Illegal and Immoral. Sanders

  

We are living in unprecedented and dangerous times. It seems that every day there is an action or statement from the Trump Administration that is grossly illegal or vulgar - or both.

In the midst of all the chaos I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your ongoing support and let you know what I and my co-workers are doing to combat Trumpism. Frankly, we’re doing a lot. Here is just some of what we’re focusing on.

COMBATTING TRUMP’S AUTHORITARIANISM: Today we have a president who is not only a pathological liar, but a narcissist, a kleptocrat and an egomaniac. He wants more and more power in his own hands and couldn't care less about the Constitution, the rule of law, decency or democracy. 

The fight against authoritarianism is a struggle we are fighting on a number of fronts. Last month, I offered an amendment in the Senate that received 49 votes (all Democrats and two Republicans) to rescind the $75 billion that ICE received as part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the worst piece of legislation passed in the modern history of America. With your help, we were also able to raise $200,000 for some of the courageous groups in Minnesota who fought back against the ICE occupation of that city and showed us what grassroots activism can achieve. In preparation for the 2026 elections I am working with a number of my colleagues to make certain that, despite the outrageous efforts of Trump and many Republicans to suppress the vote, these elections are free and fair.

FIGHTING OLIGARCHY: Never before in American history have so few individuals had so much wealth and so much power. Today, with the top 1% owning more wealth than the bottom 93%, we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. While 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, the Oligarchs are not only getting richer but they are increasing their power by buying up media and making huge campaign contributions.

I am proud that our Fighting Oligarchy rallies have now taken place in 24 states, with some 325,000 people in attendance. And it’s not just Progressives who are coming out. It’s Independents and Republicans as well. We have also just introduced a bill that would impose a wealth tax on billionaires. This bill would raise $4.4 trillion in the next ten years, and plow that money back into improving life for the struggling working families of our country. Yes. We need a government that works for all, not just the 1%. I am also supporting the Billionaire Wealth Tax proposal in California and was part of a great union rally that was held in Los Angeles last month.

ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF AI AND ROBOTICS: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics are being pushed by the wealthiest people in the world - Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Ellison, Thiel, etc. Left unchecked these technologies will bring about a massive transformation of American economic, political and social life. I will not surprise you by stating that the multi-billionaires developing these technologies do not stay up nights worrying about the well-being of ordinary Americans. Their goal is to simply increase the enormous amount of wealth and power that they have, and they want to do it without any rules or regulations to impede their greed.

Studies indicate that AI and Robotics could result in the loss of tens of millions of jobs. Further, these new technologies could impact the mental health of our young people, undermine democracy and significantly erode our privacy. And, if a super -AI becomes smarter than humans, as some leading experts believe may happen soon, it is possible that AI could function independently of human control and threaten the very existence of humanity.

Next week, I will be introducing legislation calling for a moratorium on the construction of new data centers. Congress and the American people must get a handle on these rapidly evolving technologies. The function of AI and robotics must be to improve life for all, not just make a handful of very rich people even richer.

THE WAR IN IRAN: At Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s request, Trump initiated a horrific war against Iran. Trump’s actions were unconstitutional, as he did not get approval from Congress. It is also in blatant violation of international law. By attacking a sovereign nation Trump is moving the world toward international anarchy where any nation, for any reason, can attack another. That makes all of us increasingly unsafe.

The death toll and destruction from the war continues to mount. As of yesterday, 1,444 people in Iran have been killed, 910 in Lebanon, 29 in Iraq, 15 in Israel and 8 in the UAE. Further, 13 members of the U.S. military have also been killed and several hundred have been wounded. In addition, there are many thousands of civilians who have been wounded and displaced, as well as massive destruction of housing and infrastructure.

This is a war that should never have been started and the Trump Administration must be held accountable. Further, I will continue to help lead the effort to end all military support for Israel. We cannot continue to arm an extremist government that has brought so much death and destruction to the region.

BUILDING A STRONG GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT: Our current political system is corrupt. The bad news is that, as a result of the terrible Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires in both political parties are spending huge amounts of money to elect candidates who represent their interests. The good news is that, in every region of our country, there is growing disgust at a political elite who ignore the needs of the average American. 

During the last number of years, the progressive movement has had enormous success in electing outstanding progressives at the local, state and federal level. Right now, for example, there are over 100 members of the House Progressive Caucus, which is one of the largest caucuses in Congress. Last November, Zohran Mamdani was elected Mayor of New York City. Last month, Analilia Mejia won an upset Democratic primary victory in New Jersey for a congressional seat. 

Even more importantly, poll after poll shows that the American people are tired of status quo politics and are demanding real change. They want a progressive agenda that makes certain that, in the richest country in the history of the world, all of our people live with dignity and security. 

They understand that our health care system is broken, that health care is a human right and want Medicare for All.

They understand that the cost of housing is unaffordable and want us to build the millions of units of low-income and affordable housing that we desperately need.

They understand that wages are far too low and want us to raise the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of $20 an hour.

They understand that our approach to funding education is absurd and that young people who want a higher education should not leave school with $50,000 or $100,000 in debt.

They understand that climate change is real and that we can cut carbon pollution and create millions of good-paying jobs by encouraging the development of sustainable energy and energy efficiency.

Building a progressive political movement is not easy. But we’re doing it. We’re taking on the Oligarchs and all their money. We’re taking on the corporate media. We’re taking on the political establishment in both political parties. 

And, because of your support, we’re succeeding. 

Let’s keep going forward together.

In Solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

---

It is time for Stephen Miller to Resign

 [View Email in Browser]

You haven't heard from us in a few weeks. We've had our hands full with trainings or giving presentations (like this one at CUNY). But we wanted to share the latest from Daniel Hunter in Waging Nonviolence "It's time to oust Stephen Miller."

If you don't want to read the whole article, just go ahead and send a letter at OustMiller.com. 

---

Kristi Noem defamed murdered Veterans Affairs intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by calling him a domestic terrorist. But she didn’t act on her own. According to Axios reporting, Noem took direction from Stephen Miller, who first called Alex “an assassin.” Noem explained, “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen.”

Kristi Noem’s firing is a sign of shifting times. And while many eyes are on her successor, it may be a moment to set our sights a little higher. 

As my mentor used to tell me, “Being only on the defensive is another way of saying losing.” There is no pathway out of the authoritarian morass we are in without people developing offensive campaigns.

While the movement still needs a bigger and broader vision, one immediate step is turning attention from Noem toward Stephen Miller, and calling for his ouster. 

We can take a page from the firing of Kristi Noem: Movements don’t always convince powerful officials directly — they raise the political cost of their position until other actors intervene.

It’s okay to cheer — because we did this

It’s difficult to trace what caused Trump to finally axe Noem. His actions are guttural and reactive. But Trump was apparently livid after Noem told Congress that he had approved her emergency $220 million ad buys that gave money to her friends and featured her (at the expense of our children’s schools or fixing roadways). That means we don’t get to her firing without that disastrous Congressional hearing.

And that hearing only came about from public pressure. Yes, the two murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good had garnered attention. But lawmakers are fantastic at avoiding controversy and keeping their heads down. They’ve fully avoided doing anything of consequence about an off-duty ICE officer killing Keith Porter Jr.; a federal agent killing Julian Bailey in Washington, D.C.; the ICE murder of Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop; or the case of half-blind Nurul Amin Shah Alam, who was wrongfully picked up by ICE and then abandoned miles from his house — only to be found dead five days later.

All of these stories involve people of color and have gained less notoriety. So let’s pause and remind ourselves that our attention matters a great deal here. Organizers made sure that the murders of Pretti and Good, at the peak of unrest in Minneapolis, in front of many witnesses, with multiple videos, were impossible to ignore.

Because we are quite powerful. The risk-taking on the streets of Minneapolis and the disciplined pressure on congresspeople became so great that Democrats are holding firm and (as of writing) have still not approved additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security. 

None of this would have been possible without our growing people power. 

We don’t have direct control over what those in power do. But we can compel it. It’s like politicians are a balloon. Tied to a rock, they are constantly being blown by oligarchs away from the people. But in moments where we activate and remind politicians that their power ultimately flows from us, we are able to pick up the rock and move them. Street activists create drama and spectacle that sharpen public attention. Insiders, meanwhile, must seize the brief windows when more radical steps become possible — and take them.

This was one of the lessons the civil rights movement gave us. One of our greats, Bernard LaFayette, who died on March 5, had been tasked with setting up the on-the-ground organizing for voter registration in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. When 600 Black marchers set off on a march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights, Alabama state troopers viciously attacked them with clubs and tear gas as they crossed over Edmund Pettus Bridge, in what came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” 

The public reaction pushed Lyndon Johnson to move Congress to pass voting legislation — the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Trump is right now trying to destroy. 

This is the lesson of the Tesla Takedown movement, too. Elon Musk had so much to gain by staying in power. We didn’t control the specific moment that led to his fallout with Trump. But we forced his ouster through a combination of outside pressure at showrooms and boycotts coupled with inside bureaucratic resistance, like millions refusing to obey his demand for weekly email updates from civil servants. All of these tactics created pressure on his shareholders, his workers, his fans and Trump’s cabinet members, which ultimately helped split him and Trump apart. 

And that’s what we’ll have to do as well with who some Trump officials are accurately and jealously calling “President Miller.”

Why Stephen Miller?

There are some awful characters in the White House. Most are cruel. Some are persuasive. A few are tactically and bureaucratically competent. Miller is the rare one that’s all three — and he has the influence in government to match.

Kristi Noem has been an honorable Trump lackey — obedient, dramatic, chaos-driven and cruel. But Stephen Miller is the Trump whisperer — a policy architect and ideological driver behind so much of the bad that’s happening. His role is uniquely powerful — as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained to The Atlantic, Miller “oversees every policy the administration touches.” 

He allegedly orchestrated blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 157 people — an act which senators and international law experts have called a war crime and crime against humanity. 

Attribution of Miller’s actions is sometimes hard because he eschews formal process. Allegedly he crafted the Compact for Excellence in Higher Education to rip up universities. He designed family separation at the southern border. He approved every executive order at the start of Trump’s presidency, including rolling back LGBTQ+ protections. And he, of course, is the primary architect of Trump’s violent and callous deportation policy.

As if destroying the lives of immigrants wasn’t enough, Miller is profiting off of it. He has invested as much as $250,000 in Palantir, even as policy decisions he makes could benefit the company. The Project on Government Oversight reported that ethics experts say it “raises conflict of interest” concerns — normal folks just call it corruption.

The Southern Poverty Law Center added Stephen Miller to their Extremist Files in 2020— alongside people like David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. This designation came after leaked emails of his promoted white nationalist websites, “white genocide” books, and eugenics laws that Adolf Hilter used in “Mein Kampf.”

A new site called StephenMillerHatesYou.com shows how Stephen Miller hates you. If you’re Black. Gay. Poor. A small business owner. Muslim. Anti-imperialist. Native. Believe in the free press. Have a disability. Want a breathable climate. His policy portfolio is only outpaced by his hatred for most of us in this country.

An election about President Miller

Despite Stephen Miller’s incredible influence, no one voted for him. And he is deeply unpopular: A January poll found only 17 percent of respondents had a positive opinion of him. Imagine if we had coordinated campaigns displaying his contempt for this country!

Kristi Noem’s exit shows that it is possible to take on Stephen Miller. Her firing marks the first major cabinet dismissal in Trump’s second administration, in a return to Trump’s vintage move: “You’re fired.” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has kept the cabinet stable, but this leaves the door open for more turnover.

It shows there are limits — even inside a chaotic administration. It vindicates the collective power of the people fighting this regime. And it puts the wind in our sails.

Some initial pressure is building. Following Noem’s ouster, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis saidStephen Miller is a “big problem” and “should go” — calls that should be echoed. On March 28, Free DC and the No Kings DC march will bring their message directly to Stephen Miller’s doorstep with an action at his home at Fort McNair. Their message: “join us to make it clear that No Kings means #FireStephenMiller.”

A campaign against Stephen Miller would likely follow a pattern similar to the pressure that built against Noem and Musk — a combination of inside and outside pressure that steadily raises the political cost of keeping him in power.

Rather than focusing on Noem’s replacement, it’s time to start focusing on direct accountability for Miller: publicly demanding his removal, confronting the administration with the question of why someone the public never elected now wields such extraordinary influence in the White House. 

Exposure is also critical: digging up and amplifying the long trail of controversies, statements and policies tied to Miller’s record. The goal is not simply criticism — it is repetition. The more the public hears his words and sees his record, the less support there is for the ideology he represents.

Meanwhile, elected officials can be pushed to exercise formal oversight: investigations, hearings and public questioning that drag his decisions and influence into the light. When controversial figures are forced to answer questions under scrutiny, their power often begins to erode.

The strategy is simple: Turn the spotlight toward him and refuse to turn it off.

Some folks have created this very campaign: Oust Miller. Launched recently, it offers toolkits to help focus attention and build collective pressure.

Even using the phrase “President Miller” may help drive a wedge between him and Trump, since Trump can’t stand anyone else taking credit for his ideas. If the spotlight stays on Miller, one of two things happens: either the pressure becomes great enough that he is forced out of the White House, or the public face of the administration — and the upcoming election cycle — becomes more associated with the man whose ideology the vast majority of Americans reject.

Miller thrives in the shadows of bureaucratic power. He is combative, ideological and relentlessly focused on pushing a vision of the country rooted in exclusion. But that can also lead to his downfall. The more the country sees him, the clearer the stakes of the election and the future of our democracy.

So as we move toward bigger demands, one clear next step presents itself: Let’s oust Stephen Miller.

In solidarity,

Choose Democracy

Prepare for the Big March - No Kings -Indivisble

 

In this week's newsletter we share No Kings resources, tools to get Congress to act to end Trump's war and push back against ICE's plan to warehouse people, and much more -- but first, Ezra calls on Indivisibles to make No Kings on March 28 our biggest protest ever. Paul, It’s been a long harsh winter, but the ice is melting, and it’s time for No Kings Spring. In these newsletters, I try to inform with a bias towards action. The only way out of this mess is by recruiting a lot more people to do a lot more organizing in a lot of more communities. There’s no bigger or better opportunity to make progress against the fascists in the month of March than No Kings 3.  No Kings 3 will be historic because we will make it historic. Less than two weeks out, I can now confirm that there will be more No Kings protests on March 28 than on any previous day in American history.  But, as with Hands Off last April, No Kings last June, and No Kings 2 last October, I know this isn’t done until it’s done. We need this to be an enormous, historic rebuke to Trump’s regime. But whether it’s successful depends on far more than just me or Indivisible -- it depends on the leadership, courage, and commitment of millions of people around the globe.  This is a grassroots-driven event, which means it will succeed or fail because of what we all do to organize, recruit, and prepare. There are no corporate sponsors, there’s no massive advertising campaign, and despite what the right-wing wackjobs obsess about, nobody’s sending big checks to protestors. It’s up to us -- all of us.  The good news is we’re not alone. Momentum is building -- you can hear it. Last weekend, Leah and I went down to Selma for the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee's commemoration of the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the fight for a real, multiracial democracy. We were there because Indivisible received the Freedom Flame award, and we wanted to experience the history of that pivotal moment in Civil Rights History first-hand. I’d recommend anyone and everyone go next year. You’ll learn from and be inspired by the leaders who paved the road for our democracy with blood, sweat, and tears.  You’ll also find lots of friends. We were humbled when Faya Ora Rose Touré, the civil rights legend who cofounded the Jubilee, came up to us and shared a song she'd written for No Kings. You can see the lyrics here. All of us can organize. I love that No Kings is becoming so well-known that talented people all over the world are creating art in support of the movement. Nils Lofgren -- guitarist for the E Street band with Bruce Springsteen -- sent us his new song: No Kings, No Hate, No Fear. Neither he nor Springsteen had planned to write new protest music or even go on tour this spring, but after the crackdown in the Twin Cities, they decided they had to do a No Kings protest tour, kicking off in Minneapolis after the flagship No Kings protest there on March 28.  But you don’t have to be a world famous artist to help make No King 3 into something historic. I’m not talking about money -- I’m talking about effort. With twelve days left to go, here are the three things I’d recommend: Register your local No Kings events! If your No Kings protest isn’t yet on the map, you’ve got until Wednesday, March 25 at 11:59pm PT to register it. Rule of thumb: if you go to the map and can’t find a protest within 30 minutes of where you live, start planning your own!  Train up. If you’re looking for training on safety, de-escalation, marketing, digital, or constitutional rights, we’ve got you covered. If your Indivisible group needs support, reach out to your organizer to walk you through the esources we provide. Ultimately this is up to you and your group, but you’re not alone and we can help! Recruit. Yes you should post to social media, but don’t just rely on the largely regime-friendly tech platforms to spread the word. At your favorite coffee shop, on Nextdoor, or among friends -- invite folks to join you. Find three people who didn't attend No Kings last year. Have a conversation about the moment we’re in, and ask them to come with you on March 28. This is old-school and more time consuming than just posting online -- but nothing is more effective at actually building the movement. As Faya Rose put it, without democracy, we cannot be free. That’s why we march, that’s why we sing: No kings, no kings. In solidarity,  Ezra Levin  Co-Executive Director, Indivisible Your weekly to-dos Tell Congress: Stop Trump's War! Since Trump launched his war on Iran, as of this writing, thirteen US servicemembers, more than 1,400 Iranians, and hundreds of civilians across the region have been killed. Tell your Members of Congress to use every lever they have to end it: conduct oversight; force more votes on War Powers Resolutions; restrict funding; and oppose the war publicly.

A I and Electoral Politics

This is what is coming.

The real James Talarico. Republicans recently released a video with an A.I.-generated version of him reading his old tweets. Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

The age of eerie A.I. political ads is here

	By Katie Glueck

Weird voice-overs. Fake images of politicians. Scenes that seem real until you look closely.

The A.I. era of campaign advertising seems to be upon us — and it’s a pretty fast-moving and complex situation.

Fortunately, my colleague Tiffany Hsu, a technology reporter who writes about disinformation, has joined us today to help explain how A.I.-generated ads are already shaping the political landscape, and where this phenomenon may be going next.

Here’s our conversation, edited and condensed:

Tiffany, thank you for joining. I want to start by asking you about an A.I.-generated video from the Senate Republican campaign arm that draws on old tweets to put words in the mouth of a fake image of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas.

My first thought was, can they really do that? Are there any guardrails right now on how public figures can be represented in A.I.-generated content?

They can, and they already have! In October, the same group put out an attack ad with a deepfake of Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader from New York. There was another A.I.-generated attack ad around the same time targeting Zohran Mamdani, now the New York mayor, during his campaign.

Protections do exist, in theory: As of December, 26 states have laws regulating political deepfakes, most of them requiring some sort of disclosure about the use of artificial intelligence or barring deepfake distribution right before an election.

Do these laws have teeth? Debatable. The Federal Communications Commission has done some work on this front, banning A.I.-generated voices in robocalls (like the one in 2024 that impersonated President Joe Biden) and has considered rules about political deepfakes in television and radio ads.

Remind us, what is a deepfake?

There’s a more detailed technical explanation, but when we talk about a deepfake, we usually mean a deceptive image or video of a real person.

How widespread do you expect A.I.-generated advertising to be in the midterm elections this year?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see it more frequently. The Trump administration has been pretty brazen about communicating via A.I.-generated memes and digitally altered content, and if the president sets the political tone, then candidates could be less cautious about tapping the technology.

Their calculus might be that the public is becoming increasingly desensitized to A.I.’s reality distortion effect. They’re already being bombarded with fake influencers, fake celebrities, fake war reporting. What’s another fake politician?

Is it mostly Republicans who have used this tactic so far, or are you seeing some Democrats dip into it too?

This is an equal-opportunity technology. Jesse Jackson Jr., who is trying to reclaim his former seat representing Illinois in Congress, released an ad this month with former Representative Bobby Rush of Illinois delivering an endorsement in an A.I.-enhanced voice (his vocal cords were weakened by cancer).

A Democrat in upstate New York who is running to replace Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican, ran an ad over the summer that used A.I.-generated video of Stefanik to mock her.

The National Democratic Training Committee has discouraged candidates from using deepfakes of their opponents.

Are there any particularly striking examples of A.I. in ads that have floated under the radar?

New York Times.  

Create Domestic Terrorism _ Like the NAZIs did

Timothy Snyder

Worse, we stand at the brink of a water war that could threaten the lives of tens of millions of people. The region lacks fresh water and depends upon the desalinization of sea water. Iran was facing a catastrophic drought before the war began. Its government is now claiming that one of its desalinization plants was targeted. And Bahrain is also claiming that Iran has attacked one of its desalinization plants. The truth will emerge with time. If this war becomes a water war, there will be plenty of blame to share. But people who survive the deprivation of water would not be wrong to believe that an American war was the ultimate cause.

Another possibility is an American act of terrorism on the territory of the United States, either presented as an Iranian attack or not. Most terrorism inside the United States is domestic and is right-wing, and this war has been very divisive among American fascists. Historically, fascist competitions for power have been accompanied by internal violence.

Russia is another possible source of a terror attack inside the United States. It is not hard to see why Moscow would contemplate such a thing. In the current circumstances, it would be easy to deflect blame. Given that Putin himself consolidated authoritarian power on the strength of wars against Muslims and terrorist attacks inside his own country, he will have had no trouble imagining such a path for Trump. It is not hard to see him giving Trump such a gift. Russia has some relevant capabilities.

During the first year of this second Trump administration, defenses against all of these vectors of terrorism have been removed. There are three levels of the problem: policies have been changed; leadership is incompetent and experienced personnel are gone; and fiction about immigrants has displaced the actual problem of terrorism.

At the level of Trump-era policy change, Russia is the most curious case. The Trump administration has been resolutely pro-Kremlin, to the point of tolerating Russian backing of Iran in this war and ensuring that Russia makes money from selling oil. Right now the Trump administration is asking Ukraine for help with drone defense in the Persian Gulf region, while denying the significance of the Russian war on Ukraine that led the Ukrainians to develop that capacity in the first place. Under Trump, American monitoring of Russian sabotage has been scaled back.

Domestic terrorists are also getting a pass if they are right-wing; the Department of Homeland Security has deprioritized domestic terrorism and is no longer keeping up its database. An unqualified but right-wing recent college graduate is in charge of its program designed to prevent domestic terrorism. These examples could be multiplied.

Tulsi Gabbard, who is in charge of the agency that coordinates intelligence, has no qualifications. She was last observed taking part in the federal seizure of ballots in Georgia: this has nothing to do with her job description, and strongly suggests an intention to “federalize” the coming election.

It goes on. Kash Patel, the head of the FBI, is also lacking in qualifications. He treats his job as the infrastructure of celebrity. There is currently no director of Homeland Security. The last one was fired for a scandal of titanic self-absorption. The presumptive successor, Markwayne Mullin, has no relevant experience. His single qualification is that he is a Trump loyalist and is willing to tell the Trump story to the media. He has been taking part in all of the fiction.

And fiction is the problem. Calling American protestors terrorists after killing them makes everything worse; it is crime covered by indecency inviting incompetence. Everything has to be adjusted to Trump’s view of the world. We cannot follow right-wing terrorists because they are seen as Trump’s allies, to be pardoned and forgiven. We cannot take the Russian threat seriously, because Trump treats Putin with sympathy and no doubt understands that Russia intervenes on his behalf. The Trump administration cannot take real terrorism seriously because it must inhabit the grand fiction that the real danger to the United States are undocumented immigrants. A year of using the word “terrorism” in reference to that unreal threat has created unreality, and unreality undoes capability.

None of this requires any sort of grand plan in the White House, let alone a conspiracy. None of it even requires very much initiative. Self-terrorism is more a matter of allowing things to fall apart, and then grabbing opportunely at a bit of the falling wreckage, which is something that Trump does well. The chain of events -- the disabling of counter-terror; the war on Iran; the terror attack; the attempt to cancel elections -- might not be completed. The last piece that has to fall into place is the public reaction. Our reaction.

It is up to the relevant authorities, local and state as well as federal, to try to prevent a terrorist attack -- the third link in the chain. May those who are trying succeed. But it is up to us, all of us, to prevent the attempt to cancel elections, the fourth and final link. The self-terrorism chain is closed only if we play our assigned part, only if we choose to ignore the patterns and fail to make the mental preparations. 

We must not allow ourselves the luxury of surprise. In the circumstances, we have no excuse for being surprised. Let me cite lesson 18 of On Tyranny:

18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

It is not just Hitler in 1933. That is one case among many. History is rife with examples of leaders who exploit, generate or manufacture crisis in order to stay in power. In the moment when a republic is meant to give way to a new form of authoritarian regime, the provocation and exploitation of terror is just what one would expect to happen. It is not, in a historical or a political sense, surprising. If we fail to remember history now, we will help the Trump regime generate a sense of panic when the terror attack comes.

We must anticipate, with sadness and resolution. We will be horrified, but we cannot be surprised, if there is a terrorist attack on the United States. If choose to be surprised, we co-create a moment that Trump will exploit to undo what remains of our democracy. If the unthinkable happens, it will happen because some of Trump’s people thought about it, some of them created the conditions for it, and some of them looked away. The responsibility for catastrophe will be theirs. And the responsibility for democracy will be ours.

8 March 2026 

T 

Mexico and the War on Drugs

 

“The cartels are fueled by the United States’ demand for drugs and armed with US weapons, and thanks to the United States, they are able to orchestrate enormous bloodshed and chaos,” said Mexico’s president.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference in Mexico City on March 9, 2026., Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

Amid months of threats by US leaders to attack drug gangs in Mexico, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum slapped back Monday against President Donald Trump’s assertion that her country is the “epicenter” of cartel violence by urging him to stem the flow of illegal arms across the border—and domestic demand for illicit narcotics. “If the flow of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico were stopped, these groups wouldn’t have access to this type of high-powered weaponry to carry out their criminal activities,” Sheinabum said during her daily press briefing, citing a 2025 US Department of Justice reportshowing that approximately 3 in 4 guns used by Mexican criminal organizations were illicitly trafficked across the international border. “There’s a very important aspect that needs to be addressed, which is reducing drug use in the United States,” she added. In a separate interview with W Radio, Sheinbaum took aim at Trump’s Saturday speech at his so-called “Shield of the Americas” summit with mostly right-wing Latin American leaders, during which he called Mexico the “epicenter of cartel violence” and announced a “brand-new military coalition” to tackle drug gangs. “The epicenter of cartel violence is not Mexico, it’s the United States,” she said. “The cartels are fueled by the United States’ demand for drugs and armed with US weapons, and thanks to the United States, they are able to orchestrate enormous bloodshed and chaos throughout Latin America.” In the latest in a series of threats to attack criminal organizations in Mexico—a scenario vehemently opposed by the Mexican government and most Mexicans—Trump said Saturday that allied right-wing Latin American governments have made “a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks.” Mexicans are wary of US interventions, having lost half their national territory to the United States in an 1846-48 war that two US presidents—Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant—said was waged under false pretext to conquer territory and expand slavery. The US also invaded and briefly occupied the port city of Veracruz in 1914 and launched a punitive invasion targeting the revolutionary Pancho Villa’s forces in 1916-17. Sheinbaum’s remarks came after Mexican troops, supported by US intelligence, killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel chief Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes—known as “El Mencho”—during a raid last month. The operation sparked a wave of retaliatory cartel violence in some Mexican states. Mexico has also arrested hundreds of suspected drug traffickers, destroyed numerous secret narcotics labs, and handed over dozens of alleged cartel criminals to US authorities in recent months. Last year, the US Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuitbrought by the Mexican government against US gun manufacturers, unanimously ruling that Mexico did not plausibly show the companies aided and abetted illegal arms sales. === Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams. Claudia Sheinbaum

Barack Obama : Our Tasks

Jesse taught us well.

https://youtu.be/PTgwbN1_7Xo?si=vH3yCYYuPENvRVGU&t=1426

Start at 22 minutes. 

https://youtu.be/PTgwbN1_7Xo?si=vH3yCYYuPENvRVGU&t=1426

 

ICE Out Now

 No Ice 

 

This is not normal. 

Normal is gone.  We can not go back to normal. 

Normal has been destroyed by  the greed and power of the oligarchy.  

The end of democracy – as we know it_ has been created by 

The Trump/MAGA fascist forces. 

We have been here before.

We have been here before. 1776, 1832, 1848, 1860, 1890’s, 1930’s, until 1965 in the South,  1942 Japanese concentration camps. 

 A new form of democracy can win. It will require all of us working together

The regime has had higher education in its sights since Trump returned to power -- and now it's unleashing ICE on campuses, too. 

Fascist regimes collapse if not propped up by their society's pillars of authority, from civil service to education. If that support isn't volunteered, the regime will demand it. The underlying purpose of ICE is to instill enough fear to trigger compliance; on college campuses, that violence is also intended to neutralize a source of authority that threatens Trump's own. 

We cannot let Trump's secret police terrorize college students or kneecap higher education. Alumni, concerned neighbors, students' loved ones -- anyone with a connection to a campus community -- has a role to play.

Go to Indivisible.  March 7, 2026.