From the On Tyranny series by Timothy Snyder, Lesson #14 of twenty. Check here for a lesson every Monday or you can find them on YouTube. They are all short videos, no ads.
“Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants will seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.”
Got this appeal from our former member of congress, Dave Loebsack. Since we are all in some way fighting to keep our democracy, it seemed like a good use of space to post this appeal for donations for Dave’s group. Help him (and the country) out if you can:
Last week, House Republicans released their budget blueprint. It tasks the Agriculture Committee with finding nearly a quarter trillion in cuts.
This means we’re staring down severe cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which tens of millions of working-class Americans rely on to put food on their tables. It means that healthcare for working-class and rural communities — the folks I represented in Congress — is on the chopping block.
This budget would be an utter disaster for the Midwest, and the Congressional Republicans from this region have a duty to speak up for their constituents. But if the last few weeks are any indication, silence is probably the most we can expect.
It’s an old, tired story: Republicans want to pass a massive tax cut for billionaires, so they pay for it by cutting services and aid for those who need it. The budget outline they put out this week is nothing different.
For all the GOP’s talk in recent years of reinventing itself to better represent everyday Americans, they’re quickly showing that their priorities never changed. This is a moment for us to expose their hypocrisy, and clearly define Democrats as the true champions of the working class.
We need to show that we’re going to fight tooth and nail against budget proposals like this. And it starts with targeting Republicans in competitive districts – because our voices do matter, and we do have leverage.
Politicians begging for exemptions for their states such as Grassley begging for Potash exemption. Remember when Joni Ernst asks for your vote next year that she didn’t have the backbone to stand up to Stinky Pants when it counted. Instead she kissed his ass and voted for the unqualified Pete Hegseth. Ignoring the good of the American people by elected officials must have consequences.
As we see hackers destroying decades worth of records, demolishing decades of building up governmental agencies works and throwing thousands upon thousands out of work which will probably lead to the worst depression ever, we need to stand up to these destroyers of our country and toss them out and maybe into jail.
But you may notice that Stinky pants is setting up a bunch of fall guys to take the hits when it all starts crashing down: Elon Musk, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Pete Hegseth, already the guy at Transportation Sean Duffy, Homan at ICE. Trump is fully ready to blame THEM when his crackpot schemes crash and burn. And all of us will suffer.
This is why it is so important to think before you vote. There are consequences.
A) Hey, hey, hey boys and girls! Who is America’s King?
B) DHS Secretary Noem has found the enemy! Who will she start polygraphing concerning leaks to the media?
C) According to one Donald Trump, how many Americans over the age of 120 are receiving Social Security checks?
D) A Delta flight from Minneapolis to what Canadian city ended up landing upside down last week?
E) How many passengers died during that landing?
F) Sign of the times? What salute did Steve Bannon flash to the audience at the CPAC conference Thursday?
G) The Associated press has been banned from administration news conferences for what sin?
H) Out in Huntington Beach, California former professional punter Chris Kluwe was arrested for speaking out against what?
I) Trump wannabe and Argentina president Javier Milei faces a fraud probe over his promotion of what in Argentina?
J) After royally screwing up the USPS what current Postmaster General has asked the governing board to identify his successor?
K) OK MAGA morality police! How many kids does President Musk have from how many women? (Note: Musk is unmarried)
L) Border Czar Thomas Homan announced he is having the DOJ investigate what congress member for “impeding”?
M) For goodness sake I almost forgot to say “Happy Birthday” yesterday to what hero of our democracy?
N) In 1939 what group used this birth date as an excuse to hold a giant rally at Madison Square Garden in NYC?
O) Iowa, Who is Brad Sherman?
P) How is that bill to excuse Bayer from lawsuits for cancer caused by their products doing in the legislature?
Q) Parliamentary elections in Germany today. Whoever wins, all other parties have refused to form a government with what party?
R) What state has seen a dramatic rise in cases of sepsis following a statewide abortion ban in 2021?
S) What former South American Trump wannabe was arrested for various coup attempt charges last week?
T) The hockey showdown that became a political hot potato as Stinky Pants insulted Canada – whowon?
Donald Trump is a Russian asset; it no longer matters if it’s witting or unwitting. He routinely spreads disinformation that originates in the Kremlin and the FSB, and does it to hurt America and our friends.
If you support Trump, you have—morally speaking—betrayed your country. – Seth Abramson
C) Millions and millions, that’s where all our money is going! Some are in the upper 300s
D) Toronto
E) None
F) the good old Nazi Seig Heil sign
G) They refuse to label the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America
H) A plaque that the HB city council planned to post that spelled out MAGA
I) a crypto-currency named $Libra
J) Louis DeJoy
K) 13 kids, four women not married. MAGA family values
L) AOC. AOC has been helping immigrants understand their rights
M) George Washington – Feb 22, 1732
N) The American Nazi Party
O) Sherman is a very far right former Iowa legislature who is running for Iowa governor. Guess he is Stinky Pants revenge on Kimmy
P) It passed out of a senate committee by an 11 to 7 vote Thursday
Q) AfD (extreme right party)
R) Texas
S) Jair Bolsonaro
T) Canada!
Mitch McConnell announced his retirement after 40 years of working hard to make Kentucky one of the poorest, most undereducated, and unhealthy states in the US. – Sundae Divine
I heard Malcolm Nance speaking about this on the Stephanie Miller Show one morning a couple of weeks ago. I looked all over the place but couldn’t find it. Then lo and behold someone posted it on a forum and I grabbed it up. As I watched it I noticed the date was 2013. Another one of those things that has been hidden in plain view:
12.5 minutes:
The success of nonviolent civil resistance:
As we stand on the brink of what I believe will be the largest mass resistance in US history, I think it is real important that we have an idea of what we need to do. When I originally heard Malcolm Nance discussing this concept I thought it was a truly great idea.
We have groups like Indivisible leading a resistance right now. There are other groups and individuals who will step up. Hopefully at some point very soon we will have some Democratic elected officials such as congress members, state legislators, governors and even mayors and city councilors engaged in non-violent resistance.
As Erica Chenowith noted in the video, active and sustained participation by 3.5% of the population seems to be enough to disrupt plans for an oligarchy. With today’s population that is about 12 million people. As things get bad can we get 12 million of us to write to our congress members? To quit shopping at Amazon or Walmart? To not spend money on vacations for one or two years? To march in a resistance parade?
I have no idea what kind of actions may be planned. We will try to keep our ears to the ground and post if we hear something. Other good sources in Iowa include littlevilagemag.com and iowastartingline.com.
We are the people we have been waiting for, as President Obama used to remind us!
Or you can just keep to yourselves and let the once beacon of freedom for the world disintegrate into an oligarchy. However, we have the tools to fight those who would enslave the population for their own benefit. Let’s use them!
If you just watched that and are under 18 years old please call the Iowa MAGA Party and turn yourselves in for violating their feefees and watching what was once a pretty standard form of humor – men dressing as women. As a matter of fact men dressing in women’s clothing goes back a long, long ways.
So long in fact that if I remember high school English classes correctly, we were told that during Shakespeare’s era women were not allowed to act on stage so therefore any women in plays, including Shakespeare’s plays, were men dressed as women. Makes me concur up a thought of the IHP descending the Globe theater to haul off the youth in the audience and of course any parents.
Thanks to the iowacapitoldispatch.com for informing us on this one. Good to see Iowa’s MAGA Party wasting our time and money on true horse shit like this rather than doing anything about the mass exodus of young people from Iowa, the continuing descent of Iowa’s education system to the dregs of the country or the continuing worsening of Iowa’s university system.
A bill to outlaw minors from being present at drag shows could have wider implications for access to art and transgender rights, opponents of the legislation said Tuesday.
The legislation, House Study Bill 158, moved out of an Iowa House subcommittee, where lawmakers said they expect changes to the bill. Under the current proposal, any adult person who knowingly brings a minor to a drag performance at a business can be charged with a class D felony. The owner or manager of an establishment who knowingly allows minors to attend drag shows could also be charged with a class D felony, and businesses could be fined $10,000 under the bill.
Many speakers advocating against the bill were against this premise — with many drag performers speaking about their experiences in age-appropriate drag shows. Other speakers said the bill’s definition of a “drag show” is far greater in scope than shows at LGBTQ pride events or those like “drag brunch” events.
The bill defines a drag show as a performance where “the main aspect of the performance is a performer who exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories, or other gender signifiers.” It also opens the definition of a performance to include singing, dancing, as well as reading or other performances “before an audience for entertainment.”
Now for contrast I will post a picture that we have kept in the blogforiowa.com files for a decade or so of something that I said at the time was one of the most obscene photos I have ever seen. To this day I still feel the same way – this is an obscene photo. Stuff like this should never happen in a democratic society.
the most obscene picture I have ever seen as Terry Branstadt signs the bill to gut unions in Iowa in front of Koch representative
But not only did this one happen, we are about to see a slew of similarly obscene photos and videos lighting up the MAGA airwaves and publications as Stinky Pants Trump bows to Putin as he surrenders to Putin over Ukraine, or as we see thousands of illegally fired federal workers leaving their positions.
Plus we will see thousands of petrified undocumented humans, including children, denied their rights and moved to alien countries. We shall also be seeing pictures of starving seniors who will lose their Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid so billionaires can get a tax cut. And that will be the final obscene picture, billionaires buying their new rocket ships with their tax cut money.
Tell me once more how drag queens are obscene and how pictures of politicians kowtowing to the ultra-wealthy is not obscene. Turn it into a real comedy by sliding in the part where this is what real Christians stand for.
Standing Rock Visited by Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
These are such strange times. One of the strangest things that I still can’t wrap my head around is RFK, Jr.’s transition from a committed environmentalist fighting for clean water to a MAGA Trumpster. How he went from the person he used to be to the person he is now is incomprehensible to me, addiction problems and brain worm notwithstanding. His cousin Caroline, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has publicly stated he’s always been a terrible human being. But still it’s hard to fathom.
There was this. Steve King grilling Kennedy disrespectfully at a congressional hearing while RFK, Jr. passionately speaks out against factory farms calling the hog industry a threat to the environment, a threat to democracy. Presenting information that there is corruption in the industry. How does someone this smart steeped in democratic values become a Trumpster?
“A staffer who sat in on the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing this morning on Bush administration’s “Midnight Rule-making,” reports on a nasty, nasty exchange between Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King and New York environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
King, still smarting over a 2002 Kennedy statement essentially accusing Midwestern farmers of environmental terrorism, slammed RFK’s son at the end — referencing Junior’s well-chronicled drug problems.”
Now sixteen years and many new CAFOs later, and Iowa’s rivers, lakes and streams full of nitrates, that statement doesn’t seem so far fetched.
I remember going to see RFK, Jr. when he gave a talk at Kirkwood Community College. I can’t remember what year it was, but it must have been around this time. He spoke about CAFOs and how environmentally destructive they are. If I remember right he was trying to warn Iowa not to go the way of North Carolina.
As recently as 2015, RFK, Jr. gave the commencement address to the University of Nebraska graduating law school class.
“We are honored to welcome Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Lincoln,” said Susan Poser, dean of the law college. “He is a renowned advocate for environmental causes in the legal and political arenas, particularly involving water rights. These issues are relevant to Nebraska today and this is why Mr. Kennedy was the choice of the graduating class to be the commencement speaker.”
And on and on. But what I wanted to post today is the following statement by Waterkeepers paying homage to everything RFK, Jr. did for the environment and clean water around the globe.
I’m not trying to defend him for whatever it is he is up to now. I’m not saying he’s a safe choice to head Health and Human Services. His anti-vax views are well known.
It’s just weird is all I’m saying. And really kind of sad.
If this is new to you, give it a read.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Resigns as Waterkeeper Alliance President
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced yesterday that he was stepping down as President of Waterkeeper Alliance, a position he has held for more than 20 years, to devote himself, full-time, to other issues. Under his leadership, the Alliance grew to be the world’s largest nonprofit focused solely on clean water. There are now more than 350 Waterkeeper groups in 48 countries, patrolling and protecting 2.8 million square miles of watersheds.
Bobby’s legacy within the Waterkeeper movement and the impact of his environmental advocacy cannot be overstated. He became chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association in 1984, helping merge that group and Riverkeeper into a single organization in 1986. The merged group, dedicated to protecting and restoring the Hudson and its tributaries from the damage done by generations of industrial degradation and civic neglect, proved a potent and successful model for a worldwide movement of place-based environmental defenders patrolling and protecting their waters by boat, by air, in classrooms, in public meetings, and in court.
Among the successes at Riverkeeper during Bobby’s time there were winning closure of one of the state’s most notoriously harmful landfills and helping to protect New York City’s upstate reservoir system, saving the city billions of dollars in unnecessary filtration costs and ensuring that tens of thousands of acres of sensitive reservoir buffer lands would be preserved.
Bobby helped found Waterkeeper Alliance in 1999 in an effort to further the successful Waterkeeper model. As president of Waterkeeper Alliance since 1999, he traveled the globe fighting for clean water, helping defeat dams in Chile and Peru, spending a month in prison in 2001 for protesting against the U.S. Naval bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, and standing with water protectors at Standing Rock.
Bobby and Waterkeeper Alliance leadership began preparing for his transition in the spring; he officially stepped down on November 9, 2020. In recognition of his service to the Waterkeeper movement, he has been named President Emeritus of Waterkeeper Alliance by the Board of Directors.
Statement from Robert. F. Kennedy, Jr.: Waterkeeper is my life’s work and will always be my proudest achievement. More importantly, my fellow board members and Waterkeepers are my comrades, my fellow warriors, and my bosom buddies. I’m immensely proud of what we created and I relish my memories of all the trials we endured together. In pursuit of those victories; the relentless anxieties, the laughter, the adventures, the characters, and the tattoos, I think of the legion of malevolent scoundrels we’ve sued. My dreams overflow with the thousands of miles of magnificent waterways that I’ve been privileged to paddle or travel with many of you over 40 years; the mangroves, the muskies, the Spanish moss, the schooling salmon, the shrimp, crayfish, blue crab, and yellow perch, the calving glaciers and all that flowing water from the Himalayas to the Tetons, from the Andes to the Arctic, from Bimini to Homer, from Bhutan to the Jordan, and from Lake Ontario to the Futaleufú. There is so much wisdom and courage in this cohort and so many genuine heroes. In a life filled with incomprehensible wonders, it had been my greatest gift to serve this cause.
Statement from Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance: This movement wouldn’t have existed without Bobby’s moxie, his vision, and his courage. It’s been my pleasure and my privilege to work alongside him for 20 years. I don’t have the words to express my gratitude to him for his selfless devotion to the fight for clean water. Thanks to Bobby’s tireless work, there are clean water defenders around the globe, from the Mekong to Manhattan. His environmental legacy is generations of global environmental champions. As we’ve spoken with many of them in preparation for Bobby’s departure, it’s clear how much they love him, appreciate him, and will miss him.
This is Democratic State Senator Mike Zimmer who just won the special election in SD 35, a seat previously held by Republican Chris Cournoyer who was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Kim Reynolds. He’s talking about the 2% school funding bill. Listen as he gives legislators hell and explains things to them like they are four. What a difference a democrat makes. We also need more educators in the legislature. Someone who has walked the walk. Special elections matter! Follow on FB
And speaking of special elections we have another one coming up Tuesday, March 11 in Iowa House District 100 in southeast Iowa. Sign up to help elect Democrat Nannette Griffin for statehouse in district 100 located in Lee county. Chip in if you can (every dollar counts!).
ACTION ALERT – EPA: Deny a Petition that Would Provide Pesticide Companies Immunity
Submit a Public Comment by 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, February 20.
While Bayer and other chemical companies are trying to pass the pesticide immunity bill, known as the Cancer Gag Act, in Iowa and other states, there is also another effort to provide pesticide companies with immunity. This is through an EPA pesticide petition filed by the attorneys general of 11 states, including Iowa’s Brenna Bird.
The EPA is currently accepting public comments on the pesticide petition until 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, February 20. Action is needed immediately.Find out how you can take action here.
WHAT THE PETITION WOULD DO:
The petition calls for removing a state’s right to issue warning labels that are more stringent than what is already federally approved. The petition primarily targets California Proposition 65 warnings on glyphosate but it’s expected to have much broader implications.
According to Beyond Pesticides, “If states cannot convey their restrictions on the label, it is unlikely that a user of the product will be aware of the restrictions. Similarly, the courts have upheld a state’s and manufacturer’s ‘duty to warn’ of pesticide’s hazards as a right and responsibility that is not at odds with ‘misbranding’ regulations under the federal pesticide law.”
In fact, they report that “states and local governments are often at the leading edge in protecting people, land, and water from hazards.”
If the EPA approves this petition, it would provide legal immunity to chemical companies by allowing an EPA-approved label to be considered sufficient warning.
This petition is an end-run around state bills like the Cancer Gag Act. It benefits no one but the chemical companies looking to avoid costly litigation for harms their pesticides may cause. It’s important to understand that the use of glyphosate or other agrichemicals are not in danger of being prohibited, contrary to pesticide industry fear tactics that target farmers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send a public comment telling the EPA to deny the petition of these 11 attorneys general. Beyond Pesticides created a public comment letter that you can find here. Copy the letter, or write your own comments, and file them here.
We need to act quickly. The deadline for all comments is 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, February 20.
An urgent action suggestion from Indivisible – Please share.
Congressional recess isn’t a vacation — it’s an accountability tour. From Friday, February 14, through Sunday, February 23, your House Representative will be back home, trying to dodge tough questions, meet with donors, and sneak back to DC without facing the people they were elected to serve.
That’s where we come in.
We’ve done this before, and we know it works. Remember when Indivisibles in Michigan set up an empty chair town hall with a literal chicken when their Member of Congress refused to face them? Or when Indivisibles in Texas put Ted Cruz and John Cornyn’s faces on milk cartons labeled “MISSING”? How about all those town halls with pointed questions, red cards in the air, and a whole hell of a lot of constituents?
Every single time we’ve organized around a congressional recess, we’ve made lawmakers take notice — and changed the political landscape. Hell, two weeks ago, you organized more than 250 Senate in-state office visits in every single state — red, blue, and purple — across the nation.
Now, it’s the House’s turn to hear from the people they work for. And with Trump and Elon Musk pulling off a billionaire coup in real time, this recess is about turning up the heat like never before.
That’s why we’re launching the Musk or Us Congressional Recess Toolkit — your battle plan for making Republicans squirm and making sure Democrats fight like hell.
Why This Recess Matters
Trump and his billionaire cronies — including Elon Musk — are gutting democracy and looting the country while Republicans help them and too many Democrats hesitate.
💰 Musk now has direct control over U.S. Treasury payments — because apparently, being the world’s richest man isn’t enough.
🏦 Trump’s MAGA lackeys shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, letting banks, payday lenders, and debt collectors run wild.
🍽️ House Republicans are pushing an extremist budget that slashes food assistance, healthcare, and housing programs — while carving out billion-dollar tax breaks for their wealthy donors.
⚖️ JD Vance declared the courts illegitimate if they try to stop Trump. They aren’t even pretending anymore.
And while all of this unfolds, House Republicans are trying to ram through an extremist budget that rips food off tables and puts education and healthcare out of reach — while handing over control of government funding to Elon Musk. They’re slashing programs that help families afford rent, childcare, and healthcare and stripping resources from the very agencies that keep corporations in check. This isn’t governance; it’s outright theft.
They think they can get away with it because people won’t notice. That’s where we come in.
The Plan: Pressure. Disrupt. Expose.
This recess is about making Republicans sweat and making sure Democrats stand firm. We’re showing up, speaking out, and refusing to let anyone dodge responsibility. They work for us, and they will hear from us. Here’s how we fight:
🔥 House Republicans: No Hiding, No Dodging. Show up at their offices, their events, and anywhere they try to escape accountability. Force them to answer for slashing Medicaid and handing Musk control over government spending. If they refuse? We make their silence the story.
💪 House Democrats: No Weak Deals. No Bailouts. The GOP’s dysfunction means Democrats have leverage — if they use it. Republicans control the House. They can and should pass a funding bill on their own. But if Republican chaos means they can’t keep the lights on, Democrats must not bail them out without critical safeguards. Democrats should vote NO on any funding deal with extremist cuts, or that lacks ironclad protections against the Musk coup. If they hold the line, we have their backs. If they fold, we hold them accountable.
🚗 Take the Fight to Musk Himself. Musk isn’t just funding Trump — he’s consolidating power for himself. This isn’t just about MAGA lawlessness — he’s a billionaire seizing control of government power to drive authoritarianism. That’s why we’re bringing the fight directly to him with Tesla protests at showrooms, factories, and dealerships across the country.
How You Can Take Action
📍 District Office Visits: Demand answers face-to-face. They work for us. Let’s remind them.
📢 Town Halls & Empty Chair Town Halls: If they show up, ask the tough questions. If they don’t, make sure their constituents know about it.
📹 Birddogging & Visibility Actions: Get them on the record, in public.
🚗 Tesla Town Halls: Show up at Tesla locations nationwide and expose Musk’s role in the Trump coup.
Not able to join in person? While Indivisibles are turning out in force, we need your help to keep office phones ringing off the hook to stop the GOP’s extremist budget meant to bankrupt working families:
Governor Kim Keynolds: (515) 281-5211 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Iowa Members of Congress - Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) - Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) - Rep. Zach Nunn (R) Iowa US Senators - Senator Joni Ernst (R) - Senator Charles Grassley (R)
From the On Tyranny series by Timothy Snyder, Lesson #14 of twenty. Check here for a lesson every Monday or you can find them on YouTube. They are all short videos, no ads.
This is Democratic State Senator Mike Zimmer who just won the special election in SD 35, a seat previously held by Republican Chris Cournoyer who was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Kim Reynolds. He’s talking about the 2% school funding bill. Listen as he gives legislators hell and explains things to them like they are four. What a difference a democrat makes. We also need more educators in the legislature. Someone who has walked the walk. Special elections matter! Follow on 
ACTION ALERT – EPA: Deny a Petition that Would Provide Pesticide Companies Immunity
Blog For Iowa 