All Hands On Deck!: Michael Moore's 5 Acts of Resistance to Trump

Are you feeling frustrated and despondent? Are you looking for something that you can do, rather than just sitting around bitching and moaning about the current state of affairs? Michael Moore has some suggestions for you.

Women's March on Washington

It's time to make your presence known. To stand for what's right. To march!

Thinking about making it to the march in Washington? Get the lowdown on their website.

Can't make it to Washington? Don't fret! There are sister marches going on all over the country. You can find that info on the website, too.

NYMag: All the Terrifying Things That Donald Trump Did Lately

NY Magazine is making this easy for me. Here is a summary of "all of the terrifying things that Donald Trump did lately".

Strange Bedfellows

Glenn Beck and Samantha Bee have joined forces to use their powers for good and fight evil.

Scientists Copying Climate Change Data; Wayback Machine Moving to Canada

Yes, this is what it has come to. Fear that Trump will try to simply erase history. You know where that has been done before? Russia. Read up on their censorship, where artists were brought on to literally paint people out of images and thereby erase them from history. Now the fear that such censorship could occur in the US is real. Scientists are copying climate change data as fast as they can, fearing that Trump will destroy decades of research, and the Wayback Machine is moving to Canada fearing censorship.

Gingrich says Trump can't be expected to follow ethics laws, so Congress should change them for him

Donald isn't even in office yet, and already Newt Gingrich has a plan for him to get the job done-- presidential pardons. They can do anything they want, and simply pardon anyone implicated.

“In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon,” Gingrich said, in comments first covered by Politico. “It’s a totally open power. He could simply say, ‘Look, I want them to be my advisers. I pardon them if anyone finds them to have behaved against the rules. Period.’ Technically, under the Constitution, he has that level of authority.”

No, that's not scary at all.

Read ThinkProgress for more.

Trump ignores his own 'Buy American, Hire American' rule

Why is this not shocking? For all of his bluster and blather about keeping jobs and manufacturing in America, Donald has a history of hiring immigrants and outsourcing jobs to other countries. He just got approval to hire 64 foreign workers, and last year hired 69. I guess it's just a matter of "Do what I say, not what I do."

MSNBC for more on this.

Trump supporters didn't take him literally on Obamacare. Oops?

"Others who didn’t take Trump literally may soon face the same dilemma. The Urban Institute estimated this month that under the partial repeal plan previously passed by Republicans in Congress, 30 million people would lose insurance, 82 percent of them would be in working families and 56 percent would be white. Among adults who would lose insurance, 80 percent don’t have college degrees."

Yes, that's right. A portion of Trump supporters use Obamacare, like Obamacare and want to keep Obamacare, and they are now shocked that Trump still plans on repealing it. And the majority of people who will be affected by a repeal of Obamacare are the same demographics that carried Donald to the White House. Read more at the Washington Post.

Trump vs. Obama in the alleged war on Christmas: Ugliness in a season of joy

The Washington Post addresses the ridiculous argument that there is a "war on Christmas". Trump at one point even said, “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. That I can tell you.” What does that even mean? Are we going to start fining or imprisoning people who refuse to say Merry Christmas? I didn't think the argument that there is a war on Christmas could get even more ridiculous. Good grief!

This is yet another example of Donald simply playing "entertainer", and saying whatever tickles that masses he's playing to. We are seeing now with the way he is backing down on a lot of his rhetoric from the campaign trail, even admitting that he said some of it simply because it sounded good, that we don't really know what he actually intends. What did he mean, and what didn't he really mean out on the campaign trail? Only time will tell.

Trump private security force "playing with fire"

So once again breaking from tradition, Donald has decided to keep his private security rather than rely on the Secret Service for protection. This move may jeopardize his security, as his personal "goon squad" is not trained for this type of thing. It's felt that his current security force is trained more for dealing with dissenters at rallies, and not assassination attempts on the President of the United States. Read about it at Politico.

Personal note: Do you know how much this new presidency is going to cost the taxpayers? So far we have them paying for the maintenance and security of another residency for Melania and son, impending lawsuits, and now this private security force. Will it never end?

Donald Trump’s Daughter, Ivanka Trump: Our Next First Lady?

Is Ivanka Trump poised to take on the role of "First Lady" in Melania's place? Some think so. Alternet lays it all out for you.

Trump's antagonism towards China sinks deeper into incoherence

Rachel Maddow discussed the other night how China has a habit of "testing" new presidents in their first months in office, but Trump has been so antagonistic it seems that China may be starting a little early with him. This article touches on that.

Night Before Doomsday: A little holiday cheer...

Night Before Doomsday 

by Judith Best

It's the week before Christmas
And I've hit such a slump.
My brain just can't wrap around
Donald J. Trump.
The stockings are hung
Christmas songs fill the air,
But when I close my eyes
I see weird yellow hair.
I see two tiny hands,
And brilliant orange skin,
And the swing and the sag
Of that twice-doubled chin.

At night when I lay down
To sleep in my bed,
No visions of sugar plums
Dance in my head.
Just Trump and his sons,
And Exxon pollutin'
And secretive meetings
With Vladimir Putin.
And fake news and emails and leaks that were Wiki,
And Donald's strange words 'bout his daughter--sooo icky.

And Priebus, and Bannon,
And Goldman/Sachs bankers
And rich oil barons
Those builders of tankers.
No Donner, no Cupid,
No Prancer, no Vixen.
Just alt-Nazi parties,
And flashbacks to Nixon.
And V.P. Mike Pence
LGBT lives upended.
Leave no gay man behind.
(And that pun's intended.)

Trump went right to work.
He couldn't be fitter.
Phone calls with Taiwan
And sad rants on Twitter.
He filled up his team,
From the swamp he did drain.
And in pyramids now
We will store all our grain.
To the top of the roof,
To the top of the wall,
Now pay for it, Mexico
Pay for it all.

I'm scared it's too late
Though the vote he did lose it,
The Electoral college
Now gets to choose it.
On that January day,
That we surely must dread.
He'll swear to protect
Something he's never read.

And laying a finger
On the side of his nose
Or on some woman's hoo-hah
To the White House he goes.
And we'll hear him exclaim,
As he snuffs out our rights,
"It will all be so great. Believe me."
Good night.

(copyrighted by Judith C. Best )

"Where I wish President Trump failure" by Eugene Robinson

Journalist Eugene Robinson took a lot of flak after he wrote a Washington Post article wishing Donald failure in a number of areas, including in the banning of Muslims, deportation of millions of immigrants and "other divisive, cruel, unwise initiatives..." But he nailed it.

14 Defining Points of Fascism

New Bohemian Media on Facebook

Trump Brothers are selling meet and greets with Daddy for "donations"

Nope, nothing fishy here, I'm sure.

Summary: Beavis and Butthead are selling meet and greets with daddy Donald. The "nonprofit" that is "profiting" from this was just started 6 days ago, and vaguely states that money raised will go to conservation charities, but doesn't define what those are. And the donors paying $250000 and up to meet with Donald can remain anonymous. So we don't know who is paying for Donald's "personal attention". Read more at American NewsX.

Read more about this at NYMag.com and The Center for Public Integrity.

Update: They are now changing their tune and saying that the brothers are removing themselves as registrants of the nonprofit, and that the event details in the leaked brochure were "merely initial concepts". The Dallas News has an update.

Government under Trump

There have been a lot of terms thrown around in reference to the type of government we can expect under a Trump presidency, and it can be a little confusing. So here is a summary of the different types of government many fear we may expect under Trump, as well as some other government styles as a comparison. These definitions come from Merriam-Webster.

Possible Trump governments-

Authoritarian
:  of, relating to, or favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not constitutionally responsible to the people <an authoritarian regime>

Autocracy
:  the authority or rule of an autocrat
:  government in which one person possesses unlimited power
:  a community or state governed by autocracy

Dictatorship
:  a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique
:  a government organization or group in which absolute power is so concentrated
:  a despotic state

Fascism
:  a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
:  a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

Kleptocracy 
:  government by those who seek chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed; also :  a particular government of this kind

Oligarchy
:  government by the few
:  a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also
:  a group exercising such control
Note: This is one that I saw more clearly defined on LiveScience: a government in which control is exercised by a small group of individuals whose authority generally is based on wealth or power.

Totalitarian
:  of or relating to centralized control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy
:  authoritarian, dictatorial; especially
:  despotic
:  of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism)



Other government formats-

Communist
:  an adherent or advocate of communism
:  a member of a Communist party or movement b often capitalized :  an adherent or advocate of a Communist government, party, or movement
:  one held to engage in left-wing, subversive, or revolutionary activities

Democracy
:  government by the people; especially :  rule of the majority
:  a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Marxism
:  the political, economic, and social principles and policies advocated by Marx; especially
:  a theory and practice of socialism including the labor theory of value, dialectical materialism, the class struggle, and dictatorship of the proletariat until the establishment of a classless society

Monarchy
:  undivided rule or absolute sovereignty by a single person
:  a nation or state having a monarchical government
:  a government having a hereditary chief of state with life tenure and powers varying from nominal to absolute

Socialism
:  any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
:  a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
:  a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
:  a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Theocracy
:  government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided


Here are some additional terms being used to describe Trump and his governing style:

Demagogue
:  a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

Despot
:  a ruler with absolute power and authority
:  a person exercising power tyrannically

Introduction: Why are we here?

I have been like so many other citizens when it comes to government: Getting by on as little  knowledge as possible about how my government runs, not fully understanding positions and roles, how all of the different gears work together. After all, while we all have different ideas about how to get things done, we all have our best interests at heart, right? So things can't get too bad. There is always a self-correction, and everything balances out. Four years isn't long enough for a president to cause any permanent damage.

Then Trump happened, and things got serious.

If anything good has come out of an impending Trump presidency, it's the fact that it has lit a fire under me and so many others like me. Suddenly things are not so harmless and forgiving. We have a dangerous man coming into power who defies rules and logic and rationale. It's time to get serious.

So I started reading a lot, and I've found myself so inundated with information that it can be hard to keep it all straight. I decided that I needed a place to begin organizing all of the bits and pieces of Trump trivia that I was collecting in my brain.

That's how this blog came about. Hopefully it will help to organize the data filling my brain, and maybe someone else out there will find it helpful to have a summary of what is happening. It is mainly a collection of facts, but I can't help occasionally interjecting my own opinion.

And let me clarify that I am not a Democrat, I am not a party-person. I care about policy. I care about humanity and decency and equality. I don't hate the Republican party. I am deeply disappointed with and simply saddened by those who are gregariously supporting the ugliest parts of Donald Trump, as well as those blindly and cluelessly following him based on party support only, and seriously concerned with what this means to America. And that is what this blog is about.

So...time to deal with this CLUSTER FLICK!