Once in a while I like to look for the positives in our circumstances. It's important to step back and see what is going well or acknowledge those who are doing right. HOPE for our Republic and our Democratic institutions is what carries me through.
Today, I present some of my fellow Brother and Sister Resisters. They are leading the charge to protect the liberties that the current administration threatens.
Teen Vogue was an unlikely leader in the Resistance. But lead they have, publishing articles and essays about the current political atmosphere, among the hair care tips and celebrity sightings. I cited one of their early Op/Eds, about 45's gas-lighting tendencies, in my February 7, 2017 blog post, War is Peace. Sophie Gilbert from The Atlantic tells us why it's not surprising that Teen Vogue has been carrying the gauntlet. I'm glad that they are reaching our next leaders in a visceral way.
Another early, and enduring, group of Resisters is the anonymous members of Alt National Parks. They are our federal employees, working subversively to bring to light the issues that threaten our beloved national lands. They first formed when the administration, within days of the inauguration, began to remove climate change and other science data from government websites and removed official National Park social media accounts. Folks at Badlands National Park went rogue and sent out science tweets in defiance. Park Rangers from across the Land joined them, and Alt National Parks was born. They have a strong Facebook and Twitter presence.
Dan Rather, esteemed CBS newsman, has emerged as a poignant voice in the resistance. He often posts profound thoughts on Facebook. He warns us of the dangers of SCROTUS's degradation of the press. He warns us of the dangers of losing science. He warns us of the dangers of fascism. And at the same time, he looks for the positives. He recently published a book, What Unites Us. At 86 years old, he is speaking out strongly about and for the good of our Country. Read his stuff, and be inspired.
Unexpected Members of the Resitance come from the corporate world. CEOs from across many industries have been navigating their way on the road we share. I was struck by heiress Abigail Disney's video around the time they were voting on the tax bill. She was one of a coalition of CEOs against the tax bill; she joined nearly 200 other "Women of Wealth" in signing a letter to our lawmakers speaking against it.
Hundreds of other wealthy individuals, members of a group called Responsible Wealth, signed another letter opposing the tax bill, including George Soros and Steven Rockefeller.
Another group, Patriotic Millionaires, also want to ensure that the very rich pay their fare share. Here is Eric Schoenberg to explain:
The Harvard Business Review published a good essay on CEO activism. I urge you to read it, pay attention to the statements and actions from corporate CEOs, and support the businesses that share your values.
See? There are good people in the 1% who are doing the Right Thing! Hope abounds!
And even politicians are sometimes doing the right thing. There are moderate Republicans who are standing up and voting against the policies driven by the Bratman. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and John McCain (R-AZ) have all been vocal opponents. There's also the Tuesday Group, a center-right group of Representatives. The group seems to want to work toward thinking critically and building consensus. They were an important group in the defeat of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. And here is a list of Republicans who opposed SCROTUS's campaign, if not currently actively oppose all of his baby actions.
And this level-headed politician. This strong woman. This admirable US citizen. This outspoken immigrant. This estimable public servant. Madam Secretary Madeline Albright. Watch her interview with Stephen Colbert below, listen to her NPR interview, read her book, Fascism: A Warning. And resist.
And of course, the children. I've been so inspired by our strong young leaders, speaking up and acting for what they believe in. Just a couple snippets of Acts of Resistance by our up-and-coming leaders at the March for our Lives last month.
Emma Gonzalez in Washington DC:
And young people in Santa Fe, where I marched:
HAVE HOPE. WHAT WE'RE DOING IS VALUABLE. KEEP THE RESISTANCE ALIVE!
"He is not smart!" -- Hair Twitler about James Comey. (I know you are, but what am I??)
I've been away again for a long time. There are a lot of topics that have developed at a pace that is hard to keep up with in real time, let alone in Busy Little Sister Resister Time!
During the last few weeks, the Presidential Train Wreck has started careening toward the curves. Our country's situation gets more bizarre by the day. It has been interesting Reality TV, for sure.
So I write here, a summary post. Then perhaps I'll dissect some issues later. I still have a Big-Picture post simmering too, but I'll leave that on the back burner some more. So, we examine the first quarter-plus of 2018, as the US teeters off the tracks of the Republic Railroad.
SCROTUS gave his first State of the Union address at the end of January. It was predictable and unremarkable, except for his self-applause that echoed in his mic. Later he called members of the US Congress "treasonous" because they often did not stand up and clap. Dictator much?
The first quarter of 2018 was rife with resignations and firings. It's status quo to have no status quo in this Lies-is-Truth-and-Ignorance-is-Strength Administration. Small and big players left their positions, including:
1/5 National Security Agency Director Michael S. Rogers announced resignation for Spring, 2018
1/12 John Feeley announced his resignation as U.S. Ambassador to Panama due to disagreements with the administration
1/15 Nine of the twelve members of the National Park System Advisory Board resigned
1/31 Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald resigned as Director of the Center for Disease Control over conflicts of interest.
2/1 Tom Shannon, the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, resigned
2/7 White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned from his position following two public allegations of spousal abuse.
2/7 Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand resigned
2/27 Josh Raffel, a senior communications aide, resigned
2/27 Joseph Yun, the top diplomat in charge of America's Korean policy, resigned
White House Communications Director and SCROTUS right-hand woman, Hope Hicks submitted her resignation.
3/1 Roberta Jacobson, the Ambassador to Mexico, resigned
3/6 Chief economic adviser Gary Cohn announced plan to resign after President Trump announced he would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
3/7 U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tooke resigned
March 13 was a big day!
SCROTUS fired Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State
Steve Goldstein, the United States Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and fourth ranking diplomatic official, is fired.
John McEntee, a long-time personal assistant to President Trump, is fired and escorted from the White House. McEntee then joined Trump's re-election campaign as a senior adviser. (....huh??)
3/16 Andrew McCabe, acting director of the FBI, is dismissed from his position late in the evening by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a day or two before his birthday and his full vesting of his retirement pension. He had already announced his resignation of his position back in January.
3/22 H.R. McMaster resigned as National Security Adviser
3/29 President Trump fireed Secretary of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin and nominated White House doctor Ronny L. Jackson to replace him (remember Ronny?)
4/10 Homeland Security Advisor Thomas Bossert and National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton both announced their resignations.
4/11 Nadia Schadlow, deputy national security adviser for strategy, resigned
Sigh...... Firings and resignations. ....just another day in the Whitewash House. It seems that more have been fired than were hired in the first place. Positions are still open throughout the administration, 15 months in. In January it was reported that there were at least 245 open positions.
And there have been more and more squawks from the Squawker-in-Chief about firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstien and Special Prosecutor Robert Meuller. Does he think that the investigation will suddenly disappear if he fires Mr. Meuller? Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have worked to protect the special prosecutor. Bob Meuller is a national hero in my book. Though all bets are off as to his fate, I'm hopeful that he will complete his job and find the truth.
I think Nikki Haley is next to exit. She was undermined and humiliated this week after she announced that sanctions against Russia were coming, and soon after IQ45 back-pedaled and said, no, no; there would be no new sanctions. That might upset his snookums! It's not the first time Haley has stood up to SCROTUS. This analysis from Politico predicts that her reputation with him has actually improved by her standing up for herself. Still, I believe if she has a shred of self-worth, she will leave for better grounds. She's a strong woman, and I respect her, though I don't respect her respect for her boss.
And more......
Democrat Conor Lamb won a special election to represent Pennsylvania's 18th district in Congress, a district that SCROTUS won by 20 points. It was a huge victory for the Democrats, and may be a harbinger of November.
Hair Furher continued his love affair with dictators. In March he gave a speech to donors, in which he praised Chinese President Xi, saying, "He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day." This kind of talk should concern each and every one of us. Deeply.
TЯUMP called his bestie Putie to congratulate him on his "victory" in a sham election, despite being instructed by his keepers in no uncertain terms to NOT congratulate him. He was given an index card with "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" written in big bold letters. But apparently the Bromance warranted a little cuddle from one dictator to another.
Russia poisoned a former spy and his daughter living in the UK. TЯUMP was slow to condemn the acts and when pressured to expel diplomats as punishment, he agreed, but only after kicking and screaming that he would only match the number that other countries did. He really got pissed that the US was tougher than he had wanted. We expelled a number that was more than grand total of the other countries' explosions -- not the same as each country. Poor SCROTUS! Poor Putie!
On the world stage: In Mid-March, the Talking Yam announced new tariffs for foreign goods, especially steel and aluminum. The situation escalated, with China announcing plans to retaliate with new tariffs. Wall Street did not like it and took a dip but has since recovered. There hasn't been any more news about the tariffs or the feared Trade War.
In early April, Syria used chemical weapons against its citizens and a week or so later, the US, France, and Great Britain answered with missile strikes, days after Boss Tweet telegraphed his intentions on Twitter...another hypocrisy on the 448th Opposite Day in the US. An act of war should've been big news. And it was, for a day or two. It's hard to keep up with every **breaking development** coming out of Washington.
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey released a book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. He skewers the Cowardly Lyin' in the book. Among other things, he likened Don Scrotolone to a mob boss, recalling, “flashbacks to my earlier career as a prosecutor against the Mob. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth.” If you recall, I also compared SCROTUS to a mob boss. See my blog post from June 25, 2017: Who Said It? Don Corolone or Don SCROTOLONE?
In conjunction with his book release, Comey gave an EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
Part One:
Part Two:
Trumplethinskin tweeted back in his usual schoolyard way. My favorite was this one:
Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!
After comparing the sizes of their buttons earlier this year, 45 announced plans to meet directly with North Korea's Kim John Un. The CIA Director-turned-Secretary of State-nominee Mike Pompeo made a secret trip to lay the groundwork. Interesting developments, and if it were anybody else, any one with an ounce more finesse that the klutz who stumbled in to the Presidency, I would be optimistic. But it's frightening. He could do more damage and is likely to, given how much damage he's done to the Republic and to the world view of the US already. USA Today warns of the risks. Cheeto Face pardoned Scooter Libby this month. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice surrounding the investigation of the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Is he telegraphing his willingness to pardon those who lie to the FBI in the current investigation? This man puts the Rule of Law in danger. Even the thought of him pardoning people in the investigation of his own wrongdoing makes my head hurt.
And, First Quarter of 2018 may mark the beginning of the end....
In Mid-February, the story that is commanding most of today's airtime started to have the rocks turned over to expose the worms. On February 13, Michael Cohen admitted the truth to a Wall Street Journal story a month earlier that he paid adult film actor Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, $130K to silence her from talking about the affair that she had with the Orange Pimple in 2006. Cohen's admission opened up all kinds of things, from the fact that SCROTUS never signed the non-disclosure agreement so it may be null and void, to the fact that Cohen used a home equity line of his own to pay her off, to noise that 45 did not know any thing about the payoff, to a denial from the Mango Maggot that the affair even happened at all, to details emerging that he forced an "arbitration agreement" that Clifford was not notified about, to Clifford's accusations that she was threatened in a parking lot to "make the story go away." She recently released a composite sketch of the man she says threatened her. The President* of the United States -- who has denied having the affair in the first place -- put his thumbs into action and lent credence to her claim even as he tried desperately to deny ...something. He tweeted, "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!"
It still seems that we are living in the Upside Down, doesn't it?
In any case, Michael Cohen's office was raided by the FBI last week. It is still unknown if the raid had to do with the Clifford case directly. Did Cohen commit bank and wire fraud by lying to the bank about the reason for his loan? Was it an illegal in-kind campaign donation? Will the investigation lead to illegal activities by his primary client? How does Sean Hannity play into it? Cohen has three clients, two of whom, SCROTUS and former RNC bigwig Elliott Broidy, Cohen helped by sushing mistresses. Does Mr. Hannity have similar skeletons in his closet? FAUX News is shrugging off his huge ethical lapse in not disclosing his relationship as he "reported" on the Cohen story.
I'm eager to learn what the prosecutors are looking at with regard to Cohen and what threads will lead to SCROTUS.
