If you are in Virginia, comment if you voted yes, on the referendum and if you haven’t yet what your voting plan is!

The election ends on Tuesday!

And if you say that there is something wrong with me because I refuse to talk to people who support that, right back at you for supporting that.
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I just wanna be crystal clear. If you try and defend Hasan Piker for anything he said, but especially his bigotry and simping for Russia I will not be having a conversation with you because it is not worth my time.
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WE’RE NOT DOOMED: Fri April 17, 2026
Dems are fighting back, Judges are fighting back, Libraries matter and so do vaccines and Doomerella learned all of that today. Did you?

www.thedailyelm.com/p/were-not-d...

The Daily Elm | Substack The optimism you need to fight from a place of hope rather than catatonic fear. Because, our voices are our superpower, when we use them! Click to read The Daily Elm, by Ariella Elm, a Substack public...

The absolute best way to do so is to become paid subscriber to my Substack (through the web, 🍎 now takes a 30% cut) www.thedailyelm.com, but you can also buy me a ☕️ buymeacoffee.com/ariella.elm, or buy my merch www.bonfire.com/my-vote-is-m...
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If you like this, please follow me for more anti-doomerism content!

I’m not kidding when I say the only way I can keep doing this work is if people like you support me.
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Sources: www.instagram.com/p/DWXExc9mO0...

utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/04/08/s...

blockclubchi.co/3NTWvNM

www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...

westvirginiawatch.com/2026/04/08/f...

westvirginiawatch.com/wp-content/u...
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So I hope, amid all the crap, you seek out the good. And even if you can’t, glad you follow me, so I can make sure you see it anyway.

Remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
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West Virginia Wed, April 8 - You wouldn’t know it, because it is one of the most reliably Republican states, at least recently, but West Virginia has one of the most strict school vaccine laws in the entire country. And that’s not changing anytime soon. Two members of a three panel of all Republican appointed 4th circuit judges ruled in favor of the Upshur County School District that there cannot be religious vaccine exemptions. Judge J Harvey Wilkinson, a Regan appointee wrote for the majority opinion that the vaccine law:

is a legitimate exercise of the state’s power to protect the health and well-being of school children. Striking the law down would undermine not just our system of dual sovereignty, but also a long line of Supreme Court precedent. Well, that’s certainly clear. It’s not often that good news comes out of West Virginia, but when it comes to standing up for school vaccine laws, they’re right there on the front lines. Even the reddest states are progressive on certain things. That’s an important thing to remember and makes me feel less Doomed.

West Virginia
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Utah Wed, April 8 - Republicans have had another setback in trying to repeal prop 4. The proposition was passed in 2018 and it took until this year’s midterms for it to finally be implemented. It creates a majority Dem Congressional district in Utah. Republicans have been trying to get enough signatures to get it back on the ballot in November, but instead of securing new signatures, people have been removing theirs. Now two senate districts have gone below the threshold for the required number of signatures, to get on the ballot in November. Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries the group responsible for Prop 4 celebrated the failure in these two counties but said there’s still more work to do:

[We’re] going to continue to work and make sure that anyone across the state who was tricked or misled into signing the repeal of Proposition 4 has the opportunity to remove their signature. She added: Utahns of all political stripes deserve to pick their politicians, not have politicians that pick their voters. Let me be clear, this district is in place for 2026, regardless. What’s up for debate now is if they can make it a one-term district or not. Things are looking good for the “or not” camp. And that makes me feel less Doomed.

Utah
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Chicago, Illinois Tue, April 7 - All Chicago public schools are now part of a program called the 81 club which makes all school IDs automatic library cards in the Chicago Public Library system. This includes access to: a 6 million-item collection, online databases, digital media and free academic support. Through library resources like Teacher in the Library and Brainfuse, students can access one-on-one tutoring both in person and online, reinforcing classroom learning in real time.

While anyone can get a library card, there are always a few minor barriers to entry with any new thing one joins. This removes all of them. Mayor Brandon Johnson said: This partnership demonstrates my administration’s commitment to build a more equitable and thriving city by bringing all of government together to invest in our young people. By removing barriers and connecting young people to learning opportunities in every neighborhood, we are helping to ensure that students have access to the resources they need in school and beyond. Anything that makes things more equitable makes me feel less Doomed.

Chicago, Illinois
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WE’RE NOT DOOMED: Fri April 17, 2026
Are things good? No. But there ARE good things happening.
The more we talk about and celebrate those things, the more we have to celebrate. That’s how hope, as an action works. Seeing good things makes us fight back harder.

Today we’re starting in Chicago…
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It is all thanks to the house and Senate staff! This morning I woke up and opened my computer and within five minutes I was on a call with house foreign affairs Dems staff members. If it hadn’t been for them, this would’ve been full of disinformation

The Daily Elm | Substack The optimism you need to fight from a place of hope rather than catatonic fear. Because, our voices are our superpower, when we use them! Click to read The Daily Elm, by Ariella Elm, a Substack public...

The absolute best way to do so is to become paid subscriber to my Substack (through the web, 🍎 takes a 30% cut) www.thedailyelm.com, but you can also buy me a ☕️ buymeacoffee.com/ariella.elm, or buy my merch www.bonfire.com/my-vote-is-m...
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I hope you learned something from today’s long yap. If you like this, please follow me for more anti-doomerism content!

I’m not kidding when I say the only way I can keep doing this work is if people like you support me.
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Questioning the necessity of a war is not the same thing as questioning the strength and power of the military. If you hate all this, and you have a Republican in the House or Senate (or Jared Golden), blow up their phone. They know that keeping this war going is unpopular but it does not hurt to remind them of that. And who knows, it’s a simple majority. It wouldn’t take much for enough votes to be swayed to pass the Resolution.

And even though Trump would almost certainly veto it, the majority of the Congressional body saying that they do not agree with the war would have a political impact, so it is worth doing.

I know this is all super complicated and seems pointless, but let’s go back to the top. Putting sand in the gears and putting Republicans on record for their awful decisions are always a win. Especially when that decision is considered such a disaster across the board. So let’s keep cheering on our Dems as they introduce this over and over and over again.

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Essentially, the administration is asking for $100-200b MORE to continue this war. That amount could fund universal pre-K for two years or hearing and dental for seven years for all Americans. Anytime Republicans try to cut anything cause we don’t have the money, this proves that they really do not have a leg to stand on.

Not to mention, so far, we have lost 13 service members with 400 injured, some very seriously. Republican keep arguing that our skilled military proves the war was necessary.

We have one of the most highly trained forces in the world. They will always do a good job (not necessarily a job you agree with but a good job by the standards of the military.) That doesn’t mean there’s any justification for the war taking place, no matter how much Republicans want it to be.

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Up till now, the Administration has been hiding behind classification. It’s not that most of the material of what is (or in most cases isn’t) happening in Iran is a secret, but it’s scattered all over the place and not super easily accessible. So most Americans have no idea that on top of it raising gas prices, and hurting farmers (which will not be apparent to most of us till the fall) this hasn’t been successful at all.

With the WPR all that information would be laid out in hearings, clearly and concisely. But, as with everything we do in the minority, that’s really not the point. We don’t have the votes for a veto proof majority. So why do anything at all?

It shows the American people that Democrats oppose the war and Republicans do not. It’s the same reason that Democrats kept calling up votes to end the tariffs. Not cause anyone was expecting the vote to change, but, a lot of Democrats ran and won on the Republicans supporting the tariffs based on these votes.

The Iran war is even less popular. The goal really is as simple as putting Republicans on record or this horrific and costly war.

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Let me be very clear. There was no imminent threat and this war is 100% illegal, no matter how you look at it. But Republicans are insisting that the 60 days mark matters. It is possible, though probably not likely, that the WPR will be passed next week as a result.

So the question on your lips is probably: “Why would Trump listen, it’s already illegal?” He probably wouldn’t. As usual, unfortunately, that’s not the point.

Ideal scenario: It passes the House and Senate, he vetoes it and Congress magically has enough votes to override the veto and it passes anyway. If it were to pass, he can extend it for 30 more days to wrap up loose ends and then must end it.

Military personnel would be required to answer for the war in hearings and at this point, they could say that it is an illegal order and refuse to comply.

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Let’s talk War Powers Resolution. It’s confusing, but hopefully this helps clarify some things.

First off, because I know some people will only read the first few paragraphs, every time a Dem introduces the War Powers Resolution in the Senate (or the House), it is putting sand in the gears. It is grinding the body to a halt. That’s what you wanted, right? Great, now let’s delve deeper.

In the Senate the War Powers Resolution is pretty unique. It needs a simple majority, not 60, so we really do need only a few Republicans to join, and it’s a privileged resolution, which means the Majority Leader (or Speaker in the House) can’t stop it from coming to the floor — tariffs also fell under this category.

There are 12 Senate Democrats (it begun with 6) cycling through, continuing to bring this up over and over again. Some Republicans say they are waiting for 60 days to pass the WPR because IF there is an imminent threat, a president can start a war without congressional approval.

When people scream at Democrats to do something, I wish they understood some of the things that Democrats are doing. It’s not good enough, but, on this subject, it as good as it’s gonna get in the minority
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That’s the deal they made

The Daily Elm | Substack The optimism you need to fight from a place of hope rather than catatonic fear. Because, our voices are our superpower, when we use them! Click to read The Daily Elm, by Ariella Elm, a Substack public...

The absolute best way to do so is to become paid subscriber to my Substack (through the web, 🍎 newly takes a 30% cut) www.thedailyelm.com, but you can also buy me a ☕️ buymeacoffee.com/ariella.elm, or buy my merch www.bonfire.com/my-vote-is-m...
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If you like this, please follow me for more anti-doomerism content!

I’m not kidding when I say the only way I can keep doing this work is if people like you support me.
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Former DNC, RNC lawyers launch group to stop Trump effort to federalize elections A group of lawyers from both parties on Monday formed the Bipartisan American Election Project (BAEP), an attempt to preserve election procedures after President Trump called to nationalize electio…

Sources: thehill.com/homenews/cam...

www.bipartisanelectionproject.org/new-page-1

content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIG...

www.bu.edu/president/le...

www.boston.com/news/local-n...

alumni.standforcampusfreedom.org/petitions/te...

www.wbur.org/news/2026/03...
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So I hope that this post helped you feel like you can’t give up and we must continue to fight back, cause it works so much more often than you are seeing!

Remember, our voices are our superpower, but ONLY when we use them!
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Boston, Massachusetts Mon, April 8 - In March, Boston University demanded pride flags be removed from public spaces, because it could be seen as not being fair or respectful to bigots (actually they said not being “content neutral,” but, ya know, same thing.) On March 16, dozens of faculty members decried the decision in a letter to the school. On April 2, there was a rally outside of President Melissa Gilliam’s office against the decision. And all this noise paid off. On Mon, April 8, Gilliam wrote a letter to staff, faculty, teachers and students putting a “pause” on the decision.

She wrote: In this moment, however, it is critical that we can hold these matters separate. One is a discussion about a policy; the other is a discussion about our core values and respect for members of our community. I am troubled that they became conflated. It signals to me that we need more time and opportunity to consider these matters. Oh yeah, super hard to conflate them when you make teachers and staff and students remove pride flags, or in the case of Professor Nathan Phillips, remove it for him. Naturally, Terrier Courage, who are leading the charge against this policy are celebrating the win but fighting for a change in policy not just a pause:

We call for a revised posting policy, applicable to students, faculty, and staff, that permits the display of signs, banners, flags, or posters on doors, windows, and walls of individual offices, residential bedrooms, or private work areas regardless of whether any such item may be visible from outside of the space in which it appears. Even though this is only a pause, it’s still an incredibly important reminder of our power. If the university community had stayed silent, this policy would have stayed in place as is. Instead, it’s being reevaluated and will hopefully result in a better outcome for all. WE are why we’re not Doomed. Stories like this. Not taking no for an answer.

Boston, Massachusetts
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Wisconsin Mon, March 30 - Republicans in the legislature passed a bill that would add Wisconsin to the states participating in the National School Voucher program outlined in the Big Ugly Bill. Governor Evers, a former educator, at all levels of the education system, announced he was vetoing it “in its entirety. He wrote: Public funds should go to public schools. Period. Proponents of this nationwide voucher expansion have implored me to support and opt into this program, insisting the program will benefit public school students, families, and schools, too.

This is why it’s important to have elected officials who have previously had careers in a variety of industries. Many people, especially Democrats know how bad school vouchers are, but a former teacher is uniquely qualified to break it down. Only a former teachers has the experience to say: As a former science teacher, principal, superintendent, state superintendent, and a son of the state that created the nation’s first-ever private school voucher program, I have spent decades of my life watching the impacts that draining public funds from public schools to fund private voucher school programs instead has had on kids, schools, and public education in Wisconsin. There’s power in that. He’s not just vetoing it because it’s the right thing to do, but also because his personal experience has shown that fact over and over again. And I feel less Doomed seeing a veto like this, hopefully you do too.

Wisconsin
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National Mon, March 23 - A group of election lawyers, from both sides have launched the Bipartisan American Election Project. This project is simply about protecting elections and the democratic process. The press release states: Chief among the principles and norms that BAEP was formed to uphold and defend are the professional, nonpartisan conduct of elections, the testing of outcomes in close races through the procedures provided by state laws, such as recount, contests and litigation, and the acceptance of the results. It continues: BAEP will intervene at the federal, state, and local levels through public communications, filings with administrators, and participation in judicial proceedings, including amicus curiae briefs.

I think that second part is especially important. They will get involved in every way they possibly can when they hear about something fishy. People constantly say, all over my feeds, that we’re not gonna have elections, there will be no midterms, it’s a lost cause, etc. But the more of this we have, the more that’s just not true. While you are panicking, the people who have the expertise are working to make sure we do have elections and they are fair and safe. MAGA is gonna try to make the elections go in their favor through any means necessary, but the election experts have thought of all contingency plans and are ready. That matters. And that makes me feel less Doomed!

National
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WE’RE NOT DOOMED: Wed Apr 15, 2026
Today’s stories are about stopping further harm. Because we can’t always make things better, but oftentimes we are able to make sure they don’t get worse. And that is just as important, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

Starting with a national story…
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Yes!