Protests, Boycotts, Walk-Outs and Possible Impeachment Face Trump as his Inauguration Approaches

President-elect Trump faces a barrage of opposition as he gets set to be inaugurated this Friday, January 20th.

Protests, boycotts, school walk-outs and possible impeachment will engulf the least-popular president-elect in American history as he takes the oath of office.

Over a half-dozen national networks are mobilizing to protest the inauguration, while on the day after, on the 21st, a massive women-led march in Washington DC promises to be the largest protest that the Capitol has witnessed in years.

Students are organizing school walk-outs across the country.

And a boycott of the inauguration by Congressional representatives has now reached 52 Democratic lawmakers who have pledged to forego the event.

There are also plenty of local actions across the country that will be held on the 20th and 21st, including San Diego.

Some of the protests have already been held. Immigrants’ Rights organizations gathered supporters in a number of major cities on Saturday, the 14th. As Doug Porter at SD Free Press reported:

On Saturday, supporters of immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S. denounced President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric along with his pledge to build a border wall and discriminate against Muslims entering the country.  … Opponents of Trump’s rhetoric and promises on immigration participated in events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, and other cities.

Also on Saturday, the National Action Network organized a rainy Washington DC rally headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.  From the Washington Post:

Holding umbrellas in 30-degree temperatures, marchers stretched three city blocks as they progressed down Independence Avenue as part of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend celebration. “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” they shouted, along with chants of “No justice, no peace!”

Another national network aligned with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party had rallies and other actions in support of the Affordable Care Act on Sunday, January 15th. “Our First Stand“,  led by Democratic leaders and organized in many areas by supporters of Sanders, organized the “day of action” in 70 cities to show support for the health care law now facing congressional Republican repeal.  10,000 protested in Michigan, another 7 to 8,000 in Boston.

National Networks Mobilizing for the Inaugural

Large liberal and progressive groups have spearheaded a nationwide campaign of  ‘United Resistance’ to Trump. Some of the more well-known groups included in this network are the NAACP, Common Cause, Communication Workers of America, Center for Biological Diversity, CREDO, Friends of the Earth, Jobs for Justice, Greenpeace, MoveOn, National Domestic Workers Alliance, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, Rainbow Action Network, 350.org and the Sierra Club.

The groups all pledge to “stand together in support of racial, social, environmental, economic justice for all, and against Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, sexism, and all those forces which would tear apart a democracy of, by, and for all the people.” “We are facing fascism right now,” says Eveline Shen, executive director of one of network groups, Forward Together.

Another national campaign that has sprang up instantly over the course of the last few weeks is that associated with the ‘Indivisible ‘ network. Several dozen former Congressional staffers put together a handbook, a manual, a guidebook to confronting Congressional members, basically using tactics of the Tea Party for a progressive agenda and to counter that of Trump’s allies in Congress. The guidebook originators claim 3,000 grouplets have formed around their outline for protests. The guidebook is downloadable.

If you click on the Indivisible page to locate San Diego County groups that have emerged around this network, you’ll find 21 of them, 14 south of SR-52. Just yesterday, there were only 7 in that area. They advise that “Groups in our directory are wholly independent; they are listed provided they agree to resist Trump’s agenda, focus on local, defensive congressional advocacy, and embrace progressive values.”

Yet another national network has formed, Refuse Fascism– which is the alliance that bought full-page ads in the New York Times and other papers denouncing Trump as a fascist and attempting to galvanize people to “shut DC down” this week. Many well-known activists, actors and academic and law professors have signed their Call to Resist Fascism.

A youthful anarchist network also is mobilizing for the 20th, Disrupt J20– and they have a local San Diego group joining in the demonstrations slated for downtown.

San Diego Protests

We have been writing about all the groups that are sponsoring protests – starting Friday, the 20th. Here is the website of one of the groups, the San Diego Alliance for Justice.

The Women’s March on Washington

A few women began organizing this march last year, but the original facebook post quickly went viral. Now organizers predict nearly a quarter million women – and men – will be attending the march on Saturday, January 21st. Some of its leaders are veteran civil rights advocates. The march has also named two honorary co-chairs: activist Gloria Steinem and singer Harry Belafonte. The march’s mission statement reads:

“The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.” 

In a sign of the march’s magnitude, applications for at least 1,200 bus permits have already been submitted to park at a local stadium.  Sister Marches are planned in other cities, across this country and around the world. People have expressed interest in marching at 370 satellite marches around the world.

And of course, the Women’s March in San Diego promises to be big, with nearly 10,000 pledging to attend.

Students are also planning walk-outs to protest Trump’s inauguration around the country.  Organizers in Boston and Seattle, for example, are galvanizing high-numbers of high-school and college students to quit their campuses. CalArt students are joining in the walk-outs.

Boycott of Inauguration

As of this writing, 53 Democratic lawmakers are boycotting Trump’s inauguration. According to today’s Washington Post:

A growing group of Democratic lawmakers will boycott President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday to protest what they described as his alarming and divisive policies, foreign interference in his election and his criticism of civil rights icon John Lewis, a congressman from Georgia.

There are now more than 50 House Democrats — 53, at last count — who have declared that they will not attend the inauguration on Capitol Hill this week. The number rose sharply after Trump tweeted Saturday that Lewis (D) is “all talk, talk, talk” and should “finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities.”

Locally here in San Diego, only Congressman Juan Vargas has pledged not to attend the event. Here is what he said:

I will not be attending the Inauguration. Instead, I will be praying for our country and for our community with the people of my district.

And it’s not just Congressional reps who are boycotting the spectacle. Celebrities have been bailing on his inauguration – we read almost daily the latest entertainer to skip out. A member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned in protest of the group singing in DC for Trump.

Trump’s inaugural planning group struggled to attract entertainment for the event, with more than a dozen acts — including Elton John, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli and Garth Brooks — having declined invitations to perform. The Daily News

There are also boycotts of Trump products and stores who refuse to de-shelve some of those Ivanka Trump clothes.

Impeachment?

There is even talk of impeaching Trump – for violating the Constitution if he comes into the Oval Office without divesting all his business dealings – or for being a tool of the Russian government, which is treasonous.

A number of legal experts and law professors swear that Trump is so liable that he will be met with impeachment efforts.