Showing the voters just how much they really care about their health, well-being, and survival, ten Democrats went so far as to vote with the Republicans to censure Green: Rep. Ami Bera of California, Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii, Rep. Jim Costa of California, Rep. Laura Gillen of New York, Rep. James Himes of Connecticut, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Suozzi.
Any Democrat condemning Green’s protest or voting to censure him should know no peace. Their constituents should be ceaselessly demanding to know what they are doing to protect health care for the poor, working class, disabled, and elderly — and why their elected officials thought it was a good use of their time to condemn their colleague who was standing up for exactly such policies.
I couldn’t agree more.
My - now daily - calls to my senators and rep now sound a lot like this:
Did the congress(man) hold up a sad little sign? Like am edge lord middle schooler? Because they need to get off their ass and be more like representative Al Green. Stop normalizing Trump’s BS OR acting civilized. Resist. Do fucking something.
I agree, but I would much rather have an article stating such from any source that is not Jacobin tbh
No they should hold town halls and protest that’s all they can do. Start with a grassroots campaign and go from there.
Democrats stopped doing town halls years ago because they were getting the kind of backlash Republicans are getting now. I can’t remember the number but I saw an article a few years ago saying Pelosi hasn’t had a town hall in decades.
This is the equivalent of impotently finger waggling at your bullies for being meanies, meanwhile they still never respect you and do what they want anyways, including continuing to bully you. Fucking useless limp-dick attitude.
The sad truth is that short of acting outside the law (which is…not a terrible idea at this point), Democratic lawmakers do not have the numbers to do anything at all that would have any sort of effect. That’s YOUR fault, dear voters. Shoulda fucking voted in more Dems if you wanted them to do something.
Majority of Americans support Progressive policies
Democrats’ Working-Class Failures, Analysis Finds, Are ‘Why Trump Beat Harris’
2024 Post-Election Report: A retrospective and longitudinal data analysis on why Trump beat Harris
How Trump and Harris Voters See America’s Role in the World
Majority of Americans support progressive policies such as higher minimum wage, free college
Democrats should run on the popular progressive ideas, but not the unpopular ones
Here Are 7 ‘Left Wing’ Ideas (Almost) All Americans Can Get Behind
Finding common ground: 109 national policy proposals with bipartisan support
Progressive Policies Are Popular Policies
Tim Walz’s Progressive Policies Popular With Republicans in Swing States
Majority of Americans are not in Congress lol wtf does that have to do with anything
Meant to reply to where you said
Bernie Sanders supporters are a small minority of the Democratic party. The overwhelming majority are centrists.
Which is not true when you look at policy support
Policy support is irrelevant. Voters have no clue what policies or proposals are out there. Most Republican voters support liberal policies when the policy is presented to them without a politician or political party attached to it. Doesn’t matter.
Dude you’re fighting an uphill battle in this echo chamber. These guys simply don’t live in reality.
Policy support is irrelevant
It’s obvious not irrelevant, as the first three links show. Policy matters significantly. You saying policy “doesn’t matter” does not make it true. Policy affects people’s material conditions in tangible ways, and with fascist policies it affects them in violent ways.
Then why could he never win a primary?
Short answer is money. Donor interests are antithetical to any progressive policies that would hurt the bottom line of capital owners.
Court Concedes DNC Had the Right to Rig Primaries Against Sanders
False. We saw what the Republicans did over the past two decades when they were in the minority. So we all know the potential. Why are you denying it?
Republicans didn’t have to deal with the Biden and Obama administrations blatantly ignoring the Constitution first of all. But secondly, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-democrats-rekindle-their-love-for-the-filibuster-under-trump/ar-AA1AeYkP
Those who CAN do, do. Those who CAN’T do, meet.
Shoulda smacked a Republican with his pimp cane. But I’ll take give him some grace because he’s the only Democrat that did anything besides those bitch ass signs
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Seems like we’re developing a list of dems who are actually worth their salt. Primary the rest.
I’m hopeful to see them push back, still worried, but hopeful.
Instead, the Democratic opposition is Interpretive dance, wearing pink, while holding paddle boards.
Either Al Green or Anthony Weiner. I watched an old speech of him defending a bill to fund medical care for the first responders of 9/11, and he spoke with such fire and passion. He put House Republicans on blast for sitting on their hands and hiding behind procedure before voting “no”. While we don’t need people with his character flaws (he sent unsolicited dick pics to someone who may or may not have been a minor, I’ve read conflicting reports), we definitely need people with that kind of fire.
You should check out the documentary Weiner. It was made with his full permission and access. Kind of tells you everything you could want to know.
Give that man a longer cane!
If I were Green I’d have swung it upside the head of the Sergeant-at-arms. Wouldn’t be the first time a cane was swung in the Capitol.
The only things the Democrats can do is performative. If ineffective performative actions are what you’re demanding, then you really don’t understand how bad things are.
Basically just critiquing the music the band is playing after the ship ran into an iceberg.
Why? It works for republicans. Don’t pretend that it’s worthless to try and get people fired up, especially if you have no procedural chance to do the right thing.
If nothing else, make people feel like you have their backs. Al Green did the right thing.
What performative actions did republicans congressman do that stopped Dem’s agenda?
This isn’t a Hollywood movie where one passionate speech or oen big act will make everyone start with a slow clap leading to a thunderous applause and a big happy ending.
The problem is people believe the lies of republicans because they’ve been on that team for their whole lives. Some big gesture by a democratic party isn’t going to change their minds because the republicans they’ve trusted their whole lives will just say “they just did that because they’re evil commies that hate our great President Trump” and that’ll be the end of it. Or more likely, they won’t see it at all.
The only way America can change is for people to talk to their family members and get them out of this cult. Or if they’re a casual Trump supporter, just talk about the things that are happening so they’re better informed about what’s going on. I know that involves having extremely awkward conversations, maybe involving being the adult in a covnersation with one’s parents, which is never easy. But people need to hear about politics from someone they trust, and it’s not going to be the democrats because people have been conditioned not to trust them.
People who voted for Trump will either not see anything Democrats say or not believe it if they do.
Of course you know you’re lying, and I don’t understand why. You can’t think of a single non-performative act that the Democrats could do? Really? Seriously? Not one?
Come on now. At least recognize that they have some power, and say it’s not enough. Then we might agree with you. But falsehoods won’t get you anywhere.
Tell us then.
Then please enlighten us.
They never can. They’re just bullshitting
What impeachment process? They don’t have the votes? You can’t convict the president without a 2/3 majority in the senate.
There has never been Democrat opposition. They are a joke and complicit in everything Republicans do
Unfortunately.
People expect the Democratic Party to oppose authoritarian and socially regressive policies, but the Democratic Party isn’t an opposition party. They do the bare minimum to look Not as Bad as the Alternative™ so they can avoid having to promise to change things that they benefit from themselves, and anything beyond that is dismissed as not worth even attempting because of hypothetical Republican stalling.
They had well-liked progressive candidates like Bernie and they went out of their way to screw him at every opportunity. And they’re still going out of their way to screw over progressive members among their ranks. It’s disgraceful.
If I were in that room, I would have proudly walked out along with Rep. Al Green. I feel like history is going to remember the people sitting on the sidelines in silence or waving their tiny signs around when only one man had the courage to stand up and shout down the president in defiance, and history will not be kind to them.
What Green did is basically the bare minimum I expect out of an opposition party. I mean, come on people, Serbia just pulled this shit and you’re telling me 10 Democrats crossed party lines to censure a guy who called the lying fascist authoritarian a liar to his face? Show me that you have enough backbone to fight these assholes. I’m tired of waiting for Dem leadership to get their shit together and start seriously disrupting government just as ferociously as Republicans would if the roles were reversed.
It’s even better if you do it one-at-a-time. If each person occupies 3 minutes, you can disrespect Mr. Orange for an hour or two easily enough.
What did this accomplish?
Sometimes you have use your fists to keep democracy alive.
I was dissappinted to see most of the Dems sitting in silence, with tiny protestation signs as if they were at an auction.
C’mon, make some noise, get in trouble, but do something!
Get in trouble for what?
Their biggest problem is they are not willing to meet them at their level. You gotta go low like them . Its the only thing they understand. Go fight them in the mud!
Things our Representatives can do to fight back, delay and obstruct Trump’s fascist agenda:
For Senate Democrats:
Weaponizing Quorum Calls: No Majority, No Business
Most of the time, Senators are not on the Senate floor. But technically, the Senate is not allowed to conduct official business unless a majority of senators (51 if all seats are filled) are present. That’s called a quorum, and it’s the foundation of Senate procedure. If a quorum isn’t present, the Senate grinds to a halt. The friendly thing to do is to NOT ask if there is a quorum - that’s how MOST business moves forward in the Senate. But Senate Democrats can use their power in the minority to call for a quorum and cause massive disruptions by constantly demanding quorum calls and even walking out to deny Republicans the ability to govern.
Blocking Unanimous Consent: Every Action Must Take the Maximum Time
Unanimous consent is the grease that keeps the Senate moving. Normally, the Senate runs on handshake deals—routine matters like scheduling votes, moving bills forward, or skipping over procedural steps all happen only if no senator objects. That’s called unanimous consent (UC)—and if even one Democrat objects, it forces the Senate to go through long, time-consuming processes to get anything done.
For House Democrats
https://indivisible.org/resource/explainer-how-house-democrats-can-delay-and-defy-trump-musk-coup
1. Procedural Hardball to Slow Down the Coup
Force roll call votes on everything—Republicans must go on record for every bad decision. Use motions to recommit to force Republicans to take difficult votes. File privileged resolutions to demand immediate consideration of issues Republicans want to avoid. Leverage parliamentary inquiries and points of order to disrupt floor proceedings and expose GOP dysfunction.2. Show Up and Fight in Committees
Put Republicans on the record about their harmful policies. Force votes when GOP members are absent to either force something through or force every Republican member to be in their seats the entire time. Make motions to subpoena officials and demand transparency. Expose MAGA extremism in real-time.3. Investigate and Expose MAGA Sabotage
Demand hearings on Trump’s and Vought’s plans to override federal spending. If Republicans refuse to hold real oversight hearings, Democrats must take matters into their own hands. That means holding shadow hearings—bringing in experts, impacted communities, and whistleblowers to expose how MAGA elites are trying to loot the government and rig the system for billionaires. These hearings should be public, media-driven, and designed to put pressure on Republicans to defend their corruption in the light of day. Publicize findings to show voters exactly how MAGA elites are trying to loot the government, and while Republicans are covering for the Trump-Musk coup, Democrats are fighting to stop it.4. Take the Fight to the Public
Host Town Halls: Update voters on how Democrats are fighting back. Adopt GOP Districts: Hold town halls in Republican-held areas to expose GOP sabotage and talk directly to their constituents. Engage Online: Mobilize voters with digital content that names names and pulls no punches.Lawmaker protests accomplish literally nothing except making people like you feel good. Legislatively and legally, Democrats are powerless, because YOU fuckers refused to vote for them. You say “do something” but this does NOTHING.
YOU should have done something at the fucking ballot box if you don’t like what’s happening.
You’re on lemmy bro, people just want performative shit to make themselves feel good. Congress do not hold executive power, they’re literally just a vote.
What’s up with people forgetting how Republicans in Congress always manage to fuck Shit up immediately as soon as the Dems are the ones who need to do it?
Because the Dems agenda requires 60 votes due to filibusters. Mainly because Dems want to spend money on social services. Where as the GOP’s agenda just involves a bunch of cuts. That can all be done through reconciliation.
And the GOP has either had a majority in the senate or a tie for the last 10 years.
The “powerless” opposition party in Serbia btw:
What did this accomplish?
Visible support from government/establishment officials of the Serbian student anti-corruption protests. The students that the sitting Serbian government is trying to freeze and starve into submission.
Again, contrast that to what the US did to their students during the pro-Palestine university encampments.
We Americans need to open our fucking eyes, clapback tweets and watching leopards eating faces is just the new bread and circus. Holding up “fact checking signs” during a Trump speech will not save us.
So it accomplished nothing. Whatever they were voting on will continue without them.
… I don’t think you understand what’s going on in Serbia if you think there’s voting happening. Have a good day.
We’re discussing a different country currently, sorry
Apparently Americans can’t learn from other countries. American Exceptionalism truly is the best.
Murica bad
Yes. Yes it is.
Piss off tankie, everyone knows your bullshit
You know you’re wrong. You know, as we all do, that even minority politicians have power to do a great many things.
No, they have the power to STOP a SMALL number of things, specifically bills in the legislature. Most of what Trump is doing is completely bypassing Congress.
Dems can only stop non budgetary bills by invoking the filibuster. Any reconciliation bill is going through regardless of what Dems want.
Trump has only done a bunch of illegal EOs. Which are being taken up in the courts, but he dosen’t care and is doing them anyways.
Imagine if they all walked out and the GOP majority just started passing votes with nobody to vote against it. Right now, if every Dem is present and voting, the GOP can only miss 1 vote.
I think listening to your opponents speeches can sometimes be helpful in resisting their actions. After all, he’s been telling us what his plans are since before the election and most people didn’t believe him.
Why did you change the topic, my friend? We’re talking about walking out of Mr. Orange’s speech, my friend.
Everyone agrees that the Democrats should be there for every vote. That’s not a point of contention.
Mr. Orange’s speech was in the congressional building during an active session. Al got removed during the speech for getting into a yelling match. That singular action put the DNC at 1 less vote in the house.
True, but Green can still vote. But this whole yelling thing isn’t gonna change anything.
They aren’t running votes at the SotU and they can watch his speech in their office perfectly fine, they don’t need to participate in the performance to know what he’s up to.
Alright but as I mentioned in my first sentence: they need to be there during a vote.
Sure, but that’s not relevant at all to this post topic which is about a specific current event and not in any way suggesting storming out of votes.
This specific current event happened in the chamber of congress while congress was in session. They could hold a vote at any moment.
On live TV, with Trump standing up there, you think the Speaker of the House is just going to call a snap vote in a chamber they already control and resolve it before the missing members could get back to the chamber? And that such an act would just be accepted as a clever procedural move to avoid the handful of objections in their majority caucus rather than a significant step toward the end of democracy?
If enough people left the room I expect it, yes. It’s certainly what I would do in their position (thank god I’m not them).
Not during a joint session. The house and senate were not themselves in session.
On the day of the joint session, 03/04, there were no less than 80 actions taken in congress and no less than 3 votes which passed in the House of Representatives LINK HERE. If you have evidence of a specific law preventing votes during a joint session, and specifying how long a joint session lasts at minimum, please present it.
It’s such a weird thing for them to do. What do they get out of it? It’s not like their constituents are going to say, “I’m not sure about my representative but 2 years ago they censured Al Green so I’ll reelect them.”
I imagine it’s a lot more for their donors than their constituents.
Most of them are in Republican-ish districts so yes, their constituents actually may say something like that.
Remember, Lemmy is a ridiculous echo chamber. Bernie Sanders supporters are a small minority of the Democratic party. The overwhelming majority are centrists.
According to this post, six of the ten are in D+5 districts or better.
Ah yeah fuck those guys then
Only 10 out of like 214 so, honestly, you could write it off as statistical probability. Maybe they were mad that because of the interruption they had to sit there and tolerate Trump’s sounds and smells that much longer.
