On the one hand, there’s no sugarcoating how progressives feel as President Trump retakes office: rough.

Trump and his allies in Congress are already rolling out plans to cut taxes for billionaires, slash services for the rest of us, pollute the planet, and deport people who’ve lived here their whole lives.

But if you look closely, you’ll see signs people aren’t just going to accept all this. Here are five that caught my eye from this past election year.

1. Populist anger is boiling over. 

Americans have had it with economic elites. Union activity has been on an upswing for a few years running now, with union petition filings in 2024 significantly up over 2023.

This article first appeared on Ohio Capital Journal

An Ohio woman who was criminally charged after having a miscarriage in her home has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Warren, city police officers, a local hospital and its owners.

Brittany Watts filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division claiming violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment, along with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a law that establishes the right for anyone to be admitted to a hospital in an emergency situation regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status, and for them to receive “necessary stabilizing treatment,” according to Watts’ attorneys from the firm Loevy & Loevy.

This article first appeared on Reel Time with Richard Ades.

This is the time of year when critics get a chance to catch up on recent flicks they might have missed, courtesy of studios in search of buzz and, hopefully, award nominations. While I don’t claim to be clairvoyant when it comes to the latter, I can confidently say this: If the Oscars and other competitions gave out prizes for bravery, these three films and their creators would win hands down.

One filmmaker displays creative courage by breaking the mold in a familiar genre, while the others put their liberty and even their lives at risk in order to bring their truths to the screen.

Let’s look at them one by one.

Biopic with a difference

By now, we all know the drill when it comes to film biopics: The would-be celeb claws his or her way to the top, but success comes at a steep cost. Friends are abandoned, spouses are cheated on, and alcohol and/or drugs are abused.

Several times during his confirmation hearings this week, Pete Hegseth invoked his “lord and savior, Jesus.” Yet he employed the reference more as a shield or lifeline than an indication of Christian humility or kindness. A big part of what made Hegseth so objectionable was his utter lack of humility; throughout, he exhibited the bravado and smug self-satisfaction of a schoolyard bully. His target was anything that could be described as “left-wing woke.” The irony is that if Jesus were alive today, He would be “woke.” 

What exactly are Republicans afraid of? What are they critical of when they smear someone (or something) as “woke”?