Charles Sumner: The brutal caning of Sen. Charles Sumner in 1856 shows the difference between courage and concession.

Charles Sumner is mainly known as the abolitionist statesman who suffered a brutal caning on the Senate floor by the proslavery congressman Preston Brooks in 1856. This violent episode has obscured Sumner's status as the most passionate champion of equal rights and multiracial democracy of his time. A friend of Alexis de Tocqueville, an ally of Frederick Douglass, and an adviser to Abraham Lincoln, Sumner helped the Union win the Civil War and ordain the Emancipation Proclamation, the Thirteenth Amendment, the Freedmen's Bureau, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Zaakir Tameez, (pictured above) is author of a Charles Sumner biography to be published on Tuesday, June 3rd by Henry Holt & Co. On June 9th, Tameez with appear at Politics & Prose bookstore in DC with Congressman Eric Swalwell to discuss his book about Sumner. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube.

Washington Post today published an op-ed by Tameez headlined: What we can learn from the senator who nearly died for democracy. The embedded link in this paragraph is to a "gift article" in WaPo so readers can read the op-ed for no charge. It begins:

On May 13, a man who made death threats against Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) for her foreign policy views was sentenced to nearly four years in prison. Last month, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she was “afraid” of using her voice to speak about political controversies. A month before that, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) released audio recordings of death threats he received while he was considering how to vote on Pete Hegseth’s nomination as defense secretary.

From News & Observer: 

Threats to lawmakers are nothing new and happens on both sides of the aisle.

Capitol Police reported 9,625 threats against members of Congress in 2021, a record high. That number dropped to 7,501 in 2022, but began to climb again with 8,008 threats in 2023 and 9,474 in 2024. And those are the threats that have been reported.

We all want to change the world! - The Beatles "Revolution"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's book We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements from the 1960s to Today, was published on May 15, 2025.

 

From the Harvard Crimson: 

Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said Harvard had proven its courage by fighting against the Trump administration during Wednesday’s annual College Class Day.

“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard to give up their academic freedom and destroy campus speech, Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

The basketball star was the featured speaker for Class Day, which brought thousands of students and their families into the Yard as Harvard and the Trump administration square off over federal funding and international students.

Abdul-Jabbar, who spoke about his path joining the civil rights movement and decision to boycott the 1968 Olympics, said he drew inspiration from Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr.

In praising Harvard, Abdul-Jabbar referenced King’s encouragement to people to “choose justice over injustice.”

“One of the reasons I’m so pleased to be here today is because I view Harvard University as being among the others willing to take Dr. King’s place,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

Abdul-Jabbar motivated seniors to take up King’s struggle for justice.

“As I look out all over the beautiful faces today who are ready to launch their lives of successful careers, I wonder how many of you will be among the others willing to take Dr. King’s place,” he said.

Outgoing College Dean Rakesh Khurana did not directly address the fight with the White House, but in explaining to the seniors what they could expect during the University-wide Commencement ceremony on Thursday, changed gears mid-sentence to lead a rallying cry.

“I will begin with salutations to President Garber — and by the way, can we give a huge round of applause to President Garber for standing up for what’s right?” Khurana said.

The crowd roared into applause and a 15-second standing ovation.

The opening epigraph to Abdul-Jabbar's book quotes a line from The Beatles' song (referenced in this blog post title and in the YT video above):

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

From the back cover of the hard bound edition (which I purchased),

"Protest movements, Even peaceful ones, are never popular at first.... but there is a reason that protests have been so frequent throughout history: they are effective. The United States exists because of them."

I know I want to change the world. My hunch is that if YOU are a reader of the Arizona Eagletarian, you do too.

 

What does or will it take to DEFEAT authoritarianism?

Heather Cox Richardson is the preeminent historian shedding insight on the lawless, oppressive and authoritarian Trump administration.

This is her Letter from an American (listen to Heather read the letter at the link) from last night.

May 27, 2025 (Tuesday)

Political scientist Adam Bonica noted last Friday that Trump and the administration suffered a 96% loss rate in federal courts in the month of May. Those losses were nonpartisan: 72.2% of Republican-appointed judges and 80.4% of Democratic-appointed judges ruled against the administration.

The administration sustained more losses today.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that 14 states can proceed with their lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The administration had tried to dismiss the case, but Chutkan ruled the states had adequately supported their argument that “Musk and DOGE’s conduct is ‘unauthorized by any law.’” “The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency…and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only,” she wrote.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon struck down Trump’s March 27 executive order targeting the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, more commonly known as WilmerHale. This law firm angered Trump by employing Robert Mueller, the Republican-appointed special counsel who oversaw an investigation of the ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives.

Leon, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, made his anger obvious. “[T]he First Amendment prohibits government officials from retaliating against individuals for engaging in protected speech,” Leon noted. “WilmerHale alleges that ‘[t]he Order blatantly defies this bedrock principle of constitutional law.’” Leon wrote: “I agree!” He went on to strike down the order as unconstitutional.

Today NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sued the Trump administration over Trump’s executive order that seeks to impound congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS. The executive order said the public media stations do not present “a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” NPR’s David Folkenflik reported White House spokesperson Harrison Fields’s statement today that public media supports “a particular party on the taxpayers’ dime,” and that Trump and his allies have called it “left-wing propaganda.”

The lawsuit calls Trump’s executive order and attempt to withhold funding Congress has already approved “textbook retaliation.” “[W]e are not choosing to do this out of politics,” NPR chief executive officer Katherine Maher told NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. “We are choosing to do this as a matter of necessity and principle. All of our rights that we enjoy in this democracy flow from the First Amendment: freedom of speech, association, freedom of the press. When we see those rights infringed upon, we have an obligation to challenge them.”

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis today denied the administration’s motion for a 30-day extension of the deadline for it to answer the complaint in the lawsuit over the rendition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man sent to El Salvador through what the administration said was “administrative error.”

Despite five hearings on the case, the administration’s lawyers didn’t indicate they needed any more time, but today—the day their answer was due—they suddenly asked for 30 more days. Xinis wrote that they “expended no effort in demonstrating good cause. They vaguely complain, in two sentences, to expending ‘significant resources’ engaging in expedited discovery. But these self-described burdens are of their own making. The Court ordered expedited discovery because of [the administration’s] refusal to follow the orders of this court as affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.”

Trump is well known for using procedural delays to stop the courts from administering justice, and it is notable that administration lawyers have generally not been arguing that they will win cases on the merits. Instead, they are making procedural arguments.

Meanwhile, stringing things out means making time for situations to change on the ground, reducing the effect of court decisions. Brian Barrett of Wired reported today that while Musk claims to have stepped back from the Department of Government Efficiency, his lieutenants are still spread throughout the government, mining Americans’ data. Meanwhile, Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought will push to make DOGE cuts to government permanent in a dramatic reworking of the nation’s social contract. “Removing DOGE at this point would be like trying to remove a drop of food coloring from a glass of water,” Barrett writes.

Political scientist Bonica notes that there is a script for rising authoritarians. When the courts rule against the leader, the leader and his loyalists attack judges as biased and dangerous, just as Trump and his cronies have been doing.

The leader also works to delegitimize the judicial system, and that, too, we are seeing as Trump reverses the concepts of not guilty and guilty. On the one hand, the administration is fighting to get rid of the constitutional right of all persons to due process, rendering people who have not been charged with crimes to prisons in third countries. On the other, Trump and his loyalists at the Department of Justice are pardoning individuals who have been convicted of crimes.

On Monday, Trump issued a presidential pardon to former Culpeper County, Virginia, sheriff Scott Jenkins, a longtime Trump supporter whom a jury convicted of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and seven counts of bribery. Jared Gans of The Hill explained that Jenkins accepted more than $70,000 in bribes to appoint auxiliary deputy sheriffs, “giving them badges and credentials despite them not being trained or vetted and not offering services to the sheriff’s office.” Jenkins had announced he would “deputize thousands of our law-abiding citizens to protect their constitutional right to own firearms,” if the legislature passed “further unnecessary gun restrictions.” Jenkins was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Although Jenkins was found guilty by a jury of his peers, just as the U.S. justice system calls for, Trump insisted that Jenkins and his wife and their family “have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden D[epartment] O[f] J[ustice].” Jenkins, Trump wrote on social media, “is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’ This is why I, as President of the United States, see fit to end his unfair sentence, and grant Sheriff Jenkins a FULL and Unconditional Pardon. He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”

Today Trump gave a presidential pardon to Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive who pleaded guilty to tax crimes in 2024. The pardon arrived after Walczak’s mother donated at least $1 million to Trump. The pardon spares Walczak from 18 months in prison and $4.4 million in restitution. Also today, Trump announced plans to pardon reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were sentenced to 7 and 12 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud banks of $36 million and tax evasion. Their daughter spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Bonica notes that delegitimizing the judicial system creates a permission structure for threats against judges. That, too, we are seeing.

Bonica goes on to illustrate how this pattern of authoritarian attacks on the judiciary looks the same across nations. In 2009, following a ruling that he was not immune from prosecution for fraud, tax evasion, and bribery, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi railed about “communist prosecutors and communist judges.” In 2016, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye rejected the authority of his country’s highest court and purged more than 4,000 judges. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe pushed judges to stop protests, and the judiciary collapsed. In the Philippines in 2018, Rodrigo Duterte called the chief justice defending judicial independence an “enemy,” and she was removed. In Brazil in 2021, Jair Bolsonaro threatened violence against the judges who were investigating him for corruption.

But, Bonica notes, something different happened in Israel in 2023. When Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition tried to destroy judicial independence, people from all parts of society took to the streets. A broad, nonpartisan group came together to defend democracy and resist authoritarianism.

“Every authoritarian who successfully destroyed judicial independence did so because civil society failed to unite in time,” Bonica writes. “The key difference? Whether people mobilized.”

Bonica's notes used by Richardson in this letter:

Bluesky:

adambonica.bsky.social and

peppapaxpippa.bsky.social/

Americans ARE mobilizing. 

Other resources:

Harvard free courses

Erica Chenoweth's book on Civil Resistance: What Everyone NEEDS to Know (Empower yourself and your community/friends/relatives READ this book, ASAP)

If you're inclined to fear, don't (fear).

#PopeFrancis The People's Pope; ABC News Special

Seven decades ago, I was born into a Catholic family in upstate New York. I was baptized shortly thereafter. When I was 12-years old, I was confirmed in the church.

One year thereafter, with my mother's side of the family, I moved to Phoenix, AZ where I attended high school(s). I rarely attended mass. 

In 2010, I began writing the Arizona Eagletarian. Primarily covering the AZ Independent Redistricting Commission. The first several hundred posts here on this blog remain as a record of that coverage.

"Eagletarian" was and is a play on the word egalitarian. 

In my seven decades, I've lived a rich life. Rich in terms of many mistakes and some triumphs too.

In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, head of the Catholic Church. Strikingly, he chose to take the name Francis.

The ABC News report, which I viewed on Hulu, noted that Bergoglio had a reputation at the beginning of his time as an archbishop as authoritarian. At some point thereafter, he had a substantive change in his personality. Personally, I hope to learn more about how and under what circumstances that change took place. 

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles includes the story of the conversion of the Apostle Paul. That's the closest I am aware of for change similar to that which Bergoglio experienced. To me, reference to Bergoglio's "epiphany" was the most salient part of the ABC report. I hope to learn more about it in the near future.

In 2019, after a bitter divorce, I began reading and studying Stoic philosophy from books written by Ryan Holiday. The trilogy includes The Obstacle is the Way; Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Key.

I have found great comfort and encouragement in the Stoic perspective.

Further, Pope Francis' life and ministry has had profound positive impact in the world. He will be missed. I hope someone who emulates him gets to succeed him.

If he's so damn certain...

 ...That Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a bad guy why is he trying SO damn hard to CON people into believing it when all he would have to do is present him to a US court and see if he has those tattoos on his knuckles? Of course, anyone with critical thinking/analysis skills might also ask Why Mr Garcia's FACE is not in the picture.

Instead, I believe Ann Telneas who posted this cartoon on her substack this afternoon.

Why would anyone with at least half a brain believe Trump's dubious claims about ANYthing?

Contrary to what he said in the "UNtruth not so social" post above, Trump was NOT elected to replace courts of law. Said courts of law must be allowed to do their job without interference or subterfuge from the conman-in-chief.

The real TRUTH is so simple.

By the way, I wonder what Carville has to say about the apparently impending collapse of Trump's regime. 

------

As an aside, today's news has Trump denying Hegseth will be replaced; WaPo columnist Max Boot decrying Hegseth's lack of experience and that the SecDef is most obviously in over his head; Your existential terror is adorable; Your government has no idea how to government? And also hates you? That meme with the adorable cartoon dog whose complacency is about to cause him to burn to death:

---

Your country’s actual national intelligence apparatus is apparently conducting its most important conversations on the digital equivalent of a hot mic? and more.

And these signs apparently are popping up in several places in Albquerque.

The Bottom line: Courage

The ELEPHANT in the room, bottom line, MUST BE to have the courage to make GOOD TROUBLE!

Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson, who calls himself a practicing Stoic makes a solid case in this video today for why the Stoic virtue of courage is the most important. Without courage, there can be no other virtue.

On March 3, 2020, DailyStoic.com made the same claim.

The Stoics believed that a life well lived was one which always countered adversity with virtue. And they believed in four aspects of virtue: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Each and every situation calls for one or more of these four Stoic virtues, and nothing in life exempts us from their power.

 
Today, we begin with one of the most important: Courage.

If you’ve read Cormac McCarthy’s dark and beautiful novel All the Pretty Horses, you’ll remember the key question that Emilio Perez asks John Grady, one that cuts to the core of life and what we all must do to live a life worth living.

“The world wants to know if you have cojones. If you are brave?”

Americans in this era of having to cope with Trump in his second term as president, gravely face the same question. If you've been paying attention, I don't need to make an argument for it. Trump is the argument. Unless the collective WE (the PEOPLE) RISE UP (and I am confident that WE WILL), Trump has already made short work of undermining the Constitution. 

Each of us can only answer it for ourselves. 

 

Alone we MAY be fragile but together we ARE Very MUCH Stronger!

Ana María Archila co-director of New York's Working Families Party and Jen Rubin, editor-in-chief of The Contrarian, discuss the political power of the working class.

"Alone we are fragile but together we are strong."  That's the quote. My take is that we are not all equally fragile, but together we ARE VERY much stronger. 

With the April 5th Day of Action right around the corner, Ana María Archila and Jen Rubin discuss the mission of the Working Families Party, the reason people are coming together this Saturday, and how together, we are so much stronger than the forces of autocracy.

This interview has several key statements both by Ms Archila and by Jen Rubin. It's worth your 11 and a half minutes.

I refuse to be silenced. Further, I refuse to be moved from my OPTIMISM.

Fuck Trump.

Over the previous few days, a few friends who have been paying attention to the news and maybe too much to what Trump has been saying, have been expressing less than optimistic concerns about Trump. Some of that arose out of Trump now spewing bullshit about running for a third term in the presidency.

I expect to hear MORE resistance to his BULLSHIT. I refuse to be silenced.

I have picked up on Trump's consistent backing down and backing off EVERY time he is BOLDLY confronted by WE the PEOPLE. I'm not the only one to have picked up on it.

Further, I and others have posted on this blog and on other social media, including Bluesky and Facebook.

Valarie Kaur, author of See No Stranger, posted the image above in 2022. 

WE the PEOPLE MUST boldly confront Trump. Join me in refusing to be silenced. Join me in solidarity and optimism. When you are OPTIMISTIC, be MINDFULLY optimistic. 

IF and when you are optimistic, you do NOT obey Trump's confusion and pessimistic BULLSHIT even if blasted subliminally, you will refuse to be silenced, just as I am.

Just last Friday, Michigan Law Professor and former US Attorney Barbara McQuade, in a written interview on Joyce Vance's Civil Discourse substack stated without equivocation:

Barbara McQuade, U of Michigan law professor, last Friday, on Joyce Vance's substack, Civil Discourse stated, without equivocation: The thing that gives me optimism is the way Trump backs down when he is confronted with resistance. One of his tactics is to exhaust us with conflicting claims. One day he says the president of Ukraine is a dictator and the next he denies saying that.

Professor McQuade authored the 2024 book Attack from Within AND IS OPTIMISTIC. So AM I.

Pay attention to what you say and to whom you say it.

LOVE, as Valarie Kaur has maintained, and just tonight Sen. Cory Booker, holding the floor of the US Senate, noted that LOVE is FIERCE. LOVE is powerful. LOVE is NOT fearful.

The AIM of divine RAGE is NOT vengeance but to REORDER the world. And to do so with LOVE. 

No matter that you are raging against what MAGAs have done to enable Trump, YOU and I are called to move the world with a FIERCE LOVE.

They are intentionally destroying my country... to enrich the billionaire class!

 ... so says Yale Professor Jason Stanley in his interview with Amanpour and Company's Michel Martin (dated 26 March 2025) and in his very prescient book, Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future..

From Yale professor and bestselling author of How Fascism Works [Jason Stanley], a searing confrontation with the authoritarian right’s efforts to annihilate public education, silence teachers, and use taxpayer money to undo a century of work to advance social justice action on race, gender, sexuality, and class. Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past which began in schools; [...] Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history. He shows that hearts and minds are won in our elementary schools, high schools, and universities—and that governments are currently ill-prepared to do the work of uprooting fascist policies being foisted upon our children through school boards, in courtrooms, and in the boardrooms of the companies trusted to train our teachers and create the materials they’ll share with their students. Deeply informed and urgently needed, this book is a vibrant call to action for lovers of democracy worldwide. -- from Goodreads.com

We've known for some time THAT Trump 2.0 was intent on establishing Fascism in America. NOW we have a better idea of how they intend to do so. In other words, attacking the universities and the law firms which challenge the Fascist policies and practices of Trump 2.0.

We've KNOWN (or at least I have been previously able to surmise) that Trump 2.0 is deathly afraid of the American ELECTORATE rising up to challenge them/it.

We NOW know that Trump 2.0 has been silent and backed off when it senses WE the PEOPLE are rising up as such. That is, similar to how during the 2024 election campaign, it/he alluded to but did not explicitly state how or why there would be NO NEED to vote in future elections.

And just within the last couple of days, we've learned of the Trump 2.0 direct attack on the rights of the 50 United States to set their own standards for voting in elections. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes explained in a video with Marc Elias of Democracy Docket how to cut through Trump's Orwellian doublespeak in that particular executive order. 

NOW the challenge for FREEDOM loving America and Americans is to figure out how to do more than to simply react to the overt moves the administration takes each day. Instead, we must figure out how to anticipate moves and both tactically and strategically counter those actions to prevent it from entirely undermining the US Constitution.   

 

With Trump “We Are Watching the Deliberate Dismantling of American Democracy”

We've seen and known this for the last two months. BUT it IS overdue for WE the PEOPLE to SAY IT, and say it LOUD. And say it OFTEN. And KEEP SAYING IT.

Why? Because when WE say it. And keep saying it, It makes it easier for the next gals and guys to say it without fear. With fearless boldness. If YOU are afraid "they" will come after you, do the math. There are FAR more of us than there are of them.

This YT clip with Katie Couric and Heather Cox Richardson is an hour long. You can listen to a little bit of it, or a lot (ALL). No matter how much, recognize the patterns of Trump's conduct. It's not rocket science.

Just know that as cringeworthy as everything Trump and his co-president Mush (typo intentional) say and do, Trump DOES back down every time WE the PEOPLE say it loud and say it often. And with emphasis.

EVERY single damn time WE confront Trump boldly, he backs down. They might be less afraid of federal courts and therefore willing to challenge federal judges, but they ARE afraid of WE THE PEOPLE.

If you don't believe it, demand your local or national corporate media enterprise dedicate the work of its paid journalists to prove you/us wrong.

I dare them to stand up and demand Trump stand up to WE the PEOPLE.

He will NOT do it. Because the one thing his actions tell us more than anything else...

More than that Trump is Pewtin's asset

More than that Musk acts like he's got Trump indebted to him for the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to "rig" the election last November...

Is that Trump wants to be worshiped as a KING by the people of America.

He has said that he wants to get his agenda put in place prior to the 2026 mid term election.

I believe WE THE PEOPLE can push the timeline, make it even closer to today.

WHO OWNS WHOM? 

Does Mush/Trump own the American government? Or do we?

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Lest any of you think I'm making any of this up, it's in a book written by the late political scientist Gene Sharp.

There is nothing I've paid more attention to over the last two months than Gene Sharp's knowledge and insight. Sharp was ALL about NONVIOLENCE and nonviolent struggle. NONVIOLENCE is far more powerful than violent struggle. It's ALL in this short book, 93 pages. First published 32 years ago.

Lest you think I make a premature declaration, have you attended or watched any of the Fight Oligarchy rallies the last few days with AOC and Bernie Sanders? Compare reports of expected attendance with those of how many people actually showed up.

I'm not going to spell out an abbreviated timeline for deposing the billionaires in power in the federal government at this time.

I am going to say that the greater the pressure from WE THE PEOPLE, the faster those who can expedite getting rid of Trump WILL get rid of him.

Mush may threaten Republicans in Congress with getting primaried. But the time has come to call those Republicans on the threat. 

We have two seats in Congress that are subject to special elections on April 1, 2025. What happens when Dems win both of them? 

Boldly CONFRONT Trump/Mush.

Just do it. I am.

Careless People: a cautionary tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism

 

Could THIS era become an apocalypse for powerful, greedy people who lost track of their idealism?

Meta’s criticism has hardly curbed the memoir’s popularity. Wynn-Williams’s book is getting the kind of news coverage and social media chatter that many first-time authors can only dream of, having debuted at No. 1 earlier this month on the New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction and sold well ever since.

Published on March 11, 2025 and available wherever fine books are sold (at least in the US).

Could this be the beginning of the end for some powerful people.

It has probably been at least a half century since I first read or heard the adage: Pride goes before destruction.

Might it be time to regroup and prepare for a dramatic change in the political dynamic at work (or play) since... well, since Trump and his ilk, along with other Big Money players arrived on the American political scene.

Nah, I must be dreaming.

Nevertheless, it feels BIG.

Once upon a time Sarah Wynn-Williams worked for Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook/Meta.

She published a memoir of her time at the right hand of a capitalist god.

Since a US court determined she would not be allowed to promote her book, the gods of Capitalism and Publicity dropped their mic and said, here let me take over for you.

Meta scrambled to silence a tell-all book. Now it’s a bestseller.

An arbitration ruling bars author Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting her memoir tarnishing Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg with what the social media giant says are lies. Sure, just because a capitalist god tries to convince you something is a lie, you should believe them, right?

Maybe WE the people of Facebook should weigh in on the brouhaha. 

“By the end, I watched hopelessly as they sucked up to authoritarian regimes like China’s and casually misled the public. I was on a private jet with Mark the day he finally understood that Facebook probably did put Donald Trump in the White House, and came to his own dark conclusions from that. But most days, working on policy at Facebook was way less like enacting a chapter from Machiavelli and way more like watching a bunch of fourteen-year-olds who’ve been given superpowers and an ungodly amount of money, as they jet around the world to figure out what power has bought and brought them. That’s the story I’m here to tell.” -- Sarah Winn-Williams

When we FIGHT... WE WIN!

 

I was practically still a kid when Howard Beale (in the 1976 movie, Network) declared that he was mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

What has changed in the last half century?

Some good things, and some not so good.

Bernie Sanders is rock solid and he's going to make sure Trump and Musk aren't going to continue their undermining of the entire American federal government. 

Along with AOC, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Bernie has a HUGE platform and with the American electorate standing together with them, we are NOT going to have to take it any more.

Because... when WE fight, we WIN.

It has been about five months since Trump stole the election for his second term.

Many of us, my friends, were shell shocked by Musk spending hundreds of millions of dollars to corruptly win.

In that five months, like a dam holding back rising water, a movement Trump will not be able withstand, is almost ready to overtake that dam.

WE are NOT going to have to take Trump's lies and rampant abuses of power for very much longer.

For emphasis, this last video (above) is a half hour long. It likely won't take that long for you, dear reader to get the idea about how overwhelmed Trump and Musk are going to find themselves very, very soon.

WHEN we FIGHT, we WIN

In the 1990s, I worked for very large AZ state government social service agency

At the time, agency management and Republican state lawmakers started acting like they had sticky fingers. Of course, it was fashionable to claim privatizing government services would "save taxpayer dollars. It was the 1990s. I worked as an accountant for the Arizona Dept. of Economic Security. Major efforts were underway to privatize copy making and social services. In another agency, privatizing prisons has had its biggest advocate in alternating two-year terms both in the state senate and House of Representatives.

That, to my mind was always complete and total bullshit. Because I could "see" that replacing state employee benefits with a new line item called profit, didn't add up to taxpayer cost savings.

Included on my current reading list(s) are Zephyr Teachout's Corruption in America and Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark.

As far as podcasts, few of them interest me. However, every Tuesday, YouTuber Mark Thompson broadcasts a half hour (or so) interview with Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston. Mr. Johnston has written several books exposing the Trump shenanigans. He is also known as the country's foremost Trumpologist.

This week, Thompson and Johnston lifted the veil on Elon Musk and his chainsaw gimmick. If YOU TOO have wondered why Musk isn't really showing any numbers (waste, fraud, abuse), David's gift for making complex issues easy to understand might just make sense to you.

Johnston doesn't mince words when it comes to calling out Trump corruption. He no longer works for corporate media enterprises, but did so for a LOOOONNNNGGGG time. Most recently he was a cofounder of DCReport.org, and for a few years taught journalism and law as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University Law School. Now, he's a professor of practice at Rochester Institute of Technology, teaching Journalism.

Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson's and FB stand out star gives outstanding explanations and perspectives on our troubled attempts to fulfill the promise of our Constitution's preamble. She writes Letters from an American and publishes them on substack, Facebook, and YouTube.. 

Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson's and FB stand out star gives outstanding explanations and perspectives on our troubled attempts to fulfill the promise of our Constitution's preamble. She writes Letters from an American and publishes them on substack, Facebook, and YouTube.. On what one thing most handily casts out the fear Trump and Musk clearly intend to sow across out nation fully deserves your undivided attention for a minute and a half.

That is, if you struggle with negative emotion (like fear, anger, and doubt) as a result of what cult leader Donald Trump tries to do every time he opens his mouth.

DOGE is failing (and flailing)

https://youtube.com/shorts/E7bghUGeWKQ?si=dgQNwE63trbLd5mH

Stay focused on the big things.

THEY are desperately afraid of accountability.

That's WHY they won't hold town halls... and even cut them short when they start one and then someone (especially MAGAts) angrily and boldly confront GOP Congress critters.

Sam Wang, Princeton Univ neuroscientist: Science and our Democracy depends on... YOU exercising your AGENCY

Stand Up for Science: demonstration at Princeton U. on March 7, 2025 remarks by Professor Sam Wang

Sam Wang first appeared on my personal "radar screen" when he submitted an amicus brief in 2015 regarding Wesley G Harris' lawsuit challenging the 2011 maps drawn by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (finalized in 2012). Wang, a mathematician and neuroscientist demonstrated that contrary to Harris' claim, Arizona Republicans did NOT suffer illegal dilution of their votes as a result of that year's district maps.

Professor Wang is inherently very interested in elections and electoral matters. He founded and leads the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.

As a neuroscientist, Wang spoke yesterday at a Stand Up for Science in Trenton, NJ.

WE the PEOPLE MUST speak up and out assertively and with understanding the societal ramifications of the idiocracy we see in the moment. We MUST keep the Musk/Trump regime from cutting off funding for critical scientific research.

We've made a LOT of progress. But only when WE take action. Action in the COURTS. Action in the STREETS. And ACTIONS ONLINE!

That's AGENCY.  The actions MUST be disciplined, they MUST be NONVIOLENT. And they MUST be taken without reference to when results will occur. Remember the adage, Let go and let GOD? Whether you believe in God or not, You and I MUST always take care to do what is right and leave the results up to powers higher than our own societal awareness.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson suggests Trump will snap?

Will you be a victim? Or will you summon the strength of your agency? IOW, 

1. The condition of being in action; operation.
2. The means or mode of acting; instrumentality.

Trump's legitimacy is weak.

The foundation for American power in the world has been, since President John F Kennedy established USAID in 1961, the concept of Soft Power.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/06/27/views-of-american-soft-power/

Many people in 23 countries around the world view American technological achievements, entertainment, universities and military as the best in the world or above average among wealthy nations. Yet, people generally see the U.S. as similar to other wealthy nations on five societal measures tested in the survey: political stability, safety, democracy, religiosity and tolerance.

Even though roughly four-in-ten say the U.S. is about as politically stable as other wealthy countries, one-in-three see the U.S. as more politically stable, while a median of just 17% believe the U.S. is less politically stable.

That seems to have drastically changed even just since Trump started his second term. To avoid going on ad nauseum, I will call on you to either do some internet research on your own, or engage your imagination to consider the impact of USAID programs throughout the world. What would be the human cost? What would the impact be on your life?

Joseph Nye and Soft Power

In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (in contrast with hard power). It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is non-coercive, using culture, political values, and foreign policies to enact change. In 2012, Joseph Nye of Harvard University explained that with soft power, "the best propaganda is not propaganda", further explaining that during the Information Age, "credibility is the scarcest resource".[1]

Nye popularised the term in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power.[2]

In this book he wrote: "when one country gets other countries to want what it wants might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others [isn't that what dictators prefer to do?] to do what it wants".[2] He further developed the concept in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics

Maybe I'm overstating the notion, but I believe the Musk/Trump regime is headed for collapse. With Musk/Trump completely cutting off ALL funding for USAID, is/was there any place for the US to be other than behind the 8-ball. That is, until SCOTUS unfroze said funding on Wednesday.

Without that desperately needed legitimacy, the dictators cannot continue to rule indefinitely. Exponents of peace should not provide them legitimacy.

Sharp, Gene. From Dictatorship To Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation . The Albert Einstein Institution. Kindle Edition. 

From the Washington Post:

Judge orders USAID payments to some foreign aid groups by Monday

Global health groups accused the Trump administration of flouting a judge’s order to restart nearly $2 billion in payments for food, medicine and more.
Updated
March 6, 2025 at 8:42 p.m. ESTtoday at 8:42 p.m. EST

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must pay tens of millions of dollars in outstanding foreign aid by the end of Monday, but the fate of hundreds of millions more in spending for lifesaving food and medicine has yet to be resolved.

Judge Amir H. Ali ruled that the government must pay the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, the Global Health Council and other plaintiffs the outstanding balances they are owed, calling it a “concrete step” forward in an ongoing lawsuit over the Trump administration’s abrupt pause in foreign aid.

The suspension and cancellation of thousands of humanitarian contracts has led to life-threatening disruptions in food assistance and medicine around the world, aid groups have said. [Do you have any legitimate reason to doubt their claims?]

From the BBC on February 7, 2025:

The future of the US government's main overseas aid agency has been cast into doubt, with employees locked out and the Trump administration planning to merge it with the US Department of State [do you think that merger would MAINTAIN America's Soft Power throughout the world].

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said thousands of employees would be put on leave shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office. The agency then recalled its workers from missions across the world.

Trump has made it clear he wants overseas spending to be closely aligned with his "America First" approach and the international development sector is braced for a profound effect on humanitarian programmes around the world.

Trump posted on his Truth Social page on Friday that USAID's spending "IS TOTALLY UNEXPLAINABLE... CLOSE IT DOWN!"

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire working on the White House's effort to shrink the federal government, has previously claimed that the aid agency is "a criminal organization" and that Trump has agreed to "shut it down".

Neither Trump or Musk provided clear evidence to support their claims, and the president's effort to shutter the agency is expected to face legal challenges.

Getting news on this matter from BBC is valuable because American news sources water down the facts to appease MUSK/Trump.

The FACT is Trump doesn't want YOU to know the significance of the work and the impact of US Soft Power in the world. By controlling the news available for you to get an understanding of the genuine impact, and the reasons Congress appropriated the funding in the first place, might you be less willing to go along with it yourself? Do you have a deficit in human empathy? I hope not.

 

Are YOU included in WE THE PEOPLE?????

WHY is it so many people are wringing their hands at Democratic Members of Congress blaming them for not standing up to Trump?

I mean, if it's to be, it's up to someone else, right?

Is Trump really SOMEONE ELSE's PROBLEM?

Ask THIS instead: is Trump MY problem? You're damn right he is.

Ask THIS next: what am I going to do about it?

Well, WHAT are YOU gonna do about it????? Cower in fear because Trump talks tough? Sure he does. UNTIL the (female) president of Mexico stands up to him.

Perhaps start HERE... 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Who owns the problem?

I own it. Do you? WE the PEOPLE do.

What ya gonna do about it?

Are you going to wait until it's your turn to fly across the country to worry about MUSK firing Air Traffic Controllers?  

Are you going to wait until your monthly Social Security benefit payment doesn't show up in your bank account before you complain about Musk closing half of the country's Social Security offices? Do you have medical bills? Do you have a home mortgage?

Are you going to wait until MUSK fires more than half of the VA medical center licensed medical professionals before you decide it IS your problem?

Are you going to wait until MUSK sells off all of the federal courthouses before you take a stand and demand WE fire MUSK... AND Trump? What do they do in federal courtrooms anyway? Ask Glenn Kirschner, retired career federal prosecutor. As I understand, they go after mobsters, murderers, big time fraudsters and more. Have you never been conned? I have.

Are you going to wait until... do you get it yet? When are you going to realize he's coming for YOUR freedoms, or YOUR federal highways, or whatever YOU depend on federal government funding to make sure your family is safe? They fully intend to take the American economy back to the FIRST gilded age when there was NO safety net and the richest ONE percent could do every damn thing they wanted to do.

EVERY single bullshit claim Trump made in The Trump Show on Tuesday night was about shutting down safety net protections and/or American infrastructure.

A friend who is a long time peace activist sent me a meme this evening calling for shutting down Guantanamo.

It immediately occurred to me that as important as that should and could be, it's secondary or tertiary or lower priority than shutting down MUSK and Trump.

Many events on Friday this week are calling for SUFS... stand up for science.

In my community, demonstrations are scheduled for SUNY Geneseo and RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology.

I hope they are well attended and get earned media coverage.

Ultimately, when such NONVIOLENT struggle movements take on the disruptive power and widespread participation like Greta Thunberg's school strikes for Climate Action did, we will be able to... well, I have my vision set on no less than the collapse of the Trump/Musk regime.

Can it happen? Hell YES it can happen.

Remember this: EVERY single damn time he's confronted boldly, Trump backs down.

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Who are WE THE PEOPLE? I am one of them (US). I own the problem. Do you? Don't hope Democratic lawmakers who already have more on their plates than they know what to do about do it for you.

Here's something EASY to do to get started. Before next Tuesday, do this

Flood the zone. HE ALWAYS backs down when confronted boldly.  It's more than just you. It's more than just me. How quickly do you think he'll back down from his fictitious "mandate" (or is that a MAN date with Elon)? If he gets 1,000,000 post cards? What about 50 or 60 million?

Here's the playbook.

Guest Post: THE CITIZENS’ PLAYBOOK FOR DEFENDING DEMOCRACY by Herb Paine

THE CITIZENS’ PLAYBOOK FOR DEFENDING DEMOCRACY

Herb Paine

Mar 05, 2025

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📌 Introduction: Why This Playbook?

We stand at a pivotal moment in American history. A coordinated effort is underway to undo decades of social and economic progress, with policies and strategies designed to roll back vital protections, diminish rights, and concentrate power. From dismantling the social safety net to eroding democratic freedoms, the stakes are higher than ever. These attacks are not just policy disagreements—they represent existential threats to the values of equity, justice, and democracy.

The future of our society depends on collective resistance. This playbook offers a clear, strategic framework for individuals, community groups, and activists who want to fight back against these regressive policies and ensure that progress is not reversed. Drawing inspiration from historical movements of resistance and power-building—and inspired by Saul Alinsky’s organizing principles—it provides actionable steps for organizing and confronting the forces that seek to undermine our shared values.

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✅ 1. Mapping the Power Structure

"If you don’t know who holds the power, you don’t know where to push."

Key Actions:

• Identify Key Decision-Makers: From local officials to corporate moguls and national policymakers, figure out who holds the power and where the pressure needs to be applied.

• Map Influence Networks: Research the industries, corporations, or lobbying groups driving harmful policies. Who are their allies? What do they care about (voters, profit, media attention)?

• Find Vulnerabilities: Understand what motivates these power-holders—whether it's votes, public perception, or economic interests—and find ways to use that leverage.

Tactical Move: Power Mapping Workshop

• Organize community meetings to collectively map local, state, and national power structures. Identify key players and where their interests align or conflict with the issues you care about. Create a visual map to guide collective actions.

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✅ 2. Framing the Narrative: Making It Personal and Urgent

"People don’t act on abstract ideas. They act when something affects them directly."

Key Actions:

• Humanize the Issues: Instead of discussing abstract policies, focus on how these policies directly impact people’s lives. Show how cuts to healthcare, education, or social services affect real families.

• Tell Stories, Not Statistics: Personal stories are the emotional fuel that drives activism. Use testimonials, community member experiences, and personal narratives to make the issue relatable and urgent.

• Frame the Issue in Multiple Terms: Speak to different audiences by framing the issues in terms of moral, economic, and even religious values.

Tactical Move: 30-Second Story Challenge

• Train individuals to tell their personal stories in 30 seconds or less. Share these stories in media appearances, town halls, and direct conversations with decision-makers. These short, poignant narratives have a higher chance of mobilizing others.

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✅ 3. Building a Broad-Based Resistance Coalition

"Alone, we are weak. Together, we are unignorable."

Key Actions:

• Reach Out to Diverse Groups: Work with labor unions, faith-based organizations, immigrant rights groups, students, businesses, and social justice advocates. The broader the coalition, the more pressure you can apply.

• Create Unified Demands: Identify the common goals that all coalition members can support—protecting healthcare, preserving voting rights, [Social Security] or defending workers’ rights.

• Speak with One Voice: While it’s crucial to bring diverse voices together, ensure that the messaging is clear, cohesive, and focused on the main threats at hand.

Tactical Move: Public Cross-Sector Rally

• Organize public rallies or forums where activists, business leaders, faith-based groups, and community members publicly declare their opposition to regressive policies. This shows strength and unity across sectors.

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✅ 4. Applying Strategic Pressure: Escalate and Disrupt

"The real action is in the reaction."

Key Actions:

• Push Beyond Conventional Advocacy: Don’t just lobby—make it politically costly for decision-makers to ignore the will of the people. Use disruptive, visible tactics to force them to act.

• Engage in Constructive Disruption: Nonviolent protests, civil disobedience, and boycotts can all be used to disrupt normal operations and draw attention to your cause.

• Use Escalating Tactics: Start with petitions and letters, then move to public demonstrations, and escalate to larger actions like strikes, mass gatherings, and sit-ins if [as] necessary.

Tactical Moves:

• Public Accountability Scorecard: Create a public scorecard that rates lawmakers, officials, or corporations on their actions regarding the issues at hand. Publish the scorecard widely to hold them accountable.

• Shadow Hearings: If officials refuse to listen, hold public hearings in the community, using experts and impacted individuals to speak out. Record these hearings and broadcast them online.

• Mass Action Days: Organize coordinated actions, such as a "National Day of Resistance," where people across the country take to the streets, call lawmakers, or halt their work to show the breadth of opposition.

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✅ 5. Mobilizing Stakeholders and Creating a Mass Movement

"Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have."

Key Actions:

• Organize Rapid-Response Networks: Establish networks that can mobilize quickly in response to immediate threats—whether it's a new bill, policy change, or attack on rights.

• Train Activists: Offer training in media engagement, direct action, and grassroots organizing to empower individuals at the community level.

• Transform Beneficiaries into Advocates: Those who are most impacted by policy changes (e.g., marginalized groups) should be at the forefront of the movement, speaking their truth and driving the narrative.

Tactical Move: Advocacy Bootcamp

• Run training sessions for community members, activists, and concerned citizens on how to get involved in advocacy, media, and direct-action strategies. These bootcamps can help build momentum and leadership within the movement.

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✅ 6. Building a Long-Term Resistance Infrastructure

"The only way to sustain change is to institutionalize power."

Key Actions:

• Establish Permanent Organizing Structures: Set up local and national organizing bodies that can continue to drive resistance efforts even in the face of political and social pushback.

• Foster Leadership Development: Create leadership programs for the next generation of activists. Mentorship, training, and networking are essential for long-term sustainability.

• Maintain a Strong Media Presence: Keep the pressure on by having a continuous media strategy that highlights your cause, showcases victories, and keeps your resistance at the forefront.

Tactical Move: Political Action Committee (PAC)

• Consider the formation of a grassroots PAC that can help fund political candidates who prioritize policies protecting social and economic progress. This PAC can also help support the campaigns of current lawmakers who champion resistance efforts.

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📌 Final Thoughts: The Time for Defense is Over—We Must Build Our Own Power

For too long, we’ve been forced to react to harmful policies. This playbook marks the shift from defense to offense, encouraging citizens and groups to take proactive steps to protect and expand progress. The future of our democracy and the hard-won rights of millions is at stake. It’s time to build the resistance, to disrupt the forces trying to undo progress, and to create a powerful, sustainable movement for change.

Next Steps:

• Share This Playbook: Distribute this playbook within your community, to your networks, and to organizations that care about defending democracy.

• Implement One Tactic: Choose a tactic you can begin implementing immediately—whether it’s organizing a power-mapping workshop or launching a public accountability scorecard.

• Commit to Long-Term Resistance: This is not a short-term battle. Commit to building a movement that will endure and continue pushing for justice, equity, and democracy.

Stand up for democracy! The time for action is now!

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This is the 84th issue of IN THE CENTER LANE. Since its inception, the goal has been to create a place for reasoned, balanced, and civil discourse on topics that profoundly impact our daily lives. Thank you for your continued support of IN THE CENTER LANE. I hope you’ll share these articles with friends and colleagues and encourage them to join the conversation with a free subscription to this newsletter.

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