| ENEWS CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…MONTHLY QUOTES & IDEAS…THE RESISTANCE…TRUMP’S DISAPPROVAL RATINGS…FACTS YOU CAN USE CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT Sarah Lawrence College Democracy Matters students are everywhere celebrating Women’s History Month in March. At Sarah Lawrence, DM Executive Director Joan Mandle will lead discussions on women’s struggles for equality and social justice. Mandle, an activist in the early Women’s Liberation Movement, will draw parallels between those historic movements and women’s resistance today to Trump and his MAGA agenda – fighting misogyny, layoffs, illegal executive orders, and attacks on LGBTQ+ and women’s reproductive rights. Mandle’s message: Just as women have changed history in the past, they will again today! QUOTES OF THE MONTH “A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute is a Hitler salute. Anyone who raises their right arm in a swinging manner and at an angle several times is doing the Hitler salute.” Editorial in the prominent German newspaper, Die Zeit, denouncing Elon Musk’s salute at a right-wing convention. January 24,2025 “Mr. Musk is doing a great job and I would like to see him be more aggressive.” President Donald Trump, February 22, 2025 IDEA OF THE MONTH Tell Them What YouThink! Lobbying is a powerful tool for social change, and an essential component of a democracy. It’s not only legitimate but also necessary to expose policymakers to views from a variety of groups. Democracy Matters students are preparing to call, write, and visit their elected officials at the state, federal and local levels. Face-to-face meetings with office holders and their staff are very effective. Think of them as simple conversations to share your experiences, insight, and positions. Your lobby meeting is an opportunity to educate decision-makers on the issues about which you are passionate. Democracy Matters students are calling, writing and visiting their elected officials at the state, federal and local levels. In lobby training workshops, DMers practise the skills of effective lobbying – planning, assertiveness, patience, communication, dedication and persistence. THE RESISTANCE These accounts of resistance are only a few drawn from news sources throughout the world. For discussion of changes in Trump polling data, see Money On My Mind below. *** Republican lawmakers, returning home for their first congressional recess since Mr. Trump was sworn in, are facing confrontations with their constituents. *** Pushback against Musk, executive orders, and concern for social security and the Constitution exists in competitive districts, but also in deeply Republican ones.Thousands of protesters took to the streets on President’s Day to denounce President Trump and his Administration. *** Episcopal priest Mariann Edgar Budde directed her sermon to President Trump who sat in the front row of the congregation at the Washington Cathedral. She asked the President for “mercy,” urging him to “show empathy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” especially immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community. *** A blitz of legal challenges have been filed against the Trump Administration, with new lawsuits and rulings emerging day and night. At least 29 of those rulings at least temporarily paused the president’s initiatives. And many Federal judges are acting as barriers to the ultra-conservative agenda Donald Trump is deploying. *** Angry constituents have flooded the phone lines at the US Capitol, while letters to members of Congress are pouring in from across the country from those concerned about President Trump and Elon Musk’s agenda. *** An American flag was hung upside down on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park following the firing of about 1,000 National Park Service employees by the Trump Administration. MONEY ON MY MIND – TRUMP’S RATINGS This month, Mandle reports on three polls that demonstrate Trump’s growing disapproval and declining approval ratings in the last month. If this trend continues and public opinion translates into voting behavior, the 2026 Congressional elections are likely to deny Trump the Congressional obedience he is now enjoying. https://www.democracymatters.org/money_on_my_mind/trumps-disapproval-ratings FACTS YOU CAN USE Elections, Democracy, and AI Elections are particularly vulnerable to AI-driven disinformation. AI has the potential to dramatically change elections and threaten democracy. Widely accessible AI tools allow users to synthesize audio in anyone’s voice, generate photo-realistic images of nearly anything, and power social media bot accounts with near-human-level conversations – on a vast scale and with a negligible investment of money and time. Americans need safeguards to protect elections from the many risks that AI poses. State legislatures and Congress need to act quickly to regulate AI. The stakes are simply too high. Options include mandating watermarking and digital signatures to help identify AI-generated content, and requiring companies to prove the safety of their products before public release. Lawmakers could also compel AI developers to make public the guiding principles used to train and fine-tune generative AI models. They could require algorithmic impact assessments for AI systems in governance settings, they could mandate third-party audits of AI systems used in election administration, and they could require that election offices disclose their use of AI systems in running elections. Congress could also require “paid for” disclaimers and other disclosures for online ads, and limit the creation and transmission of the most harmful AI-generated content that can interfere with elections. Read the full article at https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-ai-puts-elections-risk-and-needed-safeguards |