Kyle Rittenhouse walked up to police carrying an assault weapon during protests in Kenosha, then killed people, and Conservatives called him a hero.
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After all, this is the president who casually suggested a couple of weeks ago that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.” (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/five-takeaways-reuters-interview-president-trump-2026-01-15/#:~:text=%E2%80%9Cwhen%20you%20think%20of%20it%2C%20we%20shouldn%27t%20even%20have%20an%20election.%E2%80%9D)
Legal experts continue to assert Trump doesn't have the power to stop the midterms (https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/17/politics/midterm-elections-trump-2026-analysis), but this is a president who claims unlimited power, has ignored court orders and rulings, and is protected by a biased Supreme Court.
5/8
@augieray
I think we’re well past the point of “they can’t do that because it’s not legal/allowed”. -
Protests matter. Research has found that, "Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.” (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world) Yet, some of you can't be bothered to show up when protests and marches have occurred.
7/8
Are most Americans content to sit back and watch federal officials incite an insurrection, kill Americans, spread bald-faced lies about what happened, and end democracy? Is all that matters that you have a job and the stock market hasn't (yet) crashed? I hope we're better than that. I hope YOU'RE better than that.
It's been generations since Americans have been called upon to be brave, defend our values, and fight for change. Our time has come.
8/8
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Then, when his thugs murder people, Trump takes to Truth Social to declare, “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection.”
That language isn't accidental—Trump wants (and some conservatives are urging him) to invoke the Insurrection Act so he can flood the US with troops to “put down” peaceful protests. Some believe that would be a pretext for Trump attempting to prevent or undermine the midterms (https://thehill.com/opinion/5695497-trump-threatens-insurrection-act/).
4/8
The insurrection that was ignored, January 6th, has mestastasized into government sanctioned death squads
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Are most Americans content to sit back and watch federal officials incite an insurrection, kill Americans, spread bald-faced lies about what happened, and end democracy? Is all that matters that you have a job and the stock market hasn't (yet) crashed? I hope we're better than that. I hope YOU'RE better than that.
It's been generations since Americans have been called upon to be brave, defend our values, and fight for change. Our time has come.
8/8
"State Terror Has Arrived," by NY Times Opinion Columnist M. Gessen.
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Protests matter. Research has found that, "Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.” (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world) Yet, some of you can't be bothered to show up when protests and marches have occurred.
7/8
@augieray My guess is that that research hinges on the fact that the people you're protesting against actually have a conscience and are not actively trying to Kill you.
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"State Terror Has Arrived," by NY Times Opinion Columnist M. Gessen.
and the NYT helped create it
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Protests matter. Research has found that, "Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.” (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world) Yet, some of you can't be bothered to show up when protests and marches have occurred.
7/8
That article is six years old and too much has been made of that "3,5 % rule".
Way more than 3,5 % of Hongkongers took part in the 2019 protests. Now, success through protests is always more difficult to achieve in authoritarian countries, but Germany is a democracy, and the Friday For Future protests had more than 3,5 % participation.
I think protests are vital in the US right now! As fascists love the "We're the silent majority, we're the people, they're just some woke extremists in the cities" argument, so even a small "No Kings" protest in some super rural conservative town is important.
I just think there's a desire for The-One-Method-That-Will-Defeat-Fascism.
"We only need 3,5 % protesting and then we will have won" or "A general strike and then it's over".When it's actually more messy and difficult. People in Minneapolis are very impressive and inspiring. Standing up for their neighbours again and again and again, pushing against the Trump regime in all sorts of different ways is necessary and, I'm sure, very tiring. There is no easy solution.
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and the NYT helped create it
@darwinwoodka @augieray it won't really bother them until it comes to the Hamptons & the Vineyard.
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Are most Americans content to sit back and watch federal officials incite an insurrection, kill Americans, spread bald-faced lies about what happened, and end democracy? Is all that matters that you have a job and the stock market hasn't (yet) crashed? I hope we're better than that. I hope YOU'RE better than that.
It's been generations since Americans have been called upon to be brave, defend our values, and fight for change. Our time has come.
8/8
@augieray non-violent is a misnomer. It’s only YOU who has to refrain from violence. The more people that THEY beat up, kill, and imprison, the greater the chance you’ll succeed. Sorry
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@augieray My guess is that that research hinges on the fact that the people you're protesting against actually have a conscience and are not actively trying to Kill you.
@grumpydad @augieray Wouldn't it be something if everyone put that much effort into voting and vetting candidates by doing actual research on them? This structure of government didn't fall into place by happenstance. People are too busy trying to glue each other's eyes to their toks to get involved in anything other then what they've been programmed to see by the fascist element they purportedly detest.
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After all, this is the president who casually suggested a couple of weeks ago that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.” (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/five-takeaways-reuters-interview-president-trump-2026-01-15/#:~:text=%E2%80%9Cwhen%20you%20think%20of%20it%2C%20we%20shouldn%27t%20even%20have%20an%20election.%E2%80%9D)
Legal experts continue to assert Trump doesn't have the power to stop the midterms (https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/17/politics/midterm-elections-trump-2026-analysis), but this is a president who claims unlimited power, has ignored court orders and rulings, and is protected by a biased Supreme Court.
5/8
@augieray Pete Hegseth is not well liked by the top brass. Hopefully, the generals will take charge and throw the bums in prison when Trump tries to circumvent the midterms, but we need to be preparing to take them on ourselves.
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@augieray non-violent is a misnomer. It’s only YOU who has to refrain from violence. The more people that THEY beat up, kill, and imprison, the greater the chance you’ll succeed. Sorry
@rpin42 You're not wrong, but we need to be clear that the answer is "non-violent protests." The response from police and officials is on them, not on the protesters.
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@darwinwoodka @augieray it won't really bother them until it comes to the Hamptons & the Vineyard.
@Finitum @darwinwoodka So, we march there!
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That article is six years old and too much has been made of that "3,5 % rule".
Way more than 3,5 % of Hongkongers took part in the 2019 protests. Now, success through protests is always more difficult to achieve in authoritarian countries, but Germany is a democracy, and the Friday For Future protests had more than 3,5 % participation.
I think protests are vital in the US right now! As fascists love the "We're the silent majority, we're the people, they're just some woke extremists in the cities" argument, so even a small "No Kings" protest in some super rural conservative town is important.
I just think there's a desire for The-One-Method-That-Will-Defeat-Fascism.
"We only need 3,5 % protesting and then we will have won" or "A general strike and then it's over".When it's actually more messy and difficult. People in Minneapolis are very impressive and inspiring. Standing up for their neighbours again and again and again, pushing against the Trump regime in all sorts of different ways is necessary and, I'm sure, very tiring. There is no easy solution.
@Mab_813 Thanks for adding absolutely nothing to the conversation. How about we START by urging Americans to protest and worry, after they do, if that works? For now, instead of criticizing the approach or the messengers, why isn't it enough for you to merely say, "Yes, this is what we need?"
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@darwinwoodka @augieray it won't really bother them until it comes to the Hamptons & the Vineyard.
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@rpin42 You're not wrong, but we need to be clear that the answer is "non-violent protests." The response from police and officials is on them, not on the protesters.
@augieray @rpin42@mastodonapp.uk absolutely agree. Just felt in the moment that the risks need to be acknowledged. This guy is very good on non-violent direct action and protest if you can sort though all the other stuff https://youtube.com/@roger_hallam?si=aW_L1TUKLLbhKaqN
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Today, right-wing accounts on X are posting that ICE and the US are doing “pretti good.” “Don't tread on me” has turned to “Tread on the liberals all you want.”
Trump has flooded Minnesota, which has an estimated undocumented population of around 100,000 (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/unauthorized-immigrants-country-region), with thousands of masked, armed agents while ignoring red states such as Texas (with 2 million undocumented) and Florida (1.2 million).
3/8
@augieray So red states are the real sanctuary states?
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We're entering dangerous times. After the Renee Good and Alex Pretti murders, federal officials rushed to label them terrorists while clearly lying about the evidence we could all see from videos of the events. Meanwhile, all the loudest voices who said we need the Second Amendment to fight a tyrannical government are now vocally blaming Good for “not complying” and Pretti for being armed.
2/8
@augieray entering?! Got there a while ago
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@Mab_813 Thanks for adding absolutely nothing to the conversation. How about we START by urging Americans to protest and worry, after they do, if that works? For now, instead of criticizing the approach or the messengers, why isn't it enough for you to merely say, "Yes, this is what we need?"
I just wrote that protests are vital in the US right now, apparently you didn't read that part?
Why are you repeating the 3,5 % rule when it has been debunked years ago?
Obviously protests have worked in many cases, but there isn't a magical 3,5 % threshold, so I don't get why people keep repeating that number.
The protests and actions by Minnesotans are very impressive and inspiring (another part of my post that you just jumped over, apparently). And I don't need to "urge" US Americans to protest as a European (= from the outside), they're already doing that, and risking their lives, as Minneapolis has shown.
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I just wrote that protests are vital in the US right now, apparently you didn't read that part?
Why are you repeating the 3,5 % rule when it has been debunked years ago?
Obviously protests have worked in many cases, but there isn't a magical 3,5 % threshold, so I don't get why people keep repeating that number.
The protests and actions by Minnesotans are very impressive and inspiring (another part of my post that you just jumped over, apparently). And I don't need to "urge" US Americans to protest as a European (= from the outside), they're already doing that, and risking their lives, as Minneapolis has shown.
@Mab_813 Congrats. People like you are arguing with those trying to make a difference. MAGA, Trump and Russia thank you. Keep up the good work.
