Resistance: How This Plays Out

                  There is no secret to what Trump and the Republicans are doing. This is the authoritarian playbook that was used in the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and dozens of African countries - 1) neuter the legislature, 2) defy the courts, and 3) unleash the military on the population - all in an unassuming drip, drip, drip that less informed people don’t notice.

                  First the Marines “supported” ICE in Los Angeles to control peaceful protestors. Now they are supporting the creation and operation of a concentration camp in a Florida swamp. Trump may not fully deploy the Army immediately, but the case for doing so will have been made. It will be available for his use at any time. And once people get used to the reality of the Army serving as domestic law enforcement on the border, it is much easier to get people to accept the Army serving as domestic law enforcement in cities and states that Trump wants to take revenge against, or where protestors are too loud, or where he says immigrants are eating dogs and cats. Trump won’t need a real reason any more.

                  Here’s how it will likely roll out. It’s important for everyone to know this so they can recognize the signs.  https://medium.com/@aletheisthenes/on-april-20th-2025-the-united-states-will-cross-the-point-of-no-return-0aecac04cfc3

                  At that point, we are there - a dictator-led, militarily-enforced oligarchy. No one is safe.

Why We Have to Protest, and Protest Again

                  Don’t turn away! This is all horrifying to watch. But you’ve had a life of privilege so far, courtesy of previous generations who fought on foreign battlefields and domestic streets for the freedoms you have. It’s our turn now.

                  History has shown that the only way to stop a fascist takeover of a crippled democracy is for massive and repeated protests in the streets. A people can only be oppressed if they have given permission to the oppressor. That permission is denied through sustained, vocal, and truly enormous street protests that cannot be ignored, and against whom the Army is hesitant to take action.

                  Let me be clear: One does not protest in order to change what the government is doing. That is maybe possible when the elected officials are genuinely trying to serve their constituents. It doesn’t work when faced with an authoritarian regime - until the very end.

                  Here’s what repeated protests do:

                  • Establish peaceful protests as the norm and make it harder for a fascist government to suppress them later and appear legitimate;

                  • Provide clear evidence to courts, judges, and elected officials of where the population stands;

                  • Enable the formation of community and affiliations;

                  • Convince others that their rights are at risk, and they need to take action

The End Game

                  If you remember the Solidarity protests and strikes in Poland at the end of the Cold War; or if you remember the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia; or if you remember the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine in 2014, then you have an idea of where we need to go. Tearing down an authoritarian regime with nonviolence requires massive and repeated turnout in the streets and a general strike across all sectors of the economy. In short, it is necessary to convince the oligarchs who benefit from the overthrow of democracy and the establishment of a dictatorial regime that this is no longer a sustainable path for them. Only then will they throw the would-be dictator under a bus and allow their lapdog Republicans in Congress to join in the action.

                  So keep in mind that the goal here - as more people’s Social Security benefits are missed or denied; as more veterans lose the services and support they had at the Veterans’ Administration clinics and hospitals; as more small businesses go bankrupt under a senseless tariff schedule; as more local libraries, food banks, clinics, ranger stations, and weather offices close due lack of federal support; as more individuals lose their retirement savings in a manipulated stock market; as more people are disappeared and trafficked to offshore gulags; and as the economy sours for everyone - is to provide an avenue for everyone to make their voices heard and demand justice until the roar becomes impossible to ignore. The more Trump does the more our numbers grow. But we need to show that.

The final push will be in Washington, D.C. sometime, maybe later this year. Please start thinking about going or funding others who may not be able to afford it. If we are lucky we will get to impeachment and removal from office before then. But ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We are going to need literally over a million people there.

You Need to Be Part of This

Stay engaged. Saving democracy is going to require more than the occasional Saturday. This is a long term effort of multiple protests over months to build to a mass protest in Washington D.C. and a general strike across the country sometime later this year. Each week, more and more people are being impacted by Trump’s chaotic destruction of our government. They are losing services and benefits, and looking for a way to express their anger. We have to grow bigger at every protest. We can’t rotate out. Reach out to friends and family across the country. 

  I like to tell people that we have three  choices. 1) We can sit in our rooms and wring our hands … until the lights go out. 2) We can cynically party … until the lights go out. Or 3) we can work joyfully - and sometimes angrily - to make the world a little better than it otherwise would be. 

  Choose 3.