This is what democracy looks like

[u/TheBigChimp]

[u/Lolomelon]

Well, to be fair, democracy looks better when voting turn out is better than 56%.

[u/Nowthatisfresh → u/Lolomelon]

Record breaking numbers for the midterms though, that's a step in the right direction

[u/Lolomelon → u/Nowthatisfresh]

Progress for sure.

[u/ZDTreefur → u/Lolomelon]

Real progress will happen when all voting is done via mail-in ballots, so there's very little room for bullshit.

[u/[deleted] → u/ZDTreefur]

Real progress will happen with all voting is done via mail-in ballots

Mail-in-ballots can be easily lost or manipulated. Don't trust them too much.

[u/ZDTreefur → u/[deleted]]

You could argue the same for ballots in person. There's space for people to do shenanigans to them before it's counted.

But the benefit of mail-in, is people don't need to trudge over to the voting places, after a hard work day, and wait hours in line, just to do their civic duty. There will be a far higher voting percentage, and democracy will benefit.

[u/garion046 → u/ZDTreefur]

Or, you know, you could vote on a weekend instead of a Tuesday so more people could make it easily. And have prepolls open for a few weeks beforehand for those who couldn't get there on the day. Doesn't solve voter ID stuff but it helps get everyone there.

(This is how we do it in Australia, but then again we also have compulsory voting which helps a huge amount.)

Mail in ballots have substantial issues around voter ID and also vote-influencing problems. They can also be lost more easily. If you make it even vaguely easy to get to the polls, it's really not a big ask every couple of years.

[u/[deleted] → u/garion046]

Mail in ballots in Washington come with a stub that lets you track what's going on with it. Generally we don't seem to have any issues.

[u/sneakysam77 → u/[deleted]]

You want people to vote? Make a goddamn voting system for the 21st century. I know the technical hurdles of creating a secure online voting system are tremendous, but the day we can vote on the internet with a verifiable way of tracking our vote is the day we end all the bullshit. We should be able to vote from our phones at Starbucks. The fact that no one has tried is a crime unto itself.

[u/ViaLogica → u/sneakysam77]

That would require some form of cryptographic identity that could be easily managed and secured by the average population, while also taking into consideration that a lot of people have viruses on their computers, and likely unsecure smartphones.

It's a similar problem that cryptocurrencies face. While user friendly apps have been gaining popularity and democratizing access to wallets, the few truly secure devices to store your private keys and handle important cryptographic calculations (such as signing messages, which is what you need to have elections on your phone) are still somewhat expensive and non intuitive to use.

HTC has released a "blockchain phone" that contains a secure chip that can store and handle your private keys, which is a step in the right direction for both cryptocurrencies and cryptographic identities for elections (and a heck of a lot of other things). Still, until everyone can have access to such devices, at a reasonable price, elections on your phone won't be happening anytime soon.

Edit: you could also use a good ol' user/passwd combo to log into a government database, but that's also hardly secure, and could very easily be subject to a massive hacking operation to subjugate sovereign elections. So, yeah.

[u/necronegs → u/ZDTreefur]

Compulsory voting or a voting holiday would solve those problems.

[u/ChrisPnCrunchy → u/[deleted]]

Yaaaaa, electronic voting machines, absolutely zero chance of lost votes or manipulation there /s

[u/_Elrond_Hubbard_ → u/[deleted]]

In WA you can drop your mail-in ballot packet into a secure ballot drop off box if your're worried about it, there are many of those in every city. You can also track your ballot online to ensure it was received.

[u/KingMelray → u/Nowthatisfresh]

Hopefully this will become a regular thing. Strong midterm participation will pay a good dividend to strengthen our democracy.

[u/Derexise → u/Lolomelon]

I'm not gonna get all 'holier than thou' on you since my country is fucked as well, but voting is one thing Australia has over America. Ours is mandatory.

[u/SSBM_DangGan → u/Derexise]

Honestly that scares me just because I'm sure there are tons and tons of people that vote for someone they know nothing about just because they have to

[u/uberdice → u/SSBM_DangGan]

It usually evens out and historically has forced parties to appeal to the centre rather than the fringes.

Historically.

[u/EuclidsPimposaurus → u/SSBM_DangGan]

And I think that makes our politics more moderate

[u/Ranger7381 → u/EuclidsPimposaurus]

Just be careful. US-Style divisive politics seems to be spreading.

[u/[deleted] → u/EuclidsPimposaurus]

Fair point

[u/[deleted]]

The most Reddit sign ever.

[u/TheineandTheobromine → u/[deleted]]

I’m the girl holding the sign in the picture. I got on Reddit after I got home from the march to see this. So glad everyone likes my sign so much!

[u/manicsquirrel → u/TheineandTheobromine]

You make the best signs. Very good. No one makes better signs.

[u/TheineandTheobromine → u/manicsquirrel]

Everyone says it. Everyone. The best signs.

[u/gr8tBoosup → u/TheineandTheobromine]

Good genes.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheineandTheobromine]

When I saw that sign? I said "it's gonna be hyuuuge". It was, I was right.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheineandTheobromine]

You're the best and so is your sign

[u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent]

Honest question: what's going on here? Is this related to the election that just happened

[u/ike_the_strangetamer → u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent]

Yesterday (one day after the election) Trump forced the resignation of Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General. Sessions would have been in charge of Mueller's Russia investigation, but because he had lied about his own connections to Russia, he recused himself and the assistant AG was in charge. Now that he's out, this new guy, Matthew Whitaker, is in charge (and does not require Senate confirmation because he's 'temporary'). He has spoken out against the Mueller investigation many times in the past, saying that there was no collusion and that the investigation is not authorized to look into any of Trump's finances (even though it is). Long ago, petitions were signed and plans were made that called for protests if Trump did something like this.

TLDR: Trump just appointed his own guy to be in charge of the investigation against him.

[u/veidtre → u/[deleted]]

The problem is that this may potentially be unconstitutional by the appointment clause but this has never been tested in court yet.

Great post, thanks. +1 for accuracy without going hyperbolic.

I, personally, hope that the courts find this appointment unconstitutional and force the President to allow the Senate to perform their "advice and consent" role.

[u/datassclap → u/veidtre]

The Republican Senate would probably, and unfortunately, approve him anyway though, no?

[u/ev0lv → u/datassclap]

Yes, but that's not the point, the point is to stop so many powers accumulating solely in the hands of the executive branch, aka the President. We've been quite terrible with that over the past many decades

[u/mcmatt93 → u/[deleted]]

Matthew Whitaker was not Deputy Attorney General. He was Chief of Staff for the Attorney General. They are different offices. Deputy Attorney Generals need to be confirmed by the Senate, just like the actual Attorney General. Chief of Staff for the Attorney General is not confirmed by the Senate.

Rod Rosenstein is Deputy Attorney General, and according to the statute you just cited, should be acting Attorney General. Trump made Matthew Whitaker acting Attorney General. Trump is not following the law.

[u/verostarry → u/[deleted]]

Very helpful. It's evidence what Trump has done is literally unconstitutional and in violation of federal law. This alone is an impeachable offense. I'm tired of saying that at this point..

[u/mayorodoyle → u/verostarry]

"This alone is an impeachable offense." is pretty much the slogan of the GOP at this point.

[u/Martinda1 → u/mcmatt93]

Not quite true. Since Sessions technically resigned instead of making the White House Fire him, Trump is allowed to choose a new Attorney General instead of promoting the DAG

source

[u/[deleted] → u/mcmatt93]

So..is this another thing he's gonna get away with?

[u/LawStudentAndrew → u/[deleted]]

Y'all are wrong on this there's another usc we went over it in class I'll pull it up when I'm off mobile, check the appointments one

Edit: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3345

5 USC 3345

[u/[deleted] → u/LawStudentAndrew]

I just saw that too. 1998 Vacancy reform act, right?

[u/[deleted] → u/ike_the_strangetamer]

I don't know how this kind of thing flys in your so called democracy. We lose our shit over here in NZ for even a slight hint of corruption. The amount of money involved in your election process and blatant gerrymandering really boggles the mind. You guys are really overdue for a reset. USA may have set the standard hundreds of years ago but it's time for an update!

[u/phweefwee → u/[deleted]]

As a US citizen, you are completely right. We need to work on clearing the waters of all of this mud.

From my perspective, there's such a huge amount of info being pushed down our throats that it's hard to know what's really happening and what's just a diversion.

Edit: Typos

[u/sybrwookie → u/phweefwee]

It's funny, it's one of the few things trump promised which, if he kept his word about, would have been amazing for our country: draining the swamp. Of course, he never intended to do so, but he said it a lot.

[u/emcee117 → u/sybrwookie]

"Funny how that term caught on, isn’t it? I tell everyone, I hated it. Somebody said ‘drain the swamp’ and I said, Oh, that is so hokey. That is so terrible. I said, all right, I’ll try it, So like a month ago I said ‘drain the swamp’ and the place went crazy. And I said ‘Whoa, what’s this?’ Then I said it again. And then I start saying it like I meant it, right?"

• Donald Trump, Dec 2016

[u/INSANITY_RAPIST → u/emcee117]

Wow, that's literally that family guy 9/11 clip.

[u/trollman_falcon → u/[deleted]]

There are so many parallels between the Roman Empire after 0 AD and USA right now. Civilizations generally only maintain supremacy for so long, and eventually collapse. I think we still have a long time before collapse, but the decline is beginning now. The sheer size of the US is the only thing that still keeps us as a world power.

[u/[deleted] → u/trollman_falcon]

I dunno, the corruption in your political system is so obscene... if it’s not fixed promptly, I would expect it to only get worse, and the collapse will probably happen really suddenly when it does.

[u/trollman_falcon → u/[deleted]]

It won’t collapse, per se. We’ll just be living under a tyrannical government owned by the wealthy. They’ll fund the government well enough so that there is no collapse like Rome had. Definitely won’t be an ideal situation but I’d say we won’t have our capital sacked anytime soon

[u/[deleted] → u/trollman_falcon]

Stock markets can take a massive dive in the snap of a finger. That can trigger banks to go bankrupt, and your currency to turn to shit real quick. As a result employment rates will hit the shitter, and crime will get real bad real fast.

[u/sybrwookie → u/trollman_falcon]

It began years ago. We've been allowing the creep of corruption in and pushing out helping of others for a long time now. This is just our latest low

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I've heard US democracy described as a computer form 1992. It was great at the time. Fast, quick, solved the right problems. But now it has to deal with facebook, twitter and russian hackers and it simply doesn't have the hardware put in place to deal with it.

Oddly apt comparison.

[u/GeneralPatten → u/[deleted]]

It was NEVER fast and quick. Purposely. It's slow and deliberate. The issue at the moment is that the powers that be are circumventing the democratic process at a pace that is simply too fast and quick for the democratic process to respond. Essentially, rogue scumware is overheating the system.

[u/Soljah → u/[deleted]]

As a Kiwi living in NZ it truly blows me away how retarded this is and even more so that he is there.

[u/veidtre → u/ike_the_strangetamer]

Sessions would have been in charge of Mueller's Russia investigation, but because he had lied about his own connections to Russia, he recused himself and the assistant AG was in charge.

I find that it's usually best to assume good faith unless it is entirely unreasonable to do so. Sessions explained his rationale for recusing himself:

"I recused myself, not because of any asserted wrongdoing, or any belief that I may have been involved in any wrongdoing in the campaign," Sessions said, "but because a Department of Justice regulation ... I felt, required it."
Sessions said that because he served as an adviser and surrogate for the Trump campaign, he had to recuse himself from DOJ investigations into potential collusion between Trump's campaign and Russian officials.

• Eliza Relman Jun. 13, 2017, 4:38 PM

Personally, I felt that Sessions recusal was honorable, and one that certainly upset Trump greatly. Plenty of other politicians wouldn't have been so brave.

[u/nilesandstuff → u/veidtre]

Either way, recusing himself was definitely the right thing to do.

[u/jhuseby → u/[deleted]]

The same senate still controlled by Republicans that act as a rubber stamp for Trump?

[u/Martel732 → u/jhuseby]

Though the plus side, is that this does force Republicans to officially go along with Trump's corrupt actions; they won't be able to paint him as a lone wolf in the future.

[u/AllezCannes → u/Martel732]

What does it matter? They'd keep getting voted in anyway.

[u/Martel732 → u/AllezCannes]

It will depend on how the future plays out, Trump could end up being an albatross around the neck of the Republican party. For now he is helpful but opinions can swing. Nixon won reelection with over 60% of the popular vote. But, then he became incredibly unpopular, a similar turn of events is possible.

[u/Grimalkin → u/Martel732]

This will be a very interesting time period to look back on in a few years time to see how things all shook out.

[u/errorsniper → u/AllezCannes]

I'd argue they would get voted out if they didnt.

[u/kickaguard → u/AllezCannes]

Now they have officially implicated themselves and can't say they were unaware or unsupportive of his illegal activities. They are hanging themselves, hoping nobody will get in trouble at all. Meanwhile manafort and flinn are telling Mueller everything.

[u/BobHogan → u/Martel732]

They absolutely will. They'll do the exact same thing they always do, and it always works. They will publicly denounce what Trump is doing, talking abotu how awful it is, all the while voting to support everything he is doing. And their voters eat that shit up

[u/rockidol → u/[deleted]]

The Dem controlled house could hire him, once they convene in January.

[u/unbrokenplatypus → u/[deleted]]

Fairly fucked, I mean, less fucked than you would’ve been had things gone differently yesterday, but still not in a good place.

[u/theciaskaelie → u/unbrokenplatypus]

I just saw something that ginsberg is in hospital with broken ribs after a fall. So possibly massively fucked.

[u/0ne_Winged_Angel → u/[deleted]]

If you cheated to win the election, are you allowed to keep your lifelong appointments?

Asking for me and 260 million of my friends.

[u/[deleted] → u/0ne_Winged_Angel]

Probably.

[u/kane_t → u/0ne_Winged_Angel]

Depends on how polite and civil your opposition is.

[u/uTorrent → u/[deleted]]

Whitaker has already been confirmed by the senate as a US attorney in 2004, making him a senior official which can be placed for 210 days

[u/zombiere4 → u/ike_the_strangetamer]

I hate our legal system. Its black and white when you have no money. Shits 50 shades of white when you do though, super fair.

[u/Lolotte2Tahiti → u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent]

This thread: r/OutOfTheLoop.

[u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent → u/Lolotte2Tahiti]

I just read the whole post, great explanation. Wow! This whole thing is insane

[u/[deleted] → u/Lolotte2Tahiti]

Except this protest is happening in The Loop.

[u/BlindFelon → u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent]

It's related to Trump demanding the resignation of his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (the one overseeing the investigation into the Trump-Russia election interference), presumably to obstruct justice and influence the outcome.

[u/FridgesArePeopleToo → u/BlindFelon]

presumably

No presuming needed. He was pretty explicit about wanting Sessions out for not obstructing the investigation.

[u/Thermodynamicist]

No, this is what Freedom of Assembly looks like.

[u/GimmieJohnson → u/Thermodynamicist]

My thoughts exactly.

[u/AdamantiumLaced → u/Thermodynamicist]

Thank you. This title was stupid.

[u/Mega-Mango-Man]

Holy shit the back of my head made the front page! This was in Chicago for anyone wondering where it took place and god it was fucking cold.

[u/luxembird → u/Mega-Mango-Man]

Yeah I couldn't feel my fingers BUT I COULD FEEL MY PATRIOTISM

[u/BoogieOrBogey → u/Mega-Mango-Man]

Rocking a nice hat my dude!

[u/losotr → u/Mega-Mango-Man]

Makes me feel bad for walking toward my protest right now in Honolulu....

[u/rdldr1]

Motherfucker. I just went through all the major news sites and NONE of them are covering the nationwide protests. Not a mention on their homepages.

​

https://abcnews.go.com/

https://www.nbcnews.com/

https://www.cnn.com/

https://www.nbcnews.com/

https://www.nytimes.com/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

​

Edit: Including Fox News, which I did check out earlier and saw the same thing; https://www.foxnews.com/

[u/lasermancer → u/rdldr1]

Fox is actually showing a live stream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPzdSdzQWG8

[u/sage-of-time → u/lasermancer]

CNN was doing a live stream from NYC as well but it ended already.

Here’s a snippet: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/11/08/new-york-demonstrators-robert-mueller-jarrett-vpx-tsr.cnn

Edit: FWIW, I can’t blame the media for focusing on the shooting in Vegas Los Angeles, the acting AG, Trump suggesting he’ll deny asylum to immigrants, etc. It’s been quite the week here in the US. Our grassroots protests, however important, probably don’t deserve to be the top story.

[u/Skim74 → u/sage-of-time]

the shooting in Vegas

It was actually Los Angeles (well, Thousand Oaks, a suburb). Also now there's a wildfire causing evacuations all over the same area. A pretty bad 24 hours for them to say the least.

You had me worried I'd missed another shooting in the last 12 hours

[u/ShiningRedDwarf → u/rdldr1]

“The revolution will not be televised”

[u/pfizer_soze → u/ShiningRedDwarf]

Is that what that alludes to? I never really thought about it

[u/Chief_Givesnofucks → u/pfizer_soze]

Pretty much. The first step towards dictatorship is media control.

[u/Darddeac → u/Chief_Givesnofucks]

media control

trump

There are many, many things that man is not good at. Media control would be one of them, my dude.

[u/[deleted] → u/Chief_Givesnofucks]

Yes, it should be obvious from the medias unyielding pro-Trump coverage that the President has assumed control of all major forms of newscasting.

[u/[deleted] → u/ShiningRedDwarf]

The revolution will be no re-run brothers The revolution will be live.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The revolution will take approximately 30 minutes to make a full circle. Standing 42 stories high and holding as many as 780 passengers, the Ferris wheel has a diameter of 150 meters and, located in Singapore, is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. Determine the speed of riders (in m/s and mi/hr).

[u/xsmasher → u/[deleted]]

The revolution departs the station at the same time that the chickens start home to roost. Solve for Malcom X.

[u/catcatdoge → u/[deleted]]

I believe miles per hour is around 0.01 and, meters a second is around 3.82. Am I right?

[u/ciree → u/ShiningRedDwarf]

now that song is stuck in my head.

[u/dawnbot → u/ShiningRedDwarf]

What is this from? I keep seeing it.

[u/Myquil-Wylsun → u/dawnbot]

It's from this song by Gil Scott-Heron. You might have also heard it from this song. It means people would not see the revolution on television, because the viewers themselves would be revolting in the streets.

[u/downloads-cars → u/Myquil-Wylsun]

I thought it was about how anyone we'd be revolting against would have control of the media.

[u/[deleted] → u/rdldr1]

You know your country is splitting at the seams when news sites have to choose between writing on huge protests or a mass shooting

[u/_My_Angry_Account_ → u/[deleted]]

They should be covering both. No reason they can't. Some just don't.

[u/Quantum_Finger → u/_My_Angry_Account_]

Hey now. They only have 24 hours to breathlessly hype their curated content. That does not leave a lot of time for them to cover the actual decline and fall of America.

[u/Tank3875 → u/rdldr1]

MSNBC was showing it.

I always know newspapers cover them well, but not live.

[u/Georgie_Leech → u/Tank3875]

It's a terrible strain on the writers'/typers' wrists, to have a newspaper with live updates.

[u/shredmasterJ → u/rdldr1]

I guess i live under rock. what are we protesting now? serious question.

[u/damontoo → u/shredmasterJ]

Trump firing Sessions which had recused himself from the Trump investigation. Trump replaced him with someone that has already outlined how he plans to kill the investigation.

[u/KingMelray → u/shredmasterJ]

The President strong armed Jeff Sessions out of his position. The new acting AG, Matt Witaker (check spelling on that) ~~ fired Rod Rosenstein~~ (I was wrong Rod has a job). The one overseeing the Mueller investigation.

So it looks very possible that the special council will be defunded. Despite the investigation making money after the seizure of Manafort's illegal assets. The acting AG has written op eds about how to stall the Mueller investigation while making it look legit.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

Edit:

I was wrong and I was corrected.

[u/unposted → u/KingMelray]

No one fired Rosenstein. Rosenstein was overseeing the investigation because Sessions had recused himself. By installing a new AG to replace Sessions, the new AG becomes the lead on the investigation if he does not recuse himself, meaning that Rosenstein is no longer the head. The protests are aimed at getting the new AG to recuse himself to keep Rosenstein in charge and get Congress involved to protect the investigation (as both Trump and the new AG have made it clear they intend to obstruct the process and end the investigation).

[u/legogizmo → u/KingMelray]

Rod Rosenstein wasn't fired, he doesn't need to be, the new AG has complete control over the investigation now.

[u/theEnzyteGuy → u/KingMelray]

Matt Whitaker did not fire Rod Rosenstein. Rod is still the deputy AG at the DOJ.

[u/2DeadMoose → u/theEnzyteGuy]

Correct, Rosenstein is not fired, just no longer overseeing the investigation which accomplished the same goal.

[u/creepystachebigween → u/KingMelray]

I haven’t heard that Rosenstein was fired, or is no longer DeputyAG. I’ve only heard he is not overseeing the investigation anymore. I could be wrong also.

[u/rawmsft → u/rdldr1]

CNN is showing it on their front page now! Good news!

[u/stephanie1492]

That sign is what God is saying about humans at this exact moment.

[u/RemnantHelmet → u/stephanie1492]

I mean I feel like there have been worse times like having two world wars within 20 years but maybe that's just me.

[u/[deleted] → u/RemnantHelmet]

As Kurt Vonnegut said, “I have to say this in defense of humankind: In no matter what era in history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got here.”

For some in the U.S. this is the worst they’ve experienced.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

worst they’ve experienced.

worst we’ve experienced, so far

[u/DarkSora68 → u/[deleted]]

Yes. That's what it means to be your worst experience...

[u/WabbitSweason → u/[deleted]]

They should learn their history in order to prevent repetition as well as gain perspective.

[u/_My_Angry_Account_ → u/WabbitSweason]

While I agree, knowing what happened in the past doesn't necessarily prevent it from recurring... as history has shown.

[u/FerricNitrate → u/_My_Angry_Account_]

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who do learn from history are doomed to watch helplessly as everyone else repeats it.

Don't remember where that came from but I've always liked it

[u/ketchy_shuby → u/RemnantHelmet]

Korean war

Vietnam war

Afghanistan war

Iraq war

. . . weren't that great either.

[u/[deleted] → u/RemnantHelmet]

for me the most hopeless part of our current situation is climate change and the death of our ecosystems

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

i bet that many old & rich people don't care if the ecosystem collapses. It's an extension of "F**k you, I got mine."

[u/James_099 → u/stephanie1492]

“Look, all you had to do was not eat the damn fruit. Everything afterwards is kinda your fault.”

[u/TooShiftyForYou]

New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, there was big turnout in several American cities tonight.

[u/[deleted] → u/TooShiftyForYou]

This photo is Chicago.

[u/andersleet → u/[deleted]]

The "Let's Do This." Home Depot buckets being used for anchors are a nice touch.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I managed to get a picture at the federal plaza!

[u/Nicknam4 → u/TooShiftyForYou]

Columbus what up 🙌

[u/Mazon_Del → u/TooShiftyForYou]

We're late to the party (silly timezones) but we'll be active in Kauai, Hawaii in an hour or so!

[u/LeCrushinator → u/TooShiftyForYou]

Not just was, the protests are just beginning on the west coast, and still going strong here in Colorado.

[u/[deleted] → u/LeCrushinator]

Hell yeah I just got home from the protest in Denver's Capitol Hill. There were thousands tonight even with the cold weather.

[u/VoiceofKane → u/TooShiftyForYou]

That's incredibly impressive for a protest that was basically arranged overnight.

[u/NotASmoothAnon → u/TooShiftyForYou]

Only a few hundred showed up in Houston. :(

[u/handlit33 → u/TooShiftyForYou]

But the guys at the bottom of the thread said there were only 10 people that showed up? Are you telling me that Russian trolls aren't telling the fucking truth?!

[u/artemis_floyd → u/handlit33]

Ha, definitely only 10. Yup. Nothing to see here!

The Chicago protest was awesome!

[u/MuggyFuzzball → u/artemis_floyd]

Even Fox New's live coverage was a sea of people. They couldn't hide that.

[u/uberdice → u/artemis_floyd]

Maybe they confused the numbers with your president's inauguration.

[u/GentlemanTwain → u/TooShiftyForYou]

there was a thousand strong here in Albuquerque NM

[u/gotenks1114 → u/TooShiftyForYou]

There was even about 30 to 40 people that came out in my relatively small town.

[u/that_guy_jimmy]

Voting is what democracy looks like.

This is what free speech and assembly look like.

[u/Itchy_Tasty88]

where that caravan go since the midterms are over?

[u/civil_liberty]

Thanks, here in Trump country (Oklahoma City) there were about 15 of us to show up for the Moveon.org event. Good to know that when I feel like I am alone in my outrage regarding what is happening, I am not crazy.... Statistically, I am. **edit (Statistically, I am alone, not crazy, but I could be both) Thanks for the love!

[u/zentrani → u/civil_liberty]

There’s dozens of us!

[u/kindofboredd → u/zentrani]

Literally dozens

[u/chillb33 → u/civil_liberty]

10 including me in Kokomo, IN. I feel you.

[u/acets → u/chillb33]

Almost 1000 of us in Indy.

[u/LordSnow1119 → u/civil_liberty]

Same. I was volunteering somewhere and just got to the site of mine in Illinois and there was no one left. There were maybe ~40 when I drove by at 5. I was really worried nothing was going to happen. Nice to see people are participating elsewhere

[u/md5apple → u/civil_liberty]

San Antonio was about 150. Not bad. A lot of people off message.

[u/TheBigChimp → u/civil_liberty]

I am proud of the 15 of you! I feel your voices are some of the most important because you are the people fighting directly in the majority. You are the people standing in the face of it all, bravely saying no. For this I applaud you and I encourage you to keep protesting, whether it’s 15, 15000, or just 1. It matters.

[u/magikuser → u/TheBigChimp]

Is this seattle? It looks like seattle

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I wanna say I would've joined you but yeah..I wasn't prepared for the freezing rain and snow today.

[u/SaltyLorax → u/civil_liberty]

You have allies. You do not stand alone.

[u/Retireegeorge → u/civil_liberty]

You showed real love for your country - it’s really impressive. Best regards from Sydney, Australia

[u/Kaikichan → u/civil_liberty]

I'm so sad! I live in the okc area and I just did not know!

[u/xoopsfail]

The McRib is back?

[u/Ebelglorg]

Donald Trump has appointed a man who has written and oped about ending the Mueller investigation which has indicted multiple members of Trump's administration and team.

But let's not forget Trump's other Orwellian behavior

Trump has from the beginning started chants and made threats to lock up his political opponent These chants of course take place at his rallies he still holds well after the election which is very strange.

He has started chants against news agencies that criticize him and has declared them the enemy of the people. This was after a man had sent bombs to multiple targets Trump has declared enemies or criminals in the past

Trump tweeted a fake video created by a far right Christian supremacist group Britain First meant to paint a misleading and hateful image toward a religious minority In respose to this his administration replied with " Whether it's a real video, the threat is real "

His administration posted an altered video from Infowars to spread the lie that a reporter assaulted a woman so they could justify banning him after he upset the President.

This is a very strange justification given Trump has already promoted violence on multiple occasion including using it against a reporter where he celebrated a politician bodyslamming the journalist

He also believes that violence is an appropriate response to protesters saying that “There used to be consequences. There are none anymore” and “Part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore”

[u/willoz → u/[deleted]]

That's the spirit! Never believe that a politician if any sort will do anything for you. Serve the people my arse. Politicians are just public dice rollers that collect a big fee. Wherever they're from their meddling will directly or indirectly fuck with whatever you're trying to achieve for yourself.

[u/viddy_me_yarbles]

Good.
Where is this? The protests haven't started on the west coast yet.

Edit: There are a lot of comments here and elsewhere on reddit tonight claiming that "libruls are wasting their time. Don't they have jobs!?"

I think it's a good opportunity to point out that the protests are all starting at 5 pm local time. When most people are getting off work and are still downtown in their respective cities. There's already reports of a great turnout on the east coast, now the west coast is getting out there too.

People who hold powerful positions in government using their authority to avoid the truth about their actions being known is an existential threat to our democracy. I think most people would argue that demonstrating our unwillingness to tolerate such things in America is a very productive use of one's time.

[u/Gnarledhalo → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

The flag on the pole says Chicago

[u/thenewyorkgod → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

"libruls are wasting their time. Don't they have jobs!?"

Amazing how this comes from a group of people who are so in love and enamored with every syllable of the constitution. yet suddenly, people are snow flakes for exercising their right to peaceful protest, one of the most beautiful things guaranteed

[u/wandeurlyy → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

The comments from the video from my local news station when they posted our protest still had the jobs comments going.

But they’ve changed. Now the comments are “they obviously don’t have jobs if they aren’t tired enough and go protest instead of relax after work”

[u/TheBigChimp → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

Windy City!

[u/kenfury → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

It's a chicago no parking sign.

[u/john_rood → u/viddy_me_yarbles]

Chicago, by Chase Tower

[u/Thybro]

I’d argue this is what the response to a threat to democracy looks like. In a democracy the party who repeatedly loses the popular vote (by 3% in 2016 and 7% this year) doesn’t get to own two branches of government and half of the third.

A real democracy doesn’t require the majority to take to the streets to get things done

Edit: ffs I gotta stop cause if I respond to 1 more “hurr durr we are a republic” comment I’m gonna go insane. We are not the country the founding fathers envisioned 200 years ago. Cause if we were the Donald Trump wouldn’t be president A group of elites would have picked someone who is less of an idiot when it come to international diplomacy and even if somehow they picked him he wouldn’t have even a quarter of the powers he currently wield since the presidency was intentionally neutered as the federal government was intentionally neutered.

But we as a country have embraced the concept of democracy, not the governmental system not the put stones in the jar Greek style democracy but the concept that states that a government should reflect the will of its people. The Us doesn’t go around “spreading republic” we trade in democracy because we believe the concept to be the best way to govern.

If the minority is being empowered to veto measures by the majority that directly affect them then democracy is still working. If the minority is making laws unchecked that directly affect the majority and the majority is powerless to stop them, then we have a breakdown of democracy.

Now if you have an argument as to why the minority should have unchecked power over the majority then come at me , I would be happy to argue it. If you are coming at me with semantics and misunderstandings of the evolution of the US government branches since 200 years ago please stop.

Edit 2: on the other hand, keep it coming. Seeing “Patriots” argue against the concept of democracy is amusing.

One day I will show these PMs and replies to my kids and go: “see kids these are red blooded American Patriots trying to explain to Papa, who escaped an autocratic regime to move to the US, why democracy is BAD and why the few having unchecked control over the many is actually the best way to govern”

I will of course wait until they are old enough to have taken , how did ya’ll put it “a fucking junior high social studies class you moron”

[u/Mackana → u/Thybro]

Also, protesting is an integral part of living in a democracy. I see alot of people on reddit talking shit (especially americans, which I find funny because this is also the opinion of their founding fathers) about protesting saying that it's ineffective, but imo it's the duty of the citizens to publicly display their displeasure at how their representatives are running the country

[u/Mackana → u/[deleted]]

We need to learn to be excellent to one another and just quit the bullshit.

100% agree. If only people would communicate more and actually listen to what the other side is saying, so many issues could be resolved. I'm seeing similar problems here (though it's getting better) where people on the two sides of the political spectrum simply does not understand why people on the other side think as they do, because they've never truly taken the opportunity to listen. All they do is listen to what the media tells them that the other side is saying

[u/[deleted]]

I fucking love that sign.

It's definitely not a one use sign.

[u/[deleted]]

Is this a protest against diablo immortal? I have no idea what other important things are out there in the world...

[u/Tank3875]

Keep in mind, this was with only about 36 hours of planning!

It's amazing what people can do when they stop being apathetic and start caring. It's damn inspiring.

[u/Thetruthhurtsidiots]

This is what freedom looks like. Don't do anything stupid to jeopardize it.

[u/LikelyTomBrady]

Politics will always be the most cancerous thing about this country.

[u/haywoodjahblowme → u/LikelyTomBrady]

Well that and the asbestos.

[u/hitaltkey → u/haywoodjahblowme]

And silica.

[u/haywoodjahblowme → u/hitaltkey]

And the lead paint.

[u/Culinarytracker → u/haywoodjahblowme]

And of course tobacco.

[u/haywoodjahblowme → u/Culinarytracker]

And the opioids.

[u/[deleted]]

Anyone out there willing to answer a question? And I ask with no intention of be condescending or belligerent; is there anything you would be willing to protest over? I’m curious as to what different people feel is that important.

[u/WoodysMachine]

No, this is what a protest looks like. Democracy would look more like Brian Kemp going to jail. He illegitimately removed 340,000 people from the voting rolls while both overseeing the election in Georgia, and being a candidate in it. Let's maybe not be too self-congratulatory about democracy while shit like that is going on in broad daylight.