Blueprint for the Resistance

We Dissent

The clouds are darkening and a dangerous storm is coming. The 900+ page Heritage Foundation/Trump anti-democracy Project 2025 plan to seize long-term control of the United States will begin to be implemented by the Criminal-Elect and his band of thieves on January 20, 2025.

Over at least the next two years while Musk/Trump/Vance and MAGA control the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government we will see an array of Executive Orders, Legislation, and policy implementation around a few key concepts.

1. Accelerate the concentration of wealth to consolidate power and reward billionaires for their fealty to Trump.
2. Implement egregious policies that are intentionally cruel, harmful, and discriminatory to provoke outrage.
3. Attack and erode representative democracy through massive voter suppression and gerrymandering efforts.
4. Continue to misdirect and polarize Americans by fostering hate, fear, and extremism by whatever means necessary to keep us divided and thus conquered.

We will not mount an effective resistance by circulating petitions. As I’ve written before, do you truly believe that a MAGA-controlled House Speaker like Rep. Johnson is going to be concerned with millions of digital signatures from California on a petition “telling him to hold the Supreme Court accountable for trading justice for luxurious ‘gifts’”?

When MAGA/DOGE directs the military to begin to pursue immigrants and refugees (documented or not) and imprison them in “camps” before deporting them (in some cases to countries in which they’ve never set foot), believing that clicking to automatically add your name to a petition in a couple of keystrokes is an effective countermeasure is an unfortunate exercise in self-delusion.

As I’ve written previously, legacy corporate media is not coming to save us. While mired in the failed strategy of circulating petitions, continuously asking for donations, and building their email lists as opposed to effective and innovative tactics, the Democratic Party apparatus is not coming to save us.

… As others have warned: It is simply up to us.

We must have short-term immediate plans for physical and/or virtual local, regional, and societal-level effective civic actions to defend those most vulnerable to the cruel and hateful acts that will be perpetrated by the criminal-elect, and we must defend the core principles of democracy, justice, and equality.

We also have to implement long-range infrastructure to counter the massive success the GOP has earned through funding and building the power-consolidation framework set forth generations ago by 1Lewis Powell in his memo of August 23, 1971.

In 1980 the total spent in the U.S. Presidential and Congressional races was approximately $540 million. In 2024 it was an estimated $16 billion.

While “We the People” may win an occasional battle, the Greedy Oligarchy Party (GOP/MAGA/DOGE) has assembled a large ecosphere -billionaire donors, well-funded “think” tanks such as Heritage, control of the flow of news and information (corporate & social media), and control the governorship and state legislative chambers in 23 states.

If you want to fully understand the GOP ecosphere, which has become nearly invincible as it has grown for 45 years starting with the Reagan Administration, you merely have to ask the question:

“Why is any election in the United States close?”

In greater detail the question is …

“Since the Democratic Party Platform embodies the concepts of justice, equality, and democracy inherent in the founding vision of America, if the platform is about economic fairness, environmental stewardship, equal opportunity and inclusion, a strong societal safety net, and civil rights -why are any elections even close?”

The only answer is an indictment of the broken internal workings of the Democratic Party apparatus. In my analysis, the party leadership failed to recognize the danger posed by Lewis Powell’s vision, written over 50 years ago, which ironically called for a union -not of workers but of the wealthiest Americans to control the United States instead of the will of the people.

I’m not suggesting the Democratic Party Platform is flawed. And the issue is not dedicated State/Local and Congressional Members (with the recent notable exceptions such as Sinema, Manchin, and Melendez). The internal Party apparatus is the issue.

Until major flaws throughout the political, economic, and justice system are adequately resolved, candidates will still need campaign funding and volunteers. If major Democratic Party donors are serious about enacting transformative change it is well past time to shift some of their political investment from the mainstream party into long-term efforts to counter the GOP “ecosphere”.

The good news is it will not take the mountain of resources and time necessary to overcome the “Lewis Powell” machine, however, it will take time, patience, and focus. Consider that the core policy of the GOP above all else is the concentration of wealth through fraud otherwise known as “Trickle Down” economics, the “idea” that if we shift more money for the wealthiest Americans (through slashing taxes, privatization, and deregulation), it will grow the economy and everyone will benefit. The reality is, by shifting more wealth to the wealthy, they simply become wealthier. They park 2trillions offshore and accumulate power and generational wealth. It takes massive resources to “sell” the idea of trickle-down.

Conversely, what kind of resources are necessary to “sell” the idea that if you keep your money -instead of giving it to the already wealthy -you’ll have more money? The countervailing resources are only necessary to educate and inform those who have been continuously bombarded with lies and disinformation through Fox “News”, Sinclair, Clear Channel, and shills like Joe Rogan.

Many of you know of my efforts to build civ.works as a viable alternative to Facebook.

The platform civ.works will not sell or share subscriber data and betray subscriber trust as Facebook did with Cambridge Analytica. Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. Therefore I view infrastructure like civ.works as vital to any future attempt at a meaningful democracy.

When considering the media pipeline, and how we consume news and information, many people use social media sources owned and controlled by billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. This is a fatal flaw in the present social media landscape.

I’m continuing to direct scarce resources toward growing the civ.works concept toward full-scale production. Later this month I will be demonstrating new functionality as a “Proof of Concept” for potential investors and/or donors. The Proof of Concept is to create and publish a civic action on civ.works that will also be distributed to BlueSky (bsky.app) which is an emerging alternative to Elon Musk’s toxic hate platform X (the former Twitter).

The concept is to aggregate effective civic actions from leading civil society and progressive organizations and expand their visibility and societal reach from civ.works to BlueSky and beyond (ie. the Fediverse), and to help rapidly organize timely local, regional, or national responses to harmful and egregious governmental, media, or other corporate conduct.

Examples of effective civic actions range from simple actions (such as committing to an economic boycott of a corporation doing societal harm) to complex and time-consuming actions such as volunteering for a candidate for office or even running for elected office such as the local school board, local government, state legislature, or Congress.

For example in the town of San Mateo, California, the local Peace Action group convened outside of the local offices of a Congressional Representative on a busy intersection in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Despite (generally) just 6-10 people, their consistent presence over time provoked thinking, and research, and challenged the political status quo. In one particular gathering, a candlelight vigil was held and a larger crowd marched from a local church and joined the group on the corner and it was a newsworthy (and emotional event).

Larger rallies, protests, and marches can be effective such as the Women’s March, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the Selma to Montgomery March, Black Lives Matter, the Science March, and other well-organized large-scale protests, particularly when held simultaneously in different cities nationally and/or globally for peace, nuclear disarmament, human rights, climate action, wealth inequality, indigenous rights, and environmental protections can force major news coverage and provoke critical thinking among those who have disengaged from the toxic and worsening political atmosphere.

The incoming criminal-elect will be applying the plans of 3Project 2025 across a broad spectrum of society and the cruelty is intentional. As Naomi Klein wrote this is intended to cause so much misdirection and disarray that many people simply surrender. It is important to remember the very thought of surrender is a choice offered by privilege.

• A “Dreamer” who is arrested and deported when the only country they have ever known is the United States has no choice.
• An individual losing the protections of the Affordable Care Act and no longer covered for serious health conditions has no choice.
• A teacher, committed to educating the next generation who is fired for teaching actual U.S. History has no choice.
• An election worker who is targeted for harassment and violent threats has no choice.
• A healthcare provider trying to save the life of a woman in Texas is bound by the ethics of medicine and has no choice.
• A group of children in Montana trying to force the prioritization of climate consideration and action over greed and profit so they and others have a future to look forward to -no choice.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Volunteers, resources, and funding are critical for the civ.works effort to succeed.

Frontline organizations such as the ACLU, NOW, Earthjustice, NRDC, AFL-CIO, SEIU, Teachers’ and other Labor Unions, Whistleblower Aid, Southern Poverty Law Center, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Amnesty International, Indivisible, Brookings Institute, Pew Research, Demos, Democracy Docket, MomsRising, and other groups (see https://civ.works/defend for more) require funds, time, and attention. American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) will be advocating for dedicated federal employees who face an imminent threat from the incoming criminal-elect’s pledge to gravely weaken federal government.

Independent news media investigative journalists also need funding such as The Guardian, Pro Publica, Free Speech TV, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), LA Progressive, Media Matters, Fairness in Accuracy & Reporting (FAIR). State Democratic Attorneys General successfully defended against the attempted implementation of some of the most egregious Trump policies and will soon be called upon again.

Also a shout out to Peace Action. They are a terrific organization dedicated to pragmatic security, peace, and diplomatic collaboration globally. (In transparency I proudly serve on the Peace Action Board).

Beyond the criminal-elect and the rise of right-wing extremists in the United States and throughout the world, there are monumental challenges ahead. Catastrophic climate change, the next dangerous pandemic, nuclear disarmament, and the significant displacement of labor caused by AI (which will lead to a serious economic inflection point throughout the Western world) all require intellect unfettered by greed, avarice, and corruption, collaborating in science, public health, economics, and diplomacy.

This is not the time for MAGA clowns, Trump thieves, amateurs, and billionaire idiots.

We must defend rebuild and reimagine the future -if there is to be one.

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