Dear Michael, Thanks for THE CONNECTOR: a lifeline. I quoted it in the weeks leading up to the election re: the possibility that Harris might be repeating HRC's over-emphasis on data-driven tactics and not enough emphasis on relational organizing (sigh...)
_the "common grounds" stuff is 100% ritualistic and not important, in my view
-The lack of a vigorous Democratic campaign to oppose the appointment of Pete H as secretary of defense is worrisome and hard to understand. He, and a few others, are not only unqualified, but also offensive (Pete is an affront to the armed services; Kennedy is an affront to public health, etc.)
Re your headline: I can’t even remember what we were protesting — not enough coffee yet this morning — but I do remember folks rattling actual skeletons outside of Chuck Schumer’s apartment building on Prospect Park West, urging him to get a spine during the first Trump administration.
Hi Micah, as usual thank you for the thoughts and reads. I find this question also rolling around my head: "why aren’t Democrats loudly protesting". Except, loud protesting they did leading up to the election didn't create the hoped for outcome. Political speech increasingly comes off as performance and it's something in addition to concepts of free/cheap speech and dis/misinfo/lies I keep thinking about. I think there's unexplored opportunity in fragmenting society in ways to counter any dear leader fascist voice. Maybe all the apparently common ground collaborative signalling allows for cover to find quieter but more effective ways to examine what protest looks like and how it needs updating to create solidarity.
Horrible, as expected by the Democrats. I find lots of common ground with this essay. But I am meeting with Dr Oz next eeek to see if i can find some common grkund with him and wet my beak on his supplement sales People are very naive about what’s coming around thr corner. And the Dems keep their false illusions alive. Have a good holiday.
Perhaps part of the strategy is to wait for the outcomes of his statements to come to pass (or not). He says 25 percent tarrifs on Canada. Will he? Who knows. But perhaps the optimal strategy is not to cry wolf at every truth (social) post but to fight actual policies from the administration?
But of course the rhetoric by Dems before the election VS now is jarring for the half of the voters that believed them.
“You can’t stop a flood of shit with silence”
Well said Micah. Could be a bumper sticker
Dear Michael, Thanks for THE CONNECTOR: a lifeline. I quoted it in the weeks leading up to the election re: the possibility that Harris might be repeating HRC's over-emphasis on data-driven tactics and not enough emphasis on relational organizing (sigh...)
Comment
You may be giving Democrats too much credit. They put Trump in office in over half a dozen ways.
https://open.substack.com/pub/shahidbuttar/p/7-ways-democrats-made-donald-trump?r=97w99&utm_medium=ios
They also squandered an election they easily could’ve won had they been willing to meet the needs of voters, rather than privilege continuity over change. https://open.substack.com/pub/shahidbuttar/p/democrats-did-this-to-themselves?r=97w99&utm_medium=ios
Even during the 2024 presidential campaign, Democrats repeatedly sided with Trump on crucial policy issues, while maintaining a pretense of partisan warfare. https://open.substack.com/pub/shahidbuttar/p/democrats-agree-with-trump?r=97w99&utm_medium=ios
Finally, imagining Democrats to be less fascist than the GOP requires abandoning independent analysis and allowing the party’s rhetoric to substitute for the dystopian global reality it has endorsed and enabled over the past 75 years. https://open.substack.com/pub/shahidbuttar/p/fears-of-a-fascist-future-overlook?r=97w99&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for the Connector.
_the "common grounds" stuff is 100% ritualistic and not important, in my view
-The lack of a vigorous Democratic campaign to oppose the appointment of Pete H as secretary of defense is worrisome and hard to understand. He, and a few others, are not only unqualified, but also offensive (Pete is an affront to the armed services; Kennedy is an affront to public health, etc.)
Dan Pilowsky
Re your headline: I can’t even remember what we were protesting — not enough coffee yet this morning — but I do remember folks rattling actual skeletons outside of Chuck Schumer’s apartment building on Prospect Park West, urging him to get a spine during the first Trump administration.
Hi Micah, as usual thank you for the thoughts and reads. I find this question also rolling around my head: "why aren’t Democrats loudly protesting". Except, loud protesting they did leading up to the election didn't create the hoped for outcome. Political speech increasingly comes off as performance and it's something in addition to concepts of free/cheap speech and dis/misinfo/lies I keep thinking about. I think there's unexplored opportunity in fragmenting society in ways to counter any dear leader fascist voice. Maybe all the apparently common ground collaborative signalling allows for cover to find quieter but more effective ways to examine what protest looks like and how it needs updating to create solidarity.
I like that Firelands Workers United model.
Horrible, as expected by the Democrats. I find lots of common ground with this essay. But I am meeting with Dr Oz next eeek to see if i can find some common grkund with him and wet my beak on his supplement sales People are very naive about what’s coming around thr corner. And the Dems keep their false illusions alive. Have a good holiday.
Perhaps part of the strategy is to wait for the outcomes of his statements to come to pass (or not). He says 25 percent tarrifs on Canada. Will he? Who knows. But perhaps the optimal strategy is not to cry wolf at every truth (social) post but to fight actual policies from the administration?
But of course the rhetoric by Dems before the election VS now is jarring for the half of the voters that believed them.