Aloha Reader,

Mahalo to all who showed up Saturday for the pop-up protest supporting the Detention Watch Network to demand an end to ICE detention warehouses. We have the next protest planned for May 1, and you will find more info in the local section below.

It's been another intense week, so don't skip over the National and State updates. Let's dive in.

NATIONAL NEWS

WHCA Dinner

You’ve no doubt seen footage of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last night. We will obviously learn much more in the near future. This is a reminder of two facts:

1. Political violence has been normalized in recent years. There are many contributing factors, including January 6 and the big lies surrounding it. Another is the Supreme Court’s misguided opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual’s right to firearms.
2. Regardless of the facts, this event will be rapidly turned into propaganda to influence the 2026 elections.

We cannot let this or other violent incidents become “a pretext for a state of emergency and a suspension of elections”, as Historian Timothy Snyder recently warned us in his publication "The Next Coup Attempt" (It's a must-read!). That is a greater risk than violence itself.

Election shenanigans 

PARTIAL WIN: Virginia voters decisively passed a ballot measure to redistrict the state to create more Democratic-leaning House seats. The next day, the Republican National Committee (RNC) convinced a MAGA-county judge to bar certification of the new electoral map. This case will now wind its way through the state courts.

There’s a vivid contrast in the redistricting wars. Republican-led Legislatures in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have gerrymandered at Trump’s command with no voter input. On the other hand, California and Virginia voters have decisively approved ballot measures to counter Republican redistricting with new Democrat-leaning maps.

In more troubling news, ProPublica released new reporting about the systematic dismantling of federal agencies chartered to protect election security and the installation of Trump cronies who pushed the Big Lie about 2020 into the key election security roles that remain. As the Rights and Insights shared:

Since Trump took office, nearly all federal election protection programs have been eliminated, severely defunded, or had nearly all their staff removed or reassigned:

• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA) election team
• National Security Council (NSC) election security group
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Foreign Malign Influence Center
• Department of Justice (DOJ) Public Integrity Section
• DOJ Civil Rights Division’s voting section
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Public Corruption Team
• FBI Foreign Influence Task Force
• FBI and DOJ Election Day command posts

Iran war: The inmates still run the asylum 

The MAGA Congress and Cabinet remain derelict in their duty to use a War Powers Resolution, impeachment, or the 25th Amendment to stop the Mad Man in the White House.

[BTW: we really mean Mad Man and recommend watching this analysis by Frank George, Ph.D., about narcissistic collapse.]

There is an uneasy ceasefire in place, but the whole world can see that Trump and Hegseth don't know what to do next. Real estate moguls Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were supposed to travel to Islamabad for negotiations. Still, they were called back, while the Secretary of State and the Vice President sit this all out. Meanwhile, Trump has been complaining that he can't tell who speaks for the Iranian side. Go figure.

The Guardian headline Tuesday said it all: ‘He talks too much’: how Trump’s erratic commentary is the real block to an Iran deal."

Economic consequences for Asia, Africa and Europe

What the world knows is that the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded by both sides. Inflation is rising worldwide, and there are shortages of diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer, helium, and chemical feedstocks. In the US, news coverage focuses on gas prices. Meanwhile, across Asia, Africa, and Europe, workweeks are being shortened, commuting and transport are being cut, and people are being told to work from home as part of energy-saving measures. And everyone knows the US regime is to blame. In the likely event that this disruption becomes a recession or turns into stagflation, it should be named after Trump.

Corruption: The grift machine running at full speed 

While the world economy is reeling from the US-Iran naval war, Hegseth continues to degrade our military forces. Having already fired the uniformed service chiefs of staff, he’s now fired the Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan. According to the New York Times, this wasn’t a disagreement over the Iran War, but over the pace of construction of the mythical “Trump class” battleships.

Hegseth wants to speed up building Trump’s latest vanity project. Even though experts are saying that big ships and their expensive weapons are becoming obsolete. Daily, Iran and Ukraine demonstrate that high volumes of cheap drones can overwhelm the expensive US weaponry, to the point that US stocks of Tomahawks and Patriot Interceptors are now dangerously low.

Who benefits from this war? On Thursday, Lockheed Martin’s CEO called the Trump administration a “golden opportunity…[offering] more available resources for us”.

Don’t forget the Trump family business interests. Eric Trump-backed robot startup lands a $24M Pentagon deal to compete with China, Fox reported on Thursday.

And remember America First? After giving the pro-Trump Argentinian President a $20 Billion bailout, the Treasury Secretary is looking at giving the United Arab Emirates (one of the world’s richest countries per capita, a major arms broker to anti-democratic forces across Africa, and an “investor” in Trump family crypto, real estate and investment deals) billions from a secret slush fund under the euphemism of “swap lines”.

This is our taxpayer money. Trump is giving to his buddies, while saying we can’t afford food assistance, health care, and childcare.

Trump Epstein coverup 

The DOJ continues to withhold 3 million files from Congress. When questioned by Representative Madeleine Dean, Commerce Secretary Lutnick lied again about his relationship to the pedophile conspirator.

STATE NEWS

Undoing Citizens United

The Senate Bill SB 2471, which would bring sunshine over dark money, goes to conference committee on Monday, April 27, 2026, at 2:40 pm. Here is the agenda​ where you can find the link to the livestream.

Online influencers have picked up on the efforts in Hawai'i and are educating their audiences 🎉🎉!

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It would be absolutely mind-blowing if Hawai'i is the first state in the union to get dark money out of our elections. Imagine if Hawai'i succeeds and then more states follow our lead. Hopefully, we can start a chain reaction that eventually topples Citizens United.

Restoring Tax Revenue

Conferees for SB3125 have also been assigned. The House version is much better than the Senate version.  The House version adds $367 million in revenue in 2027 (without any additional tax burden for the bottom 80% of earners), whereas the Senate version adds only $27 million. Watch for updates from the Public Policy Team.

LOCAL HAPPENINGS

May Day protest and Economic Boycott

Indivisible National is part of a national coalition planning an economic boycott and general strike on May 1, 2026. The national call is for a “No School, No Work, No Shopping” day to disrupt the violent billionaire takeover of our country and prioritize working families. The action is modeled on a successful economic blackout day in Minneapolis in January. And it’s getting attention! A large national law firm actually published guidance to their offices on how to address their staff walking out!

Here in Kona, we encourage you to do your shopping ahead of May 1, limit shopping on May 1, boycott national brands, and support local businesses as much as possible.

We’ll also gather for a "Workers over Billionaires" protest at 4-5 pm on Friday, May 1, at our usual spot. May Day is also Lei Day, so consider making a lei and/or wearing your aloha clothing. As usual, we’ll host a food drive for Aloha Latinos at the event.

TAKE ACTION:  Register here to join "Workers over Billionaires" on Friday, May 1, 2026, from 4-5 pm on Queen Kaʻahumanu, south of Henry Street, and mauka of the Mormon Temple.

Postcarding

Ready, set, write! We’re thick into the season of GetOutTheVote (GOTV) postcards, and there’s no stopping until November. We’re writing infrequent voters now because when they vote in their primary, they’re more likely to vote during the main election. Let’s help them practice good voting habits.

So what’s on deck? We’ve got “Replace Ed Case” campaign, as well as three flippable CA seats (regaining the House runs through CA - plus - help make sure that the CA governor remains Democrat).

TAKE ACTION: Sunday, May 3, 2026, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Old Airport Pavilion. Postcards! Community! Fun! Hosted by Franny. *Please note location change to Old Airport.* Register.​

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.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: We will resume our Thursdays in May: May 7, 14, 21, 28, and June 4, 2026, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM in Kealekekua. Sign up here.

Postcard 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, or you can get addresses directly from postcarding organizations. State legislature and local elections like city council and school board are happening now! Sign up directly with Postcards To Voters and Postcards For Democracy. Both organizations allow you to choose only 1 or 4 addresses at a minimum. It’s easy and fun. You can find more info on Geri’s List.

Forming a KIND Community Service Team

Are you interested in joining other Kona Indivisibles to form a new Community Service Team? We’re thinking about adopting the section of Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway along our usual protest site. Or organizing a beach cleanup team. We’re always open to other ideas, so hit reply to this email and let us know what you think 😊

We’ll see you May 1st! Remember to wear your aloha shirts!

Warmest Aloha,
Sam and the Leadership Team

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

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