Hey Raw America readers. It’s John here, and welcome to the Sunday Wrapup. I’m here with my cup of coffee — with full-fat pumpkin spice creamer — typing this newsletter with hopeful things in mind.
But first, a special thanks to our paying subscribers. You’re helping us fight to get back in the White House, and to have a dedicated reporter in the halls of the Capitol. I’m so grateful you’re here.
If you’re reading for free, make today the day you change that! It’s hard these days to find news outlets truly worth investing in, but Raw America is definitely one of them. We share your values, and you share your time, and together we’re building something great that will make a difference. For just 22 cents a day, you keep real reporting alive.
Reclaiming Your Time: Do This Instead of Scrolling
I’d like to take us on a slightly different track this week. We’ll get to the hopeful stories, but first I want to pause. If you’re a regular Raw America reader, you probably have a tendency to doomscroll — endlessly scrolling bad news you can’t stop.
The other day, I came across a list of things you can do besides doomscrolling to brighten your day.
In a quieter time, I made puzzles in a cottage by the beach with my grandmother. She’s 92, a Raw America reader, and she still makes puzzles. There’s something uniquely satisfying about completing something new, and watching it come together piece by piece.
We also made origami. The Japanese art of paper folding is equally challenging and satisfying, especially making cranes.
In our goal-driven world, we’ve lost sight of small joys. Getting stuff done can seem fulfilling, but pausing to enjoy your life can be worth twice as much. Here are 15 ideas of what you might do today — or tomorrow — rather than look at your phone.
Make a flatbread pizza (it’s easier than you think!)
Go to a grocery store and eat a food you’ve never tried
Plan a game night
Find a drive-in movie theater
Dust your plants
Do some mild decluttering
Write thank-you notes and send them by snail mail
Buy a beer-brewing kit and make beer at home
Find a local awe-inspiring place to explore
Go for a picnic and get some prepared food & cheeses from a nice grocery
Purchase the cheapest ticket to a baseball game and wander around the park
Introduce yourself to a neighbor
Watch a black-and-white film
Watch Schitt’s Creek
Do nothing
To make it even easier for you, here are some links where you can dive into a new task. (I’ll try to remember to resurface them for you around the holidays.)
Espresso martini infusion kit (I’ve tried this one, it’s easy!)
A great recipe I use for pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting
A great flatbread pizza recipe — but better yet, buy the Half Baked Harvest cookbook
Need more ideas? Here are 100 things you can do instead of doomscrolling, as compiled by Wirecutter.
Cable News Stands Tough, Then Backs Down
Earlier this week, I was a bit surprised that cable news media was sticking together in their fight with Trump.
After Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, the outlets took Trump to court and won. But when CNN remained banned from the press pool, Fox News joined CNN in refusing to film Trump’s events at all.
Trump’s big week went dark: the UN Assembly, a state visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the introduction of his shiny new White House helipad. Trump cut the ribbon on the helipad with no network cameras rolling, and you could barely hear him.
When Fox had pool duty, it declined to film him arriving home from the UN. When Xi landed at Joint Base Andrews, Fox, CBS and NBC crews stood there with their cameras off.
But now, in classic mainstream media cowardice, the networks are backing down.
According to the Times, the four TV networks in the pool will begin filming again, and may just skip coverage when it’s CNN’s turn.
This pathetic lack of media solidarity is another win for Trump.
When Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico, he was stopped in court by Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump himself put on the bench.
Here’s where I’m proud. The precedent Kelly leaned on? Karem v. Trump, the case Raw America’s White House reporter Brian Karem won in 2020 after Trump yanked his pass. The due process rule Brian fought for is what got CNN back in the door.
Though the White House also banned Brian, we’re not backing down.
Our next step is sending our Congressional correspondent, Luke De Cresce, for a White House day pass. If he’s blocked too, we’re primed for a fight.
If you’re reading for free, make today the day you show up. We have no billionaire owner and no boardroom: this newsletter is paid for purely by readers. For 22 cents a day, you keep reporters in the fight that this White House would rather leave outside the gate.
A U.S. Citizen Took On ICE in Alabama and Won
Leo Garcia Venegas was born in Florida. He moved to Alabama at 14, and today he works in construction in Baldwin County. He’s an American citizen; he carries an Alabama REAL ID to prove it.
None of that stopped ICE.
Immigration agents have detained and handcuffed him three times at job sites, starting in May 2025. Every time, he showed his ID. Every time, agents brushed it off, called it fake and kept holding him anyway.
So he sued.
Backed by the Institute for Justice, Venegas filed a class action last fall targeting what he says are three ICE policies: entering private construction sites without a warrant, rounding up workers without any individual suspicion, and holding people even after they prove they’re here legally.
On Monday, he won.
Chief U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock in Mobile found that Venegas is likely to succeed in showing those practices violate the Fourth Amendment, and he froze all three while the case moves forward. It’s a temporary stay, not the full injunction Venegas asked for. But it’s real, and it’s in Alabama.
The Trump administration leaned on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion allowing brief immigration stops, which many critics have dubbed racist. Alabama’s judge turned that around, too. There’s nothing brief, he said, about holding an American citizen after he’d already shown his papers.
Venegas says he’s been traumatized by what happened. Now he can finally go to work without worrying that he’ll be arrested for no reason.
That’s what due process looks like. One man, one lawsuit, and a judge willing to read the Constitution the way it’s written.
Monday Is Good Neighbor Day
In the early 1970s, Becky Mattson of Lakeside, Montana, dreamed up Good Neighbor Day. Her elderly mother was her personal spark; she complained that nobody called her during the day while Becky was at work.
In 1978, Jimmy Carter made it official. Good Neighbor Day falls on September 28. That’s this Monday.
So here’s my ask. Pick one thing from that list up top and do it with a neighbor. Knock on a door. Drop off some pumpkin muffins. Share a moment with someone you don’t usually see.
We’re Winning Fights the Billionaires Hoped We’d Lose
I feel good today.
An American citizen in deep-red Alabama took ICE to court and won. A Trump-appointed judge told the White House it can’t yank press passes on a whim, and the precedent he relied on was ours. And tomorrow is Good Neighbor Day, a reminder that we’re all in this fight together.
But we can’t get this done without readers like you. If you think what we’re doing here matters, upgrade your subscription today. If you want journalists who don’t fold when the pressure hits, become part of our community. Will you join us? It takes just a moment to upgrade, and it matters more than you know.
No one is going to rescue this country for us. We’re going to win it back the old-fashioned way: showing up, again and again, in the streets and at the polls.
Thanks for giving me a slice of your Sunday. We’ll see you tomorrow.
—John Byrne, Founder, Raw America and Raw Story
We will get back our country!!
Thank y'all for the great work! Y'all are very appreciated, be safe and have a wonderful Sunday and week.