We Hate Bullies -- Tom Sullivan

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2025/04/27/we-hate-bullies/

Do we have a general strike in us?

This post below from Barbara McQuade of the SistersInLaw podcast lifted my spirits this morning. Somebody out there still believes in the rule of law.


. . .

The Ink contemplates the same after the hell week we just went through together:

What a week it’s been. The Trump regime continued its assault on America’s people and institutions, “deporting” 2-year-old U.S. citizens and arresting state judges on dubious charges. And the chaos continued, with the Secretary of Defense doing his best to jeopardize national security and the President conducting imaginary trade negotiations, making sure kids are trained in cheating, if not reading and writing, attempting to dismantle the Civil Rights Act of 1964, among other indignities.

But we might look back on this week as the moment the idea of a general strike went mainstream. Unexpectedly, center-right New York Times columnist David Brooks shifted the Overton window well leftward with a call for a “comprehensive national civic uprising” to stop the Trump regime’s “multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men.” That someone in his position would write or talk about such a thing isn’t just a surprise — it’s permission for everyone else.

That is, social proof.

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and labor leader Sara Nelson told The Ink about “the challenges Americans face right now from an administration that’s bent on (as Reich put it) bullying us into submission, dismantling the institutions that keep us all safe and healthy, and the laws that keep us free and able to plan for the future. And they were both just as clear about what needs to happen to beat back those challenges.”

Seeing people out in the streets regularly is heartening. There is a sense of solidarity building against the bullying. There is a faction in Americans that sees bullying as how they get their way: domination. The dominator-in-chief clearly does. But we also see that he caves under pressure. Keeping up the pressure on the bullies is our job.

It’s part of the American spirit that’s not quite dead yet that most Americans don’t just dislike bullies, we HATE bullies. Nazis, Clubber Lang, Biff Tannen, Nurse Ratched, Doug Neidermeyer.


I’m in the mood for some comeuppance. And you?

[sop]

1. I've been in the mood for some serious comeuppance since 2016.