The Dali Lama often talks about a picture of a hand pointing at the moon. He talks about the saying, "When a wise man points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger."
I know that today, many actions and activities, all by themselves, are infuriating. ICE. Trans athletes. Epstein's customer list. FEMA and Texas. The military in our cities. Unqualified people heading important government departments. Add your own things to the list.
After being bludgeoned by all these things and more, every day, all day long, I finally remembered the Dali Lama.
These actions are the finger. Creating chaos and instability is Trump's moon. He wants complete, total chaos so he can declare himself the "strong man in control" and impose whatever he feels is needed to create / maintain that control. No voting or elections. Concentration Camps. Militarized Secret Police. Almost the entire country under his whip. "Dogs and cats, living together. Mass Hysteria"
We need to be active in protesting or fighting or opposing all these efforts. Like Carlos. But we also need to be aware that whatever it is we're fighting, if it went away tomorrow, it would be replaced by two more things as bad or even worse.
We'll have one more chance - the mid-term elections in 2026. I hope they will happen, but a big part of me says they won't take place. If they do, we need to vote out all Trump's gang. Put real people in congress, who will not kowtow to him. If this doesn't happen, I'm afraid our country is gone.
Carlos is doing what Professor Timothy Snyder, author of “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” (2017) lists as Lesson 8:
“Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.”
Watch Duty has a robust network of reporters and communication
equipment to keep the public safe. It is amazingly powerful, timely and accurate. Wouldn't it be great to use this powerful infrastructure to notify the public about the locations of dangerous masked, unidentified, armed men that are randomly disappearing people with brown skin?
We all do whatever we can. If that means standing alone on the street corner, holding up a hand-made protest sign, then do that. If you disapprove of this deranged clown running our country, do whatever you can to make your voice heard.
A group of us local resisters from Laguna Niguel and beyond are meeting tomorrow morning to launch the FDT “book club” - it would sure be swell if you and brave Carlos could grace us with your presence. 💙
I don’t like to be vulgar myself, but we really need to stop policing the tone of people who are bravely standing up for the rights of the oppressed. They’re angry for good reason. Let them express themselves.
In a world of Stephen Millers and Tom Homas, be like Carlos
Thank you for sharing this badass! More Carlos, fewer brohs yelling from their Mercedes!
The Dali Lama often talks about a picture of a hand pointing at the moon. He talks about the saying, "When a wise man points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger."
I know that today, many actions and activities, all by themselves, are infuriating. ICE. Trans athletes. Epstein's customer list. FEMA and Texas. The military in our cities. Unqualified people heading important government departments. Add your own things to the list.
After being bludgeoned by all these things and more, every day, all day long, I finally remembered the Dali Lama.
These actions are the finger. Creating chaos and instability is Trump's moon. He wants complete, total chaos so he can declare himself the "strong man in control" and impose whatever he feels is needed to create / maintain that control. No voting or elections. Concentration Camps. Militarized Secret Police. Almost the entire country under his whip. "Dogs and cats, living together. Mass Hysteria"
We need to be active in protesting or fighting or opposing all these efforts. Like Carlos. But we also need to be aware that whatever it is we're fighting, if it went away tomorrow, it would be replaced by two more things as bad or even worse.
We'll have one more chance - the mid-term elections in 2026. I hope they will happen, but a big part of me says they won't take place. If they do, we need to vote out all Trump's gang. Put real people in congress, who will not kowtow to him. If this doesn't happen, I'm afraid our country is gone.
Every action we take in 2025 is preparation for 2026.
Hell yeah!
Carlos is doing what Professor Timothy Snyder, author of “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” (2017) lists as Lesson 8:
“Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.”
I agree, Carlos is badass!
Si
se
puede
FYI, that "alien-looking dude" is Roger from the TV show American Dad.
What I sent as a Watch duty suggestion
Watch Duty has a robust network of reporters and communication
equipment to keep the public safe. It is amazingly powerful, timely and accurate. Wouldn't it be great to use this powerful infrastructure to notify the public about the locations of dangerous masked, unidentified, armed men that are randomly disappearing people with brown skin?
We all do whatever we can. If that means standing alone on the street corner, holding up a hand-made protest sign, then do that. If you disapprove of this deranged clown running our country, do whatever you can to make your voice heard.
Just keep fighting.
Carlos is awesome for this. Thank you for highlighting him Jeff.
Go Carlos!! Thanks for sharing and stopping to support him!
A group of us local resisters from Laguna Niguel and beyond are meeting tomorrow morning to launch the FDT “book club” - it would sure be swell if you and brave Carlos could grace us with your presence. 💙
I appreciate the sentiment, but the vulgarity is best left to the Republicans.
I don’t like to be vulgar myself, but we really need to stop policing the tone of people who are bravely standing up for the rights of the oppressed. They’re angry for good reason. Let them express themselves.