Tim Kaine: It’s OK to protest the destruction of American democracy, but be ‘peaceful’

Tim Kaine wants you to feel free to “turn out and protest” the destruction of American democracy, but, above all else, be “peaceful,” because that’s what’s important right now, as our rights being taken away from us by the hour.

“The Framers who crafted the Bill of Rights put in the First Amendment that, in addition to participating in voting, people have the right to peacefully assemble and petition government for redress of grievances. And so as long as it’s in that spirit, it’s exactly the way people should behave, and it was behavior that was foreseen and encouraged by those who drafted the Bill of Rights,” Sen. Kaine, D-Va., told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday.

While Kaine and other Democrats are focused on making sure people who are frightened at and angered by their rights being taken away from them play by the rules, Trump/Musk is busy tearing down the foundation of American representative democracy.

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ICYMI

• Mark Warner on FBI purge: ‘This blatant abuse of power is making us all less safe’
• UVA alum named acting general counsel of EEOC, which is undergoing radical change
• Trump, Musk, trying to shut down USAID, breaking federal law: Warner focused on guac
• Tim Kaine, Mark Warner helped Elon Musk take over the federal treasury

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This is somehow coming as a surprise to congressional Democrats, after a plurality of Americans voted to put a 34-time convicted felon into the White House, with a billionaire Nazi South African as his side chick.

Wow. Just, wow.

Kaine conceded that “there wasn’t much of a plan” for how to respond “if President Trump just lets unvetted, unelected folks just rummage through federal agencies, including the personal data of all Americans.”

“That one, I will admit, I didn’t see that one coming, and so that one, we’ve had to move pretty quickly to put together the strategy to tackle it,” said Kaine, who has voted for key Trump/Musk Cabinet appointees, including Kristi Noem for Homeland Security, where she is cosplaying as a Netflix border and immigration agent, and Doug Collins, a 2020 election-denier, to head up the Veterans Administration.

That vote for Collins was just cast on Tuesday, a day ago, from this writing – seems that Kaine is still caught up in playing the go-along-to-get-along game that hasn’t been working to stop Trump/Musk from plundering the federal government.

“We are in a minority. Both houses. The Republicans thus far have been willing to march like lemmings behind Donald Trump. They have the majority. We do not have the tools that can, as a minority, stop them quickly,” said Kaine, ignoring the obvious – that the litany of arcane rules in the U.S. Senate was wielded to success by Republicans to block scores of administration and judicial nominations in the Obama and Biden eras.

I had it explained to me, in a call with a congressional staffer on Tuesday, that the reason Democrats won’t use the Republican playbook on obstruction is that Democrats stand for the rule of law and the preservation of American democracy.

Problem there: the other side is flouting the rule of law, and doesn’t seem to have a scintilla of interest in the preservation of democracy or any standard of norms.

If you’re on the side of wanting to see somebody in D.C. take a stand to stop the plunder, remember, above all else, be peaceful.