I'm writing from Germany, not to echo the media’s spin, but to offer something grounded and real: solidarity. Not pity. Not distance. Solidarity.
Contrary to what some headlines suggest, most people I know—and many more across this country—aren’t judging Americans. They’re horrified with you. Not because they think you’re passive, but because they see the cost of resistance in a system rigged from the inside. We know how propaganda works. Murdoch's reach extends far beyond the U.S., shaping headlines across the Western world. What gets reported isn’t always what people actually think.
Here, the tone isn’t mockery—it’s consternation. Even in regions where far-right parties gain traction, the majority do not support authoritarianism. And those who do? They’re still a minority of voters, not the voice of the people. The idea that Americans aren’t fighting back is false—it’s being pushed by the same media conglomerates invested in erasing your courage.
I see what you’re doing. Your daughter. Your community. Your refusal to normalize. I would never fight for this country, but I would give everything I can—my voice, my intellect, my labor—to support yours.
Summer, that means so much to hear. I wrote every word with care, hoping it would land where it’s needed. I'm deeply moved it offered you strength—that’s exactly what solidarity is for. We keep each other going.
Dear Summer -- I wanna address the gun thing real quick. Because a year ago, I would've agreed with your husband wholeheartedly. But now I'm not so sure.
I'd ask the question, "How many of those guys with guns are veterans? Because veterans are watching themselves get fucked by the people they overwhelmingly voted for. And it's come to my attention that those veterans are PISSED."
Then I'd ask about all the people with guns who are about to lose their food stamps, their Social Security, their Medicare, their Medicaid, their federal funding for public schools, roads, disaster relief, and their genuine allies all around the world. I'd ask how many of them really want to serve as adjuncts in Putin's army.
Point being: this almost has nothing to do with Democrats. It has to do with what happens when people who've been arming themselves against tyranny run into ACTUAL fucking tyranny. And while we're at it, whose side do you think all those fired FBI and CIA agents are going to be on, when push comes to actual shove?
Point is: these motherfuckers are barking up the wrong side of EVERY tree. What they're doing will be ruinous to everyone, INCLUDING the ultra-rich. Because the ultra-rich won't have enough bunkers left to hide in when America snaps out of its pizza coma at last and realizes how deep in the shit we’ve gotten.
So I am one trillion percent behind every form of peaceful protest and resistance there is. That is the best and most lasting way. That is how we rebuild. That is how we come together to form an even-MORE-perfect union.
But let's not poo-poo this whole "good people with guns" thing. Because as even the demons of the NRA like to say, the only defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. JUST SAYIN'!
I know a lot of these guys, and they are good guys in person, but I fucking hate their values. They are MAGA through and through. Lots of MAGA in Alaska, as my newsletter (coming out tomorrow!) details. But yes, I totes agree with you. I think we have a class war on our hands, but so many don't realize they're in it and getting screwed.
Just watched the 1940 film THE GRAPES OF WRATH for the first time. I think everyone in America should do that, too. The thugs in that thing? They're ICE. We are warning ourselves from the past.
It's on the Criterion Channel. As are SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and A FACE IN THE CROWD, which I also highly recommend to America right now. Highly prescient reminders of the things Americans were assumed to know, and which we desperately need to remember.
Raises hand—from family (extended, all of them, parents uncles cousins etc) of good guys and veterans with lots of guns. All from Maine, and where Maine goes, so goes the nation…<3
I think it's important to say, too, that there were people fighting against these same problems prior to the most recent election (I don't think you miss this point in general, of course! I just want to bring it into the comments).
the revolution has been ongoing, which is maybe why so many of us are exhausted? I'm grateful for the organizing you're doing, Summer ♥️ I'm grateful to people who are fighting against these regimes that affect so many people who can't fight back for themselves (right now, because of the weight of all the things like working for healthcare and the "opportunity" to afford vegetables - or ever, because of chronic illness or mental health & overwhelm or disability, etc.)
thanks for writing these weekly notes. I always take a deep breath at the end of your essays ♥️
Thank you, Alycia! I love to hear that, that gives me strength that these essays give you breath and not more fear! Yes, absolutely. We have been fighting forever. I was just telling my husband that I have been fighting for equitable (uh oh there's that word "equity!") education forever: I've gone on strike, I've testified a gazillion times, I've emceed several rallies, I've brought my kids to testimony, etc etc. Alaska's governor basically did what this admin is doing, except 7 years ago, and we fought hard then, too. When I lived in California, conservatives tried to break public school and we went on strike, and that was in 2005ish. And I know people have been fighting much longer than that...
That is very encouraging to hear! Thank you!!!!! I'm so sorry that you have to deal with us! "Like living on the second floor of a meth lab" is how I've heard it described for y'all.
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Proud to know you! Proud to fight alongside you!! Thank you for fighting. Wish I was in Alaska to celebrate your speech- though I’m sorry you have to do it all.
Keep up the good work Summer! We are doing our things down in my little town too. I wanted to tell you how today, when my students broke into self-selected groups for studying from among various 2nd wave feminist methodologies of resistance, none of them chose policy making. They chose to emulate the model of the doctor's group that wrote Our Bodies Ourselves. In doing so, they chose not to trust experts but to instead pursue expertise through their own experience and in research into their own bodily autonomy. Knowledge is power. The other half chose to emulate the radical feminists of the No More Miss America movement. I was pretty inspired by this! Even though Gloria Steinem modelled the third route, a unity on the basis of class consciousness, and a pretty great analysis, they preferred more radical means. History tells us Gloria Steinem got screwed over when she chose to work with the Democratic party. I kind of relate to that!
There's always something productive in repression. Maybe I'm feeling too optimistic. I grew up in The donning of this current repression, after the near Utopia of the '70s in Southern California where we kids and a bunch of our hippie parents played New Games on a sunny Saturday on the local high school football field. My whole life it has felt like that Utopia has slipped away. But once we knew what it could feel like, even if only for that one day when we lifted that giant earth ball up into our collective arms with joy, we know what it could feel like. I have thought for a while that it's time to envision the world we want to live in. This was Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's message in Phoenix yesterday. Thanks for your work.
Wow. What an insightful experience. I wish I could take your class! And now I want to learn more about the Our Bodies Ourselves and No More Miss America. I love the idea of no longer just resisting, but envisioning the world we want to live in. We can't just say No, we have to offer a new way. Yep. 100% there with you!
Watching and praying for America... while stressing about how that will play out world wide, including our own little neck of the woods with elections looming. Stay strong x
Summer, did you see The Intellecutalist's article March 12, 2025 titled: Black Saturday. Here's a quote, "Most people living through history don’t realize they are inside a moment of collapse because each event, taken alone, does not seem like the end of democracy. The shock of one ruling being ignored does not feel catastrophic. The Supreme Court deciding a president is immune from prosecution feels like just another legal controversy. Congressional inaction feels like business as usual. The media’s treatment of this moment as just another chapter in the ongoing T&ump saga makes it easy to assume the system will self-correct. But when viewed together, it becomes undeniable that the system has already failed." The frog in the water syndrome.
Yes, I read that. Big oof. IDK, but it feels like detaining and deporting people here legally because they criticized the government is signalling a line being crossed. These people are afforded constitutional rights just like citizens, so the law is writ.
I meant the overall gist--that in a government leaning towards autocracy, all the things mentioned in that article segment, taken one at a time, may simply seem one more thing when we go through daily life, and can go unnoticed, until too late. Yes, it's chilling that he's deporting people born in US for criticizing him or his admn-- straight out of 'the dictator's handbook.' Next it will be jailing those in country. I was going after the big picture, which you did in your post.
Exactly. Good point. Is he deporting people born in the U.S. as well? I thought it was just visa and green card holders? I keep checking my news to see when he's going to start jailing journalists and citizens. I can't believe I have to write this!
Gandhi reminds us, "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant." He called this idea satyagraha. It was more than civil disobedience. It translates as "holding on to the truth force." It is about clinging to truth, holding on to light, love, and trust when everything about the world tells you that opening your heart is too risky, or futile.
That is the struggle. John Briley, the screenwriter for the 1982 film about Gandhi, wrote a beautiful line about this for Ben Kingsley's performance depicting Gandhi leading the public "Satyagraha Oath" at the Empire Theatre in South Africa during the Indian resistance of South Africa's "black act" in September of 1906 (it may not have been Gandhi leading that, we don't know). "They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, but not my obedience."
If we can start this fire, we can make it through this cold night.
Excellent, Summer! So well spelled out. The sources I read declare that we ARE acting. Much positive news of protest and speaking hard truths. Many reports of the regime backing up, backing off after huge threats. Let’s keep it up!
Thank you for making that speech, Summer! You inspire me. Our daughter is a speech therapist who chose to work in the schools because she adores kids. And special ed. For how long?
Summer, reading this makes me sad for you. For how the world is making you feel. We (outsiders) should know it takes the strangest and/or the most mundane of things to wake up a populace from acceptance of things that are really not alright. It has to be personal to remind those who only voted e.g. just to get tax cuts that, in the end, they aren't worth a cup of coffee unless you're mega-rich. Running down something vital like education may well be America's figurative trigger. However, going around pointing guns offers no good way forward as a solution. Just more pain. I hope it doesn't come to that.
Here we have the school lunch debacle. We're not letting that go, no matter how hard the nasty little man responsible tries to divert us to other matters. And that's the thing. What will it take to get people out and protesting? Those representing sane world thinking might wonder how America can have gotten itself into today's situation. But it's never that simple. The unfortunate thing for Americans is the mess is so giant. It's unmissable. If Aotearoa New Zealand was as large and influential as America, believe me, you'd all be pointing fingers at us and asking why Kiwis let this happen.
You are the victims of your past success. As, in our tiny way, are we. We were renowned for being nice people. Kind. Caring. Genuine. No matter our political stripes, that was how we were. Now, we're not. Now, there's a tranch of not-at-all-nice people in government trampling all over us.
..So, go get'em Summer, good for you. And ignore what the outside world is thinking if you can. What YOU are thinking is much more important for fixing things. Kia kaha, Summer. Tautoko. [The contemporary meaning of "tautoko" is to support, assist and give comfort, to encourage]
I love that. Thank you! Gracias. Gunalcheesh. This is really helpful to hear! Especially how the world doesn't ALL see us like that, and your point about how "If Aotearoa New Zealand was as large and influential as America, believe me, you'd all be pointing fingers at us and asking why Kiwis let this happen." What is going on with the mean culture? Why is it pervading every corner of the world lately? Is that the par for course pushback to general awakening/evolution? I hope so. I hope it's just growing pains and the world will balance out. I'm going with that even if it's naive, haha.
Summer,
I'm writing from Germany, not to echo the media’s spin, but to offer something grounded and real: solidarity. Not pity. Not distance. Solidarity.
Contrary to what some headlines suggest, most people I know—and many more across this country—aren’t judging Americans. They’re horrified with you. Not because they think you’re passive, but because they see the cost of resistance in a system rigged from the inside. We know how propaganda works. Murdoch's reach extends far beyond the U.S., shaping headlines across the Western world. What gets reported isn’t always what people actually think.
Here, the tone isn’t mockery—it’s consternation. Even in regions where far-right parties gain traction, the majority do not support authoritarianism. And those who do? They’re still a minority of voters, not the voice of the people. The idea that Americans aren’t fighting back is false—it’s being pushed by the same media conglomerates invested in erasing your courage.
I see what you’re doing. Your daughter. Your community. Your refusal to normalize. I would never fight for this country, but I would give everything I can—my voice, my intellect, my labor—to support yours.
You are not alone.
With you in the fight,
Jay (writing from Germany)
I can't tell you how many times I've read these words and they give me strength! Thank you, Jay. This is very heartening to hear!
Summer, that means so much to hear. I wrote every word with care, hoping it would land where it’s needed. I'm deeply moved it offered you strength—that’s exactly what solidarity is for. We keep each other going.
Dear Summer -- I wanna address the gun thing real quick. Because a year ago, I would've agreed with your husband wholeheartedly. But now I'm not so sure.
I'd ask the question, "How many of those guys with guns are veterans? Because veterans are watching themselves get fucked by the people they overwhelmingly voted for. And it's come to my attention that those veterans are PISSED."
Then I'd ask about all the people with guns who are about to lose their food stamps, their Social Security, their Medicare, their Medicaid, their federal funding for public schools, roads, disaster relief, and their genuine allies all around the world. I'd ask how many of them really want to serve as adjuncts in Putin's army.
Point being: this almost has nothing to do with Democrats. It has to do with what happens when people who've been arming themselves against tyranny run into ACTUAL fucking tyranny. And while we're at it, whose side do you think all those fired FBI and CIA agents are going to be on, when push comes to actual shove?
Point is: these motherfuckers are barking up the wrong side of EVERY tree. What they're doing will be ruinous to everyone, INCLUDING the ultra-rich. Because the ultra-rich won't have enough bunkers left to hide in when America snaps out of its pizza coma at last and realizes how deep in the shit we’ve gotten.
So I am one trillion percent behind every form of peaceful protest and resistance there is. That is the best and most lasting way. That is how we rebuild. That is how we come together to form an even-MORE-perfect union.
But let's not poo-poo this whole "good people with guns" thing. Because as even the demons of the NRA like to say, the only defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. JUST SAYIN'!
Enormous love,
Skipp
I know a lot of these guys, and they are good guys in person, but I fucking hate their values. They are MAGA through and through. Lots of MAGA in Alaska, as my newsletter (coming out tomorrow!) details. But yes, I totes agree with you. I think we have a class war on our hands, but so many don't realize they're in it and getting screwed.
THEY'LL FIGURE IT OUT! (I hope!)
Just watched the 1940 film THE GRAPES OF WRATH for the first time. I think everyone in America should do that, too. The thugs in that thing? They're ICE. We are warning ourselves from the past.
OMG! Okay. That's going on the list! Thank you!
It's on the Criterion Channel. As are SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and A FACE IN THE CROWD, which I also highly recommend to America right now. Highly prescient reminders of the things Americans were assumed to know, and which we desperately need to remember.
Raises hand—from family (extended, all of them, parents uncles cousins etc) of good guys and veterans with lots of guns. All from Maine, and where Maine goes, so goes the nation…<3
I love your governor! I hope we go that way.
Dear Robin -- YAAAAAAY!!! Case in point! THANKS!!!
P.S. -- I just posted my response as my own essay for today. And put a link in to your beautiful column. Which was, as always, beautiful. THANKS!!!
Thank you so much! Sorry just now responding...
I think it's important to say, too, that there were people fighting against these same problems prior to the most recent election (I don't think you miss this point in general, of course! I just want to bring it into the comments).
the revolution has been ongoing, which is maybe why so many of us are exhausted? I'm grateful for the organizing you're doing, Summer ♥️ I'm grateful to people who are fighting against these regimes that affect so many people who can't fight back for themselves (right now, because of the weight of all the things like working for healthcare and the "opportunity" to afford vegetables - or ever, because of chronic illness or mental health & overwhelm or disability, etc.)
thanks for writing these weekly notes. I always take a deep breath at the end of your essays ♥️
The exhaustion is real!
Thank you, Alycia! I love to hear that, that gives me strength that these essays give you breath and not more fear! Yes, absolutely. We have been fighting forever. I was just telling my husband that I have been fighting for equitable (uh oh there's that word "equity!") education forever: I've gone on strike, I've testified a gazillion times, I've emceed several rallies, I've brought my kids to testimony, etc etc. Alaska's governor basically did what this admin is doing, except 7 years ago, and we fought hard then, too. When I lived in California, conservatives tried to break public school and we went on strike, and that was in 2005ish. And I know people have been fighting much longer than that...
Canadian here…some of us see you!! We know how hard you’re fighting!! ❤️
That is very encouraging to hear! Thank you!!!!! I'm so sorry that you have to deal with us! "Like living on the second floor of a meth lab" is how I've heard it described for y'all.
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Proud to know you! Proud to fight alongside you!! Thank you for fighting. Wish I was in Alaska to celebrate your speech- though I’m sorry you have to do it all.
Thanks for keeping the fire lit!! 🔥
THANK YOU!!!
Hi from Dublin, Ireland. Brilliant piece, really educational to me. Your European friends stand with you on this. ✊
Awww thank you so much!!!!
Keep up the good work Summer! We are doing our things down in my little town too. I wanted to tell you how today, when my students broke into self-selected groups for studying from among various 2nd wave feminist methodologies of resistance, none of them chose policy making. They chose to emulate the model of the doctor's group that wrote Our Bodies Ourselves. In doing so, they chose not to trust experts but to instead pursue expertise through their own experience and in research into their own bodily autonomy. Knowledge is power. The other half chose to emulate the radical feminists of the No More Miss America movement. I was pretty inspired by this! Even though Gloria Steinem modelled the third route, a unity on the basis of class consciousness, and a pretty great analysis, they preferred more radical means. History tells us Gloria Steinem got screwed over when she chose to work with the Democratic party. I kind of relate to that!
There's always something productive in repression. Maybe I'm feeling too optimistic. I grew up in The donning of this current repression, after the near Utopia of the '70s in Southern California where we kids and a bunch of our hippie parents played New Games on a sunny Saturday on the local high school football field. My whole life it has felt like that Utopia has slipped away. But once we knew what it could feel like, even if only for that one day when we lifted that giant earth ball up into our collective arms with joy, we know what it could feel like. I have thought for a while that it's time to envision the world we want to live in. This was Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's message in Phoenix yesterday. Thanks for your work.
Thanks for your newsletter!
Wow. What an insightful experience. I wish I could take your class! And now I want to learn more about the Our Bodies Ourselves and No More Miss America. I love the idea of no longer just resisting, but envisioning the world we want to live in. We can't just say No, we have to offer a new way. Yep. 100% there with you!
AOC power!
LOVE HER
can't stop won't stop
The dawning*
Watching and praying for America... while stressing about how that will play out world wide, including our own little neck of the woods with elections looming. Stay strong x
Thank you <3 Where are you, Cate?
I'm in Australia... worlds away, and, yet, not so far.
Summer, did you see The Intellecutalist's article March 12, 2025 titled: Black Saturday. Here's a quote, "Most people living through history don’t realize they are inside a moment of collapse because each event, taken alone, does not seem like the end of democracy. The shock of one ruling being ignored does not feel catastrophic. The Supreme Court deciding a president is immune from prosecution feels like just another legal controversy. Congressional inaction feels like business as usual. The media’s treatment of this moment as just another chapter in the ongoing T&ump saga makes it easy to assume the system will self-correct. But when viewed together, it becomes undeniable that the system has already failed." The frog in the water syndrome.
Yes, I read that. Big oof. IDK, but it feels like detaining and deporting people here legally because they criticized the government is signalling a line being crossed. These people are afforded constitutional rights just like citizens, so the law is writ.
I meant the overall gist--that in a government leaning towards autocracy, all the things mentioned in that article segment, taken one at a time, may simply seem one more thing when we go through daily life, and can go unnoticed, until too late. Yes, it's chilling that he's deporting people born in US for criticizing him or his admn-- straight out of 'the dictator's handbook.' Next it will be jailing those in country. I was going after the big picture, which you did in your post.
Exactly. Good point. Is he deporting people born in the U.S. as well? I thought it was just visa and green card holders? I keep checking my news to see when he's going to start jailing journalists and citizens. I can't believe I have to write this!
Oops, my error. Sorry. Meant with proper paperwork.
Gandhi reminds us, "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant." He called this idea satyagraha. It was more than civil disobedience. It translates as "holding on to the truth force." It is about clinging to truth, holding on to light, love, and trust when everything about the world tells you that opening your heart is too risky, or futile.
That is the struggle. John Briley, the screenwriter for the 1982 film about Gandhi, wrote a beautiful line about this for Ben Kingsley's performance depicting Gandhi leading the public "Satyagraha Oath" at the Empire Theatre in South Africa during the Indian resistance of South Africa's "black act" in September of 1906 (it may not have been Gandhi leading that, we don't know). "They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, but not my obedience."
If we can start this fire, we can make it through this cold night.
What an inspiration. I think it's time I finally watch that movie! Thank you, Richard, for your comment!
Excellent, Summer! So well spelled out. The sources I read declare that we ARE acting. Much positive news of protest and speaking hard truths. Many reports of the regime backing up, backing off after huge threats. Let’s keep it up!
Yes! There has been some retreating noted. Thank you, Bill!
Thank you for making that speech, Summer! You inspire me. Our daughter is a speech therapist who chose to work in the schools because she adores kids. And special ed. For how long?
Right? Asking for a friend. <3
Summer, reading this makes me sad for you. For how the world is making you feel. We (outsiders) should know it takes the strangest and/or the most mundane of things to wake up a populace from acceptance of things that are really not alright. It has to be personal to remind those who only voted e.g. just to get tax cuts that, in the end, they aren't worth a cup of coffee unless you're mega-rich. Running down something vital like education may well be America's figurative trigger. However, going around pointing guns offers no good way forward as a solution. Just more pain. I hope it doesn't come to that.
Here we have the school lunch debacle. We're not letting that go, no matter how hard the nasty little man responsible tries to divert us to other matters. And that's the thing. What will it take to get people out and protesting? Those representing sane world thinking might wonder how America can have gotten itself into today's situation. But it's never that simple. The unfortunate thing for Americans is the mess is so giant. It's unmissable. If Aotearoa New Zealand was as large and influential as America, believe me, you'd all be pointing fingers at us and asking why Kiwis let this happen.
You are the victims of your past success. As, in our tiny way, are we. We were renowned for being nice people. Kind. Caring. Genuine. No matter our political stripes, that was how we were. Now, we're not. Now, there's a tranch of not-at-all-nice people in government trampling all over us.
..So, go get'em Summer, good for you. And ignore what the outside world is thinking if you can. What YOU are thinking is much more important for fixing things. Kia kaha, Summer. Tautoko. [The contemporary meaning of "tautoko" is to support, assist and give comfort, to encourage]
I love that. Thank you! Gracias. Gunalcheesh. This is really helpful to hear! Especially how the world doesn't ALL see us like that, and your point about how "If Aotearoa New Zealand was as large and influential as America, believe me, you'd all be pointing fingers at us and asking why Kiwis let this happen." What is going on with the mean culture? Why is it pervading every corner of the world lately? Is that the par for course pushback to general awakening/evolution? I hope so. I hope it's just growing pains and the world will balance out. I'm going with that even if it's naive, haha.
Sister wives! Love it! Like Big Love without the love.
Haha! Or a different kind of love.
The Department of Education being dismantled might be one of the scariest things, ever.
Right? Education (or lack thereof) is how we got here, so...
Right F'ing On Sister!!
Yes, sister! Ty!