Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast.

Democracies slide into dictatorship in two ways. First slowly, and then all of a sudden.

We have been sliding in this direction for at least as long as I have been paying attention to politics, which is a long time,

and we're finally at the moment where that slow slide shifts into full speed.

For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about 50 minutes

today includes the gray area, the readout, the NPR Politics Podcast, amicus, straight white American Jesus, citations needed, and The Intercept Briefing.

Then in the additional deeper dives half of the show, there will be more in four sections.

Section A, government agencies, section B, constitutional crisis, section C, the playbook, and Section D, What to Do.

But first, your call to action for the week.

Hey, everyone, Amanda here with your weekly roundup of activism actions.

There's a lot going on. And the reality is that

collectively, we're in the throw everything in the wall phase. And that's okay. Do what you feel

is most impactful and what is possible in your life. All right? All right. Now, on to the work.

The house is on recess this week. That means your members of Congress are in your district,

and they need to hear from you in person. The message is twofold. One, tell them you fully reject

the newly released GOP budget, which proposes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, four corporations, and the

wealthiest among us, while slashing essential programs like Medicaid and food assistance. And two,

call out Republicans'

complicit behavior and silence in the face of Musk's government coup and demand Democrats

fight back. Indivisible is calling for mass local action under the banner Musk or Us and has created

a congressional recess toolkit to make Republicans squirm and push Democrats to take action.

Go to indivisible.org

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