Heritage Foundation debates whether the Hollocost happened.?

 Know  the enemy.  Including V.P. Vance.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/magazine/heritage-foundation-trump-republicans.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20260803&instance_id=179744&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=20367268&segment_id=224117&user_id=74a17c6879229e6af3c459c9a00ed609

Why Fascists Fear Teachers

Why Fascists Fear Teachers 

by Randi Weingarten

President, AFT

Teachers are under siege not for anything they do wrong, but for what they do right.

An excellent read. (2025)

The title of my new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, is intended as a warning, but it may belie what the book is at its core: a love letter to teachers. I write about teachers’ seemingly small everyday acts, like fostering empathy, confidence, critical thinking and mastery, that cultivate opportunity and humanity in our young people. And I look back at historic acts of heroism, such as the teachers in Norway who were among the first and most resolute to protest the Nazi takeover, even when the Nazis tried to violently force them into submission. When I heard that story many years ago, I would never have believed that echoes of authoritarianism would reverberate in the United States today. Nor could I have imagined that this book would come into the world at a time when heinous acts of political violence are occurring with horrifying frequency, violence that I condemn with every fiber of my being. Yet here we are.

 

Weingarten signing her book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, on Sept. 16 in New York. Photo credit: Mario Jose Ibarra 

I try in this book to answer several questions. Teachers are widely recognized and appreciated for dedicating themselves to helping all children reach their unique potential. So why are there so many attacks on teachers? Why do so many extremist politicians think it’s OK to smear and insult teachers? Why are we seeing the defunding of already strapped schools, the book bans, the censoring of honest history and so many other actions that prevent our children from getting the education they deserve? Why are these actions, which are warning signs of increasing authoritarianism, happening in the United States today?

The answer is that authoritarians fear a well-educated citizenry. They fear what educators do—the teaching of critical thinking, of honest history, of pluralism—because their brand of greed, power and privilege cannot survive in a democracy of diverse, educated citizens. Public education is essential to a free and fair America, and teachers are essential to public education. We’re under siege not for anything we do wrong, but for all the things we do right.

The Founding Fathers believed public education was a bulwark against tyranny. Why Fascists Fear Teachers lays out the plot to undermine public education, which a conservative activist declared outright required his allies to be “ruthless and brutal.”

Extremists are executing that plot with alarming resolve: Starve public schools of the funds they need to succeed, then criticize them for their shortcomings. Erode trust in public schools by stoking fear and division, including attempting to pit parents against teachers. And replace them with homeschooling and private, religious and online schools. All toward their end goal of destroying public education as we know it, atomizing and balkanizing education in America, bullying the most vulnerable among us and leaving the students with the greatest needs in public schools with the most meager resources.

I tell the stories of teachers who have fought for their students and for the promise of public education. I hope educators will see themselves in its pages. And I hope it will help parents, students, policymakers and everyone invested in our nation’s future understand why teachers and public schools are essential to individual opportunity, our collective prosperity and the survival of our democracy.

That feels especially crucial as the country reels from another horrific political assassination. Political violence is never acceptable. Never. As every living former president has said in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, all Americans must condemn violence and de-escalate the tensions roiling the country. In many ways, teachers can serve as the antidote to them, by helping students navigate this trauma and division and by modeling civil discourse.

No one should condone—and certainly no one should celebrate—violence. But in this highly charged moment, many people are paying a high price for exercising constitutionally protected speech, and some have even been accused of hate speech for decrying hate speech. We must recommit as a nation to the right to express ourselves nonviolently without fear and to resolving disagreements peacefully and civilly.

Ninety percent of America’s young people attend public schools, where educators strive to prepare them with the fundamentals for full and productive lives—with the academic foundation they need, of course, as well as the ability to participate in civic life and to work together across differences. Our public schools are America’s great engine of opportunity. They are where teachers dedicate themselves to providing children of every background an education that is safe, welcoming, relevant and engaging. When we strengthen our public schools and support our children’s teachers, we sustain the American dream and democracy itself.

Download the Column (127.38 KB) 

  

Trump / Republican Voter Suppression

 

• INDIVISIBLE
• Legislation with a side of voter suppression was the name of the game for House Republicans before going on recess last week. When the SAVE America Act -- Trump’s bill that would make it much, much harder for people to register to vote -- couldn’t get enough votes to pass on its own, the House GOP broke it up piecemeal and attached it to the National Defense Authorization Act, reconciliation 3.0, and a faux congressional stock trading ban. This legislation is SO unpopular that Trump and his sycophants have to hide it in other bills. Even with these desperate tactics, the bill still doesn’t have a path forward in the Senate -- by itself or attached to these other bills.

• Reconciliation 3.0, the latest Republican effort to bypass the filibuster in order to fulfill Trump’s agenda (see the backgrounder on reconciliation here) passed the House last week. The bill would give Trump more funding to wage his illegal war on Iran and, you guessed it, implement parts of the SAVE America Act. Due to deep divisions between House and Senate Republicans, the bill could be DOA in the Senate, but that hasn’t stopped the GOP from talking about a FOURTH reconciliation bill, possibly during the lame duck period after the election.

via Indivisible

No Cooperation with ICE in Sacramento

 

What Is Democratic Socialism: DSA ?

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Oppose ICE in Sacramento

The recent ICE killings in Texas and Maine are alarming and ICE arrests in June and July have surged.* States Win Sacramento is acting now to support SEMBRANDO SEMILLAS DAY LABORER WORKER CENTER to protect day laborers, migrants, and low-wage workers. See where you fit in with these important actions. States Win will continue to highlight this dark moment and uplift our endorsed candidates and alumni who are taking action to stop ICE from terrorizing our communities. The Coalition Against Project 2025 (CAP2025), of which States Win Sacramento is a founding member, has issued a Call to Action to protect local Home Depot Day Laborers Minneapolis-style. Coalition Partner Sembrando Semillas Day Laborer Worker Center is reporting ongoing harassment by Sheriffs, Home Depot Management, and parking lot security over the past week. (Scroll to the bottom for Good Trouble Lives On Mutual Aid partnership opportunities and to review the Coalition-Building Volunteer Interest Form.) What: We are organizing the surrounding neighborhoods of the regionwide Home Depots in order to support Day Laborers. They need our help now! When: We will have infosessions and organizing calls throughout the next week. Please let me know of your availability, so we can make sure to schedule a convenient time for you. Even if you are just spreading the word to your network, your participation is truly critical. Why: With the most recent ICE killings in Texas and Maine, and ongoing ICE raids in LA, we are shouting out a Call to Action now, to get prepared and organized Minneapolis-style. The chances of the Trump Administration expanding their tactics to Northern California are quite high. LA is just the beginning for the ICE’s next phase of Project 2025 and Stephen Miller’s lethal plans. How you can make a difference NOW: Attend an Adopt a Corner Infosession and spread the word to your network (or let CAP25 know your availability to join a call this week and then spread the word). Attend future organizing meetings based on each of the Home Depots to learn more about what Adopt-a-Corner will look like at the Home Depot closest to your home or work. Join a Corner team. Attend an onsite meeting with Day Laborers, where Sembrando Semillas Executive Directors Fatima and Christina will introduce you to the Day Laborers they have built relationships with over the past few years. Bring coffee, break bread. Get to know the Day Laborers, even if you don’t speak Spanish! (Our eyes and hearts communicate a lot and translators will be onsite.) Show up in solidarity with our brown people without papers whose very lives are at risk right now. Let them know their community cares about their current tribulations Join a Corner Signal group to:  Be alerted to ICE activity and other harassment happening for rapid mobilization. Schedule a time for you to be onsite, in solidarity with the day laborers, as a visible watcher, a rapid deployment communicator, a videographer, a mocker of ICE agents, and all activities which are non-violent. Support the Day Laborers by funding and delivering food, beverages, diapers for their kids, groceries for their kitchen. Help grow the Corner support team by spreading the word and vetting people before they join CAP25 communication channels. Administration (onsite calendar management, outreach and follow up through volunteer sign ups, mobilize set-up, data entry, etc). Operations (support infosession facilitators, communicating with local, regional, and national leaders and organizations). Logistics (coordinating supplies, carpools, and other behind-the-scenes activity). Be a co-leader of your Corner team. Other needs as they arise in the moment. As Corner teams are being formed, Brittany Johannson with CAP25 will be a co-lead at all sites in order to facilitate orientation calls, lead trainings, recruit and build out teams, processes, workflows, etc.  Current Corners with a team forming:  Home Depot Howe Ave Rancho Cordova Florin Rd Galt:  Flea Market & Street Vendors What neighborhood do you live or work in where you’d like to join a Corner? Educational Resources:  NDLON Adopt a Corner Toolkit  NDLON Adopt a Corner Training Webinar (Video 07/10/26) CONTACT INFO Brittany Johannson, 916.390.6136, brittany.politics@gmail.com Adopt-a-Corner Co-Lead Coalition Against Project 2025 cap25.org & opposeproject2025.org Steering Committee Chair, Partner Liaison, Volunteer Recruitment & Management About STATES WIN Sacramento Be a part of our team as we fight for democracy in 2026 in the states! For questions and information about this message from our chapter, please contact info@stateswinsacramento.org

  

ICE Must Submit to Investigation

The Petition

I join LULAC in demanding a full, independent, and transparent investigation into the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents in Houston. ICE's immediate claim that Mr. Salgado attempted to use his vehicle to injure officers cannot simply be accepted at face value. Every piece of evidence including body camera footage, surveillance video, radio communications, and witness statements, must be preserved and released to the public.

This is not the first time ICE has justified a shooting by claiming someone tried to run over officers, only for later evidence to prove that to be untrue. In the 2025 shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago, ICE alleged she tried to ram federal agents, but video evidence later showed that to be false, and the criminal charges against her were dismissed. Earlier this year in Minneapolis, ICE claimed a woman attempted to run over officers before she was fatally shot, but video of the incident showed that was inaccurate. 

We demand a full, independent investigation, the immediate release of all available evidence, and accountability for the wrongful death of Lorenzo. The public deserves the truth, and the Salgado family deserves justice.

In Loving Memory of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52 Years Old