The real Donald Trump has stood up... again.
There will be no pivot. There never was going to be.
There will be no becoming presidential. There never was going to be.
There will be no humility. No decorum. No sense of justice or empathy. There never was going to be.
We are far past the time for excuses, for anyone.
In one of the most surreal and depressing presidential press conferences ever, Mr. Trump said what most people dreaded but already knew. His blatant false equivalence between Nazis and those who oppose them that he said on Saturday, that's how he really feels - times a thousand.
With any other president this would be unbelievable. But with Mr. Trump it is all too believable. It is clear that he doesn't consider himself to be the President of the United States of America - no matter what his official job title says. Down where he lives he is the president of his base, which includes a lot of bigots and even Nazis and members of the Klan. Not everyone who voted for him is in this category, not nearly. But they make up a large majority of his personal base. And thankfully for all of us, this is a distinct (but frightening) minority of our nation. The vast majority of Americans are decent people of conscience. And I believe in the end this vast majority will prevail.
The question is whether those who defend the President, or seeks to normalize him or change the subject, will be seen as worse than enablers. Will they be viewed by history as sympathizers to the worst instincts of American hatred?
Facebook
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
Thrump is so horrid...
... that I can't keep up, so I'll just post cartoons and memes that capture The Essential Thrump™.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Robert Reich Sez...
Trump’s “jobs plan” is nothing more than economic nationalism packaged in publicity stunts. Three of Trump’s job-saving “deals” fell through this week:
1) Boeing will lay off 200 workers at its assembly plant in South Carolina. Trump visited the factory in February to outline his jobs plan. In his remarks, Trump even pledged, “I will never, ever disappoint you.”
2) Carrier will eliminate 600 manufacturing jobs in Indiana. In one of his first major announcement as president-elect, Trump promised to save 1,100 positions at the factory from being outsourced to Mexico. The company will begin shifting more operations to Mexico next month.
3) Ford will a move a major production line to China. Under pressure from Trump, the automaker cancelled plans to build the Focus sedan in Mexico. Instead, Ford will build it in China.
The formula to economic success isn’t cheap publicity stunts. American competitiveness depends on investments in American workers – in their healthcare, education, and job training -- so they’re productive and competitive with workers advanced nations. Trump and his Republican enablers are doing the opposite.
Trump’s job promises are lies that betray many who voted for him.
1) Boeing will lay off 200 workers at its assembly plant in South Carolina. Trump visited the factory in February to outline his jobs plan. In his remarks, Trump even pledged, “I will never, ever disappoint you.”
2) Carrier will eliminate 600 manufacturing jobs in Indiana. In one of his first major announcement as president-elect, Trump promised to save 1,100 positions at the factory from being outsourced to Mexico. The company will begin shifting more operations to Mexico next month.
3) Ford will a move a major production line to China. Under pressure from Trump, the automaker cancelled plans to build the Focus sedan in Mexico. Instead, Ford will build it in China.
The formula to economic success isn’t cheap publicity stunts. American competitiveness depends on investments in American workers – in their healthcare, education, and job training -- so they’re productive and competitive with workers advanced nations. Trump and his Republican enablers are doing the opposite.
Trump’s job promises are lies that betray many who voted for him.
~ Robert Reich on Facebooks
Election Hacking In Georgia?
Let's look at our "loss" in GA06 this week. Watchdog groups verify machines were NOT secure in the least and they were designed so that there was no way vote counts could be checked. Even worse over a dozen polling places were magically changed in Democratic leaning districts. NINE of them (9!) actually claimed they were all under renovation! Yet again, us Democrats just accept this as normal and concede to another bullshit result...
~ Ed Barcas III on Facebook
What Is the Far Right’s Endgame? A Society That Suppresses the Majority.
When the Supreme Court decided, in the 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education, that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, Tennessee-born economist James McGill Buchanan was horrified. Over the course of the next few decades, the libertarian thinker found comfortable homes at a series of research universities and spent his time articulating a new grand vision of American society, a country in which government would be close to nonexistent, and would have no obligation to provide education—or health care, or old-age support, or food, or housing—to anyone.
This radical vision has become the playbook for a network of people looking to override democracy in order to shift more money to the wealthiest few, historian and professor at Duke University Nancy MacLean argues in her new book, an intellectual biography of James Buchanan called Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.* Buchanan’s life story, she writes, is “the true origin story of today’s well-heeled radical right.”
We are at a crucial moment in our history, and we will not get another chance, by this cause’s own telling. They say again and again that this is going to be permanent, and they’re very close to victory. So I think we need to be really clear-eyed about understanding this and reaching out to one another without panic.
This radical vision has become the playbook for a network of people looking to override democracy in order to shift more money to the wealthiest few, historian and professor at Duke University Nancy MacLean argues in her new book, an intellectual biography of James Buchanan called Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.* Buchanan’s life story, she writes, is “the true origin story of today’s well-heeled radical right.”
We are at a crucial moment in our history, and we will not get another chance, by this cause’s own telling. They say again and again that this is going to be permanent, and they’re very close to victory. So I think we need to be really clear-eyed about understanding this and reaching out to one another without panic.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Update for Trump voters
1. He said he wouldn’t bomb Syria. You bought it. Then he bombed Syria.
2. He said he'd build a wall along the border with Mexico. You bought it. Now his secretary of homeland security says "It’s unlikely that we will build a wall."
3. He said he’d clean the Washington swamp. You bought it. Then he brought into his administration more billionaires, CEOs, and Wall Street moguls than in any administration in history, to make laws that will enrich their businesses.
4. He said he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “wonderful.” You bought it. Then he didn’t.
5. He said he’d use his business experience to whip the White House into shape. You bought it. Then he created the most chaotic, dysfunctional, back-stabbing White House in modern history, in which no one is in charge.
6. He said he’d release his tax returns, eventually. You bought it. He hasn’t, and says he never will.
7. He said he’d divest himself from his financial empire, to avoid any conflicts of interest. You bought it. He remains heavily involved in his businesses, makes money off of foreign dignitaries staying at his Washington hotel, gets China to give the Trump brand trademark and copyright rights, manipulates the stock market on a daily basis, and has more conflicts of interest than can even be counted.
8. He said Clinton was in the pockets of Goldman Sachs, and would do whatever they said. You bought it. Then he put half a dozen Goldman Sachs executives in positions of power in his administration.
9. He said he’d surround himself with all the best and smartest people. You bought it. Then he put Betsy DeVos, opponent of public education, in charge of education; Jeff Sessions, opponent of the Voting Rights Act, in charge of voting rights; Ben Carson, opponent of the Fair Housing Act, in charge of fair housing; Scott Pruitt, climate change denier, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Russian quisling Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.
10. He said he’d faithfully execute the law. You bought it. Then he said his predecessor, Barack Obama, spied on him, without any evidence of Obama ever doing so, in order to divert attention from the FBI's investigation into collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives to win the election.
11. He said he knew more about strategy and terrorism than the generals did. You bought it. Then he promptly gave the green light to a disastrous raid in Yemen- even though all his generals said it would be a terrible idea. This raid resulted in the deaths of a Navy SEAL, an 8-year old American girl, and numerous civilians. The actual target of the raid escaped, and no useful intel was gained.
12. He called Barack Obama “the vacationer-in-Chief” and accused him of playing more rounds of golf than Tiger Woods. He promised to never be the kind of president who took cushy vacations on the taxpayer’s dime, not when there was so much important work to be done. You bought it. He has by now spent more taxpayer money on vacations than Obama did in the first 3 years of his presidency. Not to mention all the money taxpayers are spending protecting his family, including his two sons who travel all over the world on Trump business.
13. He called CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times “fake news” and said they were his enemy. You bought it. Now he gets his information from Fox News, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, and InfoWars.
More to come.
-Robert Reich
2. He said he'd build a wall along the border with Mexico. You bought it. Now his secretary of homeland security says "It’s unlikely that we will build a wall."
3. He said he’d clean the Washington swamp. You bought it. Then he brought into his administration more billionaires, CEOs, and Wall Street moguls than in any administration in history, to make laws that will enrich their businesses.
4. He said he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “wonderful.” You bought it. Then he didn’t.
5. He said he’d use his business experience to whip the White House into shape. You bought it. Then he created the most chaotic, dysfunctional, back-stabbing White House in modern history, in which no one is in charge.
6. He said he’d release his tax returns, eventually. You bought it. He hasn’t, and says he never will.
7. He said he’d divest himself from his financial empire, to avoid any conflicts of interest. You bought it. He remains heavily involved in his businesses, makes money off of foreign dignitaries staying at his Washington hotel, gets China to give the Trump brand trademark and copyright rights, manipulates the stock market on a daily basis, and has more conflicts of interest than can even be counted.
8. He said Clinton was in the pockets of Goldman Sachs, and would do whatever they said. You bought it. Then he put half a dozen Goldman Sachs executives in positions of power in his administration.
9. He said he’d surround himself with all the best and smartest people. You bought it. Then he put Betsy DeVos, opponent of public education, in charge of education; Jeff Sessions, opponent of the Voting Rights Act, in charge of voting rights; Ben Carson, opponent of the Fair Housing Act, in charge of fair housing; Scott Pruitt, climate change denier, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Russian quisling Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.
10. He said he’d faithfully execute the law. You bought it. Then he said his predecessor, Barack Obama, spied on him, without any evidence of Obama ever doing so, in order to divert attention from the FBI's investigation into collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives to win the election.
11. He said he knew more about strategy and terrorism than the generals did. You bought it. Then he promptly gave the green light to a disastrous raid in Yemen- even though all his generals said it would be a terrible idea. This raid resulted in the deaths of a Navy SEAL, an 8-year old American girl, and numerous civilians. The actual target of the raid escaped, and no useful intel was gained.
12. He called Barack Obama “the vacationer-in-Chief” and accused him of playing more rounds of golf than Tiger Woods. He promised to never be the kind of president who took cushy vacations on the taxpayer’s dime, not when there was so much important work to be done. You bought it. He has by now spent more taxpayer money on vacations than Obama did in the first 3 years of his presidency. Not to mention all the money taxpayers are spending protecting his family, including his two sons who travel all over the world on Trump business.
13. He called CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times “fake news” and said they were his enemy. You bought it. Now he gets his information from Fox News, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, and InfoWars.
More to come.
-Robert Reich
Thanks for nothing.
So you think you "made a statement" when you punched for an ignorant, Narcissistic toddler. You treated this election like it was some kind of a game, and now you're chuckling because you "won." What is it you "won", exactly? You just pissed away your future. The futures of your children. Your neighbors. Your friends. Maybe even all of humanity. You hated "that woman" enough to feel like you were justified in this. You literally burnt down the house because you didn't like the shower curtain. That's what you call a "win." Let me explain, in detail, what your "win" means, in real world terms, since it's obvious you either don't have a clue about what you did, or you flat-out don't give a shit.
Every child killed in Syria that could have been saved without your racist vote, for starters. You own that. Every low-income woman in America who dies from breast cancer because your orange Jesus defunded Planned Parenthood. That's yours too. Every dumb punk kid killed in a private prison, or turned into a vicious murderer because the system brutalized him when he was caught selling a few joints? That's your doing. Every innocent person shot to pieces because your orange toddler Lord made it easier for the mentally ill to get the finest firepower is also your responsibility. Every bright child who will wind up working a dead-end job and dying much sooner because he or she couldn't afford the skyrocketing costs of college also have you to thank for their predicament. Every bridge that collapses, every accident due to deteriorating highways, every person killed in a natural disaster because we no longer have the resources to respond properly, all of these deaths belong to you. Every war vet who freezes to death in the streets, or catches some treatable ailment and dies out there because he or she has no home and no healthcare, yep... you're responsible. And now, we are facing the very real possibility that this praise-seeking child will unleash an attack that will lead to the destruction of Seoul, Korea, which is within artillery range of North Korea. There is no way to warn those people that an attack is coming until the shells start landing in the streets. The potential for hundreds of thousands of deaths in the space of an hour is very real. If this happens, you can add their blood to the lakes of blood you're already responsible for.
But, please, don't let me harsh your big "win." Go right on bragging about what you've done. How you were gonna Make America Great Again by voting for a lying, incompetent grifter who has been a "success" only on TV. We'll all want to know who you are later, so don't be shy about what it is you did last November.
But, please, don't let me harsh your big "win." Go right on bragging about what you've done. How you were gonna Make America Great Again by voting for a lying, incompetent grifter who has been a "success" only on TV. We'll all want to know who you are later, so don't be shy about what it is you did last November.
~ Erick E
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Senate Intel leaders Feinstein and Grassley grim and silent after Trump-Russia briefings with Comey
At around 5 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) faced reporters but revealed little about their meetings with Comey.
“This briefing was all on sensitive matters,” Feinstein said, “and highly classified and it’s really not anything we can answer any questions about.”
Comey has been at the center of multiple controversies lately, from his decision to make a later-discredited announcement about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s email server in the days before the 2016 election, to whether or not his agency is currently investigating Donald Trump’s campaign for colluding with the Russian government.
Comey was asked by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to state by Wednesday whether his agency is actively investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
Here.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Repeal of Health Law Faces a New Hurdle: Older Americans
WASHINGTON — Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act have encountered a new obstacle: adamant opposition from many older Americans whose health insurance premiums would increase.
AARP and its allies are bombarding congressional offices with objections as two House committees plan to vote on the Republicans’ bill this week.
If the law is repealed, the groups say, people in their 50s and 60s could see premiums rise by $2,000 to $3,000 a year or more: increases of 20 percent to 25 percent or higher.
AARP and its allies are bombarding congressional offices with objections as two House committees plan to vote on the Republicans’ bill this week.
If the law is repealed, the groups say, people in their 50s and 60s could see premiums rise by $2,000 to $3,000 a year or more: increases of 20 percent to 25 percent or higher.
Here.
Trump Reverses Pledge To Mandate U.S. Steel For Keystone Pipeline. A Direct Beneficiary Is A Russian Oligarch With Close Ties To Vladimir Putin
After green lighting the continuation of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline in an executive order January 24th, President Trump declared as recently as last week that the pipeline had to use American made steel “or we’re not building one.”
But on Friday, Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that the directive would apply only to new pipelines or those currently undergoing repair.
But on Friday, Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that the directive would apply only to new pipelines or those currently undergoing repair.
Here.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
NEWS “You’re In Trump Country Now!”, Gay Couple In Florida Got Attacked In Sickening Way
The gay couple, named Kevin Seymour and Kevin Paul Taylor, were finishing dinner where they live in Key West, Florida, when they got attacked by drunken Trump-supporting tourists. Wrote Taylor on his Facebook page, “Feeling disheartened because we were victims of a hate crime last night biking home from dinner and a drunk tourist on a scooter harassed Kevin Seymour and me all the way down Duval, calling us faggots and a slew of other anti gay remarks such as “I bet you faggots voted for that bitch Hillary–well you live in Trump Country now.” He kept stopping in front of us and swerving into us. Finally Kevin got ahead of him and the guy charges him with his scooter and runs into him and knocks him off his bike. Kevin is okay. Luckily it happened right in front of a business with lots of cameras and also there was a witness on the porch that gave a sworn statement to the police. Thankful Kevin is okay and our emotional wounds will heal. The license plates on the scooter MCUT33. I think the cops will be able to track him down.” Are you sick of this virulent Trumper bigotry?
Saturday, March 4, 2017
President Donald Trump Accuses Obama of Wire Tapping Him in October
President Donald Trump, in a series of early morning tweets Saturday, accused former President Barack Obama of having tapped phone lines into Trump Tower, an accusation for which the current president provided no evidence.
No law enforcement agency or credible source has publicly asserted that Mr. Trump’s phone lines were tapped. Mr. Trump provided no evidence for his assertions, which marked a return to the caustic tone that has often characterized the president’s remarks.
It wasn’t clear what Mr. Trump was reacting to, but the conservative media outlet Breitbart, whose former chairman Steve Bannon is Mr. Trump’s political strategist, published an article Friday based on the claims of a right-wing radio host that intelligence agencies were conducting a “silent coup” against Mr. Trump.
It wasn’t clear what Mr. Trump was reacting to, but the conservative media outlet Breitbart, whose former chairman Steve Bannon is Mr. Trump’s political strategist, published an article Friday based on the claims of a right-wing radio host that intelligence agencies were conducting a “silent coup” against Mr. Trump.
Trump Snaps & Makes Early AM ‘Apprentice’ Announcement – He Lost His Mind
While the world continues to go on about its business around him, the man who is supposed to be leading America’s role in all that business is tweeting about reality television.
Quite simply, ratings don’t fire people, people fire people, and the former California Governor is, in fact, leaving his spot as host of “The Celebrity Apprentice” entirely of his own accord. You can read about that at this link.
What Trump’s tweet does is drive home the point that we’ve really, seriously, elected a reality tv star to the presidency. He’s not a changed man; he’s the very same person as that man who sat at the head of the table in “The Apprentice,” wagged his spindly finger and shouted “You’re Fired!” over and over and over again. Donald Trump still operates according to the same personal principles as if he’s starring in a reality tv show — he’s just the president of the United States now.
What Trump’s tweet does is drive home the point that we’ve really, seriously, elected a reality tv star to the presidency. He’s not a changed man; he’s the very same person as that man who sat at the head of the table in “The Apprentice,” wagged his spindly finger and shouted “You’re Fired!” over and over and over again. Donald Trump still operates according to the same personal principles as if he’s starring in a reality tv show — he’s just the president of the United States now.
Is this Presidential behavior? I say nope.
QUESTIONS MUST BE ANSWERED
Those of you who have read the blather I post here are aware that I was a Hillary supporter. Some of you probably think that when I post political stuff here, it's because I was a Hillary supporter.
Actually, as an American citizen, I have concerns that there might have been some kind of shenanigans happening in the recent Presidential elections. Questions need to be answered before we can automatically assume that this election was fair, square, and on the up and up.
Trump campaign peeps Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Carter Page, J.D. Gordon (whom we know of) all had some form of meetings with known Rooshians. Questions include, WHY? IS THIS TYPICAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BEHAVIOR? WHY DID TRUMP DENY THESE MEETINGS OCCURED? WHY ARE THE MEETINGS SO FREQUENT? More importantly, DID THESE MEETINGS RELATE TO ROOSHIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE ELECTION? WHY DID CANDIDATE TRUMP INVITE ROOSHIAN SPYING ON HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN, SUCH SPYING BEING CLEARLY ILLEGAL? WHY DID THE ROOSHIANS INTERFERE IN THE ELECTION? WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO GAIN? DO ROOSHIAN OLIGARCHS HAVE A FINANCIAL HOLD ON TRUMP? IS THAT WHY HE WON'T RELEASE HIS TAX RETURNS? IS THIS WHY TRUMP HAS BEEN SO "NICE" TO ROOSHIANS LATELY?
The intel community has concerns about all this. If they have concerns, why in the world wouldn't you and I have concerns, too?
Actually, as an American citizen, I have concerns that there might have been some kind of shenanigans happening in the recent Presidential elections. Questions need to be answered before we can automatically assume that this election was fair, square, and on the up and up.
Trump campaign peeps Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Carter Page, J.D. Gordon (whom we know of) all had some form of meetings with known Rooshians. Questions include, WHY? IS THIS TYPICAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BEHAVIOR? WHY DID TRUMP DENY THESE MEETINGS OCCURED? WHY ARE THE MEETINGS SO FREQUENT? More importantly, DID THESE MEETINGS RELATE TO ROOSHIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE ELECTION? WHY DID CANDIDATE TRUMP INVITE ROOSHIAN SPYING ON HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN, SUCH SPYING BEING CLEARLY ILLEGAL? WHY DID THE ROOSHIANS INTERFERE IN THE ELECTION? WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO GAIN? DO ROOSHIAN OLIGARCHS HAVE A FINANCIAL HOLD ON TRUMP? IS THAT WHY HE WON'T RELEASE HIS TAX RETURNS? IS THIS WHY TRUMP HAS BEEN SO "NICE" TO ROOSHIANS LATELY?
The intel community has concerns about all this. If they have concerns, why in the world wouldn't you and I have concerns, too?
Sunday, February 26, 2017
NO MORE!
It was probably a bit too much to ask the 435-member Democratic National Committee to admit to their role (as the party apparatus) in the colossal failure to get the candidate the majority of Americans (by 3 million votes) said they wanted as their President. How hard can it be to get the actual winner of the vote inaugurated? I guess if you're the Democratic Party, just because you win the Super Bowl, it doesn't mean you get to wear the Super Bowl ring. That makes sense, right? 435 honchos of the party and none of them had a pencil or a map or the ability to do electoral college math? No one had a plane ticket to give the candidate to visit Wisconsin for seven long months during the campaign? Too busy polishing their "SUPER DELEGATE" plaques on their desks?
So, I get it -- this was not the group that was going to install a Bernie-loving, Detroit-bred, Muslim-American and hardcore successful grassroots organizer who had helped orchestrate turning a Midwestern red state blue a few years ago. They wanted to play it safe and so they picked a decent guy. The good news is that Tom Perez is not a step backward to the old conservative Democratic DLC days. He is not Al Frum. He is a progressive and shares most of Keith Ellison's agenda, just as Hillary had adopted 80% of Bernie's plans. So, not the end of the world, and maybe a surprise to boot down the road. We will hope and pray for this.
Of course, it was not helpful yesterday, before the election of the new chair, that the 435 leaders of the Democratic Party voted against President Obama's ban on the Party taking corporate PAC money. Corporate lobbyists can now write big checks so they can get their pipelines, their TPP trade deals (that cost them the election in the rust belt), and so they can keep the for-profit health insurance industry intact. Not a good sign. The Party still doesn't get it and they clearly don't see the millions in the streets, the thousands packing the town hall meetings or the Capitol Hill switchboards that are still jammed, 37 days in a row now (202-225-3121).
Ok, fine. We'll work with the hand we're dealt. And here's how -- with a very clear message to the old guard of the Democratic leadership: We're not "uniting" with you - you're uniting with US. We, the people, the majority, the Resistance, will LEAD and we enthusiastically welcome you to follow. We will be the ones stopping Trump and we welcome you to watch and learn how a pissed-off majority - who have twice in 16 years seen the winner we elected not being inaugurated - operates. We are fierce, we are relentless and we are right. We have the moral and patriotic wind at our backs because the majority Americans agree with us. We will not "compromise" or find "common ground" with misogynists, racists and haters. We won't give an inch and we will show you how to do that. Nonviolent mass protest. In-person visits and daily calls to our elected representatives. Running for office and throwing some of you who are appeasers and collaborators out. Writing checks to Planned Parenthood and ACLU. Pushing for true universal health care in Blue States where we can get it passed. And convincing the 100 million members of America's largest political party -- The Non-Voters Party -- to join us at the polls in 2018 for a raucous and legally riotous overthrow of the Republican Congress.
So, DNC, watch, listen, and join. Follow our lead. You essentially work for us (although none of us know how it is in this democracy you get picked to be on the DNC, but we have a feeling it has something to do with each of us running for precinct delegate in our neighborhoods, so we'll do that, too!).
Thank you for making Keith Ellison the deputy chair of the party and thank you Keith for also deciding to stay in Congress. Let's help Tom Perez and the executive committee follow the Resistance and use all the means available to them to stop Trump and do good for the country.
Meanwhile, many in the Resistance will become active in their local Democratic Parties, run for local leadership and field candidates for next year's elections. Eventually, that 435-member committee will more closely resemble what the people want. I'll say it again -- how a party like the Democrats could WIN the popular vote in SIX OF THE LAST SEVEN Presidential elections but end up holding ZERO power in ANY branch of government in 2017 is a humiliation of gargantuan proportions. Who's with me in saying "NO MORE!" Let's take the loser "L" off the "D".
~ MICHAEL MOORE
So, I get it -- this was not the group that was going to install a Bernie-loving, Detroit-bred, Muslim-American and hardcore successful grassroots organizer who had helped orchestrate turning a Midwestern red state blue a few years ago. They wanted to play it safe and so they picked a decent guy. The good news is that Tom Perez is not a step backward to the old conservative Democratic DLC days. He is not Al Frum. He is a progressive and shares most of Keith Ellison's agenda, just as Hillary had adopted 80% of Bernie's plans. So, not the end of the world, and maybe a surprise to boot down the road. We will hope and pray for this.
Of course, it was not helpful yesterday, before the election of the new chair, that the 435 leaders of the Democratic Party voted against President Obama's ban on the Party taking corporate PAC money. Corporate lobbyists can now write big checks so they can get their pipelines, their TPP trade deals (that cost them the election in the rust belt), and so they can keep the for-profit health insurance industry intact. Not a good sign. The Party still doesn't get it and they clearly don't see the millions in the streets, the thousands packing the town hall meetings or the Capitol Hill switchboards that are still jammed, 37 days in a row now (202-225-3121).
Ok, fine. We'll work with the hand we're dealt. And here's how -- with a very clear message to the old guard of the Democratic leadership: We're not "uniting" with you - you're uniting with US. We, the people, the majority, the Resistance, will LEAD and we enthusiastically welcome you to follow. We will be the ones stopping Trump and we welcome you to watch and learn how a pissed-off majority - who have twice in 16 years seen the winner we elected not being inaugurated - operates. We are fierce, we are relentless and we are right. We have the moral and patriotic wind at our backs because the majority Americans agree with us. We will not "compromise" or find "common ground" with misogynists, racists and haters. We won't give an inch and we will show you how to do that. Nonviolent mass protest. In-person visits and daily calls to our elected representatives. Running for office and throwing some of you who are appeasers and collaborators out. Writing checks to Planned Parenthood and ACLU. Pushing for true universal health care in Blue States where we can get it passed. And convincing the 100 million members of America's largest political party -- The Non-Voters Party -- to join us at the polls in 2018 for a raucous and legally riotous overthrow of the Republican Congress.
So, DNC, watch, listen, and join. Follow our lead. You essentially work for us (although none of us know how it is in this democracy you get picked to be on the DNC, but we have a feeling it has something to do with each of us running for precinct delegate in our neighborhoods, so we'll do that, too!).
Thank you for making Keith Ellison the deputy chair of the party and thank you Keith for also deciding to stay in Congress. Let's help Tom Perez and the executive committee follow the Resistance and use all the means available to them to stop Trump and do good for the country.
Meanwhile, many in the Resistance will become active in their local Democratic Parties, run for local leadership and field candidates for next year's elections. Eventually, that 435-member committee will more closely resemble what the people want. I'll say it again -- how a party like the Democrats could WIN the popular vote in SIX OF THE LAST SEVEN Presidential elections but end up holding ZERO power in ANY branch of government in 2017 is a humiliation of gargantuan proportions. Who's with me in saying "NO MORE!" Let's take the loser "L" off the "D".
~ MICHAEL MOORE
5 Ways Republicans Reaffirmed Their Awfulness This Week
So how is the GOP doing its part to screw over anyone who isn’t lining its pockets or furthering its death cult intentions? Here’s a list of six ways Republicans reaffirmed their awfulness this week.
See the Six Ways at AlterNet.
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