"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still." -- from President Ronald Reagan's farewell address, January 1989.
Why the Republican Party is Dead To Me
The Immorality of the Border Wall
Liberals Were Crying Wolf About Fascism
Radical Federalism: Could this keep America united?
Against the Display of the Confederate Flag
Economic and Crime Statistics by Presidential Administration
Report on Donald Trump rally in Atlanta on 02/21/2016
Trump Knows the Feds are Closing In On Him (Foreign Policy, Opinion)
"The president’s recent tweets aren’t just conspiratorial gibberish – they’re the erratic ravings of a guilty conscience."
Anti-fascist radicals: Liberals don’t realize the serious danger of the alt-right (Salon)
"Since the election of Donald Trump as president, liberals and leftists have been discussing how to best respond to American conservatism’s transformation from a shopworn, Cold War, anti-government philosophy into something else. To the anarchists and socialists who consider themselves part of the global 'antifa' movement (an abbreviation for 'anti-fascist'), the transition currently taking place on the right is all too familiar. The rise of the alt-right and white nationalism within the U.S. is something the mainstream left doesn’t take seriously enough, they say, even as many Democrats compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler."
Little-noticed House Republican bill would let employers demand workers’ genetic test results (Raw Story)
"A little-noticed bill moving through Congress would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars, and would let employers see that genetic and other health information."
To fund border wall, Trump administration weighs cuts to Coast Guard, airport security (Washington Post)
"The Trump administration, searching for money to build the president’s planned multibillion-dollar border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, is weighing significant cuts to the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies focused on national security threats, according to a draft plan. The proposal, drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively."
Here are the photos that show Obama’s inauguration crowd was bigger than Trump’s (Washington Post)
"A Park Service official said four of the images were forwarded to the White House after Trump made an unusual call to Acting Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds the day after his inauguration. The newly minted president demanded that Reynolds produce the images taken by agency photographers, The Washington Post reported in late January. Trump believed the photos might prove the media lied in its reporting."
Russia's take on Trump: Glee gives way to frustration (CNN)
"The barely-disguised delight in Moscow that greeted Donald Trump's victory on November 8 has gradually melted into a mixture of confusion and frustration.
And that in turn has led to a cold-eyed reappraisal among Russian officials of what can be achieved with the Trump Administration."
Comey Asks Justice Dept. to Reject Trump’s Wiretapping Claim (New York Times)
"The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, asked the Justice Department this weekend to publicly reject President Trump’s assertion that President Barack Obama ordered the tapping of Mr. Trump’s phones, senior American officials said on Sunday. Mr. Comey has argued that the highly charged claim is false and must be corrected, they said, but the department has not released any such statement."
GOP senator cites 'civilization-warping crisis of public trust,' demands Trump explain Obama wiretapping claims (Business Insider via AOL)
"Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska demanded in a statement on Saturday that President Donald Trump further explain his allegations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the election campaign. 'The President today made some very serious allegations, and the informed citizens that a republic requires deserve more information,' Sasse said."
Berkeley: 10 arrested during pro-Trump rally (The Mercury News)
"A total of 10 people were arrested, including five for battery, four for assault with a deadly weapon (including one with possession of a dagger) and one for resisting arrest. Police reported items confiscated among the combatants were: 'metal pipes, bats, 2x4s and pieces of wood. A group with bricks was detained, and their bricks confiscated.'"
White House proposes steep budget cut to NOAA (Washington Post)
Large Majorities See Checks and Balances, Right to Protest as Essential for Democracy (Pew Research Center)
My comment: Many statistics are given, so it is best to read the article rather than me try to summarize it here. But note that there is consistently 10-20% who seem to think that basic American freedoms are not necessary. It is my opinion that those are Donald Trump's core supporters. They finally have their guy in the White House. It is also notable that people who are Republican or lean-Republican are less likely to support freedom of the press and the right to nonviolent protest, than those who are Democrats or lean-Democratic. What the heck has happened to the Republicans?
Keith Ellison Suggests Jail Time For Jeff Sessions (The Daily Caller)
"'Since it has now come to light that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with Russian officials during the campaign, we must be entirely clear on one thing: perjury is a felony and may be punishable by prison for up to five years,' said Ellison."
Immigration and Crime (NeuroLogica Blog)
"The research overwhelmingly shows that first generation immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are less likely to commit all types of crime at all ages than the native born. Interestingly, by second generation the statistics look more like native born crime rates, so it does not take long to assimilate in this regard. As an aside, this, of course, does not include crossing the boarder [sic] illegally itself, but it has been pointed out that being an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal offense, but a civil offence."
George W. Bush Breaks His Silence on the Direction of the Trump Presidency: ‘I Don’t Like the Racism and Name-Calling’ (MSN)
"For eight years since leaving the White House, George W. Bush has refused to criticize publicly those who succeeded him, saying he didn’t want to make an already tough job any harder for President Obama and, now, President Trump. But one rocky month into Trump’s tenure, it’s harder to keep quiet. 'I don’t like the racism and I don’t like the name-calling and I don’t like the people feeling alienated,' Bush, 70, tells PEOPLE in an interview for the new issue of the magazine on newsstands Friday. 'Nobody likes that.'"
‘How genocides begin’: Internet stunned by Trump plan to set up VOICE program targeting immigrants (Raw Story)
"President Donald Trump drew audible gasps from the assembled Congressional members as he announced that he had asked Homeland Security to create an office called VOICE: Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. It was hinted earlier in the day that VOICE would work with ICE as a liaison with 'known victims of crimes committed by removable aliens,' presumably to highlight specific crimes when immigrants were involved. While some Congressional members gasped, those following Trump’s speech and commenting on Twitter noted that VOICE would be used as a propaganda tool to whip up anti-immigrant hysteria, with one person noting this is 'how genocides begin.'"
The NRA’s new gun-sales pitch: America is a war zone and the “violent left” is coming for you (Salon)
"'The truth is, the far left — they’ve turned protesting into what seems like a full-time profession,' said LaPierre. 'Seriously, you would think that for $1,500 a week, they would at least know what they are protesting,' he added, referencing the current right-wing hypothesis that anti-Trump protesters can only be paid provocateurs. 'Folks, our long nightmare — it may not be over. The fact is, it may be just beginning. Right now, we face a gathering of forces that are willing to use violence against us.'"
My opinion: Oh yes, Mr. LaPierre, forces are gathering. But we aren't being paid. We are giving our free time and our money, and we are going to take the country back from the Far Right Nationalism that will be a temporary blip in our nation's history. By the way, do the math on your hypothetical paid protestors. You must think your audience is stupid, because it would take $7.5 million to keep a team of 100 protestors employed for a year. And 100 protestors will barely make the news these days. Even a billionaire would go broke paying protestors as you falsely claim. It's too bad you turned the NRA into an overtly right-wing Trumpist organization. I would be inclined to join the NRA if that were not the case.
Gov. Jay Inslee very ‘disturbed’ after Trump meeting (MyNorthwest.com)
"If there is one word to sum up Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s impressions of President Donald Trump and his intentions in the nation’s capitol, it would be 'disturbed.' 'I was also shocked when the president said, and this is almost a direct quote, "Who knew that healthcare was going to be complicated?"' Inslee said of his meeting with the president and the National Governors Association over the weekend. 'It was just stunning to have the president, who wants to dismantle the whole system, basically show that he doesn’t understand this in its complexity in the first order. It was just a disturbing thing to hear him say.' Gov. Inslee said he is more concerned now than he was before his meeting with the president.'I have to express really deep concern about what is going on here in the nation’s capitol,' he said. 'We are always hopeful that the president will give us assurance that things will be handled in a thoughtful, non-chaotic, rational basis — based on facts and evidence, rather than just tweets.'"
George W. Bush opens up on Trump's war with the media, travel ban, Russia and veterans (Today, NBC News)
"Early on in the exclusive sit-down, the former president expressed a clear-eyed support for the news media, saying a free press was 'indispensable to democracy.' Bush was asked about the media's role in light of President Donald Trump's recent characterization of the media as the 'enemy of the American people.' He noted he spent a lot of time during his two terms trying to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to embrace an independent press. 'It’s kind of hard to tell others to have an independent free press when we’re not willing to have one ourselves,' he said. "
Father of dead Navy SEAL wants investigation; refused to meet Trump at ceremony (Stars and Stripes, via Archive.org)
Note: Link is to Archive.org version.
"The father of a Navy SEAL killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning and criticized the Trump administration for its timing. Bill Owens told The Miami Herald in a story published Sunday that he refused to meet with President Donald Trump when both came to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket carrying his son, Chief Special Warfare Officer William 'Ryan' Owens."
Life on the Quebec border in Trump's America (CBC, Canada)
"In January, 452 people claimed asylum at the Quebec border — a 230 per cent increase from the same month a year earlier. Experts attribute the increase to the political climate under U.S. President Donald Trump."
This is what it's come to, folks. People are fleeing America for Canada, afraid of what Donald Trump will do.
He yelled ‘Get out of my country,’ witnesses say, and then shot 2 men from India, killing one (Washington Post)
"Authorities in Kansas filed first-degree murder charges against a man accused of opening fire in a bar there, killing one Indian man, injuring two other people and causing fears about bigotry to reverberate across the globe. According to witness accounts, the gunman reportedly told two of the people who were shot — both Indian men who work for Garmin, the technology firm — to 'get out of my country' before opening fire and had also used racial slurs during the Wednesday evening shooting. The father of one of the people injured pointed to the election of President Trump, who has routinely described a threat posed to Americans from people outside the country’s borders, and pleaded with parents in India 'not to send their children to the United States.'"
Please enjoy some videos of Republicans getting their s*** wrecked by constituents (AV Club)
A Trump Rebellion Is Reported to be Brewing Among The Intelligence Community (Politics USA)
"John Schindler, a former NSA analyst, has become one of my go-to reads for takes on the intelligence community’s stance in regards to President Trump and his Russian connections. From Schindler, we learned – before it was confirmed by others – that the Intelligence Community (IC) was withholding information from the Trump White House, out of fear that the Kremlin had ears in the Situation Room. This was later confirmed by other sources, just as several of Schindler’s other early takes have been. On Wednesday, Schindler dropped another tasty seed on the Trump Russia trail. 'Rebellion is brewing in Washington,' Schindler warned of the spy war on the Trump administration. Contrary to Trump’s claims that this is a partisan war, no, it’s partly about his repeated insults to their work but also, 'Behind closed doors, plenty of American intelligence experts believe that President Trump is the pawn of the Kremlin, wittingly or not...'"
Retired Navy admiral: Trump's remark about media 'the greatest threat to democracy' (The Hill)
"Will McRaven, a retired Navy admiral and University of Texas system chancellor, is pushing back on President Trump’s description of the media as 'the enemy of the American people.'... We must challenge this statement and this sentiment that the news media is the enemy of the American people,' McRaven said. 'This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.'"
GOP rep pushes back on Trump's tweet about town hall protests (The Hill)
"Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) on Tuesday pushed back against President Trump’s claim that 'liberal activists' are organizing agitated protests in GOP districts throughout the United States. 'They are our fellow Americans with legitimate concerns. We need to stop acting so fragile. I'm proud to defend liberty and the Constitution,' Amash wrote on Twitter in response to Trump's tweet."
NC conservative activists prepare for violent confrontation with Islam (Triad City Beat) (Charlotte Observer link)
"A consortium of tea partiers, patriot groups and other conservative activists gathered in a private dining room at a seafood restaurant in Kernersville on Thursday evening for a presentation on a supposed Muslim plot to conquer the United States.... 'Do you have any recommendations as to how we could stop this?' asked Frank del Valle, a Winston-Salem resident whose Facebook page identifies him as a retired federal employee and native of Cuba, near the end of the hourlong presentation. 'Because my only recommendation is to start killing the hell out them.'"
Ex-spy Plame’s big worries: ‘reckless’ president, nuclear weapons (San Francisco Chronicle)
First hand account of Trump rally in Florida (Feb. 2017) (Democratic Underground)
"The very first words out of the President's mouth were the words of a bully. That is not simply one person's perspective, it is factual. He immediately began badgering and criticizing the media; like a bully inciting a crowd.... Call it what you will, but I was completely dumbfounded as the most powerful leader in the world began his speech by badgering the media. The crowd began screaming angrily at the entire press corps that was present.... As they (protesters) continued chanting, the people around them became violently enraged. One angry man grabbed the lady's arm - that's when I went into action. I barged through the crowd and yelled at them to back off...."
The number of anti-Muslim hate groups in America increased by 197 percent in 2016
"SPLC cited some of the typical reasons for that label: Donald Trump, whose campaign relied largely on anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric and anti-black dog whistling, won the 2016 election."
10 Resign from President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (NBC)
"In the letter addressed to Trump and obtained by NBC News on Wednesday, the 10 members — approximately two-thirds of the commission — stated their objection to the president's 'portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of color and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation.'"
How the Opposition Can Wound Trump (Washington Monthly)
"Most people, whether normal or elite, really try to avoid conflict. It’s okay to not know much about politics, and not to care to know, because people just want to get along. No one should be faulted for that. Besides, life is hard. There are so many things to worry about—jobs, kids, finances, health, so very many things—that Washington politics is the last thing most want to think about. I often tell my students that most people have something better to do...."
Senior Republican adviser says something is ‘deeply wrong’ with Donald Trump (The Independent (UK))
My Family Tradition: Punching Nazis (IT'S GOING DOWN)
I am not a big fan of this website's ideology, but this is a good story. "'Before the war there were these Americans that loved Hitler. They were called Bunds and they wore Brownshirts. They would have meetings around town and they had camps around here...'"
Mass sexual assault in Frankfurt by refugees 'completely made up' (The Independent)
President Donald Trump: Just who the hell do you think you are? (Miami Herald, Opinion)
"Reports from Politico and elsewhere describe you as shocked that judges and lawmakers can delay or even stop you from doing things. Three weeks ago, your chief strategist, Steve Bannon, infamously declared that news media should 'keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.' Just last Sunday, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller declared on CBS’ 'Face The Nation' that 'our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.'"
Ohio Republican says it's time to impeach President Trump (KSDK.com)
Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian officials during campaign (CNN)
‘That’s the definition of treason’: Democratic lawmaker levels serious charge against Trump
Journalist says Omarosa Manigault bullied her and mentioned a ‘dossier’ on her (Washington Post)
"Manigault, who is now a communications official in the Trump administration, got into a heated argument with a White House reporter just steps from the Oval Office last week, according to witnesses. The reporter, April Ryan, said Manigault 'physically intimidated' her in a manner that could have warranted intervention by the Secret Service. Ryan also said Manigault made verbal threats, including the assertion that Ryan was among several journalists on whom Trump officials had collected 'dossiers' of negative information.... 'She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,' Ryan said. 'I said, "You better back up." .?.?. She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.'"
Trump Was Informed 17 Days Ago That Flynn Had Not Been Truthful on Russia (NY Times)
Somali refugees risk life and limb to escape from U.S. to Canada (CNN)
Flynn resigns amid controversy over Russia contacts (CNN)
Yale historian warns America only has a year — maybe less — to save the republic (Raw Story)
Trump’s comments about Bergdahl 'disturbing,' military judge says (Stars and Stripes)
US spies withholding intel from White House because they know Russia is listening (Raw Story)
Inside the black bloc militant protest movement as it rises up against Trump (LA Times)
"Scorned by critics on both the left and right and hunted by police, the black bloc is bringing its radical tactics to the massive protest movement sparked by the presidency of Donald Trump. The masked militants went fist to fist with neo-Nazis at the state Capitol in June, where five of their allies were stabbed. Black bloc tactics also dogged Trump’s inaugural ceremonies in Washington, leaving broken windows, vandalized banks and a torched limo. And early this month on the UC Berkeley campus, black bloc militants tore down police barricades, broke windows, started a fire and assaulted Trump supporters."
Credit rating firm: Trump a risk to 'international economic conditions' (The Hill)
Pennsylvania senator to Trump: Come after me, you 's----gibbon' (PhillyVoice)
"A Pennsylvania lawmaker had strong words for Donald Trump after the president reportedly joked he would "destroy" a Texas lawmaker's career.... “Who is the state senator? Do you want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” Trump replied.... Leach, who has pushed for civil asset forfeiture reform in Pennsylvania, invited Trump to come after him as well. "Hey! I oppose civil asset forfeiture too," Leach wrote on Facebook and Twitter. "Why don't you come after me you fascist, loofa-faced shit-gibbon!!""
Trump's Supreme Court pick dispirited by president's tweets (Reuters)
"Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, on Wednesday described as 'demoralizing' and 'disheartening' the U.S. president's Twitter attacks on a judge who suspended Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, a spokesman for Gorsuch said."
Leaks Suggest Trump's Own Team Is Alarmed By His Conduct
"President Donald Trump was confused about the dollar: Was it a strong one that’s good for the economy? Or a weak one? So he made a call ? except not to any of the business leaders Trump brought into his administration or even to an old friend from his days in real estate. Instead, he called his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Flynn’s accounts of the incident. Flynn has a long record in counterintelligence but not in macroeconomics. And he told Trump he didn’t know, that it wasn’t his area of expertise, that, perhaps, Trump should ask an economist instead."
Senators introduce resolution in support of Australia after Trump call (The Hill)
The Alt Right’s Anonymity is Failing, and They Are Unable to Withstand Exposure (Anti-Fascist News) -- Some good news, perhaps.
Ordinary Americans carried out inhumane acts for Trump (Baltimore Sun)
"A week ago, men and women went to work at airports around the United States as they always do. They showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, perhaps dropped off their kids at school. Then they reported to their jobs as federal government employees, where, according to news reports, one of them handcuffed a 5-year-old child, separated him from his mother and detained him alone for several hours at Dulles airport. At least one other federal employee at Dulles reportedly detained a woman who was traveling with her two children, both U.S. citizens, for 20 hours without food. A relative says the mother was handcuffed (even when she went to the bathroom) and threatened with deportation to Somalia. At Kennedy Airport, still other federal employees detained and handcuffed a 65-year-old woman traveling from Qatar to visit her son, who is a U.S. citizen and serviceman stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. The woman was held for more than 33 hours, according to the New York Times, and denied use of a wheelchair. The men and women who work for the federal government completed these and other tasks and then returned to their families, where perhaps they had dinner and read stories to their children before bedtime."
Donald Trump's Strange Remarks About Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King (The Atlantic, Opinion)
Trump: “I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Reverend King, so many other things, Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and millions more black Americans who made America what it is today. Big impact.”
‘Why let ’em in?’ Understanding Bannon’s worldview and the policies that follow. (Washington Post) -- Far Right Nationalism in a nutshell. These are the dark forces that have been unleashed on America.
Trump's Enrique Pena Nieto Mexico phone call humiliating, threatening (Business Insider) -- President threatens to send troops to Mexico.
White supremacist Richard Spencer agrees with Trump administration’s decision to omit Jews from Holocaust statement
“Trump’s statement on Holocaust Memorial Day is, on the surface, utterly defensible within the current moral paradigm,” Spencer wrote in a post on his new site Alt Right.
Trump fires acting AG Sally Yates after she declines to defend travel ban (CNN)
President Bannon’s Hugely Destructive First Week in Office (Foreign Policy, Opinion)
Whitehouse: No mention of Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day (CNN) -- And no apology or admission of error; first Presidential statement on Holocaust ever not to mention Jews.
California Could Cut-Off Feds In Response To Trump Threats (CBS San Francisco) -- #CalExit Watch. This sort of thing is not good.
I Was at Trump’s Inauguration. It Was Tiny. (The Nation)
Elijah Cummings: ‘If the public knew what Congress knows’ they would boycott the inauguration too
"Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) on Thursday asserted that the general public would boycott Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration if they had access to classified information about Russia’s interference in the U.S. election."
Outgoing administration raises alarm bells on Trump readiness (CNN)
Cassandra's Song (John Hussman)
"...My concerns have frankly become much broader in recent weeks, particularly in the direction our nation is taking. It strikes me that because the U.S. is a relatively young nation, we are less inclined to recognize seeds that can grow into abuse of power, because the worst examples we recall across history have been in other nations. The progression thus far rhymes more than I’d like...."
A Call for Vigilance -- and Honesty (Mark Salter, fmr. chief of staff to Sen. John McCain)
"...I believe all of us will be judged by whether we tried to prevent or abet irreparable harm being done to our interests and values by a president, who many of us, maybe most of us, fear is unfit to hold the office and dangerous. That is all history is going to take note of after the present generation of power players and those who are supposed to keep them honest are pushed from the scene by succeeding generations...."
Rep. John Lewis: 'I Don't See Trump as a Legitimate President' (NBC News)
Rep. Ted Lieu Statement on Russian Hacking of U.S. Elections
“...I believe Trump is actively misleading Americans when he says the Russians did not attempt to help his election chances and denigrate Secretary Clinton’s electability...."
How Donald Trump Could Have Been Taken Down With 8 Simple Words (David Sparks / Medium.com)
President Obama's Farewell Address (Full Text on CNN)
Economic Fancies and Basic Arithmetic (John Hussman)
"...If anything, my expectation is that the policies of the incoming administration are more likely to result in constrained economic growth rather than expansion.... However one views Reagan's overall legacy, he also led by setting an example of personal dignity and an abiding optimism that encouraged the good in others. The present situation shares none of those features."
Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda
Evan McMullin Calls for Conservatives to Leave the Republican Party (Washington Post)
White Nationalists Celebrate Trump's Victory (CNN)
Ringside With Steve Bannon at Trump Tower as the President-Elect's Strategist Plots "An Entirely New Political Movement" (Hollywood Reporter)
"'Darkness is good,' says Bannon, who amid the suits surrounding him at Trump Tower, looks like a graduate student in his T-shirt, open button-down and tatty blue blazer — albeit a 62-year-old graduate student. 'Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they' — I believe by 'they' he means liberals and the media, already promoting calls for his ouster — 'get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing.'"