Three Wins Today Sept 1, 2025

Imagine how much worse we'd have it if these fighters thought it was "too little, too late"?

There is no such thing as “too little too late.” In interpersonal relationships, sure. Someone is trying to apologize for something horrible they did to you, but they don’t deserve to be forgiven? Absolutely. But in organizing? In fighting for our rights? Get a grip.

Even if someone just starts fighting today, they can STILL make things better than they would be if they hadn’t started fighting today. Will they be as good as if they had started fighting last month, no of course not, but if that’s the requirement then nothing is ever good enough….oh, I just got it. That’s exactly what so many people online think.

There’s a quote “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now.” People say it’s a Chinese proverb but it seems to have no real origin. The point is, it’s never too late.

You don’t like the quote? I’ll share one from my own life. My grandfather became a lawyer at 40. When asked why he became a lawyer so late, he said that he was going to be 40 regardless, he could be 40 and be a lawyer or be 40 and not be a lawyer and regret it for another 10 years.

You can say it’s “too little too late” and sit on your ass and complain that things aren’t exactly how you want them to be and wonder if you could have stopped one piece of the puzzle from getting worse, or you can fight with everything you have starting now and watch as you make an impact.

The choice is yours. But if you chose the first one, I will to everything in my power to be louder than you so other people don’t try to emulate you.

Now, here are people who did not say it’s “too little too late” and sure enough, they have made an impact.

Find out what Doomerella thinks of all this at the bottom of the post!

One example of the street art Fort Lauderdale City Commisoners are fighting to save (Daniel Kozin/AP)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Wed, Aug 27 - All four Fort Lauderdale Commissioners voted unanimously to fight the national and statewide directive to remove rainbow sidewalks and other street art.

Definitely recommend watching the special meeting for yourself. The love and respect they have for the LGBTQ+ community is palpable.

The video will start after all the community members have already spoken as the commisioners start to figure out next steps.

Steven Glassman, who represents District 2 and is second from the left in the thumbnail, came up with several ideas on how to fight back, but sine he’s not a lawyer, he deferred to other members as to if his ideas were possible. There was a back and forth between Mayor Dean Trantalis, who is also a lawyer, and Paul Bangel, who works in the city attorney’s office on what the best course of action should be.

They decided on proving that they exhausted every other option by filing a motion and getting a hearing, but, because they already know the result of the hearing, also preparing for a lawsuit, without making it seem like that was their goal in the first place.

Key West and Delray, are two others cities that said they won’t comply so the commissioners are going to talk to their government and see if they can all work together, cause that will probably have a bigger impact.

This is just another reason why voting locally matters. Most people in Fort Lauderdale probably feel too discouraged by what’s going on statewide to vote in local elections, but if you elect the right people, they will fight for you with everything they have, and that’s what we’re seeing here.

Pennsylvania

Tue, Aug 26 - A three judge panel in the Third Circuit ruled that mail in ballots cannot be thrown out if they have the wrong date or no date on the outer envelope. W Bush appointee, Judge Brooks Smith, Biden appointee, Judge Ariana Freeman and Obama appointee, Patty Shwartz ruled against this requirement for the second and agreed unanimously:

While the Commonwealth has raised legitimate interests related to voting, we see only tangential links, at best, between these interests and the date requirement that Pennsylvania imposes on mail-in voters. The date requirement does not play a role in election administration, nor does it contribute an added measure of solemnity beyond that created by a signature.

The DSCC and DCCC released a joint statement supporting the decision:

Today’s decision by the court is a victory for free and fair elections, protecting Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to participate in our democracy. It’s also a reminder that the Republicans’ playbook for the midterms is to disenfranchise voters across the country because they know they can’t win on their failed governing record. Democrats are united in the fight to ensure every legal vote is counted, in Pennsylvania and across the nation, and will not let these Republican attacks go unanswered.

Republicans are going to do everything they can to make it harder for Democrats to vote and to win, but we are fighting back every single step of the way. And it’s fights like this that are why it’s so unhelpful to say “if there are elections again.” If there weren’t going to be elections, they wouldn’t be fighting so hard for our vote not to count.

We ARE fighting and we WILL win.

Shout out to Pennsylvania Capitol-Star for their incredible reporting on this story.

California

Mon, Aug 25 - Just ahead of Labor Day, staff at Yosemite, and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National parks unionized under NFFE (National Federation of Federal Employees). This adds 600 new members to the national union. This new local includes Interpretive Park Rangers, educators, researchers, fee collectors, first responders, firefighters and more who work at these two parks. 97% of staff at both locations voted to unionize.

NFFE National President Randy Erwin said in a statement:

It comes as no surprise workers in the National Park Service are overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing, as federal employees across the country have been faced with reductions in force, threats to workplace protections, and slashed agency budgets under this administration. NFFE will be taking every step possible to increase both staffing and resources, and to defend employees from actions that threaten their rights and the incredible work they do stewarding our public lands.

Now is a more important time than ever for as many Americans as possible to be unionizing. Ronald Regan did a lot to destroy unions, and Trump is doing the same, but they are coming back stronger than ever anyway!

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So those are today’s wins on this Labor Day. Solidarity forever, union strong!

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