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Editor: Trump supporters wonder why progressives are holding anti-Trump rallies and demonstrations. You lost the election, get over it, they say; or give Trump a chance before you start criticizing him. Progressives have gotten past the election; its the Trump supporters who cant seem to get over it, continually crowing about their landslide in the Electoral College.

Were rallying about what has happened since the election, and continues to happen every day. The Trump administration and its fellow travelers in Congress have mounted a full-scale assault on just about every American value.

From environmental concerns, to medical care, to equal protection, to Americas leadership in the Free World, Trump seems to be determined to undo them all.

Probably most important are First Amendment freedoms: speech, press and religion. Trump and his apologists disdain the truth, attack anyone who disagrees with them, punish members of the press who dont toe the party line, discriminate on the basis of religion on and on.

We cant take a wait and see attitude in the face of this attack. To wait is to allow our constitutional freedoms to be eroded. We must push back to protect our Constitution and our values.

See you in the streets.

Greg McClelland

Ponte Vedra

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Progressives push back for freedom - St. Augustine Record

Progressive health care reform advocates plan to demonstrate in defense of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, holding protest events in Chicago and congressional districts across the country, as well as in Washington, D.C.

The day of rallies is the latest attempt by supporters of the ACA, also known as Obamacare, to put a political price on Republicans plans to repeal the signature reform. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the GOPs replacement bill Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the original laws passage in 2010.

Health Care for America Now, a labor union-backed umbrella group that played a key role in Obamacares enactment, is coordinating the days actions. It estimates that thousands of activists will turn out to protest the Republican legislation.

The new bill offers tax breaks to wealthy Americans and insurance and drug companies on the backs of our seniors and families, HCAN co-director Margarida Jorge said in a statement.Americans from coast to coast know theres too much at stake for themselves, their families and millions across the country to allow this bill to pass.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

The rally at 1 p.m. in D.C., which is being organized by the foundation-funded HCAN ally the Center for Popular Democracy and other groups, will feature speeches by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, as well as Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union. Attendees will gather at Freedom Plaza to hear the speakers and then march to the Trump International Hotel and the White House, where activists plan to perform acts of civil disobedience.Later in the day, Ellison, who is also co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, plans to hold a press conference on the Republican bill with several CPC members outside the Capitol building.

A mass protest in Chicagos Federal Plaza will focus on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who was originally slated to visit the city to attend a fundraiser for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R).

And at the district offices of several House Republicans, activists plan to protest the ACAs repeal by setting up mock emergency rooms. The theatrical gesture aims to show how the drop in insurance coverage from the laws repeal an estimated 24 million people would become uninsured by 2026 under the GOP plan would overwhelm emergency rooms as uninsured Americans seek care there.

AARP intends to stage its own colorful protest of the repeal bill Thursday morning at the Capitol South Metro stop outside the House office buildings. The nations largest seniors group plans to have people dressed as Charlie the Squirrel, a character in its video ads opposing repeal, distribute flyers with AARPs talking points against the bill.In the ads, Charlie is the comedic companion of a middle-aged American upset about a feature of the Republican legislation that would allow insurers to charge older people five times more than younger people for premiums. Since the bills age-based tax credits are not enough to make up the difference, AARP has dubbed the provision the age tax.

The planned demonstrations follow a Wednesday protest by House Democrats against Obamacare repeal on Capitol Hill. Former Vice President Joe Biden attended the rally, predicting that the Republican bill is not gonna pass.

House Democrats have decided not to throw up last-minute procedural obstacles to delay the bill, according to Politico. The caucus has instead calculated that it is best to let Republicans vote on the legislation and suffer whatever political consequences ensue.

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Progressives Plan Day Of Obamacare Activism As House Prepares To Vote On Repeal - Huffington Post

Threats of violence against President Donald Trump and conservatives in general are on the rise and not a word is being heard from "progressive" leaders to try to calm the waters.

Death threats against conservatives from the president on down are becoming a cottage industry:

Gary Bauer of American Values says make no mistake the Secret Service is paying close attention. But he points out there's not one word from leaders of the anti-Trump left.

"I am not aware of one liberal politician in the federal government including the former president who has said anything condemning this kind of rhetoric and, in some cases, actual violence," he shares with OneNewsNow.

And the anger shows no sign of letting up. Bauer is fearful of what the elections of 2018 and 2020 are going to look like.

"This kind of activity, if it continues, could lead to things down the road that I don't think anybody wants a sort of unraveling of the bonds that bind us together as a nation," he warns.

According to Bauer, one of the first responsibilities of a movement is to root out and expel those who would hijack the cause for violent or dangerous ends. He argues that the silence from Democratic lawmakers is sure to be seen by the thugs as tacit endorsement of the violence.

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Bauer: 'Progressives' evidently OK with death threats - OneNewsNow

Progressive organizations are ramping up their campaign against President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and calling on Senate Democrats to do more to oppose his confirmation.

On Monday, leading organizations on the left including MoveOn, UltraViolet and NARAL Pro-Choice America sent emails to their millions of members asking them to demand that Democrats filibuster any vote to confirm Gorsuch. The push came as the Senate Judiciary Committee today began its confirmation hearing for Gorsuch.

While the majority of Democrats are expected to oppose Gorsuch's confirmation, there has been palpable frustration among progressive activists that more Democratic senators have not yet publicly declared which way they intend to vote. Progressives wanted commitments even before questioning of Gorsuch is completed.

"We're not hearing from enough of the Democratic senators that they will fight this nomination with everything they have. We need them to understand that simply stating their opposition to Neil Gorsuch is not enough," NARAL President Ilyse Hogue wrote in an email to the group's list that went out this morning. "We need Senate Democrats to filibuster this nomination and demand a nominee who represents the mainstream values of our country."

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York held a press conference with individuals he argued were hurt by Gorsuch's rulings. Still, he would not definitively say he planned to vote against the judge. Schumer said that he has a "strong presumption against" Gorsuch but that he would wait until after he heard the judge's testimony before making up his mind.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, echoed Schumer. Blumenthal said that he was prepared to filibuster Gorsuch if he was not satisfied with the judge's answers before the committee but that he has a "profound duty" to question Gorsuch before announcing his final decision. Blumenthal added that he prepared "tough but respectful" questions for the hearing this week.

In 2013, when Democrats were in the majority in the Senate, they changed the chamber's rules so that federal judges could be confirmed with a simple majority vote, but they maintained the long-standing requirement that Supreme Court picks need at least 60 votes to end a filibuster and move their confirmation forward.

In order to get those 60 votes, Gorsuch will need at least eight Democrats to vote with Republicans, assuming all Republicans back him. But because the vote with the 60-vote threshold is technically a procedural vote, some Democrats may be tempted to vote in favor of him as a compromise and not risk being labeled obstructionist.

Trump has said that if Democrats slow the process, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky should consider the so-called nuclear option and change the rules to allow a vote to proceed without the 60-vote minimum. Schumer said last week that he did not think Republicans want to go that route.

Some Democrats have already been vocal about their opposition to Gorsuch, including Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. They joined advocacy organizations for an event in front of the Supreme Court last week.

"When Justice Scalia died, giant corporations and their right-wing buddies spent millions of dollars to keep that Supreme Court seat open so Donald Trump could name a replacement. Why? Because giant corporations and their right-wing buddies don't want a neutral court that simply upholds the law for everyone," Warren said at the event. "They want a court that favor corporations over real people. And we are here today to fight back."

There is still a lot of resentment among Democrats that Republicans kept President Obama's nominee Judge Merrick Garland from even getting a hearing. After the event in front of the court last week, volunteers and staffers delivered petitions with over a million signatures, they said, urging senators from both parties to oppose Gorsuch's confirmation.

Progressive groups are quick to point out Gorsuch's conservative record on social issues, including his high-profile ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, in which he sided with a religious employers in their case against a Obama-era mandate to provide contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans. Other Democrats would rather focus on what they say is Gorsuch's record of backing Big Business over workers' rights.

All the witnesses that Schumer took to the Hill last week were plaintiffs in cases in which Gorsuch sided with employers over employees.

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Progressive groups demand a filibuster against Trump's Supreme Court pick - ABC News

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was defeated in last years Democratic primary, but his impact on the party could be felt in the 2018 midterm elections. Several groups of former Sanders campaign staffers are ready to put up primary challengers to run against establishment Democrats next year, according to a report released Monday from NBC News.

Frustrated by a perceived lack of change in the Democratic Party following its crushing loss in the 2016 presidential election and in the House and the Senate, some on the left of the party have already been issuing threats against party incumbents.

Two groups of one-time Sanders aides, Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, this week joined forces ahead of the midterms.

The point is, we've watched this party over the last decade lose over 1,000 seats, lose a national election to the least popular nominee in history, Donald Trump, and now we've seen poll after poll showing the Democratic Party less popular since election day, Brand New Congress' Corbin Trent told NBC News. What we think is, the American people are ready for a new direction.

Trents group states on its website that it will put more than 400 candidates forward in 2018 in an effort to pass an aggressive and practical plan to significantly increase wages, remove the influence of big money from our government, and protect the rights of all Americans.

Another group of Sanders staffers, #WeWillReplaceYou, announced last month that it planned to fund primary challengers to Democrats.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks between Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) during a news conference to unveil the FAMILY Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2017 Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Despite hisloss, Sanders has remained a prominent voice on the national stage. A Fox News poll released last week showed him to be the most popular political figure in the United States, with a favorability rating of 61 percent.

Following the election, the independent senator was welcomed into the ranks of the Democratic leadership by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Still, Sandershimselfhas expressed frustration with what he perceives as theparty's stagnation and its failure to learn from its 2016 losses.

Last month, Sanders ally Keith Ellison lost the race for the leadership of the Democratic Party to former Labor Secretary Tom Perez. And when asked by The New York Times earlier this month what the Democratic Party stood for, Sanders struggled to provide an answer.

Youre asking a good question, and I cant give you a definitive answer, he said. Certainly there are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo. They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have first-class seats.

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What's Next for Bernie Sanders Voters? Former Aides Want Progressives to Challenge Democrats in 2018 Midterms - Newsweek