People working in the White House seem to be indicating that trump does not know what he is doing. He has learned little about how tariffs work since his first term and does not understand that it is a tax on Americans and only serves to create higher prices, lose many American jobs, and make adversaries out of America's closest allies. But trump does not seem to care. Republicans in Congress don't understand that trump is an unhinged, mentally unbalanced, cruel egoist whose skill is repeating lies until naive people believe those lies are true. We must frighten Republican incumbents into believing they may lose their position unless they resist the damage trump is doing to our formerly great country and remove him from office.
Trump and Musk are chaos agents. Their endgame is a kleptocracy where the state becomes a never ending source of wealth. Protests are great, but we cannot continuously react to Trump's never ending gaslighting. We need to be more than the anti-Trump people. We should be building a permanent organization that will organize protests, but also create a vision for a post Trump world. It should set the political agenda. It could go even beyond that and engage in mutual aid and be a source of community in a fractured nation.
Democrats will get in in 2026. In the meantime, they will slow everything down as much as they can and protests are a huge part of that. But also this movement was unplugged because a lot of Republicans are waking up to the damage being done to their personal lives. They were fine with it, thinking it was other people. When Democrats are in Trump and his officers will be impeached. You and I see different paths. The constitution will be amended to prevent this from happening again.
Just back from protest in Manhattan. Observations:
1) I stood on the side of 5th ave for about half and hour and counted. Virtually no Black people (same at the Women's day march last month from Wash Sq to Union). At a recent meeting of Indivisible Manhat. someone asked what outreach had been done to young people and speakers of other languages; answer: none (said acknowledging a shortcoming)
2) almost no police presence. A cop I asked claimed it was because of defunding.
I made a point of thanking the four cops at the Brooklyn Tesla protest a couple of weeks ago; whatever you think of policing during the summer of '20, this is a different world, and anywhere bridges can be built they have to be
3) signs against and for many things, but no signs about cuts to the VA or firing of veterans (especially by two men who both avoided military service). Many police have come through the military.
2) and 3) suggest areas for engagement, especially with veteran overrepresentation in other government departments. As gratifying as many signs were for me (Trump and Musk as Nazis, very credibly rendered; my personal favorite: "fuck this shit"), thinking about the imagery created and how it might play outside of blue cities is worth consideration
I just posted this comment in a NY Times article on the loss of working class/middle class restaurants. I'm hoping it will inspire Micah or someone else here to get active with this kind of thing:
When I did volunteering for a local Methodist church that invited my wife and I to present contemplative practices from all over the world, i learned something remarkable:
John Wesley (the original “Methodist”) found the conventional British church environment to be utterly uninspiring. Instead of going to a church, he inspired people to get together in each others’ homes for shared meals.
Of course, this involved worship too, but since most Times readers probably don’t want that part, why not take what you can from this and try it out?
Some years back, my wife and I organized this in our East Village apartment building. The pot luck meals didn’t continue but the increased sense of being part of a community continued for many years.
We did something similar here in the condo building where we live, in a working class neighborhood (Shiloh) in Asheville. Again, we only did it on and off for about a year, but the willingness to share and help each other out has continued over the 10 years since we began.
Creating community - either in whatever restaurants are left or in each others’ homes - may be a form of resistance even more powerful than marches and protests.
Along with what we each can do to create community, I strongly suggest writing Michael Lewis (author of “Who is Government”) about creating a team to produce videos about the extraordinary people he writes of.
Let all US citizens know the government is us, and does not serve the oligarchy.
The NY Times also posted an op-ed today suggesting that Democrats are looking to the wrong people to lead the resistance. They suggest that disgruntled/outraged federal workers are the ones who are likely to be most passionate. They are even now engaging in protests with the aim of informing people of all the good work they do.
Since the McKinley era, the age of the robber barons, "Fake News" purveyors like William Randolph Hearst have been refining their propaganda for the oligarchy, and perhaps the single most dominant theme has been "Government bad, business good."
Wealthy corporate leaders hired libertarian (!!!?) economist Milton Friedman in the 1940s to help them craft a (fake news) response to the New Deal. Friedman helped them come up with an Ayn Rand inspired pastiche of free market, God, and country. It took 40 years to develop, but by the time Reagan's voodoo economics held sway, the establishment of the right wing disinformation network was well under way.
What we need:
(1) Daily (DAILY!!) videos with text at a 4th grade reading level, with charismatic individuals telling compelling stories that will help all US citizens understand the extraordinary good that government does for each of us, from the moment we wake up throughout the next 24 hours.
(2) Daily (DAILY!) videos (with the same characteristics as #1) refuting the inevitable lies and distortions the right wing media-sphere will create regarding the videos.
Write to Michael Lewis, get the Trillionaires (aspiring or, gulp, real ones) involved. EVERY citizen involved in the resistance can help, with suggestions, letters, etc.
Thanks Marian. And I think beyond what we can do in our own homes and communities, making it national - even world wide - what government does - what WE do, the human species, to serve each other. That's what government is ultimately about - simply a means to share, to help, to be kind, to love each other as our selves - as our deepest Self.
My 2 favorite moments at today’s protest in Keene, NH where well over 1000 people of all walks and ages gathered:
A white-haired woman accompanying an even older man on a walker were headed towards the protest and she said to him, “Dad, are we close enough”? He replied, “Closer” and kept turtling forward on his walker.
I’ve never been a fan of overt nationalist symbols such as flag-waving, but was incredibly moved when our entire 1000+ crowd began singing the national anthem together.
Good turnout in Gainesville Florida. I would estimate 500-750. Mostly white and mostly older, but many of the honkers were Black. Few if any students from UF, which is depressing. Not sure how much outreach was done there.
I loved our call and response with a five or six year-old protester. They were yelling out – "Tell me what democracy looks like" and everyone in the crowd, adults and children responding, "This is what democracy looks like."
Easily 1,000 people in downtown Burlington VT today, with 12 rallies around the state, and 20 Indivisible chapters now (most formed in last 2 months). Montpelier had 6,000 registered, but will undoubtedly be more!
I was at the Charlotte NC rally and march hosted by Indivisible Charlotte. Somewhere in the multiple thousands of attendees. Powerful speeches from people affected by the DOGE cuts and fearing cuts to Medicaid and more. The 1-mile march along Randolph Rd had so many protesters that the police just closed the road for 30-60 minutes.
Lots of great signs, chants, some singing. This let thousands of (yes, mostly white) Charlotteans see that we are turning out.
I was at the Washington Monument protest in DC—huge. At one point two national Park Service rangers in uniform walked through the crowd and got huge claps and cheers—the NPS has been gutted.
We went to the Boston hands off march. It was GREAT. Started at the commons pavilion with marching band inspirational horn blowing musicians kicking it off after a few speakers. Senator Ed Markey and other leaders led the march with everyone making an opening for disabled persons to go first. The signs were fantastic. Loved the way they stopped speeches to encourage people to introduce themselves to one another. We made our way down the closed off streets of downtown Boston to city hall. Once at city hall more great speeches were made. Once again encouragement to meet our fellow marchers. Mayor Wu and Ed Markey gave great speeches as did many others. To end the event just in time, as the rain came down was the Drop Kick Murphys. A wonderfully organized peaceful gathering with many like minded souls. Felt the love and a few hours of positive, empathetic encouragement for a change. Proud to have been in attendance!
I stood with over 500 from New Hampshire and Vermont as we protested along the bridges that connect our states. I was immensely proud of my fellow citizens.
I attended in Teaneck, Bergen County, NJ, about 15 miles from NYC. There were 1000 people there in the rain, mostly white and mostly older. They had a few speakers - no politicians or candidates, just local activists. The group then stood by the side of the road for awhile and waved signs, with lots of supportive honks. I did not see one counterprotester, not even a drive-by. Really great event.
Congrats to the NYT piece-- I hope you are right about the Fed work force!
Manhattan was like swimming in a giant sea. Didn't hear any speakers. Big union presence. But the whole body rolled along together, with chants, signs and powerful spirit. A highlight was hearing the Rude Mechanical orchestra play the "Internationale".
I’d estimate a few hundred in our Upstate South Carolina city. Speakers included trans, gay, young, Indian, others (I didn’t hear all). Crowd was mostly white and older, but not entirely. That is usually the case for any demonstration here, whatever size. My educated guess is fear of repercussions plays a big part. We marched from courthouse to town square for speeches, where we competed with a hog festival (meat, not live animals), then back.
Lots of supportive honks along the way, at least one guy shot us a bird, and a cyber truck drove by. Saw a city person of some sort observing us from a golf cart, but no police that I noticed.
As I walked by to my car, crossing a street, a young man or older teen leaned out of a car window and asked if I supported Trump. (I was wearing a “We Vote” T-shirt.) I said no, thought for half a second and crossed in front of the car.
FWIW, this state relies heavily on the auto industry. BMW has its largest plant in this county. The state is filled with tire manufacturing, associated auto manufacturing. I’m not an economist, but I can’t imagine the tariffs are welcome news here. Even if a part is made here, chances are components come from elsewhere, or the final product is bound for another market. At the very least, this state (like every other) depends on a healthy economy. Depressing retirement accounts and Social Security does not seem like a good strategy, especially in a state attracting retirees. Just my two cents.
Our event in DC had great speakers from a wide range of perspectives: unions, lawyers, healthcare workers & a particularly powerful speech from a vet whose lifesaving clinical trial wouldn't exist with the cuts the Trump-Musk billionaires are making in our government... this is event was also supported by a wide group of organizers. This is the beginning of something big.
People working in the White House seem to be indicating that trump does not know what he is doing. He has learned little about how tariffs work since his first term and does not understand that it is a tax on Americans and only serves to create higher prices, lose many American jobs, and make adversaries out of America's closest allies. But trump does not seem to care. Republicans in Congress don't understand that trump is an unhinged, mentally unbalanced, cruel egoist whose skill is repeating lies until naive people believe those lies are true. We must frighten Republican incumbents into believing they may lose their position unless they resist the damage trump is doing to our formerly great country and remove him from office.
He knows it is a power move and it puts him at the center of attention. I think that’s what he cares about most.
Trump and Musk are chaos agents. Their endgame is a kleptocracy where the state becomes a never ending source of wealth. Protests are great, but we cannot continuously react to Trump's never ending gaslighting. We need to be more than the anti-Trump people. We should be building a permanent organization that will organize protests, but also create a vision for a post Trump world. It should set the political agenda. It could go even beyond that and engage in mutual aid and be a source of community in a fractured nation.
Democrats will get in in 2026. In the meantime, they will slow everything down as much as they can and protests are a huge part of that. But also this movement was unplugged because a lot of Republicans are waking up to the damage being done to their personal lives. They were fine with it, thinking it was other people. When Democrats are in Trump and his officers will be impeached. You and I see different paths. The constitution will be amended to prevent this from happening again.
Just back from protest in Manhattan. Observations:
1) I stood on the side of 5th ave for about half and hour and counted. Virtually no Black people (same at the Women's day march last month from Wash Sq to Union). At a recent meeting of Indivisible Manhat. someone asked what outreach had been done to young people and speakers of other languages; answer: none (said acknowledging a shortcoming)
2) almost no police presence. A cop I asked claimed it was because of defunding.
I made a point of thanking the four cops at the Brooklyn Tesla protest a couple of weeks ago; whatever you think of policing during the summer of '20, this is a different world, and anywhere bridges can be built they have to be
3) signs against and for many things, but no signs about cuts to the VA or firing of veterans (especially by two men who both avoided military service). Many police have come through the military.
2) and 3) suggest areas for engagement, especially with veteran overrepresentation in other government departments. As gratifying as many signs were for me (Trump and Musk as Nazis, very credibly rendered; my personal favorite: "fuck this shit"), thinking about the imagery created and how it might play outside of blue cities is worth consideration
A wide-ranging network of family activism:
1. My husband and I were among hundreds of people at the rally in little Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
2. My brother and his wife were at an “exciting and gratifying” rally in Chicago.
3. Our daughter was in the huge crowd at the NYPL on 5th Ave.
4. Our son and his partner were at a rally in Augusta, Maine.
And l bet such networks were true of many families today. A historic turning point. 🤞🇺🇸
I just posted this comment in a NY Times article on the loss of working class/middle class restaurants. I'm hoping it will inspire Micah or someone else here to get active with this kind of thing:
When I did volunteering for a local Methodist church that invited my wife and I to present contemplative practices from all over the world, i learned something remarkable:
John Wesley (the original “Methodist”) found the conventional British church environment to be utterly uninspiring. Instead of going to a church, he inspired people to get together in each others’ homes for shared meals.
Of course, this involved worship too, but since most Times readers probably don’t want that part, why not take what you can from this and try it out?
Some years back, my wife and I organized this in our East Village apartment building. The pot luck meals didn’t continue but the increased sense of being part of a community continued for many years.
We did something similar here in the condo building where we live, in a working class neighborhood (Shiloh) in Asheville. Again, we only did it on and off for about a year, but the willingness to share and help each other out has continued over the 10 years since we began.
Creating community - either in whatever restaurants are left or in each others’ homes - may be a form of resistance even more powerful than marches and protests.
Along with what we each can do to create community, I strongly suggest writing Michael Lewis (author of “Who is Government”) about creating a team to produce videos about the extraordinary people he writes of.
Let all US citizens know the government is us, and does not serve the oligarchy.
The NY Times also posted an op-ed today suggesting that Democrats are looking to the wrong people to lead the resistance. They suggest that disgruntled/outraged federal workers are the ones who are likely to be most passionate. They are even now engaging in protests with the aim of informing people of all the good work they do.
Since the McKinley era, the age of the robber barons, "Fake News" purveyors like William Randolph Hearst have been refining their propaganda for the oligarchy, and perhaps the single most dominant theme has been "Government bad, business good."
Wealthy corporate leaders hired libertarian (!!!?) economist Milton Friedman in the 1940s to help them craft a (fake news) response to the New Deal. Friedman helped them come up with an Ayn Rand inspired pastiche of free market, God, and country. It took 40 years to develop, but by the time Reagan's voodoo economics held sway, the establishment of the right wing disinformation network was well under way.
What we need:
(1) Daily (DAILY!!) videos with text at a 4th grade reading level, with charismatic individuals telling compelling stories that will help all US citizens understand the extraordinary good that government does for each of us, from the moment we wake up throughout the next 24 hours.
(2) Daily (DAILY!) videos (with the same characteristics as #1) refuting the inevitable lies and distortions the right wing media-sphere will create regarding the videos.
Write to Michael Lewis, get the Trillionaires (aspiring or, gulp, real ones) involved. EVERY citizen involved in the resistance can help, with suggestions, letters, etc.
Sharing a meal together, yes! Build community everywhere we can.
Thanks Marian. And I think beyond what we can do in our own homes and communities, making it national - even world wide - what government does - what WE do, the human species, to serve each other. That's what government is ultimately about - simply a means to share, to help, to be kind, to love each other as our selves - as our deepest Self.
Perhaps to love each other as we are the other.
My 2 favorite moments at today’s protest in Keene, NH where well over 1000 people of all walks and ages gathered:
A white-haired woman accompanying an even older man on a walker were headed towards the protest and she said to him, “Dad, are we close enough”? He replied, “Closer” and kept turtling forward on his walker.
I’ve never been a fan of overt nationalist symbols such as flag-waving, but was incredibly moved when our entire 1000+ crowd began singing the national anthem together.
Good turnout in Gainesville Florida. I would estimate 500-750. Mostly white and mostly older, but many of the honkers were Black. Few if any students from UF, which is depressing. Not sure how much outreach was done there.
I loved our call and response with a five or six year-old protester. They were yelling out – "Tell me what democracy looks like" and everyone in the crowd, adults and children responding, "This is what democracy looks like."
I also appreciated all the families and young people!!
Easily 1,000 people in downtown Burlington VT today, with 12 rallies around the state, and 20 Indivisible chapters now (most formed in last 2 months). Montpelier had 6,000 registered, but will undoubtedly be more!
I was at the Charlotte NC rally and march hosted by Indivisible Charlotte. Somewhere in the multiple thousands of attendees. Powerful speeches from people affected by the DOGE cuts and fearing cuts to Medicaid and more. The 1-mile march along Randolph Rd had so many protesters that the police just closed the road for 30-60 minutes.
Lots of great signs, chants, some singing. This let thousands of (yes, mostly white) Charlotteans see that we are turning out.
I was at the Washington Monument protest in DC—huge. At one point two national Park Service rangers in uniform walked through the crowd and got huge claps and cheers—the NPS has been gutted.
We went to the Boston hands off march. It was GREAT. Started at the commons pavilion with marching band inspirational horn blowing musicians kicking it off after a few speakers. Senator Ed Markey and other leaders led the march with everyone making an opening for disabled persons to go first. The signs were fantastic. Loved the way they stopped speeches to encourage people to introduce themselves to one another. We made our way down the closed off streets of downtown Boston to city hall. Once at city hall more great speeches were made. Once again encouragement to meet our fellow marchers. Mayor Wu and Ed Markey gave great speeches as did many others. To end the event just in time, as the rain came down was the Drop Kick Murphys. A wonderfully organized peaceful gathering with many like minded souls. Felt the love and a few hours of positive, empathetic encouragement for a change. Proud to have been in attendance!
I stood with over 500 from New Hampshire and Vermont as we protested along the bridges that connect our states. I was immensely proud of my fellow citizens.
I attended in Teaneck, Bergen County, NJ, about 15 miles from NYC. There were 1000 people there in the rain, mostly white and mostly older. They had a few speakers - no politicians or candidates, just local activists. The group then stood by the side of the road for awhile and waved signs, with lots of supportive honks. I did not see one counterprotester, not even a drive-by. Really great event.
Congrats to the NYT piece-- I hope you are right about the Fed work force!
Manhattan was like swimming in a giant sea. Didn't hear any speakers. Big union presence. But the whole body rolled along together, with chants, signs and powerful spirit. A highlight was hearing the Rude Mechanical orchestra play the "Internationale".
I’d estimate a few hundred in our Upstate South Carolina city. Speakers included trans, gay, young, Indian, others (I didn’t hear all). Crowd was mostly white and older, but not entirely. That is usually the case for any demonstration here, whatever size. My educated guess is fear of repercussions plays a big part. We marched from courthouse to town square for speeches, where we competed with a hog festival (meat, not live animals), then back.
Lots of supportive honks along the way, at least one guy shot us a bird, and a cyber truck drove by. Saw a city person of some sort observing us from a golf cart, but no police that I noticed.
As I walked by to my car, crossing a street, a young man or older teen leaned out of a car window and asked if I supported Trump. (I was wearing a “We Vote” T-shirt.) I said no, thought for half a second and crossed in front of the car.
FWIW, this state relies heavily on the auto industry. BMW has its largest plant in this county. The state is filled with tire manufacturing, associated auto manufacturing. I’m not an economist, but I can’t imagine the tariffs are welcome news here. Even if a part is made here, chances are components come from elsewhere, or the final product is bound for another market. At the very least, this state (like every other) depends on a healthy economy. Depressing retirement accounts and Social Security does not seem like a good strategy, especially in a state attracting retirees. Just my two cents.
Our event in DC had great speakers from a wide range of perspectives: unions, lawyers, healthcare workers & a particularly powerful speech from a vet whose lifesaving clinical trial wouldn't exist with the cuts the Trump-Musk billionaires are making in our government... this is event was also supported by a wide group of organizers. This is the beginning of something big.