Guiding Lights, Part IV: Marc Elias, Spotlight for Democracy…Or Bat-Signal

Posted on August 23, 2026 by gretchenwing

In the Department of Guiding Lights, there’s the North Star (see my piece on Heather Cox Richardson); the twinkly path-markers known as The Contrarian, and several more which offer both inspiration and guidance to folks like us. (Watch this space!)

But sometimes—these times!—you just need a freakin’ spotlight. Meet Marc Elias and Democracy Docket.

Marc Elias in 2024 (photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

According to Ken Vogel of The New York Times, “Elias has arguably done more than any single person outside government to shape the Democratic Party and the rules under which all campaigns and elections in the United States are conducted.” (October 30, 2024, as quoted by Wikipedia.org)

Marc’s political bio is far too voluminous for me to sum up here; please check out Wikipedia or Democracy Docket itself for all the details of presidents and almost-presidents he’s worked for, trials he’s worked on, resistance fighters he’s supported.

What matters to me now, and what I hope (assume? since you’re reading this) matters to you is: his law firm has taken the Trump administration (regime) to court dozens of times…and of the cases already decided, Elias Law Group is 23 and 0.

That’s 23 wins for Elias’ democracy warriors; 23 LOSSES for Trump.

Here’s Marc, describing one of those victories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCBc3dIEYxA

A fighter who springs to action when democracy is threatened, like if Batman wore a suit & tie? That’s who I want on my side, heading into the scariest electoral period in our country’s history since 1860.

Marc? That you? (image courtesy Wikimedia)

I’m not a lawyer; don’t want to be. But I DO want to fight to keep the Trump regime’s mitts off my election data. I do want to keep their ICE thugs from intimidating my neighbors at the polls. I want the rule of law back.

That’s why I support Democracy Docket with a small subscription. I hope you’ll consider doing the same. Marc & Co left behind their lucrative former law careers to fight for us. The least we can do is be Robin to their Batman.

A North Star for Navigating Tough Times: Historian Heather Cox Richardson

Posted on August 6, 2026 by gretchenwing

Heather Cox Richardson—HCR to her devotees—is a Mainer who lives by the ocean. Her husband is a lobsterman. She knows “the chop”; she was speaking and writing about it long before I borrowed the phrase.

And in navigating this current turbulence—both national, and, more recently in my case, personal—she’s also my North Star. (Here I confess I don’t actually know if Polaris forms part of what mariners look to…but I know the North Star led folks out of slavery, and that’s the choppiest chop there is. So: let’s roll with it.)

(image by Andres Nieto Porras, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Reading and listening to HCR (especially listening; her voice is so calm) has been keeping my keel evened since the 2024 ~~debacle~~ election. If you’re reading this, you’re probably in the HCR choir so I should quit preaching. But just in case you’re not…

Through her Letters From an American series, HCR puts the daily outrages of the current regime into perspective. Yes, this is horrible…but it also looks a lot like the 1850s. The 1890s. The 1920s. Etc.

1850s attempted murder in the Senate, anyone? (courtesy Wikimedia)

Through her Politics Chats, (on YouTube, Substack and Facebook) HCR draws a line through the chaos, connecting dots, allowing us to see patterns, to understand. What do all these awful news stories have in common? Grift. Corruption. White supremacy. Etc.

(Plus she has an adorable habit of reading aloud all the towns and countries people beam in from to listen to her livestream.)

Through her current 250 to 250 series—which should seriously win some kind of media prize—HCR reminds us what it means to have pride and joy in our own country, its government, lands, history. Want to celebrate America’s 250^th more meaningfully than watching a cage fight? Here are 250 1-minute snippets on everything that makes us US.

(Most of the 250 are narrated by other people, some famous, some just appropriate. Heather herself only narrates two…but it’s telling which two she chose.)

HCR is also fun and funny. My favorite podcasts are her weekly(ish) chats with fellow American historian Joanne Freeman, “What the Heck Just Happened.” There, serious unpacking of the week’s stuff comes with healthy discussion of M ‘n’ Ms, cleaning your bathroom, and Gary the Apple Guy, and they end each session telling each other “I love you.” Can’t begin to express what a balm this is.

If you’ve clicked on some of the above links, you’ve now found your way into HCR World, but just to be clear: look for Heather Cox Richardson on YouTube, on Substack, or just Google her and see what pops up.

I guarantee you will feel heartened, bolstered, and…guided. Sail on!

In the Chop: Choose Your Own Navigational Markers

Posted on July 23, 2026 by gretchenwing

My—and let’s face it, probably everyone’s—favorite public-engaging historian, Heather Cox Richardson, talks a good deal about “chop.” Living in coastal Maine, she sees it all the time (and her husband, a lobsterman, has to drive his boat through it). She means this:

Chop. Swirl. Eddies. Currents. Unexpected wavelets, even waves, hitting from all sides, throwing you off balance, interfering with forward movement. Obscuring forward movement. Where am I headed, anyway? Where’s this interference coming from? Should I drift for a moment or power through? What new challenges will either choice unleash? Which way should I steer?

I am neither historian nor lobsterwoman. But—in case you’ve wondered whether Wing’s World has fallen off the face of the earth—I’ve been living this metaphor for the last several months. Chop, for me, has set blogging wayyyyy back as a priority. Only now am I coming to realize I might need this blog as a navigational marker to sail on through this stuff.

I have always considered myself the person least touched by adversity of any I’ve met. I even wrote a song about it, from the perspective of someone who got all the bad shit I’ve avoided: “Who got my sunshine, who got my ease?/Does she realize her fortune? Will you tell her, please?” The song ends, “Hope she’ll be ready when her skies turn black.”

This year, my skies finally darkened.

In December, my high school bestie died, with no chance to say goodbye. A week later, a close local friend died. In February, the Mate’s health circumstances took a hard turn. And in early June, my amazing father, Peter Klopfer, died.

Add to that the national shitstorm we’re all living through, and…

Another favorite topic of HCR (Heather Cox Richardson) is navigational markers. In my personal chop, I have decided to focus on these few to guide me:

Interdependence on and with family, friends and the Mate, more intentionally than ever in my life
Using historians, legal minds, politicians and activists to keep myself inspired and motivated
Using my own resources of time, money and WORDS to amplify that inspiration and motivation

I won’t blog about the first marker. But the other two? Watch this space.