Wednesday, I sent the Events list together with two items for immediate action. To amplify the key actions, here are links to items that are helpful in connecting with your senators, including scripts you can use.

But while we are pushing back against the government shutdown, we need a bigger, bolder message — one that makes the existential crisis we are facing front and center. Anat Shenker-Osario warns us that "healthcare is essential, to state the obvious. But focusing in on negotiating over restoring subsidies is sending the message that this is a normal administration. That we have policy disagreements and not that we are confronting a regime hell bent on destroying us."

We need to see and to say that this regime is working at warp speed to destroy our democracy. Not that it is simply a right-wing government we don't like! The precondition, in my view, for the destruction of our system of government — one that depends on the three separate and co-equal branches of the federal government AND the independent sovereignty of the states with their own separate branches of government — was the Supreme Court's ruling last summer that the president is immune from criminal prosecution for acts that fall within his powerful purview. From that egregious opinion flows the regime's impunity. So now, we are in crisis.

Let's look squarely at some of Trump's otherwise illegal acts:

1. repeatedly failing to spend funds that the Congress has allocated for specific purposes and that the Congress has not rescinded (see Wikipedia);
2. instructing ICE agents to wear masks, to use racial profiling, and to deport people without the constitutionally guaranteed right to due process;
3. deploying the military in various cities (with Democratic mayors, I might add) to "fight crime," they claim, in contravention of the Posse Comitatus Act, the 1878 law that "generally prevents the president from using the military as a domestic police force."

Just a few nights ago, ICE executed a military-style invasion of an apartment building in Chicago, "dragging residents, including children, out of the building without clothes and loading them into U-Haul vans. [The witness] said the children were separated from their mothers" (Newsweek, October 3, 2025). The Department of Homeland Security told Newsweek that the location was "known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates." With no warrants or other forms of proof, we remain skeptical. Proving probable cause is the American way. Striking fear in the middle of the night is not.

Lest you think we are sitting comfortably north of the fray, I'm here to tell you that Milwaukee will not be spared. Apparently, ICE is planning to move 70 to 80 people into office space downtown (Milwaukee Business Journal, October 2, 2025). And it is already active in several areas of Wisconsin. It behooves all of us to make sure we know what is happening in our state. Worth Fighting For Wisconsin and Grassroots North Shore can fill you in. Our webinar — The ICE Man Cometh (and we’re not talking about a play) — will be held on Monday, October 13 from 7:00 - 8:30 CT. Make sure you sign up to get up to speed.

The webinar will start with a quick walk through the 15 biggest myths about immigration and immigrants. Then we take a deep dive into four different late-breaking and ongoing situations in Wisconsin:

1. Village of Palmyra: first Wisconsin-based ICE bounty hunters; first municipal (rather than county) contract with ICE;
2. Manitowoc: mass arrests in dairy land;
3. Madison: street grabs
4. Milwaukee: ICE seeks 18,500 square feet of office space downtown

Palmyra wasn’t ready for ICE to come to its town — but in less than a week the Concerned Citizens of Palmyra mobilized and they are taking on ICE. Bigly. We’ll hear from them, and others deeply involved in current immigrant-related matters, including Emilio de Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, and DACA recipient, and Iuscely Flores (Comité Sin Fronteras).

The program will cover the impact ICE activities are having on immigrants, citizens of color, communities, businesses, local governments, and more and roll out a toolkit we helped Palmyra build, which you can use to be as ready as you can be if/when the ICE man cometh. With the right research and resources, we can all stand up to ICE. Make sure you are ready. Sign up.

On the same evening, in preparation for the NO KINGS events on October 18, The League of Progressive Seniors is hosting a sign-making party at the Wauwatosa Library (7635 W North Ave) in the Firefly Room from 5:30 - 7:30. Some poster board and art supplies will be available at the library but please bring yours to share. There will be wood sticks to attach to signs or rope to make sandwich boards. For more information, contact Karen Royster.

Alas, there is a long list of other awful news to cover:

• Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin paused abortion services Wednesday at its Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan locations "due to the megabill officially titled the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act" that included a provision to take away federal funding from the organization if it continues providing abortion services (Washington Examiner, October 2, 2025);
• the regime's subversion of academic freedom continues with it's latest stick-and-carrot offer (New York Times, October 2, 2025, gift article);
• the wholesale corruption of the US Department of Justice (YouTube, IHIP News);
• politicizing the military (‘Deeply un-American’: Democrats slam Trump for politicizing military in speech, The Chronicle, October 3, 2025).

And that list just scratches the surface. Many of us are feeling deeply fatigued and overwhelmed by the unrelenting torrent. But as we face this increasingly existential crisis — what seemed to be a legitimately elected federal government that is now seen to be completely anti-American in its views, actions, and intentions — we simply have to stand strong and stand together. So let me end this long email with some bromides we need to dust off: there is safety in numbers; courage is contagious; we have no choice but to carry on until we prevail!

important links

Become a Member of Grassroots North Shore	Visit Grassroots North Shore on Facebook and Like Us!
Support Grassroots North Shore	Join us on BlueSky

The newsletter this week will arrive in two parts. This first mailing covers the TAKE ACTION events and the more comprehensive EVENTS list. Tomorrow I will have time to write a proper account covering the avalanche of news we've experienced over the past few days, including the Trump regime's latest threats, the government shutdown that took place beginning at midnight last night, and some important distinctions between what ICE, local and state law enforcement can do and what the military — including the National Guard — can do in our communities.

Also, if you have not already seen this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today, bone up on who will be running for Wisconsin Supreme Court next spring: "Who is Maria Lazar? What to know about conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate." It's always possible that one or more new candidates will pop up before December, when nomination papers will begin circulating. But right now, there are only two: Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar.

Before you turn to our extensive EVENTS list, make sure you take the two easy-peasy actions we have for you.

TAKE ACTION

Join the Indivisible call TONIGHT at 7:30pm CT: Healthcare not Authoritarianism.

"Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the past nine months selling out working families in order to give tax breaks to their billionaire friends. Now they’re taking us into a government shutdown because they refuse to negotiate with Democrats and lower healthcare costs for our families.

"Trump has refused to support a budget proposal that would prevent millions of Americans from losing their health care. He's insisted on illegally cancelling funds our communities rely on. And he abruptly called off a planned meeting with Democratic leadership, and then threatened to fire even more federal workers when the government shuts down. We deserve a budget that meets our health care needs and reins in Trump's lawlessness.

Join our mass call this Wednesday (10/1) at 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST for an update on the federal funding fight, and to discuss how we can organize collectively to support and protect our communities in this federal budget showdown."

Call Senator Ron Johnson. Tell him Republicans need to negotiate with Democrats to shore up healthcare coverage for millions of Americans: 202-224-5323.

Call Senator Tammy Baldwin. Tell her you appreciate her "no" vote on the Republican Continuing Resolution bill and to stand strong opposing the draconian cuts to Medicaid and the ACA tax credits: 202-224-5653.

EVENTS

Wednesday, October 1

Thursday, October 2

Saturday, October 4

Sunday, October 5

Monday, October 6

Tuesday, October 7

Wednesday, October 8

Thursday, October 9

Saturday, October 11

Sunday, October 12

Monday, October 13

Wednesday, October 15

Thursday, October 16

Saturday, October 18

Save the Date

Sunday, October 19

Monday, October 20

Wednesday, October 22

Thursday, October 23

Saturday, October 25

other important links

Become a Member of Grassroots North Shore	Visit Grassroots North Shore on Facebook and Like Us!
Support Grassroots North Shore	Join us on BlueSky

We need to celebrate our victories by acknowledging them and by orchestrating future victories! I'll explain in more detail shortly. But first and foremost, what works to combat the wannabe dictator occupying the Oval Office is our solidarity: massing our bodies and our voices, in ways that are visible and loud! Which is why it is so very important that you join a NO KINGS Rally and March on Saturday, October 18. The main event in our area will take place at Cathedral Square Park (520 E Wells St, Milwaukee). The program includes an Organization Fair from 11:00am to noon, a Rally from noon to 1:00pm, and a March from 1:00 to 2:00pm. SIGN UP NOW and make a commitment to stand with your community, to voice your opposition, and to fight the fascist takeover of our government and way of life.

To organize this rally, which is sure to have an even bigger crowd than last time, we are joining with other local groups to raise enough funds to rent a large speaker system and screens with supplementary sound so that everyone can see and hear. Please consider making a donation to defray these costs. These grassroots organizations are not funded and so have to rely on their members and supporters to help defray necessary expenses. Please be as generous as you can. You can donate here.

Anticipating the size and scale of the rally and march, the organizers are also recruiting volunteers for a range of roles. Volunteers help keep our events safe, non-violent, effective, and accessible. Volunteers who join this list may be contacted about this event and future events. Go the extra mile and Volunteer!

No Kings rallies and marches are happening all over Wisconsin. You can look at the map of events in the entire country and zoom into Wisconsin to see where events are happening nearby. So if you are not going to be in the Milwaukee area on October 18, you can find one near where you will be and sign up. Also, I have listed information for the No Kings events in our surrounding area as of today — see the listings in the EVENTS list below. And keep in mind that with three weeks to go, new events are likely to be added. So check back if you can't find a suitable one right now.

Now about those victories. On Wednesday, September 17, Disney and ABC decided to "suspend" the Jimmy Kimmel Live! program indefinitely. But by Tuesday, September 23, it was back on the air. What happened? WE DID. Disney and ABC at first capitulated to the Trump administration because the chair of the Federal Communications Commission was threatening to decline to approve a merger — one that would also double the number of ABC stations any one business could own. The deal Nexstar and the Sinclair group were pursuing would have allowed these companies to control ABC broadcasts to something like 80% of the American population.

The backlash to the suspension was swift and huge as ordinary citizens exercised their right to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu and took to social media to excoriate Disney and ABC in protest. It didn't take long. In total, only four episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! went dark. Now that it is back in business, it is definitely must see TV. If you have not yet watched Kimmel's brilliant monologue last night, you can see it on YouTube. Those whose ABC stations still refused to air the show can see it on YouTube also. So spread the word and the link!

It turns out that Americans do care about our constitutional right to free speech. It's notable that, as Oliver Willis on Daily Kos wrote, "the data from YouTube and online searches are a testament to the eroding ability of gatekeepers like Sinclair and Nexstar to control what people see. People who couldn’t watch Kimmel’s program on Tuesday night—like those served by WJLA, the Sinclair station in the Washington, D.C., market—can watch the entire monologue or clips of it online."

In his recent newsletter, David French wrote: "[Frederick] Douglass argued that free speech, 'of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down.'" French goes on to note that suppressing speech also violates the right of others to hear that speech. "When a mob storms a stage, when a president persecutes the press or when an assassin’s bullet brutally silences a debate, they are violating the rights of the speaker, and they are violating the rights of every other person present and of every other person who may want to hear the speech."

Outrage and purchasing power: these are two instruments most ready to hand for ordinary people like ourselves to wield in the face of tyrannical behavior. Those who have stood up to Trump's bullying have generally won the day. As Paul Krugman explains in his recent newsletter, "some major corporations have already seen the costs of surrendering to Trump. Notably, Target’s decision to appease Trump by ending its commitment to DEI led to a large decline in sales and a falling stock price amid a rising market, and eventually cost the CEO his job. Law firms who have capitulated to Trump have lost clients and partners to law firms that stood up to him. And need we talk about the popularity of Tesla cars and cybertrucks?"

So when companies push back, we should reward them with our praise and with our business. While plenty of universities, law firms, and corporations have been dismantling efforts to be inclusive of people from different cultures and with different abilities, Kohl's (a revered Wisconsin retailer) has not only been steadfast. It is celebrating its commitment by making inclusion the subject of its website's home page. Here's the company's statement:

Defending our freedoms, our families, and our futures requires vigilance, persistence, and most of all SHOWING UP. The No Kings rallies represent our next important opportunity to display our opposition, to voice our concerns, to band together to stand up to would-be tyranny. I hope you will make the time and the effort. Again, here's where you sign up to attend the rally in Cathedral Park Square on Saturday, October 18. There will be a dedicated area for the physically challenged. So bring your canes, your walkers, and your wheel chairs. But come! And donate if you can.

Of course, there isn't always a rally or march to attend. So here's a lovely example of a small way to participate in the resistance every day: wear a paper clip! Seriously. E. Jean Carroll started the Paper Clip Protest. Joyce Vance wrote about it in her substack "Civil Discourse" a few days ago. As Carroll and Vance explain, paperclips were "worn during World War II as a sign of resistance against the Nazis." It's a symbol of solidarity, "binding them together as paper clips did with papers." I'm planning to wear one every day!

Krugman strikes a hopeful note at the end of his newsletter: "It’s ironic, but thanks in part to a late-night comedian, it’s becoming clear that America is not yet lost." It's truly up to us.

TAKE ACTION

Write postcards to Get Out the Vote for Nov. 4 elections! Postcards to Swing States still have 345,000 postcards left for their News Boosting Postcards in Virginia, which combat right-wing disinformation by sending news headlines directly to voters in Virginia. Sign up now and they'll mail you free postcards within 5-10 days, along with voter lists and instructions with what to write. You're responsible for the Postcard Stamps, which cost $0.61. You will have until Oct 24 to complete the postcards (for all programs).

Use 5 Calls to find issues that are top of your list and make the calls to your congressional representatives. The site provides you with contact information, material about the issue, and a script you can use. It's quick and simple. And as we now know, speaking up and speaking out makes a huge difference.

Sign up for a webinar on the America's mystifying "system" of immigration policy, a joint venture of Grassroots North Shore and Worth Fighting for Wisconsin. The program will take place on Monday, October 13, at 7:00pm on Zoom. Emilio de Torres, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Turners, and Iuscely Flores (Comite Sin Fronteras) will bust open myths surrounding that system and highlights efforts you can join to protect our immigrant friends and neighbors. You can register here.

Happy Constitution Day!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling particularly overwhelmed this week. The authoritarian playbook is rolling out more and more quickly in real time.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH Our First Amendment right to free speech is under attack. – targeting universities, private businesses, and law firms. We are at a particularly fraught moment with respect to escalating political violence – and most importantly, how the latest such incident with the tragic death of Charlie Kirk has been turned on its head and directed toward “the radical left,” with explicit threats from Attorney General Pam Bondi that the government will go after “hate speech,” loosely and broadly defined. Trump has threatened reporters who ask critical questions – like the Australian reporter asking about his wide-ranging business dealings while in office, and ABC’s Jonathan Karl for having the temerity to ask about Bondi’s "hate speech" threats.

Senator Ron Johnson can be counted on to never to pass up an opportunity to hop onto the most odious aspects of the MAGA bandwagon. This is what he sent out today:

https://secure.winred.com/ron-johnson/poll-free-speech-sms

What you can do – Don’t take the poll, since it’s impossible to answer it correctly (yes, freedom of speech is under attack – by the regime). Instead, please call or email Ron Johnson RIGHT NOW.  

DC office: (202) 224-5323 Milwaukee office: (414) 276-7282

Email form:  https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/email-the-senator

1. Demand that he explain how “The Left is …silenc[ing] conservatives and rewrit[ing] the rules of public debate.”
2. Demand that he explain exactly who “The Left” is.
3. Ask when it became constitutional for the government to threaten individuals and organizations based on their viewpoint.

It is well established that offensive, even despicable speech is fully protected by the First Amendment. “Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. set out the settled view, saying the government had no business “preventing speech expressing ideas that offend…That idea,” Justice Alito wrote, “strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability or any other similar ground is hateful.” Quoting a classic 1929 dissent from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Justice Alito added that “the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’”

When does speech cross into unprotected territory? “The First Amendment does not protect incitement, but the Supreme Court has defined that term quite narrowly, requiring a likelihood of imminent violence. Mere advocacy of violence, terrorism or the overthrow of the government is not enough; the words must be meant to and be likely to produce violence or lawlessness right away.” (What to Know About ‘Hate Speech’ and the First Amendment, NYT, 9/17/25) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/us/politics/what-to-know-hate-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.m08.qbiN.p7aIgMlf0CJ-&smid=url-share

Speaking of free speech violations, as I was writing this newsletter, the news broke that ABC is “indefinitely pausing” Jimmy Kimmel Live for his monologue about Charlie Kirk’s killing. Governor Pritzker is calling for widespread public pushback against ABC for this action. Send an email condemning their decision from this link. Send ABC Primetime Entertainment and Daytime programming Feedback PLEASE FLOOD THE ZONE!

On this Constitution Day, it can be said that the district courts are continuing to do their job. Parties who have challenged the myriad legal encroachments of the regime have won stays or favorable opinions in the vast majority of cases. And it’s important to note that, although the Supreme Court has so far refused to hold the administration to account for its actions through the “shadow docket,” these cases await actual briefs, arguments and decisions. Only a small handful of cases are taken by the Supreme Court for review. Thus, most of the lower court decisions will stand. Nonetheless, it’s also important to acknowledge that democracy won’t be saved through litigation alone.

The best way to protect our rights is to exercise them! As Ezra Levin, Co-Executive Director of Indivisible wrote recently, “I know the threats are real and the opposition is shameless and unrepentant. The way we triumph is by demonstrating courage with our actions. By standing up in defense of democracy and in opposition to violence, we spread the courage for more to do so. We get out of this together -- each of us doing our part. That’s how we win. And we will win.”

So let’s get to work!

FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT

Last week I wrote about the need to pressure our Democratic representatives and the minority leaders of the House and Senate to refuse to provide the votes needed to pass the continuing resolution – at least without significant concessions. If you haven’t taken action yet (no worries – I haven’t yet either; but I will this week!) here’s another resource for contacting our reps and holding their feet to the fire.

Toolkit -- Power of the Purse: A Big Bold Beautiful Plan to Stop Funding Fascism   https://docs.google.com/document/d/15j9DMjvQA7M-hdmx6AZNWJJ38RRLVZeGas9zAazYLWI/edit?tab=t.0

Here’s a graphic of what the last continuing resolution did to taxes. Let your blood boil, and contact your legislators!

PROTECTING ELECTIONS

We can’t just sit back and wait until the elections next fall to take back our government. We have to work to protect them now. At a time when our democracy faces unprecedented challenges, it’s more crucial than ever to ensure voters are registered ahead of elections. Help register voters at Milwaukee DMVs. Go to https://www.milwaukeevoterproject.com/ to sign up for a shift (or two) and access training materials.

Thank you for doing your part to save our democracy!

CELEBRATING GRASSROOTS NORTH SHORE’S 20^TH ANNIVERSARY Here is a feel-good video with inspiring speakers from our birthday party last Sunday. https://youtu.be/ZL_pKDyjjuQ

Touch grass, touch another human being. Take a break. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself, so you can do your part!

It’s always difficult to plan ahead for the newsletter because you never know what crazy sh*t is going to happen on any given day. So, although I want to focus on the looming federal budget deadline and what we need to pressure our Democratic representatives to do, I have to start with the continuing assault on our immigrant communities and all of our constitutional rights.

PUSHBACK MATTERS. For the last week or so, we’ve been preparing to launch solidarity protests if/when Trump fulfills his promise to send federalized National Guard troops from red states into Chicago. Personally, I always thought that he was highly likely to TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) when faced with the very strong pushback from Governor Pritzker, and he appears to have done so. Unfortunately, Trump is still visiting grave harm on Chicago through massive increases in ICE enforcement (Operation Midway Blitz). While this is terrible, and we need to develop strategies to address ICE abuses, it also proves that bullies back down when you push back! Stopping the wildly unconstitutional imposition of federalized troops into our cities against the wishes of the governor and mayor at least slows down this part of authoritarian consolidation.

Another small victory - On Monday an immigration judge halted the removal proceedings against a DACA recipient (here legally) and activist, Xochitl Santiago, who was illegally arrested at El Paso Airport on August 3, although she remains in detention. On Tuesday a U.S. District judge granted a temporary restraining order stating that the government may not remove or deport her from the US, or transfer her to any facility outside of the Western District of Texas. The order runs through September 23, when she has a scheduled hearing in El Paso. (There was a candlelight vigil in Milwaukee for Xochitl on August 27.)

What you can do: Like and share this Facebook post. Voces de la Frontera is doing great work in this area, including training people to verify and document ICE sitings in Milwaukee. Go to https://vdlf.org/ for more information.

NO DOLLARS FOR DICTATORS, NO FUNDING FOR FASCISM. September 30 is the deadline to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government. This may be the only time when the Democratic minority has any leverage. Since budget bills can be filibustered, Republicans will need 60 votes to pass the funding bill – meaning that they need at least 7 Democratic votes (if no Republicans defect) for it to pass. Chuck Schumer caved last time. We can’t let that happen again. DEMAND THAT OUR DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVES REFUSE TO VOTE FOR THE CONTINUING BUDGET RESOLUTION.  Ezra Klein and Rick Wilson have passionately argued that the Democrats must refuse to fund the federal government because Trump has thoroughly corrupted it, turning it into a tool of an authoritarian state. The Dems need to stop pretending that any of this is normal. Funding this government sustains the fascist regime. Our representatives must not aid and abet the hostile takeover of our government. Tell them - don’t finance a war against Americans! Don’t be complicit in abducting our neighbors, taking food away from hungry children, gutting public health, taking health care away from millions of our fellow Americans and so much more. Democrats need to start acting like an opposition party, and no opposition party should enable this regime by writing a check.

What you must do: Call Senator Tammy Baldwin, your Democratic US Representative, and Senator Chuck Schumer. There are two essential questions: what should the Dems demand in exchange for their votes, and how to insure that whatever deal is struck to restore funds won’t be ignored, like all of Trump and Vought’s other illegal rescissions. If they can't get agreement, they should not be afraid of shutting it down. The very real damage of a shutdown pales in comparison to the damage being done every day to our very system of government.

Here are some ideas for what to demand of our representatives in exchange for their vote: fully restore Medicaid funding, permanently extend the ACA tax premium credits, rescind all of the new tax breaks for the 1% - and for people who sell silencers, drastically reduce ICE funding, extend DACA protections to all who turned 18 since it was first enacted by Obama, and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Choose your own adventure.

The other essential requirement that you should demand is passage of The Congressional Power of the Purse Act so that Trump and Russell Vought can’t just ignore Congressional appropriations. The bill updates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Antideficiency Act to reaffirm that Congress — not the President — holds the power of the purse. It ensures that funding already approved by Congress, including investments in health care, infrastructure, and national security are delivered to the American people. This legislation follows the Trump administration’s announcement of an illegal “pocket rescission” of lawfully appropriated funds. The bill does not yet have a number.

Use 5 Calls for our Wisconsin representatives. Chuck Schumer’s number is (202) 224-6542.

THREATS TO OUR ELECTIONS. Several commentators and many folks worry that there won’t be elections in 2026. That’s not going to happen. Rather, many experts agree that we are quickly moving from a democracy to a system of competitive authoritarianism, where we still have elections, but they are no longer free and fair. We are not there yet – but the myriad threats to free and fair elections are real – including attacks on voting by mail, threats of emergency presidential powers to take control of elections, strict voter ID laws, mid-cycle gerrymandering, and the general erosion of trust in our elections. Trump has started threatening Executive Orders banning mail-in ballots and imposing national voter ID requirements. Should he try, I am confident that it will be fought in the courts. The good news is that our elections are run by states, and highly decentralized even within states. These threats are real, and we need to fight them ferociously. But we can’t give up, and we can’t undermine trust in our elections. Indeed, we need to turn the 2026 elections into an act of defiance against the regime.

GERRYMANDERING. Speaking of mid-cycle gerrymandering, I thought it was time to talk a bit about the wisdom of independent, nonpartisan redistricting commissions. The GOP is attacking fair elections through blatant and unapologetic partisan gerrymandering in red states in a desperate attempt to prevent Democrats from taking back the House of Representatives in light of Trump’s wildly unpopular policies. As you hopefully are aware, the Fair Maps Coalition has been working tirelessly to first, craft a proposal for legislation to create an independent redistricting commission (IRC) in Wisconsin (it can’t be truly independent of the legislature until we change the Wisconsin Constitution which vests the power to redistrict in the legislature), and then, to pass a constitutional amendment (which takes a minimum of two years). As a member of the League of Women Voters’ statewide ad hoc redistricting committee that has been meeting every week for many months to craft the proposal, Trump’s pressuring red states to redistrict mid-cycle infuriates me. And initially I was not a fan of Gavin Newsom’s moves to “fight fire with fire” and gerrymander California’s Congressional districts in response. California’s commission is the gold standard, and much of our work borrowed from California, as well as Michigan. I fervently believe that IRCs are essential to our democracy. Obviously, the solution is a national requirement that all states have an IRC. Unfortunately, that won’t happen any time soon. I worry that the GOP’s current anti-democratic gambit of mid-cycle gerrymandering will lead Wisconsinites to oppose our efforts to establish an IRC in Wisconsin, seeing it as “unilateral disarmament”. I have a two-part response to this dilemma.

With respect to California, I have reluctantly concluded that the Democrats have no choice but to engage in counter-gerrymandering to save our democracy. I am pleased that Governor Newsom has crafted his strategy thoughtfully and carefully. First, it will go to the voters for approval. Second, it is contingent on Texas re-gerrymandering their maps (which has not happened). Third, it is temporary. The new maps would stay in effect until the next redistricting cycle in 2030, and then the IRC will again be in charge of drawing fair maps.

With respect to an IRC for Wisconsin, as you know, Wisconsin is truly a purple state. I think our best argument to legislators for supporting the proposal (and to fair maps skeptics)  is that neither party should be sanguine that they will be in a position to gerrymander in their favor. After all, in 2009 the Democrats had a trifecta (majorities in both houses of the legislature and the governor). A proposal for an IRC was put forward in the legislature in 2009, and the Dems chose not to act because they thought they were going to keep their majority and would be the ones to gerrymander. We all know how that turned out. Walker and the Republicans swept into power in 2010 and the GOP’s national “operation red map” led to us having one of the worst gerrymanders in the country. In 10 years only 3 seats flipped from one party to another. (Our own Deb Andraca was one of the few who pulled this off.) Our legislators would be foolish to assume that either party will have a trifecta in 2030, which is needed to enact partisanly gerrymandered maps into law.

Gerrymandering is a bipartisan disease. It is human nature to want to craft maps that preserve your position and your party’s power – they just can’t resist. That’s why putting this into our constitution is essential. Gerrymandering insulates politicians from the will of the voters. Although a wide array of issues have strong majority support across parties in Wisconsin, including common sense gun regulations, Medicaid expansion, and adequate public education funding among others, these issues have been willfully ignored by our legislature. As technology becomes more powerful and sophisticated, the ability to gerrymander one party to permanent super-majority status has become a reality. It is truly a threat to democracy itself. Although we have fair legislative maps right now as a result of litigation (our Congressional maps are still gerrymandered), unless we take action before 2030 we could be back to square one. We need a permanent solution.

We are currently travelling across the state to educate the public on our proposal for an IRC and to take public input. There will be a public hearing in Madison on September 25 (to which all legislators have been invited), and in Milwaukee on September 26 (Turner Hall). You can register for either event or others in the state at https://www.fairmapswi.com/communityhearings.

Our focus this week is on the likelihood that the Trump MAGA regime will soon be sending National Guard troops from Texas or another red state to Chicago, and what we can and must do in response. We'll start with some lightly edited messaging courtesy of ASO Communications because how we talk about it is really important. And we should all be talking about it to our family and friends. We need to grow the number of people who are activated and expand the tent of the movement. (To see all of the messaging guidance go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bGWn9QbHzeKsTTTUZqY_k972_mXUhmXGO6p16EWlXXw/edit?tab=t.0)

The MAGA regime is once again stoking violence against our families and our communities, in order to advance their agenda of abductions and intimidation, violating our freedoms and our right to equality under the law. 

Americans across races, backgrounds, and parties value our freedoms. But this MAGA regime of the bullies for the billionaires is occupying our communities, forcing the military and law enforcement on our families, and turning our government into a weapon against its own people so they can seize more power. Families are joining together to free America, demanding our leaders stop this assault on our freedoms, our families, and our futures.

Marc Elias's recent post on Democracy Docket provides some invaluable insights. Think about it this way - the use of troops from another part of the country to put down a center of resistance (blue cities) is a classic and quite advanced authoritarian move. Putin sent troops from the Urals and Siberia into Chechnya, China sent Han Chinese to attack the Uyghurs. Why? Because troops drawn from the same area are going to be far less reliable if/when they are given illegal orders to target civilians who are also their neighbors. 

Elias notes, “Let me be clear: that is not law enforcement. It is aimed at provoking a response and a counter-response. It is calculated to trigger a cascading series of events that could turn violent and provide an excuse for Trump to escalate even further. … Trump isn’t actually worried about fighting crime or enforcing immigration. He’s testing deeper waters, seeing how far he can get with this direct assault on state sovereignty and democracy itself…. This is not just about Chicago … It is part of a broader authoritarian project aimed squarely at 2026. Trump said it himself: he will violate the Constitution to ban vote-by-mail, impose a national voter ID law and take control of ballot counting. If this works, he can send troops into every swing state to 'secure' the polls in 2026."

“Our country now faces its ultimate test: can American democracy withstand the authoritarian playbook that has crushed opposition movements around the globe? The risk is not abstract. It is here, it is in Chicago, it is now."

Fortunately, Governors Newsom and Pritzker, and Mayors Bass and Johnson are standing strong, and will continue to assert state sovereignty and use the legal system to block Trump. Just yesterday a federal judge ruled that the deployment of thousands of troops to Southern California clearly violated the law. But Trump will appeal and may not wait for a more favorable decision (were it to come) to do the same in Chicago. 

Citizens have a crucial role to play. It requires vigilance, organizing and above all, voting. This really is an existential fight for our democracy.

SO ... Get ready to stand in solidarity with Chicago, to make it clear that civil society WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS. But to do it peacefully! PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN!

Why — send a message to MAGA: Stay out of our Midwest cities and off our streets!  We stand with Chicago in solidarity.

We hope to have signs available, but supplies may be limited. If you'd like to make your own, here are some ideas. You can also print 8 1/2 x 11 signs from the file. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x2oBZROjcZVq7P2HcLdcODEKws7HZDuh/view?ts=68b89470

Here is a link to the flyer about the event. Feel free to share!  https://drive.google.com/file/d/13BCwpH4nKPZlpOdDt1SGP6ron-3U2Lgg/view?usp=drivesdk

THERE IS URGENCY TO THE PUSH-BACK. We can't allow the authoritarian breakthroughs to become normalized and embedded in the culture. We can't let our kids think that this is just the way it is, because they will not remember anything else. 

Any time - Join Indivisible's Signs of Solidarity Campaign

Signs of Solidarity is a national campaign encouraging businesses, construction sites and restaurants to post signs declaring that ICE is not welcome on the premises, and is prohibited from entering spaces designated as private or employees only. Indivisible has developed a terrific toolkit that provides a guide that explains what to do and why, and pdfs of the signs to print to ask businesses to post . You can sign up for Signs of Solidarity Canvassing at: https://act.indivisible.org/signup/signs-solidarity-canvassing/ or just do it on your own, or with a friend.

From Cheryl Maranto, co-chair,

As most of you know, both of our amazing newsletter editors, Nancy Kaplan of Grassroots North Shore and Debbie Patel of Worth Fighting For Wisconsin, are recovering from surgery - both are doing well! So I am left to try to fill both pairs of very large shoes for several weeks. Read on!

We have lived through yet another week of a veritable firehose of truly terrible news, and evidence of authoritarian breakthrough. I am not going to recount any of that. Rather, I am going to review the difference between optimism and hope, and why I choose hope - and you should too. Then we'll get into all the ways that you can do something to fight for our country and our democracy. Choose one or more!

If you don't have time to read through all the prose about hope, skip down to THE RESISTANCE and ACTIONS.

HOPE

“Optimism is the belief that things will turn out all right; hope makes no such assumption but is a conviction that one can act to make things better in some way … During the Vietnam War, a U.S. Navy vice admiral who was held for more than seven years in a North Vietnamese prison noticed a surprising trend among his fellow inmates. Some of them survived the appalling conditions; others didn’t. Those who didn’t tended to be the most optimistic of the group. As the vice admiral, James Stockdale, later told the business author Jim Collins, “They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go … And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.” https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/09/hope-optimism-happiness/620164/

“Long-term hope is not about looking on the bright side. It is a mindset that helps people endure challenges, tackle them head-on and keep their eyes on the goal—a virtue that Dr. King and other community leaders exemplify.” (Yes Magazine, April 19, 2024)

Here's an extended quote from Marc Elias (as quoted by Jess Craven). 

'Hope is not a naïve emotion. It is a sober responsibility. (emphasis added) Hope is what we do when the odds are long and the options limited. It is the stubborn act of trying when despair feels easier. Rather than a passive optimism, hope is the commitment of those who believe they can make a difference, however small.

I am hopeful when I see everyday Americans stand on street corners, in the heat of summer or the cold of winter, holding signs to protest Trump’s cruel treatment of migrants. They cannot reverse policy alone, but their visible witness matters. It reminds all of us that cruelty is not normal, that silence only benefits the oppressor. (emphasis added)

I feel hope every time an opposition leader — elected or not — stands up to Trump and the GOP, making their efforts to subvert our elections just a little more difficult. Each obstruction slows the march toward authoritarianism. Each act of courage buys time for others to organize, resist, and fight back. (emphasis added)

Most importantly, I have hope when people refuse the cool cynicism of despair. Despair is peddled by the right to convince us that resistance is futile, and it is echoed by too many on the left who would rather sit back and say all is lost. Cynicism asks nothing of us; hope demands everything. When people choose to act rather than surrender, that is what keeps democracy alive." (emphasis added) (Chop Wood, Carry Water, 8/26)

And finally, from the New York Times 5/8/25

"So far, American society’s response to this authoritarian offensive has been underwhelming — alarmingly so. Civic leaders confront a difficult collective action problem. A vast majority of American politicians, chief executives, law partners, newspaper editors and university presidents prefer to live in a democracy and want to end this abuse. But as individuals confronting government threats, they have incentives to appease, rather than oppose, the Trump administration.

Civil society leaders seek to protect their organizations from government attacks: Chief executives need to protect shareholders and future business opportunities, media owners must avoid costly defamation suits and adverse regulatory rulings, and university presidents seek to avoid devastating funding cuts. For any individual leader, then, the price of defiance can often appear unbearably steep. Although they acknowledge that everyone would be better off if someone took the lead and defied Mr. Trump, few are willing to pay the price themselves. This logic has led some of America’s most influential figures, including politicians, billionaires, chief executives and university presidents, to stay on the sidelines, hoping that someone else steps forward.

Strategies of self-preservation have led too many civil society leaders to retreat into silence or acquiesce to authoritarian bullying. ...It usually doesn’t. And acts of individual self-preservation have serious collective costs. For one, acquiescence will probably embolden the administration, encouraging it to intensify and broaden its attacks. Autocrats rarely entrench themselves in power through force alone; they are enabled by the accommodation and inaction of those who might have resisted.  (emphasis added) Appeasement, as Churchill warned, is like feeding a crocodile and hoping to be the last one eaten...

So far, the most energetic opposition has come not from civic leaders but from everyday citizens, showing up at congressional town hall meetings or participating in Hands Off rallies across the country. Our leaders must follow their example. A collective defense of democracy is most likely to succeed when prominent, well-funded individuals and organizations — those who are best able to absorb blows from the government — get in the game.

There are signs of an awakening. Harvard has refused to acquiesce to administration demands that would undermine academic freedom, Microsoft dropped a law firm that settled with the administration and hired one that defied it, and a new law firm based in Washington, D.C., announced plans to represent those wrongfully targeted by the government. When the most influential members of civil society fight back, it provides political cover for others. It also galvanizes ordinary citizens to join the fight.

America’s slide into authoritarianism is reversible. But no one has ever defeated autocracy from the sidelines." (emphasis added)

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/trump-authoritarianism-democracy.html

*************************************************************

I choose hope because it is my nature. But I am doubling down because I recently learned that I am going to be a grandmother (at last!). I can't bear the thought of my grandchild having to grow up in a fascist dictatorship. And make no mistake - that's where we're headed if we don't work every day to find new ways to resist, to throw sand in the gears of the MAGA machine, to buy time, and to prepare for bold action when the opportunity for breakthrough happens. This is a long-term project.

THE RESISTANCE

The "soft secession" of blue state governors and attorneys general

"Democratic governors have been holding emergency sessions on encrypted apps, attorneys general have been filing lawsuits within hours of executive orders, and state legislatures have been quietly passing laws that amount to nullification of federal mandates. Oregon is stockpiling abortion medication in secret warehouses. Illinois is exploring digital sovereignty. California has $76 billion in reserves and is deciding how to deploy it. Three sources on those daily Zoom calls between Democratic AGs say the same phrase keeps coming up, though nobody wants to say it publicly: soft secession.

Not the violent rupture of 1861, but something else entirely. Blue states building parallel systems, withholding cooperation, and creating facts on the ground that render federal authority meaningless within their borders." (emphasis added)

medium.com/@carmitage/its-time-for-americans-to-start-talking-about-soft-secession-8d0183ac94cf

NOTE:  We have the chance to create a Democratic trifecta in Wisconsin in 2026. Our election work will be critical!

Here's a great example  of resistance from Free DC:

“Instead of joining the crowd decrying our vacuous political leadership, Free DC is pushing them to get better — and aims to ultimately move them. Over the weekend, Free DC sent a letter to politicians telling them what they need to do.

“Remaining silent will tell this administration we consent to their actions,” they wrote. “We do not. … Please speak out against what is happening as soon as you are able.”

"They gave a variety of suggestions, but the key was “don’t act normal.” This is the same lesson taught by our great social leaders who made noncooperation an active practice [like MLK and Ghandi]. 

"When someone does something awful, acting normal normalizes it. Noncooperation from different pillars of support is the antidote. (emphasis added)

"This notion of the “pillars of support” is something Free DC has been teaching about. Rather than seeing a regime as having the power to do whatever it wants, the pillars of support approach sees a regime’s power as being held up by institutions, organizations and groups — such as the military, police, media, business elites and religious bodies. Withdrawing the support of these pillars through nonviolent resistance, a regime can be weakened or even toppled.

"Understanding the pillars of support can help regular folks see that we have real influence. A video from Choose Democracy further explains the tool.” Free DC Models Resistance https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/08/free-dc-models-effective-resistance-to-trumps-takeover/

So let's end with some good news, and then we offer an array of actions that you can take to make a difference!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE! Hear Heather Cox Richardson recount the story of the passage of the 19^th amendment (on its birthday 8/26/1920 – 105 years ago) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1UQuJjrXI

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY SANDWICH? A grand jury of fellow citizens in Wash. DC refused to indict the former DOJ employee for felony assault after he threw a Subway sandwich (I heard tell it was salami) at an ICE officer.

BIG WIN IN IOWA! In 2024, Donald Trump won Iowa’s first state Senate District by 11 points. In this Tuesdays special election, Democratic candidate Catelin Drey won an upset 10-point victory, as the district swung blue by 21 points since the presidential election. Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch.  https://newrepublic.com/post/199671/democrats-flip-iowa-seat-district-trump-won-double-digits

COLLINS BOOED - Republican Senator Susan Collins’s ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday turned into a public shaming as more than 200 protestors gathered to jeer her. This was Collins’s first public, press conference-style event in her home state in nearly a decade. Video shows the room erupting in boos as she approached the front of the room to cut the ribbon for a new Main Street in Seaport, Maine. The boos eventually turned into chants of “Shame! Shame!  Shame!”  https://newrepublic.com/post/199666/protesters-susan-collins-shame-boos

And to end this long tome, here is some remarkably, unadulterated amazingly good news that I bet you haven't heard about. Chris Hayes recently interviewed Bill McKibben, the noted climate activist on his podcast "Why is This Happening?" The Chris Hayes Podcast - YouTube. McKibben reports on the revolution in solar energy that gives us the means right now to power the entire planet with zero emissions, transforming our energy system. Solar power is not only the biggest source of new energy now - it's the biggest new source of energy EVER. Even Trump can't stop the inexorable economics of solar energy. The clean energy revolution IS HERE! Listen to the podcast!

Fittingly, the musical number for this week is "Here Comes the Sun" https://youtu.be/KQetemT1sWc?si=S8EP-IAhyCjNHLz0

ACTIONS

SHOW JUDGES SOME SUPPORT AND LOVE - The judicial branch is the ONLY branch of the federal government that is standing up to Trump. Write letters of thank you to the judges who have held firm in upholding the rule of law, and suffered attacks from Trump and threats from his followers, including:

Judge James Boasberg, (Ordered flights to CECOT halted, tried to hold the DOJ in contempt) U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 333 Constitution Avenue N.W., Wash. D.C. 20001

Judge John McConnell, (tried to block the freeze in federal funding) U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, One Exchange Terrace, Federal Building and Courthouse, Providence, RI 02903

Judge John Coughenour, (blocked Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship) U.S. District Court for the District of Western Washington, 700 Stewart Street, Suite 2310
Seattle, WA 98101

 Or write letters of shame and disappointment to Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20543

You'll never hear from any of them, but they just might read it. And for those under attack, it might help them take heart.

SIGNS OF SOLIDARITY BUSINESS CANVASSING 

Sign up for a Signs of Solidarity canvass to support our immigrant neighbors and stand up to fascist ICE raids. Looking for concrete ways to counter ICE terror? Talk to local businesses about putting up signage to help protect employees from ICE raids and show solidarity with immigrant communities. Our toolkit has all the info and materials you’ll need.

USE THE 5CALLS APP OR GO TO 5CALLS.ORG Demand that your representatives stop the military deployment in DC, Demand general access to updated COVID vaccines, Demand action against gun violence and more. 5 Calls makes it easy! It gives you a script and you can just click to call your reps.

Did you know? Grassroots North Shore is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Sunday, September 14, at Maslowski Park (2200 W Bender Rd, Milwaukee) from 4:00 - 5:30pm. We have much to celebrate, even in this troubling times, so I hope you will join us for cake and inspiration. John Nichols, executive editor of The Nation as well as serving as the magazine's national affairs correspondent, will keynote the event. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to hear him speak in person know what a treat lies in store for us. You can get a flavor of his uncompromising progressive positions by visiting his posts on Bluesky. And you can sign up to attend the celebration now.

Here is what John Nichols posted about the Trump's corrupt order to redraw the Texas congressional electoral map so that Republicans can flip five seats currently held by Democrats: "If Trump can order the warping of congressional maps so that Republicans maintain a House majority, even when their policies are despised, then the basic premise of representative democracy is crushed. And the system of checks and balances is threatened as never before."

The effort to rig the congressional maps is not confined to Texas. J.D. Vance has gone on the road to pressure other Republican held states to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 mid-terms also possibly including Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, and Georgia. For an excellent account of the pressure campaign and what we can do to hobble it, visit Indivisible's page The Redistricting Coup is Underway. After providing a synopsis of the crisis, Indivisible offers instructions for fighting back, whether people live in one of the 15 states where Democrats have what's know as a trifecta — the governor and both houses of the legislature are controlled by Democrats — or they live in one of the five states with Democratic governors in split or Republican controlled legislatures. Wisconsin, of course, is one of the five. More on what YOU can do to combat Trump's scheme below.

Ironically organizations like ours have spent years organizing and working toward an end to partisan gerrymandering. So we find ourselves in an odd and for some an uncomfortable spot. The League of Women voters continues to work on People Powered Fair Maps, on the core principle that partisan gerrymandering saps democracy by cementing the political power of a minority party despite the clear views of the voters. Other organizations, however, see the Trump regime's project as such a fundamental threat to our democracy that they are changing their position on the issue. A leader among them, Common Cause has posted the following:

Governor Gavin Newsom is leading the way with passionate speeches and a plan to put a redistricting proposal up for a special election in November so the voters can weigh in. Take two minutes to watch one of his speeches. Newsom's pollster has found that the measure that will be put to voters in November has overwhelming support: "57% of California voters backed the redistricting measure, while 35% opposed and 8% were undecided." Other national leaders are also stepping up. Here's what the Majority Leader of the Maryland House has proposed: "I'm introducing legislation to redraw Maryland congressional districts if any other state cheats & draws new maps outside of the census period. Seems Trump has convinced Texas, Missouri & others, and FWIW TX did it years ago & got away with it because nobody responded."

For several reasons too complex to explain here, Wisconsin is not in a position to redraw its congressional maps this year even though our 50-50 state is represented in congress by six Republican representatives and only two Democratic ones. But there is something just as important as redistricting that Democrats and progressives in Wisconsin can do to change the balance of power in our state. Two of the six districts currently held by Republicans are in fact flippable! According to Dave's Redistricting's information about the partisan lean of each Wisconsin congressional district, the 3rd congressional district — currently represented by Derrick Van Orden — leans toward Democrats with 48.9% and Republicans with 48.5% of the vote. The 1st congressional district — currently represented by Bryan Steil — leans ever so slightly Republican: 49.4% GOP versus 48.3% Democratic. According to those numbers, both of them can be flipped!

And by the way, lest you think those two congressional districts might not be winnable, in the spring 2025 election for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, Susan Crawford won handily in BOTH DISTRICTS. I don't have the exact figures but a rough calculation based on the counties included in those districts show that Crawford won something like 54.5% of the vote in CD1 and 53.3% in CD3. The key to such victories, I am convinced, is turning out voters who share our values. That effort starts now.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party is already using phonebanks to call into CD3. You can join one of their phone banks to connect with voters. Grassroots North Shore is contacting voters in CD1 to talk to them about the draconian cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other social safety net programs the Republican majorities in the House and Senate approved. Representative Steil voted for these cuts. So we are asking people to call his office to express their disapproval and to call on Representative Steil to propose legislation to restore the funding to these programs. Sign up with us to make calls.

But enough about rigging the maps. There are other dangers to our elections on the horizon. Let's start with the ridiculous depth of ignorance Trump displays when he posts that he is going to "lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS" and ban the use of some (unspecified) voting machines. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo picks that post apart: "The president has basically nothing to do with election administration. States run American elections. Period. Congress, within certain parameters, can make laws with standards that states must apply. But states still administer them. This is a foundational, constitutionally-mandated and structural feature of the American republic."

He goes on to note that the courts have crowned Trump a de facto absolute monarch within the federal government. In other words, resistance from federal agencies and actors is pretty futile since the courts have ruled that he can now fire anyone in the federal government for no reason. On the other hand, states have a separate sovereignty, "a sovereign authority that is separate from the hierarchy of federal power." He concludes with this key reminder: "the president can’t fire governors or mayors or secretaries of state or anyone else in a state government." Trump can do some damage to states, by sending in troops or illegally withholding funds. "But the existence of these bundles of sovereign power are simply beyond his reach. And that is the opposition’s greatest power, its strategic depth to parry and contest the designs of a lawless demagogue while the forces of opposition build."

To me, the frantic efforts to redistrict in red states, the bogus announcement that an executive order can outlaw mail-in ballots, and the general air of panic about the coming elections show Trump's belly, as it were. His election rigging efforts show his fear. Meanwhile, the Epstein issues continue to percolate. The Alaska "summit" was a nonstop display of weakness and servility. The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky that included Trump calling his puppet master Putin in another display of cowering before the great dictator showed us just how far Trump is from his self-portrait in the Art of the Deal. We see him as a charlatan, a liar, and an ignoramus. And of course a felon. Our persistence in opposing his lawless rule will bring him down, beginning with retaking the majority in the House of Representatives. Let's all DO SOMETHING to make that happen.

TAKE ACTION

Defeat Congressman Bryan Steil (Wisconsin Congressional District 1). We're starting early to let Steil's constituents know that he represents billionaires while taking away programs that are vital to his voters! Make phone calls to ensure his voters know that Representatives Steil voted to slash Medicaid funding and money for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) when he approved the Big Ugly Budget Bill (BUBB). In the next few weeks, Congress must hammer out appropriation bills to allocate funding for specific agencies and programs under the BUBB budget framework. So this is the perfect time to revisit the draconian cuts to the social safety net and restore critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP! Sign up.

Help Milwaukee kids start the school year in style! The Democratic Party of Milwaukee County is providing school supplies — backpacks, binders, folders, pens/pencils, and crayons/markers — to children who need them for school this year. The two School Supply Giveaway events in Walkers Point and North Milwaukee were HUGE successes: they "sold out" their inventory in less than an hour! So the Dems are doing it again on Saturday, August 23, with your help.

You can drop off donated items at the Lisbon Ave Office (8405 W Lisbon Ave) from 12-7pm today through Friday and before 12pm on Saturday OR on the porch of 4405 N Marlborough Drive anytime before Saturday. Thank you so much for helping us get these supplies to MPS students in need!

Join the Concerned Citizens at their weekly protest at the corner of Downer and Bradford. They protest every Saturday from 1:00 to 1:30 and would welcome participation from likeminded people such as the supporters of Grassroots North Shore. For more information, contact Susan McAninch.

Write News Boosting postcards for Swing Left. Swing Left's innovative News Boosting postcard program needs your help! There are 311,716 target households across Virginia, and we want to make sure all of them receive 10 postcards with 10 separate news headlines before elections this fall. Sign up now to help — each volunteer will send just one headline and have 3-4 weeks to write their 100+ cards before the assigned mailing date. Swing Left is measuring the effectiveness of this new approach on both turnout and vote choice in a large randomized controlled experiment, which will help inform Democratic strategy. So we're hoping we won't have to reduce the number of headlines that we can send to these key voters. Thanks for all your activism!

Make 5 Calls to the relevant elected officials on the issues that matter to you. The top issues for the Milwaukee area on the 5 Calls site are opposing the nomination of E.J. Antoni for Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stopping the Trump administration's election Interference, fighting the redistricting power grab, supporting Ukraine, and denouncing Trump's takeover of D.C. and demanding statehood. But there are dozens more issues that might concern you more than these top five ones. Just click on an issue to get a background briefing followed by a short script you can use or modify. If you type your address in the location box at the top, the site will display who to contact together with phone numbers to use.

Today's newsletter begins with an urgent action: Take five minutes to join others across America in a rapid response.  Trump has declared a bogus "emergency" – a horrible crime wave – and called up the Washington National Guard to quell the non-existent emergency! So we need to respond in huge numbers.

A key difference between the avenues of resistance and noncompliance in L.A. and those in D.C. is the fact that D.C. is not a state and so lacks a governor who could refuse to grant permission to federalize the National Guard, as Governor Newsom has done in California. And he has filed a federal lawsuit contesting the use of troops to engage in domestic law enforcement. But in Washington, D.C., the president himself has direct authority over the National Guard. One thing D.C. has going for it, however, is that the deployment has only a 30-day window. Then Congress must approve it or it would no longer be legal. That's why it is an URGENT MATTER for you to call your members of Congress now, while Trump's approval continues to decline. The theory is that if Trump begins to be weak enough, his hold over GOP senators and reps will also weaken. So do your part and CALL.

Unfortunately, there are so many egregious actions emanating from the Trump regime's bullies that is almost impossible to keep focused and engaged in actions that will grow the massive resistance and noncompliance this turn to authoritarianism requires in order to defeat it. That's why I urge you to attend the final session of One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism this evening from 7:00 - 8:30pm. While the assault on our cherished values and our democratic form of governance has been and continues to be swift, our fight to restore it will take time and persistence. We simply cannot afford to give up and give in. Our children, our grandchildren and their children are depending on US to fight back so they too can thrive in a democratic republic as we were privileged to do.

In their Substack Our Moral Moment, Bishop William Barber and Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove this week offered America Needs Real Economic Populism, with the sub-headline "The vulnerability Trump exploited is MAGA's Achilles Heel." Although it's a common myth that poor people are mostly Black and brown folks, the largest demographic remains poor whites, the essential MAGA base. Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove explain that "the poverty and financial vulnerability that isolates millions of white people is the experience of more than half of Americans who lack financial security. Poverty isn’t a rare glitch in the current US economy. It is a feature of our economy’s design." And so Trump promised to make America affordable again all while turning his back — and considerable power — on their needs.

Here's how Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove sum up the trajectory of the regime: "Trump has not delivered for poor and working people. He has, instead, persuaded Republicans in Congress to join him in passing the largest transfer of wealth from low-income Americans to the rich in US history. As his executive tariff tax goes into effect, prices will rise for everyday Americans while they face the very real consequences of higher health insurance costs, cuts to healthcare services, shuttered rural hospitals, and family farms filing for bankruptcy." Hence the need for the real economic populism they call for: policies that would "raise wages, guarantee access to healthcare and education, and bring down prices for people who are feeling the pain of Trump’s giveaways to billionaires."

Tracking the inflation we are beginning to experience is the website Don't Inflate Our Plates. At least today, as I am writing this, the site's front page features information about the price of beef in Texas — "up 46.69% in the past 157 days" — and provides a link to show its work. When you look up the price of beef in Wisconsin, the site shows it as having risen 16.70% since 2024, based on "the Kroger API, which reflects real-time in-store prices from Kroger and affiliated banners." It's a site worth watching and using in our messaging to the people who are most affected by rising prices: the middle class and the poor.

Yet, as Paul Krugman, renowned economist and Nobel laureate, has pointed out countless times, Trump lies about why he imposes crippling tariffs (aka taxes on American consumers) and then the media fail to report what's actually happening: "the president of the U.S. is making drastic policy changes in order to cure a problem that only exists in his imagination." "The question," he writes, "is how something like the agreement with the European Union, in which the U.S. imposed taxes on its own population while Europe made meaningless promises on investment and energy purchases, leads to headlines like this: Trump is Winning His Trade War. What Will That Mean for the Economy?"

There's a lot of problematic reporting on the regime's attacks on basic civil liberties, Trump's insistence on white-washing American history, and his extortion of universities. The media's coverage is much like its treatment of his trade policies. So we need to be absolutely clear! There is no crime wave. Our well-documented history cannot be deleted to protect Trump's injured feelings and to expunge the role that slavery, African-Americans and other Blacks, and minority communities play in our culture. And while there is undoubtedly some antisemitism on college campuses, it can be found there, Krugman writes, "because you can find antisemitism everywhere. But I’m a lot more afraid of MAGA, which is infested with actual Nazis, than I am of a few leftist college students." Hence the title of his July 31 essay "The Media Can’t Handle the Absence of Truth."

In some election 2026 news, Swing Left is targeting Republicans they are considering vulnerable. Among the 15 on the list is Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd Congressional District in Wisconsin. He's in our sights also! Although there are two court cases in Dane County courts to challenge Wisconsin's gerrymandered electoral maps, these cases will not be resolved before the 2026 elections. But Democrats only need to flip THREE seats from red to blue nationally to gain control of the House. We can do our part by flipping TWO in Wisconsin: CD 1 and CD 3. Those incumbents need to go. The Wisconsin Democratic Party is running phone banks in CD 3, Van Orden's district. You can sign up for one or more of them. Or you can use Grassroots North Shore's phone lists to make calls into CD 1, Bryan Steil's district. Contact Nancy Kaplan for more information and to sign up.

Finally, word of a new challenger to Bryan Steil just emerged. Mitchell Berman, a Racine County nurse, is the second Democrat to come forward. (Randy Bryce, who ran against Steil in 2018, was the first.) So there will be a primary in this race in August. Berman's launch video stresses his working class background and his rural Wisconsin roots. The Wisconsin Examiner, in a piece by Erik Gunn, has coverage of Berman's views. Since this is one of the districts Grassroots North Shore intends to help flip, I hope you'll take a look.

TAKE ACTION

The Dems are hosting a second School Supply GiveAway on August 23. Caryn Melton, 4405 N Marlborough Drive in Shorewood has agreed to be a drop-off point for donations from the North Shore. Caryn will have a receptacle on her porch for them.

The county-wide goals the party has set for donations of school supplies are pretty ambitious. So if you can, purchase and donate SOME of the material kids will need this school year. Here's a list of items to donate:

• Backpacks - 250
• Binders - 250
• Folders - 250
• Pens/Pencils - 50 to 100 packs
• Crayons/Markers - 50 to 100 packs

The School Supply Giveaway will take place on August 23. So not a lot of time. Get right on it!

This weekend the Democrats are holding a Weekend of Action. In Glendale on Saturday, August 16, Democrats will be doing High Traffic Canvassing in Glendale. On Sunday, August 17, there will be canvasses at the following locations:

• Lakefront Dems at the Brady Street Market
• Glendale
• Grafton and Cedarburg
• Menomonee Falls and Sussex
• New Berlin

Help take control of the House of Representatives! Make phone calls to make sure their constituents know that Representatives Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden voted to slash Medicaid funding and money for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) when they approved the Big Ugly Budget Bill (BUBB). In the next few weeks, Congress must hammer out appropriation bills to allocate funding for specific agencies and programs under that budget framework. So this is the perfect time to revisit the draconian cuts to the social safety net and restore critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP! Sign up..

First, the good news: in special elections so far this year, Democrats have outperformed expectations, in some cases by a lot. Take the special election for a state senate seat in Rhode Island. Vice President Harris won the district in November 2024 by a healthy 11 points. The Democrat who won the special election yesterday got 83.6% of the vote! And that's not a typo. It's a 56 point Democratic overperformance. (See Daily Kos, August 5, 2025.)

On April 3, NBC News reported that "in 16 special state legislative and congressional elections held so far this year, Democrats have bettered their margin of victory or defeat compared to the 2024 Trump-Harris battle by an average of about 11.5 points, according to data collected by the political site The Downballot. The Democrat overperformed in 14 of those 16 contests, including flipping deep-red state Senate districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania."

On June 11, G. Elliott Morris reported that there were six special elections in legislative districts on June 10. "Democrats beat expectations in five of the six." He goes on to note that "the median seat [in all the special elections held by June 11] has moved 13 points toward the Democrats since November 2024." And according to his analysis, the districts where Democrats overperformed had not already been trending blue before these special elections. In other words, the movement he was seeing in spring 2025 was NEW!

It's not just special election data that is showing MAGA's vulnerability as we speed toward a hugely consequential election in 2026. Trump and his regime have reached nearly record-breaking unfavorable scores in recent polls — second only to Trump's record disapproval at this same point in his first term! The New York Times daily average of polls shows that only 44% approve while 53% disapprove. The Civiqs poll of registered voters has his approval rate at 42% with disapproval at 54%. Although big margins approve of Trump in obvious places like Alabama, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, he's barely above water in Florida (49% approve, 47% disapprove). In Texas, where MAGAites are trying to steal five congressional seats by rigging the maps, only 45% approve while 51% disapprove of Trump.

That same Civiqs poll shows Latino men disapproving of Trump by 21 points while Latino women disapprove by 40 points! According to polling of 1,600 Latino voters nationwide, "only 34% of Latino voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy, while 63% disapprove." The falloff in Hispanic support may make stealing those five Texas congressional seats a little harder than it may at first have appeared, at least if the rigged maps they just drew up were based in part on voting performance in the 2024 election.

Rigging electoral maps has become the hot topic of the day since Trump has announced that MAGAs are "entitled to five more [congressional] seats" in Texas (Politico, August 5, 2025). In both New York and California, moves are afoot to redraw their congressional maps to yield more seats for Democrats, although it may be more difficult in those places because they have already implemented non-partisan redistricting laws. Not so in Maryland, Illinois, and other blue states. The issue is a contentious one: many Democrats and progressives have fought long and hard to achieve fair maps, as we have here in Wisconsin. But the same has not happened in red states. That imbalance leaves Democrats at a significant disadvantage in the upcoming elections.

Many of us want to preserve the progress we've made. But it is worth looking back to the way Republicans gerrymandered Wisconsin in 2011 and locked Democrats out of legislative power for 14 years. The same kind of thing seems to be happening now at the national level, where the consequences may be considerably more dire. It's a tug of war between sticking to a fundamental principle to ensure fairness and fighting fire with fire, so to speak. If you have 10 minutes, listen to former Representative Katie Porter defend Governor Newsom's plan to respond if the Texas redistricting plan moves forward and think about where you come down on this issue.

Wisconsin is not in a position to counter Texas in effect cheating in the 2026 congressional elections, in part because Republicans still control both houses of the legislature here. But we can do our part in another way: by defeating Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden next year. And the time to begin that effort is now! In the next 10 days, we will begin phoning into Steil's district urging voters to call the congressman and tell him to reverse the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP he voted for in the Big Ugly Budget Bill. The Wisconsin Democratic Party has organized virtual phone banks (VPBs) to call into Representative Van Orden's district right now. Sign up to make calls NOW.

As you know, we have a big Wisconsin Supreme Court contest coming up. The shape of that race is not quite as settled as it typically is at this point in the calendar. Although she does not seem to be raising money or undertaking other typical campaign functions less than eight months ahead of the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Justice Rebecca Bradley has "sharply criticized Taylor for opposing Marsy's Law, a constitutional amendment aimed at expanding and strengthening the rights of crime victims" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 6, 2025). Whether Bradley seeks re-election or not, we're sure to see more of the same: attacks trying to tarnish Judge Taylor's record, both as a legislator and as a jurist. We must not wait to begin fighting back.

So we are beginning to canvass with the Democrats for the weekend of action on August 16 and 17. In Glendale on Saturday, August 16, Democrats will be doing High Traffic Canvassing in Glendale. On Sunday, August 17, there will be canvasses at the following locations:

• Lakefront Dems at the Brady Street Market
• Glendale
• Grafton and Cedarburg
• Menomonee Falls and Sussex
• New Berlin

It's time to do more than buckle up. To brace for impact. Or even to plan. We need to act NOW to save what we can of our democratic republic. So let's all take action!

TAKE ACTION

Make phone calls to make sure their constituents know that Representatives Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden voted to slash Medicaid funding and money for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) when they approved the Big Ugly Budget Bill (BUB). In the next few weeks, Congress must hammer out appropriation bills to allocate funding for specific agencies and programs under that budget framework. So this is the perfect time to revisit the draconian cuts to the social safety net and restore critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP! Sign up.

The groups that came together to set up the framework for NO KINGS are hosting a series of three trainings this summer — called One Million Rising — to move us beyond showing up for rallies and marches. Don't get me wrong. Those events are absolutely necessary. But they are not, by themselves, sufficient. So every one of us — and I do mean EVERYONE — needs to find some additional way to engage, resist, and help grow the movement so that we achieve the numbers needed to defeat the evil engulfing our country.

The organizers explain it this way: "Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations, rollbacks of civil rights, weaponized courts, and full-scale attacks on our democracy. We don’t have to wait until it’s too late. We can stop this. But it’ll take all of us — not just on single days of mass action, but through sustained organizing in our communities."

The first two parts are online at YouTube (see the links below). The third one is being held on Wednesday, August 13. So sign up for it now! Each segment runs 90 minutes. So it's a serious time commitment. But absolutely essential. (Also, you don't need to have watched sessions 1 and 2 to sign up for session 3. It's helpful but not essential.)

1. One Million Rising Session 1: The Moment & Your Mission - July 16. Watch on YouTube.
2. One Million Rising Session 2: How to Make it Happen - July 30. Watch on YouTube.
3. One Million Rising Session 3: What Now? July 13, 7:00 - 8:30 CDT. Sign up.