For all of those here who speak of despair, and the end of things, please remember one thing.

[guillaumeb]

THE GOP IS AFRAID OF US. YES, THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEMOCRATIC VOTERS!!!

Why do I say this? That is easy to answer.

What has the GOP been doing since 1968?

They have been cheating in elections.

They have been suppressing the vote every place they can.

They have been buying up media outlets and using these outlets to distort their positions, and to distort ours.

They have been deliberately lying about GOP positions on nearly every issue because they recognize that most voters disagree with GOP positions.

They are using racism, and appeals to religion, and appeals to chauvinism in an attempt to divide and conquer.

If the GOP really represented a majority viewpoint, they would have no reason to lie and cheat and steal.

Despair is never an option because the only way the GOP can win is if we the people give up.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. There are more of us than there are of them.

We have to unite and not let certain factions divide us.

[guillaumeb]

2. And we must remember that we are the true moral majority.

The GOP relies on fear and lies, and Trump is good at appealing to both.

[magicarpet]

8. He is an artist in that regard,... that is why he is so dangerous.

[guillaumeb]

19. 2018 showed how weak the Gop, and Trump, are in the face of an energized electorate. eom

[GoCubsGo]

3. THANK YOU!!!

Enough with the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing. It's fine to be worried and scared. It's not okay to just roll over and give up. That's EXACTLY what they want us to do. FUCK THEM! No way in hell I will give those traitorous SOBs what they want.

[guillaumeb]

5. You are welcome.

Demographics are against them.

The truth is against them.

Only big money and hate are with them.

[ismnotwasm]

4. I think people who are a bit older

The ones who have 50 years of battle behind them, hard fought wins and loses, are finding it hard to feel hopeful, so while I agree with you in spirit, I don’t want to invalidate their feelings. These are hard times.

[guillaumeb]

6. I am 68.

I was a union representative for 33 years.

33 years of fighting the same battles.

And the GOP is afraid of the majority of Americans.

[ismnotwasm]

7. Thought you were younger!

Well ok then.

Still, I think I understand. And we all fall into the dumps now and again. Which union if you don’t mind me asking?

[guillaumeb]

14. The NALC,

which is the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Yes, we can be discouraged, but we must remember that the GOP needs to cheat to win.

[ismnotwasm]

20. That's pretty cool

I’m WSNA. (Washington State Nurses Association) we just had a strike up here with a different union and a different hospital (SEIU) management basically refused to negotiate. It was bad. They still don’t have a contract

And yeah. They cheat. Plus, if I’m reading correctly, they are supporting a man who violates their professed values, they are in “the end justifies the means” position.

[guillaumeb]

21. Trump epitomizes GOP values.

The GOP values power, and serving the rich. And lying well to their easily duped voters.

[guillaumeb]

29. My daughter works for a large paper in Chicago, the Tribune, and they are negotiating

their first contract. It has been over a year, with little progress on the main issues.

[ismnotwasm]

32. It's scary

The union pushback. On my unit, we are unusual because we have two reps, me and another nurse. We get calls from other units. We are tying to increase participation. The strike helped I think

[guillaumeb]

33. And speaking to the members helps.

I regularly spoke to members about the union in every office that I visited. I let them know that what they enjoy was not freely given to them, it was negotiated. And what is won can easily be lost if workers forget their history.

[ismnotwasm]

38. +1000

[The Blue Flower]

10. I posted this elsewhere for us older DUers

We seniors have a unique strength. I was born in 1949 and know in my bones, heart, and soul what America is. We seniors know its flaws because we've lived through the civil rights, peace, and women's movements. But we will never be swayed by the craziness or the pressure of media messages to accept anything less than the civic values we absorbed during our decades of growing up with our traditional values of truth, justice, and--yes--"the American way."

We are rock solid in our vision of where we should be heading. Down will never be up for us. We hold the light of truth and must make sure we keep it alive for those coming up behind us. Yes, we have memory that tells us just how bad it can get. My uncle Martin Rose's memory is a blessing--he was a teenager who resisted the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto, was wounded and captured and sent to a camp, yet survived to come to America and live a full life. I think of him when I think of the danger we face. I also think of him when despair raises its ugly head. We are not quitters. We've seen the Berlin wall fall. We've seen public pressure end the war in Vietnam and bring forth civil rights and women's rights.

Have courage and don't stop speaking your truth. We are not quitters.

[ismnotwasm]

13. You guys changed the world.

I’m just a generation behind, I remember feeling disappointed I couldn’t join you

[DinahMoeHum]

23. +1000s

[Hortensis]

37. Yes, yes, yes! Young people really NEED to know how very attainable

the opportunities and widespread prosperity we once had still are. With modern technology far more so even.

I grew up right behind you when a lot of things were done right, not perfect but even while battling the 20th century learning curve well enough that a very poor child could drop out of high school and support herself with a low-skill job while putting herself through college. (At least until I married and we finished that together.)

This is not only a very wealthy nation in spite of the dreadful ill management due to Republican domination and increasing corruption of the past 30 years, but thanks to enormous growth in production, it's far MORE wealthy than when we grew up.

We know how to do it too, better than our parents did in fact because we kept learning from a changing world, and we can have it all again with proper management.

That requires giving the liberals who created the concept of government of, by and FOR the people enough power and then standing back and watching it happen. We've been planning for years.

[Mme. Defarge]

9. It helps to remind myself

that 79% of the voting population wanted witnesses at Trump’s impeachment trial. And it helps to remind myself that now all but one Republican Senator is on record voting for his acquittal. And that this was the first time in our history that a member of the President’s party voted for his conviction and removal from office.

Knowing he would be acquitted, I still believe impeachment it was the right thing to do. Now we must all work like hell to keep the House and take the Senate.

[guillaumeb]

15. I agree with your excellent summary.

2018 happened, and it served as a reminder to the GOP.

[Hortensis]

11. + a million. And that Russia means to use our election to defeat us

shows our votes will still have power. It wasn't guaranteed that'd still be the case, but while we have the vote our getting control of the WH and congress is the beginning of their end.

[guillaumeb]

17. What Russia is doing is classic asymetric warfare.

Putin knows that he cannot compete militarily, but he can fight a cyber war, especially if the GOP allows it.

[Hortensis]

35. Yes. And speaking of asymmetrical, I was also thinking the 4chan creeps

could be acting as terrorists interfering "asymmetrically" in the Iowa caucuses. "Decentralized" volunteers lone-shooter style or on orders of a hostile nation or organization.

[guillaumeb]

41. Agreed, and a good example.

No one can say where the 4chan trolls live.

[mac56]

12. Brilliant post.

They can't win a fair fight, and they know it.

[pnwest]

24. They also know we won't fight dirty. So

they laugh at us and keep on winning.

[FiveGoodMen]

30. If only we could STOP THEM from fighting dirty

Ping-ponging between center-right and extreme-right for decades has brought us here.

We needed to oppose the trend a LONG time ago.

[Scarsdale]

40. Take a good look at the

caliber of representatives the gop attracts. Gym Jordan? Gaetz? Nunes? Gohmert? We democratic voters would not want them in our party. Not a decent one among them. The gop attracts the dregs. Look who they put into the WH. The worst president EVER. Unqualified, crude, rude, ignorant. He likes to strut around as though he is a mafia don. That is his version of "tough". Those guys would laugh in his face if he ever tried to join them. He is a coward. An abuser and user. Not a single decent quality to be had. Unfortunately, he has plenty of toadies just like himself to take down this country. We just have to make it all the more difficult for them to take over completely.

[treestar]

16. +1

We have examples. We can't just let them take over.

[guillaumeb]

18. We outnumber them. And they know it.

They can try to divide us, but if we focus we will win in 2020.

[pnwest]

22. Of course they're afraid, what's that got to do

with the price of eggs? How is that supposed to make me take heart? What makes them dangerous, and seemingly unbeatable, is their LACK of fear of accountability. They’ve infiltrated the courts, the cops, and all the necessary political positions - in order to mitigate that fear by stacking ALL the fucking variables in their favor. That fear of us is the very thing that brought us to where we are, how’s pointing that out - again - supposed to change any goddamn thing? The more we shout and mobilize and protest and vote, the harder they lie, cheat and steal. We can shout all day long, but until we fight dirty and create a cohesive long-term strategy, it ain’t gonna change nuthin’.

[guillaumeb]

25. Take heart that you, and people like you, are the majority.

That does not mean, nor do I say, that you should not organize, and fight back, and recognize that these people will lie, cheat, and steal to keep power.

Look at the general drop off in voter participation in non-Presidential elections. 2018 was an exception, but when 40% or more of the population does not vote, we know that we have to work on these people. The GOP could not steal in 2018, and they cannot steal enough in 2020 if we mobilize.

And no, we do not need to cheat and steal elections because we can actually win them.

[pwb]

26. The blue wave is now a tsunami. Smiling while lying doesn't work anymore.

They don't know what to do. It fells great knowing that they are on the run.

[guillaumeb]

27. The GOP has been the minority for many years.

2018, and 2008, and 2012, all showed what an energized mass of voters can accomplish.

[pandr32]

28. Agreed and thank you for the reminder!

[guillaumeb]

31. I am happy to do so, and thank you.

It is too easy to listen to Trump, and to see what the GOP is doing, and assume that they are winning.

[Hortensis]

43. Yes. More please when a buck-up seems needed.

[bdamomma]

34. hmm...

I think I will go to this site and give a donation again.



https://www.paybackproject.org/

[guillaumeb]

42. A good reminder.

ActBlue is another place I frequent.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/introducingactblueexpress

[marble falls]

36. If our votes mean nothing they wouldn't be trying so hard to steal them.

[guillaumeb]

44. And prevent them from being cast.

The leaders of the GOP know that their view is losing support.

[Bradshaw3]

39. Well said n/t

[guillaumeb]

45. Thank you.

We need to keep certain things in mind even when Trump is at his most crazy.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

46. educate the electorate ...

There are a great many people who are not involved because they've grown up under the Newt Gingrich model the GOP adopted -- scorched earth, no compromise, Party uber alles. They dropped out or haven't started because they don't know government can and should work for the governed. There are many who have succumbed to the propaganda of the GOP that government is their enemy, not their collective tool and servant.

We take it back and put it to work for all of us. Make voting easier and fair. Restore competition in public communications. Address the income inequality that has been exacerbated with every GOPer administration and Congress.

[guillaumeb]

47. Huge challenges, but we can do it.

Your reply is an excellent summary, and an excellent prescription for what we must do.

Reagan epitomized this conservative idea that Government is the enemy with his moronic phrase about the supposed scariest thing one can hear.

[Laelth]

48. Well said. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[guillaumeb]

49. We all need to say this.

And say it in letters to the local newspaper. And on social media.