Alongside cracks and signs of pushback in elite institutions, @chenoweth.bsky.social is tracking the huge # of protests in areas that previously voted Trump: wagingnonviolence.org/2025/10/resi...

This Admin's shocking actions don't have mass support OR inevitable elite cooperation. Fodder for hope.

Dozens of Pentagon journalists handed in access badges rather than agree to coverage restrictions. Prominent venture capitalist Ron Conway resigned from Salesforce's Board after the CEO supported Trump bringing National Guard to SF. The OK governor objected to the National Guard deployment. (Cont.)

My advice is generally: find your lane – sign up for MoveOn, Indivisible, Working Families Party, whatever local organizations feel most accessible as part of a broad-based pro-democracy, anti-oligarchs-smashing-government movement. Take action. Don’t despair. Step by step.

Momentum: Jeremy Pressman has a good public list of acts of dissent here: bit.ly/3Es4XyI

Momentum: Courage and action are sparking more courage and action. @workingfamilies.org @indivisible.org & @moveon.org hosted a mass call on Feb 2 with 50K participants; today there are 100+ rallies at Senate offices around the country & a protest at Treasury Dept with hundreds of people tonight.

Momentum: New coalitions are popping up to beat back extremists. In Texas this week, Dems joined with "moderate" R's to block the far-right candidate for Speaker of the House. (They are all super conservative but went against the wishes of billionaire donors.) www.texasstandard.org/stories/dust...

Momentum: Local immigrant defense networks are getting organized. There were big marches in Los Angeles, AZ, NC, AR, MO, GA, and TX over the weekend. "Know your rights" trainings are proliferating, including many hosted by city governments & school districts. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Momentum: Federal employees are organizing against Musk. A government worker’s post on Reddit went viral: “before [Elon’s buyout] email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I'm fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible”. Fueled a viral protest plan.

Momentum: House Dems won’t support ending Medicare or Trump’s “illegal” OMB order & will fight against immigration EO’s & against tax cuts for billionaires. Govs like JB Pritzker modeled how to counter Trump’s irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric after the tragic plane crash in DC.

Momentum: In a special election in Iowa last week, Democrats flipped a state senate seat in a district that Trump had won easily in 2024. www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/p...

Momentum: Trump’s illegal funding freeze was blocked after legal wins + a public outcry. Admin had to rescind its illegal funding freeze after Democracy Forward won a total restraining order, bolstered by rapid response rallies, 1000s of calls to Congress, Senate Dems boycotting the Vought hearing.

Trump and Musk (an unelected billionaire oligarch!) are attacking good people and trying hard to break the government while they personally profit from the destruction. But here’s a partial list of what’s giving me hope & fueling my own determination to stay active in community with others:

I’m genuinely heartened by the momentum I'm seeing in the last few days: a ton of regular people are getting on the field and ACTING for freedom, democracy, and dignity – rather than despairing or wringing our hands.

I’d forgotten this. Still grateful for your generous portraits of me & other #Ordcamp friends, Bryan.