HOW TO STOP TRUMP (Pocket Edition) by Michael Moore
1. THE DAILY CALL: You must call Congress every day. Yes - YOU! 202-225-3121. It will take just TWO MINUTES! Make it part of your daily routine. It's even better to try their direct line. For Senators, find their numbers here: http://bit.ly/2kko0Ao. For the direct line to your Congressman/woman in the House of Representatives: http://house.gov/representatives. But here's the best way to call them: Go to the App Store and get "5 Calls". The app will dial the friggin' phone for you and give you talking points for when you speak to your reps. Remember -- a call a day keeps the Trump away.
2. THE MONTHLY VISIT: To add even more pressure, SHOW UP! Your member of Congress has a local office in your town or somewhere nearby. So do both of your U.S. Senators (often in the nearest federal building). Go there and ask to speak to them or their aides about the issues you care about. And when they have a town hall meeting, be there!
3. YOUR RAPID RESPONSE TEAM: You and 5 to 20 friends must form a Rapid Response Team so that when we need to leap into action (like we did at the airports the hour after Trump signed his Muslim Ban), we can email and text those closest to us to make an instant plan.
4. JOIN! JOIN! JOIN!: If you haven't already, it's time to join some of our great national groups: Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Black Lives Matter, Democratic Socialists of America, ERA Action, MoveOn.org - the list goes on and on. And all the new groups that have sprung up to fight Trump: IndivisibleGuide.com, TownHallProject.com, Organizing for Action (ofa.us), ActionGroups.net, etc. Go and so many more. Sign up!
5. WOMEN'S MARCH NEVER ENDS: The historic, record-breaking January 21st Women's March on Washington -- and the hundreds of other Marches that day across the US and the world, with over 4 million in attendance! -- inspired millions and ignited hundreds of local movements. Every day now dozens of actions continue to take place as if the Women's March never ended. It hasn't. Join it! Go to my RESISTANCE CALENDAR (www.resistancecalendar.com) where you can find out what actions are taking place near you.
6. TAKE OVER THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: The old guard of the Party has twice in 16 years presided over the majority of Americans electing the Democrat to the White House -- only for us all to see the losing Republican inaugurated as President. How is it that we have won the popular vote in SIX OF THE LAST SEVEN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS -- the Republicans have only won ONCE since 1988 -- and yet, we hold NO power in any branch of government?! We must elect reform and progressive candidate, Congressman Keith Ellison, as the new DNC chair. Keith is a former community organizer, the first Muslim elected to Congress, and a key backer of Bernie Sanders. Sign his petition of support at www.keithfordnc.org/howyoucanhelp. And locally, you need to start attending your county Democratic meetings. If possible, organize your friends and others and take over your local Democratic organization.
7. LET'S FORM BLUE REGIONS OF RESISTANCE: People keep saying, "I live in a Blue State - what can I do?" Show the rest of America what it could look like in a state where Trump isn't in charge! New York should go ahead and offer Free College for All. California can create its own Universal Health Care. Oregon can stop mass incarceration of African Americans. Hawaii can enact its own climate change laws. Important historical note: Before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, California and New York passed their own state laws to make it legal. This greatly helped pave the way for CHOICE being the new normal - and, three years later, for the enactment of Row v. Wade.
8. YOU MUST RUN FOR OFFICE: I know, that's the LAST thing you want to do. But if we keep leaving the job up to the dismal, lame, pathetic political hacks who have sold us all down the river, then what right do we have to complain? This is only going to get fixed when you and I decide we are willing to put in our time -- even if it is a brief time -- and run for office. Run for school board, town council, state senate in 2018. I ran when I was 18 and got elected. You can, too. At the very least, run for precinct delegate. The time commitment is just 3 hours a year! Call your city or county clerk and find out how to get on the ballot. If you'll do it, I'll do it.
9. JOIN THE ARMY OF COMEDY: Trump's Achilles heel is his massively thin skin. He can't take mockery. So we all need to MOCK HIM UP! I truly believe the final tipping point for Trump will be when he implodes from all the laughter -- the mocking, the unbearable ridicule of tens of millions of Americans that will discombobulate him and force him out of the White House. I don't know what happened to Trump in boarding school at 13 and I don't care. Whatever it was, let's use it. He's used all the other things he picked up over the years - misogyny, bigotry, greed - against the powerless and the unfortunate. It's time to laugh him outta town. And if there's one thing we all could use right now is a good laugh -- AND the possibility of a much-shortened presidential term.
Please share this and spread the word. Follow me on Twitter (@MMFlint) and Facebook (facebook.com/mmflint) and I'll keep posting ideas on what we all can do. We can stop him. We can nonviolently block and obstruct halt the damage he's doing. But it's going to need -- and take -- ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Comment: It is certainly curious to contemplate the behind-scenes deals taking place in Syria. 5000 trapped ISIS fighters allowed to walk does seem counter-intuitive to short-ending the overall ISIS threat and culminating the war in Syria (if that is your priority). While Al-Bab did not matter to ISIS, it is crucial to Turkey, given its location near the Turkish border. Perhaps the trade-off offered a sure-fire 'claim to victory' and occupation for Erdogan. But here's the question: Was a deal also made to meet Erdogan's real priority: elimination of the Kurds via 5000 grateful ISIS fighters?
See also: FSA, Turkish soldiers seize Al-Bab, Daesh on the run