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Stand Up America’s Executive Director, Christina Harvey, released the following statement ahead of the Senate vote on the motion to proceed to debate the anti-voter SAVE Act:

"Americans are sick and tired of skyrocketing costs, state-sanctioned violence, the unprecedented corruption of this administration, and the Republicans in Congress enabling Donald Trump. Trump knows his approval ratings are plummeting and that if voters have their say in November, MAGA Republicans’ grip on power could finally slip. Instead of earning voters’ support or tackling America’s urgent problems, his number one priority is rigging the rules of the upcoming election.

"Trump has strong-armed Senate leadership into holding an open debate and vote on the SAVE Act, even threatening to block any other legislation unless Congress does his bidding. The SAVE Act would make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote and hand Trump’s Department of Homeland Security the power to tell states who to purge from the voter rolls.

"Senators should reject this desperate attack on our freedom to vote."

Woefully belatedly - but seeking hope and light - we honor the remarkable life of Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, who over six decades "stepped forward again and again and again" to fight for racial, social, economic justice for millions of the disenfranchised. At a moving "Homegoing," his kids offered soul-stirring tributes to the impassioned, "prophetic voice" of a man of faith who doggedly "opened doors, kicked them down when necessary, so that others were no longer locked out....You fought a good fight."

Two ceremonies over two days of prayers, pride, tears, laughs, eulogies and gospel music sought in their own singular ways to celebrate the long rich life life of Jesse Jackson - pastor, activist, organizer, two-time presidential candidate, and head of an ever-evolving "rainbow coalition” of the poor and dispossessed that sought to bridge all conceivable divides. When Jackson died in February at age 84, he was hailed as "a civil rights giant," and he was. On April 4, 1968 in Memphis, the then-26-year-old aide to Martin Luther King was standing in the courtyard below the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, talking to King moments before he was shot and killed. Jackson carried on King's work in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference until 1971, when he resigned amidst leadership changes to form what became the Rainbow PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) Coalition.

But his work grew ever broader, working for decades on multiple fronts for multiple social justice issues in America and around the world. He pushed for voting rights, Native rights, Palestinian rights, welfare rights, tenants' rights, prisoners' rights, women's and gay and trans rights; he led boycotts, fair wage battles, union organizing campaigns; he fought against apartheid in South Africa and helped facilitate the release of U.S. hostages in Iran. He spent years spreading the mantra, per his iconic 1972 appearance on Sesame Street with a ragtag, multi--hued bunch of kids, "I am somebody." A simple message with a big meaning, it hit its mark again and again. "When I hear the phrase 'I am somebody,'" said 13-year-old Daniel Russell-Vincent, attending the March 6 People’s Celebration with his parents, "that makes me think, 'You're going to have something to do with this world.'"

That official, five-hour gathering - video here - was held at the 10,000-seat sanctuary of the House of Hope Church on Chicago’s South Side. It drew three former US presidents, white and black pols from Maxine Waters (87) to Tennessee's Justin Pearson (31), local pastors and dignitaries, the presidents of Congo and South Africa, and thousands of regular Chicagoans who skipped work, drove for hours, and stood in long lines to "show up and say what (Jesse) meant to us, and more importantly what he stood for....Every single person here has a Jesse Jackson story." "The city of Chicago shared him with the whole world," said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. "He was ours, and we were his." "This man has been here my whole life, saying, 'I got you,'" said Detroit Pistons Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas, who grew up on Chicago’s West Side. "That's what Rev. Jesse Jackson means to us in Chicago."

The speeches were eloquent. Bill Clinton: "He lived a big life. He lived with his head and with his heart." Kamala Harris: "He did not waste time waiting, even when the doors in front of him were barred and bolted." Joe Biden: "Jesse kept hope alive for us." Barack Obama, with the stately oratory he draws on in moments of loss, spoke of a child of a poor single mother whose father rejected him, whose first political act was to lead seven black students into a whites-only college library, where they sat down, refused to leave and "got arrested for reading. Think about that. That's how freedom opens its doors." In the Book of Isaiah, he said, "God is looking for a messenger to guide a hardened and resistant people, and the Lord asks, 'Who shall I send?' to which Isaiah replies, 'Here I am, Lord, send me.' Send me, Jesse said, even as a young man. And the world got a little bit better."

He recounted Jackson's life, from his sharecropper family to the Chicago Theological Seminary to Operation Breadbasket to, after MLK's murder, a "country weary of the idea of justice," where "a talker with his immense gifts...rose above despair, and kept that righteous flame alive." "When the poor and dispossessed needed a champion and the country needed healing, the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson stepped forward again and again and again, and said, 'Send me,'" Obama declared, "even while growing up in a world separate and unequal, a world designed to tell a child that he or she could only go so far...'I am somebody.' He was talking about everyone who was left out, everyone who was forgotten, everyone who was unseen (and) unheard. And in that sense he was expressing the very essence of what our democracy should be, the ideals at the very heart of the American experiment."

Jackson also "paved the way for so many to follow." In 1984, as another child of a single mom and new college grad "with good intentions but uncertain how to serve," living in a "janky apartment" with a rabbit-eared-TV, he saw Jackson "own" his first presidential debate. Drawn to Chicago as a young organizer, he went to PUSH headquarters on Saturday mornings "to listen and learn...and when Jesse called your name, you stood up a little straighter (to) make things right." Today, "it can be hard to hope," when each day "you wake up to things you didn’t think were possible" - greed, bigotry, ignorance, cruelty - and "it's tempting to just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass." "But this man," he said, voice breaking, pointing to the coffin, "inspires us to take a harder path. He calls on us (to) be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, 'Send me'...'Cause if we don't step up, no one else will."

The next day, a private, emotional "Homegoing" at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters drew local leaders, allies, friends and family to a celebration where several of Jackson's six grown kids - all at the podium, proof "he raised smart, God-fearing children" - gave searing speeches that often drew tears and amen's from the lively crowd. (Full, moving video here). Jackson had been in failing health for several years; his daughter Jacqueline, his main caregiver, thanked the thousands of doctors, nurses, cooks, Uber drivers and other caretakers who helped him through that time. His son Yusef, who now leads the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, vowed their work will continue "in his name." His eldest son Jesse Jackson Jr., seeking to tell the crowd "who my daddy was" and often weeping as he did, wove a forceful, complex tale that moved from light to darkness and back again.

"We are burying our father today," he declared with feeling, before praising his father's "consistent, prophetic voice." "Who was Jesse Jackson?" he asked. "To the political class that took up most of his time, he was a stranger awaiting a return phone call, reminding (them) of the urgency of the hour." At the same time, critiquing the former day's speeches portraying his father in strictly political terms, he insisted that as a Baptist minister and man of faith "he had a tense relationship with the political order," not based on race or party but "on his unyielding advocacy for the disinherited, the damned, the dispossessed, the disrespected." As such, he demanded solutions "deeply rooted in his own Christian faith," in "his own sense of urgency," and in "the daily lives of (those) he sought to raise up...He took the ministry from Sunday morning, and he delivered it to the people.”

He was also "a funny man, an enjoyable man," he noted. When he was born, his father was doing voter registration work in Selma, and was so overwhelmed by his son's birth "he almost named me Selma." But there were dark times as well: "Being Jesse has not been easy - such was the name of Jesse Jackson." A former Congressman, Jackson Jr. struggled with bipolar depression, and ended up doing time in prison after a 2013 campaign fraud conviction ended his 17-year political career. He tearfully described feeling despair "in the hole," pleading with his father to "get me outta here," and his father urging, "Hold your head up high, son." (Jackson Sr. sought a pardon from Biden, who refused it.) In his soaring, painful, heartfelt eulogy, Jackson Jr. described his father as a transformative figure who "we turned to in our lowest hours...We are better because he lived."

He was echoed by his brother and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, who in a soaring speech called their father "a miracle, a special occurrence, a force of nature (who) would not be denied." He praised "the iterations of Jesse Jackson Sr. we have seen...Born to be a nobody, he was too tall to hide, too poor to be included, too black to be respected, too bold to be ignored...Look at what the Lord has done." Above all, he said his father was not a politician but "a public servant." The measure of his humanity: "Only somebody who's been claimed by something greater than themselves can stand up for people whose names they don't even know. My father tried to help somebody, to love somebody, to let every child know he is somebody. My father wanted to make sure the world he was leaving was better than the world he was born into. He tried to make the crooked way straight."

Jesse Louis Jackson was, of course, fully human. For decades, he tried mightily, and sometimes he failed. But, his son argued, "He honored the ideals of the Constitution more than any of the 25 slave-holders who signed it in their hypocrisy, and he believed in America more than America believed in itself." Calling out to his father's many mentors - Martin Luther KingJr., Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Nehru, Gandhi, Castro, all the freedom fighters - Jonathan said, "We have not forgotten, and we will keep fighting for the peacemakers, for civil rights, for equity, diversity, inclusion." Rise, Jesse, rise. Amidst the base, ghastly human dregs that now inhabit our national landscape and wield harrowing power over it, here lived a great man. May he rest in peace and power.

An attendee at the People's Celebration for the Rev. Jesse Jackson holds a program with his imagePhoto by K'Von Jackson

Texas-based company Sable Offshore Corp. announced today that it has restarted oil flow through the pipeline that ruptured and caused one of California’s largest oil spills on the Santa Barbara coast in 2015.

The restart occurred just one day after the Trump administration issued an order under the Defense Production Act, at Sable’s request, directing the company to “prioritize and allocate pipeline transportation services for hydrocarbons…” and “immediately commence performance under contracts or orders for services.”

“I’m distressed and saddened that California’s coast now faces the threat of another oil disaster from this unsafe pipeline,” said Brady Bradshaw, senior oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For the sake of the incredible Pacific ocean and all of its wildlife, the community has worked so hard to make sure we’d never see oil flowing through this defective pipeline again. This is a dark day for California and I urge state officials to keep standing up to Trump’s bullying. We’ll keep fighting as hard as we can to protect Santa Barbara’s coast and end offshore drilling in the state once and for all.”

On Saturday State Parks rejected Sable’s application for an easement to use Gaviota State Park for pipeline transport and ordered it to immediately remove the 4-mile section of the pipeline that runs through the park.

The pipeline has been shut down since the massive 2015 spill at Refugio State Beach. Upon investigation, it was determined that the rupture was the result of progressive external corrosion, which remains a threat for the defective pipelines.

In attempting to restart the defective onshore pipeline, Sable has run into widespread public opposition and accumulated a series of state law violations and criminal charges. To date, Sable has still not received all necessary approvals for a restart from California state agencies, including the Coastal Commission.

The Trump administration “Pipeline Capacity Prioritization and Allocation Order” was issued at Sable’s request. Sable appears to be relying upon a recent legal opinion from the Department of Justice to assert that the order preempts state and federal law to allow a restart of the embattled oil project. Such a result would be radical and unprecedented.

“The cynical misuse of a national security law for the benefit an oil company that has repeatedly broken the law is a shocking development, even from this administration,” said Bradshaw. “The courts shouldn’t put up with this brazen abuse of power.”

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Foundation have a pending lawsuit against the Office of the State Fire Marshal regarding the restart, along with a similar lawsuit and request for relief from the Environmental Defense Center. Those cases challenge the agency’s issuance of waivers from corrosion-related pipeline safety requirements without any environmental review, public notice, or opportunity for a hearing. In October the State Fire Marshal informed Sable that its corrosion related repair work failed to meet standards required for restart.

In July 2025 the groups won a preliminary injunction, which was recently upheld by the court. They filed the request in response to Sable’s May 2025 announcement that it had resumed oil production from one of three offshore platforms and was storing that oil in onshore tanks while it sought to restart the failed Las Flores Pipeline System.

Several other lawsuits related to the pipeline restart are ongoing. Among other violations, Sable has been cited by the California Coastal Commission for unlawful work in sensitive coastal habitat and sued by the California attorney general and Santa Barbara district attorney for legal violations tied to unlawful discharge into creeks and waterways.

In December the Trump administration moved to seize control of the pipeline system from the State Fire Marshal and issued Sable an emergency special permit that enables a restart despite the pipelines’ design defects. The state of California has challenged these actions in court, as have environmental organizations including the Center.

The Santa Ynez Unit had been shut down since May 2015, when the corroded pipeline ruptured and released what is believed to be about 450,000 gallons of oil at Refugio State Beach. The oil spill ravaged 150 miles of the California coast and killed hundreds of birds and marine mammals, shutting down beaches and fisheries.

Sable purchased the unit in 2024 from ExxonMobil and has been aggressively pushing to resuscitate the defective pipeline system and restart oil operations ever since.

Earlier today, the Trump administration rolled back a 2024 EPA rule limiting commercial sterilization facilities from releasing ethylene oxide, a potent cancer-causing air pollutant.

Ethylene oxide has long been known to cause a range of acute and chronic health problems. The 2024 rule, which came eight years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that ethylene oxide is 60 times more toxic than previously realized, required commercial sterilization facilities to significantly reduce their emissions of ethylene oxide, install additional control equipment and improve monitoring. These facilities use ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment, as well as some dried food products and spices. Prior to this rollback, EPA had granted legally dubious compliance exemptions to 39 sterilization facilities covered by this rule.

Below is a statement from Darya Minovi, a senior analyst for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Communications Officer Center for Science & Democracy, Clean Transportation, Western States lcohen@ucs.org 617-334-7343

“This dangerous decision puts people across the United States and in Puerto Rico at a higher risk of breathing dangerous fumes known to cause respiratory irritation, nausea, blurred vision, headaches and various cancers. Children are especially vulnerable to the cancer-causing harms of ethylene oxide exposure.

“According to UCS analysis, nearly 14 million people in the United States live within five miles of at least one commercial sterilization facility and more than 10,000 schools and childcare facilities fall within those areas. These communities are disproportionately made up of people of color or those who do not speak English as a first language.

“The science is clear about the risks posed by ethylene oxide. The 2024 rule was long overdue, requiring sterilization facilities to use proven pollution-control technologies to protect workers and fenceline communities from unnecessary cancer risk. And since ethylene oxide is a colorless and nearly odorless gas, many people had no idea they were being exposed. The rule was expected to cut ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilizers by up to 90% and substantially reduce cancer risks for nearby communities.

“This decision is a reckless and self-serving handout to big industry, which asked for this rule to be rolled back. This process sidestepped community input from the start and is an affront to communities that have unknowingly lived with ethylene oxide exposure for decades. These actions show, yet again, that this administration has little to no regard for the health and welfare of working people or any interest in protecting children from exposure to toxic chemicals.

“Ethylene oxide emissions controls need to be strengthened – not dismantled. Communities living near these facilities deserve clean air and policies grounded in science, not decisions that allow dangerous emissions to continue unchecked."

Today, the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to roll back public health regulations adopted in 2024 for commercial sterilizer facilities that use ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment and spices. Ethylene oxide, one of the most toxic air pollutants EPA regulates, is a highly carcinogenic flammable gas capable of damaging DNA even in small doses.

The 2024 regulations require most sterilizer facilities to reduce emissions and have continuous emissions monitoring systems by April 6, 2026. According to the EPA, the 2024 safeguards when fully implemented would eliminate over 90% of ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilizer facilities and reduce the number of people exposed to unacceptable cancer risks from ethylene oxide by 92%.

“The 2024 standards would have delivered enormous public health benefits. EPA knows that ethylene oxide is carcinogenic and determined that sterilizers can install effective and affordable pollution controls,” said Earthjustice senior attorney Deena Tumeh. “EPA has no basis to repeal this well-supported rule. By rolling back the rule, the Trump EPA is bending the knee to the sterilizer industry at the expense of millions of people’s health.”

If finalized, Trump EPA’s proposal will allow sterilizer facilities to emit more ethylene oxide. Based on EPA’s own data, this proposal would subject at least 85,000 more people to unacceptable cancer risks compared to the 2024 rule. Many facilities are already in compliance with one or more of the emission limitations in the 2024 rule, but Trump EPA’s proposal would allow these facilities to reduce or eliminate their emission controls and monitoring equipment.

Nearly 14 million people in the United States and Puerto Rico live within five miles of a commercial sterilizer, according to a 2023 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Inhaling ethylene oxide can increase the risk of cancer, including breast cancer and cancer of white blood cells.

Children are particularly vulnerable to ethylene oxide harm because the chemical remains in their bodies longer than it does in adults. Many commercial sterilizer facilities are in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, and compound existing health risks from other local sources of pollution. In 2018, the first Trump EPA determined that ethylene oxide was a major driver of elevated cancer risks that the Agency is now ignoring.

In June 2025, the Trump administration exempted more than 40 percent of sterilizers in the United States from complying with the 2024 rule for two years. These exemptions came after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin invited corporations to email the agency to request exemptions from clean air standards.

The 2024 sterilizer protections were the result of a successful 2022 lawsuit brought by California Communities Against Toxics, Clean Power Lake County, Rio Grande International Study Center, Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice.

Quotes from our clients and partners:

“I remember the EPA informing us that Steri-Tech’s ethylene oxide emissions in my hometown of Salinas, Puerto Rico, were so high that we had one of the highest rates of toxic air cancer risk in the United States” said Victor Alvarado, founder and coordinator for Comité Diálogo Ambiental. “Eliminating the new protections against ethylene oxide emissions is unjust.”

“We understand that industry applied heavy pressure to weaken the previously finalized rule. We also understand that industry remains more concerned with their profits than the lives of those who live near sterilizer facilities, like my community in Laredo,” said Tricia Cortez, executive director of Rio Grande International Study Center. “Sterilizer facilities, like Midwest must be held accountable for their dangerous, cancer-causing emissions. We need an EPA that works to protect us, the people, not financial interests and corporations that continue to cause so much harm to so many.”

“EPA’s decision to roll back commercial sterilizer safeguards is an affront to countless families and workers who were unknowingly exposed to ethylene oxide—a cancer-causing gas—for years, even decades,” said Darya Minovi, senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The rule was based on a growing and robust body of evidence showing the toxicity of long-term exposure to ethylene oxide, which EPA, international institutions, and the National Academies have affirmed. Rolling back these protections will undoubtedly harm people’s health, especially children’s.”

“Walking back key regulations for ethylene oxide sterilizer facilities is essentially giving a highly polluting industry a get-out-of-jail-free card. Sterilizers are some of the largest, most toxic chemical manufacturing facilities in the country,” said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics and chair of the Sierra Club National Clean Air Team. “Rather than regressing on key protections, these facilities need even more controls in place to ensure the safety of workers and nearby communities.”

Today's University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment dipped to 55.5 in the preliminary March reading, down 2% from 56.6 in February. Year-ahead inflation expectations came in at 3.4%, ending six months of consecutive declines, as consumers see no end in sight to Trump’s illegal war on Iran and chaotic tariff agenda that are sending prices on everyday essentials from energy to food soaring.

The fallout from Trump’s reckless policies goes beyond high prices as overall economic growth stalls. Consumers are strapped as health care premiums continue to spike and the job market plummets. The economy lost nearly 100,000 jobs in February and last quarter’s GDP growth was revised down to a disappointing 0.7%, falling from the 1.4% growth initially reported.

The president has falsely claimed that “the economy is roaring back.” Yet data print after data print shows a spiraling economy. Trump’s relentless missteps have prompted Goldman Sachs to raise its inflation forecast and cut its GDP outlook, putting recession odds at 25%. Despite promising lower prices and a renaissance for American workers, all Trump has delivered is pain and peril.

Groundwork Collaborative's Chief of Policy and Advocacy Alex Jacquez released the following statement:

“President Trump is flooring the gas pedal as he drives our economy over a cliff. As bad as this week’s data is, it understates reality for exhausted consumers who have been hit with even more price hikes caused by the president’s intentional turmoil in the weeks since this data was collected. Instead of working to bring down ever-increasing prices at the pump, the grocery store, and the doctor’s office, the president is betraying working families as his illegal war with Iran stokes inflation.”

BACKGROUND

Consumer sentiment is stuck near historic lows. The index has been below 60 for eight consecutive months and has fallen 23% over the course of Trump’s second term.

Inflation expectations are surging on Trump's war and tariffs. Year-ahead expectations stalled at 3.4%, the same as last month. Trump’s war on Iran is already driving up the price of gasoline and other everyday goods, and his administration is determined to reinstate erratic and poorly targeted tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled against them. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu noted that sentiment among respondents was considerably lower in interviews conducted after Trump’s attacks on Iran began, with many citing rising gasoline prices as a concern.

Consumers are pessimistic about prices, and for good reason. Today's Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report shows that overall prices rose 2.8% between January 2025 and January 2026. Core PCE came in at 3.1%, the highest since March 2024, and has risen for nine of the past 12 months. Working families were already feeling the squeeze before Trump’s war with Iran poured fuel on the inflation fire.

Growth is slowing as rising inflation and labor market declines wreck family budgets. GDP estimates for the fourth quarter of last year were revised down by 50% to just 0.7%. Growth in consumer spending fell considerably from 3.5% in the third quarter to just 2% in the fourth quarter, as working families are forced to pull back as rising prices and labor market contractions squeeze them from all sides.

We are saddened in the wake of a horrible attack on a synagogue in West Bloomfield. We are sending love and care to Jewish communities throughout Michigan, including our own members who were raised in Temple Israel and have family who attend there. We are so grateful that none of the children or staff on site were hurt. Jewish communities, like all people, deserve to be safe in our houses of worship and schools.

The person who reportedly carried out this attack was a man whose siblings, niece, and nephew were just murdered in Lebanon by Israeli bombs. This is grief upon grief. War always begets trauma and further violence. It is clear that the Israeli government’s atrocities make all of us — including Jews — less safe. Israel carries out brutal wars and genocide against families and children, then falsely claims these war crimes are done in the name of Jews. This leads to more antisemitism.

Time and again we have seen how tragic moments are used to propel increases in militarized policing and violence. We categorically reject this. We will not let this act be weaponized to justify crackdowns on anti-war organizing, or violent retribution against Muslim, Arab, or immigrant communities. We commit to keep fighting for a world where all people live with safety and dignity. That includes fighting antisemitism alongside Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and all forms of oppression, and halting the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, and Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians and assaults on Lebanon and across the region.

JVP members and staff are available for comment.

Members of Congress should vote against any additional funding for President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional war on Iran, 251 groups said today in a letter sent to Congress. Waging a war of choice that costs an estimated $1 billion a day not only fails to address the economic squeeze and health care crisis facing Americans, but diverts federal funding from an array of urgent domestic priorities. The letter was led by Public Citizen, Win Without War, MoveOn, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“By launching a war against Iran, Trump has violated the Constitution, defied international law, flouted the will of the American people, and has put millions of lives across the region at risk. A vote for President Trump’s Pentagon supplemental funding package would be a vote to commit the U.S. even further to this crisis, which has already killed seven U.S. servicemembers and nearly 2,000 people from across the region, and which endangers the lives of many more,” the letter reads.

The Pentagon’s budget now totals more than $1 trillion, after an extra $150 billion the agency received in the GOP’s reconciliation bill. A supplemental worth $50 billion would be enough to restore food assistance for four million Americans, establish universal pre-K education, and pay for the annual construction of more than 100,000 units of housing. The groups maintain that this illegal war with Iran cannot be an excuse to fund more weapons instead of priorities here at home.

Other prominent signatories to the letter include Oxfam America, the Service Employees International Union, National Nurses United, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the National Organization for Women, the Union of Concerned Scientists, J Street, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Indivisible, Common Cause, Jewish Voice for Peace, Rising Majority, and Working Families Power.

“More money for the Pentagon will serve to extend and escalate an illegal, unpopular, and devastating war – as well as pave the way for still more Pentagon funding requests,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen. “The money wasted on this war should instead be invested in meeting the economic squeeze felt by everyday Americans. The $11.3 billion spent on the first six days of the war would, for example, be enough to restore food benefits to the four million people losing them due to the tax and budget reconciliation bill.”

“President Trump’s illegal war has already shown the costs war imposes — American servicemembers killed and injured, thousands of civilians killed in fighting, skyrocketing oil prices, a conflict spiraling over a dozen countries in unexpected ways, and more. That’s exactly why it’s so crucial that the decision to go to war not rest on one person's impulses. Congress must not fund the continuation of this unconstitutional war,” said Christopher Anders, director of ACLU’s Technology and Democracy Division.

“Every penny wasted on bombing children and families in Iran would be better spent on health care and affordable housing in America. Secretary Hegseth and President Trump are ready to spend trillions on another forever war that nobody asked for, but they won't lift a finger to lower costs here at home,” said Sara Haghdoosti, chief of program for MoveOn Civic Action. “A vote for supplemental spending is a vote to continue the war in Iran, and Congress must listen to the vast majority of Americans and stop the reckless spending and bloodshed.”

“People across the U.S. already hate Trump’s illegal war in Iran, and they’re not going to like it any better if Congress wastes $50 billion more of their money on it,” said Shayna Lewis, deputy director of Win Without War. “It’s outrageous that Trump is even asking for more money to spend on bombs when his spiraling war is killing civilians abroad and driving up prices for everyone at home, all with no end in sight. Congress should tell Trump clearly: not one more penny for this foolish, destructive war.”

Israel, the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran must immediately cease or refrain from unlawful attacks on energy infrastructure, including facilities providing essential services such as electricity, heating and running water, said Amnesty International today, highlighting the risks of devastating civilian harm and environmental impact posed by such attacks.

In recent days Israeli-US air strikes have targeted multiple fuel storage and distribution facilities in Iran, and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military has carried out attacks affecting fuel depots and oil and gas infrastructure in multiple Gulf states.

“The potential for vast, predictable, and devastating civilian harm arising from strikes targeting energy infrastructure, including uncontrolled deadly fires, major disruptions to essential services, environmental damage, and severe long-term health risks for millions, means there is a substantial risk such attacks would violate international humanitarian law and in some cases could amount to war crimes,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Regardless of whether a military objective is cited to justify targeting energy infrastructure, under international humanitarian law all parties have a clear obligation to take all feasible precautions to reduce civilian harm and refrain from attacks that cause disproportionate death or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects. This includes any foreseeable knock-on, indirect adverse effects on civilians’ life and health such as exposure to toxic chemicals.”

The potential for vast, predictable, and devastating civilian harm arising from strikes targeting energy infrastructure…means there is a substantial risk such attacks would violate international humanitarian law
Heba Morayef, MENA Regional Director

Under international humanitarian law, an oil refinery can be targeted only if it qualifies as a military objective, meaning it is being used to make an effective contribution to military action – for example by producing fuel for the attacking armed forces – and damaging it would yield a definite military advantage in the circumstances ruling at the time. Even if those two prerequisites exist, the attacking party must take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize collateral damage to civilians, such as the release of toxic substances, and, before striking, consider whether any such damage would be excessive to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Attacks on oil depots in Iran

In Iran, horrifying video footage of the aftermath of Israeli-US attacks on several fuel depots, including in the neighborhoods of Shahran, Sohanak and Kouhak in Tehran and the city of Shahr-e Rey in Tehran province and Fardis in Alborz province, on 7 March shows massive flames and plumes of thick black smoke rising, as well as large uncontrolled fires damaging civilian areas. Eyewitnesses also described to Amnesty International chilling scenes of oil-tainted rainfall.

After the attacks Iran’s environmental agency and the Iranian Red Crescent Society advised people in Tehran to stay indoors warning of the risks posed by the spread of toxic chemicals that could cause acid rain as a result of the air strikes.

The Israeli military has issued a statement confirming they carried out attacks on “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran”, saying they were used by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military “to operate military infrastructure”.

“We are deeply alarmed at the potential impact of these attacks on the civilian population. Medical warnings about hazardous materials and toxic substances being released into the air, put millions of people in Tehran at risk of serious health complications, including cancer, lung and respiratory diseases and skin burns. States are bound to uphold social and economic rights during both peacetime and armed conflict,” said Heba Morayef.

An informed source in Tehran told Amnesty International that residential buildings around the oil depots in Shahran were damaged, leaving some people homeless.

An eyewitness told Amnesty International “The sky over Tehran was black today [8 March]. Then black rain started to fall. The ground everywhere has turned black, as if a layer of light cement had been poured over.”

Another eyewitness said on 8 March “This morning, the air was pitch black. It is daytime, but it’s dark like night. The city is full of soot. I went outside. It was raining a little, and my hands became black immediately. Soot is falling from the sky. It is terrifying.”

On 8 March, the Political Deputy Provincial Governor of Alborz province, Ghodratollah Seif, announced that the strike on the oil depot in Fardis killed at least six people and injured 21 others, including nearby residents. On 9 March, the president of Alborz University of Medical Sciences said that a dialysis center near the oil depot in Fardis was destroyed in the ensuing fire.

Attacks on energy infrastructure in Iran risk compounding the suffering of a population traumatized by massacres at the hands of the Islamic Republic authorities and who have already endured years of declining access to electricity, water, clean air, and a safe environment due to chronic state mismanagement and systemic violation of the people’s human right to take part in public affairs. These grievances, along with severe political repression, have been at the heart of successive nationwide protests, including most recently in January 2026, demanding human rights, dignity, and downfall of the Islamic Republic system.

Attacks on oil infrastructure in Gulf countries

Since 28 February, multiple attacks affecting energy infrastructure have been reported in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said that its forces are “attacking American bases, American installations, American assets” that were “unfortunately” based in their Gulf neighbouring countries, while the head of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Balifar, proclaimed that “as long as US bases exist in the region, countries will not see calm”.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have said that Iranian drones and missiles have directly targeted oil and gas facilities in Gulf states, and that in other cases debris from intercepted attacks affected facilities. Governments across the Gulf severely restrict access to information and expression, which impedes reporting on the direct effects of attacks.

In Qatar, on 2 March, Qatari Ministry of Defence stated that Iranian drones had targeted energy facilities in the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub, but no casualties were reported. Following the attack, Qatar Energy suspended LNG production and declared force majeure, according to Reuters and Bloomberg News citing informed sources .

On 7 March, the Saudi Ministry of Defence announced that 21 drones headed toward Aramco’s Shaybah field, one the Kingdom’s largest oil fields, and includes facilities that produce natural gas liquids used in the petrochemical industry, in several waves were intercepted and destroyed in the Empty Quarter.

In Kuwait, on 7 March, a spokesperson for the Kuwait Ministry of Defence said that drones targeted fuel tanks at Kuwait International Airport.

In Oman, on 1 March, state media reported that two drones struck the commercial port in Duqm on the eastern coast, injuring one foreign worker. On 2 March, state media stated that a drone strike targeted an oil tanker off the coast of Muscat, killing one Indian crew member.

Fires have broken out at a number of facilities, which officials speaking to the media have attributed either to missile attacks or debris from drone interceptions. In some cases, state-owned fossil fuel companies have reported suspending production or shipments after attacks.

In Bahrain, on 5 March, a fire broke out in one of the refinery units of the state-owned Bapco Energies as a result of an Iranian missile attack, according to Bahrain News Agency. The company declared force majeure on its oil shipments.

In Saudi Arabia, on 2 March, the Saudi Ministry of Defense stated that two drones attempting to target the Saudi Aramco Ras Tanura oil refinery in the Eastern Province were intercepted, and the falling debris ignited a fire inside the facility.

In the UAE, on 10 March a fire broke out at Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi following a drone attack, according to Reuters. Fires also broke out at Musaffah fuel tank terminal on 2 March after it was targeted by a drone and at an oil industry zone in Fujairah on 3 March, after debris from a drone interception caused a fire.

On 9 March, the official Kuwait News Agency reported that drone debris caused a fire in a fuel tank at Al Subiya power plant.

In addition to attacks on the Gulf states, commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has come to an almost complete halt. On 10 March, the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the plunge in commercial shipping was already having a severe impact on access to “energy, food and fertilizer for people in the region and beyond,” and that an oil price surge would have economic and social knock-on effects. He once again called for investment in renewable energy.

“Attacks on or severely affecting fuel supply and distribution networks can trigger food insecurity, as these systems currently play a critical role in transportation, the goods supply chain, and industrial activity. All parties must ensure they are refraining from any unlawful attacks and place the protection of civilians at the forefront of all military decisions,” said Heba Morayef.

Background

According to Iranian officials, at least 1,255 people have been killed in Iran since 28 February when US-Israeli attacks began. At least 17 people have been killed in the Gulf since Iran began its attacks on Gulf countries (two in Bahrain; six in Kuwait; one person in Oman; two in Saudi Arabia; and six in the UAE). Eleven out of the 17 people are foreign nationals from India, Iran, Indonesia and Bangladesh amongst other countries residing in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain according to official state media reports. A least 570 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon according to the authorities. At least 12 people have been killed by attacks in Israel according to media reports.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last night issued orders that approved transmission rate agreements with data centers that explicitly put households at risk for hikes in the rates they pay for electricity.

The FERC orders approved bilateral electric transmission rate agreements between Exelon’s ComEd utility and five different data centers, four of which Public Citizen intervened as a party (PowerHouse, owned by American Real Estate Partners; Tract’s Grundy County Power in Morris, Illinois; Equinix; and Blackstone’s QTS).

In response, Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, issued the following statement:

“The Commission’s orders show what a total sham Trump’s Big Tech pledge is for protecting consumers. These reckless FERC orders are designed to quickly rubber stamp agreements with utilities and data centers with zero guaranteed protection that household consumers won’t be exposed to unjust and unreasonable price hikes.

“As acknowledged in Commissioner Judy Chang’s concurrence in support of the order, FERC’s acceptance of the transmission rate agreements rely on the fact that they were between ‘sophisticated parties who negotiated them freely at arm’s length,’ but did not investigate whether the contracts themselves could result in unjust and unreasonable cost shifts onto other customers such as households.

“While the agreements between the utility and the data centers result in the data centers making certain financial payments that attempt to cover the utility’s revenue requirements, Chang’s concurrence plainly concludes that they do not insulate rate hikes for household consumers should those costs change during the duration of the agreement. Utility obligations and commitments within its service territory can change dramatically – especially with the onslaught of data centers – where the estimated revenue requirements negotiated today could prove insufficient in the near future, exposing households to rate hikes from any revenue shortfall. All FERC had to do was hold formal hearings and investigate any needed changes to ensure households would be protected. Instead, FERC rushed the orders in order to prioritize expediency for data center developers at the expense of protecting consumers.

“Last night’s orders expose FERC and the Trump administration unprepared and unwilling to address America’s energy affordability crisis.”

President Trump has removed more inspectors general (IGs) than all other presidents combined, leaving a gaping hole for accountability and ethics concerns according to a new Public Citizen report titled Undoing Accountability.

In several cases, Trump’s removal of IGs has been closely tied to the issuance of OIG reports that have been critical of specific actions by the Trump administration, have close ties to his administration, or have a history of unethical or potentially illegal conduct. In September 2025, the Trump administration also attempted to completely shut-down the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), the nation’s federal IG coordinating council.

In most cases, Trump has replaced IGs he has fired with those whose independence is questionable, have had close ties to his administration or have a history of unethical or potentially illegal conduct. Public Citizen Researcher Douglas Pasternak, who authored the report, said inspectors general play a fundamental and independent role in holding government officials accountable to the public.

“President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the inspector general community since he stepped into office last year, firing more IGs than all other previous presidents combined for no cause at all,” said Pasternak. “Trump’s efforts have also led to a dramatic decrease in the number of IG staff that help root out waste, fraud, and abuse, in some offices by as much as 30-percent. President Trump’s actions will encourage corruption, discourage aggressive oversight, and harm the American taxpayer. We should all be paying close attention, and demand that the IG community, which has always been independent and nonpartisan, not be turned into a political weapon of the White House.”

Read the full report here.

Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert and Researcher Douglas Pasternak are both available for interviews.

A coalition of antiwar groups launched a national campaign Wednesday for constituents to urge Democrats in Congress to remove Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer from their posts as minority leaders.

The coalition includes RootsAction and Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace network, as well as World Beyond War and the Progressive Democrats of America – Greater Middle East Alliance.

“Schumer and Jeffries have failed their party and country through wobbly leadership when firmness and clarity are needed in opposing a reckless and costly war,” said Jeff Cohen, cofounder of RootsAction. “The Democratic base sees a weak and confused party leadership as Trump demands billions more to attack Iran. While the party needs strong leaders in Congress, both Schumer and Jeffries have shown that they’re not up to the job.”

The president of Peace Action, Kevin Martin, said in a statement: “I doubt at this point whether many people look to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries for ‘leadership’ in Congress, but we would settle for them getting with the program and representing their base, and the majority of Americans, who want them to stand strongly against Trump’s illegal wars and domestic terror campaigns against the American people. They did organize Democratic leadership in both Houses of Congress to support the recent Iran War Powers Resolutions, albeit somewhat belatedly. They need to speak out loudly and clearly, and get their caucuses in line, to oppose the upcoming $50 billion or more for Trump’s illegal war of aggression on Iran, and to cut off U.S. weapons to Israel. Failing to do so will only increase calls for them to step down or be replaced by colleagues who understand where the American people are on these and other critical issues.”

RootsAction told supporters Wednesday: “The Democratic leadership in Congress has failed to provide real leadership against a war-crazed Trump administration…. It’s time for congressional Democrats to replace Schumer and Jeffries with leaders who are willing and able to challenge the runaway militarism that has dragged our country into launching yet another insanely destructive war.”

In the second week of an inept narcissist's spiraling war - not even of choice but of whim - that's killed over 1,500 people and wreaked widespread havoc, almost as grotesque as the witless carnage itself is the "slopaganda" issuing almost daily from a White House evidently run by 14-year-old gamers who splice real combat footage with Call of Duty-esque video games to create tacky war porn celebrating "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY." Millions of us wanna know: "What the fuck is wrong with you people?

"Under Trump we will have no more wars - I am peace," once intoned the hollow reality-show specter now spreading mindless death, terror and economic mayhem across 12 countries. To date, US and Israeli airstrikes have killed over 1,255 people in Iran, mostly civilians, including perhaps 300 children, the youngest an 8-month-old girl; at least 12,000 Iranians have been injured. Also dead are about 400 people in Lebanon, over 50 in surrounding countries, and 8 US service members. Bombs have struck at least four schools in Tehran; after strikes this week on oil refineries and storage facilities, Tehran residents woke to plumes of dark smoke and black rain falling in what many viewed as a genocidal attack on infrastructure that mirrors that of Gaza.

It's become clear from Trump's flailing rhetoric he didn't expect or plan for a war, just a fast, hard, "kill their leader and they fold" move like Venezuela, always a delusional goal, so they could pick a pliable new leader. Instead, after sloppily killing all their own choices for successors, they got the far more extremist, now angrier son Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, a hardliner with close ties to Iran's most ideologically rabid, repressive clerics - and, after Trump's blithe assertion he'll kill him too, with nothing to lose. The outcome, deemed "the blueprint for a generational blood war," also pissed off rich Gulf states who've been courting him with investment pledges. One Dubai oligarch "at the heart of a danger (we) did not choose": “Who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war?”

The slapdash incompetence of his "short-term little excursion" quickly exposed a wildly erratic take on what he actually called his "performance" not governance, more improv than coherent strategy. The rationale kept shifting - no nuclear weapons, people free, regime change - as did the language: A "47-year-conflict" became an "imminent threat." ("Words, what are they for?") The promise Iranians' "future is yours to take" became the demand for imaginary "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" He bounced ideas off journalists, was surprised neighboring states got drawn in, ignored likely consequences - what oil? - had no contingency plans and rudely rebuffed allies. To the UK's offer of an aircraft carrier: "We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

Not so fast, said Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian, who warned their enemies “must take their dream of the Iranian people’s unconditional surrender to their graves." Then he apologized to neighboring countries for strikes against their U.S. bases. In response, Trump crowed they were ready "to cry uncle" and declared it "the first time Iran has ever lost in thousands of years." MAGA voted for an isolationist America First leader; they got a raging, idiotic, ignorant warmonger who launched more military attacks on more countries in a year than any president, and who doesn't give a shit about Americans. Asked if we should be worried about retaliatory attacks from Iran, he shrugged, "I guess...When you go to war, some people will die.” Aka, whatever. But lookit these cool, macho videos celebrating Epic Fury!

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Within days, the White House, or the puerile gamesters running their social media account, moved on from simply glorifying the violence to transforming it into video games, “gamifying" it by seamlessly merging video footage of actual U.S. strikes and explosions with bellicose clips from Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat. They also interspersed real kill-footage with popular action flicks and TV shows - Braveheart, Gladiator, Top Gun, Iron Man, even Saul Goodman and Walter White: "I am the danger" - complete with relentless, churning techno music to get your jingoistic heart racing. The result, both cringey and chilling, is to render real-life pain, blood, death, grief, terror, destruction, displacement mere cartoon entertainment, stripped of humanity, unworthy of empathy.

In a rare move, the gaslighting profanity of the videos prompted a "call to conscience" from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, who decried the "profound moral failure" they represent. Seeing "real war with real death and real suffering treated like a video game" was "sickening," he wrote, war and its brutality become "a spectator sport" and a moral crisis. "Our government (is) thrilled by the destructive power of our military, addicted to the 'spectacle' of explosions," he wrote. "The American people are better than this." Maybe, some of them. But the malignant narcissist with the warped world view and his fanboy marveling at the capture of Maduro as "the most gangster thing I've seen in my life," are still hideously, obliviously "locked in" to the atrocities.

So are, of course, his loyal buffoonish minions, strutting and gloating over America's bloody, illegal "victories." "We're marching through the world," declared giddy, craven lickspittle Lindsay Graham to a laughing Maria Bartiromo on Fox. "We’re clearing out the bad guys." All praise to "Ronald Reagan plus," "the greatest commander in chief of all time." He doesn't want "a fair fight," just "a quick one," he said, joining the bully ranks, and to make lots of money. Committed to being the cringiest cheerleader on the vile team, he even brought props; he waves "Make Iran Great" and "Free Cuba" hats, and smirks, "Stay tuned." Oh puke. Who asked America to clear out the bad guys? Who thinks what we need is a hat-based foreign policy? Idiotic hubris, thy name is.

Meanwhile, insufferable Press Barbie Stepford, her little Christian cross front and center, has gone full, smug, North Korea agit-prop. What does Trump's imaginary “unconditional surrender" mean, she is asked. She yammers at length, dragging out the titles in an effort to bolster her gobbledygook: "It means that when President Trump, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has (sic) been fully realized, whether they say it themselves or not." And as the blessed leader of MAGA, she adds breezily, there may or may not be boots on the ground in Iran; "President Trump wisely keeps all his options on the table." And bring on the video games.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Even more repulsive is smarmy, abusive, chest-thumping Christo-fascist and "day-drunk dipshit" Kegseth, who finally got a war to go with his puerile bravado. Preening in his greasy hair and patriotic pocket square, he vows to "unleash overwhelming and punishing violence,” revels in "death and destruction from the sky," brags, "America is winning - decisively, devastatingly and without mercy," and gloats of the "quiet death" - and war crime - of 87 Iranian sailors killed when a US torpedo hit their unarmed frigate heading home from a training exercise the US took part in. Among peers, he is widely reviled for his bombastic language and "moral depravity"; one advocate calls him "a very dangerous person," "out of his depth," cavalier, obtuse and so incompetent "I wouldn’t feel safe leaving him in charge of a DoorDash order."

Despite all that - and reports of Pentagon excess topping $93 billion spent in one month, under use-it-or-lose-it funding rules, on furniture, ice cream machines, sushi prep tables, iPads, king crab, lobster tail, steak, doughnuts - still there he was, pig-eyed, smirking, ostensibly assuring us not to worry about reports Russia is providing Iran with intel on American troops, because "the president has an incredible knack at mitigating those risks." "Nobody's putting us in danger," he sneered. "We're putting the other guys in danger - that's our job." Then he launched into a casual genocidal rant deemed "some really dark shit." Per Rumsfeld: "You go to war with the sociopathic, bullying, self-declared Secretary of War you have," and the base war porn that goes with him.

And of course the imbecile who last weekend attended the "dignified transfer" of the senselessly dead Americans he's to blame for, wearing his undignified white USA golf cap because he cares more about his "hair." He eloquently noted "I hate to do that" - see the dead, also muss his hair - but "it’s part of war. It's the bad part of war." Truth. Later, he was asked about the strike on the elementary school in southern Iran that killed up to 175 girls; though the investigative Bellingcat and multiple news outlets confirmed a US Tomahawk missile hit the school - another war crime - Trump suggested, with no evidence, it may have been Iran. Nodding, Hegseth said, "The only side that targets civilians is Iran." And the only side that would mistakenly kill a school full of kids is America.

Trump went golfing, then spoke at a GOP retreat. He railed against Dems opposing the SAVE America Act, which would sabotage the mid-terms with new voting strictures; it has 'America' in its name, he whined, and Schumer is "now a Palestinian officially." He dismissed Americans' concerns about soaring gas prices, "a very small price to pay (for) World Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY." He warned Iran not to "try anything cute" to stop the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, or "Death, Fire, and Fury will reign (sic) upon them." More war slopaganda streamed from the White House: Home runs in baseball, like missiles hitting targets, as "pure American dominance." Football and missile hits as unrelenting "TOUCHDOWNS!" All, "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY."

Iran, it turns out, also seeks their own justice. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced they do not want to harm ordinary Americans who oppose foreign wars like "Operation Epic Mistake,” but they will no longer seek diplomacy and they have "many surprises in store" if America keeps attacking their oil or nuclear sites. In response to our cartoon agitprop, they also released their own LEGO-style video - missiles, explosions, a whiteboard reading, "My homeland is my life." Comments: "Begun, the content wars have," "Who would've thought a country run by religious fanatics that propagates martyrdom would not just roll over upon being attacked?" and, "Maybe I shouldn't have wished to live in more interesting times." Also, "Even their AI slop is killing ours."

Trump, flailing in the face of political and economic blowback to a war against a nuclear-armed nation of 91 million people he didn't really mean to start, is struggling to figure out how to end it, or at least randomly declare victory like in elections. We are awash in mixed messages: "So is the war that isn't a war over or isn't it?" Hegseth, asked where are we now: "We're in a very strong place," "This is just the beginning," "We are giving the president maximum options," "Our will is endless." Trump, asked if it's over or starting: "You could say both," "We could call it a tremendous success right now or we could go further," "The war is very complete, pretty much," "It is won, but not won enough." For once, he was right: We're tired from so much fucking winning.

It turns out the only imminent threat was, is Trump, writes David Rothkopf, who cites "the madness" of so many people around the world "buffeted by the psychosis of a single man," his "whims, impulses, ignorance, greed, malevolence, hatefulness, turning pique into economic pain, promoting the incompetent and monstrous to do his dirty work, seeking desperately to steal glory he does not deserve," and by shuttering US programs worldwide causing "the death of millions who simply had the misfortune to live in Trump's time." On Saturday, Country Joe McDonald died at 84 after a decades-long music career. Its touchstone was perhaps his electrifying performance, before nearly half-a-million people at 1969's Woodstock Festival, of his anti-war I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, about another rich man's war and poor man's fight. May he, and too many others, rest in peace and power.

"And it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fighting for?" - Country Joe McDonald

"Looking at what we are confronted with today, those most likely to argue they should hold a place above ordinary people are actually, in fact, the least of us, the most contemptible among us." - David Rothkopf

Iran's LEGO-themed agit-propScreengrab on X

- YouTube www.youtube.com

A new analysislysis from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) finds that this coming Monday (March 9) is the day that million-dollar earners stop contributing to Social Security – a milestone that serves as a reminder that the program’s finances could be greatly improved by lifting the cap on earnings.

While the vast majority of working people pay income and payroll taxes on all their earnings throughout the year, the Social Security payroll tax is capped at $184,500. Once a person’s wage and salary income reaches that taxable maximum, they stop paying into the program.

The amount of income above the cap has risen dramatically: in 1983, only 10 percent of income was above the cap, but today it is approaching 20 percent – another illustration of rising income inequality in the country.

Eliminating the cap on taxable earnings would go a long way towards affirming Social Security as a social insurance program, while also fortifying the program’s finances for current and future beneficiaries – an issue that has been a priority for many political leaders over several decades.

While there are always political discussions about how to strengthen Social Security’s finances, many of the prescriptions – like raising the retirement age – are regressive in nature, disproportionately harming working-class workers. Making all workers pay their fair share by eliminating the cap, though, would provide substantial additional revenue without harming workers or retirees.

“Allowing higher earners to stop contributing to Social Security early in the year is a policy choice that shortchanges the program,” said CEPR Labor and Disability Researcher Hayley Brown, who authored the new analysis. “The tax cap on earnings is at odds with the ethos of shared responsibility that underlies social insurance. Lawmakers should reinforce that sense of shared responsibility and the program’s solvency by eliminating the cap.”

The latest jobs report shows the United States lost 92,000 jobs in February 2026, with prior months revised down by 69,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remains elevated at 4.4% and is near its highest levels in 4 years. The February report reveals a labor market that is barely hanging on as Trump threatens to reignite inflation with his illegal war in the Middle East.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy Alex Jacquez released the following statement:

“The deterioration in the labor market is visible from space. Trump’s reckless economic agenda has forced the labor market into the negative, threatening the livelihoods of American workers. As the president piles on blanket tariffs and oil prices soar, today’s report confirms he’s sent the economy straight into a stagflation spiral.”

Public Citizen sent a letter today calling upon the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate highly suspicious bets placed on the outcome of the recent American-Israeli military assault on Iran and the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Using platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, certain users have been able to make hundreds of thousands of dollars on political betting, specifically pertaining to the American-Israeli war on Iran. The timing of the bets has raised suspicion as to whether or not the bettors have inside information, as some of the bets were made mere hours before the U.S. strikes began.

The letter poses various questions on the connection between the political gambling and the military attacks on Iran:

• Insider Trading: Who placed these accurate and very substantial bets on the prediction market platforms moments before the actual attacks on Iran occurred?
  
• Unauthorized Disclosure of Confidential Government Information: Who within the Trump and Netanyahu administrations were privy to the timing and goals of the American-Israeli attacks?
  
• Political Betting: Given that some governmental officials do indeed have access to reliable non-public information on likely outcomes of political events, is it prudent to allow betting on such outcomes?
  
• Public Interest: Might some government officials manipulate public policies based on self-enrichment on prediction market platforms rather than based on the public interest?

“Allowing prediction market platforms to bet on virtually anything, any time is a recipe for disaster,” said Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s government affairs lobbyist. “The American people should not have to wonder whether government officials are exploiting their access to classified information to make a quick buck. The CFTC must act swiftly to regulate platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket in order to protect the public.”

The Federal Reserve released its February 2026 Beige Book, providing an updated snapshot of economic conditions across all 12 Federal Reserve Districts. A growing share of districts reported flat or declining activity as economic uncertainty and price sensitivity weighed on consumer spending alongside rising housing and food insecurities.

The report paints a clear picture of rising tariff costs, higher prices for basic necessities, and Trump administration policies disrupting businesses and squeezing working families.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, Alex Jacquez, reacted with the following statement:

“Trump sold Americans a bill of goods he can’t deliver on, and he owes working families a refund. The president has driven up costs for consumers and businesses alike with his chaotic tariff policies and foreign wars. The Federal Reserve’s report should serve as a major red flag for the White House that Trump’s economy is flailing.”

BACKGROUND

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book plays a critical role in informing monetary policy decisions by highlighting regional economic conditions gathered from contacts at businesses, banks, and community organizational contacts at each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. Economists have found that the Beige Book can offer early signals about turning points in the economy, including rising recession risks. In the March edition of the Beige Book, contacts reported that:

• Tariffs continue to push up costs. Nine Federal Reserve Districts cited rising input prices tied to tariffs, with many firms saying they are passing those increases directly on to customers.
  • A New York food ingredient company reported tariff-driven price increases moving through the supply chain. Some manufacturers are responding by shrinking package sizes while keeping prices the same.
  • In the Cleveland District, one manufacturer raised prices by 4.25% instead of the planned 3% to offset new steel tariffs.
  • Manufacturers in the Chicago District said tariffs are becoming harder to absorb. One firm noted that after splitting the cost with customers last year, they now plan to pass “the full cost on in 2026.”
• Rising prices for basic necessities are squeezing household budgets. As essential expenses rise, more households are cutting back and turning to community support to meet basic needs.
  • Nonprofits in the Philadelphia District reported increased demand for food assistance as many clients struggle to afford basic necessities.
  • In the Boston District, contacts highlighted continued reliance on food pantries driven by high prices for food, rent, and home heating.
  • Contacts in the Atlanta District said rising prices are forcing families to find new ways to stretch their budgets. Households are “selling clothes online, scrapping metal, tapping savings, utilizing buy now/pay later offerings, eliminating dining out, using coupons, and buying in bulk.”
  • Organizations serving low-income consumers in the Chicago District described rising food insecurity and ongoing challenges finding affordable housing.
• Spending patterns reveal a widening economic divide. While higher-income households continue to spend, many lower- and middle-income consumers are cutting back or trading down to cheaper options.
  • Contacts in the San Francisco District described a “bifurcated, or K-shaped, economy.” Discretionary spending remained strong among higher-income households, while lower- and middle-income consumers continued shifting toward lower-cost and store-label alternatives.
  • In the New York District, sales gains were concentrated among higher-income consumers. Even so, many shoppers remained price-conscious and searched across multiple retailers for better prices.
  • Retail patterns in the Atlanta District reflected the same divide. Discount stores reported steady demand from price-conscious shoppers, while higher-end retail sales remained resilient.
• Health care and insurance costs are rising. Contacts pointed to higher premiums, shrinking access to coverage, and growing financial strain on health care providers.
  • In the New York District, contacts said low- and moderate-income households and older adults are facing increasing challenges maintaining health insurance coverage as premiums rise and access to low-cost plans declines.
  • Nonprofits in the Dallas District warned that expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and changes to Medicaid requirements could lead to a rise in the uninsured. Contacts said the shift could limit access to preventative care while hospitals absorb the cost of treating patients without coverage.
  • In the Kansas City District, contacts warned that many rural hospitals are under severe financial strain. Roughly half are operating at a loss, with several facilities in northern Missouri at risk of closure.

Our latest senseless, illegal war against brown people, born of ever-shifting lies and fought by the sons of the blithe un-rich, is Trump's ultimate, Wag-the-Dog distraction from his crimes, failures and pedophilia at home. Having oafishly declared the Iran regime “a vicious group of very hard, terrible people” - add "inept," pot/kettle - his "warriors" are now being told this is "part of God's divine plan," with The Rapture imminent after killing more schoolgirls. One sage: "It's a good thing Congress isn't alive to see this."

Leave it to "the world's most famous bone-spur patient," Board of Peace chair, recipient of a fake FIFA peace prize and pilfered real Peace Prize, cornered serial sexual predator facing exposure and pathological liar who vowed "no new wars" while attacking seven nations in a year to launch "the dumbest war in US history" - a tough competition - and the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which Bush et al at least tried for months to justify with a pack of lies before making "the worst foreign policy decision in history." Trump: Hold my Coke. Experts have long warned that with his hubris, thin skin, historical ignorance and affinity for heedless demolition - of buildings, customs, laws, credibility - he could wreak the most havoc in foreign affairs, where his power is most uncurbed, especially now as he grows increasingly desperate and dangerous.

Thus, having amassed US weaponry in the Persian Gulf, did he launch our current "national obscenity." Ever presidential, he did it in a sober, cogent speech at a White House lectern with all the gravity the occasion called for. Kidding: He did it in a histrionic 2:30 a.m post on his crappy platform from his golf bordello after a $1-million-a-plate fundraiser - cue cringe robotic dancing to God Bless the USA - and a bellicose, garbled speech, his face smeared in make-up beneath a tacky baseball cap?! Later, the White House released a photo of a hastily assembled War Room with black drapes around it and some guy peeking in - looking for the omelette bar? Observers: "Looks secure to me," "Looks like the Goodman wedding reception had to be moved," "These clowns seriously started WW lll from a blanket fort at a shitty golf club?!" and, "This is not how democracies go to war."

But we just did - with no (Constitutionally mandated) approval from Congress, no (historically obligatory) public debate, over the objections of his own intelligence agencies and against the wishes of 80% of Americans, including his own base. In a slurred, spurious, deeply Orwellian speech, he "upended half a century of US foreign policy" by proclaiming Operation Epic Fury (presumably named by a 12-year-old minion), which he randomly called "the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country." Citing zero evidence, he said many of Iran’s soldiers "no longer want to fight," are "looking for Immunity from us," and hope to "peacefully merge with Iranian Patriots (to) bring back the Country to Greatness" (like ravaged America) to "achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Because, bless his moronic heart, nobody ever thought of regime change before.

The world's worst negotiator moved to set the Middle East on fire after walking away from ongoing, reportedly promising talks in which Iran had already made concessions; given the regime's "stupefyingly overt corruption," they included bribes to a deeply unqualified Kushner and Witkoff. Trump's Very Serious, deep-dive analysis: "We were having negotiations with these lunatics, but it was my opinion they were going to attack first." So he did. The death toll in a swiftly spreading conflagration is now over 1,000, including at least six US service members. Gruesomely but not surprisingly, one of the first strikes hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in southern Iran, killing an estimated 170 girls aged seven to 12. In a searing video of the carnage - woe to the murderers of little children - a distraught man stands amidst bloodied books, bodies, backpacks and shouts, "This was a school and they came to study."

Also killed the first day was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of military commanders - so many, in a sign of Trump's famed proficiency, that he told news outlets he'd had a "beautiful plan" and several candidates for Iran’s new leadership but, oops, "They're all dead." There were other miscalculations. Despite his sanguine gibberish about PEACE, Tehran vowed to unleash "devastating blows" and the intact, powerful, heavily armed, fanatically loyal Revolutionary Guard, showing no interest in laying down their arms or ideology, warned of "a severe, decisive and regret-inducing punishment” of their killers. As in Iraq and everywhere else and one more time, a historian notes, regime change through bombing has never been successful: "Regimes are networks, (and) when an external power kills a leader, networks often consolidate, not fragment. Successors emerge, as do Martyr narratives."

As to the US, what has yet to emerge is a long-term plan, a lucid rationale for the mayhem. They throw spaghetti at the wall, offering wildly shifting goals, timelines, narratives, excuses of "imminent threat" so flimsy they'd be laughable if not lethal. They want to "destroy Iran’s missile capability," "annihilate their navy,” halt their regional hegemony, stop them from building nuclear weapons US intelligence insists are over 10 years away. Trump babbles: He wants "freedom for the people,” Iran "just wanted to practice evil," we have to "get rid of their whole group of killers and thugs," and they blocked his 2020 re-election. He really did "obliterate” their nuclear program in June but "we found they were in a totally different site - totally different, so it was just time.” One analyst: "The lack of any coherent message seems to suggest the lack of any coherent objective." Robert Reich: "He has no fucking clue what he’s doing."

Bizarrely, Trump's reportedly calling journalists to workshop objectives and timelines: 2 or 3 days, four to five weeks? More bizarrely - is it possible? - suddenly-anti-war MTG charges the regime, deep in "the same old bullshit," is even polling voters to ask how many casualties they'd accept: "How about ZERO you bunch of sick fucking liars." Meanwhile, MAGA struggles to define the debacle they've birthed. In a few head-spinning minutes, Mike Johnson claimed Iran "declared war on us," insisted we're not at war, and pivoted to, "a very specific, clear mission, an operation." Dems were more forthright. Ruben Gallego: "Trump ran on exposing pedophiles and stopping wars, (and) is now protecting pedophiles and starting wars.” Chris Murphy on a vanity war "nobody in this country is asking for: "It won’t be the billionaire children of Trump and his buddies that die." Steve Schmidt, likewise bitter: They'll have "died to change the subject from child rape."

In greasy contrast, dry-drunk war-mongerer, preening macho cartoon, and "colossus of incompetence and extremism" Pete Kegsmith yammers about "our warriors fully unleashed to achieve our objectives, on our terms, with maximum authorities." Also "iron fist," "true force multiplier," "hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly" while seeking "off-ramps and escalations (to) execute what we need" with, "No apologies. No hesitation. Epic fury." What an epic asshole. He snarled at a presser with right-wing hacks: "Why would we tell you - you, the enemy, anybody - what we will or will not do?" He went full psychopath in another, braying of "death and destruction from the sky all day long" and "rules of engagement (that) are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power. We are punching them while they are down." Also, "War is hell." Though Sherman added, "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation."

A Christian nationalist, Crusades fan-boy and sexist xenophobe who attends Bible study and Pentagon prayer services, Hegseth is a vital force in an explosive push to enshrine brimstone-breathing - and unconstitutional - Christian fundamentalism in America's military. Thus is our new war of choice being feverishly sold, not as a ploy to distract from Epstein, ICE, inflation etc but as a Biblically-sanctioned holy crusade toward a devoutly-to-be-wished End Times. Or in the more skeptical words of The Fucking News, "Jesus Christ, They Drafted Jesus Christ To Fight Iran." Since the Iran attacks, reports Jonathan Larsen, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has logged over 200 complaints from 50 bases of every military branch about commanders telling troops this is "all part of God’s divine plan," with Trump improbably "anointed" to bring the Rapture, Armageddon and the return of Christ to recreate a white, straight, Republican, gated-community America.

Larson reports one Christian NCO wrote on behalf of 15 troops of multiple faiths, all rejecting the call to embrace a nihilistic, Revelation-based worldview. "This is not what my faith is for," he wrote, "and this is not what my uniform is for." MRFF head Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force and Reagan White House veteran, said he's been "inundated" by calls with "one damn thing in freaking common" - complaints about "the unrestricted euphoria" of commanders urging troops to accept their fundamentalist theology. Declares Weinstein, "Any military (pushing) their blood-soaked, Christian nationalist wet dreams upon the flames of this latest non-Congressionally sanctioned attack against Iran should be swiftly, aggressively and visibly prosecuted." Adds Dean Blundell, raised Evangelical, on a "crusade of low-IQ warriors": "If history has taught us one goddamn thing, it’s that holy wars don’t end when the true believers say they will. They end when there’s nothing left to burn."

Alas, in the case of this ill-conceived holy war, true believers may be embarking not just with epic fury, an iron fist and a blanket fort but irreparably clogged toilets. Adding a surreal twist to an already dark tale of Christofascist empire-building, new reports describe toilet lines of up to 45 minutes for 4,500 sailors on the world's most advanced warship, the US Navy's $13-billion, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, now facing what are politely termed "significant sanitation challenges" as it idles in the Persian Gulf. The ship's vacuum-based sewage system has long been plagued by repeated failures and lack of maintenance, but the latest breakdown of many of its 650 toilets may be the final straw for sailors already weary from an extended, 8-month deployment; after Trump's illegal Venezuela assault/kidnapping, they were ordered to go straight to his illegal Iran air strikes/mass murder. Some have posted gross videos of flooding shit; reads one, "Join the Navy, they said."

Still, their Commander-In-Chief says everything's swell. "It's going to go pretty quickly," he announced of the widening chaos in the Middle East. "We're way ahead of schedule." Experts warn the Iran war, coupled with the shift of national security resources to immigration, raises the risk of terrorism; says veteran and Rep. Jason Crow, "It just shot through the roof. But Trump just bragged about the "exciting times," and asked how he'd rate the success of the war on a scale of one to ten, he said he'd give it "about a fifteen." As to the likely growing casualties from his "noble mission," he's shruggingly said, "That's the way it is." Talk about epic fury: See the response from Kendall Brown, whose husband is on the USS Gerald Ford. "If you voted for this, I fucking hate you," she says in a now-viral video. "If you still support this, you are a monster."

"America is strong because its leaders are strong. President Trump proves that every day," reads a new, trending DraftBarron website by South Park writer Toby Morton. "Naturally, his son Barron is more than ready to defend the country his father so boldly commands. Service is honor. Strength is inherited. Dog Bless Barron." Arguing, "Leadership starts somewhere," it offers the testimonial from his loving Dad, "People come up to me, with tears in their eyes, and they say, ‘Sir, you’re the strongest. Send Barron off to war.’" Meanwhile, Trump reportedly bombed Iran because "he had a feeling based on fact," Melania explained how to achieve "enduring peace," and millions of people remained stranded after airports and sea lanes shut down. Because we are the most exceptional, can-do country on earth, the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizens Services hotline was there to help. Dog bless America.

"Five things to remember about war: 1. Many things reported with confidence in the first hours and days will turn out not to be true 2. Whatever they say, the people who start wars are often thinking chiefly about domestic politics 3. The rationale given for a war will change over time. 4. Wars are unpredictable 5. Wars are easy to start and hard to stop." - Timothy Snyder

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Skeptics of our latest imperialist incursion voice legitimate class concerns.Image from BlueSky

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) today introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, legislation that would establish a 5% annual wealth tax on the 938 billionaires in America — who are now collectively worth $8.2 trillion. In its first year, the bill would provide a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman and child in a household making $150,000 or less — $12,000 for a family of four — and use the estimated $4.4 trillion in revenue raised over the next decade to address the most pressing crises facing working families.

“At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, this legislation demands that the billionaire class in America finally pay their fair share of taxes so that we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” Sanders said. “We can no longer tolerate a corrupt tax code that enables billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than the average worker. In a democratic society, we cannot tolerate 60% of our people living paycheck to paycheck — struggling to pay for housing, food and health care — while 938 billionaires have become $1.5 trillion richer. We cannot continue a trend in which, over the past 50 years, $79 trillion in wealth in our country has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. Enough is enough. Billionaires cannot have it all. It is time to enact a wealth tax on billionaires and use this revenue to address some of the major crises facing working families, the children, the elderly, the sick and the most vulnerable.”

“We have a deep economic divide in this country. On one side, places like Silicon Valley are generating extreme wealth. On the other side, families are struggling to cover the cost of health care, housing, and basic needs. We can tax billionaires a modest amount to make sure everyone has a fair chance while keeping our innovative engine. That is why I am proud to join Senator Bernie Sanders to lead the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act,” Khanna said.

The Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act would establish a 5% annual wealth tax on just 938 billionaires in America who are now worth $8.2 trillion. No one who has a net worth of less than $1 billion would pay a penny more in taxes under this bill. According to an analysis by economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the legislation would raise $4.4 trillion over the next decade.

The bill would use revenue from the wealth tax to:

• Provide a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman and child in a household making $150,000 or less — $12,000 for a family of four
• Reverse the $1.1 trillion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts in Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," which are estimated to cause more than 50,000 unnecessary deaths
• Expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing for millions of seniors
• Build, rehabilitate and preserve over seven million affordable homes to eliminate the affordable housing gap and end homelessness
• Ensure no family pays more than 7% of their income on childcare
• Establish a $60,000 minimum annual salary for every public school teacher in America
• Expand Medicaid home health care for seniors and people with disabilities

Under the bill, Elon Musk — worth $833 billion and now wealthier than the bottom 53% of American households combined — would owe $42 billion in taxes, leaving him with approximately $792 billion. Mark Zuckerberg, worth $220 billion, would owe $11 billion. Jeff Bezos, worth $218 billion, would owe approximately $11 billion.

Read the bill text here.

Read a summary here.

Read the economic analysis here.

Most memorable about this week's longest, basest, game-show SOTU, a toxic, lying, us-and-them hate fest: The rowdy multitude of responses from a populace "defying the lie that we are powerless." Bigly upstaging a goalie's Medal of Freedom was "a marathon of truth-telling," from a cogent Dem response to the Portland Frogs leading a restive, joyful, shaggy defense of "this thing we call democracy" by We the People, insisting, "Don't be afraid to call it fascism - we got to meet this fuckin' moment."

The State of the Union speech, already a stale ritual of forced national unity, felt more farcical than ever in these rancorous times, a tawdry, surreal piece of performance art whose only true believers may be those MAGA morons who, when challenged, frantically, mindlessly yell "USA!! USA!!," their version of, "Oh yeah?!" They resorted to it several times Tuesday at a tacky event that over 70 deeply fed up Democrats skipped. "The President has shown no respect for the principles upon which this country is based," argued Maine's Sen. Angus King. "I cannot in good conscience participate in (a) function that would require me to ignore all that has gone before, and to pay him a measure of respect he has not earned." Other apt SOTU responses: Turner Classic Movies showed Gaslight, and Jeff Tiedrich proclaimed, "The State of the Union is - oh, who gives a fuck, really?"

The "18-year-long," "excruciatingly tedious," "most openly racist State of the Union in modern history" came as its perpetrator faces record-low 36% approval ratings, trailing by double digits in swing states and bleeding support among independents as he babbles about "fake polls," "silent support" and "made-up numbers" by "professional cheaters." His deplorable flunkies aren't faring any better. In a civil trial where investors are suing Elon Musk, his lawyers can't find jurors because so many Americans "hate him." They also hate ICE Barbie and her stormtroopers, and Kash Patel for his $75K, not-at-all-personal trip to Milan to chug beer with hockey players that so infuriated his own work force they sent 8 videos of it to media. There's also Rep. Tony Gonzales with another sex scandal MAGA doesn't need (though they need his seat), and perennial losers Kegseth and Pirro.

Still, given he "continues to live in a fantasyland where stuff becomes true just because he says it is," his SOTU was awesome, like his glittering State of Denial. Likely invisible were the Suffragette white outfits of Dem women, the photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Rep. Al Green's sign, "Black People Aren't Apes" (he was escorted from the chamber), the "Release the Epstein Files" pins, and the stalwart, near-dozen Epstein survivors themselves invited by Dem lawmakers, reminders of ghastly new evidence and allegations and cover-ups lurking behind one key question from survivor Jess Michaels: “Does our government belong to the American people, or to those who prey on them?” There was, of course, no answer. In fact, there was no mention of Epstein. Or of the reviled ICE, stalled DHS, on-the-brink Iran, or long-suffering Ukraine on the 4th anniversary of its invasion.

There was, instead, a hate-lie-and-grievance-filled shit show, a Klan rally of "white-supremacist wolf whistles," a "fascist rally peppered with flop-sweat one-liners," a slurred, venomous, fact-free barrage of boasts, insults, puffery met with faithful Kim Jong Un-esque applause from co-conspirators filling up empty seats for an old man who endlessly burbled, lurched and clung to a podium as he hid a gross bruised hand behind him. It was, wrote Ana Marie Cox, a speech "simultaneously banal and unsettling (by) a greasy fleshhole of hate...rancid and powerful." Her trenchant analysis: "I fucking hate this guy." And no, full disclosure, we did not watch it. We just...couldn't. But sincere thanks to those strong souls who chronicled the debacle, most notably Mehdi Hassan and the folks of Zeteo here and here. Also to Jimmy Kimmel, for his fine, no-diapers introduction.

The musty lies and bombast unspooled. We were a dead country but now we're "the hottest." Dems are "suddenly using the word 'affordability' - somebody gave it to them," but high prices are all their fault. Countries hit by tariffs are "happy." Most foul were lurid tales about the "scourge of illegal immigration," like "Somali pirates who have ransacked Minnesota" and "pillaged $19 billion from the American taxpayer," though it was 80 Somali-Americans, led by a white American woman, who committed some fraud while over 100,000, 95% of them U.S. citizens, pay nearly $70 million in taxes and contribute $8 billion to the community but sure let's go with a collective ethnic smear. The crude, dumb, divisive finale: Stand if you agree your first duty is "to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens" - and don't forget the Seig Heil. Cheap Theatrics 'R Us.

Dems sat. Trump raged, "You should be ashamed." Ilhan Omar fought back: "You should be ashamed. You're killing Americans." MAGA yelled "USA!" Goebbels Miller shrieked “0 democrats stood for the (principle) leaders must serve citizens before invaders. Never has there been a more stunning moment in Congress." True, but not how he thinks. In a final, Oprah moment, the "merit vampire" who thrives on stolen glory bragged, "We’re winning so much we don’t know what to do about it" and to prove it here's the carefully choreographed USA Olympic hockey team who jeered with him in the locker room about their women cohorts who won bigger: "Come on in!" The MAGA frat party dregs cheered, hooted, fist-pumped more "USA!" Then he gave out medals, and fed the athletes Big Macs. Press Barbie: "He knows how to celebrate champions. No one does it like him!"

Ugh. The flip side: Kudos to the five hockey players, and the moms who likely largely raised them, who declined the non- invite; four of five came from Minnesota. And kudos to Public Enemy Hall of Fame rapper Flavor Flav, a longtime supporter of women's sports, who invited the women's team to party in Las Vegas and "celebrate for real for real" in July on a She Got Game weekend funded by him and area resorts. And gracious thanks to actor, gourmand and all-round mensch Stanley Tucci, who hosted the women on the patio of his favorite Milan restaurant, the Michelin-starred Ristorante Ratanà, where they happily feasted on pumpkin risotto and just desserts. Meanwhile, in the wake of the mad king's claptrap, Democrats won three local elections in swing states: two in Pennsylvania for a majority in the state house, one in Maine, further cementing Democrats’ hold.

Finally, there were myriad, heartening alternative events where lawmakers, advocates, Epstein survivors and whistleblowers vowed to, "Lean in, stand up and show up" in defense of democracy and fierce resistance - and stark contrast - to the small, mean narcissist down the road making up "facts" and boasting about stripping 2.4 million people of food stamps. The official Democratic response, from Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, was succinct and forceful. Citing the pernicious rhetoric, cruelty, cover-ups, scams, ballrooms, she asked who benefits: "Is the president working for you? We all know the answer is no." Sen. Alex Padilla pointedly gave a follow-up in Spanish. Famously last seen getting tackled by DHS thugs for daring to ask ICE Barbie about her brownshirts' violent abuses, he asserted, "I am still here. Still standing. Still fighting."

His sense of resolve was echoed at a "People’s State of the Union” rally on the National Mall held by MoveOn and Meidas Touch, where speakers lambasted Trump's imaginary "Golden Age of America" in a country that in fact offers "one reality for everyday people and another for the rich and well-protected." Citing vast unmet needs on healthcare, housing, jobs, Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee of the Working Families Party vowed to "elevate the voices of (those) angry, scared and fed up with an administration that’s done nothing to help and a lot to hurt everyday people." Sen. Chris Murphy decried a speech ignoring ICE "tear-gassing schools, murdering citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants." The Progressive Caucus' Greg Casar reviled a $4-billion grifter "lecturing you, the American people, about how good you have it (when) everyone but Trump’s rich friends knows it’s a disaster,."

Meanwhile, at the National Press Club a few blocks away, a dozen members of the illustrious Portland Frog Brigade headlined a giddy, heartfelt, sold-out State of the Swamp, a SOTU "ribbital" hosted by DEFIANCE.org and advocacy media network Courier where attendees were encouraged to gather, preferably in frog caps, in "peaceful defiance and civic participation." M.C.'ed by Defiance head and former Trump staffer Miles Taylor, the event drew dozens of speakers, and a few frogs, who over several hours gave resolute, kinetic, briskly-3-minute speeches focused on the vital need to remember that, "Democracy is something we do, not just something we have." The most substantial time went to the last three speakers - the combative mayors of Minneapolis and Chicago, and an enraged Robert DeNiro - and they were all electrifying.

The mood was chill, festive, occasionally profane, but the message was consistent: In the face of unprecedented threats to our democracy by "a rapist vulgarian named Donald Trump," we must, "Refuse to shut up, sit down, or even stop ribbiting. Stay LOUD." Between speakers, video clips showed historic figures of defiance: MLK Jr, Muhammad Ali, Black Panthers, James Baldwin, John Lewis, lunch-counter sit-ins, Jesse Jackson rousing Sesame Street kids to say, "I am somebody." Next to the stage, about 20 inflatable frogs, "the jesters of this movement," stood and often danced in a "frog pond" with signs: "Damn Straight," "Amphifa," "Frogs Not Fascists." Earlier, they'd hit the Capitol to hand out pocket Constitutions to members of Congress and toured D.C. for proud green selfies. Taylor: "Who better to help navigate the swamp than a creature born in the swamp?"

Despite the focus on matters of substance - housing, healthcare, climate crisis, ICE abuses, democracy itself - the tone of many speakers was light-hearted and self-deprecating. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyers: "There are more frogs in this room than people in my state." New York Rep. Dan Goldman: "It's great to be here and not in Congress tonight." Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden on his political low profile: "I'm barely a household name in my own household." Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter: "Thank you to the frogs who hopped across the country." The array of speakers was admirably broad - from a panel of First Amendment legal defenders to former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham - and outspoken on "the weak, dumb, small, sad man" and "pathetic whiny loser who knocked down the East Wing and thinks he can knock down our democracy."

Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, one of the six veterans along with Mark Kelly under attack by Kegseth for re-iterating that the military should follow the law, began with, "Well, President Trump keeps trying to put me in prison. But I've never been very good at sitting in my foxhole and letting them send grenades my way. I fight back." Motormouth Joe Walsh, former "rock-ribbed" conservative and Illinois GOP rep with serious buyer's remorse, and author of the 2020 book Fuck Silence: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic, Authoritarian Con Man He Is, was resolute on the "cruel bastard" who gave us Jan. 6 and "don't you for one moment think he's not gonna try" to mess with coming elections: "This moment calls for all of us to be courageous - we ain't never been here before. Our job is to blow him outta the water. Fuck Trump. The mid-terms are happening."

Over hours, their messages aligned: Fascists come after everyone in the end, even fellow fascists. MAGA is waiting its turn in the trashbin of history. Help put it there. Courage is more contagious than cowardice. An old story is dying. The elites have never been the ones to save us - it's always the people. Cruelty isn't strength, nor is defying the rule of law. Strength is the moral courage to say this is not right, to see other people as fully human. When empathy disappears, authoritarianism is next. Gutsy Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "We are not spectators in this moment. We are stewards of our democracy. Hold strong." DeNiro, on feeling "betrayed" by today's America, "like an abused spouse professing love for their abuser." "You have to lift people up," he said, his voice cracking. "If you've ever loved your country, this is the time to show it."

The aftermath of a grotesque SOTU tells us everything we need to know about the historic moment. Trump raged about "the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people" who declined to stand with his fascism: "We should send them back (on) a boat with Robert DeNiro, another sick and demented person....saying (things) seriously CRIMINAL!" News surfaced that, during the speech, Ilhan Omar guest Aliya Rahman, a disabled Minneapolis woman dragged from her car by ICE who later gave searing testimony to Congress, was forcibly removed by Capitol Police and charged with "Unlawful Conduct" after she silently stood up in the gallery, like many others. On Friday, Trump held a million-dollar-a-plate, "Billionaires first, Americans last" fundraiser. And the day before, NYC Mayor Mamdani, with the help of AOC, released an adorbs video about his new free child care program. Which side are you on? Tough call.

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