More performative bullshit by Blue MAGA. The Dems controlled the house and the senate for the first two years of Biden’s term. That would have been a nice time to introduce this bill and codify Roe v Wade. They are doing it now because they know it has no chance. The corporations that own the Dems are the same corporations that own the GOP. They work for corporate wealth and conservative Christian religious fanatics. Neither of those groups wants equality of any kind. The Dems do nothing when they have a majority and pretend to try to help when they have no chance of helping. This is WWE cosplay conflict.
That would have been a nice time to introduce this bill and codify Roe v Wade.
But then Democrats would have had to handle the backlash of an energized conservative movement and the complacency of a satisfied base. Now Democrats get enormous cash injections every time a Republican takes another swing at women’s health and can force any leftists to knuckle under when presented with the Serial Rapist Loud And Proud Woman Hater candidate running against the Slimy Moderate Corporate Shill Who Definitely Isn’t Going to Get MeToo’d Six Weeks Into Office.
The Dems do nothing when they have a majority and pretend to try to help when they have no chance of helping.
And they benefit enormously from this strategy, because liberals displace blame to the left and right of the Do-Nothing Party.
They’ve fully bought into the theory that conservatives must be pandered to and leftists must be disciplined into compliance. And this is the only way anyone wins elections.
Also don’t forget that the rich oligarchs that control the DNC and the Super PAC money also don’t want leftist policies.
Neoliberals have access to the same polling data as the rest of us, they know which policies are popular with their voters, but they choose to not pursue what’s popular
The biggest motivation for the DNC has and always will be their rich owners.
Exactly. Ever since 2016, when Bernie was not the candidate after winning the primaries, I realized that nothing mattered. The elite were going to do whatever they want and there is nothing we can do to stop them. They distract us with dem vs rep dog and pony shows to divide us further. I’m seeing just as much hate and racism from the left as the right. It’s crazy. I thought we were supposed to be all about peace and love and equality. But I learned that if you don’t agree with them 100% you are a “nazi” or a “white supremacist” even if you aren’t white lol. Until we come together as united people and decide to fight back against capitalism and the billionaire elites hoarding all the resources and destroying our Earth, we may as well consider us all doomed to slavery.
While voting for Take it down.
Oh fuck off and actually do something meaningful, FUCK. Sick of the posturing shit. Need to kick these geriatrics out and get some actual citizens that give a shit in these positions.
Its all a show, this bill has no chance of passing and they know this. The Democrat resistance is nothing more than smoke and pretty words.
I mean, yeah, what else are they supposed to do at this point, you took them out of every lever of power.
Don’t get me wrong I think the Democrats failed as much for the next guy but getting mad at them now after you’ve prevented them from doing anything at all just seems petty.
what else are they supposed to do at this point
Pull from the GOP playbook.
Obstruct everything. Shut down the government. Make unholy stinks on the floor of the House parading around big blown up pictures of dead women and summon mobs of angry constituents into the halls of Congress to yell at people. Tap the Blue State governors and legislatures to push radical pro-women policies, reject federal money whenever it comes with anti-abortion strings attached, and force local businesses to toe the party line if they want to interface with state governments. Make the lives of anti-abortion groups in the state hellish by running strings of investigations that seek to scandalmonger them. Lean on the press to focus on the havoc that these anti-abortion laws are causing. Run Project Veritas operations on those Anti-Abortion front groups that exist to profit off adoption services. Have the police surround and intimidate anti-abortion activist groups, while pro-choice groups are free to block the entrances to buildings, harass staff, and generally make any anti-abortion activist in the state fear for their lives.
Maybe start with voting no on the new censorship bill that just passed with unanimous consent that Trump specifically said he will abuse to silence people.
I mean they have so many options to move in any direction other than their shoulders up in a shrug.
valid.
but getting mad at them now after you’ve prevented them from doing anything at all just seems petty.
It would seem to be a trend.
This is how the Democrats communicate their values and intentions. And 30, 40, 100 years ago it would have worked, because the public looked for alternative solutions to problems. Today, the public wants a bully to assertively stand on camera and yell at them. The Democrats don’t do that, and it’s to their detriment.
But the time for all of this has passed, they’re rearranging deck chairs.
Farts and good intentions
If I had a nickel for every time a congressperson told me they introduced a new bill to address some issue, I’d be rich. In the age of Trump, people aren’t hoping their representatives are going to introduce dead on arrival legislation; they’re hoping their representatives will lead a national movement. We need people in the streets daily. We need occupy DC.
That’s great and all. But you seem to forget, “It’s the economy stupid.”
You lot need to join Bernie and AOC’s campaign.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Too late man… Have you seen the comments here? We’ve got people unironically saying “blue MAGA”.
After everything that’s happened, they’re still pretending both sides are the same. It’s pathetic.
Perfect and good aren’t even on the table here.
These LGBT+ social issues are one of the wedges that’s being used by the wealthy to prevent the rest of us from banding together against them.
Nearly everyone agrees, the ownership class has too much, while the working class has too little. That’s the problem of this age that needs to be fixed.
The whole Democratic Party needs to be shouting “Tax The Rich.” And coming up with legislation to do so. If I was picking apart that bill for not doing enough, then maybe your accusation would fit.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/119-2025/h104
No one’s asking for perfect. We’re asking for representation. Pushing any “progressive” legislation while also voting to literally gut the first amendment gets you what? It gets you PR and that’s it.
Democrats spent a solid year supporting an ongoing genocide.
You no longer get to pretend to be good.
Your guy got elected already, you don’t have to talk about genocide anymore.
Tankies literally ally with the bad to fight the good. And perfect doesn’t exist.
Anyone who is against fascism is an ally in the fight against fascism, no matter how flawed.
We can settle other differences by talking them out, but that can never be done with fascism because it only ever listens to painful consequences.
That implies democrats are good, which… uh… gestures broadly.
Democrats, generally speaking, are imperfect, but not systemically bad.
Uh… gestures broadly again? Democrats are seat warmers whose number 1 goal is to make sure the left doesn’t take power. Their number 2 goal is to make sure neoliberals stay in power both in the party and in the government. They’re systemically inadequate and systemically enforce their inadequacy on the American people. They’re at least as much of a problem as Republicans themselves.
The Democrats passed legislation that cut child poverty IN HALF. They passed the largest healthcare overhaul in a generation against unwaivering opposition from the entire GOP. They established the CFPB. They’ve pushed a ton of climate legislation. There’s plenty of good things the Democrats have done, even with absolutely razor thin margins and ZERO help from the other party.
And to be clear: the Democratic party has fucking sucked donkey balls for decades, but they are nowhere near the level of malevolence that conservatives present.
They’re at least as much of a problem as Republicans themselves.
This is such a giant load of horseshit and should result in literally everyone discounting what you say. You are living in a completely different reality. This both sides nonsense is exactly that.
They passed the largest healthcare overhaul in a generation against unwaivering opposition from the entire GOP.
They had a supermajority and what did they pass? Literally Romneycare. Like dude if this is your “the DNC is good” pitch then you should think about the possibilities that they squashed by making their healthcare “overhaul” a literal Republican policy.
There’s plenty of good things the Democrats have done, even with absolutely razor thin margins and ZERO help from the other party.
Where did I imply otherwise? I didn’t say they’re out there causing damage on the scale of the Republicans; you have Republicans for that. I said they’re inadequate, which you seem to agree with.
And to be clear: the Democratic party has fucking sucked donkey balls for decades, but they are nowhere near the level of malevolence that conservatives present.
And who stops you when you try to make the sort of radical change necessary to stop conservatives from taking power? Hint: It’s the fucking neoliberals. Who stole the candidacy from Bernie not once but twice? Again the fucking neoliberals. And who’s trying to stop David Hoggs from trying replacing the people doing all this with young progressives (aka people exceeding the bare minimum of political competence and human decency)? Again the fucking neoliberals.
You need both the rachet and the gear to keep up this bad boy, and that’s the point I’m trying to make. The Democrats’ role in this nonsense isn’t to ruin everything (though they do some of that too), but to pave the way for Republicans to take power and ruin everything.
this is such a fucking waste of time and is nothing more than pandering bullshit. we don’t want you to try to pass something that WON’T PASS and WON’T STOP FASCISM. please do something more. please do something that fucking matters.
I read deeper into the article than I care to admit because I wanted to find the date of original introduction.
The Equality Act was introduced in 1974, only 10 years after the civil rights act, which it sought to amend.
In the 8 legislative sessions where democrats have held a trifecta since the act’s introduction, they have not attempted to pass it (instead, favoring stripped down versions that often have many LGBT+ protections removed if a bill has been introduced at all). Every time it has lost the vote or died in committee. And now here we are, less than a week after Trump has moved to nuke the way that the CRA is enforced. So… if both succeed we are actually further from the goal.
Great. Good politics. Not ineffective virtue signaling while being passenger princesses on this ride to fascism at all.
You are wanting people whose literal job is to legislate, which they were elected to do in order to represent the voice of their constituents on legislative matters, to stop trying to legislate in an effort to build legal walls to defend against fascism?
This is a case where we need the dog-and-pony show. We need everyone doing everything they can, especially the foundational things, so that later on no one can say “why didn’t they just try the normal way and things wouldn’t have been so difficult?”
Edit: we need our representatives to be doing more, I agree there, but I’m saying we need them do AT LEAST do their job, and we should probably be saying “Yes, and…” to them instead of just “you’re doing it wrong.”
Man I have to agree with OP. Do these things like a Dem version of Project 2025. Have an equality agenda when in power and actually make those changes. Fight facism now, because equality doesn’t mean shit if everyone in power is facist. They are deporting US Citizens for God’s sake.
nothing more than virtue signalling at this point, they know if they used it earlier, they probably wont have leverage over the voters to vote for them anymore. thier just stringing people long enough where they can still grift and quickly retire to another country or a wealthy community, where they are untouchable by the plebs.
if you can’t see through this charade i don’t know what to tell you.
nothing more than shore up some of thier dem elections in the futures, nothing more. its basically like republicans doing the opposite but it never passes in the senate too.
please do something more. please do something that fucking matters.
Okay.
As members of Congress, what, exactly, should they be doing?
Obstruct. Filibuster. Gum up the works.
You are right. This current government is a “We the People” problem, not a “You the Politician” problem.
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Okay. So will breaking decorum, yelling, and screaming will ‘pass’ or stop fascism?
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So, “They’re pandering to the wrong people; I want them to pander by doing different useless symbolic actions.”
About what I figured.
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Okay, how will AOC ‘beating the shit’ out of GOP Congressmen stop ICE from deporting children?
As much as I appreciate this proposal, now is not the time for more identity politics. Now it’s a fight for basic democracy, the rule of law and against corruption.
Get out there and DO SOMETHING, Democrats
a little too late, how bout introducing something more effectively like limiting his ability to give out tariffs, or protecting voters from voter suppression.
Seems like some dems are starting to grow a spine and actually act like opposition. I doubt it’ll last though.
act like opposition
That’s the problem, it’s just an act. They didn’t try this in 2021 and 2022 when they controlled the house and the senate and the presidency. Why? Because they don’t want it any more than the GOP does.
100%. I’m just pointing out that this is a step up from what they’ve been normally doing these past 100 days which is sit idly by as our country is being raped and sliding into facism.
Seems like some dems are starting to grow a spine and actually act like opposition.
And look at the top comments on this thread to see how much Lemmy hates them for that.
Oh I hate them right now don’t get me wrong. I’m just happy they’re atleast trying to do something instead of being totally complacent as our county dies.
I remember constant complaints of “The Dems didn’t even TRY anything, they should have proposed bills even if they knew it would fail!” before the second Trump presidency.
Now it seems the chorus has changed to “I can’t believe they’re trying something they know will fail!”
Curious.
The problem is that when they decide to grow a tiny bit of spine this is what they use it for. Like, even if this bill passed it’d mean nothing in two months as the rest of democracy is dismantled around it. It’s like seeing a serial killer break into your home and deciding it’s a good time to wash the dishes. I mean don’t get me wrong, pushing bills alone is very inadequate for supposed opposition leaders during a fascist takeover either way, but pushing LGBT rights bills? They’re not even at the starting line with that.
Like, even if this bill passed it’d mean nothing in two months as the rest of democracy is dismantled around it
Okay. There are two core problems with this:
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Even fascist regimes are reliant on a highly procedural state bureaucracy in which law can still be used to delay and frustrate fascist aims - this was true even in Nazi Germany at the height of WW2, wherein lawyers associated with the resistance used legal and procedural methods that predated the Nazi takeover, and some that post-dated it, to buy time and save lives. If the fascist regime is intent on killing an individual it singles out for whatever reason, it will kill them regardless of the bureaucracy; but for the vast machinations of killing or imprisoning large amounts of people, procedural methods still have validity as tools in reducing, delaying, and even reversing individual cases. If this bill passed, and for the record I think it has a snowball’s chance in hell of doing so, it would be amongst the tools which would reduce the damage the fascist regime is capable of inflicting going forward, even if not in any way a replacement for real action by society against the fascist regime.
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What the fuck are they supposed to be doing, as legislators, if not shit like this? There’s no fillibuster in the House, no major delaying tactics. You could advocate for starting brawls, like another commenter did, but other than achieving the expulsion of remaining Dems with spine from the legislature, which would seem to me a negative consequence rather than a positive, I don’t really know what that’s supposed to accomplish more than you or me going down to the Capitol and throwing hands with Generic McFascist (R-Iowa).
pushing LGBT rights bills? They’re not even at the starting line with that.
Considering that LGBT folk are at the forefront of who this fascist regime is intent on persecuting? Would beg to fucking differ.
If this bill passed, and for the record I think it has a snowball’s chance in hell of doing so, it would be amongst the tools which would reduce the damage the fascist regime is capable of inflicting going forward, even if not in any way a replacement for real action by society against the fascist regime.
According to the article:
The legislation would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, jury service, and federally funded programs.
This doesn’t sound like a procedural method that can frustrate fascist aims; it’s just a sentence on a piece of paper saying “you can’t do this one thing”. If the Trump admin wants to do that thing they’ll either pass a bill or issue an executive order saying they can. This bill is too obvious to be a meaningful tool of damage reduction; to invoke it you’d have to come out and say “you’re not allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation”, which would prompt the administration to say “now we can”.
What the fuck are they supposed to be doing, as legislators, if not shit like this?
Step down so people with spine can take the position and use it to do things that actually matter. What I expect from a legislator in 2025 (and to be fair my expectations are irrelevant as I’m not American) is to use their position as a podium from which they can tell the people to protest, strike, practice mutual aid and otherwise resist the administration in ways that matter. Legislation would be nice in addition to that, but representatives whose whole “contribution” to anti-fascist resistance is to write a bill and call it a day? They can fucking get lost.
Considering that LGBT folk are at the forefront of who this fascist regime is intent on persecuting? Would beg to fucking differ.
LGBT people are near the top of the regime’s shitlist, but look at who is being actively persecuted right now. It’s not LGBT people; it’s immigrants and from there Latino people as a whole and “criminals”. Of course LGBT people are going to be added to that list sooner or later, but for now the front line is still immigrants, so if the goal is to protect people the administration is persecuting they should be pushing immigrant rights bills to at least challenge the narrative Trump and co are trying to create. Pushing a pro-LGBT bill at this stage of the fascist takeover is empty grandstanding with no benefit whatsoever.
This doesn’t sound like a procedural method that can frustrate fascist aims; it’s just a sentence on a piece of paper saying “you can’t do this one thing”.
… what the ever-loving fuck do you think laws and procedures are
Step down so people with spine can take the position and use it to do things that actually matter. What I expect from a legislator in 2025 (and to be fair my expectations are irrelevant as I’m not American) is to use their position as a podium from which they can tell the people to protest, strike, practice mutual aid and otherwise resist the administration in ways that matter.
This loops back around to “My choice of practically pointless symbolic action will Rile The Masses™ and their choice will not!”
Legislation would be nice in addition to that, but representatives whose whole “contribution” to anti-fascist resistance is to write a bill and call it a day? They can fucking get lost.
It’s not about whether the nitwits in Congress can get fucked, as individuals. The question is whether this, as the action of the still-extant opposition party, is appropriate. While it is almost purely symbolic, seeing as mentioned it has no chance of passing, it is exactly what the opposition in the legislative branch are supposed to do. It’s what they’re uniquely empowered to do by their office.
LGBT people are near the top of the regime’s shitlist, but look at who is being actively persecuted right now. It’s not LGBT people;
Holy fucking shit.
Pushing a pro-LGBT bill at this stage of the fascist takeover is empty grandstanding with no benefit whatsoever.
You’re right, let’s wait for the horses to bolt to bar the barn doors. Luckily, passing legislature is a super quick and easy thing, so once the crisis is in full swing and not just the extensive rollbacks of LGBT protections current happening, we’ll be able to comfortably slot the bill.
Settle in for the long fucking haul. Build plans. Build the basis for plans. Build the basis for the fucking basis. Nazi Germany lasted 12 years, and that was with a world war to take it out. Pinochet’s Chile 17 years. Franco’s Spain lasted some 40 years. And, may I note, Franco’s Spain came into power in a much more leftist and activist country, with extensive labor organizing, than 2025 USA.
The “Anything that doesn’t have immediate effects is pointless!” view is going to get more people killed, just like the fuckwits sitting out the election in 2024 because the Dem candidate wasn’t going to fix any immediate problems have already signed death warrants to the toll of literal millions.
Many of us are going to die going forward. It’s unlikely that there’s going to be a massive outpouring of support to save many of us. Our deaths are unlikely to provoke spontaneous unorganized mass resistance. Wishing that public attitudes will reach a fever-pitch and a crisis will save us from our massive lack of actual organization and support in the population is downright delusional.
… what the ever-loving fuck do you think laws and procedures are
Well they’re many things, but laws and procedures that will be useful in the sense you described need to be ones the regime either wants to stay in place or doesn’t care enough to notice. The bill in the article is neither.
This loops back around to “My choice of practically pointless symbolic action will Rile The Masses™ and their choice will not!”
Telling the people to resist isn’t a pointless symbolic action, and the point isn’t to Rile The Masses™. The masses are already (to an extent) riled; what they need now is leadership so their energy can be spent on productive acts of resistance rather than a weekend protest every two weeks. The people’s sense of normalcy needs to be completely shattered so they even entertain anything more radical than calling their representatives, and that’s where a half-decent opposition party would come in.
It’s what they’re uniquely empowered to do by their office.
And there the question becomes: Who cares? Their office is now meaningless except, as I said, as a microphone to amplify whatever message they want to deliver to the masses. The power bestowed upon them by their office doesn’t mean the bill in the article was more beneficial to the resistance than if the reps pushing it had been playing a game of backgammon.
You’re right, let’s wait for the horses to bolt to bar the barn doors. Luckily, passing legislature is a super quick and easy thing, so once the crisis is in full swing and not just the extensive rollbacks of LGBT protections current happening, we’ll be able to comfortably slot the bill.
No legislation for LGBT rights is gonna pass either way, so the timing for pushing it is a moot point.
Settle in for the long fucking haul. Build plans. Build the basis for plans. Build the basis for the fucking basis.
Can I have that while defending the people currently being kidnapped and sent to God knows where (or to God directly)? The basis for the basis should be defending the people being persecuted now, not drawing a line in the sand that the administration is going to sprint over. Challenge what the fascists are doing now rather than hppe you’ll be able to challenge them later. I hope I don’t need to quote the poem.
Well they’re many things, but laws and procedures that will be useful in the sense you described need to be ones the regime either wants to stay in place or doesn’t care enough to notice. The bill in the article is neither.
That’s not how government procedures in totalitarian states work.
The masses are already (to an extent) riled; what they need now is leadership so their energy can be spent on productive acts of resistance rather than a weekend protest every two weeks.
That you think the issue is a lack of leadership is… not realistic.
And there the question becomes: Who cares? Their office is now meaningless
Not even close. “The legislative branch won’t save us from fascism” and “The legislative branch retains influence to hinder fascism” are not mutually exclusive positions.
No legislation for LGBT rights is gonna pass either way, so the timing for pushing it is a moot point.
Then why the fuck did you bring up the timing of pushing it?
Can I have that while defending the people currently being kidnapped and sent to God knows where (or to God directly)?
You can. But there might be symbolic legislative action being put forward while you do it, horror of horrors.
The basis for the basis should be defending the people being persecuted now, not drawing a line in the sand that the administration is going to sprint over. Challenge what the fascists are doing now rather than hppe you’ll be able to challenge them later. I hope I don’t need to quote the poem.
No, the basis for the basis is getting fucking organized. You may notice that there are people standing up and speaking, quite prominently. The issue is not that no one is speaking for the people who are being fucking disappeared by the secret police; the issue is that there is currently no serious power base or appetite for serious action in the general population with which to fucking stop them, in large part because left-purists decided to sign over all levers of government to the fascist regime without any fucking ground game to challenge it when it rolled into possession of one of the most powerful states in the fucking world.
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its more like senator warren introducing the flag legislation which was meaniningless.
Turns out that when they actually get a majority, they need to reintroduce and actually vote for bills, or they lose credibility.
Which is how you get people who realized in 2021 that your party is run by useless bums who only effectively represent the businesses exploiting us and of course netanyahu.
You want less cynicism, inspire less cynicism.
who the fuck was saying that other than your fellow coward-ass liberals?
The same kinds of Very Serious Leftists who are now saying spontaneous revolutionary action is the only solution that is acceptable.
no lmao
