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Eni Green's avatar

You claim you’re a genius at business and deals,

But your record shows failures that truth now reveals.

Six casinos went bust, left in debt’s bitter grip,

Yet you sailed through the wreckage, your wealth didn’t slip.

Your “university” scammed, took millions, then fell,

Closed in shame, with lawsuits that you settled to quell.

Yet you’d lecture great Harvard, their wisdom renowned?

Your hubris, not wisdom, is all that’s been found.

Your first hundred days brought chaos, bans, and strife,

No triumphs, just turmoil, you rolled the dice.

Twice impeached, still you screech, we demand a new reach,

To Congress we call: hold him accountable, impeach

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Jessica Moats's avatar

We will need “I told you so” fatigue support groups… especially when shelves are empty.

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Susan Feiner's avatar

This is terrific

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

We the People at Work

The People, the protectors of Democracy, are out and about. What "people," out where, about what--and why? First, millions said "Hand Off"to Trump/Musk et al, then on the 19th via 50501" (50 protests, 5o states, 1 Movement + Indivivable) millions more protested the mess in WDC. Also on the 19th we celebrated the "the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, starting the Revolution and our country. On the 22nd protectors of the environment cleaned up a different kind of mess on Earth Day.

As important as the participants in environmental mess cleanup and American history are, this post is dedicated to the named and unnamed protestors fighting the Trump/Musk Washington, DC, tyrannical mess. Or as Susan Grymes calls it: "Protectors" of democracy, and so shall I in this post.

Who are the Protectors of democracy on April 5, 19th, May 1st--or all the everydays in between and into the future?? We will never know the names of each individual marcher, sign holder (or just standing together in solidarity). But we do know by name some people, advocacy groups, judges and law firms, and other entities who have not been cowed, and have fought back publicly--sometimes under threat of death.. Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names of many of the army of protectors of democracy--and remember Courage is Contagious:

(Of course, the list is imperfect, Additions are welcomed. Also re-posting is permitted and encouraged.

PROTECTORS OF DEMOCRACY (By pen, voice, sign, or act)

(Updated April 28, 2025) Individuals

Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American,"

Jess Piper/"View from Rural Missouri,"

Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse,"

Rep. AOC,

AGs, 23 Blue States,

Aaron Parnas,

Adam Kinzinger,

Sen. Adam Schiff,

Adam Smith,

Alex Wagner,

Alexander Vindman,

Ali Velshi,

Alison Gill

Alvin Bragg (and the unnamed Manhattan jurors),

Amb. Susan Rice,

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales/Democracy Now,

Anand Giridharadas,

Anat Shenker-Osario,

Andrew Weissmann,

Andy Borowitz,

Ann Telnaes,

Anne Applebaum,

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Founda

Ariella Elm

]

Ari Melber,

Asha Rangappa

August Flentje,

Ben Meiselas/MTN,

Beth Benike,

Brett Meiselas,

Brian Tyler Cohen,

Cassidy Hutchinson,

Charlotte Clymer,

Chris Geidne/LAW Dork

Chris Hayes,

Chris Krebs,

Col. Susannah Meyers,

Congressman Jim Himes,

D. Earl Stevens,

Dan Barker, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)

Dan Pfeiffer,

Dan Rather,

Daniel Berulis,

Daniel Morton-Bentley,

David Frumm,

David Hogg,

Dean Obeidallah,

Delia Ramirez,

Sen. Elizabeth Warren,

Sen. Elyssa Slotkin,

Erez Reuveni,

Rep. Eric Swalwell,

Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025),

Garrison Keillor,

Garry Kasparov,

George Conway,

Glenn Kirschner,

Gov. Beshear,

Gov. Janet Mills,

Gov. Kathy Hochul,

Gov. Maura Healey (MA),

Gov. Tim Walz (MN),

Gov. Tony Evers (WI),

Greg Olear,

Harry Litman,

Hopium Chronicles,

J.B. Pritzker,

Jake Auchincloss,

Rep. Jamie Raskin,

Rep. Jasmine Crockett,

Jay Kou,

Jeff Danziger,

Sen. Jeff Merkley,

Jeff Stein,

Jeff Tiedrich,

Jen Rubin And the Contrarians,

,Jeremy Seahill,

Jessica Craven,

Jessica Yellin,

Jill Filipovic

Jim Acosta,

Jim Hightower,

Jimmy Kimmel,

J-L Cauvin,

John Cusack,

John Larson

Sen. Jon Ossoff,

Jonathan Bernstein,

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove/ “Our Moral Moment"

Jordy Meiselas,

Josh Johnson (stand-up comedian),

Josh Marshall/TPM,

Joy Reid,

Judd Legum (Popular Information),

Julie Roginsky,

Kamala Harris,

Katie Phang,

Ken Harbaugh,

Lawrence O'Donnell,

Liz Cheney,

Lucian Truscott IV,

Marianne Williamson,

Mark Fiore,

Marvin Kalb,

Mary L. Trump,

Maxwell Frost,

Mayor Michelle Wu,

Mehdi Hasan,

Melvin Gurai,

Michael Bennett,

Michael Cohen,

Michel Zeitgeist,

Miles Taylor,

Nicolle Wallllace,

Noel Casler (former and current staff of the Inter-American Foundation, a small but mighty federal agency for Latin America)

Olga Lautman,

Oliva Troye,

Paul Krugman,

Prof. Lawrence Tribe,

Qasim Rachid,

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,

Rachel Cohen,

Rachel Maddow,

Rebecca Solnit/Meditations

Rep. Andrew Egger,

Rep. Emily Randall,

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries,

Rep. Jessica Denson,

Rep. Jonathan V. Last,

Rep. Noe Casler,

Rep. Pramila Jayapal,

Rep. Sarah Longwell,

Rep. Al Green,

Rep. Don Beyer,

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II,

Representative Yassamin Ansari

Rez Reuveni (acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, and his supervisor),

Rich Wilson,

Robert B. Hubbell,

Robert Reich,

Roger Parloff,

Ron Filipkowski,

Ruth Ben-Ghait,

Sarah Inama,

Scott Dworkin,

Sen. Amy Klobuchar,

Sen. Andy Kim,

Sen. Angus King,

Sen. Bernie Sanders,

Sen. Chris Murphy,

Sen. Chris Van Hollen,

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,

Sen. Lisa Murkowski,

Sen. Maria Cantwell,

Sen. Patty Murray,

Sen. Raphael Warnock,

Sen. Ron Wyden,

Sharon McMahon,

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,

Simon Rosenberg,

Stacey Abrams,

Stephanie Miller,

Stephen King,

Steve Brodner,

Steve Schmidt/The Warning",

Sue Nethercott,

Sen. Tammy Duckworth,

Tennessee Brandon,

Thom Hartmann,

Tim Miller,

Tim Snyder,

Timothy Snyder

Tristan Snell,

Will Bunch,

Zev Shalev,

ADVOCACY GROUPS, MEDIA NETWORKS

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union),

AICN (North Carolina),

American Oversight,

Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers,

Blue Future,

Blue Missouri,

Blue Wave,

Bluesky,

Bulwark Media,

CODEPINK,

CREW,

DemCast,

Democracy Forward,

Democracy Index,

DemocracyLabs,

Every State Blue,

Feathers of Hope/Jerry Weiss,,

Field Team 6 (North Carolina),

FiftyFifty one (50501),

Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF),

Fred Wellman/On Democracy,

"Hands Off,"

Hopium Chronicles.

Indivisible,

Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday,

Lambda Legal,

League of Women Voters/Dr. Allan Lichtman,

Marc Elias/Democracy Docket,

MeidasTouch Network,

MoveOn,

MSNBC (an exception to corporate news, and their suppressing news0,

No Kings,

Olivia Troye,

Protect Democracy,

Public Citizen/Co-president Robert Weissman,

Run for Something,

Seneca Project,

Substack,

Team Sunrise,

The 19th/Errin Haines,

The American Manifesto,

The Bulwark,

The Civic Center,

The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,

The Dr. Martin Luther King Center

The Lincoln Project,

The Politics Girl,

The States Project (North Carolina),

The Union (North Carolina)

Third Act,,

Thomas Zimmer/Democracy Americana,

Truth Matters,

We the People Dissent,

Working Families Party,

LAW FIRMS/ORGANIZATIONS, LAWYERS, COURTS, ACADEMIA

American Bar Association,

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer,

Big Ten Universities,

Brenna Trout Frey

David Pepper,

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services),

Harvard/President Alan M. Garber,

Hogan Lovells (seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care),

Jenner & Block (also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding),

Judge Hannah Dugan,

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III,

(former) Judge J. Michael Luttig,

Judge James Boasberg,

Judge Paula Xinis,

Judge Royce Lamberth,

Justice Elena Kagan,

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,

Justices Sonia Sotomayer,

Lawyers for Good Government,

Northwestern University,

Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling (have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams& Connolly),

Presidents of 328 U.S. colleges and universities who have signed a letter condemning “government overreach" (including St. Louis University),

Ropes & Gray (seeking to block cuts to medical research funding), Susman Godfrey law firm,

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky,

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (per the ABA Journal, representing fired inspectors general),

Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters,

Southern Poverty Law Center,

Letter signed by 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration),

To paraphrase Churchill: We shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them on the sidewalks, we shall fight them on the internet, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the voting booth--We shall never surrender. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. SOLIDARITY..

E pluribus unum ( "Out of many, one")

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Finney Catherine's avatar

I looked for Sen. Cory Booker’s name and didn’t see it!

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

He came in a special place--First--before the names. He was the most important one to me: "Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names .. . " (Perhaps I should also list him in the "B"s?) Thanks for reading.

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

Per your question, just placed uim (again), this time under the "S"s, with the reat of the senators. See below, in first reply, for full explanation.

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Michael Solis's avatar

Wow WA, good writing. It is obvious to the country & the world. This Felon in charge was a joke when he was young. Now, the moron can’t stay awake for 15 minutes. I believe the country is finally realizing what all of this is. A f-cking clown/s-it show. Some traitor Republicans are even getting restless. They knew it was coming. The idiot or them. Yes, you worthless bastards, the time has arrived! A smart criminal would turn on this clown. But then again, they aren’t that smart! Keep exposing them WA. We are in a fight. Time to take care of business!!!

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Margaret Gacki's avatar

It WAS the first time in years, that Donald had slept next to his wife. 😈🤭😁😼

Hmmm... I hear bugger-all about Obama's tan suit atm. 🤔

Not even Chuck the Chuck Schumer is writing a strongly worded letter about it. 🤦🏼‍♀️😠

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SandraLea's avatar

OMG Waj your cutting wit, your cunning turn of phrase puts me on the floor both laughing and crying at what Trump and his MAGATs have wrought. Your writing is superb. Thank you for your voice.

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ROCHELLE's avatar

Best description of that lowlife Homan I've read--"-concrete in human form".

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Deb Pierce's avatar

Rochelle, I totally agree -- "concrete in human form" made me laugh out loud because it's absolutely perfect!! This is one of two reason why I subscribe to Waj -- the other is that politically he's absolutely on target, too.

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roland krueger's avatar

Tell me what the Democratic Party is doing to make us feel better. No plan, no strategy, no agenda only endless fundraising and self enrichment

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Karen Schaaf's avatar

There are MANY Dems out there, spending time and effort to raise the alarm. You aren't paying attention.

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roland krueger's avatar

Tell me what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing. They’re the leaders of the Democratic Party. Ken Martin, DNC chair, is looking for “good” billionaires. Where’s Kamala? Where’s Genocide Joe? What’s the Democratic Party plan to combat Project 2025? I’ve been paying attention. Dems had the Project 2025 playbook for over 15 months and still nothing to show.

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Monnina's avatar

A similar slide of the Overton, Window across the spectrum of the political ruling class, so far to the right ‘that it has left the room’ (%Guardian cif pundit), has happened in the UK. As has a slow creation of a Uniparty. The leading Conservative/ Labour parties have become ideologically indistinguishable. Both are acting as ciphers for global criminal oligarchs and destroying the social fabric in their equally feverish pursuit of selfish aggrandisement and profiteering. Both the US and UK and Australia are suffering the consequences of decades of unchecked socially simplistic neo liberal financialisation, cynically seduced into unconscious compliance into consumption of their impoverishment of all of us for their profiteering pleasure and abuse of power by that behavioural psyops wizard of Oz, Murdoch.

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Catherine Valencia's avatar

Not fit to serve! UNFIT, DANGEROUS, and mentally ill. Remove him and his reprehensible administration (sic) NOW!

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Michael Davis's avatar

Check out my latest free newsletter — a deep dive on 100 days/100 failures. Love you to take a moment and subscribe!

https://mdavis19881.substack.com/p/fam-15-trumps-first-100-days

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Kathryn's avatar

“All of this could have been avoided if just enough Americans had voted for a competent Black Indian American woman…”

Let’s change that to:

“A competent Democratic candidate.”

Identifying her RACE, ETHNICITY, and SEX is exactly why we are here right now!!!

Until this country can see people for who they are, we are doomed to repeat this toxic cycle of stupidity.

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