It is wildly ineffective to try and convince people that Trump is dangerous if protesters carry Mexican flags while burning US flags, smash storefronts, and are photographed acting in an even mildly threatening demeanor. Effective protest have to work just like political campaigns. They have to be unoffensive, measured, and carry a ‘common-man’ sensibility. Based on what I’ve seen, these protests (and most protests of the modern era) fail to meet these standards. It only takes a few knuckleheads with a “Rape Melania” sign to undermine thousands of simultaneous protests around the country.
But convincing Americans that Trump is bad is not the intention of these protests. Rather the tactics being deployed here are similar to the ones used in the so called “color revolutions.” These acts are meant to provide cover for more official action by connected elites still reeling from their loss last Tuesday.
In Michael Moore’s words, the protesters are attempting to push Trump out of the White House. One plan being floated is to pressure the Electoral College to vote against voter’s wishes in favor of electing the war criminal and Wall Street lackey Hillary Clinton. If we assume that these protest are not protests against any particular policy, but instead are part of a larger plan to cause government officials to invalidate the US election, then the tactics being used make more sense. The intent isn’t to convince anyone of anything, but rather to provide cover for the system to act.
Consider the color revolution of Kyrgyzstan in 2010. That revolution was almost certainly engineered by the US government, which was being forced out of the country by the nation’s ruling elite. It only took three months of protesters agitating before the historically stable government fell and was forced into exile. The officials who stepped in from the shadows were willing to allow the strategically important US base to remain active.
The same could be said for Egypt, Ukraine, Tunisia and other nations around the world. In each case, large protest destabilized and undermined the ruling governments (each with varying degrees of legitimacy). This eventually paved the way for military action from within and without. The intent of the protest was not to “speak truth to power” or any of that other hippy bullshit, but to provide an excuse for other actors to make moves that would otherwise be unthinkable.
In most of those other color revolutions, stability once lost, never returned. The sense of predictability people had come to expect was permanently shattered. If these protests succeed in dethroning a democratically elected leader, would that be good for individual freedom? Its hard to imagine a power vacuum like that would turn out well. In the case of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, their governments became more beholden to outside influence. Thousands have died in Ukraine’s civil war. The potential for disaster here in the US is small, but this year, it seems even the impossible can happen.
