We in the great state of #maryland say fuck ICE

This would not have happened without a lot of citizen lobbying.

https://migrantinsider.com/p/maryland-slams-door-on-ice-raids

#USPol #USPolitics

@StillIRise1963 @GhostOnTheHalfShell This means we white people need to show up to more protests as cop repellent

Police, politicians, and the media engaged in a whole lot of consensus manufacturing and outright lying about the protests, the protesters, crime rates, the effectiveness of police, what they could do, and what they actually did.

One could be forgiven for getting the impression that the whole endeavor resulted in nothing good whatsoever, and arguably in a lot of bad things.

#USPol #USPolitics

/4

Now, there *have* been some positive outcomes at the local and state level in some places, like durable local organizing to unwind the power of the police state, more prosecutions and convictions for police misconduct, fewer people joining police forces, Colorado eliminating qualified immunity for cops, Baltimore getting local control of its police department, etc.

#USPol #USPolitics

/5

Overall, we didn’t get nearly the amount of local or national change we were hoping for. Or even what we might have reasonably expected.

This has a lot to do with politicians being both dependent on and afraid of the law enforcement bodies that nominally answer to them but that’s kind of beside the point.

#USPol #USPolitics

/6

The point is that it was incredibly demoralizing for a lot of people who were involved and almost certainly dampened the appetite for mass protests.

That’s not so say mass protests don’t work or won’t work or that there won’t be any more in America for the foreseeable future. I think there will be, and soon.

But don’t memory-hole the George Floyd protests or minimize their downstream effects on organizing, the police state, etc.

#USPol #USPolitics

/end

Non-USians wondering why Americans aren’t having mass protests should perhaps consider what happened *last* time we had a national protest movement here, all of - let me check my notes - 5 years ago.

Yes, I am referring to the George Floyd protests in 2020, by some measures the largest protest movement in American history.

#USPol #USPolitics

/1

The George Floyd protests looked a lot like what Canadians and EU citizens (as well as some Americans) say they want to see now.

People from all walks of life came out for mass demonstrations: in a few cities, especially Minneapolis, people went toe-to-toe with police.

In, e.g., New York and San Francisco, police attacked crowds of peaceful protesters and did things like firing tear gas indiscriminately into people’s homes.

#USPol #USPolitics

/2

Organizers were maliciously prosecuted, harassed, and had their lives ruined.

And what came out of this?

Cops got more money. Politicians made token gestures to protesters, licked the cops’ boots, and passed little or no legislation to curb police abuse (there were some positive counter examples in the years to follow but not much).

Some state and local leaders passed a bunch of anti-protest laws instead.

#USPol #USPolitics

/3

There are some counterprotesters at my local #TeslaTakedown event but they’re like, 3 guys in a pickup with some flags, vs. hundreds of protesters.

We are not engaging with them except to say “yay for the First Amendment!” when they pass by.

One of the cops here (there are a couple of police cars) went to talk to them, he did not look very happy.

#USPol #USPolitics

I think the truck left. Unless they parked behind the dealership to “protect” it. In any case I have not seen the truck for a bit.

Meanwhile more #TeslaTakedown protesters have showed up.

This is the first time I’ve heard what a Cybertruck horn sounds like. My God that is obnoxious.

#TeslaTakedown

An older guy next to me, about the Cybertruck horn:

“Is that a fart? Sounds like a fart.”

#TeslaTakedown

@EricLawton @bmacDonald94 “Israeli domestic politics killed it” also doesn’t acknowledge the fact that the people in Israel’s government doing this - Netanyahu and others on the far right - have spent the past two decades shaping Israel’s domestic politics to their liking.

@RamenCatholic There’s a Taco Bell wedding chapel in Las Vegas? That’s awesome!

My now-husband and I joked about eloping to Vegas and getting married at the chapel where they have Elvis impersonators officiate all the weddings.

@jztusk @GottaLaff My standard response to folks saying that a particular approach or tactic is useless (or harmful) is to tell them they are free to join some group using an approach or tactic that they prefer - or maybe organize such a group themselves.

It’s kind of a joke because I strongly suspect that those pearl-clutchers aren’t doing anything whatsoever.

Do you have Democratic Congresscritters? Do you support the rights of #transgender people? Do you think #GavinNewsom sucks?

If so, please sign my #Resistbot petition telling your Congresscritters to protect transgender people (and that Newsom sucks).

#TransRights

https://resist.bot/petitions/PXEKSN

The way I deal with the left vs. liberal divide in #USApolitics these days is to mostly not care about it because it doesn’t matter in the actual organizing work I’ve been doing or the people I work with.

Honestly, it does not matter. It doesn’t come up in the GOTV, canvassing, pressure campaigns, etc. I’ve participated in.

“Liberal” and “centrist” and “left” might as well be just online fandoms.

#USPol #USPolitics

1/2

Please understand how *profoundly* that stuff doesn’t matter in the real world. I’ve talked to self-described liberals who want socialized healthcare and self-described conservatives who agree with me on a lot of anti-policing and anti-carceral issues.

Political labels don’t really tell you anything useful. If anything they get in the way.

#USPol #USPolitics #USApolitics

2/2

@old_hippie @bmacDonald94 @The_Icarian I use a VPN so I would want an email provider that works okay with a VPN.