Not even a Trump Judge will do this
Three Wins Today, Aug 17, 2025
All eyes are never on California for an election, but they are this time. There will be a single ballot measure on the November ballot “The Election Rigging Response Act”, which means ballots start going out in about 5 weeks. This ballot measure pauses our independent redistricting commission for one congressional term, IF Texas or another red state gerrymanders their state further.
We all hate gerrymandering. The idea that politicians get to chose their constituents, instead of constituents getting to choose their politicians is not how things work in a democracy. Our elected officials are supposed to work for us.
But if they gerrymander anymore seats, it will be very hard for Democrats to win elections going forward, so either we nullify their gerrymandering by doing it ourselves, or we risk losing the House, which comes with any chance to pass anything we care about, for a very long time.
There are two very big lifts with this election. The first is that there’s an election at all. California doesn’t have state-wide off year elections, and 5 weeks isn’t very long at all to let people know about one.
Secondly, we are against gerrymandering, so why are we now asking for Dems to support it? It’s hard to explain, especially if you haven’t been keeping up with Texas. If you don’t know that Gov Greg Abbot called a special session to give Republicans five more safe seats when Trump asked him to. And if you don’t know that the House Democrats walked out, broke quorum and left the state just so the vote couldn’t happen. And if you don’t know that most other Republican states are looking into doing the same thing, even though they are already almost gerrymandered to the max. Well, you wouldn’t understand why were are sounding pro gerrymandering all of a sudden.
So here’s the ask: This is going to be one of the most expensive elections of all time, Republicans can get big donor money, but Trump is going to make it his mission to destroy big donors who give to our side, so it’s gonna take a whole lot of small dollar donors for us to be able to compete. And if you don’t have the funds, or even if you do, sign up to volunteer. We have a very short runway for this, so we need all hands on deck now. Go to stopelectionrigging.com to do both.
And if that doesn’t give you enough hope, maybe these three wins will help!
Thu, Aug 14 - The Fifth Circut Court of Appeals has ruled that the Louisiana state legislative voting rights map does violate the Voting Rights Act. Now, just to clarify, this is not about US congress, but rather the LA House AND Senate maps. This is about state government. As of right now, in the Senate, there are 11 Dems and 28 Republicans and in the House there are 32 Dems and 73 Republicans. This is not the breakdown any state in the South should have. And the Fifth Circut Court of Appeals sided with Obama Appointee, Judge Shelly Dick from the middle district of Louisiana.
This three judge panel includes Clinton Appointee, Judge James Dennis, W Bush appointee, Judge Catharina Haynes and Biden appointee, Irma Ramirez. In their ruling they stated:
When Congress enacted the VRA, it did so based on overwhelming evidence that “sterner and more elaborate measures” were needed to address “an insidious and pervasive evil . . .perpetuated in certain parts of our country through unremitting and ingenious defiance of the Constitution.” We decline the State’s invitation to both eschew a clear
mandate from the Supreme Court and disregard Congress’s intent in order
to grant Louisiana an exemption from “the permanent, nationwide ban on
racial discrimination in voting.
This is just another step in what has become a very long process, but it is a win regardless. Any judge or group of judges reaffirming the Voting Rights Act really matters right now.
Shout out to the Louisiana Illuminator for their reporting!
TODAY - Israeli are on a general strike to demand Bibi and his merry gang of fascists bring the hostages come home and end the war.
The last numbers I heard were 2.5m people participating. There are only 9m people in the entire country. That blows 3.5% out of the water. Also, the unions aren’t leading this. Some of the unions are involved but not all and they’re not the leaders.
If that doesn’t give you hope, I don’t know what will.
Listen to Noga Tarnopolsky (the best Israeli independent journalist) for more info:
Thu, Aug 14 - Trump appointee, yes, you read that right, Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled that Trump cannot send a letter to schools forcing them to get rid of DEI. In her ruling, she said:
The government did not merely remind educators that discrimination is illegal: it initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished. The law does not countenance the government’s hasty and summary treatment of
these significant issues.
Basically, she’s a Republican, so she agrees with the premise that DEI promotes discrimination, BUT, changing the entire way schools operate with a single letter is unconstitutional and could lead to important things being removed as a result (no shit Sherlock.)
It’s really important to remember that, for the most part, the judges Trump appointed in his first term still do believe in the rule of law. I don’t think we can say the same for the ones that have been and will be in the second term, but thank god for our Senate Dems for slowing down that process as much as humanly posssible.
So I hope this is yet another reminder that all is not lost and we are winning every single day, even if we do have a lot of work ahead.
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
So I gave to Stop Election Rigging to be ready. Thanks!
As you’re Jewish, I believe Israelis protesting really warmed your heart ♥️
Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱🕎