"Unhinged Chaos." Check.

Time has no meaning.

The last week felt like a month, amIright?

It’s not like we didn’t KNOW it was going to be like this. We remember his first term. We read Project 2025 (or at least, the highlights) and we warned everyone who would listen - and a lot of people who would not, or didn’t believe it, or didn’t care.

We are also familiar with the Groundswell playbook the organized right wing has been using for the last decade: waging a multi-front war that leaves us functionally paralyzed because we don’t know what to fight first. Think physical version of the Gish Gallop debate tactic.

But expecting the whirlwind of authoritarian and unconstitutional executive orders and firehose of lies is not the same as being in the middle of it. It’s like the fires we experienced here in Los Angeles earlier this month: We were warned of unprecedented fire danger and winds of 100 miles per hour. But no matter how prepared we tried to be, the reality was much worse.

A Failed Attempt to Keep Score

My vow leading up to the Inauguration was that this time around, I would pace myself. I would not keep cable news on 24/7. I would stay informed, but I would not obsess. Most of all, I would not allow myself to be outraged at the little things - just the stuff that really matters.

I have failed miserably. What follows is a very partial list of executive orders and actions taken by the new regime, as well as some victories for American democracy. But they are moving so quickly that I can’t guarantee that these will be accurate by the time this newsletter goes out. (See “tariffs on Colombia.”)

The purpose of the Blitzkrieg of executive orders and other actions by the Trump administration is to overwhelm you, make it difficult to prioritize, and demoralize and terrify you. It’s no accident that Trump has twinned the surge of domestic measures with outrageous and belligerent proclamations about international affairs, whether it is his talk about United States taking Greenland, annexing Canada, or his plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip.”

He made good on this threat to pardon the approximately 1500 rioters who were convicted for participating in the January 6 insurrection - including those who convicted of sedition. Stewart Rhodes was seen on Capitol Hill after his release from prison. Enrique Tarrio is back with the Proud Boys and talking about running for office.

Of course, they’ve got a huge focus on immigration. The executive order erasing the 14th amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship has already been temporary halted by a Federal judge for being unconstitutional. Other executive orders killed the process for asylum-seekers and others seeking to enter the country legally.

They also made good on threats to begin mass deportations, including against immigrants with temporary status. Roundups reported in several Blue states, including New Jersey, Colorado, and California. Migrants were loaded onto military planes set to enter other countries, but were refused by Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. The president threatened to retaliate against Colombia by invoking a 25% tariff; last night the Colombian government relented.

and he repeated threats to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (the same power that FDR invoked during WWII to round up and imprison Japanese-Americans).

They pulled us out of both WHO and the Paris Climate Accord and (which is being rescued a bit by Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic foundation). They have frozen Federal funding for offshore wind projects while a opening up Federal land for more drilling.

Late Friday night, he fired 18 inspectors general. These are the government watchdogs who help ensure that the departments do not operate corruptly. They audit, investigate, and protect whistleblowers - and they got in Trump’s way the last time around, so he wants to replace them with loyalists. It turns out that this action was against the law, which requires the president to notify Congress 30 days in advance and provide valid reasons. The head of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency responded to the White House and Congress with a letter stating “At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.” 👀

He also issued orders dismantling DEI initiatives. The new administration directed Federal employees to snitch on anyone continuing the initiatives or trying to disguise them with language. All of this led the Air Force to briefly end using training videos that tell the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and women serving in the force. This got some well-deserved pushback from the public.

What About the Democrats?

The news from the House and the Senate has been a mixed bag. The Democrats stuck together on opposing the unqualified Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary. He won the vote, but not without JD Vance casting the tie-breaker. But Marco Rubio sailed into the Secretary of State position 99-0.

John Ratcliffe at CIA and Kristi Noem at Homeland Security have also been succesfully confirmed with votes from that included Democratic Senators. Only a few congressional Democrats seem to understand what it means to be an opposition party. The time for bipartisanship is long past. We don’t expect this government to accomplish much of anything that is good for the American people. And we don’t want OUR electeds helping them out.

What Can WE Do?

Remember what Ruth Ben-Ghiat said in the quote at the top of this email: the new regime is trying to make us feel that fighting back is futile. But, as the example of pressure on the Air Force shows, we still have the collective power of public pressure. Our representatives pay attention to our letters, emails, and phone calls. Now is the time to let them know what we think.

Our Resources for News and Information document includes a section on political organizing. These run the gamut from established grassroots organizations like Indivisible and MomsRising… to newsletters that track what’s happening in Congress and offer easily digestible individual actions you can make on a daily or weekly basis.

Taking small, manageable actions is the way we fight our personal feelings of helplessness…. and FIGHT BACK against the chaos.

One Last Thing

Did any of his actions this week do anything to lower prices?

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