Look if there is anything my brief time dealing with the DSA taught me it is that a group of dedicated nerds with a book of parliamentary procedure acting in bad faith can obstruct the shit out of anything and grind an org to a halt. Get on it, Dems. - ThreadSky

neolithicsheep.bsky.social • 31 days ago

Look if there is anything my brief time dealing with the DSA taught me it is that a group of dedicated nerds with a book of parliamentary procedure acting in bad faith can obstruct the shit out of anything and grind an org to a halt. Get on it, Dems.

Reposted from Andy Craig

This is a start but, to be clear, still nowhere close to maximum obstruction.

No UC, on anything. No unrecorded votes, on anything. No waiving rules, on anything. Fight even on adjournments. Quorum calls every time you can. Make every dilatory motion in the books and new ones you just made up.

Comments

pykeredrock.bsky.social•31 days ago

L I T E R A L L Y how Republicans defeated Democrats' 60-seat supermajority in 2009.

Like, they were INCREDIBLY petty on procedure, and they didn't stop until they were back in the majority.

goobermunch.bsky.social•31 days ago

Roberts Rules weren’t designed for disrupting things from inside the system. But if you were designing such a tool, it would have the same shape.

dorchesteresq.bsky.social•31 days ago

POSIWID!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does

goobermunch.bsky.social•31 days ago

POSIWID!

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

Yeah when everyone is acting in good faith and dedicated to the smooth running of the system they're fine. But their design means just one person prepared to be a bastard can absolutely gum up the works in a terrible way.

goobermunch.bsky.social•31 days ago

Use those Rules like you’re Mitch McConnell trying to turn the system on itself.

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

Right like the Dems have been watching McConnell do this shit since 08, have they learned NOTHING?? Now is the time of bloody minded rebellion and strict adherence to laboriously explained procedure!

billstewart.bsky.social•31 days ago

And especially with the Senate Rules, which grant a lot more personal privilege to each Senator than you'd normally want,
so one Senator can gum up a lot of works until pressured/bribed into cooperating.

toddwalker.bsky.social•31 days ago

oh god. ain't that the truth. sigh.

leftinfighter.bsky.social•31 days ago

Time is a finite and irreplaceable resource for Trump, and you gotta burn up all the time he's got until midterms so that his presidency has nothing to show for it.

overlyabstract.bsky.social•31 days ago

Yeah. Everyone needs to collectively forget how everything works and act like it's their first day and that every little rule and procedure needs to be followed.

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

Shit forget what words mean. Everything is fair game for a point of order or information.

nearbirdstudios.bsky.social•31 days ago

"The Oxford English Dictionary defines "government" as..."

tarnfalk.bsky.social•31 days ago

Mariam-Webster instead offers this definition which I’ll now read aloud in a slow and precise manner so the hard of hearing members will be able to understand it. Afterwards I shall follow it with three more different dictionaries read in the same manner a

pykeredrock.bsky.social•31 days ago

"Now, if any of my distinguished colleagues are conflicted about which dictionary's definition to choose, allow me to get into the history of the development of each dictionary and their standards for settling on a word's definition. To set the scene, the first dictionary we know of..."

deusexjuice.bsky.social•31 days ago

They wouldn't be Dems if they took a page from dsa

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

I bet for a mere fraction of the DNC's budget and a copy of the relevant parliamentary procedure you could get professional parliamentary nerds to turn their skills to the patriotic defense of their country.

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

Demand points of information on everything! They want to gavel the senate into session? Make em explain what the fuck that means, exactly!

pykeredrock.bsky.social•31 days ago

"Riddick's Senate Procedure", the official document of the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian, has over 💫10,000💫 precedents to cite and ask Republicans to explain how what they're doing conforms to precedent.

They could be so fucking petty. SO PETTY.

wallfluorescent.bsky.social•31 days ago

it could be entertaining too and maybe even educational as well

cathyw.bsky.social•31 days ago

YES. If you're going to bring a copy of Robert's Rules to a knife fight and *not* using it to club your opponent over the head, then at least make them do a roll-call vote on whether to break for lunch!

therealjimsanto.bsky.social•31 days ago

techniques ironically(?) right out of the CIA handbook

boggylady.bsky.social•31 days ago

Good trouble.

takeandmake.bsky.social•31 days ago

This.

mcnutcase.bsky.social•31 days ago

Hell, this is a case where the SMOFs would actually be useful for once.

nhindividual.bsky.social•31 days ago

I see you've watched the NH General Court in action.

tknarr.bsky.social•31 days ago

As for Musk and his muskrats, where I work if they pulled that stunt the best they could hope for, if they were polite and really were what they claimed to be, would be to be sat in a chair in the lobby and told to _stay_ sat until someone from HR came to get them. Worst case involves the cops.

tknarr.bsky.social•31 days ago

Especially since I suspect the nerds would be the only people in the Senate who actually _knew_ the parliamentary procedures. The whole thing's operated on gentleman's agreements and unanimous consent for so long most Senators probably haven't ever seen the rules.

publicuniversal.bsky.social•31 days ago

the more they do this, the more agency heads are a unsure who to listen to, the more internal opposition is embolded to delay, obustruct, and delete, the more time there is for courts to step in.

toutemoname.bsky.social•31 days ago

My 16yo Model UN-competing self would’ve swept the fucking floor with the Dems as they’re currently operating

neolithicsheep.bsky.social•31 days ago

Sounds to me like you are the hero we need

toutemoname.bsky.social•31 days ago

People really underestimate just how effective it is to wear your opponents down purely by being absolutely insufferable

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