Part IV in the Coup series: Getting off of the couch

"Let's roll"

TAT readers,

Phew, I’m finally back from driving to California and back, seeing family, friends and most importantly, spending time with my son and his family for my grandson’s, six-year-old birthday party. I learned early on after returning to the army at nearly fifty years old, that road trips are therapeutic for me. It is that quiet time driving, where there are few to no interruptions and where that I get some of my best thinking done. Heaven knows, we all need a breather now and then, from the frenetic pace of Trump’s, Putin’s, Musk’s and the GOP’s ongoing coup attempt.

I have been writing this series on our ongoing coup attempt, in order to establish a foundation of truth regarding this severe threat to our republic. With our foundation nearly complete for this phase, it’s critical that we now begin acting in a coordinated fashion and in support of putting an end to the mafia-styled thuggery on display from the Oval Office and beyond. Below are the links to the first three parts.

Onward

• Why won't the media call it a coup? Part I

  

• Trump, Musk and the MAGA GOP's, coup attempt: fighting back! Part II in a series

  

• Part III in the Coup series: The clock is ticking on Trump’s coup

  

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So, my friends, we’re all looking for what we can do right now to fight for our republic. It is time to get off our couches. The anger is there, the truth is in hand and all that is missing is leadership. The Democratic Party is somewhere, but it sure as hell isn’t on the battlefield or leading. They are one of the few organizations that have the money, resources and power to support our fight but, are in disarray and have essentially gone into hiding. Even if they were around, they have proved for decades that they are roughly impotent in campaigning. We must lead them, not the other way around.

The other organizations of particular value are those with giant checkbooks to pay for the infrastructure of resistance. Their checkbook is the key factor because as a leader, they either don’t know how to lead on this issue or are uncomfortable doing so. I am confident that the will of the people is enough to fight back successfully, but it’s the leadership and know-how that is missing. As I noted in previous articles in this “Coup” series, this effort is best run as my former community of Special Operations, would run an insurgency campaign. To this point, today we will talk about the primary targets of our efforts. Those targets are:

1. All GOP congressmen

2. Their financial backers

3. Local politicians spewing MAGA ideology

4. MAGA media

This list will grow over time but at this early phase, they are the primary and most critical targets.

In the CT/ Community that I spent so much time in, while still in uniform, we had a saying, “it takes a network to defeat a network.” The threat network that we are now up against is what is called a “complex threat.” It includes Putin and his satellites, Trump and the GOP, select oligarchs and hordes of brainwashed far-right voters, falsely believing themselves to be conservative. They have infrastructure such as cultivated narrators for their Narrative Warfare, multiple social media platforms and mountains of willing partners for capturing the data critical to influence operations against the US and global democracies.

Resources regarding NW/ Narrative Warfare:

• Conned, the conversion of the GOP conservatives into right-wing extremists

• My podcast, hosted by the Lincoln Project and discussing narrative, re: today’s extremist controlled, GOP

• A Five Point Strategy to Oppose Russian Narrative Warfare

• Without factoring "brainwashing" into the equation for 2024, we're doomed to another far-right, extremist administration, no matter what pollsters say.

Trump, Musk and Putin have spent much of the past few years communicating covertly. It is quite clear that when Putin called to congratulate Trump, post the 2024 election, he wasn’t joking when he said that we are about to experience a NWO/ new world order. For those that follow geo-strategic trends, this “new world order” that Putin is talking about has been in the works for a very long time. As things have evolved, it would appear that it is Putin, Trump and Modi that will attempt to crowd China out of a role in the new order. This makes for an especially dangerous time for everyone. Today’s MAGA GOP has supported every single agenda item of Trump’s, which really should read that they actually support Putin, Trump and Musk. On the other hand, Trump’s base is showing signs of worry over the economy and his deviation from all of his campaign promises.

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Now for the targets

1. All GOP Congressmen

   1. The Senate

      1. As the old saying goes, “all politics are local.” The House of Representatives and the Senate have perilously close margins between the left and the right. The GOP can hardly afford to lose many votes in either the House or the Senate. The Senate has already humiliated themselves by confirming the worst set of presidential appointments in US history. Hegseth is a lifelong drunk, misogynist, financial misappropriations abuser and affiliated with a wide variety of far-right extremist beliefs and church. He was removed from his unit for his far-right extremism.

      2. Tulsi Gabbard has long been a sycophant for Putin and one of his genocidal satellite dictators, Assad of Syria.

      3. Patel at the FBI is hellbent on using his position exclusively for ideological punishments of Trump foes

      These are just three examples of what most of the GOP led Senate has approved… along with several billionaires with oligarchical histories.

2. The House of Representatives

   1. It is here that Speaker Mike Johnson has undercut US and global security significantly by being submissive to Trump and Putin’s wishes. He led the effort to defund Ukraine and is now leading the spending bill that will reward oligarchs at the expense of American taxpayers… again.

      

In both chambers of Congress, Republicans are almost exclusively block voting for Trump’s desires. Not one of them should be reelected come the midterms in 2026. The 180-day Playbook from Project 2025 is the unconstitutional far-right agenda and all GOP representatives continue to vote for the agenda. The new spending bill is estimated to add over 4 trillion dollars to our budget while demanding cuts of less than 2 trillion. Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are the most likely targets of their intended cuts.

These cuts are dramatically unhappy in each congressional district. Putting pressure on GOP elected reps over these projected cuts, could easily cost those GOP congressmen, their next election. Trump is already seen as turning his back on his working-class base. Cutting these precious programs, would very likely cause a bloodletting in congress for the GOP. The GOP is largely white, lower income and older. The projected cuts will hurt them far worse than otherwise.

This raises the issue of media at home in your congressional district. We can no longer count on MSM to give us a cohesive and fully honest narrative regarding cuts and the fact that Trump is selling out his base. We must knock on the doors of our local media, demonstrate publicly and write countless, letters to the editor. At the moment, the GOP controls all narratives because the other side is almost exclusively reactive. In other words, the only narratives heard are those of the GOP and heaven knows that they are exclusively dishonest. The 2024 election focused on immigration and inflation were both false, but the left couldn’t be bothered to support the truth about either. Those two false narratives were primary factors in losing the election and still, almost nothing from the left finds its way into the news cycle.

The key to winning at NW/ Narrative Warfare is to be first, sustained and dominant in the narrative space. All we get from everyone but the GOP, is “crickets.” The Democratic party has nearly perfected losing.

A recent and popular TAT essay was, An open letter to everyone's friends and family, that voted for Trump... again. In the near future, I will pen something similar titled, “An open letter to my congressman.” When I share it, I hope that all of you will find worthy comments to write OP-EDs, to your local news stations and newspapers. As much local public pressure that we can bring to bear, the better the chances of either frightening GOP congressmen to either vote differently or to lose their Midterm bids for office. Again, the current Trump/ Musk chaos is deeply unpopular and once cuts take effect against our benefits, these congressmen will become far more vulnerable, dangerously so. Go after them now while that their defenses are down.

An open letter to everyone's friends and family, that voted for Trump... again

Then, there’s an even better tactic against these GOP congressmen, public protest. Sure, most heavily GOP districts are preposterously gerrymandered but public protest is still one of the very best methods for achieving media coverage of your protests. Advertise them early and often. Source leaders in different communities to advocate and publicly expose their networks to the opportunity to protest alongside you and your supporters.

Although for most of us, being “keyboard warriors” is now a way of life, nothing attracts local press more than large, public protests outside of a congressman’s offices. Use your phones to film and post on media, while also sending your thoughts and videos to local media. The anger and frustration across the spectrum of most American societies, increases by the day and shows zero sign of abating. As MLK, the Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King is quoted,” riots are the language of the unheard.” I don’t under any circumstance call for violence, but righteous anger captured by a reporter’s pen and camera is a most powerful tool of influence.

As I come towards the end of today’s essay, I wish to make a couple of points regarding influence operations. Protests and targeting specific individuals as well as organizations, requires sustained action to be effective. By advocating for targeting your congressmen and local press, please see this as a foundational piece of your campaign. As we enter succeeding phases, targeting congressmen and media may evolve a bit, but these tactics will require attention until we win, and then even afterwards in order to maintain those successes.

When it comes to writing, letters-to-the-editors, join with friends and like-minded individuals. Create a “form-letter-like product and leave spaces for people to add their own unique experiences. Send these letters to both the media and you congressmen’s offices. I wish to be very clear about one potential pitfall, we will not always be well received. We are though at a point where we have no choice but to act publicly. All efforts require a non-violent posture, but we must take these public actions. If we don’t, we reach no one except for those who think as we do.

Well, my fellow citizens, today’s offering is already plenty long but should be helpful in getting your efforts underway. There are plenty of professional influence campaign terms for what I am recommending here, but what matters most is that we communicate what we must do, clearly and persuasively. After all, I did commit to plain language writing when I began this publication.

Find the music and symbology of our resistance to tyranny. Both have long been a critical piece of “rallying the troops” and sustaining morale. I have taken lately to the protest songs of the sixties and early 70s. You do what works for you. As long as it works, is the only important criteria.

Remember, this is but the first real step in what will require countless more. Let’s operate at a sustainable pace but for heaven’s sake, let’s do this. Ideas are useless if they never leave the drawing boarch.

Onward,

Paul