If you’re anything like me, and I suspect you are, you’re having some version of my interlocking nightmare of a future dominated by climate change, AI and authoritarianism.
Increasingly, these three seem to be converging into a doom scenario we may be powerless to prevent.
At times like this, I try to remember the basics. Be kind. Be hopeful. Be nice — but not to power. This is a time to find ways to stand up to the depredations of the Trump regime. Its power is based on fear-mongering, bullying and exploitation.
Trump is trying to crush hope. One friend lamented recently, “Trump is destroying everything.”
The list is endless: the rule of law, public service, environmental protection, corporate regulation, public broadcasting, foreign aid, public health and much more.
This is not what those critical voters in the swing stakes voted for in the 2024 election when they handed Trump his victory. Those voters can swing back. And Democrats, led by Gavin Newsom and the members of the Texas House delegation, are trying to fight back against Trump’s plan to steal next year’s midterm elections.
Remember that after a sleep-starved night, the sun still comes up, like always. It brings hope. Hope that resistance will build and ultimately bring down the tyrant. You can find and support local points of that resistance.
Then we can get to work again on the existential challenges — mitigating climate change and regulating AGI — that will remain after Trump.
For starters, anyone can contact their Congressional representatives; click links here for the House or the Senate. Text Gavin Newsom at 916-347-0274.
HEADLINES:
The redistricting war between Texas and California is about to jolt the midterms (Politico)
Schwarzenegger’s mission: terminate partisan rigging of California’s electoral maps (Guardian)
Texas redistricting fight shakes up battle lines for both parties in key US Senate race (AP)
Initial release of Epstein files raises more questions than answers, top House Democrat says (WP)
Jerome Powell walks the line between jobs and inflation (Reuters)
‘Everyone is coming into fire’: students return to US campuses bruised and changed by Trump’s assault (Guardian)
No Food, No Water, a Broken Leg: How a Hiker Survived a Harrowing Week in the Wild (NYT)
Abrego Garcia's attorneys say government trying to coerce him to accept guilty plea or face deportation to Uganda (ABC)
Trump Gets His Revenge on John Bolton. Who’s Next? (NYT)
Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flow to Hungary and Slovakia (Reuters)
Frustrated, Trump signals pause in his Ukraine peace effort (WP)
After Gaza Famine Report, U.S. Is Mostly Silent and Israel Is Defiant (NYT)
Famine in Gaza City (Reuters)
Local Oaf Not Sure What Part Of Counter You Order At (The Onion)