Trump is skilled at presenting himself as the indomitable voice of a true American majority, creating a facade of consensus aided by the startling quiescence of congressional Republicans. Dissent, both loud and quiet, can crack that facade and make an illegitimate power grab apparent for what it is.
This is why it is super super important to resist and refuse to give in pre-emptively. Trump is a bully, and bullies rely on making you feel alone and scared. But you just have to look beside you to see who else he’s picking on. Just being aware of this, is the first step to becoming part of the resistance.
And show up for a protest. People see those and realize that they’re not alone in opposition.
That’s one thing a lit of people miss. The benefit of a protest accrues to the protesters in the form of feelings of connection and solidarity. The annoyed liberal who has to read your sign on the way to starbucks isn’t and never was the point.
Most people just will have to do the best for their family and get a paycheck at the end of day.
Democracy or not, life have to go on…
Wonder if he’ll ever see any from congressional democrats.
He’s seeing a lot — but they they’re a minority in both houses of Congress, which means that:
- They can’t prevent nominees from being confirmed
- They can’t stop budget legislation if Republicans are united about it
- They can’t even hold official hearings with subpoena power
What they can do:
- Slow things down - insisting on the maximum amount of debate on every nomination
- Block non-budget legislation in the Senate
So far they’ve started slowing things down a fair bit, but not by the maximum possible, and non-budget legislation hasn’t yet moved in the Senate.
There’s more they can do to slow things down, it just might be embarrassing or break decorum.
And they need to vote as an opposition block—every vote, every time. It would help if they stop voting for his nominees and laws like Laken Riley.
There is definitely more they can do to slow things down (eg reject unanimous consent every time) and they’ve largely started voting as an opposition bloc at this point.
They unanimously approved Rubio.
Is that what you accept as resistance? It looks like enthusiastic complicity to me.