Activism HQ

California - Northern

Miniprotest:
"No More Tax Favoritism for the 1%!"

When: April 17, 2012, 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Where: (1) Santa Rosa along northbound Farmer's Lane starting at the corner of Sonoma. These are the three main signs:

1) Isn't it Time to End the Tax Favoritism for the 1%?

2) GOP Still Backs Overseas Tax Havens, Loopholes Carved out by Lobbyists

3) Exxon/Mobil, GE, B of A Pay ZERO in Taxes. Those Billions Could Fund Schools, Jobs, Roads, Police

Please sign up through the Miniprotesting Forum by way of the General Topics within the Discussions tab. Find the posting for the above event, RSVP by replying to the event post, and please indicate which location you volunteer for. If you prefer you can email your RSVP to Todd at improbabletodd@gmail.com. Main signs will be supplied. Please bring your own signs along this theme. Bring water, cell phones, still or video cameras, and a friend or two if you can. If numbers warrant, additional miniprotests can be added a few blocks away on other commute arteries.

Priorities of Strategies for Miniprotesting Campaigns

When the people-power that miniprotesting can unleash is at the ready, we have to apply that big picture thinking to wield this weapon in the most effective way. Here are the parameters, goals, and strategies we should go by:

Miniprotesting Code of Honor

1) Maintain integrity; no profanity or personal attacks that aren't related to a person's political actions
2) No miniprotests within three blocks of a candidate's home. Offices are OK, but respecting someone's family even if you don't like him or her is the civil thing to do
3) Try to deflect the aggressive behavior of motorists with facts. If they persist, yell back, "Go Giants!" and let their sports camaraderie instincts pickle their brains.

General Target MP Strategies

1) Providing evidence of hypocrisy, lies, corporate ties, and false equivalencies of GOP candidates. Label them as 1% Shills, on the 1% Privilege Posse, and tie them to their votes on key legislation such as the Ryan Budget, against Obama's jobs bill, women's health issues, and banking/Wall St. regulation.
2) Retaliate to ad attacks on Dems by opposition candidates and SuperPACs
3) Tie tainted candidates together, such as with Boehner or Cantor
4) Expose the CORPservative strategies of the GOP as a whole
5) Differentiate between true conservatives and CORPservatives, so the former can see how the "pious with a corporate bias" have choked their futures with 1% greed
6) Remind progressives of all stripes that NOT VOTING for all Democrats including Obama IS JUST PLAIN SELFISH

Here's a miniprotesting sign set that could apply to almost all US House Republicans:

Corner #1: Isn't it BLUE BLOOD WELFARE When the Ryan Budget Drops the Top Tax Tier Rate by 14%?

Corner #2: Ryan Budget Gives Every Millionaire $140,000 For Each Million He Makes Every Year

Corner #3: [GOP incumbent]'s Support for Ryan Budget Proves He’s on the 1% Privilege Posse

With miniprotests along these lines throughout the land, a supermajority in the US House is a strong possibility.

A nod to the Occupiers

I've been to Occupations on both coasts and sat in on several General Assemblies. I understand the need to not alienate those within the 99%, regardless of their political affiliation. While I understand the sentiment, only one party has tried to limit the ability of millions to vote, and that's the GOP. That said, inscriptions can be made without mentioning the GOP or Republicans in general.

If you focus on a specific individual, his acts and votes are what you rail against. If you want to say GOP you can usually achieve the same level of identification by labeling them as the 1%. I know many Democrats are willingly part of that demographic, and may vote as such, but the blue dogs are a dying breed, particularly in primaries.

On the Inscription Suggestions page you'll see both types of references.

Keep the eyes on the prize: Big picture thinking should always hold sway over the needs of an individual. We all have things that we're not pleased about within the Democratic Party, but regardless of our level of disgust, putting Democrats into office is the only path, the only means to our desired ends. That is our only hope in extracting the tentacles of corporate power from the infrastructure of our democracy.

The big picture flows towards our desired future like this:

-A stunning defeat of Gov. Walker in Wisconsin enlivens liberals
-Miniprotesting and other messaging tools make a progressive whitewash an inevitability
-Obama is given a supermajority in both the Senate and House
-Closing all offshore tax loopholes and higher taxes on millionaires produce a flood of new revenue, providing jobs and giving states a new shot at prosperity
-Attorney General Holder is replaced by a non-DLC progressive. How about Russ Feingold?
-Investigations begin in Bush-era crimes, treason, and war-profiteering. Our nation's reputation and standing as a leader in integrity worldwide lifts the hopes of the entire planet
-Real change begins, starting with the overturning of Citizens United by way of a constitutional amendment
-A new variation of the Glass-Steagall Act once again separates investment banking from commercial banking. New regulations clamp down on risky investment schemes like mortgage-backed securities
-Lobbying, and SuperPAC rules are tightened severely
-Progressives, despite our victories and influence, press further and get the greatest form of security possible for our children and grandchildren: an end to privately funded elections. All future state, local, and national offices become publicly funded.
-Single-payer healthcare becomes the law of the land
-New technologies in wind, solar, geo-thermal, and tidal power bring the US self-sufficiency and become our greatest export

Can you see how all the things progressives want, and all the things the Occupy movement wants, can only happen along this path? So how can anybody who wants these goals justify staying home and not voting in November because Obama didn't do this or said that? Even if you're lukewarm about his presidency, you MUST vote for Obama and for every other worthy Democrat on the ticket. Why? Because NOT DOING SO IS JUST SELFISH, subjecting others to the hardships inherent in Republican rule to satisfy your sense of self-righteousness.

Get over yourself already. Your manhood will remain intact, and you'll contribute to the survival of the species.

How do I put together a miniprotest?

1) Decide upon an issue, lie, or unknown fact to tell the public about. You can also choose the date, time, and location of your curbside actions, or post your proposals through message boards, Meetups, emails, tweets, or texts.

2) Create the text for your three main signs. You can copy and paste from miniprotests.com suggestions page if you like. Type your main sign inscriptions into your computer, expanding your margins to the full width of the document in portrait mode. They should be in Arial, with lines spaced about 1.5 apart. The less text for each individual sign, the larger the font can be.

3) Announce your miniprotests via above modes of social media. Use the number of RSVPs to determine the number of protest strings you'll be manning.

4) Email the main sign inscription set to your local FedEx Office store (formerly Kinko's) and have them print out your main signs on their 36" roll paper, enlarged to take up as much width as possible, usually about 400% of original size. Duplicate for each protest string, or make alternate main sign inscription sets as well.

5) Buy 30" x 40" foam core poster board (1/4" thick or so) in multiples of three, and flat poster board for complimentary signs. Handles can be obtained from Lowe's, and paint stirring sticks are usually free.

6) Cut rectangular hand holds near top of each main sign

7) Affix your messages using white thumb tacks, further secured by putting clear tape over the thumb tacks.

8) Distribute main and complimentary signs at locations. Have all 12 in each protest string meet at same spot. Make sure a member of each miniprotest group has the cell number of a member from each of the other two groups. That way you can cover each others' backs.

9) Present your message proudly. Change your town for the better.

Slogans that gain shelf life through miniprotesting

A catchy phrase has more staying power when it has substance to back it up. After Donny Dittohead is bombarded by the truth, he will finally realize just how much he’s been duped, used, and looked down on by the GOP. He’ll see their true elitism, their tools of manipulation, and their corporate alliances.

And we can make that happen when slogans like these are substantiated by the two main signs along a protest string that lead to them:

“Today’s GOP Extending Bush’s Main Goal: No CEO Left Behind”
“Today’s GOP: Putting America on the FAST TRACK to MEDIOCRITY”
“Walker and other GOP Activist Governors Will be FTRs: Final Term Republicans”
“GOP Only Out for CEOs Not Average Joes”
“GOP Only Cares for Millionaires”
“[representative]: Classic GOP Integrity Deficiency”
“GOP Policies Take From the Needy and Give to the Greedy”
“Shameless Hypocrisy = Failed Integrity Throughout GOP”
“Today’s GOP is NOT Conservative, They Are CORPservative”
“Take Away GOP Rhetoric on Guns, God, and Gays, And What HaveThey Done For You?”

“If GOP Loves America Why Do They Loathe Average Americans?”

“GOP-Controlled House Has Not Passed ONE Bill to Create Jobs”

“Would True Christians Dump the Golden Rule to Embrace ‘For Gold We Drool?’”

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