I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut.
I know his statement was aimed more at the mainstream media and not the citizen journalist bloggers at a place like Daily Kos.
But I would be so excited if Steve Bannon or anyone in the DJT administration told me to shut up.
When our political enemies tell us to shut up, it means three very positive things.
It means we have been heard. It means we have done something to get their attention. We are no longer shouting into the wind. Our opponent no longer has the luxury of pretending they don’t care what we say or do. Apparently we have said something to force them to take notice of us. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”; so when they tell us to shut up, that means they have moved past the stage of ignoring us. It also means they have moved past the stage of brushing us off as laughable. It means they are getting ready to fight us.
It means we are getting ready to win.
It means we hit a nerve. It means the well-aimed resistance arrow has hit a tender spot. They can no longer write us off as small fry not worth bothering with. Once they have acknowledged we are annoying them, they give the resistance legitimacy.
If it bothers them enough to respond to it, then we have done more than they their attention, we have made them say “ouch—stop that!”
It means they are admitting that if we keep talking, it will upset them. What more encouragement does any self-respecting protester need? The whole point of this kind of resistance effort is to cause trouble for the powers that be, throw them off their game, and make them go in a direction they had not previously planned.
Oh how I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut, so I could answer him back: you must be out of your God damned mind if you think I am going to take orders from you about anything. You’re a public servant. You work for me!
If I could say just one thing to exasperate them enough to get them to yell at me to shut up I would wear that as a badge of honor. It would be almost as good as being on their enemies list!
Keep telling me to shut up and I will only scream louder, and I will do everything I can to get others to scream with me.
Soon we will be so loud and they will be so desperate to get away from us that they will cede the field to us rather than deal with us for one more minute, or for one more election cycle.
So please. Everyone. In the press and out of the press. In the resistance and still on the sidelines. This is not a time to keep our mouths shut.
This is a time to turn the tables on Rcons and claim our power to tell THEM to shut up.
Because, after all, we outnumber them.
Previous TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense
