(1) To echo what other Leftists have been saying, yeah, the proposed bill that congressional Democrats are disrupting congress for would be ineffective and racist. For more: The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill.

(2) Obviously I have no insight into what actually goes on in the head of a congressional Democrat, but I can imagine this narrative (the narrative that I think most people are projecting whether they articulate it or not): working hard to get elected, feeling like you gotta make a difference, feeling like you gotta make the world a better place, feeling like congressional Republicans are obstructing everything you’re trying to do, then through the years and especially with the Orlando massacre becoming so agitated that you gotta do something unprecedented: a direct action sit-in. And in that sense, I think the sit-in is heartening from a human perspective, because the actual issue be damned, taking direct action to stop a corrupt system/process that *they believe* is incapable of giving them what they need is sort of what a lot of Leftists are all about.

(3) So if we’re thinking of it not like an issue thing but like a process thing, I’m in a way glad that Leftists’ work in the last couple of years is being heard by congressional Democrats — monkey see, monkey do. But more importantly! I see that my non-Leftist, would-describe-themselves-as-liberal-although-not-too-engaged friends, who outnumber Leftists and whom Leftists need to reach out to, are posting in support, and that IS DEFINITELY heartening. I want those friends to see people they see as legitimate doing what I see as a legitimate means of change when the system cannot give you what you need.

(4) Because let’s not forget: this is unprecedented. Let’s not forget that. We’re talking about congressional Democrats staging a sit-in. Woah! So I am eager to see what comes of it.

To be completely clear: there are two things going on: the right to vote on the bill and then the actual bill. House Democrats know that they if they were to vote on the bill, they don’t have the votes; what they are protesting is that they’re not even having the vote. Which is a process thing. Which sends the message: the system does not work. Which is what I’m most excited about and looking at the perspectives from non-Leftists.