko and Yuri Instrankin — in addition to Police Colonel Emil Musin were fired by the Russian president on Monday, the Russian newspaper Pravda reported, citing a decree extract, which a source close to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia confirmed the authenticity of to the news outlet.
Pravda, citing Russian media organization RBC, noted that a standard employee reshuffle procedure accounted for why the top officials had been fired.
But the development comes as officials have noted that Russia has suffered an unprecedented loss of top officers and generals.
Other Good News
Starbucks Workers Have Now Unionized 100 Stores
the tally of unionized Starbucks locations is continuing to swell, with the latest additions coming after pro-unionization votes late last week in Seattle and Birmingham, Alabama.
The coffee giant’s CEO “Howard Schultz and Starbucks are getting creamed in union vote after union vote,” labor journalist Steven Greenhouse tweeted Saturday.
By the union’s count, there are now 100 stores across the nation that have unionized.
Pfizer seeks authorization of coronavirus shot for children under 5
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, on Wednesday finished submitting an application for regulatory authorization of a coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 5.
The development marked another important step toward providing vaccination for the last segment of the U.S. population that does not have access to shots.
Ford plans 6,000 new union jobs in three Midwestern states.
Ford Motor said on Thursday that it was planning to invest $3.7 billion in facilities across the Midwest, much of it for the production of electric vehicles, which the company said would create more than 6,000 union jobs in the region.
“We’re investing in American jobs and our employees to build a new generation of incredible Ford vehicles,” Jim Farley, the company’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. “Transforming our company for the next era of American manufacturing requires new ways of working.”
The announcement, made jointly with the United Automobile Workers union, detailed investments in three states. Ford said it would invest $2 billion and create about 3,200 union jobs in Michigan, including many tied to production of the new F-150 Lightning pickup truck, the company’s highest-profile and most important bet on electric vehicles.
In Ohio, Ford will spend over $1.5 billion and create nearly 2,000 union jobs, primarily to build commercial electric vehicles in the middle of this decade. The company also said it would add over 1,000 union jobs at an assembly plant in Kansas City, Mo., that will produce commercial vans, some gas-powered and some electric.
On the Lighter Side
Before, we go, please consider donating to Democrats running for office.
I set up a place where we can donate and the funds will be distributed evenly between the tossup House and Senate races. Think of it as a one stop shop for using your $$$ to save democracy. Here is the link:
**** Click Here to Donate for House and Senate Races ****
Here are some other things you can do:
And don’t lose hope. Together, we can do this!
I found this inspiring and am sharing it in case it moves any of you:
So many of you already embody this message. So many of you already find happiness in working to make this world better.
We will never allow despair to have the last word.
I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you ✊🏼✊🏾✊🏽🧡💚💛💜✊🏾✊🏽✊🏻