Sometimes doing things works
I felt overwhelmed by the news this week.
This is normal.
It’s normal because the news these days presents a nonstop torrent of stupidity, corruption, lawlessness, cruelty, and lies.
It is easy to assume the worst, but the worst has not yet happened. And across this cracked landscape of concrete, some small green shoots emerged this week. The administration continues to lie and say that no such thing is happening. You need not make the choice to believe them.
The courts aren’t done yet
Just before 1:00 am Saturday night, the Court ordered the government not to remove anyone from the United States under TFP’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation, by a ruling of 7 to 2 (with Thomas and Alito dissenting).
It did so in the late of night, and without waiting for Alito to write his lonely dissent, because the petitions from the ACLU noted that more than 50 people were scheduled to be flown out of the country as early as Friday night.
It is notable that the justices nominated by TFP in his first term (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) remain at this point unwilling to fully cede their Constitutional authority.
Sometimes doing things works
On Thursday, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen met face to face with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the government has admitted was wrongfully abducted from the U.S. and delivered to a detention center concentration camp in El Salvador.
Some called Van Hollen’s trip futile; California Governor Gavin Newsom (who is focused on drawing attention to California’s lawsuit against TFP’s tariffs) described the Abrego Garcia case as a “distraction.”
But Van Hollen’s futile gesture drew attention to Abrego Garcia’s abduction, and landed Van Hollen airtime on this morning’s “Sunday shows”: Fox News Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s State of the Union, CBS’ Face the Nation, and ABC’s This Week, on which Van Hollen has been speaking quite clearly about both the case and Newsom’s attitude:
“I don’t think it’s ever wrong to stand up for the Constitution, and this is not about one man. If you deny the Constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the Constitutional rights for everybody. I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind...Anybody who can't stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn't deserve to lead.”
The law is not complicated
On Thursday, a federal appeals court in Virginia issued an opinion from Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a legendary conservative judge and Reagan appointee, which is striking in the simplicity of its language about how the administration is flouting the law in its handling of the Abrego Garcia case:
It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.
The ruling affirms that the administration must take an active role in “facilitating” the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States.
Even Rogan, ffs
This week Joe Rogan explained to his podcast audience why due process is one of the foundations of our freedoms, citing Ben Franklin (who himself was citing William Blackstone), and emphatically arguing that “When you’re fighting monsters, be careful you don’t become one.”
(I do not expect that Rogan is having a conversion moment here; he remains a poisonous source of right wing misinformation. But it is notable that he is breaking from the administration on this.)
Elsewhere, in academia
This week also marked a turning point in the right wing assault on higher education, with Harvard University rejecting the administration’s demands, and risking billions of dollars in funding in the process. Subsequent reporting suggests that the demands were sent to Harvard mistakenly (evidence suggests this was merely a matter of timing, but the fingers of blame being pointed and dodged suggest that an actual misstep occurred).
The protests continue
There were more protests this weekend, including as part of the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord, MA.
The April 5 demonstrations may have been larger, but this week’s may have received more media coverage:
- New York Times
- CNN, More CNN
- Washington Post
- Boston Globe, More Boston Globe
- USA Today
- Reuters
- The Guardian
- BBC News
- ABC News
- NBC News
- CBS News
- Bloomberg
- Politico
- Huffington Post
Is this anything?
Is it of note that milquetoast NYT columnist David Brooks is proposing a general strike and quoting the Communist Manifesto?
Two lanterns in a steeple
Historian Heather Cox Richardson spoke at the anniversary of the lighting of the lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church, which set off the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Her words remind us that small acts of courage matter. [Text] [Video]
[Robert Newman and John Pulling Jr.] agreed to cross through town to light two lanterns in a church steeple. It sounds like such a very little thing to do, and yet by doing it, they risked imprisonment or even death. It was such a little thing…but it was everything. And what they did, as with so many of the little steps that lead to profound change, was largely forgotten until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used their story to inspire a later generation to work to stop tyranny in his own time.
What Newman and Pulling did was simply to honor their friendships and their principles and to do the next right thing, even if it risked their lives, even if no one ever knew. And that is all anyone can do as we work to preserve the concept of human self-determination. In that heroic struggle, most of us will be lost to history, but we will, nonetheless, move the story forward, even if just a little bit.
And once in a great while, someone will light a lantern—or even two—that will shine forth for democratic principles that are under siege, and set the world ablaze.
All the @#$%ing things
Night 47: Shared photos from April 5 to Facebook
Night 46: Shared photos from the April 5 Hands Off protests
Night 45: Subscribed to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter
Night 44: Donated to two campaigns for Congress in 2026
Night 43: Looked at projects tracking individuals abducted by ICE
Night 42: Learned more about Louis Armstrong, in his own words
Night 41: Revisited 20 lessons on tyranny
Night 40: Donated to victims of the LA fires
Night 39: Donated to a non-profit disaster alert service
Night 38: Removed Meta apps from my phone
Night 37: Added a new subscription for politics and culture news
Night 36: Catalogued things we know about Memlon Fuchs
Night 35: Described an early MAGA rift
Night 34: The gap between what voters want and what they’re getting
Night 33: An editorial policy of sorts
Night 32: Requesting records when medical claims are denied
Night 31: Things I’ve learned about money laundering
Night 30: Turned to the words of Frederick Douglass
Night 29: Canceled my OpenAI subscription
Night 28: Donated money to three orgs
Night 27: Addressed a hazardous tile floor
Night 26: Picked up trash with the Trash Falcons
Night 25: Learned more about Pete Hegseth than I wanted to
Night 24: Canceled recurring subscriptions I no longer need
Night 23: Dwelt in gratitude
Night 22: Picked up pie from a favorite local business
Night 21: Downsized my clothes closet
Night 20: Increased my monthly contribution to the ACLU
Night 19: Deleted a blog from two decades ago
Night 18: Researched nonprofit board opportunities
Night 17: Contributed to Trans Lifeline
Night 16: Spent time together with loved ones
Night 15: Bought from a not-for-profit online store
Night 14: Refined an icon and wordmark
Night 13: Contributed to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
Night 12: Contributed to The Guardian
Night 11: Read, reflected, and rested
Night 10: Sent money to support vaccinations in Nigeria
Night 9: Sent money to a friend in need
Night 8: Gave gifts and spoke words of appreciation aloud
Night 7: Contributed to a California-focused nonprofit newsroom
Night 6: Made homemade donuts for my team
Night 5: Opted into a paid Buttondown tier
Night 4: Reviewed my local election results
Night 3: Deactivated my X account
Night 2: Contributed to my local nonprofit newsroom
Night 1: Started by starting
Words, sorts, thinks, and actions by Chris Ereneta, from Oakland, California. Thanks for reading! Consider forwarding this to a friend! Thoughtful feedback and questions are welcomed at that.often@gmail.com