Featuring Andrew Weissmann, Brian O'Neill, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Meredith Blake, Rep. Bobby Scott, Geoff Duncan, Marissa Rothkopf, our (adoptable) Pet of the Week, and The Contrarian podcast
The news that Defense Secretary Hegseth has summoned all of America's starred army and navy leaders to appear in person at Quantico next Tuesday for an agenda he has not disclosed is ominous. Quantico is a military base in which it would be possible to sequester our military leaders and cut them off from communication with the outside world. If this were done, just as the federal government closes down, it would open the opportunity for Putin to launch aerial attacks on our NATO allies, especially those that border Russia, at a time when our ability to come to their defense would be significantly hampered.
The Pentagon ingathering is ominously close to the October 18 No Kings protests scheduled to occur around the country. We know the White House cabal has identified all opposition as “domestic terrorists” - they say so repeatedly. Does anyone doubt Hegseth genuinely holds that view? I see a bad moon rising…
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount 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.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue? Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Things you need to consider: our country has been divided since the beginning—north and south, slaveholding and pilgrim, farming and trading, Republicans and Democrats. We were never truly united.
In Europe's early history, wars occurred between different nations. Our thirteen states needed to create a unified organization to defend against a common enemy, England. The states' individual identities were less important than protecting the collective. Our states were as diverse as the nations of Europe, and we imposed an agreement on them that turned out to be a disaster—one that has troubled our country ever since. We have states as extensive and diverse as European countries, and they should never have been expected to coexist as one. Today, the same European countries remain separate entities, but they have a common, accepted, and unified agreement to organize and act together—the European Union. This is the path our country must follow if we want to live in peace.
We cannot coexist with our fundamental differences. The South and the North have two distinct mentalities; we cannot live together as one. The country's progress has been hindered by the attempt to find compromises between these regions that should have been independent countries.
Today, an influential conservative organization has taken advantage of this situation to highlight the flaws and weaknesses of the Constitution, as the three branches of government cannot fully control all the unconstitutional actions of the president. The only option remaining is the courts, but even they have been corrupted.
Demonstrations, Democrats' regaining control of Congress, and even citizen rebellions will not fix the mistake in the Constitution; we were never meant to coexist, and we still cannot today. The differences are as vast as those between France and Germany. Consider California, with its 40 million residents, which is larger than most European countries, trying to coexist with Tennessee, with a population of seven million, whose GNP is as different as Greenland's from Germany's.
Understand that the southern states are clearly different from the northern states; historically, they have never tried to imitate or relate to the states of the north. The influential conservative billionaire-funded organizations aren't going anywhere; they are here for the long haul. Thinking that all of this will change with the next election is just a pipe dream.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars” but in our constitution, and we have tried for 250 years to live with a malfunctioning document that should never have been continued.
The indictment of James Comey is a farce by a non-prosecutor toadie in which no other would sign off on. A malicious attack on justice. Jen and Andrew Weissmann’s interview is quite telling.
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?
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.
Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option
TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.
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.
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount 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.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue? Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Another impressive daily roundup by the Contrarian, another milestone achievement: discussing everything and anything under the sun, but the greatest human tragedy of modern times, the greatest crime against humanity, the genocide of biblical proportions. The genocide directly enabled and supported by the very people who claim to be pro democracy. An interesting version of democracy: kill Palestinians, as many as possible and as fast as possible so that, if done quickly enough and Palestine is eradicated, there will nobody to show solidarity with and empathy for. I cannot comprehend for the life of me how one cannot care about men and women - and especially children - being killed, maimed, burned, mutilated, but then I have seen it too often, especially in the US, to be surprised. It breaks my heart that so many have to be killed, so much has to be destroyed, without one raising one's finger. I understand that the habit in the US is quite strong, after all, the post WW2 history of the US is one destruction after another, and of foreign lands not even one the war with America, from Vietnam to ... to Iraq to enabling the Gaza genocide. But what I find truly mind boggling is a belief that killing and destroying others will not come back as a boomerang to destroy democracy at home. To have such a distorted, inhuman, fragmented view of humanity and democracy, makes one far closer to MAGA. than to people that hate and fight fascism. But then, one of the leaders of the Contrarian is Ms. Rubin, who happily supported the killing of almost million people in Iraq, and almost total destruction of that far land - and who today stays silent not only about the genocide, but even about the killings of journalists. A journalist silent on the systematic killing of one's peers? More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in all the wars in modern history, including the WW2 - but then they are Palestinians, and who cares about them, you could tell me. You should at least give a look at what you are effectively supporting through your complicit silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfDj-gTkIY. It will be probably ignored, I guess, since a Contrarian seems to care more even about pets than tens and tens of thousands killed. In the span of 2 years, Israel has managed to kill, directly and indirectly, more than 500000 people, equivalent to some 100 million people in the US. But then Palestinians are semites, as were 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, that US watched silently, and effectively collaborated on, by refusing them visas. Only some 80 years ago, the promise: Never again, is almost completely forgotten in the US, the only country in the world that still supports the genocide - no, sorry, the US enables it, And it enables it through taxpayer money and your silence. Does a Contrarian have really no empathy whatsoever, no remorse, no solidarity? Fortunately, more and more Americans are waking up to this tragedy - see an example: https://x.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1971155549388669148?t=Lx_5I-OmBhCVzlpAu7CMNQ&s=08 - and soon only the Contrarian will remain silent. Or it will start pretending to have cared, the way people did after WW2 about the Holocaust?
I’ve had a rough day.
So much going on and so little, it seems, that I can do about it.
My stomach was churning until I saw Janice. Somebody take that darlin’ girl home. 🐕
Animals can heal our hearts. We agree, someone adopt Janice!
The news that Defense Secretary Hegseth has summoned all of America's starred army and navy leaders to appear in person at Quantico next Tuesday for an agenda he has not disclosed is ominous. Quantico is a military base in which it would be possible to sequester our military leaders and cut them off from communication with the outside world. If this were done, just as the federal government closes down, it would open the opportunity for Putin to launch aerial attacks on our NATO allies, especially those that border Russia, at a time when our ability to come to their defense would be significantly hampered.
The Pentagon ingathering is ominously close to the October 18 No Kings protests scheduled to occur around the country. We know the White House cabal has identified all opposition as “domestic terrorists” - they say so repeatedly. Does anyone doubt Hegseth genuinely holds that view? I see a bad moon rising…
What will matter is who the judge is. This should be quickly ruled out with prejudice when Comey's lawyer files to dismiss. Which judge got the case?
Fellow readers of The Contrarian: Go see One Battle After Another.
Planning on it.
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
Part 3 of 3
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount 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.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue? Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Things you need to consider: our country has been divided since the beginning—north and south, slaveholding and pilgrim, farming and trading, Republicans and Democrats. We were never truly united.
In Europe's early history, wars occurred between different nations. Our thirteen states needed to create a unified organization to defend against a common enemy, England. The states' individual identities were less important than protecting the collective. Our states were as diverse as the nations of Europe, and we imposed an agreement on them that turned out to be a disaster—one that has troubled our country ever since. We have states as extensive and diverse as European countries, and they should never have been expected to coexist as one. Today, the same European countries remain separate entities, but they have a common, accepted, and unified agreement to organize and act together—the European Union. This is the path our country must follow if we want to live in peace.
We cannot coexist with our fundamental differences. The South and the North have two distinct mentalities; we cannot live together as one. The country's progress has been hindered by the attempt to find compromises between these regions that should have been independent countries.
Today, an influential conservative organization has taken advantage of this situation to highlight the flaws and weaknesses of the Constitution, as the three branches of government cannot fully control all the unconstitutional actions of the president. The only option remaining is the courts, but even they have been corrupted.
Demonstrations, Democrats' regaining control of Congress, and even citizen rebellions will not fix the mistake in the Constitution; we were never meant to coexist, and we still cannot today. The differences are as vast as those between France and Germany. Consider California, with its 40 million residents, which is larger than most European countries, trying to coexist with Tennessee, with a population of seven million, whose GNP is as different as Greenland's from Germany's.
Understand that the southern states are clearly different from the northern states; historically, they have never tried to imitate or relate to the states of the north. The influential conservative billionaire-funded organizations aren't going anywhere; they are here for the long haul. Thinking that all of this will change with the next election is just a pipe dream.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars” but in our constitution, and we have tried for 250 years to live with a malfunctioning document that should never have been continued.
The indictment of James Comey is a farce by a non-prosecutor toadie in which no other would sign off on. A malicious attack on justice. Jen and Andrew Weissmann’s interview is quite telling.
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?
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.
Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option
TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.
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.
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount 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.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue? Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Another impressive daily roundup by the Contrarian, another milestone achievement: discussing everything and anything under the sun, but the greatest human tragedy of modern times, the greatest crime against humanity, the genocide of biblical proportions. The genocide directly enabled and supported by the very people who claim to be pro democracy. An interesting version of democracy: kill Palestinians, as many as possible and as fast as possible so that, if done quickly enough and Palestine is eradicated, there will nobody to show solidarity with and empathy for. I cannot comprehend for the life of me how one cannot care about men and women - and especially children - being killed, maimed, burned, mutilated, but then I have seen it too often, especially in the US, to be surprised. It breaks my heart that so many have to be killed, so much has to be destroyed, without one raising one's finger. I understand that the habit in the US is quite strong, after all, the post WW2 history of the US is one destruction after another, and of foreign lands not even one the war with America, from Vietnam to ... to Iraq to enabling the Gaza genocide. But what I find truly mind boggling is a belief that killing and destroying others will not come back as a boomerang to destroy democracy at home. To have such a distorted, inhuman, fragmented view of humanity and democracy, makes one far closer to MAGA. than to people that hate and fight fascism. But then, one of the leaders of the Contrarian is Ms. Rubin, who happily supported the killing of almost million people in Iraq, and almost total destruction of that far land - and who today stays silent not only about the genocide, but even about the killings of journalists. A journalist silent on the systematic killing of one's peers? More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in all the wars in modern history, including the WW2 - but then they are Palestinians, and who cares about them, you could tell me. You should at least give a look at what you are effectively supporting through your complicit silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfDj-gTkIY. It will be probably ignored, I guess, since a Contrarian seems to care more even about pets than tens and tens of thousands killed. In the span of 2 years, Israel has managed to kill, directly and indirectly, more than 500000 people, equivalent to some 100 million people in the US. But then Palestinians are semites, as were 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, that US watched silently, and effectively collaborated on, by refusing them visas. Only some 80 years ago, the promise: Never again, is almost completely forgotten in the US, the only country in the world that still supports the genocide - no, sorry, the US enables it, And it enables it through taxpayer money and your silence. Does a Contrarian have really no empathy whatsoever, no remorse, no solidarity? Fortunately, more and more Americans are waking up to this tragedy - see an example: https://x.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1971155549388669148?t=Lx_5I-OmBhCVzlpAu7CMNQ&s=08 - and soon only the Contrarian will remain silent. Or it will start pretending to have cared, the way people did after WW2 about the Holocaust?