I read a lot of news and views on Daily Kos but rarely do I find posts on how we might take embodied actions to counter expected GOP misdeeds. Yes, there are letters to write to Congresspeople and get-out-the-vote volunteerism–all important as we progress towards November. However, I expect one or two major events to occur long before November. 1) On March 5th, 700,000 Dreamers will become designated as criminals. 2) In the weeks or months ahead, Mueller will be fired. Either one of these events demands an earthshaking response.
I’m afraid that many progressives still trust that the electoral process is the most effective way to make changes. Sure, when most laws are followed it works. But if we don’t plan for Kristallnacht-type extrajudicial behavior (or GOP collusion with Russia), we are caught by surprise and history shows that horrifying results may follow.
I was eleven in 1963 when the school principal announced JFK’s assassination over the loud speaker. Much of his vision died with him and soon a brutal war in Southeast Asia (including Cambodia and Laos) killed upwards of 2 million people. I was sixteen in 1968 when MLK, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were both killed. Nixon was the result. Another more devastating result was the disillusionment of millions of young people. Though Nixon was taken down, his racist Southern strategy (now without MLK’s powerful voice of resistance) and lying corrupt political techniques were adopted and refined by Republicans until we have what we have today. What did work (slowly) was a massive movement by millions of people (Moratoriums), including large numbers who were willing to take actions that stepped over repressive laws. Upwards of 250,000 refused to register for the draft (only about 250 were convicted) and hundreds of thousands of others were ‘unauthorized’ conscientious objectors or draft dodgers. Daniel Ellsberg with his Pentagon Papers, Mark Felt as Deep Throat and scores of journalists and protesters took personal risks that helped change the course of war and politics up to 1975.
Since then? Under Reagan we had… The George H.W. Bush backlash included… During the Clinton years… OK, here we have something: Under George W. Bush there were a few days of protests when the bombs started falling in Iraq in 2003. And Manning risked all to release troves of military abuses. And newspapers did publish pictures and stories of torture at Abu Ghraib... During Obama’s presidency, Snowden took action, BLM and Occupy protesters took to the streets... And since Trump was inaugurated we’ve had two days with massive outpourings of Women’s March protesters (wonderful!), one for each 200 days. What we’ve also had is hundreds of thousands of blogs written, including this one, and many personal ‘little’ actions that indeed do make a difference. Not enough, I say, to shake the earth under Republican feet when the March 5th Kristallnacht occurs or the 2018 Saturday night massacre lights up mainstream media.
I know that Move On is attempting to organize massive protests if Mueller is fired. I wholeheartedly support them. But I believe we need more. Personally, I feel a National Strike will be necessary if we are to meet the legal and human abuses at a magnitude equal to our outrage and at a strength equal to the crimes. Strike where it hurts them the most–the economy (they say they own it, right?). And yes, it’ll hurt each of us, too, but isn’t that the point? We need to feel and participate in the Dreamers’ pain, to choose to risk something that really demonstrates we are all in this together. And if Mueller goes, you know as well as I that nothing good will happen until business as usual is disrupted.
How are others planning to respond? What actions do you think will be effective?