Part V in the Coup Series: Understanding the Assignment

The time to act… is NOW

TAT readers,

Today is the next edition of what I call, my “Coup Series.” Today’s edition is oriented around my views about priorities, timing and more. Remember, saving our republic, is the “assignment,” and if you are interested yourselves or wish share with other like-minded groups or even with national leaders, this will help to mobilize resistance in a positive and more focused manner. My only caution with the “national leaders” part, is that we’ve seen too little leadership and no resources flowing to folks, like those of us who are willing to act on a daily basis. It’s past time to organize critical elements like public demonstrations outside of GOP congressional offices, corporations that wrote big checks to the Trump campaign and one of my perennially evil parasites, the boardrooms of big oil, or the Supermajors like Chevron, ExxonMobil etc.

To be clear, I am not looking for a job here. I am only looking to neuter the traitors in Washington D.C. and restore our nation to a morally functioning, constitutional republic. I have skills and experience in the type of influence threat we are facing. I wish to support restoration of the republic, by sharing tactics and focus, from my long life in public service to our nation, mostly in uniform.

Much of today’s offerings will be sharply to the point. I will do my best to maintain a clear focus. For paid subscribers, please don’t hesitate to reach out for questions or more guidance.

Onward my fellow citizens

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Backround

Our nation is in the midst of a coup by the sitting president, his party, a small but powerful list of oligarchs, not all American, and a voting base that is fully under the influence of Russian and GOP influence operations. Those operations are primarily working to feed the GOP base, with false narratives that they have been conditioned to follow, subconsciously. Their goal, is to replace our constitutional republic with a nation based on the Four Horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse, Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and Political Violence. We cannot change the minds of those under such influence due to the psychological machinations, common among any type of radicalized person, group or nation. I know this academically and from years of experience operating face-to-face, in CT/ Counterterrorism. When someone is fully radicalized, it is nearly impossible to change who they have become.

Previous essays in the Coup Series:

• 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

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

There is at this point, only one thing that matters, and that is the neutering of the current administration, so that they cannot give away any more of our national security and most importantly, not undo two and a half centuries or our constitutional republic. The Trump and Putin regimes, aim to replace it with what I call, The Four Horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse, Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and Political violence. The only thing for certain for America, is that Putin’s view will prevail over a Trump regime, built onto the public persona of a traitor.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that anyone stop focusing on their individual special interests, but I am saying that pragmatically, the main focus must be on restoring a functioning republic. This is the singular, specific assignment. Everything else, comes second for the time being.

This is simply a matter of common-sense and availability of resources and time for most of us. Not one special interest group can succeed if we don’t get back onto a constitutionally firm foundation. So, if LBGT etc. is your focus, I applaud it but please, expend more time on restoring the republic so that we can focus on everyone’s special issues. If conservation or global warming is your thing, the same applies. Truthfully, there is only one focus at the moment… saving our republic. Only then can we make progress on other issues. If all of this sounds harsh, I apologize. From a working, influence operator, this is simply a matter of prioritizing when forced into a tightly time constrained, effort. Yes, we are time constrained and must act quickly. Working in some of the areas and regions that I worked on in uniform, led me to prioritize resources and time.

The only way to restore our republic, is via what is professionally called, NW/ Narrative Warfare, of which I am one of a literal handful of professionals that understands this and has operated with it in and outside of combat zones. Our national security community cannot protect us by waging such a war for a variety of reasons. The most prominent are:

1. They don’t know how

2. They are unwilling to learn

3. Our defense and domestic security agencies are invested in forty years of failed expertise and congressionally approved, nepotistic contractors and failed “experts that sell the US government huge, wasteful contracts, better defined as waste, fraud and abuse.

   1. As an example, the Pentagon, via USSOCOM, the United States Special Operations Command, has supported a massive and fraudulent boondoggle, called, The National Center for Narrative Intelligence. This type of waste, fraud and abuse, is the reason that we are in this mess in the first place. No expertise, fraudulent sales pitches and nepotism, are what has replaced excellence, truth and productivity in defense contracting.

So, as you can see, it is up to us, honest US citizens and regardless of party or political belief system, that must work together to restore our republic. Like my recent book, Modern Day Minutemen, I see salvation as a grassroots effort.

As a career military and national security influence operator, I am offering my skills and knowledge to help, because I believe in my family tradition, that says to always give back to the greater good. Secondly, my military oath to the nation, demands that I, “protect and defend the constitution, from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.” If I don’t act, and offer the best of myself to restoring our republic, I will have failed both. I will not fail either.

If we act in a focused manner, I guarantee that we can diminish the MAGA impact on all Americans. If we have an informal strategy, that we can all contribute to, we can bring reality back to enough family and friends that we succeed. NW or Narrative Warfare, takes time, because it is not the simple messaging employed by the barrage of marketers, inundating our lives at every turn. NW is won because it allows us to develop a narrator relationship with audiences, based on their actual identity. This takes time but also pays off far more in the long run. We have less than two years before the midterms. We must begin acting together… now!

There only two ways to establish a reliable connection with an identity, that differs from the one you wish for. One, the way that I and my colleagues at Narrative Strategies know and teach, or the long-term plan, which is akin to what three decades plus of FOX News and their kind, have done, in conditioning Republican voters to accept pure, unadulterated nonsense, as truth. I won’t delve into the IP or Intellectual Property of our think tank, due to it being closely held for legal purposes. I will though give direction based on my experience with successful campaigns, employing Narrative Warfare principles, as the core element of everything I did in those campaigns.

I know that some reading this will be saying to themselves, “I can’t do this” or “it will be too difficult to learn.” Please, don’t worry, because what I will guide you through is so easy that you’ll wonder why people didn’t think of this before? They have and I have used these strategies and tactics, with excellent success in multiple combat zones, and beyond. All that is required at this phase of the resistance is to do the following.

1. Know the overarching narrative. For the sake of simplicit

   

   y, please allow me to offer what I believe to be the most appropriate narrative at this phase of the coup. Then, follow the simple steps below. Within a month, there should be initial progress. Sustained efforts, though occasionally experiencing a small setback, will progress steadily.

2. Wrap everything you do publicly, in some fashion related to this overarching narrative:

“I am fighting to restore the basic principles of our constitutional republic, not a party, person or other organization. I won’t allow my republic to descend into a fascist regime, devoid of our founding principles. The Trump administration is that regime.”

There are a wide variety of ways to express this narrative without quoting it word by word. For example; simply saying that it is congress’ responsibility to legislate, not the executive branch, is one such version. Others are like those below:

1. The Executive Branch has no real power over the budget nor the ability to create treaties alone. Treaties are the responsibilities of the Senate.

2. It is illegal to employ the Active duty or Reserve Forces to operate in the US, unless by an order of “Martial Law.” Even then, there are restrictions.

3. The courts, not the President are the judges of US law.

These are just examples that you can frame your comments with when fighting the fight on social media, or at your congressman’s office. The key is to focus on the constitutionality of any specific issue.

One of the most important things to avoid, is to avoid making this about party. Stop those bold yellow, “Occupy Democrats,” memes. The more we make this about right vs. left, liberal vs. conservative, Republican vs. Democrat, the further behind that we get. I promise that if you remove party politics from your efforts, you will make progress faster than if you hadn’t. It may take a minute or two to see this, but I assert that this will work.

Engage, engage, engage. We must stop believing that fighting back means only more engagement on social media, although this is only partially true. Rural America especially depends on personal engagement, in church, the town square, around public schools, in local elections. The MAGA crowd or these days, all Trump voting Republicans, are used to not being challenged, especially in front of their neighbors. You don’t need to have a verbal altercation at local events, but only ask questions like, “is that legal?” “Is that constitutional” or something along the line of, can you show me data from a reliable source for what you are claiming?” The bottom line, is to create doubt in the MAGA master narrative. Well placed doubt, spreads like the flu in a third-grade classroom.

Remember, try to always frame your comments with the master narrative, in some fashion or other. Be creative, politely demand credible sources, ask polite but pointed questions and ask where their opinions come from.

As one raised in a very polite Midwest, where most folks did not talk about politics and religion publicly, I understand the difficultly, especially if you live in Trump country. Hey, as a Texan now, I know full well how delicate public engagement can be. We have come to a point in our national history, that we can no longer observe, “the keep to yourself rules,” that most were raised with. There is zero dishonor in supporting our true patriotic values. If anyone in public challenges you, you are the winner. Simply ask them to “google it” on the spot. You will win and they will be exceptionally cautious of expressing dishonest MAGA views in your presence or public, ever again. The MAGA crowd has been loud and proud for a decade. It’s time to lower their public presence, especially in rural communities where there is extreme peer pressure.

Tell stories of local heroes, who represented the best of America. Compare those heroic exploits, framed by how they supported our constitution. Explain what they did for the nation and why they did it. When our heroes act on behalf of our founding principles, laud them and especially so, if they were supporting true American principles, not the fake, MAGA version.

1. Organize: Most of you already have but please, if you have not, either look for some group to affiliate with or if you have a group, look for and recruit those looking for a patriotic home. The point is to get those together that believe in our constitution, not a political party.

2. Look for opportunities to connect like-minded groups

3. Have leadership of any group, large or small, establish connections with like-minded groups

4. Inform, inform and then inform some more

   1. In my old unit (s) within the US Special Operations Command, this was called having a “flat organization.” In other words, the commander down through the lowest ranking, were on the same page, saw mostly the same intelligence and were fully involved in planning and execution of any required mission or tasking

   2. The only thing that matters on a shared Intelligence page for the group, is the information from credible sources that allow all group members to see, read and internalize the facts, as best they are known at the time

      

5. When news breaks, get ahead of the influence curve by getting the truth, or closest thing to it, out before the MAGA GOP crowd can put their spin on it. In NW, being first is far more important than being precisely right. You can always publish a redaction. And updates to what first went out, are critical to maintaining trust. Always frame your narrative about the event, with content that ties it to the master narrative. It’s important that you tell others what information means. Don’t allow the GOP/ MAGA crowd to first define the narrative of the news.

   1. For example, when I post a news article to any social media platform, I express, in clear, basic language, what it means to me. For example: If I post a news article about false DOGE claims, I would frame it with a version of our overarching narrative and say something like, “Congress grants the power to provide oversight to the duly elected or appointed experts that operate exclusively with existing constitutional ethics and legal guardrails.” This means that DOGE is to be considered as powerless, constitutionally.

      

      1. That means that we are entitled to see the data that supports. The GOP decisions. Demand it. My friends, in a nation of, by and for the people, stop allowing dishonest thugs to shove fake data down our throats. Go to your congressman and demand the real facts. If like me, you have a Republican congressman, make sure that you and any affiliated group, keeps the pressure on them with media surveillance. They work for us, not the other way around!

My friends and fellow citizens, if we want our republic back from the Trump, Putin, GOP alliance, we must all take public steps to demand it. I wish that we could all stay safe behind our keyboards, but that isn’t where we are. Only the scenes of people in the streets, in front of oligarchical corporations and the local offices of our congressmen, will suffice during this phase of operations. I phrase this as, “we can’t been heard if we are not seen.” The only way to be seen is by being in the streets. I know that in so many parts of America, this is easier than in others. Still, we must all make the effort to organize and then attend events of protest, together.

The more that this new Pro-Putin regime consolidates its power, the more difficult it becomes to take our republic back. Professionally speaking, we must act and continue to do so through at least, the Midterms or more likely, until the next presidential election. There is not a minute to waste. I also know that such things require resources. It will be up to all of us to “beat the bushes” to find those resources. I know that there are some pathetic Democratic Party efforts underway, but I have zero faith in their ability to know what to do. Please, stop throwing good money after bad at the party, until or if, they ever prove competence. Look to like-minded benefactors, not transactional corporations that routinely support both parties.

In the meantime, arm yourselves with truth, reality and steadfast dedication to the cause. Time is short and the cause is righteous. Either we act decisively now, or risk the Civil War that the GOP wants, to secure their Trumpian, dystopian future for us.

Finally, today’s essay may sound alarm-like, but that alarm is also sincerely accurate, based on my professional experience. No one wins a war by reacting only. If we wish to win back our nation, it requires proactive assaults of truth, reinforced by showing up physically and the willingness to sustain both.

I have likely worn out my welcome with this long, detailed essay. I do apologize for that, but also hope that more than fewer, will read this. I also hope that you’ll share these deeply experienced insights. We have a nation to save. Telling all of you such stark insights, is one of the ways that I can contribute to my children and grandchildren’s future. So yes, I have an ulterior motive. We all have talents and expertise to contribute. Let’s pool our strengths so that next Fourth of July, we can celebrate the resurrection of our republic.

My very kindest regards to all and thanks for reading this far,

Paul