Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on Twitter and/or BlueSky.
Wow, very nearly half of Americans don’t want to see people beat down in the streets for exercising their right to protest. That’s, um. . . The phrase slender reed comes to mind. Let’s grab it.
For whatever it’s worth, I’d argue that we should view these protests through a utilitarian and not a moral lens. Maybe the best evaluation I’ve seen about the nature of protest is from Peter Coyote (yes, that Peter Coyote):
A protest is an invitation to a better world. It’s a ceremony. No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at. More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is. The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, the Congress, etc. The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.
Coyote goes on to make a number of practical suggestions which strike me as sensible—but require organization and leadership:
Number 1 let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do. 2 appoint monitors, give them yellow vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protesters sit down. Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement. Number 3 dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean presentable clothes. They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience. Number 4, make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking. Number 5 go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at Dawn fresh and rested.
We will see what this weekend’s decentralized protests look like.
One last thought: At the moment the various anti-Trump protests are logistically, thematically, and organizationally decentralized. This is helpful in some ways and unhelpful in others. At some point the movement could benefit from having a leader.
Tea Party Republican congressman turned anti-Trump Democrat, Joe Walsh:
It’s not a surprise that the man who purposely incited a violent attempt to overthrow an American election would now purposely incite violence on the streets of Los Angeles as a justification for military force against American citizens.
@Scott F.: They are the audience that’s most likely to be affected by mass media normalizing the administration’s insanity.
National Guard deployment is extreme and rare. Marines deployment is almost unprecedented. Kidnapping Americans – immigrant or not! – is illegal. Violating and ignoring court orders is illegal. The president and the House speaker threatening a sitting governor with arrest and physical harm is potentially illegal and clearly irresponsible. A cabinet member declaring that a city is “a city of criminals” is irresponsible.
Modern mass journalism is not up to the task of taking these issues seriously, and I’m more than a little worried that its failure will be our failure.
Donny and his Sewer Clowns suck at fascism — like everything else they do
when Donny Bone Spurs sent the National Guard to quote-unquote ‘bring order’ to the completely-avoidable ‘crisis’ he manufactured, do you know what he didn’t send along with them? anything for the Guard to eat, or drink. any place for them to sleep, or shit.
he just unceremoniously dumped them in the middle of Los Angeles without planning or forethought, and said sayonara, fucknuggets, you’re on your own. why? because Donny is an incompetent imbecile, and that’s how incompetent imbeciles roll.
a few pictures ..
this is your National Guard, ladies and gentlemen. hungry, tired, thirsty, and forced to sleep piled up on top of one another — because apparently, it didn’t dawn on anyone at the top that food, water, or places to sleep and shit might be necessary for the Guard during an open-ended deployment.
“This is what happens when the president and (Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) demand the National Guard state assets deploy immediately with no plan in place … (and) no federal funding available for food, water, fuel and lodging,” the source said. “This is really the failure of the federal government. If you’re going to federalize these troops, then take care of them.”
“Currently, there is no plan for where everyone is sleeping tonight,” the source said, adding that there was an urgent need to find more portable bathrooms and dumpsters for garbage.
isn’t it heartening to know that ‘because fuck you, that’s why’ also extends to the brave men and women who serve our country?
this is the level of expertise that Donny brings to his job: zero.
never forget that as powerful as the position of United States President is, Donny totally fucking sucks at his job — and all his Sewer Clowns suck at their jobs, too.
here’s a fun fact:
When called into federal service, the National Guard becomes part of the Department of Defense
that means that the federalized Guard in Los Angeles is currently the responsibility of the Fox News dunk-tank clown who the Mad King decided would make the perfect Secretary of Defense.
I’m thinking of how footage of Vietnam and Chicago Democratic Convention changed hearts and minds.
People, generally speaking, are accepting of even the worst horrors when they are safely removed and invisible.
But when confronted with video of cops beating innocent protesters and shooting journalists with pepper balls, people get squeamish.
So all this time, Epstein-bestie Trump could have called in troops to quell his Jan 6 terror attack? MAGA kept saying that was Nancy Pelosi’s job.
Wow, very nearly half of Americans don’t want to see people beat down in the streets for exercising their right to protest. That’s, um. . . The phrase slender reed comes to mind. Let’s grab it.
Not sure this is the right thread for this:
“Bulwark”
“Peter Coyote”
More at the links
@charontwo:
I like the suggestions. The notion of monitors seems a bit antithetical to the decentralized nature of this thing.
@charontwo:
In the poll results above, it’s the 17% Not Sure that I find simultaneously depressing and hopeful. They are the audience and they are gettable.
Tea Party Republican congressman turned anti-Trump Democrat, Joe Walsh:
He’s right, of course.
@Scott F.: They are the audience that’s most likely to be affected by mass media normalizing the administration’s insanity.
National Guard deployment is extreme and rare. Marines deployment is almost unprecedented. Kidnapping Americans – immigrant or not! – is illegal. Violating and ignoring court orders is illegal. The president and the House speaker threatening a sitting governor with arrest and physical harm is potentially illegal and clearly irresponsible. A cabinet member declaring that a city is “a city of criminals” is irresponsible.
Modern mass journalism is not up to the task of taking these issues seriously, and I’m more than a little worried that its failure will be our failure.
“Tiedrich”
a few pictures ..
I’m thinking of how footage of Vietnam and Chicago Democratic Convention changed hearts and minds.
People, generally speaking, are accepting of even the worst horrors when they are safely removed and invisible.
But when confronted with video of cops beating innocent protesters and shooting journalists with pepper balls, people get squeamish.
Another way to look at the poll numbers is that only slightly more than a third of Americans APPROVE of either the Guard or Marines being posted.
@The Q: Any way you crunch the numbers shows a society that is ripped apart and possibly broken beyond repair. Slurp that!
Just another “Any way you crunch the numbers shows a society that is ripped apart and possibly broken beyond repair. Slurp that!”
I’ll put you down as a “glass is half empty” kinda guy.
I bet you can make a bride cry on her wedding day.