POST 1141

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Preface to This Guest Essay – It Could Be Entitled, “Stand a Post-2.”

On December 22 I published Our Problem, a flaming declaration of the obvious and dangerous truth, that most Democrats have shown themselves to be toothless tigers and are completely unready to battle the horrors that face us. Lifelong pal Frank Levy had something to say about that and he posted an insightful comment. You need to see it, so it’s here as a Guest Essay.

Frank has been an activist forever. He was a Freedom Rider in the 1960s when registering Black people to vote in the deep south was a death defying act. He does more than give lip service to doing what is right and good. He tells us that it’s time to get up off our butts and take action. He tells us that we cannot count on Democratic elected officials to fight this war to preserve our rights, the Constitution and our democracy. He’s right.

For context, review my post first and then come back to read Frank’s wise words.

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Jack – You are right. The Dems are MIA. They are not going to save us. They are not even going to lead us. So, what? They have been MIA for a long, long time. The only thing that will save us and our on-life-support democracy is what has always saved us – WE THE PEOPLE!

With no disrespect, my longtime friend, you are suffering from a serious case of useless pundit syndrome. We all know what the problem is. We know it all too well. There is no shortage of media pundits (all of whom incorrectly predicted the election), scholars, and the like explaining ad nauseam what went and is wrong. There is no shortage of useless verbiage telling us how bad things will be. We know all of that.

What we need are people willing to offer some solutions, a defensive or even offensive strategy or tactical plan so We The People can survive the coming catastrophe and maybe even restore liberal democracy to America sometime in the future.

So with no lack of arrogance I am offering my own save yourself and democracy to-do list:

1. Never miss an opportunity to inform elected officials – Republican and Democrat, local and national – about your position on every issue. Write them, Call them. Make them hear you!
2. Get together with like minded people to form a local resilience and resistance force. Meet regularly. Make plans to do meaningful acts of resistance. There really is strength in numbers. This is our John Lewis moment!
3. Make a plan to protect your job, your savings, your retirement funds, your healthcare plan, your health, your home.
4. If you live in a red state, make plans to create an underground railroad, to help women needing an abortion or healthcare get what they need.
5. Create or work with a local food bank so when food prices skyrocket and there are food shortages people in need can get affordable food.
6. Raise your own livestock (cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys) or find a farmer to raise it for you – there will be food shortages. Be prepared.
7. Again, if your live in a red state create an underground railroad to help LGBTQIA+ individuals get to states where it is safe to live, be married, and get gender affirming health care.
8. Find new, reliable, courageous news sources. The media for the most part has surrendered to MAGA and Trump’s threats.
9. Stop trying to make nice with MAGA people. They do not share your values. They will not agree to the same set of facts. Without agreement of those two things there is nothing to talk about.
10. Buy a copy of Timothy Snyder’s book, “On Tyranny – Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.” Read it. It is your new Bible. Do not leave home without it.
11. If you think you will need to leave this country to go somewhere safe – get or renew your passport now.
12. Decide whether or not you have the means and are willing to provide sanctuary for those immigrants Trump and his evil henchmen want to deport or incarcerate.
13. Join a group like Indivisible. They have great information and resources to help us in this fight. (www.Indivisible.org)
14. Contact me one on one. I will be happy to share what I know, and what my friends and I in Alabama are doing. ([email protected])

I am sure there are other things we can and should be doing in this terrifying time, but this is a start. This is what my friends and I are doing now.

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Okay, maybe you won’t be raising your own livestock. At the very least you need to see Frank’s comment as making the point that your circumstances are likely to become extremely bad. With what you see and hear every day you shouldn’t require clarification of this.

1. You see the billionaire tech-toadies buying their way into power and the monied supplicant suck-ups (oh, wait: that’s redundant) bending a knee instead of standing in integrity.
2. You see the cabinet appointments chosen not for their qualifications or their excellence, but for their loyalty to Trump so that they protect our Felon-in Chief.
3. You see the guardrails coming down, so you know our democracy is in trouble.

Frank mentioned Indivisible.org. There are other ways to stand that post, including The Union, MoveOn.org, Country First, Focus4Democracy, The States Project, Indivisible Illinois and more. Go stand a post with at least one of those organizations working to protect our democracy.

We are in for a long, achingly hard battle, so put your ideas for action in the Comments section below to help us all.

REBEL!

.  .  .  against the billionaire tyranny.

From The Union

Tomorrow is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day. You know the stories of how right wing haters tried to stop the creation of a day of remembrance for this (gasp!) Black man, this non-violent icon of peaceful change for the betterment of all. Tomorrow is also the inauguration of a man dedicated to hatred, selfishness and repression. The contrast would be comical if it weren’t so damaging.

The folks at The Union have some ideas about how you can help peaceful change come about.

Register Voters: Help your community by assisting people in registering to vote or becoming election workers. (If you’re interested in learning how to get involved with voter registration in your area, please reach out to The Union for more information.)

Volunteer at a local food bank: Help provide meals for people in need.

Community Cleanups: Lead efforts to clean up parks, streets, or public spaces, promoting community pride and solidarity.

Reach out to a friend or relative to see how they’re doing and encourage them to get involved in local volunteer opportunities or pro-democracy initiatives.

Sign up for a volunteer event at our Action Center! Key races are happening this year in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Virginia. Get involved and mark your calendar today!

As The Union wrote in its recent post,

“Thank you for your dedication to justice, community, and democracy.”

TikTok

You would compromise our national security so that you can post and view inane videos for free? Really? Or so that you can make a few bucks on that platform, as though that’s the only place you can make a buck? Seriously?!

Seriously!?!!

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We can be bought – we sell out – so cheaply. But you don’t have to do that. Reach down and grab your ass. That is what’s at stake.

Fun – Yes, Really

Did you make it this far in this long post? Good for you, because here’s a gift courtesy of Dan Rather at Steady. Fleetwood Mack tells us “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” It’s a message of hope – “It’ll be here better than before” – and we surely need hope right now, because tomorrow – as in: Monday – won’t be better than today. But we are going to make our tomorrows better than before – if we work at it. Let’s go.

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Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.