Two for the Price of One

Alert.  Alert. This is a two fer alert,  A BOGO (buy one, get one free) alert.

Item # 1 -  Zero trust.  Zero Tolerence.

The trump administration prior to its inauguration and immediately after assuming office (and i do mean assume in its literal definition as well as the popular definition, nod nod, wink wink) has clearly demonstrated that they will be shutting out the legitimate press. Saturday, Sean Spicer, the White House press Secretary, trots himself into the press briefing room and announces that “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.”  He also continued by speaking very disrespectfully to the press corps that was gathered.   Nobody asked this clown anything about this inconsequential tripe.  He just decided he was going to come out, make a statement and not take any questions.

This was a set up.  It was designed to bait the press.  It was designed to create a story where there was none.  It was designed to distract.  It was designed to attempt to prove that trump's election was a populist 'movement'.

Then on Sunday, almost all, if not all of the 'talking heads' had kelly conway goebbels on.  You know, one of the goebbels twins (her twin brother is steve bannon goebbels).  They learned well from there grandfather, joseph goebbels the propaganda minister for hitler.  Their grandfather said that 'if you tell a lie often enough and loud enough, people will believe it'.  This is obviously how the twins plan to do 'business'.  I also think we should change kelly's first name to gracie.  You know, George Burns's wife Gracie.  Their whole shtick was for George to ask Gracie a question and she would go off for five to ten minutes about anything and everything except the question that George asked.  This was how kelly (from here on gracie) performed on the Sunday Morning shows.

THEN, on Monday spicer trots his little butt back in front of the press corps and said:

"We have to be honest with the American people.  I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts, but our intention is never to lie to you."

"The facts", so what does that mean?  Are there "alternative facts" (gracie goebbels 1/22/17))?

He also cried that "[t]he default narrative is always negative and that's demoralizing." 

WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

Why does he think the tone is negative?  Who does he think set that negative tone?  his boss demoralizes wide swaths of Americans right up to his inauguration and then he thinks he's going to come out in front of the press and cry that he and his fellow administrators are felling demoralized?  Who in hell does he think he's kidding?  Certainly not me!  

This is obviously going to be one of the games that the goebbels twins will have their lacky, spicer, employ.   Degrade the legitimate press, come out a day or two later and try to be conciliatory (but not really), brush with margarine and repeat.  What we are observing is the typical cycle of all abusers.  No matter what form of abuse, the abusers always act in the following cycle:  Abuse, apologize, abuse, apologize, etc.  What has been set in motion is abuse of power with the end result being the abuse of the press and therefore Americans.

Not that my advice means a darn thing, but I suggest that the legitimate press practice the following motto:  zero trust and zero tolerance!!!!!

Item # 2 - Emoluments

Here's a word that is getting a lot of traction lately, emoluments.  I did not know what it meant, although from the context it was being used in, I had a good idea.  Merriam Webster Dictionary defines emoluments as follows:

1: the returns arising from office or employment usually in the form of compensation or perquisites

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emolument

The key word here is "compensation".  You know ....... money.

The Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 (this is the Article that defines the Administrative  Branch of our government), reads as follows:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Yesterday, The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a suite in Manhattan Federal Court, with U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams claiming that trump is violating the so called Emoluments clause. Two of the lawyers represent the bi-partisan nature of this group; former Obama administration ethics lawyer Norman Eisen and former G.W. Bush administration ethics counsel Richard Painter.

I do not place a large amount of stock in the reporting in the Huffington Post, but I did note that in an article dated 1/23/17 that the case may not make it into the court room due to a legal concept known as 'lack of standing'. What this refers to is that the plaintiff must demonstrate, in this case, concrete injury by the president’s failure to sever business ties which violate the emoluments clause, which forbids accepting anything that may amount to a bribe from a foreign government.  It seems to me that if the person in the position of President does not comply with the Constitution, then there is "concrete injury" to each and every American citizen.  If Judge Abrams refuses to hear the case, then it should be marched right through the Federal Court system to the Supreme Court.  Period.

Protests, part two of two

Day two.  "Woke up. Got outa bed. Dragged a comb across my head"  I had no idea what I was going to experience, what our country was going to experience, what our planet was going to experience.  There was no way I could have imagined or hoped that the enormity of this protest would be what it turned out to be.

I got to the metro station.  Fortunately it was the beginning of one of the lines, so the cars started out empty.  They became full immediately, and by immediately I mean this first stop on the line!  As the train made its way downtown, more people were able to squeeze in.  The cars became the proverbial can of sardines, and we, the sardines, were in high spirits and energized.  We were "fired up and ready to go".  There were three possible stops to get off at.  I got off at the first, Judiciary Square.  The subway station was wall to wall people on both sides of the tracks, the escalators and the entrance way.  We walked down to 3rd and Independence, right in front of The native American Museum.  The stage for speakers and a jumbo tron were about a block & a half south on 3rd.  Unfortunately we, where I was, could not hear, but we all agreed that we could hear the speakers later and that the important thing was that we were there.  Adding our individual voices to the collective voice.  We were completely immobilized by the shear number of people per square yard, per square foot.  There were constant single file rivulets moving through this sea of humanity, but for three and a half hours, I stayed put. I was probably shifted this way or that within a two square foot area, by the crowd, but that was it.

On the street, right next to the curb, there were large metal plates, staked three or four high with railroad ties between the plates.  They were used the day before, on the mall and had been dismantled and stacked up for removal.  People were standing on these 'platforms' and again, without the ability to move.  There was a solar powered parking kiosk near me & just enough room on the solar array for one person to stand on.  It was used by many protesters during the day.  The trees had sprouted human fruit, high up in their branches.  Traffic light standards had people perched on them.  The walls of the American Indian Museum had been scaled, where they could be, with protesters on three levels of brick terraces on the building.

We of course were chanting.  We also sang.  The chants came in waves.  I could hear them from afar and then wash over the area I was standing in and it was loud!  We had various 'cheer leaders' take to the platforms and the solar array.  They were passionate and they also had fun.  Someone passed a bull horn to two women on the platform, that saved their voices.  Another woman, standing on the solar array didn't need the bull horn.  She was loud and she really got the surrounding crowd going.  The crowd's response obviously energized her further.  She must have been running on adrenaline for her voice to remain intact.

The official start of the speaker program started at 10am.  It was scheduled to go for three hours, but ran a little over.  After three and a half hours the speakers were done and we the protesters were ready to go.  It took about fifteen to twenty minutes for the movement to get to where we were.  The movement started at the west end of the crowd and moved east.  It was not until we were freely marching that I started, only started, to fathom the scope of what we had done.  The dyke had broken and now this mass of humanity turned into many rivers, each one feeding the other.

Here is the basic layout of the affected area.  Going east to west, 8th street to 18th street.  Going South to north, Independence (which is the south line of the Smithsonian Museums) north to H street (which is many blocks north of Pennsylvania Avenue until you get to 18th where they meet).  The lettered & numbered streets form a square grid, where as the streets named after states are diagonals cutting through the grid.  EVERY street in the area I have described was wall to wall people, from buildings on one side of the street to the buildings on the other side of the street.

The main river was Pennsylvania Avenue, but do not think that the other streets aren't wide, because the are.  As we marched down Pennsylvania, the reviewing stands from the day before were filled with supporters, with protesters watching us protest.  When we walked past the trump hotel on Pennsylvania, the river made a horrible noise for the whole time that we walked from its east end to its west end.  Just as when we were standing on the Mall, the sound was a continual wave through the protesters, but remaining a constant at the hotel.

In a few more blocks, we came to the White House or at least as close as anyone was going to get.  Pennsylvania Avenue was fenced off a little before 15th street and again on the other side a little before 17th.  This was a security measure and fully understood.  We could see the north east corner of the building.  There where a couple of flat bed trucks strewn around the street for the purpose of breaking down and removing the bleachers.  They had already started and the trucks were stacked high.  Protesters had climbed on the trucks and up to the top of the loads on the trucks.  Protesters were perched on ledges of walls on the building across the street. As the crowd filed by the closest approach to the White House, we let trump know how we felt about him.  There was, again, a constant booing and cat calls (remember, this was the 'pussy' march) that stayed in this one place where a 'u' turn was occurring as the fence turned us back.  There was one Secret Service agent standing guard, but he was like a medium sized rock on the shore of a mighty river, inconsequential.  I went up to him and sincerely shook his hand and thanked him for his service.  At first he was skeptical and apprehensive, but then he saw I meant it and he appreciated it.

So, after paying my disrespects to trump, I turned back and went to 14th street.  I went up the hill to D Street and then looked back from where I had come.  D is well above the basin and what I saw, was when I had the true sense of the enormity of it all.  I was looking down the hill and further, all the way to Independence Avenue.  It was one very wide, river; uninterrupted.  It may have gone further south than Independence, but that was the horizon and the mass went right up to that horizon.  I would say the distance I was looking at was a mile and there were people going up the hill as well.  and people on all the cross streets, again not scattered, but a solid mass.  At the corner of 14th and D there were motorcycle police with there sirens on and turning west (slowly, they were completely surrounded).  I went down D street and found a thirty foot trailer with a couple of bikes on it and about 5 guys.  The trailer had large letters spelling 'trump' and signs on it declaring his greatness.  There was also a sign declaring them "bikers for trump". They were surrounded by about six or seven thousand people.  The police were coming to 'rescue' them.  The crowd was peaceful and were simply chanting at these guys.  Things like "hey hey, go home, donald trump has got to go"  over and over again.  The din was extremely loud.  Then we shouted "shame on you" for a long time.  I left after about 5 minutes, but this crowd wasn't going anywhere although individuals did move.  The river continued to be replenished with fresh protesters to continue the shaming of these bikers.

When I was at the top of the hill on 14th, I texted my son, who goes to George Washington University (GW).  Saturday was his first day working  on the GW EHS (emergency health services) team.  He was expecting to do his shift on campus from 10 to 2.  I was letting him know I was walking over to his dorm.  He texted back and told me he was at the med tent at 14th and Constitution.  I could see the white tent, down the hill, half way between where I was and the horizon I described, above.  He would be off at 6pm.  I walked over to campus and hung out in the lower floors of his dorm where there are some eateries.  There were others my age there, not just students.  I fell into a conversation with a woman, while we watched the reporting on the TV about The March.  She noted that she had heard the estimated number of marchers was 1.2 million.  When my son got back, a little after six and without prompting from me in any way (I didn't even ask, he just volunteered the information), he corroborated that number.  He had gotten this number from officials visiting the med tent during the afternoon.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was exhausted and my voice was gone, but I was energized.  I felt empowered, exhilarated.

When I learned how many cities and towns, not only in the U.S., but around the world, on every continent, I felt that the world had woken up.  These men and women, around the world, were acting like they were citizens of one planet, not separate countries.  They even marched in Antarctica.  Not only was I fired up, but the world was and we're all ready to go!

Protests, part one of two

Okay, back to work.  As I wrote to a friend this morning, the past two days completely exhausted me in the true sense of the word.  I was unable to post Friday or Saturday due to my need for sleep at the end of each day.  Truth be told, I also needed time to process what I had experienced and have not fully done so while writing, right now.  It will take some time and writing about these past two days will help.  So.......... let's dive in.

Early call on Friday.  The check points to allow people into the secured perimeter were scheduled to open between 6 & 7am, so I made sure to get on the metro by 5am so I could be at the check point a little before six.  It turns out that that was important.  The check point closest to where the protest site I was going to be opened at 6am and it took until 7 to get through.  For the most part, all of the people waiting at this check point were protesters.  We all got along nicely and of course were of like minds about what we would witness later in the day.  Of course people had signs and banners.

After passing through the check point we all moved to a site at 8th and Pennsylvania, at the Naval Memorial and across from the National Archives building.  The site permit was procured by The ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition.  There was a thirty foot long stage with large PA speakers on both ends.  There was a steady stream of speakers, chants, musicians and recorded music.  There was also, off to the side of the area a tall column of speakers (maybe 20 feet high) to broadcast the inauguration itself.

Some of the chants were as follows:

   - No Trump, No KKK, immigrants are welcome here (or everyone, or refugees)
   - No justice, No peace
   - What do we want?  Justice.  When do we want it?  NOW!
   - Power to the people, Power to the people, Power to the people, Power to the people, right on (John Lennon)
   - Heh heh.  Go home.  donald trump has got to go.

There were others, but I just can't remember them right now.  There's was just so much input that it's hard to recall it all.  It's in there and will come back to me over time.

The speakers covered many of the ideas that you have read in my posts.  Some of what they had to say was too radical for me.  You need to know that just because those of us at this site were all protesting, that does not mean that we are monolithic in our ideas.  One of the concepts I had an issue with was suggesting the rejection of the Democratic Party.  I am not a fan of the two party system and I am not so naive as to believe that Democrats in the Party apparatus are without fault.  Nor am I so cynical as to think that just because the same people are politicians that they are all without a moral structure.  For the most part I feel the same way about Republican politicians, just shifted a little more towards the cynical side of things.  Having said that, the two party system is what we've got right now and for the foreseeable future, so we need to work inside of this system.  Trying to change it is an honorable idea, but reality is we're not going to any time soon.  In fact, a lesson that can be learned from the Tea Party movement is that a sub group within the Republican Party changed that Party drastically.  The Republican Party looks very different than it did at the turn of the century.

Throughout the morning, a lawyer from ANSWER's legal team kept us updated on an issue that had developed.  The site that we were at could hold many more than the 3,000 to 5,000 that were there, but The Secrete Service had closed the check point closest to us at approximately 10am.  Then it was reported that they opened it again, but the pace was extremely slow.  It was reported that the four lines to enter the site, were two to three blocks long, well over 10,000 people.  It seems to have stayed that way even when I was leaving at about 4:15pm.

When the inauguration ceremony came on over the column of loud speakers, we all, spontaneously and without prompting, did whatever we could to drown out what was being broadcast.  It was like some   surrealistic dystopian scene, this faceless broadcast that just suddenly started streaming over these speakers. For the duration of the ceremonies, between canned music and chants, we were able to not hear what certainly seemed to be this propaganda machine.  I understand it was so all gathered within the perimeter could hear, it just struck me as, again, dystopian, kind of Soviet.

The ceremony did not take long, and then we were back to speakers, chants and music until about 3:45 when the parade started to pass our way.  We were near the beginning of the parade route and it was scheduled to start at 3pm, but I guess it was delayed until the drizzle that was occurring, stopped.  When Trump and all of the dignitaries passed, we of course screamed all sorts of derisive comments at the motorcade.  The only person that I could definitely identify was Paul Ryan.  He had his window down.  What I noticed, as he was looking directly at us, was that he looked truly concerned.

Tomorrow, The Woman's March.

Looking Back, Experiencing the Present and Looking Forward

Today I want to address a few different topics.

On this, the last full day of his Presidency, I want to thank President Obama for his service to our country.  He has been a steady leader, and a true American.  He has acted as a moral compass for our nation and our people.  He, simply by his presence, has lifted the 'boats' of many.  He has been a firm hand around the world, holding to American values while working with other leaders.  He has had a forward looking vision regarding our planet's ability to sustain life.  He has put our country on a solid economic footing, after inheriting  one of the worst economic calamities in our country's history.  He has worked through his tenure while being obstructed at almost every turn, and has done so as a gentleman.  By the way, I want to point out that, in my opinion, there has been only one reason for the obstructionist environment that President Obama worked in, and that reason is because he is black.  Period.  Most of all, President Obama upheld his oath to "Preserve, protect and defend The Constitution of the United States"  I believe when historians look back on Barack Obama's Presidency, he will be regarded as one of the great Presidents of our country.

Tomorrow at noon, donald trump will take the same oath that all Presidents swear to.  he will "[affirm] that [he] will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of [his] ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  he will then be our next administrator.  I would note that "the best of [his] ability" seems to be not very able at all.

trump has, without being sworn into office, already disregarded the First Amendment of our Constitution.  Tomorrow, during the inauguration, there will be thousands of protesters along the parade route.  I received an email this morning from The ANSWER Coalition, informing me that the media has been denied access to areas along the parade route where protesters have been granted permits to gather.  This directive came from the Secret Service, but let's be real, it came from trump.  This has never happened before, it is as 'they' say, unprecedented

The reason trump is doing this is obvious, he doesn't want the world to see that there is descent to his administration.  I have no doubts that the way he will 'play' the protests is to deny that they even occurred.  Any news that makes note of the protests, any reporting that may be done due to live video feeds from protester's phones will be labeled as "fake news" by trump.  he will lean into a microphone and say "never happened" and "lie".

More and more, there are actions being taken by trump or at the very least on trump's behalf by his staff (and I'm being kind here) that look a great deal like the USSR.

I will be at the protests tomorrow.  I will be at a protest site on Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th & 9th streets.  I will be filming the protests and if I can learn how to perform a live feed on Facebook or You Tube, I will do so.  I will post my report about the protests when I am done and have access to a computer.  I am looking forward to reporting on what I observe and the feelings I experience. .

Boycott as a Form of Protest

Yesterday, I wrote about a specific form of boycotting that may need to be carried out by a specific group of people.  Today, I'm going to broaden that discussion.

A friend suggested to me yesterday that a strong statement could be made by not watching the inauguration ceremonies on television or any other devices. His point and goal is to have the ratings be the lowest ever for a broadcasted inauguration. What a great idea. Not only will this make a strong point to our country, but it would really drive trump crazy. He lives off of that kind of stuff. Consider his tweet to Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  Jan 6

Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for....

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  Jan 6

being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary

Next, on a more serious note (although i am serious about not watching or listening to the inauguration on any broadacst medium, you can always read his speech), I want to call on Democrats in Congress to boycott votes that are obviously related to immoral legislation. Boycott any vote that would serve to dismantle our government. Boycott any vote that would compromise our constitution. If voting along party lines were to occur (which it obviously will) then the republicans will push through whatever they want. Let the consequences of their unacceptable legislation be clearly recognizable as their responsibility.  This is not to say that Democrats should not work in a cooperative way to fashion bills that will be acceptable, but when they are pushed to the side by the republicans in Congress, I believe they should boycott the vote.  Physically walk out.

Lastly, how can we boycott, in order to send a message?  I have heard discussions on National Public Radio (NPR) about boycotting businesses that support trump or any member of his family.  Any business that supported his campaign, who have Board members that support trump.  I looked on line to see if there were any data bases that are being built, with this end in mind.  I found the following link to what I thought was an excellent data base:

https://grabyourwallet.org/

For the most part, I will have no difficulties in boycotting the businesses listed, with one exception.  WalMart is listed, because they sell ivanka trump's products.  Now, I don't buy any of her products, but I do buy one prescription at WalMart in order to drive the price down to a $15 co-pay.  Due to the disgusting health insurer, Aetna, if I bought this prescription anywhere else, I would need to pay $80 per month in co-pay fees.  So, I must be up front and admit that I cannot completely boycott WalMart and I suspect that most people in our country depend on WalMart to a certain extent for needs (not wants).  

I do have an idea about how to effectively send a message to WalMart, but it would require an extremely well coordinated effort either statewide or nationwide.  Statewide would probably be easier to coordinate.  Designate a date, each month, and advertise it in any and all ways possible that no purchases be made at any WalMart on that date.  Obviously Walmart will still do business on those dates, but the goal is to significantly cut into their revenues for that date.  

In conjunction with these boycotts it would be helpful to write to these companies and tell them why you are boycotting.  The data base I've refereed to has email addresses, peoples names and phone numbers. 

So........LET'S GET OUT THERE AND BOYCOTT!!

Press Should Boycott White House Press Conferences if......

I started this post two days ago, and then yesterday heard an article on NPR that trump was moving the press conferences to a larger venue outside of the White House.  The reason given was the move will enable a larger pool of reporters to attend.  reince priebus, trump's chief of staff, told ABC's George Stephanopoulos:

“We had like 500 or 600 folks at the press conference last week so we started thinking, 'Man alive, if we can have more people involved than less people involved, that would be a good thing' -- that's what this is about, George"
This guy, priebus, has got to be kidding.  How many of those 500 to 600 people were legitimate press?  How many were from rags like breitbart?  How many were staff and supporters who cheered trump, jeered reporters that they did not like and in general set a tone of disrespect for the eyes and ears of the public?

Furthermore,when asked if reporters would continue to work in the White House, he replied, "That hasn't been determined,"

In response to these statements by priebus, White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) President, Jeff Mason, released a statement that concluded:

"The briefing room is open now to all reporters who request access. We support that and always will. The WHCA will fight to keep the briefing room and West Wing access to senior administration officials open. We object strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps," 

OK, just another step in what continues to look like Germany in the 1930s or government in the former USSR. trump obviously does not want the press to be our eyes and ears when it comes to his administration of our country's laws. I also believe that trump will follow the same template that he used in his 'press conference' on January 19th.  He will bring his staff and some supporters into the room to, as noted above, cheer & jeer. 

In order to make it crystal clear that this is not and will not be acceptable, some drastic out of the box actions need to be taken.  If the press corps is no longer allowed in the West Wing of The White House then the legitimate press needs to boycott press conferences until they are given access to the West Wing.  If the press maintains its access to the West Wing, then reporters need to wait for the first press conference with trump as the administrator.  If the template remains as it was for the January 19th press conference, then again, I believe the press should boycott trump's press conferences until protocol returns to the norm.

trump will attempt to bait the press by calling them names, by tweeting.  I suggest that the press turn a blind ear & eye to this crap.  The press can still 'cover' press conferences just as well as if they were in the room.  trump is not going to call on legitimate reporters and if he does, he is going to deride and insult them and they will be shouted down by his staff and supporters.  This will be unacceptable. Press conferences are a good time to ask questions, but in today's world I believe that information can be ascertained without press conferences.  The White House Press Corps, boycotting press conferences, will send an extremely loud message to the administration, Congress, the American people and the world.  America is the beacon of freedom on this planet.  We will not allow trump to make a mockery of our country, our constitution or us.  We will not allow trump to dishonor every person that has fought for our freedom and the freedom of others around the world, throughout our history.

A Tail of Two Men

He was the best of men, he was the worst of men.  Bettcha you know which one is which.

Throughout his public career, Barack Obama has been a gentleman at all times.  When faced with obvious racism as President, he chose to ignore it publicly.  If he felt or believed that the obtructionism he experienced was due to racism or not, he has never said, nor do I believe he ever will tell us what his private thoughts and feelings are on this subject.  Barack Obama doesn't make excuses.  He works with the hand that he is dealt and does so magnificently.  He does not belittle people.  He does not use foul language publicly.  In a political landscape that for decades has seen the minority party, at any given time, appoint special prosecutors to investigate a President's behavior in the hopes of filing articles of impeachment, Obama is squeaky clean.  When speaking publicly, President Obama has spoken from a wellspring of hope.  When he has needed to be tough on foreign policy issues, he has done so in an even handed and firm way.  During Obama's tenure as president there was never even a whisper of sexual impropriety.  Lastly, I will point out that President Obama's farewell speech was one of the most inspirational that I have heard in my life time and I have heard more than a few.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this day when we celebrate him, I looked to Dr. King for some inspiring words; some guidance on how to look at our current world.  I found these words:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"

So.......we've looked at one man's character, President Obama's, now let's now look at trump's.

This guy is an out and out liar, plain and simple.  Like the boy that cried wolf, even if he told the truth, I wouldn't believe him.  he mocks a disabled person for all to see (and all have seen it) and then when confronted with his behavior by Hillary Clinton, leans into the microphone and says "lie".  He clearly denied having done what everyone saw him do.  he refuses to release his tax returns for public review.  he refuses to divest his business interests in order to remove all possibility of conflicts of interest. he uses an 'end run' to avoid complying with the anti-nepotism law.  he settles the trump university law suit out of court (which he claims he never, never does) for a paltry $25 million.  Not trump change ........ chump change.  This guy communicates his foreign policy initiatives on Twitter.  Twitter for God's sake.  He begins his campaign for the Presidency by denigrating a whole nation's people.  he speaks disrespectfully to women, which make up more than half of the human race.  he disavows knowledge of the former head of the kkk, david duke, when records clearly show that he does know him.  he claims to not know what the agenda of the kkk is.  he hires steve bannon who is a self described Leninist.  Hell, bannon is vocally supported by the kkk and the american nazi party, and he is going to be 'whispering' in trump's ear as chief white house strategist.  His ties with Putin and Russia seem a little bit too cozy.  His choice for Secretary of State seems fishy, especially after tillerson needed a lecture from Senator Marco Rubio regarding Putin's war crimes.

This stuff was the lowest hanging fruit, but I'm sure that with just a teeny weeny bit more thought, I could continue.  I want to finish today's post with another quote from Dr. King.:

"Let no man pull you so low as to hate him"

Although trump is hateful, do not hurt yourself by hating him.  The person that is hurt the most by hate is the hater.  trump will never know that you or I hate him, nor would he care if he did.  Hate is a difficult emotion to bare.  It weighs us down.  It robs us of our energy, and now is when we need our energy the most.  We need all the energy we can muster in order to fight for our country, our Constitution, our freedom and ourselves.