20 Comments
User's avatar
Eric Smith's avatar

I love your columns, Thomas, and read every one, But you tend to see everything only through the lens of party politics. You said nothing about the citizen driven Hands Off rallies that will be occurring nationwide this weekend on Saturday April 5th. Readers of PoliticsNC should be able to find a Hands Off protest near where you live in North Carolina. Google: Hands Off mobilize + a city near you. I found Hands Off rallies in both Wilmington and Greenville, as but two examples. The Hands Off rallies will be non violent and we are told NOT to engage with any counter protesters.

Expand full comment
Cheryl Johnson's avatar

https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/

The link above should take you to the nearest rallies, but if you are looking for something different (e.g., sending your friends info on the rallies closest to THEM), you can click on the filters icon and then scroll down to the field labeled "Near" and enter a Zipcode or a city+state combination.

If you want to get a little more background you can watch a recording of Tuesdays organizing call here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_vRxlYjpQs

I have been participating in the Thursday afternoon (3 pm ET) calls for Indivisible. Sign up here: https://indivisible.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SOHxz_KkTY2uCdy30TeitA#/registration

To see recordings of previous Thursday afternoon zoom calls go here:

https://www.youtube.com/@indivisibleteam/videos

P.S. I will be atending the rally in Charlotte, sponsored by the Charlotte chapter of Indivisible.

Expand full comment
Eric Smith's avatar

Thanks Cheryl for this additional information. Hope you get a good turnout in Charlotte. I was going to attend Hands Off in Durham where I live but a friend persuaded me to take the charter bus with him to DC. Exciting!

Expand full comment
KL Pierce's avatar

And in Asheville

Expand full comment
Sandra Campbell's avatar

Thanks, Tom. You remind us to not give up or give in.

I suggest Dems won the Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin not in spite of Elon, but because of him.

Expand full comment
Andrea Powell's avatar

So well said. All of it!

Expand full comment
KL Pierce's avatar

Now if only NC can finally kick Griffin to the curb once and for all and get rid of the GOP who’s engineered NC to be the most gerrymandered in the nation, we can finally get democracy back here!

Expand full comment
Lulu Manus's avatar

Call your representatives and ask them what is being done to repeal Citizens United.

Expand full comment
Eric Chetwynd's avatar

But Tom, shouldn't you have said something about Corey Booker's performance yesterday? Could be the start of something big.

Expand full comment
LuEllen  Huntley's avatar

Mills has not gotten to that yet. He will.

Expand full comment
Jim Warlick's avatar

Great perspective..Thomas. TY.

Expand full comment
Doug's avatar

________________________________________

Elon Musk didn't anticipate how Trump would negatively impact those who support him, as he did with his attorney and many others. The only folks Trump protects is his self and immediate family members.

While Elon was busy firing government workers, pleasing his base, Trump was raising tariffs on Chinese imports. Research indicates:

Elon Musk's businesses are significantly affected by the high tariffs placed by Trump on China. These tariffs impact various aspects of his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.

For Tesla, the tariffs increase the cost of importing essential car parts, which could lead to higher production costs and potentially higher prices for consumers. SpaceX faces rising costs across its supply chain and potential disruptions in international contracts. Additionally, Musk's other ventures, like xAI and Neuralink, are also likely to experience increased costs and supply chain issues.

Musk has been crying his eyes out, too bad Eon, so sad!

Expand full comment
Ted Vaden's avatar

Yours is a clear and needed voice in this time and place, Thomas. Please don’t cheapen it by resorting to crude epithets

Expand full comment
ken Leary's avatar

What are the Dems going to do for "we the people." Are they going to fight for single payer health care, to nationalize the electric distribution system, free education - anything? Anything at all? Maybe stop all the murdering of children and women? Anything?

Expand full comment
Phil   NC's avatar

We need party leaders that know how to "read the room" of the nation's voters. Jimmy Carter read the room in Georgia to get elected to the Governors office, then, in his inaugural address, came out openly against racism and inequality in his home state, shocking the white electorate that supported him. That's politics, folks.

Expand full comment
Celia Bradshaw's avatar

Great article, Thomas. Interesting long-range view.

Expand full comment
Marc Ohara's avatar

Your post is a brilliant analysis and bravo call to action. It's your best post I've ever read. Still, I'm applying for a British passport to which I'm entitled.

Expand full comment
James Bengel's avatar

The problem Democrats face isn’t that they’re “defined by the left flank”. It’s that they’re defined by what the GOP SAYS is their left flank, and the so called “moderates” (which are no such thing) immediately respond with “No! We’re not leftist!” And they tack to the right — because they’re already right of center — to try and assuage the fears of the mythical “swing voter”.

It’s time to stop running from the “leftist” label, and lean into it. What they call “woke” I call “not being a dick”. What they call ”socialist” I call a society where the things we were told about America when I was growing up — that if you worked hard, and played by the rules you could get ahead, no matter who you were — are true. Kay Hagan should have crushed Thom Tillis’s political ambition in the egg but she tried to play both sides, marketing herself as “the most moderate member of the Senate”. And what people saw was Susan Collins with a “D” behind her name.

If you’ve seen “The American President” with Michael Douglas, you may remember the scene where he’s finally had enough, and responses to Richard Dreyfus calling him “a card carrying member of the ACLU” with the righteous kind of anger I want to see: “Yes, I’m a member of the ACLU, the question is WHY AREN’T YOU?”

And if the Wisconsin special election is any indication, theres never been a better time for it.

Expand full comment
LuEllen  Huntley's avatar

Far from moribund, Thomas. Absolute disdain, scorn, and disrespect for blatant political corruption, incessant lying, and cheating energizes. We feel it; PoliticsNC expresses this and is one sure place giving voice to utter repulsion. Far from dead. So fucking alive and well and as articulate as ever. Go Fetzer Sr. and Penny's son, one of three of the four, more than kicking ass. As I'm certain F.Jr., and S'son are doing as well.

Expand full comment
Stephanie Bass's avatar

Great piece Tom! We have seen many of those changes and we’re more mad than skeert. Ready to fight!

Expand full comment
ErrorError