With the latest comments from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and whoever is running Trumps Truth Social account, the Executive Branch has plainly demonstrated it is acting outside of the Constitution. That means we now have an illegitimate Executive Branch. Listen to Dr. Heather Cox Richardson explain the political landscape, if you need more context for the situation I’m describing: So what does this mean for us? It means that We the People are no longer obligated to listen to anyone or anything coming out of the Executive. Compliance stops now. Our current task is to work together, as a country, to remove these treasonous thugs and replace them with temporary executive branch stand-ins. This illegitimate executive and its collaborators need removed. What I’m proposing is a scalpel not a chainsaw. I’m not proposing an entirely new government. I’m proposing cutting out the cancer and healing the body politic. As an extraordinary measure, which is called for in extraordinary times, I call for a bipartisan coalition of governors (who already have executive experience in their states) to temporarily step into the roles of the executive branch, where they serve as stewards of our representative democracy. Each will serve in acting roles, and each will sign an oath to uphold our best democratic values until the next General Election. Volunteering governors will have their lieutenants serve in their place in their respective states. Proposing this bipartisan coalition of governors demonstrates a clear plan that shows good faith and creates buy-in. This is reasonable, and this is actionable. To achieve these two objectives -- (a) the removal of an illegitimate branch and (b) replacing the Executive with temporary, bipartisan governor-led slate-- we must: * Circulate this idea for revision and collective agreement. * Openly campaign fitting governors to serve in these roles. * Pull the emergency break by organizing a People’s Shutdown. Some call it a general strike, but that is far too vague for what needs to happen. This is about a systematized starving the economy and our institutions of the human capital and cooperation it needs to survive. Instead of the chaos these Illegitimates want to foment, we will self-govern at the hyper-local level, caring for each other, protecting each other, and refusing to participate with our abusers. We will refuse to be cowed. We must have a plan in place to respond to these anti-democratic threats. The time to begin earnestly organizing in preparation for this People’s Shutdown starts now. The task before us now is a massive, people-powered democratic rebuke. We prepare ourselves to hold this People’s Shutdown until the entire Executive Branch, plus the House Speaker, evacuate their offices. They have breached the terms of agreement, and we will withdraw our consent to be governed by despots. During the People’s Shutdown, we will govern ourselves. This is about organized and orderly civil disobedience. We hold the People’s Shutdown until these treasonous offenders evacuate their roles and our States’ governors create a temporary stand-in Cabinet for the Executive Branch. Once that happens (and it will), we will hold actual free and fair midterm elections, with hand counted paper ballots— to prevent techno-fascist skullduggery. The newly Congress, once seated, will pass drastic and immediate remedies to address harms. Should they be tempted to be fools, We the People will coerce them to represent us– for the first time since this democratic experiment began. Those Congressional electeds who lead in passing the remedies We the People demand will then be deemed eligible to run for President during the General Election. There are no political parties: only public servants. There is no try-- only do. I discuss how neighbors can organize to make this happen-- in detail, not just vibes, through a neighbor-led process called The Daisy Chain. ______ Who the heck am I? I’m a professor who studies the technical communication and people-powered structures in grassroots movements. I’m an engaged neighbor, veteran organizer, and mass-cooperation strategist. I’ve trained with pro-democracy organizations who help people (the world over) reclaim their democracies from autocratic rule. Above all, I’m an community college teacher, and my specialty is in helping people tackle complex problems by working together. We can do this, neighbor. To be blunt, this situation isn’t sustainable, our neighbors and our children are traumatized by this amoral rupture, and I’m offering up some pretty doable coordinates to get us out of hell. We owe it to young people to be the leaders this moment needs. I don’t want your money. I am not running for public office. I want you to out-organize the fascists. More to the point, I’ve created a scalable, customizable blueprint to make it happen: The Daisy Chain. I will elaborate on how to engage the Daisy Chain in future writings and recordings. Another important thing to know is that there are already people using the Daisy Chain to help organize their communities— in a block of red states, a handful of blue states, and at least one purple state. The plan itself requires simple daily actions that coalesce into neighbors reclaiming their collective power; it’s based on Gandhi’s Poorna Swaraj: Constructive Programme: It’s Meaning and Place. If you’d like to learn more, I encourage you to follow me. My content will always be free. Amplify this Message outside the Algorithm Organizers are intentionally being shadow-banned across social media platforms, including this one. If you like what you’ve read here, I encourage you to share it outside the algorithm, via: email, listservs, Discord groups, Signal chats, Reddit threads, text messages, Bible studies, zines, flyers, house parties, bar trivia nights, coffee-house leaflets, etc. I also encourage you to lift this message and claim it as your own. together we rise — by flightlessblrbs This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit muppetgender.substack.com
