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John,
Welcome to The Blue Wave Weekly!
Every week I’ll be sharing insights, updates, and ways for you to get involved and help us build the Blue Wave. This work takes serious resources, so if you’re able, please make a donation to support Blue Wave California today. [[link removed]] Here’s this week’s edition:
Refund Requested: Our 14-Day Free Trial of 2026
This week on The Practivist Pod , Jess Craven and I asked for a refund on 2026’s “free trial.” Unfortunately, we didn’t read the fine print, and it’s been a tough start to the year to say the least. We’re dealing with a brutal escalation of ICE violence, a “Donroe” doctrine to take over the Western Hemisphere, and a blatant disregard for our laws and the Constitution from the Trump regime. Where are the Epstein files?
It hasn’t been all bad though. We’re actually watching cracks widen in the MAGA coalition, and we’re keeping our eyes on fights in Congress where public pressure can still force movement.
All of this is unfolding during the week we honor Martin Luther King Jr. — a reminder that the struggle for democracy, dignity, and justice in this country has always required ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
Here’s what I’m taking into the week ahead.
Minneapolis Is a Warning — and a Test
We’ve been saying it for a while: once Republicans passed a budget that put ICE and Homeland Security in the same spending league as entire militaries, escalation wasn’t a question — it was a guarantee. And now we’re seeing what that looks like in real time.
Minneapolis is being treated like a laboratory for a militarized state: an aggressive surge, untrained and unvetted agents, indiscriminate brutality, and a flood-the-zone media strategy designed to exhaust everyone into silence. This is where people feel the temptation to look away, check out, or stop watching.
But the hard truth is this: no one gets to opt out. Not in a country being pushed toward authoritarianism. Pretending it isn’t happening doesn’t protect you — it just makes the next escalation easier. Dr. King warned us about this exact moment — about the danger of silence, about the cost of waiting for a “more convenient season.” The test isn’t whether we’re outraged. The test is whether we stay engaged.
And here’s an important reminder: ICE isn’t asking who you voted for. They aren’t sorting the crowd by ideology. They’re acting with impunity, cruelty, and horrific incompetence — and that’s exactly why we have to keep documenting and amplifying what’s happening.
Exposure matters. It’s one of the most important immediate tools we have.
We Are Not Folding.
Heather Cox Richardson posted a powerful video this week that went viral. Her point was simple: Corporations have folded, big media has folded, plenty of politicians have folded, but the American people are not folding.
That’s the story of this moment. Regular people — moms and dads, neighbors, first-time protesters — are showing up anyway, even while afraid. They’re doing ICE patrols. They’re filming. They’re organizing. They are non-violently standing between a violent system and a vulnerable neighbor.
That is patriotism. That is courage and it’s deeply aligned with the kind of moral resistance Dr. King called for — disciplined, collective, and rooted in love of community rather than fear.
Trump wants to intimidate us into staying quiet, but the opposite is happening. If you’ve been out there standing up for your neighbors, I want to thank you.
A Focus Group That Explains the Crack
Jess recently sat in on a fascinating focus group of disaffected Trump voters — people who voted for him and now regret it.
A few takeaways matter for us as organizers:
* They’re furious about the economy. They were promised inflation would disappear “day one.” (It didn’t)
* They’re obsessed with Epstein — and they believe there’s a cover-up.
* They’re increasingly repulsed by Trump’s conduct. Over and over they described him as embarrassing, mean, and “unbecoming.”
* But most still couldn’t imagine voting for Kamala Harris — or any Democrat. Several literally said, “there was no other choice.”

That last part is grim but it’s also useful information. We don’t need every Trump voter. If even a small fraction peel off, or stay home, we win.
And what stuck with Jess (and with me) was one line that might be the simplest summary of Trump’s core problem: “He doesn’t care about humanity.”
Capitol Hill: The Pressure Is Working (So Keep Pressing)
Two things happened this week that we can’t ignore:
1) War Powers: Republicans Are Bucking Trump
Five Republican senators joined Democrats on a War Powers Resolution. Unfortunately the Republicans eventually capitulated to Trump and blocked the resolution so while the fight isn’t over, more votes are coming — including around Trump’s threats toward Greenland. When members of his own party start saying “no,” Trump recalculates. He’s unpopular, desperate, and reckless and internal resistance matters.
2) ACA Premium Tax Credits: House Republicans Broke Ranks
In the House, 17 Republicans voted with Democrats on the ACA premium subsidy extension and it passed! That happened because people kept talking about healthcare and sharing their stories. It’s not “good enough,” but it’s real movement — and it’s exactly the kind of crack we need to widen.
Here’s the move this week:
* Call your senators and demand a clean 3-year extension on the ACA premium subsidy.
* Call the Republicans who voted yes and thank them (politely).
* Call the Republicans who voted no and hold them accountable.

Progress has always followed pressure.
Venezuela: Follow the Beneficiaries
My guest this week was Grant Stern, who put it plainly: this isn’t “America First.”
It’s a military adventure that helps Trump’s donors and distracts from scandals, especially Epstein. This is a complex issue with plenty of misinformation. Venezuela’s regime is absolutely corrupt and illegitimate, but there has been no regime change. Maduro may be gone but the rest of his regime remains. Trump did this to benefit specific corporate interests and for political cover. And yes, it conveniently changes the subject from the Epstein Files and affordability.
So we keep asking the same basic question:
Why are we funding wars while people can’t afford groceries or health care?
Reasons for Hope
A new YouGov poll shows net positive support for abolishing ICE, the first time that’s ever happened, and this was before the killing of Renee Good. That shift came from exposure, organizing, protests, and relentless pressure.
My reason for hope is the same one I keep coming back to: Americans stand up when their neighbors are attacked. We saw it in the streets this weekend with massive protests across the country, including right here in Los Angeles. People are tired. People are scared. And they’re showing up anyway.
Dr. King reminded us that courage isn’t the absence of fear — it’s action in the face of it.
That’s how we win.
What We Need Now
* Call your senators: pass a clean ACA premium tax credit extension.
* Call on War Powers: stop unilateral escalation and foreign adventurism.
* Stay loud about ICE: share the videos, share the truth, refuse normalization.
* Show up: protests, vigils, community defense — whatever is feasible for you.

If you feel emotional when you call, that’s okay. Don’t yell at staffers, but let your member of Congress feel the heat. Share your personal story. Break through the numbness.
They want you overwhelmed.
They want you quiet.
So keep putting one foot in front of the other and stay loud!.
Hope is an action.
— Stev e
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