Today there were a bunch of protests around the country.
This is the one in Lansing.
There’s video in the news article from a real piece of work, a republican state representative walked through the crowd.
The comments from his X video are pretty sad and unhinged.
I mean I fully get the frustration and disillusionment from the Uncommitteds and others who were pissed at Biden and the Democrats over their lack of substantive action against Netanyahu’s war crimes. The witholding votes for Biden during the primaries was a powerful symbolic gesture that brought a lot of attention for their cause while not actually causing any harm in the process.
Any sympathy I for the Uncommitted Movement in particular was erased in their statement yesterday that went into “both sides” and explicitly blamed Democrats for what Trump is now trying to do. That’s some high horse bullshit if I ever saw it.
I’m certainly hoping that they do. With barbs, knobs &/or a knurled shaft.
I’ve seen a lot of rage directed at third-party voters and people who were critical of Dems before the election. It’s understandable, to a point-- but if you added up every third-party vote cast in 2024 (including the Libertarians and other right-wing parties) it wouldn’t have been enough to sway the Electoral College votes. It might have impacted two of the swing states, according to some analyses I’ve seen on Bluesky (which I haven’t fact-checked yet), but again, it wouldn’t have changed the final outcome.
I can empathize, again, to a point; there’s been a bottomless well of rage and despair in me for months now, which I’ve yet to find a way to cope with. Finding somebody to blame for a situation (right, wrong, or otherwise) can create an illusion of consolation when times are tough.
But I feel like the endless bickering and vote-shaming doesn’t really accomplish all that much. The voting totals are past and unchangeable. For me, the important thing is what we can do about what’s going on RIGHT NOW. I’d rather worry about the rest after we’re safely through the worst of it, and to get through it, we’re going to have to work together. That’s kinda hard to do when we’re at each others’ throats. It’s hard to extend patience and compassion when we’re all hurting-- and we’re all hurting-- but maybe we need to try a little harder?
And as far as the Democrats… don’t get me started. I do think they share some portion of the blame for what’s going on. They knew which way the wind was blowing, labeled trump’s election as an existential threat to democracy… and completely failed to enact any guardrails or barriers to bad behavior before trump came to power. They built up the law enforcement agencies (police, ICE, etc.) that trump’s Fourth Reich will use to oppress the people. And the supposed “opposition party” isn’t doing anything substantial to stop anything. They’re voting to confirm his nominees; they’re still attempting to “work for bipartisan solutions;” they’re saying a lot of pretty, pretty, useless words and relying on custom and law when TPTB are ignoring all of it (even the Constitution they swore to uphold) and plunging ahead like a bull in a china shop. In my most humble and irrelevant opinion, until and unless they actually do something– obstruct and filibuster in session, utilize the Federal police to clear unauthorized parties from departments they have no right to be in, chain themselves to office doors, get arrested protesting, what-the-hell-ever-- the Democrats can go fuck themselves.
We’re on our own, I think. We’re going to have to get each other through, because the politicians aren’t coming to save us.
As always, YMMV.
There is some movement on the filibuster front, at least:
Peters is even taking part, even though he (and Slotkin) were both still voting to confirm Trump cabinet appointees yesterday (I left Slotkin an angry message about that today). I’m actually shocked that Peters is showing any backbone now, I figured he had checked out and is just looking for the most lucrative position after office at this point.
I don’t disagree with your argument’s premise, but I think the decision will be more venal.
Yes, Thomas and Scalito are fully on board with fascist America. But the rest? I don’t think they will want to give up their position of power determining what is constitutional and what isn’t, what is legal and what isn’t. Letting Trumplestiltskin just decide what is constitutional, what is legal, completely takes away their power.
Of course, I also think we’ll face an Andrew Jackson moment, so that’s going to keep me up at night.
In theory you can actually run a war at a net profit if you’re able to loot enough. It’s against international law and not very plausible in an era of bombers rather than horse archers, but neither of those would stop these assholes from thinking they could.
If a recall petition shows up for Slotkin, I’m signing it. WTAF. I didn’t vote for her so she could enable the orange asswipe and Heritage Foundation’s evil plans. She was sent to DC to stand against fuckery. Peters sucks, he needs to be replaced by Whitmer or Duggan.
Yes, hence, my comment. 
Next: the 1st amendment doesn’t ban state religion, it only protects the king’s duty from congressionl interference.
Duggan can go f* himself, too, running as a spoiler for gov. I’m still hoping Buttigieg will run for Senate.
I mean, Mexico paid for the wall, right? /s
I’m hoping Duggan changes his mind and runs as a democrat for governor, as he should. I get where he’s coming from, though - establishment democrats have failed us completely, but he’s not ready for the national stage.
Mayor Pete should set his sights on state senator, then go for US senator - he needs experience as a legislator. He doesn’t have any yet.
I don’t know, I kind of feel like Buttigieg can set his sights beyond state-level house/senate. How about the US House? He lives in District 1, so he’s already got an advantage over Bergman (owns a house in the UP, but lives in Louisiana while away from Washington).
Sec of Transportation is a huge position. Cabinet level. He could easily be credible running for the Senate.
I’m not arguing against it. I still want Bergman gone, though. MAGA stooge.
WOW that’s not OK. Yeah, take that seat, Pete. 
