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The Resistance Is Off To An Incredible Start. Here’s How We Can Continue The Momentum

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Marching In The Streets Is Just Step One

So we’re a few weeks in to the Trump administration and reality is setting in: Things aren’t going to get better, he’s not going to calm down, and we can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen anymore.

We’ve all seen the protests around the country and, like many of you, I’ve been amazed at our new levels of engagement. I love seeing so many people in the streets and being unafraid to shout out loud that we’re not willing to take a single step backward. 

But now that we’re getting into a rhythm and having to figure out how to live in the world these days, let’s talk about how to keep this going. If we’re going to have an impact, we’re going to have to do more than just take to the streets. Let me be clear: Taking to the streets is awesome, and we shouldn’t stop that, either. I just think we need to round out our efforts. 

Show up. 

We’ve all demonstrated that we have the ability and desire to leave our comfortable couches and make ourselves seen and heard. It’s time to focus that movement toward action. City council meetings, state legislative sessions and school board meetings are all open to the public. Show up. Many of them leave time for citizen input and gladly welcome your thoughts. If you’re concerned that Betsy DeVos has absolutely no relevant experience and you’re scared of what she might do, show up to your local school board meeting and comment on the agenda and what’s being proposed. 

Most state legislatures allow for public comments during committee hearings on bills. Find out what’s on the calendar, attend the meeting, and sign up to be heard. If elected officials don’t hear from us, they’re going to think that what they’re doing is fine — and it’s a lot harder to ignore someone when they’re speaking to you face to face.

Use your time wisely.

There are a lot of different groups calling for action these days, but they’re not being so efficient with their resources. Signing a third-party petition is almost certainly a waste of time. What you’re really doing is signing up for an email list. Postcard parties are a great way to build community but a horrible way to make your voice heard. Elected officials don’t spend their time reading your emails and your postcards. Emails typically go through an auto-sort formula and get an auto-reply email in response. Postcards end up in the trash. A phone call and an actual conversation is going to be far better, every time. 

Start volunteering. 

We all know our public schools ad other community groups need more resources. Complaining on social media that the government is cutting funding isn’t going to help them. Rolling up your sleeves and getting involved is a surefire way to have a real impact. It might not be glamorous work. You might help with cleaning a facility or addressing envelopes, but you may also help run a program with kids in need or building relationships with new friends and neighbors. 

I used to work for a community LGBTQ nonprofit. We always needed help. Always. It wasn’t always exciting in the moment, but having volunteers around helped us further our mission and reach more people, and when we were successful, it was amazing. I promise you there are groups out there just waiting for you and hoping you’ll call them.  

There are so many ways to effect real change now, no matter who you are or where you live. We aren’t going to be able to change everything, but wow, if we focus our efforts on what we can do? We can make some pretty amazing things happen. 

Robbie Medwed is an Atlanta-based LGBT activist, educator, and writer. He’s hopeful more of you will start showing up for your home communities and stop doing silly things that won’t have much of an impact. Follow him on Twitter: @rjmedwed.

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FBI Told to Flag Mentions of Trump in Epstein Files, Dem Says in Scathing Letter to Bondi

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One thousand employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation sifting through thousands of pages of the Epstein files were instructed to flag any mentions of President Donald Trump, according to Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.

“According to information my office received,” Senator Durbin wrote in a letter (below) to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday, “you…pressured the FBI to put approximately 1,000 personnel…on 24-hour shifts to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records in order to produce more documents that could then be released on an arbitrarily short deadline.”

“My office was told that these personnel were instructed to ‘flag’ any records in which President Trump was mentioned,” Durbin charged.

The files are from the criminal investigation into the notorious Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of child sex offenses.

RELATED: ‘He’s So Frustrated’: Johnson Defends Trump Over Explosive Epstein Birthday Letter

In his letter, Senator Durbin also posed a series of more than a dozen questions to Bondi. Among them:

“Have you personally reviewed all files in DOJ’s possession related to Jeffrey Epstein?”

“The records DOJ released on February 27 did not include a client list. Why did you
publicly claim on February 21 that the client list was ‘sitting on my desk right now to review’?”

“Why were personnel told to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned?”

“Please list all political appointees and senior DOJ officials involved in the decision to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned.”

“What happened to the records mentioning President Trump once they were flagged?”

CNBC reported that “Durbin asked the Justice Department and FBI to explain what his office called ‘apparent discrepancies’ regarding handling of the Epstein files and findings from a Justice Department memo.”

In his four-page letter, Durbin also wrote, “in 2002, Mr. Trump said of Mr. Epstein, ‘I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.’ Just yesterday, it was reported that the Department previously reviewed a ‘leather-bound album’ comprised of dozens of letters from Mr. Epstein’s friends in celebration of his 50th birthday in 2003.”

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

“The letters were collected by Mr. Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell and included one from President Trump that allegedly ‘contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker … and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist.'”

“Despite tens of thousands of personnel hours reviewing and re-reviewing these Epstein- related records over the course of two weeks in March, it took DOJ more than three additional months to officially find there is ‘no incriminating ‘client list,’ and the memorandum with this finding includes no mention of the whistleblower or additional documents, the existence of which you publicly claimed on February 27.”

Read a copy of Senator Durbin’s letter below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

Image via Reuters

 

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‘Would the President Say This?’: Rubio Demands Diplomats Echo Trump

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after cutting 1,300 employees last week, is now ordering diplomats to not comment on foreign elections and internal affairs—limiting official communications to congratulating the declared winner.

“Rubio has instructed U.S. diplomats not to comment on the legitimacy or fairness of foreign elections, breaking with decades of American diplomatic practice,” The Daily Beast reports. In a memo, the Secretary stated that U.S. missions will no longer issue election-related statements unless there is a “clear and compelling” foreign policy reason for doing so.

“Diplomatic personnel writing official messages are instead instructed to ask themselves: ‘Would the President say this?'”

The memo, seen by Reuters, says the messages “should be brief, focused on congratulating the winning candidate and, when appropriate, noting shared foreign policy interests.”

READ MORE: ‘He’s So Frustrated’: Johnson Defends Trump Over Explosive Epstein Birthday Letter

The memo makes clear, based on President Trump’s remarks, that the U.S. will “pursue partnerships with countries wherever our strategic interests align,” regardless of democratic values.

U.S. promotion of human rights, democracy, and press freedoms has traditionally been a “core foreign policy objective,” Reuters reported.

“Under Trump, the administration has increasingly moved away from the promotion of democracy and human rights, largely seeing it as interference in another country’s affairs.”

The Washington Post adds that for “decades, the United States has offered judgments on whether elections were conducted in a free or fair matter [sic], a judgment that can have significant impact in countries.”

“Scholars have accused the United States of democratic backsliding since Trump, who refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, returned to office this year.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended right-wing and far-right political groups, including Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which reportedly has ties to right-wing extremists.

Secretary Rubio in May ignited a “spat” with Germany’s foreign ministry when it “hit back…after he criticized the decision to classify the Alternative for Germany party as a ‘right-wing extremist’ organization,” the Associated Press reported at the time.

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

Image via Reuters

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‘He’s So Frustrated’: Johnson Defends Trump Over Explosive Epstein Birthday Letter

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After weeks of mounting scrutiny and days of growing scandal surrounding President Donald Trump—culminating Thursday night with a bombshell Wall Street Journal exposé revealing a “bawdy,” innuendo-laced letter he reportedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday—the White House appears to be circling the wagons, as allies hit the airwaves in his defense.

On Friday, Republican former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy appeared on Fox News, where he twice defended Donald Trump as “the most transparent president.” But it was his successor’s remarks that drew the most attention.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson made a rare appearance on CNBC Friday morning (video below), defending Donald Trump and telling viewers he had just spoken with the President, whom he said denied the Wall Street Journal’s report.

“The President and I talked about that ridiculous allegation this morning,” Johnson told “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen. “He said, it’s patently absurd. He’s never drawn such a picture. He’s never thought of drawing such a picture.”

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

Johnson relayed that Trump told him, “Did you see the language of this bogus supposed communication or card or something I supposedly sent to Epstein?”

“I don’t talk like that, I don’t think like that,” Trump told him.

“They’re literally making things up,” Johnson insisted, despite the Journal reporting that Trump had threatened to sue if it published the damning missive—a threat he has now made public.

“And he’s so frustrated by it, and he’s gonna wind up, I think, suing some of the media outlets that, uh, that have put all this out there because they informed them that it was totally contrived,” Johnson continued.

He called Trump “the most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics,” before adding, “he’s also the most resilient.”

Then Johnson slipped in a startling claim.

“And you see at the same time, his approval ratings are skyrocketing — CNN had a story, I think, a day or two ago. He was at 90% approval rating. There’s never been a president that high,” Johnson said.

Only one president has ever received an overall approval rating of 90%: George W. Bush, just after the 9/11 terror attacks. Johnson may have been claiming 90% among the GOP base, but if so, he did not say that.

According to CNN, the outlet Johnson cited, Trump’s approval rating is less than half the number he quoted.

“In the CNN poll, Trump’s approval rating was largely unchanged from the spring, at 42%. But less than a year after an election that turned in part on frustration about the cost of groceries and housing, only 37% of those polled say Trump is concentrating on the right issues — down 6 points from March.”

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

CNN added that Trump “seems to be doing the opposite of what most voters want. His biggest-ever domestic triumph — the just-passed ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ which contains much of his second-term domestic agenda — is opposed by 61% of Americans. And his approval among independents is an anemic 32%.”

Critics blasted Johnson.

Author James Surowiecki, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, responded to Johnson’s “90%” remark:

“The ease with which Johnson lies is staggering. The 90% is Trump’s approval rating with Republicans, not with voters as a whole. (And no, 90% is not even an all-time high approval rating for a president with his own party – Obama hit 95% with Dems.)”

Michael A. Cohen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), also responded to Johnson’s “90%” claim, writing that Johnson is “telling obvious lies to soothe the ego of our child-like President …. The lack of self-respect with these guys never ceases to amaze.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

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