Tag: Deranged Donald

Scream

“Do you like scary movies? – Uh-Huh –

What’s your favorite scary movie?” – Scream (1996)

I admit it. I’m an alarmist. Full born “the sky is falling” when it comes to Trump and his merry bannon of deplorables. Feel like I’m in one of those horrible horror movies where the protagonists keep making one asinine decision after another. The casualties mount as common sense is cast aside for plot convenience. Friends and family suddenly move into the line of fire as each terrible choice ups the tension and gore.

I’m not one who typically looks back but like most legendary horror villains (Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers and Ghostface) this one didn’t form in a vacuum. He was created over time. A product of an environment created by a prior generation. The sins of the past catching up to the present. To beat it we need to learn those lessons. Understand the beast. Trap it in its own game.

So ask yourself, where did Donald Trump come from? Who created him? How did a social liberal from NY transform into an authoritarian fascist. Amazingly all paths lead back to one man. A lone Dr. Frankenstein so to speak.

Democrats in particular have been reticent to go down this path in recent years. Back in our parent’s day it was our favorite trail. A respite we knew to be lined with beautiful flowers. A safe place we’d return to for comfort. As the years passed we began to go less and less.

In 2008 we cleared the brush from the obscured entrance and once again began that familiar hike. This time the trail seemed more mysterious. Many of the flowers wilted. The path overgrown. The beauty somewhat masked. Behind any given rose a giant thorn seemed to be waiting to deliver an unavoidable prick to anyone who dared to touch it. A sense of danger permeated the air. We still dared pluck a few flowers for old time’s sake but did so believing we may never be back. That rather than tempt fate too long it was time to find a new trail. Choose the road less travelled when we came to the inevitable fork in the road.

Democrats opted for a change of scenery back in 2008 and for eight years we forged a new path. We took some missteps. As all pioneers do. But for the most part it was clear that we had chosen wisely. Moved the party forward. Yet somehow we ended right back to that once again obscured entrance. This time we entered cautiously. Aware we may no longer find it as comforting as we once had. Still we entered hopeful we’d come back to that fork. Make the same choice. Only this time when we arrived there was no choice. The fork was replaced with a giant “one way” sign. We were being forced to confront our demons. To discover what lie at the end of that trail.

Maybe it was a test like the way Yoda made Luke travel to Dagobah. Prove he was capable and ready to fight the dark side. Able to control his base impulses. Defeat it once and for all. It was as if in order to truly embrace the values of a progressive nation, we would first need to reject the Democratic Party of the past.

By now I hope it obvious. The man waiting at the end of that trail. That Dr Frankenstein. His name is William Jefferson Clinton. And the Democratic voters. We failed the test. Proved incapable of true progress.

America never really rejected Hillary. We rejected the Clinton machine. A political apparatus built on quid pro quos and political favors. That all too often prioritized party loyalty over people. That waged phony preemptive wars and did anything but support our troops. That favored corporations and catered to the 1%. That used their fame and access to personally enrich themselves and those around them. For better or worse that’s what Hillary is to many of us. A vestige of a rigged system. This is particularly true for the young progressives who drive enthusiasm and build energy into the base.

Ironically the Republicans were faced with a similar test. Donald Trump was a rejection of the Bush/Romney/McCain GOP. A statement by those on the right that they were tired of politics as usual. Done with the neocons. That the system was broken and needed a disrupter to fix it. Tired of losing they ate it up. They passed the test. Make no mistake Jeb, Cruz, Rubio all would have been slaughtered in a general election, by any Democratic candidate. America had already made that choice. This time the GOP fringe was galvanized and ready to inject energy into a stagnating base.

Those who saw this unfolding rallied for Bernie early on. We’re not talking the Bernie Bros further to the left. We’re talking Obama Dems. Bernie wasn’t the perfect candidate but he was the only one to back. The only one who knew what this election was about. It wasn’t about character, Bill Clinton had already removed that as a job requirement, it was about change.

Pure and simple this election. It was about rejecting a system that allowed for the creation of Donald Trump. The majority of Americans we don’t want that system. Amazingly Trump understood this. He held himself out as Exhibit A. Look at me! I am a monster created by a rigged system. I know it so well that only I can break it.

Of course he’s a con man. Had no intent to do any such thing. That was never the point. This was all about shaping perception. Those early 2008 Obama Dems, we understood that. Jumped off the Bernie train once hope was lost and threw our support behind Hillary this time. Resigned to the status quo but favoring it over narcissistic authoritarian rule. Hoped that the majority would see the emperor wore no clothes. That not all change is good change. We sat dumbfounded as Trump dominated the headlines. Pushed the narratives that reinforced the perceptions of the Clinton machine. Made it a reality in many independent’s minds. Anchored Hillary with the legacy of her husband rather than allow her to ride the coattails of a hugely popular incumbent. Made this an election about change rather than values. The rest as they say is history.

In the words of The Fly, “Be afraid… Be very afraid.”

Donald Trump And The Hairy Arm Theory

Don’t get lost in the tweetstorms. Donald Trump is nothing more than a hairy arm.

There’s a theory that goes something as follows. Everyone loves to be a critic. It’s a human instinct to want to offer feedback, feel a part of the process, have your voice heard. It theorizes that humans are social creatures that need something to talk about. So, in the words of Bonnie Raitt, “let’s give them to something to talk about.” Place a hairy arm in the middle of a picture in an effort to divert attention away from the underlying body of work. Offer a mistake so obvious, so glaring that the masses will say “I love that photo but you need to crop that hairy arm out of it,” all without paying attention to the fact that the focal point of the picture is a giant middle finger.

Donald Trump, our curmudgeonly Comrade in Chief is that hairy arm. Nothing more than a big heaping turd placed into the picture by forces more nefarious than he. Forces that control, manipulate, and parade the hairy arm as they see fit. Who use it to their advantage to mask what is really going on. Who rely on it to distract focus away from the big picture; the new world order being ushered in right under our noses. The steps being taken to ensure preservation of the status quo beyond the point demographics should allow. The giant middle finger Ryan, Pence, Putin, McConnell, the Koch Brothers, Bannon and others are holding out to America.

Trump of course is the perfect rube. A literal caricature of every villain of every film ever made. A billionaire product of affluent affirmative action who sells himself as a man of the people. A self proclaimed tycoon who was placed directly at the top of the business pyramid. Never understanding what it means to actually lead. To advance on merit, not name. Able to skip the lessons of middle management, the art of empathy, humility, accountability and communication. A genius only in his own mind who was so poor at business he literally bankrupted both casinos and real estate conglomerates at the height of the economy. In every way the opposite of a man who embodies the original American dream.

Trump instead embodies the 21st century American dream. A child of the 1% with no discernible talent, skills or virtue beyond that of self promotion. A self aggrandizing narcissistic sycophant with an unhealthy obsession for celebrity and fame. A self hating man child who over compensates for his shortcomings by bullying, intimidating and surrounding himself with “yes men.” A man in constant need of validation because deep down he fears he will never live up to daddy’s expectations, never be truly loved. A man with an ego so fragile he can’t deal with dissent or opposition. Who spent a lifetime avoiding accountability and consequences by silencing critics with bribes, quid pro quos and empty promises. Who justifies his deplorable behavior through incredible displays of cognitive dissonance; scapegoating, and otherwise shifting blame to the underprivileged, the disenfranchised, those less able to defend themselves.

Yes our so called President is so obviously flawed and psychologically damaged that he is the perfect hairy arm. A lightning rod bound by no sense of social norms and so devoid of self awareness that, so long as you feed his ego and advance his own agenda of increased power and adoration, can be manipulated to adopt any position. A distraction so glaring that entire news cycles are devoted strictly to him. What he said, what he tweeted, who he insulted. His latest break with protocol and tradition. A man of such notorious poor character that he makes an easy mark for men of ill repute. To collect a dossier and use it as blackmail if he dared to disobey. A man who when faced with a sixth bankruptcy, and with nowhere to turn after newly enacted financial regulations prevented an over leveraged real estate tycoon from obtaining a loan through traditional channels, did what any powerful man desperate to live up to his daddy’s name would do. Reach out to his Russian counterparts for a little quid pro quo. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

It’s easy to doubt the above. To ignore the obvious and turn a blind eye to what it may all mean. The repercussions in store for the future of this country. The time for cognitive dissonance, however, is over. Get out of your bubble. The evidence is overwhelming. The lies, cover-ups, secret channels and admissions of obstruction all point to the same conclusion. Watch as all of Trump’s earliest segregates get exposed for hiding their Russian connections. Follow the money. This is not fantasy or conspiracy. The connections are real. The timing of the one time NY social liberal turned Tea Party Christian crusader is not coincidence. We no longer have the luxury to deny the undeniable.

So what you may ask is our Comrade in Chief distracting us from. Look around, look around. Remove the hairy arm from the picture and the answers are right in front of you. See the new world order of Bannon and Putin’s dreams take shape. The collapse of old alliances and treaties. The rise of new partnerships and priorities. Listen to the dog whistles and historical rallying cries ring out and watch as the deplorables rise up. A once powerful nation being divided by committed Democratic Arsonists eager to burn down the very system that made us exceptional.

Watch the smiles spread across the pursed lips of Ryan and Pence as they watch the status quo be secured. The spread of so-called Christian values reinforced by statutes. The preconditions for the Rapture set in motion. Observe as the ranks of disenfranchised and “imprisoned for being poor and/or black” swell. As those doors of equality that recently opened to women, minorities and other underrepresented classes of our society get callously slammed shut just as they reach the precipice of entry. Witness the reinforcement of institutionalized racism and the literal erection of artificial barriers to entry and opportunity that disproportionately impact certain ethnic or racial populations. Marvel as profits take priority over people. Short term corporate interests given favor over long term global concerns. The populist who gives not two shits for people overseeing a proactive approach to a permanent oligarchy. An all out assault on or freedoms masked through conditioned subservience.

The man himself is doing very little except dominating the headlines. His words often at odds with the very laws being enacted under his watch. That of course is no coincidence. Donald Trump is a nothing more than a hairy arm. We all know our founders guaranteed us a right to “bare” arms. It is our patriotic duty to #resist

Sadness or Euphoria

Donald Trump makes no secret of his intent to oversee the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” He operates and functions in full visibility for the world to see. He flaunts his belief that he is above the law and beyond accountability. That he alone is judge, jury and executioner. He boasts of his efforts to run various federal agencies into extinction. Appoints unqualified sycophants to lead them and boasts of the economic gains that trickle down from the removal of necessary corporate oversight and safety regulations. He takes glee in offending traditional allies who have done us no wrong or grievance. He warmly embraces and honors those leaders who have never once acted in the interests of freedom. Lifts sanctions and prepares to enter new agreements with men of ill intent who rule with iron fists and stifle individual choice.

All of this is done in furtherance of his central agenda to destroy and redefine our Democratic Republic. His insistence that the very Constitution he is sworn to uphold and defend no longer applies to the modern American political system or experience. Each Executive Order and the few pieces of legislation signed into law by Deranged Donald is meant to undermine the very values espoused by our founding fathers. To declare the land of hopes and dreams and liberty for all, the beacon of freedom throughout the world, a failed experiment that requires replacement.

We as a nation need to wake up. This cannot be a left verse right narrative. This involves us all. Every American needs to make a choice. Billy Joel once wrote, “For we are are always what our situations hand us. It’s either sadness or euphoria.” Well we know the situation life has handed us. We’ve seen all we need to see from this oligarchy. Heard all we need to hear. I’d like to think the choice today is as equally obvious as the one Billy Joel offers. This time, it’s either appeasement or resistance.

We must cast aside politics and unite to protest an administration that openly brags about being unconventional. That flaunts how they don’t abide by tradition and protocol. We need to stop relying on conventional means and rubber stamped checks and balances to hold them to account. We need to be proactive in defense of this country we love; the values that have defined us for generations. We must join together as the majority and insist on extreme vetting for those who pose the most immediate threat to our freedoms this nation has ever seen. We cannot afford to take “no” for an answer from those whose sole desire is to maintain the status quo. Who fight the inevitable.

America is an ideal, a dream. A continual quest for the more perfect union. We are not a country that moves backwards. That clings to a past of ignorance and artificial divisions. We have never been naive enough to think divisions among us do not exist and probably always will. Our founders understood people were fallible and ignorant. Took for granted that all men, themselves included, were capable of horrible things. They also understood that we as a nation would be stronger when we overcame ignorance and joined together. They imagined a time where race, religion and creed would not inhibit opportunity. A day when all Americans would be free to enjoy their inalienable rights; the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They challenged future generations to work towards the fulfillment of that dream.

We know the history. There’s been good times and bad but there’s no doubting we’ve continually progressed. We’re still living the dream. Reflecting on our past there is also no doubt that when we put aside those differences, focus on our similarities and work towards a common goal, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. No evil too great. Tragedy too heavy. Heck we’ve been able to move mountains, free the enslaved, save an entire continent from a fascist madman, land on the mother effin moon and beyond. There’s a reason people want to come here.

Think about this. People considered Bernie unelectable because he was a Democratic Socialist. We elected a team that openly advocates and acts to burn the whole system down. Committed “Democratic Arsonists.”

So, riddle me this. Do you really want to give that up? Set it on fire? Wouldn’t you prefer to remain the country that foreigners dare venture into then the one they risk everything to leave? I know I would.

Appeasement or Resistance

All Americans need to carefully consider their next move. Reflect on your history. Get informed. Ask yourself; when has the leader who ruled through fear, intimidation, propaganda, alternative fact and slogan been on the right side of history?

I’ll spare you the research. The answer is never.

Those who continue to support Trump and this cesspool of corruption understand this. All you are doing is publicly identifying yourself as a dinosaur. Painting a scarlet letter on your sleeve that your way of thinking and very belief system will soon be relegated to the history books. Think carefully about your next move.

Whatever your choice, know this. We are the majority and will act as such! We will not be divided or tore down. We will continue to protest and resist hate. We will not be silenced or ignored. We will continue to engage and speak out against false equivalents. We will not be intimidated or bullied. We will remain active but peaceful. We will not be stilled or marginalized. We will demand transparency, justice and accountability.

Dinosaurs will fight hardest the nearer to extinction they are. It’s a hard thing to admit to oneself that your way of thinking is obsolete. Trump knows this. He holds no real positions. In waging war on the deep state. In peddling conspiracy theory, pushing false equivalents and in remaining neutral in his condemnation of the torch carrying hate mongers who gather in support of his agenda Deranged Donald has effectively deputized this merry bannon of deplorables to continue to intimidate our cities and towns with their words of hate and presence. The tighter the noose around his neck the more he relies on them.

Still, make no mistake. The war is won. Most of us, regardless of political party, stand on the right side of the battles that lay ahead. Most believe in the ideals this country stands for and understand its great history. We unequivocally condemn those who seek to divide our nation by race, religion, national origin or class. We recognize how we came to be the most powerful nation in the world. The majority of us take pride in the knowledge that America IS the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants, refugees, and minorities have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over. Americans are waking. We know who we are. And we like it that way.

Progress only knows one direction and by definition doesn’t look back. Barack Obama has over 100 million twitter followers. Hillary Clinton received 65,844,610 votes in the presidential election. Sometimes size does matter.

Choosing to believe perception and alternative facts, doesn’t change the reality. The Electoral College does not change popular opinion.

We are the majority. We will not be silenced. We will not be intimidated.

It’s either appeasement or resistance.

Choose wisely. History has its eyes on you.

A Call To Action

“Danger, Will Robinson,” “Beware the Ides of March,” “Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts” “The British Are Coming,” “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US,” “Winter is Coming!”

So many famous stories, whether rooted in science fiction or history, past or present, are built on the premise of future danger. Stress a need for the protagonist to act proactively to avoid an impending catastrophe. To anticipate what the enemy will do next and take actions to prepare for, mitigate or prevent the intended outcome. Sometimes they listen; rally the troops, fortify supplies, prepare countermeasures. Other times they fall on deaf ears; tragedy ensues, civilizations fall, buildings crumble.

The situation America faces today is no less dire than those above. Donald Trump poses a clear and present danger to the American dream and democracy as we know it. Unfortunately instead of memorable rallying cries, for the most part our leaders offer deafening silence. An occasional stern warning about lines Deranged Donald dare not cross. A nice sound bite or tweet from an individual representative, but as a whole, crickets. Many continue to bury their heads to the obvious truth. They give “deference” to his nominees and confirm each willing sycophant and “yes man.” They rely on decorum and outdated and obviously ineffective means of checks and balances. Rather than anticipate what may come next and act to prevent it, they issue stern rebukes after the fact. Refuse to take an unprecedented leading role in the face of an unconventional risk.

The resistance itself mostly built on a single strategy, the Blue Wave is coming they warn those in power. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a wonderful thing and I wish it to be true. The engagement of the American people is remarkable. The grassroots energy being generated through protests, campaigns, town halls and meet ups a welcomed development. The diversity of the candidates, coupled with their qualifications makes them among some of most qualified we’ve seen in generations. They deserve to be rewarded. To be given a chance to hold our so called President to account.

The thing is the election is 5 months away. In Trump time that is 3.5 years worth of news and events, roughly 1,500 new lies and 150 new scandals.

Meanwhile no countermeasures are being enacted to mitigate the growing risks. Mueller and his team remain unprotected. Unqualified fundamentalist judges hell bent on preserving the status quo long past the time demographics would ordinarily allow are now fill our Circuit Courts, with more vacancies filled each month. Permanent tax cuts and other legislation are passed under the dark of night ensuring a legal caste system for generations of Americans to come. The ranks of the American Taliban continue to swell to the point they now brazenly take to our streets draped in their confederate flags and armed with their assault rifles and bibles, ready to take on any situation. Our former allies grow more nervous as they are already beginning to wonder aloud just who the threat to world stability really is. Mother Earth continues her slow burn, choking on the smog of rolled back regulations and oozing through the fissures caused by expanded drilling, fracking and military explosions. Attacks on the free and independent press continue unabated. The so-called “enemy of the people,” a necessity for informed consent, usurped as a vehicle for propaganda and alternative facts.

Meanwhile Russia looms. Suddenly visible not just from the windows of Wasilla, but from the hallowed halls of the White House itself. The smoke and EVIDENCE of knowing collusion seen everywhere from Trump’s repeated refusal to implement sanctions, to his hiring of Flynn and Manafort, to his flagrant obstruction, to his shady real estate dealings, to his passing along of classified information, to the countless secret meetings and trips, to the tipping them off of impending military operations in Syria whose success to destroy chemical weapons was dependent on the element of surprise, to the Michael Cohen slush fund, all the way to the outright refusal to directly say anything negative about Puppetmaster Putin.

Meanwhile the signs of compromise grow more evident. Why wait 19 days to fire the Head of NSA and allow him unfettered access to our most sensitive secrets after learning he had lied about being an ACTIVE foreign agent? How do you explain the payments from Russian oligarchs? Why fire AG Yates and blame the leakers rather than the actual known liar and security risk? Why lie about whether you stayed in Russia the night the infamous pee tape was filmed? Why fire Comey and slander an honorable man in Bob Mueller with charges of bias and “witch hunt” when you know his investigation is predicated on probable cause. The indictments, raids, and warrants all supported by mountains of evidence. Why the lies, omissions and selective memory? Why the false equivalents and misdirections? Why refuse to offer transparency and meet with Mueller? Most of all why would Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent who has never before acted with America’s best interest in mind, go to such great lengths and invested precious Russian resources specifically to elect the man who promised to “make America great again!” What was in it for him?

Meanwhile a propaganda campaign rages. Peace through strength scream our headlines as the Korean summit nears and Iran regroups in the face of US backed Israeli muscle. Our intelligence agency are discredited at every turn. Sworn enemies of our leader are suddenly being exposed for their own closeted sins. The economy booms as money flows like candy into the arms of defense contractors and Wall Street. Terrorists are on the run. Illegal immigrants being pushed further into the shadows.

Meanwhile our most precious democratic institutions are being attacked and dismantled. Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, Ryan Zinke, appointed by sworn democratic arsonists to burn down the very system they got rich off of. Our standing as the beacon of hope and freedom extinguished. Lady Liberty weeps as children are separated from their families at our borders. Dreamers wake in horror as their parents are rounded up in hospitals, schools and their places of employment and the fear of being returned to foreign lands they have never known grows real.

Meanwhile, we have confirmation that Russia continues to actively promote our Comrade in Chief’s agenda through misinformation campaigns on social media. That they actively seek to interfere in our midterm elections. That American intelligence is aware of this activity. That in the past they have accessed voter rolls and our most state databases. That our so called President has done absolutely nothing about it! Instead our Justice Department steps up investigation of the deep state conspiracy. Seeks to expose the Democrats as frauds. Nothing more than a bunch of whiners and haters. Obama and Hillary at the center of it all! Instead they form commissions of voter fraud and question the past results in traditional blue states. They reinstate draconian drug laws that they then use to justify the arrest and disqualification of a disproportionate number of liberal and progressive voters. Remove them from voter rolls.

My fellow Americans, “winter is coming!” We are rapidly accelerating towards the point of no return. We cannot afford to sit back passively and wait for a long off Election Day to voice our displeasure. The stakes are too high and the future too nebulous. It is naive to put all of our belief in free and fair elections. We believed the polls in 2016 too. Only Donald Trump, a man obsessed with polls, believed his election was guaranteed. A fair accompli so inevitable that he promised to protest the election results only in the event he lost. It makes one wonder what he knew that nobody else did?

The point is we can’t put all of our eggs in one basket. What if Democrats don’t win a majority? We need to be more aggressive. The best way to defeat a bully is to bring the fight to him. We need our citizens to engage in bold and direct action. National strikes, sit-ins, DAILY demonstrations and other disruptive but non-violent methods are required.

We need our leaders to take to the steps of the Capital EVERY DAY. Bullhorns in hand they should be leading the crowd. Listing all of the misdeeds being committed by this den of corruption. Publicly read pages from “The List” by Amy Siskind that captures Trump’s first year in office and the actions taken by the regime that pose a threat to our democratic norms. Refuse to advance the people’s business until legislation is brought to the House and Senate floor protecting Mueller and his investigation.

“A storms a-coming!” “Stop playing Russian roulette with our democracy!” “BASTA!” None have the ring of “the British are coming,” but the resistance needs a rallying cry, a call to action. Something that will stir people to leave our comfort zones and make proactive sacrifice. To understand that the time to act is now.

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day we remember our fallen heroes. Those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend the American dream. To advance the great experiment in individual freedoms set in motion by our founding fathers nearly 250 years ago.

We honor those who died in defense of America. Make no mistake. There are not “many sides” to America. You either believe we are a nation in which all men, regardless of race, gender, religion or national origin are free and equal, or you don’t. You either believe in the Bill of Rights that put the great American experiment in motion, or you don’t.

There only side to America our veterans died for begins and ends with the word “we,” as in “the people.” You either believe that “we” word and all the freedoms that follow are guaranteed to all Americans and bestowed on ALL mankind, or you don’t. You either honor our nation’s fallen as a proper patriot or you deny their legacy and act the deplorable.

That’s right. Those who chastised HRC for placing the label “deplorable” on Trump supporters pay attention. Consider the words of David Duke when he notes that those who rally for white supremacy do so to help “fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.” These dregs of society who play the victim and whine at the tough break life handed them because now America has progressed enough to where you actually have to compete with overqualified minorities and women in life. These wife beaters, alcoholics, small dicked pistol packing mouth breathers who think the color of their skin grant them special privilege in life. To hell with the words of our founding fathers and the sacrifice of those who served fighting for us all!

Our so called President may talk of record approval ratings but know this. Most of us, regardless of political party, stand on the right side of the battles that lay ahead. Most believe in the ideals this country stands for and understand its great history. We unequivocally condemn those who seek to divide our nation by race, religion, national origin or class. We recognize how we came to be the most powerful nation in the world. The majority of us take pride in the knowledge that America IS the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants, refugees, and minorities have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over. Americans are waking. We know who we are. And we like it that way.

Those who continue to support Trump and this cesspool of corruption understand this. All you are doing is publicly identifying yourself as a dinosaur. Painting a scarlet letter on your sleeve that your way of thinking and very belief system will soon be relegated to the history books. Think carefully about your next move.

Whatever your choice, know this. We are the majority and will act as such! We will not be divided or tore down. We will continue to protest and resist hate. We will not be silenced or ignored. We will continue to engage and speak out against false equivalents. We will not be intimidated or bullied. We will remain active but peaceful. We will not be stilled or marginalized. We will demand transparency, justice and accountability.

Dinosaurs will fight hardest the nearer to extinction they are. It’s a hard thing to admit to oneself that your way of thinking is obsolete. In waging war on the deep state. In peddling conspiracy theory and in spreading the blame and remaining neutral in his condemnation of the torch carrying hate mongers who gather in support of his agenda. Our Comrade in Chief has effectively deputized this merry bannon of deplorables to continue to intimidate our cities and towns with their words of hate and presence. The tighter the noose around his neck the more he relies on them.

Still, make no mistake. The war is won. Like those we honor today knew, progress is perpetual and by definition doesn’t include the word “again!” It knows but one direction #Forward

The 3-D Painting

When I was a kid 3-D computer generated pictures were quite the fad. The ones you would stare cross eyed at for hours on end. Bits and pieces of the big picture coming in and out of focus. Your frustration builds with the knowledge that something epic awaits if you could only get your eyes to focus the right away. Then when you’re about to give up and your eyes start tearing up from exhaustion; voila! It all comes into focus. It was almost always some type of exhilarating scene. A dinosaur chase that featured a T-Rex reaching out to grab you in the foreground. A school of dolphins seemingly leaping out of the pixelated water and into your living room. The payoff always worth the effort.

As I to process the actions of Donald Trump and this den of corruption I feel like I’m back in high school staring at one of those pictures. I concentrate on all that’s been done these past 18 months and bits of the real picture, the hidden agenda, slowly comes into focus.

Look to the right. A bunch of middle aged smirking white men seem to be looking away from the rest of the picture. They shake hands and pat each other’s backs in a sense of accomplishment. A few appear to have their heads buried in the sand and others have their arms raised upright in a rapturous pose.

Behind them you make out the dreams of the GOP establishment coming into focus. Billboards line a pot holed highway. One marks the end of entitlements and social programs. “Say goodbye to your healthcare, food stamps, social security, and public benefits but hello to your temporary $200 tax cut,” it reads. Through a thick smog you make out the words of the next, “Regulations! We don’t need no stinkin regulations!” it says. “Toll Brother’s Toll booth ahead – $40” reads the last.

Is that Jesus moving into the forefront? A tear falling from his eye as he stands triumphantly in his Jerusalem throne. His foot resting on the throats of Muslims, Hindus, and a host of other non-believers as he takes in his kingdom.

Now close your right eye. Off to the left! Is that a shirtless Russian man riding on a horse? Standing in his shadow a seemingly endless line of workers doing hard labor. Rolling oil barrels directly into the Kremlin. Working with heavy machinery a pile of weapons of mass destruction amassed in the forefront. Ordinary looking people laying steel pipeline and rail. A massive red army on the march westward.

Open both eyes again and all you see is buckets of money falling from the sky like rain. Gold, silver and jewels piling up on the ground. International currencies from around the globe floating into focus. Shekls, rubles, dollars, euros, pounds, yens, even whatever they use in China all accounted for.

The middle part of the picture is the hardest to make out. Your eyes consistently distracted by the cheetoh orange swirls at the center of it all. The details that do emerge so horrible one must look away in horror from time to time. Military choppers fly through the sky. Major US cities lined with national guard as skyscrapers burn. Armed sentries sit in surveillance towers standing watch over the whole of America. Our borders encased in a wall of barb wire and chain linked fence give off the appearance of a giant prison yard.

Other random visions appear so quickly you are barely able to make sense of them. Is that a throng of young protestors with their hands cuffed behind their backs? Many appear bloodied, their placards and signs of dissent scattered and trampled in the streets. Others look defeated. A single marijuana joint hangs from their lips as they are loaded into a paddy wagon. A line of police cars queues up outside the overflowing prison. Large ships packed stern to stern with disheveled and scared looking minorities and immigrants. Men in hoodies. Women in hijabs. The Statue of Liberty a small dot in the distant horizon as the boats move further away from America’s shores.

You look away blinking back tears. Your concentration broken. What the hell does it all mean? All these disjointed images that flood your brain. You realize you have a choice. Start anew and try to make sense of it all. Recross those eyes and keep staring until the entirety of the big picture reveals itself, or walk away. Grow apathetic with the hope that someone else comes along who is able to see it for themselves. An independent arbiter so to speak who may or may not tell you what it is that’s really there.

For me the choice is clear. There is no option but to refocus and keep looking until it all makes sense. The entire picture emerges. I’ve invested too much to choose otherwise and walk away now. No, much like I did in high school I’ll keep searching for that final payoff.

There’s another funny thing about those pictures that motivates me to keep me looking. Sure you initially spend hours staring and talking about them, but once you figure them out and you “see it,” you quickly lose interest in them. Pretty soon after that they get taken off the walls. Relegated to the far reaches of the garage or attic, frame cracked, forgotten.

Checks and Balances

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. – James Madison

Our founding fathers took exquisite care to ensure that power not be concentrated in the hands of any one man. Rather they created three separate, but equal, branches of government. A system where executive power is shared with both legislative and judicial to form a single representative democracy.

Donald Trump is far from an original. In fact his type goes back so far even our founding fathers were quite familiar with his story. That intricate system of checks and balances that came to be know as American democracy. It was designed with Deranged Donald in mind.

Crafted to prevent the authoritarian narcissist who took no real positions from assuming absolute power. Designed to restrain those who held no real values or morals. Aware of the danger a legacy offspring of the privileged 1%, one who was placed at the top without ever attempting to experience or understand the struggles of those on the bottom, could pose to freedoms. Cognizant of the need to safeguard against the charismatic leader who rose to power on the backs of slogan, propaganda and alternative fact. Chiefly architected to defend democracy against the tyrannical figure; the one motivated solely by money, power and adoration. The one willing to make any fake promise, cut any deal or betray any ally so long as it advanced their own self interests.

Our founding fathers came of age under such leaders. They studied them in their history of the French, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and more. They cracked the code to deal with those who ruled through fear, intimidation and bravado. Those driven to squash dissent and opposition simply to protect their fragile ego and over compensate for their own small hands, I mean shortcomings. Our founders understood Donald Trump and swore to create a new system of governance to prevent such monarchs from ever succeeding in unilaterally controlling America’s shores again.

Everything we need to defeat Trump is at our fingertips. Provided for in the very system This merry bannon of deplorables hope to destroy. The foundation exists but it is up to the American people to apply its mechanisms. Insist those checks and balances are functioning properly. Complacency is not an option. We must prioritize action. Hold any and all to account who fail to do their job as an independent branch. Who fail to check and investigate our executive with the zealous extreme vetting appropriate for those who pose a clear and present danger to our national security interests.

Americans across both sides of the political spectrum have known for years that our Congress ceased functioning as an independent safeguard many years prior to our Comrade in Chief coming along. That through gerrymandering and voter suppression our representatives had brazenly prioritized party over people. If we truly want to make America great again it starts there. It’s time that our representatives stop being corporate shills and party whores and actually represent.

It’s no longer enough to simply voice your displeasure. We must insist on results. Make clear that those who continue to appease this snake will be considered complicit in his crimes. We need to limit further damage and potential infiltration of those who don’t have Americans best interest in mind. Insist that the Senate refuse to consider any future Trump nominations, Judicial appointees included, until we determine through complete and independent investigation that Donald Trump was truly hired by and working for the American people.

Soon after taking office as Trump’s Chief Advisor Steve Bannon stood before the Cons, Pricks and so-called Christians conference (CPAC) to boast that they intentionally nominate incompetents. Individuals chosen specifically to drive their respective agencies into extinction. We must not allow that to continue. In particular we must safeguard the independence of our judiciary. Our last bastion of independence. Our fiercest defender of liberty.

Protest. Make noise. Write. Call. Petition. Donate. Run for office. Vote. Show up to town halls to demand transparency. Make clear that those who choose to appease these snakes that slither through the halls of the White House will be considered complicit in his crimes.

If your Senator refuses your calls, ducks your town halls, or ignores your pleas and continues to confirm these unqualified yahoos. If they go on supporting this administration’s illegal orders unchallenged and refuse to investigate the thousands of red flags surrounding this merry bannon of deplorables. Then I encourage you to lend your voice to the resistance. Change your party affiliation to that of the opposition party or declare yourself an independent. I don’t care how you do it but get your message across. Until proven legitimate, anybody who supports this President must come to know they are not safe in their job.

Whatever color your district, if you oppose what this administration represents, know that you are in the majority. Read up on the words of our founders. They foresaw this too. We, the people, were envisioned as the final frontier. The ultimate check to prevent the rise of despotism. Take solace in their words and foresight. We’ve been here before.