Finally: Democrats unveil nationwide plan to crush Trump - Brian Tyler Cohen

[TexasTowelie]

Democracy Watch episode 284: Marc Elias discusses the HANDS OFF! protests springing up this weekend.

[birdographer]

1. How will this crush him?

(Sorry, cannot watch his face making noises out of his anus mouth.)

[wyn borkins]

2. Neither Can I "watch his face making noises out of his anus mouth" (n/t)

[prodigitalson]

3. What's the gist at least of this nationwide crushing plan?

Can you post a better description? I really don't want to click it and feel disappointed and manipulated by the headline.

[TexasTowelie]

4. I avoid writing summaries just like I avoided history classes when I was in college.

Here is the transcript:

this is Democracy Watch mark you and I
have spoken a lot about all of the
actions that the Trump administration
has taken against the American people
and there's been a lot of uh focus on
how we can fight back and this weekend
we actually have an instance in which we
can do exactly that can you explain what
we have to look forward to yeah so big
protest this weekend you know people
have been been concerned that there that
there is a lack of energy um on the
ground to uh stand up against everything
that Donald Trump is doing uh to this
country and you know it has become sort
of a media narrative that somehow the
protests of the 2017 era are you know
are not being replicated in uh in 2025
and by the way there's some truth to it
but it's actually not entirely true like
you know if you look at for example the
Tesla dealership protests I think
actually those have been quite effective
and quite widespread but this weekend uh
there will be a much much larger
well-coordinated
uh uh set of protests around the country
uh organized by uh a vast spectrum of of
of progressive and democratic uh
organizations and so it's a real
opportunity for everyone out there who's
asked you and me and others you know
what can you do um you know this is
something you could do that you can join
point and and Mark what do you what do
you think the what do you hope the
biggest takeaway from a mass
demonstration like this will be so I
think the biggest takeaway in 2025 needs
to be that people are not alone that
there that that that not everyone is
cowering not everyone is backing down i
think it's really hard for people at an
individual level to constantly be
reading about how media figures or
billionaires or high-powered lawyers or
universities how everyone is bending a
knee and backing down and not feeling a
little bit of dispirited from that and
wondering well you know what can I do
I'm just one individual and you know I
wrote something for democracy docket
about Cy Booker standing on the floor of
the Senate for 25 hours and how
important that was not just in in that
he did it and what he said but that it
really showed that everyone can stand up
that everyone has a voice and everyone
has a town square to speak out in and
these these these organized protests are
really a great way for people to kind of
live that right like you may not be able
to take to the Senate floor you may not
be Brian Tyler Con with you know four
plus million people watching every word
that you utter you know so utter words
that are worth hearing by four million
people Brian uh but these are
opportunities for you know everyday
Americans to show up and and find that
there is there there is collective
action and there is power in that
collective action and so regardless of
where you live because this is happening
in all 50 states you can look for you
can search online for handsoff that's
the name of this protest the hands-off
protest there are over a quarter of a
million people who've already RSVPd i'm
sure that there are going to be hundreds
of thousands if not millions more who
are going to take to the streets who
haven't officially RSVPd but again you
can look uh look online and find where
you can go in your respective state to
make sure that you take to the streets
and I think I think one thing that you
brought up was was especially um on
point here and that is this idea that
that everybody should be doing something
the the Cy Booker example was the
perfect example because look not much
materially is going to change from
yesterday to today if you have Cy Booker
standing up on the Senate floor but what
he did was figure out a way to break
through in a media environment where
it's really difficult to be able to
break through and and so by virtue of
doing this yes he was able to break
through because he did something
different he figured out how to optimize
in this media environment figured out
how to do something a little bit left to
center that most people aren't doing as
as opposed to just taking to the floor
for you know a couple of minutes and
sticking that that faction of that
speech online hoping that it gets a few
hundred,000 or million views and then
calling it a day this is him literally
putting his body on the line for 25
hours so that he could break through in
this environment and get people to
listen to his words and I think that
this protest that we're going to see
across the country is not dissimilar at
all to exactly that because the reality
is that we need to take big swings we
need to do things that are a lot
different from what we've you from what
we are used to doing to be able to break
through to be able to get people paying
attention and so we saw it from Cy
Booker he did that on an individual
basis we're going to see that this
weekend on a collective basis but I
think that Democrats are starting to
recognize that we can't just operate
using the same old playbook and that we
have to think outside the box here and
figure out ways to really break through
to really be able to reach people and
really start to make a change that way
yeah and I think you know a point you
have made over and over again that I
think is really super smart and I hope
that progressive organizations and
Democrats listen to you because you've
been really uh at the leadership of
helping them understand the moment we're
in is when Cy Booker does what he does
yes he gets a lot of views yes he gets a
lot of attention and he also inspires
other people but he also helps support a
whole ecosystem that is trying to get
this message out he gives content
frankly Brian to you and to you know I
wrote something on democracy docket
about him speaking out it is something
that has then a multiplier effect and I
think if we see large protests you know
we see peaceful demonstrations in city
after city yeah those capture the media
attention and that's great they capture
v viral videos on Tik Tok but it also
presents opportunities for others that
may be in adjacent spaces they may cover
other areas of the news they may cover
other kinds of things they may not even
cover politics they may be influencers
in other topics uh and other spheres but
who can then wrap this into their
audiences and so it creates the the the
grist for sort of a larger uh narrative
to take hold and by the way that that's
a great point and it's it's a strategy
that Republicans have employed for years
i mean there is a reason that we had so
many books written about Donald Trump
during his first presidency is because
every time somebody would write a book
Trump would then Trump would then you
know obviously he wants to read a a
positive a positive book about himself
he would then promote it get these
people onto the New York Times
bestseller list get them a lot of sales
and that would serve as an incentive
structure for other people in the
ecosystem to do exactly that so
everybody who was going to write a Trump
book basically knew okay I'm going to
have an audience at some point i'm going
to get a shout out at some point from
Donald Trump himself and so I'll keep
doing it and he engendered this idea of
of really incentivization for people to
to write about him and he built up this
ecosystem on the right and I think that
the more that that folks on the left do
that either by by knowing that you know
if if you put yourself out there you're
going to get covered or by giving
content to people who will then use it
and really supercharge the the the
discourse on the left that way in any
way any way you cut it it's going to be
beneficial but really this is a strategy
that the right has employed um for a
very long time and it's been really
successful for them and I think that
it's good that Democrats are finally
recognizing now uh the the benefits more
broadly that it's having yeah and also
it does give people something concrete i
mean there is no question that people
are hungering to know not just what they
can read and not just what they can
watch but what they can do and what it
does is it shows that there's something
they can do i mean part of what Senator
Booker did is he did something you know
it was it was it was big it was bold it
was new and it was active he was out
there on the Senate floor he wasn't
reading the Senate phone book or I'm
sorry reading the phone book generally
wasn't just like reciting nursery rhymes
like Ted Cruz he was he was animated he
was energized he was he was he was
discussing you know why this matters and
I think giving people an opportunity
this weekend to you know get out of
their houses you know get all get off of
social media and and be part of
something and feel like they are doing
something you know will also
reinvigorate and energize people when
they then see what Democratic elected
officials are doing what groups are
doing what influencers are doing it will
make them feel like they are part of
that right and and that's the perfect
point we'll leave off there again for
everybody watching right now if you want
to do something if you want to get off
the couch get off the internet and
actually get with a community of people
who who um together will show you that
that we have some path out of this
please check out these protests across
the country please make yourself be a
part of it across the country post this
stuff online get this uh narrative
moving that Democrats have the
enthusiasm which has already been uh
sparked by our our big win in Wisconsin
and uh and and just let it continue to
grow as we head toward uh 2026 here uh
with that said um for anybody watching
that's also looking to support the
invaluable work that Mark and his team
are doing um please sign up for
Democracy Docket it's the news outlet he
founded to focus on everything voting
and elections these are the exact kind
of people the exact kind of words the
exact kind of outlets that we need to be
lifting up so I'll put that link right
here on the screen and also in the post
description of this video i'm Brian
Taylor Cohen i'm Mark Elias this is
Democracy Watch

[usonian]

5. For the first time ever, and maybe the last, I used an online AI gizmo to generate paragraphs. It summarized instead. so

FWIW, or not:

Democracy Watch has frequently discussed the various actions taken by the Trump administration that impact the American populace.

Recently, there has been significant attention on how to effectively counter these actions, and this weekend presents a tangible opportunity for collective action.

A major protest is scheduled, addressing concerns about the perceived lack of grassroots energy to oppose the current administration's policies.

While some narratives suggest that the fervor of protests seen in 2017 is absent in 2025, this is not entirely accurate; for instance, protests at Tesla dealerships have demonstrated considerable effectiveness.

This weekend's protests, organized by a diverse array of progressive and democratic groups, offer a chance for individuals seeking ways to engage and make their voices heard.

The primary hope for such a mass demonstration is to convey that individuals are not isolated in their dissent; many are standing firm against the prevailing narrative of submission.

It is crucial for participants to recognize that they are part of a larger movement, countering the discouragement that can arise from observing influential figures capitulating to pressure.

IMO, THIS IS A GREAT IDEA, BUT NOT A PLAN

Here, I believe, is a way to help already established organizations fighting for democracy.
I urge you to read it (and join the April 5 protest)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10114001

Here it is, to save you a click:

How to fight back: charting opposition to the actions of the Trump administration
A must read.

https://christinapagel.substack.com/p/how-to-fight-back-charting-opposition

Cross-posting "everywhere".
LOTS of links, including download links to detailed PDF diagrams, in the article.

Explore the links in the article. Too many to copy here.

Bookending this article.

Last week I wrote a post where I grouped 69 actions taken by the Trump administration since the 20th January inauguration into five broad domains consistent with authoritarian or proto-authoritarian states and charted these on a Venn Diagram. Since then I’ve updated the list to 76 actions and have investigated which actions are associated with any coordinated opposition. All 76 actions, links to news stories on them, the date they started, and any opposition are listed in this google sheet (worksheet “Actions with links”).

Despite the administration being less than a month old, about half of all the 76 actions are being opposed in some coordinated way, and about a quarter have had legal action taken against them. Some lawsuits have already resulted in temporary or preliminary injunctions (e.g. ending birthright citizenship or ending USAID). There are lot of people and a lot of organisations doing a lot of things.

skip

For individuals wishing to get involved it might be supporting organisations already leading the fights; joining local grassroots organisations to support local communities and build awareness; or working with sectors with less experience or legal protections to build an advocacy platform. Finally of course there is electoral pressure - local and national congressional races matter.

This is not the work of months, but years, perhaps decades, both in the US and abroad. Within countries, the civil rights and labour movements have shown us that it can be done and how to do it. The international organisations established after the second world war show us it can be done on regional and global scales.

In short: YOU ARE NOT ALONE
There are organizations you can help that are here to help you, and every American peacefully halt this coup

I post a "switchboard" of organizations listing events.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10113922

Please find something in your area, share it here and elsewhere, and support organizations mentioned above who are staffed and trained to do battle with wannabe autocrats.

And please do not feed the oligarchs. Bernie mentions the big three by name. Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg.

[prodigitalson]

6. Certainly not a crushing plan. And yes a good idea and generally good news

It makes the clickbait headline more infuriating. I refuse to click headlines like that.

[prodigitalson]

7. Thanks...it's what I suspected...a genuinely interesting story

with an inaccurate and sensational headline.