Mike’s Midterm Tsunami Truth #31
If I Had a Hammer
(A daily dose of truth about how millions of American voters are going to crush the traitor Trumpsters on November 8th)
Of course, the first thought that went through my head was “You mean it was that easy to break into Nancy Pelosi’s home? The Speaker of the House? Second in line to the presidency?!!”
Fortunately for her sake, she was not home in San Francisco when the attacker broke the glass on the door, unlocked it and let himself in. Her husband of 59 years, Paul Pelosi, was inside the home. We still don’t know all the details other than Pelosi was able to dial 911, and when the police arrived the intruder was hammering Pelosi’s skull with, well, a hammer, and shouting, “WHERE’S NANCY??!! WHERE’S NANCY??!!”
This was the same screaming demand from the mob during the January 6th coup attempt. Once inside they were on a mission to hunt her down. They broke into her office, ransacked it and stole her computer. They wanted to hang Mike Pence and kill her.
But, later that evening, once order was restored, 147 Republican senators and House members continued the coup attempt by voting to overturn the certified results of Biden’s election. It was a clear act of treason. In the 1800s, after the Civil War, this country was so worried that the treason committed by the South would eventually happen again, they wrote the punishment for it right into the 14th Amendment of the Constitution:
Section 3:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Wow! It says it right there: If you as a member of Congress engaged in any insurrection or rebellion — or if you’ve given aid or comfort to that rebellion — then YOU can no longer be a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives or just about any other office in the land!
So why, for the life of me, are these 147 traitors still sitting in the House and Senate? Why have they not been arrested and tried? I guess that’s our job next week when we vote to remove as many as we can from Congress.
Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for his fractured skull and right arm Friday night. They say he is going to recover, whatever that means when you’re 82 years old. The attacker is now in custody. His internet writings all parrot Trump and the My Pillow guy. He told the police his plan was to tie up Mr. Pelosi and then wait for Nancy to come home.
As I followed the news of this over these last two days, I found myself quite unsettled and recalling the half-dozen times a right wing assailant has come at me with a weapon. Those who follow me here on my Substack know the sordid details of these attacks, so I won’t repeat them again. Needless to say, I felt awful for the Pelosis — and I realized this isn’t the last we have seen from these Republican thugs and their thirst for violence.
Already they are camping out by the early-voting drop boxes to intimidate voters. They wear camouflage, masks and carry assault rifles because it’s legal to do so in most states. Election officials have seen a drop in the number of election workers who had signed up to work the polls. Reuters reported that in a poll they took, 40% of potential voters said they expect some sort of violence, if not an eventual Civil War. This is the new normal we are being asked to accept.
As a part of this series to embrace our upcoming victory on November 8th, I’d like to help all of us break our culture of fear and defeat the forces of fascism and violence with a deep and different version of nonviolence. It’s about the part of the philosophy of Gandhi and King that is not taught in school or ever uttered on the news each January when we “celebrate” Martin’s birthday.
It’s about how non-violence can’t work unless the forces of evil commit their own acts of extreme and abhorrent violence.
Both King and Gandhi knew that the only way to defeat the racist Southern politicians and the racist British army was to get them to rip off their hoods and their “civilized” masks and expose themselves for the sick bastards they really were. King and Gandhi trusted there would be enough Americans and enough Brits who would be so appalled by the vicious response of armed authority against the peaceful nonviolent protesters that there would be a public outcry and a demand for change.
But they knew that would not happen unless a number of Black Americans and poverty-stricken Indians were assaulted, crippled or killed by the authorities. THAT is what would move the needle toward Justice. So, as both men would later write about their strategy, they knew the only way to win was for them, the men of peace, to take the kind of peaceful actions which would definitely trigger the brutal violence of the ruling class. Which meant that King and Gandhi had to make sure that all marchers, freedom riders, salt boycotters, etc. had to agree that to participate in these peaceful violations of the law might very well get them killed. But it went even further than that. King and Gandhi knew that they would only succeed if some of their people — including possibly themselves — were murdered by the authorities or by their racist citizen posses. With the pictures of that, the good citizens in the UK and the US would act to stop it.
They didn’t want to die. But they were willing to give their lives if that is what it took.
So, we all say we want to save our Democracy. Really? How far are you willing to go to “save our Democracy?” Write a $17 check? Post a blog? Sacrifice your life for the greater good?
Each person has to decide for themselves. But sometimes, when it comes to the big stuff, the day may come where you’ll have to ask yourself, is this really worth dying for? Not to kill for. But to die for. Nonviolently stand your ground and make them run over you. Let the world witness the true level of your commitment, be it to end a war, protect the rights of women, stop the police from killing an innocent Black woman or man, save this planet, or save our work-in-progress Democracy. Because if some of us are no longer willing to live in fear, to no longer be bullied, no longer be the wage slaves to our corporate masters, no longer have a Supreme Court of religious zealots forcing women to remain pregnant against their will — if we are willing to make it clear that while we will cause no harm to anyone, we will also no longer let the authoritarian State abuse, assault, humiliate, starve, refuse medical help, dumb down our kids to be cogs in the Idiocracy — if we are willing to say NO to all of that, to sit down and grind the machinery of power to a halt, then I promise you two things will happen:
1. Millions will see the level of our strong commitment to make their lives better, and they will make their way to the polls November 8th to elect the candidates who will pass the legislation we need. And…
2. Most Americans are repulsed by this era of political violence and want nothing to do with it. They need to take that repulsion to the polls and vote the Trumpsters out. And you need to try and get as many people as possible to vote.
This is no time to be afraid. It is the moment to be brave. It is the week for us all to shine. The violent attack on the Speaker’s husband cannot become the first of many of these attacks. That hammer that sent him to the hospital is actually meant to be used on all of us. RESIST! It must end now. We need to speak loudly and with one voice.
We do that, the election is ours.
Roe the Vote!
Roevember is Here.
ICYMI:
Mike’s Midterm Tsunami of Truths:
Truth #1: The Campaign
Truth #2: Even a kid from 4th hour Trig class can beat this crowd
Truth #3: The Haters, the Bigots and the Supremacists Always Lose in the End
Truth #4: Introducing The Whackadoodle 10
Truth #5: Trump is not the Big Bad Wolf. But he is very afraid of You.
Truth #6: The Easy-to-Digest Republican Party Platform
Truth #7: Biden, Don’t F**k with Me
Truth #8: If you’re not registered, you can’t Roe, Roe, Roe the Vote!
Truth #9: Why will we win? Because the American people hate fascism.
Truth #10: Meet Blake Masters, Whackadoodle No. 9
Truth #11: 147 Reasons We Will Win on November 8th
Truth #12: Biden just gave us a boost and a toke.
Truth #13: Women. That’s it.
Truth #14: If the Mainstream Media Thinks There’s a Chance We May Be Right about Roevember, Watch Out.
Truth #15: Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, Whackadoodle No. 8
Truth #16: As Alex Jones has now been fined a billion dollars for his lies, that is nothing compared to the punishment other Republicans are going to get on November 8th.
Truth #17: Early Voting, Mail-in Voting, Dropbox Voting — These Were Made for Libs, Hard Workers, Book Readers, Artists, Busy Parents, Slackers, and Progressives like us! In other words, The Majority!
Truth #18: The Good Queen vs. The Mad King
Truth #19: A Workers' Revolt Extends to the Voting Booth
Truth #20: We Are in Charge
Truth #21: Don’t believe it.
Truth #22: If the election is about inflation and the economy, THANK GOD — We Win
Truth #23: We Believe in Science. And that’s why we will win.
Truth #24: Vote Local, Win National
Truth #25: The side with the best nursery rhymes wins.
Truth #26: We Will Win Because Americans Don’t Want to See This Happen...
Truth #27: We are going to win because our side has millions of good souls like this…
Truth #28: Whackadoodle No More
Truth #29: They’ve Got Big Plans That We’ve Gotta Stop
Truth #30: Turn Off the News! Stop Reading the Paper! They’re Filling Your Head with Mush.
** Comments on posts are limited to paid subscribers — but, not to worry, anyone can send me their opinions and thoughts by writing me at mike@michaelmoore.com. I read every one of them, though obviously I can’t respond to all. **
As always, you find the core question and ask it clearly: What price are we each willing to pay for democracy, for our country? Trump remains free, his pawns in Congress are on bended knee at his altar, the Big Lie continues to prove a strong motivator for MAGA Republicans, many election-denying candidates throughout the country may actually win (Hershel Walker, a Senator?!?), and now someone breaks into Nancy's home, assaults her husband with nary a whisper of protest from Republicans. (Some actually blame Biden or the mayor of San Francisco, a Democrat!) It will get worse before it gets better. Yet, we are the majority and we have power. It's time for action. It's time to stand up, stand tall and say with conviction 'Enough of this shit! We're coming for you.'
They are all cowards and afraid. THEY are afraid of US. Those in states of extreme voter suppression need to be strong. The cowards in Arizona sitting outside voter dropboxes won't even show their faces as they sit in their lawn chairs, cowards. What are they going to do, nothing! Everyone, be strong, stay in the fight!
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