What Can We Do?

I know it’s dark.
I know you’re weary.
I know it seems hopeless.

Please believe me. It’s not.

We have too much too lose.
We hold too much power in our hands.
We have too many good people on our side.
We have too many good people fighting for us.
[Read about those good people in my companion piece, “Heroes of the Resistance“.]

So… What do I suggest?

Well, we could wait two years, for the midterms, and see if there’s anything left for us to rebuild.

But that won’t work.
We don’t have time.
We have to act now.

Here’s what we do:

1. Call your Congressmen and Women.

Get the 5 Calls app.
Let them know how many of us there are.

The app actually helps.
It gives you:
– An overview of the issue
– An immediate, direct phone connection to your US Senators and Representatives
– A script, to focus your statement, with specific demands to help them focus their response

It really does make a difference.
Legislators have been flooded with phone calls, and it is getting through to them.
Our Senators and Representatives want to be good people, by and large – but they’re scared.
Scared of being primaried by Elon Musk.
Scared of being attacked, by Trump supporters. (Don’t believe me? Just listen to some of the terrifying voicemails left for Adam Kinzinger.)

Let them know – We can primary them, too. (Or, to put it more nicely: We will support them against Elon Musk.)
Especially if you live in a red state. Let Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Joni Ernst, and others on the fence know.

Let them know we cannot be allowing people like Kash Patel to hold positions of power in this country. (Even if it’s too late to stop RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard.)
Let them know that they need to step up and stop Elon Musk from illegally ransacking government agencies.

The MAGA people are good at making themselves heard.
We need to be better at it than they are.

2. Move away from the oligarchs.

These are the people who run the businesses in the country.
Those that have been threatened by Trump.
Hit them where it hurts – in the pocketbook.

Leave Facebook/Instagram/Meta.
Certainly leave Twitter.
Join us on Bluesky. More than 30 million have.

Buy from places other than Amazon.

Those that have defied Trump – Costco, smaller businesses – support them.

3. Find the independent media.

To quote Kendrick Lamar: “Turn off your TV!”
CBS, ABC, NBC. CNN, and MS/NBC have proven to be of no use to us.
(I assume Fox News viewers have not read this far.)

Like other large enterprises, they have been threatened by Trump – and have been pressured to cave in.
To treat this insanity as normal.

There are plenty of other, independent outlets.
Keep an eye on:
Rolling Stone
Wired
Politico
ProPublica
The Guardian
The Handbasket
Stat (for medical news)
www.whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com

Listen to NPR, Support NPR.

4. Protest.

The 50 Marches, 50 Capitols movement is still building up steam.
It held its first protest on Feb 5, and a second one on Feb 17.
It’s loosely organized, but focuses on protests at all 50 State Capitols, the same day, at noon local time.

Like I said, it could use some more organization – there is some confusion over which web site is the correct one, and it’s not clear who the organizers are.
But as they say on their web site, “In just days, grassroots organizers—without any budget, centralized structure, or official backing—pulled off over 80 peaceful protests in all 50 states.”

There’s also a Feb 28 “nationwide economic blackout,” boycotting corporations that are scaling back on DEI efforts.

5. Support the helpers

Remember the words of Mister Rogers: “Look to the helpers.”

I’ve put together a list of “Heroes of the Resistance“.
People like Marc Elias, Rick Wilson, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Heather Cox Richardson, JB Pritzker, Danielle Sassoon, Adam Mockler, and others.

They haven’t given up.
They’re out there, fighting.
Showing us what can be done.

Treasure them.
Follow them.
Support them.

*          *          *

This post by Donald Trump, from Feb 16, 2025, is why we need to do something.

This terrifying, treasonist statement signals two things:
1. He is not going to accept the rulings of the courts.
2. As journalist Kyle Clark notes, it is a call to arms to anybody who supports Trump’s hostile takeover – if you are fighting to support him, do whatever you need to do. If you’re fighting on his behalf, laws don’t apply.

It points out that, at some point, soon, we may need to go further.
We may need to do what South Korean patriots did.
People there climbed walls, hoisting their representatives over them, to get them into their capitol, after President Joon shut them out and tried to take over their country.

There may come a day when we have to do the same, to help our Representatives take back the power back that is defined in the Constitution.

To be clear:
I’m not talking about going after them with pitchforks and torches.
I’m not talking about taking over The Capitol, and smearing its walls with feces.
I’m not talking about trashing the Constitution.
That’s their style.

I’m talking about doing the thing that has worked for us since the Civil Rights struggle: Civil disobedience.
The thing that worked for Martin Luther King, Jr, and Mahatma Ghandi.

It’s time.
Stand up.
Let your voice be heard.
Wherever you are.
Let them see how many of us there are.