https://handsoff2025.com/?SQF_SOURCE=50501 April 5th. This website may be funded by George Soros, idk
Bernie Sanders and AOC’s Rallies Can Become a Mass Movement The “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” rallies headlined by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can become something much bigger — if Bernie and AOC direct their rally attendees into sustained organizing efforts against Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on stage at a “Fighting Oligarchy” rally on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Ronda Churchill for the Washington Post / Getty Images) The “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” rallies headlined by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can become something much bigger — if Bernie and AOC direct their rally attendees into sustained organizing efforts against Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on stage at a “Fighting Oligarchy” rally on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Las Vegas. (Ronda Churchill for the Washington Post / Getty Images) Our new issue, “Progress,” is out now. Subscribe to our print edition at a discounted rate today. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have ignored the advice of Democratic thought leaders to “roll over and play dead.” Thank God. Their anti-oligarchy mass rallies have brought out record-breaking numbers, testifying to a widespread popular desire to resist Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Filling the void left by Chuck Schumer and his cowardly ilk, Bernie and AOC are becoming leaders not just of leftist activists but also of the Democratic Party’s mainstream liberal base. The hard question now is how to harness all this energy into a movement capable of actually defeating Musk, then Trump. Team Bernie has already taken major strides in this direction. It’s not just that the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour has energized ordinary Americans and spread a resonant anti-billionaire, pro-democracy message. These events have had a concrete strategic focus, as one of Bernie’s advisers explained online: “For those asking, yes these [rallies] are tied to action. All have been in or near GOP-held swing districts and we are following up with specific actions to pressure their Member to vote NO on any Medicaid cuts or billionaire tax breaks — or else face electoral consequences.” This is all essential. But Bernie and AOC could take an additional step: ask all rally attendees to become organizers. The fate of our country depends in part on channeling the excitement of these events into an escalating, mass-based campaign. To generate the scale of resistance necessary to win, attendees not only need to take action like signing a petition or attending an upcoming protest, but also get dozens of their coworkers, friends, and neighbors to do the same — and not just once, but as part of a sustained, escalating effort. In other words, plugging into organizing. High-attention moments like big rallies can be used to directly onboard everybody looking to fight back. General calls to get involved aren’t enough. People need specifics and next steps. To be fair, the fact that “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies haven’t yet made such organizing asks isn’t really the fault of their hosts. It reflects the weakness of a too-timid US labor movement and a too-small, too-fragmented Left. There have been lots of actions since Trump was elected, but they’ve been relatively uncoordinated and small-scale. If we had already succeeded in galvanizing a cohesive movement capable of attracting fence-sitters, AOC and Bernie would very likely be boosting it. But the reality today is that we desperately need America’s two main progressive tribunes to leverage their popularity and platforms to supercharge today’s incipient grassroots efforts and help create a cohesive mass movement that doesn’t yet exist. Since Bernie and AOC have such high profiles, and since our country’s crisis is so dire, any organized campaign that they choose to jointly boost or launch would likely go viral. My two cents is that the best target is the cartoonishly evil and deeply unpopular Musk, and that the best message is saving widely loved services like the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Social Security, and the National Parks from the attacks Musk is currently carrying out against them. What concretely could Bernie and AOC encourage people to do? Most immediately, they could ask people to become organizers for the upcoming April 5 “Hands Off!” day of action called by MoveOn, Indivisible, the Working Families Party, and others. April 5 has the potential to be huge. But the ask of their followers can’t just be to show up at their local rallies. People also need to be encouraged and assisted to spend the next two weeks actively persuading their coworkers, neighbors, and beyond to take part. We already have smaller scale examples of what such outward-facing campaigning can look like. The Federal Unionists Network, for example, is recruiting and training significant numbers of new organizers — from both federal workers and broader communities allies — in the process of building for the April 5 day of action, which it sees as the launching point for further escalation in its distributed organizing campaign to save our services. Like Bernie and AOC’s recent tour, April 5 itself will be another great opportunity to absorb tens of thousands of new organizers into campaigns capable of scaling up today’s resistance. Imagine tens of thousands of veterans, federal workers, and allies sitting in and risking arrest at Republican congress members’ offices to say no to cuts to the VA and federal services. Scores of senior citizens could do the same to save Social Security. One-day sickouts of air traffic controllers could paralyze air travel to pressure Trump and Congress. Illegally fired federal workers across the United States could march back into work, backed by thousands of supporters, to demand they be immediately placed back on the job. And mass faculty-student-worker petitions culminating in demonstrations and strikes across the nation could force university administrations to resist Trump’s authoritarian crackdown. All of these types of actions are within the realm of possibility. And there’s a very good chance that such widespread backlash would force Trump to beat a retreat and throw the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the wolves, blowing up the new administration’s momentum and aura of invincibility. But only a popular movement driven forward by a growing number of volunteer organizers can make all that happen. Though it’s easy to give into despair these days, there are solid reasons for political optimism. The new administration’s policies are unpopular. Its already low levels of support are continuing to drop. And because today’s anti-Trump movement is more focused on economic concerns, more rooted in labor unions, and more anti-billionaire than the 2017-era Resistance, it has the potential to definitively overcome MAGA by sinking deeper roots among working people. But to achieve this goal, the first thing we need is to transform today’s energy into sustained mass action. That can happen if Bernie and AOC ask their followers to start organizing. Read More
We gotta somehow require a written exam candidates have to take before they can become president. I needed to take one to drive a fucking car.
Most of the resistance has been from below. People organizing defend social security or Tesla protests with neighbors and spreading the word. It's very decentralized. In fact I am thinking of feeling out neighbors for a sav social security at our Hayward office. A bunch of 55+ communities in South Hayward.
Not enough; that’s just a popularity contest. Written exam and a six week field exam in which you are given a series of simulated crises and judged on your performance against previous presidents’ real performance. If you don’t pass both, you can’t be motherfucking president.
I think if you were to subtract points for provably false lies it stops being as much of a popularity contest. Also, who would determine the test (or the truthfulness of test/debate answers)? Would the questions and grading have to get approval from majorities of every party in Congress? The more I think about it, the more this all gets pretty complicated pretty quick. *Edited for clarity*
Four ballot measures supported by Louisiana Republican governor all lost in weekend special election. Measures would have increased offenses for which juveniles could be tried as adults, extended partisan control over judges and attorneys, changed tax structure. They all lost by nearly two to one margins. Governor blamed the Jews.
Big rally in Oakland. Maybe 5000? A few glitches, I was on security. We all had assigned corners. But a group of Free Palestine supporters left the rally by wrong street deliberately and other rally goers thought that's where they were supposed to be and followed. Then they turned down a street, not the one for which we had permit so all the security monitors got in a line to block access and steer crowd to correct route. My partner and I then went sprinting to our assigned corner and heard crash and yelling. Some asshole provocateur had smashed windshield of Tesla parked on the street. We paged police liaison and he got police. One of our marchers had filmed it. Car owner, who looked barely old enough to drive, returned to her car and started crying. All I could think was Fox ignoring 5000 peaceful marchers and focus on this asshole. Who, except carpenters, walks around with a hammer in their pocket? Looking forward to seeing reports on rallies elsewhere. Best sign: "Ikea has better cabinet" Runner up: "You wanted cheaper eggs and got measles instead" One it took me a minute: Cat shaped sign, written on it "don't be a dick". Politically incorrect T shirt that still made me laugh: "Have you punched a Nazi today?"
Rachel Maddow showed montage of signs. "I really am a mad scientist." "Hands off social security, Medicare, and Stormy Daniels."
Military Religious Freedom Foundation successfully challenged an order by military officer that all personnel under his command must attend Easter services, regardless of their faith, to show "respect" for Christianity. Attendance is now optional, as it should always be. Imagine the OUTRAGE on Fox if a military commander required soldiers to attend a Ramadan service to show respect for Islam!
