If We Don’t Take Matters Into Our Own Hands...
And Then, Suddenly, Good News Arrived
Friends -
Seems like something is brewing on this Presidents’ Day across the country.
Many protests are happening at most State Capitols and dozens of cities and towns in the U.S.
TODAY — February 17th — these gatherings have been quickly put together. You know how you’ve been thinking “Where’s the opposition to Trump?!” I think maybe it’s starting today. Maybe we all need to join in. Trump and Musk already have a nearly month-long head start on us. The damage they’ve done has been significant. They have acted fast because they know the Democrats still have no idea how to stop them. And they know liberals generally are laid back and not really into fighting. (I’m sorry they know that about us. We don’t hide it well.)
There is no central committee organizing today’s demonstrations. It seems to be happening organically which is kinda cool. Frankly, we don’t have time to organize. Instead we must act and we must act NOW.
So if you’re just waking up on this holiday Monday, and you have the day off, contact a few friends to see if they’re free to take their first stand against the MAGA crowd that is busy trying to shut our democracy down. Almost all these protests today are happening at or around noon. You may have local contacts who have the local details regarding today’s actions. Call them or go to their websites. Or at noon, just show up at city hall or the steps of your State Capitol. Unless you live in Montana or Maine, most of us live within a few miles of a city hall (or even a State Capitol). Make a quick homemade sign to take with you. And just show up!
And if you’re the only one there then that makes you the first Trump Era #2 protester in your town! You’ll make history. Bragging rights for years to come. Then call your friends or family and tell them to get their butts down there to join you! Lunch at the diner afterward!
I’ve seen a few postings on Instagram from a group called the 50501 Movement saying they may have the latest information on these local protests. Maybe try them.
And I am reprinting below most of the Presidents’ Day protest posters I have found from various cities. Check them out. (Again, most protests are scheduled for noon, but a couple are being held throughout the afternoon.)
Let’s do this! If not us, who? The Democratic Party had 49 years to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land. They never got around to it. They’re still holding meetings on it! Time is up. There’s no more time to waste. At this dark moment we are in, if we don’t take matters into our own hands, I’m afraid for what’s next.
Eight years ago at this very moment, Trump announced his Muslim Travel Ban. All people from 7 Muslim countries would no longer be allowed to enter the U.S. Within the hour I called up my friend and film collaborator, Eric Weinrib. He was at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I told him I was putting out a call to action on my Twitter for everyone to IMMEDIATELY head out to their nearest airport with a homemade sign and maybe some pots and pans. We posted it everywhere, then he hopped in a taxi and headed out to JFK. Suddenly, all over America, thousands of people started showing up at dozens of airports causing a major nonviolent ruckus and traffic jams. The rally at JFK was huge. The cops were caught off guard. “Who’s in charge here?! Who organized this?!”
“Uh, nobody,” is what they mostly heard. Hahaha! It made international news, the New York Times later said they tracked it down to my tweet, but not much more than that.
From the Times:
Just past 3 p.m., a man with a social media megaphone gave it a blow. “Everybody in NYC area — head to JFK Terminal 4 NOW!” Michael Moore said on Twitter. “Big anti-Trump protest forming out of nowhere!”
People were pouring in. Photos traveled far and wide on social media and on cable networks like CNN, which reported live from the protest.
By sundown, the crowd had grown into the hundreds or more, spreading along the parking apron and onto the three floors of the parking deck overlooking the terminal.
Last night on the season premiere of John Oliver’s HBO show, he told the story of that unplanned protest and he quoted a DOJ official who was at work that day in DC and he said that those airport protests made Trump’s lawyers very nervous and that they started to rethink the “Muslim Travel Ban,” citing how its announcement was met with ”outrage” and maybe they should walk their racist hate crime back a bit. Oliver pleaded with his audience that this is what we need again — not the deafening silence from the Dems that we have right now.
I know you get it. Thank you so much.
Michael
P.S. Bed, Bath and Beyond is sadly no longer with us. I had always hoped to find out where the “Beyond” stuff was in the store and what exactly it could mean.
OHIO - COLUMBUS, CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI:
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS:
LANSING, MICHIGAN:
WASHINGTON, DC:
BUFFALO, NEW YORK:
NEW YORK, NY:
DENVER, COLORADO:
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS:
TALLAHASSEE & 14 OTHER CITIES ACROSS FLORIDA:
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
SACRAMENTO, CA:
DES MOINES, IOWA:
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA:
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON:
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA:
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE:
HAWAII — O’AHU, HAWAI’I ISLAND, KAUAI, MAUI:
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT:
FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY:
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA:
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS:
MADISON, WISCONSIN:
AUGUSTA, MAINE:
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS:
DALLAS, TEXAS:
PHILADELPHIA, PA:
MIAMI, FLORIDA:
TAMPA, FLORIDA:
ATLANTA, GEORGIA:
** In order to have a troll-free, hate-free comments section — and because if there’s one thing I know about my crazy haters, they would rather spend an eternity in hell with Marjorie Taylor Greene than send me $5 if forced to become a paid subscriber — my Comments section here on my Substack is limited to paid subscribers. But, not to worry — anyone can send me their comments, opinions and thoughts by writing to me at mike@michaelmoore.com. I read every one of them, though obviously I can’t respond to all. The solution here is not optimal but it has worked and my Comments section has become a great meeting place for people wanting to discuss the ideas and issues I raise here. There is debate and disagreement, but it is refreshing to have it done with respect and civility, unfettered by the stench of bigotry and Q-anon insanity.
Thank you, Micheal. The work you put in is amazing. This is an example of why I have subscribed to your presentations and why other people should also subscribe.
I want to be informed. I want to have materials available as reference. So much of what you do, is exactly what I need.
Now you're talking, Michael Moore! You made it clear that we must not depend on the Democratic Party to fight back, and the fact that there will be an outpouring of people today protesting the explicit fascism, the racism, the cruelty, the anti-science insanity is great!
We will need to do more than this though, this is just a first step, not even a first step, a positioning for a first step. We DO need organization. That organization starts with unions, student clubs, neighborhood organizations that must aim for a real change: not just rid ourselves of the would be monarchical vermin occupying the White House, but ridding the world of capitalism altogether, along with its phony "democracy". This capitalist democracy allows the two wings of the capitalist class to play political ping-pong, suckering the working class to vote for crazy-pants loonies like the current oaf or the more subtle but still stick-the-knife-in smooth types like Clinton/Obama/Biden/Harris. We have to build a revolutionary movement to establish permanent workers power.
But THANK YOU Michael Moore for amplifying this call to protest. In your heart, I know you're the best!