Stop Hoping Things Will Not Get Worse.
We are planning for our next move when they do. The only way out of this is through.
By Sabra Briere
A non-Indivisible note:
I spent some time in self reflection this weekend. I thought of my eldest brother, gone now for over a decade, given over to alcohol and anger, his many failed attempts to become an adult, and what he lost in the war in Vietnam.
I remembered my small town childhood, with its provincial parade to the graveyard, Civil War and Spanish American War veterans leading the way in convertibles, and all the town’s veterans in their various uniforms right behind. The High School marching band set the rhythm and was followed by ranks of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, while at the rear were all the children on decorated bikes or pulling wagons overflowing with baskets of flowers to decorate the graves. And all the cars on the highways stopped at both ends of the town for a mile until the parade passed on. You can picture it, can’t you? The smell of fresh cut grass, catalpa and black locust, peonies and early roses on the breeze; everyone patient while the town honors its fallen.
I thought about the words of our current president, such as he is, telling a new generation of West Point graduates about trophy wives and Levittowns. And most of all, about how “The job of the US Armed Forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, but to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun.” (n.b., the military never did host drag shows. More’s the pity.)
And of course, wisdom arrives from unlikely places. In your dream world, perhaps, all the stars literally align and sing their concert united against the president — and that somehow turns hearts around. I won’t hold my breath.
I would be satisfied to see a future for your grandchildren with notes of grace and peace, games of tag in cool summer evenings, and safe days to wade in the surf.
I think it’s appropriate to share this video of Bruce Springsteen, that was shared with me.
This week
By Sabra Briere, editor
I thought I’d focus on the dastardly Big Beautiful Bill that was just rushed through the House, but that’s so depressing. There is still time to influence the outcome of the bill in the Senate, and I don’t want you to lose sight of that. The Senate Republicans are not quite as controlled as they were under Mitch McConnell; John Thune just isn’t the leader that Mitch was. So there’s some dissent, and the opportunity for amendments.
I’ve tried and failed to itemize all that’s wrong with this bill you’ve already heard about the impact on the safety net
But there are some hidden bombs that will explode in our faces if the Senate lets them stand:
• They can interfere in elections in our states!
• They can ignore SCOTUS rulings for a year or more.
• Judges can't enforce orders against the government.
• Protesters can be tracked and criminalized. Your VPN? Tracked. Your speech? Flagged.
This bill doesn't break the law. It rewrites it.
Unless we somehow convince some senators to see sense. Which isn’t exactly hopeful, as some Senators want some really bad things, and all the dissenters are, well, not very nice people. Still, there is a chance to change the bill for the better. And I refuse to dwell in DOOM today; I’ll just visit.
If I were a better poet (you don’t want to know) I’m certain I could come up with some doggerel about Waste, Fraud, and Abuse that would put Tom Lehrer to shame. Maybe someone else can write that for us. Because if ever there were a parody about eliminating jobs, cutting services, and setting up roadblocks for citizens all to find two (yes, two) possible fraudulent applications for Social Security benefits … well, we should title that parody Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.
I bet you have your own examples.
Parody is why we’re having a NO KINGS Or Their Clowns protest on Farmers Lane June 14. Because we cannot fight this stupid with reason, so we’re going to laugh at it.
Bitter, bitter laughter.
This is our Resistance Summer. We’re out on the street, making the powers that be either grow a spine or get out of the way. I hope you’ll join me there.
Five Years Ago and Right Now
In the wake of George Floyd's death during Memorial Day weekend in 2020 — while Donald Trump was president — the justice department under former President Joe Biden opened civil investigations into several local law enforcement agencies, including Minneapolis, Louisville, Phoenix and Lexington, Mississippi. Investigators found evidence of systemic police misconduct.
The Justice Department under Biden reached agreements with both the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments that included oversight measures like enhanced training, accountability, and improved data collection of police activity.
All of this was ongoing. But last Wednesday, the Trump regime said those findings relied on "flawed methodologies and incomplete data." Regime officials said the agreements were "handcuffing" local police departments. The good news, such as it is, was Minneapolis’ continued commitment to fulfill the consent decree with the Biden DOJ, even without Federal oversight.
Recent surveys suggest Americans believe there have been few improvements for the lives of black people in the US five years after Floyd's passing, including a May survey from Pew Research Center in which 72% of participants said there had been no meaningful changes.
The number of Americans expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement has also fallen by 15% since June 2020, the same survey suggests.
The shock many of us felt during the summer of 2020 as we watched the fear in the eyes of the police turn into police-initiated violence and political lies — which continue to be spread today — reverberates in our communities. The deep notes it sounds vibrate elections and policies more than we acknowledge. That’s why the attacks on Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — and the assumption that if a Black or Brown person has achieved anything it must be an un-earned achievement — continue to be tools this president uses so effectively to divide us.
So many who were once shocked became afraid. Including the police.
The Justice Department has no time or energy to deal with the systemic racism and untreated trauma in police departments, but has no problem at all deciding that all of the focus of its many departments will, in the future, be on the evil, vicious, immigrants. Unless they are white South Africans, I guess, who are seriously oppressed by their uncaring government.
Someone suggested that we (in Sonoma County) should invite those new immigrants here to pick our grapes. Maybe not a bad idea. They make wine in South Africa; maybe those new immigrants can pick grapes, too. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)
In the news
There are more than 200 court cases pending against the current regime. That means that these are cases where there is a significant likelihood that the fools in this pseudo monarch have knowingly broken the law and quite likely done something unconstitutional. In another 100+, they have been found, well, guilty. Told to fix what they messed up. Even by the Supreme Court.
So many cases. So many judges. So many really bad attorneys, too. We have the list.
When Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelinskyy met with President 2.0 and his Vice President back in February, it was an infuriating embarrassment. So bad that Indivisible Sonoma County organized its first protest in years on the spot (and hundreds of you all came to sign an apology)!
This week, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with President 2.0, and tried to embarrass him with faked photos of ‘violent anti-white genocide’ and, well, it didn’t go well. It might have been the fact that the photos were from other countries, the images were well known to the press, President Ramaphosa remained visibly calm — or maybe just because President Ramaphosa said he regretted that he didn’t have a plane to give to the president.
Target's sales were $23.8 billion in the first quarter, down from $24.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024, the company wrote in an earnings release Wednesday morning. Sales don’t equal profits, of course, but still, that’s a big reduction. Let’s make the second quarter’s reduction even bigger. Keep up the boycott.
This is our Resistance Summer.
Stand up. Step up. Speak out.
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No Clowning Around:
Volunteers Needed to Make June 14 a Swell Time for All — Except those clowns in DC
Calling all Indivisible members, newsletter subscribers and those who may be interested. Indivisible Sonoma County is badly in need of additional members to assume Peace Keeping roles for safety and success of our large-scale protests. If you consider yourself even-tempered, good in an emergency and are interested, please review this (not so short) training video:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuNvU4m2LXbzg4AElkz6Ny6vG-5pAn_Kd&si=mLss4hn7lNA5-Kgg
After you review the training, please contact Mark Jacqua at markjaqua@comcast.net. We will invite you to an in-person training and orientation, and add you to a list of people we will call on to make sure our protests are safe and successful. AND you get to wear a colorful vest!
Maybe being a peacekeeper isn’t quite what you want to do, but you still want to play a role?
We still need volunteers to act as greeters.
Greeters don’t need the same level of training, but they do need to be on site for about four hours. They help with early set up, help direct foot traffic, answer questions and give directions, and help make sure the event goes off without a hitch.
They also get to wear some great hats.
If this is for you (I’m going to do it!) let us know. Contact indivisiblesoco@gmail.com and tell us you want to volunteer today.
Save the Date! June 14
This is a national day of action. Multiple organizations are declaring that this day must not honor the clowns in DC. Join us as we loudly say there are no kings in our country — and we don’t want their clowns, either!
In Santa Rosa, let’s put all our clowning around on the streets, instead. Bring your brightest signs. Wear your clown wig and red nose! Our task is to remind all the people driving by that our government is a farce — and we should take that seriously.
In Santa Rosa - 11a to 1p along Farmer’s Lane
In Healdsburg - 12p - 2p Mill District 164 Healdsburg Ave
In Cloverdale - 11a to 12p at the Cloverdale Plaza entrance
In Petaluma - 12p - 2p All People’s March Petaluma Boulevard South & D Street
In Bodega Bay - 11a - 12p This event’s address is private. Sign up to get more information
In Napa - 12p - 2p at Oxbow Commons
In Point Reyes - 10:30a - 12p at Wells Fargo Bank
In Point Reyes Station 10:30a - 12p Corner of Levee Rd and Hwy 1
In Sonoma - 11a to 1p, **3 LOCATIONS!! SONOMA VALLEY IS STANDING STRONG IN PROTEST!
Broadway - Line the sidewalk on both sides of Broadway (PLAZA not available) Stay on sidewalks - no blocking access
Springs Plaza - Demonstration lines on the sidewalk along Hwy 12 North and South - no blocking access
Maxwell Park - Demonstration lines on the sidewalk along Hwy 12 North and South directions, no blocking access
San Francisco - 11:30a to 2p, Delores Park to Civic Center Plaza
Guest Editorials
This week I couldn’t stop reading about the budget. Or the law. Or history.
Why the one big beautiful bill is the single ugliest you can imagine
Robert Reich
Slightly outdated, as the House has passed the One BBB, but the insight is spot on.
Letters from an American
Heather Cox Richardson
I’m a law nerd. NOT a lawyer. Not even a student of law. But someone who is fascinated by the way law works and fails to work. So I read what lawyers and judges have to say.
I listen to Joyce Vance on Sisters In Law (if you don’t listen to this podcast, you might give it a try. This case isn’t as famous, yet, as Abrego-Garcia. But it ought to be.
Welcome to South Sudan
Joyce Vance
For more actions, click here:
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Great newsletter, Sabra! You took me back to my childhood in New England with the memories of small town Memorial Day parades and honoring the lives lost. Thank you!