# So what is the womens' march supposed to accomplish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 22, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822 "2017-01-22T13:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/181 "2017-01-24T04:06:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > […] yet another lefty show of rage that claims to be more than it is. 😕 I repeat: where are you getting this vaguely articulated notion about what the WMW “claimed” to be? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/182 "2017-01-24T04:54:38Z")
From the Central Committee. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/183 "2017-01-24T05:38:02Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What do you guys think: [Did Madonna win herself a visit from the Secret Service](http://redalertpolitics.com/2017/01/21/madonna-march-considered-blowing-white-house-video/)? Dang, that’s an interesting fight if they pursue it. Madge may be a bit creepy and slutty, but she’s a major creative talent, and a far bigger “celebrity” than the Donald. I hope they do prosecute her; they’ll have bitten off more than they can chew. You thought “Free Chelsea” was obnoxious? Madge is already a superstar. Locking her up would rock the world, and destroy Trump. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/184 "2017-01-24T05:41:36Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If they didn’t, as I said, their double standard makes them look frankly delusional. An elderly pop star admitting to thoughts of violent action which she immediately rejects and denounces is some kind of credible threat, while 2nd-Amendment preppers talking about “coups” aren’t? Puh-_lease_. :rolleyes: But, but, but, she’s a liberal! No, they have to do it; they have no choice. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/185 "2017-01-24T05:43:46Z")
Ah, I see. One thing I found interesting in the March was the prevalence of signs explicitly advocating for science. The WMW unity principles included support for environmental justice and safeguarding the environment, but there must have been as many as 1 in 100 or 200 signs directly emphasizing the need to resist suppression of science and research. The importance of related abstract concepts like truth and facts was also a very common theme. Some favorite examples: “What do we want? Evidence-based science! When do we want it? After peer review!” 😃 “Respect Science!” “Stand Up for Science” “Let’s Make America Think Again” “Facts Matter” That, I think, is ultimately going to be a problematic issue for the Republicans. They are steadily entrenching themselves as the recognized “anti-science” party, which is just fine with that segment of their electorate that mistrusts or despises science in general, but will be increasingly more awkward when it comes to dealing with reality, and with the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/186 "2017-01-24T05:56:10Z")
You think Trumps going to abolish the scientific method?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/187 "2017-01-24T05:59:21Z")
Of course since Trump just handed the Pacific to China on a platter; he might not need to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/188 "2017-01-24T06:01:30Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Dang, that’s an interesting fight if they pursue it. Madge may be a bit creepy and slutty, but she’s a major creative talent, and a far bigger “celebrity” than the Donald. I hope they do prosecute her; they’ll have bitten off more than they can chew. You thought “Free Chelsea” was obnoxious? Madge is already a superstar. Locking her up would rock the world, and destroy Trump. I’d be surprised, but I hope they do it too, and for quite opposite reasons. Far from “rock the world, and destroy Trump”, I imagine that locking up one aging celebrity would happen with relatively-little practical impact. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/189 "2017-01-24T06:08:35Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You think Trumps going to abolish the scientific method?:dubious: Insofar as it would require him to set any policies that his fundamentalist electoral base and industry cronies would disapprove of, absolutely. Of course, Trump can’t actually abolish the scientific method itself: he can simply direct his administrators to impede and ignore it as much as they can in the workings of US scientific agencies. [George W. Bush did the same, with considerable success.](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/408236/the-anti-science-president/) > [@](#): > > The Anti-Science President […] > > July 12, 2007 > > The news just gets worse about how politics has trumped [_no pun intended_] science throughout the current White House administration’s tenure. Pick a topic–embryonic stem cells, global warming, mercury levels in the environment–and on each one, this administration has denied science when it interfered with the president’s ideology. > > Now the former surgeon general, Richard Carmona, who held office from 2002 to 2006, is telling Congress in considerable detail how he was muzzled on everything from stem cells and sex education to a report on secondhand smoke. He was also told to mention President Bush at least three times on each page of every speech, and was directed to give speeches in support of Republican candidates. […] > > On issue after issue, Dr. Carmona asserted, the Bush administration made decisions about important public health issues based solely on political considerations, not scientific ones. > > “I was told to stay away from those because we’ve already decided which way we want to go,” Dr. Carmona said. > > He described attending a meeting of top officials in which the subject of global warming was discussed. The other officials concluded that global warming was a liberal cause and dismissed it, he said. […] > > Inevitably, facts have a nasty habit of being, well, real–for example, the fact that abortions do not cause breast cancer, despite a government website that kept making this claim against all scientific evidence. Or that carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rapidly rising. […] > > This is what is revealing about Carmona’s testimony to the Senate yesterday, which paints a picture of a surgeon general who was essentially told to ignore reality on many issues. For instance, he was simply told not to mention scientific studies that questioned a sex-education policy that relies solely on abstinence. […] > > Despite the president’s anti-science stances during his first term, George W. Bush was reelected in 2004, in part because science is seldom a determining factor in election outcomes. […] > > One can only hope that in 2008 science and facts have a bit more influence with both the candidates and the electorate. I don’t know about the electorate, but fortunately in 2008 we did end up with a candidate with an appreciation of science and facts, and a willingness to let scientific agencies pursue their activities under competent professional leadership according to the scientific method. Thank goodness **that** long national nightmare is finally over, eh? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/190 "2017-01-24T06:12:27Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’d be surprised, but I hope they do it too, and for quite opposite reasons. Far from “rock the world, and destroy Trump”, I imagine that locking up one aging celebrity would happen with relatively-little practical impact. :dubious: So, let me get this straight. Are you saying that you **do** think Madonna’s remarks were such a national-security threat that she deserves to be “locked up” for them? Or are you merely saying that you support the “locking up” of anti-Trump protestors on whatever flimsy pretext can be found that would play well with Trump’s base? Such civil liberties. So freedom. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/191 "2017-01-24T06:42:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > :dubious: So, let me get this straight. Are you saying that you **do** think Madonna’s remarks were such a national-security threat that she deserves to be “locked up” for them? Or are you merely saying that you support the “locking up” of anti-Trump protestors on whatever flimsy pretext can be found that would play well with Trump’s base? > > Such civil liberties. So freedom. I think a jury ought to decide if her comments were a violation of the law or not. At a glance, it would certainly seem to be along the same lines as [this man’s tweets](http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/11/fairview_park_man_tweets_donal.html#incart_river_home), and he got charged. As you might imagine, I detest special treatment for Hollywood’s elitist buffoons, so if prosecution is good enough for Mr. Benson, it ought to be good enough for Mrs. Ciccone. If a jury decides that either of them are guilty, then they ought to serve whatever punishment the judge deems appropriate, within the bounds of the law. Whether that were to end up being imprisonment, fines, community service, I’d defer to the judge on the case. I would oppose locking up anti-Trump protesters who don’t violate the law, just as I’d oppose locking up any protester that was expressing their opinion within the bounds of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/192 "2017-01-24T06:57:40Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think a jury ought to decide if her comments were a violation of the law or not. At a glance, it would certainly seem to be along the same lines as [this man’s tweets](http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/11/fairview_park_man_tweets_donal.html#incart_river_home), and he got charged. :dubious: Seriously? You think this: > [@Zachary Benson](#): > > “Diplomacy. F—ing fools. I hate you all. I want to bomb every one of your voting booths and your general areas.” > > “My life goal is to assassinate Trump. Don’t care if I serve infinite sentences. That man deserves to decease existing.” is really “along the same lines” as [this](http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a42336/madonnas-womens-march-speech-transcript/)? > [@Madonna](#): > > Welcome to the revolution of love. […] The revolution starts here. The fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal. Let’s march together through this darkness and with each step. Know that we are not afraid. That we are not alone, that we will not back down. That there is power in our unity and that no opposing force stands a chance in the face of true solidarity. […] > > Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: We must love one another or die. > > I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love. We choose love. We choose love. You are sincerely maintaining that you think a literal _assassination threat_ with no retraction or apology (until the agents caught up with him in person, that is), is “along the same lines” as a speaker admitting that she had some violent _fantasies_ of assassination **that she immediately rejected and denounced in favor of a commitment to love and hope**? **HurricaneDitka** , you disappoint me. That’s a truly Trumpian level of false equivalence. [QUOTE=HurricaneDitka] As you might imagine, I detest special treatment for Hollywood’s elitist buffoons [/quote] On the contrary, sounds like special treatment is exactly what you’re in favor of, as long as the treatment is specially bad. Either that, or you literally cannot tell the difference between actually **threatening** assassination and **renouncing and denouncing** assassination. I’m astounded that you can seriously try to portray those two sets of remarks as basically equivalent, when they’re fundamentally **opposites**. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/193 "2017-01-24T07:06:19Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You think Trumps going to abolish the scientific method?:dubious: Are you honestly not aware that the GOP has been hostile to science, especially as it relates to climate change? You seem to have this narrow lane of things people are allowed to be upset about the Trump administration and you’re the keeper of valid outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/194 "2017-01-24T21:10:49Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Read the comment to which I was responding. Still waiting for a response to my question whether you seriously think Obama’s presumed lying rises to Trumpian levels. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/195 "2017-01-24T22:06:15Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > The Bible says nothing about abortion. [Ordeal of the Bitter Water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordeal_of_the_bitter_water) TL;DR - If you think your wife cheated on you and suspect the baby isn’t yours take her to the temple and make her drink a potion. If nothing happens, it’s all gravy. If she’s a no good dirty whore then God will make her miscarriage. Amen. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What do you expect when you let a bunch of _women_ organize a woman’s rally, right guys? [Man Finally Put In Charge Of Struggling Feminist Movement](http://www.theonion.com/article/man-finally-put-in-charge-of-struggling-feminist-m-2338) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/196 "2017-01-24T23:13:14Z")
for historical reference - > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Forgive me, I didn’t realize it was my responsibility to explain to you the goals of the protests. But then you’d just spend your time telling us how unrealistic and futile they are, so why bother? (post shortened, underline added) for historical reference - > [@doorhinge](#): > > It’s not your responsibility, but it is the theme of this thread. > > **So what is the womens’ march supposed to accomplish?** (post shortened) > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Ah, the peanut gallery pipes up. Maybe you should read the document laying down those goals (cited above). (post shortened) Maybe you should have read the title of this thread? Or your thread? You said you didn’t realize it was your responsibility to explain the goals of the protests in a thread that asked, “So what is the womens’ march supposed to accomplish?” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/197 "2017-01-24T23:55:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > They’ve investigated similar comments, mostly made by triggered leftist morons who probably don’t have actual intentions of acting on them, in the past Wait wait wait. It is your serious claim that leftists make more presidential death threats than right wingers!? You are aware that we just had a black president, right? I would love to see your cite on this. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/198 "2017-01-25T01:33:45Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Wait wait wait. It is your serious claim that leftists make more presidential death threats than right wingers!? > > You are aware that we just had a black president, right? > > I would love to see your cite on this. Sorry for the poor wording in my post. I didn’t mean to sound like I was claiming that liberals make more death threats than conservatives. I’m not trying to make that claim. The cites I had handy were all individual examples of anti-Trump death threats, presumably by liberals. I’m confident that the Secret Service spent much of the last 8 years investigating threats mostly by conservatives, and the 8 years before that investigating threats mostly by liberals, etc. I don’t know which side has the highest total overall, don’t have a cite for it, and truly don’t know where, if anywhere, that sort of information would be tabulated. And yes, I have some inkling that our previous president was black. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/199 "2017-01-25T02:39:23Z")
Then we have not labored in vain. Baby steps are still steps. ---
**Author:** ![ocgypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ocgypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ocgypsy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/200 "2017-01-25T05:00:06Z")
Alternative facts is the best, can’t wait for SNL next week! re: Tea Party gettin er done vs the women’s march Koch Bros savvy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822.md?page=11)