From reader Denise Y: “About 25 people showed up this morning in frigid temperatures to protest in front of the ICE facility in Framingham, Massachusetts. For the hour and a half we were there many, many people driving by smiled, honked, and waved. Democracy in action!”
Hi, all, and happy Friday.
Made it through another week! And it’s been a wild one, even by today’s standards.
There’s a thing they talk about in recovery circles—I call it the parable of the red dog and the green dog. It’s simple, and goes like this: We each have two dogs inside of us, a red one and a green one. The red dog is all of our dark impulses—self-hatred, fear, addiction, anger, isolation, etc. The yellow dog is our “light” impulses—love, connection, honesty, sobriety, and the like.
The two dogs are in constant battle. So what determines which one wins?
It comes down to which one we feed.
Our country is having its own red dog and green dog moment. We have a red dog that is fear, exploitation, greed, racism, hate, dictatorship. We have a green dog that is love, justice, tolerance, empathy, community, democracy. Both dogs are extremely powerful. They have battled for the duration of our country’s existence. That battle has now grown internecine—perhaps it always was.
So which dog will win?
Again, the one we feed.
That’s why I look at this work not so much as fighting the “bad guys” as helping the good ones. I try not to fight the red dog. Because doing so, in many ways, helps it, not me.
Instead I just feed the green one. Because doing so helps it and me.
That’s what our actions here are about. Feeding the proverbial green dog. It’s how we sustain this work, but it’s also how we win. And, ironically, how we care for ourselves!
So when things get overwhelming, when it seems impossible to track the plethora of evils we face, when hate seems to have taken a million forms, I quiet my mind and focus my purpose by remembering “that’s the red dog. What can I do for the green one?”
Friends, the green dog is better fed than ever these days. It is thriving. So instead of worrying about every instance of evil coming out of this administration, let’s channel our righteous energies towards growing love. Growing justice. Growing tolerance. Growing empathy. Growing community. Growing democracy. There are literally countless ways we can do these things. All of us can find a few that work for us.
And that’s a great thing. Because the more these things grow, the more our opponents will wither, falter, and fail.
It may seem counterintuitive, but this approach works—I have lived experience to prove it, and I’m not alone. Best of all, it strengthens us. Because it turns out feeding the green dog also feeds us.
On that note, let’s get to work.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I want the Senate to pass every item in the Democrats’ ICE “wish list.” But I also want them to fully fund The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. That office, which is charged with inspecting ICE detention facilities and investigating officers’ use of force, among other duties, has been all but eliminated. Fund it, staff it, and give it binding enforcement authority. This is really important.
Second, I want the Senator to vote ‘No’ on house resolution 140, which would reverse the 20 year mining ban in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. The Boundary Waters is a place I value and want to see protected. Vote no.
[If GOP add:] Finally, vote no on the SAVE America Act. This bill will suppress Republican votes as well as Democratic ones. It will cause chaos in our elections. It will also turn every married woman in America against Republicans. Don’t do it. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I understand that Rep. Larson has introduced a Resolution of Inquiry (H.Res.1059) requesting that the Trump administration furnish information to Congress relating to DOGE’s access to NUMIDENT and other personally identifiable information at the Social Security Administration. We know DOGE violated security protocols and we know our data got leaked. We want to know how, why, and how serious a breach this was. Please ask the Congressmember to sign on to this Resolution. Thanks.
Also Pam Bondi needs to be impeached. So does Kristi Noem and Epstein Island visitor Howard Lutnick. This administration is an embarrassment and a disgrace. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Please also send a letter to your Senators about the Boundary Water bill? It’s important! Go here—it takes two seconds.
Get Smart! 📚
ICE is not done terrorizing communities. The agency has quietly rented 150 new office spaces nationwide to begin new operations. They aren’t quitting, and neither can we.
Red Wine & Blue wants to help you prepare and feel safe if ICE comes to your town. Join them and their partners, the ACLU and Democracy Security Project, on Tuesday, February 17, at 7:30PM ET to learn how!
Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣
The No Kings map is going LIVE on Tuesday! DemCast made a social media toolkit to start drumming up excitement! If people sign up on the webiste they’ll get information as soon as it drops.
Let’s share across social media platforms!
Give 💰!
Reader John D. sent me this note:
“I’ve developed a House & Senate Dashboard that identifies the 10 to 20 GOP seats most vulnerable to flipping and similar number of Dem seats needing immediate defense based on real-time betting data. My tool explicitly tracks shifts in candidate cash and polling (e.g., NE-02, ME-02, NC & GA senate) to ensure your readers’ daily actions are targeted where they have the highest mathematical impact. What distinguishes my tool from lists at DCCC, DSCC, Oath, Swing Left and others are:
My lists are prioritized. They list the easiest GOP seat to flip first and also the most vulnerable Dem seat to defend first.
Donate with 1 click to each candidate in ActBlue.
All publicly available data used to prioritize all seats are clearly displayed making the prioritization understandable.
Oath & Swing Left data are cross referenced.
Updated and explained when new data arrive
1/2 page action packed Executive Summary is available for those with limited time BUT at the same time 4 pages full of details for those who want ALL details are also available.
Prioritization help motivated people with limited $ to donate wisely to where it is most needed.
I hope this will be a helpful resource for your ‘Daily Actions’ newsletter to help the community prioritize and maximize their 2026 donations to take back the House & Senate.”
Check it out! Seems useful to me!
Get in the Streets! 🪧
Take Action at Enterprise
Remember Tesla Takedown? Amazing regular people adopted a local Tesla store and started regular actions. We’re doing the same thing with Enterprise, who holds a contract with ICE. This campaign is kicking off in earnest February 16th and the call is for you to join in and host an action at an Enterprise near you anywhere in the world.
Find a toolkit with everything you need to take action here.
Find or launch an action near you here.
Grab your Wallet! 💳
From :
CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) is the largest owner and operator of ICE and Border Patrol detention centers. It has a record of abusing detainees
CoreCivic is also a public-held corporation, meaning that it’s listed on the stock exchange. We may not own its shares directly, but many of us entrust our savings to institutional investors such as Black Rock and Vanguard, which own significant shares in CoreCivic.
Black Rock accounts for 16 percent of CoreCivic’s total shares. Vanguard Group Inc. holds 12 percent. They are CoreCivic’s largest shareholders. As such, they have the most influence (other than the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security, if DHS were acting responsibly) over how CoreCivic runs its detention facilities.
Find out if your savings are held by one or both of these two giant institutional investors. (Check with your broker or look at the reports they send you.) If they are, ask your broker to withdraw your savings from them and put them in another institution that doesn’t hold shares of CoreCivic.
Win Races! 🗳
FOR NORTH CAROLINA FOLKS!
How to Win in Urban North Carolina—February 23, 4:00-5:00 PM ET
North Carolina has multiple, fast-growing urban areas—the Triangle, the Triad, Greater Mecklenburg and more. Three hundred people a day move to North Carolina. That fuels rapid growth by Asian-Americans and Latines, by younger white people into suburbs, and by retirees.
Hear from leading community organizers who are building power and winning elections in these areas. These organizing groups have grown up in the last decade and are crucial to harnessing the power of new residents and long-established of-color urban and rural communities.
Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥
Worried about climate now that Trump has repealed the endangerment finding? Download the Climate Action Now app. I’m telling you—the five minutes a day you spend taking the actions it recommends will a) make you feel so much better and b) really make a difference! Trump’s attacks on science do suck, but we can and must fight back. The CAN app is a great place to start.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PAMYXO to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]
(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)
I am writing to urge you to exercise your oversight authority and halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding—the scientific determination that greenhouse gases “endanger public health and welfare” under the Clean Air Act.This finding has been the legal foundation for regulating emissions from vehicles and power plants for more than fifteen years. Its repeal represents a profound shift away from science-based policymaking and from Congress’s clear statutory mandate to protect public health.President Donald Trump described the rollback as “the single largest deregulatory action in American history.” But experts warn it dismantles “the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.” The administration claims the move will save $1.3 trillion, largely through lower vehicle costs—yet those projections do not account for the mounting economic costs of extreme weather, wildfire destruction, crop loss, infrastructure damage, and pollution-related health care expenses.Scientific consensus has only strengthened since 2009. Researchers continue to …[read the rest here.]
OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
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