The inundation of false information (#2982)

     We are at a point in time where our social, political and business media is being swept up in a current of deliberately falsified news reporting. It kind of works like this; cooperating false news outlets coordinate with someone intentionally reporting a false news item and repeat it on their false news sites back and forth therefore providing more than one resource for a false news item without providing an initial investigation into whether the false news item has any veracity. In other words, they start a rumor and then spread it as if it were truth. Eventually it reaches most everyone who casually listens or watches news as a grounded fact instead of it's original beginning as a false news item.
     The reasoning is obvious why this is now being done. Take for instance our latest national election in 2016. The democrat was targeted by these right wing groups with so many false news stories that were spread out far and wide as fact. Many were dispelled for being fake but some were not caught in time to stop them from being believed. This effected our election and is one of the primary reasons we now have republicans in control of our national government here in America. This strategy of lying to the American public has proved fruitful for those who could never have gotten elected just based upon the facts of their unpopular and divisive positions and policies.
     So how do we combat this flow of false news? We question all news we read and hear. It is expected that we should fact check and find verifiable sources that corroborate the initial reporting. It is done easily enough as there are plenty of mainstream news organizations that require it's reporting to hold up to scrutiny as true by it's reporters. There is honor and nobility in telling the truth and our news outlets that do should receive our attentions, not the ones who from the outset seek to deceive as their intentional goal. Regardless of the political view point we hold, knowing the facts as opposed to the fake news is crucial in the building of or changing our understandings of reality and our future, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/uw-professor-the-information-war-is-real-and-were-losing-it/.

How ignorance destroys civilization (#2981)

     In America, we are living in the time when ignorance is showing itself as our national intelligence factor. To get to this point we had to be gullible enough to elect a corrupt carnival barker as our president while keeping the most corrupt and illogical people in majority positions in Congress. So the perfect storm of a an immoral, and quite possibly treasonous con man and like minded followers control our government for at least the next 2 years and more likely 4 at minimum. Plenty enough time to unravel the levers of our government and the policies we enacted to soberly deal with the gives and takes of our evolving society. Ignorance is our new master and our new master has no qualms in destroying everything around it.
     That gut punched feeling too many of us had right after knowing that the election was not some nightmare but real is just the beginning of our real life torture. We Americans will now become trapped in a suspended type animation of cruel intentions bolstered by a military force capable of destroying all in it's path regardless of ally or not. As everyday we wake to see what next shoe on the throat of democracy has come down, we step closer and closer to the paradigm where our democracy is being rewritten to take our natures and our rights back to when we had little control over either. The vacuousness in the souls of those who now lead our nation is commensurate with their inability to understand the simplest forms of logic and human care.
     Where just months ago we had a president who was thoughtful and considerate we now have neither. The transition from the past to the present has been one of incredulity on my part. How is it possible that one of the worlds most enlightened leaders is followed in electoral succession by a man who cannot nor will not even attempt to know what we all need him to know? Instead he has an agenda of tearing down not building up, except when it comes to an already gigantic military operation. My sense is that while we Americans are reduced to becoming cannon fodder, the new leader of our nation will take us into global conflict as his desire to be the next leader of not only America but the entire world. This is the ignorance that will take America and our democratic vision down.

Those who crave wealth are those who create poverty (#2980)

     The insatiable appetite for wealth is like all the other addictions in the world. they may satisfy one's own sense of pleasure as a benefit, but the cost to not only the mental health of the recipient is reduced but the effect on society on whole is devastating. What do I mean by saying accumulating wealth is devastating to society? In a capitalistic dominated world where all are striving for the most, many will fail and many never get a chance to compete. Those who fail and those who are not even in the race for wealth suffer because they are left on the fringes of what is left of finite resources. This is not a reality where all can be billionaires. Only some can and the rest are left to carve out an existence that is far from being desirable or comfortable.
     In other words poverty levels of existence are now the new normal for our American society, http://www.alternet.org/economy/half-america-or-damn-near-close-living-poverty. That is the problem with a society that has few social programs and is out of balance with it's capitalistic counterpart. A healthy mix of capitalism and socialism makes for a thriving middle class. We are losing our middle class at such rates that soon we will only have a shadow of the one we had 4 decades ago, http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-shrinking-middle-class-hurts-economy-2016-6. As each generation of immense wealth increases an exponentially larger amount of poverty level life afflicts Americans. So this desire to be wealthy has turned out to be a nightmare for those who are not.
     It doesn't have to be that way. We can have those who strive for wealth continue their quest while keeping the rest of America out of poverty. The tax code is the main way this can be accomplished but if we have those most like republicans and their donors who would do anything to keep their wealth from being taxed, we have what we are currently experiencing. The greed of more more more is not only an unhealthy mental condition but it harms so many more who are struggling to survive. This trend will continue with the republican leadership controlling economic policies and I fear that our poverty laden nation will be even more so by the time we can change the public leadership back toward more fair and just economic policies.

The difference (#2979)

     The 8 years spent by republicans accusing President Obama of all kinds of deceitful and criminal activity amounted to nothing but falsehoods. Yet republicans knew that and decided as a strategy to go full speed ahead with never ending investigations as opposed to working on legislating on behalf of the American people. Now that the shoe is literally on the other foot and trump is being accused by democrats of being deceitful, criminal and treasonous, there is actual substance to the accusations. Yet like when President Obama was being accused, republicans control the investigatory power over the government. Yet this time instead of them charging full steam into their investigations, they are showing just how partisan they are by not caring too much about the accusations against trump.
     They are exposing themselves as co-conspirators in their attempts to shield trump from charges. Instead of defending the principles of our democracy like rule of law, justice and fairness, they are protecting their political advantage to the point of hiding treasonous activity that should be grounds for the death penalty. I live in a nation now that is so corrupted by the republican party and it's wealthy carpetbagging donors that I am ashamed and angry that we have come to this. I for one will not be associated with such ulterior motives of greed and power over patriotism. We see now that republicans will go to any length to secure their political advantage and that should be a wake up call to all who see America first.
     The difference again is that President Obama was not guilty of any of the allegations made against him and trump is most likely (Occams Razor) guilty of much but until we can get the investigations we need from objective politicians we may never know. But as republicans continue to thwart investigations and still don't legislate, the only option left to them is hide. Well we will ferret them out like the rats they are and when their trump ship starts to sink they surely will be scurrying overboard. It is then that we will get them to turn on their cohorts because on thing the criminal mind understands is that ratting out on their accomplices is their best path forward if they want what is left of a life to live.

Don't let republicans win (#2978)

     The supreme court seat that republicans stopped from being filled during President Obama's term cannot be allowed to be filled without the filibuster rule being applied. We democrats must not allow republicans to scare us into relaxing the filibuster rule through fear of political reprisal. We must stand on principle and force republicans to change the rules if they want their nominee to pass. We democrats cannot be complicit in this at all. If we are going to be the party that stands for what is right and good about America we cannot compromise when it may cause us harm. There are many senate democrats who are coming up for election in 2018 who are in red leaning or red states and they fear that if they don't work with republicans to confirm the republican nominee they will lose what hope they have of winning in that 2018 election.
     The problem here is that the anger that will be coming at them from their own base will offset what they think they will gain by helping republicans. It is not worth the gamble and it is not right or good. So do what is right and good and stand against the republican manipulation of this supreme court seat. If and when republicans decide they have to blow up the filibuster rule then make them do it and then they carry the blame solely for how the nominee got his seat on the court. We democrats should not be tied to it at all. This nominee will be a disaster for equality and fairness and if we are associated with him we will negate the blame that republicans should properly shoulder if they seat him.
     I am through with this kind of back room compromising where we democrats sell the soul of our nation for an opportunity to keep some seats. We have to fight for what is right and then use that as our campaign to win seats not just hold onto them. Enough! Let's show the world where the disease is in our government and keep our hands out of it so that there is no one left to blame but the actual republican culprits. Filibuster the nomination and if republicans decide they will blow up the filibuster rule then let that be the path forward, not us colluding with them for some possible prize!

Engaging in politics (#2977)

     There is an old axiom about politics, "The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.-Plato." So as we ignore the concepts of politics, we end up with a trump and his under the rock associates. This is the penalty for not engaging in politics. I know that we are a busy society with what capitalism requires of us so taking time to understand the nuances of politics is difficult to impossible. So there are some basic principles that can be followed that allow for us to much more easily align ourselves with a political party of our own intuitive force. We have republicans who have an agenda similar to the wild west days when the survival of the fittest was the paradigm and regardless of the rules to attain. We have the democrats who believe that a society that takes care of all of it's citizens fairly is the most enviable.
     So you can choose to be a republican and stiffen your heart to the pain and suffering caused by unfair but strongman tactics or you can choose to be a democrat and aim you life's work toward making our society much more in tune with equality of opportunity and modernized enlightenment. There are other distinctions to consider as well. As the survival of the fittest crowd is a shoot first ask questions later if at all, they also have some disturbing positions on race, gender, and religion. Not inclusive mind you but exclusive and alarming. Democrats on the other hand still hold to the melting pot ideal of America. We accept immigration as our proud heritage since most of us, if we are not of any of the Indian tribes that were here before colonization, are the descendants of immigrants.
     Being able to identify with a political party helps us to decide how to vote when the voting time comes. This way we can get the general information we need to make an informed decision. But we all must participate in voting regardless of the requirements that are needed to register. Even in this politics is evident. The republican party over the years has made it harder for all eligible citizens to vote. If this does not anger you toward their efforts then you may be a republican and should vote for them. If it does make you angry then voting democrat is the best way to protect democracy, yourself and your children's right to vote. Nearly 47% of our eligible voters did not vote last time and now we have trump and his troupe of nasty brutish associates because of it. http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a8265143/almost-half-eligible-voters-did-not-vote-election-2016/.

Breaking even (#2976)

     Well trump hasn't started a nuclear war yet so so far we are breaking even. Yesterday he had to pull his trumpcare bill that would have repealed Obamacare and given us a health system that cost more and covered less so we are still breaking even there. He tried to justify racism by installing two versions of an unconstitutional travel ban and both have been stopped so far so we are breaking even there. It has only been 2 months since he took office and has a majority in both the House and Senate to pass his anti-democratic policies and so far he has not made any significant progress so mostly we are breaking even there. Yet he has taken us backwards. His executive orders regarding immigration have been draconian in effect and that is to our shame as a nation of immigrants.
     But for the most part we the people who overwhelming didn't vote for him are giving him enough push back to make him pause in his ego driven hollow tyrannical march. There at least 20 months to go until our next national election where we have a chance to change the balance of power in the Senate and hopefully the House in order to put the brakes on any further rush to implement trump and republicans working middle poor class destroying agenda. If we have learned anything from these last 2 months it is that our disgust and anger can be funneled into effective protesting campaigns the like of which our nation has not seen since the Vietnam war days of the 1960's.
     So our goal for now is to smother all the republican attempts to reverse our modernization and progress toward enlightenment. We are an extraordinary society when we are equipped with the knowledge of the truth of things and the will to stop the oppression that is engulfing us. I am not one to stand on the sidelines while our current disgrace of a political administration in the presidency and congress has it's way to deny equality and fairness. We are a proud democracy here in America and whether the media chooses to report it we will find a way to express it and if obstructing every step the republicans and trump take then that is our agenda. We fight for our dignity and respect over the next 20 months and if you don't see that then get your head out of your ass and look around at what trump and his acolytes are willing to do to make us suffer!

A day of reckoning! (#2975)

     For various reasons an attack today on the health care of America will be voted on by representatives more in tune with their donors than their constituents. Of course this is not a Democratic bill this is a republican bill. The Democratic bill that became law 7 years and one day ago is the one republicans want to replace with one that has less coverage and costs more. Typical conservative republican policy where the wealthy get much more than they need and the working middle poor class gets even less than they minimally require. The same dynamic plays out in not only health care but in our economy as well. The plan to destroy unions and keep wages low are the republican plans and in keeping with their agenda to give to the wealthy and suppress the working middle poor class even more.
     Yet the republicans keep getting elected. How is that possible when the working middle poor class is so much an overwhelming majority here in America? We have found out over the last several decades that it is a combination of things. Making voting rights harder to acquire for traditional democratic voters, Gerrymandering of districts to keep republicans in power with fewer votes. Changing how we teach our children from learning how to think critically for themselves and instead teaching them to follow a standard line. Disinformation in the media because we here in America have very few truth laws that would require penalties for falsehoods being propagated. Dividing our electorate through religion, sex and race, by using prejudice and rhetorical anti-American biases, are useful to the republican agenda because as we all know a house divided against itself is not an effective house.
     So today we are going to see a new page turned. By all accounts the vote for a worse health care bull, pardon me, bill than the one we already have will take place in the House of Representatives. The projections are this bill will fail and for one of the few times we see a republican party at odds with itself. I can only surmise that all the dirty rotten tactics of the republican party to stay in power have finally broken what decency was left within the republican party and the death throe of it is creating chaos and upheaval. At one time before republican let their ideology of power, hate and division guide their way, they were human beings and maybe, just maybe they can find their way back to being just human beings again. I highly doubt it but we hope that this kind of chaos will be the normal going forward when our society is under attack from the worst of the republican party,
     

The income inequality gap is about to jump even further apart (#2974)

     With republicans prepared to vote in the House of Representatives today on a new less comprehensive bill to replace the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama, that will make the income gap between the wealthy and working middle poor class increase dramatically. How that increase will happen is mostly from cutting medicaid benefits to the states and giving the wealthy a large unnecessary tax break because of those cuts to medicaid and loosening of required coverage. So taking from a program that serves the poor and giving that to the wealthy is the major goal of this new health care bill republicans are about to make into law, http://www.vox.com/2017/3/13/14914062/republican-health-care-plan-cbo-redistribution-poor-medicaid.
     With all the campaigning last year from trump that he would bring all into health care coverage, 14 million people will lose coverage next year because of the changes made by this new republican plan, which I will call trumpcare, https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-19/ryan-looks-to-thursday-health-care-vote-with-more-elder-pay-help. Another duplicitous promise from our liar in chief that has been exposed. With insurance companies now calling the shots again, premiums will rise in the next several years before what is hoped to be a leveling off period. I am so used to republicans telling us that things will be bad for awhile and then get better later that when I hear them say it I know it will never happen. They always find a way to screw the working middle poor class and this is just another way for them to do it.
     At the end of the day we will have less coverage while paying more and the wealthy will get another tax break they don't need. I have yet to be alive when republicans actually worked a major policy that gave the majority of Americans a better life. They had a chance this time to push the improvements instituted in Obamacare toward a Universal health coverage system like most all the rest of the civilized world now enjoys but they didn't which tells us once again that republicans will use anything, yes, even our health to make a buck for the large corporations that are now considered by them as people, who are more needing of their care than the actual rest of us "real" people, https://www.adn.com/commentary/article/5-years-citizens-united-dangerous-influence-corporate-personhood/2015/01/20/.

It's all about outer space man! (#2973)

     The next great frontier for us Americans is at our threshold. Just look up. Yeah, that place above us that never seems to end. We have done all we can to cover every square mile of our planet and with so many of us there is a real need to satisfy billions of curiosities that cannot happen within the confines of our own atmosphere. So onward and upward we should be going. This is no revelation of any magnitude. Many have been saying this since we first shot one of ourselves into space back in May of 1961. We landed a man on the moon only a little over 8 years later in July of 1969. But since then we have done little to move ourselves out into the great unknown. Politics, mainly those of republicans who don't want what is best for all of us, only for the wealthy do they work hard, have stifled our push to get up into the sky where our next great chapters of life will be written.
     There are many reasons you find me railing against any and all republicans beyond just their disinclination to explore our stars. They want to hurt so many of us within the working middle poor class instead of giving us opportunities to fulfill that deep abiding dream we all hope to experience, that being becoming more aware of what we don't know and knowing more about it. Our curiosities are the vehicle for us to travel in time and space with and denying that vehicle access to it's destiny is not only a waste but counter productive. Our planet is teeming with too many of us marking time while not starting. The inactivity from not doing what we should naturally be doing is causing an ill among our societies that only no good can come of it.
     When I was a young child we headed out into space, when I was just early in my teens we landed on the moon. Since then the money grubbing greedy powers here on Earth have kept us from going further and instead they choose to fight wars among ourselves to see who would get the natural resources. This turning back inward instead of staying focused on the outward has been to our species' detriment. I am now well into my 60's and can claim no further human movement that has gone beyond putting feet on the moon. It is shameful that the republican party has seen fit to destroy a couple of generations of Americans who could well have been far beyond the planet Mars. The destruction of our society by republicans and the destruction of our destinies by them is enough to make me want to scream at the Universe I and so many of us wish we were more part of!

Where are the checks and balances? (#2972)

     The audacity of one political party to deny the tenets of democracy to the whole of a nation is treasonous. The republican party has taken it upon itself to act in the most despicable of ways by ignoring obvious foreign collusion in the last election solely because they benefited from the said collusion. Now that we see that they are closing ranks to protect the republican power in office we can see why the separation of powers is so vital. Because the separation of powers is what should protect us from any who would be over throwers of our form of democratic government. Yet when the over throwers are actually the ones who control the levers of power the idea that checks and balances will protect us becomes moot.
     Our system of elections has caused this to happen and since we have never faced such a political dilemma as this in the past our path forward is quite unclear. Who will reign in the over throwers who are now legally in political power? I use the term legally because as of today it is still valid regardless of the evidence that is coming out showing an illegitimate election. Will our supreme court find it within themselves to come to the defense of our constitution? Do they see themselves as the protectors of our society or just as arbiters of technicalities? Who will be our champion when we have no governmental force left that is not tainted with the partisanship of republican politics?
     I for one can only hope that the press and the citizenry of our nation will not let the carpetbaggers in power destroy the value of our evolving democracy. It is their intent to do so and all indications are that they will not be deterred until someone or thing actually deters them. What are the checks and balances indeed if not our Congress and our courts? What is left is either acquiescence to being subdued or the foment of rebellion. As of this writing I don't know what can be done except to continue to bring evidence forward to convince our populace that an inherent disease is upon us in the form of republican politics and do everything we can to rebut it. Our last line of defense went the way of the ineffective electoral college and now we are left this question, with who will save us as a last dying gasp?

Reality is finite (#2971)

     I often come back to this basic principle of life being too short for all the mess we cause ourselves. There is no rule that says that we humans must make life hard for each other. There is only the fear that if we don't we won't be able to keep our individual advantages. I have looked at society this way, we have to keep busy otherwise we have too much chaos and not enough progress. But to punish those who are not as privileged and advantaged as others is just down right mean and brutish. Again, there are no rules for how we structure our society written in stone. We have a democracy which is a good starting point but we must not only ensure it's existence but we must give all who are born an equal chance to survive and prosper within it.
     Work is what we have devised as the vehicle for economic success and overall peace. But the work must be fair and equitable. Where the work is drudgery and unforgiving we should be forced to make it not so. However we do that as a society is our obligation. Society is most effectively controlled by our government since we can compel it to reflect the best of who we are as opposed to private concerns who have less integrity as to benevolence and altruism. So we instigate social programs to alleviate the inequities that the private market of capitalism ignores. Remember, the structure of how our civilization is processed is aimed at making everyone's life easier, not just those who wield power.
     So when I see our national disgrace of a republican party trying to make life harder as a rule for everyone except the wealthy I am duty bound to fight against it. I don't fight against democracy, I fight against those who are dishonoring it. As far as the concept of work to keep us busy while we live and die on Earth I am for it. It allows us to make our own mark through merit and it helps us to innovate and create. But only if we are using work as a universal equality of opportunity paradigm. There are some problems that need to be addressed on how our society provides opportunities for work but until we get the republican party out of public office we will never get to address those problems and truly make America the land of the free for all and allow for everyone to enjoy the pursuit of happiness.

Keeping our eye on the ball (#2970)

     I don't care what trump does to try to distract us from his tax returns and his Russian connections I know I will still clamor for them even if he starts a war. I am so sick of his blatant abuse of our political system and his manipulations of our political process that no matter how hard he tries to change the subject of his impending impeachment or nullification of his election I won't be swayed. I am but one and there are millions out there just like me who are done with his antics and his continuing embarrassment of our national pride. He has taken what goodwill we as a nation have built up over many long grueling decades and shit canned it as if it were an irritant.
     Well he is the irritant and his coming trip to the shit can will be a most enjoyable moment for the psyche of our modern society. His supporters may whine and cry but that is what childish behavior looks like and most of his supporters are still far removed from mature thinking and reasoning. We will not survive the minimum of 4 years with him at the helm of our government and the sooner he is cast down the quicker we recover some dignity and respect with the other inhabitants of our planet. It isn't a matter of if he is shit canned but when. But it must come from our vigilance to force the reality of his incoherence, greed and despicable behavior onto every power base that has a say in our society.
     There will be the ones who will not agree to let him go down but we must override them with a fierce persistence that cannot be denied. We must hold our steely eyed glare to them so that his supporters know that there is no other option. This is what I call the time to stand and fight and the fighting time is now! Never before in the history of our nation have we been duped by a foreign power to help install the worst of our populace the rights and privileges of controlling the whole of our nation and that it has happened should be enough to rally all of us who have respect for our democracy and the willingness to fight of it to do just that!

It is only mid March (#2969)

     The worst of what we expected has not happened yet. I thought trump would already have us in a shooting war larger than the more than 1000 troops soon to be in Syria, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/15/u-s-military-probably-sending-as-many-as-1000-more-ground-troops-into-syria-ahead-of-raqqa-offensive-officials-say/?utm_term=.a2756eb174b3. I had figured that China or it's satellite North Korea would already be waging war against us. I am happy to say that we are not there yet and I suspect that although trump is full of rhetorical bluster, in his heart he is a full blown coward. Which may be our saving grace here. I am one of those who expect the nuclear option to be part of his eventual decision to wage war but if he keeps this up maybe we will escape a nuclear holocaust.
     The fact that he is willing to destroy health care and any and all social programs has not changed. I expect he will find that we are not going to allow him to operate in a vacuum so his plans with destroying health care may not be so easy for him to accomplish. Yet in his budget, http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/politics/trump-budget-cuts/, trump would eliminate so many social programs aimed at the working middle poor class while increasing the military budget by practically the same amount that one can only conclude that he values harm and death more than he values any decent scenario of life. Of course none of this has passed into law and it might never do so, yet that is the best we can hope.
     There are still 22 months to go until the next round of congressional elections come about so in 22 months we could all be a smoldering cinder of ash or like most of us wish we were, given the harsh reality trump wants to inflict upon us. Something still must prevail to end this nightmare that has fallen on top of us by a minority vote. With all the criminal activity now being scrutinized about trump and his inner circle hopefully some judicial relief will be forthcoming but again, that is the best case scenario which so far no best case scenario has happened yet.

Forcing round pegs into square holes (#2968)

     The republicans out there who still back trump are doing some mighty fancy footwork now that their champion has been exposed for the carnival barker the rest of us knew he was. Trying hard to justify his actions and words by reinventing the English language to mean what it "alternatively" doesn't. By taking credit for things done by our previous president and giving trump the credit. So many different shape shifting explanations to justify the con man who can barely string a sentence together when without a dreaded teleprompter that he has now embraced. I often think of the biblical story of the man who changed his mind constantly like a reed blowing in different directions in the wind. This is what we have now from the barker who said specifically what he would do and now has changed just about all of that now that he is in office.
     Most all of us who voted against him, which was the majority, and may I add that again us Americans failed to exercise our right to vote when 46.9% of us did not vote, https://www.facebook.com/carthurclark/posts/10208635183180202?theater. About 90 million did not vote. Anyway, most of us who voted against him knew he was a liar and a cheat but we couldn't dent the wall their ignorance built up around their brains so as to not let facts or truths deny them their now logically indefensible hero. So what is left for them is to deny logic and hold onto the idea of "alternative facts", which they don't have to admit to themselves means lies. Better for them to embrace lies as truths and keep their hero.
     Which brings us to forcing round pegs into square holes. Once one has the concept of accepting lies as truth if it fits their narrative they are free to create any reality between their ears. the problem of course is that most of us, yes, even those assholes who didn't bother to vote, still live in the real reality. So when they use their alternative facts/lies they are often not able to sway otherwise decently intelligent folks to their point of view. Which for the rest of us is somewhat gratifying that all told our nation hasn't completely lost it's collective mind!

Stay strong but be the peacemaker (#2967)

     My values are not negotiable, therefore trying to get me to do something or think something that violates them will never work. Yet I can be a peacemaker in the areas of disagreement. I accept that we have differences and when applicable can still be friendly as other factors are weighed. It is incumbent upon all of us to coexist where it is necessary and being the bigger person while having some basic ground rules is always the best method for interacting. I cannot disassociate all who are not like minded. Some are fixed in my sphere and accepting that and making accommodation for it without any sacrificing of my values is required.
     I can live with that. I find the common interests we have and work within those areas. It isn't difficult to keep some things at arm's distance as long as my boundaries are respected. As an example, I have had some who still show their racism speak at me and I immediately tell them It is unacceptable and I will not hear any further if they wish to communicate with me. It is then their choice as to how to proceed and the result of their choice dictates my response. I stand firm in how I approach life and how I live it. There is no compromise in how I value principles that underpin my entity. I am who I am and that is who I will be regardless of who or what enters my life. I am stubborn that way and that stubbornness in protecting what matters to me is absolute.
     But as strong as I am in protecting my values I am also pliable in that I can accept the idea of "agree to disagree". There are times when discussing complex or simple concepts is not in the best interest of ongoing relationships. Knowing when to let the peace of not conflicting to exist is more than a survival technique, it is also a strategy of letting things ride for a higher purpose. We can't always win the obvious battles but we should never lose them either. Finding a way to make peace with our disagreements is often the better part of maintaining tranquility as long as we do not sacrifice our values.

The cowards of the republican party (#2966)

     Yes, cowards they are. They are afraid of all things that take them out of their selfish comfort zone. They do not have the desire to improve themselves beyond their own prejudices and biases. It is simple for republicans that way. There is no taxing of their minds to understand the complexities of life. As long as they are comfortable within the structures that keep their power they do not care for logic or common sense that is in constant change. We live in a society that is in motion. Motion means constantly moving from one moment to the next. It is the most fundamental logical occurrence in existence yet republicans wish to stop motion or progress or whatever you wish to call it so long as they can keep what they have as static.
     Well the world doesn't work like that. The only thing static is death. Once dead, nothing significant about who you were or what you are changes and that is a fact. So pretending to keep life static instead of embracing motion is at best stupid or at worst cowardly. I don't hold that many republicans are stupid so I go with the them being cowards. Afraid of the change that motion brings. How utterly sad that republicans have stopped living in the present and for the future and choose to live in some demented illusion of the past where their prejudices and biases can flourish. This particular era of American society will undoubtedly go down as one of the most troubling to understand. Where once America and Americans had been held in high esteem have fallen so far as to be held now in low contempt.
     There is a battle going on right this moment in time by the democratic forces who wish modernity and progress to win out and the republican forces who wish to dissolve our modernity and progress and take us back to an unenlightened time where the wealthy and privileged ruled the land and everyone else was at their beck and call. If you have yet to accept that this is happening then your internal principles are diseased and not active in your life making you susceptible to becoming a coward yourself. So make a stand on what you know is right and join us in defeating the hatred and racism of cowards and make yourself into an honorable American we should have been all along.

Again, universal single payer health care is the right policy! (#2965)

     Finally, we see the alternative to Obamacare from republicans and it is no alternative at all. Instead it is a massive giveaway to the top 2% income bracket, http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/13/14914596/ahca-cbo-premiums-age. While also being a burden on the middle class and kicking over 52 million off health care by year 2026, http://www.vox.com/2017/3/13/14912520/cbo-ahca-gop-plan. If you did not know this was how this was going to play out then you truly were in the republican bubble unable to see that the republican party has not ever been a friend to the working middle poor class. They are the party of the wealthy and if you are not wealthy then you will only feel the pain of their policies.
     98% of us will never be wealthy. We will have to work hard and struggle for every bit of pay and benefit we can get to raise our families and prepare for our retirement. Let me explain retirement for a moment. It is not the luxury of great health and exuberant mindsets. On the contrary, it is last days of our lives that wore and tore us down to a shadow of who we were. In retirement we are lucky to have the strength and wherewithal to just live a minimally enjoyable life. So when republicans try to take our retirement in the form of social security and medicare from us it is like they are sticking a knife in our backs and telling us we don't deserve to live anymore. For me I see it as an indirect attempt to kill us off while increasing their own bank accounts.
     But I digress, universal single payer health insurance, or more easily understood, medicare for all, is the best policy for all of us, young and old. When we know we won't be bankrupted for having an illness or accident we can then focus more on the important things in life like raising our children and teaching them the value of democratic principles. Until we are able to get this message across to all Americans that having policies aimed at our own good will instead of only at the good will of the wealthy we will continue to have harsh and brutish lives for the sake of making the wealthy even more comfortable.

California must lead! (#2964)

     No where in our nation is there a state that has the resources, the political advantage and the chutzpah to combat the utter hatred and democracy destroying current federal administration than California. When I first found out that trump was elected and he had the senate and house majorities on his side all I could think of was to get out of here and go to a country where democracy and intelligence worked hand in hand. But after some time to reflect, I realized that I already live in a place where these attributes exist, here in California, the capitol city of Sacramento no less. Not only am I in a jurisdiction that values all souls as equal but I am in a state where intelligence is desired and innovation and creation are a foundation worthy of being expanded.
     So no more thoughts of leaving my birth country because too many and too archaic a system allowed a trump and his despicable cronies to lead our national entity. Our state entity here is tremendous. We are alternately the 6th or 7th, depending upon the time of year, largest economy in the world, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-economy-idUSKCN0Z32K2. We have the endless supply of natural resources; wind, water and solar to begin our transition quite effectively from the dirty energy providers. We have the technology of Silicon Valley to help us along with our modernization and progression into the future and we have Hollywood which serves to tell the truth of how our society can and will operate that is far beyond the propaganda that the bitter wealthy are using to divide us.
     Although the federal government has singled us Californians out as being renegades we seem to find that label quite refreshing given the agenda of the national government under trump and his republican party. We actually instill the values of democracy here instead of dismantling them. We welcome diversity as a positive that expands our own existing horizons. We actually care about all lives here not just those who are bigoted and wealthy. Staying and fighting for what should be best about America is where I will stay and as long as California has my back I have hers.

We are born innocent and should never let that go (#2963)

     We are all born with a wide eyed beginning to know where we are and what we are doing here. The great question of why begins early on in our development. So many things come at us when we are just come alive that we often forget how we began after some time. Especially when we get older and have difficulty remembering the first thoughts that entered our minds. We are not born with an understanding of language and symbols so we learn them as we progress so keeping our thoughts ordered is difficult if not impossible at the earliest stages of our beginnings. Yet we do keep our memories and if we search them and place them into our memorial foundations we will find that our care and our curious natures dominate the landscape of our minds.
     I have read so many philosophical takes on life and the meaning of life that the same themes keep coming back to me from all of them, that we care and we wonder. Even in the most despicable takes on our nature is the foundational theme of a care, either for ourselves or a group of us and a curiosity about what our present or future may bring. I say this because no matter the right or wrong take on life these two themes of care and wonder are within. I choose to take the high road about our natures and apply the two themes of care and wonder to them. It is logical as well as intuitive. My first reactions in emergency situations is always to matter in a positive way, however the emergency plays out. An instinct to do right and correct things is apparent to me and surely I am not the only one who behaves like this.
     I have other traits that are not easily definable as good and bad depending on my application of them. Take for instance my stubbornness. At times my dogged approach to solving problems is a positive trait that motivates me to a positive solution. At other times my dogged approach to matters of the heart have proven to be a negative and have caused pain as a result. I am learning to adjust my other traits to fit more precisely toward positive outcomes, yet my care and my wonder are always there no matter what other trait may have some temporary control. My innocence at birth though is the key to me and we all have that same beginning so we should all hold that as our baseline for the rest of our limited life in this existence.

If we survive... (#2962)

     This is the backlash for the comprehensive progressions we have made over the last decade. The entrenched forces of prejudice and hate have been held at bay for too long and this last election gave them the opportunity to coalesce and take out their frustrations on the progress that has been made. They used hook and crook to get power but they have it and what is next for our nation over the next 2 to 4 years will tell much about how far we have come as a civilized society. Will we survive their prejudice and hatred or will we combat it for as long as it takes? That will be the question that will be answered over time. I for one will combat it with my life when necessary which I fully expect to do. There is no going back now on how I live and the principles I hold dear.
     I refuse to be one of those who accepts this deviously maneuvered election as legitimate so fight against it I will. I have learned over time that the important things in life are not the material things I can accumulate, rather the important things in life are honor, curiosity, dignity, love and respect, etcetera. These are the values I live for and fight for. Never will I let a scoundrel of any type try to tell me how to live and think. I am a free will man who knows that no person has the right to degrade or deny any other the right of free will and thought. This is a battle that is occurring while most of us are just not paying attention. Our lives are so structured that we cannot fathom upsetting them for ideals that are not tangible.
     Well that disregard for values is what has gotten us in this mess and it will keep us here until the mess becomes so overwhelming that our very lives will become forfeit. So while most of us are content in our own little worlds the rest of the world is being manipulated in such dastardly ways that our inattention will cost us dearly. If we survive the next few years it will be because we did not let the trumps of the world destroy our democracy and if you think that is hyperbole just look around sometime at the laws they are institution and the people who are being harmed by them. Surely you are not like the trumps of the world so tell me, what are your values and what are you willing to sacrifice to keep them?

The destruction of America (#2961)

     Now that trump is comfortably settled into his duties of denying anything to the working middle poor class here in America, he is prepared to go global and start skirmishes at his pleasure. We have learned that the republican control of congress is no obstacle to trump and any of his anti American motives so the issue of stopping him politically seems very remote. As far as the courts go we do see some resistance but as of yet have heard nothing out of the split ideology supreme court. What that leaves is our military standing up to trump and as a last resort, creating a peaceful coup. I don't see that either especially if wars are initiated that make taking our eyes off the battlefield too complex to also include a welcome peaceful coup desired by a majority of Americans now.
     So with trump at the controls and the republican party the majority in congress and controlling the leadership and agenda there, we are ripe for being purged of our democratic ideals. No longer will we be the melting pot of the world as the racists and white supremacists have a seat in trump's inner circle. The erosion of our previously prosperous economic system that had a thriving middle class will continue to decline as income inequality will grow to an even greater disparity. The separation of church and state will be dismantled as the right wing trumps are bound to their base of Christian fanatics who want a world dominated by Christians as to them all other faiths are fake. Simple note here, ironic about the fake part right?
     Our rights to protest peacefully and for redress of wrongs is now under assault. Laws are being formulated all across the nation by republican controlled states that allow for forfeiture where no crime has been committed. Protests that can be deemed violent through subjective decisions are now putting protesters in jeopardy where no crime has been committed by those protesters arrested. Our social systems of insurance for economic security are being dismantled piece meal or altogether. What once was a nation that valued democratic ideals of diversity and opportunity has now become a hateful two class society where the wealthy enjoy the luxury of expanded wealth and the rest of us majority serve at their pleasure with only table scraps left to satisfy our pursuit of happiness.

The fallacies of logic by republicans (#2960)

     First and foremost among the fallacies used by republicans is the proof of assertion. Which basically is the one where you repeat a lie enough so that eventually it becomes thought to be the truth. This constant bombardment is a tactic they use so that they never have to answer to their lies. Like answering a question with a question to keep from staying on point about their false allegation. But one thing they do really well is stay lockstep in the lie they are forwarding. The truth is that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put it's pants on. This is an old saying but regardless its age, it is a valid axiom.
     Another convenient logical fallacy republicans use is circular reasoning. For example, they say Obamacare is bad because Obamacare is bad. No proof or premise to justify why Obamacare is bad, just that because they say it is bad it is bad. They are very good at making claims without providing evidence, much like trump claiming Obama wiretapped his hotel during the last election but providing no proof other than to say that Obama wiretapped his hotel. After a while enough people start to believe him despite providing no proof and then next it is used as a cudgel against Obama. These types of attacks against anyone who is against republicans are the new normal and since trump's base is easily swayed they follow his statements as truth.
     Another technique, straight from Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is called the Big lie. It is a fallacy similar to proof of assertion and circular reasoning. The Big lie is the one where you state a lie that is so complex in it's understanding that no one would believe it was made up. It sounds so astounding and is delivered with such conviction that repeated enough people will believe it. All of these techniques have better than limited success because our American electorate is a fast food type society. We like our understandings thought out for us instead of utilizing diligence ourselves. We would rather have the shortcut of someone's else's conclusion than to actually form our own. We deserve this mess and no amount of squealing about it afterwards lessens the impact of our own choice to be lead instead of leading! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_by_assertion.

The worst of our natures are expressed by the republican party (#2959)

     The pursuit of happiness is not a republican credo unless and only if it involves money any way possible. For republicans life has been dwindled down to economics. The fact that we are all born on this planet and as such are due the rights of life, republicans only view that right to life through the lens of how much money is in your wallet. They do not care that you are a human being, only that you somehow play by the rules while not playing by the rules to get your mountain of cash. It is why they honor thieves, con men and liars into their party. The only thing that matters to republicans is economic success whether stolen or earned, it doesn't matter.
     Well I say to them, if they wish to live in a civilized world then the price of that civilization is community and sharing so that all may succeed in a proper way to happiness. Not just by economic standards but by honorable and noble ones. The price for this concept of civilized life is the alternative. A society where if the rules are no longer agreeable to those of us who have little, which for the wealthy that is already the case, then rules don't apply and all of us will be in survival mode which means fighting for out lives and existence. If republicans want a revolt, which it is already apparent they are pushing the working middle poor class towards then a revolt they will get.
     They, republicans, think we won't fight to stay alive and are constantly pushing us further into a decision. They have quit trying to hide the fact that they don't care about the majority of Americans. They are now actively rigging our democracy so that fewer and fewer of us have a voice in electing of our leaders. Their formula is to divide and conquer us working middle poor class through race and gender issues all the while reducing our ability to vote. This is a reality that republicans are forcing into existence and their inability to think more than one step ahead will ultimately be their undoing. If I know one thing absolutely it is that we Americans who love democracy will not let it be stolen from us by the worst of our society and the inhumane natures they exhibit. If they want chaos over civilized living then so be it when that fighting time comes.

The haunting reality of the truth (#2958)

     Yes, trump is experiencing a haunting. He cannot live up to the embrace the American people had and still have for President Obama. That trump is a narcissist by many accounts and as such demands of himself that he be adored. Well he is finding that he is not adored by a vast majority of Americans and it is driving his relentless tweet storms to diminish President Obama any way he can. There is little doubt that trump actually thought he could win the presidency and with help from his foreign allies he did the unexpected. So now trump's ego has been bolstered to new heights and that is why he continues to feed it with outlandish claims that have no basis in reality.
     That his base continues to believe any and everything that comes from him as fact is just another bonus for him. He could say the moon was made of cheese and surely there would be a fox or breitbart poll somewhere showing that 90% of his followers would believe it to be true. It was bad enough that a conservative majority supreme court gave bush the presidency in 2000 when there was no immediate reason to it without continuing the recount in Florida. That was a stain on our democracy when one party overruled democratic principles in order to win a public office for itself. But now, this is beyond a stain, this is on the precipice of treason what has happened in the 2016 election.
     No longer can the bush anomaly of 2000 be seen as a one off and been corrected. Rather it was just the tip of the iceberg that showed itself when it comes to disloyalty to democracy by the republican party. A cancerous entity like this eras republican party will not be denied it's disease like spread until we the true patriots of America who put democracy first are willing to do the hard work of cutting it out and burning it into oblivion. In the meantime the narcissist in chief will continue his tirade against those who don't love him and all of us will pay dearly for it.

When misplaced loyalty to the criminal crumbles in the face of the evidence (#2957)

     It is easy to spot. When the evidence of things is so overwhelming that no objective person would ever not investigate with an eye toward the truth but would instead dismiss as nothing more than an attack, we find that person is not being objective, but rather the person has something to hide. Take for instance all the connections with the Russians over the last election by so many in the new trump administration. Their loyalty to trump for their position in high government is greater than their desire to discover the facts of what happened. It may well and should be assumed that those who do not want to investigate the Russian connection, are in it up to their necks as well. So there is honor among thieves in this case but for how long?
     As with all attempts at nefarious ulterior motives, when caught out, those who have much to lose find a way to extricate themselves as a reward by snitching on their accomplices. Since they started out to deceive their characters are untrustworthy so them turning on their co-conspirators is not much of a leap. Much like what is most likely going on in Russia where the deaths of eight diplomats and others who were directly and indirectly connected to trump and putin have occurred in the last several months, http://crooksandliars.com/2017/03/eighth-russian-connected-trump-found-dead. As putin is tying up his loose ends trump is behind on that score and most likely trumps ties will be the ones who take trump down and implicate putin despite his murderous cleanup.
     Although loyalty to great causes gives us men like Nathan Hale, who at his hanging for being a spy for the colonies in the Revolutionary War, exclaimed that he regretted having only one life to give for his country, paraphrased, loyalty to nefarious causes have no such honorable sacrifice. As the steady flow of evidence continues to show that trump acquiesced to putin for an exchange involving hacks and propaganda, for financial gain for Russia, putin in particular, more strength to convict trump and his minions of criminality will follow and those whose lips are tight now in the inner circle of trumps will loosen as the pressure continues to build.

The traitorous republican party (#2956)

     In risking to keep their political power at all costs we finally see what that entails. That the Russians worked with trump to undermine Clinton and other democrats is indisputable. The connections linked to too many of trump's cabinet picks and insiders is also indisputable. 17 federal agencies, civilian and military, report that the Russians did indeed hack our election with the purpose of denying Clinton and other Democrats the Presidency, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/21/17-intelligence-agencies-russia-behind-hacking/92514592/. Yet, we cannot get the republican party, which controls our Senate and House to investigate.
     Which is telling since just investigated and held over 50 hearings concerning Clinton over her emails and Benghazi. This is the tell, republicans use political power as a weapon in an attempt to destroy an American political party, but do nothing to stop a foreign enemy from infiltrating our society! This is the bargain republicans made outside our shores, asking Russia to help them keep political power and giving Russia free reign to continue it's attack against democracy elsewhere in the world while also getting American benefits such as sanctions lifted and restoring massive business ties with republican donors and trumps own personal business interests, https://qz.com/923065/the-ultimate-guide-to-donald-trumps-russia-connections/.

     It has been about 6 weeks now since trump took the oath of office; "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.". It may yet be proven very soon that trump has already, with intent, violated this oath and as such should be removed from office. There is much murkiness swirling around the trumps and their agendas. The will of those of us who are relentless in getting to the bottom of how trump was elected and what he has done to our democracy since his questionable election is enduring, The attempts by trump to stifle investigations and diminish our liberty to question him have failed so far and the truth of trump and his minions along with his foreign complicit partners is about to be revealed.
     

If we don't learn to share we may still kill our species (#2955)

     I was thinking about the two main reasons we fight among our species, religion and natural resources. Here in America I had thought we had figured out how to take religion out of the dangerous fighting zone by accepting all religions or no religion at all as provided by the first amendment of our constitution, {"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."}. It is absolutely clear the intent of our constitutional framers that all religions are acceptable and that no religion is acceptable as well.
     So anything to do with establishing a single religion as the foundation of our democracy is unconstitutional. However this is not the case with the current trumps. they feel that Christianity, as they define it, is our national religion and needs to be at the core of our laws. But this isn't the only absurd conflict the trumps are initiating. They are also after our natural resources owned by the people for the people. Which is all of us not some of us. From fees for our airwaves to destruction of our preserved landmarks, republicans are giving our national treasure to the wealthy so that they can reap benefits off of us people who actually already own the processes and resources. It is like if we own a house but then someone comes along and says we must give them part of our house so that they can privately make money off of it and also then charge us for using it.
     Our resources and our beliefs are sacred to us whether they are religious or not and if we don't defend our right to them then they will be taken by the greedy wealthy like the trumps who are in power with the complicity of the republican party. Well, are we cowards who will be stripped of our rights, inheritances and beliefs whatever they may be? Or are we courageous and strong willing to defend our rights and inheritances and beliefs whatever they may be against those who would rob from us? The world is watching and there is no hiding or ignoring this choice we each must make. How will you respond and how will your legacy and destiny define you?

When the intent is to deceive (#2954)

     There is not one iota of doubt in my soul that the trumps want to cause extreme pain and suffering on the working middle poor class of Americans. Somehow their minds tell them that having compassion toward anyone not making millions in income is not allowed. Somehow they think we should all be millionaires and those of us who aren't deserve a whip to the back not a helping hand. It is the starkest difference between republicans and democrats. Democrats will use the stick at times when it is proper but for the most part we democrats find that the carrot is the most successful utility in creating a better society. Meanwhile republicans rarely use the carrot and instead almost always use the stick. They think that kindness and helpfulness can only be expressed through pain and suffering, hence their political philosophy of survival of the fittest.
     This is not always obvious to others who are not clued into the history of the republican party like I have been over these many decades. How republicans have been able to deflect blame for not establishing social programs of their own is to sabotage democratic social programs and then exclaim that the social programs don't work. While also falsely claiming that there is widespread fraud and abuse in the programs in order to pit the working middle poor class against itself. They have most recently done the same with voting rights, claiming there is widespread voter fraud while never producing anything that even begins to look like widespread voter fraud. They, republicans, always claim something without providing proof and they think that their stature is such that people will believe them based upon their portrayed demigod status.
     Well they are not demigods they are just human beings who lack a soul for doing what is right for all Americans instead of doing all for the benefit of the wealthy. I live in this society yet am sickened by it's abuse of our precious democracy. How the electorate here in America can be so prejudiced toward equality and fairness is beyond me. I am an honorable man and as such live my life in a peaceful appreciative way that gives me serenity. Yet am I more the exception than the rule? Are more like the republicans who are more disconnected from humanity than other species who live with us? I am terribly ashamed of our American populace who cannot seem to distinguish between living life with honor and living life as a greedy brute.

Will democrats unite? (#2953)

     I am flummoxed over what is going on in our democratic party. It seems that the problems we are having with infighting is perfectly wonderful for republicans who are doing some of the worst manipulations in the history of our nation but we democrats don't seem to be paying attention because we got problems with our own choices and who should or shouldn't run in our party elections. I cannot tell how utterly ridiculous it is for us democrats to be doing this while the world is basically on fire. How shortsighted and selfish we can be and it makes me wonder if many in our democratic party actually care about democracy more than they care about their own sense of what we democrats should or shouldn't be doing.
     What it tells me is that instead of fighting to keep our democracy they would rather live under a tyrant and feel the smugness of their own perception of reality. How selfish and republican like. I keep saying everywhere I put a footprint, I will vote for whoever is our nominee, period. If all of us within our democratic party would keep this big picture mentality, then we will never have a trump like experience again. I am all for doing what we can to repair any and all problems that we have within our party but I will never lose sight that whatever problems we have within our party are minuscule in equivalency and in polar opposition to the devastating effects republicans bring to being in power.
     I would gladly vote for a democrat who has some unlikable qualities in a heart beat then ever vote for the sanest republican. Never will I ever vote for a republican nor would I abstain from voting or vote third party. If we democrats are not in power then our society is ripe for destruction. That is a simple fact so we democrats need to know the order of our priorities and the most crucial priority we have is to have a democrat in every elected public office, period!
     

Grass roots pressure is what we need to minimize the damage of the trumps (#2952)

     We are just about out of options here in thwarting the disaster of the last election. It seems that the con man who will lead our nation will try to implement his cruel and brutish policies aimed at the working middle poor class so the only real action we can take is to create as much disturbance as possible to make their job of slowly killing us off much more difficult. We must force them to show how determined they are to destroy democracy so that when the next election comes around they will not be able to hide their actions from anyone despite their propaganda. Because republicans are real good at hiding their agenda until they get the power to beat us over the head with it.
     Damage will be done to our American society as we are forced by republicans to fall further from our original democratic ideals, http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-american-dream-moved-to-canada/. It will be made worse by republicans because they control the federal government through Congress and the Executive branch. This is their time to do all the rotten nasty things to our society that their wicked little minds have been plotting for decades. They don't want us to have a decent society, they want us to have a brutal one, based upon their favorite formula, survival of the fittest. Fear is their leverage and they will make many of us turn the screws on the others of us so that they can accomplish their slow but relentless tearing down of what made our nation great, namely our compassion and our curiosity.
     How we combat them is to use what little rights we have left, our protests and our votes when the voting times come between now and 2018. There are several key races in states that will be a harbinger for who will have momentum going into the midterm elections and if we can build our grassroots pressure to win these key races we will be setting the stage for a rebuke of the trumps and their agenda to make our lives more miserable instead of promoting the pursuit of our happiness.