I couldn't agree more!! Norm, is there any way you can touch base with Senators and Representatives you know and trust, to have this discussion? I think everyone has been caught flat-footed and off-guard by the speed, and audacity of this regime's bombastic moves. Those democrats in power are currently so upset that they seem flailing, at a loss. The Rule of Law can no longer come through for us; justice is not only delayed, it is denied, given this Supreme Court. I think a shadow government, that takes responsibility for knowing exactly what is happening, and has a team that can do research and oversight; weekly meetings to share information, and strategize how to communicate (in a way that can be truthful, accurate, and rival Fox News in its reach -- all of that is necessary. Kathy Hokul described this as "war." I think she is right. We are fighting to take back "truth, justice, and the American way." These have been stolen by crooks and frauds peddling self-interest and aggrandizement, at the expense of "We, the People."
Agree! How to get this word out to the Dem house and senate members? E-mail our reps with this article? Who will tell them in person? Is there someone who collects the good ideas for Dem action and brings them to those congressional members? I'm glad the article was finished with ideas for action because the beginning up to that part was utterly depressing and demoralizing. Call to action!!!
I wonder whether all Democratic Congressional members should do walkouts a few times a month. Just get up from their seat from the House and Senate and walk out for the day. Stand on the Capital steps and call out the lawless acts of the Administration the days prior to the walkout.
In addition, when forming next years budget refuse to vote for it unless GOP Congressional members stand up for the cuts made by the Felon to date. GOP Congressional members have already voted to cut $9 billion, but there are still firings of NOAA employees, cuts to FEMA, cuts to NIH, cuts to Universities for studies that can be reinstated by GOP Congressional members. Tell them if these cuts are not restored immediately and GOP Congressional members don't take back the purse from the Felon, there will be no 2026 budget bill passed.
Good grief, will we have yet another year of Continuing Resolutions upon which to run the government? How may will this make now? It's irresponsible at best.
'We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can't the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy...and I would submit to you that if you can't draw the line at genocide, you probably can't draw the line at democracy.'
The GOP certainly does not have sole ownership of the complicity with Israel's genocide in Gaza.
That dubious distraction is entirely a bipartisan effort. Really, the Democrats supported Israel's war crimes completely for a much longer period of time...15 months under Biden, and most congressional Dems still support it to this day.
The point of this article is that 'the Democrats in Congress, who, despite their minority status in the House and Senate, can highlight the outrages and who is responsible.'... in the case of aiding and abetting Israel's genocide, they share that responsibility.
I noted something else recently related to this...as of now, there are around 62,000 confirmed killed in Gaza (of course, the actual number will be far, far higher than this)
46,000 of these people were killed in Biden's last 15 months, versus 16,000+ more since then, in about 7 months.
In terms of the number killed, the rate under Biden with his support / month (a little over 3000 / month) is significantly higher than under Trump with his support (close to 2300/ month).
Of course, no one can truly quantify the endless, shocking horrors committed by Israel under both administrations, and it is truly worse now than ever...but that trajectory from terrible to even more terrible has been a continuous line, starting under Biden with Democratic support, right up until now.
They couldn't even support Martin's tepid resolution with the usual bothsideism language. The resolution to support ending arms shipments to Israel didn't even make it past a voice vote.
This is exactly what TNC is talking about- the party that is so cowardly that they can't even take a stand against genocide..how can we expect them to do have any courage to stop anything else?
Gaza would not even be in the place it is today were it not for the total political and financial support of Biden, Harris and the Democrats. Biden could have stopped this. He did the opposite.
And even now, most Democrats in Congress still support Israel's war crimes, and have done next to nothing to stop them. There are some notable exceptions, but they are few.
Because of this, there is no political risk at all for Trump and the GOP to continue the support for genocide that was started under Biden.
In July, the indicted war criminal Netanyahu took a friendly photo with 7 Democrat and 7 Republican Senators, including minority leader Schumer. This in a nutshell shows where the Democratic leadership remains.
What line is that? I saw none. When did Biden ever make any meaningful stand against Israel's actions, other than some tepid words that were backed by nothing?
One of his final acts as President, in January 2025, was to send Israel more billions so they could continue their war crimes.
And many (most) congressional Democrats are still supporting it, even now, despite some occasional, limited criticism.
This has been affirmed by many human rights organizations and genocide scholars around the world, including many from Israel (I will list a few below)
Even the president of self-described 'liberal Zionist' organization J. Street recently said “I have... been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.”
Israeli historian Omer Bartov said this in the NY Times last month:
"My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one."
UN committees, the charges filed in the ICJ...go back well over a year now.
Here are a few more who have affirmed what has been obvious to much of the world for a long time now:
Organizations
Al-Haq
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
University Network for Human Rights
B’Tselem - Israel
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
scholars:
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Omer Bartov, Israeli-American professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University
Amos Goldberg, Israeli professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Raz Segal, Israeli historian and associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and endowed professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University
Shmuel Lederman, professor specializing in political theory and genocide studies at the Open University of Israel
Martin Shaw, emeritus professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, research professor at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, and author of War and Genocide, What is Genocide, Genocide in International Relations
William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and author of several books on international law, including Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes
Dirk Moses, international relations professor at the City College of New York and author of The Problems of Genocide
Daniel Blatman, Israeli historian specializing in the history of the Holocaust and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lee Mordechai, Israeli historian and associate professor at Hebrew University
Melanie O'Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
Uğur Ümit Üngör, professor of Genocide Studies at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies and the University of Amsterdam
John Quigley, professor of law emeritus at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and the author of The Genocide Convention: An International Law Analysis and several books on Israel and Palestine.
You may be giving people the impression that Coates was encouraging voting against the Democrats, which he was not. He also said, at a forum I attended in Seattle in May of 2024, that you have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Here's a long quote from the podcast he was recording, when asked by the host about primary voters who were denying their vote for Bidet the time: "Well, I’ll say the hard, difficult thing. I hope it doesn’t keep people from voting. And I think maybe, in fact, due to some of the rhetoric of previous generations, we have come to think of voting as the end all of politics and a holy rite. And it’s not that so often voting really is about picking the lesser evil. You know, as you know, Barbara Ramsby, who told me one time, she said, you know, people say, well, you vote, you’re picking a lesser evil. And she says, yes, and I’m in favor of lesser evil, and I am, too. And so I stand by everything I just said about the occupied territories, about Palestine, about Gaza. But sometimes you are in a moment as an adult, and we all have found ourselves in moments like this, even in our personal lives, where the choice is not between great and bad. The choice is not even between good and bad. It’s between bad and significantly worse. Significantly worse. You know, like, you know, I’m one of these people who, you know, the quote unquote extreme language that people use, you know, about what’s going on. I’m one of those people that thinks it has credibility, but I’m also one of those people who feels that it actually really can get worse. And part of your responsibility is to forestall the worst. That’s not all of your responsibility. That’s not the end of your politics. And this is why these protests actually are really important, because they’re part of politics, too. You know what I mean? But, like, we canonize and we sanctify, you know, the vote. The vote is important. Like, taking out the trash is important. Like brushing your teeth is important. But that’s the minimum. That’s the base level. You know what I’m saying?"
I am not giving any impression. I am simply posting his quote.
Still, saying the choice is between 'bad and significantly worse', while true, is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Democratic Party either.
The point of his quote isn't about voting for Democrats or not. It is pointing out that it is no surprise that the Democrats have failed abysmally in stopping the onset of fascism, and a fundamental reason for that is the deep hypocrisy of claiming to be concerned about immigrants or any other oppressed group, while at the same time wholeheartedly and emphatically supporting the outright genocide of another oppressed group.
I'd say he is also saying, more simply, that if you don't have the courage to stop supporting genocide (let alone actually take a stand against it), you won't have much luck stopping an assault on democracy either...or probably much of anything else for that matter.
Somewhat related- I just saw this post:
"Newsom going after Trump so hard, you'd think Trump was homeless"
(the poster could have substituted 'trans' for 'homeless' to the same effect)
"The military invasion of Washington, D.C.—with masked troops from several red states occupying the city, grabbing residents off the street and out of vehicles while hiding their identities and driving unmarked cars—underscores a brutal reality in America: We are no longer inching toward autocracy; we are sprinting."
Yes, and this isn't even the first time Trump has done this. Ask anyone who, like myself, lived in Portland, Oregon during the summer 2020 BLM protests. After the mayor stopped the police antagonizing the protesters by removing their ability to use tear gas, Trump sent his DHS troops in to rile up the populace and get footage that made peaceful protest look like rioting, to use in his re-election campaign ads. People were grabbed off the street, blindfolded, tossed into unmarked vans, and held for questioning, just for being present. Needless to say, the kidnappers did not wear uniforms or identify themselves.
Trump wanted to stoke violence to justify his troops responding with violence. This is what he wants in DC and other cities, as well. The comparisons to Kent State are justified.
"The first step: create a shadow government, including a shadow Cabinet, consisting of prominent outside experts and key lawmakers who can use their stature and experience to counter the predations and lies of their counterparts."
Yes, I advocated for this in a comment several weeks ago. It's an excellent way to counter the unlawful actions of this regime by providing the public with a professional, rules-based body of politicians and government specialists who point out, as you say, the "lies and predations" of Trump's authoritarian ways daily...because every day presents a new one...or two.
The Congressional Democrats have been setting a theme for a day or week for months now.
They have the Democratic Daily Download on social media; along with the Democrats’ Daily Blueprint broadcast on YouTube. Both of these are M-F.
They’ve held shadow hearings.
Short of lighting their hair on fire the news won’t cover it in any substantive way. He’ll, they’ve even been arrested and it’s out of the news.
You/we can’t let the republicans off the hook! This is their nightmare to stop. We have to flood their offices with calls and protests with demands to do something to stop the madness.
We need to demand more from news organizations, too. Protests outside their offices, too.
I am outraged, Norm. But where’s a soapbox and on what street corner shall I rant?? I organized a new Indivisible group in a deeply gerrymandered red state in 2017/‘18/‘19/‘20. We had outrageous, we got regular, vested, educated crowds to Senators offices and district town halls. Those days have evaporated. I don’t think it acclimatization, I think the levers of power have pulled shut doors, drawn up ladders, bowed low to corporate overlords (media) and abandoned the public square (Dem Party). So, I can talk all I try with neighbors, folks and friends at the grocery/library/county fair and people are both shocked to find they are not alone in their despair, and affirming that there is scant they feel empowered to make a real difference.
Gov. Pritzker was a real breath of energy yesterday tho! Good on him.
I'm proud to have JB Pritzker for a governor. It wouldn't hurt to have a governor's coalition, starting with him, Newsom, and likely Shapiro for a beginning.
"We need to think about a general strike, which might underscore to the press and the uninvolved public that this is not normal and that the dangers to every element of our civil society, governing system, and fundamental decency are palpable."
HEAR, HEAR!! I have been advocating a general strike for some time now. Grab 'em by the pocketbook.
I would crawl over broken glass and face an armed military presence to go to the polls to vote. I would not cross a picket line of union brothers and sisters to work for a corporation.
You talk about organizing a shadow government and getting out disciplined messages. I think this should include more than legislators. Our best generals, our most experienced national security professionals, even our retired judiciary are now out of office. These people should be organized as well.
This is the first of many commentaries that I read ever day that had an original idea of how to fight back. “This shadow government should convene a message group of House and Senate members who meet each day to set a single, powerful message for the next day—and get it out to both caucuses.”
1. Please make this happen, demand disclosure about T’s health and sanity, and keep Epstein in the news!! We can’t stand by and watch democracy fail before our eyes!
The general strike is a great idea, but the list of demands includes way too many international and fringe issues (free Congo? Defund the police? ) that risk the big tent we need for this action and that we are much more likely to mobilize if we concentrate on the two critical issues of ordinary families’ needs and democracy at home.
All you say is certainly true, and yes, the Congress has done absolutely nothing, and the billionaires are ecstatic, but what I have been seeing, and if you look closely, the videos are there, are common people in Republican states/areas at town halls excoriating and I mean excoriating their congresspeople, stating quite openly that Trump is a dictator, that their businesses are failing due to the excessive tariffs, the uncontrolled and absolutely ridiculous and unconstitutional deportation of non-criminal non-citizens is totally unacceptable, and the lack of accountability and honesty regarding the Epstein crimes is a sin, a lie and at the root of everything Trump has done from the time of stupid Bondi even bringing the subject up. He may think he's pulling the wool over the simple guy's eyes, but many, many of these common folks in the town halls have said "bullshit" to that, that they know exactly what's going on, what Trump is all about, as are his minions, and they hold their congress people accountable for this absolute mess. This movement may be somewhat silent, but it is ongoing as we speak. And I for one, am heartened by it.
There is no question that the time has come when all Americans must wake up to what is happening. This is not a drill. Our Democracy is under very serious threat and getting worse every day. And we have three more years of this!!! Total capitulation of the majority of the Supreme Court, most Republicans and other rowdy MAGA folks are crumbling our very foundation. All of us MUST stand up and do something, if it is not already too late.
I couldn't agree more!! Norm, is there any way you can touch base with Senators and Representatives you know and trust, to have this discussion? I think everyone has been caught flat-footed and off-guard by the speed, and audacity of this regime's bombastic moves. Those democrats in power are currently so upset that they seem flailing, at a loss. The Rule of Law can no longer come through for us; justice is not only delayed, it is denied, given this Supreme Court. I think a shadow government, that takes responsibility for knowing exactly what is happening, and has a team that can do research and oversight; weekly meetings to share information, and strategize how to communicate (in a way that can be truthful, accurate, and rival Fox News in its reach -- all of that is necessary. Kathy Hokul described this as "war." I think she is right. We are fighting to take back "truth, justice, and the American way." These have been stolen by crooks and frauds peddling self-interest and aggrandizement, at the expense of "We, the People."
These days, it's the Supine Court. They have let injustice steam-roller them and they aren't even complaining.
Agree! How to get this word out to the Dem house and senate members? E-mail our reps with this article? Who will tell them in person? Is there someone who collects the good ideas for Dem action and brings them to those congressional members? I'm glad the article was finished with ideas for action because the beginning up to that part was utterly depressing and demoralizing. Call to action!!!
I wonder whether all Democratic Congressional members should do walkouts a few times a month. Just get up from their seat from the House and Senate and walk out for the day. Stand on the Capital steps and call out the lawless acts of the Administration the days prior to the walkout.
In addition, when forming next years budget refuse to vote for it unless GOP Congressional members stand up for the cuts made by the Felon to date. GOP Congressional members have already voted to cut $9 billion, but there are still firings of NOAA employees, cuts to FEMA, cuts to NIH, cuts to Universities for studies that can be reinstated by GOP Congressional members. Tell them if these cuts are not restored immediately and GOP Congressional members don't take back the purse from the Felon, there will be no 2026 budget bill passed.
Good grief, will we have yet another year of Continuing Resolutions upon which to run the government? How may will this make now? It's irresponsible at best.
To quote Ta-Nehisi Coates:
'We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can't the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy...and I would submit to you that if you can't draw the line at genocide, you probably can't draw the line at democracy.'
Why can’t the Republican Party - they own this!
The GOP certainly does not have sole ownership of the complicity with Israel's genocide in Gaza.
That dubious distraction is entirely a bipartisan effort. Really, the Democrats supported Israel's war crimes completely for a much longer period of time...15 months under Biden, and most congressional Dems still support it to this day.
The point of this article is that 'the Democrats in Congress, who, despite their minority status in the House and Senate, can highlight the outrages and who is responsible.'... in the case of aiding and abetting Israel's genocide, they share that responsibility.
I noted something else recently related to this...as of now, there are around 62,000 confirmed killed in Gaza (of course, the actual number will be far, far higher than this)
46,000 of these people were killed in Biden's last 15 months, versus 16,000+ more since then, in about 7 months.
In terms of the number killed, the rate under Biden with his support / month (a little over 3000 / month) is significantly higher than under Trump with his support (close to 2300/ month).
Of course, no one can truly quantify the endless, shocking horrors committed by Israel under both administrations, and it is truly worse now than ever...but that trajectory from terrible to even more terrible has been a continuous line, starting under Biden with Democratic support, right up until now.
"The GOP certainly does not have sole ownership of the complicity with Israel's genocide in Gaza."
They do now. They hold the majority in both houses of Congress and the presidency too.
....and right on cue- the DNC affirms its co-ownership, again:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/26/politics/dnc-israel-gaza-resolution-vote
They couldn't even support Martin's tepid resolution with the usual bothsideism language. The resolution to support ending arms shipments to Israel didn't even make it past a voice vote.
This is exactly what TNC is talking about- the party that is so cowardly that they can't even take a stand against genocide..how can we expect them to do have any courage to stop anything else?
Gaza would not even be in the place it is today were it not for the total political and financial support of Biden, Harris and the Democrats. Biden could have stopped this. He did the opposite.
And even now, most Democrats in Congress still support Israel's war crimes, and have done next to nothing to stop them. There are some notable exceptions, but they are few.
Because of this, there is no political risk at all for Trump and the GOP to continue the support for genocide that was started under Biden.
In July, the indicted war criminal Netanyahu took a friendly photo with 7 Democrat and 7 Republican Senators, including minority leader Schumer. This in a nutshell shows where the Democratic leadership remains.
https://zeteo.com/p/14-senators-posed-with-netanyahu
I blame and will never forgive Biden, but he did have a line, though used very seldom, that he wouldn’t cross, whereas trump has no line.
What line is that? I saw none. When did Biden ever make any meaningful stand against Israel's actions, other than some tepid words that were backed by nothing?
One of his final acts as President, in January 2025, was to send Israel more billions so they could continue their war crimes.
And many (most) congressional Democrats are still supporting it, even now, despite some occasional, limited criticism.
It's not a genocide.
Um, yes, it absolutely is genocide.
This has been affirmed by many human rights organizations and genocide scholars around the world, including many from Israel (I will list a few below)
Even the president of self-described 'liberal Zionist' organization J. Street recently said “I have... been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.”
Israeli historian Omer Bartov said this in the NY Times last month:
"My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one."
UN committees, the charges filed in the ICJ...go back well over a year now.
Here are a few more who have affirmed what has been obvious to much of the world for a long time now:
Organizations
Al-Haq
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
University Network for Human Rights
B’Tselem - Israel
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
scholars:
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Omer Bartov, Israeli-American professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University
Amos Goldberg, Israeli professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Raz Segal, Israeli historian and associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and endowed professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University
Shmuel Lederman, professor specializing in political theory and genocide studies at the Open University of Israel
Martin Shaw, emeritus professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, research professor at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, and author of War and Genocide, What is Genocide, Genocide in International Relations
William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and author of several books on international law, including Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes
Dirk Moses, international relations professor at the City College of New York and author of The Problems of Genocide
Daniel Blatman, Israeli historian specializing in the history of the Holocaust and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lee Mordechai, Israeli historian and associate professor at Hebrew University
Melanie O'Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
Uğur Ümit Üngör, professor of Genocide Studies at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies and the University of Amsterdam
John Quigley, professor of law emeritus at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and the author of The Genocide Convention: An International Law Analysis and several books on Israel and Palestine.
As sad as what you wrote is, it is a tremendously insightful observation.
Credit to TNC, who is an amazing wordsmith as well as scholar and journalist.
It is something I have tried to articulate in other Contrarian posts, but never could say it so well.
You may be giving people the impression that Coates was encouraging voting against the Democrats, which he was not. He also said, at a forum I attended in Seattle in May of 2024, that you have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Here's a long quote from the podcast he was recording, when asked by the host about primary voters who were denying their vote for Bidet the time: "Well, I’ll say the hard, difficult thing. I hope it doesn’t keep people from voting. And I think maybe, in fact, due to some of the rhetoric of previous generations, we have come to think of voting as the end all of politics and a holy rite. And it’s not that so often voting really is about picking the lesser evil. You know, as you know, Barbara Ramsby, who told me one time, she said, you know, people say, well, you vote, you’re picking a lesser evil. And she says, yes, and I’m in favor of lesser evil, and I am, too. And so I stand by everything I just said about the occupied territories, about Palestine, about Gaza. But sometimes you are in a moment as an adult, and we all have found ourselves in moments like this, even in our personal lives, where the choice is not between great and bad. The choice is not even between good and bad. It’s between bad and significantly worse. Significantly worse. You know, like, you know, I’m one of these people who, you know, the quote unquote extreme language that people use, you know, about what’s going on. I’m one of those people that thinks it has credibility, but I’m also one of those people who feels that it actually really can get worse. And part of your responsibility is to forestall the worst. That’s not all of your responsibility. That’s not the end of your politics. And this is why these protests actually are really important, because they’re part of politics, too. You know what I mean? But, like, we canonize and we sanctify, you know, the vote. The vote is important. Like, taking out the trash is important. Like brushing your teeth is important. But that’s the minimum. That’s the base level. You know what I’m saying?"
I am not giving any impression. I am simply posting his quote.
Still, saying the choice is between 'bad and significantly worse', while true, is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Democratic Party either.
The point of his quote isn't about voting for Democrats or not. It is pointing out that it is no surprise that the Democrats have failed abysmally in stopping the onset of fascism, and a fundamental reason for that is the deep hypocrisy of claiming to be concerned about immigrants or any other oppressed group, while at the same time wholeheartedly and emphatically supporting the outright genocide of another oppressed group.
I'd say he is also saying, more simply, that if you don't have the courage to stop supporting genocide (let alone actually take a stand against it), you won't have much luck stopping an assault on democracy either...or probably much of anything else for that matter.
Somewhat related- I just saw this post:
"Newsom going after Trump so hard, you'd think Trump was homeless"
(the poster could have substituted 'trans' for 'homeless' to the same effect)
"The military invasion of Washington, D.C.—with masked troops from several red states occupying the city, grabbing residents off the street and out of vehicles while hiding their identities and driving unmarked cars—underscores a brutal reality in America: We are no longer inching toward autocracy; we are sprinting."
Yes, and this isn't even the first time Trump has done this. Ask anyone who, like myself, lived in Portland, Oregon during the summer 2020 BLM protests. After the mayor stopped the police antagonizing the protesters by removing their ability to use tear gas, Trump sent his DHS troops in to rile up the populace and get footage that made peaceful protest look like rioting, to use in his re-election campaign ads. People were grabbed off the street, blindfolded, tossed into unmarked vans, and held for questioning, just for being present. Needless to say, the kidnappers did not wear uniforms or identify themselves.
Trump wanted to stoke violence to justify his troops responding with violence. This is what he wants in DC and other cities, as well. The comparisons to Kent State are justified.
"The first step: create a shadow government, including a shadow Cabinet, consisting of prominent outside experts and key lawmakers who can use their stature and experience to counter the predations and lies of their counterparts."
Yes, I advocated for this in a comment several weeks ago. It's an excellent way to counter the unlawful actions of this regime by providing the public with a professional, rules-based body of politicians and government specialists who point out, as you say, the "lies and predations" of Trump's authoritarian ways daily...because every day presents a new one...or two.
Very well written!
The Congressional Democrats have been setting a theme for a day or week for months now.
They have the Democratic Daily Download on social media; along with the Democrats’ Daily Blueprint broadcast on YouTube. Both of these are M-F.
They’ve held shadow hearings.
Short of lighting their hair on fire the news won’t cover it in any substantive way. He’ll, they’ve even been arrested and it’s out of the news.
You/we can’t let the republicans off the hook! This is their nightmare to stop. We have to flood their offices with calls and protests with demands to do something to stop the madness.
We need to demand more from news organizations, too. Protests outside their offices, too.
I am outraged, Norm. But where’s a soapbox and on what street corner shall I rant?? I organized a new Indivisible group in a deeply gerrymandered red state in 2017/‘18/‘19/‘20. We had outrageous, we got regular, vested, educated crowds to Senators offices and district town halls. Those days have evaporated. I don’t think it acclimatization, I think the levers of power have pulled shut doors, drawn up ladders, bowed low to corporate overlords (media) and abandoned the public square (Dem Party). So, I can talk all I try with neighbors, folks and friends at the grocery/library/county fair and people are both shocked to find they are not alone in their despair, and affirming that there is scant they feel empowered to make a real difference.
Gov. Pritzker was a real breath of energy yesterday tho! Good on him.
I'm proud to have JB Pritzker for a governor. It wouldn't hurt to have a governor's coalition, starting with him, Newsom, and likely Shapiro for a beginning.
"We need to think about a general strike, which might underscore to the press and the uninvolved public that this is not normal and that the dangers to every element of our civil society, governing system, and fundamental decency are palpable."
HEAR, HEAR!! I have been advocating a general strike for some time now. Grab 'em by the pocketbook.
I would crawl over broken glass and face an armed military presence to go to the polls to vote. I would not cross a picket line of union brothers and sisters to work for a corporation.
You are so right, Norm. We need to do everything in our power to stop this assault on our democracy and on our country. We need all hands on deck.
You talk about organizing a shadow government and getting out disciplined messages. I think this should include more than legislators. Our best generals, our most experienced national security professionals, even our retired judiciary are now out of office. These people should be organized as well.
This is the first of many commentaries that I read ever day that had an original idea of how to fight back. “This shadow government should convene a message group of House and Senate members who meet each day to set a single, powerful message for the next day—and get it out to both caucuses.”
1. Please make this happen, demand disclosure about T’s health and sanity, and keep Epstein in the news!! We can’t stand by and watch democracy fail before our eyes!
This!!
The general strike is a great idea, but the list of demands includes way too many international and fringe issues (free Congo? Defund the police? ) that risk the big tent we need for this action and that we are much more likely to mobilize if we concentrate on the two critical issues of ordinary families’ needs and democracy at home.
All you say is certainly true, and yes, the Congress has done absolutely nothing, and the billionaires are ecstatic, but what I have been seeing, and if you look closely, the videos are there, are common people in Republican states/areas at town halls excoriating and I mean excoriating their congresspeople, stating quite openly that Trump is a dictator, that their businesses are failing due to the excessive tariffs, the uncontrolled and absolutely ridiculous and unconstitutional deportation of non-criminal non-citizens is totally unacceptable, and the lack of accountability and honesty regarding the Epstein crimes is a sin, a lie and at the root of everything Trump has done from the time of stupid Bondi even bringing the subject up. He may think he's pulling the wool over the simple guy's eyes, but many, many of these common folks in the town halls have said "bullshit" to that, that they know exactly what's going on, what Trump is all about, as are his minions, and they hold their congress people accountable for this absolute mess. This movement may be somewhat silent, but it is ongoing as we speak. And I for one, am heartened by it.
There is no question that the time has come when all Americans must wake up to what is happening. This is not a drill. Our Democracy is under very serious threat and getting worse every day. And we have three more years of this!!! Total capitulation of the majority of the Supreme Court, most Republicans and other rowdy MAGA folks are crumbling our very foundation. All of us MUST stand up and do something, if it is not already too late.