On Saturdays, the True Blue Report “Blue Ribbon” will be awarded to individuals or groups with the most successful, dramatic, or encouraging act of resistance in the previous week.
Some winners will be named in the body of the diary and you can nominate other worthy ribbon winners in the comments.
Let’s start with the Wednesday action: A Day Without a Woman.
We know it was a success because of how much conservatives whinged about it.
Remember first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win? Rs have stopped ignoring the protests. Now they are trying to discredit them.
Not as many people as January 21!
Only privileged women could attend!
You turn off potential allies by causing disruption!
So many women do not have control over their schedules, so not everyone could participate by taking the day off, but those who had to work could still wear red and avoid spending money on that day. In fact, “no spending” strikes are a great resistance tool and we may have to consider doing them on a regular basis.
Yes, it was disruptive. I have come around on this in recent years. This is a crisis. No business as usual, damn it. If there is anyone whose life has been completely untouched by the DJT presidency so far, well then they just had to deal with it on Wednesday.
I do have sympathy for the women who had to scramble for child care because schools were closed. Emergencies do happen though, and this is one of them. Ultimately when the resistance succeeds they will be better off than if we had just kept quiet and rolled over and accepted the DJT administration without complaint.
Ribbons to everyone who helped organize events in DC and elsewhere, everyone who marched, everyone who couldn’t march but wore red or joined the no spending strike. Always remember we outnumber them.
Inspiring pictures here (The Verge), here (Cosmo—amazingly good), here (Huff Po) and here (Mother Jones).
We exist, we resist, we rise: This week also featured the four-day Native Nations Rise event in recognition of indigenous people’s rights and in opposition to DJT’s approval of the Dakota Access Pipe Line. The main march was held in DC and solidarity demonstrations were held all over the country. “The march was organized by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Native Organizers Alliance and Indigenous Environmental Network to support the Standing Rock fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline and raise awareness to other indigenous issues.”
I can only imagine how it is pissing off DJT that all these people of color are defying him right in his own backyard. I wonder if all the resistance activity in DC this week had anything to do with DJT shutting out the press on Thursday and refusing to answer questions from any members of the Fourth Estate for the rest of the week.
Check out the diary by rebel ga from this morning with lots more wonderful pix.
Ribbons all around to the organizers and participants. Rise with Standing Rock! Water is Life!
The VRA lives, but just barely… Last but not least, ribbons to Judge Xavier Rodriguez and Chief District Judge Orlando Garcia, who sit on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Late Friday night they dropped a 194 page opinion striking down the racially motivated gerrymandering designed to dilute the votes of Hispanic voters.
This decision was a mixed blessing in the six year old case. First of all, since it was dragged out for so long, Texas Rcons got the benefits of the gerrymandered districts in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections.
And apparently the attorneys from the Justice Department rubbed Judge Smith the wrong way. Look at these paragraphs from his dissent:
I have no criticism of their knowledge of the law, and their zeal is, to say the least, more than adequate. But they entered these proceedings with arrogance and condescension. One of the Department’s lawyers even exhibited her contempt for Texas and its representatives and her disdain for these proceedings by regularly rolling her eyes at State witnesses’ answers that she did not like, and she amused herself by chewing gum while court was in session.
It was obvious, from the start, that the DoJ attorneys viewed state officials and the legislative majority and their staffs as a bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots who bemoan the abolition of the poll tax and pine for the days of literacy tests and lynchings. And the DoJ lawyers saw themselves as an expeditionary landing party arriving here, just in time, to rescue the state from oppression, obviously presuming that plaintiffs’ counsel were not up to the task. The Department of Justice moreover views Texas redistricting litigation as the potential grand prize and lusts for the day when it can reimpose preclearance via Section 3(c).
Of course, these are just personal impressions based on demeanor and attitude.
Ouch. They chewed gum. They showed contempt for racism. They hoped to bring Texas back into pre-clearance. I guess these are unforgivable offenses. What I’m going to say may sound indelicate, and maybe the attorneys should have made more effort to control themselves, but it is a possibility they were simply responding to events as they perceived them, without making the effort to be as deferential as the likes of Judge Smith are generally accumstomed to.
Republicons will certainly appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, and it's anyone’s guess as to what the S.Ct. will do in the DJT era. They could also find some way to delay so that any decision is not reached in time to affect the 2018 election.
Still, we won at this level, and all wins must be celebrated. So Judge Smith gets the scarlet L for being a sore Red Team Loser. Judge Rodriguez and Chief Judge Garcia get big blue ribbons.
Please add your own nominations for ribbons in the comments!
Previous TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Mar 10: How to talk to people who have trouble understanding actions have consequences
Mar 9: Where’s the fire? The real reason Rs are trying to rush TrumpCare through Congress
Mar 8: Message Discipline 101: TrumpCare, RyanCare, GOPCare, DonTCare—what’s in a name?
Mar 7: How very hard it is for a woman to go a day without paid (or unpaid) work
Mar 6: Can DJT really be stumbling into the exact investigation we want?
Mar 5: How is it even possible that deplorables see a man of faith when they look at DJT?
Mar 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Chris Hayes, Malcolm Nance, Cierra Fields
Mar 3: I’m glad Bannon, Conway, Carson, Sessions, Miller, et al. are in the DJT Administration
Mar 2: “In every major fire it always starts with smoke. And smoke is what kills you.”
Mar 1: Am I the only one whose skin crawled at the Carryn Owens BIRGing moment?
FEBRUARY
Feb 28: Spinspotting 101: Special Prosecutor for what? It’s so easy to answer that question
Feb 27: Spinspotting 101: I’ve seen no evidence because I haven’t looked for any evidence!
Feb 26: If Neil Gorsuch were a man of integrity, he would decline the S.Ct. appointment
Feb 25: True Blue Ribbons: Russia Flag trolling, Dixie Swastika grabbing, District Days demonstrating
Feb 24: There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative
Feb 23: Chief of Staff, Nat’l Security Advisor, GOP Head, President Bannon—too many hats!
Feb 22: DJT has a few questions for you—SMURF THIS POLL!
Feb 21: The end of “access journalism” means it’s time to #sendtheinterns
Feb 20: KAC lying low for now… can we banish her (and all her ilk) from the airwaves completely?
Feb 19: DeVos cartoon, Ruby Bridges, unearned unhappiness and childlike faith
Feb 18: Blue Ribbon Winners—Vice Adm. Harward, Melissa McCarthy, and intel whistleblowers
Feb 17: And Ain’t I an American?
Feb 16: Please tell your family and friends—If you regret your DJT vote, speak up NOW
Feb 15: R-supported forced childbirth laws deny the autonomy of women
Feb 14: What did the president know? Everything. When did he know it? From the beginning.
Feb 13: Coping with The Madness of King Donald by hoping political comedy will save us
Feb 12: The Poverty and Justice Bible
Feb 11: Blue Ribbon Winners: Swastika removers, Ninth Circuit Panel, and the Persisterhood!
Feb 10: The first three words of the Constitution are “We, the People” not “I, the President”
Feb 9: Who first inspired your political activism? Who inspires you now?
Feb 8: We cannot and will not be silenced—Here’s what to do if they try to silence you
Feb 7: Plain Talk Tuesday: Tell people the Affordable Care Act is the same as OBAMACARE
Feb 6: Interview Skills 101—Internalized oppression and what Ryan Lizza did right. BRAVO!
Feb 5: These protest signs with Bible cites will confuse and befuddle RWNJs
Feb 4: Blue Ribbon Winners: Temple B’Nai Israel, Judge Robart, CNN, Senate Phone Callers
Feb 3: Not rich, not smart, not a good businessman, not a winner—DJT is NOTHING he claims to be
Feb 2: Thursday action—Encouragement, thanks, and apologies (pick one or more)
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners: Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense