"Not One Damn Dime Day" - - - 20 January 2005

• I've received the following appeal for a general consumer strike on inauguration day in more than one e-mail. I don't know who started it, but I'm happy to pass it along.... remember, buy NOTHING, not even from "blue" merchants . . . . not even a True Blue Liberal t-shirt . . . . on Bush's second coronation day. Let the conspicuous consumption of the celebrating conservatives in DC stand out in contrast to our nationwide protest!

Since our religious leaders will not speak out against the war in Iraq, since our political leaders don't have the moral courage to oppose it, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending.

During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases. Not one damn dime for anything for 24 hours.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day," please boycott Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target... Please don't go to the mall or the local convenience store. Please don't buy any fast food (or any groceries at all for that matter). For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down.

The object is simple. Remind the people in power that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that it is their responsibility to stop it. "Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and funnel cash into American politics.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops. The politicians put the troops in harm's way. Now 1,200 brave young Americans and (some estimate) 100,000 Iraqis have died. The politicians owe our troops a plan - a way to come home.There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing agenda to rant about.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by doing nothing. You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed. For 24 hours, nothing gets spent, not one damn dime, to remind our religious leaders and our politicians of their moral responsibility to end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people.

• I've done my part, now it's your turn. Please pass this message along too in your e-mails and in your blog or web page. Make sure that everyone gets the word by January 20. It's no crime if they hear about it more than once. And if anyone knows who started this drive, feel free to give them credit in the Comments below.
  
• Thanks, True Blue Liberal