Donald Trump Archives - Page 40 of 48

A time of great distress

Are we in a time of great distress? I was, right after the election for about a month. Then I hit a plateau. But now I see the previous guy doing his farewell tour, and I’m feeling the tension all over again.

Let the record show that I did not consent to this. Yet we are about to have a President:

*whose Cabinet picks are “a lethal combination of corporate bigwigs and military men with plenty of know-nothing about political affairs and diplomacy,” a group the National Council of Churches condemned as “morally inconsistent with Christian principles.”

*whose plan to avoid conflicts of interest is toothless

*who orders ambassadors to yank their kids out of school and come home ASAP in disregard of precedent even as taxpayers are subsiding two households for the Trumps so that their child doesn’t have to move from NYC to DC mid-school year

*who threatens the press for doing its job

*who petulantly taunts Schwarzenegger over Celebrity Apprentice ratings, a program for which he is an executive producer

*who is for sale

*whose DC Hotel has been tagged With $5 Million in Unpaid Worker Liens

*who now asks Congress, not Mexico, to pay for a border wall, but tweets that MX will pay for it eventually – good luck with that

*who has necessitated Internet Archive’s special archive

*who is Like King Henry VIII Revived — Without The Charm

*who is turning America into a Stan

*who prompted California to hire former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for legal counsel

and yet
* who complains that he is being mocked

I guess As We Enter 2017, Keep The Big Picture In Mind, and Here’s how we prepare to be ungovernable in 2017.

FLATUS is the regular target of Lawrence White, especially on the Russia thing.

I choose to think we’ll get through this, we’ll get through this, we’ll get through this…

But I won’t use the Make Your Face Great Again makeup tutorial. Instead of going to the inauguration, I could look at editorial cartoons.

Hey, TCM is airing A Face in the Crowd today at 5:45 p.m. ET- great film! – in honor of Patricia Neal’s birthday. It’s one of the films to get us through his Presidency, according to Chaz Ebert.

But what I REALLY need…

Music!

Seriously. Sara Bareilles imagines what President Obama must have been thinking about this past election and Donald Trump before November 8, but couldn’t say publicly. Leslie Odom, Jr. performs the song.

Rebecca Ferguson said she would have played the inauguration if she could have sung Strange Fruit; other suggestions for inauguration day, made by a coterie of folks:

Who Will Survive America? – Amiri Baraka
Mississippi Goddam – Nina Simone
Go Up Moses – Roberta Flack
You can’t bring me down – Suicidal Tendencies;
Alright -Kendrick Lamar
People Have the Power – Patti Smith
Fortunate Son – CCR
Cult of Personality – Living Color
(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang – Heaven 17
There Goes the Neighborhood – the Busboys

I won’t be boycotting L.L. Bean, but maybe I’ll drink some New Zealand wine for Arthur’s birthday.

Barack Obama: Born in the USA

When Barack Obama became President, the economy was on the verge of collapse. And now it’s not.

Arthur’s FIRST question to me for this round, about Barack Obama, I took some time answering:

BoyOhBoyOhBoy, have I been waiting for THIS! You asked me a LOT of awesome questions, – I DID! but one I thought of for you keeps popping into my head, and it’s heavy:

About a year ago (and probably early this year), many political commentators were saying that President Obama would be regarded as “one of the most consequential presidents in US history”. Given that the Orange Guy and his Republican Congress are poised to undo everything President Obama accomplished over the past 8 years (and pretty much every good thing done by all presidents, Republican and Democratic, over the past several decades…), do you think the pundits’ assessment is now laughable? Or, will it be that Obama’s image will soar, much as even Bush the Second is already being seen as “not so bad, really…” in light of the Orange Guy about to take over? I’m not asking about President Obama’s legacy so much as to what extent will he be relevant when all his work is undone?

First off, W’s legacy will continue to be in the pits for going into an unnecessary war in Iraq and presiding over an economic collapse ~~unpresidented~~unprecedented in decades.

Also, there are legit complaints I have with Obama, mostly having to do with drones. And I had thought to write a more balanced piece on him after his eight years. But the disinformation about him has been so strong that, like you, I’m not feeling the need to be fair and balanced, to borrow a phrase.

I really can’t talk about Obama, though, without talking about his legacy. And there’s a bunch of things that Agent Orange simply cannot take away:

* He was the first black President, Bill Clinton notwithstanding.

And he had a lot of expectations put on him. I remember reading in 2008, “Rosa sat, so Martin could walk. Martin walked, so Obama could run. Obama is running, so our children can fly.” What a burden!

Barack Obama had the right personal biography to not only get elected but re-elected. Lest anyone think that was easy, you should check out My President Was Black: A history of the first African American White House — and of what came next by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates wasn’t always a fan of Obama, but it is clear that it was different for this POTUS than it was for the other guys. (I know you can’t get The Daily Show there, but if you get a chance, watch Obama on the Daily Show, and for that matter Coates on the Daily Show.)

Little black kids now know that anyone – well, any GUY – can become President. (And if AO’s election doesn’t prove that…)

And to belabor the point, he ends up having to worry about whether he’s too black or not black enough, usually with good cheer. NOT a question his predecessors ever had to deal with.

No wonder Luther, President Obama’s anger translator, as played by Keegan-Michael Key, with Jordan Peele, seems so believable.

(Have you noticed, online, the number of people who fail to spell his first name – no, it’s not Barak – correctly? He was President for eight years, people!)

* He didn’t pursue charges against the Bush administration.

There was a strong case for prosecuting Bush officials who designed torture policy, but he was trying not to appear partisan and divisive – which he was later labeled anyway. Given his eventual partisan reputation, maybe he should have, but…

*He withstood the constant racist delegitimization of Tea Party wackos, not to mention, ironically, his successor as President.

From “you LIE,” uttered by a representative during a joint session of Congress in 2009 to Georgia senator praying for Obama’s death – in public, he’s put up with a lot of rubbish. Someone said in 2016 that he invented racism in America, someone with no understanding of US history.

And there are STILL people who believe the nonsense.

*When Barack Obama became President, the economy was on the verge of collapse. And now, it’s not.

A second raise in the basic interest rate recently is a pretty good sign of that. He just reached a record-setting 80 months of job growth. Since 2010, businesses have added more than 15.1 million jobs. That’s longer than any president ever has before.

* He did get Obamacare passed.

Those with a memory will recall it came about because private insurance prices were spiraling out of control. Even the “replaced” product the GOP promises will likely protect those with pre-existing conditions, and those under 26 on their parents’ policy. This NY Times article suggests “a transformation of the delivery of health care may be an enduring legacy for the president.”

* He was THE BEST pro-LGBTQ President ever.

*Osama bin Laden is dead.

And he made the bold decision for redundancy that made the difference between success and possible failure.

*He has released more non-violent criminals from prison than any President

Read about the New Jim Crow why that’s a good thing.

* Barack Obama seemed to enjoy the job, and his pleasure was infectious.

Check out so many opportunities he got to represent the country, most recently, President Obama’s final Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony.

* He’s way better toward the environment than his successor will likely be.

Why We’re Protecting the Arctic

* He is working until the end.

And made it much harder for AO to build his Muslim registry

*All in all, he was a successful President.

Here’s Bill Maher with President Obama on Real Time the Friday before the election. As Mark Evanier noted, “I think history will show this man was a very good president — which is not to say those who were convinced he was a gay Kenyan socialist who was planted in the White House to destroy America will ever admit it…”

Rolling Stone named President Obama One Of America’s Most Historically Successful Presidents. Here are more links, including 400 OBAMA accomplishments, with citations.

From GQ: “More to the point, Obama’s legacy is the sort that gets canonized. Because the first rule of Hall of Fame-dom: The times have to suck for the president not to. Civil wars, World Wars, depressions, and recessions. You got to have ’em if you wanna be great. That’s why we rate the Washingtons, Lincolns, and Roosevelts over That Fat Guy with the Walrus Mustache. Like Obama, these Great Men were dealt sucky hands, won big, and left the country better off than it was before.”

Agent Orange simply cannot undo all of these. If he makes things as bad as I fear he will, it’ll be laid at the table of AO. More nukes to make us safer? No need for government research? Anti-everything people heading Cabinet departments? The contrast will be so astounding that this will make Obama look REALLY good.

AND once Barack Obama is out of office, “I’m gonna stop being polite and start getting real.” He’s not finished yet. So if the Republicans use their guide to screwing the working class, it won’t go unopposed.

Farewell, Michelle Obama

There’s no one as Irish as Barack OBama- Corrigan Brothers

SNL’s Proud, Poignant Rap Tribute ‘Jingle Barack’

Agent Orange versus my optimism/pessimism

The Trump adult male scions – THEM I need a name for; any ideas?

Arthur could hardly find any questions at all to ask me for Ask Roger Anything:

What the hell should we call the Orange Guy? I personally don’t want to use his surname, title, or anything else that would indicate respect for him that I don’t have. What’s the alternative(s) without being too childish?

I think this is a personal decision. I’ve seen Drumpf (based on the family name) which carries over to the proto-Nazi activities such as vilifying the press, and I briefly used that, but it’s a pain to spell. Others drop the T from the surname and refer to him as Rump because he’s such an ass.

I was quite taken by Hair Furor, but it works better in writing than in spoken word, because it sounds exactly as it’s SUPPOSED to sound.

Currently, I’ve settled on Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam war to destroy the enemy’s plant life but which managed to harm or kill innocent civilians and American troops, because I find him toxic. A guy named Michael who I knew for only a short time died from it in the early 1980s. I’m not married to that term, but it’ll do for now.

All things considered—interpret that as you want—are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? If pessimistic, what are a couple things that if they changed might make you more optimistic? And if you’re optimistic, what’s your secret?!

Yes. I mean I’m optimistic because my faith requires it. I don’t mean this in a doctrinaire way, but rather how I take being a Christian. I believe, honestly, that people can change, that we all have a shot at redemption. I’m pessimistic because, despite my faith, that’s what I tend to default to, from painful experience.

Melancholy gets in the way too, and it’s not just me: Americans who voted against AO are feeling unprecedented dread and despair.

I’d be more optimistic if I thought we were all dealing with the same facts. There was this story about the Trump adult male scions – THEM I need a name for; any ideas? – involved in some unsavory pay-for-play scheme, for the second time since the election.

Someone, who I know personally, chimed in and said it was “Fake news. Fake news. Fake news.” And she said, “Research it.” I said, I did. And she said, “Please, check with Trump sources,” by which time the boys were backpedaling, not knowing HOW their names showed up on the invitation.

I wrote, “They realize they’ve been caught doing something egregiously wrong and try to change the narrative, to be kind. You do not seem to understand the definition of ‘fake news,’ which [contains] articles that are false, written to deceive. These are mainstream news sources [TIME, the Wall Street Journal] playing the appropriate role as the fourth estate, ignoring a politician’s spin…”

I also cited Mark Evanier, who noted: “You get the feeling we’re facing four years where the response to every single criticism of the Trump presidency will be that it’s a lie, the evidence is phony and even it were true, we don’t care what anyone says.”

And it went on from there.

John Ziegler, conservative radio host: “Over the years, we’ve effectively brainwashed the core of our audience to distrust anything that they disagree with.” The quote was in a New York Times story about how conservatives are now using the term “fake news” for anything they disagree with. And even educated people are buying into it.

We can’t fight ~~climate change~~GLOBAL WARMING if we can’t agree it’s happening. Plus the nominees for Cabinet positions under Agent Orange are anti-environment, anti-labor, anti-education, et al. How optimistic do you want me to be? Still, we try.

Only slightly off topic: NO one should ever use the phrase “Do your research” on social media without a link to the research THEY are referring to. As a librarian, I need to know WHAT sources someone is quoting that I need to investigate. I’m sure I’ve written that before, but after the aforementioned incident, I feel the need to reiterate it.

Jaquandor asks a similar question:

Is it just wishful thinking that I increasingly see Trump as the somewhat accidental victory of a dying worldview?

I find in AO’s victory, and some right-wingers in Europe, including the Brexit vote, a return to tribalism. When the world is scary, with bombings and shootings and stabbings and trucks being used as weapons, I suspect that there will be a certain desire for a “good old days” that doesn’t exist, that closing the borders ultimately won’t fix.

I would like to think of it as a dying worldview, but I’m not convinced I’m right.

I think things are likely to get pretty cruddy short-term

Now THAT I agree with!

The family saw a production of Camelot at the Capitol Rep in downtown Albany on Christmas Eve afternoon. It was EXTRAORDINARILY good, with knights and ladies and even the leading lady doubling as instrumentalists. But in the end, I was incredibly sad.

That ideal of working things out under the rules of law, and brainpower, lost! War won out. And this was a day or two after Agent Orange called for a nuclear arms race.

…but I remain optimistic long-term. Am I dumb to think that?

Well, no, you’re not dumb. Without hope, what is there?

At our most recent Christmas Eve service, I read aloud Isaiah 11: 4a, 5-9, which contains the familiar, albeit misremembered, passage about the wolf and the lamb. Either it is a prophecy, or it is an entreating that we help make it happen. Either way, I am not without hope.

2016 in review

The progenitor of much of it, Agent Orange

This is that thing that Jaquandor does on December 31, but I do on January 1.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Not only did I not keep them – to do less -I did more until a point in the last quarter, when I lost most any desire to do anything but to cocoon. Circumstances didn’t really allow for that, though.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Anna, the daughter of friends of mine, who is partially named for me, had a baby on November 13.

Did you attend any weddings?

Don’t think so. But I was pleased that my online friend Melanie got hitched.

Did anyone close to you die?

Well, yes. My cousin Donald Yates, whose brother Robert was on the list LAST year. Margaret Hannay, a woman from church who I was mighty fond of. And my good friend Norm Nissen, who I think to call now and then before I realize, yet again, that I cannot.

What countries did you visit?

None, but my passport is in order, just in case.

What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?

I guess, at this point, I’d settle for civility in the world.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Helping the Daughter survive the transition to middle school.

What was your biggest failure?

Not going to a shrink.

What was the best thing you bought?

House of Blues: Essential Women in Blues. But it was the circumstances. A friend of mine had to go into physical rehab, and her clumsy caretaker knocked over her portable CD player, smashing the CD therein. I found it used, burned me a copy, then gave it to my friend.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Anyone who faced bigotry with grace. Anyone who stood up to bigotry directed against others.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, Eric Trump, Paul Ryan. The bigots who threaten people because their side “won.” And, of course, the progenitor of much of it, Agent Orange.

Where did most of your money go?

The house, though we had no big projects.

What did you get really excited about?

I think I could get excited about contributing to Quora, if I had TIME to actually do it.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Sadder by a very large degree.

Thinner or fatter?

Yo-yo much of the year, heavier of late.

Richer or poorer?

Richer, marginally.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Reading books; I’ve started several. Donate blood. Maybe drinking (Nah…although…)

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Reading Facebook.

How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve means singing at church, so that. Eventually, we go to the in-laws.

Did you fall in love in 2016?

Absolutely.

How many one-night stands?

Jaquandor: “Now, that’s not the kind of question a gentleman answers! (Another stock answer!)”

What was your favorite TV program?

CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley, JEOPARDY!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I’m on the precipice…

What was the best book you read?

That I FINISHED? Apocrypha Now.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

See below. Also, I do like the rediscovery of some of the items Jaquandor has posted.

What did you want and get?

A different place to sit in my office.

What did you want and not get?

Sanity.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Spotlight; La La Land; Zootopia; Sully; Hail, Caesar!; Cafe Society

What did you do on your birthday?

I took off the day from work and…oh, who knows?

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?

“We are the goon squad and we’re coming to town, Beep-beep”

What kept you sane?

May I argue the premise of the question? That said, my dads’ group in church, especially with Norm gone. My best male friend is out of town; I should call him more often.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Bernie Sanders, George Takei.

What political issue stirred you the most?

The sheer terror a lot of Americans already feel in the age of Trump.

Who did you miss?

Norm. My old friend Tom Hoffman, who died in 2004 – I wonder what he would have made of this political year?

Who was the best new person you met?

Some new choir members.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016:

The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I looked at the Billboard singles charts in the middle of the year, and the only song I could identify by both song and artist, AND knew audibly for sure, was The Sound of Silence by Disturbed, which you can listen to HERE

And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening

December rambling #2: American Routes

Agent Orange is on target to violate the Constitution the moment he takes the oath of office<

Sift quotes of 2016

The truth about lying

Amy Biancolli: words words words words words words words

Words we can live without

John Cleese discusses genes

This was from mid-November: John Oliver talked about how 2016 sucked, especially in the NSFW ending, starting at 23:23.
versus
99 Reasons Why 2016 Was a Good Year

S.2943 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 includes in Section 1287, the GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT CENTER, which, some fear, will allow the government to decide what is ‘truth’

The Jim Crow election effect

Homer and Harold – “Stories abound of present-day prosecutors who have lost their way, who do anything to win a conviction, who place politics above principle.” This is a fascinating story of the exact opposite

Hmm: The My Lai Massacre Inspires an Opera One of the most horrific episodes of the Vietnam War is being made into an opera; also, Larry Colburn died; he helped stop the massacre

My affection for the late Carrie Fisher ran well beyond her bad-ass Star Wars appearances, most notably Postcards from the Edge, for which wrote the screenplay; but also as a script doctor, plus her whole life narrative writ large. “Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren’t so challenging” – recollections from SamuraiFrog and Mark Evanier and Ken Levine, plus artists’ tributes

Presbyterians rank oldest, Muslims among youngest in new Pew survey

Epidemic of mall brawls spreads across US on day after Christmas

Jewish family flees Lancaster County after wrongly being blamed for Christmas play cancellation

The late Cindy Stowell won a total of $103,801 during her six-episode run on JEOPARDY!, some of which was donated toward cancer research

Money is pouring into immunotherapy research for cancer, but most of the patients who get into experimental trials are white

Black children see more TV ads for junk food than white kids

Cities across the country are cutting public transportation because they think ride-hailing services will fill the gap; they’ll regret it

Arthur answers my questions about podcasting and his female crush and murder in virtual reality and politics and Facebook

Holiday doll shopping yields far more diversity this season than in years past

World’s oldest woman turns 117

Work fact of the month: in Moldova, Moldovan is spoken by 58.8% (official; virtually the same as the Romanian language), Romanian 16.4%, Russian 16%, Ukrainian 3.8%, Gagauz 3.1% (a Turkish language), Bulgarian 1.1%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.4%.

The very impressive SNL stage crew

The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington and Blanketing the Maternity Wards and You’ve Got the Right Stuffed and Japan’s Lucky Break

Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie? (I am agnostic on this)

What Flirting Looked Like in 2016

Chuck Miller’s most prolific commenters

Man’s Golf Shot from Frozen Hazard Goes Terribly Wrong

NOT ME: Minister Rev. Roger Green has stepped down from his role at Briercliffe Road Baptist Methodist Church after what he described as many happy years in the post

Agent Orange

Christmas (NOT HOLIDAY) Yule Log – the Daily Show

The Year of “This Can’t Be Happening”

The Danger of the “Just Campaign Rhetoric” Excuse

On target to violate the Constitution the moment he takes the oath of office

Russian registry

Private security force ‘playing with fire’

In hiding

The First Amendment Gives Too Much Protection For Press

An ardent supporter wonders: why do progressives assume I am an uneducated low intelligence neanderthal?

Jump in US, Brit migrants to New Zealand after Brexit, AO win

Music

American Routes is a weekly two-hour public radio program produced in New Orleans, presenting a broad range of American music — blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical. Now in our 15th year on the air, American Routes explores the shared musical and cultural threads in these American styles and genres of music — and how they are distinguished.

Carla Ulbrich -on owning the rights to the F-word

Ringo Starr & Carrie Fisher – You’re Sixteen taping session for the 1978 TV special “Ringo” – 1978 version with CF vocals here or here, the original 1973 version here

Eddie Holland came up with some dandy 45s

Cheese And Onions – THE RUTLES (1969)

Neil Sedaka is still back

Ronnie Spector: For Every Kiss You Give Me, I’ll Give You Three

Hours of Popcorn

It’s Not a Rumor, recorded in 1980 by The Nu-Kats, song co-written by Demi Moore

Obit for pop star Laura Branigan corrected, 12 years later – I was disappointed by those who said, “Why bother?”

How playing an instrument benefits your brain – Anita Collins

Chuck Berry Invented the Idea of Rock and Roll By Bill Wyman

Chuck Close Immortalizes Lou Reed, Philip Glass and Others in 2nd Avenue Subway