this doesn’t stop here

this doesn’t stop here January 22, 2017

fairey-trump-photos

3 Million people marched yesterday. That is the same margin by which Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the popular vote. It is a resounding repudiation of any mandate that Trump will falsely claim. Trump didn’t even pretend he speaks for the nation in his inauguration speech; now the nation has spoken for itself. The real nation, all of it, not just the strategic pockets of demographics that gave Trump his narrow EC edge.

The Right doesn’t understand what happened yesterday, even the parts of it that loathe Trump but ultimately hate the left, liberals, and Barack Obama far more. The Right, therefore, must inevitably try to diminish the significance of yesterday, but they can’t.

More people voted for Hillary for President than voted for any white man in history. Hillary earned as many votes – 65.8 million – as Barack Obama did for re-election (65.9M). She won the popular vote by 3 million, the same margin by which Bush beat Kerry in 2004 (upon which Bush claimed a mandate).

The simple truth is that Trump is President, thanks to the electoral College. He won by league rule book, like the Ravens in week 12. But yesterday showed the real score.

The 2016 election taught liberals that hope is not a plan. The Right seems to have learned the opposite lesson, hoping that yesterday was just a meaningless moment, that it’s just Occupy Wall Street writ large. There will be post-March analysis saying protests don’t work anyway or taunt liberals as sore losers, or just dismiss the whole thing as too much, too late.

That’s good. If they are denying, minimizing, taunting – in their safe spaces of social media and talk radio – then they aren’t out organizing, planning. You think the arc of justice bends itself?

Here’s what’s next: The Obama Foundation, and Emily’s List: recruiting candidates to run for office. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC): fighting gerrymandering. And the Women’s March is taking 10 actions in the first 100 days, too.

This doesn’t stop here.


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