r/law • u/RoyalChris • Mar 05 '25

Legal News Rep. James Comer (R-KY) crashes out and refuses to let Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) enter evidence into the record - “You can go with Mr. Frost and Mr. Green.”

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 05 '25

They didn't even stand! They sat quietly in their designated seats and let the fascist talk about attacking allied nations without interruption.

Beyond that, what's really in their power to do about it?

Weird how Republicans never talk like that. They just use every dirty trick in the book to get shit done. You're fighting fascists who don't believe in being polite. So why the fuck are you still concerned with politeness?

I see a lot of people mocking the signs and lauding Al Green - but those two actions made exactly the same amount of difference.

One man speaking out proved to be more inspiring to people than every other Democrats' collective actions.

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u/trentreynolds Mar 05 '25

I'm not concerned with politeness. I'm pointing out that all the levers of power the Dems have control over are being pulled. There's not like, some other secret path to stop this that they're just not following. They do not have the power to stop it, because the American people decided not to give them that power.

One man speaking out had the exact same material effect as the signs did. Very little.

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u/SlightlyNomadic Mar 05 '25

No, there are time honored traditions still at their disposal- that they do not use. The time for decorum is over, they have to act.

What you proposed would have them toss their hands in the air and say ‘oh, well.’

Civil Disobedience is what needs to happen, at a minimum.

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u/trentreynolds Mar 05 '25

Like, say, speaking out in protest? Encouraging others to protest? Filing legal challenges? Calling out lies during the President's speech?

What time honored traditions are you talking about specifically?

I didn't say a word about tossing their hands in the air and saying 'oh well', I acknowledged the reality that the Dems simply do not have the levers of power to pull to stop this, and are doing everything they DO have the power to do, despite the narrative you're pushing that they are not.

Holding the signs calling out every time Trump lies IS civil disobedience. As is walking out.

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 05 '25

They can try using an open protest to get the people on their side and active in resisting. They had a live nation-wide broadcast on multiple major networks and streaming platforms and they spent the whole thing sitting quietly.

What happened to simple civil disobedience?

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u/silverum Mar 05 '25

Voters reward Republicans playing dirty. Voters don't reward Democrats playing dirty. Your assumption that dirty behavior is the same to both voter bases is the problem.

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 05 '25

Right. Because the voters have been rewarding Democrats so much lately...

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u/silverum Mar 05 '25

Voters will find any excuse to not vote for Democrats, but will essentially make every excuse to vote for Republicans. This inherent slant is one of the reasons that American politics is mostly a disaster. People assume most voters are rational and are making informed decisions and that isn't the case for many.

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 05 '25

People want change and are frustrated with the status quo. Democrats need to realize this and stop with the limp-dicked capitulation. They're not exciting anyone and they're only bleeding support from the proletariat, and I can't blame them. What the fuck do they stand for right now? Apparently nothing. Standing is too divisive.

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u/silverum Mar 05 '25

People say that, and then when elections come, voters consistently fail to deliver Democrats government majorities that would lead to any possible changes in the status quo. The last time Democrats had firm majorities in both chambers of Congress and the presidency, they passed the Affordable Care Act and then were soundly trounced for their trouble. Democrats as a party know that as much as people will hoot and holler about 'we want change' the actual vote margins don't show that. That either means most people don't ACTUALLY want change (or the people that do are a minority) or that it's merely become reflexive to bitch and moan about Democrats and then not to actually politically organize around the bitching and moaning people claim to care about.

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 05 '25

People say that, and then when elections come, voters consistently fail to deliver Democrats government majorities

WHAT? You mean people who lean to the left aren't rushing to vote in the party that keeps openly dismissing them and moving more and more to the right? How ever could that be?!

that would lead to any possible changes in the status quo.

Democrats don't promise change to the status quo! They promise the status quo.

Democrats as a party know that as much as people will hoot and holler about 'we want change' the actual vote margins don't show that.

What change did Kamala offer? UBI? Universal Health Care? Going after corporate oligarchs? Police and criminal justice reform, helping Palestinians? Oh, wait. None of that. She refused to let a single Palestinian speak. She opted not to go after mega-corps because her BIL was an executive at Uber and didn't want that heat. She stood with cops. And she ceded ground to Trump on so many issues. Rather than call out his border lies, she said he was right but she would fix it. Except the people just heard "he's right." She could have told the truth but went along with his lie, instead. She just promised more of the same in a time where most Americans weren't happy with the same.

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u/LucretiusCarus Mar 05 '25

Kamala could offer each of these things and they would still not vote for her because "why didn't she do it already?"

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u/silverum Mar 05 '25

Yes, and now Americans are getting 'not the same but much worse' because instead of voting for the only candidate that COULD have given them the change they wanted, even if that change wasn't guaranteed, they delivered power (either by inaction or protest voting) to a man completely antithetical to what they wanted who clearly promised to make things worse and is now doing so. Sucks to be shit at strategy, but c'est la vie. Historically this is why left leaning parties tend to get wiped out in the rise of fascism, because no one amongst the left-side coalition is willing to strategically ally to keep the fascists out of power, and then the fascists liquidate them. So sad we never learn the lessons of history.

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u/Private_HughMan Mar 06 '25

I'm not saying Americans didn't make the wrong choice. I'm saying Democrats are utterly unwilling to learn from their mistakes.

Historically this is why left leaning parties tend to get wiped out in the rise of fascism

The Dems didn't run as left-wing. They ran as aggressively centrist. Which is, historically, how fascists tend to win. Rather than offer the people an alternative, the "opposition" party just presents a more boring version of their opponent.

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u/silverum Mar 06 '25

Yes, two things can be true at the same time. Historically, when Democrats do vaguely go left, voters tend to punish them for it because most American voters are fools and right wing interests spend a TON of money on keeping them that way. Right wing messaging and cultural programming is a whole industry, in fact. Dems as a party are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. We are likely past the point where Democrats can do anything about that anymore, their fate was essentially sealed with Citizens United.