Nepal reaffirmed marriage equality AGAIN; The Israeli Refuseniks are total bad asses and "may contain" labels may FINALLY be accurate. Oh and a little story about Ken Martin you don't wanna miss.

We're NOT Doomed: July 28, 2026

I was wrong.

I was so incredibly spectacularly wrong.

The DNC is not running low on funds. In fact, they have raised 63% more than during the last Trump Midterm cycle.

They are low on “cash on hand” but that is 100% by design. Chair Ken Martin chose to use money rather than save it.

“Cash on hand” has nothing to do with how much they’ve raised, and it does not include how much they’ve spent, it’s purely what is currently in their war chest.

And as Chair Martin said in his new article:

We made a conscious decision to invest money in the work required to win in 2025, 2026 and beyond. We are converting the cash we raise into electoral assets: more people, earlier organizing, better technology, and stronger state parties.

That answer may be unsatisfying to people who believe the purpose of a political party is to accumulate the largest possible bank balance until the final days before an election. But a party is not a savings account. Its purpose is to build power.

Think about that for a second.

It’s the difference between a really rich person like Elon Musk, who keeps all his money for himself and MacKenzie Scott, who doesn’t.

The difference between hoarding money for a rainy day (Election Day) vs using it to make an impact NOW.

As Martin says repeatedly in this article, only hiring temporary field organizers, hired for the duration of an election, means everything has be rebuilt from the ground up every single time.

That’s not sustainable or practical is we want to make lasting change.

And neither is listening to the consultants, who tout that strategy among others. Which is also something he addresses several times including:

There is a reason this strategy makes some Washington insiders uncomfortable. A model centered on late-cycle spending concentrates decision-making in the hands of the few. It channels enormous sums through a small universe of consultants, media buyers, and vendors. It treats state and local parties primarily as delivery systems for national strategy.

Yeah, this is Chair Martin DIRECTLY saying that they aren’t listening or paying attention to the consultants.

And that’s why the consultants don’t like Martin. It’s a mutual dislike.

James Carville made YouTube video about how useless Martin is and how he wishes anyone else was chair, including David Hogg.

Hogg, the guy who left the DNC because Martin told him was a conflict on interest to get involved in primaries. That’s the guy Carville would rather support running the organization.

And, of course he believes everything the New York Times said in their hit piece cause anything to make Martin look bad is good in his book:

It was a story on a DNC that basically said it’s dysfunctional. It’s just difficult to do anything with it, and it’s all true. And at the end of the day, who cares?

Of course he thinks it’s all true. All of his consultant friends want Martin out too.

Martin is breaking all the rules. He’s gotten rid of the consultants.

He’s giving money to the state parties for year round organizers and better technology and infrastructure.

He’s creating Local Listening trainings so volunteers can start reaching out to people who voted for Biden in 2020, but stayed home in 2024 and asking which of their needs weren’t met in the 2024 cycle.

The DNC is now focused on strengthening leadership through programs like Battleground Leadership Project and BlueMatch, which are 6 figure projects designed to bring the right organizing leaders to the right battleground states.

And, of course you remember that they are spending 7 figures A MONTH on state parties. Every single month Red states get $22k while Blue states get $17k.

And no, that money is not for mailers, it’s for infrastructure:

State parties are using these investments to hire organizing directors, communications professionals, and voter protection staff. They are building partisan voter registration programs, constituency outreach operations, volunteer systems, and year-round capacity.

Unfortunately, people hate the DNC so much that most journalists are ignoring this, but luckily the Atlanta Journal Constitution is not one of them. And they just wrote an article about where the Georgia funding has gone:

The Democratic Party of Georgia today announced it will have 30 field offices open by early August along with 60 full-time field organizers and more than 100 coordinated campaign staffers — the biggest operation the party has ever had at this stage of a campaign.

Martin can’t control how the states use this money, or these offices would have been open much earlier, but this is a direct result of DNC investment in Red states.

And that’s all because of Martin.

When he said that the DNC is using the 57 State and Territory Strategy, he wasn’t just talking, he’s implemented it:

The DNC is supporting races that some dismiss as too small, too local, or too difficult. But school boards, county commissions, city councils, state legislatures, judicial races, and mayoral offices are where governing majorities and future leaders are built.

So of course you’re hearing that he’s terrible. The consultants don’t like being pushed out. They don’t like being told their ideas suck. But Martin did it anyway, knowing that EVERYTHING would be against him in the process.

You wanted the script flipped, now support the guy actually doing it!

Martin’s article is long, but PLEASE read the whole thing. My essay didn’t even scratch the surface of all the details he gives for where the DNC is investing.

It’s honestly awe inspiring, and I really hope you see that too.

Let’s end this lie that Martin is the wrong person for the job and the DNC is terrible.

That’s LITERALLY what the consulting class wants you to think.

All of today’s stories are international. Because it’s important to recognize the work being done outside of the US too.

Nepal

Thu June 18 - In 2007, the Nepal Supreme Court issued it’s first ruling in favor of same sex couples and marriage. over the years there have been two other rulings which strengthened that decision.

But the government was still finding loopholes and denying marriage licenses.

Last month, the Supreme Court closed one of the biggest loopholes by updating “the civil code to remove any discriminatory language.”

Nepal’s first LGBTQIA+ and human right’s organization, Blue Diamond Society, celebrated the ruling saying that the decision proves:

The freedom to marry the person you love is a guarantee under Nepal’s Constitution, and LGBTQIA+ couples and their families must be afforded the dignity, respect, and protections that only marriage can provide.

As we know in the states, the worst discrimination comes with state sanctioned confusion, and now with discriminatory language removed from the code, that confusion has been cleared up.

So happy for Nepal!

Israel

Sun, June 21 - Mesarvot is a refusnik organization in Israel. These are conscientious objectors who refuse to join the IDF draft.

Last month, at the end of the school year, Mesarvot members put leaflets in lockers of graduating students encouraging them to refuse their upcoming military service.

As they said on their social media:

Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t to obey, but rather to resist. This action was meant to show that there is an alternative. That there are youth that chose to act on their morals, that especially at times like this chose to say: We refuse to take part in this cycle of bloodshed.

You might think, oh this isn’t a big deal. But it is.

Many in Israel see the draft as sacred. They believe refusing it is breaking a fundamental values of the country. So these kids are risking a lot.

And one of these students is risking suspension from Ohel Shem in Ramat Gan when school starts again in the fall.

Ohel Shem has a history of being shitty about progressive ideals. Famously back in December, students protested against Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who’s son goes to the school. The students protesting were harassed and told they belong in ghettos (this is worse than if the Holocaust is used to bully someone in the US). The school said the incident was “very unfortunate” but it’s the protesters faults for not asking permission to protest from the school.

So Mesarvot’s actions are bold and powerful and meaningful and we should be supporting them with everything we have.

International

Thu, July 9 - “May contain” labeling world wide, not in the US, will soon include “gluten.” If you’re not gluten free, you probably didn’t notice that that wasn’t included, but currently the only “may contain” label required is “wheat” which doesn’t include rye and barley, which are also grains where gluten is found.

This means it’s fully possible that Celiacs have been getting unknowingly glutenated by a lack of labeling.

Well, this year, at the 49th Session of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, that changed.

The Celiac Disease Foundation explained:

This update recognizes that gluten cross-contact should be evaluated using science specific to celiac disease, accounting for total gluten exposure from wheat, barley, rye, and related grains combined and the long-term cumulative exposure risks unique to celiac disease.

Now, the US is not part of this, but it does give the Foundation a new argument to pose to the FDA, which they have already started:

The Celiac Disease Foundation has submitted formal comments to FDA urging the agency to incorporate gluten and celiac disease into its risk-based allergen threshold framework, and to adopt the 4 mg FAO/WHO reference dose as the basis for any precautionary labeling standard. The Foundation has also urged FDA to require declaration of barley- and rye-derived ingredients consistent with major allergen requirements for wheat.

As a Celiac this is very exciting, and I hope these rules change soon in the US too.

---

So those are three wins you should know about internationally.

Remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!

Follow for more nuance, anti-doomerism content and calls to action!

Turn on my notifications and get a paid subscription to my newsletter so all these stories come right to your inbox!

And join my group Election Day Is Every Tuesday, so you’re informed for every election, cause that’s how we start changing things

If you made it to the end of the post, comment with a 👨🏻‍⚖️(justice) cause I wish ours were making decisions like this on in Nepal.