There are growing outcries, protests via sit-ins, die-ins, boycotts, increasing outrage and now, calls for a US general strike. There at least three calls to strike now, two are calls for one-two day long strikes, and one is for an ongoing sustained nationwide general strike to take place until a list of specific demands are met.
The US General Strike calls for nullification of the 2016 election, and a new election. The call was posted here by ruetheday on Daily Kos where it received a bit of attention, a ration of /s and my response, which became so lengthy that I decided it best to write my own diary.
Because I wholeheartedly support this call.
A quick glance at the diaries I’ve contributed reveals I’ve made this call for a new election all year. I truly believe we are not just witnessing the reincarnation, rebirth, re-emergence of something that we thought the Allies killed last century, but something even worse. Barack Obama just this week warned about complacency, as that was what enabled Hitler. What we are witnessing is the ultimate worse case scenario the Founding Fathers could not ever have imagined. This global coup that seeks to gain unfettered access to and control of the planet’s remaining nonrenewable resources knows no boundaries, and is on track to succeed, unless we act to stop it now via peaceful massive legal strategic nonviolent strategies that are within our Constitutional rights aka a general strike.
Yes, we’ve been told by the “experts” that, as there is no way via COTUS to nullify, we can’t do that, so... we best not even try. Where there is a will, there is a way, I say. We need to show the world we are the Beacon of Democracy, and that we will not tolerate anyone, foreign and/OR domestic, messing with our fair and free elections.
Never mind that the GOP has been since, well, looks like the 80s at least, via gerrymandering, roll purges, voter suppression, Citizens United, organizations such as ALEC, and now a looming Constitutional Convention, doing precisely just that, messing with our fair, free elections. Do we really want to become known as the Beacon of Hypocrisy?
Most of us are awake now, we see what is going on. They, the Kochs, Mercers, et al., have teamed up with fascists, billionaires, elites, global oligarchs, Russia, and religious evangelicals/dominionists from around the world to form what one Resister calls an Unholy Axis and another G.F.O.R.C. that is Global Fascist Oligarchic Religious Cultists.
We need to do something and whatever we do needs to address a whole lot more than just nullifying an election and electing a new president: we need to RESTORE Democracy. In so doing, we need to safeguard our democracy from enemies that seek to destroy from without and from within, and realize once and for all just what a true representative government looks like.
Nullification aside, as that may entail a legal battle for which We the People have little time, scarce resources, and no support, hitting the streets en mass and demanding the immediate resignation of P/VP and all complicit GOP is the next demand that US General Strike makes.
Most of us can agree that this does needs to happen, like yesterday, 12/8/2017, precisely when the US General Strike was to begin. It needs to happen to prevent WW3, stop the TaxScamBill, save the ACA, protect Dreamers, save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, save our National Parks from drilling and fracking, protect the environment in general, reinstate a State Department, guarantee NetNeutrality, ...etc., etc., ad nauseum.
So, say we just demand resignation/removal of P/VP and not nullification, as is this call’s second choice? What happens then? When BOTH P/VP, and all complicit GOP “resign, are removed, or die” we are going to need a new administration and it SHOULD be one that we the people elect, via a paper ballot counted by hand under recorded surveillance.
COTUS Art. 2, Sec. 1, Cl. 6 states: if Both P/VP resign, die, or are removed (say via impeachment or criminal indictment/prosecution/conviction), Congress is to provide for that case, by law they are to install a caretaker “Officer”, until a new president “shall” be elected. Congress for the sake of expedience, might choose the path of least resistance (although the way COTUS reads they do not have to, but IANAL) and follow the Line of Succession. But as most of the LOS is likely complicit, corrupted, and/or is appointed by the administration and ...suspect, that may take us all the way down the line to Senator Hatch, or even General Mattis. Or, if Speaker Ryan is removed and a new Speaker of the House is appointed, it could that person. Let that sink in.
Mueller? Yes, Mueller is doing a great job of getting to the bottom of this matter, but he needs protection, and all the time and resources we can give him to root out the overgrown weeds of corruption from around the world that have taken root and are living in our untended Garden of Democracy. He is following the money; it is truly the root of all evil. Many organized plans are in place to mobilize mass protests should he be fired, such as this rapid response plan from MoveOn.org: act.moveon.org/.... and this from www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/… An Independent Council needs to be created and empowered; Mueller can well, just change his title from SC to IC.
However, it is true, as the call from US General Strike puts forth, that Mueller’s investigation as it stands may not be actionable. He’s going to file a report, and efforts are already underway to discredit his stellar reputation and record of service. Senator Adam Schiff warned us about that fact in this recent oped www.washingtonpost.com/....
I, for one, applaud this effort to put together a response, to mount a defense, to make a stand, to DO something. I totally support the message as well as the plan as long as it abides by our Constitution and remains peaceful.
This call to strike sets the bar high by calling for a new election, acknowledges that demand may not be possible or expedient, and so is therefore willing to accept the resignation of the administration and all complicit, and the installation of an honest statesperson as a caretaker, until the next election. It calls upon us all to do what we can, stock up, prepare, stop spending or spend less, do no work or slow work, engage in targeted boycotts, support artisans, artists, small biz... whatever we can to do to help make it happen. At least someone is trying to address the fact that there is an ELEPHANT in the room, one that will be trampling us sooner rather than later. That is “their” plan, it is their vision of a new world order, and the current administration is totally on board, as are all the nepoti, oligarchs, Putin, billionaires, and radical right wing religious extremists. All is going according to script. Bannon’s script.
US General Strike organizers have decided to postpone this strike as the numbers are not there, YET. We need to move mountains. So if you have a rock crusher, or want to bring cookies, why not bring them on down, we’ll have a We the People Party, in the streets, an all-nighter, or several, as many as it takes, we’ll take shifts, people might be moved to bring us sandwiches ...that’s how South Korea did it to oust their corrupt government. There are more than a few people in the streets already, we only need a few million more.
Another reason I support this call is the sense of urgency it undertakes to impart: the consolidation of power under authoritarian rule is happening fast, tensions around the world are rising fast, the effort to convene a Constitutional Convention is just 6 states away from being successful. Efforts to strip citizens of their right to protest are happening fast: “Nationwide, about 29 such anti-protest bills have been proposed or passed since November, coinciding with an unprecedented wave of street demonstrations against Trump.” www.thenation.com/…
IOW if we don’t do this now it will be harder, if not impossible later.
The conversation needs to move on “from do we reaaallly need to do this” to “how can we do this, as do this we must”.
Resources, articles, examples and other back up in general for this call to strike:
“In the face of even the worst oppression, violence is not the answer. Peaceful movements are simply more effective.” Fact. www.fastcompany.com/...
Poles took to the streets and stayed there to stop a move to oust judges and replace them: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/07/24/how-street-demonstrators-scored-a-victory-against-polands-government/?utm_term=.697cce3f4a49
“Calls for general strikes reflect the extraordinary times we live in. The Left should join in organizing them, not dismiss them.” Erica Forman: A General Strike is Possible: www.jacobinmag.com/...
“Strong democracies outlive presidential scandals. It happened in the United States during Watergate, and it’s happening in Korea now. Koreans are showing the world that mass public protests can be powerful and peaceful — even polite — and still be effective. It’s a lesson Americans could stand to remember, especially now. “ www.google.com/…
“Their conclusion was that nonviolent movements were twice as likely to succeed as violent movements, and that nonviolent movements often significantly increased the chances of a more peaceful and democratic government emerging in the aftermath.” www.forbes.com/…