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.

The inhumanity of it all (#2951)

     It has not been two months yet and we are seeing the growing police state and an agenda to increase our military footprint while alienating our greatest allies in the world. This is somewhat the scenario I envisioned when the trumps came to power. For me it is apocalyptic in nature and foreshadows the darkest period in American history, yes even overshadowing our most egregious American era culminating in the Civil War. This is my perception of what is to come however there are still some opportunities to stop the pending struggle. Our courts have jurisdiction in defining the rights we have as citizens and as to how our elections are to be conducted and if they find that influences beyond the democratic process were implemented then a possible recourse could be devised.
     There is also the military who may see that the madman in the while house needs to be put out as a defense against the destruction of democracy should that become more imminent. Our protests large and small in a never ending loop may also have a chilling effect on trump and his republican party's march to deconstruct our government and lessen the freedoms that we are guaranteed through it. There is already a concerted effort by the trumps to make our nation less safe from manufacturing and industrialization techniques that border on lunacy from the lethal days where pollution and nature's destruction where acceptable as long as a profit could be turned.
     Many people will become less than compared to others and their life expectancy will diminish concurrent with their ability to turn a buck. Economics will be the rule, not democracy and those who cannot nor will not participate in the reality that a dedication to any work that is offered by the greedy wealthy is the only vehicle to freedom, will find they have none. A system is being established where corporations are more valued than life and that only money is allowed to speak. Many of us will not survive this next four years but it won't be because we bowed our heads in fear but because we lost our heads being courageous. Humanity will not suffer any loss in my presence as long as that is.

Quitting because the good isn't good enough (#2950)

     I have seen enough now to know this much, if we have good why would we throw it away for bad? That doesn't make sense to do does it? Yet that is exactly what we did this last election. There are those out there who think that our previous good should be torn down because it wasn't great. So they stayed home and didn't vote or voted third party and yes, even some voted for trump. All because the great wasn't coming fast enough from what good we had at the time. Well I am not one of these folks. I understand that change actually does take time and whatever good we had at the time was right for pushing forward to make the good even better.
     We don't have that luxury now. The illogic of the few who thought that letting the republican win would help to solidify our democratic base for a greater effect this coming 2018 and especially 2020. The problem here is that nothing stays in a vacuum. Instead what we are losing now will be that much harder to get back in the future because whenever ground that has already been won is given up it is exponentially harder to get that ground back. Not only that but with republicans in power, our freedoms to protest and vote will get that much harder to keep. So the dynamic those who thought a trump victory would help us in the near future will not be the same when the next voting time comes.
     I have seen this play out in the past so it is not a shock to me that it is happening again. This is what happens when the logic of keeping the good and improving on it is not accepted as fact or common sense progress when the next generation evolves. We keep going through these cycles where lessons are learned and then readily forgotten so the same endless cycle continues. I have one principle in all this that never changes with me, whoever our democratic nominee is will always get one hundred percent of me. The reason being that even when the nominee is not my first or second choice, the policies are. What is going to happen over the next 4 and even 8 years is going to be hell for so many that the little fit many democrats through that allowed this is showing itself to be nothing more than childish behavior and a major self inflicted wound on ourselves and those who count on us not to act as petulant children but like those with the gravitas of wisdom.

No time for people who aren't doing good (#2949)

     Let me be clear. I have no time at all for people who cannot see and do the good in life. Which means that coming from a large family like mine there are members who no longer are in my life. Many in fact have found it that way for reasons that have to do with their own greed and condescension. Sad in that our grandparents were strong democrats who always fought for those who had little or nothing. But as has happened in our family, like so many others, the better life provided them by the sacrifices and struggles of those who came before them has gone underappreciated or not appreciated at all. A sense of entitlement has infiltrated their mindsets and no amount of fact or truth seems to be able to break through their defenses.
      Same with friends from my past. I have no time for them either if they cannot find it in their hearts to care about more than just themselves. I think of it this way. I have been unable to show them how to be more open and thoughtful about how other people must struggle just to keep at the poverty level. They seem to think we are all starting from the same advantages and privileges they take for granted and then condescend to them for not being as productive or fortunate as they are. It confounds me to no end how otherwise intelligent beings are so angry at those who cannot make good in life like they have.
     I have found that not being around or associated with those people is the best on all fronts. They do not get the benefit of my personality and character and I don't have to be disappointed and saddened by their ulterior prejudices and biases. My life is short enough as it is especially since I am in the twilight of it and for me to put myself into situations where miserable beings are around me is nonsense. I would rather not have a friend in the world if my own mental health was in jeopardy. I don't have that problem though since I have some friends who are like minded like myself and the joy and pleasure of being around them, family or friend, is a far superior way of life I had hoped would be more universal.

A cost is associated with rebelling against trump and his police state (#2948)

     Yes, there will be many of us who feel the wrath of the indignant tyrant trump as we continue to resist and persist against his anti-democratic policies. But not unlike the wars we have fought outside our borders to bring about world democracy, we must also fight within our borders to maintain the democracy we have that is currently under assault. This is not a test folks this is real so if you think you can just ignore this warning and go about your daily unaware lives you will soon enough find yourself at great disadvantages. The time is now to put up our best resistance because once you give trump an inch it will be much harder to get that inch back.
     Those of us who speak truth to power are the most vulnerable but it isn't in our natures to back down from a righteous fight. We are Americans first and with that label we owe a duty to all those who have fought for democracy before and after us. So if losing everything is the cost then so be it. I know I won't tolerate a takeover of our government by the current anti-democratic administration and I also know I am not alone. Many of us laugh in the face of the rhetorical threats because we know that at the core of these trumps is a cowardice that has been inside them their whole lives. They hoot with bravado but when push comes to shove they will feel their knees shake and their cowardice freeze their nefarious will.
     This is a battle we civilized modern Americans must fight and win if our nation is to survive this first real crisis from within. The trumps may think they can bully us into submission but they have no idea what real patriotism looks like. They will feel it at their very cores if they don't find their way back to reason and sanity. A cost for all of us is coming and how we pay it will reflect who we really are. Either pay with your loss of dignity, respect and rights by cowering to the bully trumps or pay with your sacrifice and willingness to not only stand against tyranny but to fight it at every turn so that no matter what the outcome we will all know we gave all we had with nothing left in reserve.

Our species has two frontiers left to explore (#2947)

     The micro and the macro. I often think of our dimension as being one small and the other being large. In the micro world the physical dynamics are different than the physical dynamics of our world whereas, if we are a micro world to another macro world what is that macro world like? Just postulating and not claiming as fact. But it is curious that I think we could be a layered dimension that is a constant always in a continuum with each succeeding dimension either larger or smaller than the other. Let me try to explain in a more simple fashion. Let's say that our dimension is just a microbe within another dimension who is a microbe within another dimension and so on and so on. An endless loop of dimensions encapsulating all dimensions.
     I try to think with logic so given that we have both, micro and macro, it doesn't seem foolish to begin there. We have tools, microscopes and telescopes to help us understand both. As we continue on a course of exploration we may find that there is more of a link than the fact of our existence to both, but that there are means within our Universe that would allow us to move from one dimension to another. Of course I am talking of black holes where so far we find little of even light that can escape it's pull. If all that passes into a black hole is furthered out somewhere else, if being the operative possibility, where might that somewhere else be? Certainly within our Universe but on what dimension? Anyway, just postulating again so this is why it is so important for us to continue to explore our two frontiers.
     If we survive the trumps and do not destroy what modern advancement we have made I can foresee a near future that is not too distant where we are able to make these questions of dimension come to reveal themselves. As soon as we can perfect space propulsion with efficiency and conquer zero gravity in space, we would then be able to get a better idea of what forces in the outer macro world apply directly to the forces that exist within the micro world. My hunch is that the the micro world and the macro world will align much more closely once we are able to understand both better.

I won't quit (#2946)

     The darkest day of my life happened when trump was declared the winner of our last presidential election. I felt such a gut punch that was similar to one I had when I got my heart broken by a woman I was deeply in love with. This is just as bad as that was not only in the gut punch feeling but the lingering of it. My pain back then lasted about a year while this one no doubt will last until he is gone and a democrat is back leading our nation and the world. But throughout the pain I felt when I was younger I never quit on my life no matter how despondent I was at times. What I did was work to change my experiences to better allow me distance from what I knew to what I was changing to become.
     The same application works here in a different form. When I say I never quit it is because there is much work to do to reverse the outcome of this last election. There is a special election in Georgia for a congressional seat that can help cause a rising tide of momentum for democrats if we can somehow win this seat. Since there is no other election of this magnitude on the immediate horizon, we democrats can and should put all our efforts into this one district and work our tails off to get the democrat elected in a seat that has been held by republicans. So work to get our democracy back is my solution this time to that still stinging awful gut punch from last November 8th.
     Even if we cannot win this forthcoming congressional election, the effort to try is the key. This is where the "I will never quit" part kicks in to overdrive. Life is too short to commiserate with our worst fears and slide into a comatic life. Action to continue to improve life is my cure and while I have breath, win or lose, I won't quit. The old stand by idiom of if life knocks you down and you don't get back up then you can never win is applicable. This last knockdown was severe and if I hadn't been as strong as I am I could easily see myself throwing in the towel of defeat. But I am stronger than that and get back up I did and not only that I am ready to throw some hay makers at the lousy human beings currently running our government.

We Californians need to think outside the box (#2945)

     The trumps have decided that we here in California are not worthy of funds to continue to improve our way of life. The denial of continued funding for the upgrading of our Bay Area rail system is the latest to see a vindictive response from the new administration in Washington. As the March 1st deadline approaches for the signing of labor and material contracts is approaching we here in California are not in a financial position to honor those contracts so they will become null and void on March 1st, effectively stalling or ending the rail upgrade to electricity instead of the current fossil fuels. Unless we can come up with some alternative funding that has a guaranteed source.    
     Now I am no expert on what legal ground we stand on here in California to find an alternative source of funding the denial of the $650 million but it seems to me that all we need is a guaranteed source of income that is earmarked specifically for the rail project. Either in donation form or through marketing advantages. I would think that some other way to finance the rail upgrade can at least be mulled and bandied about. I for one am not one to take no for an answer even if we Californians have to contract out to another nation state. Again, I don't know what legal ramifications we are dealing with but if some other way to fund our continued rail improvement funding can be found then we must investigate any opportunity and it's possibility.
     That we here in California must be beholden to the trumps and their insecurities and childlike behaviors is abhorrent to me and makes me want to outwit them in any way we can. I refuse to succumb to them and if we truly are the great state many of us think we are then there must be another way to not only fund our rail projects but to thumb our nose at the trumps and their bullying behavior. To fight to keep our dignity and be proud to present modernity for all the world to see then thinking outside the box is what we must do if no other obvious option is available. We are leaders here in California and to lead we must show a new innovative way forward.

My spiritual connection with the Universe (#2944)

     I have been having a discussion with a man who is trying to convince me that the idea of a god is not outside the realm of reality by insinuating that the choices we make concerning the concept of a god makes it rational that a god does influence our reality. Well, just because I "believe" something does not make it real despite any action I take in reality. Facts, science and logic are the determiners of what is real in reality. You cannot take what you imagine and say it is real. Do you see the distinction? I tried to explain to him that hoping for something to be real is not the same as something that is real. I know life is tough and many need a pacifier of sorts to help them along through it and if the idea of a god is what works for some then that is their choice but it doesn't make the choice a real thing.
     It is an imagined thing and between you and me I think it is wrong. I don't need a pacifier to get through life. I know life is hard and can be very cruel at times but I don't need some illusion to comfort me so that I can "feel" better. It is what it is and that is real. If I can change some of the harsh and brutal natures of life then I will by trying something real, not shy away into to some imagined safe harbor. It is often the case that made to believe myths, mores and superstitions are defended as learning tools for a more balanced life. Well I disagree with that as well. There is a time for good things to happen but we don't need to wrap them in a fantasy that requires a modicum of belief to be part of. We are an amazing species who have amazing possibilities, we don't need to fake ourselves into a better world.
     Now when it comes to my own sense of spirituality there is a way for me to describe it that is logical and factual. I come from the Universe, made from some of it's parts. So my spirituality is that I am connected to this existence through the verifiable fact that I am made form it's parts. Now the Universe itself is not alive like we humans are. So I see myself as connected to the Universe in the manner of being one of it's many living breathing members. This is my spirituality, a part of the whole and not only that a thinking, feeling movable part that has dominion over my entity until that time comes when I revert back into the many single parts that came from this existence.

Resistance (#2943)

     The days go by and we get one more day behind us the worst elected person ever to the presidency of our nation here in America. I am still in shock over the election results and will always doubt the actual legitimacy of the vote we had here. It is unfathomable to my mind that trump could have won fair and square. I have to accept the outcome because I currently have no proof, just intuition and anecdotal evidence. However today is presidents day and as such I am confronted with what to do. This much I know, I cannot in good faith give him any respect or courtesy. He is dead to me as I am to him.
     So what I will continue to do is focus all my energy on promoting what is good about our society and alternatively exposing what the trumps are doing to destroy what is good about our society. He has tried to strong arm our citizenry with threats and intimidation for us to fall in line behind his power grabbing vision and we have not allowed it. We have resisted his bullying with intelligence and defiance. It is what you do with bullies, you force them to back up their bullying. We are not afraid of what he threatens us with, since most of us are fighters who would not knuckle under to a tyrant. So as our resistance goes on and more and more join us due to being forced to face the reality of the mistake of dubious election of trump, our overwhelming force will make him realize that he was "elected" to be our servant, not our master.
     This will only happen if we resist him and his ongoing threats. We must crush his will to lord over us. It is what he wants since his behavior is less than normal and leans heavily toward narcissism. So no flag out today to honor our previous presidents, who although not all great and good at least cared enough for our democracy not to actively attempt to destroy it. Resist in all things for the next, at most, four years and by then we will have united enough of us to remove this trump and his acolytes and all their baggage from our public sphere.

The republican voter and the Stockholm syndrome (#2942)

     It is becoming clear to me that the republican voter is trapped in some kind of twisted relationship with the republican party. A Stockholm syndrome of sorts. The typical republican voter will vote for the republican party candidate without much objective thought to a more attractive alternative. Being satisfied with what little they get from their republican representatives as being a greater reward than anything the democratic or any other party has to offer them. How is this possible you may ask? Well I have been working on this most of my life and it is still less than perfectly clear as to why.
     However I can somewhat conclude that it is a combination of things. Cultural and fear. The democratic party has been maligned as being for the fringe and the outcasts from normal society. The staid republican has been inculcated to believe that anything beyond a white, religious, heterosexual mindset is perverted and weak. They see themselves as the guardians of an illusion where we are all basically need to be the same without exception, excluding the others of course. When we who are not who they are try to explain that an objective free will society is the one we live in they get riled up and spout their philosophy with a vile that underpins their own regression. It is what happens to folks who are forced through the fear of rejection to only think and live inside the box of an illogically perceived way of living. It is not that they are outwardly jealous of those of us who choose how we live our lives but there is some repressed vindictiveness that they are hard pressed to explain, given their own personal unspoken internal struggles.
     So republican voters come to embrace their lot in life and their duty to uphold it as a group that is not much exposed to different and varied experiences. They are controlled by it and have found a niche that satisfies their need for a "safe harbor". They don't have the luxury of being thoughtful and objective about reality. They are not encouraged nor are they rewarded for using logic and scientific methods over their normal convention of myths, mores and yes, even superstitions. Rocking the boat is frowned upon and cause for being outcast from what they know. They truly are victims of their own geographical and cultural identity and how we can ever change that dynamic is still an ongoing consideration in my own mind.

Bullying has consequences (#2941)

     I am normally a well adjusted individual more than willing to spread happiness and peace to all. It is who I am inside, but do not mistake my nature. I am more than willing to mix it up with anyone who would take advantage of my or others' good hearts. Take for instance the current bully in the White House. He seems to think that he can harm with impunity. Well that is not the case with me. One critical lesson I learned as a young man fighting to keep his dignity and respect is that when the fighting time comes around I have to be willing to trade blows in the struggle to be the victor. There is no shame in beating the bully if the bully is forcing the event.
     Now we have many in our philosophical way of thinking who find that no amount of "getting down into the gutter" with bullies is acceptable. Now in a perfect world I would agree since peace is a mighty principle. Yet, in reality, when that very peace is torn and spit upon by a bully whose intention is to destroy our peace then defending that peace becomes our greatest duty. No amount of wishful thinking or cowering to compromise our rights is ever going to be worth subjecting ourselves to allowing a bully to win without a hard fight. A fight can come in many forms, either by standing firm in our honor and principles willing to go toe to toe or even by letting the bully know that fighting in the gutter is not his exclusive domain.
     Whatever it takes to protect that which is more dear to our hearts is what is needed. We all have our processes for protecting our rights but by my estimation, never allowing an inch is much better than trying to get that inch back. Whatever I have to do to let the bully know he is not allowed in my life is where I begin and if putting some fear into him is my first volley at him then that is how I figure to begin. I have no illusion about death or surviving. Time will tell what happens to all of us but while I am alive I damn well sure will fight against all bullies no matter who they are or what power they think they have. What they will never have is dominion over me in life!

The resistance to trumps continues... (#2940)

     Today is a short developed national strike day so the overall effect may not be as effective as a well planned out strategy that had some time to it to organize a stronger effect, nevertheless, it will make a strong point. No work or shopping unless vital and an overall disdain for trump and his republican acolytes. It will be interesting to monitor just how we resistors are able to convince our otherwise less enthusiastic citizenry to join us. But critically speaking it was our less enthusiastically citizenry that didn't bother to vote against trump and republicans that got us into this mess in the first place. But now we have an opportunity to show the world that most of us see trump and his republican party on whole as illegitimate and dangerous.
     I will keep my television on a channel that has a no political commentary, but instead entertainment or sports, weather and such. I will give trumps nothing. I am in a battle to save my life and as such I will not stop denying them any legitimacy nor respect. I am not being overly conspiratorial here. They want to take our social services form us and as an older American I rely on my social security and healthcare in order to stay alive. The argument for resistance must be made to all who still observe objective logic. Our liberal progressivism is what will see us through because we have logic, common sense and science on our side, not the craven illusion of a master who wants to control us.
     Our democracy is being ruptured and is leaking like a sieve. This is due to trumps who see themselves as not representatives but as ordained masters of us Americans. They ride high on their false religious dogma of scaring folks while telling us what they want us to have, instead of representing what we want them to do. You do get the distinction right? If you don't then hurry and catch up. We need all who can still think for themselves to resist the power struggle currently happening between the trumps of the world and the rest of us working middle poor class.

republicans are ripping families apart (#2939)

     Instead of finding solutions to problems that everyone can accept, republicans just tear things apart and destroy what they don't like. It isn't really up for debate in our representative democracy anymore. The republican party has manipulated it's way into power by turning we working middle poor class against one another. Shame on us for allowing it but no doubt republicans deserve much of the credit for it as they truly do lie, cheat and steal with efficient frequency in confusing our electorate to support them. It does go to show though that us Americans are not as smart as we think we are. We have too much self esteem for our ability to figure things out on the run instead of studying the particulars and coming to a reasonable conclusion.
     Our fast food, fast money making schemes and overall unwillingness to work hard the right way is our downfall. We don't buckle down with our schooling and learning in our formative years as we should which leaves many young and older adults looking only for shortcuts through life. We have allowed the republicans to manipulate us and that is where our shame begins. Yet though we are easy prey too often, others have no qualms in taking advantage of our ineptitude. Which makes for a very confusing societal norm. Survival of the fittest in all it's ignominy. We citizens are at blame for being vulnerable and the unscrupulous are to blame for not helping to change the dynamic, but instead manipulating it.
     It is hard to feel sorry for us Americans when we screw each other over in a never ending loop. The world outside us must be just astonished at how a nation so diverse and vital could allow itself to be shackled and whipped. But here we are and the result of it has come to fruition through republican politics. There will be no hiding the republican agenda now that they have removed us scapegoats from power. They, republicans, will show themselves as the cruel masters they long to be and the pain and suffering they cause will hit everyone on every level especially the families of the "others".

Foundations built upon lies are unsustainble (#2938)

     When I was 8 years old I began a series of lies that kept me out of trouble and gained me some advantages. It was so sweet how I was able to manipulate those around me simply by telling lies instead of the truth. I could shape any situation or circumstance to my favor simply by making up a story that had some truth to it but was mostly fabricated on the spot. I was so thrilled at my ability to weave in and around most anything in order to gain something. I was invincible for about 2 weeks. Because at that young age I had not yet understood the law of inevitability. Because I had told so many lies off the cuff so to speak that I had no way to remember nor make comprehensive any later answer about my actions. I could not foresee what my lies set into motion nor control their outcomes as they affected other people.
     Thankfully my lies at that age were innocuous enough that no real harm or damage had been done except the few around me who were irritated by my lies and angry at me for telling the lies. I learned early on that lies have a life of their own not to be controlled after they are let loose into reality. I could not sustain them and then spent many days apologizing, eating crow and being shamed for how I tried to deceive. From those days on I find it difficult to lie regardless of the penalty. Now I have lied since then and lived with my guilt but the times I did were real moments of weakness that in hindsight were perfect examples of my own inability to have a structure to follow, instead of just relying on my own willpower. However, even though those few times are far behind me and although I had tripped a time or two since I was young, I have not forgotten the lesson I learned as a child.
     The thing about lies is that since they are not truths, they tend to fade from my memory unlike truths. I can remember truths easily but lies are very hard to remember. So given that, no matter what the advantage gained through lying it is not worth the guilt nor the lowering of my self esteem. So in order to not be tempted by lying, I find that doing good and the right thing keeps me from the lying dynamic. So in order not to lie, I do good. It seems like I learned my lesson well and for the most part have done well to make truth telling a conscious and subconscious reality in my life.
     

So much corruption and ineptitude (#2937)

     Half of the problems in the trump administration are just plain laziness to do the job right and the other half is intentional manipulations and lies. It is so prevalent that one can hardly delineate between the two without a thorough investigation. We won't get that since trump is trying to close the office of ethical accountability and congress is unavailable to do the people's investigtive work since they are the ones who helped install trump into power in the first place. They are all culpable for their own petty reasons but nonetheless their pettiness is far from harmless when the American working middle poor class is so devastated by their intentions.
     Outside their intentions we see the inability of republicans and trump in particular to do their jobs with efficient completeness. They would rather shrink into their cocoons of safety from the general public so that they can hide their actions of crushing democracy in order to maintain their control of government. Why is this so important? Because whoever controls government also controls the wherewithal of blood and treasure. They can start wars and move money where they want it without the consent of we the people. There is more than that though, republicans like controlling how people live. It is an ego thing with them, not a service thing we liberal/progressives aspire toward.
     It has been less than a month since republicans have gained controlled our legislature and executive branch but already many scandals of honored traditional protocol and law breaking are emerging. None bigger that the controversial way trump and many republicans were elected. It seems that we can never let our guards down with republicans because servicing the public is not their motivation. Instead manipulating the public and taking from us is their goal. I am still hopeful a crisis can be avoided but anything less that tar and feathers for all republicans caught dishonoring the public trust will not be acceptable.

The struggle over ideology (#2936)

     This is the make or break time for our democracy. Will we be heavily influenced by a form of fascist capitalism or will we move back to the democratic ideals of a healthy mix of capitalism and socialism? This is the battle that is set up to begin on all fronts. republicans control the executive and congressional branches which gives them an advantage toward their ideal of unrestrained capitalism. Yet they don't control the courts despite their illusory stubborn insistence that trump does overrule the courts. As we have seen already, with his immigration order, trump is not going to get a free ride with his brutish greedy agenda.
     The courts will be where most of the most important battles will be fought but not the only arena. We still have the right to protest and redress our grievances, although protesting is being attacked by republicans who want to stifle it, and redress of our grievances is given little respect. We must stop being co-conspirators in our own demise by accepting the irrational as rational. We must not allow anyone, elected or not, to change the dynamic that democracy secures. Anyone who would, aka...trump, should be whipped, tarred and feathered and sent out of town on a pole. Yes, there are consequences for destroying our democracy while trying to instill himself as a tyrant king.
     I for one am ready to charge into the forefront of battle and as such am willing to lose everything to preserve what was and still could be the greatest democracy in the history of mankind. There are noble and just causes to be willing to sacrifice for and like Nathan Hale, wish I had more than one life to give to protect our nation from trump and his republican acolytes. We are in an ideological battle like never before since our last one during the civil war. This is no less dangerous to our melting pot society and if we don't come out the victor in this then world war 2 would have actually not been won by democracy but instead lost to fascism. Whatever it takes for all of us to now commit to our political process must be addressed and quickly!

Who is watching our backs? (#2935)

     I am so used to how President Obama was always ready to protect us from any impending emergency, both foreign and domestic, while working to decrease existing harms. Yet now with trump, I have no such secure feeling that he will even attempt to be our protector. In fact, I have come to accept that he will not do anything to stop many of us from harm. Even further, he will be pushing to make that harm come about. So the only backs that are being watched are the wealthy donors who pay to play in the republican party.
     We are on our own in a vulnerable position. Not only are there foreign and domestic forces that would harm all of us out of some deranged sense of chaotic ignorance but now our political apparatus is leveraged to ignore most of it. Out of some duty for helping republicans get elected extreme right wing domestic groups are free to conspire to attack those they deem not American. They are also free to subvert equality and justice from their normal civilized practice. Our country is going to be going through some drastic changes where our democracy will be diminished in the name of fear and withdrawal. We are no longer a safe harbor for the oppressed and persecuted, we are the oppressed and persecuted.
     I don't know how we will survive the next 4 years or more but if we don't it won't be a surprise to me anyway. In fact I already consider myself dead regardless if it hasn't happened yet. I have no false illusion that we will be saved by some miracle of fate or justice. In being so clear as to my own demise by trump and his acolytes, I am now free to do whatever I feel is right and good without worrying about a penalty since I know nothing can harm the already dead. Funny how I have to think of myself as dead to get any peace under trump and his conspirators.

Resist resist resist (#2934)

     The rest of our lives, should we survive the republican plan to end most of us, is to resist any and all of their agenda to further enslave the working middle poor class. Yes, we are enslaved as it is by the wealthy corporations and their bought republican party. We have no growth in a minimum wage nationally. We have diminishing food stamp allowances. Welfare is almost non-existent. Social Security, like Medicare, an insurance program we pay into, is being made to be tougher to qualify for. Medicare/Medicaid are being eliminated bit by bit from helping the most vulnerable in our society. Instead the savings from the social programs designed to keep most people out of destitute poverty and higher taxes on the working middle poor class is being handed over to the wealthy as a bonus for them supporting republican politics; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/23/trump-tax-plan-cuts-wealthy-low-income-inequality.
     Our rights that have been adjudicated and settled law over many many decades are now under assault. Especially for women and people of color. Women face the meanest nastiest challenge to their right to control their own bodies. trump and his acolytes want to legislate what women can or cannot do when faced with circumstances forced upon them, like having to bring a child to life that was conceived through rape or incest; http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/27/14412660/mike-pence-record-abortion-reproductive-rights-march-for-life. As to people of color being discriminated against, republicans do that through voter restrictive laws and immigration reform and travel bans. The large majority of those effected by voter restrictive laws and immigration issues involve people of color.
     While white male homegrown terrorists are excluded from the new rush to protect us from overseas terror attempts, even though they constitute the greatest threat to our safety; http://www.newsweek.com/2016/02/12/right-wing-extremists-militants-bigger-threat-america-isis-jihadists-422743.html. trump, our new president only seems to worry about protecting Christianity as the only valid religion and his own business interests and that of his children. Never before has our civilized American society been so dangerously close to being torn apart from within and it is precisely for that reason we must never legitimize trump and always resist at every moment of the day!
     

The new era of no civility with the brutes and thieves (#2933)

     I have changed my language quite a bit recently, well since the mind numbing election results of late last year. I had been trying to present a civilized demeanor while rebutting republican held illogical claims and philosophies with respect and proper rules for grammar and discourse. Now I am past that. It is apparent that not getting down in the gutter with them is seen as a weakness they use to exploit the lack of valid logic they espouse. They feel that being louder and more angry is a victory in itself and overcomes the lack of valid logic. So into the breach I go and loaded with every disparaging remark I can remember from my own rough and tumble days and I battle against them on their turf with their language but with my logic.
     I have tried to be civil and it hasn't worked. For many the approach I have now taken hasn't been a problem. In fact a lot of many are in agreement because of their own anger needs an uncensored outlet. How this came to be where we all expected logic to rule the day and instead we got illogic and hatred is now revealing itself. The gloves are off and the my silver tongue is sharpened to slice and dice them until they cry out with their contemptible ridden pejoratives. It is then that I have them because as we all know when their arguments fail they go for the ad hominem, personal attack. I can then slough them off as some ignoramus who has no respect from me and then move on.
     I am so damn angry over the outcome of this last election that my anger is my motivation to crush ridiculousness every time it gets in front of me. I don't fear anything from trump and his acolytes because since he was elected he started the process to kill me and so many like me so why not go down with the greatest fight I have ever fought? I am proud of my liberal progressive philosophy and it's inherent fairness and goodness and no amount of greed and selfishness will ever turn me from being a hero to myself and those who I can directly and indirectly effect. My life is already written no matter who kills me and trump and his policies will/may end my life but they won't control it.

America for sale, to and for the privileged and advantaged (#2932)

     It seems now that since a third rate con man is now in the oval office, the white house is open for business, for the third rate con man and his children, http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/go-buy-ivankas-stuff-kellyanne-conway-gives-presidents-daughter-free-commercial-on-fox/#.WJyKsQmradc.facebook. The idea of white privilege and advantage cannot be illustrated any better than in the link just provided. trump, through his surrogates is placing one capitalist, his daughter, above all others. Even admonishing stores that are now not selling her products, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/02/08/trump-lashes-out-at-nordstrom-in-a-tweet-for-dropping-his-daughters-apparel-line/?utm_term=.f94726e0f836. This is what we can expect from the trump administration.
     What is even worse, as trump is trying mightily to keep his businesses from being separated from him, he is making deals that directly benefit his own profits, Like the travel ban that does not include any country where he has business interests, but were instrumental in fostering citizens that attacked us on September 11, 2001, http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/trumps-temporary-travel-ban-doesnt-include-countries-involved-in-post-911-attacks/491780999. trump has business interests in Saudi Arabia,;(15 of the 9/11 attackers), United Arab Emirates: (2), Egypt: (1), and Lebanon; (1). The facts do not lie so there is no dispute that at a minimum there is a conflict of interests. Yet in trumpland, alternative facts,,, ie (lies) are the reality.
     The wealthy thieves in our nation that own media and fail to report facts and instead launch their own agendas as news are mostly responsible but responsibility also falls on those citizens who cannot nor will not inform themselves through objective research and debate. In other words we got what we deserved except that those who allowed this fiasco are not the majority but since we hold onto the archaic electoral college we lost despite voting in the majority against trump. Still the hellscape continues and it hasn't been 3 weeks yet.

Our democracy is being hijacked (#2931)

     trump and his cohorts in Congress are stealing our democracy using our own rules to do it. They are eliminating programs that were designed to keep nefariousness to a minimum and they are doing it with a brusque cavalier arrogance. What can we do to stop the outcome of this last election? Well, we the people have consented to be governed by rules of democracy and if those rules are not being honored then that social contract we have is voided. We are no longer giving our consent to the machinations coming from trump and his sickening alliance in Congress.
     It is incumbent upon we the people to rise up and demand a stop to those who were elected to represent us when they no longer do. They have instead chosen to lead our nation further away from democratic ideals and into a dawning of a new paradigm of the wealthy controlling our rights and freedoms. The revolting aspect of their agenda is that one person one vote is no longer established. No longer are our social programs being kept as a buffer against the ravages of privileged and advantaged capitalism. No longer is equality an ideal that is promoted and perfected under American rule. We Americans are in danger of losing the greatest democracy on Earth to trump and his philosophically united republican followers.
     I no longer give my consent to be ruled by an administration that is more fascist than democratic. I will abstain from all attempts by trump and his acolytes to make it appear that his way is the American way. I will resist in every way I can in order to strike at the heart of removing him and his brutish conspirators from office and into prison. I will do nothing to promote our nation while we are under siege from within. This is the worst of times I have ever experienced in a life toughened already. We do not have to give into trump because we have the right to deny him our consent. Our consent is the last option we have to stand on before we get to the point of not returning to a democratic nation we were before the election of November 8th, 2016.

Man made religion sucks and too many are pacified by it (#2930)

     Spent the better part of an hour this morning discussing why I am an atheist and why I find religion to be unnatural and dishonest. Surely there was more to say but the point being is that man made religion, which is any religion written down by man as scripture from a Deity, is nonsense. Not that there isn't a lot of good mixed into the dogma. that is how we get and got hooked. I was once a follower of Christ, but once I read through the "good book" twice, I came to realize that the good in the book was heavily over shadowed with the bad. At the same time it gave any man an economic edge to cull money from believers.
     Take note of such preachers as Robertson, Hagee, Graham, Olsteen, Dollar and the list goes on of such men who have made their enormous wealth off the backs of believers with their magical claims of being assured of going to heaven and not hell. Now let's get into that. Because a book written by men says that there is a heaven and a hell then it must be true? Well I find it rather gifted of anyone who can take a tale of a physically impossible lore and make it an every day desire or fear. We live on a planet that has never given any physical evidence of a deity. Never! Yet the hordes of us rush headlong into the idea that there is some salvation and forgiveness in a ancient tale.
     If there ever were a religion I would find it in logic and science, which does include music by the way. My religion is the universe and it's wonders that I am not allowed to experience because too many of us are stuck here with too many who won't let the idea of a magical deity die. Well living in this fairy tale can make life easier but it doesn't make life right. We are the best species in existence when we face reality with all our minds focused on solutions to problems, not forgiveness for them. I will die soon and surely religion won't any time soon but know this, I see you religious types for your failure to be strong and courageous facing life with reality instead of magical thinking that you find comfort in.

Important day for immigration (#2929

     Today the 9th circuit court of appeals will hear the claim by trump that his immigration ban is legal and valid. It should be a stretch to make it since it is neither. Either through discrimination, equal protection, due process or separation of church and state, http://www.newsweek.com/opponents-best-legal-arguments-against-trump-immigration-ban-551934 this ban is wholly unconstitutional. Of course this is just my reading of it and surely trump and his cronies are going to use executive privilege as their remedy. What the court decides however will be subject to interpretation by the Supreme Court where no doubt this is heading regardless of the ruling from the 9th circuit.
     That we have an executive that wants to deny folks from entering our country after having been legally and substantially vetted is to me a crime or at least a violation like the federal judge in Seattle determined. That the new executive does not recognize and has actually alleviated safeguards from home grown terrorists is baffling in light of this ban. We have had more problems with extremism in our own backyard than we have had imported from overseas. Regardless, taking this reality into view with the unconstitutional discriminatory acts within the ban, the argument can be made that the logic of the ban is not based upon any factual premise.
     Our judiciary needs to be objective here and apply logic to the protections we have safeguarded in our constitution. No amount of bullying or false bravado should prevail when the core of our democracy is being challenged. The result we get today should affirm the federal court's judgement and then let the trumps move this illegal ban up to the Supreme court. At worst the ban will be split ideologically 4-4 with the Supreme's and by that the 9th Circuit's judgement will prevail. At best the Supreme's will decide on a 5-3 or better affirmation that the ban is unconstitutional and put it in it's grave.

The judiciary is our last line of defense (#2928)

     This is a battle folks. Not only in the field of ideology but in real world consequences. The republicans and trump want nothing less than a survival of the fittest society with the wealthy immune to the rules that the working middle poor class will be forced to follow. We are seeing it already with the protections we had in place under President Obama from the wealthy exploiting our meager opportunities to making laws that stifle our rights, that we expect given the nature of our national constitution. Equality, fairness and justice are being diminished for we working middle poor while the wealthy are given free passes.
     A pay to play scenario for them but who cares since they can afford it. For those of us who cannot it is the punishment of poverty as our destiny. But one thing can still defray the effects of the republican and trump agenda, that being our judiciary. One of the three branches of government is still not controlled wholeheartedly by the trumps of the world. We have honest patriots serving as judges and many of them are not settled on giving the republicans and trump anything they demand. Case in point with the federal judge who stopped what too many of us perceive as the over reach by trump to stop immigration selectively based upon biased reasoning, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/federal-judge-in-seattle-halts-trumps-immigration-order/.
     The Supreme Court is another hope for we democracy fighters. The current court is somewhat evenly split ideologically between conservatives and liberals. Not always but enough of the time to generally say so. Without a new justice being seated with a conservative bend, we have what is most likely a stalemate as to how the court will mostly rule. Meaning the Federal Appeals Court decisions will likely remain as the final decision in a lot of cases. One other note, Justice Roberts and Kennedy, conservatives, have been allies with the liberals far more than any liberal has sided with a conservative so there is a decent chance that constitutional questions of high importance may well break with the liberal view if a majority decision does come about.

trump has to go (#2927)

     It isn't just me. there are more than 60 million of we voters who cannot stand another minute of his irrational, working middle poor class destroying agenda. Not only that but the new burdens he is putting on our citizens of every economic class through immigration disruptions is unacceptable. We have more problems with home grown terrorists then we have with foreign ones yet he focuses on the foreign ones and lessens restrictions on the homegrown ones. It is as if he is setting us up for another Oklahoma City bombing without any forethought.
     He is also tearing down our social programs that were enacted for our citizenry to pay into our working lives so that we may have a modicum of economic security in our old age. Instead he wants us to invest in Wall Street as our old age retirement where the rules for playing fast and loose with clients savings are being brought back. He wants to disenfranchise 10's of millions of citizens of the opportunity to have health care. He does not deem health care a right of citizenship like most every other civilized nation on the planet.
     His main goal is to instill racist polices that overcome equality and fairness in our social fabric, while instigating and fomenting confrontations with our allies and enemies. Except of course putin's Russia whom he has relied upon for his electoral victory and personal wealth accumulations. Never in the history of our nation has such a dastardly con man been elected to be president. He received almost 3 million votes less than Clinton but because of the quirk in electoral college paradigm, he got to claim victory. He is a charlatan that was able to use the republican machine of deception and lies to claim the White House and for all of that he is now acting like a tyrant bent on glorifying his persona over doing the hard work of improving what is left of our democracy. trump must go!

When the governed have no say (#2926)

     The problem here is that almost half the eligible voting electorate chooses not to vote in elections. For those folks they are automatically eliminated from having a voice in how we are governed. Not entirely since they can protest various policies but by then they have already allowed whatever policies facing them to have occurred. For the other half of the voting electorate, there is a split between those who voted for the victor and those who voted against the victor. So approximately one fourth of our eligible voters actually are giving consent to whom is governing us. Yet still, the policies that come from the victor are not required to be what their voters thought what they were voting for.
     So in this last election an electoral college majority elected the victor despite him having less overall votes than his challenger by nearly 3 million votes. He is one of those who says one thing to get elected and then does many things differently once elected. This is why we need to do a better job of vetting candidates on whether they are decent, honest human beings. We didn't do that well enough since we did elect a man who is more con than presidential. Talk is even being bandied about in his first two weeks in office of having a military coup remove him. This is what happens when the victor tries to be an authoritarian figure instead of a peace maker and govern by the will of the consented.
     It is obvious to most all that the victor in our last election is an anomaly in what was expected by too may who voted for him. He is a person who has shown that his allegiance to democratic principles of American history have no value when weighed against his own personal interests and political philosophy. What happens in our very near future is impossible to predict but one thing for sure is that by not engaging those who consented to his leadership, and we who voted against him, he will feel the wrath from us in the form of resistance. Even those who didn't bother to vote are outraged and possibly now sparked to become more engaged in our high priority political process.

republicans in congress are allowing the destruction of our democracy (#2925)

     Not one sitting republican office holder is doing anything to stop the destruction of our democracy. They are all falling in line with the trump administration with only an occasional whimper here and there. It is as if party politics is a higher priority than patriotism to democracy. It has been that way for several decades with republicans and yet the American voters are somehow reluctant to recognize it as a fault. It is incredible that too many voters seem unaffected by the tearing down of our democracy. I am amazed at the disinterest by many more who do not even bother to vote or who could care less as long as their investments in the economy remain relatively stable.
     This type of condescension and greed is too prevalent in our society so it makes us ripe for the con men of our time to work their deceptions. Which is the basis for the republican party. Con men who say one thing in order to do another. Those of us who do care, although gut punched form the last election, are still fighting to expose the agenda of republican politics. We are not long dissuaded from our goal of crushing those who would lie, cheat and steal our democracy out from under us. But in the meantime the elected republicans already in office have cowered to the cowardly bully and in their silence, expose their guilt.
     The only way our American society will regain it's pride is to end the republican party in every election going forward. There will be plenty of evidence based upon facts and truths for our voters to decide who is best at promoting democracy. There should be no doubt that republicans are tearing down our democracy, marginalizing the working middle poor class, which is the vast majority of our American population. The question now is as republicans in office continue to do nothing to stop the carnage coming at us hard and fast, will the American electorate kick their asses out of office?

The road back to sanity (#2924)

     With every special election coming up to fill some vacant seats in Congress we democrats must unite so that we can start picking up every available seat possible. Some we will have a hard time doing because of gerrymandered districts that leave us with few democratic voters in them but try we must since there does seem to be a buyers remorse out there with trump and his reversals on promises. This is how we get back our mojo after being gut punched on November 8th. So whatever we must do, either donating directly to the candidates running, phone banking or on the ground canvassing, we must keep fighting to get our nation back from the lying, cheating, stealing, crazy republicans.
     I accept that our nation is going backwards given the majorities republicans have maneuvered for themselves through deception and voter suppression. But that does not mean that we cannot mount another challenge to them in the near future as they continue to expose themselves for the worthless greedy bastards that they are. The more they legislate and sign presidential executive orders we get a clear message just how much they want to destroy democratic ideals along with the working middle poor class. Our strength going forward is in using the despicable actions republicans are now employing. From cuts to our health and retirements while giving more tax breaks to the wealthy, we have much to show in comparing our message and their actions.
     As these special elections come around and the off year voting in many states, we have great opportunities to send strong messaging to republicans currently controlling our government that there is a price to pay for not representing the interests of the working middle poor class. It doesn't matter how much the Koch's and other wealthy republican donors spend to lie to us at each election now, because we can see through their lies by what their actual policies are doing. I hope and honestly expect we democrats to put up quite a showing going forward in the round of elections coming up.