It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to think that our actions don't make a difference. It used to be easy to believe that congress, or the courts, would take care of injustice and return our country to a better place.

Recent history makes two things clear:

 

- It's up to us- to we the people- to fix the mess our country is in. My latest song, which you can hear at https://youtu.be/0K_MDYms9pU?si=-yH3TOrK8CDJB-4N , and the interview I gave on the bridge last week, come from my review of American history. Starting with the Declaration of Independence and continuing with the end of slavery, women fighting for and getting the vote, workers getting the rights to unionize, the voting rights act and civil rights act, the end of the vietnam war, and the gay rights movement, change in America has almost always come from the citizens mobilizing as we are now. It has almost never come from the top,

 

- and our actions are working.

The immigrants who were sent to the concentration camp in El Salvador are no longer there.

 

Polling the American people shows a continuing shift toward disapproval of the administration's policies.

Recent polls:

July 21st poll by The American Research Group- a poll whose methodology was approved by the Times- presidential approval 38% approve, 59% disapprove (he is 21 points under water). Approval of his approach to the economy: 35% approve, 62% disapprove (27 points under water)

 

On his Big, (*^(%, Bill, "Americans say, 61% to 39%, that they oppose the spending bill overall. Most, 58%, now say Trump’s gone too far in cutting federal government programs (up 7 points since February), and his rating for handling the federal budget now stands at just 37%." (CNN) "But by a 45-point margin, Americans call the amount that it will add to the deficit a reason for opposition. By a 25-point margin, they oppose its removal of incentives for the use of clean energy to encourage the use of oil and gas."

 

"By a smaller 8-point margin, they oppose the changes it makes to social safety net programs, such as increased work requirements for recipients of benefits including Medicaid and nutrition assistance and decreased federal spending on those benefits." (This smaller gap seems like an opportunity for our presence and our advocacy to make clearer how these cuts will hurt deserving people) . More at https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/politics/trump-megabill-one-big-beautiful-bill

 

Newsweek: "A CBS News/YouGov poll published Sunday surveyed 2,343 U.S. adults on a range of topics related to Trump's agenda and actions.

The poll found that Trump is losing support on his immigration platform, with 58 percent of respondents opposing the administration's use of detention facilities."

 

In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, just 17% of respondents state that the administration is handling the Jeffrey Epstein case well.

 

It takes a sustained effort to move public opinion and make change, especially at a time when AI chatbots and other fraudulent news sources blanket peoples' senses. On the other hand, seeing your friends and neighbors- people you know and trust- taking a stand is more powerful than reading an online comment from an anonymous source.

 

We can do this.

It will take time.

In the words of the civil rights anthem, we keep on keeping on.

 

Gandhi said: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

In solidarity, Stan