Let's Hear It for Some Good Trouble
Cory Booker reminded us all how it is done. And Justice Susan Crawford proved - again - that elections can't always be bought.
I don’t want to talk about the latest Trump disaster destroying the booming economy he inherited from Joe Biden. I’m not finished with Signalgate (which most definitely isn’t over), with news that “National Security Advisor” Mike Waltz had 20 other highly illegal secret chats on the app and uses Gmail to discuss the country’s military operations.
And don’t get me started on the enraging admission that at least one of the men Trump extradited to an El Salvadoran gulag was an immigrant with legal status and no criminal record - AND OUR GOVERNMENT HAS NO INTENTION OF TRYING TO GET HIM BACK.
We discussed all of those very awful news stories in this week’s podcast. But mostly, we wanted to laud Senator Cory Booker for “disrupting regular business” in the Senate chamber by holding the floor for 25 hours (and four minutes) in - as the New York Times put it, “a show of physical and oratorical endurance.”
It is a sign that some of our Democratic leaders are finally listening to the voters; recognizing the crisis we are in and fighting back.
We also celebrated the Wisconsin special election, where Susan Crawford beat back Elon Musk and the MAGA attempt to retake the state’s Supreme Court. Musk threw himself (and over $20 million) into the race, suggesting that the election outcome would determine “the entire destiny of humanity.” Maybe not - but maintaining the hard-won progressive majority on Wisconsin’s court may ensure Wisconsinites access to reproductive healthcare and un-gerrymander their legislative districts.
View this week’s MOMochat podcast:
Or listen to the audio:
Redeeming the Soul of the Nation
Senator Booker concluded his marathon speech on Tuesday by invoking the memory of John Lewis: “He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation. I want you to redeem the dream. Let’s be bold in America.”
More and more Americans are heeding that call. In fact, a Harvard study shows that the United States has seen more than double the number of protests against Trump/Musk than in the same period in 2017 - and the number of participants continues to grow.
Saturday’s Hands Off day of action - sponsored by a consortium of organizations - promises to be the biggest yet.
Indivisible reports that more than 500 local events will be held around the country and hundreds of thousands of people have signed up to attend. I am planning to hit two of them here in Southern California, and Karoli may do the same.
We will be posting photos in the comments to this newsletter. We’d love to see yours, too! Sign up at HandsOff2025.com.
I’m at the Ventura protest and there are well over 1000 here early. Not sure how to post a photo tho.