Good news from Daily KOS

 Oh I know what you are thinking: That Goodie — always pushing it a little too far in terms of optimism!  That title is over the top!

Well guess what my friends!   The title is inspired by a quote from the amazing (and NOT overly optimistic) Jennifer Rubin — journalist extraordinaire! She thinks historians will look back at this past week as a week where we reached a tipping point in defeating trump!!

Sure, there is no way to predict the future.  Sure, we will have bad weeks again.

But something changed. 

And it wasn’t all of a sudden. 

it was something that has been building.

With every protest.

With every lawsuit.

With every phone call to an elected official.

With every person using their voice (even when it is scary).

With each of us.

Things are changing and we can continue to make them change.

Go to protests if you can.  Make phone calls.  Show up for town halls. Use your voice.

One day we are going to look back on this and tell the story of when America finally FINALLY stood up against this and began to win.

And you are a part of that story.  And if you aren’t so far, get your ass in the game!  You want to tell your kids and grandkids that you were a part of this amazing moment.

Yes, they will continue to do bad things, but those bad things are a sign of desperation and weakness, not strength.  And many of those bad things will lead to battles that WE WILL WIN.  

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"Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

― Mahatma Gandhi,

READ MUCH MORE ...

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/26/2318695/-This-Week-Was-a-Tipping-Point-and-I-have-RECEIPTS-GNR 

ICE TOLD THEY DON'T NEED JUDGE TO SIGN WARRANT

 ICE TOLD THEY DON'T NEED JUDGE TO SIGN WARRANT

ICE Can Now Enter Your Home Without a Warrant to Look for Migrants, DOJ Memo Says

April 25, 2025 12:02 pm

A new memo from the Trump administration reveals something shocking: ICE agents have been told they can enter homes without a warrant to arrest migrants, based on little more than suspicion.

The March 14 directive, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, uses an obscure 18th-century law — the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — to give law enforcement nationwide the power to bypass basic constitutional protections.

According to the memo, agents can break into a home if getting a warrant is “impracticable,” and they don’t need a judge’s approval. Instead, immigration officers can sign their own administrative warrants. The bar for action is low — a “reasonable belief” that someone might be part of a Venezuelan gang is enough.

The gang in question is Tren de Aragua, a group the Trump administration recently labeled a foreign terrorist organization. But legal experts say this is no justification for shredding the Constitution.

“The home under all constitutional law is the most sacred place where you have a right to privacy,” said immigration attorney Monique Sherman. “By this standard, spurious allegations of gang affiliation means the government can knock down your door.”

READ MORE:

https://dailyboulder.com/ice-can-now-enter-your-home-without-a-warrant-to-find-migrants-doj-memo-says/ 

Exclusive: DOJ memo offers blueprint to Tren de Aragua deportation plan

Nick PenzenstadlerWill CarlessUSA TODAY

Updated April 25, 2025

Trump administration officials directed law enforcement nationwide to pursue suspected gang members into their homes, in some cases without any sort of warrant, according to a copy of the directive exclusively obtained by USA TODAY.

The directive, issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi March 14, provides the first public view of the specific implementation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act invoked to deport migrants accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

A day after that announcement, March 15, immigration officials apprehended and flew more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which has been criticized for its harsh and dangerous conditions.

For weeks, news organizations, members of Congress, the courts and advocates have pressed the administration to provide operational details and evidence to support its claims these men are Tren de Aragua members, a newly designated foreign terrorist organization.

The memo was provided to USA TODAY by the open government group, Property of the People, which they obtained through a records request.

The memo told law enforcement that immigrants deemed "Alien Enemies" are “not entitled to a hearing, appeal or judicial review.”

READ MORE:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/25/trump-venezuelan-gang-deportations-alien-enemies-act/83253074007/

Dunleavy Vetoes Education Bill HB 69

 

Governor vetoes education funding bill, sending HB 69 back to state lawmakers

ALASKA NEWS SOURCE

By Beth Verge

Published: Apr. 17, 2025 at 10:08 AM AKDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - State lawmakers have a renewed endeavor ahead of them after Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, formally vetoed House Bill 69, which arrived to his desk in a “stripped-down” form but still provided a $1,000 per-student funding increase via the Base Student Allocation for school districts across Alaska.

READ MORE:

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2025/04/17/governor-vetoes-education-funding-bill-sending-hb-69-back-state-lawmakers/ 

VOTED FOR THE BILL

URGE SUPPORTERS TO OVERRIDE THE VETO!

List of “Yes” voters. Please put pressure on your legislators. Thank them for their initial yes vote of HB69. Tell them to stay steadfast - maintain the course and contribute to overriding Dunleavy’s veto.

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Indivisible: "We are in a full-blown constitutional crisis"

 

This email came from Indivisible: We are in the midst of a full-blown constitutional crisis. That statement has been true nearly every day since January 20, as the administration has usurped the powers of Congress by illegally freezing funds, declared fake emergencies to grant itself more power, and skirted judicial rulings.  But Trump’s brazen defiance of a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran torture prison is truly a watershed moment for our teetering democracy. To recap:  The Trump administration has sent over 238 people (likely far more) to a torture prison in El Salvador without due process. Mounting reporting suggests many of these people have no gang affiliation at all, despite the administration’s hollow claims.  One of those people was Kilmar Abrego Garcia -- a man who had been granted protected status, prohibiting his deportation by the federal government. The Trump administration deported (kidnapped) him anyway and blamed it on an administrative error.  On April 10, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Trump administration must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.  In the days since, the administration has made it clear it does not intend to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, ludicrously claiming that it does not have the power to bring him back.  Abrego Garcia’s legally protected status and the resulting court rulings have made his name a rallying cry. But there are many, many more like him who’ve been snatched up and sent to this foreign prison without due process, and who -- by all accounts -- were ripped away from their families with no real evidence of any wrongdoing.  And seemingly daily, the administration is grabbing legal permanent residents and visa-holders off the streets, obscuring their whereabouts to impede legal challenges, and deporting them merely for exercising their First Amendment-protected right to dissent.  To add to the urgency of this moment, Trump told El Salvador’s dictator this week that he should build new prisons, because the administration hopes to deport American citizens next.  With Trump openly defying a Supreme Court stacked with his own appointees, we’ll level with you: This crisis won’t be resolved through the courts. And it ain’t gonna be solved by adding our name to petitions. The only way forward is massive public pressure. We all have a role to play.   The first step is simple: Speak out. We need to help our networks understand that this isn’t some abstract threat that has nothing to do with them: If the administration can arrest dissenters, send protected migrants to foreign prisons without due process, and defy the courts, all of our rights are at risk.  Have these conversations in person. Post articles on social that refuse to soften the edges of this crisis or normalize Trump’s actions. Here’s one. Here’s another. And another.  The second step: Make your elected officials feel the heat. Every elected official took an oath to defend the Constitution. This is their moment to put up or shut up.  Democrats are in the minority, but not without power. Richard Blumenthal and Brian Schatz are delaying the confirmation of dozens of Trump nominees. Cory Booker used a marathon speech to take control of one of the most important commodities in politics: Public attention. And Chris Van Hollen is currently in El Salvador on a mission to protect his constituent and demand his return. Republicans are less likely to speak out against the administration, but they will if they’re getting enough blowback on this (the kind of blowback we’re already seeing at town halls). We can’t let them off the hook here because we expect so little of them -- we’ve got to make their phones ring off the hook.  Whether you’re represented by a Democrat or Republican in Congress, call them NOW and demand they speak out against Trump’s defiance of the Supreme Court, push for an end to these lawless abductions, and move to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home immediately. If they’re not answering or their voicemail is full, you can send them an email using this tool (and then call back!).   Finally: We’re going to need popular resistance. We’ve known all along that stopping Trump’s authoritarian takeover is going to take more than calling our members of Congress. It’s going to take demonstrating to our neighbors, our communities, and to those who may even disagree with us on most things that what Trump is doing is not acceptable. It’s going to take mass popular resistance, bringing people together in community to demand change. It’s going to take getting into the streets to defend our democracy. You did this on April 5 for the Hands Off! Day of Action. You’re doing this right now with protests and other events during the congressional recess (there’s still time to get plugged in -- see the toolkit here, which now includes resources on Abrego Garcia’s case). And we’re going to do this again together on May 1 for the May Day National Day of Action. Big, public demonstrations of defiance are opportunities for us to lock arms, get loud, and fight back. Make a plan to participate now -- and among the other chants in defense of our democracy, call for bringing Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. We’re continuing to work with partners on tactics that’ll draw attention to the injustice of these kidnappings and disappearances and put pressure on elected officials to do their damn jobs and uphold our Constitution. Expect more from us on this in the coming days, but please do not wait to take action. When far too many are choosing silence, we need everyone in this movement to raise our collective voice now.  In solidarity,  Indivisible Team ADAM SCHIFF This Is a Constitutional Crisis https://youtu.be/HGTIELDTHOo?si=U4znJYy0xdIzeItj  SIGN UP FOR INDIVISIBLE  AT: https://indivisible.org/ .

The No Rogue Rulings Act (H.R. 1526)

 

Letter from the NEA

VOTE NO on bill

to constrain courts

The No Rogue Rulings Act (H.R. 1526) would sharply limit the ability of federal district courts to impose nationwide injunctions.

Submitted on: April 1, 2025

• 
  
• 
  

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we urge you to VOTE NO on H.R. 1526, the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA). Votes on this issue may be included in NEA’s report card for the 119th Congress.

NORRA would sharply limit the ability of federal district courts to issue nationwide injunctions that halt, at least temporarily, unlawful and unconstitutional actions taken by the federal government while allowing litigation to proceed. When those actions could hurt people nationwide, courts must issue timely rulings to protect people nationwide. That is their job.

By its nature, NORRA threatens the checks and balances that are the cornerstone of our constitutional system. Limiting the ability of federal courts to identify and pause unconstitutional and unlawful actions with nationwide ramifications threatens our democracy and the rule of law itself.

The larger context in which NORRA is being introduced must be considered as well. In response to decisions with which they disagree, officials at the highest level of the Trump administration have attacked federal judges, railed against their authority, threatened impeachment, and openly defied court orders.

For all these reasons, we urge you to oppose NORRA.

Sincerely,

Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association

https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/letters-testimony/vote-no-bill-constrain-courts 

Rise for Freedom Training Series

 

Time

Thursdays

8 – 10pm EDT

Location

Virtual event

Join from anywhere

About this event

Thursday, April 17th Rise for Freedom Training Topics & Presenters will include:

In-depth training: How To Talk With People Who Might Disagree With You Trainers: Beth Malow and Douglass Teschner, Braver Angels

Outreach Mini-Training: Med Diagne, Membership Organizer, Corporate Accountability

We don’t have kings in America, and we won’t let a handful of billionaires run our country into the ground.

This is a call for everyone interested in learning how to organize under advancing autocracy and mobilizing in this moment. We'll be talking about two exciting ways to take action and build pro-democracy power in this moment of crisis:

Join Rise for Democracy Training for a series of live online trainings intended for in-person groups nationwide on Thursday evenings over 7 weeks. The goal of the training series is to bring people together, grow & strengthen their local networks, and get ready to mobilize to demand democracy in this new challenging environment.

• Training content will be presented live and breakouts will take place in-person in people’s living rooms and other activist organized spaces. 

• Follow up asks deemed the most important to the moment will be shared at the end of trainings as appropriate.

• Training is a flexible tool that can help build for specific events as well as build existing and new local groups of people who can take action together.

Why Trainings?

Trainings are critical for our movement because they:

• Engage and recruit more people into the freedom and democracy movement

• Educate and onboard new activists

• Energize large numbers of people for mobilizing and create space for local organizing and planning

• Elevate: train higher skill activists and new and younger movement  leadership

The Rise for Democracy training is for people who love our country and understand the threat of autocracy before us, and want to do something about it. If you're moderate politically, a pro-democracy conservative, or progressive - this is your place! You are welcome and important here. This training is for you. 

All Trainings Will Include:

• Music

• An icebreaker

• Asks for local leaders to help you prepare for action - in the next few weeks focused on the Hands Off Mobilization on Sat. April 5th as well as other events.

• Outreach mini training and goal setting (e.g. text 5 ppl and get 1 commit to come to your next meeting, recruit one neighbor to attend etc)

• One digital hygiene tip - simply weekly steps to protect your data privacy

• One core 1.5- 2 hour training module (see topics below)

• Breakouts for in-person and online for folks who are alone, to plan and participate in activities

Training calls will not include lengthy one way communications about the ongoing attacks on democracy and communities.

Rise for Freedom Training Timeline - Thursdays, 8-10pm ET/7-9CT/ 6-8pm MT/5-7pm PT:

• Thurs. March 27- First In-Person Meetings & Onboarding for New Folks: Program Orientation & Context Setting, Outreach & Digital Hygiene

• Thurs. April 3 - 1st Full Length Training: [How did we get here? Intro to organizing under creeping autocracy]

• Thurs. April 10 - 2nd Training: Building to a critical mass locally (outreach)

• Thurs. April 17 - 3rd Training: How to talk to people you might disagree with

• Thurs. April 24 - 4th Training: Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence and Repression

• Thurs. May 1 - 5th Training: Mutual Aid & Structures for Stronger Local Organizing

• Thurs. May 8  - 6th Training: De-escalation & Advanced Strategic organizing skills

• Thurs. May 15 - 7th Training: Advanced Organizing Skills 

*May wish to do trainings en masse in-person, repeat training series and/or move focus more to mobilizing.

Partners include: 

Public Citizen, Women’s March, League of Women Voters US, Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, Center for Common Ground, Clean Elections Minnesota, Corporate Accountability, Generation Common Good, Lift Our Vote, No Voice Unheard, Peace Action, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, AFGE Local 704, DC Peace Team, Fourth Branch Action, Indivisible Hill Country, Indivisible Portola Valley, Media and Democracy Project, Citizen Action/Illinois, Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!, People For the American Way, Speaking the Key of WE/Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, Task Force for Democracy, Texans Against Gerrymandering, This Land, The Workers Circle, #ResistTrump Campaign, Our Revolution

Accessibility

This event meets ADA standards

Have accessibility questions? Reply to your registration email to confirm your requirements or request more information.

LINK TO SIGN UP
https://www.mobilize.us/womensmarch/event/763611/

Impeach Trump!

 

​Why Congress Should Impeach President Trump: A Constitutional Imperative​

President Donald Trump's recent actions have raised significant concerns regarding constitutional violations and the erosion of democratic norms. These actions include the deportation of individuals without due process, unauthorized access to sensitive government data, and previous attempts to undermine the electoral process. This article outlines the key reasons why Congress should consider impeachment proceedings.​

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1. Deportation Without Due Process

The Trump administration has deported individuals, including legal residents, to El Salvador's CECOT prison without due process. Notably, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported despite court orders protecting him, highlighting a disregard for judicial authority. Furthermore, the administration has suggested the possibility of deporting U.S. citizens, a move that legal experts deem unconstitutional. ​news

2. Unauthorized Access to Treasury Data

Under President Trump's directive, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was granted access to the Treasury Department's central payment system. This action, alleged to be in violation of federal law, has been described as the largest data breach in American history, compromising sensitive information of millions of Americans. ​NBC Connecticut

3. Incitement of Insurrection

On January 6, 2021, President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection following the Capitol attack. Although acquitted by the Senate, the events underscored his role in encouraging actions that threatened the democratic process. ​Ballotpedia+2Encyclopedia Britannica+2Wikipedia+2

4. Disregard for Judicial Authority: The administration has shown a pattern of ignoring judicial orders, notably in the case of deportations to CECOT, where flights proceeded despite a federal judge's order to halt them. 

​5. Suppression of Free Speech: The administration has targeted individuals, such as Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, for deportation under dubious claims, raising concerns about the suppression of dissent and violation of First Amendment rights. He has sued TV and media when he didn't like their coverage of him. He has called MSNBC and other "criminal" and said they should be "illegal."

6. He's just plumb crazy!

Conclusion

The outlined actions represent a pattern of behavior that undermines constitutional principles and democratic institutions. 

The Trump administration is not one worthy of governing. Trump is a danger to liberty and to the American people, and perhaps to the world. 

It is imperative for Congress to uphold its duty to protect the Constitution by considering impeachment proceedings against President Trump.​

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SAMPLE LETTER TO MY REPRESENTATIVE:

Subject: Urgent Call for Impeachment Proceedings Against President Trump​

Dear Representative [Last Name],

I am writing to express my deep concern over recent actions taken by President Donald Trump that I believe constitute clear violations of the U.S. Constitution and pose significant threats to our democratic institutions. I urge you to consider initiating impeachment proceedings based on the following:​

1. Deportation Without Due Process: The Trump administration has deported individuals, including legal residents like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador's CECOT prison without due process. This occurred despite court orders prohibiting such actions, undermining the rule of law and violating constitutional protections. ​

2. Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Treasury Data: President Trump authorized Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access sensitive Treasury data, including Social Security and Medicare information. This move has been challenged in court for breaching federal laws and compromising citizens' privacy. ​

3. Disregard for Judicial Authority: The administration has shown a pattern of ignoring judicial orders, notably in the case of deportations to CECOT, where flights proceeded despite a federal judge's order to halt them. ​

4. Threats to Deport U.S. Citizens: President Trump has suggested the possibility of deporting natural-born U.S. citizens to foreign prisons, a notion that is both unconstitutional and alarming. ​

5. Suppression of Free Speech: The administration has targeted individuals, such as Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, for deportation under dubious claims, raising concerns about the suppression of dissent and violation of First Amendment rights. ​

These actions represent a dangerous overreach of executive power and a blatant disregard for constitutional norms. I implore you to uphold your oath to defend the Constitution by initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump.​

Sincerely,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number]

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