Days of Change

Indivisible

When the first Tea Party inklings started just about 8 years ago, the left ignored them, mocked them and quickly tried to copy them. There was the Coffee Party, Occupy and ultimately, Bernie Sanders. They learned that the only way to use the Tea Party method was to recreate the conditions. The first protests just a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration were when I saw this happening. In true liberal fashion, they are organized, but unlike Occupy, they have a manifesto.

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/

What’s ironic about this guide is that it pretty much debunks the idea that the Tea Party was AstroTurf while explaining how to mimic a locally-focused plan of resistance and criticism. Obviously, this plan of action is worthy of mockery and some of the agitators are either professional protesters or paid day players. However, that defense won’t end their agenda.

My concern can be seen as concern-trolling, but there are some differences between now and 2009 that make even a fake protest movement effective enough.

1. Trump won with 46% of the vote. The White House is set for the next 4 years, but seats in Congress have to deal with a president who broke 50% in about half the states and a president who has shown no interest in helping anyone in a contested district.
2. Employment is a lagging indicator. The companies who committed to hire thousands of employees are under no legal obligation to do so. Even if they do, those jobs may not be filled for years.
3. Cheap foreign oil beats expensive domestic coal. Dropping EPA regulations on coal mining and gas exploration will not have much of an impact for years. Saudi Arabia has shut down the fracking industry by overproducing. A free market means that the US can’t simply pay more for domestic energy for a decade until the Middle East learns a lesson.
4. Trump would rather be adored by a few than favorably tolerated by many. Whenever Trump is confronted with red meat statements that are nearly impossible to implement, he doubles down. The president not only fights Democrats, but he offered little in olive branches to Republicans who weren’t on the Trump Train. They could stay home in 2018.

For the record, I don’t want Hillary Clinton to “win” and the way to do that is solidify a slightly larger Republican base and for Trump to listen to people not named Steve once in a while. Trump is getting big things done, but he’s also focusing on petty issues. He’s on a hot streak, but they’re all hot streaks until they end.