[michaelchisari]

This is truly unprecedented. For perspective, the largest march on DC during the Vietnam War was 500,000. Adjusted for population, that would be 784,411 people.

Estimated crowd in DC on Saturday was 1.2 million. Nationwide, it was 3 million. Just one of the six Los Angeles area protests had 750,000 people.

Even Witchita, Kansas had thousands.

I've never seen anything like this, and it's just the beginning.

[ci5er]

> I've never seen anything like this, and it's just the beginning.

Beginning of what? What do they want? I couldn't really distill a pattern in my mind from the signs I saw in Austin. There were marches world-wide, so I'm guessing it's more than "We hate Trump".

[Mao_Zedang]

Honestly I am going to say its the end not the beginning, in four years, Trump will run again and maybe we will see another tantrum protest but at least for the next four years do not expect any great resistance or movement, the time for that is over.

[hackuser]

> the time for that is over

That's a talking point of Trump supporters, but a moment's thought shows that it's not remotely true. It seems to assume that people only participate in democracy by voting and then politicians rule on their own recognizance during their terms, almost as if voters were electing kings/queens.

In a democracy, politicians are responsive to voters' desires 365 days/year; you can call them, write them, meet with them, protest them, and if you pay any attention to democratic politics, you know it has a serious effect (along with passively collected information such as survey results).

Second, protesting government is a major part of democracy. The March on Washington led by Martin Luther King had nothing to do with an election. The U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights protects it, saying "Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I don't remember the Republicans having the same attitude at all about Obama; they resisted all the time in every way possible, setting records in Congress for obstructionism, buying guns, etc. Vladimir Putin seemed to start this talking point; perhaps it's true for him, but he knows little about democratic government.

[revx]

I think this time, there's enough of a threat to general persons' livelihoods (repeal of ACA, threat of international embarrassment or incident, etc) that we will start to see organized resistance. But only time will tell...

[michaelchisari]

A normal presidency would see these protests and exercise caution. This is not a normal presidency, so I feel as though we're going to see a continuous escalation in response.

[geowwy]

His tweets seems to suggest the opposite

"Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/82317419903654298...

[michaelchisari]

Was it posted with an iphone or an android phone?

[dragonwriter]

> but at least for the next four years do not expect any great resistance or movement, the time for that is over.

Its certainly difficult to mobilize a mass political movement in the US without an imminent election and outside of the immediate aftermath of one, but the great and influential movements all were movements that managed to do that.

The time for a movement is not over. Whether it will hold together or not is, certainly, a thing about which there can be legitimate differences of opinion, but the signs I see suggest that there is something there.

[Mao_Zedang]

What are the goals and demands of this movement, other than objecting to Trumps presidency something they have no legal basis for ending?

[michaelchisari]

Emoluments.

[Mao_Zedang]

It wont work.

[michaelchisari]

We'll see, won't we?

[losteric]

nice username.

I don't think it's the end. People were inspired yesterday, the crowds realized they have the numbers and the passion to fight back. People were taking action, finding their local organizations, learning how to inform their representatives, and even planning the next protests already.

We're going to see more and more of this.

We will also see more "Alternative Facts" and PR campaigns from the White House, closely following Dugin's handbook (dismiss, distract, distort, and dismay).

[Mao_Zedang]

Time is the enemy of this movement, if Trump manages to bring any sort of economic change to the poorest parts of the country, this "movement" doesnt stand a chance.

[michaelchisari]

That is a big, big if. Especially considering everything he's proposed is antiquated, disproven economics when it comes to having direct economic benefits for poor communities.

[Mao_Zedang]

I agree with you, however it is a hypothetical statement, if he does do it, do you agree the opposition is toast?

[michaelchisari]

If he manages to do a complete 180° and be someone completely antithetical to the person he's been thus far?

Yes, the opposition is toast if that happens.

[antidaily]

Thanks for being honest.

[chuckit]

What a shame they're not coming out in those sorts of numbers to protest the wars going on all over the world, drone killings, mass surveillance and so on.

[michaelchisari]

Start organizing! There's a lot of momentum right now, and I'm sure you could get a lot of people on board.