If only.....

[moonshaz]

Trump warns Electoral College lawsuit could undermine his electionDonald Trump is warning that a Colorado lawsuit brought by two Democratic members of the Electoral College could harm his bid to become president

Comments

[ilouboutin]

Can we just get his inauguration over with please?

[elenbarathi]

No, as a matter of fact, we can't. We're not going to just acquiesce to this travesty; we're going to fight every single battle to the bitter end, regardless of how little chance there may be of winning. We're going to keep all our legislators' phones ringing, every damn day, to make it inescapably clear that We the People do not look to be ruled by a sociopathic Russian puppet-king.

People who have better things to do are, of course, perfectly at liberty to go do them.

[ilouboutin]

*sigh* I understand what you're saying and I completely agree. I only said that because this election has completely left me a pessimist. I don't have any hope for the electoral college and I'm just ready to get the next four years over with. Reading/hearing the coverage on him everyday has made me exhausted. That's all I meant.

[mimblexwimble]

It's definitely fatiguing. At some point you feel so hopeless that you just want it all to be over with.

[ilouboutin]

That's exactly what I meant with my comment

[elenbarathi]

I know. The whole thing is a mess; everybody's totally sick of it. But now is no time to give up hope! Trump hasn't even been inaugurated yet, and now the Electoral College is calling for an intelligence briefing before they vote: the more pressure we put on our legislators, the more likely they are to make that happen.

Trump is just one person. There are 535 voting members of Congress, all of whose jobs depend on re-election - not to mention all the State legislators. Whether or not Trump becomes President, they need to be made to realize that supporting or collaborating with him will not be to their political advantage.

Reading/hearing coverage without being able to do anything is exhausting. I suggest making a phone call every day to one of your legislators, about whatever issue seems most important to you that day. It'll take five minutes, and will relieve that feeling of weary helplessness.

[moonshaz]

Just posting to say that I LOVE your fighting spirit, and plan to emulate it to the best of my ability.

I hope you keep posting here. Your comments are giving me so much life right now.

[elenbarathi]

Hey, thanks! You are very kind to say so, and I'm glad you're feeling the fire! We'll all need to rally 'round and keep each other's spirits up over the next four years.

*wry grin* I will probably keep posting here, but have to be careful not to get sucked in to arguments. Come on over to my Lj if you like; lots of articles and links you may find of interest.

[moonshaz]

I will definitely check out your lj. As for my comment, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of cynicism and defeatism yesterday when I came to your posts. I understand people being cynical, but I'm not ready to just go belly up and say,  "Okay, Orange Voldemort, you win, go ahead and fuck up the entire planet and wake me when it's over." It was a relief to see at least one person posting something other than that.

We may not be able to keep him out of office, but there ARE things we can do to make his life as difficult and unplesant as possible now and after the inauguration. Things like recounts, hacking investigations, threats of even a handful of electors revolting--all are worthwhile for the discomfort they cause him, imo,  whether or not they keep him out of the White House.

[elenbarathi]

The more discomfort we can cause him on every front, the madder he will become, and the more the rest of the GOP will back away from him. We need to make it clear to all our legislators that we expect them to oppose this maniac, and not slack off. They're sick of all this too; we will ensure that they are a lot sicker.

It's our right as citizens to contact all our legislators about our concerns. Look up the contact info of all of yours, and call or e-mail them at every opportunity; encourage all your friends to do the same - it's the most direct method we have of effecting change, and it's something anyone can do.

Internet political forums are often full of nay-sayers and cynics, and sometimes outright trolls. It's easy to get sucked into debate that goes nowhere, with people who can never be convinced of anything; that wastes a lot of time, and leaves one frustrated and exhausted. But those people don't really matter, because they're not the ones who hold the power to cause change. The ones who do hold the power only hold it

[mimblexwimble]

Is condescension really the right way to go about bolstering spirit? Most people here are active and have been active in their community, attending protests, calling legislators for months, if not years. We often choose to remain active in the face of strong evidence that nothing will change, whatever we're fighting for. So, if there's a feeling of hopelessness or "cynicism", that should be met with a bit of understanding. Not the suggestion we don't care because we have "better things to do"--as if Trump's election doesn't put many of our lives in serious danger, as if that's fucking news to us, as if resistance is this shiny new concept instead of something we are wearily, horribly familiar with.

[ladycyndra]

THIS

[elenbarathi]

You can label it "condescension" if you like. My first political campaign was McGovern's in 1972, so I am "wearily, horribly familiar" with summer soldiers who decide they've done their bit and crump out just when they'd be most helpful. As for "strong evidence that nothing will change", I strongly question the 'evidence' you're looking at, if you think nothing has changed for the better in America over this past decade, despite the GOP's efforts to obstruct all progress.

"Attending protests" counts for nothing, because it accomplishes nothing useful. "Being active in the community" counts only if that activity comprises actual productive work or financial support, not just words: talk is cheap. As for "calling legislators for months, if not years": very laudable where true, but unfortunately it's a lot less true than you might think: most people think they deserve a medal if they've called their Congressman once. If everybody who says they call would really call - even just once a week - we'd be seeing better results

[mimblexwimble]

Well, if your definition of cynicism includes any type of critical thought or realistic questioning of intentions... I suppose I can understand the superiority.

[cholulamyheart]

I feel ya. Sometimes we all need to pull our own Hillary and just go deep into the woods for a little while.

[cholulamyheart]

Yes!