Tag Archives: progressive

Conditions are Ripe for a Resistance Counter- Offensive

Future Hope, , , ,

It’s been over ten long months that the forces of democracy have been on the defensive, doing our best to withstand the many and various assaults on us on issue after issue, but the tide is turning:

-Trump’s polling numbers keep going down, at 36% positive and 60% negative in the latest Gallup Poll;

-Four weeks after Democratic Party electoral victories all over the country on November 4, it’s possible as I write that, today, a Democrat running for Congress in a special election in Tennessee could win despite, in the 2024 election, the Republican candidate winning by a 22% margin of victory;

-Long-time MAGA leader Margaret Taylor Green is resigning from Congress and publicly criticizing Trump on health care, the Epstein issue and more, with the likelihood that other Republican House members will follow her lead;

-The Epstein sex trafficking crisis is not going away!

-Trump’s “Justice” Department’s indictments against James Comey and Letitia James have been thrown out by a US District Court judge;

-Congressional Republicans are on the defensive over what to do about the health care crisis, overall, with the specific problem of huge increases in premiums, doubling, tripling or more, for millions of people by the end of the year; this was one of the main reasons for Green’s resignation;

-And now comes the Caribbean motorboat revelations about Pete Hegseth giving the illegal order to “kill everybody” on those boats even if a boat has been destroyed and there are survivors. True to form, exposed as they have been, rats like Hegseth are deserting a sinking ship by trying to shift the blame to a career military admiral.

Remember that it was Joe McCarthy in the 1950’s attacking the US military that was the beginning of the end for his McCarthyite repressive campaign.

There are probably some on the political Left who would counsel that we allow all of this to keep unfolding and not “rock the sinking boat,” just let it take its course, but I don’t agree at all.

We should do just the opposite, consciously up our game, keep broadening out our resistance movement and make plans for 2026 to be the year that Trump and the MAGA’s are decisively defeated and the House and the Senate come under Democratic and progressive independent (Bernie, others) control. Like it or not, that has to be our north star for the next 11 months, as we keep up the resistance to ICE and Border Control raids and take action on all of the many other issues our peoples are dealing with.

That issue-oriented activity will strengthen the electoral campaigns of genuine progressives in the Democratic primaries running against corporatists or anti-Left centrists, as well as serious, tactically smart, progressive independent campaigns

It will be essential that we do what we did so effectively over this past year as far as taking it to the streets. We need national days of coordinated local actions, which began in 2025 on February 5 with the 50501 actions in just about every state capitol. Those actions kept building throughout the year up to the seven million of us coming out in 2,600 local actions in every state on the second No Kings day October 18.

January 19, 2026, one year after Trump took office and the federal Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, would be a very good day to initiate this continuing campaign of nationally coordinated street action.

2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which offers us lots of possibilities.

We do need to be up front about the mixed reality of that historic revolution against British colonialism, the reality of European-American enslavement of Africans and violent theft of land lived on by indigenous nations for thousands of years. But it is a fact that the American Revolution helped to inspire anti-colonial and anti-monarchy revolutions in France, Haiti, South America and elsewhere. Indeed, when the Vietnamese revolutionaries in 1946 put forward their call for independence from French colonialism, they quoted the US Declaration of Independence.

We should have no illusions that the MAGA’s as a whole are going to see the light and stop with their repressive and regressive efforts, though there’s no question that some of them already are moving away from Trump and there are major internal rifts. This is another important fact about the crisis the Republicans and fascists are in.

As bad as 2025 has been, 2026 can be very different, if we all stay strong and keep consciously building the resistance movement in all its many different aspects. 2026 can  end up being a happy, a joyous, successful new year of popular, nonviolent uprising for justice, democracy, peace and defense of our threatened ecosystems.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Resisting the Death Cult

Other Writiings, , ,

It’s time to end the genocide in Gaza, time for a permanent ceasefire, time to stop sending weapons of war to Israel, time to bring home Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners, time for massive shipments of food, water, medicine and more into Gaza and time for the US government to support in action the Palestinian right to self determination and justice.

It’s also time to demand that Donald Trump and his MAGA government stop collaborating with the coal, oil and gas industry and poisoning environmental justice communities like the Ironbound when it comes to US energy policy. This would-be fascist government wants to roll back hundreds of billions of dollars approved in 2022 for wind and solar energy, electric cars, buses and trains. and other clean and jobs producing energy. This is the kind of energy we must shift to as rapidly as possible if we are to avoid the breakdown of ecosystems and human societies worldwide.

It’s as if the MAGA’s were a death cult. Truly, and not just when it comes to energy policy.

Determined and fearless resistance to this regime, masses of people taking action in the streets and in all of the other ways, is what will ultimately lead to Trump and MAGA’s downfall, if we as a people’s movement strengthen our united front and use smart and strategic tactics that attract those not yet active to our cause.

Let me close with a prayer, an Anishinabe prayer I saw in the National Museum of the American Indian many years ago:

Grandfather, look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way. We know that we are the ones who are divided, and we are the ones who must come back together to walk the Sacred Way.
Grandfather, Sacred One, teach us love, compassion and honor, that we may heal the earth and heal each other.

Outreach: Not Just a Tactic But a Mindset

Future Hope, , , ,

Six weeks into the Trump presidency it is important to recognize that the rapidly growing MAGA resistance movement is turning out big numbers of people in the streets, beginning to engage in strategic nonviolent direct action, having an impact on Democratic members of Congress, and so far winning most of the court cases brought against the Trumpfascists. There are good reasons for us to feel stronger and steadier than we were on January 20th, unsure and afraid of what was going to be attempted by Trump/MAGA.

There’s no question that as Spring arrives this burgeoning resistance movement will continue to build and grow, and that is grounds for hope. But there is another area of work for this movement that cannot be forgotten and that must increasingly be integrated into all of our other tactics: OUTREACH.

Here is how I wrote about this a month ago: “It is not enough for us to do all of the above with only those who are already critical of Trump (half or a little more of the country, likely to grow as the MAGA policies do their damage). We need to do outreach to and with these many tens of millions, for sure, but we also need to look for opportunities or make specific organizing plans to interact with Trump voters, including in rural areas, and voters who didn’t vote because they’re turned off to both parties.”

I know from personal experience doing canvassing to defeat Trump last fall in eastern Pennsylvania that many of these folks have strong feelings, for example, about the dominance of the US economy by billionaires and the growing class divide. Another example is the opposition among many conservative landowners to oil, gas and CO2 pipeline companies being allowed by governments to use eminent domain to take their land. And there are other examples.

Here’s one very small example of what we need to do: Last week I was in the town of Pearisburg in southwest Virginia to support young people who had taken direct action to try to stop the MVP pipeline over the past year and a half. 12 of them were facing court trials that day over charges that could have led to years in jail; fortunately, none of that happened. At one point, outside a packed courtroom of supporters, a man in a truck stopped by a group of us who couldn’t get into the courtroom and were hanging out in a parking lot behind the courthouse. As he got out of his truck he was wearing a “Trump 2024” hat. A couple of us told him loudly that he should leave, but others of us, me included, went up to him and started listening and then responding to what he was saying. The main thing he talked to us about at first was the EPA and how some of the things they were doing were actually negatively impacting the soil, which in a rural area is clearly an important issue.

As it turned out one of us was a soil expert, and she agreed with some of his criticisms. He may not have been expecting that. He ended up continuing to talk with us about this and other things for what seemed like almost an hour.

We need more of these kinds of interactions. Local resistance groups, for example, could begin to integrate door to door canvassing or street leafletting into their organizing plans. A petition on a relevant issue, like planned cuts in Medicaid or something related to local or state government, should be the issue on which to have these in-person discussions in neighborhoods known as ones where Trump did well on November 5th. This is work that white people who have an anti-racist consciousness, in particular, need to be doing, being willing to address that issue if and as it comes up in conversation.

If we’re going to make inroads into those working-class and middle-class communities that put Trump in office, door to door work can’t just happen when people are running for office.

Outreach must become not just a tactic but a mindset. We should welcome opportunities like the one some of us had in that Pearisburg, Virginia parking lot and look for how we can do more. This is immediate, strategic, absolutely essential work.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Strategy and Tactics for the Burgeoning Resistance

Future Hope, , , ,

The wide mix of acts of resistance over the past week have made it clear that there is and will be widespread resistance to the Trump/MAGA regressive, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic and pro-billionaire plans, There have been actions in the streets in DC and all over the country. Congressional Democrats are speaking up, filibustering and organizing town meetings. Numerous creative social media postings have helped to keep up people’s morale. Rachel Maddow on MSNBC five nights a week is playing an important role as have other TV/podcast/written reports and commentaries. And there have been a number of federal court filings, a few of which have already led to positive, initial judicial decisions.

Here are my thoughts on an overall strategy and the tactics we should be prioritizing as we keep building the mass US resistance movement which has burst into public view during the first week of February.

Strategy: On a national level we are on the defensive; that has to be our starting point. We can win some victories over the next two years, even some big ones, at local and state levels, but it’s unrealistic to expect we can make major advances at the federal level given Trump/MAGA/billionaire dominance of the executive and congressional branches of government and a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Our overall strategy must be one of making as many advances as we can on local and state levels while preventing as much damage as possible to the primary MAGA targets: US democracy, human and civil rights, including internationally, organized labor and programs that benefit low- and moderate-income working people, and the natural environment on which all life depends.

Tactics: I see five areas where we as a movement of movements need to be focused during these difficult years: street heat–local/state/federal government—courts—media and publicity—outreach.

Street heat: This is essential. Visibility is needed to strengthen morale and attract others to our resistance movement. Well-organized and/or big demonstrations can also have an impact on elected officials, judges and masses of people, including some who voted for Trump. Some people will be challenged, appreciative or moved to consider the issue(s) being addressed because of street heat and demonstrative actions.

Local/state/federal government: I’m very close to people who are big on calling or emailing elected officials at all levels of government to urge them to do the right thing. Honestly, this isn’t the form of action that I’m really into. However, the Associated Press reported a few days ago that there have been so many calls to Congress that phone systems in individual offices are overwhelmed. WE NEED TO KEEP THIS UP. Just as mass demos/street heat have an impact, there are numerous examples over the years of massive calls to Congress preventing or advancing legislation and motivating Senators and House members to be more outspoken about the immediate issue. This pressure is undoubtedly primarily responsible for Senate and House Democrats stepping it up both in word and action (filibuster, organizing town meetings) this past week.

I’ve put on my calendar for the month of February making at least three calls each day to my Senators and House rep, practicing what I’m preaching.

Courts: Without a judicial system which is charged with upholding the US Constitution (which includes the Bill of Rights and amendments prohibiting slavery, etc.), our chances for winning victories on the way to ultimately isolating and overcoming the MAGA’s would be much less. And that’s still true with the 6-3 dominance of conservatives, not all of them MAGA conservatives, however, on the Supreme Court.

Court cases usually take time, often a lot of it. When you are out of power and on the defensive legislatively and dealing with executive orders, this is helpful. Federal district court and court of appeals rulings are often good ones on many issues. These decisions can have political impacts, strengthen support for the positions our progressive movements are taking. And when the legal and extra-legal repression comes down from the Trumpists and MAGA, as it inevitably will, the courts are critical.

Media and publicity: Elon Musk may have his X, Fox News is what it is, and there are many other ways that the ultra-rightists can connect with each other and try to confuse masses of people about what is true and false, but there’s no question that we have our own ways to communicate and spread the truth. And there are non-electronic ways to communicate, like by mass in-person leafletting, draping banners over major highways or wheat-pasting posters, or doing multi-day or multi-week walks along the side of well-traveled roads and through towns and cities. Groups can organize community teach-ins and public meetings in churches, civic centers, universities, etc. Where there is a will to get out the word, there are definitely ways.

Outreach:  Finally, it is not enough for us to do all of the above with only those who are already critical of Trump (half or a little more of the country, likely to grow as the MAGA policies do their damage). We need to do outreach to and with these many tens of millions, for sure, but we also need to look for opportunities or make specific organizing plans to interact with Trump voters, including in rural areas, and voters who didn’t vote because they’re turned off to both parties. I know from personal experience doing canvassing to defeat Trump last fall in eastern Pennsylvania that many of these folks have strong feelings, for example, about the dominance of the US economy by billionaires and the growing class divide. Another example is the opposition among many conservative landowners to oil, gas and CO2 pipeline companies being allowed by governments to use eminent domain to take their land. And there are other examples.

White male progressives have a particular responsibility to look for ways to have these discussions and interactions. Serious anti-racist/sexist/heterosexist practice must include a willingness/commitment to do this work. In my Burglar for Peace book I wrote about it this way: “It is critical that whites organizing whites take up the economic, health care, education or other issues impacting predominantly white communities, to show that they are concerned about all forms of inequality and want a just society for everyone. A good organizer knows that you need to start with people where they are, make connections on the basis of issues, experiences or other things held in common. As those connections are made, as people get to know and respect the organizer, they are more willing to listen and think about constructive criticism from her/him or ideas other than those they are ordinarily exposed to.” (p. 192)

Our situation is in no way hopeless. Trump is being called out publicly, like in a Wall Street Journal editorial last week, as “dumb,” which he is. His Canada and Mexico tariff proposals were pulled back one day after he made them, not exactly a way of leading that inspires confidence among followers. His insane proposal standing next to Netanyahu to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians was met with open disbelief by numerous Republican Senators. He will continue to say and do things like this for as long as he is President, and it will probably get worse as his advanced age combined with his other mental problems weaken his “governing” facilities going forward.

The independent and progressive movement of movements can give the leadership needed to win this battle. Si, se puede!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Bernie’s Call to Reflect/Speak Out/Build

Future Hope, , , ,

“I have long believed that we need an alternative to the Democrat and Republican parties, and since 1974 I have acted on that belief via involvement in various organizations with that objective. All during that time I have believed, on a tactical level, that to get to the kind of alternative we need, one that had the mass support necessary to be able to actually contest for power, it was necessary that it include both people who saw themselves as independent of the Dems/Reps as well as a significant number of progressive Democrats and maybe some Republicans. I’ve also learned from experience about the very practical problem of a winner-take-all system when it comes to explicit third party building. The weakness of the US Green Party is exhibit number one for why this is such a huge problem.”
-21st Century Revolution: Through Higher Love, Racial Justice and Democratic Cooperation, p. 104

It was 50 years ago that I first joined an organization trying to build a progressive alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties. The group’s name for a while was the very unwieldly “National Interim Committee for a Mass Party of the People,” eventually and mercifully changed to “Mass Party Organizing Committee.” The organization grew out of a long paper, “Toward a Party of the People,” written by civil rights/labor/progressive attorney Arthur Kinoy.

I was reminded of my long years in the wilderness trying, unsuccessfully, with many others to build such a political force when Bernie Sanders last week put out an intriguing “Tough Times” email. In it Independent Sanders made it clear that though he supported Kamala Harris and though he works with Democrats in the Senate to try to advance positive legislation, he continues to believe that an alternative to both parties is necessary, that what happened in 2024 only reinforced that belief and his commitment to play a leadership role toward that alternative.

As he put it, we need to “learn the lessons of the [Democratic Party] defeat and create a party that stands with the working class and is prepared to take on the enormously powerful special interests that dominate our economy, our media and our political life.”

I was struck by Bernie’s call for the Left to ask a series of “political questions that, together, we need to address.” He listed nine of them in his Tough Times piece, including: how we build a multi-racial, multi-generational working class movement; building a 50 state movement; Citizens United and billionaires buying elections; more working class candidates for office; supporting Independent candidates; better support to union organizing; strengthen our use of social media; and building sustainable, issue-based organizing structures.

Intriguingly, he asked, “How do we put together listening sessions around the country that intentionally seek input from people who did not vote for Democrats in the last election?” Listening is almost always a very good thing to be doing, especially if it’s clear that there’s a need for some major personal or political change.

Where would the independent progressive movement be without Bernie Sanders? His 2016 Presidential campaign was absolutely huge—15 million votes for a forthright socialist who targeted what he called the “ruling class,” the 1%, the power elite, the billionaire class. Those of us who voted for him and the country as a whole were witnesses to the breadth of support for this kind of politics.

Reading what Sanders wrote it would be very easy to think that he was calling for the creation right now of a new political party other than the Dems and the Reps, but he has clarified since in an interview in The Nation with John Nichols that he is not doing so. He believes that strong, class-conscious progressives can run either in Democratic primaries or as Independents.

This is an absolutely key point for those individuals and organizations who right now, after Kamala Harris’ unfortunate defeat, believe that what the Left should do is to abandon the Democrats and create right now a(nother) third party.

The Green Party experience over 28 years of running candidates for office is instructive here. This year, after all those years of existence, their candidate for President got ½ of a percent of the national popular vote. This is not an aberration; it’s a feature of every GP Presidential campaign since 2000 when the Ralph Nader/Winona Laduke slate received 2.7% of the popular vote.

What we need to be consciously constructing right now is a “third force,” a progressive alliance that is clearly different than both the Democrats and the Republicans as far as what it stands for both domestically and as far as foreign policy: “for racial and gender justice and equality; for the right to organize and unionize on the job; against militarism and for justice-based peace; for detoxification and protection of our natural environment and a rapid shift from dirty and dangerous fossil fuels and nukes to clean, renewable energy sources; for immigrant rights, reproductive rights and an end to mass incarceration; for a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free public higher education and student debt cancellation; and more.” (21st Century Revolution, p. 96)

Who is going to give leadership to the building of such an alliance? One person, one absolutely key person, is Bernie Sanders, but it cannot be him alone. As he said in his Tough Times piece, “these are some of the political questions that, together, we need to address. And it is absolutely critical that you [all of us] make your voice heard during this process.”

As we fight the many necessary battles against Trump and MAGA’s regressive, destructive plans, we also need to consciously build upon the many connections that already exist toward a much better organized, independent and progressive, political third force. NOW IS THE TIME.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.