The Republicans sure are flooding the zone with horrifying bullshit, but I believe the greatest threat so far is Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of the federal treasury. This goes beyond outrage of the day. This is a coup.
Although I tried to call my U.S. Senators and Representative, I couldn’t get through, so I sent emails. I’m still trying to call, but I get a busy signal or “this mailbox is full.” When I finally do connect, I will focus on one issue per message.
Here’s what I wrote:
I am a defense industry retiree and U.S. Army veteran. I am terrified by the Trump administration’s attack on democracy and am eager to see my elected officials fight back. The attack is so broad in scope, it’s overwhelming to regular Americans. I can imagine it is for you, too. But now is the time to rise up and do the job you were elected to do.
Social justice is important, and we can never lose sight of that, but I believe Trump is using those issues to distract us. I’m asking you to follow the money. I’m no expert, but I see three immediate priorities: reverse these ill-conceived tariffs; get Elon Musk out of our government and strip him of access to the treasury; and oppose all efforts to reduce taxes for corporations and billionaires.
Thank you.
Please contact your elected representatives. Feel free to use anything I’ve written that resonates with you. Oh, and I checked the box that said I wanted a reply. Jeez, this thing with Elon is affecting my sleep.
Last night I enjoyed a cannabis sleep gummy, and it really did help. I take it at least an hour before I actually want to go to sleep – they take some time to get through your system. If you can get it, I like Kanha Cannabis Infused Tranquility Gummies. Each gummy has 5 mg of THC. That’s a little much for me, so I cut them in half.
The FU Amazon Challenge
On the subject of billionaires behaving badly, I always knew Amazon had a dark side, but I chose to look the other way and admired Jeff Bezos for coming up with such a great idea. That time is gone.
I calculated how much I spent on Amazon last year. It was more than I’m prepared to admit. But then I treat Amazon like the corner store. Need dental floss? Push a button and boom. Need a new coffee pot? Push a button and boom. Need a rug? A Vitamix? Cat food? Coconut milk? Push a button and boom.
My spending on digital purchases wasn’t as jaw-dropping. I use the library a lot, but still, I spent a fair chunk of change on books, movies, music and TV shows.
After reviewing my purchases, I only found a few things that would be difficult to find elsewhere. While this is not a complete FU, I’m making a pledge to reduce my total Amazon spending by 50 percent in 2025. I am confident I can do way better than that, but I thought it would be good to under promise and overdeliver.
Will you join me?
To help with the transition, I’m checking out other online sources that aren’t owned by douchebags. I also downloaded the Target app, since I will be buying a lot more things in person. I hate the idea of wandering through the aisles not knowing where anything is, but the app includes aisle numbers, so I can make a shopping plan and include that on my list. I’m told there’s a mapping feature, too, but I haven’t explored that yet.
Dale is doing his part to feed and sustain the reluctant activist (and channeling his fury) by making chili and playing The Byrds.
As a defense industry retiree myself, I find it outrageous all these unelected goons having such access. None of them would qualify for the lowest level security clearance. Musk, besides all the other crap, has been experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs for years. It is all too much to comprehend what is happening. The doors are wide open for foreign bad actors especially if they fire thousands of FBI agents that stop attacks everyday.
I too push the Amazon button for everything. I have to stop.
It is my understanding that the best way to reach our representatives is with postcards. They go through immediately, but letters in envelopes get extra security.
Holy f*ck it has only been 15 days
And now I hear they’re going after the CIA. Talk about the doors being wide open for bad actors.
Postcards are a great idea. I looked to see if the post office sells them in bulk already stamped, but I couldn’t find such a thing. But I can still buy a bunch of postcards and get the stamps.
You GO GIRL! I am in full support of what you’re doing, and I’m also joining you in the FU Challenge. I’m appalled at how many times I’ve clicked that button starting since Covid 19. Hubs and I have made an agreement to only shop Amazon if we can’t find the item elsewhere…besides, I need the exercise. Thanks for leaving the info on the gummies. I’ve considered the CBD version, however I don’t think anything is strong enough for sleep if thoughts of this administration is swirling in my head. Maybe instead of counting sheep I can count idiots and lunatics.
Glad you are joining us for the FU Challenge.
The sleep gummies with a little THC are better than the CBD-only version. Counting idiots and lunatics is another option.
I’m in too with FU. I’ve already cut my purchases by a lot. Some things I will still buy like Blue corn beeswax tapers. Wait, I can probably go to their website!! So i will aim for 90% less and see if I can just get creative. As for this administration, I have not been so worried since(honestly) I was marching against the VietNam War. I am really frightened by what the republicans are doing. i don’t know where it’s going but it isnt good.
I definitely feel like I can reduce my Amazon spending by 90 percent, but I wanted to start with something I absolutely knew was achievable.
This is the scariest moment in history I’ve witnessed.
Yes I join you in saying FU to Amazon and Whole Foods. I love to shop at WF, but no more. I usually do all our shopping there but except for a couple of things I can’t get elsewhere I have figured out work around to avoid them.
I am also looking at Zuck and Musk. I have at Tesla coming of lease. I am getting many offers from them to get a new one. I will not and frankly I am afraid to park it as Teslas are being vandalized. I never did much with Zuck so that is easy.
I am astounded that Musk and Bezos can’t determine that the customer base for Tesla and Whole Foods is not MAGA. I assume just astounding arrogance.
In summary I am looking carefully at where I spend money. It is one thing I can do. And as a dual US Canadian citizen I am looking Canadian products. I can drink a lot of Canadian Whiskey!
I forgot about Whole Foods. Deleted that app. The only thing we go there for is bulk Kalamata olives. You are so right about not knowing their customer base.
I dropped FaceBook years ago. I’m still entrenched in Google, but that seems almost benign compared to the rest of this crap.
Lucky for you to be a dual citizen. I admire Canada’s response to the tariffs. I’ve been dabbling in Irish whiskey. I don’t guess we have a trade war with them yet.
I wrote to my senator last week about this Guantanamo business. Concentration camps is where I draw a bright red line. Fortunately, my senator is Ron Wyden, so one of the better ones. Though who knows what or who matters in this maelstrom.
I, too, have begun detoxing from Amazon. Fortunately, I am living in Japan where there are a couple of joints like Rakuten who do the same and I gave my husband a list of the things to research that I regularly pushed the button on at Amazon. Was happy to find out all my regulars are available elsewhere. (They have Amazon.jp here, of course. The tentacles reach far…)
We must walk the razor`s edge between keeping an eye on what they do, because clearly the smoke from all the fires is to obscure the really big stuff, and making sure their crazy doesn`t make us crazy. Because we are going to need all our wits to get out of this. But staying sane has never been more important. So take breaks when and how you can toward that end.
Today’s task is to call about Guantanamo. The first thing Dale said when he saw that is concentration camps.
Indeed, how to stay sane through all this. Self-care. Simple pleasures. Kind-hearted people.
I love this post. You go girl! This Canadian childless cat lady spends waaaay to much money on Amazon. I am going to follow your lead and try to reduce my Amazon expenditures by at least 50%. It took me twice as long to do what was supposed to be a quick grocery shop this evening. I’m now scrutinizing labels making sure everything I buy is grown / produced / manufactured in Canada. Trump’s ridiculous tariff threats really pissed me off. A great post – thanks!
Good for you! I love how Canada is countering the Trump offensive. Someone said what if Canada made Washington, Oregon and California provinces? I might sign up for that.
Today on Facebook I said that I hoped Elon Musk burns in hell if there is one. As someone who usually only posts about my dog walks on our beautiful trails and my knitting and quilting projects, I have been unleashing holy terror emails and sharing Substack articles and NYTimes gift articles galore lately, stating that I won’t remain silent and I will understand if anyone wants or needs to unfriend me and I won’t hold it against them. No one has and it seems to have given a few others the courage to take stands as well.
I could go on but I’d be preaching to the choir, yes? Almost hourly this pacifist (former I guess) wants to go choke someone.
I too, living in a small town, depend on Amazon too much simply because we either don’t have it or it’s not easy to find here, but I’m going to work harder and reduce my usage, asking myself “can I find that locally? Do I really need that”
Today I took my RMD, put in for a good qualified charitable donation to come out of it for Reunity Resources here in town and signed up for their twice a month composting service where they drop a lined bucket at your doorstep and then pick it up and give you a new one either weekly or in our case since it’s just Jon and me, twice a month. They have a composter that can take meat, bones, of course fruits, vegetables, coffee, many paper products, things we can’t begin to compost ourselves for our raised beds. We can’t even gather enough materials in these arid lands to do normal composting. So this made me feel better somehow.
And I will definitely join you in reducing my use of Amazon.
Our US Senators are Democrats and are trying their best and they keep us informed. However, I really have to find better ways to self soothe than making cookies and consuming them. I wish I could try THC for sleeping but as someone with sporadic fast heartbeats, I don’t dare try them as I understand they can cause people like me to go into arrhythmia.
Your experience is very much aligning with my own. This is as angry as I’ve ever been. And I also don’t care if I lose friends or readers because I will not stay silent.
We actually have a composting bin that is part of our waste management service. They empty it every other week.
More to come on this, but one of my correspondents said he was disappointed in the Democrats, but we have to push the party in the direction we want them to go.
Yeah, it doesn’t sound like THC is a good match for you. Maybe treat the news like it’s caffeine and quit after lunch so you can sleep?
Thank you for this timely post. I agree with everything you wrote AND I’ve already emailed my senators and congressman using your template. In addition, my wife and I have already cut the cord on Amazon. But we didn’t use it as much as you anyway. Haven’t run into a problem yet getting whatever we want. (And we all could “want less” anyway 😊.) Keep ‘em coming!
P.S. There are some online resources for which retailers support social justice and sensible policies. No retailers are perfect but some are much better than others.
Wow, that’s amazing. Already cut the cord — congratulations! I’m also thinking it will be pretty easy to find what I need, and if I don’t find it, so what? Maybe I don’t need it.
Expanded list of what you can do at https://robertreich.substack.com/p/more-on-what-you-can-do.
Thank you for this!
You’re welcome. Active civic engagement is so important atm.
I saw his latest substack in my email this morning, but you beat me to it! I saved a PDF of it in a new folder I have on my computer labeled Democracy. I also printed a hard copy for a reference folder I’m keeping on my desk. He inspired me to contact my senators about holding up all nominees pending confirmation. It won’t stop them, but we don’t have to make it easy.
Thank you!!
You’re welcome. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” Martin Luther King Jr.
Living in a very red state (although a mostly blue town and a very blue neighborhood), I spend a lot of time at our capital protesting all the deranged ideas that our extremist state legislators propose. Yesterday was the 50501 rally, which got a lot of furious people like you together in a short amount of time. People are especially upset about what Musk is being allowed to do, and it’s not just liberals. Our federal legislators, all Republicans who kiss the ring of the exalted one, are getting more phone calls than their staff and their voicemail systems can handle.
As someone said, Trump puts the dic(k) in dictator.
The Musk protests give me hope! Thank you for being so active. I think it’s brave to protest at the capital.