Read a masterclass from the political sage on how to fight back against Trump II, create "social proof," mobilize your community, stop waiting for Democrats, and start getting it DONE
Just can't imagine why this existential threat isn’t “landing with the people”...
Bill Clinton lurched the Democratic Party so far to the right it obliterated the bright lines between the parties and blended them into an oligarchic Corporate/OnePercent BigDonor Wall St. party and… it didn’t land with people.
George Bush lied us into illegally invading a country that was no threat to us whatsoever for resources (just like Hitler did with Ukraine in WWII) and built a massive Security/Surveillance state at home and spied on Americans and… it didn't land with people.
Barack Obama bailed Wall St. out with no strings attached and didn’t set any conditions to help the American people recover, much less prosecute any of the banks or their officers that caused the catastrophe and… it didn’t land with the people.
Trump elected. The Mueller investigation was hamstrung by Justice Department rules preventing the indictment of a sitting president, but the Mueller Report was viewed as a roadmap for Congressional investigations in the House. In 2018 when Nancy Pelosi became House Speaker again, she immediately announced that impeachment was off the table and no serious investigations. Instead the House would just pass meaningless messaging bills that would die in the Senate and just keep their fingers crossed that Trump lost the election and… it didn’t land with people.
Trump lost the election and Joe Biden had predicted on the campaign trail that everything was on its way back to normal “The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke, you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” and the day after the violent Jan 6 coup attempt, Biden chose the least aggressive Attorney General ever as if nothing unusual had happened during Trump’s administration and… it didn’t land with the American people.
Just a month after Jan. 6 all the Republicans who were going to have an “epiphany” were goose stepping 100% behind him as the 2024 nominee while Trump inflamed division, hatred, violence and authoritarianism and on April 2023 the Heritage Foundation published Project 2025 giving Democrats in Congress a 900 page YEAR AND A HALF heads up of the Fascist hellscape they were planning to unleash on DAY ONE if Trump won and as they do… Democrats used it to fundraise, but didn't give ONE THOUGHT to what THEY were going to do on DAY ONE if Trump won and…
It didn’t land with the American people.
I've been watching this slow motion train wreck ever since Newt Gingrich turned our politics and government into a knife fight blood sport and Democrats just treated it like a grade school sleepover pillow fight. The Democratic party isn't fighting back because they never have! "Civility" "Acting like the adults in the room" "Go high when they go low"... Democrats have signalled to Republicans can do anything and Democrats... will do nothing and…
It didn't land with... Democratic voters, so... here we are.
Brilliant conversation. Thank you, both. At best, it's about inventing a new community-based, community-led Zeitgeist. A Zeitgeist so powerful that it can remake the Democratic party. My wish; my prayer.
This is awesome! And really useful framing in these %*@#!x& times. Will re-listen and discuss with my activist support group this weekend.
Under the category of "social proof that individuals can do," I respectfully suggest printing buttons. Wear one and offer to everyone you encounter. Our "Make America HUMAN Again" buttons worked well for this from 2017 on. New one is "Let's Try Sanity" (popularity TBD). Great conversation starter!
I would love an equivalent to the MAGA hats. Here’s my crazy-hairbrained idea:
Dark Blue hats with white lettering that says SAD
SAD stands for Save American Democracy
And it fits because we are sad that we are losing our Democracy at the hands of MAGA
Also with SAD, it is not yelling at MAGA in anger. It is saying we are SAD, sad about what they are doing. And I think it reflects how people sad about what is happening to the country
Anyway, just a crazy idea that popped into my head.
Myra, I totally agree. I wear different t-shirts with messages, have buttons and always carry extra. I also put flyers in my car windows and a bumper sticker. People need to know there are many like-minded folks out there and we need to corrale more to help fight back. Of course signage at your home and mailbox helps too. I have been surprised how much fewer signs, t-shirts, buttons etc there have been with this election cycle. We can't be afraid.....well we can be afraid and do it anyway!
I hear you both. I read, watch & listen consistently but here's a consideration to add to your bank of "to-do's": MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE. Invite creators and narrative designers to work with you to develop interactive venues that actually include people (especially young people) in ways they understand where they can have their voices heard - and I don't mean focus groups or town halls. To bridge the 'credulity gap' engage with narrative designers to create projects that are designed to immerse "we the people" in 'story' where through the characters or the 'world' built for them they given the ability to have their voices heard, if even indirectly. It will give them the confidence to engage and speak up and to get involved in issues that they care about most. Words are the new currency and storytelling connects. We remember best what we experience. For instance, no one is ever going to get young people to stop using social media or gaming, especially role-playing games. So, give them agency by immersing them via platforms they know and enjoy and which are designed and set up to do that. I know narrative designers who are experts in this approach to storytelling and making connections among people in the physical & digital world. I have seen it change lives. This CAN BE applied to the crisis we are in and to the crisis of connection existing in our country. Somebody needs to step up to make this happen. The design could be replicable so that groups all over the country could engage. Imagine the possibilities + the ideas and action that could emerge from this aproach to storytelling & connecting. Will you be the one to step up to support narrative designers who will do this, if asked? Please contact me for more information: sfurey@comcast.net Thanks!
Getting over our disbelief (and being there to catch others when they get over theirs) is key to mobilizing change! If there is a purposeful way to live in the post-disbelief America, it will help!
There is a point at which the five "stages of grief" intersect with the stages of change. I see myself marching in a memorial parade for the dying planet on Earth Day in April, but I'm not ready to take action on the death of democracy because the lack of awareness in the general population isn't ready. They neither feel nor fear it yet. A leader who can articulate why the attacks on DEI and trans people are so wrong, who can communicate how slash & burn valuable programs is a minor charade, may be able to ignite the revolt against the Project 2025 stooge and eventually reach its lemmings.
Come back Anat! Things I wrote down: Mangione Without Murder, change the perception of the number of people around you that feel that way (aka we're not alone), resistance/refusal/ridicule
This is extraordinary. I am an historian of political culture and political language, a peace artist, and a Quaker. This clear, dynamic framework accords with everything I know about arresting tyranny and creating the world we want to live in. Deeply grateful to you, Anat. To both of you.
This is all so good! I am a tormentor of Sen. Them Tillis, who finally saw a line he couldn't cross when the First Felon gave it all up to Putin. He was terrific and I thanked him profusely. Now today I read in the Democracy Index that the FBI told Tillis before the Hegseth confirmation vote that there were a number of credible death threats against him if he didn't vote for Hegseth, which probably accounts for his extremely odd behavior that day. I had assumed there were big threats of primarying him in 2026 but it's actually death threats from the Trump Mob. Hard to say is this is the real FBI or the new criminal FBI, but either way it's terrifying. The only thing I can think of that would stop this mob behavior is having anonymous votes, which is how we avoided Gaetz. I honestly don't know what I would do in his situation - we know the Jan. 6th people are on the loose and have nothing to lose by bumping off anyone their savior points out to them. Any advice? Mass protests will just get us martial law.
Just can't imagine why this existential threat isn’t “landing with the people”...
Bill Clinton lurched the Democratic Party so far to the right it obliterated the bright lines between the parties and blended them into an oligarchic Corporate/OnePercent BigDonor Wall St. party and… it didn’t land with people.
George Bush lied us into illegally invading a country that was no threat to us whatsoever for resources (just like Hitler did with Ukraine in WWII) and built a massive Security/Surveillance state at home and spied on Americans and… it didn't land with people.
Barack Obama bailed Wall St. out with no strings attached and didn’t set any conditions to help the American people recover, much less prosecute any of the banks or their officers that caused the catastrophe and… it didn’t land with the people.
Trump elected. The Mueller investigation was hamstrung by Justice Department rules preventing the indictment of a sitting president, but the Mueller Report was viewed as a roadmap for Congressional investigations in the House. In 2018 when Nancy Pelosi became House Speaker again, she immediately announced that impeachment was off the table and no serious investigations. Instead the House would just pass meaningless messaging bills that would die in the Senate and just keep their fingers crossed that Trump lost the election and… it didn’t land with people.
Trump lost the election and Joe Biden had predicted on the campaign trail that everything was on its way back to normal “The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke, you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” and the day after the violent Jan 6 coup attempt, Biden chose the least aggressive Attorney General ever as if nothing unusual had happened during Trump’s administration and… it didn’t land with the American people.
Just a month after Jan. 6 all the Republicans who were going to have an “epiphany” were goose stepping 100% behind him as the 2024 nominee while Trump inflamed division, hatred, violence and authoritarianism and on April 2023 the Heritage Foundation published Project 2025 giving Democrats in Congress a 900 page YEAR AND A HALF heads up of the Fascist hellscape they were planning to unleash on DAY ONE if Trump won and as they do… Democrats used it to fundraise, but didn't give ONE THOUGHT to what THEY were going to do on DAY ONE if Trump won and…
It didn’t land with the American people.
I've been watching this slow motion train wreck ever since Newt Gingrich turned our politics and government into a knife fight blood sport and Democrats just treated it like a grade school sleepover pillow fight. The Democratic party isn't fighting back because they never have! "Civility" "Acting like the adults in the room" "Go high when they go low"... Democrats have signalled to Republicans can do anything and Democrats... will do nothing and…
It didn't land with... Democratic voters, so... here we are.
Brilliant conversation. Thank you, both. At best, it's about inventing a new community-based, community-led Zeitgeist. A Zeitgeist so powerful that it can remake the Democratic party. My wish; my prayer.
This is awesome! And really useful framing in these %*@#!x& times. Will re-listen and discuss with my activist support group this weekend.
Under the category of "social proof that individuals can do," I respectfully suggest printing buttons. Wear one and offer to everyone you encounter. Our "Make America HUMAN Again" buttons worked well for this from 2017 on. New one is "Let's Try Sanity" (popularity TBD). Great conversation starter!
I would love an equivalent to the MAGA hats. Here’s my crazy-hairbrained idea:
Dark Blue hats with white lettering that says SAD
SAD stands for Save American Democracy
And it fits because we are sad that we are losing our Democracy at the hands of MAGA
Also with SAD, it is not yelling at MAGA in anger. It is saying we are SAD, sad about what they are doing. And I think it reflects how people sad about what is happening to the country
Anyway, just a crazy idea that popped into my head.
I may take this and run with it
Myra, I totally agree. I wear different t-shirts with messages, have buttons and always carry extra. I also put flyers in my car windows and a bumper sticker. People need to know there are many like-minded folks out there and we need to corrale more to help fight back. Of course signage at your home and mailbox helps too. I have been surprised how much fewer signs, t-shirts, buttons etc there have been with this election cycle. We can't be afraid.....well we can be afraid and do it anyway!
I hear you both. I read, watch & listen consistently but here's a consideration to add to your bank of "to-do's": MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE. Invite creators and narrative designers to work with you to develop interactive venues that actually include people (especially young people) in ways they understand where they can have their voices heard - and I don't mean focus groups or town halls. To bridge the 'credulity gap' engage with narrative designers to create projects that are designed to immerse "we the people" in 'story' where through the characters or the 'world' built for them they given the ability to have their voices heard, if even indirectly. It will give them the confidence to engage and speak up and to get involved in issues that they care about most. Words are the new currency and storytelling connects. We remember best what we experience. For instance, no one is ever going to get young people to stop using social media or gaming, especially role-playing games. So, give them agency by immersing them via platforms they know and enjoy and which are designed and set up to do that. I know narrative designers who are experts in this approach to storytelling and making connections among people in the physical & digital world. I have seen it change lives. This CAN BE applied to the crisis we are in and to the crisis of connection existing in our country. Somebody needs to step up to make this happen. The design could be replicable so that groups all over the country could engage. Imagine the possibilities + the ideas and action that could emerge from this aproach to storytelling & connecting. Will you be the one to step up to support narrative designers who will do this, if asked? Please contact me for more information: sfurey@comcast.net Thanks!
Getting over our disbelief (and being there to catch others when they get over theirs) is key to mobilizing change! If there is a purposeful way to live in the post-disbelief America, it will help!
I wrote a bit of an essay about all this https://substack.com/@mariabrewer833668/note/c-96437552?r=1ttzr2&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
There is a point at which the five "stages of grief" intersect with the stages of change. I see myself marching in a memorial parade for the dying planet on Earth Day in April, but I'm not ready to take action on the death of democracy because the lack of awareness in the general population isn't ready. They neither feel nor fear it yet. A leader who can articulate why the attacks on DEI and trans people are so wrong, who can communicate how slash & burn valuable programs is a minor charade, may be able to ignite the revolt against the Project 2025 stooge and eventually reach its lemmings.
I suggest this book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-escape-artist-the-man-who-broke-out-of-auschwitz-to-warn-the-world-jonathan-freedland/18978277?ean=9780063112360&next=t&next=t
People didn’t want to believe it was happening when it was right before their eyes.
Come back Anat! Things I wrote down: Mangione Without Murder, change the perception of the number of people around you that feel that way (aka we're not alone), resistance/refusal/ridicule
This is extraordinary. I am an historian of political culture and political language, a peace artist, and a Quaker. This clear, dynamic framework accords with everything I know about arresting tyranny and creating the world we want to live in. Deeply grateful to you, Anat. To both of you.
And yes, more please!
This is all so good! I am a tormentor of Sen. Them Tillis, who finally saw a line he couldn't cross when the First Felon gave it all up to Putin. He was terrific and I thanked him profusely. Now today I read in the Democracy Index that the FBI told Tillis before the Hegseth confirmation vote that there were a number of credible death threats against him if he didn't vote for Hegseth, which probably accounts for his extremely odd behavior that day. I had assumed there were big threats of primarying him in 2026 but it's actually death threats from the Trump Mob. Hard to say is this is the real FBI or the new criminal FBI, but either way it's terrifying. The only thing I can think of that would stop this mob behavior is having anonymous votes, which is how we avoided Gaetz. I honestly don't know what I would do in his situation - we know the Jan. 6th people are on the loose and have nothing to lose by bumping off anyone their savior points out to them. Any advice? Mass protests will just get us martial law.
I can’t go along living my life like there isn’t a huge crisis in my beautiful country… I am fraught with anxiety and sadness!
Portland, Maine…struggling to find my voice.
I love this. Needs to watched again. She is brilliant. Rndy..
Anat is a glorious truth-teller. Absolutely make this a repeating gig if there's the opportunity to do so.
Anand and Anat... Bless you both!
FYI: You have to realize that Trump/Musk cheated.
https://youtu.be/6G8fu50VRXo
Inspiring and I ended up writing an essay promoting these ideas! https://substack.com/@mariabrewer833668/note/c-96437552?r=1ttzr2&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action