Dont Let Anybody Tell You the Marches Didn't Matter

[babylonsister]

Last edited Sun Jan 22, 2017, 09:38 AM - Edit history (1)

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/dont-let-anybody-tell-you-the-marches-didnt-matter.html?mid=facebook_nymag

Don’t Let Anybody Tell You the Marches Didn’t Matter
By Jonathan Chait

Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images


Of the many reasons a man like Donald Trump managed to win the presidential election, ranging from the 22nd Amendment to James Comey, an important one was the imbalance in political passion between the two sides. Not only did many Democrats distrust or dislike Hillary Clinton, but eight years of Democratic control of the White House had created complacency (as it did in 2000). Republicans were starving for power and willing to overlook their candidate’s glaring, grotesque flaws. A number of Democrats would not forgive Clinton’s smaller ones. The events of the last two days have made clear that Trump’s victory wiped those conditions away overnight.

It matters that Trump drew a sparse crowd to inaugural festivities that he had billed beforehand as a historic, Jacksonian uprising of The People. And it matters much more that millions of Americans came out on a Saturday to register their protest. It is not only catharsis, though catharsis is better than depression. The message has been heard by the political class, Republican and Democratic alike.

It might be easy to assume that Trump and his allies feel insulated from accountability. It is not quite so simple. Republicans in Congress have thus far given Trump near-total cooperation of the assumption that they could move quickly and with little resistance to implement their agenda. Democrats did not really wake up from their late-Clinton slumber until the middle of Bush’s term, after which a lot of legislation had already passed. Republicans assuming they could rush through Paul Ryan’s agenda, while allowing Trump to obliterate long-standing governing norms, will rethink. The kind of backlash Democrats eventually mounted against Bush, which drove landslide victories in the 2006 midterm and the 2008 election, is a plausible possibility. In those elections, many seemingly safe red states turned blue.

One of the great weaknesses of American liberalism is a congenital tendency toward depression when their party holds power. The demobilization of the Democratic base is over. The prospect of a Democratic wave may not stop Republicans, and it may not even give them pause. But the governing party had probably assumed the clock would not start for months on the liberal backlash. Now the clock is ticking already.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Anyone remember the teabaggers and their (exaggerated) protests?

This has literally dwarfed those gatherings. Still, their astroturf movement actually prompted electoral victories in their states.

The key for us is to mobilize back at the local levels to take back our states and build it back up in Congress. It will have to be multi-prong because it will take court actions to break what they put in place since 2010, but that will have to be one of the first steps.

[SHRED]

2. I noticed that Republican commentators...

...are desperately trying to draw parallels of this massive and historic event to the pathetic astroturf Tea Party crowds.

It's laughable.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. They are in for a rude awakening.

[IrishEyes]

11. Here are a few differences between our protests and the tea party protests.

1. Our signs were spelled right, used correct grammar and were coherent.
2. People of all different cultures, religions, sexual orientations, races, etc. were welcome at our marches.
3. Countries all over the world had marches in solidarity with us. Also because they hate and fear Trump as well. There were no tea party marches in other countries.
4. We had marches with huge crowds. They had rallies with small groups of people. I remember that fox news would report the tea party crowds being bigger than they actually were.

[madokie]

13. And the most important one

We have intelligence on our side.

What more need said???

[LittleGirl]

15. great comparison list! Cheers! eom

[IrishEyes]

19. Thanks. One more I forgot to add.

There was a lot of people at the tea party rallies selling merchandise. The march yesterday did not have a lot of that. I'm sure that there were a few people who came to the marches to sell buttons, t-shirts, etc. The marches yesterday were about peace and unity. It was not just about women's right. It was a way to show that we are all united together. You can't divide us up and oppress Gays, Muslims, Hispanics, Jews, Women, Immigrants, or any group of people without the rest of us protesting and fighting back. We stand together across this country and across the world.

[LittleGirl]

20. Exactly.

I think we should rename our country, the commercial states of America considering everything that gets privatized or advertised for sale.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. people at the tea party rallies selling merchandise. The march yesterday did not have a lot of that

That's because tens of thousands knitted hundreds of thousands of "pussy hats", wore them themselves, gave them to family and friends, and donated the rest.

In fact, at the end of the program, I heard one of the main organizers tell marchers that as they exited, there were signs available for them to freely take and carry (assuming they didn't bring their own).

[Initech]

21. Not to mention we can spell our protest signs correctly!

[Ligyron]

3. "The key for us is to mobilize back at the local levels to take back our states and build it back.."

This is exactly what needs to happen.

Dem's should run for local schoolboards, city councils, etc. as well as state legislatures.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. THIS

I recall reading that in one instance, the Kochs actually spent money attempting to influence a school board election. They have gone that deep into taking over the curricula and the government.

[Ligyron]

9. The bad part is the number of judgeships open for them to now fill

having stonewalled all of Obama's appointmenst.

The court system is about our only hope short term.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. However Obama was able to fill up much of the Appeals Courts

so bad picks at the lower levels will meet resistance.

Building Legacy, Obama Reshapes Appellate Bench

By JEREMY W. PETERSSEPT. 13, 2014

WASHINGTON — Democrats have reversed the partisan imbalance on the federal appeals courts that long favored conservatives, a little-noticed shift with far-reaching consequences for the law and President Obama’s legacy. For the first time in more than a decade, judges appointed by Democratic presidents considerably outnumber judges appointed by Republican presidents. The Democrats’ advantage has only grown since late last year when they stripped Republicans of their ability to filibuster the president’s nominees.

Democratic appointees who hear cases full time now hold a majority of seats on nine of the 13 United States Courts of Appeals. When Mr. Obama took office, only one of those courts had more full-time judges nominated by a Democrat.

The shift, one of the most significant but unheralded accomplishments of the Obama era, is likely to have ramifications for how the courts decide the legality of some of the president’s most controversial actions on health care, immigration and clean air. Since today’s Congress has been a graveyard for legislative accomplishment, these judicial confirmations are likely to be among its most enduring acts.

<...>

The imprint of the Obama judges is already being felt. In July, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion declaring Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, the author was an Obama appointee, Henry F. Floyd. That court now has 10 full-time judges appointed by Democratic presidents and five who are Republican appointees. When Mr. Obama took office, the court had a majority of Republican appointees.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/us/politics/building-legacy-obama-reshapes-appellate-bench.html

[Ligyron]

23. Thanks for that, I didn't realize the ratio.

I guess the problem is when the pukes come up with a test case in the right circuit for their side.

Texas?

[BumRushDaShow]

24. They will definitely try to milk the Circuits they control

definitely!

But we have already seen what happens with the mixed decisions that head to the SCOTUS, which might end in a tie - meaning the Appeals rulings stand (but only in the Circuits that ruled - which could be a plus or a minus). It would be important to not get that SCOTUS seat filled until we have a bigger say.

[lunatica]

4. They've given me a much needed morale boost

It's truly amazing when Americans take to the streets like this. It shows how massive we are when we unite.

And Trump and Spicer's idiocratic whining about it shows it got under their skin. All Trump can talk about is the size of his dick, er, I mean his crowds.

[panader0]

10. The morale boost--It worked for me too.

After the creeping horror of Friday the Woman's March made me feel hope.
Thank you ladies! I saw the crowd in Washington and then the TV showed
Denver and LA and Portland and New York and St Paul and more and more.
My grin grew wider and wider.

[smirkymonkey]

7. They mattered.

They gave many of us the hope and the strength we have needed to go on fighting against this plague in the white house.

[oasis]

8. The magnitude of the marches greatly overshadowed the inauguration.

Whether or not it was intended, it was the rollout of a delegitimization campaign.

[FSogol]

16. +1. n/t

[Wounded Bear]

14. They don't matter YET...

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If only 10% of those people go back to their districts, start organizing and getting out the votes for progressives, and seriously bend the path going forward it will have been a rousing success.

Yes, they matter in that they are getting people out and got some great media coverage. If it fails to turn into votes it will not have mattered.

[yardwork]

18. Yes! Marching is wonderful but we must elect Democrats.

[NobodyHere]

17. These marches haven't mattered yet

[littlemissmartypants]

25. Kick. ♡

Link to Actions page here:

https://www.womensmarch.com/100

Thanks for the post babylonsister. ♡

[LeftyMom]

26. Chait is asskissing to make up for his what about men faux exclusion. .

Don't be a partner in his effort to rehabilitate his reputation through flattery.

[Cattledog]

27. When 3.3 million women march...it matters.