Poo Poo, Punching, Beef Sticks, and Democracy
What do these things have in common?
Headliners
The Women of Iran
Since mid-September, there have been large protests all over Iran. Originally, they began after Iranian “morality police” arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for not wearing her head scarf correctly. Amini later died— police said it was from a heart attack, but her family says it was from head trauma, allegedly by the police.
This alleged brutality sparked the protests that have now evolved into a larger movement, mostly by young people, against the Iranian regime. So far, they have involved Iranian women removing their head scarves in public and worker strikes, and they show no sign of stopping soon. These are some of the largest anti-regime protests in over a decade.
Student Debt Relief
The student debt relief application is now live and already, over eight million Americans have applied. As of Tuesday, however, the administration is notifying folks that there is no need to apply, unless the government doesn’t have your income or personal information on file. The debt forgiveness is automatic.
To jog your memory, in August, President Biden announced that the student debt relief program would forgive up to $20,000 in student debt per borrower. The amount forgiven differs based on a variety of factors, including income and scholarships. This action by Biden marked the fulfilling of a campaign promise and, likely, an attempt to gain voters’ trust before the midterms.
J6 Videos
Last week, following the January 6th hearings, new videos of Democratic leadership during the insurrection began circulating. The videos were shot by Alexandra Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi’s youngest daughter and were used in the committees exhibition. They included never-before-seen footage including the following:
Speaker Pelosi talking on the phone with VP Pence while he was in an undisclosed location and wishing him safety
Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer trying to get the national guard and more police officers to come to the Capitol
Speaker Pelosi ripping open a beef stick with her teeth and eating it
Speaker Pelosi saying poo-poo
and my personal favorite— Speaker Pelosi saying she wanted to “punch out” Tr*mp (if you want a sticker of this, order here)
These videos go directly against Republican accusations that Speaker Pelosi and ML Schumer were doing nothing during the insurrection. Like there is legit video evidence of them being wrong. Embarrassing.
Good to Know
You can vote early right now in many states! Visit vote.org to help determine if you are in a state that votes early
Tr*mp is anti-Semitic, but we already knew that. This is from his social media platform Truth Social.
Remember the investigation about Russia’s ties to the 2016 Tr*mp campaign? Tr*mp launched a counter-investigation into that investigation. One of the ongoing pieces of the counter-investigation was trying to prove that one of the witnesses in the original investigation lied. Still with me? This week, a jury acquitted the witness, saying that he did not lie. Now, Tr*mp’s counter-investigation is just another thing to add to his list of failures.
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Action Steps
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ICYMI
Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, showing a fake police badge at a real live debate for office
Local officials in New York announcing a solution to the rat problem
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