Trump and the rough seas ahead - Have hope

I have so many friends who shared their personal stories with me when Trump won that horrific night. This is so unlike any other election in our generation. I've lost count of how many people told me they actually threw up. I never got that bad, but I was nauseous from crying. It took me days before I wasn't crying on the hour. 

I still cry, but I don't beat myself up about it when I do and I have also started to actively do things to keep myself from going over the edge into total gloom. 

I'm white, no kids with special needs, I'm a Spiritual Atheist, and I am straight, so I don't have a target on my back.

But I have been privy to private groups where members had to be talked out of suicide because they felt like life was going to be a living hell because of all of the open hatred... now emboldened by the election result. Those are the extreme cases of course, with most of us just feeling a range of emotions from complete rage to utter hopelessness. 

What I want to say to everyone is ... hang in there. And no, I won't post the Kitty hanging from the tree branch. 

Seek out Beauty

While you are hanging in there... allow yourself, give yourself permission... to feel it all. I truly believe that is what sets us apart from the hardened hearts. 

The trick.... is to balance it with things that lift you and remind you that we will get through this. And dare I say it... but maybe this is actually a good thing. 

One thing I know to be 100% true is that even when really horrible things happen, human kind always finds ways to deal with it. That's not to say that we won't go through hell. But maybe this issue of bigotry and hate and all that comes with it, HAD to be put on the table. No more hiding, no more turning a blind eye, no more pretending it wasn't real, no more avoiding the subject, no more being friends with people who you otherwise thought of as decent human beings just to be civil. A line has been drawn. Now you get to decide what side you are on.

There are so many good things to turn to when we face hardship in life. Friends and family, work you love, knowing how lucky we are compared to those who have nothing, there is a long list.

The simplest thing I find to help me cope, is to find a piece of music that lifts you spiritually. Music is soul food. It can say things in a way words can't always express. Lyrics are great and do serve a purpose especially when there is a deeper meaning. 

One of my favorite songs from U2 is Ordinary Love. The lyric of  "the sea throws rocks together, but time leaves us polished stones." 

For me, it means that even though we go through rough seas, it's those rough seas that throw us on the rocks and polish us, forge us ...  into something beautiful. During these dark days of Trump, I know there will be something beautiful to come from it at some point. Hang in there. 

Recounts and Russia - There may be hope

Well ... we made it through Thanksgiving dinner without anyone being a bit interested in politics. It was a welcome day off. 

 
Still riding on that wave of calm, today has given me a smidgen of hope that things may be falling into place to change the horrible outcome of the election. 



The hope I feel stems from two things mainly ... Jill Stien looking to fund a recount and the fact that Russia could possibly be involved in some behind the scenes antics. The Russian involvement alone could be a total game changer.

Then there is the question of Trump even being fit to be president, for a whole host of reasons. Top two on my list are the lack of any real political experience, which his supporters thought was a good thing, but could mean disaster for the country. And the second on my personal list, is his overall personality and demeanor. He displays traits which all seem to point to him being a full-fledged sociopath. 

Factor in that he doesn't even want to live at the White House and we know his family will not reside there. This causes all kinds of issues not only security wise, but add to that the shear cost over the next four years. Will even HIS supporters stand for that?

Then we have the ACLU. Here is a PDF link to the Trump Memos, which outline his plans as POTUS and how they violate laws.

All of this and more leads to the Electoral College having grounds for invoking the Faithless Elector.

It may be grasping at straws to think any of the above will actually end up with Hillary taking office, but I don't feel as terrified any more.  Lets cross our collective fingers folks! 

Peace Out....

We Summoned the Devil

 
 As we get ready to sit down at the table for Thanksgiving, there is a lot of talk about the stress it will cause (or not) if you engage in a discussion about Trump. Here is a suggestion that might get your right wing relatives feeling that they made a tiny little boo boo voting for him. 

Bring up the topic of the Anti Christ. We are told that the End Times will begin with the Anti Christ and False Prophet. Here is a little snippet from End Times Ministries... 

The Antichrist will not be a religious leader, but an international political leader seeking to establish a new world government with the overwhelming support of a major religious leader, described in the Bible as the False Prophet. Under the guise of uniting all the people of the Earth under one, global, nation and religion, the two figureheads will attempt to strip humanity of its identity, freedoms, and suspicion, ushering in an age of blind acceptance.

People have claimed Obama was the Anti Christ. Maybe. But I'm thinking it's probably the big orange "Don".  

We invited the Devil to the table. We summoned him here. We paved the way for him. We left all that 'Christ like' mumbo jumbo at the curb to be replaced with shiny objects. 

We willingly left our values behind to elect a man who literally sits on golden throne like chairs in his home, who has every decadent gaudy bobble you can imagine, and then.... expect him to represent the hard working every day man and women in this country. Only that's not going to happen.

                                             Remind you of anything? 

got false idols anyone?

Even before he is in office, he is openly and proudly showing us, that he will use the office as a personal money making, power grabbing machine. 

'That's not what I wanted' ....you might say... 'he said he would save us. He said he would make things right.' 

Only problem is, when you summon the Devil and ask him to fix things, there is a price, there is always a price.

His position.... that's what you signed on for... and he's right. 

So when your right wing relatives leave for the evening after being filled with Turkey and pie, kiss them goodbye and thank them for summoning the Devil incarnate. Oh ... and find out who is doing Christmas at their house this year. 

For more fun filled details about this, check out the video and article from the Huffington Post entitled ....

Trump Says Any Conflicts Of Interest

... Were Priced Into Your Vote

hey... you idiots voted for me... you knew what you were getting

Our Version of ISIS - "Murican" Style

So I know I have a tendency to be dramatic. When I am, it's really about trying to get a point across. I want to express as fully as possible the meaning of something so it sinks in. 

This time, I don't think I can be dramatic enough to get this point across.

I feel like we are witnessing the creation of an American ISIS. As Trump is building his cabinet in his pre-presidency, he keeps adding people with the most extreme views. How exactly is he going to represent ALL Americans this way? 

There is no consideration for the liberals ... as of yet... 

Some claim Trump is actually not a racist because he himself, has not done anything directly racist (or bigoted) as in calling people names like 'spear chuckers' or 'fags' etc.,  

Well here's the thing, just because he doesn't get his hands dirty, you can't claim he isn't actually guilty of racism. He is the mob boss, the ring leader, the orchestrator, the puppet master pulling all the strings. THAT is what makes him a bigot. Don't get sidetracked by technicalities. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...

The latest in the line up... a man who feels that Muslims who don't speak up against terrorists are complicit. Then I assume that with that logic, all whites and/or Christians who don't speak up against the KKK or any other hate group ... are complicit as well??? No? Why Not?

Article from CNN 
  
Democratic groups blasted Pompeo's selection Friday. They cited Pompeo's allegations in 2013 that Muslim Americans do not speak out enough against terror attacks and could therefore be "potentially complicit" in those attacks.

 Who knows if this person will be appointed or will last, but it's just another brick being added to a wall. Trump will get his wall, maybe just not in a literal sense.  

On one side, there will be all of the radical extremist right wingers and the moderate or "slightly right wing" fools who are too afraid to denounce them. On the other side, will be the people who fight injustice and prejudice and all that goes with it. 

This is the birth of something really bad. It was one thing when they hid in the shadows but this is not acceptable. Not only did they come out into the open, they took over the country. WTF!!!!!

I personally feel like the Alt Right has become a terrorist group born of ignorance, apathy and hate and is looking for vengeance and the elimination of all things liberal. It's like we are witnessing a 'Murican" version of  ISIS being formed. I'm scared folks.

Divide and Conquer - How liberals are making this easy for Facists.

Yep... it's one of the tenants in the Fascist Handbook. Divide and Conquer 

To all of my fellow liberals ... stop dividing us up into little pieces. We have the same goal. 

I am now having to delete some liberal friends (and some are deleting me) who are very busy having debates about how to handle this election. 


Here is the point, going into battle itself simply does not make you a bad person because you choose to FIGHT. 

What matters is that we are on the same side... the good side... the UN-racist UN-Bigoted side. 

It's like saying all soldiers who choose to take up arms, are all terrorists. Not even close.
So let's use an analogy... a gun can be used for good or for bad. The gun serves a purpose. It is used to injure or kill. 

The person using a gun is not good or bad until the time comes that they use the gun for good or evil (for lack of a better word) 

If the police or a soldier uses a gun to protect innocent people, or in self-defense, the gun becomes a tool .... for good. We support our troops when they fight terrorism.

If a racist or terrorist or sociopath uses the same exact gun as a cop or soldier (think of mall and school shootings) that's when it becomes a tool for evil. 

The issue is not the gun. The issue is who is using it and what their intentions are while using it.

So If us liberals pick up that "metaphorical gun" by saying will not accept the presidency of a mad man, it does not mean we are the same as bigots who denounced Obama. 

You can not compare us to someone who is a bigot just because we denounce Trump like they denounced Obama!!!!!!!!!! That is insane!!!!! It's not even in the same universe if you think about it. So knock it the hell off already! Stop the infighting already.

If people decide that they are going to fight against bigotry and fascism and all that goes with it, by denouncing Trump.... that does not make us evil or equal to bigots in any way shape or form. 

If Wyatt Earp used a gun to fight gangs of murdering bank robbers, rapists and so on... or the Lone Ranger or even the characters of the Marvel Avengers comics... are using a gun or any other weapon of choice, then using the logic that the gun or weapon of choice is what makes you good or bad, then you are not being rational. If that's how you view it then there is something ELSE going on there. 

I get the whole, don't become the very thing you hate credo. But we are not becoming bigots or terrorists. We are simply using the same tool as they did.

All this infighting going on among us.... 

guess what folks... 

you are playing RIGHT into their hands. 

You are just playing the blame game because you don't know what else to do, while they are sitting back having a ball watching us argue about not being a hypocrite and slowly tearing each other apart in the process. 
We are messing up. Again. 

When you realize that fighting bigots is not being a hypocrite, then we can get back to defeating bigotry. All you are doing is wasting time and effort when the real enemy is getting away. 

As Cher said.... 

Vengeful list making? Welcome to the McCarthy Era 2.0

Didn't we do this already? Yes... yes... we did. As I remember... it didn't turn out so well. 

If you don't know about the McCarthy era, please do some research on your own. Instead of linking you to any of it, I think it's high time folks get back to reading and learning how things work.

Maybe it's a good thing to know even just a little of our nations history so you can know what what to avoid and so on.... 

You see, when you know something about history, you can sit back and objectively view all the sides. You can agree or disagree on the mind set of things ... the how and why and all that. History, real history, is made up of facts and are pure truth. How we use facts, is the key. It can be to our advantage in so many ways. The big advantage is actually knowing what you are talking about. 

Here's an image you can chew on just to get your juices flowing. 

With this tidbit of info, you can now look at today's world and compare it in any way you wish to this... 

{{Watch the whole video, but when you get to about time marker 4:40 this is what I want you to see}}

You can find out more via the Frontline piece and this website The Wrap.

Vengeful list making ... 

Bowing down to Trump ... 

Most powerful man in the universe ....

Forget Trump, this nut job just made me pee my pants a little. 

What to say to your Republican Friends, if you have any left...

I did not write this and when I find out who did I will share that detail ... if they want it to be public. 

I have some digging to do, not just because I don't want any credit for the words you are about to read here on my Blog, but I want to personally thank them for saying exactly how I and many many others feel and then managing to put that into the best possible use of the English language I have read. 

I hope that you share these words with others. 

Don't ask me to heal.

You and I are now on opposite sides of a great cultural divide. 

In casting your vote for Donald Trump, you have shown me a part of you that I didn't know was there and I seriously cannot accept in you.

You have demonstrated to me that you are a staggeringly poor judge of character, a gambler who is willing to throw away my children's future for the sake of your "grievances," an apologist for a sexually-assaulting intellectual midget and the world's most transparent fraud.

Now, excuse the hell out of me, but when you roll the dice with the country I used to love and you endanger all the social progress we have made for the last 50 years, and you normalize hate-mongering and bigotry - I'm sorry, but it tends to make me a tad cranky.

So, please don't reach out to me. Don't ask me to "move forward" and get beyond this or to try to understand why you chose to play a high stakes game of Russian Roulette with my homeland. Please don't tell me that these feelings I have should not be directed at you - because you're not like the rest of them.

You're different and you're better?

Well, maybe you are and maybe you're not. 

But I know enough about you to know that you went into a voting booth on November 8th and decided that it was a real dandy idea to cast your ballot for sheer unvarnished stupidity and hatred. 

Good enough for me. We can stop right there.

There may come a time for healing. I really don't know. But that time is not now.

Now, I'm busy trying to figure out how to roll up my sleeves and do my part to clean up the huge shit you have just taken on the United States of America.

So, do me a favor and back off. 

Leave me alone. 

I don't want to speak to you and I don't want to know you and God knows I'm through trying to reason with you. I have had more luck elucidating my cat.

I'm angry, I'm hurt, I'm negative and I have reached a level of disgust that I didn't think was humanly possible to achieve in one lifetime. 

There is not an enlightened thought in my head right now.

I'm not going to take the high road. 

You wanted a wall? Then you'll be thrilled to know that mine goes up right now.

You have made a mess the rest of us are going to be spending years trying to clean up.

Unfriend me. Unfollow me. Block me. Take your computer and throw it out the nearest window. I don't care. I will not share my computer screen with you. 

I'm appalled that I have to share my planet with you.

Are we straight? Good. 

Now get out of my way. I'm busy.

My new friends and I have got about 100 years of mopping up after you to do.

~unknown author~

This isn't "Sour Grapes" ... it's called being Patriotic ...

And that is just what they could fit on a MEME.... the list goes on. 

I keep having the same argument with a lot of my liberal friends and of course this is also the cry of the right... 

'it's sour grapes and you are just a bunch of cry babies and you are being unpatriotic' etc., 

Sorry folks, but you are so wrong that it's actually scary you think and feel that way. 

If you love this country and all that it was founded on, then you need to fight this election. Not through violence. Not through any illegal means, but via the system we have in place to keep tyrants out of the White House. 

More to come on this... Faithless Electors

Michael Moore has said that he will either quit or be impeached. Huffington Post Article 

He is right. And hopefully it will be sooner then later. I know that puts Pence in place, but that's a whole other topic.

Prof. Allan Lichtman was one of the few professional prognosticators to call a Donald Trump win – and now he has another prediction. Washington Post Article 

"A Class Divided" - A Lesson on Racism

I have been searching for educational videos about how to teach our children the subject of racism, hoping that if it was so simply and purely stated that even a child could understand it, that maybe... a few adults could learn a thing or two. I will keep searching, but I came across this and it just blew me away.  

From Frontline's encore presentation in 1985

the description of the film.... 

A Class Divided

The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, a teacher in a small town in Iowa tried a daring classroom experiment. She decided to treat children with blue eyes as superior to children with brown eyes. FRONTLINE explores what those children learned about discrimination and how it still affects them today.

From the teachers guide for this documentary. 

A Class Divided is an encore presentation of the classic documentary on third-grade teacher Jane Elliott's "blue eyes/brown eyes" exercise, originally conducted in the days following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. 

Hypocrisy Cuts Both Ways in this Era of Trump

I love this MEME from Occupy Democrats because it's a truthful statement... but there is more to be said then just this. 

Hypocrisy cuts both ways.... we can't become the thing we hated. 

That insight is due to my very dear friend who patiently taught me that lesson, even though I thought he was totally insane at the time.  

So do we return the favor and become just as obstructive as the right was to Obama? In THIS case... I think it's justified. As long as we don't cut off our own nose to spite our face. We have to be smart and selective about any battle we engage in.

Two wrongs don't make a right. I get that. I agree with that. 

But this election is different than any other in our history as a nation since the days of Lincoln. 

This is not like Jeb Bush, or Mitt Romney or even Carly Fiorina got elected. When George W Bush got elected for a second term, as liberals, we knew that the country would survive his reign and that the fabric of our country would not be torn apart and shredded. Yes, did horrific things happen, yes they did.

This election is different. It's not even in the same plane of existence of say the Bush years, for us liberals. We actually know ahead of time what horrific things are on the agenda. It's up to the country if we let him act on it.  

Keep in mind, the country elected a man that even hard line republicans voted against because they KNEW how completely insane and dangerous Trump is. People crossed party lines to prevent him from a presidency. They sacrificed their OWN beloved party affiliation, because they feared him. 

This is a whole new game folks.

I am all for diplomacy and all for doing things via the high road, like FLOTUS asked of us in her many speeches at rallies and to the nation via the DNC.

Since election day, Obama and Michelle and their circle of family, friends and co-workers, have shown pure class and demonstrated absolute diplomacy by making this about a smooth transition so that the country would not tear itself apart. Now is the time for diplomacy and calm.

BUT.... if  (I only say "if" because no one has a crystal ball) and when Trump attempts to take actions that go down the path of pure evil (pure evil in my view as an Atheist ... lol) then we have to be ready to fight the good fight.

Quoting Bernie Sanders...   

To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. 

To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him. 

Sometimes you HAVE to get in the mud pit, in order to save all that is good.

Diplomacy is a good thing and always takes precedent. But there is a line and Trump is way beyond that line.

If some of us choose to "fight" ... for me.... we are no different then soldiers that go to WAR to save people, like we did in Nazi Germany. No one wants to be in a battle. But when the stakes are this high, we have to fight for what is right. 

This won't be won by doing either/or. We need diplomats who can be calm and centered in the face of pure evil and we also need people who are willing to go toe to toe if need be. You absolutely can be both.

Point is, we need to work as one to make sure we correct this horrific event in our country's history.