Don’t get me wrong, it warms me to so many throngs of people show up and carry signs.
And I certainly appreciate the sentiment. But what is the goal? We know Trump hates liberals and what they stand for. Trump will not change a thing due to protests.
By now things have gone too far (IMHO), and something needs to done to stop this dismantling of our government. I’m happy the protesters are making their displeasure known, but who are they appealing to?
As I said on the various threads touching on the 4/9 protests, a big part of it is showing that they are not alone. There is a visceral impact of being part of a physical crowd (not always in a good sense, granted) that evokes a feeling of shared power.
In Trump 2.0 it’s very easy to feel isolated, alone, and powerless, and just give up. Being part of something bigger can counteract it to a degree. And even in purple, or red areas (like my own Colorado Springs) seeing that the smirking majority can be challenged is worthwhile.
It also can make local powers hesitate to a degree. Sure, local upset is unlikely to unseat Trump anytime in the near future, but others still have to run for election. They may well be more circumspect if they are worried about losing their own upcoming elections.
So, small, but possibly cumulative benefits, even if not on a grand stage. But may, by the accumulation of many such, make a difference after all.
The protests are not aimed at those who want to turn America into a white nationalist dictatorship, or to cause trump to become filled with remorse for his sins. If they convince some sniveling trumptoady to hedge his bets, that’s a perk, but it is not the goal.
They are, essentially, enormous nation-wide political rallies. They are to convince the fence-sitters, the despairing, the frightened, that there is a fight to be won, and there are millions who are ready to man the barricades. The rallies are for us. Organization and strategy follow after, if they are going to follow at all.
I imagine the swayable middle and those Dems who are sort of “followers” (not everyone is a leader or gets out in front on issues). There are mid-terms next year, and the more sustained public anger there is on display toward what’s happening in DC, it may help create a bandwagon effect. People like to be part of something, and if that “something” is being a part of this very public and vocal “Vote For Dems” movement, that’s what we need. We also can’t just wait until next summer to start with the protests, it’s momentum-building.
I can see that. I didn’t mean to imply that it was a worthless endeavor, I’m just wondering who has the power to set up the barricades that we will be manning.
I believe that the majority of Americans are unable, or unwilling to consider that their Republic is in existential danger. For many, it’s hard enough to get through each day, live paycheck to paycheck, or to plan for the next big expense or emergency. They expect things to just continue on, the way it “always” has, outside of a more historically based perspective.
So they’ll never be manning the barricades.
The protestors, in large part (though there are enough driven by their own wedge issues and legitimate fear/hate) are acting for their own behalf, and to show solidarity and encourage those that may feel despair. But they’re largely working with the system as it stands: get out the vote, get people motivated, get donations/volunteers for the groups, and keep local/state/federal elected officials mindful of their needs.
I, much like you am worried that such efforts are doomed in light of the current administrations successful crippling of government oversight, the courts, and military adherence to the rule of law. But we largely aren’t at the stage where there’s search for a revolutionary leader. Which is at some level a good thing, because again, from the historical perspective, most of such who rise out of a violent desire to address such injustice become themselves a perpetrator of such.
Will we get there? My crystal ball is very cloudy, but in my darker moments, no, I expect we’ll go the route of pre-WW2 Germany. Too many people will just go along to get along. America has been too powerful, too wealthy, too smugly secure in it’s greatness for people to be willing to go out and suffer for it. The protestors (and I myself was at the 4/9 protests) are, as it were, fighting the Last War - and Trump and his ilk are ready, no, eager for the Next One, which will likely be done through military force unless we’re luckier than I expect.
I think this is true primarily because, though Trump is moving right along, the overthrow is happening just slowly enough that we are like the proverbial frogs in hot water. Before the election, if your crystal ball could have shown us where we are now, I doubt he would have been elected. You, would have been, in fact, quite shocked. But as it is, every day brings on new shenanigans and shrug it off as just another thing.
I think this is the crux of it. Sad, though.
A couple of relevant quotes on the futility of protesting:
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel
Reporter: “Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?”
A.J. Muste: "Oh I don’t do this to change the country. I do this so the country won’t change me.”
Nice. I hope this is the difference between us and 1933 Germany.
ETA: But I suspect there will be a lot of ‘just following orders’.
Anybody can set up a barricade. (Well, anybody reasonably able-bodied who can find a few sawhorses, or a pile of furniture, or a heap of building materials, or whatever.)
Who’s going to gender-neutral man them is the question. People who have seen their neighbors out on the street shouting and still alive are, I expect, more likely to do so. Whether the barricades are metaphorical or real.
Presuming that we get to have a midterm election – and they may not be far enough along by then to stop it – I suspect we’re also more likely to get candidates with some spines if they’ve been seeing serious signs of resistance; and more likely to get funding for those candidates; and so on. For a federal level election in the USA you now need to start work early; waiting till they’re about to announce the primaries won’t work.
There’s also some hope that it’ll encourage spines in some of those already in office. A lot of them are lost causes but not all of them are. Problem is that right now convincing 49% or even 50% of them isn’t much practical help. Though encouraging the judges may be of some help. – and keeping that 40+ percentage convinced may be crucial if we can manage to add to it in the midterms. Wouldn’t help much to add a few Democrats to the House and/or Senate if in the meantime too many of the ones in there have gotten in the habit of caving.
The complete reversal of the destructive policies of the Trump administration and the removal of Trump from office.
Are these realistic aims for demonstrations of this size? No not at all. But that is the aim, and all it would take to achieve (or at least make it a realistic possibility) is to grow the demonstrations by a factor 10x to 100x
This doesn’t really address the OP. Of course people are unhappy with Trump’s policies. Of course they are protesting in hopes that they stop. But what is the mechanism by which rallies cause this to happen?
Trump has a “trifecta” of governmental control after his Republican party won the House of Representatives, the Senate and the presidency. Also, six of the nine members of the US supreme court are appointees of Republican presidents.
You say, “all it would take to achieve this is to grow the demonstrations by a factor 10x to 100x” to remove Trump from office. Let’s say for argument’s sake the crowd did grow by 10x. Who, exactly, is going to remove Trump?
To my mind, the protests on the ground here in a mostly red part of now-almost-purple NJ serve a number of functions. First, as mentioned, showing us that we are NOT alone in this environment is of huge value. Yesterday I witnessed people arriving at a small May Day protest and seeing folks they recognized but with whom they had never discussed politics. There were lots of smiles of recognition and I think it made both of the people just a little stronger when it happened.
Also, the importance of bringing Democrats out to vote can’t be overstated. And around here there’s a very strong push to get people to come out and RUN. Yesterday two candidates for town council spoke, and said there hadn’t been a Democrat on their town council in 50 years. Well, this year they have a fighting chance because of events like this. (I was even motivated to put my hat in the ring for our town’s rep on the county Democratic Committee. No one has run for that spot in many years so it’s been vacant. Well, not THIS time!)
And maybe I’m naive, but I truly believe protesting voices DO make a difference in terms of policy. As scared as Repubs are of being primaried from the right, there are plenty of places where reps could literally be voted out by the left. These protests make that just a little more possible and so might very well break the dam of Congressional Republican insanity.
Protestors aren’t expecting anything to happen overnight. But all of these voices together WILL make a difference at the midterms, and possibly before if we keep getting louder.
Very well said. Thank you.
I’ve been doing one most weeks. We are instructed to not respond to boo-ers and hecklers, aggressive middle fingers and what not. We haven’t been chanting or singing. I think this is step one and it’s about visibility. We’re here, we’re not going anywhere, we’re normal-looking Americans, not unseemly outside agitators. Like you can get on Fox news and say it’s paid protests, but if you recognize people in your town/city/neighborhood, you know it’s not true.
And really pushing the peaceful visibility doesn’t offend the apolitical people. We’re just out there, chilling on a spring morning. We’re not blocking traffic, doing other things that while get attention, really upset people.
I do think the next step will be minor disruption, non-violent disruption. Not for everyone, sure. But standing outside with a “deport doge” sign isn’t going to be a good strategy for the next 40+ months.
One, quasi realistic outcome, would be to convince some congressmen in swing districts that they are more likely to lose a general election by going along with Trump than to lose a primary by opposing him. Notice how many congressmen are declining to hold town meetings.
We were chanting, some of the time. But we were very definitely not blocking traffic; including not blocking or insisting on talking to the occasional person who walked through us while clearly just trying to cross the street (and succeeding unimpeded in doing so.) And we mostly didn’t respond to middle fingers – a couple of people started to and were encouraged by the organizers not to do so.
We had counter-protestors today! A really loud obnoxious older white dude with a megaphone and a companion. He insulted us, taunted us, and we all ignored him. He seemed to get the normal people just driving by all worked up and they honked like crazy to drown him out. We had another couple white dudes in pickup trucks do circles around the block to yell at us and give us the finger and stuff. So we accomplished really pissing off MAGA people, and giving people who are on our side who don’t feel the urge to protest something to hate. We looked so normal and quaint compared to the foaming-at-the-mouth-monsters. It really showed everyone else “Which side are you on?”