35 Comments
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@suzannecloud's avatar

See everyone at the March tomorrow! I'm taking the one that ends up at Independence Hall, where the dream started in Philadelphia. Stay safe. Stay strong. Keep going! ❤️

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Allison Gustavson's avatar

The best sign imaginable I heard on a podcast yesterday, the speaker referencing a sign he saw a few years ago: “I’ve been to the future. We won.”

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IggyChooChoo's avatar

That is good! I’m thinking simple stuff for me, like “PROTECT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY” or even “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR”

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Allison Gustavson's avatar

also very good! simple is profound.

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Bill's avatar

Mine will say

“Hey Mike Johnson,

This protester loves America”

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Sun's avatar

Fantastic

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Tracy Duba's avatar

I will fight to the death for democracy. This is not we need to win. This is we have no option but to win and I will not give them the comfort of my silence. I will be there. I will be at every one of these because this is a democracy, and the man in the White House is a complete and utter morally bankrupt psychopath and needs to be out of the White House, he is destroying our country. He is destroying our nation. He is evil and unnatural. He is the enemy within. We honor the ones that fought before us for democracy by fighting now. Our brave soldiers didn’t go to war and fight fascism for nothing. RESIST! I’d rather die on my feet then live on my knees. I’m 64 years old and lived 64 years of my life in a democracy and I’ll be damned if I’ll live in anything else but a democracy so count me in. I fight for the ones that fought before me for freedom and democracy. I fight for the next generations of Americans so that they can live freely in a democracy. I fight this unnatural group of people that have taken over the country and filled this country with hate and bigotry and nastiness And lies and corruption. I fight all of this, and I will never stop fighting.

“ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever. ”

George Orwell, 1984 (1949)

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TM's avatar

That's MY Governor leading off... Josh Shapiro FTW!!

Obama at the end... but I can't place #2... Love you anyway, BB!!

#NoKings

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Bartlomiej's avatar

From the experience of multiple countries that have problems with dictatorial leaders not unlike those in USA: The broad public does not care about democratic process. They don't care about rule of law or independent judiciary. In the world-view of a much of the population, the person or party that wins the election should rule as he or she see fit. Therefore protesting the Trump monarchy is pointless and counterproductive. People that matter won't care or understand. This is why Democrats should talk about healthcare, or cost of living, or anything but the democracy. Just like in the 2001-2006? talking against wars was a bad idea. Even if the antiwar politicians were vindicated, the negative emotions felt against them during the previous years were "sticky".

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tennisfan2's avatar

Obama was elected (and certainly nominated) in large part due to his opposition to the Iraq, at a time when so many Democrats (including Hillary Clinton) supported that war. You appear to be confused … or misremembering the facts.

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James's avatar

This isn't how I remember the anti-war politics of that period at all. Who suffered from "sticky" "negative emotions felt against them"? My memory of it is that by the very next presidential election cycle in 2008, the anti-war politicians were the only ones with remaining credibility.

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Sara Frischer's avatar

I don't know why #1 Harriet Tubman.. #2 sounds a lot like Sen Chris Murphy and three I don't have a far out guess. GOOD QUOTES. Thank you Brian. I have a 10 a.m. rally to join tomorrow

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Auros's avatar
1dEdited

#1: Shapiro (I believe at the 2024 convention?)

#2: AOC (also at the 2024 convention?)

#3: Obama (second inaugural?)

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Brian Beutler's avatar

2/3

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Auros's avatar
1dEdited

Going off who else got 2/3 I guess #1 must be Pete? (I coulda sworn that was Josh, but oh well. I at least got that it was "moderate lane" guy.)

I'm feeling pretty pleased about nailing this one, in any case: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/21/inaugural-address-president-barack-obama

Edit: Oh, wait, I totally had that one right...

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/josh-shapiro-dnc-speech/

So it must be the second I had wrong. So I guess #2 is Platner then... Yep, here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/804212215838648/

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lauren's avatar

Bravo!!!!

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Nancy's avatar

A thoughtful piece. I agree we are being led astray. We need to focus on the potential harm caused by a group of wanna be dictators . Let's be even more clear. Trump isn't smart or lucid enough to run this country but we need to know who's running the show. Finally, the entrenched Democrats that have held office until their deathbed calls has done as much as the Republicans to bring us here. We need to know what motivates such people. We need to know why they would stay in office , a very demanding job, until the Grim Reaper comes to call. The most important part of all this is the people who have been just as uninterested as those geriatric politicians and now we are all paying the price. Don't even get me started on the influence of unfettered tv, computer programs, etc that influence those who vote emotionally and not with their minds. It is ruining our country. How to go forward?

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Joshwitz's avatar

Sign Idea: "Remember the Bastille"

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Austin Payne's avatar

#1 is Mayor Pete?

#2 is Graham Platner

#3 Obama?

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Brian Beutler's avatar

2/3

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Rick Lempert's avatar

I do not understand these lines: “The uncanny opposition to the modern Enabling Act on the grounds that it doesn’t contain people’s health-care costs well enough. Why, instead of addressing the menace directly, are our elected representatives asking for a concession that would tend to make Trump more popular relative to the alternative?”

The reading that makes the most sense to me is that the Democrats should not be shutting down the government to get Medicare and Medicaid money. I hope Brian will correct me if I misread. But if this reading is correct, even though I share his view that we are at an existential moment for freedom and democracy, I cannot agree with this critique.

Real people’s health, finances and lives are at stake. These people, the worst off among us, cannot be abandoned because that may make an essential victory over the long run more likely. Moreover, it may not be a wise strategy even over the long run. The great widely accepted knock on the Democrats is that they never deliver on their promises and get anything done. ( Never mind that they most often fail because of almost unanimous Congressional Republican resistance. ). If they can show and brag about what they have done for ordinary people going into the next election, it is likely go benefit them far more than the existence of more people who have been screwed by the GOP budget.

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Luke's avatar

My overriding political concern--hell, the closest thing I have to religious conviction--is antifascism. I think the term "fascism" is extremely useful because it is extremely apt: it entails a variety of things pretty much all of which are happening almost as if out of an example in a textbook. But unfortunately I think the term is an obstacle to winning broader support for the antifascist cause. I like the focus on freedom you identify, and I also think making current events about America's founding values could have broad appeal. But I hope the antifascist cause can arrive at a simple message (or multiple messages) that really work.

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Jay's avatar

I'm not sure on quote #1 (Harris? Biden?), but I'm guessing FDR for quote #2 and Obama for quote #3.

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Brian Beutler's avatar

1/3. That’s an F-.

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Jay's avatar

F-? Ouch

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Brian Beutler's avatar

Grace my rise with the curve.

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Ellis Weiner's avatar

Voice-to-text?

I was going to say Obama for 2, AOC for 3.

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IggyChooChoo's avatar

Anyone have any good sign ideas?

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Ellis Weiner's avatar

I'm going with:

NO TRUMP

It's not just for Bridge anymore.

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IggyChooChoo's avatar

I’m leaning towards

It’s LOVE thy neighbor, not KIDNAP thy neighbor

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Allison Gustavson's avatar

Reposting my comment here because I think it’s so good! :-)

The best sign imaginable I heard on a podcast yesterday, the speaker referencing a sign he saw a few years ago: “I’ve been to the future. We won.”

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Dinorah's avatar

I was thinking of a picture of a frog that says "I am Antifa."

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Allison Gustavson's avatar

Also, and this is neither here nor there, but does anybody else think that the No Kings slogan plays precisely into Trump’s gold toilet, narcissistic hand? I mean, we understand what we’re talking about in terms of freedom and monarchy, but doesn’t the word King have a glitzy jeweled crown feel that he loves more than anything?

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Jonathan Rabinowitz's avatar

Yes, that's why NO Kings is powerful. If Trump lived like Gandhi, or even like W (hobbies included mountain biking and clearing brush), it would be less devastating.

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Allison Gustavson's avatar

yes! i do get that. and it doesn't matter, b/c it is definitely the slogan and I am proudly going (again), but I sort of feel like it bolsters his ego, if there's even room to grow. To have the whole world proclaiming him a king (I know, a would-be king that we're all disgusted by, but a king nonetheless). More oxygen on the fires, as it were.

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