Thread by @malinablue

Four biggest protests in US history have all happened since Trump:

#1 - 2017 Women's March (3.3 - 4.6 million)
#2 - 2018 Women's March (1.5 million)
#3 - March for Our Lives (1.2 - 2 million)
#4 - March for Science (1 million)

This sounds great, but it's not great....

...US population is nearly 330 million.

Our biggest protest ever got about 1% of us out there.

ONE PERCENT. This is Hong Kong. In a country of 7.5 million people, it's estimated nearly 2 MILLION marched on June 16 to protest extradition to China.

That's 37.5% of the population

Now imagine if we were able to get even 10% of us in the streets.

Not 37.5% - just 10%.

That would be 33 MILLION people out there.

Hell, even a measly 5% would be the biggest US march in history by far - 16.5 million.

Can we get 5% of Americans to care enough about America?

Time to realize no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.

This was South Korea in 2016. Millions of protesters marched like this over & over again for 5 months to force a corrupt president to leave. It wasn't easy. It wasn't a single march. It was successful.

Protest WORKS.

It's how Ukraine chased off its Putin puppet.

It's how South Korea finally got its corrupt leader to leave.

It takes multiple massive protests over many months, not a single planned march, but it works.

We are right now at the turning point.

We either get out there and march to save our country, or we later look back & acknowledge this was the moment we lost democracy because we were too complacent to care.

Think about this - protest is legal now & we don't get shot, imprisoned, tortured for it. That's because we're still a democracy.

Do this now so our kids & grandkids don't have to risk being shot or jailed later when America is no longer a democracy. Now, it's easy.

If nothing else, millions of us in the streets will WAKE UP THE HALF OF AMERICA THAT'S SLEEPING.

America has no idea what's happening now, how democracy is dying. Media's not sounding alarms.

Millions of us in the streets is a loud wake-up call to the entire nation.

One last thing. We CANNOT wait & trust in 2020 elections to save us. They're going to be manipulated beyond belief - Russia's already at it. Plus Trump & GOP are signaling he won't leave.

Fact: Germans thought they could wait & vote Hitler out. It began as a democracy, you know.

Fun forgotten fact: US Constitution gives ultimate power NOT to president, NOT to Congress, NOT to courts.

It is WE THE PEOPLE. Government derives its power from "consent of the governed" who may "alter or abolish or institute new government" when those in power become despotic.

Not there yet, but honestly, we're getting close. Our government is less democratic & more authoritarian every day. Congress has been purchased by lobbyists & no longer represents constituents. How can we trust them to represent our interests when they have no interest in us?

Here's an example of what I mean: recent polls found more than 90% of Americans support background checks for gun purchases. Nearly entire country supports that, GOP included.

Yet GOP Congress, bought by NRA, refuse. THEY DO NOT REPRESENT AMERICAN PEOPLE. That's a problem.

We've permitted corporations & lobbyists to buy govt. Senators who are hugely unpopular - even in their own states - get re-elected with $ from outside their states.

Congressman's job is to represent people, but they're not even holding town halls to find out what people want.

How much longer are we willing to suffer under system that allows NRA to refuse our need for gun safety, insurance industry to refuse us health care, drug makers to refuse us reasonable drug prices. Who represents WE THE PEOPLE? It sure as hell isn't our elected representatives.

What am I promoting here? Revolution? NO. But, we do need to march! NOW. By the millions.

Whole world is rising up against corruption. It's beyond time we join them. MASSIVE UNRELENTING PROTEST WORKS. How? Corrupt officials learn IT'S JUST NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE & LEAVE.

Trusting in 2020 elections to save us is trusting democracy is still genuine. This sham trial proves it's not.

What if Trump simply suspends elections? Will GOP stand up then? We know they won't.

If we don't pour out into the streets as a country now, we won't have a country.

Trusting 2020 elections to save us assumes we believe we still have a functioning democracy with fair elections. Do you believe that?

For those who say they can't march - they have jobs, too many responsibilities, yada yada.

I get it. In fact GOP get that, too. One way dictators hold onto power is ensuring everyone is so economically fragile, they can't risk protest. Can't lose time off work. Can't risk jobs.

But ask yourself this - what will your life be like if you DON'T march?

What will your children's lives be like? Will they be part of the oligarchy or will they be crushed by them?

Because make no mistake - democracy needs us now.