What “When They Go Low, We Go High” Means — And Doesn't Mean
Michelle Obama got a lot of praise — and then caught a lot of flack — for saying that “when they go low, we go high.”
She has since said that she was misunderstood. She tried to clarify but I am not sure I exactly understand what she meant.
However, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of going high when they go low, and what it means to me and why I 100% believe it.
First, going high does not mean not hating them. I hate the Trump people. I hate Trump, Hegseth, all of them. I don’t think you could find a member of that administration who I don’t despise. Plus Netanyahu and Putin. I’ve got enough hate to go around!!
What does it mean? To me, “going high” means not allowing the people I hate to pull me away from a path and life of love and acceptance. It means not letting them pull me low. Going high means choosing love when hate (or silence) seems safer.
Here is an example:
When they went super low in attacking Kamala during the 2024 campaign for supporting trans rights (and it seemed to work), we had two choices.
We could abandon our trans brothers and sisters because we worried that they would make us lose elections.
Or we could double down on love and what is right.
Honestly, I’ve seen both approaches by Democrats and I am so proud of those who chose love and stuck with the most vulnerable amongst us and disappointed in those who didn’t and gave into the temptation to go low (and went silent).
Even if you don’t care about trans folks (and of course you do) you’ve read the poem. You know it doesn’t end there.
Going high means not abandoning our brothers and sisters in the vain hope that abandoning them would bring us power.
We will never win a race to the bottom. We can never get lower than them. Hate is what they do.
We need to go high — we need to choose love. We need to call out each and every kind of discrimination and stand with each and every one of our allies. We need to do it because it is right. We need to do it because hatred is a terrible path. And we need to do it because, eventually, it will win for us.
Going high, to me, means picking love. Love is the path. Period. Hard stop.
And going high doesn’t mean taking them on LESS or being weak in how we take them on. It means taking them on MORE because what they are doing is so very low.
I love this from Rebecca Solnit
Choosing love isn’t being polite. It is often the opposite of being polite. It is not allowing cruelty. It is the opposite of allowing cruelty. It is not refusing to fight. It is the opposite of refusing to fight.
Choosing love isn’t the easy way out. It involves courage and conviction and a willingness to speak up.
But love is the best and only path for us. Not only is hatred leading us to the abyss, but it is a fight we will never win. They will always be better at hate than us. They will always win a fight to the bottom.
When we choose love, we can win, and we can win something that really will matter in the end. Dignity and safety and freedom for all.
Let’s get to the good news!
Democrats are great!
Dems plan probes into companies, colleges that cooperated with Trump
House and Senate Democrats are starting to have preliminary discussions to coordinate potential congressional investigations into companies, colleges and law firms in the next Congress, multiple sources told Axios.
Why it matters: The early strategizing on how Democrats plan to use the investigative power of committees, including subpoenas, is another indication of the party’s growing confidence of victory in November.
- Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), all on the Senate Judiciary Committee, have been involved in the planning discussions on the Senate side.
- Schiff, the lead manager for President Trump’s first impeachment, would bring significant experience to any Senate investigation.
Senate Democrats Launch Investigation Into $220M Ad Campaign That Landed Noem in Hot Water
A pair of Democratic senators have launched an investigation into a $220 million ad campaign promoting the Department of Homeland Security, which heavily featured the embattled former secretary, Kristi Noem.
Democrats Sue to Find Out if Trump Will Send Armed Officers to Election Sites
The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to try to compel the government to say whether it was planning to put armed federal agents or military personnel at polling places or election offices this year.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., says that 11 separate Freedom of Information Act requests filed in October to the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense have prompted no meaningful response, a violation of the law.
In another act of retaliation that benefited no one, Trump tried to kill New York’s congestion pricing toll. A federal judge said no last week in a blistering 149-page opinion.
US District Judge Lewis Liman—a Trump appointee—ruled the regime’s effort to be unlawful, writing that it’s “difficult to imagine more arbitrary and capricious decision-making.”
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul agreed: “Donald Trump’s unlawful attempts to trample on the self-governance of his home state have failed spectacularly.”
Janno Lieber, who runs New York City’s transit system, declared: “New York is winning.”
Republicans suck at this
Trump Accidentally Sabotages GOP’s 2026 Strategy in Two Crazed Tirades
In recent days, President Trump has angrily demanded that Republicans pass the SAVE Act, a massive voter suppression measure that already passed the House but almost certainly can’t pass the Senate. In one tirade on Truth Social, he threatened not to sign anything else until Senate Republicans get it done. That echoed a second rant demanding the same. After we recorded this episode, Trump gave a speech doubling down on this demand. But a funny thing is happening: This is trampling all over the midterm messaging of Republicans, who badly want to appear focused on the economy.
Pentagon Pete Hit With Humiliating ‘Harm’ Rating by Republican Aides
Most senior Hill staffers—including a majority of Republicans—say the defense secretary is damaging Trump’s foreign policy goals.
We can win in November
GOP Loses Carroll County Seat in Special Election Upset
In what Granite State Republicans hope is not a preview of November, Democrat Bobbi Boudman won Tuesday’s special election for Carroll County District 7, defeating Republican Dale Fincher 51 percent to 47 percent in a district that voted Republican by more than 13 points just 16 months ago.
Damning Poll Hits Trump With Barrage of Major Midterm Warnings
A damning new poll is rattling the Trump camp, showing the president facing steep public disapproval and putting Republican prospects in the midterms on shaky ground.
The latest NBC News poll, conducted between February 27-March 3 among 1,000 registered voters, shows that Democrats lead the Republicans by 6 points, with 50 percent to the GOP’s 44 percent, in the fight for control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms.
It comes as Trump is underwater on a range of key issues critical to midterm voters, including the economy and inflation, as well as immigration and the war in Iran.
and a Civiqs poll also shows awful #s
and this:
In the nearly 35 years that I have been analyzing Latino voters, trends and patterns I have never seen all of the Latino diasporas moving decisively in the same direction. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Venezuelans, Dominicans…all shifting strongly away from the Republican Party.
I had never seen it because it has never happened before.
Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, trailed Democratic challenger Graham Platner in two polls of the state’s 2026 race released this week.
Collins could face her toughest reelection bid yet in Maine, a generally Democratic-leaning state where her popularity has helped the Republican incumbent win tough races in the past. She is one of the Democrats’ top targets; Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by seven points in 2024.
Links between convicted sex offender, state GOP leadership may complicate candidacies
Several of the state Republican Party’s major candidates, including U.S. Senate nominee Michael Whatley, face a brewing intraparty revolt ignited by their ties to a convicted sex offender-turned-party leader and financial backer of GOP campaigns.
White House tells House Republicans to stop talking about mass deportations
White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans on Tuesday to stop emphasizing “mass deportations”
Why it matters: Mass deportations were central to the GOP’s 2024 campaign message
- Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump’s mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found.
When NBC asked voters to rate the most important issues facing the country, they ranked “inflation and the cost of living” and “threats to democracy” as tied for the top choice. It was the first time I had ever seen “threats to democracy” so high up in a poll of this nature. I texted a friend of mine, “Am I allowed to be excited about this?” He assured me I could.
For years, I have been shouting from the rooftops about catastrophic attacks on our democracy. For years, I have been dismissed as an alarmist. Now, it looks like people are finally listening.
While I am relieved to see that people are coming to terms with the existential nature of this threat, our work does not end there. There is power in numbers. And if this poll is anything to go by, I believe we have the numbers to save our republic.
When we fight, we win
FDA vaccine head will step down in April after string of controversial decisions
Prasad’s decision to step down comes after mounting criticism of the FDA within the biotech and pharmaceutical industries and among former health officials
Approval for President Donald Trump’s massive East Wing ballroom project – from a government commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation’s capital – is delayed after it received over 32,000 comments from the public overwhelmingly opposing the construction.
Federal Judge Stops DOJ From Automatically Dismissing Immigration Appeals
DOJ sought to shut down cases on appeal without “meaningful consideration,” the judge ruled.
Leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling on the Department of Justice to block the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. unless worker protections are put in place.
Finally, if you haven’t yet, I would be very grateful if you would check out my Substack and subscribe. Subscribing just means you’ll be emailed one post a week! I post less political and much shorter things on the Substack. It is based on my decades of scholarship on belongingness and living a good life. it is called Many Ways to Belong
You can find it at this link. Your support means a lot to me. THANK YOU!!!!!
Want to do more to save democracy?
Donate to our House efforts.
It splits our donations among the 15 seats held by Republicans in swing districts. These are seats that were either won by a margin of 4% or less or were won by Harris in 2024. In other words, these are seats we can win in 2026. None of them are in CA or TX (and thus likely to be redistricted). Any money you donate will go directly to whomever our candidate will be in 2026. We only need to flip three of these!
Here is the link:
WE CAN WIN THESE ELECTIONS! And when we do we can change everything.
Some other ways to get involved
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If you can, I strongly recommend going to an in person meeting in your area. One way to find a local group is through indivisible: indivisibleproject.formstack.com/…
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Election Response Center is a project hosted by Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible, and Public Citizen. They are organizing lots of events to get people fighting. Join one at this link
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The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link.
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Get involved with the Democratic party. We aren’t perfect, but they are fucking evil.
- Get involved with the States Project They are working on turning state legislatures blue
- Get involved with Swing Left. They are working on races right now!
- People For the American Way is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. Get involved with them here
- Center for American Progress Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute and advocacy organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Get involved with them here
Looking for something more specific?
Want to focus on the ENVIRONMENT:
Want to focus on CIVIL RIGHTS:
HUMAN RIGHTS – GENERALLY:
LGBTQ+:
WOMEN:
Huge thanks to DKos user dabug for help with this list.
Don’t let the options overwhelm you! Try to pick one thing and see if it calls to you. If it doesn’t find something else.
There are so many ways to get involved and help!
Some inspiration before I say goodbye
“Whatever happens, stay alive.
Don’t die before you’re dead.
Don’t lose yourself, don’t lose hope, don’t lose direction.
Stay alive, with yourself, with every cell of your body, with every fiber of your skin.
Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.
Stay alive, stay alive inside you, stay alive also outside, fill yourself with colors of the world, fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.
Stay alive with joy.
There is only one thing you should not waste in life,
and that’s life itself…”
by Virginia Woolf
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At Albany Bulb with Elaine
By Alison Luterman
Side by side on a log by the bay.
Sunlight. Unleashed dogs,
prancing through surf, almost exploding
out of their skins with perfect happiness.
Dogs who don’t know about fired park rangers,
or canceled health research, or tariff wars,
or the suicide hotline for veterans getting defunded,
or or or. We’ve listed horror upon horror
to each other for weeks now, and it does no good,
so instead I tell her how I held a two-day old baby
in my arms, inhaling him like a fresh-baked loaf of bread,
then watched as a sneeze erupted through his body
like a tiny volcano. It was the look of pure
astonishment on his face, as if he were Adam
in the garden of Eden making his debut achoo,
as if it were the first sneeze that ever blew,
that got me. She tells me how her dog
once farted so loudly he startled himself
and fell off the bed where he’d been lolling,
and then the two of us start to laugh so hard
we almost fall off our own log. And this
is our resistance for today; remembering
original innocence. And they can’t
take it away from us, though they ban
our very existence, though they slash
our rights to ribbons, we will have
our mirth and our birthright gladness.
Long after every unsold Tesla
has vaporized, and earth has closed over
even the names of these temporary tyrants,
somewhere some women like us
will be sitting side by side, facing the water,
telling human stories and laughing still.
I am so proud and so lucky to be in this with all of you. ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 💙❤️💛💚✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿