DC Media Group

Washington DC—On Thursday afternoon the advocacy group Democracy Forward achieved a victory in its epic battle against the Trump regime over its attempts to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

On Wednesday Democracy Forward filed suit against the Trump regime (case 1:25-cv-00458-ABA) over acting Director Russell Vought’s removal of funding for CFPB earmarked for its operations.

The current suit was brought before the U.S. District Court of the State of Maryland on behalf of the Mayor and the City of Baltimore by Democracy Forward and is a legal matter involving the CFPB acting Director, Russell Vought’s attempt to remove previously approved Congressional funding for CFPB operations for use other than for what it was approved.

The Trump Regime agreed to comply with the petitioner’s requests with the Court for a temporary restraining order in that acting Director, Russell Vought:

—will not transfer funds from the CFPB reserves

—will not give control of CFPB funds to any other party

—will not transfer CFPB funds back to the Federal Reserve, the independent parent agency that provides CFPB its funding

—will not reduce CFPB funds beyond what was available as of February 13

This development marks another victory, albeit temporary, for plaintiffs against the Trump regime and Elon Musk, the mega-billionaire involved in the takeover and takedown of many Federal government agencies. This also marks another set back in Elon Musk’s plans to deconstruct Federal government agencies. There are over 20 ongoing cases concurrently filed by organizations on behalf of Federal employees and the agencies currently under siege.

Another organization, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) 335 is pursuing another related matter on behalf of Federal employees of the CFPB involving the lockout and removal of over 1000 Federal employees from their workplaces. We have been reporting about this action since last weekend.

See previous reports here and here.

Elon Must has so far offered no public plan on replacing the Federal government agencies and services he has taken over and attempting to shut down. He has not indicated that he even plans to replace services at all. He stated in the Oval Office yesterday that his plans were transparent and available on his DOGE website but a visit to the site showed no plans and offered no vision other than his intent to deconstruct the Federal government.

The CFPB is the only agency that provides oversight on dishonest businesses and returns money fraudulently taken from consumers through the courts. The CFPB was created in 2011 under authority of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Protection Act in response to the 2007/8 financial meltdown. It is a bureau of the Federal Reserve.

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Washington DC—The mega-billionaire Elon Musk and his posse of 20 something year-old DOGE “special government employees” are inside government agencies and departments right now slinking through the halls, taking control and taking it down, piece by piece. They’re removing Federal employees, occupying their offices, accessing the personal information of millions, copying or transferring it, shutting down the computer systems that shepherd the data, and 404ing vital government websites providing important government services we all depend on.

They’re not vetted government employees and they certainly haven’t followed security standards ordinary Federal workers adhere so let’s just refer to them as the ordained Trumpian crap weasels and muskrats stinking up the halls of our government.

By stopping congressionally-approved transfer of payments from the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) they’re about to make life much more difficult and expensive for millions who depend on services. By blocking agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from providing important oversight and stopping the regulation by other agencies of programs millions more depend on, many Americans will suffer, as well as many abroad. Even the MAGA voters who helped put Trump in office in the first place will suffer although it’s not likely to dawn on them until later.

If you want to you can go online and throw shade and vitriol at those in your circles in the MAGA vote pool or jab word darts at anonymous MAGA voters you don’t know. It may make you feel better for a minute but that won’t improve the situation much and it won’t get us where we need to be—dragging the Musk rodents by their smelly hind parts out of venerable government agencies and kicking them back to their Elon owned dungeon corporations where they spawned.

Elon Musk and his DOGE gigachud rat-bastard basement dweller wannabe gangsters may make you feel disempowered and hopeless. They want you to believe there is nothing you can do to stop their government interference and malfeasance because, in the words of Elon Musk at the Oval Office today they have a “mandate” from the voters to eliminate most Federal employees and their agencies, take away services we all depend on, rewrite and eliminate vast portions of government, and replace it with…whatever surprise solutions he has up his sleeves. He said the DOGE actions are “transparent but a visit to the DOGE “official government” website takes you to what looks like a Visual Basic beginner’s project from a computer science 101 class. It begs the question: who is actually the president because it looks like Elon Musk is the one running things in the Oval Office.

Here’s the catch: by making you feel disempowered, anxious, and confused about how this unfolding government crisis could happen, they want you to feel and be unable to act. They think that disempowering citizens keeps them from getting involved and therefore green lights their lawlessness to break and sideline even more agencies as they choose.

But here’s the other catch: the law is on our side. The Trump ordained muskrat despots keep losing in US District court lawsuits, at least at the initial stages. Court cases filed by States Attorneys General and Unions against the Trump Musk presidency are resulting in injunctions and keeping these wounded agencies intact by threads for the moment. The US District courts are going to buy agencies time and delay Federal employe reductions but for only so long.

But there are more of us than them—they know this so they’re rushing their gangster plans through quickly, on the weekends and in the dark of night in the agency buildings where they’ve locked out regular Federal employees.

In the meantime there’s much you can do to help. But you must get involved and you can help, even if it’s just a little bit.

Things You Can Do To Empower Yourself And Others

Necessity is the mother of invention so says the old proverb. But if something is already invented you’re halfway there. Here are a few things you can do to empower yourself and share with others. The time is short. Hitler only required 53 days to take down the Weimar Republic and convert it to a fascist state in 1933. If at this stage of our government crisis one doubts we are heading in that direction then listen to the words of Holocaust Survivor Marione Ingram.

Tactic One: Save Your Resources

The University of Virginia has created a website of archived government websites—bookmark it—you’re going to need it later.
Link is here.

Tactic Two: Call Your Representatives and Congress Persons

Five Calls Organization created a website to connect to your representatives. It connects you to them so you can tell them about issues important to you. Call them. Engaging with them makes a difference. Tell them what you are thinking and what you think they should do.

Some are saying Congress isn’t acting decisively enough or isn’t working to stop the government infiltration by Elon Musk and his DOGE government takeover. This is defeatist thinking. It’s going to take actions by everyone to work within their capabilities to defend democracy. This is one tactic.

Tactic Three: Get Involved

Want to get involved in an action? The Movement Infrastructure Project created a website to help you find an event, time, and place. You can meet others and plug into the organizations of the event with your resources. It is also empowering to get out with others to challenge those trying to destroy our government institutions. You will meet others with your shared interests and you can exchange information. That is the key to movement building.

Tactic Four: Provide Resources to Existing Organizations

If you are limited in what you can do because of lifestyle or life conditions, consider sharing resources with organizations on the front lines fighting the court battles.

Electronic Frontier Foundation website here. EFF is suing DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management to Halt Ransacking of Federal Data.

Fight For the Future, a digital rights advocacy group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible.

The National Treasury Employees Union 335 is presently leading a coalition of unions, representing hundreds of thousands of employees, in filing a lawsuit challenging the administration’s dangerous efforts to gut the federal workforce.

Idavox a grassroots civil rights organization educating communities about oppression, racism and fascism.

The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) has filed suit on behalf of Federal employees locked out of their workplaces and/or fired. Support their efforts by donating to their union to cover attorney costs or join the union if you are a Federal employee. The NFFE site offers helpful tips on advocacy and other advice such as guidance for new Executive Orders and Deferred Resignations. (Note: the Fork In the Road email IS NOT a buyout as is being reported in mainstream media.)

(More will be added as we find links for the organizations working together to see us through this crisis.)

Tactic Five: Take care of yourself.

During times of high stress one thing often overlooked is self-care. It is easy to overlook this vital link during difficult times such as the events going on around us now. It is natural to feel anxious, restless, and lose a sense of balance. A self-help guide published in Psychology today lists a few ideas one can take for maintaining balance of the Self. Take breaks, breathe, move-even just a little, eat wisely, and doing something nice for yourself, are a few subcategories of this tactic.

The post Five Things You Can Do Now To Fight Elon Musk And His DOGE Muskrat Takeover appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—Hundreds of angry Federal workers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), their union representatives of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) 335, and supporters rallied on Monday afternoon after DOGE employees associated with Billionaire Elon Musk locked them out of their offices and took control of their official government website and computer networks. The website remained dark as of Monday night.

An email sent to CFPB Federal workers ordered them not to go into work and to cease operations for the rest of the week, effective Monday, February 10.

The Federal employees and NTEU 335 first rallied on Saturday, February 8, over the Friday afternoon unauthorized takeover of their offices and shutdown of their website. The CFPB hosts a government website with a portal through which consumers may seek financial remedies against shady financial business loans, mortgages, and rip-offs. The website also processes millions of consumer financial complaints annually and since 2011 has given 29 million consumers monetary resolution to those complaints.

The CFPB was authorized by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. It was part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. which was the Congressional response to the 2007-8 financial meltdown. It is an independent agency and falls under the purview of the Federal Reserve.

Constitutionally the Executive Branch has no authority to takeover or to deconstruct an independent agency created by Congress as that would violate the separation of powers as provided in Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution.

The Executive branch must also adhere to Court orders over its conduct with respect to the other branches of government as provided in the bedrock Supreme Court ruling in Marbury v. Madison in 1803. This landmark SCOTUS decision established the principle of Judicial review and helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the Federal Government. In effect the Executive branch must obey Court rulings and adhere to Court orders.

But the Trump and Musk DOGE team has so far not obeyed US District Court rulings or it is delaying implementation of their Court orders. For example the Executive branch has so far failed to obey Senior US District Court Judge John McConnell injunction in case of 23 States’ Attorney General v. Beset, the US Treasury suit in which the US District Court of Providence, Massachusetts ruled that the US Treasury must immediately resume payments to through the Bureau of Financial Services to payees.

The takeover and shutdown the CFPB is certain to be challenged in the US District Court of the Washington DC District. This will be yet another US District Court case challenging the Executive branch power grab of Federal agencies. There are multiple ongoing cases that already have been triggered by Trump and his government reform czar, Elon Musk’s agency shutdowns. Other cases involve suits filed on behalf of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), created by Congress in 1961; the Department of Labor, created by Congress in 1913; Department of Treasury, in existence since 1789; the FBI, and Office of Personnel Management. These government agencies have been infiltrated by DOGE ‘special government employees’ who coercively removed Federal employees, locked them out of their offices with little or no warning, and then accessed their private identifiable information (PII) as well as the PII of American consumers.

Since its creation in 2011, the CFPB has refunded over $22 billion to consumers ripped off by corporate junk fees, unscrupulous lenders, mortgage company junk fees, excessive credit card interest rates and fees, which have trapped consumers in unfair “fine print” contract agreements.

Angered by the continuing and escalating work stoppages and agency shutdowns across Federal agencies, a Democratic Congressional delegation met outside the CFPB Monday night to condemn President Trump and Elon Musk for the latest agency takeover and shutdown.

The Monday night rally included key Democratic lawmakers such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Maxine Waters, and Representative Ayanna Pressley.

Senator Warren, who helped create the CFPB, questioned who was actually running the country, Trump or Musk. “Donald Trump ran his campaign on lowering costs for working families. Now he and his co-president, Elon Musk, have tried to shut down the agency that delivered $21 billion to hard working families…and Trump and Musk just want to take that agency away.”

There has been rallies each day last week outside other departments and agencies;
USAID on Monday, US Treasury on Tuesday, Department of Labor on Wednesday, Department of Education on Thursday as well as the US Capitol on behalf of USAID, and on Friday at NOAA.

On Sunday FETU 335 filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the separation of powers aspect of the constitution. “By ordering employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop work, the administration has unlawfully trampled the power of Congress to create a federal agency that it deemed necessary to protecting American consumers,” the FTEU 335 wrote in a press release.

The post Consumer Financial Watchdog Feds Bite Back Against Trump and Musk Shutdown appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—In an emergency request, attorneys general from 22 states petition US District Judge Jack McConnell to enforce a “clear and unambiguous” court order blocking Trump administration agencies from continuing a freeze on federal funds. The AGs accuse President Trump, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and several other federal agencies of not fully complying with a temporary restraining order issued on January 31.

The lawsuit stems from a memo issued by OMB directing all agencies to temporarily freeze all grants and loans, thus halting disbursements from the US Treasury and causing chaos nationwide. States were left in the lurch with critical services unfunded. Amid public outcry, lawsuits were filed. OMB then rescinded the memo just before a hearing to consider a temporary restraining order. The case appeared to be moot.

But when White House press secretary Katharine Leavitt caused confusion by announcing that the OMB memo hadn’t been rescinded after all, Judge McConnell wasn’t convinced that a restraining order wasn’t necessary. A court orderdirected the OMB to unfreeze funds until a preliminary injunction could be considered.

The AGs claim that “the situation hasn’t changed at all” in the week since the order was issued, even though it is in full force and effect. While some funding has resumed, the administration is not in compliance. The motion says that “overwhelming” evidence shows that the administration is selectively withholding funds appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—two of former President Biden’s major achievements–and programs addressing climate change.

But the Department of Justice (DOJ) contends that release of the funds is only paused because of operational and administrative delays, and they don’t constitute a violation. But plaintiffs argue that if they turned off funding all at once, they should be able to turn it back on without delay. The DOJ also argues that agencies not named as defendants in the lawsuit are not subject to the temporary restraining order.

A hearing on a preliminary injunction to keep the restraining order in place during court proceedings has yet to be scheduled.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees the performance of federal agencies, and administers the federal budget.

UPDATE 1600 EST, February 10, 2025:

The US District Court agreed that the Trump administration has improperly continued to freeze funds and granted the request for enforcement. If defendants fail to comply, they may be held in contempt of court.

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Washington DC—Federal workers and supporters demonstrated outside the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent government agency empowered with oversight of financial business conduct in the financial sector. Several hundred turned out Saturday morning with just hours’ notice over Elon Musk’s self-described Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) takedown of their agency the day before. The CFPB official government website went dark with a 404 message on Friday.

On Friday morning three young men escorted by security were videotaped entering the CFPB building which is located across the street from the Old Executive Mansion. Whether or not the three young men recorded entering the CFPB were associated with DOGE was not yet confirmed.

The CFPB Federal employees and National Treasury Employees Union 335 (NTEU), the union representing Federal employees of the U.S. Treasury and CFPB identified three DOGE employees were added to the CFPB staff directory on February 7, although they previously had no business with CFPB. NTEU identified the three “DOGE minions” by name in a press release on its website.

DOGE special government employees have been behind the blitzkrieg takeovers of agency after agency the last week, and have been dismantling long-running government institutions with breathtaking speed and damaging results. The DOGE takeovers have come so fast that it is difficult to keep up with the scope and consequences to the agencies that pump the regulatory blood and shepherd it through the administrative veins of the Federal government.

Last night the CFPB government website went dark and with it the access to millions of consumer complaint records maintained in its database. These records are crucial for attorneys to access to assist them build evidence in litigation against dishonest business behaviors, according to Phillip Robinson, a lawyer who spoke on a bullhorn to the protesters about the need for the CFPB to remain intact. Robinson defends consumers against dishonest financial businesses.

As a result of DOGE activities inside CFPB offices, Federal employees and National Treasury Employees Union 335 (NTEU) sprung into action outside CFPB to demand the DOGE self described ‘special government employees’ get out of their computer networks and out of work spaces.

Inside the lobby, locked thick glass doors and windows separated warmth and a lone security guard from 200 protesters standing in the bone biting cold. But the protesters were spirited as passing cars honked in support, their furious voice echoed of the glass of the CFPB and onto the face of the Old Executive Mansion. The guard sat impassively inside, quietly observing the protesters assembled outside. Inside the lobby an improvised hand-written sign reading ‘Trans Rights’ was taped to a desk facing towards the street. It’s message was obviously intended for Elon Musk for his stance against the Trans community.

CFPB: Only Government Agency Providing Financial Protection and Relief for Consumers

The CFPB is the only agency that provides oversight on dishonest businesses and returns money fraudulently taken from consumers through the courts. The CFPB was created in 2011 under authority of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Protection Act in response to the 2007/8 financial meltdown. It is a bureau of the Federal Reserve.

As of 2024, the CFPB had refunded or canceled abusive debt to 29 million consumers amounting to $19 billion.

An attorney who litigates cases against dishonest businesses spoke of how Friday’s CFPB takeover will hamper litigation against unfair business practices. Phillip Robinson, an attorney who works with Maryland Consumer said that the CFPB not only protects consumers but it also protects honest businesses following the laws and statutes because it holds dishonest businesses accountable.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn’t just protect consumers it protects honest businesses. The current administration wants dishonest businesses to have a competitive advantage over those that follow the law and I believe in the rule of law.”

Robinson told of how the CFPB helped him litigate cases against dishonest financial companies which had ripped off consumers. “The CFPB has protected Americans by returning monies that were stolen from them. It also protected honest businesses who didn’t cheat and didn’t cross the line.”

Robinson said no other agency was looking out for the financial wellbeing of consumers and honest businesses like the CFPB. “We need an agency that does this because no other agency in government protects honest businesses and consumers at the same time.”

The post Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Federal Workers Join Government Protests appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—Scores returned to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to demand removal of self-described “special government employees” working for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The group of computer software coders accessed the personnel files and computer networks hosting the records of millions of Federal employees.

It was the seventh day that Federal workers and supporters rallied outside the OPM, the administrative headquarters arm of the Federal Government. Upstairs on the fifth floor the windows overlooking the courtyard were covered with drapes to block any view of the ongoing activity within as night fell. Outside in the courtyard a line of police stood along the locked front entrance doors of the OPM.

Protesters chanted on bullhorns for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to leave their records alone and for DOGE employees to leave.

Holocaust Survivor warns U.S. has been on a fast track to fascism—and Fascism is here now.

Marione Oestreicher Ingram, who was born in 1935 and is a German-born civil rights activist and Holocaust survivor, joined the protest outside OPM Friday evening in support of Federal Workers. Her mother was Jewish and her father was German. Their family suffered from persecution at the hands of the Nazis during Hitler’s rise to power.

She said she had survived Germany under Hitler but many in her family were killed under fascism in Germany. She went to the OPM to warn those assembled there that the U.S. was just like 1930s Germany.

“I am here because what I see in America happening is 1930s Germany. We are now officially a Nazi America. We have a Hitler clone in the White House. He is across the board destroying everything America defeated.” (Video of Marione Ingram interview below.)

Ingram said she had survived Hitler and had survived the bombing of her city, Hamburg, Germany, the greatest firestorm any city had ever seen. She further said she had seen what the Klu Klux Klan did in Mississippi as an activist involved in the 1960s Civil Rights movement.

Her husband of 67 years, Daniel Ingram stood by her side watching intently as she spoke about how heartbroken she was to see recent events in the United States.

In speaking about the current conditions in the U.S. she said, “I am very very angry and I am distressed and I am to my soul sad beyond words.”

Marione Ingram is an author of several books, including ‘The Hands of War,’ and ‘The Hands of Peace.” She was involved in helping to set up a school in Mississippi in 1964.

DOGE activities are waylaying many functions of the Federal Government

Additional takeovers of various agencies and Departments of the Federal Government by surrogates connected to billionaire Elon Musk were reported throughout the day on Friday.

As the week has dragged on and agencies were taken over or shuttered altogether, the intent of Elon Musk’s hostile takeover came into beter focus. Certain agencies including the Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB), the Department of Education, and the Environment Protection Agency were taken over or continued to be taken over on Friday and may soon be shuttered like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was shuttered on Monday.

Some positive developments include several injunctions have stopped or delayed DOGE activities this week.

DOGE special government employees had new restricted imposed against them by Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Their access to certain financial disbursement accounts maintained by the Bureau of Fiscal Services of the U.S. Treasury was changed to “read only” and Judge Kollar-Kotelly restored account access to U.S. Treasury Federal employees.

A second injunction issued by Federal Judge George O’Toole, a senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, delayed the implementation of a reduction in force (RIF) program affecting over two million Federal workers until Monday, February 10 at the earliest..

But such injunctions may be too little or too late because many Federal Government systems are being accessed and deactivated by DOGE special government employees simultaneously.

For example The CFPB website was taken down and showing a 404 error as of Friday night, February 7.

Other Developments Across Washington DC on Friday

Meanwhile government agencies continued to be taken over and toppled like dominoes as a blitzkrieg of DOGE special government employee groups descended like corporate raiders to seize information from their computer systems.

NOAA Federal workers were locked out of their headquarters building on Friday.

The Consumer Finance Protection Board was accessed by DOGE special government employees who were escorted by special security in the morning on Friday. Several video recorded entry of three persons under security escort into the CFPB. They remained there into the night.

The CFPB website was taken down sometime on Friday.

Department of Education (DoE) was yet another arm of government reportedly under siege. A Democratic Congressional delegation including Maxine Waters and 30 other Democratic lawmakers and staff were blocked from entering the DoE. Security locked them out of the building when they tried to enter its main lobby.

The DoE website showed new initiatives underway in the DoE including eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Civil rights activists say that eliminating DEI language is itself coded language for racism, sexism, and bigotry.

Democrats also attempted unsuccessfully to enter the USAID building on Monday, the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday, The Department of Labor on Wednesday, and the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday. Trump has promised to close or permanently shutdown these arms of the government as outlined in Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation manifesto calling for the elimination of much of the Federal Government.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chair Ellen Weintraub received a letter from Trump on February 6, purportedly firing her but she refused to leave her position because the FEC is an independent agency, and her appointment falls under the purview of Congress not under the purview of the Executive Branch. She said that she would not leave until Congress appointed a new Chair to the FEC.

The post Holocaust Survivor Warns Trump and Musk Threaten U.S. Republic appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—Federal Judge George O’Toole, a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, has blocked the implementation of a reduction in force (RIF) program affecting over two million Federal workers.

The dubious offer from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a deferred resignation first offered on January 28, was set to expire on Thursday, 6 February, just hours after the Court’s injunction.

Judge O’Toole, a President Clinton era appointee, ruled for an extension until at least Monday, February 10 to give parties a chance to weigh in with their legal arguments on the merits of the case.

This injunction at least temporarily stops the OPM from taking any further employment actions with Federal employees from departments and agencies across the Federal government.

Over 40,000 Federal employees have opted so far to take the deferred resignation, according to a press release from the White House.

We will update this fast developing story as new details are learned.

6:00 pm update February 6, 2025

Federal Judge restores temporary access to U.S. Treasury Payments System while restricting DOGE access to “read only”

Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a temporary restraining order restricting access to payment records maintained in the Bureau of Fiscal Services (U.S. Treasury) to “read only” for two special government employees of DOGE. The order further restores full access to regular U.S. Treasury employees exercising their official duties.

The injunction severely limits DOGE control over $6 trillion in transactions at tge U.S. Treasury.

The case was brought by the Alliance for Retired Americans against Scott Bessent the New Secretary of the Treasury appointed by Trump, on behalf of millions of retirees affected by the U.S. Treasury takeover by DOGE. Over 90% of Federal Government transactions are handled by the Bureau of Fiscal Services.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1997.

Federal Personnel File Database Access Goes Offline For Some Agencies

The personnel files of Federal employees of some agencies were removed from access earlier today. The Standard Form-50 (SF-50) is known as the Report of Personnel Action, and the official record of Federal employees’ career history. The records are stored in the human resource files of Federal employees. Removing or restricting access to these forms is comparable to removing a person’s Social Security account or removing their doctor’s or dentist’s medical or dental records.

The SF-50s record the date and approval authority for key milestones in a Federal employee’s career. They record hire dates, promotions, pay increases, bonuses, step increases, job title changes, merit awards, retirement, or end of employment dates.

It is not known why the SF-50s were permanently removed or temporarily blocked from employee access. The Federal employees opting to take the deferred resignation and/or who have decided to retire require access to these records to track their status in the Federal system.

The post Crisis in Federal Government: Judge Blocks Federal Employee RIF Actions appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—A deadline for public servants to resign from Federal service is set to expire Thursday, Feb. 6 as the effects of a hostile takeover of government operations became even more apparent. Details of the takeover of government agencies by handfuls of Elon Musk’s surrogates has also been spreading by word of mouth among federal employees.

As of Wednesday only 20,000 federal workers had accepted Elon Musk’s email option to resign. But an attorney who works at an agency of the federal government said the “Fork in the road” email lacked the detail commonly found in employment agreements and further expressed doubt that the email could be legally enforced. The attorney spoke on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people rallied at the Department of Labor Wednesday afternoon at 3pm to preempt a meeting planned to take place at 4pm that day between sénior federal workers and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) surrogates. DOGE is actually not an official department or an agency because it has not been officially created by Congress.

The protesters outside the Department of Labor were boisterous and it was clear from the mood of the hundreds assembled there that DOGE surrogates would not be welcome and would have difficulty entering the Francis Perkins Building, headquarters of the Department of Labor.

The protesters were themselves blocked from getting close to the entrances of the Department of Labor building by a line of police. Yet it was plainly obvious that the Federal employees were angry their jobs were on the line. (Video of Department of Labor protests here)

The in-person meeting between representatives from Elon Musk’s stand-up DOGE group was preempted, according to three Labor Department staff members.

DOGE email ‘Fork In The Road’ offer expires tomorrow, February 6

The email was sent to every Federal worker on January 28 with a subject line “Fork In The Road,” but was not at first taken seriously. It was later updated several times with amended email containing questions and clarifying answers raised among supposed anonymous Federal employees.

At first it was impossible to tell whether or not the Human Resource account from which the email was sent was official because it was so unlike any communication Federal employees had received before. Previous changes to employment conditions or to job requirements were vetted along strict guidelines and delegated to departments or agencies human resources teams for clarifying questions and legal review. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issues such personnel actions in specific formats using special forms which are approved under a strict delegation process through human resource channels. The DOGE email lacked all of the typical policy guidelines of regulated personnel actions.

In this way a personnel action could be reviewed to verify it met legal thresholds of an enforceable contract. The email itself was not signed and it lacked the basic legal details of a typical government document, according to a Federal human resources attorney.

A copy of the deferred resignation email was published on the OPM website which itself has been completely removed or redesigned here.

Update Of Other Developments Wednesday, 5 Feb 2025. What We Know So Far:

—

NASA Dragged Into DEI Language Purge

— NASA workers were told to drop all their regular work projects to immediately begin removing all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) references from their websites and internal documentation.

USAID Rally Grows, Continues For A Second Day

—The U.S. Agency for International Development Federal workers and supporters rallied again but this time outside the US Capitol where there was more room to assemble. The protest grew significantly by thousands after the USAID website was taken down and went dark. Additionally all USAID personnel abroad were abruptly suspended from working further on any project and ordered to leave their host countries this week. Contractors were fired by the thousands.

Protests continued outside the U.S. Treasury building again today. The rally was spurred by a handful of DOGE surrogates accessing disbursement accounts which control the flow of over $6 Trillion annually.

The protests are seeming to gain more support as additional Federal workers begin to join the swelling ranks of angry public servants in the streets of the Nation’s Capital.

CIA Agents names transmitted over unclassified email server.

— CIA agents were offered a deferred resignation letter today. The intent of the offer was to reduce the CIA workforce.

A list of the partial names of the CIA agents hired in the last two years was transmitted over an unclassified network to the White House, potentially exposing who the agents are to the public or worse, to adversaries abroad. CIA agent name lists are some of the most closely guarded national intelligence, at least up until today.

NOAA—DOGE surrogates accessed agency IT systems Tuesday

— A published report in Axios confirmed DOGE surrogates gained access to the IT systems at National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supposedly to determine what employees were responsible for DEI initiatives.

NOAA is the agency responsible for tracking weather, conducts climate and global heating measurements and studies, and hosts global warming statistical reports and stories on its website. The agency has published reports from studies its scientists have  undertaken for decades.

Trump has challenged NOAA reports of climate and global heat and downplayed, or has dismissed them altogether as fake reporting.

Climate change and global warming are serious issues confronting the environment, and affect every region country, and continent. According to scientists the global temperature average will exceed an increase of 2.0 degrees centigrade before the end of 2050.

Accessing the databases of NOAA and removing reports on climate, increased global heat, and its effect on the planet would be a devastating loss of vital information on this subject.

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Washington DC— If you’re following the breakdown of internal government operations in the Nation’s Capital, and you’re having a hard time keeping up with the breathtaking pace of events, you’re not alone.

Confusion and chaos continued to swirl through the functioning apparatus of the U.S. Government Tuesday morning as additional reports surfaced of department closures and personnel lockouts. These reports were coming from many sources and involve virtually all departments and agencies.

There is still much that is not clear and much more partially known that is difficult to clarify. What is clear is Elon Musk and small teams of his surrogates, which have no constitutional authority, or at the very least, lack the normal legal permissions to enter or access secured government buildings and classified computer systems, are hard-hammering and rendering inoperable vital functions of the Federal government.

Their actions come usually without warning and without an official announcement and cause immediate chaos.

But within the chaos and disorderly takeover and takedown of multiple operations a sort of logic is beginning to emerge: anything or anyone posing a threat to the Trump-Musk-DOGE triumvirate is being disabled or cut out of the government machinery altogether.

Objectives contained in the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 manifesto outlines the RIFs of most of Federal employee workforce and elimination of certain agencies altogether, which Elon Musk is steadily implementing.

What we know so far:

FBI: (Removal of Special Agents)

Special Agents having connection with the investigations of Trump’s removal of dozens of boxes of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago in 2021, and the subsequent Special Prosecutor’s investigation report; as well as Special Agent involvement into the investigation of the January 6 insurrection, are being removed from the FBI workforce.

Tuesday afternoon the Agents filed a class action suit against the U.S. Department of Justice with the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. The introduction portion of the class action suit reads,

“Plaintiffs are currently employed agents and/or employees of the FBI, who, during the course of their duties worked on, or participated in the investigation of persons suspected of criminal activity related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol building (“the Jan. 6 attack” or “Jan. 6 cases”) at the behest of Donald Trump, and/or the unlawful removal,
retention and storage of classified documents by Mr. Trump (hereinafter “Mar-a-Lago case”). ”

A link to the full brief is here.

Social Security Administration:

The Social Security Website was down temporarily, and Social Security checks were not being processed on Tuesday.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM):

Retirement Processing group has been let go. Retirement applications are not being processed for the Federal workforce.

USAID: Entire USAID workforce has been locked out of their offices as of Monday morning. The Agency is to be subsumed by the Department of Justice. On Monday morning also, disbursement of funding for foreign programs abroad was shutdown.

Department of Education:

A team representing DOGE, the self-appointed fake government department created by Musk, has entered the Department of Education and accessed the records of millions of students receiving special assistance.

Federal Workers Continue to Receive Changes to Reduction in Force warnings 

Federal workers received more clarity in email updates with subject line “Fork in the Road”. The deadline to accept the offer by typing “Resign” in a response email remains at February 6, Thursday of this week. However the guidelines keep changing in updates to the “Fork In The Road” email. The original period of payment of wages and benefits was set to expire on September 30, the end of the fiscal year. In the last few days it was shortened to March 14. This is because the Continuing Resolution (CR) agreement between political parties of the House-to keep government operations running will expire on March 15 and since the House of Representatives is locked in a dispute over whether the President is acting within his constitutional authority regarding the actions of Elon musk, it is likely the CR will expire before an agreement is completed. An agreement must be in place to further fund government operations, including Federal employee pay.

Minority Speaker Hakim Jeffries has signaled he will not cooperate with Republican lawmakers on a budget agreement or a new CR if they do not respect or restore previously approved Congressional funding on all programs. The present CR is slated to expire on 14 March 2025. The CR is a procedural agreement between political parties that ensures government funding will remain in place even though the House of Representatives does not complete a Federal budget agreement by the deadline.

USAID: There was a cash crunch at USAID as $50 million in overdue invoices from November and December 2024 have not been paid. This has caused layoffs and work stoppages for contractors which have already paid for work performed and have not been themselves paid outstanding invoices from USAID. This has in turn resulted in layoffs, furloughs, and stop work orders at USAID. Government invoices are paid within 60 to 90 days after work is certified and completed.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) website went dark as of today. Portions of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) website have been removed.

Rally of Federal Workers at U.S. Treasury Draws Thousands 

Federal workers rallied at the Department of Treasury at 5 pm on February 4 over Elon Musk’s unauthorized seizure of disbursement accounts and illegal lockout of Federal employees there and across the Federal bureaucracy.

Senators and Representatives decried the unauthorized access and the seizure of systems and data and encouraged the American people to mobilize against the actions taking place in the halls of government.

See video of rally below.

Update 9:00 pm, February 2025

Axios is reporting 20,000 Federal workers have accepted the resignation letter and opted to quit. This is a mere 1% of the Federal workforce and far below the number of public servants Elon Musk had hoped would resign.

Thee Project 2025 plan calls for a reduction of 75% of the Federal workforce in the first year.

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Washington DC—Dozens of Federal workers took to the sidewalks and streets outside administrative offices and departments for a third day as a five-alarm fire continued raging through government operations. That fire was lit by billionaire Elon Musk as he deployed surrogates inside multiple agencies throughout the U.S. Government to seal off offices and upend normal operations. His actions over the last week were with the consent of President Trump and were effectively dismantling normal government operations from within its own walls.

Key employees in certain departments were locked out of central computer systems at U.S. Treasury, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FBI, and USAID. Lockouts were also reported occurring at the Department of Education and Department of Justice. Other agency Federal employees were reporting similar actions taken and passed their personal experiences to DCMediaGroup on the condition of anonymity. Many were reluctant to speak out for fear of retribution but urged the public to call their Congressional representatives and Senators for support.

International Agency for International Development (USAID) Offices Illegally Closed by Musk

Outside the U.S. International Agency for International Development (USAID), several hundred Federal workers rallied outside their office which is located at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building on Monday at Noon. Over the weekend or before then, Elon Musk surrogates illegally entered and locked down their offices, took over the servers, and began taking down the website pages. This was reported by USAID officials from within its offices. Senator Tom Holland (D-MD) and Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-MD) along with Don Beyer (D-VA) said the actions taken by Musk were illegal and unconstitutional. They spoke outside USAID offices during a press conference Monday at noon.

Federal workers were shocked and saddened when they suddenly learned this morning by email they should not report to work because their offices were locked and their building access credentials were disabled. Many stood outside during the press conference barely able to comprehend their role in the unfolding U.S. Government crisis. Some of the workers hugged each other while some cried in each other’s arms.

Many USAID workers have been working on projects with the Congressionally created agency for their entire career.

The USAID Federal workers did not know if they would still have employment in the following days. It was reported that USAID would now fall under the control of the U.S. Department of State, however no such Congressional approval had taken place.

USAID is a government agency established by Congress in 1961, and later that year was approved by President John Kennedy. For 6 decades it has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance to promote global well-being, assist the economic growth, and improve living conditions in developing countries. Some of its many programs include developing strategies to fight pandemics and disease, providing family assistance, and infrastructure projects such as bridge construction, water treatment plants, and schools.

Kristina Drye, a speech writer, who was locked out of her office and up until Monday morning, worked at USAID, said that democratic principles promoted around the world were under attack and called on Congressional leadership to intervene. She further said that loss of such democratic principles would directly harm millions in developing countries worldwide who depend upon the assistance provided from USAID to help their nations. “People would die,” she said as a result of having funds shut off.

USAID has provided aid for decades to developing nations dealing with world issues, including conflicts, refugees, infrastructure development, disease and pandemic intervention programs, family development and assistance, food assault and many other programs. Drye said that USAID was responsible for using less than 1% of the part of the budget allocated for discretionary spending. In comparison, the Department of Defense is allocated nearly 57% of the budget for discretionary spending.

Update: 7 pm February 3. U.S. Department of State Marco Rubio said that USAID would fall under the supervision of the Department of State. However there was no approval from Congress to transfer control of the agency to the Department of State.

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Nearly 100 Federal employees took part in a protest now into its second day of a takeover by Elon Musk surrogates of the high administration arm of the Federal government. Photo: DCMediaGroup

Washington DC—Federal employees and supporters returned to the main Federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) building today in much greater numbers to continue protesting an incursion into its sprawling computer network by a team of Elon Musk’s computer surrogates.

About 100 Federal employees and supporters occupied the courtyard of the OPM building for most of Sunday afternoon and into the evening. For a brief period they blocked the doors to the building when a handful of self-identified ‘data miners’ waited to be admitted to the building. The small group of young men eventually left without entering after the protesters would not let them near the front doors. A team of DC Metropolitan Police stood nearby watching but did not intervene in the spontaneous doorway block. There was no  attempt by the self-identified group to get past the doors and the doors remained locked from the inside.

Federal employees and supporters privately expressed deep anger and concern after learning that Elon Musk’s surrogates had gained access to the OPM building, revoked regular Federal employees’ authorized access credentials, and denied them login privileges into the personnel computer systems. As of late Sunday night the surrogates continued to lock Federal employees out of the systems while they accessed the systems.

There is no way to determine what they are doing with the systems or its vast trove of databases and information which records the personnel actions across the entire Federal government.

These personnel systems and databases house the business accounts and personal information of over 2 million former and presently active Federal employees, their personnel data, work history, job information, payroll records, and retirement benefits and information.

A massive intrusion of this scale taken against a system of secure government computer networks is unprecedented.

Similar activities by Elon Musk’s surrogates were reported at the U.S. Treasury and at USAID. Federal employees were denied login privileges into their systems while unauthorized persons connected to Elon Musk accessed key software, accounts, and databases.

The entire management and administrative arm of the Federal government files and accounts have been effectively captured and taken over by Musk’s surrogates and could conceivably be further accessed further by unknown unauthorized third parties or entities.

While a half dozen protesters blocked the doors the remaining group chanted slogans and heckled Musk’s surrogates inside who periodically looked down on the protesters from the windows of the fifth floor.

They chanted, “There’s a robbery in progress! Stop the steal!” and “No Oligarchs No king!.”

But the protesters laughed and relaxed the tension at least for at a few moments when one of them coined the phrase, “No Elon, no coup, no fascist shiba inu!” (Video below)

The shiba inu is a meme reference to a Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a fake government department which was not authorized by an act of Congress. Musk is recognized as the creator of this department to oversee the reduction in force (RIF) initiative of up to what may be removal of as much as 80% of the regular Federal employee workforce.

Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation manifesto written to outline a complete overhaul of the Federal government lists RIF of public servants and near complete elimination and replacement of its role in civil society.

The shiba inu dog is also the visual image on the DOGE meme coin, an intrinsically worthless cryptocurrency which Elon Musk began backing and supporting by recommending it as a worthy token sometime after developers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer created the cryptocurrency as a joke in 2013.

Towards the end of the night a security guard from the OPM came outside to lower the American and DC flags. One of the protesters questioned him about his role as a secretary guard if he was allowing un-credentialed third parties into the building to access commuter systems. He said he was just doing his job.

The OPM protests are planned to continue all next week as public interest has rapidly grown to do something about the unprecedented seizure and physical takeover and control of the administrative functions of the various departments of the Federal government.

We will continue to cover this story as developments occur.

Update: February 3, 0400 EST (4 am)

Several protesters who stayed late into the night keeping an eye on the OPM building doors watched as two people entered a service portal at the west side of the building after hours at approximately 2100 EST (9 pm).

There would typically be no official Federal employees entering the building at such late hours on a Sunday evening/Monday morning; certainly not using a portal to enter the OPM building. A witness said they left OPM to pick up food from a delivery request.

The witness, who is reporting their observations at OPM from an Bluesky account @MissMouse (missmouse.bsky.social) has been releasing video clips of the OPM activities and Federal employee protests since Sunday afternoon.

A group calling itself Shutdown DC is organizing daily protests around the OPM building starting Monday afternoon and plans a continuing presence outside the OPM building.

We will continue to update major developments of Elon Musk’s administrative takeover of the Federal government departments and agencies as these developments occur.

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Washington DC—A handful of Federal employees demonstrated against billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of the top Federal government administrative building on Saturday afternoon. They said their protest was spurred by the unauthorized breach of their data and financial information by surrogates working for Elon Musk. The operatives locked authorized Federal workers out of access to their computer systems and forced access to the government computer systems. The surrogates are associated with the billionaire’s corporations and are in his closest corporate circle.

Federal employees chanted, “ Hands off our data, hands off our money!”, “Six Trillion, you can’t have it!” and “No body voted for Elon Musk!” Meanwhile, five floors above them lights remained lit on the Saturday afternoon while several unidentified persons watched the protesters from the windows above.

The few employees said it was self-evident that the billionaire was the master planner orchestrating the actions inside the Theodore Rosevelt administration Office of Personnel Management (OPM). His actions were not close to resembling anything like the orderly and traditional transfer of government power from one elected executive to the next. The activities inside the OPM resembled an administrative coup of government operations they said.

Their signs read, “Democracy not Oligarchy, “ Save OPM,” “Hostile Takeover,” and “Democracy Died in Complacency.” The signs are references to Musk’s actions at OPM.

The Federal employees, who wished not to be identified, expressed anger and frustration that the stunning breach of security of computer information was authorized by Trump. The employees were themselves required to undergo extensive background investigations and be thoroughly credentialed before gaining access to even the most basic information systems. Such investigations and credentialing requirements take months to complete before access is approved with requirements for periodic additional credentialing.

The OPM building is located in a sleepy Federal office building zone in Northwest Washington DC at 1900 E. Street NW, and has rarely, if ever seen protests, at least by its own public servants.

According to published report by Reuters and widely reported elsewhere in major news websites, as well as reports circulating generally among Federal members’ offices, Musk’s associates were not granted official government credentials and had not been issued the typical government identification badges and security access permissions connecting them to access of OPM. They bypassed all layers of security at the OPM office spaces and connected external computer drives to the entire trove of government employee information. They set up couches and worked around the clock to access data without oversight. This data includes but is not limited to email accounts, personal identification information (PII), financial records, evaluations, work history, retirement data, and assessment reports.

A published report established that the same type of activity was unfolding elsewhere in Federal government departments, including at the U.S. Treasury, where yet other surrogates of Elon Musk had also gained access to the central money disbursement accounts. Such accounts are managed at the highest levels of government security and control the payment of $6 trillion annually in Social Security, Medicare, Federal worker pay, IRS tax refunds, and government contracts. The accounts are the working spigot of Congressionally authorized disbursements.

David Lebryk, the top Treasury career manager responsible for access to the accounts, reportedly clashed with Elon Musk’s operatives as he tried to stop their breach of U.S. Treasury accounts but he was escorted out of his office and his access was revoked.

There remains a question as to whether or not the president has the constitutional authority to take any role in the U.S. Treasury account operation or seize access to the account, lock out the designated manager, and delegate authority to an unelected external third party.

The OPM building itself stands as the central hub of Federal Government administrative operations and houses a vast computer array and links to the most sensitive PII data of millions of Federal employees, both past and present.

Up to this moment, the OPM has been the most continuously stable pilar of government operations; not subject to the periodic transition of personnel as occurs in the changeover of elected branches of governance—the Executive, Legislature, and High Court. All the practical operations of government and the authority at OPM is delegated by Congress and put into operation at the OPM. But the stability of this pilar is being shaken at its foundation as PII access and control points are breached by the billionaire’s surrogates.

It is questionable as to the constitutionality of said actions and as to whether or not the Executive branch has been vested the authority to wrestle control of and take over the administrative arm of the government and then delegate control to an unelected third party, Elon Musk.

The Federal employees told of how earlier in the week they were confused and later angry after they received a suspicious series of email from an account identified as the official OPM. The email was sent to every Federal employee with the subject line, “Fork in the Road,” and spurred a government human resource crisis. It offered to cancel their return to regular work offices with 8 months pay and benefits under the condition they reply with one word “Resign,” to end their employment. It was part of certain reductions in force (RIF) slated to come later on under a plan to reduce the Federal service workforce by 80%. The email did not tell when the RIFs would occur, but vaguely implied they could be given 8 months of pay and vacation but they must respond to the message with a one word “resign” not later than February 6. Legal analysts said the agreement was not legally binding and employees would be tricked and trapped if they took the deal.

The suspicious nature of the email created instant chaos in the minutes after it was sent as managers in agencies across the government scrambled to determine if it was legitimate. OPM had not previously issued such a vague and sweeping notice directly to its public servants.

An email titled “Fork in the road,” was a mimic of a previously sent email from Elon Musk to Twitter employees in November 2022 after he purchased the media platform and then terminated most of the twitter workforce. They were also asked to take a severance offer; were not paid as promised after they took the offer; and were then later forced to seek payment in court.

In a speech before Congress, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said Federal employees should ignore the email offer from Musk and called it bogus and urged non-compliance.

Federal workers vowed to return to protest again on Sunday.

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Washington DC—Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier on January 20, just minutes before his term was set to expire. It was one of his last official acts as President.

Leonard Peltier was convicted 47 1/2 years ago for the killing two FBI agents in June 1975 during a raid on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. But many questions remain unanswered about the legality of the evidence submitted against him during his trial. Indigenous groups and supporters have maintained and championed his innocence since his trial conviction in 1977.

The commuted sentence is an act of clemency but not a full pardon. It forgives a sentence or a portion of a sentence and it does not restore one’s civil rights. A pardon both forgives a sentence and cleans the criminal record while restoring full civil rights of citizenship. Peltier will have to stay in home detention to serve what remains of his sentence. A full pardon would have afforded Leonard Peltier full civil rights and freedoms of any citizen.

The Presidential Certificate of Commutation was issued, in part, by the urging of the U.S. Attorney who oversaw his prosecution during his trial and appeal. It was also supported by many advocacy groups, the Dalai Lama, and indigenous tribes both here and abroad. It reads:

The President is commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison. This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes.

Mr. Peltier is a Native American activist who is currently serving life in prison for killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and escaping from federal prison. Tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials (including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Mr. Peltier’s prosecution and appeal), dozens of lawmakers, and human rights organizations strongly support granting Mr. Peltier clemency, citing his advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison.”

Leonard Peltier Advocated For Indigenous Justice and Restoration of Lands Illegally Taken

Leonard Peltier is an enrolled citizen of the is Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He is an indigenous activist and was involved in the American Indian Movement (AIM) which fought for restoration of land rights and indigenous peoples freedoms as provided in the Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. It was the deliberate abrogation of this and subsequent treaties and other agreements signed between the U.S. Government and Indigenous leaders which led to the eventual formation of AIM.

He advocated for the social justice of his people and cared for the impoverished members of his community. He was co-owner of an automobile repair shop in Seattle where customers who were unable to afford costly repairs could get discounted rates or free services for repairs. The shop also provided a halfway house for those recovering from substance abuse.

He joined AIM in 1972 to help the indigenous movement fight for civil rights. In June 1975 he was at the Pine Ridge Reservation as a part of AIM to help in efforts to restore peace between political factions on the reservation.

Evidence In Trial of Shootout At Piney Ridge Reservation Woefully Inadequate

On June 25, 1975, two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams went to the Pine Ridge Reservation in unmarked cars wearing civilian clothes to serve a warrant to another person, Jimmy Eagle, who was at Jumping Bull’s ranch. Jimmy Eagle was a suspect in another crime which took place previously. A shootout resulted in the two FBI agents being wounded and another member of AIM being killed. About the time of the shootout, another car pulled up to the scene and a passenger got out, according to a statement from Peltier to Peter Kroft for a 60 Minutes interview in 1992. During the interview Peltier said he was not the person who killed the FBI agents. Kroft pressured him to tell who was but he said he “was not a rat” and would not name the person who actually shot and killed the FBI agents. Peltier has always maintained he did not kill the FBI agents. He also admitted to being involved in the shootout.

One of the glaring facts of Peltier’s trial is not so much the evidence presented against him but the evidence necessary for a conviction that was not presented. The shell casings of Peltier’s rifle did not match those found near the slain FBI agents. The shell casings left in the trunk of the car where the agents were killed at point blank range were not from Peltier’s rifle.

A published report in Navajo Nation outlined inconsistencies with trial evidence and irregularities with jury selection which under today’s trial standards whould have been sufficient grounds to grant Leonard Peltier a new trial. Even under later trial standards there was adequate opportunity for subsequent administrations to order a new review of his case.

“Kevin Sharp [Peltier’s attorney] points out that judicial review of cases was different in 1977 than it is today. Ruled inadmissible at the time, the jury in Peltier’s trial never heard about the relevant underlying tensions between factions at Pine Ridge Reservation leading up to AIM followers being invited there. There was hidden exculpatory evidence, which normally would have been cause for a new trial. One member of the jury admitted a prejudice against Native Americans and was, nonetheless, permitted to serve as a juror in Peltier’s case. The jury didn’t know Myrtle Poor Bear had falsified her witness affidavit. They also didn’t know that ballistic experts could not match shell casings in the trunk of the shot-at FBI agent’s car to Peltier’s rifle. Further, misconduct on the part of the FBI never prompted another trial. Rebuking former FBI Director Louis Freeh for opposing executive clemency, former Attorney General Janet Reno under President Bill Clinton never called to question the prosecutorial misconduct in Peltier’s case.”

Commutation Came Far Too Late

The trial and conviction of Leonard Peltier will forever be counted among the injustices waged against Indigenous peoples of this country. The commutation of Leonard Peltier’s sentence came when it was most convenient for the outgoing administration to sign it. Joe Biden could have signed it years ago but political pressure made it an unpopular act and he delayed it until the very last minute. The FBI has always been opposed to clemency for Leonard Peltier.

The breaking news report that Peltier’s sentence had been commuted, diverted for at least a moment, the rapt media attention on the ugly line dance of oligarch sycophants kissing the ring of the one who would be king for the nation’s 60th presidential inauguration.

Leonard Peltier is in ill health the result of nearly 50 years held in maximum confinement facilities and denial of adequate healthcare. He can barely walk and he uses a wheelchair. He has diabetes and he has suffered a stroke. He can barely speak. He may never get full rights and freedoms restored to him but he will be surrounded and supported by close family members caring for him during his last years. And that is at least some measure of security and closure for he and his family and those who fought for decades for his release.

In his journal written while imprisoned and published in 1999, “My Life Is A Sundance,” he wrote: “Innocence has a single voice that can only say over and over again, ‘I didn’t do it.’ Guilt has a thousand voices, all of them lies.”

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Washington DC—Tens of thousands from a coalition of hundreds of groups rallied and marched through downtown Washington DC in opposition to the incoming president and his agenda on the eve of his second inauguration, Saturday. It was the same president and agenda they rallied and marched against on the eve of his first inauguration in 2017.

Their issues and rallying cries were plainly written on their signs and were as evident in their voices as they echoed off the granite walls of the office buildings they passed. They paused frequently and when they passed the windows at the seat of power in the White House and Old Executive Mansion their voices rose there as well. But with inauguration weekend at hand and many government officials having already cleared out their offices there were few to hear them. (video of People’s March 2025)

The throngs of protesters were swarmed by scores of reporters and independent media influencers often tripping up their pace and stopping their progress. As many as 100,000 marched proving that their will to resist is strong and they remained determined to resist against the incoming president’s agenda to strip more individual rights and diminish any more norms of democratic government.

The People’s March 2025 looked and felt just like the women’s march of 2017 only this time it was comparatively much smaller and those gathered were therefore able to form columns and navigate through the streets. In 2017 nearly a million, by some estimates, were crowded in such a concentrated mass of humanity onto the National Mall that it was impossible for them to effectively form any column or organize a march anywhere through the city.

The People’s March 2025 was certainly not as big as the historic Women’s March of 2017 but it didn’t need to be to prove its point. What it lacked in numbers was offset by a resolve to resist. And they demonstrated that there was plenty for them to resist.

This inauguration year there were many carrying homemade signs and banners with the similar words and messages, and voices echoing the same chants as in 2017. “I can’t believe I have to do this again,” read one, “Resist,” read another, “No King,” read yet another.

The People’s March 2025 will not go down in history as epic march compared with the historic marches of the past. But it does signify the beginning of what is likely to be a contentious period of resistence in Washington DC.

Many wore embroidered pink pussy hats and carried signs about access to reproductive healthcare as they did in 2017. Other sign texts ruminated the climate emergency, buoyed the Black Lives Matter Movement, demanded passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) (it already has gained enough States’ legislative approvals to be enacted), demanded protections for the rights of the LGBTQ community and immigrants not fully made citizens, and many other groups.

The People’s March 2025 demonstrates that there are still many concerned about the direction this country is going. There is deep-rooted dissatisfaction with rulings from the Supreme Court, excessive expenditures of defense spending while education and social programs suffer, and the signage of the People’s March 2025 reflect those issues and more. The incoming administration has centered the interests of the billionaire class as many of the new president’s political nominees are ultra wealthy and billionaires. The billionaire class has bought into and infused itself throughout government and that does not bid well for anyone—left leaning or right, according to Senator Bernie Sanders.

The resistence has tasted Trumpism before and spat it out then. It watched the MAGA party meltdown and its assault of the U.S. Capitol during an insurrection in 2021 yet it kept its cool and held itself together. The incoming president squirmed and slid out of three trials and certain findings of guilt and the resistance again remained calm. On January 6, 2025 the resistence did not break into and raid the U.S. Capitol when the president won a hotly contested campaign, unlike his followers did. The resistance is therefore ready and able to spat out Trumpism and oligarchy yet again this time around.

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Washington DC—Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States and oldest surviving former Chief Executive, died today at age 100. He served as President from from January 1977 to January 1981. He was Governor of Georgia from 1971-1975 and served as Georgia State Senator from 1963-1967. He married his lifetime partner, Rosalynn Smith in 1946, a union lasting 76 years. Rosalynn Carter preceded him on November 19, 2023.

Jimmy Carter was a Naval Academy Midshipman studying Nuclear Engineering from 1943 to 1946 and a graduate in the class of 1947. He accepted an accelerated commission due to WWII. He went on to serve aboard the USS Submarine Sandwolf. He served in the Navy until 1953 and he was awarded the WWII Victory Medal and Dolphin insignia. He resigned his commission and returned to Georgia to help his father run his peanut busness.

His Administration replaced the Gerald Ford Administration, which overlapped and followed the tumultuous Nixon and Watergate period. His Presidency was seen as a revitalization of trust in government and a break from a troubled time of steep erosion in public trust of the Executive Branch which preceded his administration.

Once in office, his vision was to enact secure ethics standards throughout government and in the Executive Branch to reestablish trust in Oval Office decisions. His policies laid the ethics bedrock in governmental affairs across its agencies for decades to come.

On his second day in office he kept a campaign promise by granting an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of Vietnam “draft dodgers,” many of which had fled to Canada to avoid certain combat service in Vietnam. His Executive Order granted them amnesty and honorable discharges under what became known as the ‘Carter Program’ but such Veterans were permanently locked out of Veterans benefits for being absent without leave and in desertion during wartime. Many Veterans groups opposed the move because it forgave thousands who abandoned their responsibilities during the Vietnam War. But had it not been for his Executive Order, thousands of Veterans would not have been able to reassimilate into their communities after the unpopular war ended.

Up to that point pardons were available to Vietnam Veterans who fled service under the Ford program. Pardons under Ford were contingent upon voluntary civil service of some amount of months based upon the length of absence from military service but under the Carter Program pardoned Veterans received clemency without requiring voluntary civil service.

While in office he brokered the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978, a 12-day marathon of secret meetings between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. A pair of agreements laid the groundwork for a lasting peace agreement between Israel and Egypt and ended a 3 decades’ long military standoff that elluded five Presidents before him. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize later that year for their peace agreement.

The Camp David agreements generated controversy however, because Palestinian leaders were not consulted or included in the negotiations during the 12-day accords. The occupied Palestinian territories were not guaranteed sovereignty in the Camp David agreement.

Jimmy Carter was environmentally minded, perhaps the most “green“ minded president who has served. He convinced Congress to pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to protect 104 million acres of Alaska wilderness. He signed it into law on December 2, 1980. The remote refuge would protect wildlife for future generations. In recent years the refuge was thrown into controversy as attempts were made to build a road through it. In May 2022, he filed an amicus brief in the dispute and in opposition to developing the land.

Economic Challenges Trouble Carter Administration 

His presidency was not without controversy. Inflation and unemployment undermined the economy during his administration. OPEC raised oil prices and growing U.S. demand caused gasoline shortages. At that time the U.S. was importing 40% of its energy needs. Economic difficulties resulted in what he called a “crisis in confidence.” On July 14, 1979, he laid out plans for energy independence in a speech to the nation about energy and inflation. His plan to reduce reliance on imported oil would soon be preempted by another crisis in Iran: the overthrow of the Shah and the U.S. Embassy takeover.

Bridge of Turquoise—Desert of Despair

On November 4, 1979, Iranian students raided the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 hostages, beginning a 444 day standoff lasting until the very last minutes of his Presidency. Up to 1979 the U.S. and Iran shared mutual interests in global influence. Shah Reza Pahlavi, the king of Iran, sought to become a regional military power. The U.S. traded military equipment for oil in an agreement which elevated the Shah to the 5th most influential country with billions in military projects. In return Iran provided discounted oil to the U.S. and gave the U.S. a close ally in the Middle East.

The Shah was overthrown in early 1979 as popular discontent rose against him among the middle class, On February 2, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had been living in exile in France, returned to Iran, and soon unseated over 25 years of American influence in the region. This undermined the security of thousands of U.S. and other foreign workers in Iran.

The hostage crisis was triggered days after the Shah, Reza Pahlavi was granted access to healthcare in New York City for cancer treatment. This incident led to the students taking over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, an event that would eventually lead to President Carter’s political downfall.

The U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran enraged the American public. President Carter sought a negotiated settlement with the release of U.S. Embassy petitions, but the students agreed to the release only Women and Black Americans in the early months of the standoff because of their minority status. As Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and subsequently to power in 1979, relations between the U.S. and Iran deteriorated and tensions over the hostage crisis made it seemingly unsolvable.

Throughout this crisis Carter worked patiently with his National Security Advisor Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński to broker a release of the hostages through diplomatic channels, appealing to the UN and even the World Court for help. But the hostages were not released. The anger from voters would rise until the election in 1980.

Carter authorized a secret military rescue plan called Eagle Claw, which conceived a special operations group from all the branches of the military that eventually became known as the Delta Force. The mission ended tragically in the desert on April 24, 1980, when a helicopter collided with a C-130 refueling aircraft on a makeshift runway, killing eight service members. The burned service members bodies were dragged and displayed on Iranian TV, enraging the entire U.S. It was a spiritual low for the country and a calamitous outcome of a mission that would have restored national confidence in the Executive Office had it succeeded—an outcome his Administration had worked so hard to achieve.

This incident placed the White House in an unenviable position of appearing weak on international relations. The hostages were not released until minutes after Ronald Reagan took the Oath of Office on January 20, 1981. In recent years evidence came to light that operatives in the Reagan Administration negotiated with the Khomeini regime to hold the hostages until after Reagan was sworn into office.

A recent published report in the New York Times, illuminated evidence of a trip by John Connelly, a Texan stalwart in Republican political circles at the time, was a lobbying effort to delay the hostage release until after Ronald Reagan was sworn in. Had knowledge of Irangate been exposed before the election it is likely those responsible in the Reagan Administration would have faced a flood of political backlash.

The remaining U.S. Embassy hostages were released within the hour of President Ronald Reagan’s oath of office.

Incidentally the failed hostage rescue exposed serious lapses in coordination of military branches and resulted in the creation of Special Operations Command. The crisis launched the career of TV reporter Ted Koppel and popularized his nightly news program “The Iran Crisis” because his even-tempered coverage of the story captivated viewers. It was eventually renamed Nightline after the Iran hostage crisis was resolved. Koppel would go on to host Nightline for another 25 years.

An Environmentalist Futurist

Jimmy Carter was the first President to envision a green future of renewable energy as a path away from fossil energy sources, decades before it became an economic and social imperative. In August 1979 he was first to commission solar panel installation on the West Wing of the White House, having 32 panels installed. The panels generated enough energy to meet the hot water needs at the White House. His vision to produce 20% of the country’s national energy needs by the year 2000, most certainly would have relieved the country’s energy dependence on fossil energy sources and its vulnerability to fossil energy price fluctuations.

His vision for energy dependence continued after he left office. He leased 10 acres and installed a solar farm in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, which continues to generate 1.3 MW annually, and supplies 50% of the town energy needs. It demonstrated a renewable energy project could be scaled nationwide and would have benefited the nation’s energy policies.

Carter Achieved Many Successes After He Left Office

After leaving office in January 1981, he envisioned a new direction and dedicated his life to public service. He and Rosalynn Carter established the Carter Institute, in partnership with Emory University. The Carter Institute was committed to fundamental human rights, the alleviation of human suffering, preventing and resolving conflicts, enhancing freedom and democracy, and improving health. The Carters have overseen transparent election standards in dozens of countries.

He joined with Habitat for Humanity in 1984 and assisted in home construction with Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for 35 years and into his 90s, proving that age is not a barrier to productivity. In 1993 he helped Habitat for Humanity build 10 homes in 1 week on Benning Road, Southeast, Washington DC.

He was the recipient of many awards and accolades, for his humanitarian work and public service.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the Camp David Accords and their work in the fields of international peace, health issues, and the environment.

Nobel Peace Prize Recipient 2002

In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ”for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development,“ according to the Nobel website.

He won three Grammy Awards in the category of Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album in 2006, 2015, and 2016, and was nominated nine times for the award.

Carter Slammed Supreme Court Rulings on Corporate Personhood and Citizens United

He said of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Corporate Personhood, “I think the most stupid decision that the Supreme Court ever made and one of the most damaging was to rule that corporations are people and that major corporations now can give unlimited supplies of money to candidates.”

In 2015 he learned he had cancer and it had spread to his brain and revealed it publicly in 2019 during a church service. He was completely at ease about his death, saying, “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death,” Carter said in 2019, according to CNN.

The engineering building at the Naval Academy, a place he spent many nights studying, was renamed Carter Hall in his honor in 2023.

On October 1, this year he reached age 100, the oldest surviving president.

On November 6, he voted in this year’s presidential election, one of his last acts of civic duty.

The Carter Institute has set up a message board on which admirers may leave personal notes to Jimmy Carter’s legacy.

The post Jimmy Carter Built Legacy of Public Service Was Oldest Surviving President appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—Over 5000 baristas walked off their jobs on Christmas eve in the largest action ever taken against Starbucks corporation. It was the fifth day of an escalating strike stretching from coast to coast across the country. The action involved over 300 stores that had previously voted to join Starbucks Workers United Union (SBWU) according to a press release from the union.

The strike comes amidst growing tensions between SBWU Union representatives and Starbucks corporate lawyers after 98% of union members voted to reject a wage increase of less than 2%. The Starbucks wage offer amounts to about 35 to 50 cents per worker and would not go into effect until the next fiscal year. The corporation offered no increases or relief for its barista healthcare package. (See video at foot of this story or here.)

The cost of living for the average U.S. worker was 2.7% ending on November 2024, according to a calculated cost average provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. For the same period In 2023, the cost of living increase was 2.6%. That means that the wage increase offer from Starbucks corporation was effectively at least 0.7% lower than the increase in the cost of living for last year and another 0.6% lower for the year before, placing Starbucks baristas at an increased economic disadvantage in terms of inflation.

Meanwhile Starbucks corporation has enjoyed increasing profits year over year during the same two periods. Starbucks corporation is the second highest profitable fast food company in the nation.

Union Stores Provide Barista A Voice

In December 2021 baristas in the first U.S. Starbucks store voted to form a union in Buffalo, NY. In the three years since then about 517 stores have voted to join SBWU Union with a steady increase of baristas voting to unionize at several stores each week. Each store is considered a separate work site, so baristas in each location are required to independently vote to join the union, and each store requires a majority of baristas to vote for union protection.

Starbucks representatives would not negotiate with the baristas when the union first organized but showed up to negotiations anyway without responding in substance to union negotiators. Starbucks corporate lawyers would only listen to union offers and then abruptly walk out. As the number of locations began to increase and public pressure began to build on Starbucks representatives to bargain with the union, they began to respond during the negotiations. Growing awareness that baristas were unionizing brought pressure on Starbucks corporation to take the union seriously and it first began to respond to the SBWU Union negotiation team in February 2024, over 2 years after the first Starbucks stores unionized.

The corporate representatives promised to complete a negotiated package by the end of 2024 but their wage and benefits offer to SBWU Union fell far short of union expectations. The backtrack began after the incoming anti-union administration was elected. It cannot be absolutely determined whether or not the election was the reason Starbucks representatives backtracked on their promises to offer reasonable wage increases but it is apparent, at least coincidentally, that many of the incoming administration’s cabinet and key position appointees are noted billionaires with corporate interests and none are union supporters.

“Starbucks has yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal. This month, less than two weeks before their end-of-year deadline, Starbucks proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for union baristas this year and a guarantee of only 1.5% in future years, which amounts to less than 50 cents an hour for most baristas,” wrote Molly Nunez, a press spokesperson for SBWU.

Starbucks Profits While Baristas Struggle

Starbucks is one of the most profitable companies in the United States with over 16,480 locations in the U.S. and over 40,200 locations worldwide, according to Cafely, a statistical research blog.

According to a Starbucks financial release in September, 2024, consolidated net revenues declined 3%, including on a constant currency basis, but Starbucks still had $9.1 billion in net revenues.

In 2023, net revenues were $6.9 billion.

There is sharp contrast between the median Starbucks barista wage of $17.50 per hour compared to the $50,000 per hour compensation package for CEO Brian Niccol. The Starbucks CEO makes over 2800 times the median wage of Starbucks baristas.

Court House Starbucks in Northern Virginia Joins Strike

The Starbucks store at Court-House in Northern Virginia joined the strike for 1 day. It was a cold and icy Christmas eve but several dozen took place in the strike which included affiliated union representatives and union allies as well as baristas from the store itself. Several former baristas also joined the strike to show their support of the baristas now employed.

All but one of its baristas from the Court House location took part in the strike. Managers from other Starbucks locations opened and staffed the store but the striking baristas outside dissuaded dozens of customers from crossing the picket line into the store by their presence. Baristas were careful not to block the doors of the store and allowed customers to freely go into the store but many customers chose not go inside in sympathy with strikers. Other customers chose to patronize a open deli across from the Court House Starbucks. Striking baristas handed out flyers to customers outlining their concerns about Starbucks low wage offer, worker treatment, lack of hours and reduced staffing, while they explained why they were striking. Some customers joined baristas for free coffee and doughnuts which baristas provided on a table outside the store.

Baristas and supporters picketed into the afternoon, chanting demands for a fair and equitable contract. They waited and watched as the managers staffing the store closed it at 12 noon, 6 hours before it was scheduled to close.

Sam Ducore, a barista for 13 years and a union leader at the Court House Starbucks said that wages have not kept up with inflation and told of the economic struggle many baristas face. He also spoke of the many hundreds of unresolved labor practice complaints still pending with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent Federal agency that mediates issues in the workplaces of private employers.

“The company still has 100s of unresolved unfair labor practice [complaints],” said Ducore. “They have backtracked on the negotiations and not given us a fair wage.” Ducore explained that baristas are currently paid starting wages of $16.75 per hour but must work 5 years to qualify for a wage increase and then must work another 5 years to qualify for a second increase. He also noted the lack of hours given to baristas often fell under the 20 hour threshold for healthcare benefits. This along with late posting of schedules made it difficult for baristas to plan their work and life balance, he explained.

“They’re out here playing with people’s lives,” he said. He related his personal experience of being forced to hold off travel plans to visit family out of State during the holidays because the store manager posted the work schedule too late for him to plan travel.

The NLRB is vested with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions, according to its website. Starbucks has hundreds of pending cases related to barista petitions.

Many Customers Supported The Starbucks Barista Strike

Many customers supported the strike once they understood why baristas were striking and decided not to enter the Court House location, at least for the period while the strike was in progress. Most customers who did not go into the store did not want to comment about their decision not to go inside but one customer did. Mya Mason who had previous experiences working in retail, said she did not go inside because she understood what was at stake with the workers struggling to make ends meet.

“I think it’s commendable that the working class is uniting,” said Mason. “If they don’t get what they’re asking for I’d choose not to go into Starbucks again,” she said.

Mason also was disappointed that Starbucks corporation stood against the Palestinian rights, an issue important to her. She previously boycotted Starbucks for a period over this issue.

Multiple union leaders joined the Starbucks baristas on the picket line, including Joseph McClure, President of DC-Baltimore Pride at Work, a union which advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community. DC-Baltimore Pride at Work is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

“Pride at Work and CEA supports SBWU Union because so many Students baristas are LGBTQIA+,” said McClure. “One big issue for us is that most workers can’t afford to live in the neighborhoods they work because housing is too expensive and they have to commute a half hour or more just to get to work. Workers rights are human rights so we support the workers trying to unionize.”

After the store had closed early, customers continued to stop only to find locked doors. Ducore waited and watched the disappointed customers stand at the door for a few moments before he spoke, “You see, this is what happens when Starbucks doesn’t treat their baristas right—they go on strike.” It was probably the most effective message helping customers to understand what Starbucks baristas were going through and that there were consequences for Starbucks labor practices.

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Washington DC—Just in time for the holidays, over 10,000 Starbucks Baristas voted to strike at up to 537 stores across the country. The vote comes after top management made a final offer of a paltry 2% raise on a contract negotiated over the last 8 months. Baristas in three States will stop brewing lattes and blending frappuccinos starting Friday morning at the start of the busiest shopping weekend before Christmas. The escalating strike will begin in Seattle, LA, and Chicago, and will spread to other locations across the country.

The announcement came on Thursday, 19 December night during a webinar attended in person by over 500 barista union representatives of Starbucks Workers United Union from Los Angeles stores of the coffee giant. It was viewed by 1000s of baristas online. The strike is scheduled to last for 5 days until Christmas eve, and will hit Starbucks corporate offices deep in its pockets during its most busy and profitable time of the year.

Sylvia Baldwin, the lead contract negotiator on behalf of the union asked the assembly of baristas, “How do we handle disrespect?” And to answer her own question she described how the last 8 months since April 2024, their contract negotiation team had bargained in earnest with the company lawyers but was slapped down with the offer that “was [valued] less than the cost of a stick of gum.”

Baldwin also noted that Starbucks representatives did not offer any improvements to the healthcare options it offers its baristas. Starbucks is the second largest fast food corporation in the country. McDonalds Corporation is number one.

Another spokeswoman at the webinar, Jazmine Riley noted that corporate managers are given 18 weeks of maternity leave while baristas are given only 6 weeks of maternity leave. Brian Niccol the new Starbucks CEO was offered a $113 million pay package, more than 10,000 times the average pay of baristas.

The Starbucks strike announcement came as another corporate behemoth, Amazon, watched as its drivers walked away from their delivery routes in response to a negotiation stalemate in Amazon worker pay, worker’s conditions, environmental, and anti-democratic policies at Amazon warehouses. In that strike 1000s of Union represented workers began picketing on the same day and plan to continue striking until next week. The issues raised by Amazon workers parallel the narratives of Starbucks baristas and resonate a common theme in their workplaces: workers are paid less than it economically possible for them to live in the economy.

Workers in the service industry are increasingly standing up for their own interests and forming or joining unions. Workers are no longer willing to be a silent partner in creating the vast amounts and record wealth that corporate owners and managers enjoy while worker compensation remains below a living wage, healthcare remains unaffordable, and corporate CEOs and management receive compensation thousands of times greater than the average worker.

“The corporate big wigs have no idea what’s coming,” said J. J. Dezion, a spokeswoman at the webinar. She further added that Starbucks Workers United Union had reached a tipping point with barristas, having reached 537 locations which had voted to unionize and representing over 10,000 baristas, a record which was growing. Seven additional locations voted to unionize last week.

The meteoric rise of union representation at Starbucks locations would have been unthinkable just four years ago. There are more than double the number of unionized locations compared to two years ago when only 200 stores had voted to unionize. The first Starbucks locations voting to unionize were in Buffalo NY in December 2021, just 3 years ago.

A press release issued by Starbucks Workers United Union urged allies to become involved in worker’s issues and to support their efforts to improve their benefits. The press release exposed a corporate culture of callousness towards baristas while living high off their labor.

“Starbucks has lost its way. We know that because we see it every day in our stores. We also know that because this year Starbucks gave Brian Niccols a compensation package of $113 million, while also giving its baristas paltry raises – which for most baristas are the equivalent of 30 and 50 cents an hour. It’s insulting and shows their failing to value the people who earn their profits and run their stores.”

The press release also pointed out the elitist culture of its headquarters staff, in effect, comparing them to feudal lords, “Our workplaces are Starbucks stores, where we interact with customers every day. Brian Niccol’s office is a private jet, and executives work out of cushy executive headquarters. We need allies and customers to join us and show them who really runs Starbucks.”

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Trangender people, Abortion, Critical Race Theory, Books, Wokeness, Immigrants, Crime

Many would think that the religious right would have issues with Donald Trump, convicted felon, serial cheater, the subject of numerous accusations of alleged sexual assault. As it turns out,  his election has never been about moral issues.

Trump promises to protect women and at the same time paints immigrants as criminals when immigrants statistically commit fewer crimes than U.S. born citizens. One can only conclude that the far right cares more about assaults and rapes committed by immigrants than they do about those committed by U.S. citizens.

RFK Jr is a serial cheater who molested his babysitter and whose behavior appears to have led his first wife to suicide. Matt Gaetz, no longer a nominee for AG is alleged to have had sex with a minor and engaged in sex trafficking.  There are details relating to an assault allegation against Pete Hegseth, a man who, like Trump, is known to have cheated on two of his three wives. Linda McMahon, inexplicably nominated as education secretary, is the subject of a lawsuit alleging that she overlooked the abuse of ring boys by a WWE anouncer. Prior to the election, hints about Trump’s relationship with the notorious Ephebophile /Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein began to emerge. Pam Bondi, his new nominee for AG was responsible for allowing Epstein to avoid consequences in Florida while she was AG there. It didn’t matter. While QAnon looks under rocks for pedophiles, they display selective blindness to Trump and his minions. To my knowledge, Elon Musk has not been accused of sexual assault but has been accused of running a hostile work environment and sexual harrassment. I am also reminded that Elon Musk has fathered 12 children, many of whom were born out of wedlock. Something that you would think would offend the ostensibly moral far right fundamentalists.

We could easily be led to believe that the other major reason that the religious right supported Trump was over the subject of abortion. If Hitler had been running for president on the promise of banning abortion, something that Hitler actually did, at least for the Aryans (at least one exception was made for a Jewish couple), much of the religious right would have voted for him. Nobody thinks that Hitler actually valued life and nobody can accuse the far right of caring about the well being of children that are not them and/or under their control. Similarly, the Republicans in congress are very concerned about a trans woman who has no history of committing sexual assault using the women’s bathroom. Why isn’t the right concerned about Pete Hegseth raping an unconscious woman, RFK Jr molesting his childrens babysitter, Linda McMahon overlooking a pedophile molesting children, Pam Bondi slapping the hand of Epstein and more importantly Trump, who has been found liable by a civil court jury of sexual assault, not to mention the many other victims of the kind of assaults that he has openly bragged about?

What most voters know about Elon Musk and Donald Trump is that they are successful businessmen, not the details about how they acquired their wealth. They don’t know about Trump’s many business failures or that while Musk’s genius lies in investing in innovative technologies, he is not necessarily the brain behind those technologies. Pete Hegseth, nominee for defense secretary, has allegedly stated that having sex with an unconscious woman should be legal and is accused of doing this exact thing, but none of these things matter.   

While not all evangelical leaders are on the far right and many spoke out against Trump, those religious leaders who fueled his rise in the far right evangelical world belong to an elite group of pastors who advocate for dominionism. 

Dominionism is fueled by the belief that man (and only man) has dominion over the earth. This is directly in conflict to the belief by more mainstream clergy that we are stewards of the earth. Religious movements like Quiverfull encourage large families, no birth control, traditional stay at home Mothers and homeschooling. The children of these Dominionist movements are considered to be part of an army, raised in insular communities to take over the Seven Mountains, seven areas of government and society, to reform them. These seven are Education, Religion, Family, Business, Government/Military, Arts/Entertainment and Media.

It would take too much time to go into the individuals who appear to have entered these arenas over the past few decades or the successes that they have had. The successes are many. We can expect more success over the next 4 years. There are a couple of notable dominionist individuals now in positions of power. Senator Ted Cruz is the son of evangelical leader Rafael Cruz who once dreamed that his son would become president. Supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett was groomed by the Federalist Society, a powerful right wing organization that is responsible for the nomination of six of the current conservative justices on the court. Although a Catholic, Coney Barret was raised as a member of “People of Praise”, an extremely conservative charismatic Christian movement that some consider to be a cult.  

Earth, the Dominionists believe, is there to be exploited and this is done in exchange for wealth. Wealth, they believe, is God’s reward for those who deserve it. It is Donald Trump’s wealth, not his morality, that is a signifier of his worthiness and God’s favor. RFK Jr has even been said by some to have “Christ consciousness”,  “a type of spiritual awareness that is supposedly on the same level of spirituality as Jesus”.  It is Elon Musk’s wealth that makes him worthy. Some believe that Trump is the savior. The fact that these men are singularly self absorbed and lack empathy (according to family members)  is entirely unimportant. Women, unless they are being groomed for positions in the Seven Mountains, are meant for child rearing and expected to be subservient to their husbands. 

There are many interpretations of the book of Revelations. In the Puritan era, individuals behaved as though they were upright, moral people likely to be among the chosen when Jesus returns. Some believe that the initial 144,000 will be Jewish people who have finally converted to Christianity which leads to a different but related discussion about Christian Zionists and Israel. Let’s say that if you believe one interpretation, that only 144,000 individuals are going to initially be raised to heaven when Jesus returns, it will not be trans people, the “woke mob” or their allies and supporters that go to heaven. It may be men like Trump, Musk and RFK Jr who lead them there and their morality does not matter.

The post Law and Order for Me, but Not for Thee. Morality Was Never the Issue. appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington DC—It is a sunny hot Saturday afternoon in mid-November at Lafayette Park as a steady line of tourists filter past the little white tent of the Peace Vigil outside the White House. The signs covering the tent reflect views contrary to everything the incoming administration stands for. The activists go about their daily rituals of preparing for a shift change. It’s 4 o’clock. Time seems to stand still.

Nearby the sounds of carpenter’s tools, hammers, drills, and saws, echo from the scaffolding while truck warning beepers sound across Pennsylvania Avenue as the temporary inauguration stands are slowly going up. The Peace Vigil tent has been moved back about 150 feet from its regular spot on the sidewalk. It temporarily resides just to the side of Andrew Jackson Statue, squeezed to a narrow part of the sidewalk where barely two can pass. Right on top of the tent’s regular resting place, a giant three-storied scaffolding is partially completed as carpenters and construction crews scamper like ants over its detail.

The temporary building will supposedly welcome a new president on January 20, 2025. But every activist at the Peace Vigil knows well—they won’t be welcoming him there on the sidewalk at the tent or during protests on the streets in the coming 4 years. As inauguration day approaches the entire park will be closed and the Peace Vigil will be forced to move further back to the edge of the park outside a 15-foot metal fence along Black Lives Matter Plaza.

No one at the Peace Vigil expected the reemergence of Trumpism in Washington. None of them saw this coming.

Phillipos, the Peace Vigil manager sits quietly pondering the future and silently wonders what is to come of the little tent. It’s symbolism in simplicity and minimalism is just as its creator, William Thomas envisioned. The 6-foot signs he created are long-gone, victims to weather, seasons and sun, but they have been replaced with exact replicas reading “Wanted: Wisdom and Honesty” and another sign exhibiting photographs of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki World War II nuclear bomb aftermaths. The signs are among the central themes to its message. They also challenge the willful lack of intent since President Reagan was elected, to end some of the most dire threats to humanity since the Peace Vigil’s inception in 1978 and approval of its first permit on June 4, 1981. Failure by the last seven presidents to tackle those issues has propelled it forward and made it the longest running continuous vigil for peace in the Americas—now 43 and a half years long.

Since then other issues have come to bear weight and are now intertwined with its main message and there are so many pressing issues that the activists have added signs that were handed to them after major protests over the years. The signs hang like rotting fruit from a tree and bear witness and truth against the combined procrastinations of all the presidencies since Reagan.

During the first Trump administration from 2017-2021, the Peace Vigil was a corner stone and both a beginning and ending point for many resistance protests. Washington DC swirled in chaos as a result of that administration, its indifference towards human rights and worker’s struggles spurred hundreds of protests, and created contentious social upheaval after trump unexpectedly stumbled into power in 2016. Under the Biden administration, some of the protesters left and the great volumes of surging humanity dwindled to a trickle, yet the Peace Vigil remained stoically toming the same drumbeat of issues the Biden administration discounted: Gaza, climate, greed, nuclear weapons, war, and many others.

On Saturday almost no-one was stopping to talk to the activists and the donation bucket was empty except for a few cents left by someone. Passersby seemed troubled and glum and in no mood to stop and talk about societal issues so soon after the election results just weeks before. Gone also were the multitudes of tourists, crack-pots, and odd-ball protesters who usually spring up on weekends and turn Pennsylvania into a strange cacophony of star seekers and personal grievances. A man with a cardboard box over his head, a woman reading scripture over a bullhorn begging people to repent, a man painted silver dancing to old tunes for donations, dancers and performers; protesters for Gaza, Indonesia, Ukraine and Iran freedoms, all were gone.

On Saturdays hundreds of visitors typically stop and talk to the weekend mainstay at the tent, Phillipos who is usually sitting straight across from the North Poritico of the White House. But today he was subdued and spoke queitly about the results of the 2024 election and it shows on his face and in his voice. He spoke with steady resolution about what he and the other vigilers are likely to face the possibility that the 43 years old vigil may be forced to permanently shutdown and leave the park.

Although no one knows for certain if the Peace Vigil will be forced to go, there are many indicators of the chaos and tumult that is to come, and it the possibility of the tent being removed or raided looms as the liberal administration subsumes to what many are saying is an extremist in charge of an ideological agenda walking the country backwards and towards the last century.

For one, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, the nominee for Secretary of the Department of the Interior, the portion of government which oversees all the National Parks, including Lafayette Square Park, is a climate change denier and therefore an obstacle to renewable energy progress. A billionaire, he wants to lease much more public land for fossil fuels drilling and mineral extraction. Such environmental parasitism would practicably push the global climate emergency past the point of no return. And so it would not be much of a reach to sweep aside a small tent and a few activists.

He will also oversee the Park Police and this would certainly would mean some amount of pressure will be applied to remove the Peace Vigil tent even though it was authorized by a Court order to remain in the park. And even if it comes to outright removal Phillipos intends to keep coming back anyway. He pointed out that William Thomas and other activists stood on the sidewalk for years from 1978 to 1981 and fought countless court battles just for the right to be there; before the court finally agreed to issue a permanent permit so the Peace Vigil could remain.

Phillipos tells that during the early months of the first Trump administration an unidentified person came to him with an official offer on White House stationary promising a modest payment package to the Peace Vigil if the activists would agree to permanently take leave. Phillipos refused the offer but countered in writing on the back of the letter with a demand for several million—the value of which he calculated from all the labor activists put into the Peace Vigil over the (then) previous 35 years. The person left with their offer and Phillipos’ counter-offer but never returned.

Phillipos knows Trump doesn’t want the Peace Vigil to remain there. And it is likely he’ll do whatever it takes to remove the little tent and its signs for good from the red bricked sidewalk. And even though the Peace Vigil permit is enshrined in law, so long as the activists maintain it continuously without sleeping, when has the law ever been an impediment to Trump’s willfulness to disobey it? It is conceivable that every time he or any other President looks out the West Wing windows of the top floor of the White House it is the tent that he sees along with the two 6-foot signs, one on either side of the tent. And it is conceivable that he wants it gone no matter what the law says.

If there is a will to resist the coming policies of the incoming administration then this is and has been an example of what that will look like. Examples of ordinary people with little means standing up for rights of others are found here on the red bricks, not in the offices of bankers and CEOs who have paid millions for access and certainly not from the desks of news pundits who fly down to Mar-e-lago to smooth away ruffled feathers so they can continue their their coverage like the news staff of Morning Joe did last week.

It’s 4 o’clock and without discussion the activists prepare for a shift change. Craig arrives on time like an atomic clock and slips into the tent where he changes into warmer clothes he’ll need as night falls in the Autumn chill. Steve-O helps Phillipos gather his belongings and pushes his wheeled chair out from the front of the tent and towards his car. Craig quietly takes his seat and resumes the Peace Vigil evening watch. There are no thanks or goodbyes exchanged, no instructions or notes to pass on, just a resolve to continue doing their duties as they have done for years and will continue doing for as long as they can.

If there’s any chance that what remains of human rights here will remain, then many more like Phillipos and the activists of the Peace Vigil are going to have to put away their fear for the future and their doubt about what is to come and their reservations of what needs to be done about it and refuse to accept that it has to be this way. They’re going to have to resolve to fight for what they believe in and not pack up and go home.

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Washington DC — Anne Frank wrote in her diary, “A single candle can define and defy darkness.” Her diary chronicled the last year of her family’s attempt to remain hidden in an attic from the Nazi persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. She wrote daily entries as the brutality of fascism was marching across the European continent. Her Diary was found on the floor in the attic after she and her family were betrayed, arrested, and taken to a concentration camp where they perished. Her diary stands as both an historic register of the chilling effect of fascism in Holland and a documentation of her family’s personal struggle like millions of other Jewish families under Nazi occupation.

As a teenage girl coming of age, she documented what her daily family life was like living under fascism. It barely mentions the oppression of Nazism and to the contrary it chronicles her daily existence and yearning to be free and flourish. But unwritten between her prose is outlined the unfortunate results communities could face by ignoring a growing influence of authoritarian oppression of minorities in their communities. It also serves as a warning to future generations that standing by and allowing a cult of personality to take over the democracy of a republic, as what happened in Germany, can have terrible consequences for generations to come. For Germany the rise of fascism under Hitler resulted in the near total destruction of cities across Germany during World War II.

Nazis unjustly imprisoned Frank simply because of her race—she was Jewish. Her journal was found and published later and became a story of resistance demonstrating how even one person could impose themself against oppression and authoritarianism. The end of World War II saw the defeat of the Nazi regime and the toppling of major authoritarian states. Yet others rose in their wake.

This is the Part III of III in a series about the state of democracy in the U.S. Link to Part I is here and Part II is here.

Fascism in the United States

Fascism in the United States seems improbable, almost impossible, for we have two political parties and everyone gets an opportunity to vote, right? How can U.S. democracy possibly become what it helped defeat during WWII? We must think again about this because fascism is right on the doorstep of this country.

The United States is moving in the direction of 1935 Berlin and there are signs of it everywhere and what is worse, many are watching it happen and expecting someone else to do something about it. There has been a sharp trend in oppressive groups since the rise of Trumpism in 2015. In recent years the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers along with the Alt-right have joined with supremacy groups in manner mirroring the rise of fascism of pre-war Germany, Italy, and Japan. Like 1935 Berlin, they recite the same types of rhetoric the Nazis did. They have changed the language slightly but their methods are the same.

The Nazi party was not in a majority in Parliamentary Germany during the depression that hobbled the world economy after World War I, but through coercive means the Nazi party gained domination by undermining democratic institutions and seizing power from all the other political groups.

The nazis scapegoated Jews, the LGBTQIA2S community, disabled persons, and other minorities to grow a following, and by falsely casting minority groups as the culprits of Germany’s foundering economy, and post WWI difficulties, the Nazi party created fake enemies by which to gain trust of others and leverage eventual control of the German government.

But what if the German citizens who had objected to their methods had collectively joined together in a communal stand against Hitler and his minority of nationalists before they built enough power to bully and overwhelm Berlin’s democratic republic? What if they had not engaged “anticipatory obedience” towards the rising wave of fascism?

How Not to Obey Fascism

A political scientist who studies nationalist groups has written a pamphlet outlining street-legal strategies to help communities organize to stop fascism. “40 Ways To Fight Fascism,” by Spencer Sunshine, is a useful guide activists and community groups can reference at a time when oppressive groups are rooting in communities across the country. Sunshine is distributing the pamphlet free to activists and to anyone who requests a copy.

The booklet is the product of many years’ of Sunshine’s field work studying the methods and habits of nationalists and how their ideology toxifies communities. Sunshine’s work has brought him toe to toe with the extremism of the far-right in both body and in pen. And his advice on useful methods to stop fascism before it roots deeply is the harvest of that experience.

The pamphlet was originally published in 2017 as a “zine,“ a free how-to-do-it booklet. Zines are often made by hand and written under pseudonyms, distributed for free, and educate with alternative and practical useful methods ordinary citizens can take on a wide range of topics. Zines also serve to get communities to mobilize for practical solutions based on specific needs within the community, independent of regulatory governance, corporate influence, and political parties, which typically extract resources from communities instead of building them from within.

For example, what if local communities planned their own free markets and held free markets periodically using their self-help and resources. This concept of collective independence binds a community to itself and gives it the autonomy to determine its own successful outcomes. The same positive outcomes can come from within communities politically and make them less dependent upon established political parties which always extract the natural synergetic energy from communities. They’re always requesting donations during elections but one scarcely hears back following election day.

What Is Fascism?

Its easy to throw this word around without understanding what it is, and how it subjugates citizens, and how its mechanics undermines communities by targeting certain minority groups in communities. In essence it is a process by which fringe-conservative ideologies are spread and then coerce power and control as an extremist group attempts to exert its influence over the entire community. Through oppressive behaviors, such as misogyny, racism, bigotry, and sexism, nationalists and far right-wing groups focus attention on latent fear which others in the mainstream harbor of minorities and outsider groups. Nationalists drum up suspicion and fear towards minorities while promoting their ideas as solutions. The Nazis scapegoated Jews and other minorities like the LGBTQIA2S community to gain more and more control over prewar Germany. Fascist parties have a cult of personality at their center around which the party binds itself to its leader. He alone can save the nation from peril. He alone can protect them. He is a god-sent savior.

The U.S. has seen how the Trump administration dog-whistled minorities by attacking immigrants, the Transgender community, Muslims, Mexicans, the Puerto Rican community, women, political opponents, and progressives by reducing their rights and accessibility or by threatening them openly. Trump often attacked the press as well to mute dissent against his narratives. One example of this was to blame immigrants for crime, economic difficulties, and reduced job opportunities. For example, he touted building a wall to keep immigrants and Mexicans out of the country and he banned Muslim immigration from several African nations during his administration.

Consequences of Fascism in the U.S.

The roots of U.S. fascism trace back to the settlers’ occupation of this land. Settlers attacked the indigenous tribes, forced them to walk onto reservations by means of lopsided treaties, destroyed their tribes and culture, and took their land outright. This oppression wasn’t described as fascism at the time but it had the same effect on indigenous people who had lived in the US for millennia before white settlers “discovered” it.

Oppression grew for a period in the 1950s during the “Red Scare” when Senator McCarthy convened hearings to out communists in the government, Hollywood, and in corporations.

But it sprouted in a full floral display in 2016 and 2017 in the wake of Trumpism as populism took root and nationalists found support for racist ideology from Trump’s speeches and immigration policies. Trump spoke the language of white nationalists in his policies by targeting muslims from “shithole countries,” as he said when he banned immigration from five predominantly Muslim countries. He targeted latinos by saying Mexico would pay for a “beautiful wall” on its border to keep immigrants out of the U.S. He termed the Corona Virus the “China Flu,” a racist dogwhistle taking attention away from his administration’s failure to effectively prepare for and fight the spread of the deadly Corona Virus during the pandemic. He said of the Charlottesville extremists there were “fine people.” Meanwhile supremacy groups such as the Proud Boys, white nationalists, and the Alt-Right began to organize in the space he created for them.

In late 2016, Richard Spencer held a conference for his group The National Policy Institute at the Ronald Regan International Trade Building, Opponents in Washington DC took to the streets of outside because the Reagan Trade Center permitted Spencer’s conference to be held there. Warnings across the country should have been loud enough by then of what was to come. Spencer’s group met later that night in Washington DC for a celebration at a restaurant but their group was challenged by local citizens who saw his hatred and rejected it. There were clashes in the streets and mainstream media largely avoided reporting about it.

On December 2016 a large contingent of nationalists held a “Deplora-Ball” to celebrate Trump’s election. The night saw violent conflict in the DC streets near the National Press Building not far from the White House, the type of conflict not seen since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On August 10 and 11, 2017 Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler co-organized their ‘Unite The Right’ rally over the impending removal of a statue of Civil War General, Robert E. Lee at Lee Park in Charlottesville Virginia. Spencer led an antisemetic torch rally on the University of Virginia campus on the hot night of August 11. They chanted, “ Jews will not replace us.”

The next day Spencer and Kessler joined former KKK leader David Duke in the rally which led to the Charlottesville riots. The rally included neo-nazi groups, supremacy groups, Proud Boy chapters from multiple states, white nationalists, and other far-right fringe groups from States across the East Coast. The groups confronted and turned on counter-protesters. An African-American youth was beaten by a group of extremists from the Robert E. Lee Statue rally just because he was in a parking garage car lot when they arrived. James Fields, one of the nationalists participating at the rally, later drove his car directly into a counter protest as it was just getting underway, stiking and killing Heather Heyer and striking and injuring 20 others. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam activated the Virginia National Guard as Charlottesville police declared an unlawful assembly.

After the 2020 Presidential election and near the end of Trump’s term, there was a massive mobilization of Proud Boys in Washington DC after the MAGA rallies of November and December 2020. These actiions resulted in several venerable and historic churches being vandalized, four stabbings, and many injuries.

The January 6 2020 insurrection was the culmination of 4 years’ of Trumpism and a rise of nationalism and fascism come to full bloom in Washington DC. As thousands descended on the Capital, Trump, along with his White House lawyer, John Eastman, his Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, along with many others working in the background, organized and instigated thousands to riot at the U.S. Capitol over false claims the election was “rigged” or “stolen.” The ‘stolen election’ became known as the “Big Lie.” The insurrectionists delayed the democratic process of counting the States’ electoral votes to confirm the presidential election as provided by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution. The thousands assembled at the Capitol came very close of ending the peaceful transfer of power that day.

Now comes the 2024 presidential election and the supporters of Trumpism have circled around their single leader. They support him no matter what he says or does. He has promised “retribution“ against anyone who has previously opposed him. He has threatened to use the military against his political opponents. He has promised to be a “dictator,” if only for a day (there has never been a dictatorship that lasted a day—authoritarian leaders get into power and remain there until they die or are forcefully removed).

The U.S. is as close in its history to fascism as it has ever been and it is moving more closely towards it because Trump has created a space for it from his visible platform. If it successfully roots it could well lead to a generation or longer without a Republic.Authoritarians openly telescope their beliefs, ideas, and intentions because they need to appeal and motivate their base.

Whether or not Trump wins or loses the 2024 election is an issue entirely different from the issue of whether or not fascism is gaining traction in the United States. Trump’s base is dedicated to him no matter what he says or does. Trump’s base will continue supporting him whether or not he wins the 2024 election.

How to Fight Fascism

Spencer’s pamphlet outlines how community organizers can put power back in the hands of the community because fascism can rise often with the consent of the State. But if it is recognized and challenged early in its growth stage, it can be stopped. But it is the will of the people to determine fascism’s fate. They must be educated about it, aware that it is there, and engaging it in their community. Voting by itself is an inadequate level of engagement to keep fascism at bay—we learned this very well in 2020. The solution offered by the Democratic Party to “just vote” is not only disempowerment but it is a risk not worth taking. Yes, voting is essentially important but it the minimum amount of engagement communities should be taking.

Communities have the ultimate say in whether they will allow nationalism to lead to fascism and flourish in their midst. But they must be proactive and get out in front of it and deal with it directly, according to Sunshine.

The pamphlet is a practical organizer’s tool for ordinary citizens on how to organize, mobilize, and pool their talent and resources to stop fascist agendas from taking over and strangling democratic institutions in their communities. The common threads are to be aware, be educated, get involved, and to take action in the areas where their skills are best suited.

Skills extend from fulfilling support roles to joining community groups that track and monitor nationalist groups and members in their cities and regions

DCMediaGroup interview with Spencer Sunshine Taken on November 20, 2020

DCMG: What drew you to this line of activism?

Sunshine: It was actually how I first got into political work. I grew up in a small town in Georgia that was a locus of Far Right politics; there were regular Klan rallies and our Congressional Rep was the John Birch Society’s president. I was in the punk scene when the Nazi skinhead movement exploded in the late 1980s, and even though I was not particularly political, being of Jewish descent and having a black girlfriend immediately put me at odds with them. I ended up hooking up with an anti-Far Right counter-organizing group in Atlanta, and through that I and some other teenage punks formed what we’d now call an antifascist group to counter the domination by the Nazi skins in the local punk scene.

Around 2005, some different things brought me back to this work. One was finding out that crypto-fascists (called “National Anarchists”) had created new political groups which were trying to cross-recruit anarchists and others. (In retrospect this ended up being only part of a moment where fascist politics were being reconfigured; Alt Right became the most popular example of this, but initially it was only one of many).

So between that, and my past experience, I started learning more about—and counter-organizing against—the contemporary Far Right. I found that it was a growing movement and that there was plenty of work to do. Eventually this work took over my life!

DCMG: Why is this fighting Fascism an important issue in these times?

Sunshine: Far Right groups—which include everyone from Trump to neo-Nazis—have been in a period of intense activity since 2015. If you look historically, this movement goes in boom-and-bust cycles in the United States, and—buoyed by the president—it’s had a bull market for years.

DCMG: Why is it important for ordinary (not just activists) to get involved in pushing back against fascist ideologies in their communities?

Sunshine: Over the last four years, it’s been very clear that the national progressive non-profits and others are not going to do any substantive grassroots work to contain this movement (even though some groups do important lawsuits and research). So it’s really up to grassroots activists to contain local Far Right organizing.

DCMG: There are 40 ways…why did you pick the number 40?

Sunshine: Well, originally it was 50 but after I worked through them, 40 was how many solid, different ones I came up with. Basically I just wrote down all the different strategies that I had done, witnessed, or heard about from all kinds of groups. These ranged from German antifascists, community-based groups and non-profits, anti-racist skinheads, and of course the U.S. antifascist movement of the last few decades, from Anti-Racist Action on. PopMob, the group I did the revised version with, also added in the things that had been successful for them.

DCMG: What other projects are you focused on at the present?

Sunshine: I regularly write about where the US Far Right is at and heading to for a variety of platforms, especially Truthout. I’m working on a number of books, including co-editing an anthology of essays dedicated to longtime Far Right monitor Chip Berlet, who has just retired after 40 years. I am also writing a book about the origins of James Mason’s book Siege, which has become the bible of the terrorist wing of today’s young neo-Nazis.

What can people do to push back against the rising trend towards authoritarianism and/or fascism who don’t want to be directly involved?

(I knew the guide addresses this question but I wanted to ask Sunshine anyway.)

40 Ways to Fight Fascists offers a number of options which you can do from the comfort of your own home and which pose no risk. These include helping people injured by fascists and those who are imprisoned fighting them, as well as aiding the families of those who have been murdered.

What are several of the most important of the 40 ways to fight fascism?

They are all pieces of a bigger puzzle, because you don’t want to have just one or two in play—that can be dangerous. That said, doxxing them and spreading that information is the best, most effective legal and non-violent tactic available to grassroots organizers.

Anything else you would like to add about writing the guide?

Even if Trump slinks off the national stage relatively peacefully, the Far Right isn’t going to just go “poof!” and disappear. I hope that this guide can help inspire people to take action against this toxic political movement.

DCMG: What can you tell me about yourself?

Sunshine: The less you know the better! Fash always want to find this more about me. Let me just say: no matter who you are, what your identity is, or what skills you have—you can make a concrete contribution to fighting fascism.

Link to 40 Ways to Fight Fascism here.

Tools For Fighting Racism

Popular Resistance offers a free online course which connects the dots in the relationship of racism and healthcare denial to minorities. You may access it here.

Salon article and references to what Fascism is and how it can strangle a democratic republic can be found here.

Video explaining fascism by Robert Reich, Inequality Media Civic Action here.

Grassroots organizations you may explore to educate yourself about or plug into to organize against nationalism and fascism:

Idavox.com (One People’s Project)

It’s Going Down: https://itsgoingdown.org

Centre for analysis of the Radical Right:
www.radicalrightanalysis.com

Western States Center: www.westernstatescenter.org

Montana Human Rights Network: https://mhrn.org

Rose City Antifa: www.rosecityantifa.org

Political Research Associates: www.politicalresearch.org

Institute for Research on Male Supremacism: www.malesupremacism.org

Examples of Successful Community Organizing

In 2022 to the present the Drag community became known among extremist groups for their story hour book readings for children. The extremist channels began targeting Drag Story Hour readings and by harassing and terrorizing the families who took their children to these events. The purpose of these events were to engage families and interest children in education by reading and theatrically performing children’s stories.

In response to the various community groups organized direct action umbrella lines outside the venues in advance to shield children and families attending the readings from the harassment by extremists. They actually held colorful umbrellas and danced to music outside the venues to thwart extremists’ attempts to disrupt them. Extremists including Proud Boy groups and evangelicals would show up at the reading venues to try to disrupt or stop them altogether. The community participants held the line while others activists provided lookout support nearby by walkie-talkies to keep the venues safe. Police would often show up but were completely ineffective at protecting the families.

Stories on these citizen-led actions are here and here.

Whenever extremists have tried to rally or march in Washington DC the community has organized to let them know their rhetoric and racism is not welcome here.

Stories here and here.

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