The Destination
A Proposal for Action to Impeach, Convict and Remove President Trump and His Cabinet
This post is written by the founder of “Defenders of Our Republic.” It is part two of a four-part series that started with “The Pitch.” While a small fragment of content has been mentioned briefly on BlueSky, this post expands dramatically on pre-existing content while adding new content as well. The purpose of this post is to propose a plan of action that dramatically improves our chances to impeach, convict and remove President Trump and his cabinet.
In my previous post, I mentioned at the end that I believed I could make a persuasive proposal for what our country specifically needs us all to do so that we might achieve our demands to impeach, convict and remove President Trump and his entire cabinet. This post is that proposal. My intent with this post is to promote DOOR’s Ultimate Goal, which I will state up front, then make a case for DOOR’s envisioned way forward in detail.
Ultimate Goal
Twelve million people marching on Washington DC in peaceful protest, then refusing to leave until our demands are met.
The reason I am proposing this Ultimate Goal is because I believe any action short of it will be insufficient to achieve our demands. I chose 12 million people because it well exceeds 3.5% of the population, the importance of this being discussed later. I chose Washington DC because that is where the elected representatives with the constitutional power to impeach, convict, and remove President Trump and his cabinet perform their legislative duties. I chose a sustained presence because short protests are easily ignored by an authoritarian regime, no matter how many people turn out. More than any of these reasons, though, 12 million people taking to the streets of Washington DC and remaining there will quite literally disrupt the functioning of the Capitol. Unlike most US cities, Washington DC is relatively small with only about 61.4 square miles of land. When you divide that by 12 million people, you have 1 person for roughly every 160 square yards, which is comparable to the floor size of a small house. However, these calculations fail to account for buildings, structures, or impediments to open space, so taking that into consideration, it is easy to picture how DC would be physically inundated by such a large demonstration. You cannot ignore a protest that persistently occupies every street and fills every open area. You cannot pretend that the nation supports your unconstitutional and illegal actions when people actively show such adamant and persistent opposition. You cannot go about business as usual when the city’s infrastructure is blocked by peaceful protesters. Most notably, you cannot successfully exercise instruments of oppression against 12 million people peacefully assembled in such a concentrated area. Where would they even put us? How would they even move us there? How many law enforcement officers would be needed to even round us all up? This is the type of creative action we need. Confronted with such undeniable public pressure, we can compel elected Republicans to seriously reconsider their capitulation to President Trump, and whether continuing to do so is truly in their long-term best interest. In the face of such powerful action, I do not know how elected Republicans can go on believing that they will escape accountability for failing to honor their oaths when President Trump is inevitably no longer in power.
In order to have a chance to achieve our demands, our protests must be irreproachably nonviolent. In solidarity, we would collectively refuse to react to the slightest provocations, or even more dramatically, to even speak at all. Our power would not be our voices, but the conviction of our actions. We would put up no resistance to police or government use of force. We would not react violently to counter protesters or malicious actors, no matter how they might be acting against us, choosing instead to tactfully withdraw from confrontation. Where our detractors might meet us with anger, hate, or violence, we would instead choose compassion and peace. In this way, we would maintain the moral high ground. Any accusation of rebellion, insurrection, or violence in any form must be completely meritless. Those in our masses that might attempt to stoke violence in any manner or manifestation must be emphatically rejected by the rest of us.
Returning to the topic of the 3.5% rule, this is not a new concept. Many of you may already be familiar with it, and it is not the first time I have mentioned it. Recent history has shown that when 3.5% of the population peacefully mobilizes to force change, with very few exceptions, they achieve their change aspirations. I strongly recommend reading the linked article, even if you are familiar with the 3.5% rule. Also, for the more well-versed, take some time to learn about the caveats and core principles behind the 3.5% rule. For the sake of brevity, I will highlight some key points. First, nonviolence is vital and non-negotiable. Second, the movement must be united and provide strategic direction. Third, it must be both active and persistent in order to be effective, building momentum with a broad, sustained support base, ideally with daily action. Fourth, resistance organizations must maintain resilience and discipline in the face of state violence or state-sanctioned violence, with individuals in the movement willing to make sacrifices and take significant risks.
Undeniably, this proposed action comes with great personal risk for every participant. It even requires significant personal sacrifice, if for no other reason than the financial expense. However, the larger our protest is, the more that risk is mitigated, and the more that the sacrifice is justified. Some might worry about how President Trump and his enablers or supporters would respond. I do not. Not because there are not troubling responses that they might choose to use against us, but because any such response would only hasten the removal of President Trump and his loyalists from power. We must not believe the great lie that we are powerless and he is all-powerful. President Trump and his loyalists are weak. Take, for instance, fear that President Trump would order the military to violently quell a peaceful protest. This is not a legitimate concern, as the military is still representative of the general population, meaning there are many military members that adamantly disagree with President Trump. Further, every member of the military has sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. For President Trump to force a clear choice on the military to choose between supporting him or supporting the Constitution would result in a catastrophic failure for President Trump, one way or another. Bottom line, President Trump and his most zealous supporters have no power over us if we refuse to give into fear. When We the People choose to exercise our power together, it is President Trump and his loyalists that become powerless. We must believe in ourselves. And we must all understand that the time for action is now, and that this moment requires courage from all of us.
In summary, I will conclude this post with a thought that strikes at the heart of this proposed action, which comes from a popular meme: This all ends when enough of us say, “No.” Over 75 million Americans voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election. If only one of every six of these voters showed up to Washington DC at the same time to demand President Trump and his cabinet’s removal, refusing to leave until our demands were met, then make no mistake: President Trump and his cabinet would be gone.
On July 7th, I start my protest. More on that in my next post. But I will say this now:
I hope you will see what I am doing and join me by July 25th so that together, we can convert our demands into inevitable action.
Until then, keep resisting. Our country needs us.