Wake Up
Make Good Trouble
Thank you to the members of congress who showed face last week at the USAID Building front doors. And were denied access by DOGE occupiers. Later appearances in support of peaceful protesters outside Treasury and Education buildings also were noted and appreciated.
The rest of you.
Go big or go home.
Lauren Gambino, reporting for The Guardian on 09 Feb 25, quotes Ezra Levin, co-founder of the activist group Indivisible, as urging the Democrats to study and use the stonewalling tactics developed by Mitch McConnell when his party was in the minority. Britt Jacovich, speaking on behalf of Move On, said members of that group are asking Democrats to “show some resolve and meet the moment…to use every tool at their disposal to fight back…” against implementation of the Project 2025 playbook.
Take strength from the fact that the legislative branch is given pride of place in the Constitution of the barely United States of America. You are Article One powers. Use them.
The assertion by J.D. Vance, as supported by Elon Musk, that President Trump has authority over Congress is worse than disingenuous. It borders on traitorous. The fact that some legal scholars leap to defend the boast is deeply troubling. There exists an underlying implication of overwhelming force yet to be deployed.
I like Robert Hubbell’s suggestion (We are not sheep. Get louder. Take action. Create a shadow cabinet.) that members of Congress spontaneously form a shadow cabinet. It works like this:
The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mirror the positions of each individual member of the Cabinet.[1] Their areas of responsibility, in parallel with the ruling party's ministries, may be referred to as a shadow portfolio.[2] Members of a shadow cabinet have no executive power. It is the shadow cabinet's responsibility to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative policies. The shadow cabinet makes up the majority of the Official Opposition frontbench, as part of frontbenchers to the parliament.[3] Smaller opposition parties in Britain and Ireland have Frontbench Teams.[4]
In many countries, a member of the shadow cabinet is referred to as a shadow minister. In the United Kingdom's House of Lords and in New Zealand, the term spokesperson is used instead of shadow.[5] In Canada, the term opposition critic is also used.[6][7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_cabinet
We the People have taken to the streets and the courts. We are using our persons and our purses every day in every legal way to delay, deny, defeat, and destroy the implementation of Project 2025. Do your constitutional duty. Represent our position faithfully and fully.
Right now.
Time is of the essence. Fascism is most vulnerable in its infancy. Kill the monster in its loathsome crib.
If you're not "making good trouble" you are going down the toilet with the rest of the flush. I think each person who stands up and speaks their opposition is a member of a very large shadow cabinet. Those who walked in the marches on the capitols last week - all members of the shadow cabinet. And those shadows are getting to be more substantial every day!
Shadow cabinet is another positive move forward and you give plenty of examples of where it works in other countries. It is a proven system and we can always learn from other leaders who put the people first instead of their fortunes.