Indivisible's "What's The Plan" Zoom Download April 17

It's Thursday, so it's that time again. Today's call was very much the same broken record speech repeated over and over again. Up till now I've made this summary more like meeting notes, meaning they were in chronological order, but I don't think that serves the intended purpose anymore. The topics matter more than the order they were said in.

With that caveat out of the way, here's the Download

Most of this summary is on one main subject, Collective Non-violent Opposition. That is the cornerstone of Indivisible and that is how we're going to win. That is the only way we're going to win.

There is nothing the Admin would like to see more than some kind of violence. That is not the answer. Non violent protest isn't just about not wanting to be violent, it's a strategy, it's the strategy. If you use violence, you are endangering us all.

If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Timothy Snyder who Ezra just got off the phone with before the call started. He told Ezra that Hands Off could not have gone better. There were no major incidents of violence and that is the key. a civil war is not the answer, it's about multiple April 5 building overtime. We have to remember, the vast majority of people in this country, and the world, are on our side.

And it takes all of us to change the state of the world. Our unit of activism is not individual we still live in a constitutional democratic republic. DT is just one elected among hundreds of thousands in the country, power is distributed throughout all elected offices, no matter what he says. We gather in groups because unless you’re very rich or very famous, individuals don’t have a ton of power, but in groups we can build power and influence our electeds

This means that the answer to most questions is "we have to create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition" and I will be referring to that quote throughout the rest of this summary, because that's the bottom line.

So please remember all of the above as I go through some of the questions asked and answered today.

1. Holy shit we’re in a constitutional crisis, what do we do?

   Well, for starters, it's important to remember that this is a classic tactic of authoritarians. They perpetuate the lie that they are already in control, that they have the right and freedom to do these things without redress and without consequences. This is not true and both we can never forget that, and we can never let them forget that.

   Power still rests in the towns and neighborhoods and counties and states, in the elected officials and the local businesses too. They all have choices to make, another reason I push so hard on the weekly elections.

   And again it goes back to creating conditions for overwhelming opposition, cause, guess what, Ezra and Leah talked to some people in Harvard, and they said, one of the biggest reasons they stood up and fought back was cause of April 5. We did this. Every single one of us who did something on April 5 gets some credit for Harvard refusing to follow the Admin's orders. And it wasn't just Harvard either. If you watch Rachel Maddow you know about all the schools creating basically NATO alliances

2. How can we hold the Admin accountable for what they're doing to Kilmar Abrego Garcia and all the other people who have been abducted?

   First there is a ongoing legal process to force the admin into compliance

   And second, we have to create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition. The American public at large, not just Dems really does not like the idea that DT can just pluck people off the street and send them to a concentration camp.

   We and our Dem electeds need to be putting pressure on Republicans. If we put enough pressure on them, they may quietly call the White House and ask them to pull back. It's In District Work Period (Recess) till next Sunday. Find out where your Republicans are holding events, and if they're public, go and bring this up If they're not, hold a protest outside with signs about the abductions.

   Also, there will be more specific asks once Indivisible has spoken with immigrant rights groups at length.

3. In regards to RFK Jr. and his comments about Autism, is there a way to fight back when cabinet members do things we don't like?

   Well, impeachment won't work, and more on that later, shaming him probably won't work, unfortunately he has a very big base and his supports are keeping his approval ratings higher than other Secs.

   So the answer is, of course, create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition.

   In this case, that means we must undermine the public perception that he's done anything to improve our public health. We need to amplify the fact that he's ending countless public research from HIV to diabetes to chronic illnesses and heart conditions. His pov is KILLING people. Our goal needs to be changing people's minds about him, not getting him out of power right now.

4. How start planning round the clock multi day sit ins and the mutual aid associated with it?

   Short answer, we don't, we're not there yet. We have to...create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition. And we are. It's not just April 5, it's also the Tesla Takedowns, and the Days of Action, including the ones spearheaded by the Dems in Congress, today being Medicaid Day of Action btw. And it's also important to do it publicly, we're not trying to secretly take over, this is about loud public opposition.

5. How do we reach the military flying the planes and get them to stop complying?

   Say it with me "we have to create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition" We need to make it so they have no choice but to stop complying. They need to know they have all the support if they do and that there will be a day when DT is out of power, and yes it will be in or before 2029 because HE CANNOT RUN AGAIN, and they are going to have to live with what they've done. We have to make the opposition big, bold and irresistible. On a less us note, the flight attendance union is talking, so there might be a more direct action, or at least an action for us to directly support soon.

6. So, what's next?

   April 19 and May 1 are the next planned days of action. These are not the massive protest that happened on April 5, they will be different in each area, some will be mass protests but some with be other forms as well. Find out what your local 50501 is doing and join if you can. Because it's not a mass day of protest, the numbers will probably be smaller but that doesn't make these events not matter.

   Someone also mentioned Flag Day or DT's birthday and his stupid proposed military parade. They said that would be a great day for a mass protest mobilization everywhere except DC.

   Ezra and Leah said they along with 50501 and many other groups are figuring out what the next days of mass protest should be as we speak, and we will know more soon, they're just trying to find a date that works for everyone, it's possible Flag Day will be one of them.

7. How do we get more minorities and youth involved?

   They didn't really address youth but they did address minorities. Don't for a second think that just because they aren't necessarily in Indivisible they aren't doing the work.

   It's also important for folks with more privilege to be showing up right now, so it's not a bad thing that you're mostly seeing older white people, especially because those are the people DT thinks he has the support of.

   That said, it starts with a deep and ongoing commitment to partnership and solidarity, it can't be a one off thing it's continuous communication and you have to be okay with it not going how you want it to go, if it's transactional, you've already failed.

8. Now can we talk about impeachment?

   Every week Ezra and Leah give more info on why the answer continues to be no. This is the most direct they've been yet. Impeachment proceedings would change the story. It would be about process and inside baseball rather than the people experiencing harm or soon to experience harm every single day. If we had the numbers to impeach, it would be a different discussion, but we don't. And you could forget about MSM ever talking about the real harms again.

9. Yes Ezra and Leah are getting threats, but they are the exact threats they expected when they put out the new guide after he was elected. It's kind of us to be worried on their behalf but don't lose sleep over it.

10. Silencing Americans (SAVE) Act

    In the House: GluesenKamp and Golden are in red enough districts that one could conceivably understand why they felt they had to vote for it, even if you don't agree.

    Cuellar is the most conservative Dem still in office and he's had no primary challenge in years, that has to change. With Ed Case, his seat is safe. A Republican can't win his district, he's the worst offender of this bunch.

    Now, they said very clearly they will have nothing to do with any of these possible primary challenges. That is up to the local Dem party and local Indivisible, and yes, this sounded like a dig at Hogg.

    If they get enough blowback it will signal to anyone considering voting for it in the Senate to reconsider.

    There are a lot of target lists going around, but actually, we just need a wall of opposition going out to all members

11. Finally they talked about the letter, and at that point, I kinda tuned them out. They spent a while talking about how Schumer needs to step down as leader, and it's not that I disagree, it's that he did something really amazing yesterday by denying the blue slip for two NY prosecutors which means their noms are DOA.

    They said it about someone getting a letter back from Fetterman that he's voting NO on SAVE if it ever comes up for a vote, so I'm gonna say it here, When someone who isn’t your favorite does what you want, THANK THEM for it, they don’t have to be our heros or best friends, they just have to do the things we want them to do and we will celebrate them for it.

    That goes for Schumer too. If he's ready to be part of the opposition party, that's the time to start supporting him.

And that's pretty much all she wrote. I hope you got something out of this, especially...that we have to create the conditions for overwhelming public opposition.

If you made it to the end, comment 🫡 (the saluting half face) cause we know our marching orders.

Our voices are our superpower, but ONLY when we use them!