Let’s be clear. When a white football player kneels to use his celebrity to promote Jesus it creates a national fad. When a black player does so to raise awareness of institutionalized racism they get called a SOB by the President and are threatened with deportation
Tag: InformedConsent
Never Forget
Prior to the ascension of Donald Trump I had never used social media as a platform, felt compelled to write a blog, but consider me an alarmist. I believe we all have a responsibility to speak out. The only thing I ever learned in Hebrew school was “never forget,” and I haven’t.
All of America is faced with a simple choice, it’s either #Resistance or #Appeasement.
America has a long history of standing up to bullies and Nazis. The vast majority of us teach our children that name calling and excluding other kids on basis of race, gender or religion is not okay. We take pride in the melting pot that is America. Recognize that diversity IS the American identity. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants, minorities and refugees 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.
This is not about politics. Look at Trump’s words. Log into twitter and review his timeline of tweets. It is repulsive. You’d be ashamed of your child if that was the method they used to become class president. He is a man of flawed character. He does not share OUR values and we must stand up together and punch him in the nose.
I urge all in #GOP, including the so called “moderates” who serve this administration, to declare yourself an independent, a freedom fighter or whatever heroic name you wish to give yourselves. Find the courage within you. Make clear to our Comrade in Chief that you stand for the people and the constitution and he will have trouble if he messes with either.
This madness has gone on long enough. It’s time to cut commercial and bring the adults back into the room. We can no longer afford to play Russian roulette with our democracy #HistoryHasItsEyesOnYou
Why drain the swamp if you’re going to replace it with it a cesspool?
Flynn’s loyalty towards Russia wasn’t a surprise to anyone; not Donald Trump, not his jolly sidekick Preacher Pence, not our Congress, not even the American public. If you honestly believe Flynn was forced to hand in his resignation because he misled VP Pence then I need you to know that I’m a Private Investigator handling the estate of your Great Uncle. He was a widowed Nigerian Prince with no heirs and a large inheritance. If you will just overnight me a money order I’ll wire transfer it right over to you.Seriously, if Pence was misled it’s ‘s only because he wished to be. It’s called willful ignorance or plausible deniability.
Here’s what was widely known about Flynn before he was offered the opportunity to lead our National Security Agency. In 2012 he was fired from his job as head of Defense Intelligence Agency by then POTUS Obama. Scuttlebutt is he was a terrible manager who left chaos in his wake. He went on to become a Trump surrogate and twitter conspiracy theorist. Leading chants of “lock her up” in what is described by former colleagues as unusual behavior. As recently as 2015 Flynn was a paid contributor by Russia’s state broadcaster, Russia Today, for appearing on its air. In December of that year he attended a Moscow dinner and sat as a guest of honor next to Puppetmaster Putin himself. I could go into his relations with Erdogan or quote his Islamaphobic opinions but you get the picture.
Does that sounds like an ideal candidate to you? Like someone a CEO President, whose number one priority is keeping this nation safe, would select to fill one of the most critical roles in our collective security? Flynn raised so many red flags he may as well have had a sickle and hammer tattooed into his forehead. It is one thing to be qualified for a job and a whole other thing to be fit for it.
If a refugee applied for entry into this country and their application was dependent on alternative facts, slogan and propaganda we’d send him straight to Guantanamo! We certainly would not hand him the keys to the Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall White House and access to our nation’s most sensitive secrets. That is not normal.
So I’m going to suggest something a little radical. Why don’t all of us, Democrat, Republican and Independent start holding our leaders accountable. Let’s start by demanding they conduct “routine vetting” of each and every Cabinet nominee, judicial appointee, and White House advisor from this day forward.
Heck our so called President should sign an EO tomorrow insisting upon it. After all our national security is his number one priority!
This Is Us
“We never learn, we been here before. Why are we always stuck and running from the bullets, the bullets? Just stop your crying it’s a sign of the times. We gotta get away from here. We gotta get away from here. Just stop your crying it’ll be alright. They told me that the end is near. We gotta get away from here” – Harry Styles
A modern day Bob Dylan he’s not, but the man who my five year old daughter described as having “the most beautiful lips,” perfectly captures Trump’s America.
Stop your crying. Hold your faux thoughts and prayers. Raise those flags back to full mast.
This is us.
So long as we continue to dehumanize minorities, outsiders and those who look different. So long as we characterize them as “rapists,” “shithole countries,” “animals,” “enemies,” and worse,
This is us.
So long as we allow those in power to divide our nation into two camps. Secure a status quo long past the point demographics would allow, to erect a permanent caste system. So long as we are “haves and have nots” and are labeled as an “us”or “them,”
This is us.
So long as the leaders of our nation think it acceptable to bully, threaten, tweet racist dog whistles, and challenge one another to school yard brawls. So long as we elect those who deride a Civil Rights icon on social media but silently accept the endorsement of hatemongers, white supremacists and nationalists,
This is us.
So long as we falsely equate the child in the hoodie, hijab, yarmulke or Che tee with the one in the white hood, sweater vest, Confederate flag, or swastika tattoo. So long as we rip child from parent at our borders in the name of law and order,
This is us.
So long as we build walls instead of bridges. Invest in war instead of education and research grants. So long as we celebrate “American exceptionalism” but oppose student loan reform,
This is us.
So long as “we, the people” includes Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, Monsanto and Boeing and not every Trayvon, Fatima, Ellen, Matthew, and Mohammed,
This is us.
So long as we rely on the sources that broke the Bowling Green Massacre, but dub the ones that broke Watergate as “fake news,”
This is us.
So long as we are persuaded by “alternative facts,” slogans, and double speak but tune out science, photographic evidence, and statistics,
This is us.
So long as we buy the empty promises about the wonders of trickle down economics and reject efforts to raise the minimum wage,
This is us.
So long as we profess that Earth and all its things were created by God but deny global warming, pollute our rivers and drill baby drill,
This is us.
So long as we debate whether gun lockers have a greater right to privacy than our daughter’s privates. So long as we lobby that the 2nd Amendment is absolute and unequivocable, but tweet against and act to curtail the 1st and 4th,
This is us.
So long as we offer thoughts and prayers for all of God’s children, but sit nearly silent as antisemitism, Islamaphobia, and hate crimes are committed in her name,
This is us.
So long as we declare “Mission Accomplished” all while knowing it has hardly begun,
This is us.
So long as we’re more offended by the black athlete who uses his celebrity to kneel in silent protest for equality than we are the white Christian billionaire who use his bully pulpit to disparage an immigrant nation,
This is us.
The Hairy Arm Handlers
Do you really think rational people would use fiery language to withdraw from the Iran nuclear treaty under obvious phony pretext and formally move the US Embassy to Jerusalem in the same week if peace was their goal? We need to stop analyzing events in a vacuum.
Peace in the Middle East is not what this administration is after. They didn’t “ignore the warnings” of experts. Far from it. Unrest in the Middle East is good for business. It advances the agenda of everyone in the GOP which is exactly the role our so called President was born to play.
Understand this, Donald Trump is nothing more than a hairy arm. 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 distract from what is really going on. A mistake so obvious, so glaring that all the masses speak of is the hairy arm and how out of place it is. All the while they ignore the focal point of the picture. The new world order being ushered in right under their noses. The giant middle finger Ryan, Pence, Bannon, Putin, and others are holding out to America.
Yes Donald Trump 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 devoid of self awareness. A master in self promotion and expert in scripted reality. 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. As important as his ability to distract however is the ease in which a can corrupt and control him. Long before his entry into politics The Donald was known to be a con man of such notorious poor character that he made an easy mark for men of ill repute. A man who operates with no moral or ethical code, recognizes no boundaries and holds no concrete positions. One willing to offer or do anything to advance his own agenda; personal gain, adulation and protecting his family name and legacy. So long as those self interests are served he is restrained by no alliance, tradition or precedent of behavior. It’s all a part of the art of the deal as he likes to brag.
That our so called President stands for nothing should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career. It explains the reason so many competing right of center factions are complicit in this deplorable dog and pony show and refuse to hold our so called President accountable for his treasonous and deplorable behavior. Exposes the quid pro quo this lot of enablers received in return for their continued silence and protection. I mean did you see the smirks on the faces of Ryan and McConnell’s faces as each passed the unconscionable tax bill through their respective chamber? The glee in knowing their patience may pay off and they are about to secure the current status quo well past the point demographics would otherwise allow.
Don’t kid yourself. This is the true pay off for the GOP establishments’ (as owned by the Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers) hold your nose acquiescence and endorsement of the naked emperor. The statutory erection of a permanent oligarchy where profits take priority over people and corporate interests are given favor over long term global concerns. All this backed by a stacked judiciary certain to enforce the new laws of the land. The Chief Executive and his willingness to sign any Executive Order to thank for it all.
Next take a look at the alliance of the military hawks. You know the names; Mattis, Kelly, McMaster, the old guard who suddenly find themselves in unprecedented positions of influence within the Oval Office and the champions of historic spending increases for our military industrial complex. Who seem to remain in office despite their distaste for the Commander in Chief. Is it any coincidence that cold wars and faux calls for patriotism also happen to be great recruitment tools?
We must not leave out our Tea Party friends. The proud agitators seeking to drain the swamp who seek nothing more than an all out revolution against the liberal elites. How does one explain their sudden infatuation with the one time New York socialite? Well me thinks its quite obvious what this merry bannon of deplorables gain from their unnatural alliance. To date, it’s been their agenda we’ve seen advance the most under this administration. The “deconstruction of the administrative state.” The collapse of old alliances and treaties. The dog whistles, false moral equivalents and intentional mainstreaming of what once was a deplorable fringe without a mouthpiece. Now empowered we see the results. A once powerful nation being divided by committed Democratic Arsonists who stand armed and ready to defend their Enabler in Chief.
By this point you must be wondering what any of this has to do with Jerusalem. Well the decision to immediately move the Embassy to Jerusalem was nothing more than part of the payoff in the art of the deal. Terms in the quid pro quo to Preacher Pence and the evangelical base that led them to the altar of the peach calf. Designed to usher in an age of chaos and upheaval on scales hereto unimagined.
Hypocrisy aside, there is a reason the so called evangelical Christians are complicit in this deplorable dog and pony show. A logic behind their refusal to hold our Comrade in Chief accountable for his treasonous and immoral actions. This unholy alliance between God’s crusaders and the twice divorced, porn star cheating, wannabe casino tycoon known to serve money above all else is built on the Second Coming itself!
A little known fact but Preacher Pence, Ashy Eyed Huckabee Sanders, and the rest of this jolly group of devout evangelical fundamentalists actually believe the Second Coming is imminent. More precisely they believe the Rapture is. A fanciful belief not even referenced in the Bible in which all Christians, dead or alive, will spontaneously transform to meet Christ in the air—in secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening.
This will be followed by 7 years of hell on Earth led by the Antichrist. In this period known as the tribulations, God’s chosen people, the Jews, will occupy and defend Jerusalem. They will rebuild the ancient temple in anticipation of Christ’s return. That the temple needs to be constructed atop the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque, the most sacred of Muslim sites is but a minor inconvenience on the road to salvation. Particularly since those true believers will have already been raptured and won’t be here to witness the bloody consequences.
Regardless a condition of the Messiah’s return is a raging ongoing war between the non-believers. A war in which all citizens of the world must choose a side. A modern day Crusades. Hence the continued provocation of the Islamic community that stretches beyond Jerusalem.
All Americans need to understand that these dispensationalists members of the American Taliban serve God above all else, even country. They believe certain prerequisites need be in place to pave the way for Christ’s return and it is their principle responsibility to pour the cement. That isn’t opinion. Dispensationalists believe they are doing God’s will. Their daily focus is on the glory of God and they put God at its center – as opposed to a central focus on man and humanity’s need for salvation. The Prophet in Chief now their vehicle to eternal salvation.
Moving the embassy to Jerusalem coupled with the carefully orchestrated withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal are not meant to advance OUR national security interests. They are meant to advance the interests of the kakistocracy and the falsely righteous. It is the lit match being tossed into a gasoline tank. Meant to cause an explosion on a global scale, to incite violence.
It’s not all bad though. If Pence, Robertson, Graham, Huckabee and friends are right salvation is just around the corner. The Rapture will come and Christ himself will soon return to sit in Jerusalem, atop the newly constructed altar within his restored temple.
Perception is Not Reality
8
The Strength of Adversity
My grandpa used to say you only appreciate what you have once it’s gone. As I observe the policies being pushed by our so called President and this merry bannon of deplorables I realize how true that is. My generation grew complacent. We took our freedom for granted, grew cocky. Unlike prior generations ours was never forced to sacrifice for this nation. We sat on the sidelines as others less fortunate served on our behalf, committed to public service. Our best and brightest eschewed politics for the private sector. Unwilling to fight the special interests and ingrained bureaucracy. We neglected our constitutional responsibility. Our roles as citizens of a Democratic Republic. The need to stay engaged. The necessity of informed consent.
As it turns out freedom is hard to sustain if you’ve never known its opposite. This wasn’t always the case. As recently as the 1960s our youth understood how fragile freedom was. The baby boomers and flower children of the counter revolution. The hippies and beatniks who protested American intervention in Vietnam, marched for equal rights and demanded transparency of a corrupt government. They fought, sacrificed and died defending America’s soul. In the end history smiled on them and recognized them as heroes of progress. The students of Kent State, the marchers in Salem, Muhammad Ali being stripped of his championship, MLK, Woodward and Bernstein, Rosa Parks….
These were the patriots who moved our nation forward and progressed us to the point where a Barack Obama could be elected President, see a Hillary Clinton win the popular vote. It was they who allowed the Gen Xers and Millenials of today to fall into the trap of overconfidence. They shielded my generation in the audacity of hope. Insulated us in a bubble filled with dreams of a brighter future for all. A belief and awareness that though far from perfect, we were a free people. Unaware of what its like to live through and with real adversity.
In reality, they turned us soft and cynical. Who can fault them? America was a dream founded on hope and optimism. A continuing quest to form a more perfect union centered on the concept of individual liberty. A land of exceptionalism to serve as a beacon of hope and freedom to the world’s oppressed. Heck “Operation Enduring Freedom” was the landmark conflict of our generation. No surprise we were nose blind to the stench of the emerging kakistocracy.
A new normal is starting to emerge. An unknown adversity beginning to seep over our old routines like an infestation. The daily attacks on a free and independent press. The restrictions on the right of assembly. The merging of church and state and suddenly slippery slope placed on the right to be free from religious persecution. The dismantling of checks and balance. The refusal to perform even routine vetting of the sycophants and “yes (mostly) men” being placed in control of our collective national security. The wag the dog foreign policy, trade wars, and alienation of our traditional allies and refusal to condemn Russia and other hostile actors. The tweetstorms, bullying, false equivalents and continued normalization of hate. The willful blindness and acrobatic feats in cognitive dissonance as our leaders attempt to normalize the inexplicable.
The good news is Americans are waking! Our youth are waking to the dangers this regime poses on the very freedoms they once took for granted. They feel the adversity in their life. The impacts of growing up in constant fear that each day may be your last. That a terrorist attack, a nuclear bomb, a random gunman or maybe even a police officer is always just around the corner.
That fear is driving them to discover what America is truly about. As their friends and loved ones face deportation and harassment they are forced to confront the truth. To understand that we are the great melting pot. That we have a responsibility to take care of one another. To stay informed and engaged. 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 and refugees have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over.
This is not to say we will come to appreciate Donald Trump, but when all is said and done we will be stronger because of him. As a nation. As a people. Adversity does that. It builds character and empathy. It challenges preconceived notions and erases ignorance born by privilege and circumstance. It forces you to grow resilient, battle tested, and breathes self-confidence into your bones with the knowledge that you can defeat it. That you will persevere past it. Live beyond it. Reclaim your freedom. Outgrow it.
By definition progress knows but one direction. It’s only a matter of time #Forward




