Three Wins Today: Dec 19, 2025
This is our year to lose
Yesterday it seemed like waves and waves of Trump just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
It’s easy, on days like that, to get lost in the relentless onslaught, but please remember, that’s the goal.
The goal is to flood the zone, so not only can we not focus on one thing, we can’t focus on anything.
It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these. Not that things have been good or easy but it hasn’t been one thing after another, like this, for a few months now.
Every time Republicans do this, it’s about distraction. Because at the end of the day, that’s how he sees life and death issues, a way to distract from something he doesn’t want people paying attention to. It’s like a game to him, and unfortunately, because we do care, we have to at least pay attention to the game.
But most, if not all, of what he said and did yesterday will go to court. Some of it will get to the Supreme Court but not all of it. And likely, it’s gonna be a long time before it gets there.
I was in a meeting with Kerry Washington this week, and she talked about ebbing and flowing. It’s okay to ebb, as long as you were flowing first. It’s okay, vital even, to take a break if you’ve already been fighting. However, if you haven’t been, if you’ve just been sitting on the sidelines, you need to flow before you can ebb.
So, if you’ve been flowing, find a way to make right now manageable. How can you best get through the zone being flooded. If it’s taking a break, do that. If it’s focusing on your local community, do that. If it’s focusing on one single issue, do that. Whatever you need to do to stay in the game long term, that’s what you should be doing.
And, celebrate every single win, cause they are not few and far between, but they are buried under this mountain of bad news. And, that’s another goal of flooding the zone. It makes it really hard to see the wins, that are happening every single day.
In fact, here are three now.
Houghton, Michigan
Tue, Dec 9 - Commissioner Joel Keranen introduced a resolution declaring that there are only two sexes. And in a 4-1 vote, Commissioner Keranen was the only member of the Board of Commissioners to vote in favor of it.
The resounding reason was that this falls way out of the scope of what the job of the Board of Commissioners is. There was also the problem that it would have violated the Elliot Larson Civil Rights Act.
Commissioner Gretchen Janssen was in both camps, but she’s glad the resolution was on the agenda, even thoughshe had considered a motion to remove the agenda item all together.
If this agenda item had been removed, then the several hours of public comment that we just went through wouldn’t have happened, and I think it was very important that we did hear from everybody, both sides.
This is, as always, a reminder of the importance of voting in every single election for every single office. I can promise you, most people don’t vote for Board of Commissioner, and this would have gone very differently with different people in office.
These local races make so much more of a difference in your day to day life than what’s happening in Washington. I can promise you that.
This is MI-01, it’s represented by Republican Jack Bergman. This outcome was not a given. But I’m so glad this is what happened.
New York, New York
Wed, Dec 10 - At the annual Ripple of Hope Award Gala, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center president Kerry Kennedy, announced she will be stepping down, and the center will be renamed to Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center to acknowledge all the incredible accomplishments of her mother.
She said:
Together they started creating a family and working towards a more just and peaceful world they envisioned. Along that journey, mom founded the organization and devoted the rest of her life to it. She confronted dictators, cajoled lawmakers, charmed corporate leaders, marched in protest, raised funds, solicited emergency aid, and gave safe harbor to human rights defenders. To honor the legacy of my mother, it is my great honor and privilege to announce that as of tonight, we have changed our name to the Robert and Ethel Human Rights Center.
Women are so often left out of the legacy they created, and the Kennedys have chosen to correct that. It probably also helps that it further separates the center from RFK Jr., but I don’t think that’s the main reason.
It’s 2025, and there are so many women who have not yet gotten their rightful place in history. Hopefully moving forward, more and more of those intentional and accidental oversights will be rectified, just like this one was.
Louisville, Kentucky
Tue Dec 16 - Normally I wouldn’t talk about an election where we held a seat, but this isn’t just any hold. Gary Clemons won the election for State Senate District 37 with a 47 point margin. The former Senator, David Yates won in November by a 21 point margin, and Kamala Harris only won the district by 5 points. No matter how you look at it, this is a huge overperformance.
Senator-elect Clemons is currently the president of United Steelworkers Local 1693, and has been in that position for over 20 years. He’s also an army vet and currently a reservist.
And Kentucky Dems worked hard to get him elected. Governor Andy Beshear and Lt Governor, Jacqueline Coleman were on hand for his final rally on Monday.
I think it’s just an important reminder that while you might think these local election wins happen out of nowhere, if you’re not paying attention to them, they take real work to make happen, and if you want to get involved, but don’t know how, phone banking for these kind of races is a great way to make a massive difference.
In a statement after his win, Clemons said:
This victory belongs to the workers, families, and neighbors who believe Kentucky should work for everyone, not just the well-connected. I ran to give voice to people who too often feel unheard, and I promise to carry those voices with me every day in the Senate. Thank you to my family, volunteers, and every voter who showed up.
If we can overperform like that in Kentucky, the sky really is the limit, but only if we really take these kinds of elections seriously.
So those are today’s wins. I hope these help you breathe a little easier.
And North Carolina won its suit before even appearing in court to get FEMA funds released!