dagblog - Comments for "Take Action on the Muslim Ban: Stop Sessions"

Somehow the message has come

rmrd0000 — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 19:51:25 +0000

In reply to This dry powder attitude is

Somehow the message has come across that movements the Civil Rights movement were considered honorable and the participants were praise. King was despised as were the demonstrators. They were disruptive.

http://www.theroot.com/mlk-would-never-shut-down-a-freeway-and-6-other-m...

This dry powder attitude is

chewbacca — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 14:07:24 +0000

In reply to My first reaction like those

This dry powder attitude is exactly what got us into this mess.

Instead, pledge that from now until the day Trump is out, you will dedicate half an hour to activism. This can be very simple. Make calls, write letters, call out lies on message boards. Or march, run for office, etc. But the bottom line is, we have to stop pretending like we will be able to sit back if we want a functioning democracy.

Protest fatigue is only a thing if your cause is wrong; if you highlight a worthy cause, the movement will grow and get stronger.

I have a feeling with this cabal, this is going to resolve relatively quickly.

There are still people being

rmrd0000 — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 13:44:34 +0000

In reply to On the above:

There are still people being held illegally. Protests put pressure on Trump. At some point the courts will become the primary venue. I remind you that Trump is actively attacking the environment, something you hoped would not happen. Confrontation is the only way to deal with a bully. Protests are supposed to make people uncomfortable. You argument parrots that of the wingnuts at Breitbart

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/30/anti-trump-protests-b...

Edit to add:

Sean Spicer tells us that detainees should not complain.

It is more likely that detainees will be released by continuing pressure than by appeasement.

On the above:

Flavius — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 04:04:53 +0000

In reply to Take Action on the Muslim Ban: Stop Sessions

On the above:

1. The airport demonstrations were great.It would have been unpatriotic, a failure in our duty to the country not to have forcefully demonstrated against this anti-american/discriminatory order.

They should stop now. Any one who misses a flight Wednesday will become a Trump supporter if she isn't already.

2. Resistance to any of his cabinet selections is OK and in the case of Sessions is absolutely required. As many of you say, it encourages our side. With no downside, it's expected. But across the board " no" votes are less effective than sensible discrimination. See Sheldon Whitehouse in TPM

3.Tomorrow we'll learn Trump's Supreme Court Nominee . Who should be filibustered unless Schumer trades an agreed termination as part of preserving the filibuster for the coming Obamacare-replacement debate. Getting that right means real human lives will be saved , defeating tomorrow's Nominee just delays the inevitable.

The real solution is three more Democrats 21 months from now. Which increases in probability pari passu with the extent to which we confine our resistance in the interim to the interior of the Capitol rather than pavements there or elsewhere.

Did the GOP worry about

CVille Dem — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 19:25:52 +0000

In reply to This is an outrage but there

Did the GOP worry about losing votes when they openly defied everything that president Obama tried to get through, even if they would ordinarily be in favor of it? Did they worry that they would lose the Senate or the House because of their outrageous stalling on the Supreme Court? Did they worry when they shut down the government over health care, even though it was a wildly unpopular act?

I'm not talking about tit for tat, but really, each of these issues is serious. Every single one, and we really need to make the Democrats in Congress know that there will be consequences if they don't start standing up for themselves, for us, and for our ideals. On the contrary, I think if we keep this up, and keep the pressure going, there will be more Democrats who will get up off their sofas to vote on an off-year. Independents.as well, and perhaps even sane and honest Republicans (I'm sure there are a few.)

A significant number of

rmrd0000 — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 19:00:02 +0000

In reply to ... don't be naive - no time

A significant number of people realize that Trump is nuts. We need ongoing protests to make sure that Trump is not made normal. He is defying court orders. He has white supremacists in positions of power. If we are not going to reject him now, when would we raise or voices. A significant chunk of the public will always back Trump. Protests cannot be halted for fear of alienating a group of people who would back everything that Trump does. The way to lose is to remain silent. Silence will lead to voters giving up hope. The biggest complaint I hear is why aren't Democrats making a bigger fuss about Trump's crap. The percentage complains about blocked airport traffic is small.

... don't be naive - no time

barefooted — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 18:25:42 +0000

In reply to Referring to a post elsewhere

... don't be naive - no time for that no more.

Have you ever really wanted to believe something was a conspiracy theory but the crazy part of your brain had to accept the possibility it might be true? Try this on for size.

Referring to a post elsewhere

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:45:00 +0000

In reply to Take Action on the Muslim Ban: Stop Sessions

Referring to a post elsewhere on Orwell and the current crisis, Trump is jus a reprobate - liberals are the enemy.

Ben Carson is more clueless than callous.

Comey, despite my everlasting hatred, may be better than any possible Bannon-inspired replacement.

Even Sessions is half-way old school, but in his case I'd can him if possible.

But the most important question is "why?" For what reason, what strategy, what outcome.

Our goals at this point are 1) regain some element of representational power by 2018 (google Swing Left), 2) make it acceptable and appropriate for less manic Republicans to join the complaints about Trump, and 3) limit the extent of damage until 4) Trump can be replaced (3 months, 6 months, 4 years, 8 years).

I don't need or want any "symbolic" victories - I want actual embarrassments to his own side. I want them to be ashamed of Trump, find him unacceptable. I want them to see Democrats as preferable to old Mad Donald.

The less reason to think about Democrats the better. Let them own it. If they think or us, they gain breathing room, room to think, room to dissimulate, to find justification.

Talked to my mom a couple days ago - she made some wry comment about how it's going over there if the "media can be trusted". Note the framing. Someone publishe a piece on a "project" to figure out why women voted for Trump - 7 examples of really vague and unconvincing patter - people who wereupset about liberal posturing but couldn't do the slightest bit of homework to figure out what might be true, might be really really dangerous.

Days before the election I talked with a half Hispanic girl, college student from Texas - not voting because she couldn't trust the Hillary "lies". They'd eroded her confidence - they didn't need her to vote - not voting is half a vote.

Think smarter. Fucking around with wishful posing isn't a luxury we have anymore. We are seriously at a disadvantage. We can recover, but not as naïve dilettantes.

I don't know if resisting them all is a good strategy vs selectively resisting. But I do know that not considering the fine points is a huge mistake.

The Undivisible Guide talks about "just say no" to emulate the Tea Party's success - but they have reasons. Explicitly elaborate the "why". Anticipate the outcome and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th outcomes. All are possible. All will generate their own set of butt-hurt. In case I didn't mention it, don't be naïve - no time for that no more.

Trump is attacking McCain and Lindsey Graham right now. Perfect. Help keept it up. Yeah, m not their biggest fans either, but they're 500% better than Bannon's bunch.

Flavius, Democrats are not

rmrd0000 — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:09:11 +0000

In reply to This is an outrage but there

Flavius, Democrats are not going to have major clout in the Congress. They need to show their supporters that they have a backbone so that Democratic voters are encouraged to come out in droves in the midterms.

You seem to hate conflict. You wanted to appease Trump so that he was gentle when it came to the environment. You thought Ivanka would speak up. One of the first things Trump did was to remove the section on Climate Change from the White House website. He then made an executive order to restart construction on pipelines. Passivity will not work.

Thanks, Flavius. I'd say

Doctor Cleveland — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:04:11 +0000

In reply to My first reaction like those

Thanks, Flavius. I'd say three things:

First, we do have to pick our battles, but for the reasons outlined above I would say fighting his Attorney General nomination is a crucial battle. He is going to put some terrible people, including some fools, in Cabinet positions. He already has. We can't stop them all. But if I had to choose between blocking ONLY his Attorney General, and letting all the other fools and knaves into his Cabinet, or blocking every Cabinet nominee BUT the Attorney General, I would block the Attorney General.

Second, the Supreme Court nominee is also crucial. But this particular line of attack on Sessions tees up a similar attack on the SCOTUS pick. If Sessions gets denied over this issue, then the SCOTUS pick will be forced to answer questions about it. If Sessions gets a free pass, then the SCOTUS pick will, too.

Third, we are not the only ones who might run out of energy. It's important to deal Trump major losses early in the game. Saving our powder until he has serious momentum would be a bad mistake. It's important to hobble him as much as we can right now, so that his support peels away. It's easier to get Republicans to vote against a President's policies when that President looks weak and unpopular than when he seems to be on a winning streak.