Melinda Merkel Iyer

Every Dollar Spent and Bit of Attention Paid is a Vote Make sure the way you spend your money, time and attention is a vote for freedom, not fascism.

This is food for thought, and definitely worth a read.

"For Americans to defeat fascism, one thing must change: Our love affair with convenience."

open.substack.com/pub/andrawat...

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport won't play 'political' message blaming Democrats for shutdown Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport joined a handful of other airports across the country that have refused to display a video from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government ...

City of Phoenix policy "does not permit political content" 👏🏼

Other airports are refusing to play it as a violation of the Hatch Act

What's your hometown airport doing? Thank them if they're holding firm — and hold them accountable if they're not
www.kjzz.org/politics/202...

Gaza and Protest Why freedom of speech matters

"Today the president is taking credit for a cease-fire in Gaza. But who, in America, was first in calling for that exact thing?

Students on campuses.

And what happened to them? They were banned from their own public spaces, all over the country."

snyder.substack.com/p/gaza-and-p...

this is, hands down, the best video I've seen on men's influencer content and it's not close either

18-year-old U.S. citizen detained by border officials said conditions were so bad he lost 26 pounds, almost self-deported Francisco Erwin Galicia said he didn't shower for 23 days and was not provided with enough food while detained

US citizen, carrying proof they refused to believe.

Tick infested facility, was not allowed to shower for 23 days, lost 26 pounds for not being given enough food, not allowed a phone call.

"Immigration authorities are not supposed to detain US citizens." No kidding.
www.cbsnews.com/news/us-citi...

Waking up to news of our Dear Leader's latest tariff tantrum. Aren't prices high enough? Isn't the rest of the world pissed at us enough?
www.npr.org/2025/07/12/n...

See How Trump’s Big Bill Could Affect Your Taxes, Health Care and Other Finances (Gift Article) The wide-ranging domestic policy legislation could impact taxes, clean energy choices, health care access and more.

We hunted down everything from the tax bill that just passed that might hit you in the wallet. It's... a lot. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Corporate Democrat’s Biggest Nightmare He’s on the way to becoming mayor of New York City

🎯 "Today's largest force in US politics is antiestablishment fury at a system rigged by big corporations & the wealthy to get them even more wealth & power. The corporate Dem establishment is Dems' biggest problem, standing in the way of a blueprint for the future."
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

Paging @gallego.senate.gov

A screenshot of a tweet from Rachel Bitecofer with a photo of tents and trash, and text reading "NYC is just gonna have to go through the full San Fran experience to recover its sanity."

Wow. Zohran Mamdani's inspiring victory is revealing some Democratic Party insiders for who they really are.

“Ask your Supreme Court Justice which medical procedure is right for you.”

The job of a good message is not to say what is popular. It is to make popular what we need said.

THIS.

Voters want representatives they can believe in - who inspire them and give them confidence they'll fight for them. Not squishy, fascist-lite politicians.

Democrats' approval ratings are in the toilet because they're spending too much time trying to race Republicans to the bottom.

Lawmakers should consider these questions before giving a billionaire a stadium bailout Arizona Diamondbacks stadium tax subsidy proposal raises questions about redirecting $1 billion in public funds to billionaire team owner Ken Kendrick

OPINION | More than three decades of studies have found stadiums to be consistent money pits, unjustified as worthwhile public investments

via @iyer-report.bsky.social

Dog finds and rescues toddler who spent night lost and alone in Arizona desert The two-year-old boy had wandered away from home on Monday evening and spent the night alone nearly seven miles from his home.

This story is @weratedogs.com worthy. Good dog. 🥰🥰

www.npr.org/2025/04/16/g...

You are either pro-democracy or pro-authoritarian. Being "neutral" functionally means being pro-authoritarian.

1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.

Tim Steller's column: University of Arizona submissive to GOP's higher ed opponents For Star subscribers: Arizona's GOP leadership is acting as enforcers of the will of President Trump in his attacks on universities. The U of A and other universities have been

The first rule of resisting tyranny is "Do not obey in advance." This cowardly behavior from the UA is appalling & infuriating.

Our universities are "hubs of cultural dynamism in a state that could otherwise be a backwater." Admin needs to buck up & act like it.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

X-ing out X The power and promise of collective non-cooperation

"Tesla’s value remains wildly inflated because people still believe Musk matters more than he does. Break that illusion, and both his influence and his empire begin to wobble."

It's time to push our non-fascist electeds to leave the Bad Place.

open.substack.com/pub/anandwri...

😤 🗣️ Just when you thought #AZLeg Republicans couldn't sink any lower, they cooked up an idea to strip money from vulnerable families and tear disabled kids from their homes. WE HAVE GOT TO SPEAK OUT. Here's how 👇

Shame on Planned Parenthood of Arizona for dropping their trans patients because of threats from Trump.

What happens when they make you stop providing abortions? Birth control? PReP? Gonna roll over then too?

These orgs complying are cowardly.

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

Please, if you love anything about this life, stop using ChatGPT and other GenAI. Just stop. Don't use it to dunk on it, don't use it for a laugh, just stop and let that shit wither.

Not just an unconstitutional overreach: "Slashing funding for our libraries and museums is a short-sighted and destructive act by an authoritarian government that shows no regard for the pursuit of knowledge, truth, or our shared heritage." 🔥

Thank you @azagmayes.bsky.social #HandsOff

Resistance is alive and well in the United States Protests of Trump may not look like the mass marches in 2017, but they're far more numerous and frequent — and also becoming more strategic.

A great read: "When the Nazis occupied Denmark in the 1940s, noncooperation was near-total. No one remembered how to run the railroad. Teachers left school early to tend their gardens. Factory workers slowed or stopped production altogether."
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/03/resi...

How to Funnel the Firehose We have to categorize the chaos, starting with tariffs.

Combating the firehose of lies with properly framed truth. Call it what it is: reckless endangerment.
reframingamerica.substack.com/p/funnell-th...

THIS. Please read this thread. 👇

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

Here is my best guidance for action, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons more than eight years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century."
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...