Would still be more effective than…whatever it is that they’re doing.
They can’t do anything except block and delay bills.
They can’t filibuster cabinet picks or court confirmations. They can filibuster bills but the only bill in the process of discussion is the federal budget and the Republicans win whether it doesn’t pass and shuts down the federal governments or it does pass and cuts a trillion in benefits that help american working class so they can cut taxes for the rich.
So they can do nothing.
They can obstruct. And they aren’t even doing that.
They can radicalize people to resist the tyrant.
They can do an awful lot with that Bully Pulpit they all have, by nature of their office.
America is experiencing a fascist dictatorship and you want the only party speaking against it to just stand by because the system doesn’t allow them to do anything??
How about FUCK THE SYSTEM!!! Trump and his cronies don’t care about it. You’re not going to beat wanna-be dictators with 0 disregard for the law by doing everything by the book.
Block the doors to the house and Senate rooms, encourage and participate in civil disobedience, get operatives to physically block Elon and his felons from illegally accessing extremely sensitive data about America’s allies and citizens. Loudly and passionately call out every anti-democracy, anti-American, and anti-human act that Trump and his gang are doing and explain exactly how it’s going to enrich them and other billionaires and how it’s going to seriously harm everyone else. Encourage and work with grassroots organisations across the country to gum up the MAGA Republican works.
The Democratic party leadership are should be the leaders of a movement defending against the destruction of America and it’s allies from within the country’s highest positions of power for the benefit of a small few wealthy and powerful people. This is a historical moment that is very likely to lead to the suffering and deaths of countless human beings within America and around the world, and could possibly lead to a world war the likes of which we have never seen. I want them to fucking ACT like it.
They need to do more than read dry, impassionate speeches and post boring tweets. America is dying and if the country is expecting the system to save them then chances are they’re already lost.
A few weeks back a bunch of Democratic Congresspeople went to the Department of Education with a whole media circus in tow, and were blocked from entering by a single small man, who couldn’t have weighed more than 150lbs soaking wet, who claimed to be hired by Musk and working for the federal government despite not providing any ID. The Democrats gave up and left.
Like fucking what? Are you kidding me? You are members of Congress! Just fucking push past him! Either that security guard has the authority to keep you out, in which case they’d have to go through the terrible fucking optics of arresting a sitting congressperson for accessing a government building, or he doesn’t actually have the authority in which case you have a duty to tell him to fuck off.
They’re just spineless.
Yeah exactly they are too comfortable taking no for an answer. They should have even asked permission they should have barged in. If they were truly representing me that’s what they would do. Any kind of confrontation and they just cave.
As much as I agree with the sentiment, it’s not going to be elected Democrats putting their bodies and personal freedom on the line; what we need are more Anarchists, and support for Anarchists.
The closest thing I have to a point is that on a Federal level, the Democratic party is a corpse. At best I think it could be resurrected as the supporting “acceptable” political wing of a larger movement that also includes a direct action wing that actually sets the movement’s agenda. But I’m afraid that’s just as much of a fantasy as the idea of pampered technocrats standing up to get their heads bashed in by US Marshalls.
Quiet quitting
Realizing they lost the game they didn’t know they were playing yet.
It bothers me that you can see the Google logo in that coffee
Trump declaring himself King and you people still blame the Democrats, huh? Good luck with that.
I mean if the Dems can’t even try to resist then they are guilty by association. They have just rolled over. Look at how well the Republicans did against Clinton or Obama when they were the minority. The Dems share the blame here.
Yeah, and?
And we can be mad at them for not doing their jobs while Trump and Musk use the American constitution to wipe their asses. They had the presidency and the majority, got us nothing but status quo, and now are doing jack shit to stop a Fascist takeover.
The conservatives just gave a master class on what you can do if you want to take power. Democrats could do the same things conservatives did and not lie and they would still be able to retake the government.
Instead, they’re throwing pity parties. And why not? It’s not like they’re going to be loaded up on the train. They got enough money to live comfortably, even in fascist America.
So…
What are the Dems doing, to combat this? I’m seeing very little action.
And what is the so called “opposition” party gonna do about it? Cynically fundraise?
You can be mad at more than one group of useless dipshits at the same time.
“No if you don’t like that people with power and money aren’t stopping Trump, you clearly support trump!”
I fucking hate the one dimensional thinking liberals brainwashed themselves into.
So what’s the people with actual power we voted into office to stop Trump doing?
It certainly isn’t even voting no on his choices. They aren’t protesting in the streets. They aren’t hauling the construction of labor camps.
A literal king is being put into place they just sit on their hands going “We need just $5 from you today to stop this!”
Dems are still blaming 3rd party voters that turned away from their tone-deaf genocide party.
Yeah, how’d that turn out?
It turned out exactly how everyone kept telling the Democratic leadership it would turn out
In fairness, anyone who protest votes in this climate is a fucking idiot.
Blame the people, not the policies. It’s like the sun rising.
Democrats are currently holding meetings crying about the pressure they’re getting from their constituents. If those spineless pieces of shit are who you’re expecting to turn this shit storm around, you’re going to get smacked in the face with reality really fast.
What are democrats doing now? Nothing? Oh, and you think I should support that?
Your bullshit “SUPPORT THE DEMS NO MATTER WHAT” is the exact reason we are where we are today.
Genuinely curious what people want the Democrats to specifically do right now, apart from vague calls of “something” and “more” and “better.” At least on a federal level, aren’t they pretty much powerless at this point? What even can they do?
My interpretation: the right is broadly successful because they are presenting a compelling narrative to explain the problems in America. It’s “elites” in business, government (deep state), and schools that are pushing an unamerican agenda of “wokeness”, using immigrants to gain power, and indoctrinating through schools and universities. This is enough to get people to vote right because at least the right is doing something to address their concerns.
What the Democrats need to do, is present a more compelling narrative. They can’t just be the “non-maga” party. They have to actually address people’s concerns about economic insecurity and present a vision for the future. I remain convinced that the first president that runs on economic populism will sweep an election.
Yeah, I remember in 2016 when the Hillary campaign’s response to “Make America Great Again” was “America is Already Great” and man did that go over like a lead balloon. Democrats fucking love to pretend everything is okay.
And then Harris did the same and wondered why she lost.
“Everything is okay! Sure you can’t afford food, rent, housing, the government spends more on wars than social services, but I might give those with millions a few hundred thousand to buy a house! And I’ll appoint a Republican to my cabinet!”
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Figure out what they stand for, stated in two sentences. (From that old chestnut that says that you don’t understand a thing if you can’t explain it in two sentences, or less.)
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Learn from the experts (PR people, psychologists, neuroscientists, screenwriters, etc.) how to state it in ways that resonate with people.
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Then, do it. Convince all of us that they care, and are trying. Build coalitions around the message, and strengthen civil society.
The greatest damage from this administration’s lawlessness does not come from tearing down government agencies, it’s the corrosive effect of hopelessness in the minds and hearts of the citizens as we look around and feel like we’re alone, and that nobody else actually cares about our laws, traditions, and principles.
They already did number 2, exclusively, and its part of the problem.
When did that happen? Their messaging is pretty widely regarded as terrible.
Because it was so rehearsed and prepared. They needed the opposite, which is what trump and JD Vance did. Podcasts and shows where they just had casual conversations. The experts and linguists and whatever else were a horrible idea.
They need to have rehearsed and prepared talking points because that’s the only way they’ll actually come across as standing for anything other than the status quo, which is deeply unpopular. Most democrats probably don’t even know what they even theoretically stand for without a corporate donor explicitly telling them what to do, and most of them can’t do improv on the level of even being able to make shit up or lie in the absence of that, much less to charmingly lie by omission or tell the truth by technicality.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Harris’s message was along the lines of (from a Lemmy comment, TBF), “address disparate health care outcomes that predominantly impact Black men.” Nobody even knows what that means, much less has the ability to remember it. Or, she had some talking point about a several-thousand-dollar tax credit. (I don’t recall how much or for whom.) That is, they talked like policy wonks, not in terms like “dignity” and “providing for your family” that reach people emotionally.
Their opponents said highly memorable-but-evil things like, “Haitian immigrants are eating the pets.” I mean, like that, but good. Or, when you think of Obama, there’s one word that immediately comes to mind. Like that.
ETA: I just remembered one of Harris’s other leitmotifs for the campaign: “We’re not going back.” Just awful messaging. Democrats constantly, constantly, go for the negative formulation, which is terrible messaging. For one, saying you’re not your opponent lets your opponent control the terms of the debate. Also, our memories and subconscious minds are bad with negatives. Like the famous pink elephant example, if I were to say, “I’m not a professional dogcatcher,” a week from now, you might have the vague recollection of u/SwingingTheLamp and dogcatchers, or maybe just dogs. If I were smart, I’d say, “u/SwingingTheLamp is such a sexy guy” instead.
This particular example doesn’t suffer from that problem, but on the other hand, it doesn’t say anything of importance. So we’re not going back, great, we already knew that, but where are we going? It doesn’t say anything emotionally-impactful about the future and Harris’s role in it. By contrast, “make America great again” is much better slogan, because it makes a promise about the future. And a vague one, so you can seamlessly fill in whatever you think “great” looks like, and you can actually envision a perfectly-tailored picture of the future. Harris == discontent about the past; MAGA guy == good-feels about the future.
“We’re second worst, you have no choice but to vote for us, and we will only move right” might have resonated with you.
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Not lining up to bend over for republicans would be nice a nice start. Even a quarter the obstructionism as the republican party has put forth when Democrats are in charge would be appreciated.
Certainly, but like – what specifically? If you could pick one specific thing they should do/have done, what would it be?
Not vote “Yes” on appointments.
For the most part they haven’t; and with the votes available, not a single nominee was in danger of being voted down even when all Democrats voted against them. Pete Hegseth received 0 Democratic votes and still got confirmed.
- Vote no on everything like Republicans did when Obama/Biden tried good things
- Filibuster every bill like Republicans
- Give motivated members of Congress more power, like AOC
- Retire the old blood of the DNC and have people with ideas from after 1982 enter office (my state allows office vacancies to be filled by appointment until election)
- Listen to the Americans who voted for you to stop Trump and stop whining about that in private meetings
- Stop voting yes on anything Trump wants
- Don’t ratfuck young faces because they are running in seats with old people
- Don’t say everything is okay and normal despite the fact it’s clearly not, it didn’t work both times they ran on it as a platform
All great ideas. Have you mentioned them to the Democrats? They are depressingly poll-driven, but it’s probably worth directly reaching out. My local congress people are probably sick of my shit by now, but if so – good.
Well since they think a mean worded tweet is all you need to stop Trump, I figured a mean worded comment is just as good /s
I mean, I’m not an expert by any means but haven’t the republicans been able to very efficiently stifle democrat majorities before? If they just follow that playbook (delaying things, being pains in the ass, constant insistence on funky rules) they can at least annoy the shit out of them and hopefully slow things down. They’re way too polite for that tho, they’d rather just let it happen and hope they come out okay in the end then to risk the wrath of the annoying orange and his minions.
One thing they could do is stop voting with republicans to confirm Trump’s appointees. Have you seen. how well the Republicans obstruct? They can get everybody in their rank and file out on network TV to call for banning a book by title while the democrats can’t even get their best faces on TV to call what’s happening with NY’s mayor blatant quid pro quo corruption
EDIT: Trump energy chief says there are upsides to ecological collapse
Only if the appointees are bad (which, since it’s Trump and “stuff up the deep state” project 2025, there’s probably a lot of bad appointees). If we obstruct appointees that are good, we’ll just keep seeing the pendulum swinging when a new party comes into power.
Please name a single person Trump has picked for a cabinet position that is objectively good.
I don’t believe you’re making that argument in good faith. Every one of his nominees have been ridiculous caricatures of stereotypical MAGA car salesman
When eighty million Americans sat out the election they sent a pretty clear message that they’re okay with whatever Trump and Co wants to do.
No, they sent a message saying “Both of these choices suck, badly.”
They sent a message saying “Both of these choices suck by exactly the same amount. I have no preference”.
How can you win a war, when you lack the strength to grit your teeth and choose the lesser evil? Will you stamp your fists on the ground and demand no evil, while the greater evil slaughters your people? How many lives of your tribesmen will you give in order to send your message to the Democrats?
No, more like “both of these people should be tried for crimes against humanity, so I support neither”
As far as “how do I win a war” it starts with not supporting a capitalist, because as long as they have power, the working class will be oppressed.
You have power! You are responsible! You need to use that power. You need to make active choices in the world.
Yes, we have power, which we can use to toss off the chains of the oppressors, and seize the means of production.
Ready to help?
I didn’t choose this username for no reason
When eighty million Americans sat out the election they sent a pretty clear message that they’re okay with whatever Trump and Co wants to do.
Bo, the6 sent the message of "both of these are atrocious human beings, so I will support neither "
By choosing neither they threw their full support behind the winner which was Trump.
There is blood on their hands from the choice they made.
I always find it telling when someone blames the people who couldn’t stomach to vote for an openly corrupt, genocidal party, instead of blaming the leadership of the party for being openly corrupt and genocidal.
