Aloha Reader,

We hope to see you at the Potluck and Member Meeting Social on Easter Sunday. If you can, please join Postcarding beforehand as well. We scheduled both events to start after most people's Easter activities, so we hope you can attend.

Once again, congratulations on the extraordinary No Dictators Protest! Check out the aerial perspective here. Impressive! If you have any lingering doubt about the effectiveness of these protests, look at how cornered our wannabe dictator is behaving.

A lot went down this week, so let’s dive in.

Losers and Winners from the Iran War

In its first month, the Iran War has cost $65 Billion, 3,500 lives, 10,000+ injured, and 3.2 million people displaced. We cannot see the suffering of the Iranians due to the news blackout. But the brutal theocracy around (the second) Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is stronger than ever, having proven that it can withstand the US-Israeli military assault. The sanctions on their oil shipments have been lifted, and they control the Strait of Hormuz. Their economic leverage only grows every week, as supply chain shortages begin to bite worldwide. 

Currently, Trump and his loyalists are losing so badly that Hegseth has stopped briefing the press and fired three top generals, including the Army’s Chief of Staff. That’s two wartime firsts. Meanwhile, Trump continues to waver in his decisions and threatens to commit more war crimes.

How again did we get here?

Paul Krugman shared a video essay this week about the 1976 book called The Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman Dixon. Krugman points to the long history of great powers losing wars when they enter under the assumption that massive firepower is enough to win.

So, who is actually benefiting from this ghastly, misguided, illegal, and incompetently waged war? Clearly, Vladimir Putin is one of the winners. Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on Russian oil shipments just as prices are hitting record highs. He even allowed a Russian tanker to deliver oil to Cuba, a country he had previously placed under embargo.

Moreover, Trump has exacerbated the rift between the U.S. and its NATO allies, with the U.S. threatening to abandon its treaty obligations while NATO countries refuse to let U.S. military aircraft use their bases.

Finally, the MAGA kleptocrats and billionaires are reaping huge profits by leveraging inside information from Trump’s social media posts to make illegal bets on oil derivatives. And, oil companies are seeing windfall profits that more than cover their contributions to Trump's coffers.

Bondi Out; Trump-Epstein Coverup Continues

PARTIAL WIN: Trump is panicked over the domestic fallout from his catastrophic Iran War. This week, he fired his pitbull, Attorney General Pam Bondi. However, don’t celebrate just yet. Her acting successor is Todd Blanche, who was Trump’s personal defense lawyer before becoming Deputy Attorney General.

GOOD NEWS: Bondi is still under subpoena from the House Oversight Committee, which means they can still obtain her testimony under oath. Rumors suggest that more firings of scapegoats from Trump’s administration may be coming soon.

Election Shenanigans

Trump signed another unconstitutional executive order, this time to ban mail-in voting. Several lawsuits have already been filed, notably one before District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who previously ruled against Trump’s earlier voter suppression order. From her last opinion: “Put simply, our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures."

Meanwhile, ICE agents remain in airports, performing what Steve Bannon has called a ”test run” for the elections. Expect Trump to continue trying every possible way to subvert the 2026 elections. We will not allow him to succeed.

Undoing the Damage of Citizens United 

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United that corporations and political action committees (PACs) can spend unlimited amounts on political speech and are protected by the 1st Amendment. Since then, dark money has dominated our elections, gaining more influence with each passing election.

We are working to change that. Hawai'i is one of several states considering legislation to implement the Transparent Election Initiative, also known as the “Montana Plan.” We are advocating for SB2471, which would establish a state law prohibiting non-human entities from contributing to political campaigns. Recognizing the importance of this issue, Indivisible Hawai'i is co-sponsoring a virtual workshop to explain how this works.

On Monday, April 6, 2026, Tom Moore from the Center for American Progress will join us on Zoom for a workshop focused on SB2471 and related efforts in Hawai'i and beyond. Tom is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and has been a leading advocate for addressing the undue influence of corporate money in elections.

TAKE ACTION: Our conversation will take place from 3:00 to 4:30 PM, and you can register for the meeting here.

Moving Forward in the Legislature

On March 19, 2026, Tina Marie and Sam joined 20 other Indivisibles at the State Capitol for Lobby Day. We met with State Senator Dru Kanuha and State House Representative Kirstin Kahaloa to advocate for the bills we are supporting. We still have 41 out of 57 bills moving forward, which is an exceptional achievement.

We participated in a press conference with the Hawai'i Tax Fairness Coalition to advocate for income tax reform (HB2306, also known as Freezing Act 46). Additionally, we met with State House Representative Chris Todd, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who is leading this reform effort.

Fun fact: Rep. Todd was so pleased to see us that he took us into his private office, where his young daughter was making signs for the No Dictators protest!

TAKE ACTION: Bills are now going through final committee hearings. Usually, only written testimony is accepted, and we can use as many submissions as possible. Sign up for the Public Policy Team here to get notified.

Pop-Up Protest

Let's stand up for Democracy together at our next Pop-Up Rally. Our recent events have been very successful, thanks to your incredible support. Standing up for something you believe in is empowering. When individuals join a collective action, they often feel more confident speaking out and participating in public discussions.

TAKE ACTION: Join us Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 4 to 5:00 pm.

• We'll meet in the Kona Safeway parking lot near Baskin-Robbins, and walk up as a group to Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway and Henry St.
• Please arrive by 3:45 pm.
• Kona Indivisible will provide several large signs; feel free to bring your own!
• You might want to bring a hat and water as it could be hot and sunny.
• If you’re interested in participating, RSVP. Send me an email to lnlubrano53@gmail.com, or text at 503-784-6192.
  HUGE FAVOR: It's important to know who is coming so I can communicate any last-minute changes to everyone.

Postcarding

Last week, 11 folks wrote postcards to register voters in Georgia for the upcoming US Senate re-election of Jon Ossoff. This brings our grand total to 7,154 voters written during just the first 3 months of the year. Hooray!

• Next Postcard Event​
  Sunday, April 5, 2026, from 3 to 5 PM. Kahalu’u Beach Pavilion. Postcards! Community! Raffle! (must be present to win) Hosted by Mary. Register here.
  We provide you with free postcards, voter lists, scripts, and instructions. You provide the stamps, your writing muscle and your favorite pens. We always appreciate your generous donation of postcard stamps or money towards postage so that all postcard writers are welcome (including those with less financial capacity). This way, we can all find ways to help get out the vote.
• Friendly reminder: There will be no Thursday postcarding parties at Gypsea Gelato during April and will resume in May.
• Postcards at home​
  Can’t make it to our postcard parties? We’ve got you covered. Pick up a postcard packet at one of our postcard hubs and write at home. More info here.
• Already got your own postcards and just need addresses? You can get addresses emailed to you here. Choose "Names only". Alternatively, you can obtain addresses directly from postcarding organizations. You can sign up directly with Postcards To Voters and Postcards For Democracy. It’s easy and fun! More info here.

Closing out where we started! We hope to see you at the Potluck and Member Meeting Social on Easter Sunday.

Warmest Aloha,

Sam and the leadership team

- The Kona Indivisible Team ​konaindivisible.org​ ​info@konaindivisible.org​

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PS: Our small editorial team always wonders about the length of the emails. Mahalo Nui, if you read this far 😊 The world is moving at such a rapid pace that it can be challenging to shorten our weekly recaps, which include important action items that impact all three levels of our government.

We've designed each publication to be easy to read and skimmable, allowing you to quickly find the information that interests you most. However, the question remains: Is it too much? Is it too long? We believe this is a crucial time to engage with the issues at hand and become well-informed citizens, but we don't want to overwhelm you with information.

We are awake, we are informed, and we hope you feel the same way. Please hit reply and share your thoughts with us; we would love to hear from you. - Sam, Ellen, Maryellen, Tina-Marie & Martina 🌺