But seriously (and keeping us on subject) I think that Elon is key to the success of this, if not in a way he would enjoy.
Sure, it’s bad in that the constant focus of loathing on Elon (fully earned of course) lets many of Trump’s outrages pass without notice, or, rather, without the notice that their serious nature deserves.
But it’s good that outside a certain group of wealthy tech-bros and wannabees, there are a number of conservatives that feel comfortable hating on -Elon- especially once he targets their favorite government funded interest. It’s a way to drive even the slightest wedge between their unthinking reverence to Trump and to anyone with an (R) behind their name to a lesser extent.
Events like “Hands Off!” might let those people learn just a bit more about what’s going on beyond just said wedge issue. And at this point, I’ll take what chances I can get!
While protests like this will have zero effect on Trump and the MAGA cult, what they may do is drive more cracks into the already cracking Trump support among Congressional Republicans, and help convince them that unswerving loyalty to the recklessly rampaging Orange Tyrant is not, in fact, in their best interests.
Good luck with that; even the not-fully-bought-into-MAGA Republicans who have not been purged from the GOP are so absolutely cowed by what has been done to their more ‘moderate’ (even if highly conservative) compatriots that they aren’t going to stand up to anything beyond making performative ‘concerned’ faces. That Liz Cheney effectively caucused with the Democrats (and has been effectively drummed from Republican ranks despite her uberconservative credentials), and the likes of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have been run out on a rail (not to mention the performative censure of Cindy McCain who had no apparent designs on office and whose only offense is being the widow of John McCain, who might as well be a ‘Marxist’ in modern GOP parlance) tells you everything you need to know about the potential for resistance from within. If it were possible, it would already have happened.
Yeah. The present Republican “leadership (to use the term loosely” is the result of multiple rounds of political purity tests and terrified of the MAGA cult. Both physically and politically. And the Republicans were unwilling/unable to stand up to Trump even as far back as 2016. They’ve got no spine and no pride, they’ll knuckle under if Trump so much as looks at them.
The Trusk Administration and MAGA are chomping at the bit to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and and impose martial law. This EO says:
Sec. 6. (b) Within 90 days of the date of this proclamation, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a joint report to the President about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.
90 days from the date it was signed will be April 20, 2025. Any excuse they can find to invoke the Insurrection Act anywhere, the border or Blue cities and states, is likely to happen at some point and they may well use these protests as the reason to act.
To be clear: I’m not saying these protests shouldn’t happen. But I think they are very eager to use peaceful protests as events allowing them to act. In the mind of MAGA, resistance IS violence.
This could turn very ugly and violent very quickly.
If an explicitly non-violent set of marches and protests are the pretext they choose, then if anything it’s better to bring it to a head before Trump has more time to replace judges, more military officers, and further damage our protections. The MAGA/Conservative agenda is a LOT more likely to succeed via the boiled frog scenario than the sudden early coup scenario. In fact, as recent events have proven, it’s Trump’s impulsiveness, and unconsidered actions that are helping to promote protest.
Which, to be clear, doesn’t mean you’re wrong about the risk! But again, I think he’ll have less success doing so this month, than he might two years from now.
Honestly, I’m far more worried about lone-wolf acts of violence, whether a nut-job with a gun, or someone looking to be famous with a vehicle and a lead foot. But I’ll be going on Saturday unless the weather turns worse than expected (Colorado Springs front range weather means April 5 is expecting a HIGH of 37F, with snow )
Me neither, but I’d remind folks that the anti-war protests led directly to two terms of Nixon, a war that didn’t end for a decade, and almost certainly led to two terms of Reagan and planted the seeds of where we are now among the 80s Republicans.
I’m not saying not to protest, I am saying don’t think for a moment that the people that can turn this around care even the tiniest bit about you and what you want.
TBH, I don’t expect protests to be particularly useful on the national level. The crazies are in control there. What I -do- hope, is that in this pretty red city of my light blue state, that it will keep the local and state government from considering the path of least resistance when pressure comes from Felon47.
Protests and rallies empower and embolden other ordinary citizens to participate, to contact their representatives, and in turn to empower fence-sitting elected officials to consider going against the administration. We’re already seeing this start to happen.
Here’s what Cory Booker said about the power of protesting:
Wow, so you’re saying that Nixon and Reagan were re-elected because of the protests? And I suppose if there hadn’t been any protests they would have lost?
If you see things you don’t like are happening and try to fight them, you may not win. But you might.
But if you just give up and don’t even try to fight, you can’t win.
Elon seems to be acting as a sacrificial anode for trump, burning out what was left of his reputation in the course of protecting trump from the worst of any blame. But, that’s one thing trump has always been good at-- surrounding himself with fall guys.
Yeah. Do you think the protests, especially the '68 Democratic Convention, helped get anyone other than Nixon elected?
Do you not think that the faux hyper-patriotism of Reaganism wasn’t a direct response to everything even slightly related to the anti-war movement?
However, the April 5 timing. is good. Trump is least popular on tariffs, and I presume that, given the recency of tariff news, that will be the focus of most speeches.
Potentially, protests that are non-violent and tell average Americans that what they already believe is correct could help a tiny bit.
Average Americans think the exporting country pays tariffs. Maybe that’ll change once prices go up . . . who am I kidding any rise in prices is Biden’s fault.
Polls have repeatedly found that tariffs are unpopular. So the people opposed to them may be pleasantly surprised to learn even better reasons for being against them.
Tell people what most already believe may work. I think Martin Luther King Jr did that before passage of civil rights bills.
Media environment is of course crucial. One extremist soundbite media emphasize can spoil a lot. To the extent that Trump has captured elites and the media, protest will fail. While a few extremely brave people did protest in Nazi Germany, it was not a good idea. Secretly protecting vulnerable individuals was a much better idea. Good news is that I think our media is still mostly independent of the regime.
Yeah. I wonder how many are going to show up down here in Pueblo, but I’ve signed up. I’ve never done a protest before, so I guess I’ll be able to check it off my bucket list.
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