It's always been an issue, and a lesson unfortunately hard to heed. Way back when, this was seen by many as the tragedy of Adlai Stevenson, and many since, whose hope for influence and fear of its loss lead them to participate in the wrong they hoped to correct. The captain may go down with the ship but sometimes it's wise for others to jump.What we have learned from the legal side of the ICE raids is that an extremely effective form of resistance is to Quit if you are in any way involved with this government.
Everyone always tells themselves that they can mitigate the cruelty and abuse if they are in charge, and whoever replaces them will be worse.
And they are always wrong.
When the DOJ literally doesn't have the lawyers to bring cases, when everything these monsters do takes twice as long and is deeply flawed because loyalty doesn't mean competency, then it's easier to identify and fight the lawlessness.

Reasons to be cheerful

IN AMERICA, WE HAVE NO KINGS
We are showing up together again on March 28.
When our families are under attack and costs are pushing people to the brink, silence is not an option. We will defend ourselves and our communities against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence. America does not belong to strongmen, greedy billionaires, or those who rule through fear. It belongs to us, the people.
Harvard Ash Center, Feb 24, 2026
President Trump's second term saw more than 40,000 protests as of January 31st. Erica Chenoweth suggests these demonstrations represent "a growing, durable, and disciplined pro-democracy movement" in the United States.
Explosion of protests in Trump 2.0 prove experts were dead wrong about America: analysis (RawStory, Feb 23, 2026)
America is in full revolt against President Donald Trump, according to a new analysis.
New data revealed a staggering reality: President Donald Trump's second term triggered more than 40,000 protests by Jan. 31 — quadruple the roughly 10,000 that erupted during the same timeframe of his first presidency, Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent at Vox, wrote Monday.
According to Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, whose team compiled the figures, these demonstrations represent far more than symbolic marches. Partial data covering just 41 percent of events showed more than 10 million participants flooding streets nationwide.
The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world (Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights)
Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
It used to be just George Washington's birthday, and Lincoln's birthday was a separate holiday. But someone somewhere decided America had too many holidays so they combined all the previously-holiday-worthy presidents' birthdays into one day. Which most people don't get off anyway.Why is there a president's day in the first place? Sounds like something you'd have in a dictatorship.
The first president of the country and the president that oversaw the complete abolition of slavery seem recognition-worthy to me.It used to be just George Washington's birthday, and Lincoln's birthday was a separate holiday. But someone somewhere decided America had too many holidays so they combined all the previously-holiday-worthy presidents' birthdays into one day. Which most people don't get off anyway.
It's certainly not meant to celebrate living or current presidents.
I feel like Gerald Ford should get a nod as First President that that Didn't even Apply for the Job?The first president of the country and the president that oversaw the complete abolition of slavery seem recognition-worthy to me.
Um, I believe that Andrew Johnson would be the first.I feel like Gerald Ford should get a nod as First President that that Didn't even Apply for the Job?
Negative. I said didn't apply, not wasnt elected president, and I consider any vice president to not only have applied as a backup, but every morning actively hopes that their running mate doesn't wake up. Like, I picture VP Vance waking up each morning saying "Tell me he's dead! And where's that Erica babe?"Um, I believe that Andrew Johnson would be the first.
Not alone. I recall dimly a Vonnegut short story from long ago, in which a mother pleads for someone to stop her psychopathic son from continuing his trajectory of damage. The punch line is that he's not headed for further crime, but for public office.The major problem - one of the major problems, for there are several - one of the many major problems with governing people is
that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.
- Douglas Adams
So why doesn't that also hold for Ford? Nixon left office, but Ford was the VP and assumed the role at the time - pretty much in the same way that Jackson did when Lincoln was assassinated.Negative. I said didn't apply, not wasnt elected president, and I consider any vice president to not only have applied as a backup, but every morning actively hopes that their running mate doesn't wake up. Like, I picture VP Vance waking up each morning saying "Tell me he's dead! And where's that Erica babe?"
Ford was, um... Speaker of the House, didn't run on Nixon's ticket? He applied to be naught but a lowly Representative?So why doesn't that also hold for Ford? Nixon left office, but Ford was the VP and assumed the role at the time - pretty much in the same way that Jackson did when Lincoln was assassinated.
Continued:Reasons to be cheerful
![]()
![]()
![]()
HISTORY-MAKING protests anticipated at Saturday's 'No Kings' events to push back on Trump policies (MS NOW on YouTube, Mar 24, 2026 – 10:14 min.)
Rachel Maddow looks at how the "No Kings" protests have grown progressively as outrage over Donald Trump's policies and conduct has grown, and now with the third "No Kings" day set for Saturday, March 28th, truly massive crowds are expected to make their views known. Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, joins to discuss the growing movement.
No Kings’ protest movement ‘matters in the biggest possible way’ (MS NOW on YouTube, Mar 22, 2026 - 7:59 min.)
The upcoming ‘No Kings’ rallies on March 28 are expected to draw millions nationwide. Third Act co-founder Bill McKibben insists mass gatherings expressing public dissent against President Trump’s policies empower Americans. “It matters in the biggest possible way,” he told Ali Velshi. “The craziness of this moment is what’s driving people to act in these ways.”
Right. Ford hadn't been Nixon's running mate; that was Spiro Agnew, who had also resigned in disgrace.Ford was, um... Speaker of the House, didn't run on Nixon's ticket? He applied to be naught but a lowly Representative?
Eta: Ford was tapped as VP in the months before Nixoms resignation, but Ford never actually applied for the job. He was one of three representatives from Nebraska, never running for an office in the Executive branch. Plus, I was kidding.