I
wish I could attend the million woman (person) march on Washington the
day after the jerk's inauguration to show my contempt and utter disgust
for Trump and his band of immoral thieves but I cannot.
Still, my heart will be
there amid the thousands who will go because they MUST go to stop this
wolf in wolf's clothing demagogue (apologies to wolves whom I love) from occupying the
seats of immense power and destroying not only our nation but our planet.
It is the greatest con of this vermin Trump's life. I loathe him more
than there are words to say how much! One word does it: RESIST!
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
STAND UP FOR US--ETHICS POLITICS AND THE POWER OF RESISTANCE
I urge you to watch the video.
#StandUpForUS
Comment: The overturning of the Republican efforts to eradicate the neutral ethics office shows one just how much influence the grass roots can have IF they overwhelm these immorals with phone calls, sit ins, and organized protest. WE CAN DO IT if we overwhelm them with protest. Those who supported Hillary are persons of empathy and understanding.
Never forget and never cease to tell our opposition that she received 3 MILLION more votes than Trump. That says something. The anachronistic electoral college is obsolete and should be repealed. We know Republicans will not repeal it. Republicans can ONLY win by nefarious means because their opposition is the TRUE majority. IF there were no such thing as gerrymandered districts and voter suppression think how different the electoral results would have been. Republicans can only win when they cheat. Democrats, progressives and others of good will do NOT give up. As Keith Olbermann says: RESIST!
The PSA stars Chris Burbank (Center for Policing Equity), Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), Sally Field (Lincoln), Tavi Gevinson (Rookie Magazine), Yasmeen Hassan (Equality Now), Rabbi David Ingber, Zoe Kazan (Olive Kittredge), Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu), Naeem Khan (designer), Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Imam Khalid Latif (University Chaplain, NYU), Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Janet Mock (MSNBC), Rosie Perez (Search Party), Ai-jen Poo (National Domestic Workers Alliance), Bruce Ratner (New York city developer), Bishop Gene Robinson, Toure (author), and Jeffrey Wright (Westworld). Directed by Liz Garbus, who made our “It’s Not Okay” video, with a script by Liz and Laura Dawn, produced by Tanya Selvaratnam with Sarah Sophie Flicker, Mikaela Beardsley, and Laura Michalchyshyn. Edited by Eric Rockey.
Tuesday, January 03, 2017
House Republicans Back Down on Bid to Gut Ethics Office
WASHINGTON — House Republicans, facing a storm of bipartisan criticism, including from President-elect Donald J. Trump, moved early Tuesday afternoon to reverse their plan to kill the Office of Congressional Ethics.
It was an embarrassing turnabout on the first day of business for the
new Congress, a day when party leaders were hoping for a show of force
to reverse policies of the Obama administration.
The
reversal came less than 24 hours after House Republicans, meeting in a
secret session, voted, over the objections of Speaker Paul D. Ryan, to
eliminate the independent ethics office. It was created in 2008 in the
aftermath of a series of scandals involving House lawmakers, including
three who were sent to jail.
Mr.
Trump criticized House Republicans on Tuesday for their move to gut the
office, saying they should focus instead on domestic policy priorities
such as health care and a tax overhaul.
In
a pair of postings on Twitter, Mr. Trump called the Office of
Congressional Ethics “unfair,” but he said focusing on it now was a case
of misplaced priorities. He appended the hashtag “DTS,” an apparent
allusion to his promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington.
My comment: So now there is new news. They put back the ethics office as Trump was furious. Question is why was he furious? Did he all of a sudden become ethical? I THINK NOT. Here's what I think was the method to his madness. He wanted a neutral ethics office as the Republicans have PLENTY on him and hold PLENTY of grudges so he did not want to be beholden to even the Party of which he is a part. Just a guess. It was NOT because all of a sudden he saw god! OR in the alternative perhaps that analysis of mine does not hold credence. Maybe in the end he knew it simply did not look good especially in view of his dubious ethical conduct and his myriad of conflicts of interest!
My comment: So now there is new news. They put back the ethics office as Trump was furious. Question is why was he furious? Did he all of a sudden become ethical? I THINK NOT. Here's what I think was the method to his madness. He wanted a neutral ethics office as the Republicans have PLENTY on him and hold PLENTY of grudges so he did not want to be beholden to even the Party of which he is a part. Just a guess. It was NOT because all of a sudden he saw god! OR in the alternative perhaps that analysis of mine does not hold credence. Maybe in the end he knew it simply did not look good especially in view of his dubious ethical conduct and his myriad of conflicts of interest!
Too Much
Because of the staggering voluminousness of the Trump
corruption and how he is draining the swamp -- NOT -- I link multiple
posts of equally important issues now on the horizon for Drumpf. You
should take each VERY seriously and at the end I have a suggestion.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/trump-north-korea-tweets_us…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/trump-north-korea-tweets_us…
Blogger Sandy Levy: No words! It's happening. Everything we feared.
The tweeter in chief wades into the fray over Kim Jong Un's remarks on his country's nuclear capabilities.
huffingtonpost.com
I
urge you if you have not seen it already watched Rachel re: the
Indonesian massive copper, silver and gold mine story. Indonesians were
at one of Trump's rallies and now it becomes clear why. You will not
believe it or yes, you will believe it. The owner of this massive
massive copper mine is the major stock holder Karl Ichan, Trump's buddy.
The Indonesian House leader was caught ON TAPE in a shakedown for
extending the mining rights 20 or more years BUT the tape suddenly
disappeared by a judge declaring it irrelevant. So the speaker stays
and Karl Ichon is the major stockholder of the most massive copper mine
in Indonesia will get his 20 or whatever more mining rights. Watch
Rachel for better clarification. Your jaw will drop OR maybe it won't
because again nothing surprises me. How utterly MORONIC has it been for
the people to put into power the uber corrupt Republican Party in not
only the House but the Senate and with its phenomenally conflict of
interest President Drumpf -- but scuttle the neutral ethics office and
don't get Trump on his MASSIVE conflict of interest realities. Yeah,
take away health insurance for 20 million middle class and poor who need
it, ditch the neutral ethics office but let the conflicts grow. Where
to start writing on that? I throw up my hands or just throw up!
Monday, January 02, 2017
Impeach Trump. The Process Begins Now -- Robert Kutner
Donald Trump is wildly unfit to be president, and he will demonstrate that in ways that break the law and violate the Constitution. Since the election, there have been three wishful efforts to keep Trump from the presidency: a recount doomed by a lack of evidence; a futile campaign to flip Trump electors; and an even more improbable drive to get the Supreme Court to annul the 2016 election.
These moves, indicative of magical thinking, make Trump’s opposition look a lot weaker than it is―at a time when the stakes for the Republic could not be higher. There will also be marches and demonstrations, but they will also look weak unless they have a strategic focus.
There is only one constitutional way to remove a president, and that is via impeachment.
What’s needed is a citizens’ impeachment inquiry, to begin on Trump’s first day in office.
The inquiry should keep a running dossier, and forward updates at least weekly to the House Judiciary Committee. There will be no lack of evidence.
The materials should be made public via a website. The inquiry should be conducted by a distinguished panel whose high-mindedness and credentials are, well, unimpeachable.
There needs to be a parallel public campaign, pressing for an official investigation. For those appalled by Trump, who wonder where to focus their efforts, here is something concrete―and more realistic than it may seem.
Trump has already committed grave misdeeds of the kind that the Constitutional founders described as high crimes and misdemeanors. With his commingling of his official duties and his personal enrichment, Trump will be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which unambiguously prohibits any person holding public office from profiting from gifts or financial benefits from “any king, prince or Foreign state.”
Trump, who has entangled his business interests with his political connections at home and abroad, has already declared his contempt for these Constitutional protections. He declared, “The law is totally on my side, meaning the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” Oh, yes he can, and this president will.
In his dalliance with Vladimir Putin, Trump’s actions are skirting treason. John Shattuck, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and former Washington legal director of the ACLU has pointed to the constitutional definition of treason: a crime committed by a person “owing allegiance to the United States who... adheres to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort.” By undermining further investigation or sanctions against the Russian manipulation of the 2016 election, Trump as president would be giving aid and comfort to Russian interference with American democracy.
There will be a lot more once Trump takes office. Trump will make grievous mistakes. If we are lucky, they will be political and policy mistakes, not the sort of nuclear miscalculation that leaves the planet a cinder. If the blunders and assaults against the Constitution are serious enough, even Republicans in the House, which needs to originate an impeachment inquiry, will begin having second thoughts.
For instance, Trump will very likely use agencies of government to punish political enemies. The Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon explicitly cited Nixon’s political misuse of the CIA, the FBI and the IRS.
It’s worth recalling the Nixon chronology. In two years, the idea of impeaching Nixon went from loony-left fantasy, to mainstream, to inevitable.
On May 9, 1972—before the Watergate break-in―my former boss, Congressman William Fitts Ryan of Manhattan, submitted the first resolution to impeach Nixon, H.Res. 975, mainly for the illegal bombing of Cambodia, other war crimes, and spying against American citizens.
The break-in occurred in June 1972. Woodward and Bernstein got busy that summer and fall. The Senate Watergate Committee did not start hearings until May 1973, and the official House impeachment inquiry only began in May 1974. It took time for evidence, public pressure, and political courage to build. Nixon finally resigned in August 1974, more than two years after the break-in.
In October 1973, when removing Nixon from office still seemed a fantasy, the ACLU’s Chuck Morgan published a book-length bill of particulars urging Nixon’s impeachment. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the eventual Articles of Impeachment nearly a year later.
Nixon was a vile president with a creepy personality, but he was also a student of history and a serious person. In the end, even Nixon acceded to court orders to turn over evidence.
Trump is far more of a menace than Nixon. Trump will commit impeachable offenses. There is no way to contain him other than removing him from office, before the damage to our democracy is irrevocable. The process of building the impeachment case needs to begin now.
Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School.
X
These moves, indicative of magical thinking, make Trump’s opposition look a lot weaker than it is―at a time when the stakes for the Republic could not be higher. There will also be marches and demonstrations, but they will also look weak unless they have a strategic focus.
There is only one constitutional way to remove a president, and that is via impeachment.
What’s needed is a citizens’ impeachment inquiry, to begin on Trump’s first day in office.
The inquiry should keep a running dossier, and forward updates at least weekly to the House Judiciary Committee. There will be no lack of evidence.
The materials should be made public via a website. The inquiry should be conducted by a distinguished panel whose high-mindedness and credentials are, well, unimpeachable.
There needs to be a parallel public campaign, pressing for an official investigation. For those appalled by Trump, who wonder where to focus their efforts, here is something concrete―and more realistic than it may seem.
Trump has already committed grave misdeeds of the kind that the Constitutional founders described as high crimes and misdemeanors. With his commingling of his official duties and his personal enrichment, Trump will be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which unambiguously prohibits any person holding public office from profiting from gifts or financial benefits from “any king, prince or Foreign state.”
Trump, who has entangled his business interests with his political connections at home and abroad, has already declared his contempt for these Constitutional protections. He declared, “The law is totally on my side, meaning the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” Oh, yes he can, and this president will.
In his dalliance with Vladimir Putin, Trump’s actions are skirting treason. John Shattuck, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and former Washington legal director of the ACLU has pointed to the constitutional definition of treason: a crime committed by a person “owing allegiance to the United States who... adheres to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort.” By undermining further investigation or sanctions against the Russian manipulation of the 2016 election, Trump as president would be giving aid and comfort to Russian interference with American democracy.
There will be a lot more once Trump takes office. Trump will make grievous mistakes. If we are lucky, they will be political and policy mistakes, not the sort of nuclear miscalculation that leaves the planet a cinder. If the blunders and assaults against the Constitution are serious enough, even Republicans in the House, which needs to originate an impeachment inquiry, will begin having second thoughts.
For instance, Trump will very likely use agencies of government to punish political enemies. The Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon explicitly cited Nixon’s political misuse of the CIA, the FBI and the IRS.
It’s worth recalling the Nixon chronology. In two years, the idea of impeaching Nixon went from loony-left fantasy, to mainstream, to inevitable.
On May 9, 1972—before the Watergate break-in―my former boss, Congressman William Fitts Ryan of Manhattan, submitted the first resolution to impeach Nixon, H.Res. 975, mainly for the illegal bombing of Cambodia, other war crimes, and spying against American citizens.
The break-in occurred in June 1972. Woodward and Bernstein got busy that summer and fall. The Senate Watergate Committee did not start hearings until May 1973, and the official House impeachment inquiry only began in May 1974. It took time for evidence, public pressure, and political courage to build. Nixon finally resigned in August 1974, more than two years after the break-in.
In October 1973, when removing Nixon from office still seemed a fantasy, the ACLU’s Chuck Morgan published a book-length bill of particulars urging Nixon’s impeachment. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the eventual Articles of Impeachment nearly a year later.
Nixon was a vile president with a creepy personality, but he was also a student of history and a serious person. In the end, even Nixon acceded to court orders to turn over evidence.
Trump is far more of a menace than Nixon. Trump will commit impeachable offenses. There is no way to contain him other than removing him from office, before the damage to our democracy is irrevocable. The process of building the impeachment case needs to begin now.
Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School.
X
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Donald Trump is my ex-husband
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/14/1580837/-Donald-Trump-is-my-ex-husband?detail=emailclassic&link_id=3&can_id=ea7a82e12e8e6d519ea471f1107c4381&source=email-trumps-wife-posing-with-gun-thong-and-boots-and-they-had-a-problem-with-michelles-bare-arms-3&email_referrer=trumps-wife-posing-with-gun-thong-and-boots-and-they-had-a-problem-with-michelles-bare-arms-3&email_subject=trumps-wife-posing-with-gun-thong-and-boots-and-they-had-a-problem-with-michelles-bare-arms
This will tear your heart out. How on god's earth did this happen? This is SO dangerous. It was dangerous to Trump's ex-wife certainly but it will be worse for a nation and the world. He needs to GET OUT. Yes, even Pence is better. He's horrible policy wise but at least I think he will not start a nuclear war!
This will tear your heart out. How on god's earth did this happen? This is SO dangerous. It was dangerous to Trump's ex-wife certainly but it will be worse for a nation and the world. He needs to GET OUT. Yes, even Pence is better. He's horrible policy wise but at least I think he will not start a nuclear war!
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
While Democrats Slept
I suggest Republican politics in our time is dangerous to those who are the poorest and most vulnerable in our nation. It is even dangerous to the world by its denial of human contribution to climate change to which 98% of all scientists who are not part of the fossil fuel industry agree. Our parties have diverged in polar opposite directions -- Republican policy favors the 1% richest, dedicated to eliminating Wall Street oversight and regulation, erasing healthcare and the elimination of the so called entitlements of Social Security, Medicare (Medicaid) privatizing them risking middle class economic well being to economic recessions and depressions which history shows are the pitfalls of capitalism and are sure to come. The Democratic Party is dedicated to helping the poor, the disabled and the dispossessed to achieve our nation's promise of justice within the American Dream that has been denied them for so long. It is dedicated since FDR, when the economic times dictate, to allowing a needed government assist and hand up when necessary. The Democratic Party is dedicated to ensuring the civil rights of all of its citizens and is dedicated to reducing climate change by advocating not only for more fossil fuels but by strongly advocating for alternative energies and planet saving fuels which in turn will create a plethora of jobs. The Democratic Party is the Party of science. We believe in science and its ability to improve and save lives.
In view of that I believe we must strengthen the Democratic Party nationally by employing a 50 state strategy and by electing both young and experienced Democrats with academic and political ability like a Keith Ellison to shore up our base leading the Democratic National Committee and support a charismatic and articulate Tim Ryan from the all-important state of Ohio to, at some point, win the job as Speaker of the House. We MUST have solid leadership and Democrats must be ORGANIZED in a non argumentative style committed to even compromise among ourselves while never letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Moreover, we must, I think, mirror the modus operandi of our opposition and that is fill governorships as well as state and local legislatures with our own. Democrats should copy the Republican Party's playbook which depleted Democratic ranks through the gerrymandering of districts thereby filling them with Republican majorities. It was done with little notice or caring by Democrats across the nation. Now, we should, ourselves, stand strong and deny those Republicans in power EVERYTHING they want. Republicans in the numbers minority nationwide have won it all while Democrats slept. Republicans own the governors' seats, the state legislatures and even the courts all across the nation. Worse, they own the federal legislature of both houses of Congress and soon will hold the majority in the Supreme Court because of our nation's temporary insanity electing the least qualified and even a possibly mentally ill Republican candidate to the presidency. It is all hazardous to all of our health.
Worse, still, Republicans, used nefarious new Jim Crow tactics of voter suppression aimed against those persons who usually vote Democratic. These states that do that must be brought swiftly to justice by any and all legal means necessary even with SCOTUS weakening the Voting Rights Act. We must find a way. Republicans cannot and must not be allowed to get away with these tactics of injustice used against those who do not have the means to fight them. All Democrats in power and of means must do the fighting for our bretherin's rights that they cannot do on their own. Most of all Democrats need to ensure our constituency GETS OUT TO VOTE. Opposing racism and access to economic ascendance is our Party's promise and we should fulfill it in our time. Doing anything less is unacceptable as our nation's democratic survival depends upon it. RESISTANCE to Republican Trumpian crackpot politics of demagoguery is mandatory.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Trump Taps His Race-Baiting Propagandist To Write Inauguration Speech
It just keeps getting better and better .... UGH disgusting. So this is what this nation has become?
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/26/1614612/-Trump-Taps-His-Race-Baiting-Propagandist-To-Write-Inauguration-Speech?detail=email&link_id=5&can_id=ea7a82e12e8e6d519ea471f1107c4381&source=email-why-trump-voters-are-not-welcome-in-my-house-this-holiday&email_referrer=why-trump-voters-are-not-welcome-in-my-house-this-holiday___146631&email_subject=trump-taps-his-race-baiting-propagandist-to-write-inauguration-speech
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/26/1614612/-Trump-Taps-His-Race-Baiting-Propagandist-To-Write-Inauguration-Speech?detail=email&link_id=5&can_id=ea7a82e12e8e6d519ea471f1107c4381&source=email-why-trump-voters-are-not-welcome-in-my-house-this-holiday&email_referrer=why-trump-voters-are-not-welcome-in-my-house-this-holiday___146631&email_subject=trump-taps-his-race-baiting-propagandist-to-write-inauguration-speech
Praying for Time
"Because of the media, the way the world is perceived is as a place where resources and time are running out. We’re taught that you have to grab what you can before it’s gone. It’s almost as if there isn’t time for compassion. ... No event inspired the song, just life in general,’’ Michael said at the time. “It’s my way of trying to figure out why it’s so hard for people to be good to each other.”-- GEORGE MICHAEL
While discussing “Praying for Time,” in Huffington Post the writer states "Michael’s first single off the album, which included the line “the rich declare themselves poor” and talked of people trying desperately to keep hold of their possessions, Michael expressed his fear that the modern media were making people paranoid of one another, rather than worried about one another." The interview of George Michael articulates some of the most profound thoughts -- linked below -- that present, I believe, apt descriptions of our time. He gives, I think, credible rationales for the sorry state of man and iterates profound truths about our human condition in our time better than I ever could. I urge you to read it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
While discussing “Praying for Time,” in Huffington Post the writer states "Michael’s first single off the album, which included the line “the rich declare themselves poor” and talked of people trying desperately to keep hold of their possessions, Michael expressed his fear that the modern media were making people paranoid of one another, rather than worried about one another." The interview of George Michael articulates some of the most profound thoughts -- linked below -- that present, I believe, apt descriptions of our time. He gives, I think, credible rationales for the sorry state of man and iterates profound truths about our human condition in our time better than I ever could. I urge you to read it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Monday, December 26, 2016
A Thank You Note to Hillary -- and My Comment
Stuff that Needed to be Said by John Pavlovitz -- see link below
My Comment:
This makes me cry. I am STILL so sad, so sickened, so angry about the object of my hate and disgust that I wish so I could shake off the shackles of this nation's racist chains and leave but in truth there is nowhere for me to go even IF I physically could. This is an exceptional nation? I suspect not at least not now.
I am scared, filled with rage and fear that each day becomes a challenge to endure when I read things like Trump will have 100 judicial appointments to fill and he plans to change the trajectory of the judiciary for at least the amount of time I have on earth. Our cause was SO close; it was SO close I could taste it snatched from my tongue by a poisonous asp. If I personally feel this way I cannot even imagine how Hillary must feel. Her life's dream gone in a nightmarish insane instant by thug, a bully, a malevolent maggot and do overs impossible to attain.
Yes, I thank her and hope she keeps in mind the 3 million more of us who loathe the character of Trump and his success but would have rather loved a win for her!
My Comment:
This makes me cry. I am STILL so sad, so sickened, so angry about the object of my hate and disgust that I wish so I could shake off the shackles of this nation's racist chains and leave but in truth there is nowhere for me to go even IF I physically could. This is an exceptional nation? I suspect not at least not now.
I am scared, filled with rage and fear that each day becomes a challenge to endure when I read things like Trump will have 100 judicial appointments to fill and he plans to change the trajectory of the judiciary for at least the amount of time I have on earth. Our cause was SO close; it was SO close I could taste it snatched from my tongue by a poisonous asp. If I personally feel this way I cannot even imagine how Hillary must feel. Her life's dream gone in a nightmarish insane instant by thug, a bully, a malevolent maggot and do overs impossible to attain.
Yes, I thank her and hope she keeps in mind the 3 million more of us who loathe the character of Trump and his success but would have rather loved a win for her!
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Happy Hanukah -- on my new keyboard
Yes, I am sending this on my new keyboard my very generous
partner gave me for Hanukah. Apropos to that this is my first post on
it and I link it below to a Hanukah song.
I happen to love
Jewish music because invariably it is composed in a minor key even when
the song is about joyous celebration as this one is. A minor key has a
sadness woven into it and I believe it translates to the difficult and
often sad journey the Jewish people have had to take throughout a long
and tortured history.
Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. If you pray for anything pray for peace!
https://youtu.be/XTdcLe0btiY
The Real History Of Hanukkah Is More Complicated Than You Thought
I
thought this link below that was on Huffington was so interesting. It
gives what I think is a true historical account of the rationale of
Hanukah over and above the religious myth that is perpetrated and
surrounds ALL religious holidays. It gives one an intellectual
perspective and the ability to discern fact from fiction.
One can surely do the same for Christianity and all other religious faiths. Faith means that one must accept stories handed down from generation to generation that have absolutely no proof of their veracity. I cannot do that and it is why though I love my own Jewish culture and its symbols I am a cultural and secular Jew but not a ritualistically religious one.
I cannot accept things without proof simply because one "authority" says one has to. I say no I do not have to. Faith obviates ones quest for truth by alleviating the perpetrator of faith the burden of proving what he says exists because he, of course, cannot prove it.
I link the history around Hanukah which is to me much more fascinating than merely the traditional celebration of the Hanukah story and involves Hellenistic or Greek culture spreading its influence into Jerusalem. It had a profound affect on many Jews of that age much like assimilation has done to Jews in our era. We absorb the culture in which we live, we intermarry and the faith becomes diluted. We can see from this account that is exactly what ultimately the more traditional Jews of that age feared and why they went to war over it with those Jews in their community who took on Greek culture and even its deities. It is, I think, a historically truer and realistic explanation of the holiday celebrated today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
One can surely do the same for Christianity and all other religious faiths. Faith means that one must accept stories handed down from generation to generation that have absolutely no proof of their veracity. I cannot do that and it is why though I love my own Jewish culture and its symbols I am a cultural and secular Jew but not a ritualistically religious one.
I cannot accept things without proof simply because one "authority" says one has to. I say no I do not have to. Faith obviates ones quest for truth by alleviating the perpetrator of faith the burden of proving what he says exists because he, of course, cannot prove it.
I link the history around Hanukah which is to me much more fascinating than merely the traditional celebration of the Hanukah story and involves Hellenistic or Greek culture spreading its influence into Jerusalem. It had a profound affect on many Jews of that age much like assimilation has done to Jews in our era. We absorb the culture in which we live, we intermarry and the faith becomes diluted. We can see from this account that is exactly what ultimately the more traditional Jews of that age feared and why they went to war over it with those Jews in their community who took on Greek culture and even its deities. It is, I think, a historically truer and realistic explanation of the holiday celebrated today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Barack Obama's remarks at his last White House Hanukkah party are just exceptional
My Comment: The
academically excellent President Obama said words below that
brought tears to my eyes. Mr. President, there is an
emptiness in my soul, a hole in my heart because you are leaving us for
a private life and entrusting this presidency to a man without a heart
and a body filled with hate. I LOVE you, Mr. President, and will love
you until my
days end on earth. Thank you for all you and Michele have done, all
the abuse you have taken with dignity that your adversaries did not and
could
not possess. Thank you, Mr. President, for being you!
The President's remarks are below:
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, starts late this year—not until Dec. 24. (The Jewish holidays, tied to the lunar Hebrew calendar, always seem to be either early or late—never on time.) But on Wednesday, Barack and Michelle Obama hosted their final Hanukkah party at the White House, and the president shared a reflection on the meaning of the holiday with his guests. His words were stunning and brought tears to my eyes.
In this harrowing moment, when religious minorities, especially Jews and Muslims, are the open targets of a campaign of hatred instigated by the president-elect, Obama’s message means so much to me, and I hope to you as well. It’s hard to know which parts to excerpt, but these passages moved me greatly:
This is the season that we appreciate the many miracles, large and small, that have graced our lives throughout generations, and to recognize that the most meaningful among them is our freedom. The first chapter of the Hanukkah story was written 22 centuries ago, when rulers banned religious rituals and persecuted Jews who dared to observe their faith. Which is why today we are asked not only to light the menorah, but to proudly display it—to publicize the mitzvah. […]
Everybody in America can understand the spirit of this tradition. Proudly practicing our religion, whatever it might be—and defending the rights of others to do the same—that's our common creed. That's what families from coast to coast confirm when they place their menorah in the window—not to share the candles' glow with just your family, but also with your community and with your neighbors.
The story of Hanukkah, the story of the Jewish people, the story of perseverance—these are one and the same. Elie Wiesel taught us that lesson probably better than just about anybody. In one of his memories of the Holocaust, Elie watched a fellow prisoner trade his daily ration of bread for some simple materials with which to piece together a makeshift menorah. And he wrote that he couldn't believe the sacrifices this man was making to observe the holidays. A stunned Elie asked him, "Hanukkah in Auschwitz?" And the man replied, "Especially in Auschwitz." [...]
Through centuries of exile and persecution, and even the genocide of families like the Wiesels endured, the Hanukkah candles have been kindled. Each wick an answer to the wicked. Each light a signal to the world that yours is an inextinguishable faith.
Jewish leaders from the Maccabees to the Wiesels, to the college students who proudly sing Hebrew songs on campus, reaffirm our belief that light still drives out darkness, and freedom still needs fighters.Each wick an answer to the wicked. So they have been for two thousand years, and so they will be this year as well.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Trumps on a Plane -- Confronting Ivanka
A passenger was removed from a JetBlue
flight after confronting Ivanka Trump, who was on the same flight, with
a tirade. My thought as an ardent Democrat emphatically progressive is
why waste one's intense protest on something that will do nothing but
add to those who support the illness of Trump while getting oneself
arrested and removed from the place of protest. In addition to that, the
man perpetrating the incident will now have to hire an attorney, pay
lots of cash and IF -- I say IF -- he gets off will be relegated to a
watch list they I am sure, as I write this, probably have his name on
now. There is very little return on the investment one makes to
personally confront and protest any of the Trumps.
The goal instead should be to join permanent protests or create organizations of like-minded people and scream that we are MAD AS HELL and are not going to take it anymore and then GET OUT AND VOTE DEMOCRAT like your life depends upon it which it does. That can and should be perfected with legal, nonviolent and intense tactics. Most all else especially violent or aggressive protest works to the detriment of our cause.
The violence perpetrated in 1968 by radicals on the left at the Democratic convention got us exactly nothing and, in fact, did quite the opposite the effects of which we experience to this day. It created the beginnings of a rightwingnut mass movement -- the so called "moral majority" -- and added to Republican ranks by permanently incorporating Dixicrats and other conservatives to elect the uber crook Nixon. That movement has been waxing more extremist in our time allowing heretofore fringe violent right wing malevolent nativists and other neo-Nazi-like elements of the so called Alt Right into their ranks.
Violent outbursts on the left, though I agree with the substance of their protest, will do NOTHING to achieve our goal of ENDING the right wing nativist extremist madness that has gripped our nation by the election of Trump with the potential of ending life on this planet as we know it through climate change or the horror of Trumpinsanity nuclear war.
The politics and presidency of Trump will work against those who were responsible for his incomprehensible election as much as it will affect everyone else who is not a member in good standing of the 1% wealthiest in this nation. Republicans will leave the middle class and the poor ultimately in due time with nothing -- no home, no money, no job, some forced to live on the street with no health insurance and many will die. Our national debt will soar as tax cuts are given to those who should be paying more and the military industrial complex will reap a fortune. The debt will be on the backs of the middle class where it has been for decades. Republicans want, as the billionaire Leona Helmsey termed us, "the little people" to pay taxes while they take it all including our measly Social Security check for which we worked, our access to healthcare and to Medicare or Medicaid for the poor. Pick your poison and Republicons are exactly about doing any or all of that. Confronting Ivanka Trump on an airline will do exactly nothing for our cause!
The goal instead should be to join permanent protests or create organizations of like-minded people and scream that we are MAD AS HELL and are not going to take it anymore and then GET OUT AND VOTE DEMOCRAT like your life depends upon it which it does. That can and should be perfected with legal, nonviolent and intense tactics. Most all else especially violent or aggressive protest works to the detriment of our cause.
The violence perpetrated in 1968 by radicals on the left at the Democratic convention got us exactly nothing and, in fact, did quite the opposite the effects of which we experience to this day. It created the beginnings of a rightwingnut mass movement -- the so called "moral majority" -- and added to Republican ranks by permanently incorporating Dixicrats and other conservatives to elect the uber crook Nixon. That movement has been waxing more extremist in our time allowing heretofore fringe violent right wing malevolent nativists and other neo-Nazi-like elements of the so called Alt Right into their ranks.
Violent outbursts on the left, though I agree with the substance of their protest, will do NOTHING to achieve our goal of ENDING the right wing nativist extremist madness that has gripped our nation by the election of Trump with the potential of ending life on this planet as we know it through climate change or the horror of Trumpinsanity nuclear war.
The politics and presidency of Trump will work against those who were responsible for his incomprehensible election as much as it will affect everyone else who is not a member in good standing of the 1% wealthiest in this nation. Republicans will leave the middle class and the poor ultimately in due time with nothing -- no home, no money, no job, some forced to live on the street with no health insurance and many will die. Our national debt will soar as tax cuts are given to those who should be paying more and the military industrial complex will reap a fortune. The debt will be on the backs of the middle class where it has been for decades. Republicans want, as the billionaire Leona Helmsey termed us, "the little people" to pay taxes while they take it all including our measly Social Security check for which we worked, our access to healthcare and to Medicare or Medicaid for the poor. Pick your poison and Republicons are exactly about doing any or all of that. Confronting Ivanka Trump on an airline will do exactly nothing for our cause!
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Beautiful
Things political are devastating me so I'm pulling away from the most destructive politics that I cannot fathom. If I lived to be 100 I would NEVER have predicted this. So for those of you who feel as deeply as I do about humane civil human rights and what has happened to destroy such hard fought for change, who care about how your children will navigate what soon will be .... well I won't go there. A wonderful friend send me the following to make me realize just how beautiful the world is. We must appreciate it and all we love while we can.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/auSo1MyWf8g?rel=0
McDonald's McTrump
Sent to me by an FB friend:
Thoughts from a very good friend of mine, who is a senior loan originator in CA.
'My business is down 90% because of interest rate hikes due to salivating Wall Street traders eager to cash in on Trump's deregulating. When stocks go up (to hedge ostensibly against inflation), then investors take money out of the 10 Year Bond market, which drives interest rates lower. I will need to retrench and strategize in 2017. It will be twice the work.
I think, from all the financial websites that I read daily, that this A-Hole Trump is going to ultimately bring this country down to its knees. His policies strongly allow the rich to 'loot' the system. The poor and medium income people are going to suffer tremendously.
With everything that he is promising, I see that the exact 'opposite' is going to happen. Medical fees will skyrocket, wages will be depressed, and there will be fewer jobs than what Obama created. The environment, education, women's rights, etc. will all suffer.
The real risk is his 'bull in a china shop' mentality in foreign affairs. This asshole will most definitely get the US into a major conflict. It will be MAJOR. He continues to 'double down' with his stupidity.
All the people that voted for this con man will finally see what they've done. It will be too late. This will take 1.5- 2 years to fully manifest. The best options will be to buy gold.
In Israel, just as in all his picks for Cabinet and other posts, he will fuck this up as well. I don't know, however, if there will ever be a 'two state' resolution as the Palestinians continue to trust leaders that lie and cheat (sort of like a bunch of Trumps). They can't even recognize Israel as able to exist. However, Netanyahu is too much of an aggressive hawk when it comes to new settlements.
The main issue with Trump, I feel, is his blind ignorance in international affairs and that you cannot treat country leaders as you would in business transactions. There will be major repercussions against the US. It will not be pretty. We will all suffer.
People today want fast results. I call Trump the "McDonalds President'. He's fast food with no redeeming value; no nutrition. Yet hes' the most marketed. People don't realize that he leads to obesity and health problems.
It's just like Floyd Mayweather, the boxer. He had a reality TV show for a couple of years. He was/is an excellent fighter. However when you ask people, especially millennials, who the 'greatest fighter of all time' was, a majority said that it was Mayweather. They had no memory nor reason to research any other fighters from 20-50 years back. No memory nor desire to eat except what is fed to them.
In this case, we are knocking on the door of WWIII. It's in tandem with Dutarte, Ergodan, what's happening in Italy, and other countries - populism + strongmen. It's a direct comparative to 1937-1938. We're going up shit's creek. It's best to live the next 2-3 years out as best as possible before the meltdown happens."
Thoughts from a very good friend of mine, who is a senior loan originator in CA.
'My business is down 90% because of interest rate hikes due to salivating Wall Street traders eager to cash in on Trump's deregulating. When stocks go up (to hedge ostensibly against inflation), then investors take money out of the 10 Year Bond market, which drives interest rates lower. I will need to retrench and strategize in 2017. It will be twice the work.
I think, from all the financial websites that I read daily, that this A-Hole Trump is going to ultimately bring this country down to its knees. His policies strongly allow the rich to 'loot' the system. The poor and medium income people are going to suffer tremendously.
With everything that he is promising, I see that the exact 'opposite' is going to happen. Medical fees will skyrocket, wages will be depressed, and there will be fewer jobs than what Obama created. The environment, education, women's rights, etc. will all suffer.
The real risk is his 'bull in a china shop' mentality in foreign affairs. This asshole will most definitely get the US into a major conflict. It will be MAJOR. He continues to 'double down' with his stupidity.
All the people that voted for this con man will finally see what they've done. It will be too late. This will take 1.5- 2 years to fully manifest. The best options will be to buy gold.
In Israel, just as in all his picks for Cabinet and other posts, he will fuck this up as well. I don't know, however, if there will ever be a 'two state' resolution as the Palestinians continue to trust leaders that lie and cheat (sort of like a bunch of Trumps). They can't even recognize Israel as able to exist. However, Netanyahu is too much of an aggressive hawk when it comes to new settlements.
The main issue with Trump, I feel, is his blind ignorance in international affairs and that you cannot treat country leaders as you would in business transactions. There will be major repercussions against the US. It will not be pretty. We will all suffer.
People today want fast results. I call Trump the "McDonalds President'. He's fast food with no redeeming value; no nutrition. Yet hes' the most marketed. People don't realize that he leads to obesity and health problems.
It's just like Floyd Mayweather, the boxer. He had a reality TV show for a couple of years. He was/is an excellent fighter. However when you ask people, especially millennials, who the 'greatest fighter of all time' was, a majority said that it was Mayweather. They had no memory nor reason to research any other fighters from 20-50 years back. No memory nor desire to eat except what is fed to them.
In this case, we are knocking on the door of WWIII. It's in tandem with Dutarte, Ergodan, what's happening in Italy, and other countries - populism + strongmen. It's a direct comparative to 1937-1938. We're going up shit's creek. It's best to live the next 2-3 years out as best as possible before the meltdown happens."
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
James Comey for prison: warrant he smeared Hillary Clinton with is now public, and it’s a sham -- linked
READ THE LINK BELOW. IT WILL MAKE YOU SICK. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED AND THIS UTTER TREASONOUS FBI DIRECTOR COMEY SUPPOSEDLY KNOWN FOR HIS ETHICS HAD NONE AS HE SCREWED HILLARY AND THE NATION.
Sleep well Comey as you take our nation to the brink of disaster with a know nothing narcissist psychopath occupying the most powerful position in the nation arguably the world!
What
could be more treasonous?!
http://www.palmerreport.com/
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
China Returns U.S. Underwater Drone Taken From South China Sea--How an unfit president-elect responds and why our lives are at risk
China’s seizure of the unmanned underwater vehicle triggered a diplomatic protest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-returns-us-drone_us_5858c3bae4b0b3ddfd8e7ff2
Bloomberg: Trump slammed the Chinese navy’s capture of the vehicle in a message to his 17.4 million Twitter followers.
“China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters -- rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act,” Trump wrote Saturday hours after the Chinese government said it had been in touch with the U.S. military about the incident.
In a follow-up Twitter message, the president-elect said: “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back -- let them keep it!”
My Comment
While Obama was quietly negotiating with China for the release of the drone so as to not escalate the incident further our illustrious president-elect Trump was Twittering away like a kid whose toy was stolen protests "let them keep it" in a his own inimitable snarly way.
We are in deep trouble. The president elect is hold up in Trump tower NYC at taxpayer expense not using the Washington facilities made just for a presidential transition also at taxpayer expense while he keeps the press out because it is a private place doncha know! I wonder why. Answer: He does not want to answer questions from the press. Is this how it will be for four more years or god forbid eight assuming our democracy survives and we survive as a nation along with it ?
He is so ugly in character, so cruel, so mean and so stupid I cannot even breathe when I think how dangerous he is!
How Republics End
Many people are reacting to the rise of Trumpism and nativist movements in Europe by reading history — specifically, the history of the 1930s. And they are right to do so. It takes willful blindness not to see the parallels between the rise of fascism and our current political nightmare.
But the ’30s isn’t the only era with lessons to teach us. Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the ancient world. Initially, I have to admit, I was doing it for entertainment and as a refuge from news that gets worse with each passing day. But I couldn’t help noticing the contemporary resonances of some Roman history — specifically, the tale of how the Roman Republic fell.
Here’s what I learned: Republican institutions don’t protect against tyranny when powerful people start defying political norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can flourish even while maintaining a republican facade.
On the first point: Roman politics involved fierce competition among ambitious men. But for centuries that competition was constrained by some seemingly unbreakable rules. Here’s what Adrian Goldsworthy’s “In the Name of Rome” says: “However important it was for an individual to win fame and add to his and his family’s reputation, this should always be subordinated to the good of the Republic … no disappointed Roman politician sought the aid of a foreign power.”
America used to be like that, with prominent senators declaring that we must stop “partisan politics at the water’s edge.” But now we have a president-elect who openly asked Russia to help smear his opponent, and all indications are that the bulk of his party was and is just fine with that. (A new poll shows that Republican approval of Vladimir Putin has surged even though — or, more likely, precisely because — it has become clear that Russian intervention played an important role in the U.S. election.) Winning domestic political struggles is all that matters, the good of the republic be damned.
And what happens to the republic as a result? Famously, on paper the transformation of Rome from republic to empire never happened. Officially, imperial Rome was still ruled by a Senate that just happened to defer to the emperor, whose title originally just meant “commander,” on everything that mattered. We may not go down exactly the same route — although are we even sure of that? — but the process of destroying democratic substance while preserving forms is already underway.
Consider what just happened in North Carolina. The voters made a clear choice, electing a Democratic governor. The Republican legislature didn’t openly overturn the result — not this time, anyway — but it effectively stripped the governor’s office of power, ensuring that the will of the voters wouldn’t actually matter.
Combine this sort of thing with continuing efforts to disenfranchise or at least discourage voting by minority groups, and you have the potential making of a de facto one-party state: one that maintains the fiction of democracy, but has rigged the game so that the other side can never win.
Why is this happening? I’m not asking why white working-class voters support politicians whose policies will hurt them — I’ll be coming back to that issue in future columns. My question, instead, is why one party’s politicians and officials no longer seem to care about what we used to think were essential American values. And let’s be clear: This is a Republican story, not a case of “both sides do it.”
So what’s driving this story? I don’t think it’s truly ideological. Supposedly free-market politicians are already discovering that crony capitalism is fine as long as it involves the right cronies. It does have to do with class warfare — redistribution from the poor and the middle class to the wealthy is a consistent theme of all modern Republican policies. But what directly drives the attack on democracy, I’d argue, is simple careerism on the part of people who are apparatchiks within a system insulated from outside pressures by gerrymandered districts, unshakable partisan loyalty, and lots and lots of plutocratic financial support.
For such people, toeing the party line and defending the party’s rule are all that matters. And if they sometimes seem consumed with rage at anyone who challenges their actions, well, that’s how hacks always respond when called on their hackery.
One thing all of this makes clear is that the sickness of American politics didn’t begin with Donald Trump, any more than the sickness of the Roman Republic began with Caesar. The erosion of democratic foundations has been underway for decades, and there’s no guarantee that we will ever be able to recover.
But if there is any hope of redemption, it will have to begin with a clear recognition of how bad things are. American democracy is very much on the edge.
Monday, December 19, 2016
How the Trump Stole America
By John Pavlovitz
In a land where the states are united, they claim,
in a sky-scraping tower adorned with his name,
lived a terrible, horrible, devious chump,
the bright orange miscreant known as the Trump.
This Trump he was mean, such a mean little man,
with the tiniest heart and two tinier hands,
and a thin set of lips etched in permanent curl,
and a sneer and a scowl and contempt for the world.
He looked down from his perch and he grinned ear to ear,
and he thought, “I could steal the election this year!
It’d be rather simple, it’s so easily won,
I’ll just make them believe that their best days are done!
Yes, I’ll make them believe that it’s all gone to Hell,
and I’ll be Jerk Messiah and their souls they will sell.
And I’ll use lots of words disconnected from truth,
but I’ll say them with style so they won’t ask for proof.
I’ll speak random platitudes, phrases, and such,
They’re so raised on fake news that it won’t matter much!
They won’t question the how to, the what, why, or when,
I will make their America great once again!”
The Trump told them to fear, they should fear he would say,
“They’ve all come for your jobs, they’ll all take them away.
You should fear every Muslim and Mexican too,
every brown, black, and tan one, everyone who votes blue.”
And he fooled all the Christians, he fooled them indeed,
He just trotted out Jesus, that’s all Jesus folk need.
And celebrity preachers they crowned him as king,
Tripping over themselves just to kiss the Trump’s ring.
And he spoke only lies just as if they were true,
Until they believed all of those lies were true too.
He repeated and Tweeted and he blustered and spit,
And he mislead and fibbed—and he just made up sh*t.
And the media laughed but they printed each line,
thinking “He’ll never win, in the end we’ll be fine.”
So they chased every headline, bold typed every claim,
‘Till the fake news and real news they looked just the same.
And the scared folk who listened, they devoured each word,
Yes, they ate it all up every word that they heard,
petrified that their freedom was under attack,
trusting Trump he would take their America back.
from the gays and from ISIS, he’d take it all back,
Take it back from the Democrats, fat cats, and blacks.
And so hook, line, and sinker they all took the bait,
all his lies about making America great.
Now the Pantsuited One she was smart and prepared,
she was brilliant and steady but none of them cared,
no they cared not to see all the work that she’d done,
or the fact that the Trump had not yet done thing one.
They could only shout “Emails!”, yes “Emails!” they’d shout,
because Fox News had told them—and Fox News had clout.
And the Pantsuited One she was slandered no end,
and a lie became truth she could never defend.
And the Trump watched it all go according to plan—
a strong woman eclipsed by an insecure man.
And November the 8th arrived, finally it came,
like a slow-moving storm but it came just the same.
And Tuesday became Wednesday as those days will do,
And the night turned to morning and the nightmare came true,
With millions of non-voters still in their beds,
Yes, the Trump he had done it, just like he had said.
And the Trumpers they trumped, how they trumped when he won,
All the racists and bigots; deplorable ones,
they crawled out from the woodwork, came out to raise Hell,
they came out to be hateful and hurtful as well.
With slurs and with road signs, with spray paint and Tweets,
with death threats to neighbors and taunts on the street.
And the grossest of grossness they hurled on their peers,
while the Trump he said zilch—for the first time in years.
But he Tweeted at Hamilton, he Tweeted the Times,
And he trolled Alec Baldwin a few hundred times,
and he pouted a pout like a petulant kid,
thinking this is what Presidents actually did,
thinking he could still be a perpetual jerk,
terrified to learn he had to actually work,
work for every American, not just for a few,
not just for the white ones—there was much more to do.
He now worked for the Muslims and Mexicans too,
for the brown, black, and tan ones, and the ones who vote blue.
They were all now his bosses, now they all had a say,
and those nasty pantsuited ones were here to stay.
And the Trump he soon realized that he didn’t win,
He had gotten the thing—and the thing now had him.
And it turned out the Trump was a little too late,
for America was already more than quite great,
not because of the sameness, the opposite’s true,
It’s greatness far more than just red, white, and blue,
It’s straight, gay, and female—it’s Gentile and Jew,
It’s Transgender and Christian and Atheist too.
It’s Asians, Caucasians of every kind,
The disabled and abled, the deaf and the blind,
It’s immigrants, Muslims, and brave refugees,
It’s Liberals with bleeding hearts fixed to their sleeves.
And we are all staying, we’re staying right here,
and we’ll be the great bane of the Trump for four years.
And we’ll be twice as loud as the loudness of hate,
be the greatness that makes our America great.
And the Trump’s loudest boasts they won’t ever obscure,
over two million more of us—voted for her.
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