What The Hell America!

A pair of grassroots progressive organizations launched a
petition on Wednesday imploring the Democratic National Committee to call an emergency meeting to confront the dire threat posed by President Donald Trump’s administration, which has trampled laws, disregarded basic constitutional rights, and ignored court rulings as it attempts to impose its far-right agenda on the U.S.

The petition, spearheaded by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and RootsAction, states that the Democratic Party “has failed to confront the urgency of this perilous moment for the future of the United States, as reflected in recent public opinion polls.”

“For the sake of the future, we insist that the Democratic National Committee should convene an emergency meeting of all its members—fully open to the public—as soon as possible. Waiting until the next regular meeting in late summer would be irresponsible and unacceptable,” the petition continues. “Business as usual must give way to truly bold action that mobilizes against the autocracy that Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their cronies are further entrenching every day. The predatory, extreme, and dictatorial actions of the Trump administration call for an all-out commensurate response, which so far has been terribly lacking from the Democratic Party.”

“Our urgent message to the DNC is—wake up, this is an emergency.”

The petition drive comes amid mounting evidence that the Democratic base is growing increasingly disaffected with the party leadership, particularly in the wake of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.)
surrender last month on a Republican-authored government funding package.

One survey conducted earlier this month
found that 72% of Democratic voters support politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) “who are calling on Democrats to adopt a more aggressive stance towards Trump and his administration.” In recent weeks, the progressive duo has drawn massive crowds on its “Fight Oligarchy” tour, which has included stops in deep-red states.

Just 28% of Democratic voters said they prefer “moderate Democrats” over progressives like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.

Alan Minsky, PDA’s executive director, said Wednesday that “millions upon millions of Americans are doubly appalled.”

“They not only are watching the Trump administration stage a coup, but they also feel the political opposition is not doing enough to protect our democratic republic,” said Minsky. “We call upon the DNC to hold an emergency meeting so that, like a truly democratic opposition, it can draw upon the idealism of the American people to defend all that is great about our society.”

The DNC is currently led by former Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, who has vocally decried Trump’s lawlessness and launched a “People’s Cabinet” aimed at countering the Trump administration’s right-wing policy agenda and misinformation.

“Donald Trump’s disregard for the Supreme Court, the rule of law, and human decency shows the terrifying lengths he will go to fulfill his fantasy of becoming a ‘
dictator on day one,'” Martin said Tuesday in response to the president’s refusal to bring home a wrongly deported Maryland resident. “Now, Trump is threatening to round up American citizens and ship them to foreign prisons without due process.”

“This is an all-out assault on our Constitution and our fundamental rights,” Martin added, “and we must fight back.”

One way for the DNC to fight back, according to PDA and RootsAction, would be for the Democratic governing body to convene an emergency meeting to make clear that the party intends to respond accordingly to the authoritarian Trump threat.

“The daily avalanches of massive abuses and lawless actions by the Trump administration have created what amounts to a state of emergency,” said Norman Solomon, national director of RootsAction. “Step by step, in effect, the regime is proceeding to shred the Constitution of the United States. This is no time for Democratic Party business as usual. Our urgent message to the DNC is—wake up, this is an emergency.”