The Tea Party movement, which rose up in the early years of the Obama presidency to oppose pretty much everything he stood for, was a reactionary, often-embarrassing political spectacle.
But as reactionary, often-embarrassing political spectacles go, it was a pretty effective one. Tea Partiers may have had trouble spelling their slogans correctly, but they managed to block a lot of Obama’s progressive agenda.
Now a group of former congressional staffers with years of experience fighting against the Tea Party are urging fellow progressives to adopt some of that group’s most effective tactics to thwart the incoming Trump regime. In an already much-discussed document called Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda, these activists urge Trump opponents to
stand indivisibly opposed to Trump and the members of Congress (MoCs) who would do his bidding. Together, we have the power to resist — and we have the power to win.
We know this because we’ve seen it before. The authors of this guide are former congressional staffers who witnessed the rise of the Tea Party. We saw these activists take on a popular president with a mandate for change and a supermajority in Congress. We saw them organize locally and convince their own MoCs to reject President Obama’s agenda. Their ideas were wrong, cruel, and tinged with racism— and they won.
We believe that protecting our values, our neighbors, and ourselves will require mounting a similar resistance to the Trump agenda — but a resistance built on the values of inclusion, tolerance, and fairness. Trump is not popular. He does not have a mandate. He does not have large congressional majorities. If a small minority in the Tea Party can stop President Obama, then we the majority can stop a petty tyrant named Trump.
One of the great strengths of the Tea Party, the Indivisible authors note, is that it offered unified opposition to virtually everything Obama and his allies stood for — and punished those Republicans who wavered in the anti-Obama crusade.
The Tea Party focused on saying NO to Members of Congress (MoCs) on their home turf. While the Tea Party activists were united by a core set of shared beliefs, they actively avoided developing their own policy agenda. Instead, they had an extraordinary clarity of purpose, united in opposition to President Obama. They didn’t accept concessions and treated weak Republicans as traitors.
Local Tea Party groups focused their attention on their local representatives in Congress, and made life uncomfortable for those Republicans who weren’t willing to be “their voice of opposition on Capitol Hill.” In doing so, they garnered political influence out of proportion to their relatively small numbers.
By adopting a similar strategy, Indivisible argues, the anti-Trump movement could
Stall the Trump agenda by forcing [MoCs] to redirect energy away from their priorities. Congressional offices have limited time and limited people. A day that they spend worrying about you is a day that they’re not ending Medicare, privatizing public schools, or preparing a Muslim registry.
Sap Representatives’ will to support or drive reactionary change. If you do this right, you will have an outsized impact. Every time your MoC signs on to a bill, takes a position, or makes a statement, a little part of his or her mind will be thinking: “How am I going to explain this to the angry constituents who keep showing up at my events and demanding answers?”
Reaffirm the illegitimacy of the Trump agenda. The hard truth is that Trump, McConnell, and Ryan will have the votes to cause some damage. But by objecting as loudly and powerfully as possible, and by centering the voices of those who are most affected by their agenda, you can ensure that people understand exactly how bad these laws are from the very start – priming the ground for the 2018 midterms and their repeal when Democrats retake power.
Indivisible runs through these lessons from the Tea Party fairly quickly, and follows them up with a good deal of very practical advice on how to best get the attention of local MoC’s — from organized phone calling to office sit-ins.
The guide is free. I think it will prove invaluable to anti-Trump activists over the next several years.
How nice for you.
And just look at his legislative accomplishments!
Is there a word that means “Both hypocrisy and projection”?
Actually, it’s about…
@SFHC
Projection seems good enough to me.
@Pendraeg
Once again I have to defend a person again from sleazy fuckers who use him like a baseball bat while also being against what he stands for. Bernie wants x, y and z which in sum are for benefits for the working class, minorities, and restrictions on big money and their influence on the political process. You who wishes to say that we shouldn’t fight dirty because that isn’t what Sanders stands for is probably one of the sleaziest things you can ever say to my face. Funny enough you’re saying don’t play dirty because the person you are using as a scapegoat actually does quite often through open protest.
Seriously you could not offend me more if you posted a clip of Trump using Bernie while also being literally against everyone Bernie stands for.
@Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
Any bets that he’ll try to make some sort of “we can’t help everyone” stance? I can’t wait to hear how despite being the wealthiest and one of the most populated nations we are simply incapable of multitasking. Or maybe he’ll implicate that the people in reality are naturally racist and us trying to make the world a better place in our own ways is like forcing a police baton on a poor sod.
@Jack
I mean, I did single out brogressives. Context clues, yo
Re: Clinton/Sanders
I actively chose to ignore that stuff. It’s a touchy subject for some people, myself included, and I’d rather not have that fight here. However, since it has been addressed, I will say that anyone who thinks the Sanders camp was above politicking dirty during the primaries wasn’t paying the closest attention. And he lost besides. That is all
ETA
@Oogly
I wonder who might be left out of ‘everyone’? Hmmm…
I don’t know. It’d be nice if the answer was that clear, but I’m not sure it is.
I mean, part of the reason the Tea Party people don’t care about obstructionism is because they don’t really want the federal government doing anything. That’s why they were so happy to shout “Shut it down.”
The Democratic party believes that government can be a force for good and that it’s vital to the functioning of our country. We believe that if the government isn’t operating properly. people die.
On the other hand, a government being run by Trump doesn’t seem like it’s going to be running properly. And certainly, a government that’s doing more harm than good needs to be shut down.
I think this obstructionist stand is principled. It says, we will brook no fascism, especially not from a self-obsessed blowhard who lost the popular vote by a larger margin than any other presidential candidate, who abuses Twitter to manipulate stock markets, and who has already destabilized international relations.
The Tea Party refused to cooperate with Obama because he was black. They said it was because there was controversy, that we didn’t know for sure that he was an American citizen, that there was voter fraud, but the real reason is that he was black. We have legitimate concerns about The Don.
We’re opposing The Don because he’s going to use the Presidency to line his own pockets and those of his cronies, enact draconian legislation, and actively encourage and legitimize neo-Nazis.
Those things are dealbreakers. If we negotiate and shake hands with the Trumpers over a deal, we’re saying that we countenance hate.
Personally, I don’t think they will have any proposals that do anything but give money to the 1% or further marginalize groups, so they won’t be worth shaking hands on. For instance, I won’t be surprised if that big infrastructure spending plan turns out to be block grants. (I saw something somewhere, but of course I can’t find it now, about a proposal to use a federal panel to determine what qualifies as infrastructure.)
@Mellow Monkey
Hiya, I’m Axe! Welcome to the Mammoth. Welcome package on the right, and don’t be a stranger!
Also, uhm… *looks at nym, looks at profile pic, ponders to self about life*
@Pendraeg
“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny” is no way to go through
lifepolitics, son.No, they don’t. If people really wanted that, then Trump wouldn’t have been able to win an election for dogcatcher, much less president. If people really wanted that, then the lies and bullshit that got Trump elected would never have worked.
If you genuinely believe that, then you can take your concern-trolly advice and shove it. I have friends who are already suffering because of Trump, and if you want to keep your “clean hands” while the rest of us get down to the business of transforming our political landscape even if we have to (politically) bloody our knuckles to do so, then so be it. We’ve seen what tactics WORK, and telling us to not do it for “principles” is just the right combination of arrogant and ignorant.
So in short: Your concerns are noted, Troll.
@Mellow Monkey
Welcome in, nice to see you again.
@ Pendraeg
Stop digging.
As someone who is very likely to be thrown under the bus* by Mango Mussolini and his Screeching Menagerie of Yes Men, Leeches in Business Suits and Russian Sympathizers, allow me this point:
I will not allow this man to hurt me and those I care about.
I have lived on this earth going on 27 years now, and I haven’t survived all the shit that’s been thrown at me to be left to die by some asshole who wants to turn my country into the fucking Fascist Hunger Games.
I do not doubt that this man will throw most Americans under the bus to allow his cronies to fucking live it up on our dimes. This man has demonstrated time and time again that he doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone who isn’t a rich cishet white dude, nor does he give a fuck about doing right by the people. He’s a con artist who would sell his own mother down the river if he thought he could make a buck or get some press for it, as far as I’m concerned.
I am not willing, nor able, to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s suddenly going to have a change of heart and will do what’s good for the people, i.e. me. There’s a reason the phrase is “He’s gone mad with power!” (apologies for the slight ableism) and not “He’s gone rational/kind/reasonable with power!”
Power is a magnifying lens. It shows you who a person really is. Trump has said and done some horrible things to get the power he now holds, and I don’t fucking doubt he’s going to use it like a sledgehammer against those who he doesn’t like.
He’s already threatened publications who don’t kiss his ass. He’s threatened journalists with his twitter followers. He’s proposed things that will put other people in danger without a damn care in the world for their safety.
Trump is not a person who has even the slightest thought about what’s best for the people because he doesn’t give a shit. He doesn’t deserve my compromise, and neither do the bigots and assorted awful people who threw in with him on the promise that he’d do their bidding or on the grounds that he “wasn’t Clinton”.
And if I have to go Lawful Evil to ensure that this festering carrot and his little maggoty minions don’t get anything done, then so mote it fucking be.
Because I don’t care if other people see me as “unethical” at this point. Because it’s either I do an “unethical” thing, or risk being left to die, or worse.
And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone’s that fucking expendable.
*Pagan, genderflux, pansexual, poor, mentally ill and suffering from chronic pain, but hey, at least I’m white and cishet passing, so I have that going for me.
@ Michael Brew
Considering what we’ve seen so far of the GOP agenda, any possible beneficial “Nixon in China” moment still seems like a pipe dream…but I’d honestly join the side arguing at this point against any cooperation at all, regardless of the circumstances. It does sound like the the cynical platitudes of “the ends justify the means” and “there are no bad tactics, only bad targets,” but it makes a little more sense when thought of in harm-based terms.
The ideal tactic causes the least possible harm for the greatest possible benefit. The great thing is that “least possible harm” means practically nonexistent harm in some positive instances (see: marriage equality); the bad thing is that “least possible harm” regarding Republican government is to not back down an inch, because everything they’re planning to do (defund Planned Parenthood, repeal the ACA, etc.) and have shown themselves inclined to do (“fix” problems in ways lining their own pockets with lip service paid to their other constituents) causes real, great harm.
Yes, if the Republicans somehow came up with something that caused long-term benefit*, we should fight. Probably by insisting that whatever is being offered be pumped up far more (ACA+? Try single-payer. Universal background checks for guns? Try for ammo, too. Beef up Title IX anti-discrimination protections and expand them to all GSMs as well? Try constitutional amendment. Etc.), but we should fight. Yes, vulnerable people could be harmed by inaction…but not as sacrifices. We’ve already seen the political business of small concessions do greater harm in the long run. It’s worked out that way time and again.
So yeah, there are bad tactics. But this isn’t one of them.
*Unless it’s the kind of long-term benefit that literally loses them support from their rich and white evangelical backers. Then it’s probably a keeper, because there’s a reverse “canary in the mine” situation if ever there was any.
Falconer
Would you be even less surprised to find that the “program”, for want of a better word, consists more or less entirely of tax write-offs for business? (And bills for citizens.)
The first comments I read on this a while ago were that the vague outline indicated that this was just a tax benefit for companies and nothing more. There was no indication that any additional jobs would be created, nor that any infrastructure would be built, nor funds invested, that wouldn’t have happened anyway.
I’ve never heard of Edward Woodson* before but I’ll make a note of the name. Baby granddaughter loves being read to and fairy wonderland/ Peter Pan Never-Never-land stories would be just the ticket as her tastes develop beyond The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Peppa Pig.
*http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/311960-trumps-infrastructure-plan-does-not-equate-to-liberal
A big thing to point out is that defeating Trump and the Republicans is technically also just a means to an end. The actual end is a federal government that passes good laws, enacts policy that benefits everyone. Clearly the consensus here is that removing Trump and the Republicans from Washington is a necessary step.
It feels like a choice with two impractical and terrible options. Can you reach across the aisle, work with republicans, but also create the sort of policy we need to see? Probably not. Can you somehow throw republicans out of congress and squash all the Trump supporters? Probably not.
Seeing people #ResistTrump feels like a continuation of the trend that allowed Trump to get elected in the first place. I hope I am wrong, but that is what I think right now. Simply pushing against our new president at every turn doesn’t seem like it would accomplish anything, it is heavy handed at best, and it will undermine democracy at worst. It can get worse than president Trump. If you dissolved the federal government tomorrow the thing that replaces it would be worse than president Trump.
On the other hand, giving Republicans the benefit of the doubt is starting to sound like “We can’t bomb the Nazis! We’ll hurt the germans!”
Exercising your rights of free assembly, free speech and freedom of the press is extremely important. But no one should hold back at that point.
All you need do to be convinced is to watch the movie, Cabaret. Those artists, comedians and commentators mocked Hitler, Mussolini, Franco relentlessly for years and years and years. Got them nowhere and nothing but grief and aggro. Without equivalent strong political action following through, rather than simple social support and stirring the pot, they lost their living and sometimes their lives and made little if any impact on the course of politics or the military.
I realise you’re not looking to slip straight into nihilism or anarchy or other cynicism-based politics, but it is very easy to do so unless you keep yourself and your friends firmly grounded and focused on achievable political objectives. (Most we know are achievable because, as in many individual states, we already had them and lost them. Take them back.)
Pendraegm, I have to say I have a lot of trouble tying to understand how trying to stop Trump from destroying democracy … will destroy democracy. Or that the techniques advocated in the indivisible guide are even remotely fascist.
The indivisible guide basically advocates civics on steroids; it’s a guide for people who want to communicate effectively with their elected officials — by calling them, showing up to town hall meetings, possibly holding sit-ins. We’re not going to adopt the lying and bigotry the Tea Partiers indulged in. We’re not going to show up anywhere with guns. None of the techniques being recommended are fascist tactics in the slightest.
This is the very least we can do. We actually need to do a lot more.
Gave Pendraeg’s first comment the side-eye when they posted it but I decided to wait and see, but now I feel pretty comfortable calling it concern trolling.
Look I really, really don’t get why this is supposedly about “principles and ethics”.
Is “systematically refusing to collaborate with Trump” lacking in either department ? Because to me it sounds pretty fucking ethical to stay as far away from that man as possible, and it’s a pretty strong and effective principle.
’cause in case you haven’t realized, Trump is a fucking danger to a lot of us, end of story. So please move out of the way.
The trend of a post-truth Fair And Balanced™ media that buried everything Trump’s done or been accused of doing, up to and including child rape, in favour of 24/7 coverage of Hillary’s emails? Of hate groups and mass murderers being cultivated and coddled by Reddit, 4Chan and Twitter? Of voter suppression, electoral fraud and impenetrable gerrymandering? Of Putin committing cyber-warfare against the US? Help me out here.
I think where Pendraeg seems to be coming from is the assumption that most people want basically the same thing as far as the future (of America, the world, etc.) is concerned, and disagreements come from misunderstandings or ignorance as to how that can be accomplished. I used to assume the same thing, and I think a lot of moderates feel that way as well.
Unfortunately I don’t think that’s true in the case of Trump and many of his supporters. They are not racist out of ignorance. Their bigotry comes from hatred – they want a world in which they can live their lives only encountering other white people; where women are happy to be in their ‘proper place’; and gay people aren’t around or are afraid to show their faces in public. Any beliefs they have about the inherent supremacy of their race or sexuality comes from a desire to justify their vision for the country. So calmly debating with them and illuminating the truth will not help. They are human beings like us, but they do not believe they will be happy in a diverse world, which is why they feel attacked. That’s not something any of us can fix by talking to them.
@WWTH,
The last good thing a Repub president did? I think it was Nixon and the Clean Water act, but I could be wrong.
@all, I think that every non violent tactic we can think of to bring the Trump/Republican agenda to a screaming halt is completely justified and will be necessary. Unrelenting, non-stop monkey warfare. Get in the way, be loud and obnoxious, make messes. Don’t worry to much about the high ground.
Attack, Attack, Attaaaaaaaaack!
But remember to get the facts straight and spell your signs correctly. 😉
Although I will say that I don’t like the idea of treating people who are not oppositional enough as traitors or weak. Sometimes it may not always be obvious when someone is more vulnerable; I’ve been put in awkward positions, for example, by trans allies who do not realize that I myself am transgender, and demand of me to stand up in support of trans people in ways that might put me in a lot more danger than it would put them. I think that particular tactic might be too divisive and actively harmful towards those who are most affected by Trump’s policies. It also alienates people who have dependants and families to support – the only wage-earner in a household cannot take the same risks as some with more support, and being politically outspoken can be a huge risk to employment.
@mildlymagnificent:
Oh my god.
Just ask Bolivia how well privatization of infrastructure works. Yikes.
Welp, Teen Vogue* has reported that Trump’s National Security Advisor pick has met with the head of a far-right Austrian political party that was originally established as a haven for Nazis and their sympathizers after WWII ended. These are not people we can cooperate with.
* A teen fashion magazine that has more journalistic backbone than the ‘serious’ media.
Hi all, been away a few days. Still out of the house, working while visiting friends and helping with a newborn. So my comments may be spotty or full, depending on diaper duties.
Holy noodle, infrastructure is being sold off to private concerns in the US as part of the ‘investment,’ and he isn’t even in office yet? Oh, wow. Brace yourselves guys, it’s gonna be a long four years.
@Pendraeg, you’re arguing something that will never actually happen. You’re saying that progressives should support the Republicans if they give us universal health care or a minimum wage increase or whatever. This didn’t happen, with a Democratic president and (at first) a Democratic-majority House of Congress. The path was clear to get that sort of shit done, and it still didn’t happen, why in heaven’s name would it happen now?
You’re arguing that we shouldn’t be mean because it might prevent leprechauns from granting us wishes. It’s a situation that is so unlikely, it might as well be impossible.
@Axe, you ain’t expendable to me <3
#MyOpinion,
Call these assholes every god-damned day. Let their ears ring with the echo of your voices when they put their heads down to sleep, and speak so loud that their ears are still ringing when they wake up in the morning. Make them dread the thought of coming into work, just because those phones are there.
Do the same to the mainstream media. Call CNN, call MSNBC, call Fuckin’ FOX. Ask them why they’re covering the shit they cover when real things are happening. Ask them why they failed their duty to the people so thoroughly that the fascists took control. Ask them when they went from being the safeguard of democracy to its executioner. Ask them what they’re doing to fix the situation.
When Dr King said “Let Freedom Ring,” he must’ve meant the ring of a telephone. Choke’m with fear of their phones, people. Make them dread the sound of its ringing. It’s your best weapon.
“you will have an outsized impact”
Oh really now, can we get anymore American?