This week, Ezra explains why Trump’s war in Iran is far more preventable than
the Bush wars in Iraq ever were. We also have two powerful ways to oppose the
war, an update on the GOP megabill, and important mass calls coming up!

Hey folks,

We do not have to accept a repeat of the 2002-2003 drumbeat for the war
with Iraq. 

As a high school student in Texas, that was my political awakening; I
argued with classmates against the war and remember school walkouts across
the country. I also remember this sense of dread and inevitability -- the
war made no sense and also nothing was going to stop it. 

Since Trump’s attack on Iran, I’ve heard a lot of comparisons to that time
period, but I don’t think the analogy holds. War today isn’t inevitable,
and Trump isn’t operating from a place of political strength -- but from a
place of weakness, stupidity, and desperation. 

Let’s get the historical analogy straight.

2025 is not 2003. GW Bush wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he had
enormous political capital following September 11th -- and his team did
the work to sell their war.

For months, Bush appointees made up lies about weapons of mass destruction
(WMDs). He [ [link removed] ]tapped respected military leaders to sell the war to the
public and on the international stage. He brought along a pliable press
that propagandized for the war. And he pushed for and won congressional
authorization of military force with significant Democratic support months
before the war.

The warmongering public relations campaign paid off. Mainstream news
outlets amplified GWB’s lies about WMDs. By the time he launched his
invasion, Gallup found [ [link removed] ]72% of the public supported the war. School
walkouts be damned.

Drumbeat? What drumbeat? That cynically and effectively executed build-up
to the war with Iraq bears almost no resemblance to the events that led to
Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional war against Iran this weekend.

The facts are damning. Trump launched an illegal, unconstitutional attack
on a country that was not an imminent threat to Americans. It’s a
reckless, criminal move that puts lives in danger, including Americans
abroad and innocent people in Iran.

Trump did not seek to build support for any of this. He campaigned
promising no war with Iran. He spent months pushing back against US
involvement with Iran. His own Director of National Intelligence testified
to Congress that Iran was nowhere near getting a nuclear weapon. There was
no congressionally authorized use of military force. There was no campaign
to bring onboard the media, international community, or the American
public.

There was no drumbeat or crescendo -- just a sudden, loud, publicly
out-of-touch boom.

And public opinion reflects that. As of this month, just [ [link removed] ]16% of
Americans support the US military getting involved in Iran. And the
American people are right -- this war only serves to make Iranians,
Israelis, and all of us less safe. 

True to form, that doesn’t stop Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu -- would-be
authoritarians who seek to use war to cement their own hold on power. In
peacetime, Trump nationalized the state guard in California and called out
Marines on peaceful protestors in LA. Neoconservative Robert Kagan wrote
in the Atlantic what anybody paying attention to Trump’s vicious
anti-democratic escalations already knows: Trump will [ [link removed] ]"use a state of
war to strengthen his dictatorial control at home."

Trump is a weak leader, and we can push back a weak leader. Trump’s
popularity is falling, public backlash is rising, and just last week his
birthday parade was overshadowed by the [ [link removed] ]historically enormous No Kings
Day protests.

Trump may think starting a war makes him look strong -- but he’s wrong.
It's the behavior of a wannabe monarch, not a president of a
constitutional democracy. But two things are true: Yes Trump is a wannabe
monarch, but he’s also an unpopular, lame duck president who feels
threatened by organized people power. So he’s lashing out.

Trump is an incompetent leader with a [ [link removed] ]crumbling powerbase. He’s trying
to drag us into war while he slashes Medicaid, supercharges ICE
deportation forces across the country, and cuts taxes for billionaires. 

He doesn’t have public support for any of this. As terrifying as his
actions are, he does not hold all the power here. The people can organize
effectively against his illegal, unconstitutional, and unpopular actions.
We can stop some of it, and limit the damage of what we can’t stop. And
given the stakes right now, it’s never been more important to do so.

So please read on to this week’s action items for how you can play your
role in doing that this week.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director
Indivisible

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Your weekly to-dos

 1. [ [link removed] ]Email all your Members of Congress to demand that they oppose war
in Iran and support a War Powers Resolution. Donald Trump unilaterally
and unlawfully launched a military strike that could ignite a
full-scale regional war, jeopardizing American lives and freedom.
Congress must assert its authority to stop another forever war.
 2. [ [link removed] ]Join the Healthcare Not Warfare rapid response call tomorrow, June
24, at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to join the campaign to stop war with Iran.
We’re joining a coalition of grassroots organizations and activists to
plan a massive, unified push to stop the war in Iran. Tomorrow’s mass
call will outline the situation, the stakes, and how to take action
alongside us.
 3. [ [link removed] ]Blue State Indivisibles: Call on your AG to fight hard against ICE
overreach in your state. Donald Trump keeps doubling down on calls for
ICE to aggressively target blue states and big cities. State Attorneys
General have real power to fight back, and we need to keep pressure on
them to use every tool at their disposal to hold ICE in check.
 4. [ [link removed] ]Red and Purple State Indivisibles: Call your GOP senators to
demand they vote no on the bill to cut SNAP and Medicaid. The Senate’s
vote on the billionaire-enriching GOP reconciliation bill could come
this week, and we only need three Republicans to oppose its massively
unpopular SNAP and Medicaid cuts to stop it. Now is the time to ensure
your senators hear you!
 5. [ [link removed] ]Join our “What’s the Plan?” call this Thursday to hear Leah and
Ezra answer your questions about Iran, ICE, and our next steps. Every
Thursday at 3pm ET (12pm PT), our co-founders jump online to break
down the news of the week, highlight our work, and answer your
questions directly! Come be part of a free-flowing, interactive chat
about what’s next in our fight for democracy.

P.S. It’s a key week in our fight to stop the Republican Tax Scam, and
we’ve rolled out billboards, phonebanks, door knocking, digital programs,
and more! Grassroots giving has helped us add dozens of additional
billboards and expand our efforts in huge ways, so if you can spare it,
[ [link removed] ]please rush in a donation today to fund billboards and nationwide
organizing to stop the Medicaid-killing MAGA agenda.

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This week's update on the Republican Tax Scam

The Senate could vote on its overhauled reconciliation bill by the end of
this week, sending a significantly changed version back to the House for
additional votes. Our goal remains disrupting that vote as long as we can
-- because the longer we delay it, the more we can toxify it and the
harder it becomes to pass.

Here’s what you need to know heading into this week:

 1. Every change the Senate makes needs to be approved by the House, and
that’ll be the hardest part for Republicans. Senate changes to
Medicaid funding, state/local taxes, and SNAP cuts are already
imperiling the megabill in the House, and more big changes are bound
to happen if the Senate vote is long and messy (our goal).
 2. The Senate parliamentarian cut key MAGA policies -- including the
sneak-attack on our courts and a crucial SNAP plan. Last week’s “Byrd
droppings” [ [link removed] ]derailed an attempt to shield Trump from court
oversight and, just as importantly, a [ [link removed] ]ploy to cut federal food
assistance that's key to passing the House. But there’s no guarantee
the GOP won’t try to overrule the parliamentarian, so we need to keep
pressure on key senators to ensure they follow their own rules.
 3. In many ways, the Senate made a really bad bill even worse. It
includes a plot to [ [link removed] ]sell off 250 million acres of public land,
retains a [ [link removed] ]ban on efforts to regulate AI, and makes changes to
Medicaid funding that have [ [link removed] ]hospitals nationwide warning of cuts
and closures. When people hear pretty much anything about this bill,
they despise it.

We’re dialing up (pun intended) pressure on key Senate Republicans all
week by helping thousands upon thousands of their constituents place calls
to their offices in opposition to SNAP and Medicaid cuts. You can help us
supercharge that effort.

[ [link removed] ]Click here to join phonebanks calling millions of people most likely
to be hurt by this bill to rally opposition against it! Shifts are open
daily at 6pm ET / 3pm PT this Monday-Thursday.

If you’re interested in other opportunities to phonebank, you can also
[ [link removed] ]join our phonebanks this Wednesday and Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT,
or you can [ [link removed] ]sign up for our monthly phonebank training to get ready to
make calls with us in July!

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NEW Speaker Series: Solidarity in Action

As authoritarianism rises in America and across the globe, marginalized
communities are being targeted at an alarming rate and pushed onto the
front lines of the fight. This moment calls for solidarity.

That’s why Indivisible is launching a NEW speaker series to build
sustainable, effective strategies for community support and advocacy. If
you want to be a more effective ally to the communities authoritarianism
harms most, our upcoming Solidarity in Action speaker series for you!

It all starts this Tuesday, June 24, when NYT bestselling author Heather
McGhee and Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg team up for the
[ [link removed] ]series kick-off session: Training for Systemic Change and Allyship.

[ [link removed] ]Digital event flier for Advancing Our Values, Solidarity in Action Tuesday,
June 24 at 4pm ET -- Click to register for the event

[ [link removed] ]Click here to register for the kick-off of our new Solidarity in
Action Speaker series on June 24 at 4pm ET / 1pm PT! Don’t miss Heather
McGhee and Leah laying out the fundamentals of training for systemic
change and allyship.

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IndivisiWIN of the week

[25]Photos of Indivisibles in pajamas standing outside of Rep Andrew Garbarino's
office holding pillows and signs that read YOU SNOOZE WE LOSE and WAKE UP TO
AUTHORITARIANISM

Republican Representative Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) didn’t vote for the
House reconciliation bill, but it wasn’t because he opposed cutting
Medicaid or handing billionaires even more tax breaks. Andrew Garbarino
didn’t vote because he supposedly [ [link removed] ]fell asleep.

Last week, Long Island Indivisibles delivered him a much needed wakeup
call, when their “pajama party” gathered roughly forty PJ-wearing
constituents outside his office! Attendees pinned notes about the bill’s
harmful policies to their pillows, handed out coffee, and staged a
sleep-in to draw attention from passersby.

The eye-opening mobilization made local news broadcasts -- and created a
lively spectacle that even Andrew Garbarino couldn’t snooze through!

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