In this Newsletter

• Chair’s Message
• Upcoming Events
• ICYMI
• Volunteer Opportunities
• DAGR News and Views
• On our RADAR - DA Priorities

Dear Friends,

Less than 100 days in office, the Trump Administration may have already provoked a constitutional crisis with the Federal judiciary and is confirming our worst fear: our democracy is under assault.

We asked you to share your views about the world and about us in a recent survey. The results show that all of us are extremely anxious about the future and that President Trump and his minions are destroying our government.

The other big news story of the month is how the Trump Administration plays fast and loose with America’s national security. The Signal-gate scandal – as it has been dubbed – shows sloppiness at best, but may also point to something more sinister.

However, for us at DAGR, Signal is another tool in our outreach efforts. Before these latest headlines dropped, we were thinking of creating a new DAGR Members Chat group on Signal for everyone to air their views and to stay in touch with us.

The chat group is now up and running and we’d like all of you to join. Drop a line to the DAGR Secretary and she’ll help you become part of the group.

Lastly, towards the end of the month, DAGR members will be reflecting on the impact of 47’s first 100 days, both online and in panel discussions in Athens and Thessaloniki. Watch our Events page on the DA website for more info.

Thank you again for being engaged.

Alkman Granitsas
Chair, Democrats Abroad Greece

Saturday APR 5 - 14:00 - 15:00 EET
Bring your sign to Monastiraki Square!
Stateside and in cities around the world, we’ll be expressing our total disgust with what Trump likes to call ‘governing.’ Here in Greece, so far, we know of plans for an impromptu gathering at Monastiraki Square on April 5th at 2:00 pm. But check our social media for any further details. If you can’t make it to a major live event, plan a small one with a few friends. Or even solo. Pick an iconic location. Hold up a sign. Snap a selfie and send it to Secretary for our Virtual Rally gallery. We’ll be sharing it with the world!

Sunday, APR 6 - 16:00 EET
Dems Abroad Town Hall with DNC Chair Ken Martin
This will be an online event, so RSVP for the link. It’s filling up fast! Martin will be joined by other leaders to listen to the concerns of Democrats living outside the US.

Tuesday, APR 8 - 18:00-20:00 EET
Happy Hour in Athens
This month, Athens Chapter is trying out En Aithria, another promising Monastiraki-Thission venue. A lIvely interior invites lively conversation about next steps in the resistance. Details on the DAGR Events page.

Tuesday, APR 8 - 19:00-21:00 EET
Happy Hour At-Large (on zoom)
Why quaff at home alone when you can meet up with a couple of friends at the local wifi hub and be happy with Dems Abroad from around the whole countryside? RSVP for the Zoom link and meet up with other members of the At-Large Chapter!

Tuesday, APR 8 - 19:00-21:00 EET
Happy Hour in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki Chapter is ‘in transit.’ The much-loved Dubliner has been sold. The Chapter is working on a new home. Watch for news as soon as we have it, on the DAGR Events page.

Tuesday, APR 15 - 19:30 EET
DAGR ExCom Meeting
The Dems Abroad Greece board, aka ExCom, meets every month. Members are welcome to sit in and come up to speed on the many things your board has to handle. Get a leg up on upcoming events in planning, and much more. Reply on this email for the Zoom link.

Tuesday, APR 15 - 20:00 EET
How to Survive Tax Day as an American Abroad
Geared at the questions ordinary taxpayers abroad may have, this one is presented by Taxation Task Force Chair Rebecca Lammers. Looks good!  Click here for more details and to buy tickets.

Thursday, APR 17 - 10:00 EET
DAGR (virtual) Coffee Club
Gina and Erin, At-Large Chapter leads, are hosting their second morning get-together for those who prefer an earlier meet-up. RSVP here for the zoom link and heat up the briki.

Saturday, APR 28 - 11:00 EET
Thessaloniki Saturday Coffee
If evening events confound your schedule, share a cuppa joe with the northern Chapter in the morning! This one is in-person, at the Cafe Theatro, featuring the same lively conversation that’s driven the evening happy hours. Details on the DAGR web page.

And that’s not all …
See what other country committees and global caucuses are doing, on the DA website Events page.

House Rules Committee Hearing on H.R. 22, 1526, S.J. Res. 28, 18
Mar 31, 2025  Democrats -- Raskin, McGovern, Scanlon -- hold their own, especially re judges getting impeachment and death threats. Fischbach pushes back that Republicans are getting them, too. Is this a bi-partisan issue, maybe?

US Senate, Senator Cory Booker ‘marathon speech’ aka filibuster
April 1, 2025 - 25+ hours! Stalwart, with a little help from Dems who supported him along!

Colorado Springs, CO Town Hall with Sen. Michael Bennet
March 20 (ish) Not many fireworks, but a real exchange with constituents.

Greeley, CO Rally with Bernie and AOC
Also ca March 20 (ish). This one has fewer than Denver and AZ rallies after that, but a LOT of heart. This is what it’s all about! And this is … sorry, but we have to say it … Resistance Rising!

Take Action
Take Action on the Dems Abroad website Do Something menu is an issue of wide concern that affects us citizens abroad directly. Click here to sign up for Take Action alerts in your inbox, usually one a week, or to look over other DA global resistance actions.

Secretary Jan to the Rescue!
As she notes, DAGR Secretary Jan Sanders felt a little daunted when she saw global’s array of Take-Action options! Not only that, but 5Calls, the go-to call app that everyone’s talking about, is tied to Skype and changes are coming. FEAR NOT! Jan’s worked some of it out and will stay on the case for us. Start feeling supported in the struggle with her write-up here!

Volunteer Wanted: Volunteer Manager
DAGR members have been stepping forward, hoping to help turn the US back on course. We need someone who can make contact, find out what people want to do and might be good at doing, and put them in touch with the team that’s working on it. There are tons of things to do. We just need someone who enjoys directing traffic. Work with the Secretary to help our members find their dream placement.

In Memoriam, Kitty Dukakis
Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts Governor and US presidential candidate, Michael Dukakis, passed away on March 22. Mrs. Dukakis was here in Greece in 2010 when the Thessaloniki Chapter was launched at the Dukakis Center. Peter Baiter will be collecting and writing up our memories of the person and her role in Dem and DAGR history for the May newsletter. For now, here's the National Herald piece.

Come Together, Right Now! DAGR Membership Survey
We asked you, our members, how you are feeling about the world and what we as Democrats Abroad Greece could do. The survey results are in and, no surprise, all of us are feeling anxious. Find out more in this write-up by Irem Tunc and Alkman Granitsas.

Int’l Women’s Day: DAGR Women’s Collective Voices
DAGR’s northern folks started this ball rolling, with Joan Ryding, retired educator, heading the ‘anthology.’ As it rolls and grows, we’re adding thoughts on the day from around the country. What does Women’s Day mean for you. Have a thought? Send it along!

Why We Can’t Face This Alone 
Thessaloniki Chapter Chair Irem Tunc shares thoughts on the importance of community and mutual support, especially in these troubled times.

Don’t Get Mad! Get Down Ballot!
Our right to vote from abroad in federal elections is guaranteed by UOCAVA law. But with voting rights under assault, especially in certain statehouses, the power for the next four years may be at the state and local level. Almost half of US states allow some or all abroad citizens to vote ‘down ballot.’ See what your state allows, and if you can, blacken a lozenge for every race!

DAGR’s Weekly Reader 
Included here are those mostly longer ones favored by political wonks (like us), with some shorter videos mixed in. Have a look over each week’s offerings. And do send us articles you think might fit here in the month ahead!
MAR w1   MAR w2   MAR w3   MAR w4

Talking about Protests: You GO, DA Spain!
Last weekend of March, Dems Abroad Spain chapters demonstrated in several cities. Spain is a bigger country committee, and a bit ahead of Greece in its chapter formation. But we’re catching up fast and will be out for our first demo since pre-Covid this Saturday. Next one(s) after that will be bigger, better, and rising! You want in?

Travelling Home? Be Prepared!
As stories of ‘flights to Louisiana’ and ‘hassle detentions’ at airports become more frequent, it’s time to honor the Boy Scout’s motto: Be Pepared!. Summer travel season is hunting season for the intimidators. DA global has a few ideas that may help. From here on, we stay aware and share more best practices. In addition to DA’s short document (link in title), there’s also this from Wired magazine.

Signal-gate: Intentional distraction? Or simple clown car?
This piece from The Atlantic details the story and efforts to blow it off as ‘normal.’ But if it wasn’t just a gaffe, what was it really overshadowing? Gutting Social Security? Slinging around citizens’ private information? Or maybe, deflecting from Trump’s desire for a Constitutional Convention to edit that annoying document to be more to his taste? For more fun: Jimmy Kimmel takes on Signal-gate ... The Chat’s Outta the Bag

Ozturk Kidnapping aka Arrest by (probably) ICE
The cellphone video is like an opening segment from CSI New York. The rest is pure Trump. Khalil, Suri, Ozturk… say their names. Taken, somewhere. Phones seized. Greyed out from contact with family or lawyers. Shipped off to Louisiana and then El Salvador.

DemocracyNOW 3-part on Elon Musk, Peter Thiel
Their ‘early childhood education’ in racist apartheid and neo-nazi collaboration, a la pre-Mandela South Africa, shaped the vision of the US they’re trying to enact! Watch Part 3 here. Check out the earlier 2 segments online. It explains a lot.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

March came in like a lamb and left like a half-grown lion who’s just landed its first dinner. And now, Americans around the world are taking to the streets as well as the airwaves.

If the US were a parliamentary-style democracy, this Mr. Pennywise clown car of a ‘government’ would already be facing a vote of no-confidence. We’re not … so it looks like we’re in for nasty weather. Looks like we're going to have keep on rising.

But, hey, we've been here before. Several times. We know what to do. Heed the warnings. Plan. Prepare. Act. Need some travellin' music to set the marching cadence? CCR 1970, Bad Moon Risin'

Up the Resistance!

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