Tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 10, at 7pm ET, Marc Elias and I join the folks at to discuss what’s at stake in 2026 and what it will actually take to protect free and fair elections from MAGA-aligned attacks and Trump-fueled chaos. There is a role for each of us to play.
Big Tent puts it like this: “If you care about democracy (and we know you do), this is your briefing.” I hope you’ll be able to join us. Use this link to register to attend on Zoom: https://bigtentusa.org/event/hands-off-our-ballots/ We’re in this together, Joyce You're currently a free subscriber to Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Monday, March 9, 2026
Big Tent
The Third Gulf War Is Both Illegal And A Terrible Mistake. It Needs To End, Now
Morning all. It’s remarkable that the last three Republican Presidents have launched major wars in the Middle East. Trillions and trillions spent over almost four decades and here we are, again. It is particularly remarkable as the two major wars the last Republican President launched - Iraq and Afghanistan - were such clear failures. But here we are. Rep. Adam Smith, the Ranking Member on House Armed Services, released a new video yesterday where he talked about ending the war, and finding Trump an off ramp in the coming days. It is worth watching:  That is the priority now - ending the war. As I’ve been writing Trump clearly had no idea what he was doing, and what hell he was going to unleash on America and the world with this Third Gulf War (more here, here, here). Oil topped $100 a barrel today, causing more global stock market carnage. Here’s the NYT website right now:
Gas prices in the US, already up 50 cents in the past week, will likely rise another 25 cents or so in the coming days:
We have also learned that despite the Republican Party’s SCREAMING about Biden’s use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, our idiot-in-chief did not replenish the Reserve when oil was historically cheap, giving us far less capacity to fighting soaring oil prices now:
I asked Claude, Anthropic’s AI, to estimate what the cost of the Trump’s new war has been to the people of the world. Here is the estimate - $12t to $20t, 12% to 23% of global GDP. These estimates are similar to the collective wealth destroyed in the 2008 global financial crisis:
Here at home these huge price shocks come at a time where growth had already significantly slowed, where jobs were already being lost, where inflation was already rising again, where we had been seeing the lowest consumer confidence numbers in 65 years, and where our fiscal condition has already deteriorated due to Trump’s reckless tax cuts and the eventual ending of his illegal tariffs. These new prices shocks are going to make all these trends worse, dramatically weakening our country and wrecking havoc on the economic lives of the American people. As most Republicans in Congress have voted for all this - the war, higher prices, higher tariffs, higher gas prices, higher health and energy costs, a slower economy - this will also likely tip the 2026 battlefield more towards us - which is why, for example, you are seeing Trump once again SCREAM about passing his ridiculous voter suppression bill. An example of this new improved battlefield comes this morning form Texas. While this is a Dem Party poll it’s consistent with the polling we’ve seen from Texas in recent weeks. Talarico leads both Paxton and Cornyn, and has far higher favorability ratings:
We also got encouraging data from Georgia. Senator Ossoff leads against all three of his potential general election opponents:
Friends, we need to end this war. It is illegal, Trump did not adequately prepare, and clearly did not anticipate the extraordinary damage it would do to the American people and the people of the world. Trump promised no more forever wars; he promised to lower prices; he promised to release the Epstein files - and Trump has betrayed all those promises. It’s why we need to put our heads down and keep fighting as hard as we can all…….. Yes, Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Was good to see folks on Saturday at the Stand Up For Science rally on the Mall. If you have photos from events you attended this weekend email them or social media links where you’ve posted them to community@hopiumchronicles.com. I will be sharing photos and links from this important weekend of action in the coming days. Let’s start with this one!
Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The MapHopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $293,900 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here. We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew! This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing later this month. James Talarico For Texas - $25,600 raised, $100,000 March 31st goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Watch my recent interview with Rep. Talarico Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $43,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More. Amazing start everyone! Winning Ohio - $68,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who provides a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker. Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $83,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $137,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $402,400 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and catch interviews with 5 intrepid state party chairs leading us into battle this year. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties. Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Four Speeches To StudyTwo more ways you can go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; and bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government. Here’s our working Post-Iran Hopium Agenda:
This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in both the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home. I also strongly advise studying four recent speeches. All have new, pioneering narratives and language that feels like where we need to be heading this year:
Keep working hard all. We are entering a dangerous place, and we need to be very, very loud now - Simon You're currently a free subscriber to Hopium Chronicles By Simon Rosenberg. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Big Tent
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