Tired of Democrats doing nothing? Political sage Anat Shenker-Osorio has some marching orders for the people -- you! -- to take this crisis into your own hands
Thank you for being critical of democrats. They need to be criticized. They need to do something! They should have boycotted Trump's speech/babble but if not, they should have walked out or been thrown out like Al Green. Make a fucking statement! Show some resistance. Demonstrate some courage! The dems who voted to censure Al Green for challenging Trump's lies should be primaried. Green didn't do anything the republicans didn't do to Biden. They are clueless in this moment, like deer in the headlights.
Although I agree with most of your points, I challenge the last one. The Democrats are not "clueless" – they know EXACTLY what they *should* be doing; they are not "like deer in the headlights" — they're disorganized and, in some cases, willfully inactive. There are some standout, courageous role models — AOC, Bernie Sanders, Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Elizabeth Warren among them. But can you imagine Chuck Schumer getting arrested for leading a protest against Trump? Never.
Just watched Indivisible’s reaction to the “popsicle sticks” and Mr. Green’s ouster. I felt a bit of outrage about the limp wristed posters but more of an outrage as to why 10 democrats voted to censure Mr. Green! The take away as how to understand this and channel some positive action by calling those democrats who voted NOT to censure him and thanking them for voting the right way. By doing that, when these Democrats are in their caucus, they can say well, this constituent called to say Thank you!!!
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered…
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word ’struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
Kathleen Sullivan, Freeport, Maine...feeling much more grounded by all the energized people in our community who are far more afire and fierce than the puppies in our Congress. Your point Anand that these leaders don't have the character dispostion to lead in the way we need...but there are many of us who haven't had our souls tamed by the politics of this moment and are ready to be fierce! To use the word fight!
Highest impact?? Everything falling down around people in their OWN lives, as during the Depression. People gave themselves to the social changes that Roosevelt et al laid out…they knew something serious had to be done, trusted his path, and stayed with him long enough to facilitate the changes that still support people today. We’re spoiled, and not civically engaged as a regular part of our daily lives: the insidious undermining of Social Studies, History, and Government in our public schools. Heritage Foundation aiming lethal blows to Department of Education.
It was fun to hear and watch Anand get excited and fired up about a few of the things that Anat said. I am going to continue attending the weekly TakeDownTesla rally here in Boston. Lots of horn honking from cars and thumbs up from pedestrians walking past last Saturday.
One of my family members is convinced that Obama is working behind the scenes on something. I doubt it.
I've been a bit perplexed by the silence of the former presidents — including Obama, Clinton and Bush. Bernie Sanders has more character than all of them put together. I voted for Bernie in the primary in 2016; and although I supported Hillary when she was "gifted" the nomination by the DNC, I was deeply dismayed in the way the DNC achieved that goal. Bernie would have wiped the floor with Trump and we — indeed, the WORLD — wouldn't be in this mess.
Absolutely agree. Same thing in 2020, when the DNC convinced all of the Dem candidates to drop out the weekend before Super Tuesday to support Biden. All 8 of them dropped out except for Bernie. We didn’t even get a fair primary. Done with the Dems. I’m an Independent.
I have been eagerly looking forward to watching this discussion since yesterday, and it exceeded my expectations! It will be shared far and wide, and my notes will be referenced frequently as a reminder that
- “I am NOT overreacting!”
- Not everyone can be included (which goes against my nature), because “There ARE sides!”
A national teachers strike would shut down the country more quickly than the action of any other groups strike. Parents would need to stay hometo take care of their kids. And considering what PINO has in mind for eduction I think you might get a lot of buy-in from teachers.
I think a truckers strike would have the most impact, but many of them listen to Joe Rogan (or worse) during their many hours of driving. How do we break through to them?
Amat rocks today euphorically up after two of us used protest poster and passed out fliers to ppl on large hospital campus and chatting with willing participants to call reps and send post cards to Pres and VP “you’re fired. This hospital is going to be in dire straits with nih cuts Medicaid and our state citizens will be in huge pain.
Best spots to look is asocommunications.com where we post all of our messaging guides for free. You may also like my podcast episodes, which cover messaging and strategy and ads etc, words to win by. Maybe you already knew about all that!
Other books
Don’t buy it - my book though it’s from 2012 so…
Presuasion - Cialdini
Thinking Fast and Slow - Kahneman
(If you want to go in deep!)
We Make the Future - more materials
Freedom Over Fascism toolkit linked to last interview. We also do biweekly briefings with strategy messaging and data. Email my colleague Liz@asocommunications.com to get added
Anat, I hate to bug you, but some friends and I are starting a messaging working group for our work at 350 Mass (a kind of working/learning/reading group really). Do you have any book/article/video/website recommendations (aside from your work and Anand's which is, OF COURSE, already on our list. ;) ) as we build our reading list and begin to learn how to message our climate work better? Both of our new priority campaigns (Make Polluters Pay and Save Money with Green Heat) should lend themselves to great messaging, and we want to learn as much as can!
Thank you for being critical of democrats. They need to be criticized. They need to do something! They should have boycotted Trump's speech/babble but if not, they should have walked out or been thrown out like Al Green. Make a fucking statement! Show some resistance. Demonstrate some courage! The dems who voted to censure Al Green for challenging Trump's lies should be primaried. Green didn't do anything the republicans didn't do to Biden. They are clueless in this moment, like deer in the headlights.
Although I agree with most of your points, I challenge the last one. The Democrats are not "clueless" – they know EXACTLY what they *should* be doing; they are not "like deer in the headlights" — they're disorganized and, in some cases, willfully inactive. There are some standout, courageous role models — AOC, Bernie Sanders, Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Elizabeth Warren among them. But can you imagine Chuck Schumer getting arrested for leading a protest against Trump? Never.
You are so right!
Ready to just say NO!!!!!! To this craziness!!!!!!!! Who’s with me????
Just watched Indivisible’s reaction to the “popsicle sticks” and Mr. Green’s ouster. I felt a bit of outrage about the limp wristed posters but more of an outrage as to why 10 democrats voted to censure Mr. Green! The take away as how to understand this and channel some positive action by calling those democrats who voted NOT to censure him and thanking them for voting the right way. By doing that, when these Democrats are in their caucus, they can say well, this constituent called to say Thank you!!!
Why did they censure him???
Something, something, decorum, decency, something
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered…
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word ’struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
--Hopi Elders' Prophecy, June 8,
Kathleen Sullivan, Freeport, Maine...feeling much more grounded by all the energized people in our community who are far more afire and fierce than the puppies in our Congress. Your point Anand that these leaders don't have the character dispostion to lead in the way we need...but there are many of us who haven't had our souls tamed by the politics of this moment and are ready to be fierce! To use the word fight!
I think students should boycott school until gun laws change.
Highest impact?? Everything falling down around people in their OWN lives, as during the Depression. People gave themselves to the social changes that Roosevelt et al laid out…they knew something serious had to be done, trusted his path, and stayed with him long enough to facilitate the changes that still support people today. We’re spoiled, and not civically engaged as a regular part of our daily lives: the insidious undermining of Social Studies, History, and Government in our public schools. Heritage Foundation aiming lethal blows to Department of Education.
It was fun to hear and watch Anand get excited and fired up about a few of the things that Anat said. I am going to continue attending the weekly TakeDownTesla rally here in Boston. Lots of horn honking from cars and thumbs up from pedestrians walking past last Saturday.
FREE America!
Is it possible that the Dems are actually planning a revolt behind the scenes (underground?) but acting like they are doing nothing?
One of my family members is convinced that Obama is working behind the scenes on something. I doubt it.
I've been a bit perplexed by the silence of the former presidents — including Obama, Clinton and Bush. Bernie Sanders has more character than all of them put together. I voted for Bernie in the primary in 2016; and although I supported Hillary when she was "gifted" the nomination by the DNC, I was deeply dismayed in the way the DNC achieved that goal. Bernie would have wiped the floor with Trump and we — indeed, the WORLD — wouldn't be in this mess.
Absolutely agree. Same thing in 2020, when the DNC convinced all of the Dem candidates to drop out the weekend before Super Tuesday to support Biden. All 8 of them dropped out except for Bernie. We didn’t even get a fair primary. Done with the Dems. I’m an Independent.
We HOPE that, but it never happens
Trying to think positively!!!
We wish!
Thank you Anand for all of us to focus on the truth on right and left. The end times for BS is now!!!!
I have been eagerly looking forward to watching this discussion since yesterday, and it exceeded my expectations! It will be shared far and wide, and my notes will be referenced frequently as a reminder that
- “I am NOT overreacting!”
- Not everyone can be included (which goes against my nature), because “There ARE sides!”
- “The many CAN take on the money!” to
- “FREE AMERICA!”🇺🇸
Thank you both💖!
A national teachers strike would shut down the country more quickly than the action of any other groups strike. Parents would need to stay hometo take care of their kids. And considering what PINO has in mind for eduction I think you might get a lot of buy-in from teachers.
I think a truckers strike would have the most impact, but many of them listen to Joe Rogan (or worse) during their many hours of driving. How do we break through to them?
How can we facilitate, “Truckers&Teachers Unite!”
Amat rocks today euphorically up after two of us used protest poster and passed out fliers to ppl on large hospital campus and chatting with willing participants to call reps and send post cards to Pres and VP “you’re fired. This hospital is going to be in dire straits with nih cuts Medicaid and our state citizens will be in huge pain.
The different French Resistance factions united, despite many differences, in order to defeat the Nazis.
We are in a “bad marriage “. You finally break away and find a new way. “If nothing changes , nothing changes . “ we have to
Shared this with every resistance group I'm in on fb -- thank you!!!!
Best spots to look is asocommunications.com where we post all of our messaging guides for free. You may also like my podcast episodes, which cover messaging and strategy and ads etc, words to win by. Maybe you already knew about all that!
Other books
Don’t buy it - my book though it’s from 2012 so…
Presuasion - Cialdini
Thinking Fast and Slow - Kahneman
(If you want to go in deep!)
We Make the Future - more materials
Freedom Over Fascism toolkit linked to last interview. We also do biweekly briefings with strategy messaging and data. Email my colleague Liz@asocommunications.com to get added
WOW, thank you so so much!!! I really appreciate the list - and your time!
Thanks so much
Anat, I hate to bug you, but some friends and I are starting a messaging working group for our work at 350 Mass (a kind of working/learning/reading group really). Do you have any book/article/video/website recommendations (aside from your work and Anand's which is, OF COURSE, already on our list. ;) ) as we build our reading list and begin to learn how to message our climate work better? Both of our new priority campaigns (Make Polluters Pay and Save Money with Green Heat) should lend themselves to great messaging, and we want to learn as much as can!