To What End? Understanding Trump’s endgame Dan Rather and Team Steady May 27 Credit: Getty Images We have talked early, often, and a lot about the chaos being wrought by Donald Trump. Every day we wake up to yet another norm-destroying executive order that thumbs its nose at checks and balances and continues to feed the administration’s everything-at-once offensive. We have called out Trump’s contempt for the rule of law. We have conveyed his disdain for those he believes are less than. We have pointed out the ineptitude of his Cabinet. We have exposed his blatant corruption. We have criticized his gutting of the executive branch. We have explained what tariffs will actually do. We have condemned his take-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-rich policies. And we will continue to do so, because we know he won’t stop. But today let’s look at why, because all of this adds up to what? It doesn’t fully or even partially make sense. Why burn down the house while you’re standing in it? First, Trump has a clear agenda. It is about garnering power. And with the absolute power granted to him by a pliant Supreme Court and a subservient Congress, he is, in his mind anyway, King of America. But power alone is not the endgame. He is using his power to amass enormous personal wealth and enact revenge. Trump believes the one who dies with the most toys wins, and he is determined to win. He wants to be rich, very rich, even richer than he is today. On paper. And in real life. Trump and his family have, according to The New York Times, “monetized the White House more than any other occupant.” And he’s been back in power for only four months. He wants to move up on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world. And if he can’t quite make the top 10 — he’s currently 319th — then he wants the people at the top to be beholden to him. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg are the top three, so he’s checked that box. His desire for more wealth has become even more brazen and unapologetic. He is openly using the power of the White House to get richer. And daring anyone to question his actions. Unquestioning fealty is the bare minimum. Lying for him moves you to the top of the class. But if you question him, you are considered an enemy, which brings us to his second agenda item: vengeance. Trump has his run-of-the-mill enemies: politicians who have opposed him, judges who have thwarted him, lawyers who have sued him. But he has expanded the list to include most of American higher education and charities doing the work the government used to do. So you have a narcissist who can’t get rich enough with an unending capacity for sycophantic flattery and an unhealthy sense of entitlement. This explains a lot, but by no means all, of his policy choices. Because Donald Trump can’t be bothered with much of the day-to-day governing — he famously doesn’t like briefings — he’s tapped a triumvirate of lieutenants to deal with the boring stuff: Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget; Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff; and Elon Musk, though he is now supposedly stepping away from his government role. These three have spent the past four months doing everything in their purviews to destroy the government as we know it, doing things that make no sense, upending policies and programs that work. Like the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Trump and Co. are trying to get rid of FEMA. So what happens when the next deadly hurricane hits? We already know from recent tornadoes and other storm disasters: slowness and inefficiency, when help comes at all. While Trump picked them, these three quickly recognized that their boss does not sweat the small, medium, or even large stuff. They were given carte blanche to do as they see fit, and none has held back, all with varying degrees of arrogance. Musk took a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy with disastrous effects. He believes artificial intelligence is the future and humans doing jobs is an obsolete concept. So he got rid of as many of the humans as possible, believing he and the other tech bros will fill the need. Miller is the architect of the administration’s xenophobic immigration policy. He has utilized antiquated statutes and unleashed a torrent of policy changes, hoping some court, somewhere will rule in Trump’s favor. Miller is a racist zealot who wants to purge the country of most if not all non-white immigrants. He has said, “America is for Americans and Americans only.” Vought is the stealthiest of the three and arguably the most dangerous. He is the author of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which became the blueprint for Trump 2.0. Vought is now in the perfect position to implement it, from the inside. He is a true believer patiently playing the long game. He is a so-called Christian nationalist who believes government workers are a villainous liberal cabal intent on pushing a far-left agenda. He recently told Tucker Carlson, “We have to solve the woke and the weaponized bureaucracy.” His goal is to purge said bureaucracy and replace it with an army of other Christian nationalists. And he doesn’t want to be nice about it. “We want to put them [bureaucrats] in trauma.” Trump, Musk, Miller, and Vought do not believe in the concept of government as an altruistic force to help those in need. They believe in using the levers of power to secure their own agendas. Sometimes those agendas align, but even if they don’t, the means are the same: tear it up, burn it down, and bury the United States of America we have known. James Madison said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Men aren’t angels. Especially the ones now running and ruining our country. To support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, please consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all. Thank you. No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan

RSN: FOCUS: Ken Klippenstein | Kyrsten Sinema Is Literally Teaching a Course on Fundraising

 

09 October 21

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FOCUS: Ken Klippenstein | Kyrsten Sinema Is Literally Teaching a Course on Fundraising
Ken Klippenstein, The Intercept
Klippenstein writes: "All students hope to learn from the top experts in their field. Graduate students at Arizona State University have an unusual opportunity this fall to do just that, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is teaching a course on getting rich people to give you money."

The senator is educating Arizona State University students on her forte: asking for money.

All students hope to learn from the top experts in their field. Graduate students at Arizona State University have an unusual opportunity this fall to do just that, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is teaching a course on getting rich people to give you money.

The course, titled “Developing Grants and Fundraising,” is one of two classes Sinema is teaching this fall at Arizona State University’s School of Social Work. The syllabus, which was obtained by The Intercept, says students will “learn diverse fundraising strategies” for nonprofits as well as “how to cultivate donors,” including “large individual donors,” by leveraging resources like “opportunistic fundraising,” “finding supporters for major fundraising events” — and, well, “asking for money.”

The outline identifies “Key Course Concepts” such as “corporate giving,” “political strategy,” “influence,” and “power” as well as more socially conscious terms like “discrimination,” “oppression,” and “privilege.” One of the required books is “Fundraising for Social Change” — ironic in light of Sinema’s attempts to ensure things like corporate tax rates remain unchanged. A spokesperson for Sinema did not respond to a request for comment.

Fundraising is a subject the Arizona senator knows a thing or two about, having raised eye-popping sums of money from groups opposed to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Sinema has racked up some $920,000 in campaign contributions from said groups, according to an analysis by Accountable.US, a watchdog group that monitors corporate lobbying.

In the past two years, she has received tens of thousands of dollars in maxed-out contributions from private equity partners and investment firm CEOs who stand to lose in the event of a tax hike on corporations or the rich, as The Intercept reported last month. Sinema recently told colleagues that she would not accept any corporate tax or income tax increases, the New York Times reported.

Sinema also threatens to obstruct Democrats’ major drug pricing reforms, which would drive down skyrocketing pharmaceutical prices industrywide by allowing Medicare to negotiate them. Sinema ran on lowering drug prices in 2018, The Daily Poster points out, but changed her tune as the pharmaceutical industry began to court her. Since entering Congress, Sinema has also received more than $6 million in donations from the finance, insurance, and real estate industry.

Sinema’s part-time teaching gig at ASU entered the news cycle this weekend. As Sinema exited a classroom in ASU’s Phoenix campus, activists ambushed her, urging her to support the president’s Build Back Better plan, the multitrillion-dollar reconciliation package that currently lacks support from Sinema and fellow conservative Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The activists, one of whom is undocumented, were part of an immigration reform advocacy group, Living United for Change in Arizona, pushing to include immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship in the legislation. When Sinema declined to speak to the activists and walked briskly to the bathroom, the activists followed her in.

The move drew condemnation from many — including some people you wouldn’t think worried much about civility, like former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of family separation and many other anti-immigration policies during the Trump administration.

“Illegal aliens are unlawfully harassing a U.S. Senator to demand passage of Biden’s ‘budget’ reconciliation bill because it will give them amnesty,” Miller tweeted.

“Yesterday’s behavior was not legitimate protest,” Sinema said in a lengthy statement on Monday. “It is the duty of elected leaders to avoid fostering an environment in which honestly-held policy disagreements serve as the basis for vitriol — raising the temperature in political rhetoric and creating a permission structure for unacceptable behavior.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declined to sign onto a statement condemning the activists without language reflecting his hope that she will change her position on prescription drug reform and the reconciliation bill. “Those in Sinema’s orbit have privately vented frustration that her fellow Democratic senators and the White House haven’t more forcefully spoken out,” Axios reported.

“I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics, but it happens to everybody,” Biden said, downplaying the event. “The only people it doesn’t happen to are people who have Secret Service standing around them,” he laughed.

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Top 6 Ways Trump forced Abrupt US Departure from Afghanistan; and that Time Trump said Taliban would take over War on Terror

 

August 22, 2021. Article, ‘Top 6 Ways Trump forced Abrupt US Departure from Afghanistan; and that Time TRUMP SAID TALIBAN WOULD TAKE OVER WAR ON TERROR’ In December, 2018, Trump ordered that half of the then 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan be brought out. The decision so angered then Secretary of Defense James Mattis that he ABRUPTLY RESIGNED HIS POSITION. Then Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Joseph Dunford said he had not recommended the halving of troop strength and that he thought it was a bad idea, both because it would cause instability in South Asia and raise the risk of terrorism against the U.S.

• On February 29, 2020, Trump announces peace in our time, with the signing of a peace treaty with the Taliban. The BBC wrote, “President Trump said it had been a ‘long and hard journey’ in Afghanistan. ‘It’s time after all these years to bring our people back home.'”

• The BBC quoted Trump further about the US combat mission against terrorists in Afghanistan; he said, “IT WAS ‘TIME FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THAT WORK AND IT WILL BE THE TALIBAN AND IT COULD BE SURROUNDING COUNTRIES. I really believe the Taliban wants to do something to show we’re not all wasting time.'” Trump did say, “If bad things happen, we’ll go back with a force like no-one’s ever seen.”

• Please note that Trump said he believed that the Taliban would take up the slack in fighting terrorism in Afghanistan, and that he really believed the Taliban wanted peace. As for his threat to go back in, he did not seem to realize that it would not be that easy once the U.S. was out.

• In all the press pillorying of President Biden, which has barely mentioned Trump, I HAVE SEEN NO ONE MENTION THAT TRUMP ONCE CLAIMED THAT UPON THE US WITHDRAWAL THE TALIBAN WOULD TAKE UP THE WAR ON TERROR. Even while he was talking with them, the Taliban occasionally brought old al-Qaeda commandos to the parts of Afghanistan they controlled.

• In the treaty, Trump promised to pull 8,500 troops out of the country in about 4 1/2 months. He pledged that the Afghanistan government of Ashraf Ghani WOULD RELEASE 5,000 CAPTURED TALIBAN AND AL-QAEDA FIGHTERS. Ashraf Ghani at first resisted this provision, saying he was not party to the talks and thought it a horrible idea. BUT UNDER STRONG TRUMP PRESSURE, GHANI LET THE FIGHTERS GO BY THE FOLLOWING OCTOBER.

• In return for these steps and for a promise that the U.S. would withdraw completely from Afghanistan, the Taliban pledged not to attack the remaining U.S. troops in the country by May 1, 2021. When you hear advocates of staying in Afghanistan forever say that US troops had not been attacked in the past 18 months, THAT IS WHY. THEY STOPPED THE ATTACKS BECAUSE TRUMP PROMISED TO LEAVE. If Biden had reneged and stayed, then US troops would have been in the cross-hairs again.

• The February, 2020, peace treaty was clearly rushed through by Trump in hopes it would add to his popularity and help him win the November, 2020 presidential election.

• On October 8, 2020, Trump tweeted out that all US troops would be out of Afghanistan by Christmas of that year. His Tweet took Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan by surprise, or, more likely, by shock. Julian Borger at The Guardian quoted Ashley Jackson, “the director of the ODI’s Centre for the Study of Armed Groups” as saying at the time, “This is the last leverage the US had left in talks with the Taliban, and Trump is proposing to give it away for free.” Not only did Trump telegraph the endgame and give up all leverage but what he said did not even make any sense. There was no way logistically to get the then 4,500 troops out of the country. Nor was it just a one-time Trump mindfart. The administration confirmed the Christmas deadline the next day.

• Again, this announcement was clearly meant to appeal to the Trump base, many of them white working class who resented their tax dollars paying for a 20-year foreign misadventure.

• While Trump was deeply drawing down the US troop presence in Afghanistan, he was doing nothing to get Afghan interpreters and allies out of harm’s way. It was worse. His melanin-despising aide Stephen Miller knee-capped the SIV special visa program for such Afghans and threw a long-term wrench into its works that hobbled the Biden administration when it came in. So reports an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troye. Business Insider quotes her as saying, “Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan. The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other “priorities”-then came to a halt.” She accused Miller of “racist hysteria” about Afghans and Iraqis.

• On January 15, AP reported that Trump’s Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced that there were only 2,500 US troops left in Afghanistan after a deep draw-down by the outgoing Trump administration.

JUANCOLE.COM

Top 6 Ways Trump forced Abrupt US Departure from Afghanistan; and that Time Trump said Taliban would take over War on Terror

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) - 1. in December, 2018, Trump order

LINK

In February 2020, President Trump announced the signing of a peace agreement with the Taliban, in the effort to bring American troops home and leave Afghanistan after decades of war.

Trump gets booed by his own fans at Alabama rally

 

Today's Top Stories:

Trump booed at his own Alabama rally after encouraging his supporters to get vaccinated
This is what happens when you put the clowns in charge of the circus.

Take Action: Call on schools in states with mask mandate bans to defy their Governors and put kids first!

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Pence aide blames Stephen Miller for "devastating" visa system for Afghans
The disgraced former members of the disgraced previous administration are tearing each other apart to skirt their own culpability.

Take Action: Demand the Jan 6th select committee subpoena Trump and insurrectionist-supporting Republicans NOW

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DeSantis finally gets what he deserves
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: About time.

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Facebook's most viewed article In early 2021 questioned vaccine
Of course it was.

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Patagonia dumps biggest Wyoming customer after they host fundraiser for Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan
Actions, meet consequences.

Take Action: Call on Twitter to make Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ban permanent!

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Kentucky Supreme Court deals blow to Democratic governor's effort to keep people safe
As hospitals reach capacity in the state, Republicans are defending people's rights to infect and kill each other.

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Supreme Court halts reinstating 'Remain in Mexico' policy
The temporary order halts an earlier decisions that would have forced Biden to reinstate the racist Trump administration policy.

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Trump jokes about Covid risk, touts "good relationship" with Taliban at Alabama rally
"I’m shaking hands with everybody backstage. I say, well, I don’t know, is this a good thing or bad? You'll read about it, three or four days, maybe. Hopefully not."

Take Action: Censure McConnell for voting to acquit Trump and then ADMITTING he was guilty!

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Conservative talk show host dies of Covid after mocking vaccine
Could this be a wakeup call for Phil Valentine's audience?

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Jesse Jackson and his wife have been hospitalized for Covid
The vaccinated couple was put at risk by people who refused to do the right thing.

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Republican official admits Minnesota GOP "in ruins"
The Republican Party in the once purple state has been decimated by self-inflicted wounds and scandal.

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Hope...

GoodGoodGood: Tree-free paper is saving forests in Washington state

Restaurant surprises blind customer with birthday message in Braille

Man spots missing dog on TV after two years

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Sunday Funnies

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PS — Please don't forget to sign the petition calling for wealthy countries to take in Afghan refugees, and be sure to follow OD Action on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

DeSantis exposed for pandemic profiteering with supporter

 

Today’s Action: Mask up and get vaccinated!

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Biden unveils plan for vaccine boosters starting in September

Today's Top Stories:

Top DeSantis donor invests in COVID drug governor promotes
Florida's Republican governor has implemented policies that make people sick and touted a drug that is making his supporter richer — old fashioned disease profiteering.

Take Action: Add your name to call on Ron DeSantis to RESIGN!

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VIDEO OF THE DAY: Afghanistan veteran DESTROYS Stephen Miller on national TV
Trump's top white nationalist aide got the verbal smackdown he deserved and we all need to see.

Take Action: Demand a path to citizenship in the budget reconciliation package!

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DeSantis finally gets what he deserves
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: About time.

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There was no way to withdraw from Afghanistan "without chaos ensuing," Biden says
In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, the president opens up on his decision to withdraw.

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Biden says US troops will stay in Afghanistan until every American who wants to leave the country has gotten out
There's no good answer in Afghanistan right now, but fulfilling America's obligations is a moral imperative.

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Trump praises Taliban for being "smart... good fighters"
Remember next time the disgraced ex-president criticizes Democrats whose side he's on.

Take Action: Call on Twitter to make Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ban permanent!

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Georgia removes more than 100,000 names from voter rolls
Republican schemes to rig elections are happening in plain sight.

Take Action: Add your name to stop voter suppression in the states!

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Inside America's secret war
American Refugee: Go inside the story of CIA betrayal of soldiers who fought for the US and how President Biden hopes to repeat a catastrophe as America withdraws from Afghanistan.

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Biden takes aim at states blocking mask mandates, setting Gov. Abbott up for showdown with feds
The president is trying to save lives while the Republican governor is letting his own state die in order to score political points.

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Judge throws out Trump-era approvals for Alaska oil project
Ruling calls federal reports flawed and says plan didn't do enough to prevent further harm to polar bears and their habitat.

Take Action: Tell President Biden — No new oil and gas leases on public lands!

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Appeals court upholds Texas law banning common second-trimester abortion method
It's not just the Taliban trampling women's rights.

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Tucson mayor defies GOP governor's "legally meaningless" ban on vaccine mandates
Republican governors are fighting for their constituents freedom to kill, but Democrats aren't standing for it.

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Preventable pandemic...

ICU's at least 90% full in 5 states with Republican governors

Over 20,000 Mississippi students in quarantine in first school week

Mom of 4 dies days after her husband, makes one final wish: "Make sure my kids get vaccinated"

Man shot six times waits over a week for surgery because of Covid

Biden announces vaccine mandate for nursing home staff

Seriously, not a joke...

Texas school pleads with grownups after parent rips mask off teacher

Larry David unloads on Alan Dershowitz in grocery store over Trump

Reminder: The planet is on fire...

Thousands of Californians flee from Dixie and Caldor wildfires

Parleys Canyon reaches 2,500 acres; thousands of homes evacuated

Hope...

Two women went door-to-door and got 94% of an Alabama town vaccinated

GoodGoodGood: There are ways to help the Afghan people

8th-graders lead effort to pardon wrongly convicted 'witch'

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Today’s Action: Mask up and get vaccinated!

As the Delta variant surges throughout the country, we desperately need a new way to message masking up and getting vaccinated. We are far, far away from the necessary numbers to reach herd immunity and protect our most vulnerable. As our ICUs fill up, overwhelmingly with unvaccinated Americans, children who cannot get vaccinated are increasingly among the gravely ill.

We have an obligation to take all necessary precautions to slow the spread of this pandemic. And let’s be honest. It’s not that hard. 

Get the free shot, put a piece of cloth over your face. You know, so you don’t accidentally kill your neighbor.

Follow the updated CDC guidelines and mask up indoors, even if you’re vaccinated. While you’re on the website, check out their recommended conversation points for talking to a loved one about getting vaccinated! 

There is still so much misinformation about masks and the vaccine. While you might be reading this already vaccinated and following updated CDC guidelines, the likelihood of you being just a few degrees of separation with someone anti-mask or anti-vax is high. If every reader sets an example by wearing their mask, or asking unvaccinated loved ones to talk to their primary care doctor about the vaccine, the chance of flattening the curve would increase exponentially.

Another COVID wave is scary, and we need all hands on deck to fight it and protect our neighbors. You can absolutely make a difference by following the science and opening constructive dialogue.

Take a few moments to review and share the updated CDC guidelines to mask up indoors, even if you’re vaccinated. Then, check out the CDC’s suggested talking points to help drive up vaccination rates! 

PS — Please don't forget to sign the petition to stop the hospital system that is preying on poor patients, and be sure to follow OD Action on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Merrick Garland won’t defend Mo Brooks’ January 6 actions

 

We have great news:   POLITICO: Merrick Garland's Department of Justice declines to defend Rep. Mo Brooks against Jan. 6 incitement lawsuit   On January 6, 2021, Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks -- a radical MAGA Republican and major Trump ally -- told a group of far-right Trump rally attendees to “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Shortly afterwards, they turned violent and stormed the US Capitol.   Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell promptly sued Brooks for his role in inciting the Capitol insurrection -- and Brooks immediately turned to the Department of Justice to defend him. But Brooks is being hit with reality: Merrick Garland doesn't defend insurrectionists.   It seems Brooks may eventually be punished in the courts, but we've got a bigger problem to deal with first -- this Trump-endorsed insurrectionist is still running for the Senate.   We cannot give Mo Brooks any more power. At his campaign launch, he proudly stood next to Stephen Miller -- the architect of Trump's immigration ban and child separation policy. He also continues to push baseless election fraud claims in the House. If Brooks makes it to the Senate, we know he'll play a key role in the GOP's agenda to destroy our democracy.   We know a lot of Democrats aren't paying attention to this seat -- but if we can flip Alabama blue next year, we'll have one less seditionist in the Senate, and we'll be able to hold a Democratic majority for the remainder of President Biden's first term.   We know this sounds like an unwinnable battle. But that's what they said about Georgia, and Democrats have flipped Alabama blue before.   We're building a grassroots movement that includes Americans from all walks of life, and the 2020 elections showed us that we can win against the GOP's white nationalist agenda if we build inclusive platforms and turn everyone out to vote.   This can't wait. We don't want to imagine the damage Mo Brooks would inflict as a senator. If you don't either, if you want to protect our government from extremists like Brooks and end Trump's legacy in Washington, please rush us a contribution of any amount to help show Brooks this seat isn't his to win. We're only $2,306 short of our daily goal to defeat insurrectionists like Brooks, and if you contribute $10, $25, or even more now, you'll get us one step closer to protecting our Senate from far-right extremism. Please, donate anything you can now. Thank you for helping us take on the worst of Trump's allies.   Progressive Majority Progressive Majority PAC is leading the fight against Trump's GOP and their dangerous and divisive agenda by supporting elected progressives, helping elect even more progressive Democrats to Congress, and protecting the gains we made in the past election. This movement is powered by progressives like you.   Paid for by Progressive Majority PAC   Progressive Majority PAC 410 1st St, SE Suite 310 Washington, DC 20003 United States