General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething is very wrong and very broken.
I am not talking about our political system and government. Everyone already knows that is broken and it doesnt matter the party affiliation.
I was reading the thread and related article regarding the 23 year old American citizen Francisco Galicia who is suing ICE and Customs and Border Patrol for depriving him of his rights and liberty. It occured to me that shouldn't I be protesting loudly in the street? This is a young man who was victimized for no other reason than his skin color. As terrible as that is, there are children, actual little boys and girls who are in the exact same situation. They have no proper clothes, beds, blankets, adequate food, soap and toothbrushes. Some of our enemies from previous wars treated our captured soldiers better than we are treating these children. Yet why are we not protesting? We occupied Wall Street and many other cities 8 years ago for reasons quite frankly far less abhorrent and dire. Make no mistake wealth Inequality, corporate corruption and predatory business/banking practices are of great concern. It is an issue that must be addressed. We managed to engage in civil disobedience to disrupt and annoy in protest over those issues. We did so in tremendous numbers but where are we now?
Surely the treatment of these men, women and children must generate more outrage. These kids are dying. They are living in feces with no access to the basic necessities. Why are we so stagnant in light of these facts? I include myself in this. I just dont understand. We are all outraged over this. I know I am.
Shouldnt our response be greater? Am I wrong in feeling we are somehow broken?
Here is the article that sparked this post. Thanks for reading.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-citizen-detained-by-ice-francisco-erwin-galicia-border-officials-conditions-bad-almost-self-deported/
spanone
(135,873 posts)ismnotwasm
(42,008 posts)I dont know where you live but there are protests every day, there are people at the boarder constantly. There are organizations to be a part of political pressure to engage in. Find one near you, bring a friend
That being said, I live on the West coast in Seattle. I can go to a protest almost as easy as I go to a concert.
Also, there are a lot of people who think whats going on at the border is just A OK. They are disgusting
lunatica
(53,410 posts)But the media only mentions them in passing. Here is a google page with many articles about the protests.
https://www.google.com/search?q=demonstrations+outside+the+detention+centers&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Moostache
(9,897 posts)Nothing changed after that atrocity and this nation is a rotting corpse evermore because of it.
Things continue to decline and rot further by the day.
Initech
(100,102 posts)It was like the ending of the Dark Knight Rises when Bane opens the doors to Black Gate Prison and tells the inmates "Gotham is yours! Do as you please!".. I can't associate myself with anyone who associates with that piece of shit.
kairos12
(12,872 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)We appear to be complacent (which we arent). We are battle-worn (in a war we are afraid we cannot win).
We are vulnerable now. WE MUST RESIST!!!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I, for one, need a second or third...or 80th wind.
This is like the lead up to the Nazis or any totalitarian movements rise. And yet conservatives freak out and want to shut you up for mentioning that.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)was just a couple of weeks ago. Great pics here...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/07/13/1871375/-A-Wave-of-Protest-From-Sea-to-Shining-Sea:-#LightsForLiberty
it will make you feel better. I only read about it a few days before it happened, and the one closest to me wasn't close enough. I think we are getting better at it. The Mueller one was impressive too.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)I think that's what really broke everything.
Most Americans' moral compasses now point south.
renate
(13,776 posts)There are other factors of course, but without that brainwashing of the gullible and credulous, things would be very different.
CrispyQ
(36,509 posts)Not to discount the importance of marches, but IMO, calling & emailing our Members of Congress (MOCs) on a regular basis would have more impact. The media can & does ignore marches. They under/over-report crowd size depending on the specific media's agenda. Second to voting, communicating with our Elected Officials is the most important thing we can do. And thanks to digital technology, we can do it quickly, frequently, & with ease!
There should not be a week goes by where We the People don't fill up the voice mail/email boxes of Congress with messages.
Put your reps email addresses & phone numbers in your contacts list. What 3-4 issues are the closest to your heart? Write up a 10-15 second message on those views/issues. Time it. You can cover a lot in 10 seconds if you are focused. Health care, the environment, infrastructure, veteran affairs, whatever.
When a big issue comes up that Congress votes on, create a new message & leave it. But every week, leave at least one message for your Representative & two Senators about how you feel about the issues you care about..
Let them know you pay attention & talk to your family & friends. Get as many people as you know to commit to calling their MOCs every week. Once you have your 3-5 default messages, it takes less than 5 minutes a week. How long does a march take?
On special weeks it may take a few more minutes, but you'll find that you get very good at writing up quick, brief messages.
What is a representative government worth to you?
SleeplessinSoCal
(9,144 posts)THAT got people riled up and clogging the halls of Congress. Like Vietnam protests. Or the overarching election of a racist con man/mobster and the "Indivisible" movement on January 21, 2017.
I know I'm pretty beat down.
kimbutgar
(21,188 posts)A second term of fat donnie with repuke control of all branches could be the start of a round up of dissents who oppose him. Democrats and liberals who speak out could become political prisons. With a compliant AJ and supreme court the havoc they can start these Nazi like with a current Russian playbook.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)the oligarchs know we have to go to work each day.
A lot of letters to the contractors and to the heads of ICE or CBP so they feel under siege.
Protests even if we are not near the areas; maybe we could find the ICE offices and protest outside them. Or the central offices of the contractors.
I fear the attention on it will fade due to the news cycle while it all still goes on and becomes a new normal or is not stopped until Jan. 2021.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)Anyone who can't see the enormous gulf between the two parties now is either not paying attention or is deliberately spreading misinformation.
patphil
(6,207 posts)The Republicans has abandoned all pretense of civility, cooperation, and respect for the Democrats, and for any Americans who are not right wing white and Christian.
The Democrats may have their problems, but they are much more inclined to embrace the vast majority of all Americans regardless of racial, ethnic, social, or religious differences.
To put them both in the same category is simply, flat-out wrong.
Patrick Phillips
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)tymorial
(3,433 posts)Many poles if Illustrated that the general population are disgusted by the inactivity of Congress. Congress as a whole has a poor approval rating.
This is besides the point. The purpose of my post was not to illustrate how Congress is unable to work together but the fact that as a whole Liberals are unable to come together to protest in the great number of the occupy movement.
As others have stated, there are protests against the injustice towards those seeking asylum. These numbers knowing near approach the same level as those observed during the Occupy Movement where people protested cities Across the Nation. Protest at specific sites are wonderful but we dont see the same impact. This is not just about coverage. It's about apathy
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)And it is the R's in Congress who wrecked the system. How? When Dennis Hastert, then the R Speaker, decided from then on that there would be no votes on bills that couldn't pass with a "majority of the majority." That is, based on Republican votes alone. That meant no more working across the aisle. And the Republicans (but not the Democrats) have adhered to that rule ever since.
And I'm not seeing apathy. I'm seeing discouragement and exhaustion. There has never been an administration like the current one, and no one knows how to respond. It's not at all clear to me that massive protests would matter to Trump, anymore than they do to Putin (who just arrested 600 people in a protest.)
democrank
(11,103 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)And in what way?
Donations? Protests?
GReedDiamond
(5,316 posts)"I told them we had rights and asked to make a phone call. But they told us, 'You don't have rights to anything'," Galicia told the paper.
So under the Twitler Reich, a natural born citizen of the U.S. has no rights.
Republican Party is now the Fascist Party.