Youth Advocacy
Blogs 14.07.2026-21.07.2026
📣 Review and Announcements
Welcome to this week's briefing. As we march closer to the high-stakes mid-term elections, the cracks in the current administration are turning into craters. From frantic threats against independent journalists to desperate attempts to intimidate election officials, a terrified executive branch is pulling out every authoritarian trick in the book to suppress your voice.
But we are not backing down. This week, we launch a unified front against this systemic intimidation. Our theme is loud, clear, and unyielding: "Hands Off Our Votes!"
Now Live on YouTube: The official video presentation for my new protest anthem, "Hands Off Our Vote," is officially live. It is a raw, gritty, front-porch rock rally against the rise of authoritarianism. Watch the video, absorb the lyrics, and share it with your local activist networks: 📺 Watch "Hands Off Our Vote" on YouTube
Take the Anthem With You: Want to blast this track at your local rallies or upcoming march? You can download the high-quality single directly from my store right now: 🎵 Get the Track on My Website
Join the Resistance Hub: Access all our latest organizing tools, articles, and quick-action links in one single place: 🔗 Visit the Linktree Hub
Substack Deep-Dive: For a breakdown of how this administration is trying to use DHS oversight to scare voters of color, read my latest newsletter analysis: ✍️ Subscribe to Substack
Daily Mobilization Updates: Follow my daily commentary on the fight for fair elections and the oversight of weaponized AI tech: 🦋 Follow on Bluesky | 👥 Connect on Facebook
🎬 Visual Stories: The Countdown to the Midterms
Here is your essential reading and viewing map for the week, tracking the systemic threats to our democracy and economy—and how we fight back.
⚖️ Story 1: The Cornered Narcissist and the Threat to Free Press
The Focus: An unprecedented, authoritarian push by the administration to strip broadcasting licenses from independent news organizations that refuse to air the President's propaganda. Harvard political scientist Ryan Enos warns that a panicked administration is trying to manipulate the election course by weaponizing federal agencies [1.1].
The Reality: The President is running scared because losing the House and Senate means certain impeachment. Scared narcissists resort to bullying and fear [1.1].
The Action: Don't let them isolate independent journalism. Share this analysis directly from The New Republic.
📉 Story 2: The "Broligarchy" Crushing the US Economy
The Focus: Journalist Idrees Kahloon exposes how the administration's anti-immigration, anti-science, and anti-education stances are causing a massive decline in American economic growth [1.2].
The Reality: The economy is being treated like a personal piggy bank—handing tax breaks, contracts, and pardons to sycophants who fund executive pet projects [1.2].
The Action: Read the full economic breakdown at The Atlantic and demand a rollback of these disastrous Executive Orders.
🗳️ Story 3: Desperation Speeches and Voter Intimidation Tactics
The Focus: The Department of Homeland Security is actively threatening election officials with fines and prison time if they do not participate in voter suppression tactics [1.4].
The Reality: Analysts Jonathan Capehart and David Brooks note that the administration is terrified of impending midterm losses [1.3]. They are attempting to sow social media chaos by claiming the country is under a "communist attack" to panic their base [1.5].
The Action: Turn this rhetoric against them. Let their conspiracy theories convince their own followers to stay home, while we overwhelm the ballot boxes in a historic landslide victory [1.3]. Review the source reports at The Hill, WhoWhatWhy, and PBS Newshour.
🕯️ Story 4: A War Without Reason
The Focus: American lives are being lost globally and domestically in a chaotic, unprovoked "war-of-choice" with Iran [1.2]. Former Naval War College professor Tom Nichols highlights that the President has refused to give a single address to Congress explaining why young Americans are being put in harm's way [1.2].
The Reality: There is no strategy. The administration is guided entirely by age-incapacitated impulses and sycophants terrified of losing their status [1.2].
The Action: Stand up for our youth and our troops. Read the scathing commentary at The Atlantic.
21.07.2026 | Source: TNR (The New Republic)
Transcript: Trump’s Rage at Journos Boils Over—and Even Fox Is Rattled
This commentary is from an interview of Harvard Political Scientist, Ryan Enos, by TNR host, Greg Sargent. Together they look at the unprecedented statements of President Trump and DHS Director Markwayne Mullin about taking away the licenses of news organizations that don’t cover the president’s speeches. Here’s how Enos puts it: “And it’s important to emphasize just how unprecedented this is, right? I mean, this is a clearly authoritarian move, and there’s never been a president in American history that’s done this—has said, if you don’t broadcast what I want, I’m going to essentially put you out of business. And that’s the reason we have things like an independent licensing commission, which at least we did until Trump came along and the Supreme Court sided with his unilateral authority to take away its independence.”
What Sargent and Enos warn us about is that Trump is willing to use the full power of the U.S. government to both alter the course of the upcoming election and to sow doubt in the results of that election before they occur.
This president does not want to lose this election; he knows what it would cost him. Losing the House would mean the blockage of many of his pet projects; losing the House and the Senate would mean certain impeachment. The president is running scared, and scared narcissists don’t respond well to fear. They fight. Trump is fighting. Not just to alter the election, but to undermine the election system. This has been his desire ever since he lost the 2020 election to Joseph Biden. His life is a reflection of failures, failed businesses, and failed marriages; his only wins have come from his mafioso-type behavior: bullying and fear tactics. Now he wants to move from bullying the Republicans to bullying the U.S. electorate. Enos extrapolates on that fear by pointing out: “And so here you have an agency where it’s threatening news organizations, threatening the independence of elections—if you listen to more of what was said in that news conference about how they’re going to examine the voter rolls and things like that. And people have this real fear, which is probably still low probability, but there’s a real fear that you’re going to have things like ICE agents and these other sorts of shock troops of Donald Trump showing up at polling places trying to intimidate people from casting their ballots.”
This administration is counting on one thing: the ignorance of voters. He’s counting on the same ignorance and blind faithfulness that won him the election in 2024. Once again, Enos speaks to this point: “Trump thinks that the American people are a lot dumber than they actually are, which is sort of one of the tragedies of his whole administration: is how stupid he actually thinks the American people are. But the American people aren’t buying this. You can see this in the polls. Like, even only about half of Republicans actually say they believe this, right? And I’m not sure even that half actually believes what they’re saying they believe.”
This administration from top to bottom wants to steal this election and undermine the next, and the Republicans are on board. It is time that we all stand firmly and tell them “Hands off our elections!”
20.07.2026 | Source: The Atlantic
Trump’s Anti-Growth Agenda
According to Idrees Kahloon—and many other economists—Trump’s policies are bringing about the demise of the U.S. economy. He compares this unraveling to the fall of Britain’s empire post-Industrial Age. The primary difference was that Britain was aware of its demise and worked to prevent it, while this administration remains stubbornly continuing the very policies that are undermining it.
When you read Kahloon’s article, you will see that our major roadblock to economic growth is this administration’s anti-immigration stance, preventing the very innovations that made the U.S. grow in the past. Of course, that’s not all; there is also the Trump attack on education, science, free trade, on our allies, and the internal graft as this administration tries to make the economy into his personal “broligarchy” (giving tax breaks and contracts, even pardons, to those who pay him or put money in his pet projects).
The very thin hope the author leaves us is that most of Trump’s idiotic policies are based
on Executive Orders and can be quickly undone, also that the lower courts are blocking a lot of his more dangerous policies. But the long-term damage caused by the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill will be much harder to undo.
We need to make sure the mid-terms tell this administration that the MAGA era is done and those who supported it are going to face harsh consequences.
17.07.2026 | Source: The Hill
Five takeaways from Trump’s big elections speech
Despite the decision of many networks not to carry the meandering, self-serving, all-about-me speech of Donald J. Trump last night, we can only hope it has an impact. Anyone who thought they might tune in and hear the president address concerns about the broken economy, the Iran war, or the Epstein files, heard instead the president repeat his endless, baseless lies about losing the 2020 election. Blaming China for tampering with votes and undermining voter confidence, Trump went on to… undermine voter confidence. Hopefully, a lot of Trump’s followers listened to his speech and did what they did in Georgia in 2020, not show up to vote.
For those who remember, the Republicans were set to win the elections in Georgia until Trump began whining about the same issues as he whined about last night, and Georgia Republicans decided it was hopeless to show up because their vote wouldn’t be counted anyway. Trump told us last night that the same is going to happen at midterms.
Is this his way of reading current polls and pre-explaining the losses he is about to experience in midterms?
What can we do? Give him that trouncing. Encourage Republicans to stay home because of Trump’s “rigged system” but turn out to vote yourself. Make sure a landslide occurs so we can clean out this murderous, scandal-ridden, economy-destroying administration. Take back the House and take the Senate.
16.07.2026 | Source: WhoWhatWhy
Trump Admin Threatens Election Officials With Prison for Not Suppressing Votes
Journalist Klaus Marre unveils the truth behind Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin threats to fine or imprison election officials who refuse to help the Trump administration suppress votes. First, he reveals that if the administration had any evidence of such instances they should have already issued subpoenas. Secondly, he points out that this is obviously another scare tactic by this administration to frighten any voters who are not white from voting in the upcoming election.
Through efforts such as these and gerrymandering, Republicans are revealing that “if you are not white, we don’t want you to vote…”
I want to applaud those election officials (and states) that have bravely refused to comply with the racist agenda of the Republicans and this regime. Let’s all turn out and boldly tell this regime; “Hands Off Our Votes!”
15.07.2026 | Source: The Atlantic
Trump Owes Americans a Better Explanation About Iran
American citizens are dying around the world. Iran, Jordan, and throughout the Middle East, yes; but also Texas, Maine, and Minneapolis. This article by former Naval War College professor, Tom Nichols, states that we deserve a reason for these deaths. But for the deaths related to the Trump war-of-choice, Nichols points out that we have none. As Nichols says: “But the president has not seen fit, in all this time, to give one address to the American people or to Congress about why he plunged the United States into war, the global economy into chaos, and young Americans into danger.”
What we have is a buffet of reasons that changes as rapidly as Trump’s mood. But for the deaths on U.S. soil, we are similarly left without a viable reason. That’s what I would call the modus operandi of this regime; it is “without reason.” None of us know. The terrifying truth is that if we did a deep dive into the cavernous darkness that should be Trump’s soul, we would still not know. Because… well, he doesn’t know. And his aides don’t know. And the Republicans who continue to faithfully (blindly) support him do not know. Nope, no one knows. We can’t know because Trump doesn’t know. He is a man without reason. He has no guiding value except to enrich himself and his ability to reason is incapacitated by age and guided by sycophants who are afraid of losing their positions if they tell him he is wrong.
How many more people will senselessly die under this unreasonable man? Under this unable-to-reason man?
14.07.2026 | Source: PBS
Brooks and Capehart on what Trump is trying to accomplish with his election claims
“He’s very scared…” that’s Jonathon Capehart’s overview of Trump’s meandering speech to the nation (or the small group of MAGA faithful who actually listened to his meandering lies). As Capehart state: “He's very scared about what could happen if Democrats retake the House and retake the Senate. He has said as much on the record. If they take over, I will be investigated.”
David Brooks (and others) say this was a desperation speech by a president quickly running out of options. In her Substack, “Letters from an American,” Heather Cox Richardson tells us that last night, Trump gathered with his top sycophants (Rubio and Miller) to plan a course to sow chaos and doubt by spreading social media falsehoods that say the United States is under attack by communists. Hopefully, the results of his tirades will be (as we looked at yesterday) to send the MAGA hopeful home to the smartphone screens and Fox News, where they can grumble about how the election is already too fixed to vote anyway. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to turn out in droves. We need to overwhelm our voting booths; it could be the last opportunity we have to participate in actual elections (this is not hyperbole, with gerrymandering, the Republicans have shown they do not want fair elections in the future—or even in the upcoming cycle). Tell the Republicans soundly: “Keep your hands off our votes!”
