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In reply to the discussion: The Shock and Awe Has Traumatized America [View all]SpankMe
(3,634 posts)A few million Americans participated in No Kings protests, and that was good. But it's nowhere near enough.
The authoritarian actions should - by now - have generated protests in the tens of millions. The opposition should have galvanized into a resistant force that would bring the government to a halt pending the next election. Military should be openly questioning Trump's actions. Local police departments should be refusing any and all support of ICE. Media companies should have gone to court instead of paying off Trump. They should be airing and printing their their own PSA's and editorials about the first amendment and government overreach.
I can't tell you how many people I know who are decrying "three more years of this" as if that's all they'll have to suffer through before Republicans are out in '28. Only "one more year of this" and we won't be able to vote them out in '28. Republicans are engineering permanent minority rule. Not enough Americans are truly on to this. They somehow think our systems will course-correct on its own.
Over 85M eligible voters didn't vote in 2024. A mere 10% of this could easily have tipped the election the other way.
I, for one, have lost hope. I don't know how to handle this. I'm distraught. We, as citizens, can only do so much at the ballot box and on the picket line. We need our institutions - business, churches, media, state governments, and an organized and true opposition party - to step up.