I've known Brad Herzog for nearly a decade.
Here's what happens if you actively oppose the Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump. If you fear a Trump Presidency, you should consider a Kickstarter contribution to Brad's book:
I'm going to put it bluntly: This is a request for your support toward a cause that we have always believed is bigger than us -- and now it has taken a dramatic and unfortunate turn.
If you are already aware of what happened to me and Amy last week and have expressed your outrage on social media, contributed to our Kickstarter campaign, shared our story and/or contacted us personally, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your support has buoyed us beyond words.
If you are unaware of the events that unfolded -- or perhaps unaware of our Kickstarter campaign -- please read on. And if you are offended by our attempt to write a little picture book about the dangers of a presidential candidate whom we believe is spreading hateful rhetoric and scapegoating entire segments of the population... well, we respect your right to have your own opinion. In fact, that's really what our recent tempest was all about:
On June 28, the day after we launched this littleKickstarter movement (an attempt to creatively express the courage of convictions in the form of a satirical book called D is for Dump Trump: An Anti-Hate Alphabet), we LOST OUR JOBS BECAUSE OF IT.
 If you haven't already, I urge you to please click on this link to our Kickstarter page and watch a 3-minute video that summarizes our mission: http://kck.st/295Cb7Y. At the bottom of this email is an easy step-by-step walk-through of how you can participate in our campaign.
If the video isn't enough to motivate you to do something, here is the story of how our mission to fight intolerance at the highest levels has claimed us as casualties:
As most of you know, for 17 summers we have worked as traveling spokespeople for the RV Industry Association, doing hundreds of local TV interviews to extol the joys and wonders of a road trip to all Americans. We know how lucky we have been to have had this opportunity, but please understand that it has been our primary source of income for nearly two decades, and we have worked damn hard to be professional in every way while promoting RVing. We have never used that platform to further any other agenda, political or otherwise. And we never would. Ever. And RVIA loved us. They renewed our year-by-year contract 16 times. They even gave us a national award called the "Spirit of America" award.
But in a case of terrible irony, we fell victim to circumstances that, frankly, remind us of something out of the Trump campaign's playbook. An RV industry newsletter editor got wind of our little book, having been sent a mysterious email about it. Without contacting us for any information or fact-checking, without (as far as we know) watching any TV interviews we had done this summer or in year's past or looking into the details of our contract with RVIA, he quickly wrote up an incendiary "opinion piece" calling for RVIA to "disavow their affiliation with these authors." He implied (not subtly) that we would somehow use our TV interviews to promote our politics. He also went on a mean-spirited tangent, wondering why "these California liberals need other people's money to publish a book."
But (as Trump knows well), the use of inflammatory code words and innuendo (however baseless) can incite the uninformed. A parade of incredibly nasty comments followed, all based on a manufactured story utilizing completely false assumptions. Here's a link to his "journalism" (http://bit.ly/29juubK). If you want to get really mad, read the early comments.
And of course, the negative publicity about us -- although completely unmerited -- became the story. We have always been aware of the conservative leanings of the RV industry, yet we happily and genuinely promoted the RV experience. Because we believed one had absolutely nothing to do with the other. But less than 24 hours after this story outed us as "California liberals," right after we did yet another professional and on-message TV interview in Phoenix, and without even discussing the matter with us after 17 YEARS of service, the powers that be "terminated" our contract, effective immediately. All because, in our separate lives, we wrote a funny little picture book about the dangers of reactionary rhetoric. Yes, tragic irony.
We're still reeling from this and are obviously worried about our road ahead. But we have the courage of our convictions. So we're doubling down. We are going to do all that we can to promote our "D is for Dump Trump" project. Now more than ever, we feel emboldened to do so.
And, ironically as well, what started as a tiny Kickstarter campaign has become something more. In fact, we passed our original funding goal in only 84 hours, and our campaign runs until August 4. So we hope that is just the tip of the iceberg. And we humbly ask for your support.
So please, if this story makes you angry or concerned about the state of intolerance in this country, don't just fume. SHARE this mission. JOIN US in our cause. Exhort your friends to support it and spread the word. We don't want to view this as a negative experience. We're POSITIVE we're on the right side.
So what is a Kickstarter campaign?
 It's sort of like buying Girl Scout cookies -- without the calories. You financially support a creative project, but you also get something tangible in return (the various backer reward levels).
Backing our project is an easy process: Simply go to our Kickstarter page and do the following:
1. Enjoy the video, read about the project and scroll through pledge options.
2. Click on the green "Back This Project" button.
3. Choose your reward level and pledge a dollar amount. Click "Continue."
4. Create an account (EASY! Just name, email, create a password).
5. Pay with any major credit card. Your pledge will not be made public.
6. Click the green "Pledge" button.
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Why Not Books, ,, ,, CA 93950
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