This week’s actions are all about fighting bravely and pushing others to be
brave with us -- from Disney execs in the Kimmel showdown, to our Democratic
senators in the funding fight, to our communities on No Kings Day. But first,
Ezra addresses the past few days' big news.

Folks, is it just me, or does it feel like time is speeding up
now?

A while back, Leah and I watched the HBO miniseries Years and Years, which
tells a dystopian fictional story of the UK’s slow decline into
authoritarianism. Each episode jumps forward a few years, with the
technofascist story lurching ahead ever more menacingly. Emma Thompson is
great as an authoritarian leader, but it may hit too close to home if
you’re (reasonably) looking for escapism now.

Unfortunately, our reality is not just some dystopian fiction. Things that
all-knowing political commentators dismissed as alarmist months ago are
now being defended by MAGA footsoldiers and both-sided by upstanding
political commentators. The simple facts are galling:

* The president of the United States said publicly, [ [link removed] ]"I couldn't care
less" about right-wing political violence.
* His regime [ [link removed] ]then bullied ABC/Disney to censor Jimmy Kimmel for being
too critical.
* And the administration is now [ [link removed] ]widely reported to be preparing a
crackdown on political opponents.

But as threatening and dangerous as all this is, what I see here is a weak
regime lashing out. This is desperate, bizarre stuff that will backfire if
we make it backfire.

The regime is making a mistake. We’ve got to take advantage of that. I’m
not a professional political commentator (thank god), so here’s my take as
a pro-democracy organizer instead:

The regime is overplaying its hand. They think they are now justified in
cracking down on free speech, peaceful protest, and the opposition. But
they’re wrong -- they don’t have the support for it.

We’ve seen this kind of overreach and blowback again and again this year.
“Winning” issues for Trump -- immigration, cancel culture, crime -- all
crumble in the aftermath of his spasms of authoritarian power grabs.

Americans don’t like masked men disappearing people to foreign gulags.
Americans don’t like invading and occupying American cities. Americans
don’t like rigging the next election to protect the regime from
accountability. Americans don’t like crackdowns on freedom of speech.

And over the past few days, Americans have shown that. Just as we were
about to send a different version of this newsletter, ABC/Disney
reinstated Kimmel.

Pressure works! This happened because Disney executives -- including CEO
Bob Iger and Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden -- felt the heat:

* Tens of thousands of Disney fans moved to cancel their streaming
services, Disney trips, and more until Kimmel was reinstated. At one
point, [ [link removed] ]so many people were cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions
that the page crashed.
* They were [ [link removed] ]joined by Disney stars who announced their own account
cancellations and skewered their employer for capitulating.
* Responding to popular outrage, enough people in power spoke up. FCC
Commissioner [ [link removed] ]Anna Gomez sounded the alarm about the illegality of
threats by her colleague, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, and congressional
[ [link removed] ]Democrats called for Carr to be subpoenaed.

By all accounts, ABC/Disney caved to Trump because they thought it’d be
the easier thing to do, but they were not in any way prepared for the
blowback that followed. They bought into the image of Trump as all
powerful -- but found out pretty fast that everyday people hold a lot of
power, too.

The regime wants to look all powerful -- we shouldn’t let it. On Friday,
[ [link removed] ]I talked to Jen Psaki on MSNBC about the Disney pressure campaign and
the regime’s escalation. My main point: The best way to fight back against
Trump’s attacks on our rights is to exercise those rights.

We did that over the last few days by pushing Disney to reverse course.
Now, we’ve got to do it again -- by making [ [link removed] ]No Kings on October 18 an
enormous, historic demonstration of people peacefully exercising their
First Amendment rights.

We’re closing in on [ [link removed] ]1,500 events on the map with nearly a month left.
We’re exceeding the rate of new event registration we saw for No Kings in
June -- then the largest domestic protest in years -- meaning this is
shaping up to be the largest peaceful protest in modern American history.

I want to close out with the guy who closed out our official No Kings
launch last week. Mark Ruffalo -- one of the Disney stars who pressured
the company to reverse course -- told us: [ [link removed] ]“We’re the home of the brave
and the land of the free. But if we want to be free, then we gotta be
brave.”

Damn, Mark, you said it. Read on to this week’s action items for some
actionable ways to be brave -- and push others to be brave, too.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

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Your weekly to-dos

 1. [ [link removed] ]Check the No Kings map to see if we’ve added a protest near you on
October 18. As Trump wields government power to censor free speech and
threaten political opponents, we need to make No Kings Day a historic
day of resistance! We’ve added nearly 1,000 events since our last
newsletter, so please find the one nearest to you today.

 3. [ [link removed] ]Call your Republican senators to tell them they’ll own a TRUMP
SHUTDOWN if they don’t commit to a bipartisan spending deal. With just
days until federal funding runs dry, Republicans refuse to even
consider bills that preserve healthcare or rein in Trump. Let’s remind
them they control both the House and Senate, so it’s on them to keep
the government open!
 4. [ [link removed] ]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. [ [link removed] ]Join a live phonebank training here.
 5. [ [link removed] ]Sign up for a powerful discussion about how teachers defend truth,
combat disinformation, and protect democracy. Be part of American
Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten’s virtual chat on
the importance of educators in the fight for democracy at her talk
Frontline in the Fight: Why Fascists Fear Teachers.
 6. [ [link removed] ]Join “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday as Leah and Ezra answer your
questions on Kimmel, the funding deadline, and more. Our co-founders
go live at 3pm ET every Thursday to break down our key initiatives and
answer your questions directly! Sign up now for an interactive chat
about what’s next in the fight for democracy.

P.S. With so many institutions caving to Trump’s threats and falling in
line, it’s never been more important to support grassroots organizations
that are keeping up the fight for our democracy. [ [link removed] ]Please chip in with a
donation of any amount, if you can.

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No Blank Checks for Trump

With just over one week until the government funding deadline and a
potential Trump Shutdown, Republicans still appear dead set on holding the
government hostage -- all to lock in Trump’s healthcare cuts and hand the
regime more unchecked power.

Over the weekend, House Republicans left DC with the job left undone,
while Trump kept insulting Dems and refused to give them any input at all.
It bears repeating: Republicans are acting this way because they fully
expect Democrats to roll over and hand Trump the blank check he’s
demanding.

For now, Senate Democrats are (to their credit) saying they’ll only back a
deal that averts MAGA healthcare cuts and places some checks on Trump’s
lawless spending. But some Dems are questioning whether they should hold
the line or fold when Republicans threaten to force a shutdown.

We cannot afford another Democratic surrender!

If you have a Democratic senator: [ [link removed] ]Send an email demanding that they
call on Schumer to keep fighting. They CANNOT ROLL OVER for a bill that
locks in healthcare cuts or lets Trump go unchecked.

[ [link removed] ]Email Dems now >>

If you have a GOP senator: [ [link removed] ]Send an email demanding that they work on
a bipartisan basis -- the way funding has always been done -- to save
healthcare and avert a Trump Shutdown.

[ [link removed] ]Email Republicans now >>

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Fight back with friends (at No Kings and beyond)

Stopping this authoritarian onslaught is going to take all of us -- and
that means bringing new friends into the fight. Fight Back with Friends
(FBWF) is a nationwide program that empowers you to help your own friends
and neighbors get off the sidelines!

[ [link removed] ]Digital flier for the Fight Back with Friends monthly meeting on Tuesday,
September 23 -- Click to register for this event

Massive nationwide events like No Kings Day are an ideal opportunity to
welcome new folks into this fight -- and we’re relying on Indivisibles
across America to make October 18 huge and historic! This Tuesday,
September 23, the FBWF team is jumping online to talk through fun, new
ways to get our personal contacts into the streets with us.

[ [link removed] ]Sign up for the FBWF monthly meeting at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT this
Tuesday to join our team, activate your friends and family, and make No
Kings Day a historic success.

[ [link removed] ]Fight Back with Friends

New to the Fight Back with Friends team? No worries! We'll do a live training
session on the call -- walking you through how to download the app, upload your
first contacts, and start having effective conversations with your network.
[ [link removed] ]Join the training at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT tomorrow, September 23.

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IndivisiWIN of the week

[ [link removed] ]A San Francisco Chronicle Facebook post showing a collage of photos from an
Indivisible-led protest. The caption reads: Free speech advocates gathered
Sunday afternoon outside the ABC and Nexstar affiliates in San Francisco to
protest the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show... Indivisible San
Francisco and Indivisible East Bay, the local chapters of a national progressive
movement, organized the Sunday protest

After ABC/Disney and their broadcast partners capitulated to Trump and
censored Jimmy Kimmel, California Indivisibles acted quickly to hold the
cowardly corporations’ feet to the fire!

This weekend, hundreds of protestors -- led by Indivisible East Bay and
Indivisible SF -- gathered at ABC, Disney, and their affiliates’ offices
across the East Bay area to protest Kimmel’s cancellation and support a
boycott of ABC/Disney.

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