Contrast that to issues progressives actually care about, like Trump's pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Aware that his decision would be controversial, Trump released the news late Friday -- a classic media dump. Not only that, Hurricane Harvey was about to hit Houston. The Arpaio story got swept away by a flood of Houston headlines.
It's so easy to play progressives.
Weekends pass. So do hurricanes. Why didn't progressives schedule some big anti-Arpaio/Trump demonstrations for late the following week? Just put a reminder into your phone! Because they're used to reacting. Progressives will never win unless they steal a page from the GOP playbook and start setting the agenda -- and pounding away at it relentlessly, lack of reaction be damned.
Stupid progressive thing #4: never learning from past mistakes.
Fighting the last war -- fixing the mistakes you made last time without anticipating the challenges of the next encounter -- is a classic error of strategy. But progressives aren't even good enough to make that error. They don't even learn from their previous screw-ups.
Inspired by Tahrir Square, the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement suffered from its lack of centralized leadership, a lack of formal demands, its welcoming of the homeless and mentally ill and a rift between revolutionary and reformist wings. But OWS' biggest mistake was calendrical.
They occupied public parks. Parks are outside. OWS began in the fall. The weather got cold, occupiers drifted away, morale turned sad. By the time Obama smashed the encampments with federally-coordinated violent raids, there wasn't much of a movement left to destroy.
Here we go again.
Refuse Fascism has a plan to get rid of Trump. "On Saturday, November 4 -- approximately a year after President Donald Trump's election -- members of the Resistance will descend on America's major cities," reports The Politico. "They'll march and demonstrate, as they have in the past, but this time, say organizers, they won't go home at the end of the day. Instead, the plan is to occupy city centers and parks and not leave until, and only until, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have fallen."
November.
It's cold in November.
I know, I know -- it's easy to criticize. Which is why I chose criticism as a job. So let me offer a concrete suggestion.
Starting in November? Occupy indoor spaces.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
5
5
3
