We're NOT Doomed: Jan 7, 2026

We have power, yes we do!

We have to talk, before this gets out of hand, and I know you, it will get out of hand.

The House has two year sessions. The second year is not like the first. In the first year, there are two halves to the job of being a member, there’s the DC/legislative half and there’s the In District half. When it’s DC time, everyone, or almost everyone is in DC, when it’s Recess, everyone is, or should be, in their districts, holding town halls, meeting with constituents, visiting companies and organizations etc.

In the second year, they now have two separate jobs. That first one, with the two halves, and running for office. Now, yes, it’s in the same location, but it’s not the same job. Holding campaign rallies is not the same thing as attending a protest. Knocking on doors is not the same thing as meeting with constituents. It’s also an entirely different staff, or, if not, you can’t have your government hat on while doing campaign things.

And, a campaign can’t run on the legislative schedule. You can’t wait for recess, because that time still needs to be spent working for your constituents.

And, your opponent is likely not currently in Congress, so if you’re not in your district they are getting more facetime with your constituents while you’re in DC.

All this to say, unless it’s one of the major pieces of legislation, Dems WILL BE MISSING. That does not mean they don’t care, that means they are doing their second job, and they need to do it to have a first job at all.

A great example is Rep Eric Swalwell. He’s running for California Governor, which means, if his vote isn’t absolutely needed, he’s probably not gonna be in DC. And that goes for so many current Reps, Dems and Republicans alike.

Now, we could have a Congress where this doesn’t matter. Proxy voting could be a thing, but it’s not. And that’s all thanks to the Republican control and Speaker Johnson. I mean, he refused to even let new parents vote proxy. It’s honestly just evil.

Bottom line, we’re not gonna be seeing full numbers this year. And that is how it always is in the second year. Thing is, thanks to the tiny Republican margin, it’s gonna be more frustrating this year.

Sometimes it will net us a win, more Republicans will be campaigning than Dems when a certain bill is on the floor, but that’s less frequent because Johnson is Speaker, and he will tell his caucus when they must be back, while keeping Dems in the dark.

Meaning, there will be times that five Dems have campaign events that they can’t get out of without hundreds of articles that become opposition research, so all Republicans will be present and we lose things we should have won.

This is why we need more than just a simple majority in the House. The second year is chaotic, but we can’t blame the Dems doing their second job, that makes it possible to keep doing their first job.

Hell even in the first year we rarely had full attendance for even the most important bills. That’s not cause they don’t care, that’s cause the job of a member of congress has so many moving parts and it’s impossible to plan around every single vote, especially when your caucus is intentionally kept in the dark.

Hopefully this is not a common occurrence. Hopefully Republicans are the ones who have a harder time getting out of campaign events when there’s an important vote, but if that doesn’t happen, here’s your heads up.

Start accepting the reality of the second year now, so you’re not livid and refusing to donate to candidates that really need our continued support later.

And this might make you feel hopeless, but, for me, it gives me even stronger resolve to get us a sizable majority in November, and that is a goal we can reach if we don’t take our foot off the gas.

And that’s one reason we’re not doomed, but here are some others.

And you can find Doomerella’s take at the end of the post!

Snowshoe, West Virginia

Fri, Dec 19 - ESPECIALLY after ICE murdered a woman in Minneapolis today, this story gives a small sense of hope. Because the officer who murder Tamir Rice, in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014 tried to get a job as a ranger at Snowshoe Resort. The area is very tiny, only about 2,000 people, but news spread quickly of his hiring and he was fired within four days.

The Snowshoe Mountain Resort sent a statement to the board on Dec 17

Today, Snowshoe Mountain sent a letter to the SRCD Board of Directors expressing its concern about SRCD’s recent hiring of Timothy Loehmann. We have requested that the SRCD Board promptly investigate this situation and review SRCD’s hiring practices for these roles moving forward. Our Snowshoe community is truly special, and we firmly believe that those trusted with its protection should be held to a high standard.

And two days later, after an emergency meeting, he was fired:

Ranger Tim Loehmann is no longer employed by the SRCD. The board also agreed unanimously to revisit the hiring policies and procedures of SRCD employees, which will be added to the agenda at the next scheduled Board meeting.

Bad people may get away with bad things sometimes, but most of the time, it’s only temporary. It is not remotely the type of punishment his crime deserves, but it is the type that shows the power of community action and our ability, as regular people, to hold someone accountable when no one else will.

I cannot feel doom when I see how we have that kind of power.

Pennsylvania

Wed, Dec 17 - Just before winter break, the State House voted 111-92 in favor of a bill that would make it easier for the 27% prisoners who are elderly to get compassionate release. So these people, who no longer pose any threat to society, could spend their final days with family.

It has happened 54 times in 15 years, but, thanks to how complicated the process is, 11 people died in prison while waiting for their hearing.

Of course it had the support of Dems, but it also had the support of hard-line fiscal Republicans cause it saves $15m and it was billed as based on Trump’s “First Step Act” from his first term, a brilliant choice by Dem sponsor Rep Rick Krejewski.

Upon the House passage, Krejewski said:

It’s a huge achievement to move this landmark legislation through the House with strong bipartisan support. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without strong supporters, across party lines, as well as grassroots advocates like Straight Ahead, Families Against Mandatory Minimums and so many others who know that incarcerated elders are people too, and deserve quality care. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on moving HB 150 forward with the urgency that the crisis deserves.

With that kind of support from Republicans in the House, it’s not out of the question that it does successfully pass through the Senate.

And the tangible possibility of something improving in the prison system, even something small, is another reminder that we’re not doomed.

Global

Fri, Jan 2 - Never, for a second think that protesting doesn’t matter. That it’s a waste of time, that it doesn’t make an impact. Because it does, and here’s proof.

Tesla has lost it’s title of the most successful electric vehicle maker. The report for the final quarter was released and it was well below the very conservative estimate that had already been reduced. They were shooting for a meager 440,000 sales, and only net 418,227, which may not seem like a big difference but it’s big enough for China’s BYD to overtake them.

In 2025, Tesla sold 1.64 million vehicles, while BYD sold almost double that at 2.26 million vehicles. And on top of being so much less than BYD, it’s 9% less sales than last year.

We are doing this. This is because of our persistence. It’s because of protests and our rhetoric and other countries doing the same.

We’re not done. The company still sold 1.64 million vehicles last year, but people kinda stopped paying attention to Tesla when Musk left the administration. Imagine if we had kept going, imagine how low that number could have been.

And, maybe Tesla shouldn’t be our main target right now, but it is a reminder that when we collectively have one, when we go all in we have the power to damage companies.

And that’s one of many reasons we’re not doomed.

---

So, I hope you come out of this with a sense of excitement and feeling that buzz to use our community power and fight back with everything we have. Cause we are not doomed, but they are.

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