Let me explain.

Every ten years, the census tells us how many people live where, and then we redraw the maps. Congressional seats and the electoral votes that come with them get redistributed based on where people actually are. And right now, people are moving south.

The South is projected to gain nine congressional seats after the 2030 census, the largest single-decade gain for the region in history. Florida and Texas could see especially large increases of four seats each, with North Carolina gaining a seat as well.

Meanwhile, states that voted for Kamala Harris are projected to lose around a dozen House seats and Electoral College votes to states that voted for Donald Trump.

Let that sink in for a second.

Even if a Democrat in 2032 were to carry the Blue Wall states and both Arizona and Nevada, the result would be only a narrow 276-262 win. The math is changing. The path to the White House is moving south. The path to a House majority is moving south.

Which means that if you can’t win in the South, you can’t hold power nationally.

And that’s a huge problem for progressive politics. Here’s why:

The South is wildly gerrymandered. And it just got worse.

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to the point of inoperability, sending a clear message to the nation: Racial discrimination in redistricting is acceptable when done under the guise of partisan gerrymandering. As Justice Kagan wrote in dissent, today’s decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.

The ruling greenlit the destruction of voters of color’s main tool for challenging racially discriminatory voting practices and has led to a frenzied redrawing of congressional voting district maps.

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This is not abstract. In Tennessee, Justin Jones, one of the two Black lawmakers famously expelled from the legislature for having the audacity to protest a school shooting, is watching it play out in real time. Jones has described what’s happening in his state as a “rising tide of fascism and authoritarianism.” He’s correct. Tennessee Republicans stripped Democrats from committees after they protested an anti-Black gerrymander that would strip nearly 2 million Tennesseans of the representation they deserve.

And, in their infinite wisdom (sarcasm), this is the region that blue state Dems love to trash. They call us “rednecks” and “hicks,” all while ignoring the 40-something percent of us who would vote blue if literally any quality candidate could get party support to show up in our communities.

The Democratic establishment has written off the South for decades. And we run the risk of paying a heavy price for their hubris.

So. What should we do?

We do what Stacey Abrams told us to do. We build.

Abrams has been saying this for years, and she’s right: “We’ve got to fight to defend Southern access because it’s the way we protect everyone’s access.” And she’s been clear that this isn’t just a Southern problem. “This is a national project. This is not about ignoring the South, once again. This is about understanding that we’re in this together.”

Georgia proved it. The same networks, tactics, and lessons that fueled Georgia’s organizing power have helped shape turnout operations and messaging across the South, learned from civil rights leaders, labor organizers, and justice warriors. The strategy is simple: engage and demand.

But, and this is the part people often miss, you can’t build that infrastructure in October of an election year. You build it now. In the red places. In the districts that everyone else has written off.

That’s why state legislative races matter. They aren’t just about your state (although, that matters too). The people who win state legislative races will draw the maps after 2030.

They will decide whether the new congressional seats in North Carolina, Texas, and Florida are competitive or carved up to be unwinnable. They will decide whether the South’s growing population, which is overwhelmingly driven by communities of color, translates into actual political power.

And state Supreme Court races? Those are the last line of defense when gerrymandered maps get challenged in court.

In North Carolina, we’ve watched our state Supreme Court flip and the maps flip with it. Your state court is not a boring down-ballot afterthought. It is the arena where democracy is won or lost between census cycles.

Here’s what I know from running one of those so-called unwinnable races: The work you do in the places everyone else ignores is the work that moves a county left when no one is watching. It’s the work that plants seeds for elections three cycles from now. Every victory in the Deep South, whether it’s flipping a seat or holding the line on voting rights, tells the story of defending democracy in the place that once fought to tear our nation apart.

The fuss about the South is this: The South isn’t a lost cause. It’s become the whole ballgame.

And we’d better start playing like it.

is the Founder of Can’t Win Victory Fund & co-founder of YALL VOTE. She has a fledgling Substack where she writes about creative strategies that make a difference in red districts.

Kate founded YALL VOTE with of and . Please check out their spotlighted key races on Oath Vote.

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TLDR: What an asshat.

Maryland State Senate President and my personal state Senator, , is facing his first real primary opponent in 16 years, Bobby LaPin. And Ferguson’s lack of experience being in a real fight or answering constituents concerned questions about his record shows.

If you don’t live in Maryland you might think you don’t care about this race (or this article). Fair.

But when Fergie became known nationwide last fall for his lack of understanding and/or caring about how redistricting Maryland was needed to help save democracy as our elections came under overt threat, he became the poster boy for exactly what Americans across the spectrum of voter flavors will no longer put up with from Democrats who aren’t taking action on the things that keep us up at night.

even dubbed him the “Most Hated Democrat in America”…. which is really saying something.

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Much of Ferguson’s campaign has been just normal cringe: awkward social media videos taking credit for new laws which he personally tried to kill; shots of him talking to rooms full of people like a Vulcan who has never met warm blooded Earthlings before; that sort of thing.

But yesterday State Senate President & haunted porcelain doll Bill Ferguson unleashed his big “June Surprise”: a ham fisted, instantly disprovable on its face, try-hard “oppo” post on Instagram via Baltimore City Councilperson Odette Ramos’ account - soiling her otherwise very good reputation. (note: based on results we saw, this cannot be the attention or ratio Ferguson was hoping for.)

The post IS generating questions, but mostly about what Ferguson - a big-time fundraiser in Maryland - may have promised Ramos for some future run in return for breathlessly posting such a nothing-burger, while also confirming the opinion of many that he’s a weaselly coward without the guts to even do his own dirty work.

There’s more about the specifics of how laughably bad Fergie is at public dirty tricks at the end of this piece. But suffice it to say that if you’re Blane from “Pretty in Pink” and you come for Duckie, but this time AFTER everyone has caught on to your bullshit, you best not miss. (Note: this is a GenX movie stan account.)

But first some context about WHY I think State Senate President Ferguson is the Schumer of Fettermans in the first place.

To start, I am tired of having to BEG my state senator to do the right thing, you know, the FIRST time. When he’s not busy refusing to stand up and fight for us he’s directly betraying the things we are begging him to protect. Examples? Oh, yes, we have examples:

1. REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS:

Ferguson refused to bring the bill to enshrine reproductive rights into the Maryland Constitution up for a vote back in 2022. He personally killed that bill just a couple of months before Roe v Wade was overturned when anyone paying attention to the Supreme Court knew what was coming. So he knew Roe was likely being overturned and he didn’t care about protecting Marylander’s health and safety. That’s what he thinks about us.

2. ICE

For years Ferguson ignored his constituents and community organizations that were begging him to end the dangerous and money wasting agreements between Maryland police and ice. Even when Marylander Kilmar Abrego Garcia was illegally deported to a torture prison in El Salvador in March 2025, that wasn’t enough for Ferguson to take this bill up during that year’s legislative session, EVEN THOUGH the Maryland House of Delegates had already passed the bill. In the year between when Ferguson personally killed that bill and when it became law in 2026, 170 Maryland families were torn apart and ice activity in Maryland doubled.

Now Ferguson is running ads that try to gaslight his constituents into believing “ending ICE agreements in Maryland was a Bill Ferguson priority from the word ‘go’.”He’s just like every johnny-come-lately weaselly little credit-stealing spotlight hog you’ve ever had to work with. He only came out in favor after seeing how the community rallied around his opponent, Bobby Lapin, repeatedly demanded publicly that the law be passed. The suffering, violence and running roughshod over constitutional rights weren’t enough to convince him.

3. REDISTRICTING FOR DEMOCRACY

He fought redistricting for democracy in Maryland with the same fury he uses to fight speaking to constituents, reportedly even having private calls with Republican members of the Indiana state legislature to get hot tips about how to NOT redistrict for democracy … which is definitely a choice.

We know he put enormous effort to personally killing the bill to redistrict for democracy in Maryland for the 2026 election even though he knew the Supreme Court was about to gut the Voting Rights Act. But why?

• Was he just so naive that he thought the Trump administration was NOT gonna try every single trick in the book and then go out and develop some new tricks and write volume 2 of the Trick Book?

• Did he just not give a shit because he knew personally he’d be fine?

• Or did he just mean it when he said that it was hypocritical to say that redistricting based on race was wrong and not also think that redistricting based on party was wrong, even I guess if you were districting based on party because that party is trying to redistrict everywhere in the country based on RACE?

Ferguson personally killed the bill meant as a defense against the racial attacks on voting rights that have now happened throughout the south. But now that the primaries are coming to a close and he’s in a tough race - and Governor Moore has NOT endorsed him - Fergie’s been saying maybe we can redistrict for 2028. 👀

Oh really? That sounds a lot like somebody who is super comfortable naively thinking that they’re not trying to steal our elections and our voting rights in 2026! Ferguson is just too unbothered about how many people who aren’t him are suffering and losing their rights

4. FERGIE’S FINALE FIASCO

And then this Saturday, 3 days before the election ends, Ferguson passes along what he thinks is hot goss to Baltimore City Councilperson Odette Ramos to post: the below letter from nearly 20 years ago from Bobby LaPin to a Maryland Circuit Court.

She posted it with the following caption: “Bobby LaPin claims to be a friend to our immigrant community. But in 2007 he reported his wife as an “illegal alien”. Take a look at the court filing. If he’s willing to turn in his wife to immigration services, then what else is he willing to do against our immigrant neighbors?”

WOW! THIS IS SOME REAL BULLSHIT. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

As candidate Bobby LaPin commented:

“Well, this is a lie. Anyone who actually reads this strategically blurry court document from 20 years ago can see that.

As my ex’s visa sponsor, I was required by the court and citizenship services to report that we had split up. Bottom line, she came from wealth and I couldn’t give her the life she wanted. She found someone else and I hope she’s happy. We were together for less than a year, but I waited three years before going through with the divorce.

Marriages are difficult. My ex wife deserves her peace and shouldn’t be used as a prop for dirty politics.”

Perhaps even more enlightening is the comment from Charm City Indivisible which endorsed Bobby LaPin after a deep dive process:

Like a lot of bullies (and YES we HAVE heard some stories from state dems!), Ferguson likes to get other people to do his dirty work for him, and can’t take it when people finally stand up to him.

But desperate try-hard dirty tricks aside, you should vote Ferguson out if you live in District 46 like me because he hates to lead. He has big money donors who expect their interests to be put before those of the people he’s elected to represent, which might explain his confusing legislative decisions. And he loves to occasionally do the right thing ONLY AFTER he’s exhausted every other possible option.

As long as Bill Ferguson is in the Maryland state Senate he’s gonna smother bills the people of Maryland need because he’s got some other agenda.

16 years of on job training for how to serve the people of Maryland is enough. I voted for Bobby LaPin. If you’re tired of the bullshit, you should vote for Bobby LaPin too.

Claws out.

THE LETTERS

Blaire Postman is the Founder of Cat Ladies for America. You can find her snarky but true social media comments under the handle @catladiesforamerica

I woke up the morning of June 16, 2026, to an alarming Instagram post from a friend:

“A legal observer’s house was raided just minutes ago in south Minneapolis by ICE, DHS, and HSI. One of our comrades was arrested and all of their electronics confiscated. Please alert all of your groups. Stay safe.”

You see, I live in south Minneapolis. The very place where a few short months ago we protected our neighbors and fought back against the federal occupation of our city referred to as “Operation Metro Surge.” The same south Minneapolis where federal agents murdered Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The same community that is still reeling from the economic and psychological fallout that comes when you experience state-sanctioned violence.

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All of my socials started blowing up. The raid and arrest count would climb with every notice. The relatively quiet neighborhood chats were suddenly awake with activity including neighbors worried that they might be next. We were quickly sharing resources and phone numbers in case anyone in those chats would be next. We were reminding each other, “Do NOT open your door. Do NOT talk.”

Then I logged into work and began my day job. I participated in meetings and answered phone calls and emails. All the while, trying to ignore the constant buzzing from my personal phone vibrating with each notification. I have a mortgage to pay. Lights to keep on and two cats to take care of…I have to work.

Those of us who live in the Twin Cities (and the state of Minnesota) have become used to this weird dichotomy since the increase in federal presence started last December. We’ve learned to compartmentalize our lives because there is still dinner to be made, children to pick up from school, and dogs to walk.

In between moments of “adulting,” we drop off groceries to our neighbors who can’t safely leave their homes. We start GoFundMe pages for the people who need rent assistance. We use our lunch breaks and weekends to protest. Believe me when I say, this has never stopped. ICE NEVER LEFT. The only people who left are the legacy media.

So, as soon as I completed my work, I went straight to the federal courthouse in St. Paul, and I joined the protest to show my support for the 15 that were arrested for simply exercising their Constitutional Rights during those dark winter months.

There was so much support for the “15,” as we’ve started to call them. There was chanting going on for hours. People with signs, megaphones, drums and, yes, even a dildo made an appearance. The Minneapolis Frog Brigade was there and so were the MN Handmaids. At one point, a FedEx semi drove by honking his horn. About an hour later, he came back in the opposite direction, still blaring his horn in support, but also waving a Pride flag out of his window.

One of the first speakers said that the courtroom was packed and they could hear our chanting of support outside as the hearings went on. She said it helped lift their spirits. I’m fairly certain it also rattled the fascists that were in that in the courtroom with them. It helped to know that we were somehow making a difference.

Then adult life kicks back in and I have to leave because my parking is about to run out, and I have a sick cat at home. Adult life can be so rude. How do you adult while fighting fascism? That’s probably a question we’ve all been asking for the last year and half.

There’s no easy answer to that. You do it the best way that you possibly can. Take small steps and fit it in between the work emails and the household chores. Pick up some extra groceries for your neighbor who isn’t safe to leave their home because of their skin color while you shop for yourself. Go to a concert that’s also a mutual aid fundraiser. Shop at your local sex toy store that raises money for mutual aid (Yay for Smitten Kitten!). Take a stroll through your neighborhood with a whistle and camera at the ready when you need a break from work.

There is no perfect way to adult while fighting fascism. Something is better than nothing. Just fight.

Rachel Kayla is the Minneapolis Chapter Captain for Cat Ladies for America.

We get into many of the nooks and crannies of how dangerous it is for ALL of us that the people of DC are singled out to have taxation without representation, despite states with smaller populations having at least one congressperson and two Senators - and that's the just the tip of the iceberg.

Learn more about this pharmacist turned first Nigerian American elected to Federal Office and fighter for DC sovereignty & safety at https://www.vote4oye.com/

CLAWS OUT!

When Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) was pepper sprayed at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in New Jersey, last month, Cori Herbig was there.

She was also pepper sprayed. But if you ask her about what is going on at Delaney Hall, that is not the story she will tell.

No, the story Herbig shared on our Catty Chats podcast on June 9 remains firmly centered on the detainees inside the facility. (Watch or listen to the entire podcast.)

“I think it’s really important that everybody on the ground at Delaney Hall follow the lead of the folks inside Delaney Hall,” Herbig told Cat Ladies for America Founder Blaire Postman. “They are this incredibly brave, shining example of peaceful, disciplined resistance. They are doing a hunger strike. They are doing a labor strike. They are protecting each other inside, which I can’t even imagine how challenging that must be.”

“But they are doing it peacefully,” she continued. “And they have a very clear list of demands.”

Those demands, which protesters outside are amplifying, include meeting with New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill; the release of the most vulnerable detainees, such as the elderly, pregnant women, and children; an end to coercive tactics like forcing or tricking detainees into signing deportation papers; and due process. (Delaney Hall is privately run by the GEO Group, which is one of the targets of De-ICE Citizens Bank.)

Protesters have been outside Delaney Hall for a year, Herbig said. Last year, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) were arrested after they tried to enter the facility for an oversight visit. Charges against Baraka have been dropped. McIver is still fighting the vindictive charges against her; she is one of many Black women that the Department of Justice has targeted. In fact, it is well reported that the Department of Homeland Security has been lying and misrepresenting the facts in court as well as ignoring court orders.

Herbig, who is part of Project NINJA (No ICE North Jersey Alliance), became involved at Delaney Hall a couple of months ago while fighting a proposed detention camp in Roxbury, NJ, closer to home. (Listen to or watch the entire conversation to hear the creative ways Herbig says communities can fight detention centers.)

“I was out in the freezing cold, pouring rain with my 15-year-old kid by my side protesting the Roseland ICE Field Office,” she said, “and I met this woman whose husband had been detained and was being held at Delaney Hall.”

That woman was Gabriela Soto. Her husband Martin was one of the detainees who sparked the hunger strike and protest at the camp, and Gabriela has been key to the protests and activity outside the privately run prison.

“She’s incredible,” Herbig said. The two exchanged information and numbers. Herbig did some fundraising and Soto asked her to come to the rally at Delaney Hall in late May.

That was the day ICE turned its vehicles and pepper spray guns on Sen. Kim and the crowd assembled outside the prison. “At some point, they shot a pepper ball almost directly at Sen. Kim’s feet, and you can just watch it in the videos,” she said. “You can see it happen. It just explodes in this cloud of pepper dust around him.”

“From where I was standing, I saw people starting to run toward me,” Herbig continued. She was livestreaming, so she moved closer to document what was happening. “And suddenly, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t breathe.’ The pepper spray had accumulated in the area, so literally everyone around me – including me – was coughing and gasping for air.

“It was awful.”

After that day (hear Herbig describe the day in detail on the podcast or vodcast), Gov. Sherrill sent in the New Jersey State Police, supposedly to protect the protesters, but they came with riot gear and teargas.

“I would say that there is an overwhelming sense of disappointment and anger in how Gov. Sherrill has handled this situation,” she said. “The representation that was made was that the state police were going to come in to deescalate the situation, which is the exact opposite of what they did.”

Before becoming involved with protesting ICE camps, Herbig was organizing locally. After posting to Facebook a year ago that she was looking for like-minded women to talk with and take action with, she and others formed the FTP Coffee Klatch. The group bought grocery gift cards for local families impacted by SNAP benefit cuts and has raised money to help Soto and others with family detained in Delaney Hall.

Herbig started small, and she stressed that there is something for everyone to do. “Not everybody’s going to do everything, and that’s OK,” she said. “Not everybody is going to be on the front lines screaming at ICE, and that’s OK.”

“But maybe you could write a check to support the families at Delaney Hall if you’re not willing to come out [to a protest],” she continued. “Or maybe you could organize a gift card drive for your local food pantries when benefits are getting cut.

“I just feel like there is such an abundance of need right now that there literally is something for everybody to do.”

In all of it, she said, those being oppressed and their wants and needs should be centered. “I know I sound like a broken record, but really to center the voices of the people inside Delaney Hall and their families,” Herbig said. “And that goes across the board for every one of these concentration camps. The people inside are the ones being oppressed at the level that none of us on the outside can really fathom. It’s really important that we follow their lead and uplift their voices.”

Listen to or watch the entire conversation on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

When the late comedy show I was booked on in DC last night was cancelled, I impulsively took the opportunity to go to The Kennedy Center less than a mile away from the club where I was performing.

I saw a couple people I know in real life and one or two others I “know” from the internet, but hadn’t met in person before. But mostly I chatted with a lot of delightful people I’ll likely never see again.

Some members of the audience there to see a performance going on inside The Kennedy Center came out and took pictures. The performance also meant the lobby was open so if you were hot from waiting for hours you could cool off, go to the bathroom, and buy drinks from a vending machine. Nobody felt the need to wear gas masks; only a couple had signs. All of these details were of course very different vibes and safety requirements than most of the protests many of us have been part of over the last 18 months.

People who were watching on TV sent pizzas to the crowd, a few of whom had been there for 12 hours or more. Jokes were made. Shouts of support to the workers building the scaffolding (especially before TARP GATE). I can’t be completely sure, but I think this was… joy.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) was there -- HAD been there throughout the day, and STAYED there until the letters came down around 4 a.m. or so. She is one of the rank and file members of Congress appointed by law to the board of The Kennedy Center. She objected to the illegal processes that lead to so many crazy changes at the peoples’ theater that others felt they couldn’t, or just wouldn’t, take a stand against.

Rep. Beatty’s position gave her legal standing to sue the Trump Administration. She didn’t KNOW she could win, but she thought she SHOULD and COULD win. So she went out on a limb even though she knew it would be hard, would sometimes be lonely, might even be considered risky.

In other words, she didn’t see an asshat-move by a clueless narcissist and then just say “uh-oh, we’re cooked” and give up.

She said (metaphorically) “Who the F do you think you are? This is America.” She said stuff out loud. She didn’t use euphemisms or just call it “unprecedented”. She called illegal things “illegal,” called lies “lies,” and called liars “liars”.

And then she went and DID THE DAMN THING. She didn’t seek out trouble or a fight. But she DID fight the fight the Universe had brought to her feet, the one she had the knowledge and proximity to fight.

If we all just stood up to the little things in our lives, starting wherever we are, we’d go a long way to fight back would-be authoritarians trying to make a country nice for a small handful of the least interesting people they happen to know personally.

We CAN have nice things. But we need to stand up for the people around us, our neighbors, who are getting kidnapped or who are losing can barely afford their healthcare, in whatever way we can -- a donation to the ACLU or immigrant rights group, donation to mutual aid, delivering food to those who can’t leave their homes, fostering an extra pet, babysitting for someone for free because gas and groceries have made it hard to afford the after school care they need to work, and especially VOTING and making sure we know whatever rules they’ve tried to change on us to make voting harder before we go vote.

Billionaires (and whatever Elon is on paper now) want us to believe that we don’t deserve nice things, like publicly funded theaters that aren’t right wing propaganda machines, a free press, decent healthcare for everybody, due process, people not fucking around with our elections, and cats.

They’re completely full of shit. But don’t just think it -- say it to their face.

Tell your Senator they’re full of shit when they’re going to vote to make an Election Denier head of national security. THEY WORK FOR YOU -- remind them of that.

Say it when someone’s full of shit in your group chat, telling you that immigrants who’ve been here legally are criminals.

Throw it back at them when they claim trans people are a threat to their way of life.

Be a Mean Girl for Justice when they say some citizens shouldn’t get to vote, shouldn’t have equal representation, should maybe be deported or in prison somewhere because they say true things Trump doesn’t like.

You can’t just think it, or share it with only your bestie. You have to say it out loud. You have to put it in writing with your real name attached. You have to not buy things from companies who aren’t team democracy (as much as your personal health, geographic, and financial situation will allow).

Say it in whatever way you can best communicate in each situation (and not necessarily using my fed-up Jersey girl tone and vocabulary).

Depending on the situation, these people might yell back at you or say mean things to you, even spout lies about you. SO. FUCKING. WHAT? You’re not 8. You’re an autonomous human being with free will, and people yell for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with what you’re saying to them.

Yelling and name calling is what liars do when they’re cornered, what people addicted to a way of thinking do when the pain of seeing sunlight gets in their eyes. We can take it. When they throw a tantrum or make a threat, that’s when we know they’re starting to feel the pressure. Good.

We’re not “cooked” -- we’re fed up enough to be ready.

Blaire Postman is the Founder of Cat Ladies for America

You’re a cat lady on her way to a protest in downtown Los Angeles when you hear a series of terrified and desperate mews.

What do you do? Go into kitten rescue mode, of course!

Members of the Cat Ladies for America chapter in Los Angeles were en route to a protest at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) on Saturday when they heard a kitten trapped inside the federal building.

They, of course, sprang into action and rescued the little calico, even though it made them a couple of hours late to the event.

The protest was organized on the one year anniversary of mass federal immigration raids and detentions in downtown LA. Protestors, activists, legal observers, and others have been demonstrating outside the MDC every day since June 6, 2025. The MDC is run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Department of Justice.

Other protesters were concerned about the kitten’s safety, but there was no one better to rescue the kitty than our cat ladies! Now named Beefstick, the kitten is living her best life in her new home. (Why Beefstick? Guess how they lured her out …)

And isn’t that what anti-ICE protests are all about? Pushing the powerful to treat the vulnerable with compassion, kindness, and care so that they can return home to their families and continue living their lives.

Thank you, LA cat ladies!

Visit the Cat Ladies for America website to find out how you can get involved in a local chapter or become an Action Cat!

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CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION RIGHT MEOW!
https://www.vote411.org
OR
https://www.rockthevote.org

Other Voting & Election Resources
https://www.ACLU-MD.ORG
https://www.CANTWINVICTORYFUND.COM
https://www.TINYURL.COM/YallVoteTheSouth
https://catladiesforamerica.com
https://www.aclu.org
https://www.aclu.org/affiliates
https://www.AllRoadsLeadtotheSouth.com
https://www.brennancenter.org
https://www.lwv.org
https://bvmcapacitybuilding.org
https://naacp.org

We are definitely claws out already for the midterm elections, even though it is still several months away.

Are you ready?

At Cat Ladies for America’s Catty Chats Live on Sunday, we talked with three voting rights experts who are out there doing the work to make voting in the United States suck less. And, we shared some simple ways YOU can make voting suck less, too. (Watch the entire conversation on YouTube or listen wherever you get podcasts.)

Inspiration from Our Panelists

Davante Lewis joined us from the Louisiana state legislature to talk about the gerrymandered maps passed in his home state to strip Black voters of a voice in their government. Lewis is a Louisiana Public Service commissioner, an elected office that oversees the state independent regulator agency, which manages public utilities and motor carriers.

“What we’ve really seen here is this wild, conservative majority that just doesn’t believe in Black voting,” Lewis told us.

Lewis was part of the group that sued Louisiana to ask for fair maps, and he reminded us that they wouldn’t be trying to take away Black votes if those votes didn’t hold power. “Never forget the power of the vote,” he said.

Dara Johnson, an associate staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland, explained the repercussions of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Callais case, which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and began a race among states to gerrymander Black and Democratic districts to favor Republicans. Johnson led the ACLU of Maryland’s push to enact the Maryland Voting Rights Act, which offers residents of that state some protections.

“The main, most important action people can take right now,” she said, “is vote in the primaries.”

“Make a plan,” she added. “Know where things are, and show up.”

Kate Barr, founder of Can’t Win Victory Fund, urged participants to run for office. She has run twice knowing she would lose – “Campaigns where you can’t win are way more fun,” she said – and her organization supports candidates running in races they can’t win.

In some Republican districts in the South where she lives, Barr noted, a Democrat has not run in many years. “Everyone should run for office at least once,” she said.

Listen to the entire conversation on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.

Action Items for Action Cats

Action 1: Check your voter registration and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Start at one of these websites:

• League of Women Voters: https://www.vote411.org

• Rock the Vote: https://www.rockthevote.org

It’s good to get in the habit of checking your voter registration regularly. Share these links to your social media to encourage your friends and followers to do the same.

Next: Choose your own adventure! By the end of June, commit to completing at least one other action. (Don’t worry, us pesky cat ladies will be checking in mid-month to see how you’re doing.)

Indoor Cat Actions

Not the loudest cat in the room? Emails, petitions, calls, and postings are great ways to take action.

• Keep ICE out of polling places! Email your Senators and House rep: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bvmprotect-our-polls-keep-ice-out-of-voting-locations
  

• Ask your Senators and House rep to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights act: https://5calls.org/issue/voting-rights-gerrymandering-supreme-court/
  

• Share information about voting rules and restrictions in your state: https://www.vote411.org/voting-rules
  

• Make sure you know who is on the ballot and what the important local issues are. Don’t forget to research ballot initiatives! Share this information on your social media so others are in the know. One place to find info is the League of Women Voters: https://www.vote411.org/ballot

Outdoor Cat Actions

Love a crowd? Take action around town like the top cat you are!

• Host a voter registration event! Rock the Vote can help you get started: https://www.rockthevote.org/get-involved/help-register-voters/
  

• Volunteer to be a poll worker. Learn more at your local elections board, but check into this soon – there are deadlines and you’ll have to go through training.
  

• Volunteer to drive people to and from the polls for early voting and on Election Day or contribute to rideshare funds for rides to the polls.

Organizations to Follow

Find inspiration and action in your newsfeed every day! Follow these organizations to stay in the catfight.

Recommended by Davante Lewis:

• Power Coalition for Equity and Justice: https://powercoalition.org

• ACLU: https://www.aclu.org

• ACLU of Louisiana: https://www.laaclu.org

• NAACP Legal Defense Fund: https://www.naacpldf.org

Recommended by Dara Johnson:

• ACLU of Maryland: https://www.aclu-md.org

Recommended by Kate Barr:

• Can’t Win Victory Fund: https://www.cantwinvictoryfund.com

• Y’All Vote: tinyurl.com/yallvotethesouth

• Cat Ladies for America: https://catladiesforamerica.com

More organizations to follow and support:

• Find your state’s ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/affiliates

• All Roads Lead to the South: https://blackpowerwarroom.com/dayofaction/

• Brennan Center for Justice: https://www.brennancenter.org

• The League of Women Voters: https://www.lwv.org

• Black Voters Matter: https://bvmcapacitybuilding.org

• NAACP: https://naacp.org

The recent horrors at Delaney Hall in New Jersey have put a spotlight on the inhumane and brutal conditions at ICE detention camps everywhere. Together, private contractors GEO Group (operator of Delaney and many other camps) and CoreCivic are holding more than half of the tens of thousands of people currently in ICE detention.

Reports from advocacy organizations, congressional investigators, and DHS’s own internal watchdog offices have documented patterns of serious medical neglect, preventable deaths, understaffing, hazardous conditions, abuse, and exploitation in their facilities — and conditions are getting worse. 2026 is on track to be the deadliest year ever for people in ICE custody, as death rates surpass pandemic-era highs.

The companies need cash to fuel their rapid expansion. Despite the ICE detention giants’ well-earned reputations, Citizens Bank has helped the companies access more than $2B in financing since 2012 — including at least $100M so far in 2026. Several major banks pledged to cut ties with GEO and CoreCivic in response to public pressure in 2019, but Citizens Bank instead expanded its role as a for-profit prison financier.

Rather than simply lending money, Citizens Bank also helps organize deals, coordinate with other banks, and provide funding. If the industry’s lenders were a football team, Citizens would be the quarterback.

In GEO’s latest earnings call, CEO George Zoley highlighted the importance of a January deal Citizens Bank facilitated, saying, “With the expansion of our revolving credit facility by $100 million earlier this year, we believe we have substantial liquidity to support our diverse capital needs.”

Now a growing movement of 150 grassroots groups from Vermont to California is calling on Citizens Bank to stop bankrolling the for-profit ICE prison profiteers harming our communities. The bank’s leadership has deflected, minimizing stakeholders’ concerns and pointing instead to its charitable donations and employee volunteerism:

• When confronted with questions about its support for GEO and CoreCivic at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting, Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun said he thinks reports of horrific conditions at the companies’ facilities “might be exaggerated.”

• A statement from the company in April said, “We stand by our clients through good times and challenging environments, provided they meet our high standards.” And a spokesperson told Banking Dive it’s “unfair to view Citizens through a single‑issue lens.” As if making donations to charities offsets the moral weight of financing ICE human rights abuses.

Many people wonder how they can make an actual impact in stopping ICE. Businesses are a key pillar of support for an authoritarian regime, and we know collective pressure can be an incredibly effective way to peel off their support and create consequences for putting profit before people. Just look at what happened when regular people joined forces to demand that Avelo stop running deportation flights for ICE.

You can hold Citizens Bank accountable — and let other corporations know we’re paying attention — by joining thousands of people across the country at 100+ locations for the June 6 National Coordinated Action to De-ICE Citizens Bank. Go to mobilize.us/deicecitizens to find an action at a bank branch or GEO or CoreCivic camp near you. Don’t see one? Go to bit.ly/deicecitizens to host your own anytime within a week of June 6! There’s a toolkit there with everything you need to get started (signs, flyers, talking points, song lyrics, and more!), even if you’re not an experienced organizer. To get more info and other actions you can take, go to www.de-icecitizensbank.org

With your help, we can get Citizens Bank to STOP financing ICE prisons and cut off the cash to GEO Group and CoreCivic!

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The striking detainees have not eaten since Friday, and at least one is not getting treatment for his diabetes, according to a young girl, who spoke about her relative over a bullhorn at the rally. Along with family members, detainees have suffered intimidation and retaliation. Loved ones have been denied visitation since Sunday.

Protestors have been pepper sprayed by a phalanx of ICE agents, some riding atop a BearCat armored vehicle, and public officials have unsuccessfully called for a shutdown of the facility.

ICE surrounding protestors outside Delaney Hall, Newark NJ (ABC7 NY)

It all began with a May 13 letter to the public, signed by 300 detainees, echoing an earlier letter in February, describing how petitioners were taken by ICE without deportation orders, including many who had work permits, paid taxes, and were following the process of obtaining legal status.

Accounts from detainees and family members have detailed incidents of medical care denied or inadequately provided to those with serious illnesses, including the elderly, and pregnant women. Outbreaks of COVID-19 and the flu have spread throughout the facility.

Nursing mothers have been separated from their babies at home; those with disabilities are being detained without accommodations, along with young children and teenagers who have missed proms and will miss graduation. During a recent heatwave, there was no AC. Worms have been found in the food. Rancid milk is served and water is undrinkable.

Despite visits from NJ Congressional LaMonica McIver, Robert Menendez, and Analilia Mejia, all of whom validated claims of mistreatment and the denial of basic needs, the detainees’ calls went largely unheeded until Friday, May 22.

U.S. Reps. McIver & Menendez outside Delaney Hall, Newark NJ (@replamonica IG)

That’s when detainee Martin Soto and fellow petitioners announced a hunger strike and work strike from their $1-a-day mandated jobs, necessary for buying soap, sanitary napkins and other items. In addition to the closing of Delaney Hall, they called for the immediate release of the sick, elderly, and children, along with a visit from Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

Martin’s pregnant wife, Gabriella Soto, a U.S. citizen, led a rally outside the facility with support from Cosecha, an advocacy organization. They called for a 24-hour vigil, which over the holiday weekend grew into a rally drawing up to 300 protestors, including faith-based organizations, such as Pax Christi, Eyes on ICE, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, and activists from our group, Project NINJA/Sussex Visibility Brigade, and others.

On Saturday, ICE told Martin Soto he would be released if his wife called off the protest. Both refused and she was threatened with an end to visitations. Martin was threatened with solitary confinement but fellow detainees surrounded him for protection, according to Gabriella. Families of striking detainees had visitation shortened to 5 to 10 minutes.

Protestor Gabriella Soto outside Delaney Hall, Newark NJ (NJ.com)

Later that night, Martin Soto was coerced into signing self-deportation papers after ICE misled him into believing they were forms for his release, according to Gabriella. Attorneys obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from the New Jersey District Court in Newark, barring Martin’s removal. But he was eventually taken to an ICE detention facility in Elizabeth, NJ, despite the efforts of protestors, who were pepper sprayed as they attempted to block the entrance to prevent vans from removing Martin and any other detainees.

On Memorial Day, as tensions escalated, more ICE agents descended , wearing Kevlar helmets and equipped with zip ties and retractable batons, along with a BearCat, an Armored Tactical Vehicle with a gunner pointing a pepper ball rifle at the crowd.

That morning, Gov. Mikie Sherrill arrived. She was denied entry but spoke to distraught and outraged family members outside Delaney Hall, some of whom shouted at her for not visiting earlier.

Concerned public officials – minus Sen. Cory Booker – came and went throughout the weekend, but none was more diligent and selfless than Sen. Andy Kim. While the rally has been a testament to true community solidarity it is also a reminder that, sometimes, our representatives do good things.

​On Saturday night, after hearing the urgent calls of families and advocates Sen. Kim arrived at Delaney Hall to conduct an oversight visit alongside Rep. Menendez, who remained overnight on Sunday after being denied entry.

For hours, Sen. Kim didn’t just observe – he actively listened. He spoke with detainees behind the walls, staff members, and the families and volunteers waiting outside, holding space for every single person who needed to be heard.

​After learning on Monday that ICE had violated Martin Soto’s non-transfer order, Kim spent hours negotiating with ICE, advocating on behalf of the families and organizers. He secured an agreement: he and an advocate would be permitted to inspect departing vehicles to ensure no other detainees were being secretly moved.

But before the deal was sealed, ICE agents reneged and attacked the crowd. During the chaos, Kim stayed on the ground, helping advocates to their feet and attempting to de-escalate the situation. He suffered the effects of the pepper spray, alongside the people he was there to protect.

Over the weekend, he asked a simple, piercing question of ICE and our federal government: Why? Why do they cause so much misery?

As Memorial Day drew to a close, he issued a statement.

“Our country deserves accountability. Our country deserves the humane treatment of every person here. In fact, our Constitution demands this. What I witnessed and experienced today was shameful.’’

We need everyone to recognize the reality of what is happening inside the walls of Delaney Hall and in our streets. We are sharing this not just to document injustice, but to demand action. Senator Kim said it, we have said it, and everyone should echo it.

Want to help the people held at Delaney Hall and their families?

You can donate to any one of these efforts:

🔗Direct to Families- Linktr.ee/SupportOurFamilies

🔗Grocery Store Gift Card Fund- GiveButter.com/GroceryCards

🔗Commissary Fund- GiveButter.com/commissaryfund

🔗Pantry Bags- Food4NJ.org

Sussex Visibility Brigade is comprised of Sussex County, NJ community members dedicated to bringing attention and visibility to critical issues and injustices facing America. You can follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sussexvisibilitybrigade/

The No ICE North Jersey Alliance (Project NINJA) is a volunteer coalition of community, religious, environmental, town-planning, civil-rights, and activist groups, working to prevent the establishment and expansion of ICE detention facilities in North Jersey.

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The gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Gerrymandered states. Making it harder to vote.

The wannabe dictator squatting in our White House and his henchmen are doing their best to make voting and elections in the United States suck.

They want us demoralized and depressed. Too bad – we’ve got cats! And we’re hissed off about Trump and Republicans’ efforts to steal the midterm elections.

But we’re not just gonna growl and howl about it – we’re going to claw back, and we bet you’re itching for a cat fight, too.

Become an Action Cat! Join our clowder for a live episode of Catty Chats, the Cat Ladies for America podcast/vodcast, on May 31 at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST! (Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/catladiesforamerica/event/957677/.)

Our a-meow-zing topic? Voting, voting rights, and the midterm elections.

But we’re not just gonna sit around and talk about it. That’s not the way Action Cats roll. Our panelists will educate us and then give us specific actions we can take during and after the livestream.

We’ll be talking to these folks, who are all working to make voting and elections suck less:

• Davante Lewis: Louisiana State Public Service Commissioner and activist

• Dara Johnson: Voting Rights Attorney for the ACLU of Maryland and certified cat lady

• Kate Barr: Founder, Can’t Win Victory and North Carolina “Fake Republican” for Democracy

Catty Chats Live will be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST on Sunday, May 31. Sign up here to let us know you’re coming and get the livestream link.

Got a question for our panelists? Send advance questions to catladiesforamerica@proton.me by Friday, May 29.

See you there, cats and kittens! Claws out!

It took the Washington County (MD) Board of Commissioners and its unelected county administrator about three minutes to eject Taj Smith from one of their weekly meetings.

Now Smith, who is also president of the Washington County NAACP and a longtime human services advocate, is an independent candidate for a seat on that board.

Smith stopped by the catio for our Catty Chats podcast on May 5 to discuss her lifetime of advocacy, her candidacy, and what she said that hissed off the county administrator and board. Watch the entire conversation on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Washington County is in Western Maryland and the location of a proposed 825,000 square foot ICE detention center. According to Hagerstown Rapid Response, the facility is slated to house 1,500 people, but the county does not have the water, sewer, and other infrastructure the detention center would need.

One of the county systems that could not handle the addition of a 1,500-bed detention center, Smith said, is 911. Currently, she told Cat Ladies for America Founder Blaire Postman, the call volume to Washington County’s 911 system is costing more than was budgeted for the service.

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At the meeting Smith attended, the board was holding a public hearing to discuss increasing the 911 fee from 75 cents to $2.

“I saw this line item, and I thought, this is something I can relate to the detention center,” she said. Across the country, places with DHS and ICE detention centers have seen a jump in 911 calls after facilities opened.

But speaking at her county’s board of commissioners meeting isn’t as simple as showing up and signing up to speak. Public comment isn’t typically allowed at the meetings unless there is a public hearing, which the board was required to do for a 911 fee increase.

Before speaking, Smith, who is also a member of the ACLU’s Western Maryland Advocacy Team, consulted with her colleagues to make sure she could speak about the 911 fee in relation to the detention center.

Her main points were to connect the detention center to 911 call volume, taxes, public safety, and infrastructure. “We’re already overburdening the system,” she explained. “Clearly, we have issues here, whether they’re mental health, whether they’re regular health-related, whether they’re crime-related, whether they’re fire – we have issues.”

She said her message to the board was this: “Our public safety departments are understaffed and overworked. What is your plan to address these things? You’re going to bring 1,500 people here who we are supposed to believe are the worst of the worst, but we’re not at all supposed to be concerned about public safety?”

Smith spoke after an Indivisible representative who was making similar points, but the board or the administrator did not interrupt or stop him. She suspects her downfall was mentioning by name County Administrator Michelle Gordon – and quoting her.

“I don’t think that our county administrator is used to getting called out during the meeting,” Smith said. “I said that the county administrator claims that they have no jurisdiction over the [warehouse] property because that’s what they’ve been telling us all along: ‘Oh, not our job. We can’t do anything about this [because DHS owns the property].’”

“But they do have the ability to make decisions about roads, about sewer, about our 911 calls,” Smith continued. “All those things they’re going to need to operate this facility properly and humanely, the county does have jurisdiction over.”

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At that point, Gordon appeared to tell Commission President John Barr to stop Smith from continuing to speak. In fact, Smith said, she has observed Gordon – who was appointed to her position in 2023 by the Board of Commissioners – telling members of the board what to do during meetings.

“This is happening all the time,” she said. “[Gordon] is telling him what to do or say. They’re all looking to her for guidance. She passes notes.

“So, I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes, but I have been able to observe this behavior during meetings. I’ve noticed that other people are picking up on it because if you go look in the comments, people are like, ‘Wait, what is she telling him what to do?’”

Smith was escorted out of the meeting by the sheriff. “The sheriff asked me to leave, and I wasn’t going to fight the sheriff because I did have to get home to my children,” she said. “They rely on me.”

“I will say this: The sheriffs at the county commissioners’ office are lovely,” Smith added. “I knew that they had asked me to stop because they were saying I wasn’t on topic, and I said, ‘No, I’m talking about the 911 fee,’ and I kept going. So at that point, from their perspective, the fact that I kept going made me disruptive.

“But if you watch their behavior, they’re the ones that are actually being disruptive. So, then they threw me out for being disruptive, is basically what the trespass notice says.”

“I don’t think anyone has ever called me disruptive,” Smith said. “Maybe a couple of teachers in my lifetime, but being disruptive is not usually my jam.”

This year, the five members of the Washington County Board of Commissioners are up for reelection. Smith is running to be elected to one of those seats.

“It’s really exciting because, I think, last time, we had the same old people run, and maybe two extra people, but there wasn’t this excitement because those two other people didn’t win,” she said. “Now we have on both the Republican and Democratic side, extra people [running], so they’re going to have to primary each other. And then you’ve got me who’s running as an independent.”

“So, there are lots of choices, and I think choices are good for people,” she added. “You just have to say, here’s where I stand, what I believe, and what I would like to see happen and just let people pick who they think those five best people are.”

The primary in Maryland is Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Smith’s campaign website is https://washco4tajsmith.com.

Listen to or watch the entire conversation to learn about water issues the detention center would cause in Hagerstown and Washington County and how Smith came to her advocacy work.

The folks at don’t do subtle.

They do destroying a Tesla to protest DOGE cuts.

They do giant “baby JD Vance” murals – with crocheted embellishments.

And online, they do videos mocking Trump and his administration that expose the depth of their corruption and cruelty.

So when FUBAR PAC founder Jack Inicker came to Catty Chats in March, we knew we had to find out what makes Inicker and the people behind FUBAR PAC tick. That early Catty Chats episode was during our video-pod only era. This week - when the President gifted himself $1.8 Billion of our money and former Confederate States fall over themselves to redistrict back to 1952 - seemed like the perfect time to finally release this wonderful discussion to audio pod-land (Listen to or watch the entire interview.)

Inicker is an Air Force veteran and the son and grandson of veterans. He began his career as an organizer fighting for veterans and veterans’ issues.

“I always like to say that all issues are veterans’ issues, magnified,” he told me. “Any problem you can think of within the scope of American politics, it’s affecting veterans harder.”

Inicker organized veterans and military family support for Harris-Walz in 2024 but decided he wanted to work outside the Democratic Party after the election.

“I said to myself, you know what? Let’s try something new,” he said. “Let’s go out, and let’s lean into the attention economy. It’s why we smashed a Tesla. It wasn’t to smash a Tesla to yell about the people who made the Tesla. It was about bringing attention to the cuts that DOGE was making across the federal government and the tanking of USAID.”

Online, FUBAR PAC posts are short and designed to make viewers laugh and think. Its “Hello” series of videos (inspired by Inicker and his wife’s dog) feature Inicker and others dressed as MAGA or Trump administration figures telling you the news of the day – often confessing to corruption or fleecing the American people. The delivery is straight-faced and inspired by “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”

FUBAR PAC’s short bits don’t scream in rage at our current political insanity and gaslighting. Instead they calmly recount exactly what is said and done by this clown show administration, letting it stand in sharp relief to our normal mundane lives. Without all the background noise, the ridiculousness clearly and sharply reveals itself.

And in a world where the manosphere seems to be dominated by the right, FUBAR is breaking through with men. The audience for the organization’s posts are more than 70 percent men.

“I knew I wanted to take a swing at things in a way that I thought was funny and that I thought I would pay attention to,” Inicker said. “It’s gallows humor.”

Moments after this “fridge cigarette” friendship toast, Postman & Inicker devolved into a loud screaming argument about the correct ice ratios & containers for Diet Coke.

Now, FUBAR PAC is focusing its attention on the midterm elections. Rather than the traditional model of boosting Democratic candidates, Inicker is taking his PAC in a different direction.

“I’ll get a question about, like, hey, are Democrats really the good guys,” he said. “And I’ll say, the worst guys in the room are MAGA Republicans.”

With that in mind, FUBAR PAC is running an opposition campaign against three Republican Congressional candidates. “I think that this is what makes FUBAR PAC different is that we don’t really think about Democrats. We are here to throw spitballs at the Republicans,” he said. “What I want to do is make sure that everybody knows how profoundly incompetent these Republicans are. And broadcasting all the crazy, dumb shit that they’ve done to hurt the country.”

But that doesn’t mean Inicker is letting the Democratic Party off the hook. He’d like to see a new generation of political operatives that buck tradition and try new things. “I want to see institutional change within the Democratic Party, and that’s what I think I’m adding to with my nonsense,” he said. “Nonsense for change.”

Of course, we couldn’t let Inicker end the interview without a makeup tutorial. Watch any FUBAR PAC video about JD Vance, and you’ll see how Inicker’s wife Sydney interprets Vance’s eyeliner.

Making a cameo on the podcast, Sydney calls it “raccoon chic,” and she and Inciker walked our founder Blaire through the process.

How did it go? Well, you’ll have to watch the whole Catty Chats episode on YouTube to find out. You can also find an audio version of the conversation wherever you get your podcasts.

Find FUBAR PAC on Substack.

Blaire Postman is the Founder of Cat Ladies for America (originally Cat Ladies for Kamala), and the host of CLFA’s “CATTY CHATS” podcast.

ps: don’t miss this month’s CATTY CHATS LIVE on YouTube
Sunday, May 31. We’ll be learning claws out tactics from experts to make
voting & elections suck less in 2026 and beyond. Featuring panelists:
Davante Lewis (Louisiana Public Service Commissioner & Activist)
(Founder, Can’t Win Victory Fund & N.C. “Fake Republican” candidate) & Dara Johnson (Voting Rights Attorney, Maryland ACLU)

MORE INFO & REGISTER ON MOBILIZE

You’d be forgiven if “flashy” isn’t the first word you think of when you think of Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

But a little more than a year ago, Department of Homeland Security agents arrested and then illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who lives in Maryland and is therefore one of Van Hollen’s constituents.

Then the senator had what we like to call a “Clark Kent to Superman” moment.

“The short answer is, I just got really mad,” Van Hollen told Cat Ladies for America Founder Blaire Postman during the April 9 episode of our podcast Catty Chats.

“I saw this guy, Kilmar Garcia, get abducted – literally abducted – off the streets of Maryland. He was driving in his car with his five-year-old son who has autism, and disappeared to this notorious prison CECOT in El Salvador that’s known for its torture.

“And then, when I met his wife Jennifer and I met his mom and I met his brother, and they explained what had happened, we just decided to go to battle.”

That anger fueled Van Hollen to request a meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who was visiting Washington, D.C., in early April 2025. “Long story short, they ignored it,” Van Hollen told us. “I put in the letter, ‘If I don’t get to meet you in Washington, I’m going to El Salvador.’”

And that’s exactly what he did on April 16, 2025.

Abrego Garcia is home now with his family, but he’s still facing vindictive prosecution from the Trump administration.

“I got mad, and I stayed mad about everything that this Trump administration is doing with respect to their ICE operations, but so much else,” Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen said he continues to fight the Trump administration on ICE and other issues because it matters. “It does make a difference,” he said.

“If you look at what happened in Minneapolis, the fact that people came out to protect their neighbors, and by the way, getting out their cameras to show just how lawless the ICE operation is,” he continued, “including on film you have DHS agents killing two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”

“But imagine if that had not been on camera because we know ICE lied and DHS lied,” he said. “They called the victims domestic terrorists, but the American people got to see with their own eyes exactly what happened. Showing up makes a difference.”

Van Hollen is continuing to push back against the Trump administration, but what can the rest of us do?

“The bottom line is, remain vigilant, keep pushing,” he said. Showing up matters, he added, whether it is the protesters and mutual aid volunteers in Minneapolis or the citizens and organizations like our partners Hagerstown Rapid Response who continue to push against the DHS plan to open a detention warehouse in Hagerstown, MD.

“All of this – you, the protesters, the people with cameras, the judges – all of this is part of the system to protect people’s rights, including their constitutional rights to due process and free speech,” Van Hollen said.

The senator noted that a year ago, when he was pushing for the release of Abrego Garcia, fewer people, including some among his Senate colleagues, were willing to push back against Trump and those who work for him.

“What we’ve seen starting then is a shift in public opinion,” he said. “And, so, what that has done is, it has put the Trump folks on defense on these issues. And, also, it’s the public sentiment that has given a lot of my Senate Democratic colleagues the willingness to push back and say not one more dime for this lawless ICE operation.”

And, Van Hollen said, stay mad. He is.

“Don’t lose the anger because we have a good reason to be mad,” he said. “Our democracy is under attack. Our Constitution is under attack. And we are kind of the antibodies that are protecting our democracy, and that’s what gives me hope. We are seeing people turn out and fight back.

“There’s no posse coming. It’s not like there’s a, you know, cavalry over the hill. It’s all of us. It really is. That’s what gives me hope.”

Listen to the whole conversation on Catty Chats with Sen. Chris Van Hollen on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Cats and kittens, we are the heroes we have been waiting for. Claws out!

Cat Ladies for America’s first-ever Catladypalooza was purr-fect!

Our virtual clowder gathered last Sunday for an evening of activist education, community building, and moments of radi-claw joy. We’re so grateful to everyone who joined us on YouTube live or on replay to hear from panelists on legal rights, mutual aid and activism, clawing back against ICE, and resisting with humor.

Missed the event? No need to howl: You can watch or listen to Catladypalooza now! Find the replay on YouTube and the Catty Chats podcast episode wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Ready to jump into the cat fight? Sign up for our Action Cat list to be notified about action items from our Catladypalooza panelists and future CLFA events.

And we’re excited that four of our local CLFA chapters – Minneapolis; Ontario, CA; Reno, NV; and Salt Lake City – hosted watch parties in their cities, bringing even more cat folks to the paw-ty and introducing a whole new litter of cats to the CLFA mew-vement.

Of course, no gathering of the cat clan – which includes cat daddies, cat folx, and un-catted allies who vibe with us, of course – would be complete without cats! We crowned a winner in our Catwalk Fashion Show: Congratulations to Bocceli Kleffel of Beaumont, CA!

Catladypalooza came together thanks to the enthusiasm and ex-paw-tise of our panelists and our hisstress of ceremonies, Gemma Smith. We’re not kitten around when we say they dropped some serious knowledge on us.

Here are some of our favorite moments from our panelists on our rights, what communities in danger need, and why humor is resistance.

Eliza Orlins, NYC public defender: “You have the right to remain silent, and you need to use it. You need to shut the f up. … You don’t have to open your door, you don’t have to answer questions when it comes to ICE as to where you were born or how you got here.”

Mohini Tangri, civil rights attorney: “I think that [the right to record] is so important because that’s one of the best pieces of evidence that we can use when we ultimately try to hold ICE accountable in the court system. If you have the recording, if you have the audio, then it’s a lot easier to show what ICE has done. I actually think that is the number one to be honest.”

Dara Johnson, Maryland ACLU: “At the most basic level, to vote … to show up at the polls and to vote, whether it’s in the primaries coming up in June or later on in November, to show up at the polls and not let misinformation dictate what people what you as a voter are going to trust as what is available because, unfortunately, deception is a part of voter suppression.”

Anne Lehman, Smitten Kitten: “Money. Money a thousand percent. It’s hard to keep raising funds after media attention goes away. … [ICE] changed the structure and the look of what was going on, but they have not changed what they are doing in Minneapolis. They want you to believe it has stopped. Please understand that it has not, and [we] are in even more need of money and services to help people because the big media blitz has left.”

Kevin Wheeler, The Necessary Means: “I think one of the biggest needs is just information, and information like, true information. The one thing that this administration and its cronies have done really well is divide communities. And what we at Necessary Means have really focused ourselves on is providing real, true information from experts and also a way to actually use the information that’s given.”

Durre Bell, The Necessary Means: “[W]e put out a zine that specifically, you know, tells you exactly what to do. It’s a guide for Black folks. It’s available all over: Red Emma’s, Beat Boxes, and you can certainly get a copy of that zine if you email us. But there’s some issues there, right? Because they’re like, “Oh,it’s political.” … Every day that I wake up and take a breath, it’s political, so it’s a little hard to get us funds, but it’ll be great if people just stay tuned with us, you know, as far as our Instagram.”

Zachary Mallory, Rise Above Justice Movement: “I would have to say, just amplifying survivor voices right now. We saw what recently happened with now former Congressman Eric Swallwell. But just thinking about everything else that’s going on with the Epstein files, right? The Epstein files is a really deep topic right now.”

Amanda McGonigle, Cats on a Couch: “One of the things, the John Lewis quote, ‘get into good trouble and necessary trouble.’ I feel like I live by that every day. Like, I want to fulfill that every day. And, so, one of the things that we started early on, like this little community, was petty side quests. … Like, little things that don’t seem that big, right? But then I have people in my DMs that are like, “I want you to know after all of our little good trouble, I had the courage to go to my first protest today or I had the courage to call my rep today.” … No matter how silly it sounds, empowering people with these petty little things that boosts their confidence to continue showing up in solidarity has been like one of the amazing things that I’ve seen with this community.”

Robby Roadsteamer, musical comedy activist: “We bring that comedy and humor to the absurdity that’s already MAGA. And whether you got the Portland frogs, whether you got me doing the giraffe stuff, whether you have 9,000 dildos last week going across the country … So, basically, it’s something where we’re trying to distract MAGA’s absurdity with our own absurdity. In doing so, it allows our wonderful candidates, people of valor, activists to be a little less distracted by the absurdity of the MAGA attacks.”

Louisa Hall, musical comedy duo Griefcat: “We kind of fell into the cattiness thing. We just really like to troll. We just really like to kind of troll everything that’s dumb. And nothing is dumber than shitty billionaires, right? … So we’re just trying to do what we can to kind of keep people’s spirits up and laugh at people who should be jokes.”

Comrade Tripp, Minneapolis comedian: “I’d like to make more elected officials cry. I want them to cry as much as I do. I’d like them to show some form of empathy and just, yeah, more money for people that need money. I’d love to learn how to do a backflip. I don’t know if that’s part of anything.”

Want more? You can watch or listen to Catladypalooza in its entirety on YouTube or our podcast, Catty Chats.

And mark your calendars for Catladypalooza Twooza on Sunday, Sept. 13!

Until next time – claws out!

Cool story about Karma:

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- Trump endorsed incumbent NC State Sen. President Phil Berger over Sherriff Page GOP primary for US House seat

- BERGER extra-double again gerrymandered NC in return for Trump

- THEN TRUMP ENDORSED & ELEVATED NC SEN PRES. BERGER LOST ANYWAY

- & now none of it’ll matter ‘cause when VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING gets thru the courts & REMAINS LAW, it’ll erase NC GOP’s “work” 4-5 times over.

Berger Was often referred to as the most powerful person in North Carolina politics, And then he wasn’t.

🎯THERE’S A LESSON IN THERE FOR YOU GOP LAWMAKERS EVERYWHERE IF YOU SQUINT.

CLAUSE OUT FOR 2026.

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Happy National Cat Lady Day!

Catladypalooza zoomies to the stage TONIGHT (7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific) live on YouTube, and you can’t gather a clowder of cats (and cat ladies, cat daddies, and uncatted allies) without someone to keep them all in line.

Seriously – have you ever tried herding cats???

Fortunately, we’ve got two devoted cat ladies taking charge of Catladypalooza: Meow-stress of Ceremonies Gemma Smith and Cat Ladies for America Founder Blaire Postman.

Are you signed up yet? Catladypalooza is TODAY, April 19, at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST LIVE on YouTube. Catladypalooza is a free virtual training and community-building event organized by Cat Ladies for America. It’s FREE! Sign up at http://catladypalooza.com.

Gemma Smith is an animal advocate and creative producer based in New York City. She has hosted and produced Catbaret, a quarterly cat-themed variety show, since 2018 and talks creative lives, craft, and cats with burlesque and nightlife performers on her podcast “Tails & Tassels.” Gemma believes in “building community through creativity, connection, and cats” and works frequently as a host, on-camera purr-sonality, and voiceover artist. She’s meow-velous, and we can’t wait for you to meet her! She is owned by two cats, Lion-o and Luna.

Blaire Postman launched Cat Ladies for Kamala in July 2024, hosting 35,000 people for a virtual fundraiser just a few weeks later, raising about $400,000 for the Harris-Walz campaign and other candidates. Cat Ladies for Kamala gave Blaire her first look inside political organizing, and she took the knowledge of what did and did not work there to pivot her organization toward action as Cat Ladies for America. CLFA has 25 chapters (and growing!) across the U.S. that help mobilize cat ladies, cat daddies, cat folx, and uncatted allies to build community and take action locally and nationally. Blaire is also a touring comedian and lives her best nine lives with her three cats, Sookie, George, and Hank.

It’s not too late to sign up! Catladypalooza is TODAY, Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. Free! Sign up at http:/ Catladypalooza.com.

You know what authoritarians and thugs hate?

They hate our laughter and our joy. They hate that we are like cats with the zoomies, happily running around thumbing our paws at their authority (and maybe breaking some of their things in the process).

For Catladypalooza, we’ve assembled a clowder of sassy cats who excel at flipping the bird at Trump and his band of misanthropic misfits. From in-person protesting to online trolling, you’ll learn from them how you can use cattiness as resistance.

Catladypalooza is a free virtual training and community-building event organized by Cat Ladies for America. It’s FREE! Sign up at http://catladypalooza.com.

Amanda McGonigle of Cats on a Couch has been trolling Vice President JD Vance since 2024 when she joked online that her cat account could get more followers than Vance. At 1,770,000 “petty besties” and counting, COAC has surpassed Vance’s Senate account and is rolling toward his personal account. With the support of her followers, Amanda took her activism from online into real life this year, traveling to Minneapolis to help with mutual aid efforts on the ground. In 2025, she organized “Meowtucket” to greet Vance when he traveled to the Massachusetts island of Nantucket for a fundraiser. Now that’s some “good trouble!”

Robby Roadsteamer describes himself as “a simple giraffe singing hit songs.” That giraffe took his portable speaker and on-point lyrics on the road to protest ICE in Portland and Minneapolis over the last several months. For his efforts, he was detained – and then released – by ICE twice. Robby’s been at this a while, singing around his native Boston, heckling Steve Bannon after Bannon was released from prison, and generally being a thorn in MAGA’s side. He’ll close out our show with a live performance!

Griefcat is the musical comedy duo of Annie Nardolilli and Louisa Hall. Described by DCist as combining “rich harmonies with lyrics that make you laugh,” Griefcat’s songs deliver sociopolitical commentary with a catchy tune and a wink, drawing on influences like Tenacious D and Dolly Parton. Their latest album is “Dirty Laundry,” and we’ll feature a recorded performance from them during Catladypalooza.

Comrade Tripp is a Minneapolis-based comedian, self described as a “tragic comedian.” He recently hosted Smitten Kitten’s “Performative Mayor Contest,” which invited contestants to give their best impression of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Check out his Substack and YouTube to see Comrade’s commentary on Markwayne Mullin, Kristi Noem, and more.

Sign up now! Catladypalooza is Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. Free! Sign up at http:/ Catladypalooza.com.

Nowhere have the catfights been louder than against ICE activity in cities and towns across the country. From Minneapolis and Portland to Chicago and Hagerstown – and everywhere in between – the resistance has been pushing back against the terror and violence ICE and Border Patrol have brought to our neighborhoods.

Now, grassroots fighters are also standing up against the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to purchase warehouses to use as detention centers.

We’ve gathered a top team of ICE-fighting organizers who are scratching back against ICE and showing the rest of us how it is done. Meet the members of the Catladypalooza ICE panel.

Catladypalooza is a free virtual training and community-building event organized by Cat Ladies for America. It’s FREE! Sign up at http://catladypalooza.com.

Bre Gurosko is co-founder of Project Salt Box in Maryland. Named after the yellow boxes of ice-melting salt on the corners of Baltimore’s streets, the organization focuses on researching and demystifying public records to help the rest of us understand what ICE and the DHS are planning. Bre is also a certified cat lady – she’s owned by eight cats!

Eva Lopez Chavez is a candidate for U.S. House in Utah and a member of the Salt Lake City council. The first Mexican American elected to the council, Eva focuses on community improvement efforts and living her family’s most important lesson: Family is always first. Eva is also owned by two of the fluffiest cats we’ve ever seen, including a kitten most of us here at Cat Ladies for America would steal in a heartbeat.

Ethan Wechtaluk is running for U.S. House in Maryland and has been part of the resistance to DHS’ plan to purchase a warehouse in Hagerstown, MD, with Hagerstown Rapid Response. In his work as a consultant in the federal government ecosystem, he has seen firsthand how broken the systems intended to help people are. Ethan is also a proud cat daddy.

Sign up now! Catladypalooza is Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. Free! Sign up at http:/ Catladypalooza.com.