OK, so.

Maybe that’s alarming to you, but you think we can still coast through it, wait it out. OK. Fine.

Maybe your red line is US troops gunning down civilians. Like Tiananmen Square. Like Iran this past week. That has not happened under the Trump regime yet. That is a horrifying red line — but maybe it is •your• red line.

Wherever it is, I am asking you now, from my home in Minneapolis, to think: what is •your• red line, the place where you think, “This is too much. Normal is gone. Life as I knew it has to stop until this ends.”

5/

Maybe the red line for you is deploying •active duty military• to Minnesota, and not just National Guard. They did that in LA with marines — briefly, just a little, just in the background, little or no confrontation — and that too got smacked down hard.

That one’s a pretty bright red line. Domestic deployment of the military is in fact the origin of the phrase “crossing the Rubicon:” when Julius Caesar led troops across the Rubicon river, leading the troops to invade his own country, that marked the beginning of civil war in Rome, and a death knell for democracy.

4/

Whatever it is for you, please fix it in your mind now. When events are unfolding fast, it’s easy for red lines to slide.

Fix your red line in your mind. •Picture it• now, so that you’ll know it when you see it. Remember it. Write it down. Put it in my replies if it helps you remember and commit to it.

Got it? OK…

6/

Now picture what it looks like for you to shut down your normal life when that red line is crossed. Remember, this is not a “now I’ll •really• be angry at my Senator” red line. This is a red line past which normal life cannot continue until the situation ends.

What would it look like for your normal life to stop?

7/

Would you stop work? Just tell them you’re not coming in until this is over? What would that look like? Would you get fired? Would you still get fired if your whole team or half your division refused to work? If your union was ready to strike over it?

Maybe you can’t stop work. Maybe you’re unemployed. Maybe you’re retired. Maybe you still have people to take care of — from your income, or as part of the job you do. •Think• about it. What •could• you stop, work or otherwise? How could you prepare for that, save now, be ready?

8/

Now picture what it looks like for you to shut down your normal life when that red line is crossed. Remember, this is not a “now I’ll •really• be angry at my Senator” red line. This is a red line past which normal life cannot continue until the situation ends.

What would it look like for your normal life to stop?

7/

Maybe it’s not work but something else in your life that stops. I don’t know…but you do. What in your life allows the country to continue to function normally? What’s a plug that you can personally pull?

Look for that. Think about it. And get yourself ready. Build up your savings now. Build up your psychological readiness now.

And then…

9/

My last request for this thread is to talk to people about it. Talk to your family: what can we endure? Talk to your coworkers: what would it take for us to walk out together? Talk to your friends: what’s •your• red line? What •could• each one of us stop when that red line is crossed?

10/

Here in Minneapolis, in some ways it’s already happening: people are putting so many hours into community work, and are so exhausted and distracted when they’re at their jobs, now normal life is…well, not shut down, but severely compromised. But that’s necessity. Life continues even in war zones far more dire than this one.

I am talking about something else: shutting down normal life not out of necessity but by choice, in righteous anger.

11/

Maybe the red line for you is deploying •active duty military• to Minnesota, and not just National Guard. They did that in LA with marines — briefly, just a little, just in the background, little or no confrontation — and that too got smacked down hard.

That one’s a pretty bright red line. Domestic deployment of the military is in fact the origin of the phrase “crossing the Rubicon:” when Julius Caesar led troops across the Rubicon river, leading the troops to invade his own country, that marked the beginning of civil war in Rome, and a death knell for democracy.

4/

We need to start contemplating this. It’s not easy to picture; if it is easy, you’re doing it wrong. But we need to do it. We need to imagine this while we still have the capacity to imagine.

We need to make sure that there is, somewhere in this authoritarian noise, a red line whose crossing actually matters because we •make• it matter.

If enough people know where their red line is, and if enough people are prepared to take action if the regime crosses it, well, •that• helps Minnesota — and the whole world.

/end

We need to start contemplating this. It’s not easy to picture; if it is easy, you’re doing it wrong. But we need to do it. We need to imagine this while we still have the capacity to imagine.

We need to make sure that there is, somewhere in this authoritarian noise, a red line whose crossing actually matters because we •make• it matter.

If enough people know where their red line is, and if enough people are prepared to take action if the regime crosses it, well, •that• helps Minnesota — and the whole world.

/end

OK, so. As if the Trump regime hadn’t already dumped enough of their shit on us here in Minneapolis…there’s now talk about them sending •active duty military• to invade (“protect”) our city.

Maybe this is bluster. Maybe this is testing the waters. We have no idea how real these plans are, or if or when this would actually happen. I don’t think the regime does either. Regardless, we take this threat seriously: they’re stupid enough they just might do it. This nightmare could get worse.

1/

@inthehands

So what's the action? My most recent is that I wrote my two Democratic Senators and told them I'm changing my registration to Independent if Schumer is still Leader after the California midterms. Which means I'll be an Independent for the general, of course. Which is fine. They own a big part of how we got here as becomes more clear every day. I'm grinding every single day: protests, donations, everything I can do. It's a grind. This is going to be a grind. #uspol

@inthehands

The issue is getting people to agree on the location of that line. Will it take a child being murdered? A public execution carried out by the regime? Making protesting of any kind illegal? Revoking our right to free speech?

How far is too far? Can we agree?

Shit....we couldn't even get together behind Harris/Walz, and THAT was one of the most goddamn obvious choices I've ever seen be rejected.

A •lot• of people have asked what you can do from afar to help us here in Minneapolis, and I have one thing for you. You can do it from home, from wherever you’re sitting, but it’s not necessarily easy.

First, I want to think about where your red lines are. Everything is so outrage-inducing, so outrageous, it’s kind of numbing. It becomes easy to just start letting it all happen.

So, that thing you can do to help: picture a red line for you that the regime hasn’t already crossed, so that you can have a reaction that is actually •action• if and when they cross it.

2/

OK, so. As if the Trump regime hadn’t already dumped enough of their shit on us here in Minneapolis…there’s now talk about them sending •active duty military• to invade (“protect”) our city.

Maybe this is bluster. Maybe this is testing the waters. We have no idea how real these plans are, or if or when this would actually happen. I don’t think the regime does either. Regardless, we take this threat seriously: they’re stupid enough they just might do it. This nightmare could get worse.

1/

Maybe the red line for you is deploying •active duty military• to Minnesota, and not just National Guard. They did that in LA with marines — briefly, just a little, just in the background, little or no confrontation — and that too got smacked down hard.

That one’s a pretty bright red line. Domestic deployment of the military is in fact the origin of the phrase “crossing the Rubicon:” when Julius Caesar led troops across the Rubicon river, leading the troops to invade his own country, that marked the beginning of civil war in Rome, and a death knell for democracy.

4/

Maybe it’s not work but something else in your life that stops. I don’t know…but you do. What in your life allows the country to continue to function normally? What’s a plug that you can personally pull?

Look for that. Think about it. And get yourself ready. Build up your savings now. Build up your psychological readiness now.

And then…

9/

We need to start contemplating this. It’s not easy to picture; if it is easy, you’re doing it wrong. But we need to do it. We need to imagine this while we still have the capacity to imagine.

We need to make sure that there is, somewhere in this authoritarian noise, a red line whose crossing actually matters because we •make• it matter.

If enough people know where their red line is, and if enough people are prepared to take action if the regime crosses it, well, •that• helps Minnesota — and the whole world.

/end