From the On Tyranny series by Timothy Snyder, Lesson #13 of twenty. Check here for a lesson every Monday or you can find them on YouTube. They are all short videos, no ads.
corporeal: having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body
I found today’s lesson amazing and perfect for this moment, as the physical #resistance movement launches on (Not My) President’s Day. I hope you have 5 minutes to take in this beautiful lesson.
And then I hope you find a local action for today that suits you.
Here is an excerpt from today’s lesson.
“Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen.
Get outside.
Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people.
Email from Indivisible Thursday February. 13. The Musk salute was not a part of the email:
Republican senators have taken some bad votes over the past week. Really, really bad.
They unanimously confirmed Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025, to lead the OMB — the “nerve center” of the federal government, as he calls it.
They confirmed Tulsi Gabbard — who was kept away from national security secrets while in Congress because colleagues feared she’d leak it to brutal dictators — to lead our intel community.
Today, they confirmed anti-vax, anti-choice, conspiracy theory-peddling RFK Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
A few months ago, it was unthinkable that Gabbard and RFK Jr. would have been confirmed. But here we are — because again and again, Republicans have refused to put their sacred obligation to their constituents and the Constitution over their loyalty to Trump and Elon Musk.
If you’re angry (we know we are) here’s what you can do about it.
Do you have a Republican senator?
(Skip ahead, if not)
Most Republicans in the Senate think they did the politically smart thing right now. Most know RFK Jr. is a public health menace, Vought is a crook, and Gabbard is a national security nightmare, but they bent the knee to Trump because it saves them from being attacked by the president and possibly being subjected to an Elon Musk-funded primary.
And they’re hoping that voters will quickly forget about their complicity in the face of the million daily outrages coming out of the White House. Our advice to you: Let them know you’re not going to forget it.
Senators count on getting a lot of calls before a big vote. They’re surprised when a bad vote is brought up by constituents again and again. It makes them think twice about what’s “good politics” the next time around.
So call them today and tell them you are disappointed/livid about their votes. Especially if you are in a purple state. Circle a date on the calendar for next week and the week after. Call them again to say you remain disappointed/livid. If RFK Jr., Vought, or Gabbard find themselves enmeshed in some scandal, bring that up. Make these votes haunt them.
Here are the numbers for your Republican senators. Usually, we provide a script, but this doesn’t need to be fancy. Just tell them you’re angry about their vote and will hold them accountable for the damage these nominees cause.
• Sen. Grassley – (202) 224-3744
• Sen. Ernst – (202) 224-3254
If we have the wrong senators listed, that means we have the wrong address for you in our system! You can update your info here.
And this might sound old-fashioned, but your senators still have staff responsible for combing through local press for mentions of them, so when those scandals and outrages happen in the news, write a letter to the editor about who bears the responsibility: the senators that obediently confirmed dangerously unfit nominees to lead some of the most powerful institutions on the planet!
More to come: When senators go home for their recess, we’ll have more tips on how you can hold them accountable in person.
Active on social media?
Our first instinct when someone in this administration does something terrible is to pin it on the president, but Trump isn’t running again (pause for dramatic effect while everyone mutters “Are you sure?” under their breath. Yeah, we get it, but let’s not go there today.). You know who is running again? A whole bunch of Republican senators.
So when RFK Jr. tries to ban a drug people in your life depend on, when Vought tries to illegally freeze funds to a popular program, when we discover allies are withholding intel because they don’t trust Gabbard, use that as a chance to remind your followers which senators voted to confirm them. They are complicit in, and share responsibility for, whatever mess these nominees cause. Tag the senators in those posts. If you have Republican senators, you can post about them, but otherwise, consider focusing on vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection (see below).
Have a few dollars to spare?
Every Republican senator* shares responsibility for what’s happening right now, but a few of them — Senators Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Dan Sullivan (AK), Jon Husted (OH), and Joni Ernst (IA) — hail from purple(ish) states AND face reelection next year.
We’ve just launched a new campaign — the Payback Project — to turn these senators into cautionary tales. We’re going to pour resources into these states to shine a light on their complicity, hold them accountable for all the damage they’ve enabled, and kick them out of office.
“Stress testing the constitution” is the euphemism Trumpco is using for the current administration’s breaking of laws and norms, putting unqualified and ill-fitted nominees in very sensitive positions, ignoring judicial rulings and the use of unnominated persons to trash the government. By not executing the underlying golden rule of democracies “No man is above the law” we have de facto created a man and his minions who are above the law.
And so on this President’s Day we have a democracy that is teetering on the brink of oligarchy, economic chaos as Trump’s hand picked goons destroy one of the greatest achievements of humanity – democracy. If you voted for Trump you will no doubt be surprised as what you worked for your whole life is lost in the chaos.
A) Denmark has made an offer (sarcastic maybe?)to buy what US state last week?
B) Following Moscow Mitch’s vote against RFK, jr. for HHS Secretary old Stinky Pants questioned what about McConnell’s biography?
C) Of the criminals, by the criminals and for the criminals! What former Illinois governor once convicted for corruption got a full pardon and a possible ambassadorship last week?
D) What international body of water received a new name last Sunday that few will probably use?
E) What politician is bringing an anti-oligarchy message to Iowa and Nebraska later this month?
F) A question for President’s Day? Sure! In what city was first president George Washington inaugurated?
G) Here in Iowa the state House passed the school funding bill with what munificent percentage raise for Iowa’s public schools?
H) Who brought his kid to work in the Oval Office last week?
I) The world’s fastest supercomputer- ‘El Capitan’ – went online last week at what US facility? (Hint: California)
J) The Czech Republic got some unexpected help when the stalled construction on a dam south of Prague was finished by what group of volunteers?
K) Unless the AfD party wins next week in Germany, what individual will be expected to have election interference charges brought against him by the winning party?
L) Trumpco is refusing to follow judicial ruling. This may bring about what kind of crisis?
M) The DOJ acting AG Eric Bove ordered the office in the Southern District of New York to drop corruption charges against what high profile politician?
N) President’s Day question. What First Lady acted surreptitiously as president after her husband, the president, had a debilitating stroke?
O) What federal employee electronically removed $80 million from NYC’s bank account last week without telling NYC?
P) What art savvy person was elected as the new chair of Kennedy Center last week?
Q) Stinky Pants signed an executive order ending the federal purchasing of what item claiming “they don’t work and don’t last”?
R) Which president was sworn in using his nickname?
S) What ubiquitous fabric chain store will be closing over half of its stores nationally Wednesday?
T) Which president was a Rhodes scholar?
Elon Musk’s push to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes two weeks after he struck a deal with Visa to launch a payment app on X. Sabotaging the agency would shield him from having to follow consumer protection laws. This is why you follow the money. – Robert Reich
The blue dot – 35th anniversary of the photo being taken 2/14/90 – was last Friday
Answers:
A) California
B) Whether McConnell had childhood polio
C) Rod Blagojevich former governor of Illinois – may be soon ambassador to Serbia!
D) The Gulf of Mexico
E) Bernie Sanders – Iowa City is on his itinerary
F) New York City
G) 2.25% (and you wonder why Iowa’s schools are headed downward)
H) President Musk
I) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (expect President Musk to shut it down and then try to buy it for his company for pennies on the dollar)
J) Beavers –
K) Elon Musk
L) constitutional – Trump refuses to acknowledge powers of the other two branches that are in the constitution
M) NYC Mayor Eric Adams
N) Edith Wilson
O) not really a federal employee Elon Musk
P) Donold Trump! Yep, old Stinky Pants himself
Q) Paper straws. Unfortunately the alternative – plastic straws – do last—— forever
R) James Earl (Jimmy) Carter
S) JoAnn’s
T) Bill Clinton of course
I’ve said for eight years Donald Trump is a Russian asset. His mission is to destroy the United States and it’s allies. Today, Trump ceded Ukraine to Russia.
Our allies now are forced to unite against us, US has become their greatest enemy.
Trump is a traitor. – Douglas Reber
(Editor’s note: Trump may be the one who unites the forever split up European countries)
the most obscene picture I have ever seen as Terry Branstadt signs the bill to gut unions in Iowa in front of a minder
Was very sorry to see this:
JASPER COUNTY SUPERVISORS GUT WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
JASPER COUNTY, IA – In a shameful move, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors has made the decision to strip public employees of nearly all their workplace rights, reducing their union contract to base wages alone—simply because they can. This decision eliminates critical protection, including seniority rights, grievance procedures, and guarantees that ensure fairness on the job.
“These workers dedicate their lives to serving their community, and this is how the Board repays them—by stripping away their rights and job security,” said Todd Copley, President of AFSCME Council 61. “This isn’t about necessity. It’s about power and control. They want public employees to have no voice, no protections, and no ability to stand up for themselves. We won’t let that happen.”
Just five years ago, the board of county officials recognized the value of their workforce by honoring a full contract. Now, they have turned their backs on those same employees, undermining their stability and weakening their ability to advocate for themselves.
AFSCME Council 61 will not stand for this betrayal. We call on county officials to reverse this attack on workers and respect the essential role they play in our community.
Contact the Jasper County Board of Supervisors
Jasper County residents who believe in fairness and workplace rights can make their voices heard by contacting the Board of Supervisors:
When did you first hear the little saying “follow the money”? For most of us it was probably from the shaded character in “All The President’s Men” known as Deep Throat. As he gave little hints to reporters Woodward and Bernstein he would add in the little reminder “follow the money.” As we all know now the money trail led to Dick Nixon’s pocket. A separate money trial led to Spiro Agnew, but that is another story.
Fifty years on here we are again. When you deal with the Republican Party, especially the MAGA manifestation, the money is never very far from the story or the conversation. With that in mind, we received an email from congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC has been one of the loudest and staunchest critics of the current president as Democrats look for leadership in the second Trump era:
Something very big is happening this year, and it’s part of the structure around which all of this chaos is occurring.
You have to interpret all of this through a very important deadline, because why is Elon Musk raiding the treasury? Why are they freezing federal funding?
Follow the money.
In 2017, Trump and the Republican Party forced through one of the largest tax giveaways to the rich in modern American history.
We’re talking grotesque levels of tax cuts: CEO’s getting write-offs for yachts and private jets, and some of the most broad-based tax cuts for the 1% that we have ever seen in this country.
Those tax cuts had a sunset period — and that sunset period occurs in 2025.
What Elon Musk wants is for these tax cuts to not only be extended, but to apply to him in a larger way than ever before so that he can amass even more money.
But in order to extend them, they need to find four trillion dollars. So they’re going to go after massive programming cuts, and they propose cutting “waste.”
And the biggest one that they are going after is Medicaid.
So understand the central motivations here. This is about preying on working class people in order to suck up what little is left of American public infrastructure and hand it over to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and all these corporations.
Trump has completely given up his power and handed it over to Elon Musk.
But we do not have to comply with illegal activity — even if that illegal activity is coming from the President and his billionaire donors.
Do not give up the strategic advantage of our numbers. Do what you can and do not submit, and know that what you can do is enough.
I’m sure there’s so much going on that there are things that I may not have addressed. For that, I apologize. We will come back to it.
More soon,
Alexandria
AOC talks about the huge money MAGA wants to steal from the little guy through abolishing programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. We know they (Musk, Trump, Thune, Johnson, Bondi, Ernst, Grassley, Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Nunn and Feenstra) are coming after these programs and they are charging hard.
Don’t be afraid to call your senators and representative and ask them straight up if they will vote to keep these programs. These are things they do not want to go on record about. Taking away these safety net programs is very, very unpopular. Let them know how unpopular they are.
Also remember that destroying these long standing social safety nets are just a part of the story. Do you remember that the United States Post Office will soon be in the bullseye? Now that Louis DeJoy has been able to destroy much of the infrastructure of the USPS, expect Musk and company to sell off pieces for pennies on the dollar. This will open a huge opportunity for some MAGA billionaires.
The USPS is but one of the examples of destroying your government. Don’t forget the great opportunities to make huge money by gutting the US Treasury, or from selling out Ukraine or from wiping Palestinians from Gaza and turning it into a resort for the obscenely wealthy. Expect Trump and Musk to get big bucks there.
There will be hundreds of other ways MAGAs can destroy the government and turn it into big bucks as they do to the government what their vulture capitalism has done to American business. Call, call, call! And Follow The Money even thought the MAGA aligned press will make it hard.
Editor’s note: At BFIA we try to not post Trump photos. It would be nice if social media could find a way to share information about what is happening without an accompanying Trump photo. This article has excellent information about how images can affect us. For today’s post rather than Trump I used this photo of a peaceful Iowa sunset.
I’m also going to add a trigger alert to this post just because we’re talking about trauma.
Submitted by Molly Regan
We are all bombarded with photos and videos of the rapist nazi. Viewing him is damaging our mental and physiological health. I know we all are at different stages of dealing with the current terrifying situations. It’s ok to still be in whatever level of grief you’re in.
Visual trauma exists largely in the eye of the beholder, literally. To complicate matters further, how visual trauma affects people depends on four different criteria of measurement:
Severity. The greater the intensity and shock of the disturbing image, the harder it will be for a person’s brain to regain equilibrium after exposure to it.
Frequency. The more often a person is exposed to particular images, the deeper it’s impressed upon the mind. But even one exposure to an intense image may cause trauma. An extremely intense visual experience … may become deeply imbedded in the viewer’s brain after a single exposure, while a less intense experience (a violent scene in a war movie or video game) may need to be repeated over and over before it produces a traumatic effect.
Obvious versus not obvious. Sometimes the viewer knows immediately that he/she has been thrown off balance by what’s been seen, especially if it’s an intense image. But the wounding effects of a less severe visual image may not be felt until a person has been subjected to its influence many times.
Cumulative impact. These factors add up over time, eventually producing a damaged and unstable state of mind. At that point, a person will need outside help to return to a condition of healthy psychological stability.
How the Brain Responds to Traumatic Images
Visual input feels more real and immediate to the brain than a written or verbalized description of a scene or event. As a result, the central nervous system tends to respond to disturbing images as it might respond to a true-life threat. When confronted with real danger, our brains slip into the fight, flight, or freeze mode. The limbic system, which works much faster than the analytical prefrontal cortex portion of our brain, kicks into gear. Rational thought recedes into the background. Everything becomes part of a mindless reactive pattern.
Something similar happens when our brains are exposed to a disturbing or shocking visual image.
Distortion of Reality
So many images we see these days are edited or modified by electronic technology that it’s hard to know if what we’re looking at is actually real or not. Kids see the world through the lens of media rather than vice versa. As a result, they’re beginning to accept the idea that nothing is really real. That includes things like violent crime and suicide.
And that’s not all. There are other ways in which the incessant onslaught of digital media alters our sense of what real life is all about. The immediacy of disturbing visual images creates the impression that frightening events are always happening just outside the door. This becomes a special problem for children between the ages of two and seven, since at this stage, they tend to feel personally responsible for everything that happens around them. A constant barrage of negative news can be particularly unnerving for kids this age.
The Harmful Impact of Negative News
Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and the twenty-four-hour news cycle, many of us nowadays live with a constant feeling that the world is crashing down around us. This isn’t precisely the case, of course. In fact, some studies have suggested that the world has seen an overall decrease in violence over the past few decades. In reality, our feelings of gloom and doom are largely the result of highly selective reporting. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make a great deal of difference in the world of digital media. In that world, perception becomes reality—even though it’s a false reality. And this false sense of reality is affecting the human mind for the worse in several ways. A Science article, “What Constant Exposure to Negative News Is Doing to Our Mental Health,” notes these effects: (1)
According to British psychologist Dr. Graham Davey, negative news can significantly change a person’s mood. It creates a state of mind that allows a person to see his/her own personal worries as more threatening and severe. This makes worry more difficult to control and more distressing than it would normally be.
Davey, who specializes in the psychological effects of media violence, says that negative news can have a big effect on the way we interpret and interact with the world around us. Reports of disturbing events that make us anxious or sad may also make it easier for us to see ambiguous or neutral events as negative and threatening.
Some research has even suggested that viewing traumatic images in the media can cause PTSD-like symptoms in certain individuals—generally those who are already prone to the condition. Researchers found that the more time people spent watching television, the more severe their symptoms were.
Exposure to graphic violence can lead either to oversensitivity or desensitization. People who are oversensitive are more sensitive to emotional distress. People who are desensitized become numbed by the exposure and show less of an emotional response to disturbing stimuli. These effects have been observed in those who have been repeatedly exposed to violent video games.
Join our SEIU allies at the bargaining table February 14 at 9 am! This meeting is open to the public – no matter what you do and where you work, retaining experienced hospital workers at UIHC is essential for a healthy community.
Workers are coming to the table to bargain for standardized staffing ratios, better pay, increasing bereavement to be able to mourn a loved one longer than 3 days, increase the number of sick days a worker can take beyond 3 days per quarter without the threat of getting written up, parking, and much more!!
Help your local hospital workers ensure that the Board of Regents bargains fairly! More info here.
Feb 25: Public School Strong orientation
Everyday Iowans know that strong public schools are a cornerstone of our communities and democracy. By organizing in our neighborhoods and at local school board meetings, we can create positive, common sense solutions to address the real issues our schools are facing.
That’s why we’re part of Public School Strong – a national movement of parents, teachers, students, and community members pushing for honest, equitable, safe, and fully-funded public education. And we’re growing the movement all across the state – check out some recent press from Decorah here!
Be a part of Public School Strong! Join our next orientation session on Tuesday, February 25 at 6pm over Zoom. More info and RSVP here.
What We’re Reading
These are a few links that are informing our work – we’ve shared them so that you can read, too!
Bird calls or dog whistles: What Iowa’s attorney general is doing [Bleeding Heartland]
In The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, author Chris Hayes addresses things people in my network are experiencing and to some extent freaking out about: Why can’t I stop doom scrolling TikTok and Instagram Reels? Why can’t I read a long book any more? Or more than one book in a year? How could we have elected the attention hound who is the 47th president? Hayes says attention has become a fungible commodity in our society and people and corporations are intentionally stealing it from us, in part to monetize what we pay attention to. If readers are interested in challenges in modern society, I recommend this book.
“Attention is the substance of life,” Hayes wrote. “Every moment we are awake we are paying attention to something, whether through our affirmative choice or because something or someone has compelled it. Ultimately these instants of attention accrue into a life.” Hayes asserts things have changed, “Our dominion over our own minds has been punctured.”
Back in the day I held an overnight work meeting in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. For entertainment, the group voted to go to nearby Atlantic City for dinner and sightseeing. We ended up walking through the Trump Casinos before they went bankrupt. I recall signs saying something to the effect, “Don’t Disturb the Players,” referring to scattered people in a sea of slot machines dropping coin after coin into the slots. Hayes discusses this phenomenon in The Sirens’ Call.
Slot machines hold our attention by grabbing it for just a little bit while we wait for the spinning to stop, and then repeating that same brief but intense process over and over. The model is simple: Each play lasts only a few seconds. Bright lights and novel stimuli compel our attention. A moment of suspense is followed by resolution. A mystery in miniature is revealed, perhaps satisfyingly, perhaps unsatifyingly, but right there to be repeated. (The Sirens’ Call by Chris Hayes).
Hayes points out it is not the gambling that keeps players at the slots. “It is the unique attentional trance the machine’s gameplay induces,” he wrote. The casino uses players’ attention to monetize their time in the trance. That most gamblers have the same motivation is an example of making attention a fungible commodity. In this scenario, the house always wins, even if Trump himself couldn’t make a go of it.
The connection Hayes makes between slot machines and mobile devices, upon which to scroll various platforms, now seems obvious. Mobile devices garner and commoditize our attention to show us advertising, thereby monetizing our time and attention the way slot machines do. We often can feel like we are not in control of our minds.
The range of the book is broad. Hayes uses the narrative of Odysseus and the Sirens from the Odyssey throughout to tell his story. Among the topics covered are Early 19th Century newspapers, The Lincoln Douglas Debates, P.T. Barnum, alienation related to attention harvesting, and the evolution of what he calls the Attention Age. He closes the book with a chapter titled, “Reclaiming Our Minds,” asserting, “The internet is getting worse and worse.” He also offers things we can do to offset this.
Chris Hayes is not your typical writer. Because he spent ten years on cable television he has been in the thick of gaining attention in the form of ratings for his show on MSNBC. In cable T.V. gaining attention is everything. As a young father, his stories resemble ours in important ways. He has an interesting story to tell. I found the book to be a page turner. I recommend picking up a copy at a local library and reading it. Here’s a link.
From the On Tyranny series by Timothy Snyder, Lesson #12 of twenty. Check here for a lesson every Monday or you can find them on YouTube. They are all short videos, no ads.
Here is a snippet from Lesson #12.
“Make eye contact and small talk.
This is not just polite.
It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society.
It’s also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, to break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust.
If we enter a culture of denunciation you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.”
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 #13 of twenty. Check here for a lesson every Monday or you can find them on YouTube. They are all short videos, no ads.
From the On Tyranny series by 
Blog For Iowa 