I'm Mad as Hell. I'm Not Going to Take This Anymore
And here is what we should do about it.
Where We Are
The American people, en masse, must do something before the 2026 midterm elections to stop Trump 2.0’s fascist, calculated insanity:
Deploying the National Guard of one state to another state against the protests of that state’s governor (Los Angeles, Chicago, et al.),
Masked men and women harassing, illegally detaining, & deporting legal immigrants, and shooting and killing American citizens,
Threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in cities and states to crush peaceful dissent against ICE’s activities,
Threatening a coup d’etat on a sovereign nation, Colombia.
Executing a coup d’etat on a sovereign nation, Venezuela.
Sabre-rattling threats to acquire, by any means necessary, the sovereign territory, Greenland, from a long-time devoted ally, Denmark.
A Trump ploy clandestinely intended to:Weaken or break-up NATO in service to Putin’s goals of acquiring Ukraine and, ultimately, recreating the USSR.
Prevent Putin from releasing Kompromat implicating Trump.
During a recent interview, Trump boasted that he had accomplished so much that, “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election,” referring to the midterm federal elections.
Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime have gone too far, and they are just getting started!!!
By the midterm elections, it may be too late to save the America we knew and loved.
We must do something decisive — NOW!
What must be done has to be massive, widely distributed, and unstoppable to prevent the Trump 2.0 fascists from quelling our RAGE.
A Model for What Must Be Done
A few days ago, I was reading yet another Substack post imploring all of Us to keep doing the same old tactics of “write your Congressman”, “attend town halls”, “rally, march, and protest often, but peacefully, et al.”
While reading that post, I recalled a scene from the 1976 movie, “Network” in which a television news anchorman, frustrated by the news he is reporting, explodes, screaming into the camera, “I’m mad as Hell. I’m not going to take this anymore.”
He goes on to exhort his nationwide audience to open their windows and shout, at the same time, and as loud as they can, “I’M, MAD AS HELL. I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.“
And that is exactly what happens. From every home on farms, in villages, suburbs, towns, and cities, the American People opened their windows and shouted, “I’M MAD AS HELL. I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.“
Then, I thought, “We CAN DO THAT!”
Link to Video clip from 1976 movie, “Network”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M96UAUJWW3Y
What We Could Do
Sure we could open our windows and scream, “I’M MAD AS HELL. I’M NOT GOIMG TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.“, to get Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime to feel our PATRIOTIC RAGE at what they are doing to Our country.
Here is another idea:
American Household Light Flashing SOS Signal Protest
Americans could execute a coordinated, nationwide Morse Code SOS distress signal protest against Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime by flashing their house lights, car headlights, or a flashlight spelling out the SOS distress signal, “dot, dot, dot, dash, dash, dash, dot, dot, dot”. The SOS signal should be repeated at least five (5) times. I estimate this event would take from 1-½ to 2 minutes.
If flashing lights signaling SOS are too difficult, just flashing your house lights or a flashlight on and off, repeatedly, for a minute or two would send the same message.
This event should occur when the International Space Station transits above the North American Continent so that it can be video recorded. Satellite image analysis tools could then be used to estimate the number of American households voting against Trump 2.0 and Trumpism.
If “light flashing” events were held repeatedly, weekly or monthly, time-based trend lines showing the extent of Americans’ discontent could be plotted.
This repeating event would signal to “everyone”: fellow citizens, the Federal Government, the American military, America’s wary allies, and America’s competitors how much and how many Americans are united in opposition to Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime.
Repeat this event until Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime stop their fascist behavior or are somehow removed from office.
What is good about this type of protest:
Universal — Anyone who can flip a light switch on and off can easily participate, even children.
Visible — You can see your neighbors’ lights turning on and off, and instantly judge the level of protest support. People traveling in planes, trains, or automobiles would see the protest.
Minimal preparation — No protest signs and banners to be created, no e-mails, or text messages, or Substack posts to be written.
No travel — no one has to travel to a rally site, march down a road, or stand for hours holding a protest sign on a city street corner or hanging a banner over a freeway overpass.
No danger — no one has to worry about being harassed, pepper-sprayed, beaten with a baton, car-jacked, or shot in the face by DHS ICE agents.
Anonymous — no one has to worry about being individually targeted by ever-present security cameras or roving bands of DHS ICE agents.
Other En Masse Protest Ideas
If the above idea seems untenable, then here are two possible options that are universal and highly visible, but do require effort, cost time and money, have some chance of personal danger, and do not ensure anonymity:
Flying the American Flag Upside Down
Flying the American Flag “upside down” was originally intended to communicate extreme distress. During the past fifty years it has often been used during political protests.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that displaying the American Flag “upside down” in protest is free speech and is protected by the Constitution’s 1st Amendment.
Buy a 3’ x 5’ American flag and display it at home, in accordance with flag etiquette, “upside down”1 to tell everyone who drives or walks by your house that you believe America is in distress.
Nation-Wide “QR” Code Referendum
Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is planning to sponsor a bill requiring law enforcement officers and agents to prominently display, on their uniforms, a “QR” code which could be scanned by a mobile phone camera (i.e. iPhone, et al.) to identify individual law enforcement officers and agents. The prominent display of the “QR” code is intended to minimize contentious verbal confrontations when asking law enforcement officers and agents to identify themselves.
Applying Representative Torres’ “QR” code concept to a nationwide referendum against the Trump 2.0 regime, I can imagine a collaboration of protest organizations obtaining a complete list of registered voters, then creating a unique “QR” code linked to each registered voter. These “QR” codes could be imprinted on plastic or paper cards and sent to registered voters by mail or sent digitally to their registered e-mail address. Each voter would then use a mobile phone registered to them to scan their unique “QR” code card. The scanning of the unique “QR” code by the verified voter would trigger the display of a referendum form. The referendum form would ask voters to respond with “Yes” or “No” to several questions related to the Trump 2.0 regime, such as “Should Donald J. Trump be impeached and removed from office?” At the end of the referendum form would be a “Submit” button. Once the “Submit” button is depressed, their vote is cast, cannot be changed, is tallied, and stored securely.
The actual implementation of a “QR” Code Referendum would likely be different than described here based on how best to ensure a secure and accurate vote.
Conclusion
These are universal protest ideas. Maybe one of them is that “great” idea. But nothing happens unless the “word gets out” to the American People. Only a coalition of protest organizations, such as 50501, Indivisible, the Save America Movement (SAM), and the ACLU, could “get the word out” and coordinate the launching of one or more nationwide protests like those described in this post.
The 2nd “No Kings” Rally, attended by 7 million protesters, was impressive, but not enough to overwhelm Trump and the Trump 2.0 regime. We, the American People, must send a clear message that there are 50 to 100 million of Us who would gladly open their windows and shout, “I’M MAD AS HELL. I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.“
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When Can You Fly the American Flag Upside Down?
https://www.americanflags.com/blog/post/when-can-you-fly-the-american-flag-upside-down