We're NOT Doomed: April 28, 2026

"Staying engaged leads to tangible change"

We need to talk about the shooting at the Correspondents’ Dinner.

Actually fuck that, no we don’t, I just don’t care.

But we DO need to talk about the coverage of the shooting at the Correspondents’ Dinner.

Well…first we need to talk about the shooting a little bit.

First. It happened on a completely different floor than the ballroom. The shooter was nowhere near the ballroom when he was stopped.

Security was not super strong until getting down to the ballroom, not just the floor but the ballroom itself. You just had to show a ticket or show that you were staying at the hotel to get anywhere. From what I’m gathering, security could have been better, but it wasn’t abnormal.

Going forward, however, it’s not gonna be like this anymore. I’m sure next year there will be magnetometers and wands long before you get to the ballroom.

I only know any of this information because of journalists like Aaron Parnas. Who walked through the hotel the morning after to show us exactly how things were set up and where each situation occurred.

His coverage was, and continues to be incredible, and that’s cause he focused exclusively on the facts.

The rest of the coverage online wasn’t.

Within minutes reputable names were calling it a false flag. They were misrepresenting where it happened and how it happened to fit their assumption that it was a false flag.

And part of it wasn’t even disinformation, cause, there was no information.

We didn’t know who did it, it was unclear where it happened and we were completely in the dark about everything else.

At first journalists and creators were saying the suspect was killed, some were saying that Trump stayed in the hotel, some were disputing that. People were speculating why certain people got to leave the banquet hall and others didn’t.

And all this was happening based on a whole lot of nothing.

Which is…normal.

It’s normal to not have details that early.

What doesn’t help is to use that lack of details to spin a story, any story.

And the biggest problem is, the first 24 hours of any breaking news story, people are looking for facts, on the ground reporting and specifics.

Because of how pervasive the false flag theory was, it muddled the actual details and made it harder to find, spread and get traction with them.

And when new details did emerge it made it very easy to just discount them because why believe anything involving this situation?

The facts didn’t matter.

Which boggles my mind. That’s supposed to be how MAGA interacts with the world, not how we do.

We’re supposed to want facts. We’re supposed to want accurate information.

And then the argument is “well we’re not going to get that anyway, so might as well theorize.”

That’s how MAGA gets away with distrusting everything we do and say. That’s how they stopped trusting science and medicine. How Trump convinced them that he was going to make life better for the working class when Kamala was the one with the step by step plan to do so.

And I get it, they’re not trustworthy.

But it’s our job to find what is trustworthy and spread that, especially the first 72 hours after any breaking news story.

On the ground reporting from sources we trust. The Dems who are involved like Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The second a breaking news story happens, it’s our responsibility to direct the conversation. And the conversation was directed to theories rather than facts within seconds.

We gotta do better.

If you think it’s a false flag at first, fine, but wait until we know literally anything to ask that question publicly. Use the facts to bolster your theory.

And if you don’t trust any of the facts? No matter the source? Well, it’s a short and slippery slope down to MAGA.

Arkansas

Tue, March 31 - Republicans are trying to make it harder for Democrats to register voters. They are doing this in all sorts of ways throughout the country, but in Arkansas, one of those ways is through a “wet signature” requirement.

Texas is the only other state in the country that has a "wet signature” requirement. It means that you can’t register to vote online. Your ballot registration has to be filled out in pen, not ink. Meaning you have to physically turn it in to the election office.

It makes it incredibly difficult to register to vote.

A lawsuit was filed by Get Loud Arkansas, over this violating the Civil Rights Act, and there was an injunction in August 2024 that lasted until October when the injunction was lifted.

Now, a year a half later the injunction has been upheld, and the “wet signature” requirement has been paused again. This time by Two Republican judges on the 8th Circuit Court: Trump appointee, Judge Erikson and George W. Bush appointee, Judge Colloton, who wrote the majority opinion.

Judge Colloton said:

The record shows that county clerks do not analyze original wet signatures from registration forms in an effort to detect fraud. Even if county clerks did attempt to analyze signatures, the law allows a voter to register without signature by making a simple mark such as an “X” on the form. State law and practice thus do not employ a wet signature requirement as a means to detect fraud, and the absence of a handwritten signature is not material on this record in determining whether a person is qualified to vote.

Basically, they’re not even pretending to use it to detect fraud, so it’s clearly not something Arkansas actually needs.

Now, Arkansas has already asked the 8th Circuit to rehear the case. But any amount of delay makes me feel less Doomed.

Virginia

Thu, April 8 - I know it seems like I have wins from Virginia every single day, and that’s because, well there are. This is what happens when a state that was formerly run by Republicans gets a Dem trifecta.

It’s a lot of wins undoing the previous administration very quickly. Nice argument to give Dems the US trifecta in 2028, no?

Anyway, this story is about minimum wage. Actually, that’s just one of nine bills making life better for the working class that Governor Abigail Spanberger signed this day.

This bill will increase Virginia’s minimum wage from $12.77 to $15 by Jan 1, 2028.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a lot more than where they started.

Spanberger celebrated signing this collection of bills by saying:

If you work full time in Virginia, you should be able to afford to live in Virginia. You should be able to keep up with your rent or mortgage, fill your medications, and save for your kids’ futures.

She continued:

Because investing in our workforce is a win for families, a win for local communities, and importantly, a win for the businesses that call Virginia home.

All of these new laws make me feel less Doomed. When Dems are in power, we really do make things better for everyone. This is just another reminder of that.

Michigan

Tue, April 21 - I love when lawsuits work, cause it’s a reminder that the courts are still working like they should, most of the time, anyway.

This lawsuit was about how there was an exception for pregnant people in end of life care. Because they are carrying a life, in Michigan, they don’t get to choose if they do or don’t get life saving treatment.

Michigan Appeals Court Judge Sima Patel, up for reelection this year, sided with the plaintiffs:

Preventing individuals who are capable of becoming pregnant from making informed advanced decisions about their healthcare runs afoul of the fundamental right to reproductive freedom enshrined in the Michigan Constitution. Those provisions are unconstitutional and invalid and must be struck from the EPIC.

Plaintiff and my creator colleague, Nikki Sapiro Vinckier, was one of the patient plaintiffs. She summed it up perfectly:

This decision is the culmination of years of work by people across Michigan who refused to accept that their rights could be decided for them. It reflects organizing efforts, community conversations, and a commitment to making sure our state constitution actually protects the realities of people’s lives.

She continued:

This case is a powerful example of how individuals can shape their state constitutions and, in doing so, create the pathway for wins like this. At a time when so much can feel uncertain or even overwhelming, it matters to see that kind of impact play out in real life. It’s a reminder that when people organize, speak up, and stay engaged, those actions can translate into tangible change. That’s what makes moments like this so powerful.

I couldn’t even try to say it better. This is why we fight and this is why we’re not Doomed, because examples like this happen all the time and they matter every single time.

This is a huge win for Michigan and autonomy for pregnant people.

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So I hope these stories remind you that we are fighting and we are winning, not every time, but more often than you think.

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