INCARCERATION-ARKANSAS CAN'T BE BEAT

I JUST HEARD A STUNNING STATISTIC FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE. ARKANSAS LEADS THE WORLD IN THE NUMBER OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS, (I'M ASSUMING, PER CAPITA), FOR JUVENILES.  THIS IS REPORTED IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY, "PIPELINE," BY ZACHARY CROW. JUVENILE DETENTION IN ARKANSAS IS APPARENTLY A NIGHTMARE. BLACKS AND LATINO'S ARE WAY OVER-REPRESENTED, AS ARE DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES. ANOTHER STICK IN THE EYE FOR ARKANSAS. FOR ADULTS, WE HAVE JUST RECENTLY REPLENISHED OUR "KILLER DRUGS," FOR EXECUTING INDIVIDUALS. IT WAS ON THE FRONT PAGES OF ALL OUR NEWSPAPERS. SOMETHING OF A "HOT DOGS, LET'S GET THIS THING ROLLING AGAIN."

With Enormous Harvey Damage, Naomi Klein Warns Against 'Disaster Capitalism' Redux

With Enormous Harvey Damage, Naomi Klein Warns Against 'Disaster Capitalism' Redux



THE RIGHT-WING REPUBLICANS WILL USE THIS STORM TO MOVE THEIR AGENDA FORWARD. MAKE NO MISTAKE.

'Law Is Dead in America': Presidential Pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio Widely Condemned

'Law Is Dead in America': Presidential Pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio Widely Condemned



A SORRY DAY, AND HOPEFULLY ONE OF TRUMP'S LAST.

HEAD LIKE A HAUNTED HOUSE

TRUMP HAS A HEAD LIKE A HAUNTED HOUSE. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IS IN IT, BUT YOU KNOW IT'S GOING TO SCARY THE HELL OUT OF YOU.

HOW TO SPOT A RIGHT-WING REPUBLICAN

• THEY NEVER LOOK YOU IN THE EYES.
• THEY GENERALLY SPEAKING ARE GOING TO BE WHITE, UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO BUMP INTO BEN CARSON.
• THEY STAND AROUND DISCUSSING HOW THE POOR STEAL FROM THEM.
• THEY BELIEVE JESUS WAS A WHITE, ANGLO SAXON FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
• INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, MOST OF THESE PEOPLE MADE IT THRU THE FIFTH GRADE. THE ONE'S WHO GOT PAST THAT BECAME LAWYERS.
• THESE FOLKS LIKE TO WAVE FLAGS AND SING, "GOD BLESS AMERICA." AND THEY BELIEVE THE BEST WAY TO BRING ABOUT PEACE IS TO KILL THE ENEMY. THE SURVIVORS BECOME TERRORISTS, WHICH TAKES US FULL CIRCLE. HENCE, PERPETUAL WAR.
• THEY THINK WALLS WILL KEEP PEOPLE OUT. THE WORLD IS HOPING WALLS KEEP US IN.
• IF YOU SEE SOMEONE WEARING A LONG SLEEVED, WHITE, SHIRT, RUN. YOU CAN BET IT'S A RIGHT-WING, REPUBLICAN, A POLITICIAN, OR A LAWYER. (BUT I REPEAT MYSELF). ALL OF THEM ARE AFTER YOUR MONEY AND/OR YOUR SOUL.
• MOST RIGHT-WING REPUBLICANS LIKE TRUMP. HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE IS FULL OF RICH, WHITE FOLKS. THEY OVERWHELMINGLY VOTED FOR TRUMP. SHOWS YOU THAT HAVING MONEY AND BEING EDUCATED DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE YOU SMART. THIS IS AN EMBARRASSMENT AND A GOOD REASON NOT TO MOVE HERE.

I’m a Nuclear Weapons Expert. Trump’s Presidency Is My Personal Nightmare

I’m a Nuclear Weapons Expert. Trump’s Presidency Is My Personal Nightmare



TWO LUNATICS, WITH THEIR HANDS ON THE BUTTONS. EVERYONE'S WORST NIGHTMARE.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF NO MORE THAN ANY OTHER BAD HABIT. AND NO HABIT, HOWEVER DEEP OR INGRAINED, WILL STAND A CHANCE OF RE-ELECTION WHEN CONSCIOUSNESS, HONESTY AND WILLING DETERMINATION CHARACTERIZE HUMAN AFFAIRS."

"Return of the Bird Tribes"

TAXES

I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT TAXES. MAN, THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM:

• FEDERAL INCOME TAX
• STATE INCOME TAX
• LOCAL TAX
• HOTEL TAX
• SALES TAX
• CABLE TV TAX
• PHONE TAX
• GAS TAX
• EXCISE TAX
• CORPORATE TAX
• PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX
• SPECIAL USE TAXES
• SPECIAL SUNSET TAXES

I'M SURE THERE ARE OTHERS. WE PAY WAY TOO MANY TAXES. REPUBLICANS LIKE TO POINT THIS OUT, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO TAXING THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS. THEY WANT FEWER TAXES ON THE RICH, AND FEWER REGULATIONS, WHICH CAN INFLUENCE PROFITS. THEY CALL FOR SMALLER GOVERNMENT WHILE THEY RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE. THEIR SMALLER GOVERNMENT DOES NOT, OBVIOUSLY, INCLUDE THEM. KEEP AN EYE ON THE TAX REFORM THAT TRUMP WILL PROPOSE. TRUST ME, IT WON'T HELP YOU UNLESS YOU HAVE MILLIONS IN THE BANK.

'Shades of 1933 Germany': Trump's Hostile Rally Prompts Third Reich Comparisons

'Shades of 1933 Germany': Trump's Hostile Rally Prompts Third Reich Comparisons



HEIL TRUMP. SOMEONE HAD BETTER START TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY. HIS DELUSIONS ARE CENTERED AROUND HITLER AND 1933 GERMANY.

'Shades of 1933 Germany': Trump's Hostile Rally Prompts Third Reich Comparisons

'Shades of 1933 Germany': Trump's Hostile Rally Prompts Third Reich Comparisons



HEIL TRUMP. SOMEONE HAD BETTER START TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY. HIS DELUSIONS ARE CENTERED AROUND HITLER AND 1933 GERMANY.

TOM COTTON: RIGHT-WING SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS

TOM  COTTON HAS THIS TO SAY ABOUT TRUMP:

• He supports building a wall. He states: "They're demonstrated to work everywhere they have been put in place." Interesting alternative truth. He must not have studied history at Harvard. 
• On how the President is doing: "Better than the media reports. I have high hopes going forward we'll be able to reform our tax code and fix some our our regulatory problems," Translated into English, that means I hope we can give the rich more tax breaks, and get rid of regulations holding back profit. He has no intentions of doing anything for the poor.
• "(People would) like to have more money in their pocket at the end of the month, have a little bit more and affordable healthcare. Make sure their kids are getting an and their streets are safe." He has voted zero to all of that. More psychobabble.
• He thinks statues are good. You can learn from them. I'm thinking of having a statue made of him and putting it in the dump. That would be a very good lesson., although it would be a downward trend for the dump.

Trump Goes 'Full Delusion Mode' With Unhinged Performance at Arizona Rally

Trump Goes 'Full Delusion Mode' With Unhinged Performance at Arizona Rally



UNHINGED PSYCHOMANIAC. CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I AM OPPOSING A SOCIAL ORDER IN WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE FOR ONE MAN WHO DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT IS USEFUL TO AMASS A FORTUNE OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, WHILE MILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO WORK ALL THE DAYS OF THEIR LIVES SECURE BARELY ENOUGH FOR A WRETCHED EXISTENCE."

Eugene V. Debs

RIGHT-WING IDEOLOGY

*        Keep it simple.

*       Use God in every other sentence.

*        Use God Bless America in the sentence in-between.

*       Keep human rights to a minimum.

*       If it ain’t “right,” bomb it.

*      Guns are the best way to maintain order. Killing the enemy is the best way to create peace.

*        Don’t give the poor any breaks.

*        If you are not white, Christian, and Right-wing Republican, you’re suspect.

*        Commandment number eleven: Do as a say, not as I do.

*       Discredit anything that makes sense.

*    If you don't know the answer, lie.

*    Keep telling yourself: My way is the only way. My way is the only way.

*    If everything else fails, rig the election.  Voter suppression is the answer.

With Trump, Warns Scahill, "Unelected National Security Apparatus" Now Unleashed

With Trump, Warns Scahill, "Unelected National Security Apparatus" Now Unleashed



YOU CANNOT KILL YOUR WAY TO PEACE. THIS WAR WILL ONLY PRODUCE MORE TERRORISTS. PERPETUAL WAR IS OUR NEW FOREIGN POLICY.

Centrist Democrats Riled as Warren Says Days of 'Lukewarm' Policies Are Over

Centrist Democrats Riled as Warren Says Days of 'Lukewarm' Policies Are Over



THE OLD CENTRIST DEMOCRATS NEED TO TAKE UP GOLF. THEY WANT DEMOCRATS TO ACT LIKE REPUBLICANS. THEY SHOULD TURN REPUBLICAN IF THEY WANT TO ACT LIKE REPUBLICANS. I'D RATHER LOSE ON A BOLD, PROGRESSIVE, PLATFORM THAN WIN ON A REPUBLICAN ONE. 

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

IN OUR AMERICA:

ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL.
LOVE WINS.
BLACK LIVES MATTER. ALL LIVES MATTER.
IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES ARE WELCOME.
DISABILITIES ARE RESPECTED.
WOMEN ARE IN CHARGE OF THEIR BODIES.
PEOPLE AND PLANET ARE VALUED OVER PROFIT.
DIVERSITY IS CELEBRATED.

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER-"YOU" BEYOND OUR "WEARY SELVES."

YOU, GOD, LORD AND SOVEREIGN,
YOU GOD, LOVER AND PARTNER.
   YOU ARE GOD OF ALL OUR POSSIBILITIES,
      YOU PRESIDE OVER ALL OUR COMINGS AND GOINGS,
                                             ALL OUR WEALTH AND ALL OUR POVERTY,
                                             ALL OUR SICKNESS AND ALL OUR HEALTH,
                                             ALL OUR DESPAIR AND ALL OUR HOPE,
                                             ALL OUR LIVING AND ALL OUR DYING,
                                                              AND WE ARE GRATEFUL.

YOU ARE GOD OF ALL OF OUR IMPOSSIBILITIES,
      YOU HAVE PRESIDED OVER THE EMANCIPATIONS
           AND HEALINGS OF OUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS;
       YOU HAVE PRESIDED OVER THE WONDROUS TRANSFORMATIONS IN OUR
           OWN LIVES.
       YOU HAVE AND WILL PRESIDE OVER THOSE PARTS OF OUR LIVES THAT       
           WE IMAGINE TO BE CLOSED.
                                                          AND WE ARE GRATEFUL.

SO BE YOUR TRUE SELF, ENACTING THE THINGS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US,
       THAT WE MIGHT YET BE WHOLE AMONG THE BLIND WHO SEE AND
                                                          THE DEAD WHO ARE RAISED;
       THAT WE MAY YET WITNESS YOUR WILL FOR PEACE,
                                                           YOUR VISION FOR JUSTICE,
                                                           YOUR VETOING ALL OUR FILLING FIELDS.

AT THE OUTSET OF THIS DAY,
      WE PLACE OUR LIVES IN YOUR STRONG HANDS.
BEFORE THE END OF THIS DAY,
     DO NEWNESS AMONG US IN THE VERY PLACES WHERE
                                                WE ARE TIRED IN FEAR,
                                                WE ARE EXHAUSTED IN GUILT,
                                                WE ARE SPENT EN ANXIETY.

MAKE ALL THINGS NEW, WE PRAY IN THE NEW-MAKING NAME OF JESUS.

Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People

PHONE CALL TO GOD

HELLO. GOD. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. I FIGURE YOU GOT TO BE REALLY BUSY NOW-A-DAYS. I'M CONCERNED, AND A BIT CONFUSED, WITH YOUR MAKING US IN YOUR OWN IMAGE. I PERSONALLY THINK SOMETHING IS SCREWED UP. I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE YOU WOULD TOLERATE RACISM. OR ANYTHING LESS THAN TOTALLY SUPPORTIVE OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS. YOU SURELY HAVE TO CARE FOR THE POOR? I'M EQUALLY SURE YOU WOULD WANT EVERYONE TO HAVE ADEQUATE HEALTHCARE, AND PLENTY TO EAT, AND NOT TO BE FEARFUL OF THE POLICE OR THE GOVERNMENT? AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE YOU WOULD ALLOW RICH PEOPLE TO DESTROY YOUR CREATION IN THE NAME OF PROFIT. I'M CALLING YOU TO CLEAR THE AIR. IF YOU ARE SUPPORTIVE OF WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN HERE, I'M OUT. I SIMPLY CANNOT GO ALONG WITH IT. THE HOUR IS GETTING LATE AND THE HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE FOR YOUR CREATION IS DIMMING. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I AM TRYING HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT WHEN I HEAR AND SEE WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN HERE, I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER WHY YOU ARE ALLOWING IT? THEY SAY FREE WILL. I SAY, PLEASE HELP. ANY KIND OF SIGN WILL DO, LIKE MAKING THE DAY TURN INTO NIGHT. I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR ANSWER.
THANKS,
BRUCE

Remove Him Now

Remove Him Now



RESIST. REMOVE.

YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST MY PRAYERS

• I FEEL BAD. I DON'T BELIEVE IN NEGATIVE PRAYERS. YOU SHOULDN'T ASK GOD FOR NEGATIVE THINGS. STILL, I KEEP PRAYING THAT TRUMP WILL GO BACK TO HIS HOME PLANET. SOMEHOW, I'M GUESSING GOD WON'T HOLD THIS AGAINST ME. GOD'S ONLY PROBLEM IS HE OR SHE MAY ALSO BE IN CHARGE OF THAT PLANET. THAT WOULD NOT BE A GOOD BREAK FOR GOD. WE HAVE A BAD SITUATION HERE. SO PLEASE, GOD, HAVE MERCY ON US. TAKE HIM AWAY. FAR, FAR, AWAY.
• FEED PEOPLE INSTEAD OF MAKING BOMBS. WE HAVE A LOT OF HUNGRY PEOPLE. ONE IN FOUR CHILDREN GO TO BED HUNGRY HERE IN ARKANSAS. ONE IN THREE ELDERLY EXPERIENCE FOOD SCARCITY. THERE IS NO REASON PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE FOOD. OUR MILITARY USES 60% OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET. IT IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. I PRAY THE BOMBS TURN INTO APPLES AND ORANGES. SO FAR, NO GO. PLEASE GOD. PLEASE.
• I'M PRAYING FOR TURNING GUNS INTO PLOWSHEARS. GUNS ARE GOING TO BE OUR UNDOING. EVERY TOM, DICK, AND HARRY HAS TO HAVE A GUN. AND NOW THEY WANT TO CARRY THEM, KIND OF LIKE IN THE 1840'S. IF YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A BRAIN, YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THIS IS NOT GOOD. THIS WOULD BE CALLED REGRESSIVE THINKING. PERHAPS PSYCHOTIC THINKING. THE NRA IS THE LARGEST TERRORIST GROUP IN THIS COUNTRY. THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. I'M PRETTY SURE JESUS AGREES WITH ME ON THIS ONE. 
• I PRAY FOR THE POOR. THE DISENFRANCHISED. THE SICK. THOSE WHO NEED THE COURAGE AND HUMILITY TO BEG. TODAY, THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE EXPENDABLE. WE MAKE ORDINANCES AGAINST BEGGING. WE DON'T WANT TO BE BOTHERED. WE ATTEMPT TO TAKE HEALTHCARE AWAY FROM PEOPLE. BETTER TO VIEW IT AS A COMMODITY THAN A RIGHT. JESUS DIDN'T HANG AROUND WITH RICH PEOPLE. IN FACT, HE HAD NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THEM. AND HE DIDN'T LISTEN TO GOVERNMENT EDICTS. THAT WAS NOT WHAT HE HAD IN MIND WHEN HE WAS TALKING ABOUT A NEW WAY. WE BEAT PEOPLE DOWN, AND BEAT PEOPLE DOWN. EVENTUALLY, THAT WILL END. HOPEFULLY, NOT VIOLENTLY.
• PRAYING IS A WORTHWHILE THING TO DO. NO MATTER WHAT YOUR RELIGION. NO MATTER HOW YOU DEFINE GOD. IT HELPS US EASE OUR PAIN. MAYBE PROVIDES SOME HOPE IN HOPELESS TIMES. IT TAKES US OUTSIDE OURSELVES, WHICH IN-AND-OF-ITSELF IS VALUABLE.

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL

AMERICA DOESN'T NEED TO BUILD A WALL.
AMERICA NEEDS TO BUILD A GIANT MIRROR AND REFLECT ON WHAT WE HAVE BECOME.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"GIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU/IS STILL THE TRUTH ABOUT LIFE. / BUT GIVING LIFE IS NOT SO EASY. / IT DOESN'T MEAN HANDING IT OUT TO SOME MEAN FOOL, OR LETTING THE LIVING DEAD EAT YOU UP. / IT MEANS KINDLING THE LIFE-QUALITY WHERE IT WAS NOT."

D. H. Lawrence

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.” 
Noam Chomsky

SONS FOLLOWING FATHERS

THESE SORRY ASS, PRIVILEGED, WHITE, YOUNG MALES TAKE AFTER THEIR PARENTS. RATHER THAN USE THEIR BRAINS TO GET AHEAD, WHICH THEY BY-AND-LARGE ARE LACKING, THEY SCAPEGOAT MINORITIES AND OTHER RELIGIONS. SEEMS WE NEVER GET OVER IT. EASIER TO CAST BLAME OUTWARD THAN INWARD.

'This Is Sick': Unscripted and Unhinged Trump Reverts to Defending Neo-Nazis

'This Is Sick': Unscripted and Unhinged Trump Reverts to Defending Neo-Nazis



Here we go. We keep jacking around, and this guy will bury us.

REVIEWING MR. TRUMP AS PRESIDENT

• A PRESIDENT THAT CONTINUALLY LIES. THAT'S JUST WHAT WE NEEDED. I WOULD IMAGINE HE HAS BEEN CAUGHT IN LIES ABOUT 10 TIMES PER WEEK. WE WENT FROM HONEST ABE TO DISHONEST TRUMP. QUITE THE DEAL.
• LET'S GET IN A NUCLEAR WAR. TRUMP IS UNDER THE ILLUSION WE WOULD WIN. BUT HE IS ALSO UNDER THE ILLUSION HE IS A HUMAN BEING, SO I GUESS IT'S TO BE EXPECTED. AND WORST OF ALL, THE MILITARY WILL FALL IN RIGHT BEHIND HIM IN HIS SUICIDAL MARCH TOWARD ARMAGEDDON.AFTER ALL, THE FOUR STAR GENERALS NEED A FIFTH STAR.
• AND NOW WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO , FOR THE MOST PART, REFUSES TO DENOUNCE HATE GROUPS. HE STUTTERS AND STAMMERS AND ABOUT WETS HIS PANTS WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEM. AFTER ALL, THEY ARE HIS VOTING BASE. HE NEEDS THEM TO CONTINUE HIS FASCIST MARCH. THEY ACT AS THE CLOWNS LEADING THE MARCH. HE MANAGES TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THEM 2 DAYS AFTER CHARLOTTE, BUT YOU CAN SEE HIS HEART WAS NOT IN IT. HE IS ONE OF THEM.
• LET'S PUT PEOPLE IN CABINET POSTS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS THAT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HAS BETSY DEVOS, BILLIONAIRE, WHO WANTS EVERYONE TO GO TO CHARTER SCHOOLS, AND IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT, DON'T GO. TRUMP PICKED SCOTT PRUITT TO HEAD THE EPA. PRUITT REPEATEDLY HAS STATED THAT THE EPA SHOULD NOT EXIST. IT LOOKS LIKE TRUMP WANTS THEM TO FAIL, SO HE CAN FIRE THEM. HOW ABOUT WE FIRE HIM?
• WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO RUNS THE COUNTRY LIKE HE DID HIS REALITY TV SHOW, "THE APPRENTICE." HE TREATED THE WINNERS AND THOSE LOYAL LIKE KINGS, AND HE DENIGRATED THE LOSERS. WINNERS LIVED IN A MANSION, LOSERS IN TENTS ON THE GROUNDS. IT WAS THE PERFECT TRAINING GROUND FOR HIM. HE LEARNED HOW TO BE THE PERFECT BULLY: DO THIS, DON'T DO THAT, CAN'T YOU SEE THE MONEY."
• TRUMP DOESN'T TRUST SCIENCE OR SCIENTISTS. HE DOESN'T RESPECT ANYONE WHO TRIES TO PROVE WITH FACTS WHAT THEY ARE PROPOSING. WHY TRY TO PROVE ANYTHING WHEN YOU CAN SAY WHATEVER COMES TO YOUR MIND AND YOUR MORON FOLLOWERS WILL BELIEVE. IT'S MUCH EASIER. AND IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND THE NEXT DAY ABOUT WHATEVER, NO ONE CAN CLAIM YOU ARE IGNORING THE FACTS, BECAUSE THERE NEVER WERE ANY.

SO THERE IT IS. CRAZY LEFT-WING PSYCHOBABBLE. AND I STAND BY IT.

REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM: NOAM CHOMSKY

"A significant part of the American Dream is class mobility: You're born poor, you work hard, you get rich. The idea that it is possible for everyone to get a decent job, buy a home, get a car, have their children go to school...
It's all collapsed."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"THOUGH WAR IS/OLD IT HAS NOT/BECOME WISE.

Alice Walker

SOCIAL SECURITY DAY

Today, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act, in 1935. It was to improve the economic security for retirees and the unemployed. Today, right-wing Republicans want to get rid of it. It wastes too much money that they could be giving to their rich donors. It's hard to believe how greedy and heartless these people have become. They live all around me. These rich white folks could care less how others are doing. They have theirs, that's all they are worried about. Since they dislike social security, I suggest they give theirs back. You can guess how that discussion ends. I really don't get it. It disgusts me and makes me think mankind has taken a giant leap backward. We once again need to crawl out of the primordial ooze.

"NO IS NOT ENOUGH"-NAOMI KLEIN

"For decades, elites have been using the power of shock to impose nightmares. Donald Trump thinks he'll be able to do it again and again---that we will have forgotten by tomorrow what he said yesterday (which he will say he never said); that we will be overwhelmed by events, and will ultimately scatter, surrender, and let him grab whatever he wants.

But crises, as we have seen, do not always cause societies to regress and give up. There is also a second option---that, faced with a grave common threat, we can choose to come together and make an evolutionary leap. We can choose, as the Rev. William Barber puts it, "to be the moral defibrillators of our time and shock the heart of this nation and build a movement of resistance and hope and justice and love." We can, in other words, surprise the hell out of ourselves---by being united, focused, and determined."

SUNDAY MORNING QUOTE

“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
Howard Zinn

SUNDAY MORNING BENEDICTION

WHEN THE RICH AND POWERFUL GO TO WAR AGAINST THE MEEK, AND HONESTY AND COMPASSION ALL BUT DISAPPEAR FROM PUBLIC DISCOURSE, WE NEED LITERATURE AND THE ARTS TO REMIND US THAT, WHATEVER OUR DIFFERENCES, WE SHARE THE CONDITION OF BEING HUMAN. GIVE ME STRENGTH TO STAND UP TO INJUSTICE. TO CONFRONT RACISM. THE WIFE BEATER. THE GUN LOVER. HELP ME TO REMAIN DEFIANT TO A GOVERNMENT GONE ASTRAY, IN THE SAME WAY THAT YOU DEFIED THE ROMAN EMPIRE. HELP ME TO TELL YOUR STORY: ONE OF GENTLENESS, KINDNESS, YOUR PEACE, YET DETERMINED DEFIANCE. IN THE END, YOU DIED FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVED. YOU SAW A NEW DAY-A NEW WAY. NOW IT'S UP TO ME TO HONOR YOUR COMMITMENT AND VISION.   AMEN

NORMAN LEAR BEING HONORED WITH KENNEDY CENTER AWARD

CREATOR OF "ALL IN THE FAMILY," LEAR SAYS THIS ABOUT THE COMPARISON THAT HAS BEEN MADE OF ARCHIE BUNKER AND DONALD TRUMP: "I THINK DONALD TRUMP IS SHREWD IN A WAY ARCHIE NEVER WAS. ARCHIE BUNKER WAS FAR WISER OF HEART....TRUMP IS A THOROUGH FOOL, HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH SHREWDNESS THAT HAS ALLOWED HIM TO CHEAT AND STEAL THE WAY HE HAS FOR HIS OWN GOOD. UNDERNEATH THAT, HE IS A FOOL." LEAR STATED HE WILL ATTEND THE CEREMONY, BUT NOT THE RECEPTION AFTER. LEAR HAS SAID ARCHIE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR TRUMP, AND HE HAS LIKENED TRUMP TO "THE MIDDLE FINGER OF THE AMERICAN RIGHT HAND."

AN ODE TO TRUMP

"THIS REPUBLIC WAS NOT ESTABLISHED BY COWARDS, AND COWARDS WILL NOT PRESERVE IT."
Elmer Davis
                                    
                                                                        OR

"REVOLUTION DOES NOT BEGIN WITH A GROUP. IT BEGINS FROM THE HEART."
Shahla Khan

                                                                        OR

"IF WE LISTEN ATTENTIVELY, WE CAN HEAR, AMID THE UPROAR OF EMPIRES AND NATIONS,M A FAINT FLUTTER OF WINGS, THE GENTLE STIRRING OF LIFE AND HOPE. SOME WILL SAY THAT THIS HOPE LIES IN A NATION; OTHERS, IN A PERSON. I BELIEVE RATHER, THAT IT IS AWAKENED AND NOURISHED BY MILLIONS OF SOLITARY INDIVIDUALS WHOSE DEEDS AND WORKS EVERY DAY NEGATE FRONTIERS AND THE CRUDEST IMPLICATIONS OF HISTORY."
Albert Camus
 

TO THE SYSTEM:

"OUR DREAMS DON'T FIT ON YOUR BALLOT."

Don McLean - American Pie

Three Trump Speeches and the Death of a Nation

Three Trump Speeches and the Death of a Nation



BYE, BYE, MISS AMERICAN PIE

WHAT TO DO WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS (DeTRUMPING AMERICA)

• PUNT
• RESIST
• REVOLT
• WRITE (Letters to the editor; editorials; blogs; Letters or e-mails to your congressman or senators; write for yourself, to help relieve the anguish).
• PROTEST (In front of Trump owned or named buildings; at the offices of senators, congressmen; Hobby Lobby; Chick-Fil-A; Exxon-Mobil; Jimmy Johns; Papa John's; Monsanto; military recruitment offices; etc.).
• JOIN THE REVOLUTION. IT'S COMING.
• BOYCOTT (Take your pick).
• PHONE BUSINESSES WITH TRUMP'S NAME ON THEM (Ask them why his name is on their building? You will not do business with them if it remains).

All of this just about makes for a full-time job. If this doesn't help, move to Costa Rica. Save a bedroom for me).

SOCIALISM

YOU HEAR A LOT OF RIGHT-WING WISDOM CONCERNING WHAT A SOCIALIST, OR SOCIALISM, IS. MOST ARE FULL OF BULL UP TO THEIR EARS. A SOCIALIST PROFESSES THAT GOVERNMENT HAS A ROLE IN SOCIETY, THAT IT IS NOT AN INSTITUTION EXCLUSIVELY IN EXISTENCE TO MAKE SURE THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET NOTHING. A DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST THEORY IS BASED ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ALL FACETS OF OUR EXISTENCE, INCLUDING ECONOMIC. PUBLIC OWNERSHIP HELPS TO AVOID THE EXPLOITATION OF CAPITAL THAT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS, ACCELERATED UNDER TRUMP. CAPITALISM SEES GOVERNMENT AS EVIL. CORPORATIONS DO NOT LIKE REGULATIONS. THEY GET IN THE WAY OF PROFIT. AND PROFIT IS THE NAME OF THEIR GAME. SOCIALISM SEES GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND INTERVENTION AS NECESSARY. CAPITALISM IS NOT A GOOD MIX WITH DEMOCRACY. THE RESULTING SUPER-RICH TAKE OVER. THE CORPORATIONS HAVE OVERTHROWN THE GOVERNMENT. THEY ARE NOW IN CHARGE, AND MANY HAVE BEEN APPOINTED TO GOVERNMENT POSITIONS BY TRUMP. CAPITALISM DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ONE OF MAN'S GREATEST MOTIVATORS: GREED.

'The Statue of Liberty Weeps' as Trump Takes Aim at Legal Immigration

'The Statue of Liberty Weeps' as Trump Takes Aim at Legal Immigration



MORE SHOCK POLITICS. SCAPEGOAT EVERYONE. 

TAKING DOWN TRUMP

DONALD TRUMP COULD CARE LESS ABOUT POLLS, OR PETITIONS. WE CAN'T WASTE OUR TIME ON THINKING ANY OF THAT WILL PHASE HIM. HE HAS ONE WEAKNESS, AND ONE WEAKNESS ONLY: MONEY. IF WE CAN STOP HIM, OR SLOW HIM, IN HIS PURSUIT OF THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, HE WILL CRUMBLE LIKE A CRACKER UNDER A ROLLING PIN. TRUMP DOESN'T MAKE HIS MONEY FROM CASINO'S, OR CONDO TOWERS, OR GOLF. THE FACT IS, HE OWNS VERY LITTLE PROPERTY. HE MAKES HIS MONEY FROM PUTTING HIS NAME ON THINGS. YES, I REALIZE THAT IS HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT IT'S TRUE. THAT IS WHAT HIS SON, ERIC, IS DOING. HE TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD, (AT OUR EXPENSE, I MIGHT ADD. FOR SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION), SELLING HIS DADS NAME TO CORPORATIONS AND CONTRACTORS. SO HOW DO WE USE THIS TO BRING HIM DOWN. WE MAKE HIS NAME WORTHLESS. WE SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE WANTS TO USE THE TRUMP NAME. WE PUSH HIS APPROVAL RATING TO SINGLE DIGITS. WE CAN CALL EVERY COMPANY THAT HAS HIS NAME ON IT, AND DISCUSS WITH WHOEVER ANSWERS THE PHONE THAT WE WOULD STAY THERE, OR BUY A CONDO, OR PLAY GOLF, IF THEY DIDN'T USE HIS NAME. IMAGINE THE FRONT DESK GETTING 5,000 CALLS A DAY MAKING THAT SUGGESTION. IT WOULD DISRUPT THEIR LIVES, IF NOTHING ELSE. OVERSEAS CALLS WILL COST YOU SOMETHING, BUT IT WILL BE WELL WORTH IT. HIS BRANDS CAN BE FOUND ON POLITICSCATTERED.COM; WIKIPEDIA.ORG/list_of_things_named_after_ donald_trump. (Or just google: things named after Donald Trump). ANY WAY WE CAN GET INTO HIS POCKET, HE WILL FOLD. THINK UP OTHERS. THIS COULD BE FUN.

With help from "No Is Not Enough," Naomi Klein

Trump Bulldozes Environmental Laws to Pave Way for 'Xenophobic' Border Wall

Trump Bulldozes Environmental Laws to Pave Way for 'Xenophobic' Border Wall



MORE SHOCK DOCTRINE TACTICS. THE TIDE IS ABOUT TO TURN. WE ARE ABOUT TO APPLY SHOCK THERAPY TO TRUMP.