Courtesy of smithsonianmagazine.com
The Peril
I will be blunt. Our Constitutional Order and our democracy are comatose. Here’s why.
• We can no longer depend upon our elected leaders. The Republican Party has imploded. The Democrats are in disarray. Checks and balances in government are moribund. Bipartisan cooperation is a fool’s game.
• South Koreans responded with force when denied access to their legislature. Democrats defended the Depat. Of Education with speeches, and then asked for political contributions.
• Elizabeth Warren imagines the courts will save us. The courts have no enforcement power. And Trump’s minions are challenging the notion of judicial authority.
• “We need no more elections.” That isn’t Trump’s hyperbole. If the 2026 campaign threatens the president’s power, Oath Keepers and Proud Boys will riot as they did on January 6. The disruption will allow Trump to declare martial law.
• The proposed Republican budget raises the debt ceiling by 4 trillion dollars. Oligarchs will get tax cuts. Medicaid and Obamacare will get reduced funding.
• The new budget and Trump’s tariffs will make eggs a precious commodity.
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The Resistance
Most of us are tired of waiting for Senator Susan Collins to save our democracy. Alone and/or in unison, Citizens can do much without the levers of power. We can express outrage. Below are suggestions easy enough to be performed from a hospital bed.
The consumer option
As consumers, we can boycott subversive retailers. Tesla is at the top of my list but here are other points of resistance. Shop Costco NOT Sam’s Club; Ultra NOT Sephora; Target NOT Walmart; Lowes NOT Home Depot.
For those willing to put country above convenience, boycott Amazon and support small retailers instead.
Join the national boycott on February 28.
Extra-judicial options
Tell the Democrats to stop working with Republicans. Let Trump’s party fall on its sword.
Picket subversive retailers; write letters of opposition to the editor and/or congressional representative; contribute to private organizations like the ACLU. These political watchdogs are the ones doing the heavy lifting; join a demonstration.
If We the people want justice, the time has come for extra-judicial measures We are the children of the Boston Tea Party, Seneca Falls, the March on Selma, and opponents of the Vietnam War. Heroes will always rise among us in troubled times, but we do best as a country when ordinary people act for themselves.
Boycott Tesla
