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Clifford Fewel's avatar

That Haines number goes to a recording that gives you three options, none of which yield a live person or even a way to leave a message. Each goes to a website referral. As for Fruit of the Loom, they have a live person who will answer your call and take a message respectfully. It appears they’ve been told to say that Fruit of the Loom management is aware of the situation in El Salvador, to which I replied awareness is not enough. Fruit of the Loom must speak out, and by doing so will gain many customers, versus losing them by remaining silent.

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Kate's avatar

As you requested yesterday, I wrote to my Senator, Mark Kelly, encouraging him to vote No on the Save Act. I received this very disappointing response (quoting only the salient part):

"The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, S. 128, was introduced by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) on January 16, 2025. The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship, such as birth certificates or passports, in order to register to vote. The bill would also require states to establish alternative processes under which citizens who cannot provide documentary proof at the time of registration, including submitting other documentation and signing an attestation under penalty of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote in federal elections. This bill would duplicate the voter registration process that already exists, but would add administrative requirements and criminal penalties for election officials, increasing the likelihood that eligible voters will be prevented from voting by making it more difficult to register to vote. On April 10, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act's companion bill, H.R. 22, by a vote of 220 to 208. It may now be considered by the U.S. Senate.

"Every election should be secure and accessible, and states have a responsibility to ensure all eligible voters can cast a ballot without unnecessary barriers. As Arizona's senator, I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, to ensure all Americans can trust the integrity of our elections and can fulfill their sacred right to vote."

In other words, no commitment to vote NO. I generally love and support Kelly, but he is wrong on this one. What a shame! Let's hope he comes around.

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Susan Spencer's avatar

Can you keep calling? And have all your neighbors/friends in Arizona (is that correct?)

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Ann K Colchin's avatar

Sounds like an AI (not A1, LOL) generated reply - typical political double-speak. I really hope Senator Kelly will stand up and vote NO when the time comes.

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Jeannie Carter's avatar

I am so grateful for your work, Jessica. It really helps me get through this tragic administration's firestorm. Thank you.

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Ann K Colchin's avatar

We should not be surprised that Hanes Brands and Fruit of the Loom brands have kept silent (and probably will continue to do so). Check Goods Unite Us to see what political party the majority of their donations go to. They are already on my Do Not Buy list.

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Sarah A. Green's avatar

Now 487 college/university presidents have signed the AACU letter. https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructive-engagement

I'm just back from the Board of Trustees meeting for my former employer asking why the president hasn’t signed.

What are they waiting for?

If the government dictates every aspect of a university, who they hire, who they admit, what they teach, what research is allowed, then the board becomes irrelevant.

If you’re an alumn, parent, student, employee, or retiree, contact your school's board.

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Christopher O'Bleness's avatar

487 is awesome, when I first looked it was 220, been pushing people to contact their former schools! Sadly, mine is still not one of them...

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Pat Duke's avatar

Jessie, has it occurred to you that ICE is making these dramatic disappearances in major cities, as opposed to meat processing plants or big agri farms? Seems to me the rich people who own these big concerns have greased trump’s tiny little palms.

As many as 50% of the workers are immigrants, ICE doesn’t seem to care if immigrants are here legally or not.

Also the Trump regime doesn’t want food to skyrocket. Optics aren’t good.

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LBRq's avatar

Makes sense what you say, about meat processing plants. There was a lot of talk in the beginning about ICE planning to raid them, but so far, hasn't happened (I think).

Of course many of the recent ICE actions aim both to intimidate universities while pretending to fight anti-Semitism -- going after foreign students who are pro-Palestinian.

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Sam's avatar

Jessica, thank you for your work, as ever.

Some time ago, I shared my support with you for www.thepeoplesunionusa.com. I want to categorically retract my support for it now, with a sincere apology if it wasted your time or misled anyone who might have seen my comment on your substack.

In a nutshell, John, the founder, ignored my messages, deleted posts on his forum, and then banned me completely, when I disagreed with him about charging $1k to start local chapters as a business--an LLC, as opposed to a non-profit, like most unions. The money was first for "licensing," t-shirts, & materials. Later he tried to say the money was for union "dues." On his IG page, he also down-played the efforts of millions of protesters, which was a huge nail in the proverbial coffin for me.

Indeed, I had been careful to look through his site thoroughly before sharing it with anyone, but I didn't see the posts on the local chapters until after I shared. I believe in his (apparent) mission and in the power of boycotts, but we don't need a leftist dictator, either. What a jerk! Aside from this, I also found some other skeletons in his closet while I was digging. How disappointing.

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LBRq's avatar

Thanks for checking out that website thoroughly and providing an update.

I do recall going there and reading an unappealing line "My name is John Schwarz, but most people call me J or online, TheOneCalledJai. I’m the founder of The People’s Union USA."

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Dr. Karen Stafford's avatar

St. Louis People Town Hall today with No Show Ann Wagner, but with Chris Murphy!

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Susan Spencer's avatar

Thank you for all you do to share accurate information! I appreciate it so much - here's a question- has the Democratic Party or anyone designed a logo that can unify all of us who are anti-MAGA? I drive by and see our beautiful American flag flying at houses where I am pretty sure they are MAGA driven...I want my flag back! But I don't want to be associated with the MAGA people...I hope someone is designing something that we can proudly display for the 4th of July that incorporates our flag but leaves it clear we are supportive of DEMOCRACY....just a comment and would love to know if someone is coming up with something...because I've got some ideas...thank you!

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Claudia Miller's avatar

Thank you for the info for Hanes & Fruit of the Loom. I used their contact pages; I do not bother with phone numbers as there always seems to be issues. Anyway, personalized my message and sent.

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Jan M. Flynn's avatar

Called my 3 congressional peeps -- and they all got an earful.

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Dave Conant - MO's avatar

Today was also Empty Seat Town Hall in MO-2 Day. Sen. Chris Murphy and a bunch of serious Missouri Democrats took questions from a crowd of about 1400 including overflow. No incidents, the whole group was positive and excited. We have a shot at booting Absent Ann Wagner this time and seeing folks from the DNC get involved is really exciting.

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Dr. Karen Stafford's avatar

Whoops! I posted before I saw this

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Dave Conant - MO's avatar

I didn't see your post. What did you think of it?

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Dr. Karen Stafford's avatar

I was really inspired. The personal testimonies hit home.

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

We the People at Work

The People, the protectors of Democracy, are out and about. What "people," out where, about what--and why? First, millions said "Hand Off"to Trump/Musk et al, then on the 19th via 50501" (50 protests, 5o states, 1 Movement) millions more protested the mess in WDC. Also on the 19th we celebrated the "the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, starting the Revolution and our country. On the 22nd protectors of the environment cleaned up a different kind of mess on Earth Day.

As important as the participants in environmental mess cleanup and American history are, this post is dedicated to the named and unnamed protestors fighting the Trump/Musk Washington, DC, tyrannical mess. Or as Susan Grymes calls it: Protectors [of democracy, and so shall I in this post.

Who are the Protectors of democracy on April 5, 19th, May 1st--or all the everydays in between and into the future?? We will never know the names of each individual marcher, sign holder (or just standing together in solidarity). But we do know by name some people, advocacy groups, judges and law firms, and other entities who have not been cowed, and have fought back publicly--sometimes under threat of death.. Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names of many of the army of protectors of democracy--and remember Courage is Contagious:

(Of course, the list is imperfect, Additions are welcomed. Also re-posting is permitted and encouraged.

PROTECTORS OF DEMOCRACY (By pen, voice, sign, or act)

(Updated April 25, 2025 Individuals

Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American"

Jess Piper/"View from Rural Missouri"

Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse"

Rep. AOC

AGs, 23 Blue States

Aaron Parnas

Adam Kinzinger

Sen. Adam Schiff

Adam Smith

Alex Wagner

Alexander Vindman

Ali Velshi

Alison Gill

Alvin Bragg (and the unnamed Manhattan jurors)

Amb. Susan Rice

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales/Democracy Now

Anand Giridharadas

Anat Shenker-Osario

Andrew Weissmann

Andy Borowitz

Ann Telnaes

Anne Applebaum,

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)

Ari Melber

August Flentje

Ben Meiselas

Beth Benike

Brett Meiselas

Brian Tyler Cohen

Cassidy Hutchinson

Charlotte Clymer

Chris Hayes

Chris Krebs

Col. Susannah Meyers

Congressman Jim Himes

D. Earl Stevens

Dan Barker, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)

Dan Pfeiffer

Dan Rather

Daniel Berulis

Daniel Morton-Bentley

David Hogg

Dean Obeidallah

Delia Ramirez

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Elyssa Slotkin

Erez Reuveni

Rep. Eric Swalwell

Garrison Keillor

Garry Kasparov

George Conway

Glenn Kirschner

Gov. Beshear

Gov. Janet Mills

Gov. Kathy Hochul

Gov. Maura Healey (MA)

Gov. Tim Walz (MN)

Gov. Tony Evers (WI)

Greg Olear

J.B. Pritzker

Jake Auchincloss

Rep.Jamie Raskin

Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Jay Kou

Jeff Danziger

Sen. Jeff Merkley

Jeff Stein

Jeff Tiedrich

Jen Rubin And the Contrarians

Jeremy Seahill

Jessica Craven

Jessica Yellin

Jim Acosta

Jim Hightower

Jimmy Kimmel

J-L Cauvin

John Cusack

John Larson

Sen. Jon Ossoff

Jonathan Bernstein,

Jordy Meiselas

Josh Johnson (stand-up comedian)

Josh Marshall

Joy Reid

Judd Legum (popular Information)

Julie Roginsky

Katie Fang

Ken Harbaugh

Lawrence O;Donnell

Liz Cheney

Lucian Truscott IV

Marianne Williamson

Mark Fiore

Marvin Kalb

Mary L. Trump

Maxwell Frost

Mayor Michelle Wu

Mehdi Hasan

Melvin Gurai

Michael Bennett

Michel Zeitgeist

Miles Taylor

Nicolle Wallllace

Noel Casler (former and current staff of the Inter-American Foundation, a small but

mighty federal agency for Latin America)

Olga Lautman

Paul Krugman

Prof. Lawrence Tribe

Qasim Rachid

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Rachel Cohen

Rachel Maddow

Rebecca Solnit

Rep. Andrew Egger

Rep. Emily Randall

Rep. Jessica Denson

Rep. Jonathan V. Last

Rep. Noe Casler

Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Rep. Sarah Longwell

Rep. Al Green

Rep. Don Beyer

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde

Rev. William J. Barber II

Rez Reuveni (acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, and his

supervisor)

Rich Wilson

Robert B. Hubbell

Robert Reich

Roger Parloff

Ron Filipkowski

Ruth Ben-Ghait

Sarah Inama

Scott Dworkin

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (whistleblower)

Sen. Andy Kim

Sen. Chris Murphy

Sen. Chris Van Hollen

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Sen. Maria Cantwell

Sen. Patty Murray

Sen. Ron Wyden

Sharon McMahon

Sheldon Whitehouse

Simon Rosenberg

Stacey Abrams

Stephanie Miller

Stephen King

Steve Brodner

Steve Schmidt

Sue Nethercott

Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Tennessee Brandon

Thom Hartmann

Tim Snyder

Timothy Snyder

Tristan Snell

Will Bunch

Zev Shalev

ADVOCACY GROUPS, MEDIA NETWORKS

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

AICN (North Carolina)

American Oversight

Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers (North Carolina)

Blue Future

Blue Missouri

Blue Wave

Bluesky

Bulwark Media

CODEPINK

CREW

DemCast

Democracy Forward

Democracy Index

DemocracyLabs

Every State Blue

Feathers of Hope

Field Team 6 (North Carolina)

FiftyFifty one (50501)

Fred Wellman/On Democracy

"Hands Off"

Indivisible

Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday

Lambda Legal

League of Women Voters

Marc Elias/Democracy Docket

MeidasTouch Network

MoveOn

MSNBC (an exception to corporate news, and their suppressing news0

No Kings

Olivia Troy

Protect Democracy

Public Citizen/Co-president Robert Weissman

Run for Something

Seneca Project

Substack

The 19th/Errin Haines

The American Manifesto

The Bulwark

The Civic Center

The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah

The Dr. Martin Luther King Center

The Lincoln Project

The Politics Girl

The States Project (North Carolina)

The Union (North Carolina)

Third Act

Thomas Zimmer/Democracy Americana

We the People Dissent

Working Families Party

LAW FIRMS/ORGANIZATIONS, LAWYERS, COURTS, ACADEMIA

American Bar Association

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer

Big Ten Universities

David Pepper

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services

Harvard/President Alan M. Garber

Hogan Lovells (seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-

affirming medical care Law.com)

Jenner & Block (also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding)

​Judge Hannah Dugan

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

(former) Judge J. Michael Luttig

Judge James Boasberg

Judge Paula Xinis

Judge Royce Lamberth

Justice Elena Kagan

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Justices Sonia Sotomayer

Northwestern U

Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling (have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly)

Presidents of 328 U.S. colleges and universities have signed a letter condemning

“government overreach." (including St. Louis University)

Ropes & Gray (also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding Law.com)

Susman Godfrey law firm

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (per the ABA Journal, representing fired

inspectors general Law.com)

Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters,

Southern Poverty Law Center

Letter signed by 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration)

To paraphrase Churchill: We shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them on the sidewalks, we shall fight them on the internet, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the voting booth--We shall never surrender. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. SOLIDARITY..

E pluribus unum ( "Out of many, one")

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Tim West's avatar

That's a great list. Is David Brooks on it? Frank Schaeffer? Rick Wilson? The Lincoln Project?

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

Wilson and Lincoln Project are on list, waiting for more from Brooks.

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Kate Levin's avatar

I emailed Hanes. Thanks for the contact info.

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Carl Selfe's avatar

We, the people, must take what belongs to us only: the power over this land and Constitution. We will need to take this to the streets as an effort focused solely on defenestration until the job is done. We have no other choice at this point. We either win or lose this battle. I move for enforcing equitable equality. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/equitable-equality?r=3m1bs

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Paula Starr Sherrin's avatar

Writing to my House Rep has become a tremendous source of frustration. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez consistently votes with the GOP, claiming bipartisanship is the only way to effect change. Her town hall was entirely scripted & infuriating. Should I keep calling/writing anyway?

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Dave Conant - MO's avatar

Absolutely, otherwise she will assume that you support her. All three of mine are serious cultists, but I call just about every day and put a bug in the ear of a staffer or leave voice-mail.

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