Inauguration Day Silent Protest - Not One Damn Dime Day

I received this in an email last night: When President Bush is spending approximately 50 million for his inauguration it is worth the inconvenience to partake in this. Because our political leaders and our religious leaders do not have the moral courage to speak out against the war in Iraq, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is a good time to take a stand and send a message to our corporate-run administration. Those who oppose what is : happening (in our name) in Iraq, can speak out with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending via "Not One Damn Dime Day." 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 Walmart, KMart and 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 politicians and our religious leaders of their moral responsibility to end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people. It got me to thinking. Wouldn't this be something? Can you imagine if everyone on American soil refused to patronize a single retail business for that one day? Having spent many years in retail, I can not fathom having all 300 of my stores call in "$0" sales for a day. How powerful we could be, the American People! What a strong statement we could make if we all acted as one, even if for one day. I don't know who came up with this silent protest idea. But I like it. I know someone will turn around and say that we are penalizing the retailers and it isn't their fault. I guess I a would have to concede that it isn't their fault, but perhaps this is the role it is necessary for them to take in something that is so much bigger than they. The good of the many and all that. To date, two of my friends have lost members of their immediate family to this unjustified war. Their pain is palpable. I have a third friend who has already spent a year in Iraq and faces being sent back. ANYTHING I can do to make the killing end, or even just SHOW the government that I don't believe we should be there. I don't believe we had any right to go there in the first place. It is time for W to stop beating up his Daddy's bully at the cost of more than 1300 (to date) American soldiers. Our resources are spread so thin that we sent a 57 year old man, an active reservist to Kuwait. He is far from the only over-50 soldier being sent into war zones. We still have troops in Korea and Germany. Both those wars were more than 50 years ago. When exactly do we get to bring our troops home? If you agree that we should make a viable plan for bringing our troops home, PLEASE participate in this silent protest. It's time Mr. Bush realized that some of his bosses aren't happy.