In a moment of moral clarity, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, spoke these words before he saw a sign from the Gods of profit and bent the knee to a homophobic convicted felon and adjudicated rapist
I agree! I am not shopping for Christmas. I am donating to local food banks, but will give cash to my grandchildren. I am not buying the new iPhone, have cancelled Hula and Disney. I’m trying to shop local grocery stores and avoid the big corporate stores and Amazon. Free speech and freedom of the press are at stake now! Of course with right come responsibility. If you give the bully your lunch money he will demand it every day. So say no and be brave!
Canada led the way for this to happen. It is a protest against tyranny by those on the ground. Continue to hold funding from those who block you from speaking out and from the comfortable nature of your pre- Trump life.
"I am a big fan of Jamie Raskin, but he urged Democrats to avoid the 'trap’ vote for the bill. I am astounded by his position, which I believe was a fundamental mistake."
I was stunned by that too. Trap or not, that fourth paragraph is an insupportable poison pill.
I first met Jamie in '97 when he was a young Dem organizer in Montgomery County, MD which he now represents. I've followed his career ever since. He's so percipient I'm surprised he made such a misstep. At least my current Rep wasn't bamboozled.
As to your question about why democrats voted for this resolution, I can say this - even the best among them lacks the spine to stand up to the fascist regime currently gutting our country. Those who voted against it are the only elected representatives that have any of my confidence. I was shocked and dismayed to see that the one and only openly transgender Representative voted yes on this. Her reasoning was that it was a resolution mostly about condemning political violence. And mostly, it was. That she could ignore the fact that Kirk did immeasurable harm to the LGBTQ+ community, the community that she says she respects and wants to protect, belies her commitment to be against political violence. Kirk was as much a terrorist as Bin Laden. There are those who argue that Kirk never personally engaged in violence (that we know of), but his rhetoric inspired many others to do violence on behalf of his ideals, as Bin Laden's did for his followers. They could have voted on a resolution to oppose political violence - I think we all could get behind that. But to honor a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic stochastic terrorist is beyond ridiculous in my opinion. That was just a resolution to condemn violence while celebrating the terrorist who called for it over and over and over again.
You nailed it. Time and time again we faced the fact that the Dems are corrupted and will NOT save the country. Who will organise a day of mourning for those two young men who were lynched? Who?
I cancelled my Disney+ subscription as soon as I found out about Jimmy Kimmel (would have done Hulu too but we don’t get it here on the other side of the world 😊). Cancelled Amazon Prime and my Amazon account as soon as Bezos rolled over like a puppy dog to the orange monster. I’ve intentionally stopped buying American products, and will not travel to the USA to visit dear friends until the fascist dictatorship is over. Doing my small piece. Yes, economic disengagement could be the key to bringing down this whole Orwellian house of cards.
THANK YOU for clarifying the hypocrisy inherent in article 4 of this bill AND for calling out the democrats who voted “yea.” The death of Mr. Kirk is a tragedy. The politicization of his passing is a travesty. Especially when one of the points he often made was in favor of free speech (albeit for harmful words imho) whilst every action of this administration in the aftermath of his death is in violation of that fundamental aspect of our Constitution.
These are very dangerous times, the toxic cocktail of politics and religion (if you can call it that) is a tried and tested framework for theocratic autocracy
Excellent article. Thank you. I agree with the fact that 95 Dems voted with republicans to honor this vile man Kirk. He did nothing for the U.S. aside from add to the division that chump, vancy, Nazi miller and the rest of the cabinet have propagated. They want division. They started a lie about Kirk and the left within minutes of his death. Shame on both the Dems and republicans on voting for this. All but #4 would have been good. And I do not believe in the least that all these republicans care one iota about Kirk and in their souls they have to disagree with so much of what he spewed.
The Dems need to stop with the division within the party. Schumer and Jeffries need to go; they're adding to it. They should support the man, Mamdani (spelling?) for NY mayor. He's young, he's smart and he has a following. And they have no legit reasons not to.
I’m glad I read this article and watched your video. Your keen insight is always expanding my way of thinking.
Our lives are on the line here.
I’m about to turn 73 in a few weeks and with all that living and breathing I’ve come to understand that it can all be erased in a second.
That 4th condition of this bill was totally unnecessary! Why add that? Because white supremacy wants it all!
January 6th lives in my head daily! Unforgivable in every way!
trump is the result of years of slow and steady success of bringing back “the good old days!”
What good old days?
I’m a gay woman who married a wonderful man and raised 2 great children (one of each) and LOVED IT! But in my late 40’s, something changed. I didn’t want to think and feel this “gay” vibe I had, but I couldn’t deny it either.
I took all I had and left the straight life for the love of another woman.
Today I am happily married and my 40 something kids are happy, healthy and well adjusted.
My ex husband is a great man still and we remain friends.
Until the day I die I will fight for the rights of all humans regardless of their choices! Freedom lives in my soul. Freedom is the color of my blood.
Our congressmen and women are paid too much, have too many perks, and have way too much power. They all are scared shitless to risk losing their next election. There will be no next election! We need to quit protesting peacefully. We need to band together and take down the stock market, make a run on the banks, take out a few big companies, … The Dow falling could be the last straw for the trump regime 👎
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country? Part 1 of 3
Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).
A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.
Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, tell politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.
We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.
We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. When all else fails we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports the HRH.
Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience. We can stop the fascist takeover in the same way.
We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!
Now is the time for this Peaceful Solution.
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country? Part-2 of 3
Why a Spending Strike is the best option.
Other peaceful options:
Soft Secession
Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.
Are they really going to pissoff HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?
Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.
He will move in with all his resources and stop it.
This soft secession idea is a political ploy by state officials to get their constituents to believe the officials are doing something to stop the takeover.
It’s also another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.
In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of the Rat, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.
Targeted boycotts
Why targeted boycotts are ineffective
Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.
In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign.
The midterm election
Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.
People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.
SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.
Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please spread the word.
Next
This is a draft of part 3- How to accomplish a Spending Strike
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
My belief is that there will have to be a lot of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
Get some Substack writers with lots of readers to take up the cause and spread the word, like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroot support will have to be demonstrated.
Then hopefully one or more national leaders will take up the cause. I think we need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea.
That’s where I see the usefulness of The Peaceful Solution Subscriber Chat. Coordinate effort, exchange information, resources, ideas.
So disgusted with the Democratic Party……. I am astounded that they voted to support Kirk with all his hateful rhetoric!? Just unbelievable!! No wonder we are in this mess!!!
I agree! I am not shopping for Christmas. I am donating to local food banks, but will give cash to my grandchildren. I am not buying the new iPhone, have cancelled Hula and Disney. I’m trying to shop local grocery stores and avoid the big corporate stores and Amazon. Free speech and freedom of the press are at stake now! Of course with right come responsibility. If you give the bully your lunch money he will demand it every day. So say no and be brave!
Good for you Judi
Canada led the way for this to happen. It is a protest against tyranny by those on the ground. Continue to hold funding from those who block you from speaking out and from the comfortable nature of your pre- Trump life.
Excellent post. Well worth the time it took to read it. :) now I have to go push some buttons…
I too found this extremely educational and enlightening!
I will read it again as I had. Had to save it. 😊
Thank you Carol, glad you found it useful
"I am a big fan of Jamie Raskin, but he urged Democrats to avoid the 'trap’ vote for the bill. I am astounded by his position, which I believe was a fundamental mistake."
I was stunned by that too. Trap or not, that fourth paragraph is an insupportable poison pill.
Glad you agree. I’ll get pushback, but it’s getting stupid now. AOC nailed it with her speech.
I first met Jamie in '97 when he was a young Dem organizer in Montgomery County, MD which he now represents. I've followed his career ever since. He's so percipient I'm surprised he made such a misstep. At least my current Rep wasn't bamboozled.
As to your question about why democrats voted for this resolution, I can say this - even the best among them lacks the spine to stand up to the fascist regime currently gutting our country. Those who voted against it are the only elected representatives that have any of my confidence. I was shocked and dismayed to see that the one and only openly transgender Representative voted yes on this. Her reasoning was that it was a resolution mostly about condemning political violence. And mostly, it was. That she could ignore the fact that Kirk did immeasurable harm to the LGBTQ+ community, the community that she says she respects and wants to protect, belies her commitment to be against political violence. Kirk was as much a terrorist as Bin Laden. There are those who argue that Kirk never personally engaged in violence (that we know of), but his rhetoric inspired many others to do violence on behalf of his ideals, as Bin Laden's did for his followers. They could have voted on a resolution to oppose political violence - I think we all could get behind that. But to honor a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic stochastic terrorist is beyond ridiculous in my opinion. That was just a resolution to condemn violence while celebrating the terrorist who called for it over and over and over again.
You nailed it. Time and time again we faced the fact that the Dems are corrupted and will NOT save the country. Who will organise a day of mourning for those two young men who were lynched? Who?
We are on the same page my friend
I cancelled my Disney+ subscription as soon as I found out about Jimmy Kimmel (would have done Hulu too but we don’t get it here on the other side of the world 😊). Cancelled Amazon Prime and my Amazon account as soon as Bezos rolled over like a puppy dog to the orange monster. I’ve intentionally stopped buying American products, and will not travel to the USA to visit dear friends until the fascist dictatorship is over. Doing my small piece. Yes, economic disengagement could be the key to bringing down this whole Orwellian house of cards.
Good move Sally. It’s all about collective action
THANK YOU for clarifying the hypocrisy inherent in article 4 of this bill AND for calling out the democrats who voted “yea.” The death of Mr. Kirk is a tragedy. The politicization of his passing is a travesty. Especially when one of the points he often made was in favor of free speech (albeit for harmful words imho) whilst every action of this administration in the aftermath of his death is in violation of that fundamental aspect of our Constitution.
These are very dangerous times, the toxic cocktail of politics and religion (if you can call it that) is a tried and tested framework for theocratic autocracy
Excellent article. Thank you. I agree with the fact that 95 Dems voted with republicans to honor this vile man Kirk. He did nothing for the U.S. aside from add to the division that chump, vancy, Nazi miller and the rest of the cabinet have propagated. They want division. They started a lie about Kirk and the left within minutes of his death. Shame on both the Dems and republicans on voting for this. All but #4 would have been good. And I do not believe in the least that all these republicans care one iota about Kirk and in their souls they have to disagree with so much of what he spewed.
Thank you for your kind words Peggy
The Dems need to stop with the division within the party. Schumer and Jeffries need to go; they're adding to it. They should support the man, Mamdani (spelling?) for NY mayor. He's young, he's smart and he has a following. And they have no legit reasons not to.
I’m glad I read this article and watched your video. Your keen insight is always expanding my way of thinking.
Our lives are on the line here.
I’m about to turn 73 in a few weeks and with all that living and breathing I’ve come to understand that it can all be erased in a second.
That 4th condition of this bill was totally unnecessary! Why add that? Because white supremacy wants it all!
January 6th lives in my head daily! Unforgivable in every way!
trump is the result of years of slow and steady success of bringing back “the good old days!”
What good old days?
I’m a gay woman who married a wonderful man and raised 2 great children (one of each) and LOVED IT! But in my late 40’s, something changed. I didn’t want to think and feel this “gay” vibe I had, but I couldn’t deny it either.
I took all I had and left the straight life for the love of another woman.
Today I am happily married and my 40 something kids are happy, healthy and well adjusted.
My ex husband is a great man still and we remain friends.
Until the day I die I will fight for the rights of all humans regardless of their choices! Freedom lives in my soul. Freedom is the color of my blood.
Please keep fighting.
Respectfully, Katie
That’s very kind of you Catherine, I appreciate your support.
I’m meant it! Please enjoy your Sunday!
Kamala did better than the Orange Felon did with his first 100 days in office!
My Dem Rep voted yes on HR 719. I’ll be sending an email and calling her office to scold her.
Our congressmen and women are paid too much, have too many perks, and have way too much power. They all are scared shitless to risk losing their next election. There will be no next election! We need to quit protesting peacefully. We need to band together and take down the stock market, make a run on the banks, take out a few big companies, … The Dow falling could be the last straw for the trump regime 👎
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country? Part 1 of 3
Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).
A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.
Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, tell politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.
We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.
We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. When all else fails we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports the HRH.
Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience. We can stop the fascist takeover in the same way.
We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!
Now is the time for this Peaceful Solution.
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country? Part-2 of 3
Why a Spending Strike is the best option.
Other peaceful options:
Soft Secession
Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.
Are they really going to pissoff HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?
Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.
He will move in with all his resources and stop it.
This soft secession idea is a political ploy by state officials to get their constituents to believe the officials are doing something to stop the takeover.
It’s also another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.
In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of the Rat, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.
Targeted boycotts
Why targeted boycotts are ineffective
Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.
In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign.
The midterm election
Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.
People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.
SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.
Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please spread the word.
Next
This is a draft of part 3- How to accomplish a Spending Strike
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
My belief is that there will have to be a lot of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
Get some Substack writers with lots of readers to take up the cause and spread the word, like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroot support will have to be demonstrated.
Then hopefully one or more national leaders will take up the cause. I think we need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea.
That’s where I see the usefulness of The Peaceful Solution Subscriber Chat. Coordinate effort, exchange information, resources, ideas.
Agreed…!!!
HeY EVeRYb0dY : TodaY iS W0RLD PEACE DAY - W0uLd
ANY 0Ne KNoW iT ?
AND NOT LIEING
So disgusted with the Democratic Party……. I am astounded that they voted to support Kirk with all his hateful rhetoric!? Just unbelievable!! No wonder we are in this mess!!!