Three Wins Today: Nov, 21, 2025
Even partial wins are wins, okay?
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson will never be JB Pritzker or Gavin Newsom.
It’s not because that’s not who they are or that they don’t care, I mean, if you have been following AG Jackson on any social for any amount of time, you KNOW how much he cares.
He’s not very loud, that’s not his style, but he is very direct and transparent. That’s what made him so successful on TikTok.
But, and I’m going to hold your hand when I say this, he doesn’t have power. He has so little power that every time he joins a lawsuit against Trump I’m kinda shocked. The North Carolina Republicans are trying to find any creative way they can to take that power away from him.
The Senate literally passed a bill in March stripping him of the power to sue Trump, or any future president, over their executive orders. The only thing keeping the bill from passing the House has been a single Dem. Which is the case with everything, cause the 2024 election broke their supermajority by one vote.
Every time he joins another lawsuit, I breathe a sigh of relief: “okay, he still has that power today.”
And things are actually worse for Governor Stein. He pretty much has veto power, and that’s it. And if the Republicans can convince one Dem to flip on any one issue, they have a veto proof majority.
AND, while all that is objectively true, they aren’t saying enough about the ICE raids. They’re never going to be Pritzker or Newsom, but they also could be doing more.
Which is where you come in. They are scared of basically losing their jobs if they say anything “radical,” keep in mind., Republicans think what Governor Stein has already said is radical.
So they need to know they have backup. And we know this because with every statement Governor Stein has made, his resolve has gotten a bit stronger. His first statement talked about ICE as a partner, if they were doing the right thing. By yesterday he was telling stories of terrified constituents, but it’s still not strong enough, he’s not calling it racial profiling, and he’s mostly focusing on protecting citizens.
The worst thing you can do is write them off, the best thing you can do is make sure they know they have the support to get more forceful. Help Governor Stein and AG Jackson meet the moment.
And North Carolina is fighting. Organizations like Siembra NC are doing incredible work. Elected leaders like Charlotte Councilmember-Elect JD Mazuera Arias, House Member Jordan Lopez, Justice Anita Earls, and of course Chairwoman Anderson Clayton.
They have the ability to speak their minds without that valid fear of losing all their power. It should be about lifting them up, not tearing Governor Stein and AG Jackson down.
Don’t help Republicans make their jobs seem insignificant, just organize so they have the backup now and the power in the future. That’s something everyone has the ability to do.
Canada
Sat, Nov 15 - Pope Leo followed through on a promise Pope Francis made and returned 62 artifacts to their respective indigenous tribes. These artifacts were stolen by Catholic missionaries in the 1920s for a 1925 exhibit and never returned, till now.
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity. This is an act of ecclesial sharing, with which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these artefacts, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between faith and the cultures of the indigenous peoples.
He gave them to the Canadian bishops at the Canadian Bishops Conference at The Vatican.
It’s not just about returning the artifacts, if it was, he’d have done it directly himself, but also about creating a new relationship between the church and the Canadian indigenous communities, so the Bishops will be returning the artifacts themselves:
[the artifacts] have now been given to the CCCB, who in a spirit of authentic cooperation and dialogue with the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Vatican City State, are committed to ensuring that these artefacts are properly safeguarded, respected and preserved.
This isn’t a very common thing outside of the Church, let alone within it. Hopefully this brings about a new age of returning objects that were taken, or kept without permission that are currently sitting in museums around the world.
Ohio
Wed, Nov 19 - The State House passed a bill that will create Ohio’s first Community Energy Pilot Program. It passed 73-2 with 24 people not voting because their countdown to the end of voting is real, unlike in the US House.
The bill is headed to the State Senate, but with numbers like those, this should become law.
The bill would create more localized energy production to make it cheaper and easier for businesses, non profits and home owners to use clean energy.
The Ohio Environmental Council celebrated the victory:
The OEC Action Fund applauds the Ohio House Energy Committee for taking this decisive step toward a more affordable, reliable, and independent energy future for Ohio. As demand continues to rise, we must add new generation quickly.
In a climate where so much of the government wants energy to be as toxic and inefficient as possible, this is a huge win!
And hopefully everything continues on the current trajectory, and I can post about it being signed into law soon!
Nevada
Wed, Nov 19 - When you have a Dem-controlled legislature, but a Republican governor, you have to get creative.
The state legislature has been trying to enshrine the law, that every Nevadan, who is registered to vote, gets sent a mail in ballot, in the constitution, since it was passed in 2022.
But with a Republican governor, that’s not so easy. So they made it a resolution instead. This way, Governor Joe Lombardo never has to touch it.
It was introduced late Wednesday night and it wasn’t even made public until after it had been voted on.
Senate Majority Leader, Nicole Cannizzaro, who introduced the resolution told reporters:
We had a lot of business to do here at the Legislature, a lot of pieces of legislation that had to be moved. Resolutions do not require committee hearings. … While we were prioritizing committee business, this was something that we had ready to go.
Nevada has a very long process for constitutional amendments, so it will have to be voted on again in the 2027 legislative session and then go to the voters in 2028, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
So those are some of the wins I came across today. All of these are in progress wins, but, as I hope you know by now, those are wroth celebrating too.
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
North Carolinian here who remembers how long it took Governor Cooper to find bold strength in his voice. It was in his 2nd term. NCGOP was maga before maga, stripping any Dem of their power when they had the chance and enacting skews of laws that would remind you of a South 100 years ago. They continue to do so. It has been 13 years of these horrible people. And we’re still here. Our governor is the weakest in the country and our legislature the most powerful. We continue to call Gov. Stein and tell him we need him to be bold and that we’ve got his back. He’s getting there, slowly. Keep going, y’all.
Leslie's mug designs are beautiful. Suggestion: I am so tired of emanating anger. I don't want to drink my coffee spewing anger. How about: appalled and EMPOWERED ?