NOT ONE RED CENT; NOT ONE DAMN DIME

I often leave a comment on a post that's worth making into a post of it's own. As a matter of fact, this post of mine has a bunch of pretty interesting comments accumulating, as we explore the value of the Net effort to get people to stay away from spending any money in retail stores on Inauguration Day as a way to send a message to the Bush administration that we have not changed our minds about how we feel about his policies and procedures.

It turns out there is are two special websites devoted to this effort, where you can sign a petition and leave a comment.
WWW.NOTONEDAMNDIME.COM and WWW.NOTONEREDCENT.COM
Please spread the word if this protest is something that you think is worth joining.

Over on my other post (linked to above), I received a comment from someone named H Boroni, who tried to list the reasons why the Not One Damn Dime boycott effort won't work. This is what I replied:

Well, H Boroni, I guess it all depends on where you're coming from and what you've learned along the way.

1. The NODD Day is a protest statement, meant to call attention to the fact that there are still many, many of us who are enraged by all that the Bush adminstration stands for and has failed to accomplish. Of course not all Americans will join the effort. Not all Americans marched in Washington at various times regarding the Gulf War or the Vietnam war of a woman's right to choose. But the point was made by those of us who did. You're missing the point.

2. The protest is as much to remind people like you as it is to remind the Bushies that half of America does not agree with you all. It is as much to remind the press and the rest of the world. We know that Bush knows. You're missing the point.

3. It's not meant to hurt or help the economy. It's meant to be a visible and newsworthy protest. You're missing the point.

4. Notice that I edited out the statement found in other versions of this call to dissent about "supporting the troops." My support of the troops begins and ends with "bring them home so they don't get killed." That's a whole other issue and doesn't belong, I don't think, in the rationale for this dissenting act. That's my personal point of view.

5. The troops in Iraq are not fighting to protect America. The Iraqis were not the ones who orchestrated and carried out 9/11. The people there hate us and our troops about as much as they hated Saddam. America is more in danger from the actions of Bush than from any actions of the Iraqis.

From my point of view, supporting the current neocon administration is being part of the problem. Urging major governmental overhaul, through protest, dissent, sending emails, writing letters, being intelligently and vocally opposed to the current administration, is being part of the solution, part of the impetus for change. You're missing the point.

To summarize, living in a state of denial, remaining uninformed about the reasons why America is in the mess it's in, is what is stupid. You're missing all the points.

One of my commenters suggested doing an organized spending boycott once a month, on some kind of irregular basis so that the stores can't prepare for the slowdown by telling their hourly workers not to come in.

However it all falls out, on the day the Bush gets inaugurated --Thursday, January 20, stay out of the stores if you oppose what the Bush administration stands for.

OPEN YOUR MOUTH BY CLOSING YOUR WALLET.