Beware the Pre-Emptive Strike
by Debrianna Mansini
Well, this last week was a doozy.
The WHCD was the end of the week kicker, after the UAE pulled out of OPEC, Trump wants to tout his freaky face on ANOTHER government document—your passport—another mass shooting in Louisiana that got ignored and described as an “incident,” Europe may have six weeks of jet fuel left…and as this week opens, we can’t get a straight story about WTAF just happened at the Washington Hilton.
Trying to process this much absolute chaos is damn near impossible, so, as I am wont to do, I will zoom out to a larger picture in the hopes of giving us a roadmap for the future (lol, see my last Substack), so here goes.
Beware the pre-emptive strike.
The Republicans have been teeing us up for that for decades. They count on, and are not wrong in doing so, as the Democrats have the urge to be proper, follow the rules and set examples. They infiltrate the public discourse with the narrative they want to repeat and set us up to do it. Case in point—they want less democrats to show up to vote, so they push the narrative ‘both sides do it,’ ‘both parties are the same’ and we, not wanting to appear all grabby for power and unable to see our own flaws, acknowledge the desire to be “fair,” and here we go. Decades of ‘both sides,’ and democrats falling on the sword of fairness. Let me be clear, the Republicans pushed this and we fell for it and fell behind, letting perfection be the enemy of the good, with many voting third party—a useless and extraordinarily harmful vote. See Ralph Nader and Jill Stein.
So… moving forward. The point is, as we creep much closer to taking back both houses of Congress, listen up. We cannot fall for that same trap again. Look at the many cases and get fucking ready, people. Get ready to FIGHT.
They are shoving a Mamdani Act forward—an Act to ban Socialism. Why? It has no grounds—it’s absurd on its face. But…the long game? When Democrats hold power, the hope is that we will shrink from naming MAGA as domestic terrorism or passing laws to reign it in, or comparing it (rightly) to Nazism, lest we look as crazy as they do right now. We should follow the lead of Germany and ban anything bearing Trump’s name or likeness and anyone who supported this monster. But, they are betting we won’t stand up strong and loud, backing away in the name of dignity, as we did in the last presidential election. Again, for example, we should have demanded recounts for Harris in all the swing states. The vote was far too close and yet just far enough to not require mandatory recounts— IN ALL SWING STATES?? It was reasonable and thoughtful to have done so, but god forbid we look like they do, yelling “rigged,” every time they lose an election.
Now, look at the Pelosi Act, introduced by Josh Hawley, banning lawmakers from stock trading, deftly pinning it on her, while this wicked regime is betting openly on war and tariffs. The question then becomes will we have the balls to go after Donald Trump, Jr., an advisor to these prediction markets making those million dollar war bets, when we have the authority to do it or will we shrink away “for the good of the nation?” You know, the way they did for Hunter Biden and Burisma. Oh, wait. The Republicans DID go after Hunter. For far, far less than what the Trump family is doing now, making millions selling drones to Gulf states in a illegal war their daddy started.
They do it for everything. Take Sleepy Joe, for example. It has been used literally millions of times. But who is actually doing the sleeping through Cabinet meetings? That’s right. Demented Donny. He is all but counting sheep live on television and yet…crickets. From Sleepy Joe to weaponization of the DOJ, we watch them take all the air out the room and we can’t allow it to continue. We MUST have the strength and fortitude to do what Garland, in his fear of looking “political,” did not do. We must hold to account AND prosecute if necessary, any Republican who has broken ethics rules or the law <cough Noem, Bondi, Patel, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Kushner>, even if it takes years to do so. We need to be brave and bold. We need to reform the SCOTUS, and do it despite the accusations of “court packing” that will come toward us as we do so, because they have already done it, thank you Mitch McConnell, and it will require absolute change. We cannot and must not fall into the trap, ‘if we do it then they will.’ It should be apparent by now, they do not care. They will do whatever they want, whenever they can, when it suits them retaining power.
It does, however, give me hope that we, the small ‘d’ and large ‘D’ democrats, have seen what it means to stand up and fight, as we did recently with re-districting. They did not expect us to do what they have already done, and look—we have won, most importantly we have won the hearts and minds of voters. It gives me hope we are electing people like Mamdani and Mejia, people focused on and advocating for policies that really help working people. It gives me hope that Democrats are holding shadow hearings and demanding votes they will likely lose, like not giving in on ICE funding, to show what we stand for, and more clearly, what the Republicans don’t. It is working and we can not stop now. Keep pushing your elected officials—thank them when they do the right thing and call them repeatedly to make your voice heard when they don’t. It matters—they count every call, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat in office.
We will have A LOT of work ahead when we take power. The Congress in November is a step, but it is not the end—Trump sits in the White House and his signature is required to pass laws. Congress will only have so much power, but it will be a brake. We need all three branches, so get on for the long ride and don’t stop. WE are required in a democracy—it takes the people to push leadership. We, the people, the preamble to OUR Constitution, need to be showing up at every step. Let’s do this.
Watch or listen to Debrianna reading Beware the Pre-Emptive Strike:
Organizations to join:
DemCast: demcastusa.com
Swing Left: swingleft.org
Women’s March: womensmarch.com
Indivisible: indivisible.org
5 calls app: 5calls.org
For Volunteer opportunities, rallies, etc.: mobilize.us
That Time We Ate Our Feelings is available from Apollo Publishers. You can ask your local bookstore to order it from them or purchase online here:
Please check out our Kitchen Bitches online store for some really cool merch, including sassy protest-wear:
Kitchen Bitches ONLINE STORE
Thank you so much for being a part of our food community, and supporting our work. We appreciate you!!!
XO D&L