Indivisible updates + actions: The regime is weak and unpopular, and the opposition is growing

https://indivisible.actionkit.com/mailings/view/120956



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This week, we're holding Republicans accountable for the Trump Shutdown, standing against crypto corruption, and building No Kings Day even bigger. But first, Ezra addresses the Portland/Chicago invasions and some welcome signs of growing Dem defiance.

Hey DU'er,

There are three major stories that I want to disentangle before we get to some action items this week:

The regime’s escalation against blue cities and political opponents.
The government shutdown, with Dems finally demonstrating some fight.
The fast-approaching No Kings Day on October 18, which is on track to be the largest peaceful protest in modern American history.

I think this is all one story -- the story of an expanding and maturing defiance to an authoritarian regime. And in such a dark time, I find this to be an encouraging story.

Trump is escalating his assault on American cities. His attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland and Chicago -- and reports of alleged midnight kidnappings by helicopter, ICE terrorizing US citizens, and a judge’s house burned down -- are unbelievably frightening.

But they’re also a sign that Trump knows he’s rapidly losing time and popular support. He has to rush his consolidation of power before he’s debilitatingly unpopular. That’s what authoritarians do.

What we do is organize massive, peaceful resistance that unifies the opposition, retakes power, and ushers in an era of accountability and reform. And the way we do that is not just by reading political analyses of the day, but by taking action.

We’re building a unified opposition party. Eleven months after the election, we’re backing up real, unified opposition to the regime!

I’ve seen Dem leaders grow in three stages -- from trying to “find common ground” with a fascist, to performative half-hearted resistance to bolster fundraising appeals, to (finally) the organized opposition we’re seeing with the shutdown today. It’s not everything, but damn if that’s not progress.

Some Dems, like JB Pritzker, were strong and defiant from the start. Others, like Gavin Newsom, have gradually evolved from the feckless “common ground” approach to Big Defiance. I enthusiastically welcome anybody to the Big Defiance tent with us. And enough of the Dem coalition has made that leap that we now find ourselves actually contesting for power at the national level, so we have to do our part to support it.

The strategic value of No Kings on October 18. In all my conversations with congressional Dems about the Trump Shutdown, I make two things clear:

We are backing them up. There is a time for debating strategy, and there is a time for executing the strategy. We are in execution mode.

The cavalry is coming on October 18. We now have more than 2,200 events on the calendar -- even more than we had for the first No Kings Day in June.

No Kings is both a carrot and a stick. We can credibly promise that there will be millions of people in the streets celebrating Dems for defiantly taking on the regime. We can also credibly promise that if Democrats surrender again, millions of people will be out in the streets calling for new Dem leadership.

I’ll tell you based on all of my private conversations: it’s working. The difference between Dems surrendering in March and fighting back now is us.

I want to give you one more framework for our organizing work from the anti-authoritarian experts that I’ve found both helpful and reassuring. It’s this:

A defining feature of an emerging authoritarian regime is that it makes the opposition feel like shit on a daily basis. Every day, there is some new atrocity committed; some new institution attacked; some new democratic norm demolished. Some of it -- much of it -- we have little ability to stop in the moment.

But that’s not how to measure the health of an anti-authoritarian movement. Instead, we should measure it this way:

Are we more unified than we were before?
Are we bigger than we were before?
Are our tactics proliferating?
Is the regime’s popularity falling?
Every single month since the election last November, I’ve answered yes to each of those measures of movement health. Let’s keep it up with this week’s action items.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

Choose a No Kings protest to make October 18 a massive and historic day of defiance. We now have even more events planned for October than we did in June -- putting us on track for the biggest day of political protest in modern American history! Make your plan to join today, and then invite a few folks to join you.

Call your Democratic senator(s) and tell them to hold the line in this Trump Shutdown. So far, all but three Senate Dems and Independents -- Cortez Masto, Fetterman, and King -- have held the line against Republicans’ dangerous budget. We need to let them know we’re behind them as long as they continue to fight!

Volunteer for a virtual phonebank to help Dems win big in Virginia this fall. We’re making 1,000,000 calls to voters to help VA Democrats build a vital defense against Trump’s authoritarian overreach -- a Democratic trifecta in his own backyard! All you need is your phone and a computer. Join a live phonebank training here.

Take on crypto corruption at a virtual rally with Chris Murphy and Tina Smith this Tuesday, 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT. The Senate may soon take up a bill that’d enshrine crypto corruption and cement a massive giveaway to crypto billionaires. Join senators and partners leading this fight to expose what's happening and put a stop to it.

Join a special Friday edition of “What’s the Plan?” for the latest on the shutdown, No Kings, and more. This week’s What’s the Plan? call was moved from Thursday to Friday, but Leah and Ezra will still jump online to answer your questions and host a candid conversation about this week’s big fights.

P.S. October 18 could be the largest day of peaceful protest in modern US history, and we’re doing the work to ensure it’s safe, successful, powerful, and fun! That takes a pool of resources as big as the day itself -- resources that come from folks like you. If you can spare a donation of any amount, please chip in to make No Kings Day historic!

Trump Shutdown update: House Republicans are AWOL

The Trump Shutdown is stretching into its second week, and House Republicans are missing in action. Speaker Johnson is so desperate to shield members from questions about huge healthcare cuts and health insurance premium hikes that he canceled House business so Republicans can hide.

House Republicans are still home for recess, so we need to put them on the spot about protecting healthcare and ending the Trump Shutdown! Many Republicans quietly agree that something needs to be done about the Trump-led healthcare cost crisis, and we need to get them on record to pressure GOP leadership into negotiating an end to the shutdown.

Call your Republican representative to demand that they get back to work and end the Trump Shutdown! Tell them to stop hiding and speak out for a bipartisan funding deal.

Call House GOP >>

Don’t have a Republican representative? You can still take action to end this Trump Shutdown by calling your senators and speaking out in defense of healthcare.

Call your Republican senators to demand they stop the partisan BS and work on a sensible funding deal, or call your Democratic senators and encourage them to hold the line!

Spread contagious courage with One Million Rising



Indivisible launched the One Million Rising initiative this summer to train a million people in the practice of peaceful non-cooperation. That program concludes this Wednesday, October 8, with the fourth and final installment* of our training series -- leading directly into a NEW stage of our fight!

For previous One Million Rising participants, this call offers key updates on the work we’re doing together through Signs of Solidarity and the Ground Avelo campaign before diving into new ways to plug in. And for first-time attendees, it's an opportunity to join our efforts at an exciting turning point!

Digital flier for the One Million Rising call on Wednesday, October 8 -- Click to register for this event

https://www.mobilize.us/onemillionrising/event/841361/

Register now to join One Million Rising on Wednesday, October 8, for exciting updates and new opportunities to defy the Trump takeover in your community.

Join the call >>

*This call welcomes everyone, regardless of past involvement in One Million Rising or other campaigns. If you couldn’t make our previous calls (or just want a refresher), you can click here to watch previous One Million Rising training sessions.

Expose anti-migrant lies with the Truth Brigade

Indivisible’s Truth Brigade is the nation's largest grassroots disinformation-countering campaign, and this October, we’re combatting the lies being used to consolidate power through fear by lying about crime and villainizing migrants.

On Truth Brigade’s monthly call this Wednesday, October 8, Vanessa Cardenas of America’s Voice will join us to tackle the disinformation being used to justify military invasions of our cities by targeting the migrant community. We’ll lay out the truth and discuss our plans to expose these lies for what they are.

Digital flier for the Turth Brigade call entitled Safety, Not Scapegoats on Wednesday, October 8 -- Click to register for this event

Join the Truth Brigade call on Wednesday, 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT, to fight the lies behind federal invasions of our cities!

Fight the lies >>

Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month.