Sunsara Taylor, on behalf of RefuseFascism.org

Washington DC: Monday, Oct 12, 2020
in front of the Supreme Court

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The whole area surrounding the Supreme Court is creepy and crazy. The biggest numbers here for the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett are Christian fascist fanatics – a great many of them women – screaming their minds out about how thrilled they are to see the court packed with this judge who has a record of arguing for practicing the law as a “means” to establishing the “Kingdom of God.” As I arrived, dressed as a Handmaid, many of them swarmed us, shoved us, tried to drown us out. They are spilling over with excitement that the world they've been fighting so long for – where women are denied abortion rights and birth control, where LGBTQ rights are stripped away, where “religious freedom” is reinterpreted to mean the freedom to impose Christian fascist bigotry on others – is so close at hand.

A young woman told me, "When a woman is in an unplanned pregnancy, we surround her... to carry through with that pregnancy." I mean, you can add the word “love” to that sentence, but that is still FORCED MOTHERHOOD and it is a form of FEMALE ENSLAVEMENT.

How is it acceptable that these fascists who are here outnumber those of us who treasure the separation of church and state, who recognize that women are not incubators, who love and value LGBTQ people, and don't want the courts packed to tip an election theft in Trump's favor?!?!

I am in DC to join with others opposing the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and calling on people across this country to take to the streets and stay in the streets demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!

We dressed as Handmaids and joined various protests happening all day, speaking to media, arguing with fascists, and calling people to join us in the streets here and nationwide all week – especially on Thursday at noon at the Supreme Court – refusing to accept a theocratic, fascist America and demanding Trump/Pence Out Now! Even with a lot of fascists shoving and jostling us, our message got out – but it needs to be joined by many more so it can resound more and more loudly and actually succeed.

  • At stake in this confirmation is not only the tipping of the Supreme Court towards a fascist majority – thereby transforming the highest court in the land more fully into an instrument of fascist atrocity – but this confirmation is part of the fascist coup the Trump/Pence regime is carrying out right now.

The Stakes

At stake in this confirmation is not only the tipping of the Supreme Court towards a fascist majority – thereby transforming the highest court in the land more fully into an instrument of fascist atrocity – but this confirmation is part of the fascist coup the Trump/Pence regime is carrying out right now.

Donald Trump has said openly to the world that he wants the court packed in case the election on November 3rd is contested and thrown to the court. Why might the election be thrown to the court? Because Trump is already stealing and contesting the election results. He is already mobilizing an “army” of fascists (his word, not mine) to “monitor” (i.e.: intimidate) voters “in Democrat run cities.” And he already has an army of lawyers ready to contest the ballot count if things are not going his way.

For their part, the Democrats have conceded that this confirmation will go forward and are mainly calling on people to get out and “vote harder” in November. I personally feel very strongly that everyone who can should get out and vote against Trump, which means voting for Biden.

BUT VOTING ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH! Again, Trump is stealing the election now. We cannot rely on the election to remove Trump when he is refusing to promise he will peacefully accept the election results. We've got to get out and stop this fascist coup, and stop the consolidation of fascism, in the streets.

Join Us In the Streets and DONATE

That is our main message out here today. And if you are anywhere in the DC area – or can get here – please write me back and make plans to join us in this. Wherever you are, please DONATE GENEROUSLY to this effort.

Important Conversations

There are others out here protesting, which is very good, but not nearly enough. Some are dressed in hazmat suits, insisting that confirmation hearings not take place unless everyone is tested for Covid, especially after the recent White House outbreak. Others are insisting that a confirmation before inauguration is illegitimate and hypocritical of the Republicans. These are just demands. And it is beautiful that some of these brave souls did civil disobedience this morning to protest this confirmation.

When I spoke to some of them, they brought up the theft of the election and the theocratic danger. One said, “This is not a drill, this is the real thing. The whole future is on the line.” But they didn't want to project that as their main message to the public and the media. They explained that didn't want to overwhelm people with the danger and they wanted to appeal to people who might find it controversial to claim the regime is carrying out a coup or imposing theocracy.

As I told them, I disagree with “softening” the truth. We need to wake people up to the reality of this fascist coup unfolding right now before our eyes, we have to tell people the full scope of the danger and the urgency to act. Doing so is not “dis-empowering.” It is just the truth. The truth is also that the people have incredible power to stop this fascist coup and drive out this regime if we come into the streets. Both things are true: we face an unprecedented danger that imperils the future of all humanity and we have the power to stop it if we dare. We have seen this power manifest just this past summer in the beautiful rising in the streets against police terror and institutionalized white supremacy. We need to come back into the streets in even greater numbers now raising the demand: Trump/Pence OUT NOW!

These were good discussions that we will build upon in the coming days here, even as our main effort will continue to be reaching out to those who are not acting now to join us in the streets.

I'll write more about what has begun to go on in the hearings soon and tell you about the interviews I'll be doing this week with different legal scholars about the stakes of this confirmation.

For now, I want to thank all of you who have sent your support and ask you one more time to kick in what you can – everyone can do something – to house, feed, and fuel myself and the other volunteers who have come to DC to demand TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

warmly,

Sunsara


Photo: RefuseFascism.org

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