Trump Wanted A March On Washington, Just Not The One He's Getting
Trump wanted a march on Washington ... just not the one he's getting
Republicans cannot stop whining about Rep. John Lewis daring to question the legitimacy of a president elected despite losing the popular vote and having assistance from a foreign government. Or about the director of the Office of Government Ethics daring to comment on Donald Trump’s ethical arrangements. Or about being reminded that Trump was questioning President Obama’s legitimacy on far flimsier grounds for years. But let’s hear it from the man himself, after Obama’s resounding 2012 win:
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Four years later, the nation is deeply divided, with a historically unpopular president coming into office … and people are marching on Washington .
Women's March on Washington organizers said in applying for a demonstration permit that they expected 200,000 people.
Christopher Geldart, the District of Columbia's homeland security director, thinks the march will draw more than that. Some 1,800 buses have registered to park in the city on Jan. 21, which would mean nearly 100,000 people coming in just by bus, Geldart said. Amtrak trains into and out of the city are also fully booked on that day, Geldart said.
"Usually when I look at things like that, that tells me we've got a pretty substantial crowd coming in. That leads me to believe we're definitely above the 200,000-person mark," Geldart said.
Trump should be pleased, right? Even if it took them four years, people are taking his advice!
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Has there ever been a protest this size concurrent with the inauguration of a new president?
Trump is making history !
Protesting the peaceful transition of power to a democratically elected President... How brave. How inspiring...
Protesting the peaceful transition of power to a democratically elected President... How brave. How inspiring...
How...democratic?
Actually, it's anti-democratic. By definition.
Actually, it's anti-democratic. By definition.
Dog-do.
Protesting a free election is un-democratic.
Protesting the peaceful transition of power to a democratically elected President... How brave. How inspiring...
The "Women's March" is taking place the day AFTER the inauguration, so all this misdirect about how they're protesting a peaceful transition of power is just bogus.
Sure they're pissed at having to put up with such a loser for the next few years but they are coming together, " The day after" , Trump takes office to protest things like, limiting women's health care choices, taking away their families health insurance, or just the way a Trump victory gave some legitimacy to things like sexual assault and discrimination in the workplace.
The women's march is meant to show solidarity for their causes and that they will be keeping an eye on the things the new administration does. As they should.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT, National Organizers
On January 21, 2017 we will unite in Washington, DC for the Women’s March on Washington. We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families -- recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.
The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us--women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.
In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.
We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all. HEAR OUR VOICE.
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This is an INCLUSIVE march, and EVERYONE who supports women's rights are welcome.
As for boycotting Trumps inauguration, well that was done back in 1972 as well.
Guess we'll just have to wait and see if those who are now sensing pending disaster by making Trump President in 2017 are as prescient as those 165 members of Congress that sensed the same with a Nixon Presidency back in 1973.
Trump will be president the day after the march and for everyday thereafter until the next election. The march might have some purpose if it was intended to appeal to the other side in a constructive way but this is just a public tantrum to flip Trump the finger. The other side will tune this out completely and all that will have been accomplished is to make the country even more divided. Democrats should stop wringing their hands, crying, and tearing their hair out. Maybe the serenity prayer will help.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
It requires them to value wisdom, which is the collective historic ideals of many contributors, which conflicts with the ideal that they know best for everyone.
They can never be serene as long as it is not accepted that they know everything.
I'm afraid you guys miss the point.
There has never been this size of protest against an incoming president, I am fairly sure of that.
Instead of wondering why there is such a massive protest, maybe you should wonder why there is a perceived need for one. We have had Republican presidents before, many times, without such a protest.
Maybe the fault is not with the protesters but with the object of the protest.
I'm afraid you guys miss the point . . .
The point is that the protest is pointless. It can't possibly make anything better.
The point is that the protest is pointless.
Not to the people that are exercising their right to do so.
The point is that the protest is pointless.
Not to the people that are exercising their right to do so.
The exercise is futile and is, by definition, pointless no matter what they think. They could choose to howl at the moon in order to make it change color. The color won't change no matter how loud they howl but they're free to howl until they turn blue.
They're probably just hoping for some sweet looting.
The exercise is futile and is, by definition, pointless no matter what they think.
You are hallucinating that you have some insight.
If 200,000 people are there, organized by Democratic and independent activist groups, many of them will go back to their home state and remember the day they protested Trump's inauguration, and remain activist and work toward the next election. It is hardly a waste of time.
If 200,000 people are there, organized by Democratic and independent activist groups, many of them will go back to their home state and remember the day they protested Trump's inauguration, and remain activist and work toward the next election. It is hardly a waste of time.
So you admit this is all a partisan stunt and should be treated as such.
independent activist groups,
Sorry to have to enlighten you John, but there are no "Independent Activists Groups".
No. It seems like it's the protesters' problem. They won't accept the results of the election.
The bigger point that they missed is that their hero Trump was the guy who unsuccessfully tried to get the same reaction from the people four years ago. Now that the visceral reaction to that same douchebag has successfully organized the protest that he failed to muster, somehow it's a pointless venture. Just another example of how certain things are only ok when proposed by the right.
Just anotherexample of how certain things are only ok when proposed by the right.
Yet democrats said that Trump undermined democracy and a smooth transition of power when he declined to promise that he would accept the results of the election. Of course, that was when they thought Hillary would win. Now that's she lost, the hypocrites think it's perfectly fine to protest his election in the streets and boycott his inauguration. They are all completely full of shit.
They didn't think Trump could win because they underestimated the growing stupidity of the electorate. There are a whole host of ideas that could be listed here for which the right only accepts when they are proposed by the right.
They didn't think Trump could win because they underestimated the growing stupidity of the electorate.
Perhaps democrats just tripped over their own stupidity and fell down the stairs.
Caught in their own hypocrisy. If trump does it he's undermining democracy. If Democrats do the same thing and worse, then they're just exercising free speech.
There are very few Trump supporters living in Washington DC. However, there are quite a few of them once you go 40 minutes or more into Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia etc. If the press keeps hyping this protest, it wouldn't surprise me if thousands of Trump supporters drove in on a day trip to flip the bird back at the protestors. I hope it rains.
Donald Trump does and says a dozen things every day that prove he is psychologically unfit for the presidency.
He should consider himself lucky there aren't 25 million people at the national mall to protest his inauguration.
No matter how many people jump up and down about how unfit he is, he won. He will still be the president.
You make the tiniest point possible.
You make the tiniest point possible.
Yet it's still standing.
The betting odds that Trump will be impeached in the first six months are only 4-1. That means bookmakers think there is a 20% chance he will be impeached almost immediately.
These are strange times indeed.
He's lucky the protest isnt much much larger.
Bookies thought Clemson would lose too. Big deal.
The betting odds that Trump will be impeached in the first six months are only 4-1. That means bookmakers think there is a 20% chance he will be impeached almost immediately.
Yeah, probably the same bookies that gave him less than a 20% chance of winning the election. His party controls both houses of congress so he won't be impeached unless his own party decides to do it. I'd say the odds of that right now would be near zero. Maybe the democrats should look to fortune tellers rather than bookies.
He's lucky the protest isnt much much larger.
It wouldn't make any difference at all. If every single person who voted for Hillary showed up in Washington DC and the crowd stretched from the Washington monument to the blue ridge mountains, Trump would still be the president and his party would still control both houses of congress.
By not appealing to the other side in any way (and being offensive about it), all these protestors are doing is building pressure on republicans from their constituents to bow to Trump and appeove every cabinet head and every Supreme Court nominee. Democrats are just making things worse for themselves, not better.
And Trump will still be president...
For some reason the childishness of those who are whining and crying and protesting what can't be changed makes me think of the childhood poem:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All he king's horses and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.
As foreigners around the world view what is happening, they are most likely thinking that maybe American Democacy is NOT so desireable. But who gives a shit what the rest of the world thinks, eh?
The rest of the world is lamenting the choice that was made.
I don't think the rest of the world, John, but surely the Arab/Muslim countries may be.
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#1 - If a million people do a foolish thing, it is still, a foolish thing.
#2 - Considering how much it will cost, per person, to travel, stay and eat in Washington DC, the people going there to protest are doing so because it is fashionable and they have money to waste.
#3 - I hate to say this but the democratic left is acting every bit as immature, stupid and childish about Trumps election as the republican right acted when Obama was elected.
If I recall, and perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't remember the Republican reaction to Obama's election as being ANYTHING like how the Democrats are reacting now. You can see it right here if you watch John's relentless postings.
That's because Obama was 1,000 times more worthy as a candidate than Trump. Trump will be a disaster. Seriously, you can't even compare the two.
I'm not talking about one person per se nor am I talking about all democrats or republicans. My metric here is online forums. During the Obama regime, at places like "The Vine", everyday there was a new and stupid "outrage" about him,; from not wearing a flag on his lapel to reading off of a teleprompter. That got old very fast.
However, I will agree that publicly, the democratic party's outrage against Trump is excessive to a point of wondering if people in that party have lost all their minds. As an adult and parent, I've taught my girls to deal with life as it is. The hard left democrats and their hollywood bubble-heads are reacting like little kids; showing the lowest common denominator of emotional responses.
I'm not supporting Trump but for the good of all America, I hope ratchet down the wars and work to get Americans employed.
One comes to mind.... the idiot waving the Confederate flag at the National Mall. Many more for examples if you want, Buzz. Don't go senile on us, and collectively forget all the shit thrown at Obama for 8 years.
Please. There's no comparison with the shrill whining of the left after this election. Not to mention the rioting and looting.
Or maybe the dozens of times the Congress tried to repeal Obamacare, place blame for Benghazi, and look for the 'birth certificate'. Great use of congressional time and money.
Or maybe the dozens of times the Congress tried to repeal Obamacare, place blame for Benghazi, and look for the 'birth certificate'. Great use of congressional time and money.
Trying to repeal Obamacare over and over was stupid. The Benghazi hearings were useful if no other reason than to discover Hillary's secret email server. I don't remember any congressional inqury into a birth certificate.
I actually meant the birth certificate quadruple fiasco, to be credited to our soon to be Commander in Chief. More stupid shit from Trump. But no one in Congress tried to dissuade him from his idiotic demand to see 'the' birth cert. either.
Don't go senile on us
I don't think we'll have a problem with that DW.
Did my comment indicate that I WAS going senile? - if so perhaps I should consider applying to be housed in an old folks home.
If I recall, and perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't remember the Republican reaction to Obama's election as being ANYTHING like how the Democrats are reacting now. You can see it right here if you watch John's relentless postings.
George Bush led the country into an unnecessary war in Iraq. After his simpleminded warmongering, people were desperate for a change. Obama eloquently offered a breath of fresh air. I took a chance and voted for him in 08 and so did millions of others. I can't forget seeing hundreds of people on the capital grounds booing Bush and singing "kiss him goodbye" as George Bush flew away in his helicopter. Even if the republicans hadn't been in disarray, I doubt they would have done something as staggeringly ignorant as organizing a congressional boycott of the inauguration. This is going to come back to haunt democrats just like eliminating the filibuster.
1. Maybe. Or maybe Trump is bad like nothing we've ever seen and is worthy of massive protest.
2. I think a lot of these people will get on a bus from their starting point, from 0 to 8 or so hours away, do the protest, get back on the bus and go home.
3. Trump is not qualified to be president, by temperament or character. Could the world survive anyway? Yes, it could.
Little do they know but these Trump haters are the people that helped him to win. Snowflakes crying is a win win for Trump.
If someone came up and as he is taking the oath hit Trump in the face with a creme pie, you would say it was a win for Trump.
If they protest Trump you will call it a win for Trump and if they don't protest Trump you will call it a win for Trump. Or do I misunderstand you?
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The Union will survive.
I'd rather see a large protest than keeping up the pretense that electing this man was a normal course of events.
When was the last time you saw a president of the united States do this
or this
Trump agrees to $25 million settlement in Trump University fraud ...
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I can overlook Trumps criminal actions especially when I compare that to both Obama's and Hillary's warmongering, which has needlessly cost tens of thousands of innocent lives in the middle east.
You seem to be a one issue voter.
And there is no assurance Trump won't lead us into more wars. Obama wasn't going to have war either.
Trump is a national embarrassment. I think it is important that we keep that in sight as it moves along. He is turning the symbolic leadership of our country into bad reality tv.
The movie "Idiocracy" comes most to mind.
And there is no assurance Trump won't lead us into more wars. Obama wasn't going to have war either.
Hillary is a warmonger. She led us into conflict as Secretary of State and, if past is prologue, she would do it again as president.
If I value the existence and quality of human life as a single issue, then yeah.....I am a single issue person.
I agree that we should have no wars.
We shouldn't have people in the US dying because they can't afford health care either. We shouldn't have 30,000 Americans die by gun violence every year either.
I'd rather see a large protest than keeping up the pretense that electing this man was a normal course of events.
Electing a buffoon is not normal and protesting the results of an election is undemocratic.
If they protest Trump you will call it a win for Trump and if they don't protest Trump you will call it a win for Trump. Or do I misunderstand you?
He'll be president whether they protest or not but a partisan protest may actually strengthen his hand in his own party. So yes, he may have a win win.
All the emphasis is being put on Trump as being illegitimate. Have they no shame? Where was John Lewis, who says it is an obligation to speak out against wrong done to others, when Bernie Sanders was being cheated by the Democratic Party?
I think John Lewis has come to be what he fought against in the 60's. Where is Hillary Clinton or Obama? This is proof of what many have been saying for years now. It matters when someone who is in a high position talks and it matters when they don't, it's just their objective that determines whether they do or don't. It is so transparent it's blinding.
I've read most of the comments on this thread. What I find astonishing is this lack of democratic appreciation from those commenting on the right side of our political spectrum when that was the very platform being claimed was taken from them.
No, the protests aren't meant to take away President Elect Trump's win or Presidency. It's meant to let him and the Republican leadership (whom are in charge now) know what is important to them. Republicans label it whining, protestors label it exercising their freedom of speech. We should not be making fun of them or criticizing them for exercising this freedom and this right.
No, the protests aren't meant to take away President Elect Trump's win or Presidency.
They can't take it away; they're trying to discredit it.
It's meant to let him and the Republican leadership (whom are in charge now) know what is important to them.
Everybody knows what's important to them i.e. getting their way and throwing a tantrum if they don't. The protest is intended to be a public slap in Trump's face.
Republicans label it whining, protestors label it exercising their freedom of speech. We should not be making fun of them or criticizing them for exercising this freedom and this right.
Freedom of speech and whining are not mutually exclusive . . . so they are exercising the right to whine. They are free to do that and everyone else is equally free to mock them for it.
The protest, the lack of support from the Democrat politicians including Obama and Hillary Clinton have one objective and and one objective only and that objective is to de-legitimize the presidency of Donald Trump for the history books.
It's no different than the police acting stupidly or Ferguson from Obama's actions. He has always spoken when it was politically beneficial and remained silent when it has been politically beneficial regardless of what would have been the moral thing to do.
Hillary Clinton called this sort of response undemocratic and said not doing such things as this was what separated us from other countries. These leaders are not doing what is best for this country and haven't been doing what is best for the is country.
Either one and especially Obama could speak up and make a difference for the good of this country, but for the last eight years this has not been the case. At every opportunity to do what is right, they have done what was wrong for the citizens of this country from putting American Citizens in the back of the bus to doubling the National Debt.
Obama is doing everything he can to put this country in the worst condition he can before leaving office, while speaking out the other side of his mouth when in front of the camera. It's a whole lot worse than being a bunch of crybabies. They are traitors to the people of this country in my opinion.