So. Much. Winning.
This is the joyous sound of the biggest win of the resistance movement since Donald Trump took office. Crowds outside the US Capitol erupted in the early hours Friday when they got word that Republicans’ seven-year dream to repeal the Affordable Care Act had finally gone up in flames. Listen:
John McCain is being hailed as a hero for his 11th-hour decision to vote with Senate Democrats, but the internet was quick to remind us not to forget Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, Republicans who have long opposed healthcare repeal efforts. (Comedian Jenny Yang wrote on Twitter: “Giving McCain the credit for defeating this repeal when female Senators Murkowski & Collins were early NOs is EVERY WORK MEETING EVER.”)
Let’s also not forget the millions of activists, patients, healthcare workers and citizens who have protested in the streets, lobbied their representatives, gotten arrested in the halls of Congress and worked tirelessly to spread word about the human cost of a repeal. It worked. Congrats, everyone.
Resistor of the week
This week’s top resistor comes as a surprise: the US Department of Defense. After Trump’s surprise tweetstorm on Wednesday declaring a ban on transgender people serving in the military – an announcement that lacked any actual implementation plan – the military did not immediately march in step. The defense secretary, James Mattis, was reportedly appalled by the tweets reversing Obama-era policies on transgender troops. And on Thursday, Gen Joseph F Dunsford Jr, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, issued a letter saying policies allowing transgender people to serve would not change until clearer guidelines were delivered. “In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect,” Dunford wrote.
Introducing a ‘better’ Democratic party
In the war for attention, this week’s White House pyrotechnics overshadowed a major rebranding effort by the Democratic party to clarify their 2018 messaging and fend off criticism that the party has lost touch with working Americans. The “Better Deal” platform focuses on economic populism, including a $15 minimum wage, job creation through infrastructure, antitrust messaging and Medicare expansion. The plan drew mild praise from critics on the left – although Vice News pointed out the plan sounded a whole lot like Hillary Clinton’s.
What we’re reading...
Here at the Guardian, grassroots organizer LA Kauffmann writes: The Trump resistance can be best described in one adjective: female
April Glaser at Slate asks: Will Silicon Valley ever truly join the resistance?
And the organizers of the Women’s March are launching a ‘Resistance Revival’ in effort to keep anti-Trump momentum going
