That protester that you just
saw get roughed up by cops
happens to be an actress,
Jodie Sweden is the person who
got thrown onto the freeway
by members of the LAPD.
So in other words, Stephanie Tanner from full house apparently was such
a threat to cops that they decided to grab her and throw her onto the freeway where
protesters were protesting the reversal of Roe V Wade meaning that constitutional
protections for women's reproductive rights have been done away with.
Now that is, to say the least, a very worthy cuz.
And I'm very supportive of the protesters.
But Sweden was trying to do something very specific before she was roughed up by
the cops.
She was trying to lead them away from the freeway.
She was trying to lead a group of peaceful protesters away from the freeway.
LAPD what are y'all doing?
And this is a tweet from Mike Aid,
Jodi is the definition of a real one and fortunately, she's okay.
But for others who choose to protest today, move with caution and
keep your head on a swivel, It's going to be a very long summer.
So for those who think no no police brutality is totally fine if people
are blocking the freeway.
She was not trying to block the freeway.
She was trying to get the protesters safely off the freeway before she was
thrown onto the freeway in a vicious manner, luckily she did not get hurt.
That is the good news.
In fact, in a statement to People, she said quote our activism will continue
until our voices are heard and action is taken.
This will not deter us.
We will continue fighting for our rights.
We are not free until all of us are free.
So I commend her for that.
I commend people who have taken to the streets to protest what is happening
right now.
I think that protests are important, but we also have to acknowledge and
accept that protests without a structure behind it,
without a real plan behind the demonstrations, have limited outcomes.
And I think that we experienced that after the summer of 2020, and this is why it's
so incredibly important to start building labor power in this country, right?
Because I'm sure many of you who are paying attention to what's happening,
the possible solutions to kind of hinder or
counteract mitigate the damage that's being done by corporate,
politicians, you probably saw the general strike.
We need to do a general strike, which I hear you.
General strike is great, but we need to really inform ourselves about
what is necessary to have a general strike in place, right?
There's a lot that goes into that.
You can't just snap your fingers and expect a general strike the next day.
And what you do is you build power through organized labor,
organized individuals who are able to coordinate with one another and
carry out something like a general strike.
So it's important for us to understand the work that goes behind that and
in coming episodes of TYT we'll talk about that in more detail.
I think it's a really important part of counteracting what
we're seeing with just the reversal of so many of our rights.
But at the same time, I will also be honest,
I'm of two minds about some of the protest tactics that we saw over the weekend.
Now, generally speaking, I'm supportive of the protesters.
I hate when the protests themselves and
the tactics used become the focus of national discourse.
I hate that because that is not what the point is here.
The point is people are legitimately frustrated, infuriated,
wanna speak out and that's important to protect.
But I also think protests are not supposed to be convenient for people, right?
So if you just do a protest where you're roped off in a corner somewhere and
you've got the right permits for it and you've done everything you're supposed
to do to ensure that people aren't made uncomfortable by you speaking out.
Well then that protest isn't really a protest doesn't really accomplish much.
It certainly doesn't get the attention that it deserves.
Especially considering what these protests are trying to draw attention to.
So I think that protest, you could be as critical of them as you want.
You can be upset about maybe being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic because
protesters are blocking the streets if you're a protester in some of these red
states, please know what the laws are because some
state lawmakers have passed legislation that would make it okay for
drivers to run protesters over if they're blocking the road.
So I wanna make sure people have the information necessary to keep
themselves safe.
But again, protests are not, in my opinion, supposed to be convenient,
they're supposed to send a message, a strong one.
Conservative justices in the Supreme Court sent us a strong message.
And so it's really important that we send a strong message back right.
Now we don't do it in a violent way.
We don't threaten their lives.
You lose the argument immediately when you do that.
But I really think for anyone who is being overly critical about some of the tactics
that are used, take a step back and think about the rage that people feel.
Think about why they're feeling that rage and
think about what you can do to help maybe steer the demonstrations or
steer this movement in a direction that you think is more productive.
But again, it's not just about these demonstrations, it's about building power,
building a successful and persistent outside pressure campaign.
So it doesn't just devolve into, we did a few protests, people were really mad for
a few weeks and then it fizzled out.
There needs to be lasting and persistent action here and
it needs to go beyond electoral politics.
I think that's the important thing to keep in mind.
The other thing I just wanna note is yeah,
the cops aren't there to protect you if you're a demonstrator clearly.
And I think what we saw in that Sweetin video was cops essentially retaliating
against her as she was trying to get these protesters off the freeway.
I mean unbelievable.
And I do think that it amounts to an act of intimidation.
It sends a message to demonstrators.
Hey, if you speak out if you voice your rage at what's happening now with
your rights being stripped away by ideologues in the Supreme Court.
Well there are going to be some consequences both legally and physically.
And I'm really happy to see the protesters including Jodi Sweetin are undeterred and
they are still going to speak out because it's what we really need.
But anyway, just wanted to share that with you.
I agree with the journalist here Mike Aide who says keep your head on a swivel.
Be careful just keep yourself safe out there and if you can work from home,
try to work from home because if they shut down freeways,
you shouldn't be upset at them, right?
Your focus should be on well what is it that they're trying to communicate
about what can we do to help.
Because again,
you might think it's not a big deal if it's just women's reproductive rights.
But Clarence Thomas is making it very clear that he wants to reverse other
constitutional protections that give, say, gay couples the right to marry.
He wants to take another look at media libel laws, wonder what that means.
I mean, all of these rights that we have enjoyed are now on the table for reversal.
And so instead of being overly critical, let's think about ways that we can help to
make this as productive as possible and successful as possible.