Reminder

[angrychair]

The current head of our government is a warmongering pedophile and convicted felon that is, very literally, destroying not only our economy but that economy of the every country on Earth. Yet, collectively, the people of this country continue to go about their daily lives like everything is normal.
That is where my mind hangs and cannot get away from.
I get it, many don't have much but are afraid of losing what little they have. But at what cost?

Are they waiting for the midterms? Because I hate to break it for everyone but this administration has made it clear that they don't give a shit about Congress and have all but ignored it so far.
If anyone thinks it will be any different if we win the majority then you are mistaken. We likely will just have a majority and not a super majority so he will just veto legislation they pass and his administration will just continue to do whatever they want like Congress doesn't even exist.

Because to be honest, they don't matter anymore. He is spending or not spending money however he wants. He is dismantling the Dept of Education And no repercussions.
He is murdering people at sea and going to war And no repercussions.
Over 13 dead soldiers and over 200 injured And no repercussions.

In roughly 30 days the entire world's economies will likely start a downward spiral out of control and there will be little anyone can do to stop it. And no repercussions.

We are in very serious trouble and business as usual is not the answer.

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. Another reminder:

Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless.

Despite acting with lawless impunity on a daily basis, this administration has been stalled, stymied or restrained numerous times.

Just today, over a thousand Voice of America workers got their jobs back.

Despair is understandable, but defeatism is not.

Starting next year, there will be investigations and hearings “like no one has ever seen before”

Trump is going to lose his shit on a daily basis- he will be the most impotent, lamest duck ever,

Please don’t bother with “yes, but he will do X anyway”, I’m only interested in what Dems are expected to do with their new majority, and how we can support/demand they do it.

[Keepthesoulalive]

2. I don't always agree with you

But you nailed it perfectly.

[angrychair]

3. Investigations to what end?

They have no enforcement power. Any referral to the DOJ will just be ignored.

And it's not defeatism, it's reality. They are openly violating dozens of court orders with zero repercussions. The courts are doing nothing because they have no enforcement power either.

So what if the court ordered them to hire them back, they can just ignore it and nothing will happen.

The point I'm trying to draw attention to is the huge flaw in our Constitution gave all of the police powers to the executive, leaving the Judicial and Legislative branches toothless to fight dictator tactics from the Executive. This whole "co-equal branches of government" has been a lie we tell our children.
Don't give me the "power of the purse" because the executive has been redirecting funds at will with very little effective push back.
The point is not that Mango Mussolini is all powerful. It's that the executive branch is all powerful and I'm honestly not sure there is a way to put the genie back in the bottle.

[NJCher]

4. You build a great case

For hopelessness.

How about we all just shoot ourselves?

[angrychair]

6. Not my point at all

I'm not sure how to say this anymore because I've said it literally. I've tried using metaphors. Tried using analogy. Not sure of another way to say it :
WE. ARE. NOT. ANGRY. ENOUGH.

There are people in multiple countries, like Spain or Italy or France, were tens of thousands, if not more, are protesting this administration daily while in the US we are organizing protests once every three months or so and only on a weekend and only for a couple hours.

We are dealing with a serious threat to democracy and the literal survival of humanity. We have an actual convicted felon as a president. We have a president that is up to his eyeballs in a pedophile child sex torture ring that stands accused of raping and beating children that is waging an illegal war that will very likely crash the entire world economy and our answer to all this is to hold a single national protest event every couple of months for a couple of hours and then pat ourselves on the back for our witty protests signs.

This is the equivalent of a "strongly worded letter".

We are facing a very serious situation and we are not very serious people.
And even those one day protests are large, maybe even millions of people, it is still just a fraction the US population.
We need real sea change like Nepal and others have experienced but we are cursed in America with White Knight Syndrome. We are, collectively, waiting for a single polarizing figure, yet another cult of personality, to save us. I think that's why so much attention is paid to certain politicians but these people are not here to save us either. They are just as bound to billionaires and corporations as most politicians.

All this to say that our very near future has very serious, world changing, consequences. It's not about hopelessness, it's actually the opposite, as long as we take it seriously and get out into the streets and start working on fixing it because there is no white knight, in the form of a person or election, that is going to magically fix things.

We, the collective citizens of this country, are the white knight, the calvary, we have been waiting to come. And we are just sitting on our couches and going about our daily lives as if we are not just that, our actual saviors.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. They have been restrained by the courts numerous times

No troops deployed in Portland or Chicago - why did they obey those court orders?

Kilmer Garcia- free and back on US soil, with court orders preventing future deportation - why are they obeying?

Liam and his father free and back home in Minnesota.

EO’s on voting restrictions ignored by the states.

Numerous federal employees rehired after losing their jobs via DOGE cuts.

RFKjr’s vaccine restrictions blocked.

Yes, this is indeed the most lawless administration in history, but The executive branch is NOT all powerful, and in reality, outside of the employees of that branch, Trump has very little actual physical control over anything.

He is an agent of chaos and destruction, and nothing else - he cannot control the results of his actions because he cannot control the responses to his actions by the courts, the states or the people.

Stop spreading the myth of Trump’s omnipotence- you’re not helping yourself or anyone else.

You are reinforcing a perception of learned helplessness (look it up) that only empowers tyrants and weakens the resistance of the people.

Instead, go to indivisible.org or Vote Save America and find out what you can do to empower yourself- ranting on the internet ain’t it.

[angrychair]

7. I've tried every way I can

I'm not sure how to say this anymore because I've said it literally. I've tried using metaphors. Tried using analogy. Not sure of another way to say it :
WE. ARE. NOT. ANGRY. ENOUGH.

There are people in multiple countries, like Spain or Italy or France, were tens of thousands, if not more, are protesting this administration daily while in the US we are organizing protests once every three months or so and only on a weekend and only for a couple hours.

We are dealing with a serious threat to democracy and the literal survival of humanity. We have an actual convicted felon as a president. We have a president that is up to his eyeballs in a pedophile child sex torture ring that stands accused of raping and beating children that is waging an illegal war that will very likely crash the entire world economy and our answer to all this is to hold a single national protest event every couple of months for a couple of hours and then pat ourselves on the back for our witty protests signs.

This is the equivalent of a "strongly worded letter".

We are facing a very serious situation and we are not very serious people.
And even those one day protests are large, maybe even millions of people, it is still just a fraction the US population.
We need real sea change like Nepal and others have experienced but we are cursed in America with White Knight Syndrome. We are, collectively, waiting for a single polarizing figure, yet another cult of personality, to save us. I think that's why so much attention is paid to certain politicians but these people are not here to save us either. They are just as bound to billionaires and corporations as most politicians.

All this to say that our very near future has very serious, world changing, consequences. It's not about hopelessness, it's actually the opposite, as long as we take it seriously and get out into the streets and start working on fixing it because there is no white knight, in the form of a person or election, that is going to magically fix things.

We, the collective citizens of this country, are the white knight, the calvary, we have been waiting to come. And we are just sitting on our couches and going about our daily lives as if we are not just that, our actual saviors.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. The level of collective anger is irrelevant

It’s the collective level of courage and resolve that will make the changes required possible, not anger.

I agree that we are the cavalry we need.

I'm not sure how to say this anymore because I've said it literally. I've tried using metaphors. Tried using analogy. Not sure of another way to say it :

Have you tried joining a voter registration drive?

Have you tried canvassing neighborhoods for the candidate of your choice?

Have you tried phone banking?

All of those activities are more productive than yelling at strangers on the internet that they aren’t angry enough.

And we are just sitting on our couches and going about our daily lives

Speak for yourself. The people of Portland, Chicago and Minneapolis would certainly disagree.

So, are you ready to saddle up?

[angrychair]

9. This assumption

That I'm not already involved in my community and/or not attending protests is a heck of an assumption. I'm involved as much as my health and time allows.

Again, yes, it's great people are in Oregon or Illinois or Minnesota are organizing but that is not a national movement not a national effort to make real, permanent change.