Zach Brand-Wiita
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zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Zach Brand-Wiita
@zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
1.2K followers 5.8K following 1.9K posts
Organizer/activist. Montgomery County, Maryland. Ohio-born. Democratic socialist in coalition with social democrats, progressives, and liberals. Antifascist. Queer ally. Feminist. Theatre kid. Geek. Trying my best. Married to @sarahbrand.bsky.social
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zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Trump is a traitor and a tyrant.
Screenshot from illegitimate president Donald Trump's TruthSocial account dated 11/20/2025 9:21 AM. Text of post reads: "SEDITUOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" In context, this is a death threat against Democratic Party Members of Congress.
November 20, 2025 at 5:24 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
There are no words for my contempt. Fascist scum. Traitor. Tyrant. Illegitimate.
Screenshot of a Truth Social post by Donald Trump reading: At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
September 28, 2025 at 12:33 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
@twoharvards.bsky.social
Screenshot of post on Threads from user twoharvards reading: Speaking as a historian: I can confidently and objectively say that Donald Trump's silencing of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, along with other acts against perceived "enemies within" (with the complicity of their btoadcasters), is unprecedented in American history. The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)--the closest competitors--have been left in the dust.
September 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Excerpt from "Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Excerpt reads: Words are not violence, nor are they powerless. Burying the truth of the Confederacy, rewriting its aims and ideas, and ignoring its animating words allowed for the terrorization of the Black population, the imposition of apartheid, and the destruction of democracy. The rewriting and the ignoring were done not just by Confederates, but also by putative allies for whom the reduction of Black people to serfdom was the unfortunate price of white unity. The import of this history has never been clearer than in this moment when the hard question must be asked: If you would look away from the words of Charlie Kirk, from what else would you look away?
September 17, 2025 at 5:27 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
How is a reasonable person supposed to interpret this as anything other than a threat to order the Air Force to bomb an American city?
Screenshot of a post on Truth Social from illegitimate U.S. president Donald Trump. The post consists of an image fabricated using an A.I. image generator. The image features Trump, dressed as the character of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, from the 1979 film 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘸. Kilgore is famous for the quote, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Beneath Trump in the bottom left corner appears the words "Chipocalypse Now" in the style of the logo of 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘸. Behind Trump and to the left appears the distant skyline of the City of Chicago against a burnt-orange sky, with Vietnam War-era military helicopters flying through the air. Behind Trump to the right appears a large pillar of fire, suggesting the military helicopters have been dropping napalm on Chicago. In the text portion of the post appear the words: " 'I love the smell of deportations in the morning...' Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR" Three helicopter emojis follow the capitalized word "war."
September 8, 2025 at 1:53 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Come out and knock doors with Tiffany Kelly for Mayor of Gaithersburg!

TONIGHT & Fri 8/29, 6pm-8pm both days, Forest Oak Middle School, 651 Saybrooke Oaks Blvd

Sat 8/30 & Sun 8/31, 11am-1pm & 2pm-4pm both days, Gaithersburg High School, 101 Education Blvd
Campaign image of Tiffany Kelly, a candidate for Mayor of the City of Gaithersburg, announcing that she has earned the endorsement of Progressive Maryland. The log of Progressive Maryland appears next to her.
August 28, 2025 at 4:19 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Four years ago today, my mother passed away. She died of a heart attack after surgeries to restore bloodflow to an organ. Contributing factors included atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and diabetes.

I wrote this eulogy for her.

I love you, Mom. I miss you. I hope I'm making you proud.
"Love You Forever" Zach Wiita Eulogy for Deborah Brockhurst Memorial Service September 2, 2025 Good afternoon. I have been dreading this day for nine years, but once it came, I knew I had to speak. I wasn't sure what to say until I found this letter while cleaning Mom's apartment. It's dated September 1, 2014. I wrote it when my Aunt Lisa invited my mother to the Hand-in-Hand spiritual retreat weekend. I saw it and I realized that there was nothing I could say today that could top what I had already written to her—that everything I could possibly want to say, I had already written seven years ago. I apologize that it may take a minute to get through, but I’d like to read from the letter. I started off by talking about how I wasn't sure where to start, and then I got into the meat of the letter: * * * It is not in either of our natures to be emotionally demonstrative. We’re both, I think, somewhat reserved. This isn’t a bad thing—how often have we both been baffled by how much people over-react to minor things?—but I sometimes worry that it means maybe you don’t feel loved enough, that maybe there isn’t enough of the affection to override the inevitable times we bicker or fight as any parent and children do. And I know that sometimes you feel guilty over your own mistakes and your own self-perceived “inadequacies.” So I suppose I’m going to take this letter to make one thing clear: Every argument, every fight, every irritation—none of it matters in the long run. I know our relationship has had some definite down moments… but what matters to me is YOU. Having you in my life, being able to call on you for your counsel, your insight, your approval, your love. I have no higher loyalty in my life than you, Mom. I’ve been thinking a lot about that, actually. About guilt as it relates to loss. How could I not? As I write, it is the two-year anniversary of your stroke, of the day I came closest to losing you. Twice now, I’ve come close to losing you. First just a … teenager, you start to learn to see past the role and into the person—which, teenagers being teenagers, usually means you learn to see the faults that were invisible to you as a child, yet you remain oblivious to the virtues, to the wisdom, to the sacrifices made on your behalf. It’s only later, as an adult, that you can really see the person, the sum of their virtues and vices. It’s only later, as an adult, that you can really understand how unfathomably huge an undertaking it is to raise a child. How scary; how lonely; how uncertain. Only as an adult can you appreciate that your own parents must have been going through so much on their own, must have been learning and growing even as they helped you learn and grow. That they were trying their best yet must have felt like they were so far sometimes from the parents they themselves wanted to be. It’s only as an adult, capable of reflecting upon your own inadequacies, that you can appreciate the infinite love it really takes to raise a child. Children give their hearts freely to their parents, because it is all they know how to do. Good parents have had their hearts broken and tasted of life’s bitter promises, yet give their hearts to their children anyway. Is there anything more courageous? I know you’ve stumbled and fallen sometimes. But I want you to know this: When I sent you that Mother’s Day card the first time after the stroke, I meant it. I meant every word of what I wrote. Everything good in me comes from you, Mom. Everything decent, or honorable, or kind, or worthy, is something that I either inherited from you or learned from you growing up. You always insisted that I care about other people, that I try to think of how I would feel in their place when I decide how to treat them. That I live up to my potential in whatever areas I work in. That I develop my mind, my vocabulary. That I try to do the right thing. That I be fair and honest. That I learn from my mistakes, and from the mistakes of others wi… me when I was sick; who hugged me when I was lonely or scared; who worked so hard to give me so much joy, to make sure that I didn’t feel the limitations society had imposed on us. I see the person who’s worked so hard all her life to help me soar. I see the person who is still there for me when I stumble and fall, when my heart is broken, when I lose faith in myself. I see the most important person in the world. Two closing stories: One of my most vivid childhood memories is from when I was, I believe, five or six years old. We were still in the old apartment, before the remodeling. I think I had been sleeping in your bed. I woke up from a nightmare—I don’t remember what it was of—and I felt nearly inconsolable. I ran into the kitchen and then into the living room, where you were sitting on the couch. I was crying over the dream. It was Christmastime, and eventually you decided to try to help me feel better by giving me an early present: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comforter. It worked. Looking back on it now, I can only imagine how absurd the Turtles thing must have seemed to you—but somehow you knew that there was something about my attachment to the Turtles that would make me feel safe and loved. I still have that comforter somewhere, and I’ll never get rid of it if I can avoid it. Because it always reminds me of you, and of the night you tried so hard to help me feel better. This is the story I think of when I think of motherhood. Second story: In December of 2012, two months after your stroke, I was standing in line at Barnes & Noble. I had just been hired at the cinema, and I was in the midst of my first set of month-long sprints working 50-60 hours per week with no days off, making sure money was flowing to you while Grandma and the rest of the family helped with your medical and transportation needs. I had just gotten off work; I splurged a little bit and bought two Star Trek books. As I was standing in line waiting to pay, I noticed a display … mortality were just too on the mark. To this day now, I can’t see that book without it reminding me of how close I came to losing you, how precious our finite time together is—and how much I love you. You are Debbi Brockhurst, and you are my mother. I can see who you are, in and of yourself, and who you are, in your role to me. And I can see how the two are fused together in you. How Debbi Brockhurst will always be my mother. And will always try to help me, to guide me, to make life’s burdens easier on me. And I’ll always try to do the same for you. I’m so glad we still have so many years together. I’m so glad to have you in my life. I’m so glad you raised me. I’m so glad you are my mother. Thank you, for everything, and for everything good in me. Love you forever, Zach
August 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
We have marched down U Street and shut down traffic.
Photo of a Free DC march down U Street. Photo of a Free DC march down U Street
August 24, 2025 at 12:39 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Photo of a hand-drawn sign with pink letters and stars reading "FUCK TRUMP!"
August 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Photo of a large red balloon with the handwritten words "Free DC!"
August 23, 2025 at 11:46 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Large Free DC protest against the Trumpist occupation at 14th & U. We're being cheered by a metric crapton of cars and passers-by. Cops stationed at the end of every block nearby but keeping their distance so far.

Things like this give me hope that the American people will not surrender to fascism.
Photo of a large Free D.C. protest against the Trumpist occupation at 14th and U on 8/23/3025. Photo of a large Free D.C. protest against the Trumpist occupation at 14th and U on 8/23/3025. Photo of a large Free D.C. protest against the Trumpist occupation at 14th and U on 8/23/3025.
August 23, 2025 at 11:37 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Team Tiffany Kelly is knocking doors again!

- Thurs 8/21 & Fri 8/22, 6pm-8pm: MARC Metropolitan Grove Park & Ride, 2 Metropolitan Ct

- Saturday 8/23 & Sunday 8/24, 11am-1pm & 2pm-4pm. Joint canvasses with the Omo Williams campaign! Forest Oak Middle School, 651 Saybrooke Oaks Blvd
Group of 11 canvassers for Tiffany Kelly for Mayor of Gaithersburg and Omo Williams for City Council Five canvassers for Tiffany Kelly for Mayor of Gaithersburg
August 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Screenshot of a post made by Zach Brand-Wiita on Facebook on 12 August 2020. The bottom of the post features the Flag of the United Federation of Planets from 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘬, modeled on the Flag of the United Nations. The post reads: Listen, it may be silly, but even though it is a flawed work of corporate art with its share of problematic elements, the vision of a spacefaring, implicitly socialist, utopian future without racism, sexism, classism, or other forms of bigotry or oppression in the 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘬 franchise has meant a lot to me since I was a child. In the 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘬 novels, 12 August is Federation Day -- the anniversary of the founding of the United Federation of Planets, an egalitarian union of worlds, in 2161. The first book establishing this was published in 2006. Three years ago today, the alt-right tried to make 12 August their day. I'm glad they've lost that fight. I want 12 August to be my silly little geeky day to think about how a work of art imagines a better future. Happy Federation Day, y'all.
August 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Screenshot of a Threads post from user shawnamickauthor reading: Donald Trump just said New York City is next, after Washington D.C. He’s threateningto occupy New York City. Then he said Los Angeles. The President of the United States is threatening military force against our own people, in our own cities. To all of you claiming Washington D.C. was already under federal control, what do you say now?
August 11, 2025 at 5:23 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
The people united will never be defeated.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.
Photo of a crowd protesting against Trump's takeover of the DC Police and deployment of the National Guard. Signs reading "FREE DC - RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES," "#TimeToResist," "No Fascist Takeover of DC," and "Trump Must Go" are visible. The north front of the White House is visible between trees.
August 11, 2025 at 3:16 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
6 January 2021: Trump insists he can do nothing to stop the crowd attempting a coup that he incited, waits most of a day before activating the D.C. National Guard against a legitimate threat.

11 August 2025: Crime is at a 30-year low, but Trump insists he has to deploy the National Guard.
Photo of a mob of Trump coup supporters outside the besieged United States Capitol on 6 January 2021.
August 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Kent State University School of Theatre & Dance reunion!

Congrats to @kingrichardthenerd.bsky.social for a wonderful production of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵 at Hood College!
Photo of myself and Richard at his show.
August 10, 2025 at 1:57 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Screenshot of a post on Threads from user "powermacuser12" reading: After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Ukraine had the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. In exchange for Ukraine giving up those weapons, the US, UK & Russia agreed to secure Ukraine’s borders. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, they agreed they would not use military force or economic coercion against Ukraine. Russia violated that agreement with its 2014 & 2022 invasions & does not deserve an invitation to meet with a US president or to land on US soil.
August 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
We are now at the "major regime critics being driven out of the mainstream media" phase of the fascist takeover process, in case you were wondering.

And furthermore, Trumpism must be destroyed.
Screenshot of a Washington Post article headline and lead photo. The headline reads: "Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' canceled by CBS, to end in May 2026." Subheadline reads: "The announcement came days after Colbert spoke out against the $16 million settlement paid by CBS News parent Paramount to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump." Photo features Colbert mugging to the camera in front of his desk on the "Late Show" set.
July 18, 2025 at 2:09 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

Happy Bastille Day!
Contemporary painting of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.
July 15, 2025 at 1:42 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
[𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥] 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘕𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯."

-- Hunter S. Thompson, "He Was A Crook" (1994)

And furthermore, Trumpism must be destroyed.
United States Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), surrounded by journalists, looking horrified as if in guilt for realizing she has sold her soul to Mephistopheles in return for re-election by voting in support of Trump's budget.
July 2, 2025 at 8:25 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Publicity still of a euphoric Willem Dafoe from Robert Eggers's 2024 remake of 𝘕𝘰𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶. He is wearing a top hat and heavy overcoat, leaning back, mouth open in a happily maniacal cackle, his arms extended out in celebration. He stands against a firey cavernous backdrop. The caption reads: "WE ARE SO BACK."
June 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
𝘚𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩,
𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦,
𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳,
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
Photo of the Flag of Juneteenth flying outside my townhouse. The Flag of Juneteenth consists of an upper blue field and a lower, rounded red field. Overlaid in the center is a white five-pointed star surrounded by a a starburst pattern.
June 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
Some younger users are asking if the propaganda campaign to justify waging war upon Iraq in 2003 was as dumb as this Iran stuff.

To be clear: Republicans were literally calling them "freedom fries" instead of "french fries" bc France opposed the war.

And furthermore, Trumpism must be destroyed.
Vintage 2003 sign from a store reading: NO FRENCH PRODUCTS SOLD HERE "GOD BLESS AMERICA"
June 19, 2025 at 4:06 AM
zachbrand-wiita.bsky.social
The flags that appear in PRO "Supernova II" only have one ring, but they're like the "Star Gazer" flags in lacking a legend. The proportions are very different from a traditional flag though--maybe just take that as an element of animation stylization instead of binding "canon"?
Screenshot of a sequence from the first season finale of "Star Trek: Prodigy," "Supernova II." Against a dazzling sunset of blues, pinks, and reds stand a pyramidal building to the left and an inverted cylindrical building to the right. Around the cylindrical building are a ring of flag poles, each bearing the Flag of the United Federation of Planets. The Great Seal takes up most of each flag, and the flags are shorter horizontally than most flags.
June 15, 2025 at 7:25 PM