Marla Felcher

Good News from the Resistance: How to sum up 2019 — in a Good News blog, nonetheless — a year marked by relentless, soul-crushing anxiety? New Yorker writer Susan Glasser approached the task by inventing a term that captures our collective state-of-mind: Trumpschmerz. Schmerz is German, referring to the “continuous pain or ache of the soul that results from excessive contemplation of it all.” No need to explain the Trump part.

Chances are we’ll be feeling Trumpschmerzy well into 2020. Which is why, I suspect, that over the last few weeks we’ve been bombarded with more “Best of” lists than ever in the history of the printed word. Of course we’ve always been able to count on year-end “10 Best Movies” or “Best Books of the Year,” but this year the lists multiplied like fruit flies on a bowl of decaying peaches. Yet, unlike fruit flies, my attitude towards the lists gradually morphed from annoyance to gratitude, when I came to realize that each was a tiny antidote to my deepening Trumpschmerz.

10 Best Rom-Coms of the Decade; 9 Most Overlooked Movies of 2019; 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2020; 10 Best TV Shows of 2019; 25 Top New Yorker articles; 15 Best TV Moments; 50 Best Podcasts; Best Social Media Moments remind us there is an abundance of brilliance and creativity in our world — and provide a roadmap on those days when Trumpschmerz prevents us from getting out of bed.

The next time our Tweeter-in-Chief lets loose another ignorant zinger, don’t despair.  50 Moments That Actually Made Us Happy; 10 Saturday Night Live Sketches That Made Us Scream; and 20 Funniest Performances of 2019 are your anti-Trumpschmerz Rx.

Still longing for the 44th? Obama’s Best Of Playlist and Obama’s Favorite Books of 2019 remind us this, too, shall pass.

Need to know that all your Resistance efforts were not for naught? 10 Stories to Renew Your Faith in Politics will remind you that despite The Grifter-in-Chief’s best efforts, 2019 was filled with plenty of big, beautiful wins. Here’s one more Good News-filled, final year-end list:

10 Most-Clicked Marla’s Good News from the Resistance Stories in 2019

10. “P#ssy Grabber Plays”: Trump’s Accusers take the Stage

9.  Most ridiculous Inauguration expenses  

8. Hero-child who slept through Orange Clown’s State of the Union 

7. Obama’s letter to prisoner he freed

6. Ben & Jerry’s new flavor for these times

5. Trader Joe’s makes a move against plastic

4. Impeachment movies with happy endings

3. Randy Rainbow’s hysterical Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar song

2. What happens if Melania divorces the Clown

1. GOP racist who dissed Michelle Obama goes to jail

Sign Up. Show Up. Never Give Up. 

Read more Rx to Battle Trumpschmerz

Good News from the Resistance: It’s become de rigueur for political writers, talking heads, and members of the clergy (with the exception of Evangelicals) to conjure MLK’s, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” to soothe us each time the Swamp Thing-in-Chief concocts a new way to impose hate. Increasingly, the quote is making me feel sick. Unwilling for the Swamp Thing to ruin even MLK for me, I decided to take a look at recent news through an arc-of-justice lens. Good News! As it turns out, the arc is bending towards justice in many places, and it isn’t all that long. (Except in the VA and PA suburbs, where it took quite a while, but last month it finally moved).

Exactly how long is the arc ? Within the last few weeks …

• Trump gave up on $8.6 billion funding for his Wall, which he demanded last March.
  • Moral arc = 8 months
• Roger Stone was found guilty of lying to Robert Mueller in order to protect Trump; Mueller had him arrested last January.
  • Moral arc = 10 months
• The New York Supreme Court ordered the non-profit Trump Foundation to pay a $2 million settlement for stealing money from military vets; the lawsuit was filed in June 2018.
  • Moral arc = 17 months
• Rudy Giuliani is now the subject of three investigations — criminal and counterintelligence — for his dealing in Ukraine; he became Trump’s personal lawyer in April 2018, as his role model-predecessor, Michael Cohen, was heading off to jail. (Note: Moral arc for conviction will be longer. Stay tuned.).
  • Moral arc = 19 months
• A Congressional oversight panel sued AG William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for documents that allegedly show Ross pushed for a citizenship question on the 2020 Census in order to intentionally undercount African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities; Trump ordered Ross to include the question in December 2017. (Note: The Supreme Court ruled against the question last June).
  • Moral arc = 23 months (or less, depending on when you start counting)
• The woman who famously flipped off Trump’s motorcade from her bike and was subsequently fired by her employer was elected to the Loundon County, VA Board of Supervisors, flipping the seat Blue.
  • Moral arc = 25 months
• Democrats won full control of the VA state legislature.
  • Moral arc = 26 years
• Democrats took control of suburban PA Delaware County for the first time since the Civil War.
  • Moral arc = 154 years

Yes, there’s even more Good News from the Resistance:

• Grin ear-to-ear when you read about this 1st-grader’s birthday party
• Say boo-hoo when you learn Sean Spicer’s fate
• Be amazed that Cruella DeVos did something good
• Wonder how the University of Florida-Don Trump Jr. impeachment case will wind up
• Clap when you see the Drag Queen who stole the show at the impeachment hearings
• Try to figure out what unicorns have to do with farmers’ markets and white supremacy
• Eat at this restaurant if you’re in D.C.
• Watch these movies instead of watching the news
• Take Action: Learn about Swing Left’s Early Senate Action Fund and the swing states

Sign Up. Show Up. Never Give Up. 

Read more Yes, We are Bending Towards Justice

Good News from the Resistance: Let’s consider for a moment all we’ve learned about the nuances of the U.S. Constitution since the Grifter-in-Chief moved into the White House. We’ve had one big fat lesson in How to Lie, Cheat, Abuse and Steal Your Way Into and Throughout the Presidency. It’s clear sailing with Moscow Mitch at the helm! Now, as  Pelosi, Schiff et. al. turn up the heat, we have much to learn from the latest chapter of the GOP playbook: Grace Under Pressure: What to do When the Vise Tightens. My favorite lessons learned (so far):

• If you are a GOP Congressman asked an uncomfortable question about our Russian-Asset-in-Chief, avoid answering it by head-butting the reporter’s camera,
• If you are a pre-verbal MAGA-hat-wearing goon who finds himself outnumbered at an anti-Trump protest (go figure!), whip out the bear repellent spray,
• If you are a GOP lackey nominated for a judgeship, and during confirmation hearings you are confronted with your own homophobic statements, cry, baby, cry (warning: this is the most cringeworthy video I’ve seen in a long while),
• If you are the president’s personal lawyer and his former cybersecurity expert, and you can’t remember the password on your iPhone, head to the closest Apple Genius Bar for help, and
•  When losing your job becomes a real possibility, get a note from your podiatrist.

There will be no mention of the “I” word in this post. Instead, there will be stories that make me smile. Because no matter how dark the news, the daily reminders of our fellow humans’ creativity and ingenuity never cease to brighten my day.

Here we go …

In Massachusetts, local politicians are fighting for the right to see their neighbors’ nightgowns and underpants hanging on clotheslines; if you cut off someone in traffic and suddenly hear the sound of a loud fart or bleating goat, it’s the Tesla driver behind you;  grandmas are the new flower girls; when a middle school principal announced he would not stock bathrooms with free sanitary products, 7th grade girls said, “chew on this“; a black lab was sworn in at Chicago’s state’s attorney’s office (she has a real job); Rudy G. keeps butt-dialing an NBC reporter, and the messages captured are the stuff of political reporters’ dreams; there’s been a resurgence of witches!

Yes, there’s even more Good News from the Resistance:

• Drink this fish-friendly beer
• Thank these movie stars for taking a stand and getting arrested
• Know that Cruella DeVos was busted
• Congratulate the first African-American mayor of Montgomery, AL
• Wonder how this will improve the morale of White House staff
• Cheer for Germany taking the lead on coal
• Buy these spices 
• Say Happy 60th Wedding Anniversary to this kind-hearted Irish couple
• Take Action: Help reunite separated families by supporting Project Corazon

Sign Up. Show Up. Never Give Up. 

Read more What a Piece of Work is Man!

Good News from the Resistance:  Last week we learned about a new piece of Trump’s immigration policy — he dreamed of building a border moat, and filling it with alligators and snakes. His aides got cost estimates. The Good News? After three years, our Clown-in-Chief still has the ability to make me laugh so hard I fell off the couch. The Really Good News? This was just one of a litany of reminders of the childish ineptness of the current Administration. To quote my friend Billy Shore, who leads a national anti-hunger organization, “(their) incompetence has worked in our favor.” To which I say, Praise Ye Incompetence!

Our Reality TV star-in-Chief made a lot of campaign promises, yet after close to 1,000 days in the White House, he’s failed to deliver. Thanks to his stunning incompetence, and a bit of help from his loyal and corrupt henchmen and dangerously clueless family, he’s been unable to: ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.; remove Syrian refugees; create a Commission on radical Islam; build a wall (or a moat) and make Mexico pay for it; end birthright citizenship; cancel federal aid to sanctuary cities; expand fast-track deportation; add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census; change the vaccination schedule for children; or bring back waterboarding. Obamacare still stands, Mt. Denali has not be renamed Mt. McKinely, Medicaid is not funded through block grants to states, and $20 billion has not been invested in “school choice.” Praise Ye Incompetence!

But that’s legislation; our Grifter-in-Chief ran on a “this country needs a businessman who knows how to run things!” platform. How’s he doing with that?

Our  Bankrupter-in-Chief already — with a year to go —  holds the record for both Cabinet and White House turnover; he’s lost more Cabinet heads to ethics violations and corruption than any president in U.S. history, and underlings who don’t buy what he’s selling (Comey, Scaramucci, McCabe, Shulkin, Sessions, Omarosa, Bolton) are dismissed by the boss with his signature phrase, “You’re fired!” Which is why White House morale is so low (former WH chief-of-staff John Kelly said, “working for Donald Trump was the worst fucking job I’ve ever had”), that we, the taxpayers, are footing an $18,000 bill for a White House executive coach. (Good luck with that). Let’s hope the coach continues to be unable to control the gut-bustingly funny mistakes and retributive leaks. Praise Ye Incompetence!

And yet. While our Baffoon-in-Chief continues to outdo his own mendacity, unlikely fixers are stepping up.  Auto manufacturers are fighting Trump’s relaxed air pollution and emissions rules. Walmart is filling a void on gun policy. Greta has mobilized young people across the world, and she will not stop. Cities like L.A. are out in front on electric vehicle adoption. Amazon just ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans; FedEx ordered 1,000 more.

Note to our National Clown: This is how you run a thriving business. Praise Ye Competence!

Yes, there’s even more Good News from the Resistance:

• Laugh at Andy Borowitz’s Civil War podiatrist joke
• Be amazed that the $70 billion U of California pension fund is now fossil-free
• Know that Cleveland paid anti-Trump protestors almost $1 million for wrongful arrests
• Plan to visit this NYC arts center dedicated to immigrants
• Applaud New Mexico for making college free
• See history being made with this ocean clean-up
• Wonder how Trump feels about paying ACLU & immigrant rights groups $6.6 million+
• Be impressed by Warren’s pinky promise
• Use this impeachment diagram to keep track of shady Ukraine players
• Take Action: Find an #ImpeachNow march, and take to the streets Sunday, Oct. 13

Sign Up. Show Up. Never Give Up. 

Read more In Praise of Incompetence!

Good News from the Resistance: Maine has the oldest and second whitest (Go Vermont!) population in America. So when 400+ asylum-seekers landed in the state this past summer, mostly from the Congo and Angola, many — including Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling — recognized an opportunity. “If we have discovered the magic wand that will bring young families to Portland to help us build the next generation, why would we want to stop that, especially when it costs us so little money?” the mayor said.

Why Maine? No one knows exactly. Some recent arrivals said they’d heard through the grapevine that Portland was a safe, aging city that needed more workers. Others had heard there was a strong safety net.

After making their way by air to Brazil, then by foot and bus through Mexico to the Texas border, what the migrants found in Portland was a welcoming community. When the city set up hundreds of cots in the Portland Expo and school gyms, 1,200 residents volunteered to help. In Cape Elizabeth, there was a Welcome! 4th of July picnic. The Portland City Council voted to allocate $900,000+ of private donations for the new arrivals’ housing and basic needs. Non-profits like the New Mainers Resource Center helped find the migrants more permanent housing in Portland and nearby towns; Prosperity Maine – whose executive director Claude Rwaganje was born in the Congo — provides financial education, “the first step to achieving your American dream.”

Last week, Luc Mpangaje flew from his home in Texas to Portland, to thank members of the First Parish Church for helping him in 2010 when he’d been an asylum seeker fleeing Burundi, where he’d been jailed and beaten by police for his political views. He’d arrived in Portland with $80, speaking no English, without his family. Now a U.S. citizen living in Dallas, and reunited with his wife and 10-year old son Malcolm and 13-year old daughter Yasmine, Mpangaje works as an airport shuttle driver. He’s saving to move his family back to Portland.

“If you do something good for me, you’ll always stay in my heart,” Mpangaje said. “That’s why I keep coming back here – because I feel like I owe something.”

Mainers, listen up! Ditch Susan Collins, and you’ll soon be topping another list: Best State in the U.S. 

Yes, there’s even more Good News from the Resistance:

• Know that the Democrats are building armies of 2020 volunteers
• Remember (or learn about) the good ‘ole days of Dan Quayle
• Wish you’d been on this cruise
• Understand why the situation will improve in N. Carolina
• Buy this new Ben & Jerry’s flavor
• Thank Montana for its leadership
• Break bread at this yummy event in Oakland, CA
• Applaud the recent fundraising success of Green Groups 
• Be impressed by this simple act of resistance (you can do it, too)
• Take Action: Relax and have a good laugh with Randy Rainbow

Sign Up. Show Up. Never Give Up. 

Read more Let’s Move the Statue of Liberty to Portland?