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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Mourn, Organize / Do Something!

Do Something!

by Betty Cracker|  December 30, 201610:04 am| 192 Comments

This post is in: Don't Mourn, Organize, Don't Trip, Organize, Election 2018, Enhanced Protest Techniques, Open Threads

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People deal with traumatic events in various ways, and the Trumpocalypse is no exception. Some get stuck on sadness, others on anger. But my sense is that more of us are taking steps to oppose the incoming administration than is generally acknowledged, and that’s a good thing. (I get this impression not just from reading comments here but from observing my real-life circle, which includes non-activists who are suddenly very much activists.)

Valued commenter StringOnAStick wanted to do something constructive. Here’s her account of her post-election journey, some independent activism she engaged in, and how she chose OFA as a vehicle for activism going forward:

Once I started to exit my funk over this election, I realized the only way I was going to get through this was by getting active, and trying to get others to do so too. First I started by putting together easy action emails for friends with all the work done like “here are some letters, here are the addresses, here’s your rep’s phone number so call about this issue”, etc. Kay has been the source for many of my group emails, like her wonderful idea that what we need in the rustbelt/voter suppression states is paid locals on the ground, organizing, getting people registered to vote by helping them through the hoops, not just parachuting in every 4 years for a presidential election then blowing town. That became a letter action for my friends to mail to the DNC, DCCC, DSCC, and whoever else they wanted to send it to. I started feeling that while doing this was something and made me feel better, it wasn’t going to be enough so I started looking around for what group was well organized enough to deserve my time and already had trained people with plans and ideas. I went to an OFA meeting last night to see if this was the group I wanted to be involved with. OFA, formerly Organizing for Action, now Organizing for America, fits the bill, IMO, and the fact that President Obama has said he will be all over this once he is a private citizen means OFA will have a huge and popular presence at the top.

Last night in the Denver area, about 120 people met to listen to the main OFA organizer in this area. She was well organized (duh!) with a timed agenda and speakers so that this would be a well run meeting, and not devolve into hours of kvetching, so my time was not wasted. We heard from various individuals who had put together events such as climate change conferences, a woman with a teachable specialty in writing letters to the editor (newspapers still have more readers than your FB feed, honest), a discussion of gentrification issues here in Denver, how to set up a phone bank; all were people who had received some training from OFA, and these were the directions they went with it. It gave me hope and stiffened my spine, something we all need these days. I will soon be receiving an email summary of what was discussed last night and whom to contact for various subgroups within the group that I will choose to work more deeply with. Like I said, they didn’t waste my time, and they have direction with trained leaders at all levels, plus opportunities to receive training.

I see OFA as our most organized vehicle to push back against the Drumpf agenda because these wheels have already been invented; we don’t have to invent them again. To those who say “oh yeah, well why wasn’t OFA registering voters?” the reality is that since it is a group directly attached to the sitting president, they could not legally do that. This all changes come January 20th, and President Obama made it clear to the people on the phone call to OFA organizers 2 weeks ago that voting rights are going to his post-presidential project; I have no doubt that he’ll have other areas of activity as well through OFA. Considering how much fuss was raised at the idea of an activist ex-President on FOX and Twitter today, I’d say that idea has the right in a bit of a snit. Good; I like it when they snit, it means we are getting to them. President Obama has amazing approval ratings, commands attention and respect, and he is OFA’s secret weapon, so why wouldn’t we want to hitch our wagon to an already organized and operating group? Go to www.BarackObama.com, click on “Connect” in the upper right hand corner and create an account, then start looking for events and issues you feel strongly about on the “Explore” tab after you hit “Connect.” Most states have at least one group, so you can drill down to your local area, join the group by clicking on it, and then you’ll get the emails about what your group is planning and what is coming up.

I know, joining a group is scary because they might want you to, horrors! do something. How hard is it to write a letter to the editor or your congressman? Not that hard; I learned last night that rule #1 for getting your letter published is for it to be under 150 words; good to know. By not engaging in LTTE campaigns, we’ve ceded the whole newspaper space to the crazies; fight back! In general though, the next 4 years are going to be an All Hands on Deck time, and we all need to get organized with others who share our goals, and RESIST what is coming. I’ve made my commitment, and I deeply, sincerely hope the rest of us will too.

Democrats seem divided between those who believe the Trump administration will be a particularly bad Republican presidency but one that our institutions are strong enough to absorb and bounce back from and those who view it as an existential threat to our democracy. Whichever camp you’re in, action will be required to oppose the shitgibbon.

If you’re doing something to resist, feel free to share your experience in comments. Otherwise, open thread!

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Reader Interactions

192Comments

  1. 1.

    Oatler.

    December 30, 2016 at 10:08 am

    I cut my cable earlier this year and am fighting back one Chuck (“We’ll leave it at that”) Todd at a time.

  2. 2.

    Chris

    December 30, 2016 at 10:08 am

    Gentlemen, the time has come to act, and act fast!

    … I’m leaving.

  3. 3.

    Chris

    December 30, 2016 at 10:10 am

    More seriously,

    Democrats seem divided between those who believe the Trump administration will be a particularly bad Republican presidency but one that our institutions are strong enough to absorb and bounce back from and those who view it as an existential threat to our democracy. Whichever camp you’re in, action will be required to oppose the shitgibbon.

    All things being equal, our institutions would be strong enough to weather a Trump presidency, but it’s not just a Trump presidency; pretty much all of our institutions are currently being run by people who might as well be his clones.

    The republic’s seen bad presidents come and go. This is much more than that.

  4. 4.

    germy

    December 30, 2016 at 10:11 am

    Thank you for front-paging that. A few threads back, String had mentioned an OFA meeting she’d attended, and it made me curious. I asked her to write something up. This is great and gives me hope.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2016 at 10:12 am

    This is a silly quibble with OFA, but when I took some training from them, they tried to stress the “nonpartisan” nature of their work. I guess, as a fig leaf for their funding structure.

    And that put me off. Have they dropped that tack?

  6. 6.

    satby

    December 30, 2016 at 10:13 am

    I’m planning on getting more involved with OFA as well, especially after my 62nd B’day in May because I plan on dropping more work hours after I start getting SS (I hope). I was a community organizer 35 years ago in Chicago, and it looks like I need to brush up on those skills and put them to use.

  7. 7.

    germy

    December 30, 2016 at 10:15 am

    President Obama has amazing approval ratings, commands attention and respect, and he is OFA’s secret weapon,

    At the same time, I like how he said “this movement is bigger than just one person” (an attitude the polar opposite of the PEOTUS).

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    December 30, 2016 at 10:15 am

    @Chris: Excellent point. Trump’s presidency is the culmination of decades of scheming from the Republican Party Before Country Party. I plan to focus most of my activism at the local level to undermine the whole flaming shitpile.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2016 at 10:17 am

    @Elizabelle: Ah, String answered that, somewhat. Should have read more closely.

    oh yeah, well why wasn’t OFA registering voters?” the reality is that since it is a group directly attached to the sitting president, they could not legally do that. This all changes come January 20th, and President Obama made it clear to the people on the phone call to OFA organizers 2 weeks ago that voting rights are going to his post-presidential project; I have no doubt that he’ll have other areas of activity as well through OFA.

    Because I do not want to see this group or effort descend into Broderism. Deal with the current environment, not the mythologized past.

  10. 10.

    Humboldtblue

    December 30, 2016 at 10:29 am

    Do you really think all these emails and calls to action are going to stop the Republicans from doing what they wish? Who the fuck is going to stand in their way, Chuck fucking Schumer? You’re going to see Democrat after Democrat legitimize this administration and eventually cave in because that’s what they fucking do and they want to keep their seats and their corporate donors and their $25,000 dollar a plate fundraisers.

    Trump is the least of our problems, it’s the vile dominionists, racists, the public school destroyers, the medicare voucherizers and the social security destroyers and corporate raiders who are the worry because Trump is simply the rubber stamp to what they want to accomplish.

    I guanran-fucking-tee you that the majority of Democrats are going to play along just like they did with Bush’s war, but you pretend that Manchin is going to be a strong voice for progressive policies because of phone calls and emails or that Claire McCaskill isn’t going to work with McConnell when he needs his 60th vote or that Holtkamp won’t cave the first time a picture of a miscarriage is shoved in her face. Dreamers.

    This is what 30 fucking years of Clintonism has left us, slightly more liberal Republicans wearing the shirts of Democrats and they’re gonna fuck over the base as fast as they fucking can when push comes to shove because they can and they will be rewarded for it.

    You’re all out of your fucking minds.

  11. 11.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2016 at 10:30 am

    @Elizabelle:

    It was never Broderist. After 2012 OFA went from the Obama campaign to an issues based 501c4 that couldn’t coordinate with campaigns. Name and structure have changed again.

  12. 12.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2016 at 10:31 am

    @Humboldtblue:

    30 years of Clintonism? Fuck you and your piss poor understanding of politics.

  13. 13.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 10:32 am

    @Betty Cracker: True, its not about the individual but the party that made him possible. I am going to follow your example and become involved locally.
    @Elizabelle: I had a somewhat similar experience with OFA. I didn’t end up going to their training session because the nearest one was in NYC. Plus their incessant funding appeals.

  14. 14.

    Emma

    December 30, 2016 at 10:33 am

    @Humboldtblue: Jesus Christ. Do they pay you to be so damn defeatist? Or do you really think pissing on the Clintons will get you allies? Pro-tip: you’re looking in the wrong place for those.

    I am thinking of going full into helping with voter suppression issues. Maybe pick a state and give my hard-earned bit to a good local organization fighting that fight. Suggestions are welcome.

  15. 15.

    amk

    December 30, 2016 at 10:36 am

    @Humboldtblue: the man with da plan. aka yeller from the sidelines.

  16. 16.

    Humboldtblue

    December 30, 2016 at 10:36 am

    @MomSense:

    Fuck you and your fucking triangulation and catering to corporate fucking wishes. It was Clinton who deregulated the banking industry, it was Clinton who sought the backing of every corporate leader he could to push for globalization and then we watched as tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs left the country. But you keep pretending that Democrats haven’t been bending over to Wall Street it certainly fucking worked for Hillary, right?

  17. 17.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 30, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @Humboldtblue: Who cares what Chuck Schumer does or doesn’t do? Seriously, with the way Congress is set up, it’s going to be hard for him to do more than make noise.

    My state has a redistricting followed by a special election coming up in 2017. Taking NC back from Art Pope is my number one focus, politically. Specifically, voter IDs, registrations, and GOTV.

    I’ll care about national leadership once we’ve given them the necessary tools to take action.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 10:41 am

    @Humboldtblue:
    @Humboldtblue:

    Nice work. You’re hired, comrade!

    /s/ V.P.

  19. 19.

    Humboldtblue

    December 30, 2016 at 10:42 am

    @amk: Make sure you sign those emails with lots of exclamation points. I’ll be at the shelter passing out warm clothes and food or down at the literacy center helping an adult learn to read. But you write those sternly worded emails and make those breathless phone calls, who knows, may they’ll just agree to voucherize medicare for people under 40.

    @Emma: Yeah, let’s ignore the fact the Hillary Clinton just lost a presidential election to Donald fucking Trump. Maybe she and Wasserman-Schultz can find us a winner for 2020, I mean, they did so fucking well this time around.

  20. 20.

    James Krewson

    December 30, 2016 at 10:43 am

    I like the ideas in the article, but the actual org, “OFA” is tough to locate. I can find wikipedia entries, news articles, etc, but the web sites and FB pages all appear to be abandoned or moribund. If the org is still active, how do we get in touch? Is it maybe only still alive in NY and DC?

  21. 21.

    Ben Mays

    December 30, 2016 at 10:45 am

    We can use some help now. Special elections coming up quick. “http://bluevirginia.us/2016/12/2017-virginia-special-elections-chance-take-strong-step-new-year”.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 10:45 am

    Good God.

  23. 23.

    chopper

    December 30, 2016 at 10:48 am

    @Humboldtblue:

    fucking hell, it’s good you weren’t around during the civil rights movement.

  24. 24.

    wormtown

    December 30, 2016 at 10:49 am

    @satby: Me too- 62 in May. Can’t believe I am this old :)

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2016 at 10:50 am

    Refusing to light a candle concedes victory to the darkness.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    December 30, 2016 at 10:50 am

    @Humboldtblue: Got a plan to oppose the fascist pricks who are ruining the country, or are you just here to piss all over what other people are doing? If the latter, I join the chorus telling you to fuck off.

  27. 27.

    JordanRules

    December 30, 2016 at 10:52 am

    @Humboldtblue: Why this thread though? Something seems super effed up about your response at this moment.

    Any activist or resistance recommendations at all?

  28. 28.

    tpherald

    December 30, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Awesome thread, shared it on Twitter … nice work!

    I, too, am worried about the strength of our democratic institutions right now as they have been greatly weakened by intense partisanship and especially by heavily partisan courts.

    Hang on, folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

  29. 29.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Humboldtblue is full of shit, bank deregulation started long before Clinton was the President. The first major banking deregulation act was passed in 1980.

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 10:57 am

    DNFTT

  31. 31.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 10:58 am

    @schrodingers_cat: It’s of a piece with those who blame the entire rust belt situation on NAFTA.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2016 at 10:58 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Most of the manufacturing jobs left before NAFTA, too.

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2016 at 11:00 am

    @Baud:

    Jinx. I owe you a coke.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 11:00 am

    @MomSense: HERETIC!

    @Baud: SCHISMATIC!

  35. 35.

    Juice Box

    December 30, 2016 at 11:03 am

    I view the loss of the VRA as a more existential threat than Trump. I view Trump as the result of the loss of the VRA plus a shitstorm of other little stuff.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 11:03 am

    @MomSense: Throw in some rum?

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m done. Time to let the productive people be productive.

  37. 37.

    JordanRules

    December 30, 2016 at 11:04 am

    I started sharing really good journalism with folks I know who are too busy to seek it out but will read it. So I’ve been sending along links to Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, WaPo etc.

    Sent a note to the School Board about Paladino so it was nice to see most of them vote for him to resign…Hopefully that will be some good news today.

    Going to look into OFA here in Phoenix. Great thread!

    2017 we’re all coming in with fresh eyes and fresh anger!!

  38. 38.

    Juice Box

    December 30, 2016 at 11:04 am

    @schrodingers_cat: The institutions whose failures triggered the recent unpleasantness weren’t covered by that damn Glass-Steagal repeal that Clinton wanted to veto.

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 30, 2016 at 11:05 am

    The invaluable Sarah Kendzior coined a name I love for the new US pro-Putin alliance: The Polonium Tea Party.

  40. 40.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2016 at 11:06 am

    @Baud:

    How about a dark n stormy instead?

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 11:06 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    lol

  42. 42.

    JordanRules

    December 30, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Singer quits choir rather than perform for you know who.

  43. 43.

    Humdog

    December 30, 2016 at 11:10 am

    As a fellow humboldtian, I must apologize for humboldt blue. Yikes, the dispensary must have been out of his calming pot.
    Does it seem worthwhile to agitate in a very blue area? I was gonna say not really, our reps and senators are on the ball. But then, this dude, well, maybe I need to get on to writing the papers and local blogs to point to hope for sad sacks like blue.

  44. 44.

    PaulW

    December 30, 2016 at 11:12 am

    Democrats seem divided between those who believe the Trump administration will be a particularly bad Republican presidency but one that our institutions are strong enough to absorb and bounce back from and those who view it as an existential threat to our democracy. Whichever camp you’re in, action will be required to oppose the shitgibbon.

    Don’t forget to include the NPA who vote Democratic because Republicans are greedy bat-shit crazy ignorant assholes since 1992 (or 1980, depending on your age/viewpoint about how f-cked up the Reagan years were).

    Anyway. I’d argue that the sanest responses going into 2017 and 2018 are:

    1) Supporting all legal efforts to stop Trump and his cohorts from stealing every penny they can from the federal vaults. Find any and all action groups and support their lawsuits/court filings as best as possible.
    2) Run for office. This has been a serious problem for the Democrats. Outside of the brief era of Howard Dean’s 50-State Strategy, the Dems simply aren’t putting enough serious, reform-minded candidates for elective offices at EVERY level (county, school board, state lege, US House). Here in Florida we’ve had uncontested seats for state house and senate, as well as uncontested county sheriff, uncontested county board, uncontested school board…
    2a) the thing is, people need to read up on the regulations and rules for running for local office NOW. These things have steps before 2018 that need taking care of – paperwork, financial filings, fund-raising – because the rules are pretty strict. If you’re going to throw your name out there, get to know the county Elections office staff on a daily basis and grok what you need to do starting January 3rd 2017 (most offices will be closed on Monday).
    3) Never accept Trump. He’s not President. He’s a goddamn con artist riding a rigged game.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2016 at 11:16 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Yes! Sarah Kendzior. Has her own site. http://www.sarahkendzior.com

    An unaired interview, published on her blog on December 5:

    I’ve been following your work for a while, and got the impressions that you saw this disaster coming when most of the Liberal media and blogosphere was still in denial. What made you so worried?

    There are three reasons I was able to predict the election fairly well and see Trump’s rise early. The first is that I used to work in New York tabloid media, and have in recent years worked in digital media, so I was familiar both with Trump as an individual and with how mass and digital media are manipulated for political purposes. I saw firsthand the erosion of the media economy, and how easily that could be exploited by a charismatic demagogue like Trump.

    The second reason is that I am a scholar of former Soviet authoritarian states, particularly Uzbekistan. My dissertation was on how the Uzbek government and its opponents used digital media for political purposes. But more broadly, I’ve studied how dictators rise, how they mobilize the masses, and how they use spectacle and rhetoric to sway people. I recognized a lot of commonalities between Trump and the dictators I study in Central Asia – one article in particular, “Trumpmenbashi” discusses that comparison in depth.

    Third, I live in Missouri. I live in the heartland, where the media economy has bottomed out, where local journalists have lost their jobs, and national journalists – if they cover us at all – do so by parachuting in for a few days and doing superficial coverage. There is a difference between being a tourist and being a resident.

    An interview with her, from late November. Published in muftah (never saw that site before).

    Sarah goes on the sources I follow. Got to have somewhere to surf when Balloon Juice gets too bleak.

  46. 46.

    A Ghost to Most

    December 30, 2016 at 11:17 am

    StringOnAStick, I am more than a misanthrope (Cole is a teddy bear), but I am a wizard at Oracle databases and programming, and if my skills can help, you have them. I believe I live near you.

  47. 47.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Time for us to Do Something! They are not resting on their laurels, fresh off the ‘victory’ over their occupation of the Malheur Refuge, they are preparing to fight Obama’s latest designation of New National Monuments. They have decided to Saddle Up

    Retiring Senator Harry Reid has long wanted Gold Butte to be set aside as a monument, but militias are very unhappy about it, particularly since the Bundy boys graze their cattle on those lands without permits.

    Even as they await trial in Nevada on charges related to the 2014 uprising against the Bureau of Land Management, the Bundy Boys are possibly organizing yet another uprising.

    Jon Ritzheimer, of Malheur fame, is marshalling the troops via Facebook. Commenting on the White House announcement, Ritzheimer called his pals to “Saddle Up!!!” He then issued a call to action, telling followers to “Get your gear ready.”

    Bundy Ranch has jumped into the fray, too, and are apparently planning another “peaceful protest” for Saturday. We all know what happened the last time they staged one of these.

    People and standing up and letting their voices be heard. We the people are completely against the Gold Butte National Monument and the Government is once again overreaching and doing what ever benefits them and not caring what We The People want.

    Join in and let your voice be heard at this peaceful protest on Saturday.

    Apparently for the Bundys, “We the People” are the Kochs and a handful of right-wing gun-totin’, liberty-lovin’ cowboys.

    Harry and Barrack are leaving hem this wonderful parting fuck you, we’ll see if congress and the Kochs can undo it.

  48. 48.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 11:23 am

    The biopsy for Lil Bit came back benign!!!! Go Dawgs!!

  49. 49.

    chopper

    December 30, 2016 at 11:24 am

    @Juice Box:

    and the CFMA, while written by goopers, made it through congress with huge bipartisan support.

    the funny thing about Clinton haters is not that they blame things on him, it’s that they blame things on him and only him.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 11:25 am

    @raven:

    Yay!

  51. 51.

    Betty Cracker

    December 30, 2016 at 11:25 am

    @Elizabelle: Wait, you find Balloon Juice more bleak than Kendzior? Wow.

  52. 52.

    Lurking Canadian

    December 30, 2016 at 11:26 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Unless McConnell has changed his mind, they’re keeping the filibuster, so Dem Senators actually will have the power to stop the worst of it.

    Of course, that assumes McConnell is telling the truth about his plans. Since that guy lies like it’s his fucking job–since, for that matter, lying is that guy’s fucking job–I’m not very comforted by that.

  53. 53.

    germy

    December 30, 2016 at 11:26 am

    a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned rather than remain a part of a body that she believes is “endorsing tyranny and fascism” with its performance. Jan Chamberlin, who has been a singer in the Mormon-affiliated group for five years, explained her reason for quitting in a Facebook post on Thursday. “I have reflected carefully on both sides of the issue, prayed a lot, talked with family and friends, and searched my soul,” she writes. “I simply cannot continue with the recent turn of events. I could never look myself in the mirror again with self-respect.”

    EDIT: whoops, I see this has already been linked to above.

  54. 54.

    chopper

    December 30, 2016 at 11:27 am

    @raven:

    sweet!

  55. 55.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 11:27 am

    @raven: That’s great, raven.

  56. 56.

    laura

    December 30, 2016 at 11:28 am

    Here’s an easy way to start stepping up your game, look up your local government by website of phone book pages, when do they meet, check the agenda, pick one or two and simply go and attend the meeting. Then keep going, then make a public comment, then start engaging the officials, then champion an issue, write a letter to the editor.
    City Council, library or school board, water district. It’s as local as it gets. It’s yours. You count. Step, by step, it’s easy to discern the how and the who of power and how things work, what’s not working and what interests are being served.
    The right wing did it slowly, over a period of time and it paid off. If we want it back -and we surely do, it works.

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    December 30, 2016 at 11:29 am

    @raven: That is excellent news! I will be rooting for Georgia over TCU. My terrible dilemmas occur later in the day, when the loathed Nebraska plays the horrid Vols and the hated Noles play the despised Michigan.

    Guess I’ll root for the Vols because SEC, but I won’t be enthused about it. And I’d root for the Taliban over FSU, but cheering Michigan will be painful.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 11:31 am

    @chopper: the funny thing about Clinton haters is not that they blame things on him, it’s that they blame things on him and only him.

    and a subset of them blame Hillary more than they blame Bill for things he did as President.

    Also applies to Obama-haters– the professional left’s version of the Cult of the Presidency.

  59. 59.

    VincentN

    December 30, 2016 at 11:34 am

    @Humboldtblue: Do you have any concrete suggestions for trying to change things or do you just like to complain?

    You’re apparently of the opinion that we’re helpless to do anything at the federal level so there’s no point in even trying. OK, how about at the state and local level?

    Or do you just want everyone to lie down and give up? Because as the old saying goes, if you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem.

  60. 60.

    Juice Box

    December 30, 2016 at 11:35 am

    As there is no point writing my senators and I doubt that writing the vile Darrell Issa will help, I just remind my parents in Arizona to write their senators who may have tiny, tiny, tiny amounts of integrity still.

    We went to lunch at a local restaurant yesterday and spied Doug Applegate — who lost to Issa by less than 1% last month — wearing a blazer and apparently being interviewed by a journalist. I think he had a D pin on his lapel. I believe he’s planning on running again.

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 30, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @laura: As I have been doing this for decades, I endorse this approach wholeheartedly. I would add: speak calmly, even if it’s an issue that enrages you, and make a point of being polite – address the people by title and last name, always. Attend several sessions before opening your mouth just to see the dynamics.

    It’s actually a small step from there to running for office yourself. In most cases, standing as a candidate for a municipal office costs practically nothing.

  62. 62.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Thanks, Betty and StringOnAStick. I’ve signed up with OFA.

    As a writer, I’m particularly interested in creating a liberal ALEC-style group, drafting legislation that can be adapted to meet individual state needs. Taking back governorships and state legislatures seems to be one of the most vital goals for Democrats. Marketing and LTTE efforts appeal to me, as well. There are many writers, lawyers, and content experts here on Balloon Juice–we should work together.

  63. 63.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 11:38 am

    @Betty Cracker: Should be great games.

  64. 64.

    Gravenstone

    December 30, 2016 at 11:39 am

    @Humboldtblue: A little something for you here, cupcake.

    If you’re gonna die, die with your boots on,
    If you’re gonna try, well stick around,
    Gonna cry, just move along,
    If you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die.

  65. 65.

    Mike in NC

    December 30, 2016 at 11:39 am

    The Trumpocalypse was 100% created by our rancid news media, who specialize in sensationalism and infotainment. One of the very first reality TV shows was an abomination called “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and the Trump family was no doubt frequently and lovingly featured on it. We’ll now see what elevating a gluttonous imbecile to the highest office in the land will result in.

  66. 66.

    CaseyL

    December 30, 2016 at 11:40 am

    @raven: Fantastic news! I’m so glad for you and Lil Bit!

    As far as activism goes… I live in a deep blue state and, frankly, at this point am most interested in protecting my home. So I’ll be getting more involved in local politics, encouraging our state Lege to put up a legal-economic moat around Washington to keep the feds out as much as possible. The problem with that is, Eastern Washington is very Red State, mostly because of land use issues. They’re going to love the GOP’s efforts to turn federal lands over to state control for purposes of economic extraction. However, we also have a thriving legal pot industry here – a lot of it in Eastern Washington – and if Sessions is serious about re-criminalizing pot, that might change some hearts and minds east of the Cascades.

    If my finances and energy levels allow, I’ll also get involved on a national level, gearing up for 2018 by working on voter registration and ID issues in purple states (provided any are left; I think the purples have all gone blood-red).

  67. 67.

    ArchTeryx

    December 30, 2016 at 11:40 am

    In my own little corner, I’ve wondered exactly what I could be doing. I live in Upstate New York. I’ve given calls to Chuck Schumer’s, Kirsten Gillibrand’s and Paul Tonko’s (my D Congressman’s) office, to the effect of “If the Republicans succeed in killing the ACA and Medicaid, they kill me too. I’m just one Dermocratic voter, but how many more are like me? How many can you afford to lose with the Republicans ever more ascendant?”

    But beyond that? I’m not sure. My die is pretty much cast. If they kill me, they kill me, and the outcome is totally out of my hands now. It feels like there’s almost nothing we can do to stop a century of progress and millions of lives from simply being extinguished. We had our chance. The die was cast, and we as a country rolled a critical failure.

  68. 68.

    Lurking Canadian

    December 30, 2016 at 11:42 am

    @hovercraft: How hard is it to undo? If a lame duck president with a hostile Congress can create a National Monument, surely Trump will have the power to uncreate it, right?

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2016 at 11:47 am

    @raven: Fabulous! Good news on Lil Bit.

    @Betty Cracker: Mind you, I am new to Kendzior. But want to switch it up.

  70. 70.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:47 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    And don’t forget the savings and loan crisis in the mid-1980s. We had warning.

    I was living in NYC then. I used walk home from work and my route was up Third Avenue. There was an S&L in the mid-East 50s. In the midst of the collapse, I walked by and saw a long line of people standing to get into a door clearly labeled, “Closed till further notice.” It was like It’s a Wonderful Life all over again.

  71. 71.

    ArchTeryx

    December 30, 2016 at 11:48 am

    @CaseyL: Depends on by what definition. Congressionally, a lot of the purples are Midwest states, and they have indeed been gerrymandered blood red. In terms of statewide elections, legislatively, they also have been gerrymandered blood red. Statewide and Presidentially, they very much remain purple. Concentrate on statewide races in these states in the short term.

    But in the long term, joining the fight against partisan gerrymandering may well yield the biggest dividends. It will turn a lot of blood-red states purple, or blue, in one fell swoop if it is done away with.

  72. 72.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 11:48 am

    @raven: Wonderful–what a relief!

  73. 73.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:48 am

    @MomSense:

    And it wasn’t the treaty that led to those losses. It was the greedy corporates who never thought foreigners would dare to strike out on their own.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:50 am

    @raven:

    Well, there’s a great way to end this crappy year! Congratulations!

  75. 75.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 11:50 am

    @laura: Excellent reminders!

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 11:51 am

    @debbie: The banking deregulation acts passed in 1980 and 1982 paved the way for that.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:52 am

    O/T: When are you supposed to eat lucky foods for the new year so that they actually work? New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day?

  78. 78.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:54 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I believe the repeal of Glass Steagall during Clinton’s presidency led to the mortgage crisis, but they’re all of a piece.

  79. 79.

    JPL

    December 30, 2016 at 11:55 am

    @raven: Good news indeed! Go Dawgs!

  80. 80.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Something strike me about all this. In “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943” Rick Atkinson notes that right after we entered the war the generals wanted to immediately invade Europe. FDR held the line because he felt we needed to learn “how” to fight before we went up against Germany on their turf. One thing that came to the fore was that we just didn’t hate the Germans at the beginning. Getting bloodied in North Africa and then Italy solved that. Hate goes against the grain for most progressives and rightfully so but I think it is the unifying force of the Trumpers. I’m not sure where that leaves us. I’m going to leave to watch the Dawgs.

  81. 81.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 11:55 am

    @debbie: Day

  82. 82.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:56 am

    @raven:

    I think you’re right about that, though I may become as rabid about Trump as RWNJs were about Obama.

  83. 83.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @raven:

    Thanks! Gives me more time.

  84. 84.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @debbie: Yea, especially since they told me it might be 10 days.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 30, 2016 at 11:59 am

    @raven: That’s terrific news!

    @Mike in NC:

    It was on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous that Trump (in)famously speculated, with gestures, about the future boobage of his then-baby daughter Tiffany.

  86. 86.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    The first thing we have to do, is to figure out how to address our broken media.
    Professor Jay Rosen of NYU School of Journalism, takes a stab. This is a long excerpt from part one at PressThink.org

    Winter is coming: prospects for the American press under Trump

    How bad is it? Bad. I will explain why. Any bright signs? A few. This is part one. Part two is about what can be done. Out tomorrow. Or the next day.

    4. An organized movement on the political right to discredit mainstream journalism, which stretches from Steve Bannon in the White House to Trump’s army of online trolls, with Breitbart, Drudge Report, talk radio and Fox opinion hosts mediating between the two, while the “alt reality” fringe feels newly emboldened. Its latest tactic is to shout down as “fake news” any work of reporting that conflicts with its worldview, leaving the term useless as a fraud alert. “Over the years, we’ve effectively brainwashed the core of our audience to distrust anything that they disagree with,” said John Ziegler, a conservative radio host, to a New York Times reporter. “Because the gatekeepers have lost all credibility in the minds of consumers, I don’t see how you reverse it.” In fact, no one knows how to fix this.

    17. Weak leadership and a thin institutional structure in the American press, which is not accustomed to organizing itself to fight back or act assertively in any coordinated way, as with the White House Correspondents Association, currently failing even to get a meeting with the Trump transition team, but still planning to yuck it up with him at the WHCA dinner in the spring of 2017.

    What not to do…

    24. Don’t recruit Trump loyalists into the news and opinion space (Jeffrey Lord of CNN is the model) as a gaudy show of balance.

    25. Don’t settle for accusation-driven over evidence-based reporting, just to avoid drawing flak from Trump’s press-hating supporters or demonstrate how even-handed you are.

    26. Don’t make it all about access to the President and his aides, or preserving the routines of White House reporting, as the press corps is currently doing— mostly out of habit. A Trump presidency is likely to be constructed on a propaganda model in which fomenting confusion is not a drag on the Administration’s agenda but a sign that it’s working. Access to such a machinery could wind up enlisting the press in a misinformation campaign. Here, I am getting ahead of the story because we don’t really know what a Trump White House will be like. And I am not saying that access to the president and his top advisors is unimportant or a dirty word. Rather, it should not be the organizing principle for journalists who are preparing to cover Trump.

  87. 87.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    @debbie: It may have worsened the crisis but many of the failed institutions weren’t commercial banks at all. AIG and Lehmann, for example were an insurance company and an investment bank respectively. So the Glass-Steagall repeal does not explain everything.

  88. 88.

    annie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    banned cable tv from my life, never put a lot of weight in a poll and lots of dogs as my mental health diversion.

  89. 89.

    raven

    December 30, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    @debbie: If you can find Camiilia blackeye peas they are worth it!

  90. 90.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @raven:
    Great news, yay!

  91. 91.

    ThresherK

    December 30, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @debbie: Greens on New Year’s Day (hard greens you have to cook, save the baby spinach for salads) is what I’ve heard, and we do that at our home.

  92. 92.

    mai naem mobile

    December 30, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    I hope the Dems get their shit together by 2018 as far as a 50 state srrategy. If Lumpy and his pals in Congress screw up as much as we predict, 2018 should be a great oppportunity to take the Senate and House back. Kind of what happened in 06. If Lumpy doesn’t screw up and snooker the media and the public we might as well put up her hands and surrender.

  93. 93.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @Juice Box:

    It’s not true that there’s no point to writing to Senators, whether dark blue or dark red – it’s important to reinforce the importance of correct actions (and that you’ll have their backs) if your Senators are good, and giving bad Senators pushback on the bad things increases the chance they won’t push hard for those bad things (maybe not by much, but by some).

    Me, I live in Virginia, where I have two Democratic Senators, but there’s some possibility that they will be squishy. So they’re going to be hearing from me a lot.

  94. 94.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I was turned off by the first thing I read by her, in which she proclaimed, “I am not a Democrat.” But she’s supposedly the crusader against Trump’s authoritarianism?

  95. 95.

    ThresherK

    December 30, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    @hovercraft: Automatic recommendation of anything Jay Rosen, sight unseen.

  96. 96.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Well, it let them get into other areas, like mortgages.

  97. 97.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    @Betty Cracker: What I’d like to know from someone like Kendzior, who has studied authoritarian regimes, is how many of them arose in countries with centuries of democracy behind them? How many arose in countries just emerging from war, civil war, tsars, feudalism, etc.? I know we suffer from striking inequalities, gerrymandering, almost unchecked corporate powers, and other problems, and I was quite distraught on November 9, but the US surely is more robust than countries that have fallen to dictatorships due to its size, diversity, and history. Maybe I’m wrong, but that belief is what lets me get up in the morning.

  98. 98.

    James Krewson

    December 30, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    @stinger: How did you sign up? I’m still finding only abandoned FB pages and dead links.

  99. 99.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    @debbie:

    Always on New Year’s Day.

  100. 100.

    Suzanne

    December 30, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    @raven: Ooooh good news! Woot woot!

  101. 101.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    @James Krewson:

    I’d like to know too.

  102. 102.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @stinger:

    This is why I was so shocked on Nov. 8. We have none of the excuses that Russia or Weimar Germany had.

  103. 103.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @raven:

    Not likely in Ohio. I made Hopping John one year and it was horrible. I just saw a recipe for Low Country Hopping John which cooks peas and rice separately, so I may try that at some point.

    @ThresherK:

    I’m going to make collard greens with bacon and apple cider vinegar. Pork is also supposed to be lucky, so hopefully that’ll improve my chances.

  104. 104.

    laura

    December 30, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: yes, two ears and one mouth! Expect your knees will be knocking the first time. A bullet points note card, and slower than you normally speak.
    Then the next step . . . Informed engaged citizenship. Not easy, but not rocket science.

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    Someone forgot to give Rudy his medication this morning.

    Giuliani On Russia: Intel Obama Has Received Is ‘Incompetent Or Politicized’

    Former New York Mayor and Donald Trump ally Rudy Giuliani slammed the sanctions President Barack Obama placed against Russia Thursday, calling them “petty little actions” and saying that they should have been put in place much earlier.

    During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Friday, Giuliani said that if hacking did take place by the Russians, that the response by the U.S. should have been earlier and stronger.

    “I find it extraordinary in what President Obama is doing,” he said. “I’ve never seen a President try to create more problems for a future president.”

    “There’s a certain pettiness that I hadn’t seen before. I mean, to do this after 18 months, when you could have prevented it 10 months ago,” Giuliani continued. “Petty little actions like this don’t mean very much. It’s almost a mockery to say this is too little too late. It should have been done 10 months ago, 11 months ago, 12 months ago. If it is really true the response should be much stronger.”

    Giuliani also criticized the closing of two Russian compounds that the White House classified as being used for “intelligence-related purposes” in its statement, saying that “if you are going to solve a murder, you arrest the murderer. Not the candy store the murderer went to before he committed the murder.”

    The former mayor, who apparently took himself out of the running to be Trump’s Secretary of State, said that Trump should not immediately trust all intelligence that the Obama administration gives him because it is “incompetent.”

    “There’s no question that the intelligence that President Obama has been getting has either been incompetent or politicized,” he said.

    “I would urge President Trump, when he becomes President Trump, to have his own intelligence people do their own report, let’s find out who did it, and let’s bang them back really hard,” he continued.

  106. 106.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I just checked my e-mail and realized I’m already signed up for OFA. But mostly it consists of annoying e-mails they send me. I don’t see anything about meetings.

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    @debbie: Too many pronouns, what is the it and them you are referring to.

  108. 108.

    Renie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    @Humboldtblue: I am afraid a lot of what you wrote is true but we must at least try something.

  109. 109.

    Starfish

    December 30, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    @James Krewson: Go to BarackObama.com. Sign up, and there is a connect link. A lot of the organizations around me look dormant. The Denver Metro one is the only one that has any content on its page.

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 30, 2016 at 12:22 pm

    @zhena gogolia: You don’t have to be a Democrat to be anti-authoritarian.

  111. 111.

    Renie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: He probably means the repeal of Glass-Steagall. That was a disaster.

  112. 112.

    tobie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    @chopper:

    and the CFMA, while written by goopers, made it through congress with huge bipartisan support.

    Including with the vote of one congressman from New England. Funny how that’s been forgotten.

  113. 113.

    Renie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    @Juice Box: Yes most of the work should be to make sure everyone gets their votes counted. Without people voting for Democrats we won’t be able to change anything.

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    @hovercraft: I suspect a thorough investigation– a sort of fantasy Girl with the Dragon Tattoo internet vetting– into Rudi Giuliani and his friends in FBI community would be very interesting, and might turn up some Russian rat-ffucking.

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    @Renie: some truth in it, but the screeching about Debbie Wasserman Schultz is something of a tell at this point. And I despised DWS as a stumblebum Blue Dog before Bernie Sanders decided to join her, and me, in the Democratic Party, but like GOPers who rant about Obama being a feckless hack and ruthless tyrant, you can’t have it both ways

    and she only got the job, IIRC, because Jennifer Granholm backed out at the last minute, maybe because she knew what the job actually is

  116. 116.

    Cacti

    December 30, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    @VincentN:

    @Humboldtblue: Do you have any concrete suggestions for trying to change things or do you just like to complain?

    The second one.

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @Renie: True but it does not explain everything see comment #87.

  118. 118.

    maryQ

    December 30, 2016 at 12:32 pm

    I’m quitting up Facebook, wine, and people who engage in fact-free fantasy election post-mortems. I am reading more good books, and finding ways to engage with non-partisan opposition. Stay alert, drive carefully, hug your kids.

  119. 119.

    MJS

    December 30, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    @Humboldtblue: I know, let’s run Jill Stein for president in 2020, and put all our eggs in THAT basket!

  120. 120.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:35 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Sorry. Repeal of Glass Steagall let investment banks branch out into other areas like mortgages.

  121. 121.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    @Lurking Canadian:

    How hard is it to undo? If a lame duck president with a hostile Congress can create a National Monument, surely Trump will have the power to uncreate it, right?

    It will be difficult, but they can. First they would have to amend or repeal the American Antiquities Act of 1906, 16 USC 431-433.
    I think that would be highly controversial, once the conservation groups started running AD’s saying that Yellowstone was opening up to drilling and whatnot, the phones in DC would light up.

    I think the moves that Obama is making at the moment are things that the GOP and their new master can undo, but by doing so they will pay a price. Then again with the way this country has behaved the last year or so, who the hell knows?

    9 last-minute Obama moves to stymie Trump’s agenda

    (CNN) — With the finish line in view, President Barack Obama is entering a sprint. He’s scaled up his executive power moves in a bid to solidify some of his legacy items before Donald Trump takes office. Many of his actions won’t be easily reversed. Here’s a look at what Obama’s done since Election Day, and what he’s expected to do in the coming weeks.

    1. Russia sanctions
    2. Arctic drilling ban
    3. Middle East peace process ( the UN abstention & Kerry speech)
    4. Obamacare enrollment push
    5. New national monuments
    6. Closing national registry
    7. Gitmo transfers
    8. Pardons and commutations
    9. Farewell address

  122. 122.

    brendancalling

    December 30, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    I work for Raw Story now and so my job is resistance.

    And because I’m a news junkie, I wind up tweeting and FB sharing our stories constantly.

    And of course I call and harass senators and congresscritters on a near daily basis.

  123. 123.

    weaselone

    December 30, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    @hovercraft:

    The MSM is screwed. They are going to continue to do exactly what they need to not do. There’s a reason that trust in them keeps dropping to new lows, and it’s not just because conservatives trust them less than used car salesmen. Only a third of independents and 1/2 of democrats find them trustworthy. They’re going to keep up the magical balance fairy, both sides do it, we need to hire more conservative hacks for balance crap until their trustworthiness flat lines with independents and democrats as well.

    When you can get a more accurate picture of the state of the country, current and international events by following a few tweeters or reading a couple of select blogs than reading the NY Times, there’s a significant problem. The MSM isn’t going to survive. We’ve going to end up with two sets of media and no common reality.

  124. 124.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    @debbie: So according to you, investment banks offering mortgages caused the financial crisis? Is this Bernie Sanders School of Economics?

  125. 125.

    HeleninEire

    December 30, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    @raven: YAY from Dublin. A great Christmas present for you.

  126. 126.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:45 pm

    I’m reading this now, and it’s really good: “Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda.” But it’s most useful for people who live in Red states, I think.

  127. 127.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    In fall 2016 you needed to be a Democrat to resist Trump’s authoritarianism. I assume that “I’m not a Democrat” meant she didn’t vote for HRC. I can’t remember the details, but I got that distinct impression.

  128. 128.

    hovercraft

    December 30, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    @hovercraft:
    Perhaps Rudy is lashing out because:

    The Trump camp’s spin on Russian interference is falling apart

    By Greg Sargent

    This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the Obama administration’s announcement yesterday that the United States will undertake sweeping retaliation against Russia for its alleged interference in our election. In a surprise, Putin said he would not be expelling U.S. diplomats as part of the escalating tensions.

    This led to some speculation that Putin is simply biding his time until Donald Trump takes over as president, putting someone more friendly to Putin and Russia in the White House — hopefully meaning all those bad feelings about possible Russian efforts to tip the election to Trump can be forgotten. Trump, too, has been saying we need to “move on.”

    But how much longer can Trump really sustain his dismissive, nonchalant posture towards Russia’s alleged assault on our democracy?

    Consider the buffoonishly weak response of two of his top advisers to the news of the last 24 hours. Yesterday, the Obama administration slapped new sanctions and other penalties on Russia over its possible interference, moves that The Post characterized as “the most far-reaching U.S. response to Russian activities since the end of the Cold War.”

    This prompted senior Trump transition adviser Kellyanne Conway to go on CNN and argue that Obama’s measures were designed to “box in” the Trump administration by forcing them to make a tough choice later on whether to continue those retaliatory measures (which Putin seems to be betting against happening). Conway added that Obama might be playing “politics” and argued that he was imperiling the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

    It is probably true that the Obama administration is trying to “box in” Trump on this matter. But how is this notion helpful to Trump? All it really means is that Obama is trying to get Trump to take the allegations of Russian interference into our election seriously, which he does not want to do. In arguing that Obama is playing politics and might be imperiling a smooth transition, Conway implicitly admitted that the Trump camp does not see the possibility of Russian interference in our election as something the two parties should be united against. This only makes Trump’s position look more absurdly nonchalant.

    Meanwhile, incoming White House spokesman Sean Spicer haplessly tried to argue that the real story here is that Democrats allowed Russian hackers to breach their emails:

    “Nobody by any way or shape is suggesting that that’s acceptable behavior,” Spicer said. “But I don’t believe once I’ve ever seen an interview where anyone at the DNC was ever asked a question about whether they take any responsibility for what clearly appears to be a lax effort on them to protect their own networks.”

    Translation: Sure, I’ll pay lip service to the idea that what Russia may have done is bad, but it’s really the fault of Democrats for allowing it to happen…….

    But time is not on the Trump camp’s side here. For one thing, note that Trump has now agreed to sit for an intelligence briefing on the evidence of Russian interference, which itself shows he now recognizes the need to pretend to want to be informed of the facts about this matter.

    For another, the intelligence community is set to release a report in early January documenting that evidence. While much of that report may remain classified, Obama recently said the intel he has seen gives him “great confidence” of Russian culpability, and some information will likely be presented to the public. The Trump camp will have to respond to that, too, and claiming it is “partisan” might look even more ridiculous, given that the source is the intelligence services……

    Making this posture even harder to sustain, it is likely that many congressional Republicans will take the intel community’s findings increasingly seriously. CNN’s Jake Tapper conducted a great interview with GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger that previews what’s to come: In it, Rep. Kinzinger flatly stated that he “can’t defend” Trump’s refusal to treat this seriously, and noted that this is not about “questioning the legitimacy of Donald Trump.” Kinzinger added: “We can try to have a better relationship with Russia, but we also have to defend ourselves.” In other words, this House Republican effortlessly made mince meat of the Trump camp’s main lines of spin……

    House and Senate GOP leaders will likely try to limit and control the extent of the congressional probes into Russian interference that they have promised. But comments like these from Rep. Kinsinger suggest that some Republicans will continue pushing for a fuller accounting. While some of the Republicans demanding this — such as senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham — will be motivated by over-the-top hawkishness towards Russia, that may have the salutary effect of making it tougher for GOP leaders to duck a full, independent probe. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll see more leaks from the intel community that make their foot-dragging still harder.

    Finally, there are upcoming Senate confirmation hearings. The two retired generals Trump has chosen — James Mattis as defense secretary, and John Kelly as the head of homeland security — will undoubtedly be questioned about Russian interference. They will almost certainly treat the topic very seriously, making the Trump camp’s current posture even harder to sustain. The facts flushed out into the open during hearings into Putin-connected Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick as secretary of state, won’t help matters, either.

    We don’t know what the facts will ultimately tell us about what really happened here. But if they do lead where they appear to be leading, Trump won’t be able to outrun them forever.

  129. 129.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I hate the implication that a disclaimer is needed for credibility.

  130. 130.

    tobie

    December 30, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I think what she meant is that the repeal of Glass-Steagall contributed to the proliferation of mortgage-backed securities, which lead to the financial crisis in turn. I’m not an expert, or even a novice, when it comes to complex financial instruments so I need to check when securitizing mortgages became widespread. Do you have any info or links to share on this? Thanks.

  131. 131.

    Cacti

    December 30, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    @brendancalling:

    I work for Raw Story now and so my job is resistance.

    Is the Raw Story comment section still a safe space for Bern-feeling, or have they gotten past that?

  132. 132.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    @Baud:

    Me too. She didn’t have to say anything about her party affiliation or lack thereof.

  133. 133.

    Baud

    December 30, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    @tobie:

    Wikipedia

    According to former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson, the “total volume of private mortgage-backed securities (excluding those issued by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) grew from $11 billion in 1984 to over $200 billion in 1994 to close to $3 trillion in 2007.”[29]

    The private mortgage securitization market continued to grow. In 2004 the “commercial banks, thrifts, and investment banks caught up with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in securitizing home loans”, and by 2005 they overtook them.[4][30] Private MBS grew primarily by lowering their standards and securitizing more low-quality, high-risk mortgages such as Alt-A, and subprime mortgages.[4] Scholar Michael Simkovic argues that this relaxation of standards was due to greater competition between securitizers for loans, and greater market power for loan originators.[4] Financial journalists Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera argue that Wall Street securitizers encouraged relaxation of standards because poor-quality loans “meant higher yields”.[31][32]

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    @Cacti: Is the Raw Story comment section still a safe space for Bern-feeling, or have they gotten past that?

    I’ve never read those, but I’m surprised. How does Tbogg keep finding himself at home among the emo-bleaters?

  135. 135.

    Pogonip

    December 30, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    @ArchTeryx: I hope the interns understood your predicament is real and didn’t just write you off as a drama queen.

  136. 136.

    ArchTeryx

    December 30, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    @Pogonip: One never knows, do they? Sort of actually naming my chronic illness (which I did in one case) and pointing out I have a STEM PhD, not much else I can do on that score. If actually facing death at the hands of opposition policy isn’t enough to motivate them, I just can’t do anything else. I’m poor and unemployed mostly thanks to Republicans. I’ll never be a campaign contributor except at the smallest of scales.

    It still does leave the question hanging, though…what next? How best to use the time remaining, or any stay of execution I may get?

  137. 137.

    Grung_e_Gene

    December 30, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    @Humboldtblue: Don’t give up before the fight has begun. Admittedly it might be round 10 of 12 and the judges have been giving rounds to the Rape-publicans while the ref deducts points and calls phantom fouls but we are not just helpless spectators.

  138. 138.

    Emma

    December 30, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    @raven: Hot damn! I know exactly how she — and you — feels. That was another of my interesting times this year. It would have been my third lump and it would have meant radical mastectomy. Receiving the good news nearly made me faint.

  139. 139.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I will set aside your insult and tell you that the extremely lucrative market for no-docs mortgages and insurance policies sold for subprime mortgages, combined with the belief that no collateral would be needed to cover the loans or the policies, did in fact contribute to the financial crisis.

    This is not fucking Bernie Sanders, but you can go fuck yourself with your attitude.

  140. 140.

    tobie

    December 30, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    @Baud: Thanks for this! I’m still trying to figure out what particular legislation made subprime mortgages possible since that seems to be the trigger for the explosion of mortgage-backed securities beginning in 2001. A trip to library is in order on this one. Any good books to recommend on the subject?

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Yup.

    The S/N is much improved by not feeding the trolls, folks.

    I’ll be watching the future of OFA with great interest, supporting VoteRiders, and doing what I can to help Team D in Virginia. Off-off-year elections are tough, but extremely important. Terry Mac is the only thing that has kept Virginia from turning into East Brownbackistan…

    We must fight them every . single . day and take nothing for granted.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    Lizzy L

    December 30, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Have you read “The Big Short”? You should. It clarifies quite well how the investment banks turned unsecured mortgages into investments, and how that contributed to the financial crisis.

  143. 143.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 1:25 pm

    @James Krewson: I followed these directions (from the OP):
    “Go to http://www.BarackObama.com, click on “Connect” in the upper right hand corner and create an account, then start looking for events and issues you feel strongly about on the “Explore” tab after you hit “Connect.” Most states have at least one group, so you can drill down to your local area, join the group by clicking on it….”

    It worked just like it says above. Now I’m waiting for the promised emails. If the groups I “connected” with are moribund, I’ll try to get them going again, I guess.

  144. 144.

    Lizzy L

    December 30, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    @Lizzy L: To add: technically the mortages were not unsecured, since they were theoretically secured by the value of the mortgaged properties. But since the “value” of the properties was in most cases a fantasy number with no relationship to reality, the mortgages were effectively unsecured debt. They were never going to get paid back.

  145. 145.

    Humdog

    December 30, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    We in blue areas could reach out to red county Dem or OFA groups in a sister-city sort of way. Say a blue state voter org could offer to help the red state voter org do calls or fund mailers to do the things the local red state group thinks would best help get red state blue voters registered. (Gah! That is easier to think than spell out)

  146. 146.

    Doug R

    December 30, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    @Humdog: I think Humboltblue is upset because legal weed is cutting into his business.

  147. 147.

    janeform

    December 30, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    I’ve been involved in my county Democratic party in Michigan for the past two years, and will continue. We worked very hard at organizing at the precinct level, and doing our own canvassing, and were the only county in the state to exceed 2012 Democratic turnout. At the first meeting after the election, 170 people showed up, which was unprecedented. We did a brainstorming session on specific actions that the party should work on. At our next meeting, people will be breaking out into groups to start working. Getting involved at the local level, especially if you live in a purple state that’s been gerrymandered, is job 1. If we can win the governorship and take back the state house, we’ll be in the position to do non-partisan redistricting after the 2020 census. The county and state parties have to be strengthened on the local level. The DNC chair can be helpful, but can only do so much without local efforts.

    This probably has been posted already, but here’s a great guide to influencing your elected officials. It’s detailed and practical. It’s important even if you’re represented by Dems. Their spines won’t just magically stiffen. They have to hear from their constituents consistently and loudly. It’s all well and good to complain about how wishy-washy Dems are. We need to go out and do something about it.

  148. 148.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 30, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    @Betty Cracker: cheering for Michigan is also cheering against Ohio State, if that helps

  149. 149.

    Pogonip

    December 30, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    @ArchTeryx: Is it your illness keeping you from working? If so, maybe you could also point out that SS disability, also threatened, is intended for people in exactly your predicament.

  150. 150.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    @debbie: Glass-Steagall restricted the activities of commercial banks, not investment banks. Investment banks were and are more lightly regulated than banks that take your deposits, interact with individual customers. So you can’t pin the doings of investment houses on the repeal of G-S.
    Many on the left including Bernie Sanders like to blame G-S repeal for the entire debacle of 2008. It is not the whole story, by far.

  151. 151.

    humboldtblue

    December 30, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    @MJS: Why the fuck would you do that? We lost by running the most qualified candidate we have ever nominated, Why the fuck would your stupid ass back someone who isn’t a Democrat, you fucking git?

    I live in a state where actual liberal Democrats get shit done like a graduated minimum wage over the next five years like an actual equal pay bill that ensures women don’t get the short shrift for doing their jobs and where we got sentencing and drug enforcement laws changed by an inch so that more people get treatment instead of prison. I live in a state where my congressman is a tireless advocate for environmental protection and it was his urging that tens of thousands of acres of coastline are now a national monument courtesy of president Obama.

    So why the fuck, you mewling dipshit, would I support Jill Stein? I already supported presidential candidate who lost to Donald fucking Trump, a president elect who comes into office with a solid Republican majority in Cingress, so how the fuck is that election working out for you?

    @Grung_e_Gene: There’s nothing to give up, I turned my focus exclusively to local issues and politics after 2008 when I realized the work on the national level had to be done by other states and here in California we can only hope any firewall we have erected can stand the heat until the next administration is gone.

  152. 152.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    @tobie: Dean Baker has a well-supported story about the housing bubble and the financial crisis. For him, the big story is the housing bubble and its bursting. Brad DeLong has a different take. Lots of good links there.

    My take: it was a combination of things, but the housing bubble was a huge part of the problem. And the housing bubble didn’t depend on the repeal of Glass-Steagall (but I’m not an economist).

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  153. 153.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    @Lizzy L: No I have not seen Big Short, but I did write several papers on the financial crisis and its aftermath when I was taking financial economics and macroeconomic classes as a student enrolled in a doctoral program.

  154. 154.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    @Another Scott: Shush, in the post truth world facts don’t matter. Ignorance == Knowledge. True believers gotta believe.
    Movie references are better than peer reviewed work and so on.

  155. 155.

    brendancalling

    December 30, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    @Cacti: I never read the comments, so i have no idea.

  156. 156.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    @tobie:

    I think what she meant is that the repeal of Glass-Steagall contributed to the proliferation of mortgage-backed securities, which lead to the financial crisis in turn.

    No this is not what happened.
    People referencing G-S don’t seem to have any idea of what it does.

    The Glass-Steagall Act, also known as the Banking Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 162), was passed by Congress in 1933 and prohibits commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. It was enacted as an emergency response to the failure of nearly 5,000 banks during the Great Depression.

  157. 157.

    Lizzy L

    December 30, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I haven’t seen the movie “The Big Short” either. I recommend the book, The Big Short, by Michael Lewis. (The movie was based on it.) It’s a great read even for the knowledgeable.

  158. 158.

    Cacti

    December 30, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    No this is not what happened.
    People referencing G-S don’t seem to have any idea of what it does.

    “Glass-Steagall” has become another magic buzzword of the emo left. Much like “single payer”.

  159. 159.

    karen marie

    December 30, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    My resistance will take the form of paying attention to what’s going on in local, state government. Anyone concerned about election processes needs to go where that action is – local/state. I’m seeking out sympathetic legislators and identifying those who need fires lit under them

    The BJ community is the best. Best wishes for a Happy New Year to all.

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    @Lizzy L: Its on my list.
    This is a more scholarly take on the Financial Crisis by two NYU professors

  161. 161.

    Grung_e_Gene

    December 30, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    @humboldtblue: That’s awesome local is the way to go.

  162. 162.

    PJ

    December 30, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Sigh. This stuff has been out in the public for, you know, 8 years, and as others have pointed out, the Big Short is a decent summarization of how it happened. But the short version is that, once upon a time, mortgages were issued by local banks and other lenders who were genuinely concerned that the property-owners would pay back their loans. With the repeal of Glass-Steagall, these commercial banks were also allowed to operate as investment banks, and vice versa. This meant that local lenders, like WAMU, could take their mortgages and bundle them into securities which would be highly rated regardless of the quality of the actual mortgages, which meant that these lenders no longer cared about whether the property owner could pay back the mortgage or whether the property owner or the property even existed. Of course, investment banks could also buy mortgages for securitization purposes regardless of whether they had commercial banking branches. The repeal of Glass-Steagall also allowed insurers, like AIG, to issue insurance on securities, which further fueled the mortgage-securitization madness, because AIG wanted to sell insurance, and so investment banks kept coming up with new securitized products for the market which could be insured by AIG.

  163. 163.

    tobie

    December 30, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Yes, but the line separating commercial banks, which do issue mortgages, and investment banks, which do not, was eroded with G-S repeal and did play some role in the proliferation of mortgage-backed securities. This was not the only ingredient in the financial crisis but it was one.

  164. 164.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    @PJ: I don’t need lessons on what caused the financial crisis.

  165. 165.

    Alabama Blue Dot

    December 30, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    @laura: This is what I decided to do. Each of us can only do so much, but I can certainly drag my butt to a City Council meeting every two weeks. I chose city government in particular because I’m concerned about municipal police departments being used in immigration enforcement. And I think it’s important to be “out and proud” as a liberal; one way to do that is to be seen and heard at a local level.

  166. 166.

    brendancalling

    December 30, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    @Cacti: I should add that I have a general policy of not reading comments after losing a column several years back for arguing in comments with a commentator.

    It’s the first real job I’ve had in like 4 years. I’m not about to fuck it up.

  167. 167.

    Lizzy L

    December 30, 2016 at 2:11 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Thank you! A friend of mine works for Wiley: I’ve asked her if she can locate a copy for me to borrow. My local library doesn’t have it: way too academic and specialized.

  168. 168.

    PJ

    December 30, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    @Another Scott: You are ignoring how the demand for mortgages by Wall Street created a demand for housing. There would have been no housing bubble if lenders were not willing to issue loans which were undercollateralized, due to the inflated value of housing and bogus values on mortgage documents, because they could turn around and sell those mortgages as securities (and get paid right away for the amounts they had loaned). The ability to sell insurance on MBS created further demand for mortgages to be insured, which led to the creation of further properties to be mortgaged.

  169. 169.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 2:15 pm

    @tobie: No G-S repeal did not cause the boom in mortgage back securities. The boom in the housing market did that. You are not arguing factually. Invoking G-S repeal as a magic incantation does not explain all the factors that lead to the crisis.

  170. 170.

    Alabama Blue Dot

    December 30, 2016 at 2:16 pm

    @stinger: Check out the State Innovation Exchange (SiX).

  171. 171.

    Cacti

    December 30, 2016 at 2:18 pm

    @brendancalling:

    I should add that I have a general policy of not reading comments after losing a column several years back for arguing in comments with a commentator.

    It’s the first real job I’ve had in like 4 years. I’m not about to fuck it up.

    Probably a good idea.

  172. 172.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    @Lizzy L: Do you live close to a public university? Chances are that they will have a copy. Lot of the individual papers may be available on Google scholar.

  173. 173.

    carlo granada

    December 30, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    @raven: Hate does seem to keep the adrenaline flowing on their side. Wouldn’t mind a little more adrenaline on our side — not unlike EMTs responding to an emergency. Am sponsoring partner (with a lot of unfocused anger) to go cross country to the Women’s March. It’s a little something.

  174. 174.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    @PJ: With respect, I’m not ignoring anything. :-) Thousands of words have been written about the “financial crisis” and the housing bubble and excellent economists (Baker, DeLong, Krugman) come out on slightly different sides about what was most important. I was providing a pointer to others who might want a more detailed discussion.

    Around here in NoVA, it was clear to little old me that there was a huge bubble when, by early 2007 (IIRC), there were small in-fill developments that had huge signs talking about new homes “Starting at $1.4M” which were changed a couple of months later to “Starting at 1.0M” and still not getting buyers. It wasn’t a lack of financing that was the issue.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  175. 175.

    Lizzy L

    December 30, 2016 at 2:32 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I am close to UC-Berkeley; they will have it. If my friend at Wiley can’t get it for me I’ll go inter-library loan.

    If it’s badly written I won’t get far in it. Life’s too short to read bad writing.

  176. 176.

    Carol

    December 30, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    @Emma: The national League of Women Voters is doing a credible job in the voter suppression department through the courts. They’ve won a couple of cases.

  177. 177.

    Carol

    December 30, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    Thanks for this thread, Betty. Some friends and I were going to try to get something started – we’re “elderly”, though, and don’t know how far we can go on our own. I’ll look into what we can do through OFA.

  178. 178.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    @Lizzy L: Its better written than most academic papers, but it does have some jargon. The individual topics are pretty self contained. You can focus on what you want, also has an excellent bibliography and foot notes.

  179. 179.

    karen marie

    December 30, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    @brendancalling: Congrats!

  180. 180.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    The book was much better than the movie, I thought. Also, back as the crisis was setting in (ie, Lehmann failure, etc.), Planet Money had some podcasts which explained CDOs, CDSs, etc. very clearly for people too stupid to have earned a degree in economics.

    This week’s podcast, in fact, is about Neel Kashkari (who oversaw TARP) and his ideas to prevent a repeat crisis. Because, clearly, banks’ behavior hasn’t changed since then.

  181. 181.

    Bill Arnold

    December 30, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    @hovercraft:

    The first thing we have to do, is to figure out how to address our broken media.

    This.
    – Effort spent unbreaking the media (or replacing parts of it) is a very high-leverage activity.
    – Another more personal useful activity is engaging with the right in their own spaces (physical and virtual), though in virtual spaces, armor up (that means privacy tools) if you want to be anything but obsequiously polite or a “pet lefty”. (Personally I neglected this during the Obama years, which was a serious mistake; out of practice.)
    – Also, for geeks like me, effort spent on methods and tooling for id-ing/defanging/mitigating viral RW lies/memes/propaganda before they spread widely, because the Republicans and their allies (yes including Russia :-) were effectively unopposed in this area in 2015/16. One place for techies to start is here (open google doc, edit link available, 179 pages today): Media ReDesign: The New Realities

  182. 182.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 30, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    @debbie: I was not denigrating your intelligence, if that’s how it came across I am sorry. But laying all the blame on the repeal of G-S as the Senator from Vt did, is too simplistic. Barney Frank is worth listening to on this issue. And Dodd-Frank does not get the credit it deserves.

  183. 183.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    We’re doing our year-end donations today. Bumped up our check to the local Democratic committee, will do the same for Planned Parenthood, probably will add the ACLU to our list.

    If you can spare an extra dollar or two, now would be a good time to pick a progressive-friendly group and give (or give some more).

    And we’ll be going to the march in January, and donating more to local Dem candidates for the 2017 VA elections, and working on other stuff. That’s my New Year’s resolution.

  184. 184.

    stinger

    December 30, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @Alabama Blue Dot: Thanks!

  185. 185.

    fuckwit

    December 30, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    @germy: and of Bernie. My main gripe with Bernie is it was all about him. My main point of admiration of Obama is that it’s never been about him.

    I OFA’d my ass off in 2008, 2010, and 2012. I highly recommend them. They have their shit together.

    I was involved with the Bernie organization in the primaries and then briefly with Hillary’s for the general. I worked with the Dean organization in the early days, and suffered through the lackluster Kerry campaign. OFA is on another level; go sign up and see for yourself.

  186. 186.

    debbie

    December 30, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear about GS. I don’t think it was the only cause, but it was certainly in the mix.

    Shortly after the repeal, I edited a report written by an international coalition of insurance companies. Since banks were now permitted to move into new areas, insurance companies wanted to figure out what other kinds of services they could offer — not partnerships with banks, but as competitors to banks.

    I never followed up to see if anything came of it, but working on the individual reports from countries in Europe, Scandanavia, Japan, etc., I definitely felt this was like the new Wild West or Gold Rush.

  187. 187.

    Cloudladder

    December 30, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Here’s my idea. If the U.S. is still aiding the Saudis in the Saudi-Yemen war when Trump is president, we start paying attention to war crimes in Yemen. Maybe even start calling it genocide in order to tie Trump to Hitler. Obama was president when the war started, but Trump made an oilman Secretary of State we can stick the blame on Trump. Print lots of pictures of dead Yemeni children. Wait for Trump or one of his associates to say something racist and callous about the pictures. Make Trump look evil.

  188. 188.

    Seth Owen

    December 30, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    @raven: Evidence that sometimes the generals are wrong.

    I have studied the era extensively and I am absolutely convinced Roosevelt was right. The US Army did an excellent job learning from its experience. The learning curve was steep. They went from 0 to 60 in an astounding time. But it still took time. They didn’t start at 60.

    (And also significant was two more years of Germany being worn down on the Eastern Front. The 1944 German army was not the same as the 1942 version.)

  189. 189.

    Zelma

    December 30, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I live in a blue state with a “moderate” Republican congressman. I’ve already started using the ideas in “Indivisible.” Also works on the more local level.

  190. 190.

    StringOnAStick

    December 30, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Sorry I wasn’t at the computer today, but I will keep your offer in mind as I start finding out more that my local OFA group wants to do. Thanks!

  191. 191.

    Yarrow

    December 30, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    Thanks for this post, Betty. I have been out all day and haven’t had the chance to comment. I’m going to work locally, and it sounds like others will do the same thing in their areas. Start local and work up.

    The other advice I’ve seen is to make real life connections. Not just social media or people you never see. Get together. See them face to face. Make those connections and keep at least some of your planning offline. It’s easy for authoritarian governments to monitor online activity and also shut down internet access if they want. You want real life connections so you have people to turn to and connect with to fight back and resist.

  192. 192.

    J R in WV

    December 30, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @Humboldtblue:

    You don’t appear to know (or be aware) that Hillary Clinton got nearly 3 million more popular votes than Donald J Drumpf. That’s winning in my book, even if an ancient technicality allowed The Donald to seize the presidency.

    You need to read some history. Learn some poli-sci. And some Econ.

    Then come back and we can talk. But now, it’s like talking to a bowling lanes pin-setter. No one home.

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