Because of the heroes in places like #Minneapolis, I have never felt such pride in my country.
Because our generations, the ones alive now, had forgotten what it means to be an #American. Our memory has been awakened, our conscience stirred, our power tapped, and our hope kindled. These are the same people that threw off a tyrant in 1776, that defeated slavery, that protested with MLK. We look oppressive power in the face and we defeat it.
Thank you all. 12/
To quote Amanda Gorman:
"When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it for there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it."
And today, I see that we are brave enough.
/end
I couldn't have predicted when I wrote my thread Sunday https://mstdn.social/@resistancewins/115527579304761150 that one day later, the Trump administration would begin its retreat. But it was inevitable.
The key point here is: public pressure works. The nonviolent protests in Minneapolis were enormously effective. They didn't take the bait of continuing provocation, instead turning public opinion against the administration until eventually, inevitably, even Republicans started to turn.
Let's talk about why and how. 1/
Trump's playbook seems to be: do something ridiculous and keep pushing and escalating until he runs into a wall. We've seen this with tariffs, with Greenland, and more than once with immigration. In spring of last year, they were running this playbook with Abrego Garcia, and ultimately caved.
Trump doesn't have high ideals or grand strategy, but he cares tremendously about image and popularity, as I mentioned before. When those are threatened, he looks for an off-ramp.
2/
There are people that talk about "Trump whisperers" that can get him to do the right thing. I'm less convinced that certain people can persuade Trump to be sane; perhaps what really happens is he needs some way to back down while saving face at a particular moment, and people with a reasonable amount of skill can give it to him. For example, the "framework of an agreement on #Greenland" that mostly "gives him" things that are already in treaties. 3/
It lets his sycophants on Fox News call him a genius, and maybe he even believes it.
Back to #Minneapolis. We can grouse all day that the straw that broke the camel's back may have been comments about the murder of an armed man rather than the murder of an unarmed woman. There's a sad truth to that.
Deeper, though, that didn't happen in a vacuum. The popularity of this was already low and decreasing. It was the last straw, not the only straw. The activism worked. 4/
Those two people's lives meant something. They were part of the movement that has made a positive difference, and are heroes. Their lives were not wasted; they were part of the group that made a difference. I'd rather nobody was killed; these are tragic stories. But never think that they died for nothing.
5/
