I hate to say this, but...

[Archae]

I have a hunch today's march is going to effect diddly.

The NRA, their propaganda apparatus, and money to the politicians is still going to hold sway.

Can we vote out the NRA flunkies?
Maybe.

I've heard people compare today's march to the Vietnam protests.
Those protests took literally DECADES to get any real action on Vietnam.

Not to be the Gloomy Gus here, but I'm a realist.

I hope this November and after proves me wrong.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Protest movements always take a long time.

The civil rights movement is still in progress, some 60 years after it started. The women's movement hasn't accomplished all its goals yet, after 40-ish years. Things seem to be moving faster these days, but the defeat of the gun culture will take a long time. This is just the beginning of the beginning.

[Equinox Moon]

13. Exactly!

Plus, we can NEVER, under estimate the POWER of marches, rallies, and demonstrations etc.

This movement for gun control by our youth has changed lives and will continue to.
I feel so proud of them, we all can.

[J_William_Ryan]

2. True.

The Marchers’ efforts will not result in significant gun legislation.

But don’t discount the overall effect: the march has put the GOP on the defensive and energized Democrats to vote.

[pbmus]

3. Decades not, but many years of protests...with 5 years of national

Agree that it will take time to correct the course of our country however we have millions and millions of new voters that are demanding change...just like Vietnam. They will vote...

And the nra is Not, Vietnam

[NewJeffCT]

4. Vietnam protests really started in the mid 60s

US was out of Vietnam in 1973 and were withdrawing troops well before that - with most out by the end of 1971. So, I wouldn't say it was decades of protesting to get action. It was 6 years after the protests really started until most US troops were out.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

5. Being a realist is a good thing.

The NRA and right-wing authoritarianism are made for each other. It will take time to change things but it can be done.

[Kyblue1]

6. The real key to success is to have these marchers and their friends register to vote

We need to counter act the Fox propaganda machine which has captured the minds of many of their parents. These young people could be the peace movement of their generation. Hope that they don't lose the fire in the belly and sell out like the older generation.

[blake2012]

7. You are wrong. Some of this is just timing

And the timing is perfect. An energized new generation just getting politically active in time for a backlash wave against Trumpism in midterms.

In many ways, this Parkland response is a delayed response to the absolute horror of Sandy Hook.

We as a nation have had enough.

[sprinkleeninow]

30. What you said. This a delayed response to Sandy Hook.

These young, mid-aged and 'seasoned' folks made a statement today.

Better that than if noone did anything and went about their daily lives and kept it 'zipped'? No.

Enough already.

~sprink
💙🇺🇸🌊

[TomSlick]

8. The times have changed Gloomy Gus.

The students in this movement do not have to slowly move three networks to get their message out.

The students are masters of modern media. A large majority of the population are behind them - even most gun owners are behind them.

This time might be different.

[Arazi]

9. There's been decades of work preceding this event. The Brady Campaign

Mom's Demand Action, Everytown, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Gabby Giffords Foundation etc have been doggedly working for years on this.

The Parkland kids have harnessed many groups into a powerhouse movement.

I.think we are at a turning point. This is the culmination of decades of work imo. I reject your snub at their efforts

[scheming daemons]

10. You are wrong

This is different than anything we've seen in 50 years.

When the kids protested vietnam, most of them were too young to vote (age was 21 then).

These kids today will be able to vote in 2018 and 2020.

And they have another advantage... social media, and the mastery of it, to quickly organize with each other...something the kids of the 1960s didnt have.

In 5 short weeks, these kids were able to arrange and organize 1 million people going to our Capital.... and millions more around the globe...without a single act of violence, or any major disruption at all.

As we saw in special elections the past 14 months, a massive blue wave is building.

There will be a Democratic speaker of the house in 2019. And it will be decades before there is another GOP one.

These kids are not going away.

[pbmus]

11. This....

[XRubicon]

14. Ditto...

[blake2012]

19. Exactly. This was Act 1 Scene 1. Get ready for summer of the following up acrions

It is ON!

[Dawson Leery]

26. Everything you said.

[dalton99a]

31. +1. It is a game changer.

Absolutely unprecedented

[cwydro]

38. Thank you.

Fuck this negative noise I keep hearing here.

Wish I could rec your post

[struggle4progress]

12. It's a beginning for a thousand mile trip

[misanthrope]

15. Watergate had as much or more effect on Vietnam as the protests.

I know that's likely an unpopular opinion hereabouts but it's a cynical truth about politics.

[blake2012]

20. Not remotely true. Vietnam was already in wind down stage

By the time of Watergate

[shanny]

21. That is not correct.

Watergate happened in June '72 and the "third-rate" burglars weren't even indicted by the grand jury until mid-Sept. it was not yet a big story. The special prosecutor wasn't appointed until mid-'73, and the Saturday Night Massacre was October that same year.

OTOH number of troops had been dropping steadily for years (from a peak of more than half a million in '68-'69?) and by the time Nixon was re-elected November '72 it was down to 30,000 or fewer; the last were out in early '73.

Watergate didn't cause Tricky Dick to end the war; that had already been accomplished.

[cwydro]

39. Nonsense.

[shanny]

16. Even the students don't think that marching in the streets

will be sufficient to change the world today, or this week, or even this November. But it is a good start. It will take time, and I believe less than you think.

The marches re Vietnam did not take "decades". First one of any size was the March on Washington in '65; others followed, including a demonstration at the Pentagon in '67; Johnson was forced out of the presidential race in '68 by opposition to the war (and Tricky Dick campaigned on a "secret plan" to end it); unrest on campuses against the ROTC was hottest in '69 and '70; Kent State was in '70 (part of the protests about widening of the war into Cambodia); American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam, the draft ended and POWs were returned in early '73. The iconic photos of helicopters on the roof of the embassy happened in '75, after the final collapse of South Vietnam.

The Columbine generation is going to put an end to this as soon as more are eligible to vote--I'm thinking 2020 will be the year, myself.

[rgbecker]

17. The major anti Vietnam war marches occurred in the summer of 1967.

In the spring of 1968 LBJ announced his decision not to run. The draft was changed to a lottery in 1969 and ended soon after. Mentally, the US was out of Vietnam by 1971, but unfortunately not everyone got the message until years later.

This movement may be a turning point. Its the first I've seen of people on the streets for Gun Control.

These kids are on the right track.

[MaryMagdaline]

18. Keep the faith

[VOX]

22. Today's march is just that: today's march, and a good start. A commitment to change has to be made.

And I believe that commitment is there, especially in the younger folks who are on the front lines of this. Once a group of like-minded people grasp that they CAN effect change, even in steps, they will realize that they have power, and will press even harder.

[Squinch]

23. Did you march today? If the answer is no, then its safe to say that those who did march did a hell

of a lot more than you to "effect" (sic) gun legislation.

So sick of this bullshit.

[Straw Man]

36. Sic.

Did you march today? If the answer is no, then its safe to say that those who did march did a hell

of a lot more than you to "effect" (sic) gun legislation.

ef·fect
əˈfekt

noun
1.
a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.
"the lethal effects of hard drugs"
synonyms: result, consequence, upshot, outcome, repercussions, ramifications; More
2.
the lighting, sound, or scenery used in a play, movie, or broadcast.
"the production relied too much on spectacular effects"

verb
1.
cause (something) to happen; bring about.
"nature always effected a cure"
synonyms: achieve, accomplish, carry out, realize, manage, bring off, execute, conduct, engineer, perform, do, perpetrate, discharge, complete, consummate; More

[brush]

24. Yep, you are a gloomy gus. Try getting behind this new movement and ditch...

the pessimism.

[EffieBlack]

25. Marches are symbolic. They never change anything.

The hard work before and especially AFTER the marches is what brings the change. But the marches are a strategic tactic that helps to inspire, mobilize, and focus people for the work ahead.

All in good time. It’s coming.

[mountain grammy]

27. I'm so afraid you're right.

I'm even more pessimistic.. Look at what Walker and the GOP are doing in Wisconsin; actually changing the law so they don't have to have a special election because they know they'll lose.That is happening in America today.

I'm worried, it's a long time till November.

[John Fante]

28. Strong "concern" here.

[Blue_true]

29. We need to get out and vote.

The NRA is cornered, even pro Second Amendment democrats mostly accepts some form of regulation on gun purchases.

[politicaljunkie41910]

32. I have to believe that there are more of US than there are of THEM. The NRA is the boogieman only

if we allow ourselves to believe that they cannot be defeated. Politicians can and will be voted out of office in November. The difference between Vietnam and this movement is the internet and cell phones. The government could lie about the way the Vietnam War was going with impunity. No one 'could' or 'would' challenge the government's version of how the war was going until many years later. Today, NO ONE takes anything the Government says as FACT, and certainly not this Administration. Most of us would be skeptical if the Dotard told us the Sun rose in the East and set in the West. The GOP with their trickle down ideas, is a dying breed, and the Dotard will seal their fate come November. I am hopeful that there are more of us than there are of them, and as long as we continue to support the Youth we saw on TV today, our survival as a party is assured. The GOP can't say that. They made a pact with the Devil and it is patently obvious. But the Devil is going down. Their ideas are old and they don't work. We will fix our Electoral System without the help of this Administration by continuing to inform the electorate, by being vigilante, and showing up to the polls.

These children are our future. They will know which Party has their backs in the fight against the NRA, bullets, and automatic weapons, and which Party offered up their "thoughts and prayers". As someone said today, an NRA "A" Rating will soon be something to run away from, not run towards.

[pnwmom]

33. Do you think anyone thought it would produce instant results?

Were you around during the Civil Rights era? It took years of marches and protests to begin changing minds -- and it's an ongoing process.

These students have begun. Thank goodness.

[greyl]

34. Supporting your view by appealing to your authority as a realist is begging the question.

If your hunch turns out to be incorrect, "pessimistic" would be a nice word to describe it.

[Elwood P Dowd]

35. The Vietnam protests really didn't start to become massive until the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Probably a period of 6 years. The 1971 Washington, D.C. May Day protest I attended had about 200,000. That was probably the last really big one.

[cwydro]

37. Look up the difference between effect and affect.

You used the wrong one.