Losing My Perspicacity, August 27, 2025

Good morning and Happy Wednesday! Thanks for being here.

I want to start today by sharing a bit of historian Garrett Graff’s piece over at his newsletter, Doomsday Scenario. It puts into words what many of us have been feeling since January, but especially in the last few weeks:

I was thinking about that very thing while scrolling social media, and this post popped right into my eyeline.

If someone had told us 10 years ago that this would be happening in Washington, D.C. during peacetime, we wouldn’t have believed it. Or we would have assumed that some massive terrorist attack preceded it, something that dwarfed 9/11 and put everyone in imminent danger.

Now imagine telling America, circa 2015, that most people would go about their business with all this going on, seemingly checked out or uncaring. And that the President of the United States would say things like this:

And that his entire cabinet and the media in the room would accept that statement without any pushback. All of this is very reminiscent of what our teachers told us East Germany and the Soviet Union were in the 1980s.

Yet we find ourselves here nevertheless. The reasons we are here are numerous, and everyone—from legacy media to Silicon Valley billionaires, to Congress, to American voters—bears responsibility.

And yet, Americans of all ages, colors, and creeds are finding ways to push back against the fascist regime that currently occupies the White House. Today, rather than listing off all the problems currently plaguing our country, I thought we could all use some examples of people who are finding ways to get into “good trouble.”

Let’s get into it.

Senior citizens attending town halls are doing the most

Every time I see a senior citizen, especially a veteran, taking it to these clowns in a town hall, I cackle like a fiend. You know that none of these stupid jerks in Congress wants to stand there and take it, but they also can’t exactly yell at an 80-year-old with a Korean War hat on. Especially as seniors are a huge block of voters. As a result, the seniors are taking their congressional reps to the woodshed.

Let’s start with this guy at Mark Alford’s (R-MO)’s town hall:

That is Fred Higginbotham of Bolivar, MO, and we need about 50 million more of him. “You need to take your head out of Trump’s ass” is an all-timer.

Here’s more of what Higginbotham said, for those who can’t watch the video:

Bra-vo, Fred.

And then there’s this constituent, who asked a question we all want an answer to at Josh Brecheen’s (R-OK) recent town hall.

Brecheen did not answer her question. He just stumbled around and made noises about the difference between state and federal laws.

And while there is no way of knowing the ages of the protestors involved in this video, I’m including it anyway.

Oh dear. Time to think about maybe becoming concerned.

DC Neighborhood runs ICE out

But it’s not just the town hall attendees who are making life hard for the MAGA crowd. Residents of Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood managed to push ICE out of their community:

And in Lynwood, CA, a whole posse of righteous warriors showed up to stop ICE from what sure looks like an attempt at an illegal, warrantless entry:

The mass honking is just *chef’s kiss.*

And a shoutout to this guy, who had the presence of mind to use his tow truck for good instead of evil:

The courts continue to hold, for the most part

The good news for America is that, by and large, the vast majority of lower courts in this country have done exactly what they were designed to do — check the power of the legislative and executive branches.

Not only did we get Judge Paula Xinis forcefully and explicitly telling the DOJ that they are not allowed to remove Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the continental United States yesterday, but judges across the US are upholding the Bill of Rights in the face of Trump’s unconstitutional tactics. Here’s a ruling from Washington, D.C. that came down Monday.

Not only that, the DOJ was forced to abandon felony charges against a woman who allegedly assaulted an FBI agent during an inmate swap with ICE, when the third straight grand jury refused to indict her. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office will charge her with a misdemeanor, instead.

Not a great start for Judge Jeanine.

All of this bodes pretty well, though, for the hoagie hurler, who has become something of a cult figure in D.C.

And let’s not forget the Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who was illegally “fired” by Donald Trump, is suing to keep her job.

When we fight, we win

Some great news last night out of Iowa:

Catelin Drey (not Catherine) won a district by 10 points that Trump won by 11 just last November.

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

I’ll let John Lewis have the last word today. Find a way to get in the way.

Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.