These are challenging times for those of us who care about our democracy, who want our leaders to be ethical and our social contracts to be honored, who believe in government—of the people, by the people, for the people—as a force for good. Each week, we have kept our spirits up by reviewing positive progress in the nation. As of August 24, 2024, we are suspending our blog while we put all of our effort into the fall campaign. We’ll be back from time to time.
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GOOD NEWS UP TO AUGUST 10, 2024
THE NEW, NEW KID ON THE BLOCK—TIM WALZ!
(It’s only been days. The news is moving so fast.)
A star is born. Read no further. Watch the whole video. 5 minutes of Tim Walz being funny, genuine, serious, and awesome. Click here: YouTube
Have you watched the video above yet? Then we have one more, Tim Walz being compassionate. Watch Walz bring a boisterous Wisconsin Harris rally to a halt to ensure an ailing audience member is attended, and how comfortable he is with the silence while he focuses on their care. Click here: Fox News
And what about the camo hat phenomenon? One million dollars worth sold in the first two days. (When Walz was filmed accepting Harris’ invitation to be her running mate, he was wearing his customary camo hat. Here’s the phone call: Fox News.) The Harris Campaign is reaching out to men as men. “White Dudes for Harris,” “Win With Black Men,” “Men for Harris,” and “Dads for Kamala,” and more. NPR
Harris emanates the joy! There were many articles this week about the Harris Campaign and joy. “All the things that make me mad about those other guys and all the things they do wrong, the one thing I will not forgive them for is they tried to steal the joy from this country….. But you know what? You know what? Our next president brings the joy! She emanates the joy!” Tim Walz. The Washington Post
KAMALA HARRIS! THE SURGE CONTINUES
Gen Z is mobilizing for Harris…the momentum is palpable. USA Today
The Harris Campaign is needling Trump with the enthusiasm and size of their crowds. 8,000 in Atlanta, 14,000 in Philadelphia, 20,000 in Arizona. In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, droves of people ditched their cars along rural roads and walked miles in extreme heat to the venue. Axios
TRUMP CONTRATRUMP
This is not a well person. The following tweet prompted many people to ask, “What’s wrong with Trump?” “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST president in the history of the US, whose presidency was unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and others on the lunatic left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the US presidency, a COUP, to the people in the world he most hates. And he wants it back.” NJ.COM
This is not a well person. “Unhinged” was a frequent description of Trump’s Mar-a-Largo press conference, a disturbed comeback to the crowd sizes and enthusiasm for Harris. The outsized lies, non sequiturs, and confusions are getting worse. Vanity Fair
With Judge Chutkan charged to proceed in the Jan. 6th case, there’s been a flurry of activity. She tossed Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case based on quibbles with Jack Smith’s contract. She has set up a quick briefing and hearing schedule. She dismissed Trump’s claim of vindictive prosecution. As instructed by the Supreme Court, she will consider the charges, one by one, for potential immunity, which means a public airing of wrongful acts. There’s no need for further delay. She will treat Trump like any other citizen. The Hill
RFK Jr. and the third-party effect are now hurting Trump. There’s increasing evidence that Kennedy is pulling significantly more votes from Trump than Harris. The Washington Post
AND FINALLY
Calling all ye joyful warriors! If you’re jazzed. If you’d like to get paid (no scam!!) to make a difference in a battleground state, if you can take a day or a week this fall to knock on carefully curated doors, to get Democratic voters out in droves, check this out: Flexible Paid Door-Knocking. Join us for this national zoom with the Progressive Turnout Project and FridayAction, Tuesday, August 13th at 8 p.m. ET.
Pages from Previous Weeks
Prepared by DianaG and KarlM
“Instead of looking for hope, look for action.
Then, and only then, hope will come.”
-Greta Thunberg