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Greg's avatar

Love you Katie! 🥰 So happy that you are on MTN 🥳

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Dina Gregorio's avatar

I second that!

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Dena Heitner's avatar

So happy we all will be able to follow on your new ventures. I am glad you found a safe place to land, here on Substack, YouTube & MTN. Appreciate your insights and experience on legal and news matters. Good luck on your new endeavors. I’ll be here.

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Greg's avatar

Love you Katie! 🥰 So happy that you are part of the juggernaut MTN 🥳 Ben you scored a BIG GET with Katie! 🎉 MSNBC’s loss 😉

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Wendy🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌈's avatar

I can’t wait to read and see more.

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ArleneMach's avatar

Welcome to The Meidas Mighty, Katie🙏❤️🙏!

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

We the People at Work

The People, the protectors of Democracy, are out and about. What "people," out where, about what--and why? First, millions said "Hand Off"to Trump/Musk et al, then on the 19th via 50501" (50 protests, 5o states, 1 Movement) millions more protested the mess in WDC. Also on the 19th we celebrated the "the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord, starting the Revolution and our country. On the 22nd protectors of the environment cleaned up a different kind of mess on Earth Day.

As important as the participants in environmental mess cleanup and American history are, this post is dedicated to the named and unnamed protestors fighting the Trump/Musk Washington, DC, tyrannical mess. Or as Susan Grymes calls it: "Protectors" of democracy, and so shall I in this post.

Who are the Protectors of democracy on April 5, 19th, May 1st--or all the everydays in between and into the future?? We will never know the names of each individual marcher, sign holder (or just standing together in solidarity). But we do know by name some people, advocacy groups, judges and law firms, and other entities who have not been cowed, and have fought back publicly--sometimes under threat of death.. Some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, with his 25 hour righteous speech on ethics, morality, and American democracy,have become an inspiration. Here then, in no particular order of noteworthy (except the first three), are the names of many of the army of protectors of democracy--and remember Courage is Contagious:

(Of course, the list is imperfect, Additions are welcomed. Also re-posting is permitted and encouraged.

PROTECTORS OF DEMOCRACY (By pen, voice, sign, or act)

(Updated April 25, 2025 Individuals

Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American,"

Jess Piper/"View from Rural Missouri,"

Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse,"

Rep. AOC,

AGs, 23 Blue States,

Aaron Parnas,

Adam Kinzinger,

Sen. Adam Schiff,

Adam Smith,

Alex Wagner,

Alexander Vindman,

Ali Velshi,

Alison Gill

Alvin Bragg (and the unnamed Manhattan jurors),

Amb. Susan Rice,

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales/Democracy Now,

Anand Giridharadas,

Anat Shenker-Osario,

Andrew Weissmann,

Andy Borowitz,

Ann Telnaes,

Anne Applebaum,

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation),

Ari Melber,

August Flentje,

Ben Meiselas,

Beth Benike,

Brett Meiselas,

Brian Tyler Cohen,

Cassidy Hutchinson,

Charlotte Clymer,

Chris Hayes,

Chris Krebs,

Col. Susannah Meyers,

Congressman Jim Himes,

D. Earl Stevens,

Dan Barker, FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation)

Dan Pfeiffer,

Dan Rather,

Daniel Berulis,

Daniel Morton-Bentley,

David Hogg,

Dean Obeidallah,

Delia Ramirez,

Sen. Elizabeth Warren,

Sen. Elyssa Slotkin,

Erez Reuveni,

Rep. Eric Swalwell,

Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025),

Garrison Keillor,

Garry Kasparov,

George Conway,

Glenn Kirschner,

Gov. Beshear,

Gov. Janet Mills,

Gov. Kathy Hochul,

Gov. Maura Healey (MA),

Gov. Tim Walz (MN),

Gov. Tony Evers (WI),

Greg Olear,

Harry Litman,

J.B. Pritzker,

Jake Auchincloss,

Rep. Jamie Raskin,

Rep. Jasmine Crockett,

Jay Kou,

Jeff Danziger,

Sen. Jeff Merkley,

Jeff Stein,

Jeff Tiedrich,

Jen Rubin And the Contrarians,

,Jeremy Seahill,

Jessica Craven,

Jessica Yellin,

Jim Acosta,

Jim Hightower,

Jimmy Kimmel,

J-L Cauvin,

John Cusack,

John Larson

Sen. Jon Ossoff,

Jonathan Bernstein,

Jordy Meiselas,

Josh Johnson (stand-up comedian),

Josh Marshall/TPM,

Joy Reid,

Judd Legum (Popular Information),

Julie Roginsky,

Katie Phang,

Ken Harbaugh,

Lawrence O'Donnell,

Liz Cheney,

Lucian Truscott IV,

Marianne Williamson,

Mark Fiore,

Marvin Kalb,

Mary L. Trump,

Maxwell Frost,

Mayor Michelle Wu,

Mehdi Hasan,

Melvin Gurai,

Michael Bennett,

Michael Cohn,

Michel Zeitgeist,

Miles Taylor,

Nicolle Wallllace,

Noel Casler (former and current staff of the Inter-American Foundation, a small but mighty federal agency for Latin America)

Olga Lautman,

Oliva Troye,

Paul Krugman,

Prof. Lawrence Tribe,

Qasim Rachid,

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,

Rachel Cohen,

Rachel Maddow,

Rebecca Solnit,

Rep. Andrew Egger,

Rep. Emily Randall,

Rep. Jessica Denson,

Rep. Jonathan V. Last,

Rep. Noe Casler,

Rep. Pramila Jayapal,

Rep. Sarah Longwell,

Rep. Al Green,

Rep. Don Beyer,

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,

Rev. William J. Barber II,

Rez Reuveni (acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, and his supervisor),

Rich Wilson,

Robert B. Hubbell,

Robert Reich,

Roger Parloff,

Ron Filipkowski,

Ruth Ben-Ghait,

Sarah Inama,

Scott Dworkin,

Sen. Amy Klobuchar,

Sen. Andy Kim,

Sen. Angus King,

Sen. Bernie Sanders,

Sen. Chris Murphy,

Sen. Chris Van Hollen,

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,

Sen. Lisa Murkowski,

Sen. Maria Cantwell,

Sen. Patty Murray,

Sen. Raphael Warnock,

Sen. Ron Wyden,

Sharon McMahon,

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,

Simon Rosenberg,

Stacey Abrams,

Stephanie Miller,

Stephen King,

Steve Brodner,

Steve Schmidt,

Sue Nethercott,

Sen. Tammy Duckworth,

Tennessee Brandon,

Thom Hartmann,

Tim Snyder,

Timothy Snyder

Tristan Snell,

Will Bunch,

Zev Shalev,

ADVOCACY GROUPS, MEDIA NETWORKS

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union),

AICN (North Carolina),

American Oversight,

Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers,

Blue Future,

Blue Missouri,

Blue Wave,

Bluesky,

Bulwark Media,

CODEPINK,

CREW,

DemCast,

Democracy Forward,

Democracy Index,

DemocracyLabs,

Every State Blue,

Feathers of Hope/Jerry Weiss,,

Field Team 6 (North Carolina),

FiftyFifty one (50501),

Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF),

Fred Wellman/On Democracy,

"Hands Off,"

Indivisible,

Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday,

Lambda Legal,

League of Women Voters,

Marc Elias/Democracy Docket,

MeidasTouch Network,

MoveOn,

MSNBC (an exception to corporate news, and their suppressing news0,

No Kings,

Olivia Troye,

Protect Democracy,

Public Citizen/Co-president Robert Weissman,

Run for Something,

Seneca Project,

Substack,

Team Sunrise,

The 19th/Errin Haines,

The American Manifesto,

The Bulwark,

The Civic Center,

The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah,

The Dr. Martin Luther King Center

The Lincoln Project,

The Politics Girl,

The States Project (North Carolina),

The Union (North Carolina)

Third Act,,

Thomas Zimmer/Democracy Americana,

Truth Matters,

We the People Dissent,

Working Families Party,

LAW FIRMS/ORGANIZATIONS, LAWYERS, COURTS, ACADEMIA

American Bar Association,

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer,

Big Ten Universities,

Brenna Trout Frey

David Pepper,

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services),

Harvard/President Alan M. Garber,

Hogan Lovells (seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care),

Jenner & Block (also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding),

Judge Hannah Dugan,

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III,

(former) Judge J. Michael Luttig,

Judge James Boasberg,

Judge Paula Xinis,

Judge Royce Lamberth,

Justice Elena Kagan,

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,

Justices Sonia Sotomayer,

Lawyers for Good Government,

Northwestern University,

Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling (have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams& Connolly),

Presidents of 328 U.S. colleges and universities who have signed a letter condemning “government overreach" (including St. Louis University),

Ropes & Gray (seeking to block cuts to medical research funding), Susman Godfrey law firm,

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky,

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (per the ABA Journal, representing fired inspectors general),

Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters,

Southern Poverty Law Center,

Letter signed by 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration),

To paraphrase Churchill: We shall fight them in the streets, we shall fight them on the sidewalks, we shall fight them on the internet, we shall fight them in the courts, we shall fight them in the Congress, we shall fight them in the voting booth--We shall never surrender. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. SOLIDARITY..

E pluribus unum ( "Out of many, one")

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Heather.B's avatar

We the People need to demand more from our country!

So Trump “Mr Law and Order” actually thinks any judge that rules against him (or his administration) should be removed? WTF?

We are in a constitutional crisis.

Impeach and remove Trump from office!

So many unconstitutional acts... How many signs of democratic collapse do we need?

We must every day remind our senators representative that it’s time to impeach Trump. We must not let down the pressure. We must revolt, resist and protest.

Time is everything. If you don’t stand up now, if you don’t protest, resist, disrupt and refuse to comply, you may lose your country forever. History has shown that those who act early have the best chance of reclaiming their freedom. The time to fight back is now!

I will be wearing these kinds of shirts the next four years 👇

https://libtees.dashery.com/t-shirts

We will not back down!

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

I agree. Thanks for reading in entirety. If Rump can sell__________(fill in blank), so can we.

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Jennifer's avatar

Happy to see this list growing longer with each posting.

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Larry McGinnity's avatar

Don't forget to restack/re-post, whatever. Tnx.

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Lisa S.'s avatar

Senator Cory Booker is a trailblazer!

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Julie Cochrane's avatar

Thank you for the list. Inspiring reading.

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Karen Scofield's avatar

Yahoo, I'm ready to learn some LAW from you, Katie. Good to see you here on Substack, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍

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Mikailo's avatar

Elbows up from Canada, keep up the fight for democracy, glad to know we can continue to get your reporting and smart perspectives!

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Rusalka's avatar

Happy you’re with MTN. Thank you for not bending the knee like Joe and Mika. Please be safe.

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John Paul's avatar

I’m so happy you’re here, Katie. So looking forward to your insights, and maybe some epic sidebars?

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Katie Phang's avatar

YES to the Katie Sidebars!!

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John Paul's avatar

🫡❤️

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Ochris1223's avatar

Saw your final show today! You are awesome and will continue to follow you.

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AVee. (Alexia)'s avatar

Bless you!

Look forward to your work efforts.

We need honest journalists

💙💙🇺🇸💙💙

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Dorothy's avatar

We have DO have honest journalists. What we need to have is the Fairness Doctrine reinstated! Along with Fox Not News having their FCC license suspended.

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AVee. (Alexia)'s avatar

Agree Dorothy

And the current regime is making noise about punishing journalists.

Hence my sign.

But, yes lying journalists are abusing Freedom of Speech; sadly lying is not illegal here except under oath in a court of Law

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Feral Husband's avatar

So proud of you today for going out with class today with George Tekei and Rachel Maddow. I’m ecstatic that we have ways to stay in tow and learn from you as we all fight for the country we love. Give them hell Katie.

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julie wagner's avatar

Great news! I look forward to your shows on Meidas Touch Newtwork.

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Tiger Spittle's avatar

Thank you for your work on behalf of American democracy.

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The Rozweiler's avatar

You missed out WHEN???

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Katie Phang's avatar

True. LOL The “When” is a work in progress only because we are doing some building out of things, but you’ll be some of the first to know here at Substack!

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Diane's avatar

Welcome Katie! I wrote to msnbc and said they really messed up losing your brilliant voice.

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Gretchen Ehmke's avatar

Love you Katie!

The Meidas Mighty welcome you!❤️💪🙌👏🎉

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