SOME CHANGES I WANT TO SEE

By Ruth A. Sheets

June 11, 2026

When this Trumpian/oligarchical insanity has passed, I would like to see some serious changes to our current government.  Ahead are some of my suggestions.

1. Our full legal code needs to be thoroughly combed.  Laws that oppose human rights (the Comstock Act and others) voted down permanently and discarded.  Then a second combing to dump laws that are too vague and can be interpreted in ways to harm people a group like the Trumplicans can use as a weapon.  Our laws should acknowledge our wonderful diversity and that We the People are the most important factor in our democracy.

2. Immigrants who have lived in this nation for 10 or more years and have worked and contributed should have a path to citizenship that is quick and fair.  This should include the DACA young people.  ICE is abolished and rules set up or a Constitutional amendment that would outlaw the construction of a paramilitary such as ICE and the Border Patrol have become.  All concentration camp prisons are closed permanently and deportations to 3rd countries are totally stopped.  No one is imprisoned without due process.

3. Caring for our planet, cleaning up our environment, and developing renewable/clean energy with support to make it affordable and cheaper than fossil fuels are critical for our planet's survival.  Connections like the Paris Agreement are reinstated and seriously followed and other nations are encouraged to follow them too.

4. No top-level positions in our government can be filled with people who have no experience in the area they are nominated for:  HHS Sec. must be a medical expert and have medical experts under them who actually know what they are doing; a Sec. of Defense must have not only some military experience, but diplomatic and management skills too.

5. The Supreme Court will have 18-20 year term limits at which point they may choose to stay in a lower court.  They will have a code of ethics and be held to it on penalty of suspension, just as lower court judges do.  The Supreme Court will be expanded to 13 (I’ve also heard 15 suggested to expand the number of districts too) one justice for each district court.  A nominee must already be a judge on a lower court and will need approval from at least 3 non-partisan professional legal organizations like the ABA and have a record of fairness in any previous court position.

6. The Federal government and state governments will support elections and pass severe limits on how much money any person, including corporations can contribute to a campaign, less for the narrower the position in territory.  Every single penny donated to a PAC or campaign will be recorded with the name of the person that donated it and no foreign contributions and no “dark” money will be permitted on penalty of the candidate being removed from the ballot if there is evidence the campaign knew of the “donation.”  Automatic voter registration will take place for every American citizen upon reaching age 18.  Incentives will be given for people to vote, perhaps a small tax break that will increase after a significant number of elections.  Vote by mail would be available for everyone who wants it no questions asked.  

7. All gerrymandering for any reason, political, race, religion, etc. will be halted.  Agreed-upon independent groups will design the districts using fair computer algorithms, keeping towns intact when possible. 

8. The minimum wage around the country will be set to go with the cost of living average in each state where possible starting with $18 per hour and gradually moving up to reach $25 in 5 or 6 years.  There will be overtime pay increases too.

9. The entire tax code will be carefully examined by people who understand economics and taxes from both parties and independents, cleaning it up, making it more fair, dumping tax breaks for the very rich who do some shady practices to avoid paying taxes.  Millionaires and Billionaires will pay their fair share of taxes up to 50% for the folks at the very top.  Free online submission of tax forms will be available for anyone who wants to use them.  The tax code needs to be completely overhauled with citizen input at every stage.

10. Public Education is a common good that needs to be expanded and encouraged.  Charter schools should be reincorporated into the regular public school system to make funding fair.  Voucher programs would be gone since they only serve to give rich people more money they don't need to support private and religious schools.  Civics education should begin in Kindergarten and be age appropriate through grade 12.

11. End monopolies in nearly all areas with specific exceptions, some utilities, for example.  Then make sure that no billionaires can own more than 1 media platform and no more than 10 radio or TV stations or newspapers around the country.  Local news coverage should be encouraged with some assistance when needed.  We need good journalism not a pack of oligarchical lies, disinformation, and ignorance to rule our airwaves or computers/phones.

12. Above all, there must be universal healthcare!  No one should have to forgo treatment because they can't afford it.  We have the tech and the ability to make this happen.  Private insurance corporations can be assisted to cover areas other than healthcare.  There are several other nations that have such healthcare programs and we could learn from them how to do it well. 

Probably the first thing we will need to do, though, hard as it will be, we must hold accountable, the people who have caused this chaos, this harm to the people of our communities The targeted could begin with DOGE, the various department secretaries who chose to dismantle needed programs and services without permission, ICE guys on the streets who killed and otherwise harmed people, those who proposed and developed the concentration camp prisons which they allowed to treat people worse than one would treat animals (and no one should be treating animals that badly). 

Trump and his white house toddler pool and the Trump relatives should be first in line for investigation and indictment.  No blanket pardons for these people.  The country needs to know what they have done, to whom, and what they themselves gained financially and otherwise from their efforts. 

So, these are some things I and others have been thinking about and what we need to do.  We must get things started as soon as we can because Republicans have a way of sabotaging every positive thing that Democrats and independents do to make things better.  Repubs screw things up and Dems have to clean up their mess and if they take more than a couple of months to fix something Repubs have screwed up for 4+ years, people vote the party that made the messes back into office.  It is nuts, but just what happens.

We can do this if we have the will and the quality reps and senators in office.  Even if we have to wait until 2028, we can at least get started and let the American people know what we are up to, how they can help, and where they can share their ideas for what they would like to see happen.  As lawyer Joyce Vance always says, “We’re in this together.”

FEAR AND EVIL IN TRUMPLANDIA

 By Ruth A. Sheets

June 3, 2026

I like responding to comments on my several threads.  One commenter said that people are trying to be a bit better because of some of the ridiculous, even appalling things this current Trumpian regime (my term) has been doing.  This was my response.

 I do hope you are right about people wanting to do better, but it seems EVIL like that displayed by Trump and his white house toddler pool is not easy to stop.  They get their hooks into so many places and people who then feel they must be loyal to the hookers.

 They proceed by proving their moral compass doesn't exist or is in the shop being repaired  (maybe permanently).  Integrity is an unnecessary burden.  Kindness just gets in the way.

 Trump and his toddler pool can’t make their takeover on their own; they have to get media involved so they can pass the message on and forge the chain that ends up giving power to people who do not deserve it, people who promote fear in ways I consider evil.

 The target of Trump and his “friends is not what one might expect since he is a racist, misogynistic fool.  His target, white men.  He knew there are a lot of scared white people who have been groomed over time to believe they are the ones being treated badly by those people, the ones who don’t look like them.  They were and are angry and often afraid.  They needed to be seen by people in power as the put-upon guys being abused by the people who are just cheating; they’re “welfare queens” and “affirmative action hires.”

 Donald Trump was just the guy they wanted for their salvation.  Now they are desperately clinging to Trump, an ignoramus with dementia because they bought the message that Trump would save them from the libs, the woke who have “done them wrong,” that they are being replaced by those people, you know, the ones that don’t look like them. 

 I suspect those scared white folks don’t really have a clue what replacement would mean for them, but it doesn’t matter.  There is a whole cadre of folks out here, willing to plant seeds of something that sounds horrible, and the imaginations of the scared are off and running and there is no opportunity in their minds to stop and actually consider the implications, the fact that they are being used.  Why should they wonder about what that means?  Why would they want to know that for decades, Donald Trump has been one of the masters of the con, and he and his buddies are conning them, conning all of us. 

 Trump is a rich white man as are most members of the white house toddler pool (a bunch of whiny white people, mostly men who complain, blame, insult with the goal of intimidating and silencing their targets), afraid someone will find out that they might not be the brightest bulbs in any string.  Being rich, white, and male are the only requirements for those scared white folks to guarantee their superiority.  They have been convinced nothing can be worse than being “replaced” by those people!

 The real problem,  they don’t want to notice that they and all of us are already targets of the rich white males in power.  Those rich white men want us all to be replaced by AI machines on the job, rather than messy people/workers those rich corporate masters don’t want to deal with.  Those humans  might demand higher taxes on the rich, better wages, more caring behavior on the part of the corporations, more integrity, stopping their cheating.  The folks in power are not willing to give these up, so everyone suffers, including those scared white residents of Trumplandia.  The rich white men in power don't even think of them except when they need their votes and can lie their way into the hearts of Wwhiteland. 

 Black, Hispanic, native American, LGBTQ, and other groups are aware of how those in power feel about them and are working on ways to stop the onslaught.  Scared white folks think they are safe from this Trumpian/rich guy insanity, and will someday be those rich white guys themselves  (they won't).  Their dreams make them “work” to keep those who care for nothing and no one in power, hoping they will get rewarded for giving up any integrity they might have had. 

 For Trump, his toddler pool, and the oligarchs, those scared white people exist only in November every even year when they can be handily used to vote to keep the uncaring, money and power addicts in charge.  It would be great if we could get the scared white folks to look at their racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, xenophobia to see the damage it is doing to them and their families, while they are being told they are keeping those people in their place.  The people they target have done nothing to harm them while the members of Trump’s toddler pool have done a lot of harm. 

 Right now,  scared white folks think they have truth on their side, sure everyone not like them is evil, trying to steal from them (getting a free ride), all the things the evil-rich in charge keep feeding them, their banquet of lies.  Unfortunately, their religious leaders often reinforce that, identifying Trump as “god’s messenger” (not likely).   

How do we reach people who are too scared to even begin to look at their lives and what they are doing and agreeing to?  I think any approach needs to be from many different angles depending who is being addressed.

• Listen more than speaking.  A lot of Trumplandia is used to being told what to do and not listened to
• Say things like (and mean them), I understand your position.  Have you thought that:  you are helping to pay for a war you did not agree to-  that is raising gas prices a lot; really, tariffs are taxes on us, you too, not the countries the products and services are from; immigrants are your neighbors and do a lot of the work you and I most likely wouldn’t do and are not skilled at. 
• Ask people, what is it within your faith that makes it acceptable to starve, abuse, and imprison innocent people, to pollute our air and water, allow the rich folks to dictate what happens to the rest of us;  ignore global warming when it is God who is the creator?  What role does love have in your life as a Christian or Jew?
• What do you think your taxes should pay for?  Who should decide?
• Are you familiar with our Constitution?  Would you like a copy (give them a pocket Constitution if they would like one.) 

I think you get the idea.  Accusing the scared folks will not make any points.  I suspect many of them know they are being used and feel the anger of knowing that.  Bringing them to a place where they can start to see how they “are being used” by their “heroes,” without saying those words can make a positive, maybe even freeing difference for them and for us all.

 This is complicated and will take effort on our part, but it can work.  It’s worth a try!

PATRIOTISM FOR ME IS . . .

By Ruth A. Sheets

Lucas Kunce of Missouri and his group Heartland Patriots asked people to comment on what we think patriotism is.  This is my response.  I am sure it is not complete because I wrote it in about 15 minutes and took another 20 minutes or so to edit, but I believe I got some of the main points I think are critical, at least for me.  I am hoping every American has a realistic sense of what it means to be patriotic, particularly in this 250^th anniversary of our “Declaration of Independence” and it’s only partly related to our military.

For me, a patriot:

-cares what happens to the people of this nation. 

• believes peace is what everyone should be working for and war should never be a personal choice by anyone, not a president who has proven he cares for no one and nothing but himself. 
• believes in equality/equity for all, not just for rich white men. 
• believes in basic human rights as well as the rights our Constitution gives us which include bodily autonomy for everyone, the right to a fair wage/salary, universal healthcare, respect for everyone no matter their gender or gender preference, the right for immigrants to be in this nation and a respect for the many contributions they have made here over the past 250+ years, appreciation for the indigenous peoples of this nation and their right to have their treaties and other agreements honored.
• acknowledges that racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, classism, and xenophobia exist in this nation and need to be seriously addressed to try to avoid electing those who drink from the mug of hatred and dismissal of others to any significant offices. 
• Runs for office to serve, not to be served.  Is Aware that they need help and knows when to ask for it when in over their head with the complexities of a situation. 
• values public education and supports it at every opportunity. 
• values our children, all of our children and works to make their lives and those of their families successful. 
• acknowledges that global warming and environmental devastation are real and that all of us have a responsibility to do everything possible to slow their destruction, to limit using fossil fuels, work to re-forest and protect the many environments that we share with the plants and animals of this world, to conserve water and cut pollution. 
• believes in science and what it teaches us about how the world works, how to ease suffering, how to make life safer and more joyful for all of us, and that it is essential to update knowledge as new information comes to light.  
• appreciates the gifts and talents of others, particularly in the arts and supports them.
• demands honesty and integrity in our media and refuses to connect with media that choose to lie, dish out misinformation, and create disinformation.
• votes in every election once the age of 18 has been reached until they can't vote anymore due to age, illness, or death. 
• reveres the first Amendment of our Constitution and does not try to limit the rights of others while trying to say that their own rights are more important.  
• values, honors, and will stand up for our Constitution and those laws that support it, not counter it. more that support our rights as human beings and as Americans. 
• This all means that a patriot is a kind of hero that comes in all colors, religions,  genders, ages, education levels, cultures, and with many languages and practices, serves in our military if they choose, knowing the risks involved, and knows how to refuse an illegal order. 

Hail to our patriots all of the many millions of them, including those we remember this last week in May for their sacrifices, even death  in the name of this nation. 

 

LAYING IT OUT

By Ruth A. Sheets

May 20, 2026

I do believe our various media gave Donald Trump the tools he needed to become a national, then global menace.  Trump was "glib," a New Yorker with money and properties (didn't matter how he got them or what was being done with them), and he had friends. 

This trio of circumstances launched an ignorant, narcissistic, hateful charlatan onto a stage where he didn’t belong.  Unfortunately, the various media found a lot for themselves in what he was doing, and kept promoting him ("The Apprentice, Miss Universe, The Regis and Kathy Lee Show” ).  They enhanced Trump's actions and created a “star” who could travel in all sorts of circles plugging himself and his supposed greatness. 

However while Trump was being lauded by  the media, he was involved in let’s call them “crimes” that included theft, rape, fraud, rape of minors, lying, cheating contractors for his properties, red lining, and more, on to the present.  Some people knew about Trump’s behavior, but just considered him one of the “bad boys” who were to be tolerated.  There were rumors of his involvement with the New York Mafia, though people rarely talk about it. 

Developing a “connection” with New York’s media was critical to Trump’s rise.  From the day of Trump’s ride down the “golden escalator” in 2015, Trump or his actions were the first or second phrase or story in nearly every newscast.  That was true even when he wasn’t president or anything else official, and it is still happening.  That was primarily because he did or said things designed to direct attention to himself.

Trump’s dementia now makes it harder for him to even know what is going on, but that doesn't matter since he,  Toddler-Trump (as I refer to him), has an entire toddler pool of sycophants surrounding him that we pay for that includes a  traitorous white house staff (Miller, Vought, Wiles, Vance, etc.; 6 Supreme Court justices, Republicans in Congress; all cabinet heads; all whom Trumplandia nominated for any government position with Senate approval; Republicans throughout state legislatures; the Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, and other similar right-wing political organizations; many white evangelical fundamentalists; the oligarchs, including Musk, Theil, the Ellisons, and more, who use Trump as much as he uses them. 

That sounds like a lot, but in reality, it is a small minority of Americans.  However, they are in power and as they say, "have all the weapons."  It seems to me we are going to need a significant resistance group formed everywhere in this nation to stand up to these anti-American, anti-democratic thugs who have an ignoramus at their head and a lot of money in their pockets.  We need to be louder, broader, and more demanding in protest of Trumplandia.

This group of Conservative, Republican, amoral entities are doing their best to undermine our government.  They began in Trump’s first term with a huge tax cut that went nearly all to the super rich who already have far far too much.  Then in the second term, Trump released the illegal DOGErs (Department of Government Efficiency) young computer guys   under Elon Musk, to tear apart many of our government agencies and departments.  They are responsible for the deaths of at least 700,000 people around the world who depended on the food, medicines, and healthcare provided by US-AId.  We don’t have a count yet of the deaths here from programs cut and conspiracy theorists in important offices making false pronouncements. 

Trump and the Dept. of Homeland Security (Dhs) set ICE on innocent immigrants in our communities, while lying they were only going after serious criminals.  Alas, lies are Trumplandia’s coin of the realm, and Republicans these days must be able to lie with skill all the time if necessary (if Trump orders them to do it). 

Trump now owns the Republican Party and  our amoral Supreme Court Roberts 6. 

 

Each member of Trumplandia has their “job.”  Congressional Republicans push through every stupid, illegal bill Trump and his white house toddler pool give them.  The Roberts 6 rule on cases in ways that will give Republicans more seats in congress and enhance the racial, gender, and other differences among us.  Republicans in legislatures across the country must take their states to levels of racism and misogyny that haven’t been seen for decades.

 

Trump’s cabinet was nominated and approved because they will permit Trump to do as much damage to this nation as possible.  Trump ordered the start of a stupid deadly war for his own ego and he and Pete Hegseth of DOD have been playing it as though it were a video game, adding destroying small boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific as their bonus plays.  All of this is illegal internationally, but who is going to charge them or hold them accountable, particularly now that Trump is building a white house fortress as described by Heather Cox Richardson (and Trump himself, although not in those exact words).  Trump is also trying to reward the January 6^th insurrectionists for their something:  bravery, loyalty to Trump, willingness to “stand ready?”

 

I suspect everyone I write to knows all of this, so I want to provide some suggestions for things we can do to surround these thugs with a wall of disapproval created by the diversity that is America, something that really scares Trumplandia.

• Make a list of the issues most important to you.  Figure out who to contact regarding that issue, then write, call, sign petitions, etc. related to each issue.
• Find and support organizations with similar values to yours, read their publications, and support them financially if you can, even if it is only a tiny donation.
• Attend public protests, townhalls, and local actions related to the issues that concern you and your community most.  You can’t do everything, so do what you can when you can.
• Talk to young people about what is going on and encourage them to pay attention, to work hard to get a good education, even if they are a little bored.  Those in power now don’t want them to become educated at all, so do it to spite them.
• Read books from different cultures, particularly those the right-wing fearmongers want to ban, then share favorites with others.
• Use public transportation when possible.  Walk when it makes sense.  Use your car less often.  Encourage others to do this too.
• Stand with neighbors to stop ICE, using a warning system if you see them.  Protest them when you can.
• Attend school board meetings when possible to say your piece about what is happening in the schools in your area. 
• VOTE IN EVERY SINGLE ELECTION!!!  Don’t tell yourself “ah this election is just a primary; it doesn’t matter”; it does!  Those In power want us to stay home so their pathetic whiny white candidates can get into or stay in power; we don’t need them!

 

I bet you have lots more ideas.  When we pool them together, we can have a set of strategies to stand against the authoritarians, the would be kings.  We can stand strong in this 250^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, and tell Trump and his toddler pool that We the People of the United States aren’t gonna take them and their anti-American bullying anymore”!

IT’S NOT JUST “THE ECONOMY, STUPID”

By Ruth A. Sheets

A member of the comment thread for Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack reminded us “It’s the economy, stupid.”  That phrase supposedly shot Bill Clinton into office in 1992 and will fix things for Democrats today.  I thought I should respond, so, here it is.

it is the economy, of course, but we need to make it far more than that!  The protection of our rights as Americans being taken away by Trumplandia, at every turn to make us totally subservient/enslaved to them is in the works.  That is more worrisome than what is happening to our economy and that is pretty bad.

Last week, the Supreme Court Roberts 6 gave the Confederate states the freedom to gerrymander to their heart’s content racially, of course, just don’t call it that.  In other words, bring back Jim Crow, but don’t call it that.  This is directly related to the economy.  It is also deeply tied up with the endemic racism that exists in this nation and only marginally dealt with from the time of the Civil War.  The Roberts 6 knew full well they were permitting a set of racial gerrymanders, but if states “pretend”/lie it isn’t, no problem.  Without proper representation, the people suffer.

I hope Democrats got the word that the old way of doing things, the monied elite in control of the Party will no longer work.  Dems need new, more powerful strategies than supporting the centrist malleable candidates ignoring progressives.  Democrats must jump in and tell those in gerrymandered southern districts that they are being used.  The manipulators are magnifying their positions toward others to assure their compliance with whatever foolish idea Republicans in power come up with.  Dems need to get out the word that once those Republicans get tired of harming the “hated” groups, they will come after the rural and suburban white folks as loafers, illegal landowners, or whatever comes into their addled fascist brains.  Donald Trump is at the center of what is going on even though his dementia won't let him remember any of it and he will lie to say it didn't happen.  

An effective basic Democratic platform must be universal, then added to in each district to meet specific needs of those folks.  Some points I believe should be on the basic platform: 

• universal healthcare
• full bodily autonomy for all
• a living wage for every job, workplace safety, and unions
• end of tariffs and Congress approving all money as the Constitution requires
• automatic voter registration upon citizens turning 18 and fair voting districts

independently drawn

• court and criminal justice reform at all levels
• fair taxation for all without loopholes for the rich
• Effective regulation of the economy with stronger guidelines for consumers
• properly administered Social Security and other retirement programs
• fair regulation of Artificial Intelligence, social media, and other tech
• significant funding for renewable energy and addressing global warming
• clean air and water, with a fully-functioning EPA and related government agencies
• protection of our public lands and National Parks, with very limited mining and logging with guidance from Native Americans and other experts
• strong support for our public schools, early childhood, child care, and free community colleges which care for and educate our precious children
• support programs for struggling Americans:  SNAP, WIC, housing support, etc.
• reinstatement of supports for diversity-equity-inclusion, plus full rights for all populations, immigrants, differently abled and LGBTQ persons 
• rebuilding strong relationships with the world particularly our allies including reinstating US Aid and other international service organizations and stronger ties with the UN
• improvement of public transportation
• and more based on what a committee of strong progressive Democrats see as essentials.  

Americans everywhere need to be encouraged to VOTE in every single election, not just those of high media interest.  We need people to make calls and texts, knock on doors of all sorts of people and actually listen to their issues, get folks registered to vote, put billboards up wherever possible that present parts of the Democratic platform, flood social media with the positives of the platform and the candidates who support it in the district, hold weekly press conferences to let people know what Democrats federal, state,  and local are doing for the people and what they are opposing and why.  Demand better, more honest media coverage of this regime.  Call out the tech bros who are only for themselves and what they can get their AI to do for money and power.  

That is a lot, but we could do it despite the forces arrayed against us.  We have nearly 6 months to get this going!  Skip the stupid infighting among Democrats and make this happen!  Yep, it’s the economy plus! 

CONSERVATIVE FEAR AND LOATHING

By Ruth A. Sheets

May 3, 2026

In Joyce Vance’s “Civil Discourse” Substack of April 30, 2026, she asked a couple of really important questions:  why are conservatives so afraid of democracy? Why are they afraid to let the voters decide elections? 

After this week’s appalling Supreme Court Roberts 6 decision to gut further the Voting Rights Act, this is my enhanced response to Joyce’s questions.  I have been an active political being since I was 14 or 15 years old.  I wrote to my governor, my senators and my Rep, even the president, and still do, concerning issues I see as important.  One thing I noticed is that conservatives than and now, are people who are scared of the future, although more recently, the fear is showing up in ways and intensities that have not been seen for a while.  Conservatives seem also to be scared of life.  They often hide in conservative religion which can trap them in a one-way-of-thinking scenario with "sin" at the center and that everyone is an evil sinner, or everyone but they themselves is (it varies). 

As I see it, conservatives think they got whatever position they have in life through their own unaided natural ability and skill, but possibly down deep, fear that isn't the truth.  Instead of realizing that most people have doubts like that, they put others down, wanting to keep them down, thinking that will somehow raise themselves up. 

Many conservatives don't want to "let voters decide elections" because those less-talented, lower-class voters would never pick the “right” people.  Believing that, those in charge of American conservatism must rig the election in favor of the "good" guys (usually men) or ultra compliant women, and with money, media, and some AI, they do. 

These days, maybe always, conservatives tend to get wealth in a variety of ways and will fight really hard to keep it and use it for themselves to get even more.  It seems wealth begets conservatism; conservatism often fosters wealth for those at the top too. 

Non-conservatives have a range of points of view, and rightly so.  Those often conflict, which can mean a lack of unity.  Each group may have its own goals, its own “critical” issues to fight for, its own style.  Often those non-conservatives don’t take the time to heed each others’ issues, certain theirs is the most important.  Conservatives have had decades, maybe centuries to shape their message, too often involving lying, blaming, deceit, name-calling, gaslighting, etc.  One might correctly think they need these tactics because their message is poor or unpopular.  Conservatives seem to listen to no one and nothing but money and their personal comfort, so they use whatever they can to undermine their opponents, their enemies. 

Our nation and planet are in trouble, all of us.  As far as I can tell, conservatives don’t really care as long as they get theirs.  It is critical that non-conservatives find many different ways to work together to defeat conservatism, or at least put it on a back shelf.  We truly don’t need its efforts to wreck our lives, our democracy.  We can’t stand by and just watch everything destroyed that this nation has worked for as it “progresses” toward forming “a more perfect union.”

We can decide on, as many have recommended, a set of positions, issues that non-conservatives can hold in common and can stand on no matter what is thrown at us, like: 

• valuing diversity and the histories of all groups;
• stopping divisions stoked by conservatives and others;
• ending violence against immigrants, closing concentration camp prisons, abolishing ICE and limiting Border Patrol to the borders;
• developing ethical requirements for our Supreme Court, term limits to 18 years and limiting the number of justices any one president can appoint, increasing the court to 13 justices to cover all districts with 1 justice each;
• ending gerrymandering of all kinds while making sure minority voters actually have proper representation;
• reforming our tax code to make taxation fair for everyone, everyone pays at least a bit and those who have more pay a whole lot more,  including corporations;
• limiting shareholder power in corporations;;
• bodily autonomy for all people, not just men;
• enhancing support programs for all Americans:  SNAP, WIC, FEMA, whatever is needed;
• universal healthcare;
• nominees for judgeships/justices approved by at least 3 independent legal organizations, with candidates who have  experience on the bench or quality legal cases they have handled;
• regulating AI while at the same time valuing and supporting science and research;
• working harder for renewable energy and restoring our environment as global warming is seriously addressed. 

I bet there are a few others, but those would be a start that all non-conservative candidates could support.  It's time to come together to stand against the scared white conservatives who would destroy everything we have so they can feel safe and in control of those scary others, rather than try to improve life for all.

LETTER TO OUR PA SENATORS

By Ruth A. Sheets

April 29, 2026

This is my most recent plea to our Pennsylvania senators concerning immigration.  

Dear Senators,

As your concerned constituent, I’m writing to ask you to vote YES on S.J. Res. 99.  Stop the cruelty directed at immigrants living and working hard in this country, harder than most citizens work, including the entire membership of this Trump regime!

As you know, Last October, the Trump administration eliminated automatic extensions for work permits of immigrants – a policy that had been in place for over a decade, and for no reason other than racism and simple cruelty!  They and any of you who go along with this should be ashamed, but it seems shame has no place in Trumplandia, which has permitted members of their Klan to do enormous harm to people who have not deserved it. 

Trump lied that he and his “team” only wanted to arrest and deport serious criminals who are immigrants,  but, that is not who they are going after.  They have ordered and Congress has approved with its inaction, separating families, arresting and imprisoning families with children, deporting parents from their American children and spouses, murdered American citizens as well as immigrants, allowed armed masked thugs loose on the streets of our communities.  There are no excuses that will make up for what has been done and it appears racism, fear of the other, and a drive for personal power have been at work. 

Huge amounts of  money have been paid from our taxes to rich corporations who run concentration camp prisons where the incarcerated people have been forced to live in conditions no one should want anyone to endure:  severe overcrowding, given garbage to eat they called food, been denied medical care, been beaten, tortured, and more, and for what!

Under this immigration work permit policy, workers who filed their renewal paperwork on time were protected from losing their jobs while they waited on government processing. It was straightforward: if you did your part, the government wouldn't punish you for its own delays.  Trump's/Musk's DOGE and Dept. of Homeland Security Noem fired so many people that of course, there were government-produced delays, so Trumplandia permitted ICE to start arresting those waiting-folks then imprisoning them, and more, and for what!

That protection is now gone, with no honest justification from this administration. An estimated 3.8 million immigrant workers can now be legally fired and deported through no fault of their own, simply because federal processing backlogs are slow, deliberately slow. These are people who followed every rule, filed every form on time, and built their lives here. They don't deserve to lose their livelihoods, their families, and their community because of a bureaucratic backlog they have no control over, but a group of men in charge who hate people of color do. It’s neither fair nor right and you should know that. 

Congress has done little to nothing to help these hard-working people who trusted this nation to help.  Congress has been participating in the evil being done mostly by doing nothing and just tacitly agreeing to whatever Trump and his clown car of evil demand.

S.J. Res. 99 would restore the protections those immigrants deserve. That’s why I’m asking you to vote yes, so that 3.8 million people’s lives are not needlessly harmed. We are watching to see whose side you are on, the evil and ignorance of this current regime or the side of human beings who are being brutalized so a bunch of scared white folks can practice their racism unimpeded.  Thanks for what I hope is your attention.   Sincerely, Ruth Sheets

Feel free to use this as a template for contacting your senators.