Action 134 – Mindfulness for June 14
From a Thom Hartmann email today, hours before “ICE Barbie” had Senator Padilla apprehended because he had the temerity to try to ask her a question (1): “ ICE brutally rams car & tear gases occupants with young children (toddlers) - to grab citizens off the street, FL tries to replace farm workers with 14 year old American children. FL says they're not too young to work overnight shifts. I'm not making this up! Brutality reigns…. Smithsonian to purge ‘anti-American ideology' as MAGA revamp gets underway, criminals are imitating ICE to rob people, and, surprise, Trump is restoring the confederacy.”
This is just a sampling of the many outrages, the latest being the unconscionable treatment of a U.S. Senator.
Are you trying to talk with Republicans about this stuff yet? Please do try. I love the thoughtful saying “if you wonder what you would have done to keep Hitler from ruining Germany, you are doing it now.” Trump’s approval ratings are going down, and yet his administration persists in its reckless destruction. The only thing that will make it stop is massive protest. Be a part of it, starting Saturday. Here are some words of wisdom from Peter Coyote (2,3) forwarded by Roxanne:
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A protest is an invitation to a better world.
It’s a ceremony.
No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.
More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.
The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, Congress, etc.
The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.
If you win them, you win power at the box office and power to make positive change.
Everything else is a waste.
There are a few ways to get there:
1. Let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do.
2. Appoint monitors, give them yellow vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protesters sit down. The police can then see the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.
3. Dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean, presentable clothes. They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.
4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.
5. Carry an American flag. As the administration creates a fake emergency to justify a state crackdown, it's important to honor the values and vision of democracy for which we're advocating.
6. Go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.
I have great fear that Trump’s staging with the National Guard and Marines is designed to clash with anarchists who are playing into his hands and offering him the opportunity to declare an insurrection.
The American people are watching and once again if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, we’ll see this explained to the public in Republican campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.
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(2) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/peter-coyote-on-protests/
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coyote