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Visibility Brigades across the country showed us how to tie the war in Iran to the Epstein files this weekend. Nice work!

Hi, all, and happy Monday,

Some weekend, huh?

There’s a lot happening right now, so we will have to continue to multitask and keep our eyes on multiple balls at once. We are now in an illegal war in Iran. I won’t get bogged down in foreign policy—that’s not my wheelhouse—but I can tell you that this is an incredibly unpopular war already. Just one in four Americans support Trump’s airstrikes, and that number is far more likely to go down than up as his administration’s ineptitude and lack of planning become more apparent.

It is a tragedy that four American servicemembers have already perished; several more have been gravely injured. It is devastating that a school filled with young girls and their teachers has been bombed, and all of them killed. It is enraging that we are facing cuts to domestic priorities on every side while Republicans and Trump throw money at a war of choice.

It is appalling that all of this is being done without Congressional approval.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files are still half-hidden, including those considered possibly damning for Trump. Hospitals are shutting down because of Republicans’ Medicaid cuts. Children at Dilley are suffering. ICE raids continue unabated in Minnesota, Los Angeles, Chicago, and elsewhere. Measles is spreading. Gas prices are up—and they’re about to go way higher. Prices of everything are sky high. Americans still can’t afford their healthcare. I could go on. But we all know what the problems are.

What’s important is that we not forget the solution. It is us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, and it’s up to us to keep going, get louder, and grow more determined. It’s also time for us to escalate our recruitment. We “need a bigger boat,” as it were. So when friends and family complain to you about Trump’s illegal war, or his indifference to Americans’ suffering, or his broken campaign promises, ask them if they are ready to act. If they are, invite them to a No Kings protest on the 28th. Tell them about this newsletter. Ask them if they are willing to switch from Chat GPT to Claude. Remind them that “grabbing our wallets” is one of the most effective ways we have of speaking out. Show them the 5 Calls app. Teach them about Resistbot.

Tell them that their voice matters.

Remember, most Americans who oppose Trump have no idea what to do about it. They feel helpless. Powerless. Unable to make a difference.

We know they’re wrong. Wildly so. It’s our job to tell them so, then show them how to plug in.

In this way, in this moment of great peril, we must all become organizers.

I know you’re up to it. You’ve never yet failed to rise to the moment. You will again.

So yes, there’s a lot happening. But there are also a lot of us. And we’ve been doing this for a lot of time. We have a lot of great ideas. A lot of energy. A lot of determination. A lot of strength. A lot of love.

It’s because of all of that that I have a lot of faith—all of it, in fact—that we’ll prevail.

Finally, a bit of housekeeping:

If you’re a paid subscriber who joined in February of last year, as many of you did, please do me a kindness and check to make sure your credit card is still up to date. There’s been another steep drop-off in paid subscriptions this week, and while some of that is just natural attrition, I’m not sure Substack is great at letting readers know if their payment hasn’t gone through. This is NOT a plea for more paid subscribers. Just a request for those who do wish to pay to make sure their payment source is up to date. Thanks.

I’m going to forego my Substack Live tonight so folks can attend the MoveOn call listed below.

Now let’s get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I’m extremely upset that the Trump administration has launched unauthorized strikes on targets across Iran. It’s illegal for him to go to war without Congressional approval. I urge the Senator to support Senators Kaine and Schiff’s Joint Resolution to end hostilities against Iran, and do everything in his/her power to permanently curtail the president’s war powers.

Also, we haven’t forgotten that the DOJ is hiding three interviews with a credible witness who says Trump sexually assaulted her. Those files need to be released, Trump needs to testify under oath, and Pam Bondi needs to be impeached immediately. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I’m extremely upset that the Trump administration has launched unauthorized strikes on targets across Iran. It’s illegal for him to go to war without Congressional approval. I urge the Congressmember to support Rep. Massie and Khanna’s Joint Resolution to end hostilities against Iran, and do everything in your power to permanently curtail the president’s war powers.

Extra Credit ✅

[H/T subscriber Matthew T.]

Sludge just reported that Hakeem Jeffries and the DCCC are taking money from two lobbying firms tied to Elon Musk and Peter Theil. This is repugnant. Let’s use the “Contact Us” form on the DCCC’s website to let them know what we think of this:

Here’s some text you can use—please personalize. Or, better yet, write your own:

Sludge and Politico are reporting that the DCCC and many Democratic leaders are taking money from Invariant, a lobbying firm that takes money from Palantir and Spacex, as well as Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a Palantir lobbying firm. This is beyond distressing.

How can we trust the Democrats to have moral clarity when they’re taking money from companies that are run by Peter Thiel and Elon Musk? As we’re trying to provide an alternative to the abuses of ICE and the Republicans writ-large we need to represent ourselves as actually being opposed to the organizations that are fueling this regime. We need to be the party of the people and not align ourselves with their oppressors.

Stop taking this money now, or you’ll have no more of mine.

Get Smart! 📚

At 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT TONIGHT, MoveOn, 50501, and Win Without War are hosting an emergency movement call to break down what’s happening in Iran and the Middle East, what it means, and how we can apply immediate, collective pressure to stop this war.On this call, you’ll get …

clear context on what’s unfolding

the stakes for our communities and the world, and

a concrete plan for our collective action.

Our primary demand: Congress must pass a bill to rein in Trump NOW.

This is a moment for movement-wide action. Join the call to get context, as well as concrete next steps in the weeks to come.

Join online TONIGHT at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. No more expensive, deadly, unauthorized, forever wars!

Give 💰!

I’m sure you know that the Trump EPA revoked the “endangerment finding” last week—the one that finds that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. This terrible move will lead to a plethora of awful consequences for climate pollution levels—especially because it weakens vehicle emissions standards, too. As soon as I heard the news I reached out to my friends at Earthjustice to see if they were going to sue to block this, and, if so, if I could help fundraise around their litigation and advocacy. They said yes. Woot!

The courts are the one and only way we can stop this attack, and Earthjustice has a long track record of winning.

If you can possibly give support to them in this fight please do.

Grab your Wallet! 💳

I can’t emphasize how important it is to dump Chat GPT right now if you pay for AI. They’re partnering with the Pentagon in nefarious ways—ways Anthropic refused to accept. Claude is great! (I don’t use AI to write ANY of my newsletters, btw. Never!) Here’s an article about how to make the switch—it’s easy.

Win Races! 🗳

Let’s Add a House Seat NOW ! YES, this is a long shot. But in this environment—and with these stakes—why not try?

Increasingly described by major news outlets as one of the most hotly contested races in the country, the March 10 Special Election in Georgia (with a near certain Runoff Election on April 7) will fill the House seat vacated by Marjorie Taylor Greene. Help flip this seat Blue with eye-catching, highly persuasive, super-easy-to-do postcards that require only 3 words of handwriting (”Dear Jen” and your signature) and come with pre-printed address labels. Cards come in packs of 250 and can generally be completed in less than 3 hours per pack. We provide cards and shipping at no charge anywhere in US. You provide postage of 78 cent stamps. Contact Geri (geraldine.alpert@gmail.com) if you can help!

Please note: Because the cards are jumbo size they require 1st class postage stamps, not postcard stamps.

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PXFACG 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 urge you to vote YES on the War Powers Resolution to block further unauthorized military escalation with Iran.

Iran did not attack the United States, and there is no credible evidence of an imminent threat that justifies war. National security experts and prior U.S. intelligence assessments have made clear that diplomacy — not bombing — is the appropriate path forward.

We know the true cost of these decisions. Iraq alone cost over 4,000 American lives, trillions of dollars, and years of instability. We cannot repeat those mistakes.

Recent strikes have already caused significant civilian casualties and risk pulling U.S. troops into another open-ended conflict, which the American people do not support.

Congress has the constitutional authority — and responsibility — to decide when the nation goes to war. The last War Powers vote failed by a single vote. This time must be different.

Vote YES on the War Powers Resolution. Stop this war before more lives are lost.

OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess

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