Monday, November 21, 2016

Donald Trump has reinvigorated racism and hate


I recently did a post on Donald Trump's use of racism to fuel the many racists out there looking for a new leader.They found him and, unfortunately, he will be leading the most powerful country in the world in less than two months. In that post, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reports that over "300 incidents of harassment or intimidation have been reported following Donald Trump's election Tuesday [Nov. 8] night."

Then on Saturday, The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 700 cases of hateful harassment or intimidation in the United States since Election Day on November 8. An additional 400 cases in less than two weeks. Many have accused Trump of fostering xenophobia and particularly Islamophobia, which stems from his earlier statements re. banning Muslims from the U.S., later establishing a "radical Islam commission."

Then, abruptly, the President-elect sobs he is "so saddened" to hear this is going on and tells the public on "60 Minutes" to stop it. I am not a physicist, but what Donald Trump has brought forth in hate and racism during his campaign now appears to have achieved the form of perpetual motion, perhaps unstoppable. Swastikas and the word "Go Trump" were painted on playground equipment at Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn, according to the New York police

New York City Councilman Brad Lander, who represents that part of Brooklyn, wrote on Twitter: "Yet more hatred & anti-Semitism from Trump supporters." In Denver, a transgender woman's car was spray-painted early Wednesday morning with a swastika and the words 'Trump' and 'die,' among other derogatory terms." "Heil Trump," an anti-gay slur and a swastika was painted on the side of the church, Saint David's Episcopal, in Beanblossom, Indiana.

I think you get the idea. Just in case you don't, all you uneducated rednecks out there have elected someone to the highest office in the land that is capable of starting Charley Manson's Helter Skelter. Trump didn't take his followers to the mountains of California like Charley did, that would be too bizarre for even him--besides, Melania would never camp out--the presidential contender somehow got to them in the corn fields, cotton fields, cattle farms, etc. 

But you did it and we all have to live with it. I'll leave you with this:
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Trump puts all his "deplorable" cabinet picks in one basket


Donald Trump Cabinet
Hillary Clinton said it first during the election campaign, “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Right, maybe more. Then John Dingell picked up on it Friday with this statement: "Forget the basket. The truly deplorable ones end up in the Cabinet." As the longest member to serve in Congress, Dingell has seen a few and has the credentials to comment on Trump's Cabinet.

Let's start with Jeff Sessions, the new Attorney General to be, the first sitting Senator to endorse Trump. Payback time again, a la Reince Priebus? Known and confirmed racist, he denounced the 1965 Voting Rights Act and labeled the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP "un-American." He thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he found out they smoked pot. Sessions was once turned down for a court appointment due to his racist comments.

And it doesn't get any better. Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn has been selected for national security adviser. First of all, he's an arrogant jerk, and we want him in charge of our intelligence? His ties with Russia, and especially Putin, are questionable. Especially since his visit to Russia where he attended dinners in relation to Russian propaganda, sitting with Putin at the head table. In interviews, he comes off as a loose cannon, but, then, cut in the mold of...

Mitt Romney for Sec. of State is reaching but Rudy Giuliani is ludicrous. The potential Sec. of State claimed no terror attacks happened "before Obama came along." Then, when reminded of 9/11, said he failed to remember the worst terror attack in U.S. history, because of the brevity he likes to use while on the campaign stump for Donald Trump. And then there were his famous five howlers topping even Katrina Pierson you have to see here.

The rest is a mish mosh of unknowns, has-beens, a smattering of losers with a few at least partially qualified. There's Bob Corker rep. from Tennessee, Nikki Haley, So. Carolina Gov., JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the wingnut that penned the underhanded letter to the leaders of Iran that sparked the trending hashtag #47Traitors. The latter is but one example of what Trump is capable of, but, unfortunately not all.
 


One more example of Donald Trump's ongoing deception



'Look at me world, I saved the Ford plant from going to Mexico,' was the war cry from a president-elect who continues to scam the public even after the election is over. Does it bring to mind the possibility that this narcissistic egomaniac is never satisfied with the status quo and must continue to heap adoration on himself? Will he ever be satisfied and get around to running this country? By the way, Ford never intended to move the plant to Mexico, confirmed by Ford.

Here's an example of blowhard Donald Trump's claim:
"Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky — no Mexico," he tweeted.
more...
"I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great state of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" he tweeted.
Christin Baker of Ford confirmed that Bill Ford spoke with President-elect Trump on Thursday talking basically about Ford's commitment to America. Then we learn that the Ford/Mexico fiasco was really over the rumor they would move Lincoln MKC production to the company's plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico. So much for the American commitment. Yes, it's a two sided dragon: can't trust what our incoming president says and can't trust corporate "America."

This now becomes a Bernie Sanders issue where all the good jobs are moving out of the country to take advantage of cheap labor. Ford has already committed $1.6 billion to its Mexico operations and that figure could grow with future plans. Bottom of the barrel Republican Mitch McConnell, who also happens to be Senate head, voted at least three times for corporate tax breaks that send jobs overseas. Those workers that didn't vote for Bernie should take note.








Saturday, November 19, 2016

What is "alt right" and what does it do?



Here is the definition of "alt-right":
The alt-right is a loose group of people with far right ideologies who reject mainstream conservatism in the United States.
Here is a recent headline by NBC News:
Analysis: Breitbart's Steve Bannon Leads the 'Alt Right' to the White House
Can't tell if that is a promise or a threat. Considering the incendiary and explosive politics of Steve Bannon at Breitbart, I would take it as a threat. To destroy this country in the next four years under Donald Trump. He is the President-elect's chief strategist and senior counselor, which indicates to me he is at the top of the decision-making process. Bloomberg News said:
"Steve Bannon is the most dangerous political operative in America."
Now can you see Reince Priebus locking horns with Bannon from the get-go?Steve Bannon was famous for his input to Trump for anti-immigration and especially anti-Muslim propaganda. He has also participated in an online-based counterculture movement associated with white nationalism. And now white nationalist leaders are praising Donald Trump's decision to name former Breitbart executive Steve Bannon as his chief strategist.

It also gets the approval of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke; he recently lost a bid for the U.S. Senate in Louisiana. White nationalist blogger Brad Griffin said :
"We're most excited though about the foreign policy implications of Bannon in the White House. We want to see our counterparts in Europe — starting in Austria and France — win their upcoming elections. We're hearing reports that Breitbart is expanding its operations in continental Europe and that is where our focus will be in 2017."
And with Putin as a good friend, do you think Donald Trump plans to conquer the world? 

Who the hell is Jared Kushner?



Of course we know he is Ivanka Trump's husband but what we don't know is what gives him all the qualifications to serve in the Trump administration, including a top security clearance. Reince Priebus has made the statement that Jared Kushner will be "very involved" in the White House. It is fairly certain that Kushner is responsible for the sacking of Chris Christie from the transition team because...
"then-U.S. Attorney Christie convicted Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, on a variety of charges including tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign contributions."
One might agree that his heritage gives him the necessary credentials for the job. Kushner was reportedly also instrumental in getting Christie taken out of contention for Vice President. Sounds to me like he has at least one of Donald's ears, but it isn't yet clear just how far this man will go. If he's anything like his father-in-law, and there is more to come from the family, looks like a huge case of White House nepotism. Kennedy had substance. Trump doesn't.

Kushner played a key role in the campaign but his future in the WH could hinge on a lot of things, one of them being:
"In 1993, a federal appeals court looked at the issue as part of a lawsuit over Hillary Clinton's role in the health care task force. The court didn't decide the question but strongly suggested that the White House staff is not a federal agency."
CNN also speculates on Kushner working as an unpaid adviser for the President, which would avoid the anti-nepotism law, but anyone in the Trump family working for free? I don't think so. How the "family affair" will play out is not clear at this point, but what is clear is that President-elect plans to keep his administration close to the vest. Worse than perhaps George W. Bush, the transparency of the new White House will no doubt be close to zero.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Trump(s) use White House to peddle jewelry, clothing, golf courses, etc.



There is already concern over the fact that rather than put his business holdings into a blind trust, Donald Trump is turning them over to his family. Only a phone call away, or, perhaps, a bedroom away in the White House. It shouldn't be a surprise, however, since they are hawking everything from $10,000 bracelets to the Trump Tower and have been for the last eighteen months. Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University, says:
"...public office is a public trust, that people are given the opportunity to serve in the government, not in order to line their pockets." In contrast, "...what may be developing is a president who sees this an opportunity to further his private brand and to permit his business to take very advantage of the opportunities given to him."
Although Congress could pass laws to establish guidelines for this --and we know that would take years and probably result in no decision --it is already being addressed in social media, like this blog, plus Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, to discourage the public from shopping at stores carrying Trump lines like Macy's and Nordstrom. The political pundits sort of anticipated this when, before the election, they predicted Trump was doing it just to further his brand.

What they weren't forecasting at the time was the fact that Trump would, in fact, win the election and extend the promotion of his brand in a four-year long campaign from the Rose Garden of the White House. Unless...


Trump "hate" message carries on after election



The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reports that over "300 incidents of harassment or intimidation have been reported following Donald Trump's election Tuesday night." And, according to NBC, the reports continue to come in mostly from K-12 schools and on university campuses. In many cases the Trump campaign was featured in the incident. It's bad enough that Trump's uneducated redneck adults do this but K-12 through college? Pathetic!

Messages like, "Trump Nation, Whites Only." Another, a white male threatens to set a female Muslim on fire. Again a message, along with a swastika, "Heil Trump" and "F-- Church" were spray painted on the walls of an Episcopal church. Back to the segregated South, "Colored" and "Whites Only" signs were placed above drinking fountains at First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Florida. "Make America White Again" message shortly after Trump victory.

The Huff Post reports on 13 incidents during the election when Donald Trump was an out-and-out racist. Among them:
  • He attacked Muslim Gold Star parents
  • In fact, discrimination against black people has been a pattern in his career
  • He refused to condemn the white supremacists who are campaigning for him
  • He condoned the beating of a Black Lives Matter protester
  • He stereotyped Jews and shared an anti-Semitic meme created by white supremacists
There are more you can read on the Huff Post and I feel certain that over the years and during the election there were more. The American public has to come to grips with the fact that they have elected a man to the presidency of the most powerful county in the world that is a confirmed lowlife. And, he's proud of it. Bernie Sanders says he will hold Trump accountable as I am sure the millions of Progressives will across the country. 

Bring on the impeachment.

Donald Trump Says He Will Be Indicted On Tuesday

  THAT'S TODAY... Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought the case to this point, now looking at a possible indictment. Trum...