Not the most important thing, but go ahead and ask the White House Comment Line: "Donald, did you lie when you said you would release the Epstein files?We demand transparency!"
ACTUAL IMPORTANT THINGS we can do this week: WED. Indivisible "1M Rising" Training, THURS. Remember John Lewis & make some "Good Trouble" SAT. Indivisible Protest Rallies. ALERT: voting rights at risk
Dear fellow activists,
I’m not sure why, but I’m feeling lighter and much more hopeful today.
Last week, I actually thought the Epsteingate mania would blow over, but O my goodness,
“Epsteingate” is not going away!
The Guardian:
~ How the Jeffrey Epstein row plunged Maga world into turmoil – a timeline
The Independent:
~ Epstein Files spark unprecedented division between president and…
PBS:
~ What to know about the MAGA faithful’s anger over Trump and the Epstein case
YouTube ABC News:
Epstein files fallout has ‘real potential to influence’ Trump’s key messengers: Isgur
OMG! As of 10AM today. From the NY Times.
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Attacks Supporters Over Epstein Criticism (NY Times)
Where Things Stand
Epstein investigation: President Trump took aim at supporterswho have criticized his administration’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. In a blistering social media post on Wednesday, he called the outcry over the Justice Department’s decision not to release additional information about Mr. Epstein a “scam” perpetrated by Democrats. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a leading Republican critic of Mr. Trump, has begun a long-shot effort to force a House vote on whether the administration should release the files.
Do I really give a damn about the Epstein Files?
Well, this is my chance to cross the gulf between MAGA world and the World of the Woke
who believe child sex traffickers absolutely must be exposed
and the offenders in the trafficking process must be prosecuted.
So,
calling the White House Comment Line every day this week and demanding that Trump keep his promises and release the Epstein Files
is
in its own twisted way,
a non-partisan strategy
to
hold this president accountable. This “most transparent administration in the history of the world” .accountable.
From Carolyn:
I’ll be calling
the White House Comment Line,
with much conviction.
T-W-Th 8:00 AM -12:00 noon Pacific Time
Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414
I will be saying:
First of all, I always tell the person on the other end of the call, who is a volunteer, and likely a Trump supporter:
Thank you for your volunteer service to Americans by doing this job of answering calls that come into the White House Comment line.
Please tell Donald J Trump:
Mr President,
I can’t believe you are instructing the D.O.J. not to release the entire Epstein Files. To me it seems like you have been lying to us, the American people, when you said during your presidential campaign that you would release the Epstein Files.
You have claimed to be the most transparent administration in American history.
You have claimed: “promises made, promises kept.”
Release the files.
Release the entire file, whether there is a ‘client list’ or not.
The American people deserve to know the names in the files. All the names.
No one is above the law.
We are talking, here, about child sex trafficking. PEDOPHILIA!
The offenders must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I’m not referring to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell.
I’m referring to the many offenders over the decades who engaged in Epstein’s operation. Powerful men who abused young girls.
Ghislane Maxwell was convicted and is in prison for her role in Epstein’s operation.
You MUST instruct the D.O.J. to release the Epstein Files, as you promised.
**** While I’m at it,
I’m going to demand that Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino, and Kash Patel be fired.
Yes, it is beyond me that Epsteingate may end up being the demise of DJT.
However, I plan to get on board with the frenzy of the right and deluge the White House Comment Line with my outrage towards this Epsteingate monster.
The Epstein story is horrifying, and the fact that Ghislane Maxwell is serving time for her role in the Epstein story gives credibility to the story and feeds the conspiracies around the story.
DJT is VERY anxious to squash this huge issue. All the more reason to keep hammering at it. Keep it alive. Keep calling the White House to shame them. To let them know, it is not going away.
What is actually important
Spending Bill to cancel PBS
From Washington Post: Senate advances bill with Vance’s help to slash $9 billion from budget
The rescissions bill to claw back funding approved for foreign aid, NPR and PBS is a top Trump priority, but some Senate Republicans have raised concerns about the cuts.
The Senate voted Tuesday to advance President Donald Trump’s request to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and federal funding for public broadcasting despite the misgivings of some Republicans.
The vote was 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie after Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) broke with their party and voted with Democrats.
Senators must now consider a series of other procedural hurdles and up to 10 hours of debate before a final floor vote; if that succeeds, the legislation would have to return to the House to be considered before Friday’s deadline.
Spending bill: The Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on legislation that would claw back $9 billion already approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Read more ›
**** CALL our Members of Senate:
To our Senators,
“Say NO to this legislation. We live in a rural area where Public Broadcasting is a lifeline regarding natural weather and other disaster warnings.”
Sen Alex Padilla
Washington, DC 20510
San Francisco, CA 94104
Sen Adam Schiff
Washington, DC 20510
San Francisco, CA 94104
Republican campaign to suppress the vote
**** From Carolyn: More to come on this voting rights Republican take-over in my next post. I’m really really concerned!
Info for now:
Georgia
Georgia is Removing Half a Million Voters
Last week, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger mailed letters to nearly half a million Georgians, alerting them their voter registrations will be canceled unless they reply or contact local election offices within 40 days. Those letters mark the beginning of one of the largest voter purges in U.S. history.
The purge will remove about 6% of all voters in the state – and more than the margin of victory in any of Georgia’s recent presidential or U.S. Senate elections.
Raffensperger’s office claims this is just routine list maintenance. But let’s be clear: mass voter purges of this scale raise major red flags. Unless we speak out and spread the word, thousands could have their voter registrations canceled without even knowing.
You can go to FairFight.com/StopThePurges for more information on what to do if you receive one of Raffensperger’s voter purge letters, or to donate/ help in this FairFight campaign.
Why This Matters
Historically, voter purges disproportionately hit communities of color, younger voters, and lower-income Georgians – and this one is likely no different.
Take a look at the racial breakdown of Raffensperger’s purge list:
Voters of color overall make up 47% of the purge list, compared to just 39% of the state’s voter rolls.
White voters are underrepresented on the purge list – they make up 45% of the list, but 51% of all registered voters.
Even active-duty service members and their families are at risk. Raffensperger’s purge list includes 2,332 people living on military bases – highlighting how even those serving our country can be swept up by flawed mass cancellations.
What You Can Do
Check your status: Even if you’ve voted before, make sure you’re still registered. Visit mvp.sos.ga.gov and share the link with friends and family.
Talk about it: Make noise. Share this in your group chats, post online, bring this up when talking to friends and family. The more people who know this is happening, the harder it is for them to get away with it.
Get involved: Get involved with pro-voter organizations on the front lines – groups like Fair Fight, VoteRiders, All Voting is Local, and Black Voters Matter. They’re registering voters, monitoring the purge, and holding politicians accountable.
Your vote has power – that’s why politicians purge voter rolls, make registering and voting harder, and change election rules at the last minute. Don’t let them silence you.
The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. If we don’t fight to protect it, we risk losing all of our other freedoms, one purge at a time.
Texas
Trump tells Texas Republicans to redraw the state congressional map to help keep House majority
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is pushing Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional maps to create more House seats favorable to his party, part of a broader effort to help the GOP retain control of the chamber in next year’s midterm elections.
The president’s directive signals part of the strategy Trump is likely to take to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House just two years into his presidency. It comes shortly before the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature is scheduled to begin a special session next week during which it will consider new congressional maps to further marginalize Democrats in the state.
Asked as he departed the White House for Pittsburgh about the possibility of adding GOP-friendly districts around the country, Trump responded, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”
As Trump looks to net five GOP seats through Texas redistricting, Democrats grasp for response
Texas Democrats in Congress sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to redraw their state’s political map in the middle of the decade, labeling it a threat to democracy — and warning their GOP counterparts that an aggressive gerrymander could come back to haunt them.
The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature is poised to consider a new set of congressional maps during a special session that kicks off next week. With their party locked out of power in Austin, Democrats from the state’s congressional delegation said they expect the new districts to continue Texas' history of violating the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the votes of racial minorities.
“The scheme of the Republicans has consistently been to make sure that they mute our voices so that they can go ahead and have an oversized say in this,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said at a news conference with House Democratic leadership and most Texas Democrats. “So I fully anticipate that's exactly where they're going with this map.”
What we can do
From Carolyn:
Raise the awareness of this TrumpMAGA tactic by publishing this info on all your social media platforms and talk to whoever will listen
Support Texas Rep Al Greene and watch this very informative video, then spread the word
Call our own Members of Congress and demand that they take to the bully pulpit BIG TIME and let the American public know that Trump is full-tilt moving forward to sabotage the midterms and maintain his power over Congress.
I’m supporting the Democratic Governors (spearheaded by Gov Newsom) who are saying FIGHT BACK, if for no other reason than to make headlines, raise public awareness, and show a willingness to fight back at their own game, even though it is turning into an ugly game more and more each day.
I’m also supporting the push for Democratic Texas lawmakers to do a “walk-out” in order to keep the Texas Special Session from having a quorum that is needed to pass redistricting legislation.
Mark your calendar for these 3 upcoming events
1. Wednesday July 16th
One Million Rising training from Indivisible (first of 3 online sessions)
One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism
Time
Wednesdays
8 – 9:30pm EDT
Location
Join from anywhere
About this event
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.
That’s why this summer, we’re launching One Million Rising—a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as the basics of community organizing and campaign design. This is how we build people power that can’t be ignored. You’re invited to join us—and lead.
Let’s build a force bigger than fear and louder than hate. Let’s get ready. Let’s get organized. Let’s stop Trump.
Session 1: The Moment & Your Mission - July 16 Get oriented to making meaning of this moment and the role you can play in coordinated strategic action.
Session 2: How to Make it Happen - July 30 Learn not just our strategy, but how you can lead a discussion with others and get them on board with taking action in your community. You'll host your first community resistance gathering after this session, before our next session.
Session 3: What Now? - August 13 You'll be onboarded to basic campaign design and learn how to implement it locally as well as get plugged into our next national campaign work. Your second community resistance gathering will move this action forward.
Sign up for all 3 sessions to get the most out of this experience. Watch it live with a friend in person, and get ready now to host your own community resistance gatherings after the second and third sessions. This is how we get to 1 million!
2. Thursday July 17th
GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON:
Rallies near you: CLICK HERE
Time
Thursday, July 17
5:30 – 7:30pm PDT
Location
Mendocino
Details:
Thursday, JULY 17 GOOD TROUBLE POTLUCK & WALK
JOIN US!
5:30 to 7:30 in Mendocino
This month, in place of our monthly meeting, we're having a potluck with informal chat, dinner, and a Mendocino walk-about-with-signs.
Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.
On July 17, the anniversary of Congressman John Lewis’s passing, we’re taking action across the country to defend our democracy and carry forward his legacy of Good Trouble.
Where: Rotary Park in Mendocino
44960 Main St
Bring: Food or beverage to share, bring yourselves, your friends & family. Bring your Good Trouble goodwill !
[This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Rotary Foundation of Mendocino. The use of Rotary Park is permitted as a community gathering space in accordance with the Foundation's public use policy.]
Saturday July 19th
Ongoing Protest Rallies throughout our region.
CLICK HERE to find actions of all kinds in our area:
Events, Petitions, and Volunteer Opportunities
The last laugh
This youtube video definitely helped me fall asleep tonight:
Jon Stewart on Trump’s Epstein Meltdown, MAGA’s mutiny and Elmo’s Antisemitism
Keep on keeping on,
Carolyn