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Jody Brown's avatar

There's an old Yiddish saying, "When one is oppressed, none are free." It's more true today under the tRump regime than when I was growing up in the DC area in the 70s and 80s.

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Gina's avatar

one of us in chains, none of us are free

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

So true!💯💯💯💯💯💯😡😡😡😡

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Joe Zaragoza's avatar

This is terrible. Hope everyone is paying attention. This cannot go on until the mid terms. Something has to be done. The Republicans own this they made this made this mess. Now they need to step up and stop this insanity.

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

And as I said earlier..”What’s up with the Supreme Court Justices?

The president who nominated them to their positions is violating their decision to bring ( facilitate) bringing Garcia back to the US ..

Are the Justices just going to ignore this ????

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M F Drummy's avatar

What can SCOTUS do? Cite these shitbags for contempt and sentence them to prison? Trump will just pardon everyone. You can thank John Roberts and Mitch McConnell for the incomprehensibly fucked-up (but completely predictable) situation we find ourselves in now. WE CANNOT RELY ON THE COURTS OR CONGRESS OR ANYONE ELSE OTHER THAN OURSELVES TO CHANGE THIS REGRETTABLE SHITSHOW. Direct action civil disobedience, hunger and general strikes, utterly massive protests and demonstrations. These people will NEVER stop on their own steam. They have to BE stopped at scale. And we cannot post ourselves on Substack out of this dystopian nightmare either.

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Leigh Horne's avatar

All of the above, MF, and in addition the recruitment of those lawmakers (Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, ELizabeth Qarren, AO, RO Khanna, Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, Al Green, Lisa Murkowski, Michael Bennett, Jasmine Crockett and others), and those Justices and Judges, those in leadership positions at our Universities, those who are organizing protests, work stoppages, boycotts and the like, and even humble comment makers on Substack. We each have a part to play, and I think that there are enough of us that Trump, Musk & Co will find this is no Russia, no Hungary, No Turkey, No country worn down by too-absolute an oppression, and so WE WILL NOT SURRENDER. EVER. They will go down in defeat and history will record their day of infamy.

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Susan Schmale's avatar

Absolutely & now Mitch just doesn’t know what to do about it! He should be in jail, too !!

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MARY SUSAN WATKINS's avatar

jennifer..do you and a lot of others not remember the SCOTUS are the ones that gave trump the feeling he is now a "god", and can do as he pleases?they stated in their ruling before the election that whatever the president says or does IS NOT considered an illegal action,therefore,when trump won,although by a small margin,he was dancing a jig and givIng himself free rein to do as he pleases ,WITH HIM BEING THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH and solely in charge ...also, we do not know exactly what trump was thanking justice roberts for recently and was recorded doing so..

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

Well the “Good News” is the Supreme Court Justices in a 7-2 vote @ 12:30 AM Saturday morning (bout time) temporarily paused the Trump Admin from deporting anyone without Due Process ..

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Katie Davis's avatar

SCOTUS registered their position when they ruled he had carte blanche immunity to break the law.

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Heather.B's avatar

When Trump defies the order of the Supreme Court again, what is America going to do?

Time to Organize time to stop trump. No waiting anymore. Get organized get ready to fight for your country. When he defied 9-0 court ruiling its no longer a theory you factually live in a dictatorship. The rule of law is over. Whatever trump says goes. It happened the moment he ignored the supreme court and no one did anything.

Time for Americans to do something about it. Every person and company should stand against this.

I'm seeing alot of Trumpers online say that they now regret voting for him because under Joe Biden they actually gained a good amount and now it's gone and then some. Dems need to be able to run ads with Trumpers saying, “I made a mistake and I’ve learned my lesson.”

They’re finally waking up to reality!

Will it be safe to wear this "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For her" t shirt on boardwalk this summer? 👇

https://libtees.dashery.com/products/74030236-dont-blame-me-i-voted-for-harris-t-shirt

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Joe Zaragoza's avatar

Thanks that gave me some hope

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

Already have and been wearing mine!❤️🤍💙💪💪💪💪💪

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Ogara Cathy's avatar

This is great! Send message to DNC

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M F Drummy's avatar

Midterms????? You mean NEXT YEAR???!!! OMG you actually think there are going to be elections again???? Wake up. This country will be UNRECOGNIZABLE at this time next year. Not having elections will be the least of our concerns. Wow. The failure of liberals to underestimate this regime is one of the primary reasons we’re ruled by a tyrant right now.

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Julie 🇨🇦's avatar

In less than 3 months Trump has destroyed your country - tariffs (that are taxes), stolen data from government agencies, VAs losing supports and people taken and sent to foreign prisons without due process. And that is just the short list. Imagine what will be done in another 18 months before your mid-terms! While hope is great it is not a strategy.

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

He’s an “Animal” .. actually Animals… the most ferocious are better than him …

We AMERICANS.. are a TOUGH BUNCH .. and somehow we will find the will and strength to withstand the STORM .. or DIE TRYING.. Damn Straight ‼️‼️‼️‼️

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Michelle Boydston's avatar

And therein lies the problem. People are problem oriented rather than solution oriented. Many don’t know how to organize or manage a problem of this magnitude and all they want are solutions to make it stop without having to think critically about the solutions rather than the problems. If people sit idly by waiting for the “other guy” to come up with the solution(s) then they are self defeating. We have to become solution oriented and driven and we should’ve started long before now. I want people to remember that djt wont live forever, as much as he wants to erroneously believe otherwise because he will not. He’s looking aged by the day and at some point in time he will meet his maker. Meanwhile, we have to do everything we can to make solution oriented mindsets and follow the solutions rather than the problems ie donald and ilk. Is it going to be easy? Probably not but to give in to the alternative is even worse. Solutions are what is needed and the mindset to follow through on said solutions is the best option to this evil tyranny we are all now facing. It’s a chess game and the one who thinks carefully about the possible outcomes of their next move is one of, if not the only one, the most critical solutions in dealing with this regime.

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Richard La France's avatar

I agree. Waiting for any part of our governance to right the wrongs of Trump is nothing but ourselves being stupid.

Bernie Sanders and AOC need to be joined by everyone with even half a brain. HANDS-OFF protests need to grow and become more frequent.

Watch PBS NEWS SOURCES. Better to learn where we stand with our (former) Allies with news programs from France, Germany, England, and Japan, and plenty of talk shows not shy about exposing the truth about Trump.

If we don't act against the bastards whose salaries we pay then we deserve to lose everything.

Thank you for reading.

Richard La France

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M F Drummy's avatar

Direct action civil disobedience, hunger and general strikes, MASSIVE protests and demonstrations. We need to take the fight to THEM — directly and nonviolently. We need to be prepared to make gigantic sacrifices. It is the most effective approach at this point. We are WAY past the point where we can expect our elected representatives or courts to do anything.

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

Hey .. I only watch PBS and BBC and they were talking about losing their or part of the funding…

Hey .. I’m getting soooo Pissed .. it probably will get worse due to complacent politicians..

Historically .. when things get this BAD OR WORSE.. Violence becomes an Option.. Nome of us want that but if our leaders don’t make their voices heard.. We may have NO CHOICE ..

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

We will not survive until 26!

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SUZANNE SCHERER's avatar

THIS IS WHAT PISSES ME OFF ABOUT EVEN DISCUSSING 2026 PERIOD, MUCH LESS ANY GODDAMN ELECTIONS! 🤦

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Joe Zaragoza's avatar

We cannot give into that. What's the point if you don't have hope?

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M F Drummy's avatar

I’m not saying I don’t have hope it’s just that the overthrow of this dictator is not going to come about by conventional democratic means. That train left the station back in February 2021 when Mitch McConnell intentionally failed to get enough votes to convict Trump in the J6 impeachment. THE SYSTEM BROKE. IT STOPPED WORKING.

It just seems that our failure of imagination with these people always puts us 1000 steps behind them. We saw this coming from a million miles away and — yet — here we are living under an authoritarian regime. Obviously nothing we have done in the past has stopped him. We keep waiting for the courts to stop him or Congress to stop him or elections to stop him or even an assassin‘s bullet to stop him. NOTHING HAS WORKED. Why do we keep relying on measures that DO NOT WORK? That plays right into the hands of the authoritarian.

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Michelle Boydston's avatar

Excellent analogy but sometimes you have to keep trying to do something about it rather than lay down and say oh sure do whatever you want donald. You aren’t wrong about every single one of your points and I do agree with you on them. The democrats always wanted to play okay kids let’s all show the country that we are the better man because we want to work together but they want nothing to do with us mentality. McConnell failed with malicious intent which in my eyes is the precipice of why we are forced to endure this insolent petulant temper tantrum throwing toddler. Kind of makes one wonder about the whole Booth situation doesn’t it?! The ones before during the election were rehearsals staged for sympathy votes. This one may be not. I mean think about it, all it takes is for anyone who is in ideation because of their own life situations and has lost all hope could very well rise up and feeling nothing and no way out could potentially in a moments notice, determine that what their life has become,at the hands of rich oligarchs and donald himself, is their only way out of the crisis they find themselves in and would potentially have no thought of anything except harming one’s self and donald himself. That’s the reality we’re seeing right now in society today with the uptick of people feeling hopeless and having nothing left to lose but their own lives and that of the person(people) who they believe caused their lives to become hopeless and devoid of any meaning or any other rationale. That could very well happen under this current situation the majority of the people are now facing at the hands of djt.

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M F Drummy's avatar

See my comment elsewhere in this thread about other forms of action that need to be taken.

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Michelle Boydston's avatar

I most certainly will. People have to change their mindsets and become solution oriented rather than problem oriented. These problems are decades in the making all the way beck to at least the Nixon era. It rhetorically speaking makes me wonder about how many people who live in this country have ever cared about their own government and taken the time to educate themselves about it and how it works and how it can and will affect them when they just proclaim, “ Well whatever will be will be there’s nothing we can do about it so why worry about it” mentality. I know, my own mother is one of them. My brother and I have tried talking to her but to no avail. If We the People continue to have that same attitude towards our power in numbers then we will have failed miserably in the days to come. Solution oriented mindsets are desperately needed right now.

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Doreen Frances's avatar

Exactly. He'll cancel elections for some made up reason like a "national emergency" or martial law.

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M F Drummy's avatar

Please!! Yes!! THANK YOU! Exactly!!

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Jody Brown's avatar

I'm thinking about making a bingo card titled "What will it take for GOP Republicans to stand up to Trump?"

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TCinLA's avatar

The sun rising in the west.

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

The Biggest B..lls Massive

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

Trust me.. if I could get his attention.. I’d have his head spinning.. and he’d be doing cartwheels on his way to the “Booty House” (jail)

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Michelle Boydston's avatar

I think a lot of us would love to have that opportunity with you. Who I’d love to see do that is Jasmine Crockett. He’d never do it because he knows unlike himself, she actually has a very high intelligence and she is highly educated and holds many degrees. I would literally pay to see her do what she does best and school him into utter silence.

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Michelle Boydston's avatar

Do you really believe that donald and his ilk will say, “Oh gee, I am so sorry that we are in violation of your habeas corpus rights to due process. Please accept our apologies and we will make sure that you have what you and every single person deserves under the law.” I’m on your side but this is how people should be realizing long ago and that is that donald cares nothing about anyone’s rights in a courtroom but his own. I agree we still need to do whatever it takes to protect our rights but the real question is will it even matter at this point!

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Robot Bender's avatar

If this goes on much longer, there will be no midterms.

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MARY SUSAN WATKINS's avatar

unfortunaltely,NOT EVERYONE IS PAYING ATTENTION!trumpites still are either ignoring the facts,dont watch the news nor listen to anything but the fox group of bold faced liars..the republican group in the house and the senate are still "hanging in there" for all things trump, because they are afraid of being "primaried" (dont know why because by supporting all of the turmoil, chaos,and NOT having town halls,they are cutting their own throats in any upcoming election-that is if we still have elections in 2026!!)yes,by all means the republicans NEED TO OWN UP to the destruction of our government and constitutional norms,the rule of law,and that there ARE STILL THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT,NOT ONE! WITH MIKE JOHNSON CALLING THE SHOTS IN THE HOUSE,THAT WONT HAPPEN BY THE WAY,AND THUNE IN THE SENATE IS NO BETTER!!

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Stephanie Horeth's avatar

So is the SCOTUS not going to tell them they are fucking idiots and that’s NOT what their ruling was??? Ridiculous this isn’t getting resolved

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CathyP's avatar

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit told them yesterday afternoon.

https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/abrego-v-noem-order.pdf

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James Rankin's avatar

This Reagan-appointed judge is known to be very conservative. It's a very well-thought out, thorough explanation of the reasons behind his ruling

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Kate Madison's avatar

Of course not.

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Old Dad's avatar

The military should have walked in right there and arrested both of these nazis

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John Gregory's avatar

but the military listens to nothing but Fox on all the commissary TVs, so they haven't a clue what's really going on, all they have is anger-stoking lies.

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Old Dad's avatar

So sadly true

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SUZANNE SCHERER's avatar

Are you shitting me??? They don't listen to anything else??

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Peter a.k.a Peterb TheMasses's avatar

It’s shocking how they lie so openly about the 9-0 court ruling. I mean, it was all over the news that it was 9-0 against The Felon King’s corrupt ICEholes.

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

Why is no one calling this LIE out!😈😈😈😈😡😡💩💩💩💩💩💩

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Peter a.k.a Peterb TheMasses's avatar

That’s the trillion dollar question.

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phelpsmediation's avatar

Due process is the legal right that protects us from any government arbitrarily deciding that a person should be denied life, liberty or property. Rule of law v tyranny.

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Beverly Asmutis's avatar

Bottom line? Trump is the criminal in this and many other matters. He’s the psychopath hiding under the office of the president and if not stopped, he will take down our 250-year old great experiment with a democratic system of government.

Are we tired of “making America great again” with the dictator from hell?

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Bill McElrath's avatar

IT is a sociopathic, narcissistic would-be autocrat not a fascist.

Look up the dictionary meaning of fascism.

The U.S. is not a democracy... never was , never will be.

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Beverly Asmutis's avatar

democratic republic then? Whatever it is called, this country is being destroyed by a psychopath called DJ Trump!

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Laura A. Drury's avatar

I thought the Court found the Administration (Donald Trump) in Civil/Criminal contempt of the Court Order to bring Kilmar Abrego-Garcia back to the U.S. . So why are they not enforcing it?

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CathyP's avatar

The District Court has not actually made a finding of contempt yet. The judge did say they could be found in contempt but as of yesterday she had not yet initiated contempt proceedings. She might have been waiting for the 4th Circuit to weigh in (she was not required to wait - but in any case the 4th Circuit ruled in Abrego Garcia's favor yesterday afternoon).

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Laura A. Drury's avatar

There were 2 separate cases: the first was with Judge Boasberg, who ordered that the immigrants under his cases not be removed until they had been heard. The administration then rushed them onto a plane to El Salvador. Judge Boasberg ordered the planes turned back, and they didn’t. He said he found probable cause for criminal contempt. The Administration can avoid the contempt if they take custody of those who were deported in violation of his order. That hasn’t happened yet.

The second case involves Abrego-Garcia, and that Judge said she was still determining whether to undertake contempt proceedings.

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

What are they waiting for!

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Laura A. Drury's avatar

I know. But the Judge did say that if the Administration wouldn’t do anything, then he would appoint a special prosecutor to do it.

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Jennifer DiBenedetto's avatar

EXACTLY… What’s up with their SILENCE ???

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Laura A. Drury's avatar

I read tonight that the Judge gave the Administration until April 23 to show what steps they are taking, and also to identify the specific person/people who defied his order. So, for now, this sounds promising. Someone in a position of authority who is taking action.

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Daphne Powell's avatar

Because they think they can get away w/ it!

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Laura A. Drury's avatar

They’ve gotten away with everything so far… but all of those corrupt officials are in Donald Trump’s pocket. This Judge sounds promising… time will tell. After that politician from Maryland went to El Salvador, it seems more people in a position of power are getting on board. We now know that he is still alive, thank God. Expect to hear more screaming from the White House, though. They don’t like being challenged!

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Daphne Powell's avatar

Yes, we can not depend on the DOJ but we do seem to still have an independent judiciary. That could change as it’s obvious they are moving folks around so they can only go before their pocketed right wing judges of which there are quite a few!

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SUZANNE SCHERER's avatar

The US MARSHALLS would need an order from the DOJ to do this. The DOJ has its collective head up trump's ass at present.

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Kate Madison's avatar

Let us face it: Stephen Miller and Pam Bondi are as crooked and culpable as "dear leader." They know that Abrego Garcia was detained and imprisioned illegally, and said it was "due to an administrative error." How about that for a response to a man pulled out of a car, handcuffed, flown to El Salvador and thrown into the worst prison there--known for torture and humiliation of its prisoners. They insisted there was no way to get him back, and Bondi even stated that he was a terrorist, etc. though no evidence is known. She minimized "due process," and Miller said it was not really necessary for "the worst of the worst." Stephen Miller and Pam Bondi are actually the "worst of the worst," and I hope they will be investigated and deported to Hell!

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Frosty McGillicuddy's avatar

Stephen Miller looks like something out of World War II Germany.

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Beverly Asmutis's avatar

He reminds me of the old news reels showing the Jewish prisoners who had to guard their own people in the concentration camps in order to survive themselves. This Miller is serving Nazi Trump because he wants “rewards” of some kind. Pure evil!

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤮🤢🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

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Beverly Asmutis's avatar

Go say it on the mountain!

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Public Servant's avatar

Free Kilmar! We need more democrats to visit him in El Salvador and depose Bukele. I wrote a poem for Kilmar and his brave family: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/a-poem-for-kilmar-abrego-garcia

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James Rankin's avatar

Several other members of Congress announced their intention of going to El Salvador to try to free this man. What happened to them?

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SUZANNE SCHERER's avatar

Last I heard there some planning to go. Perhaps there's an effort are trying get as many as possible to go together?🤷. Only confirm I've heard this far has been Cory Booker.

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James Rankin's avatar

Oh, good! Yes, Booker was 1 of the people mentioning it. I think Maxwell Frost was, too, & there was 1 more. I wish I could remember who it was. Maybe Robert García.

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SUZANNE SCHERER's avatar

Four Democrat Congresspeople including Maxwell Frost went to El Salvador to look at conditions at the prison holding the Venezuelans renditioned there without due process.

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James Rankin's avatar

Yes, including Frost & Garcia plus 2 other new ones I hadn't heard of before, one who said she'll stay there until he's released. Booker wasn't among them.

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Mps's avatar

Join the protests on April 19th and may 1st.

Be LOUD

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

I already signed up

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Carl Selfe's avatar

We have a protest on Saturday. Nonviolent. Take deep breaths, but be loud. Remember President Eisenhower was a patriot and demonstrably supported the Supreme Court’s order Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (May 17, 1954). I covered what he did in Little Rock, AR, in my post below. In September 1957, Eisenhower ordered the elite 101st Airborne to restore order in Little Rock. The picture of those troop driving from Fort Campbell in the dark of night sticks in my mind. Regular Army troops activated to restore order is a rare occurrence. We should not forget why: the cause of anti-racism. The racism that prevailed in my youth is disgusting to me, and has been not only unleashed, but also promoted by a lawless administration. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forking-roads?r=3m1bs

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Punkette's avatar

Miller’s blatant 9-0 LIE to Dump may confirm the old rumor that Donald’s people routinely keep him in the dark.

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Kate Madison's avatar

I have thought this for awhile. They talk into his earbuds, and he performs. However, the vengeful insults are all his, the floatsum and jetsum of his demented mind.

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Barry Foster's avatar

Pam Bondi’s performance in the Oval Office with the Salvadoran President and Trump was nauseating! What does she do for Donald to maintain her position? Serious legal folk at the DOJ are beyond embarrassment about Bondi’s lack of qualifications and lack of leadership.

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

She is what we urban dwellers call a bitch.

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Frosty McGillicuddy's avatar

And now the Supreme Court is going to take on the 14th Amendment nonsense. My hope --and it IS a hope -- is that they are taking on this case so that they can tell your uncle to go fuck himself.

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Daphne Powell's avatar

I would make that a reality based hope as this Supreme Court stuffed by tRump in his first term( who by the way lied then about appointments not being done weeks from an election) and the Dems folded easily, too, so now, we have the highest court in the land, as likely as always, to back tRumps lawlessness. Our only real hope, is that the conservative woman appointed, is showing signs of a backbone and conscience and may not rubber stamp this w/ the other tRump bought judges! Fingers crossed she is taking our democratic institutions seriously!

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Frosty McGillicuddy's avatar

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. And maybe Justice Roberts, too.... But the other four? Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh? Doubtful. Also, isn't an amendment only supposed to be overturned by 75% of the states?

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Daphne Powell's avatar

GREAT POINT NEEDS TO BE MENTIONED MORE OFTEN!!!

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Frosty McGillicuddy's avatar

I know, right? They can't legally overturn an amendment!

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Edie Sadowski's avatar

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏✍️🙏

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Bill McElrath's avatar

Mary, the court was to be subservient to the Congress according to the white, male founders.

In the 1803 Marbury vs. Madison decision, the court took the power to decide which laws were "constitutional" or not.

Never a pushback from Congress...

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