by C. Moore
September 23, 2025

I’ve been getting a flood of questions about how to resist the Trump Regime: “What can I do?” in the midst of growing feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. My answer: focus on your strengths. Build a strong individual plan. Be resourceful. And sharpen your wits — because wit is often the best weapon.

The Censorship Example

As an investigative journalist with decades of experience defending the First Amendment, I’ve faced threats, targeted attacks, assaults by both criminals and police, fines, arrests, jail time, and years of court battles. Yet never — not once — have I seen anything as alarming as what is happening today. I’m furious at the erosion of our First Amendment rights, and I’m returning to my roots. In protest of this assault on free speech — and in solidarity with Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and the countless journalists silenced worldwide this year — I’m returning to my roots: sharp-witted satire. Words are swords, and comedy is our shield. That’s why tyrants fear it, why dictators ban it, and why Trump is trying to kill it. Humor exposes lies, punctures egos, and topples emperors who think they wear clothes.

During one period when I was illegally detained, silenced, and stripped of my rights, I adopted the pseudonym Mootmute. My lawyer was on speed dial, and I even had a plan to publish from jail. The name itself became a symbol of resistance. As they tried to turn me into a moot mute, I turned their strategy back on them. As I often say: hold up your sword and stand firm. If they continue to impale themselves on your defensive position, so be it.

Another form of resistance was publicly exposing their hypocrisy. For amusement and effect, while under oath I asked prosecutors what I wasn’t allowed to say. Their response? They wheeled in file cabinets overflowing with papers they themselves had published and read, line by line, everything that was now forbidden as “speech.” And so the name Mootmute stuck. They tried to silence me, but instead they became my unwitting mouthpiece, committing the very crime they accused me of.

Expanding the Resistance

In addition to the personal defiance above, I found other ways to resist oppression. While I was under attack, my publishing company — and the entities that had licensed my intellectual property — also became targets. To protect the innocent, I created a new publishing company. Much like Prince, who famously changed his name to a symbol when stripped of his own, I adopted a symbol too — only mine was crafted from ASCII characters and represented “the finger.” The irony was delicious: every time prosecutors wheeled in stacks of paper and read the forbidden words into the record, each page carried my publishing company’s logo at the bottom. The very emblem of defiance they sought to erase stared back at them from their own exhibits.

For added effect — and a touch of legal one-upmanship — I included a copyright notice on every page:

“These pages and their content may not be used without our expressed written consent. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed under the law.”

In their zeal to prosecute me, they inadvertently committed yet another offense: publishing my work without consent while declaring in court that no one was allowed to say what they themselves had just published.

Conclusion

So, “What can I do?” in the face of rising helplessness and hopelessness? Focus on your strengths. Develop a solid, individual plan. Be resourceful. And hone your wit — because wit is often your sharpest weapon and, in some cases, may literally save your life.

The Publishing Company’s Trademark and Copyright Notice