We're NOT Doomed: May 29, 2026
When we lose fights, people get angry, which translates into votes
Your voice is your superpower, but so is your money.
When we celebrate our Dems or organization doing good work, that sends a really powerful message. But if we can follow that up with donating? That’s even better.
Because regardless of what you’re excited about, for it to continue, they need money.
I bring this up now because of Paulina Mangubat, who runs the DNC’s social media.
For the record, she was a bad ass even before this. She is first generation Filipino American. And she started her career back in 2022 on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s campaign as her media director.
The DNC could not be in better hands.
And I know most people who are constantly bitching at the DNC actually agree with me on this.
It might be purely performative, but many have been dying to hear someone call Stephen Miller an “ugly fuck” to his face. And the fact that he’s accusing Talarico of being trans, as if A, that would be the worst thing in the world and B is even remotely true, is a pretty good time to do it.
And don’t worry, Mangubat isn’t backing down. In fact, she doubled down in an interview with MeidasTouch. She said that Miller is one of the most powerful men in the country, and he choses to use that power to well, act like an “ugly fuck”:
We simply called him “ugly” and I think that what he has been doing is ugly. He is celebrating when ICE shoots down Americans in the street. He thinks it’s cool when families are separated. And it’s just absolutely disgusting.
This is what you want from the DNC right? Being loud and fighting back?
Here’s the thing though, if you want the DNC to keep this tone, It’s up to us to make that sustainable. The DNC took a MASSIVE risk letting Mangubat publish that reply.
If they don’t get donations out of this, the simple fact is, they’re not gonna do it again. Big donors are already really not happy with them, cause under Ken Martin’s direction, they are investing in the South and other red states around the country in a really big way. The Donor class does not care about the South at all, unfortunately.
So they haven’t been donating much and this will not help.
It’s up to US to prove that this was the right move. If you just keep waiting to donate until the DNC doesn’t fuck anything up ever again, there won’t be any infrastructure to focus on the South before the new census in 2030 at all. And we will lose Congress for decades, if not longer.
That’s not an exaggeration, that’s a real fear we need to get real comfortable with doing something about, and quickly.
You can say that won’t happen cause the organizers are doing it themselves. And they ABSOLUTELY ARE. But the $22,500 per month going to the Red State Dem parties DOES have an impact.
Tim Wegener, a member of the DNC’s Finance Committee explained it in an op-ed for the Hill:
State parties from Mississippi to Alaska are growing their staff and infrastructure for the first time in years. This is the strategy Howard Dean used to deliver the 2006 and 2008 wave elections. It works.
THAT is only possible because of this influx of cash coming from the DNC. And the DNC can only keep doing that if they have donations coming in. Small dollar donations. And we know how quickly those add up.
So you like what they did? Your excited about Mangubat? It’s on you to make sure they know that and keep posting this kind of content.
If you can’t donate, that’s fine, but you CAN tell other people to do so. We saw it with Kamala Harris’ campaign and the war chest she built.
It’s up to us to give the DNC the cushion so they can try contentious things like this, or huge events like the Midterm Convention that had to be shelved.
We have the power to make what we want by supporting those who do it when they do.
It’s really that simple.
Ludlow, Massachusetts
Mon, April 20 - SCOTUS declined to hear Foote v Town of Ludlow. This was a lawsuit from parents of a child against Ludlow Public Schools. These parents were horrified when they discovered that their child had asked the school to call use different pronouns but not tell their parents.
Massachusetts has guidance in place for this specific situation. It says:
When determining which, if any, staff or students should be informed that a student's gender identity is different from the assigned birth sex, decisions should be made in consultation with the student, or in the case of a young student, the student's parent or guardian.
It’s pretty clear. If a child is young , then the parents do get involved, but for an older child, it’s up to the child.
Which makes me even angrier cause it means that these parents were trying to police their teenage child.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the parents last year, saying:
The Protocol of nondisclosure as to a student’s at-school gender expression without the student’s consent does not restrict parental rights in a way courts have recognized as a violation of the guarantees of substantive due process.
And by refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court upheld that.
There is one thing though, They refused to hear this case, but they heard an almost identical case from California and ruled in favor of the parents there. So everything is kind of up in the air, which is…not great.
But, while they made things more confusing, they didn’t make them worse, and I’d rather confusing than ruling in favor of this child’s parents.
I’m angry at SCOTUS for the confusion, but it does give me hope that they won’t get involved in future cases and will let lower court rulings stand.
And that DOES make me feel less Doomed.
Durango, Colorado
Tue, April 21 - Following a probe by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, ICE officer Nicholas Rice has been charged with assault in the third degree and criminal mischief. The charges were filed by 6th Judicial District District Attorney Sean Murray. This is a reminder that District Attorney elections matter, especially because so few people vote in them.
Back on October 28, Rice assaulted a protester outside the ICE facility following the kidnapping of Jaramillo-Solano, an immigrant from Colombia who had been misidentified, but they didn’t care and took him anyway. Rice threw Franci Staggi to the ground after throwing her phone across the street. And it wasn’t hard to charge him either, as this was all caught on camera.
Of course DHS insists that this is “nothing more than a political stunt” and that the states can’t prosecute federal agents, something many Blue states are working to change.
And even if it is just a stunt and they can’t actually sentence him, it sends a message that what ICE is doing is very illegal. The more people that learn that, the better.
Rice was supposed to appear in La Planta County Court this month, but it’s May 29th and I can’t find anything saying that took place.
Regardless, the fact that they charged him at all makes me feel less Doomed.
Pulaski County, Arkansas
Thu, April 23 - Around 50 people protested outside the Little Rock Federal Building against a new proposed Google data center. The Army Corp of Engineers, who have an office in the building, put out a public comment form about data centers, and this group responded loudly in person.
The protest was organized by local chapters of Indivisible and Sierra Club. There was even one guy who showed up who is locally known to be wary of fluoride. Which is a reminder that these data centers are unpopular across the board.
They are not only bad for the environment but they use up the power grid and make life harder for the residents of the area.
Unfortunately, the vote for a moratorium on new data centers was this week, and while the first tallies showed that the moratorium would go into effect, it turns out that was a counting error and the resolution lost.
But this protest still made a difference. For starters, it got in the State publication, which you don’t expect with only 50 people in attendance. It’s a reminder that it’s always worth speaking up for what you believe no matter how many or how few people join you.
And with an unsuccessful vote, that just means a lot of people will be angry moving forward. Hopefully angry enough to do something about it at the polls.
Seeing these fights continue makes me feel less Doomed.
I hope these stories helped make it easier to fight back today.
And remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!