I always describe our weekly politics chats as therapy.
That has never felt more true than this week, as we all needed to talk out our feelings of fear, disgust, and absolute rage over Donald Trump’s war crimes (and yes, a credible threat to commit genocide - as the ones Trump issued this week - is a violation of both US and international law).
You know it’s bad when people like Candace Owens and Alex Jones are talking 25th Amendment. (In the podcast, I also cited Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson - but they merely pronounced Trump’s Easter messages as “evil.”)
The country cannot take two more years of this. The world can’t take two more years of this.
Aliza put on her ex-teacher’s cap and reminded us of some basic Civics: The 25th Amendment can only be invoked by the Vice President and the Cabinet. But the other means of removing a dangerous government official is by impeachment, and that is done by Congress. And that is where WE come in.
Karoli reminds us that as we are still a democracy, we have some agency in all of this: We can urge our members of Congress to vote to impeach him.
This is not 2019 or 2021. We have an unhinged president with no guardrails and a cabinet of toadies. The MAGA base is fracturing under the pressure - and the politicians in Congress can read the cratering polls (even Republicans). Call your Congressperson. Call your Senators. (The 5 Calls app makes it easy.) Urge your friends to do the same.
We’re Americans and we will have to live with the shame of this moment for the rest of our lives. Let’s also remember we did something about it.
Staying Sane in Hell
Thanks to the red-pilled billionaires who are trying to Victor Orbanize our media, my attempts at keeping informed involve wading through A LOT of newsletters. This weekend, many of them were absolutely terrifying.
Karoli said she purposefully chose not to read those (if only I listened to her advice more often!) She pointed out that the economics of platforms like this one push creators to emphasize the negative. This spurred a discussion of the ones we read that counter that point of view, and we promised to share with you our favorites:
Aliza is a big fan of the Thread posts of Ariella Elm, who catalogs the many successes of Democrats in office (often ignored by the media).
Karoli recommends the just-launched Substack of former CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane, who is doing what Bari Weiss does not want: straight reporting of the news without an agenda.
I am a big fan of Robert Hubbell, who explains what is going on calmly without losing sight on what this regime can and cannot do. He is generally an optimist, and I need that dose of perspective each day.
Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter is a wonderful compendium of ways to actively fight this regime. She’s positive and inspiring.
The Grassroots Connector is another one that highlights our successes and offers ideas for getting involved.
Do you have a favorite resource that’s not mentioned here? Please add it to the list in comments.
View this week’s podcast above, or listen to the audio:
