88kathy PDX Dem
Feb 15 · 03:10:31 AM
“How about dumping a bucket of red paint over our heads on youtube and calling it a NRA prayer challenge? Good protest?”
www.dailykos.com/...
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She and others discussed it back and forth, and here’s the latest version in a nutshell, including others’ suggestions:
Get a new clean bucket, or thoroughly scrub any bucket you have.
Make up a batch of fake blood. Ketchup diluted with water is good. Corn syrup with red food coloring added might work. Tomato juice, obviously. Whatever it is should be safe to get in your eyes and mouth because some of it probably will. Also consider how easy it will be to wash out of your clothes, or wear clothes you can afford to get splattered.
The batch of fake blood doesn’t have to fill the whole bucket; all that’s needed is enough to make the point on video. A quart or two may suffice.
Set up any sort of camera that can take video, or have a friend take video while you do this. Choose your setting carefully so it is “photogenic" but does not give away your geographic location, and disable any geo-tagging on your camera.
Make a neatly-printed sign saying “Take the NRA Prayer Bucket Challenge!” and post it where the camera will see it next to you.
Then roll video, dump the bucket of fake blood on your head, and collapse to the ground. Optionally emit a blood-curdling scream as if you’ve been shot. End with you or your friend saying something like “Oh how sad! We’re sending our thoughts and prayers," or “the NRA are sending their thoughts and prayers.” Use a cynical tone for the phrase “thoughts and prayers.”
Then post it on any publicly-accessible video site. And encourage others to post their own.
Someone should also start a Twitter hashtag such as #NRAthoughtsandprayers or similar. Then make it go viral and also prepare to deal with Russian trolls.
The obvious point of this is to point the finger directly at America’s biggest domestic terrorist organization and call them out for what they are. In all of the news coverage of these slaughters of children, nobody even dares say “NRA.” We need to make it impossible for them not to say “NRA.”
2) Send your own “thoughts and prayers” as “campaign donations” to Republicans:
Full credit to Citizen31 for this one. The link here is to their comment, which is a photo:
www.dailykos.com/…
The photo shows a check written out to a presumably Republican congress critter, where the amount in the numerical area says “Thoughts + Prayers” and the amount in the text area says “Thoughts + Prayers ---— no/100.” In the memo line on the check, “Campaign contribution.”
Along with the check is a note saying, “Dear Rep. Bergman — Since you and your colleagues in Congress seem to feel that this is the solution to mass murder, please accept this contribution.” (signed, Name).
Everyone here can do this for the cost of a postage stamp, without having to wash your clothes after you’re done, unless doing it makes you laugh ‘til you poop. If you’re in a blue district or state, pick any Republican in any state to send it to. Use an envelope, use your legal name (in any case you’ll be using one of your real checks). Do Not say anything in the note that could be interpreted as remotely threatening, even by an overworked FBI agent who’s been drinking too much coffee.
Goal: Deluge Republican campaigns with these “checks” and notes. It will take real labor from campaign staff to sort them out and avoid trying to deposit them in the bank. If they do make it into a bank deposit, they may screw up the campaign’s bookkeeping. In any case they won’t be deducted from your account, though of course you should check your bank statement to be 100% certain that some nasty person in the campaign didn’t try writing in a dollar amount and passing the check (if they do, file charges).
3) Uniform Age Of Majority Act (or Amendment):
(This one’s mine.) Require the age for purchase of firearms and ammunition to be the same as the age for voting, in federal and state elections.
Try it as legislation, or if need be, a constitutional amendment.
Right now, any disturbed child can waltz into a gun shop and purchase weapons and ammo that should be reserved for trained service members on the battlefield. But even the most astute and civic-minded 16 year old can’t vote.
That has to change. If you were around when the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, you probably remember the slogan “if you’re old enough to go to Vietnam, you’re old enough to vote.” I was a little kid at the time but it immediately made sense.
The logic is impeccable: If you’re old enough to die on today’s new domestic battlefield, you’re old enough to vote. If you’re old enough to buy the weapons that are used on today’s new domestic battlefield, you’re old enough to vote. The disparity of rights in this regard is an obscenity that cannot be allowed to stand. The kids who are at risk of being shot up in school deserve every right to have their say about that at the ballot box.
Thus Republicans will be forced to choose: Enact a sensible gun-safety law that sets a uniform age of majority for purchase of firearms & ammo (age 18, or 21, after all if you can’t drink a beer or smoke a cigar ‘til you’re 21...). Or, lower the voting age to 14 or 16, and get a tidal wave of young voters, of whom the majority will vote for Democrats.
Realistically this is going to be mostly a means of stirring up debate, until some brave city enacts it for their municipal elections (that means Mayor, City Council, and, importantly, Board of Education). After that, it will get on the agenda nationally.
Keep in mind, that’s how the equal right to marry got going: with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom starting it in San Francisco, kicking off a series of court cases, and wins & losses, that culminated in the final Supreme Court victory.
You can start by bringing this up with your City Council member or other local elected official, or with your School Board. Also try letters to editors of local newspapers (yes people still write & read those).
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Your ideas are welcome here. The more the better, especially stuff that we can all do easily and at low cost, that will spread the word and put the evil minions of terrorism in a logic trap they can only “escape” by debasing themselves further until we unceremoniously boot them out of office.
Lastly, my standard rule of the road applies in this story: no pre-emptive defeatism. Rational and empirical criticism is welcome, but no “we can’t do anything” or “nothing we do can make any difference” or vague emotional aspersions, or any variations on that theme. Anyone who spouts that crap deserves to be flagged under the DBAD rule (Don’t Be A Dick). My stories are written for people who intend to act or at least encourage action. We are activists. That's what we do.