At 12:29 in the afternoon, I was driving to pick up my daughter when my phone began lighting up with nonstop messages. There were so many that I thought something terrible had happened. When I could finally pull off the freeway, the first message began with “URGENT!” Someone named Dave said he had been assigned to “TRACK” my ballot and noticed I hadn’t voted. Dave wasn’t real. But the words were chosen to make me feel watched and vulnerable. Other messages invoked my tax assessment or tried to frighten me about my daughter’s safety. It turned out, these were all from Republican campaigns, PACs, and the local party. In another era, I might have dismissed this as political spam. In a week when the Justice Department tried to stop 20,000 Californians’ ballots from being counted, it felt like a warning.
This is what our elections have become. We used to argue about tax policy and spending priorities. Now we spend every cycle defending rights we thought had already been won, never catching our breath before the next fight. Trump stood on a stage in Ohio defending Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad attacking childhood abuse survivor Dr. Amy Acton, then returned to his fixation on Jon Husted’s body. Meanwhile, Obama reminded us what politics could sound like when a president talks about rising prices, real solutions, and the country we want to be. The administration had no answer to his description of “chaos, and cruelty, and corruption,” but it was offended by his joke about the White House looking like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Obama called this election a course correction. We will still have two more years of this administration, but that does not mean we are powerless.
In California, Judge David O. Carter showed what resistance to this abuse of power looks like. He denied the DOJ’s emergency request to block more than 20,000 mail-in ballots after the department called the voters “likely noncitizens.” In a sample of 200 names, Los Angeles County found nearly 40 percent were people born in the United States. Carter also warned the DOJ to stop threatening election workers and reminded the Executive Branch that California and its people are sovereign, too. I know how exhausting it is to live waiting for the next ruling, raid, or election. But normal will not return on its own. We build it by voting, protesting, calling our representatives, and speaking with people in our communities. The generations who fought for suffrage and civil rights did not all live to see the results. They did the work anyway. Some of what we are fighting for belongs to the people who come after us. The refusal to stop is the gift we leave behind.
See the full story in the video.
We are living through a pivotal moment for our country, and my goal is to reach as many people as possible with clear, factual information about what is happening. The more people who understand what is unfolding, the better our chances of pushing back against chaos, cruelty, and corruption ahead of the midterms.
Thank you for your continued support. Your paid subscriptions have enabled me to add a video editor and reach more people.
Independent media is under attack. You can make a difference with a $5/month paid subscription. Your support allows me to keep telling the truth about the lies and destruction unfolding in our country, defend myself from constant pressure from MAGA extremists, and ultimately spread the message to more people.
I’m fighting to save our country (before it’s too late).
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
This video is based on my written post, available HERE, and based on the events of 10-28-2026.
This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Sources:
President Trump holds midterm rally in Ohio: YouTube Video
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ramaswamy-ad-amy-acton-mother-trump/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/28/politics/live-news/midterm-election-congress
