Fridays in Trumpland: 3.13.2025

Feckless, Foolish F*ckers, or WE FIGHT BACK

Senator Chuck Schumer, in glasses and a blue suit jacket with a yellow tie, standing in front of an American flag

So I had a whole other Fridays in Trumpland written, but here I sit, at 9:52 pm on Thursday night, realizing that my prior essay is way less important than what has happened in the last few hours.

Tonight, Chuck Schumer announced that he is going to vote in favor of the Republican budget resolution, which includes massive, unprecedented cuts to social services like SNAP benefits (better known as food stamps), Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, all so that billionaires can get even richer through tax breaks.

Reportedly, Chuck is doing this because he’s afraid of what the American people will think of Democrats if the government shuts down.

That is complicity. It is cowardice. It is shameful.

And it cannot lie.

Any vote for this budget resolution is a vote to support the agenda of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. That includes when and if that vote comes from Democratic party leadership.

But we are not going to sit in despair, and we are not going to take this lying down.

So today’s Fridays in Trumpland is dedicated to FIGHTING BACK instead.

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Your assignment this Friday, should you choose to accept it, is to call every single Senate democrat and demand that they vote NO on cloture (the procedural mechanism that brings the budget resolution to the floor) and NO on the resolution itself.

You should call your own Senators first. Your script should go like this.

Hello, my name is ___ and I am a constituent. My zip code is ___. I’m calling to urge the Senator to vote no on cloture and no on the budget resolution. I’m afraid for what the budget cuts in this resolution will do to people I care about and to the residents of our state. I am angry that the Democratic leadership doesn’t seem to recognize the threat we’re under, and wants to cave instead to the whims of an unelected billionaire and to a President with autocratic ambitions. This is an easy choice. VOTE NO. We elected the Senator and the Senator should represent US, not aid Trump and his lackeys in destroying democracy. Thank you.

And then you should call every other Democratic senator using a similar script, without the point about being a constituent, but as an American voter who cares about other Americans.

The vote hasn’t happened yet. Minds could still be changed. But it is imperative that we all fight back together.

Here is the list of every phone number for every Senate office. Note that you will have to dial a 202-22 before each of these numbers to reach the correct office (so, for example, you can reach Amy Klobuchar at 202-224-3244, since her phone extension is listed here as 4-3244).

Feel free to go down the list. If you get voicemail, leave a message. If you get a busy signal, keep calling. It’s ok to call more than once.

Some Senators, like Adam Schiff, have already committed to voting no. Others are on the fence.

It will be a heavy lift to turn the tide of this given Schumer’s feckless, complicit choice.

We must try anyway.

And when this is over, we will absolutely be having a conversation about who should primary every single Democrat who makes the mistake of voting in favor of the Musk/Trump agenda. It’s time.

Let’s get to work. Make your calls. Tell me in the comments when you’ve done so.

Unlike some, we will not be complying with fascism in advance.

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