The Resistance & Me: Mike Anthony – True Blue Democrat

This week’s blog is a fascinating conversation with a Democratic Party powerhouse who is retiring.  “Whereas last week I focused on the insurrection and the complicity of Congressman Lee Zeldin, today I get to shine a light on a man who is a beacon of hope and goodness, the anti-Zeldin in every way.  He is Mike Anthony, quintessential Democrat, a mentor and a friend and always an inspiration.”

Hard to begin without first asking you what your reaction has been to the insurrection and the attack on the Capital.

I’m still processing it, but it’s just unbelievable to see what was going on. Horrifying. I was watching it live and, in the beginning, it seemed that most of the horrible activity was outside the Capitol. Then subsequently, you realized what was going on inside. I was watching MSNBC at one point and Andrea Mitchell started to cry. She was saying how the Capital is a place to revere. You walk through there, and you see all these statutes in Statuary Hall, all the past leaders, the history of the country. And in four hours, they ransack the place. You see these costumes and carrying the confederate flag, the guys with the Nazi tee shirts, the sheer boldness of the attack, the sense of entitlement. How could they possibly think they could do that? So delusional. I mean, these people really think that all these states cheated, that we really denied Trump the presidency? After 60 courts cases, after hardly a shred of evidence about anything, they just listen to Trump. If you say something over and over again and say it loud enough, it starts to sink in with these people.

And even after that attack, our congressman, Republican Lee Zeldin, still went forward with his speech demanding that the electoral college votes not be certified. AFTER the attack. Is there any other time in our history that you think comes close to this?

The Civil War. Ann and I were talking about this the other day. We were in Washington, D.C. protesting the Vietnam War when we were in college, and of course there were things like the underground weathermen, and there were bombings by some of the fringe people. Then there was Chicago in 1968 at the Democratic Convention. But most of the demonstrations we went to were peaceful. Ann and I, we went, we chanted, then we went out and got some lunch.

Maybe that’s the difference between the left and the right. We chant, and then we get lunch.

The last time the Capitol was under siege was the War of 1812. This time Americans did it.

What do you think we as Democrats can do to counter that power of the big lie that swept them all up in this, that engendered so much rage and hate that they would bash in the heads of policemen? What message we could ever put out there that would counter that?

They are so brainwashed about who we are. We are either communists or socialists or baby killers or whatever. They hate us. They are acting on hate. They have their leader, a bad man who lies 20 times a day and then social media and OAN spread the lies, creating this big cauldron of hate … [more]

SHDEMS member Barbara Weber-Floyd is an experienced journalist and the author of The Resistance and Me: An Insider’s Account of the Two-Year Mission to Stop the Trump Agenda and Take Back the House.  A unique work of history, it chronicles the rise of the anti-Trump Resistance by introducing the reader to the amazing women of the SHDEMS and the grassroots who powered this movement in our district. Barbara continues to cover how politics and the issues of the day impact our district through her blog, www.theresistanceandme.com.  She is also working on a second book about the women of the Resistance and how, despite the constraints of the pandemic, they helped elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential election.