There isn't much to smile about these days when it comes to politics, but amidst the chaos and the horror of immigrants being barred from entry and others being rounded up and deported, among a dozen other Trumpian horrors, there were signs that the resistance is starting to take it beyond the streets, right up into the faces of Republican officials.

All over the country, citizens have started to show up to stand up at GOP town meetings, district offices and even outside of their private residences in a bold attempt to register their objections to the Republican agenda and the administration's executive orders.

Watching an unctuous camera hog like Congressman Jason Chaffetz get roasted by his own Utah constituents for refusing to investigate Donald Trump's flagrant conflicts of interest and intent to destroy the Affordable Care Act was inspiring. Similar scenes are happening everywhere, along with demonstrations and protests and calls, letters, postcards, and emails from millions of Americans. The Resistance is real.

There are dozens of different groups forming to help people organize in varying ways, from knitters to local activists to cross-national cooperatives. And there are groups like Blue America which have been resisting the conservative agenda for over a decade. As you know, we work to elect progressive fighters who aren't afraid to take on bullies— whether they're wealthy reality show cretins, neo-fascist propagandists, or rabid blue dog pets of Wall Street's masters of the universe. And right now we couldn't be prouder of our Blue America slate of worthy incumbents who have come out swinging to bravely lead The Resistance from inside the congress.

You can donate to the members of that list here.

They're all great, from Keith Ellison who boldly went on social media on Friday to urge people to take to the streets to fight this new deportation order to Mark Pocan who was one of the first to invoke the "I-word" (impeachment) on the House floor earning him a rebuke from the chair, (a badge of honor in this environment.) But nobody has taken on the mantle of leader of The Resistance with more flair and creativity than Congressman Ted Lieu of California.

Congressman Lieu is a cool and serious man, gifted with intellect, strategic savvy and moral commitment. He's not a gadfly or a bomb thrower. He's an effective legislator whose seen as someone who is destined for big things. And he's taking it right to Trump.

As you know, Twitter is the social medium of the moment and Ted is so good at it that LA Magazine called his twitter feed "a beacon of light in the post-election darkness" and observed that he's "positioning himself as a real leader of the resistance." His tweets are funny and razor sharp. Take the tweet pictured on the right, for instance:

The New York Times editorial board noted last week that Ted and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts have introduced legislation to prohibit any president from launching a first-strike nuclear weapon without a declaration of war from Congress, a shocking but necessary proposal under the circumstances. Ted introduced a statement calling for the firing of General Michael Flynn as National Security adviser and has announced plans to require the White House to employ a psychiatrist.

Joy Reid tweeted the following quote from Ted's appearance on her Sunday show out to all her followers:

Donald Trump is a danger to the Republic. We can have disagreements on tax policy or on health care. But when the president of the United States is pushing away our European allies by saying NATO is obsolete and encouraging Russian aggression, that is a threat to America. When an American president offends leaders of Mexico and Australia, that is a threat to America and we just need to make sure we push back on the extremeness of Donald Trump.

These pushbacks from Lieu are provocative to be sure. But they are necessary to keep the Democratic Party from normalizing the abnormal and reassuring the people that our elected representatives are seeing what we are seeing and are doing everything they can to resist.

Congressman Ted Lieu has been a Blue America leader since he announced his run for congress to succeed the legendary Henry Waxman and we couldn't be more proud to support him.

If you agree that we need this kind of leadership— now more than ever before, you can contribute to Ted Lieu and the others on our list of “Voices of the Resistance,” here. Let's have their backs.