What is “extreme vetting”?
That’s not what I was getting at. I agree that protesting the vote itself is counter-productive and even embarrassing. My point was that the legitimacy of a representative democracy hinges entirely upon the possibility of actually being represented in some meaningful way. If the country is determined to avoid ever putting your concerns or candidates on any ballot, why play their game? Why accept that as being a legitimate representative government? To many people I guess it seems “unthinkable” to protest the legitimacy of the government itself, and act upon it on a day-to-day basis. But why not? If The State is willing to fight to keep you marginal and unrepresented, then bring the fight to them.
The trick with representative democracy is - and it is a trick - that it claims that the people are the ultimate authority, who invest their authority in a government. But this functions only as an abstraction to placate the masses. The reality is that it is used to create an illusion of legitimacy for a ruling class, an elite. On paper it sounds like a bottoms-up system, but it truly functions as a top-down system. If authority was actually recognized as coming from the masses - as is claimed - then that authority could be withheld by the masses. The masses, rather than elites, can articulate the conditions for consent to be governed in the first place. Taking the legitimacy of office for granted is arrogant bravado and a grave strategic mistake.
1 Like
Maybe it’s like extreme ironing, only with pets?
Except, of course, it’s banning Muslims from entering the country…
7 Likes
That was the answer I hoped for 
2 Likes
I think it’s sort of like “heavy vetting”.
4 Likes
I don’t like it, in fact I intensely hate it, but Trump and his merry band of useful idiots are exactly the kind of people who would burn down our country to retain power. So I agree we must tread carefully.
However my concern is if we say these protests are skirting on the edge of insurrection, where do we draw the line and how do we prevent an authoritarian Republican government from pushing that line?
3 Likes
They don’t have to. All they have to do is protest the outcome of free and open elections. Then Trump and the Republican dominated Congress have the pretext for starting Civil War mark II by declaring a Federal State of Emergency, which gives them legal authority to carpet-bomb US cities. Read up on it, don’t believe me.
Remember, what you want to say isn’t always what people hear you saying. People are protesting the outcome of a vote. Here’s some reactions to that:
http://empireexposed.blogspot.com/2016/11/soros-funded-anti-trump-protesters.html
http://daisyluther.com/trump-protest-feed/
http://magafeed.com/anti-democracy-protests-in-new-york/
I spent all Saturday in the woods with Trump voters. They will back a military intervention to put down violent anti-democracy protests, they will back bombing the inner cities from aircraft. That is what we are talking about now. That is what is being risked.
Listen to Bernie Sanders! Protest the appointment of a climate change denialist to head the EPA. Protest something Trump has done - not what voters did. Ditch the NotMyPresident meme for now and pick it up again after Trump actually does something.
And read Martin Luther King! Don’t protest in places where anti-democracy agitators and violent looters can infiltrate your protests and do harm that you’ll be blamed for. Protest in a public park and not a shopping mall, for example. Do sit-ins instead of marches, block doorways with passive resistance instead of forming battle lines. Let the violence come from the opposition, not from provocateurs in our ranks.
OK, I really, really got too much work to do. Maybe tomorrow I will have more time…
4 Likes
So these patriots aren’t in favour of the First Amendment? I thought they were all about the constitution?
And presumably these are the same people who were threatening armed insurrection if Obama ever came for their guns?
9 Likes
So your tl;dr is “shut up, or people will intentionally misrepresent your legitimate frustration to further suppress you.”
Got it.
10 Likes
And at what point do the rest of us get to say that this is unacceptable in 2016? The white nationalists misogynists won, them’s the breaks, that’s democracy, so just can it? At what point is it OK to rally against this?
12 Likes
That doesn’t scare you, when they are being fed lies from the alt-right sites?
9 Likes
No. They are out to get us in anyway they can. They won and they are going to take it out on us.
11 Likes
6 Likes
Ok, you heard it here first: I have used my newly-created Twitter account to let the president-elect know that I will be happy to be considered for ambassador to Belgium when he’s ready to replace Ambassador Bauer.
Email your congresscritters to support RatMan for Ambassador! And BBS will be my online campaign headquarters!
5 Likes
4 Likes
Unfortunately, ratman and every reasonable variant was already taken. I used a version of my real name.
I can no longer find my tweet. The recipient/target can’t delete them, can they?
4 Likes
If you didn’t start your tweet with a period (".@realDonaldTrump"), it only shows up in the “Tweets and Replies” tab of your profile. Otherwise no, it can’t be deleted by the target.
2 Likes
Yeah, I screwed something up somewhere. I’ll try again. I’d send an email, but Tweeting seems to be a required skill in this new administration.
2 Likes
Actions speak louder than words; I don’t care what you have to say.
Show me.
3 Likes
