Thread by @AlexandraErin

I try not to make absolute predictions and the last thing I want is anyone looking at me (or anyone) like an oracle, but I am feeling pretty pleased with myself for this short thread yesterday.

https://twitter.com/alexandraerin/status/1018899062458929152

There is a lot of panic among the people on the right who were trying to ignore anything about Trumpism that could have troubled them because they were interested in the rest of it.

There is panic among those just waking up to the truth of the warnings we've been sharing.

But for those of you who have been following what's happening, then there is no need for you to panic. The danger has not increased, it has just become more obvious. And in moving into the open with it, Trump has alienated many of his allies and created new opponents.

There's a lot of self-interest in the GOP politicians who are making statements now, whether they're about Russia but not Trump, or the need for "clarification", or even a stronger denunciation.

But sincere or insincere, their existence matters. They are a useful barometer.

And maybe it seems disheartening that it took this to get people mobilized, when family separation with children in cages didn't, when attacking gay and trans rights didn't, when a cabinet of corruption didn't, etc.

But trust me: it's not one thing, it's everything.

People are reaching their breaking point. Politicians who already felt the weight of being associated with Trump and his policies dragging them down but put up with it because they feared going against him would sink them even faster are changing their minds on that math.

Remember that the way the GOP found to defend Trump's border policies was to portray it as a matter of national security, and to insist that Trump was Good On National Security and Democrats were Bad on it.

How do you think that plays, after Helsinki?

In one day, Donald Trump blew up the narrative that he puts America First, that he cares about national security. Any and all of the things his allies use to justify their support, he undermined, if not caved in.

This is not necessarily a fatal blow to his regime. The way they work the media machine, all they need is basically a day with the pressure off on this issue and they can change the subject.

Which is why I say that it's not a time for panic but a time for action. Keep making noise. Keep asking questions. Keep following the news.

If you can protest, protest.

It's coming up on noon on the east coast here and... the news cycle hasn't really moved on. Twitter hasn't, either. The other big story that might have stolen focus is Maria Butina and the NRA, but for once people finally seem to be connecting that it's all the same story.

If you're in DC or the metro area and you have the ability to get there and can do so with relative safety, I am going to urge you, urge you, to please check the #OccupyLafayetteSquare hashtag and get to the protest tonight at 7 PM.

I say this knowing I can't be there.

I'm close enough to DC that it feels tantalizingly close, but I don't have a car and the metro line doesn't come nearly far enough, and I'm not sure I'd have the stamina for the July heat, even in the evening.

But I feel like this protest... I feel like it's pivotal.

If I say that I suspect it could be the most important protest of Trump's rule, I don't want to sound like I'm ranking the *causes* for the protests. Because I'm not.

But I feel like we're at an inflection point. I feel like people are reaching their breaking points. I feel like, regardless of the proximate cause, a spontaneous public protest in the metaphorical front yard of the White House could have a huge impact right now.

If you can get there tonight, please get there tonight. If you can't, think about tomorrow. People have wondered what is it going to take to get us to flood the streets.

Let's stop wondering and do it.

I have been saying this... well, I have been saying it since the Shakespeare in the Park "scandal", because it's an oblique reference to Julius Caesar. But I'm going to keep saying it: cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of civic participation.

I mentioned a right-wing blogger calling us "citizen tyrants" earlier today. We're not tyrants, that's an absurd inversion. But the phrase originates in fear that belies a powerful truth: that we the people do have power.

And there are more people reaching their breaking point, more people reaching their waking point, more motivation to oppose the Trump regime, more will to bring it down, than there has been at any moment since he took power.

Donald screwed up. That's what happened yesterday. His dominant character defect, that he *must* double down, *must* test boundaries he's told not to cross, made him move too far, too fast, too openly. He screwed up and he gave us an opening and we

MUST

NOT

HESITATE.

If we miss this chance, if it slips by us... it won't be the last opening, because again, Trump can't help himself, but the next one might be more dangerous.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that protests and a massive backlash are "what Trump wants" or "what Bannon wants" or "what Putin wants". If they wanted protests, they'd have been throwing them themselves all along.

They'll say "If you protest, you'll give him an excuse to seize power!"

He's not waiting for an excuse. He'll take whatever pretext he can get, which means it doesn't matter what we do, not on that score. So there's no downside to fighting.

It is time to fight. Call your electeds and ask them why they haven't made a statement. If they have made a statement (check first), tell them that it didn't go far enough (check first, but I promise you it didn't).

And ask what they are going to DO.

Don't let this die down. Don't let them change the subject. Don't let the conversation move on. Don't let this chance slip away.

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NEWS CYCLE.

Remind Washington who they work for. Remind them who has the power. Demand they protect Mueller. Demand they protect our elections from interference, foreign and not. Demand they protect us from Trump.

Now more than ever, CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF CIVIC PARTICIPATION.

(And if you have the means and the inclination, tip your weird politics mom friend. She's not doing this for her health. paypal.me/alexandraerin)