Resistance is NOT Futile!

Today’s victory for resistance: Federal District Judge William Alsup ruled in favor of the federal employees unions challenging mass firings and ordered reinstatement of thousands of workers at Treasury and the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior Departments. He called the firings a “sham” and said “It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie.” 

The ruling will be appealed. The Trump/Musk regime can try to fire the employees again, this time using a legal procedure. But this is still a win.

Every win counts. Every win is one more step on the long road to reclaiming democracy and the rule of law.

As I write, it looks like Sen. Chuck Schumer is about to give in to the Trump/Musk regime and vote for their budget resolution. Shame on him and on any Democrat who joins him! But regardless of his betrayal of principle, we can still keep fighting. We MUST still keep fighting.

In his Heads Up News blog, Dan Froomkin urges us to follow the lead of Black church leaders like the Reverend William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP. You may remember Rev. Barber as the leader of the Moral Mondays movement. On March 5, he responded to Trump’s address to Congress:

“My knees and your knees are not made for bowing to a power-drunk neofascist. We bow only to God. Otherwise we stand tall. …

“It may take mass call-ins…. It may take mass nonviolent actions. It may take mass pray-ins…. But that’s all right. Whatever it takes…. The lies and the greed cannot have the last word….

“We may have to do it all. I suspect we will. I suspect and prophesy tonight that when it gets warmer you may see in America the same thing you saw in Egypt and places, you may see a fresh Freedom Summer – organic, just coming up….

“Stand up in every pulpit. Stand up in every federal job. Stand and protest and expose what they’re doing…. Flood the Congressional phone lines. Flood them with calls of protest and moral dissent. Stand up in the town halls. Go to their offices…. Stand up because God can do more with the remnant that will stand than a crowd that will bow. Stand. Stand and don’t let anything keep you from standing, because bowing down is not an option now.”

One action we can take right now: join in the 40 day boycott of Target because of their bowing down to the Trump/Musk regime and ending their DEI commitments. Take your dollars to Costco, which defied Trump/Musk threats and said it will never abandon its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dan Froomkin suggests a few other “Little Things You Can Do“

• “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau union is selling mugs that poke fun of the botched mail merge used to fire probationary employees. Proceeds go to the CFPB Union Solidarity Fund, which provides grants to recently fired employees. Buy a Hello My Name is [EmployeeFirstName] Mug.
• “Choose your words intentionally. John Ganz, in his Substack newsletter, writes that “I believe it’s appropriate now to refer to the present government of the United States not as an ‘administration’ but as a ‘regime,’ with all of that word’s dark and ugly connotations.” And the New York Times has a list of words that are disappearing under the Trump regime. Use them frequently!
• “The State Department is accepting public comments through the end of this week for people to submit their concerns about the new passport policy that forces trans, intersex, and nonbinary people to out themselves when they have to show ID. So the ACLU is encouraging you to flood their comment page.”

We are in this for the long haul. Start somewhere, but start now.