It’s time such firm believers in tough love, no free lunches and the like were on the receiving end of some of their own axioms

Current Trends by Natasha Sapp

From docudrama provocateur once known for producing ‘films’ like Bowling For Columbine, asking if bowling was an appropriate phys ed. credit expanding to if schools in general were meeting the needs of students, skewed notions schools forcing physical education credits in high school aren’t sufficiently preparing kids for the real world, real jobs intertwined with an examination of our ‘gun crazed’ culture based on perverted second amendment zealotry. Ignoring entirely the psychosis exhibited by the Columbine shooters, one’s parents only paid attention to him when he needed money and that someone else bought the guns for them; further, that absent guns at all, the pipe bombs also constructed from information, tutorials on the internet, planted, but never detonated could have had an equally devastating effect, if not worse. Fahrenheit 9/11 examining the dubious election of George W. Bush, the terror hype that lead us into 2 unjust wars, perpetuated by our unholy consumption of oil, natural gas plus his foreign government ties, rounded off by a media cultivated culture of fear and the U.S. patriot act making it possible; relatively happy lives disrupted by what Moore would later term America’s tendency to run around the world shouting you need democracy now, you need democracy now. Sicko showcasing Moore traveling to communist Cuba, well before we took actions to normalize relations with them, and the ‘universal’ healthcare received there vis–à–vis a type of risky medical tourism engaged in by him and those he brought with him sans gargantuan costs driven up by conglomerates, sane drug prices and actual care administered to obviously sick people. Persons able to readily see a doctor without wait times at institutions such as the VA, no shortage of primary, basic care doctors, a fashion runway experience in which countries are doing it better than we are, touting every other westernized nation who is not largely on a cocktail of medications. Notice while he lost some weight during/post filming his adventure he is still clearly classified obese necessitating more care because of that fact, no thought given to the much smaller populations in aforementioned highlighted countries or that communism in Cuba’s case is bad for it, the world as a whole, and not just because it’s politically correct, expedient or popular to say so. Moore whose comeback project Where to Invade Next was not only based on the silliest premise ever, go to these countries pretending to ‘invade’ them taking notes on how they take care of their citizens, organize their society so we could do the same thus ‘saving’ our country, but did less to shame America about it’s ‘backward policies’ than to demonstrate how much Moore and those who think along the lines of ideas presented in Where to Invade don’t understand it. From comparing supposed American school lunches to chemicals a-la CSI, versus French children that get a filet of fresh cod daily; forget we don’t serve such things anymore, they get excited about ‘banned’ catsup, France just banned the restaurant soda refill and they still have an obesity epidemic, as do we. Unlocking the ‘secrets’ to better education going completely against the American construct, a resounding no to longer school years, days, weeks, increased homework, standardized testing, heightened credentials for teachers and yes to more recess, more free time, no homework for younger grades; forget teachers are already doing that just looking at their students, a second grade teachers pledge going viral announcing any homework given would be unfinished tasks from the school day, homework in my own city’s schools before 3rd grade is considered practice not mandated to be turned in. Ignoring completely that of course Slovenia “a country 99 percent of Americans could not find on a map with 20 guesses” can afford to give it’s citizens free college educations along with the relatively few foreigners flocking to the country for these benefits seeing their population is 2.6 million people contrasted to our 320 million; ruined the moment Moore mentioned it and sent a huge influx there to tax their resources, benefits further tapered when employers here refuse to recognize the degree’s validity, redundant problems related to discriminatory practices, giving up on internships, apprenticeships, means to gain necessitated job experience. ‘All drugs are legal,’ no one wastes away years in prison for drugs in places like Amsterdam, Portugal because they probably don’t see the meth, crack, crank, crockadile, bath salts class of drugs there causing the secondary horrendous assault, murder crimes committed under the influence, are rarely fired from jobs for liability drug use thus able to support a legal habit. Or that prison is supposed to be equal parts punishment and rehabilitation hints resistance to “Norway’s prisons, where convicted murderers bake bread, go on nature hikes and record hip-hop albums [about] picking the flowers and ignoring the weeds;” unpleasantness of prison long meant to act as a deterrent to ever ending up there. More recently to those in his hometown and likeminded pockets of persons nationwide he has gone from out there social justice, social welfare, manage care, government dependence typical liberal, coddled idiot to citizen political activist saying things the way they would all like to say them and making increasing sense to towns ‘hollowed out by foreign trade,’ ‘forgotten by democrats on their way to the Whitehouse.’ Suffering Middle America people who’ve seen their manufacturing jobs evaporate and no one appears to have a solution to how they are suddenly supposed to provide for families at middle age with no job, prospects of making maybe $8.00 an hour with sparse retraining only sometimes available. Especially with his latest endeavor Michael Moore in Trumpland added to his political commentary and rather extraordinary reads on parts of the country during the campaigns, the election and after; hardly the first time he’s made attempts at being purely political, hoping Fahrenheit 9/11 would perhaps exert some sway 2004 election outcomes away from president George W. Bush, it is arguably his most successful. To them it may seem as if Moore has come full circle, applying his always leftist views in a different way to appeal to Trump voters on the things we can all agree on: we want our kids to go to good schools, we want to all have good, solid, well-paying jobs to support our families, we want ourselves and those we love to have affordable access to healthcare. Beyond old ladies, elderly couples eating cat or dogfood to pay for their lifesaving, life sustaining medications we believe no one should be choosing between their rent, food, their children’s food and say their cancer treatment. We’re all tired of being one job loss, one illness, one oversized medical bill, missed child support payment away from disaster, away from losing our homes, our vehicles we use to get to work, our employment; retirement for those approaching it a pipe dream so far out of reach they don’t know what to do. Fed up of hearing about an economic recovery we’ve yet to see, living in a recession that started a decade before the financial crisis for us and that no one seems interested in helping us out of, giving us the means by which to help ourselves. But it’s those identical leftist, unconventional ideas Michael Moore insists on spouting now once the election has been decided, for better or worse, even he believes worse, reminding us why he hasn’t changed and why we shouldn’t be taking his advice any more than we did, should have when he debuted Bowling For Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11. Compassion for Trump supporters, a fair smattering of whom are racist, white supremacist, immigrant hating Xenophobes, islamaphobes, certainly not everyone but enough, others blatantly homophobic, sexist you name it. Prescribing we not laugh at a person, ecstatic about Trump asking inauguration day why media didn’t cover the Trump assassination attempt, scoffing sarcastically saying oh ok! when the media person tells him it didn’t happen; what happened was a man yelled gun at an event rally, the secret service covered Trump ushered him off stage, confirmed the safety of the venue, no gun ever found, then Trump came back on stage resuming the rally, comments about violence and assassination proliferated by him. Admonishing us not to laugh at people who refuse to believe Obamacare saved them money, the 51% having bought into the ‘bowling green massacre’ or the ‘Sweden terror attack’ that wasn’t, perhaps the 55% who believe in massive immigrant, illegal voter fraud to the point where the sane, logical CNN reporter is smacking her head with her hand unsure how to progress her interview when, on top of repeating something housing absolutely no basis in fact, the woman speaking on the panel being interviewed misidentified CNN as the network who alerted her to the story; story apparently originating from internet memes showing pictures of busses someone adding captions about bussing illegals to vote. When the 2 single cases of voter fraud were on behalf of Trump, not Clinton or 3rd party candidates, and consisted of a Iowa woman who tried to vote twice based on his rhetoric votes could be invalidated and an illegal immigrant having an equivalent 6th grade education who thought she could because she is A- a green card holder and after all can own property, get a job, pay taxes, serve in the military, yet not vote simply confused; still given one of the harshest sentences seen for infractions often not resulting in jail time, 8 years so Trump can ramble about election security, localities cracking down on election fraud. Or that president Trump’s supposed voter fraud expert holding evidence 3-5 million illegal voters voted, and for Hillary Clinton, is registered in 3 states, that not in itself illegal but definitely hypocritical as our commander and chief spent weeks calling out people doing the same implying they voted multiple times, in all areas they were registered making their votes improper, and owes tens of thousands in unpaid taxes, allegedly lied about qualification on government job applications, has faced numerous accusations of ethical impropriety in posting theories online. Continued public policy polling’s 51% of Americans who boast about as much respect for checks and balances in government as their elected leader Trump believing he should ignore the judiciary, 14 % who support invading Mexico presumably to ensure they pay for the wall, 46% who want a white history month, these and a host of others reasons why when we can stop laughing the intense grilling needs to start and not let up until they understand how profoundly they have doomed themselves, their country and everyone in it.

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/25/michael_moore_just_exploded_the_rights_biggest_lie/

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/28/michael_moore_on_why_america_needs_a_little_time_in_the_timeout_room_and_whether_hillary_will_start_a_war_to_prove_a_woman_can_pull_the_trigger/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1j1IzC2vMQ

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/20/scenes-from-deplorable-america-donald-trumps-supporters-are-making-it-clear-why-hillary-clinton-called-them-out/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toApRSvgEE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n026UyoKn0I

Firstly no Mr. Moore Trump voters’ choice to vote for him is not a failure of the American education system either the woes we’ve heard repeated for the last 35 to 40 odd years decrying the new math, the new English or the old ones besides. Keeping in mind that, like Brexit in Europe, more of the voters who voted to leave based on similar principles here handing Trump his election victory were older British citizens mirroring older Americans here who were educated at the height of American success, educational prowess the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s long before the social promotion 80’s, feel good 90’s no child left behind, common core were so much as thoughts never mind policy, and more interested in sending a giant middle finger to the younger, ‘lazier’ generation. Yes your comments on dilapidated schools and poor educations have limited validity, the editing of textbooks and allowing one state, one consortium of schoolboards to determine what’s in an entire nation’s textbooks will come back to bite us in the long term, affect future generations, similar to bad, no, completely unaffordable internet in rural and urban blight areas. But again ‘trying to leave Thomas Jefferson out of the enlightenment,’ their potential lack of connecting Thomas Jefferson to the enlightenment has virtually no bearing on now, the 2016 election just had; people seem willing, for the time being at least, to make the sacrifices to have available internet if they can at all afford it, and is too convenient a cop out letting older persons, who are purported to be pinnacles of wisdom, off the hook for a profoundly idiotic decision. However bad you think it is young people have proven their resilience to the tactics mentioned demonstrating they know more about civil disobedience, rights, history than adults staging walkouts and protests for everything from their right to wear casual clothing including yoga pants, short shorts, tank tops or ripped jeans, to supporting their transgender classmates right to use the bathroom they feel comfortable in, to vehemently objecting alterations to textbooks virtually removing history’s influential minorities, renaming the slave trade the transatlantic trade, attempting to call slaves workers, trying to call imperialism expansionism. Even the younger people who voted for Trump caught on camera saying outrageous things about blacks being better off during slavery, believing Donald Trump will bring jobs to their local comminutes, makes better sense on the economy is less due to democrats’ weak messaging and imbedded negative thoughts on Hillary Clinton concerning the latter topic. Rather is directly traced to their parents attitudes, perceptions, political leanings, their tendency to watch exclusively Fox News, their teachers in ‘Trumpland’ when asked for personal opinions on historical, current events, persons residing in their community they trust and listen telling them adjacent things; living in sometimes tiny towns, lacking the years and life experience to know differently than what their community tells them is true. Nor is it the idea American education was never as good as we presumed simply other countries overcame famine, stopped fighting international, civil wars and their utilitarian, totalitarian roots did wonders for unified educational standards nationally, something America still can’t agree on forget implement. Instead Trump voters from an education standpoint are succinctly explained as an example of a failure to use the educations they were given, the logic and critical thinking skills afforded them by a basic k-12 education independent the decade, how ‘bad’ rural, small town the school was. Unabashed truth is they, Trump supporters, Trump voters like the ‘information’ Fox news gives them, agrees with, likes what Fox news tells them, don’t want to be educated beyond Fox news. The same Fox News repeatedly announcing retractions, corrections to stories gotten wholly wrong, their ‘exposé’ on food stamps which couldn’t even correctly report the years their data represented, never mind exponentially exploding both the dollar amount and overall percentage of fraud as an excuse to, do what they always want to do, eliminate the food stamp program feeding the destitute, many of them children. Anchors, familiar news personalities issuing heartfelt apologies only to engage in identical behavior a few months later, Sean Hannity who said the Obama’s were destined for jail, offered to pay for their plane ticket anywhere out of the U.S., currently in hot water for tweeting a link to a far right, conservative inaccurate ‘news website’ purporting John McCain took illegal donations from now deceased Russian ambassador Vitally Churkin. Left out, the ‘incident’ is also a decade old and the ambassador alerted officials he’s received a standard form campaign fundraising letter due to a computer error, staffer probably hit reply all. Fox News who interviewed a person identified as a Swedish defense security advisor, except the Swedish government has no idea who this person is; as they didn’t have any idea what violence, unrest, terror attack Trump was talking about at a Saturday rally/campaign event, especially linked to immigrants, Muslim or otherwise. Reality remaining, they Trump voters, fans, supporters continue to use it as a source of legitimate news, be partial to local affiliates who made a deal for better coverage of Trump during the campaign and have clear conservative leanings. They are so easily bamboozled by alternative facts, well packaged lies, thanks to excellent framing, because they want to be; believing the stock market is/was down under Obama, unemployment up drastically, nearly half are convinced Trump won the popular vote, nearly ⅔ believe his illegal voting rhetoric, ¾ think George Soros paid Trump protesters and 29% they believe California’s vote tallies should be excluded from the popular vote count, easily stemming from all the illegal voting they think happened. Actuality the stock market is up 100% during the Obama presidency post cratering after the financial crisis; unemployment down from nearly 8% when Obama took office, to just above 4.5%, numbers that high a good sign indicating increased workforce participation. They believe Trump’s inauguration crowd size was bigger than Obama’s, bigger than any president in recent modern history because Trump is their man, they like/love him; their views are upside down opposites compared to the rest of the country rooted in fact, tangible, calculable things, due to strong faith in their guy even to the point of claiming George Soros again paid women participating in the women’s march. They’ve fallen for boxes merely check off under the heading campaign promises contrasted against substantive, effective policy because they want to; I’ve talked repeatedly in my work about making voting easier on constituents by making voting records, stances on issues and basic breakdowns of hot election cycle topics more readily accessible, but these are people who won’t seek it out, don’t want it, won’t watch their basic national news on a nightly, weekly basis. And not because they work 12-16 hour days, spend scant free time, said time of day, no DVR, no internet, helping kids with homework, making dinner, paying attention to their spouse, but because they’re too busy railing against, distrusting mainstream media without clear cause, trolling conservative outlets for their brand of ‘news.’ People overwhelmingly opposed to ‘experts’ even when their credentials and knowledge are proven, regardless the topic, but exceptionally vehement on climate change and politics; people who decry experts in government once more, independent their area of study, lifelong work in field X. Failures to use knowledge given that didn’t start with Donald Trump and sadly won’t end with him; result, citizens simultaneously benefiting from social security, Medicare, maybe both screaming about getting the government out of their lives, citizens dwelling in states housing the highest Obamacare enrollment championing its repeal, ignorant the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare are identical programs, what it does, gives to persons it insures, less obvious things covered that would disappear unlikely to be replaced, republican governors, doctors (also Trump voters) who honestly thought his pledge to do away with it was just rhetoric to be filed away under things politicians say to energize crowds, get elected. Female Trump supporter whose family was returned to Syria under his travel ban still angry they were treated that way yet adopting a wait and see approach on whether or not to support him based on what his next moves happen to be; speculation she heard his rhetoric and thought oh he’s going to expel Mexicans and Muslims and I’m a Christian so it won’t affect me, that’s my family it won’t affect us. As Cenk Uygur said, it reminds him of the varying poems written/ inspired by Martin Niemoller, reading: “when they for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist/ then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist” exc.; different versions adapted to his vast lectures and changing times compelling people to stand up to whatever oppression, unfairness, marginalization taking place, a lesson she blatantly hasn’t learned. Subsequently the Maya Angelou quote paraphrased by his cohost: when people tell you who they are, believe them; when people tell you what they are going to do maybe take them seriously instead of thinking you know what they’re going to do once in office. Additionally Uygur and his cohost brought up invalid votes in Florida where people either left it blank or wrote in nonsense names Mickey Mouse, Tim Tebow, mimicking phenomenon across the country filling in names of government persons who weren’t running and not formally registered as write in candidates, therefore invalid; Florida’s ‘nonsense’ votes out numbering the difference there between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Awfully reminiscent of Mr. Moore’s own tallies of the 90,000 Michiganders who voted everything on their ballot except president; in his latest TV appearance talking about Clinton having lost the state by 3 votes per precinct, blaming it on Hillary Clinton not coming to Michigan, how late she came to Michigan, rehashing what he and others said about Wisconsin, how late she came to Wisconsin, Clinton campaign, democrats who wouldn’t listen to them (progressives, independents) not people who voted unquestionably foolishly. Casting the very protest votes you warned them not to make, guess they weren’t listening to you either Mr. Moore; here is why Trump supporters deserve to be laughed at, rigorously questioned, deserve no sympathy and will largely receive no sympathy, on the contrary will be scornfully judged.

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/10/boomers-in-revolt-was-trumps-shocking-win-an-act-of-generational-warfare/

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/06/yes-donald-trumps-voters-may-be-confused-and-in-pain-mdash-but-no-they-dont-deserve-our-empathy/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7uThueNdmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpOhTZ28vus

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/kushner-claims-team-trump-struck-deal-better-coverage

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/06/president-obamas-last-legacy-final-jobs-numbers-indicate-more-people-are-looking-for-work/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJd0sVP80d0

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/poll-shows-worldview-gap-between-trump-voters-americans-broadly-874065475695

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/02/do-you-know-what-the-affordable-care-act-does-heres-a-primer-to-help_partner/

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

But failure of logic, failure to properly digest, assimilate fact is the hallmark identifying any Trump supporter, surpassing standard pillars representing typical conservative catch 22’s demanding an end to abortion, overturn of Rowe V. Wade simultaneously calling all birth control unnatural to downright abortifacient, making it harder to have a child or not to, challenges to LGBT rights couched in bathroom bills proclaiming the safety of our children, specifically little girls, vulnerable young women when the LGBT person is more likely to be harassed, physically, sexually assaulted in a bathroom America wide, statistical, psychological fact most pedophiles are heterosexual, non-sense bills altering school curriculums, based on the obvious pet peeve legislative project people voted politician X in to deal with or they took on upon getting elected under the guise of giving constituents what they wanted. Repackaging new old complaints, hopeless pipe dreams office runners are expected to fulfill this election cycle, top of the list, obsessed with reviving the prosperity of the past they enthusiastically eat up talk about bringing back coal jobs; never answered why do we have so many communities in America’s heartland, rust belt dependent on one singular industry be it the coal mine, the manufacturing plant or the textile mill, forget who calls it a textile mill anymore or why you’re still morning it 14 years later sans seeking professional help on both a personal and town, city organization level? Never demanded an answer to, where are/were the local chambers of commerce city, state level entities responsible for bringing business and with it jobs to areas back when automation was drying up coal jobs 50-60 years ago to present; you know what they say about stock portfolios, even standard 401k retirement plans, diversify, diversify, diversify, why didn’t these towns seem to so much as attempt that in the decades leading up to coal’s collapse, manufacturing’s steady disappearance? Further why is it the fault of presidents that they didn’t; why is it also the current president running for office’s job to fix when automation, cheaper labor overseas A- being a secondary factor not a primary one, and B- unrelated really to NAFTA, CAFTA, TPP, took it to begin with? Ironically replaced by other jobs open and available, what did they replace that textile mill with when they demolished the very building; oh they didn’t replace it with anything, there’s your true problem. Therefore beat down the doors of your local chamber of commerce, blame poor state and city planning, the national chamber of commerce, housing and urban development, but not the president voting in an inarguable orange buffoon over the singular sane, competent candidate; understand republicans blocked every jobs bill that might have helped you get back on your feet, uses every opportunity to bash poor persons like yourself for failing to elevate yourself by your bootstraps when boots no longer have straps and you’ve done all you can. Nick Smith you mention in your defense of Trump voters who ‘aren’t ignorant about climate change, aren’t racist, exc.’… many of the coal jobs being taken by hydrofracking, so young strapping man that you are, plenty of years work ahead of you instead of working at the local Waffle House for a job, to pay your bills, while working at the Waffle House looking to move up why don’t you get training in the machines used for hydorfracking, jobs attached to it meaning you too can have a good paying, self-sustaining job? At lease have the common sense you touted to cameras distinguishing you, people you know from the liberal stereotypes of a Trump voter , racist, ignorant on key issues like climate change, and say you can’t afford the schooling, retaining, need the government state, local, national to bring job initiatives to your area. Followed by the next video, why are you at 38 years old, went directly from high school to the manufacturing plant, profile on what’s stifling the American dream, in a dead industry; because, the biggest thing holding you back from the American dream isn’t your age, your millennial status, what decade you grew up in, the decade in which you now reside, it’s you are in a dead industry willingly, pridefully went into a dead industry. And if students of drastically less well-off parents can take out thousands in student loan debt to get educated, to go down a different path so could you have, probably with better results born a full 2 years before the earliest millennials. Worse, the research compiled analysts are drawing from goes back to 1940, we’re assuming things wouldn’t change economically in 80 years; news segment referencing the 1970’s as if it’s ludicrous economic and technological changes, advancements impacted jobs over those 40 years? Why are you Reality in America series participant Mr. firefighter, paramedic paying down student loan debts, you work 3 jobs, still unable to get ahead, where does your wife work, why doesn’t she work; why are you buying a house, on the hook for the upkeep of that flood in your back yard, complaining when you live in a small town of 40,000 people about job prospects, no wonder local fire fighters make so little because the town has so little? Family 2 why are you paying $800 a month for a house in Maryland, of all places; Mr. taking a bike, a bus and a train to get to work, you saved, bought a house before buying a car? Compounding that head scratching choice you bought a house still commuting 4 hours each way to work; plus did you ever think about moving out of California the 6th highest cost of living state in the union? Man managing 2 fast-food places, taking 8 busses, can you manage one closer to where you live, move closer to your job? No word given on who the My Reality featured stories voted for, but the group most attracted to Trump, hardly comprehending he will do little to end the necessity of overnight childcare for single parent nightshift workers. Never pondered the American dream has changed, less based on what people can achieve, how much they don’t get for the hard word they do and based on significantly different priorities; most millennials don’t want to own a home, refuse to be tied down to even a 15, forget a 30 year mortgage, because it doesn’t fit the fluidity of their lives, they don’t want to contribute to the corrupt, devastating consumer system, they would rather rent, barrow, trade items needed, one time use outfits for say attending a wedding to catering to their sense of fashion, have roommates equal parts needed to pay rent and fitting with their social structure, the friends and connections they need around them to thrive. Erie Pennsylvania why are you incredulous at retaining, close to tears going back to school at middle age expecting that previous job to take you into retirement; younger generations assuredly wanting to scream welcome to the working world, who maybe max out at 8 years in a job they paid thousands in education to get before needing to reinvent themselves, retrain for entirely different fields. And your upset at retaining lightyears from available everywhere, jobs paying only 9, 10, 11 dollars an hour, mourning your town’s decline, people moving? Independent that’s what people do when towns go under, lose their vitality—move, have done since the gold rush swept in, and inevitably out, of California; who is the go nowhere generation again? Yes I’ve talked extensively throughout my work about the revolving hamster wheel of continuous job training, lackluster career centers and meaningless training offered not fulfilling the complete demands of available jobs, where this differs exponentially is we’re talking about one round of retraining, reinvention for people who already possess a work history, are older as opposed to younger persons needing said work history along with desired skills; too they are training for always needed jobs electrician and the like vastly multiplying their chances of landing a job once finished. Speaking of jobs, what job and when did any good job in non-white collar, CEO America pay upwards of 20-30, 40 dollars an hour or higher; my mother worked 22 years in a factory assembling electrical breakers, holding a job with good benefits, family leave policies, vacation, sick days, opportunities for overtime, easily considered today a wonder job, employment people wish they had, stopping in 2000, maxed out at maybe 14 an hour, probably closer to $12.50- $13.00 an hour. Between 2007-2012 when I was actively seeking employment clerical positions at entry level maxed out at $10.00 and the young man in video showcased for ABC’s America Strong is making $12 loading packages at UPS paying his mother’s medical bills, whose coworkers got together and bought him a used car, no longer forced to walk miles to and from work. Here’s a concept that works, all the pun in the world intended, if you can’t handle the cyclical nature of specific industries, Indiana automotive, get a different job from the outset but don’t hate the previous president for saving your job, pulling us bootstraps first from a crisis because the recovery wasn’t big enough. Neither is our economy’s transformation, ‘plight’ new, utterly unheard of other countries have gone from industrial, manufacturing based economies to service tech economies thrived and survived; where they succeeded and we’re failing is policy. Beginning with a living minimum wage, the fight for 15, manly loosening the paradigm of ‘hard work’ narrowly defined and increased wages based on intensity of manual labor alone; people who will stay doing something extremely strenuous, detrimental on the body because that’s the way it’s always been done, the way their daddy, granddaddy did it, it being a point of pride and tradition they do it this way. Well the good book says pride cometh before the fall, concepts lost on myopically shortsighted Trump voters including a famer best summed up, now you’re worried about where your largely exported produce will be sold, how you will make your money since Trump has withdrawn us from TPP; sane question of course, where was that concern when you went into the voting booth, pulling the lever, checking the box, tapping a touch screen next to the name Donald Trump? Like your Super Bowl guacamole and predictably the beer that usually goes with it, then why the support for a 20% tariff on Mexican goods, let’s not discount the wall; 80% of avocadoes used in guacamole, other favored dishes comes from, you guessed it Mexico, 58 to 66% of beer depending on which types, oops, cars to computers assembled there meaning more money coming out of your already strained pockets, double oops. Another pointed example Obamacare, aside for the people who couldn’t conceive of president Trump doing exactly what he said he would in, at minimum trying to eliminate it, even if their educations were so poor, repeal a word so obscure to them they had trouble understanding it, he said get rid of enough times for them to grasp his intention; people who thought repeal meant fix it, make it work better are those who missed context not definition. Person1 (link 16) you found out somewhere along the line your black lung benefits and the ACA were interlinked, was that before or after you voted for Trump, were leaning Trump over Hillary Clinton; you knew you were on black lung benefits, why didn’t you attempt to check out what an ACA, Obamacare repeal would mean for you, sidestepping why you would ever want to bring back the jobs that made you sick, unable to work? Benefits that may well disappear anyway unless congress votes to renew them, though the plan has existed since 1946, and this congress, this president’s cabinet, advisors and officials have a track record of not knowing what they’re doing. Person 2 (link 18) described his inability to get insurance because he was overweight and high risk, decrying government subsidies to pay for his acquired Obamacare adamant he’d rather be working; going on to say he voted for Trump in the interest of the country not just himself, stating he would have voted the opposite had he merely considered his personal well-being. Wait readers are confused, how does your working solve the problem of being too high risk to gain coverage; secondly, how did you lose all that weight unless you had a condition, were diagnosed, given proper treatment/medication? And, if you are in this situation, barred from getting affordable coverage due to your current health, how can you assume thousands, if not millions, of your fellow Americans aren’t as well? Continuing, it’s not like we haven’t seen insurance companies pull ridiculous stunts Obamacare or no Obamacare; denying coverage to a 4 month old baby still eating exclusively formula saying he was too fat, in 2013 Coventry healthcare of Georgia shocked hearing specialist doctors refusing to pay for a 5 year old’s Cochlear implant, both only reversing their decisions once shamed, in the implant case change, restricted to the state of Georgia. Vegan health nut suddenly diagnosed with cancer sans common risk factors confronted by her insurance company having to prove she didn’t try to defraud her insurance company by failing to disclose a preexisting condition. Above is exactly what democrats, progressives, liberals, politically unaffiliated, sane, logical people can’t reconcile or abide, people who do things directly against their own self-interests fully knowing there are indeed others like them then are sad, panicked, scared, criticizing the results, are flabbergasted when an elected official does exactly what they repeatedly said they would. Tell us Michael Moore is there any other word for that than stupid; is there any other word those Trump supporters, those republicans, those good heartland, rust belt people would use for us if it had been a liberal, progressive, democrat, staunch Hillary supporter doling out the same explanations? Why then, in the era of political incorrectness on steroids they say they love, is it wrong to call stupid behavior, stupid choices stupid?

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/11/sorry-trump-voters-those-factory-jobs-arent-coming-back-because-they-dont-exist-anymore/

http://www.salon.com/2016/08/10/donald-trumps-awful-child-care-plan-the-gop-nominees-favorite-think-tank-weighs-in/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU6jXKMpdSU

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/20/trumps-trade-war-threats-against-mexico-could-impact-consumers/

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/30/which-us-metro-areas-depend-most-on-exports-at-a-glance/


http://www.salon.com/2017/03/03/coal-miners-benefits-will-expire-if-congress-doesnt-act-soon/

What no one wants to talk about restoring the dignity of work, meaning why do we, in the age of increasing numbers and growing levels of sophisticated robots, still have people in coal mines at all; certainly pay out the black lung benefits to persons already sick, exposed before we knew the consequences, but don’t create more. Why in the age of also increasingly complex farming equipment and machinery, to do work on larger and larger farms, do we continue to have, exclusively people, crouching, crawling, reaching, climbing, contorting their bodies unnaturally to pick fruits and vegetables? Worth asking not because Americans have become sissies, soft, there’s been a consistent wussification over the last 10-20 years spearheaded by helicopter parents, meddling schools, parenting books written by people with fancy psychology degrees and no actual experience in raising children and a younger generation seemingly allergic to hard work, afraid to get their hands dirty, a parallel consistent effort to make work done with ones hands low class to be avoided, although that last point plays a small part. But because repetitive stress injuries, diseases, disorders are bad, whether you are an athlete, a farmer, a person working a jackhammer, laying bricks, drywall, plumbing, someone who develops carpel tunnel due to poor, excessive typing habits; tendentious, arthritis, need for joint replacement destroys livelihoods, health at a time when the social security/Medicare eligibility ages are incrementally climbing not solely as a cost saving measure, as politicians have raided the fund to pay for other things sans putting the money back, refuse to remove payroll tax caps on larger sums earned, but commiserate with how much longer Americans are living, the enhanced quality of those so called golden years, senior citizens today more active, more capable than decades prior. Or that those jobs, surrounded by coal, chemicals pay so much off the top because you can only work them a few short years before you are sick, forced to go on disability, face serious risk of death, severely diminished quality of life. What can we do to restore the dignity of work so that good, solid work, good paying, needed, necessary jobs don’t involve coming home smelling like a sewer, like feces from cleaning up after cows, chickens, pigs all day, don’t involve intense heat, cold, detrimental conditions? People aren’t forced to endure workplaces the living, breathing personification of OSHA violations, constitute illegal, should be illegal hazards that unnecessarily remain reality due to businesses cutting corners; my own city’s local recycling center glass everywhere, biohazards, atrocious smell, improper protective gear provided for the work to the point one worker visited her doctor with glass in her arm. Insulation manufacturing plant poor, no, improper venation meaning employees breathed in massive qualities of dust equally lacking proper respiratory masks then they began getting their raw, recycled paper product, eventually turned into insulation, from surrounding landfills resulting in exposure to filth, biohazard and dead animals; still workplace safeties are on the chopping block in the Trump administration meaning we will only see more of this, more egregious working conditions for people least able to find different, better jobs. And yet, enter the Trump voters who will stand by him no matter what, even when they don’t like what he’s doing, want to remind him to think before he speaks, be aware of how what he says is being taken, advise him to “take a breath;” excuse me John Stewart, if Trump voters, republicans don’t fear Muslims, are more afraid of their insurance premiums than the ‘potential terrorist’ next door, why is there a 50/50 split opinion regarding his travel ban, independent which version, why is a small town, probably never seen a Muslim in the flesh, would only recognize a Muslim woman by her distinctive headscarf, standing by his immigration ban? Why is there zero recognition free college, government providing a way for all people to get educated to work the jobs available, provide for themselves isn’t absurd the same way FDR’s new deal the WPA, TVA and many alphabet soup administration programs created to get America working again wasn’t absurd. Or that president Obama’s efforts to bring down student loan costs, forgive student loan debt for critical jobs isn’t give away goofballs to quote video footage after paragraph 2 anymore than Johnson’s great society programs helping the destitute was a ‘give away,’ merely changing for the times. Closely following those debunked arguments, shocker manufacturing isn’t gone, dead, dying at minimum for the coming few years, just evolving, a bicycle company able to move back to the U.S. due to effectively merging automation and human workers, another manufacturing plant found a young man employed him through high school then helped pay for his engineering degree in college, a model for how employers need to operate; if you can’t find a worker to fill a job, test for aptitude and train a worker. Interesting a Chinese billionaire refurbished an Ohio GM plant not to stock it with his own workers but to hire Americans at $12-15 an hour, plans to increase the pay scale toward the $30 workers were making for the auto giant; bringing up a perplexing question, why haven’t American business people done the same, refurbished, repurposed empty factories, retrained idle workers good with their hands, holding knowledge in manufacturing, assembly line, whatever work? How about dispensing with the idea immigrants take jobs instead of help create them; think removing all the illegal immigrants is the answer, think again they leave behind children and elderly relatives requiring care, cost millions in legal fights and leave huge holes in local economies housing, school funding, workers suddenly gone. Or that the enemy isn’t Mexico and the factories moving there but the Wall Street maneuvering known as financial strip mining forcing companies to leave, why experts believe Donald Trump won’t be able to save American jobs, because he doesn’t understand it happens, how prevalent it is. If we stop thinking governments providing minimum care to its citizens is giveaway, goofy perhaps Medicare for all isn’t so outlandish at a second glance and the immediate response doesn’t include shouting who’s paying for it considering the positive effect of Obamacare and Medicare, Medicaid for the most destitute, already is a functional institution within government, Medicaid’s expansion has improved preventive care lowering costs in the long run when you stave off disease, treat small problems prior to them becoming big ones, get screenings, don’t land in the ER paying $25 for an Aspirin. Or that costs wouldn’t be so detrimental to states had they taken the Medicaid expansion money offered through the ACA, Obamacare; processing that major insurance company withdrawal from the healthcare marketplace isn’t about the astronomical, unaffordable costs of the ACA, monumental losses incurred as much as fear mongering, agenda running, Aetna for example pulled out of Obamacare directly after the government denied a merger between them and Humana. Along those same lines, if you’re worried about paying into programs like social security, Medicare and you feel you’re not getting out what you paid into it, why did you vote for Donald Trump? Maybe the question isn’t why wages have stagnated but why key things, rent/mortgages cost so much for basic dwellings, room for the number of occupants outside highest expense areas California, New York, Washington D.C.; maybe the idea shouldn’t be I’m a minority and don’t know how not to have 10 jobs (likely closer to 3) but based on how rapidly technology is overtaking jobs ideas such as a universal basic income, coming to grips with the fact that other westernized countries have mastered caring for their citizens and we haven’t largely due to counterproductive mindsets couching progressive policies as ‘give away goofballs.’ News flash coal/manufacturing country, rah, rah Trump supporters Hillary Clinton didn’t forget about you, she was the one who said phase out coal and retrain you for other jobs, she was the one wiling to leave immigration effecting you the way it was, at most craft workable immigration policies open to compromises on work visas allowing immigrants to staff your dairy farms. Would it surprise you that crises, think Flint’s water, aren’t exclusive to dirty water and lead pipes, but that they had a clean water source, were using it until the republican mayor and governor, ‘successful’ businessman elected by the people, switched it to a dirtier water supply sans chemical agents to prevent lead poisoning, buildup; for what purpose, to save a buck, a few bucks. Added problems in Michigan aren’t neatly couched into crumbling, failing schools but the chosen lawyer for those schools proclaiming literacy isn’t a right; sure not the same as freedom of speech, students’ point retaining its validity understanding for them to learn, acquire literacy you must also have competent teachers, up to date, functional materials, what they claim they are lacking. Elsewhere in Michigan there are the computers processing workers unemployment claims only for algorithms to spit out ‘evidence’ they were fraudulent 93% of the time; again to the tune of saving a few bucks, lining politicians, city managers, not residents’ pockets, with those bucks. Kentuckians (heart of Trump country) voted republican beyond the presidency until they found out about plans to bust up unions, too bad retracting votes isn’t allowed; Iowa’s police department did a variation on the same thing, begging the question, so similar to Trump, did you bother to listen to the candidate, really listing, before voting for him? What happens happy Wisconsin farm woman, proud to continue your family’s farming tradition when Donald Trump’s talk like a fellow brash Wisconsinite, think his Access Hollywood comments about grabbing women, means someone like him grabbing you, your mother, your aunt, your sister, you daughter? And don’t think it won’t happen because it already has, a Connecticut republican arrested for attempting to grab a woman’s genitals citing, thanks to Trump’s election, he no longer has to adhere to the confines of political correctness; unclear when not grabbing a woman’s privates, behind became about any political aspect rather about refraining from physical/sexual assault. Look at Kay Jewelers and the sexual harassment, discrimination allegations coming from there, one victim describing it as a boys club where she was coerced into sex for a transfer back to her hometown; following what we knew about Fox News and yet another lawsuit settled with a contributor pressured to perform oral sex, proving it isn’t just what now president Trump does, says, it’s what he says, is permitted to get away with negatively inspires others to do, think they will be given a pass while doing. Instead of answering any of these critical questions, embodying a strong leader, someone fledgling nations to our younger citizens can look up to, model themselves after we have a president bombastically taking credit for jobs he had little to do with, consistently overstating his achievements; you were impressed by the carrier deal why, when he overestimated jobs saved, 1,100 actually 800, 1300 still leaving, ignoring Train’s plant closure elsewhere, took credit for a Ford plant that was never leaving. Overstated jobs associated with the Keystone and Dakota access pipelines temporary and far less than touted; has businesses so unsettled, living in fear of his tweets they are recycling old job announcements, previously made plans to please him. Equally excited over the 1% gain in the stock market under Trump, to date because it brought the Dow above 20,000 for the first time ever, oblivious to the 139% under Obama post the financial crisis; who calls his administration a fine tuned machine while firing his acting AG, he had an executive order struck down by 3 federal courts, forced to take the resignation of his national security advisor, not counting special advisor Kellyanne Conway’s repeated misspeaking, the collective embarrassment that is press secretary Sean Spicer, 6 Whitehouse aides abruptly dismissed post failing basic background checks. Rudimentary analysts pointing out a large portion of his executive orders are little more than signed symbolic statements no new money from congress for his boarder wall, no new, adapted legislation to put legal weight behind said orders, a caution against getting to carried away by things best described as checking off boxes under the heading campaign promises. Also where the sympathy, empathy train leaves the station regarding Trump supporters willfully voting against the very things that would help, protect them while bemoaning their lot in life expecting demanding compassion; sorry to quote the country song, “my give a damn’s busted.”

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/26/protections-on-the-chopping-block-will-workplace-safety-survive-a-donald-trump-presidency_partner/

http://www.salon.com/2016/12/08/rollback-of-truck-safety-rules-may-be-just-the-beginning/

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/31/sick-and-unsafe-congress-blocking-workplace-protections/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/04/a-deadly-pattern-states-that-went-red-during-the-2016-election-saw-more-workplace-fatalities_partner/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_YK03KgmFA

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/28/want-a-stronger-economy-give-immigrants-a-warm-welcome_partner/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/02/why-mass-deportations-are-costly-and-hurt-the-economy_partner/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/10/6-reasons-why-trump-is-too-weak-to-save-american-jobs_partner/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/how-90-percent-of-american-households-lost-an-average-of-17000-in-wealth-to-the-plutocrats-in-2016_partner/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrnVJZaKqew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzGlaknwbnA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL3lgckZx1I

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/19/gop-governors-who-turned-down-medicaid-money-have-hands-out/

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/20/dear-hard-working-white-people-congratulations-you-played-yourself/

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/11/detroits-recovery_partner/

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/michigans-unemployment-system-bilked-poor

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/14/iowan-law-enforcement-vote-republican-only-to-be-outraged-when-they-learn-republicans-want-to-bust-unions/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/09/fox-settles-with-contributor-who-claims-former-executive-tried-to-pressure-her-into-performing-oral-sex/

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/18/donald-trump-pats-self-on-back-for-saving-ford-plant-that-wasnt-going-to-close/

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/18/corporations-dreading-being-the-subject-of-a-tweet-are-recycling-jobs-announcements-to-please-donald-trump/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVAfgXphIU

A president, it matters when there are serious questions about can he read at a functional adult level, notwithstanding the comprehension needed for a job as important and involved as the president, covering the wide range of complicated, complex issues that entails; whether he has a learning disability or just managed to coast through that much of life is extremely relevant, because if he does have a learning deficit, deficiency, it isn’t to say someone with those problems can’t be president, but calling attention to he’s unaware, it’s untreated, unmanaged, undealt with and he’s the president of the United States rendering countless decisions effecting millions of lives daily, not an office jockey, fast-food worker. Underscoring its importance superseding the notion news outlets brought it up exclusively to make Trump look bad, undermine his presidency. It matters when the story goes viral in foreign countries, i.e. France, further diminishing our credibility and standing around the world to have chosen this man, precisely due to that last statement, flowing into the awkward situation created when foreign diplomatic corps translators refuse to translate things Trump routinely says to avoid sounding dumb, for fear they will be blamed for a missed translation that wasn’t. It matters when astute watchers, analysts inside, outside the media, regardless affiliation, political slant can document drastic measures he takes to avoid reading even in court depositions, leaks from inside the Whitehouse saying he demanded briefings be no longer than one page and filled with pictures a-la charts and graphs. Congratulations Trump country you have just fulfilled longstanding stereotypes about people like yourselves, Nick Smith self-description as a hillbilly from the holler, and you may have just elected the first functioning illiterate president of the United States, shouldn’t we all be proud. It matters that on top of legitimate speculation about the president’s literacy he regularly demonstrates he either did very poorly in school or is a walking advertisement for cognition screenings for older Americans flubbing black history month remarks talking about numerous contributions of Fredrick Douglas seemingly uniformed he is dead, has been dead nearly 122 years, can be humiliated repeatedly on the subject of science by a guy who used to do educational programing for children emphasis science, his potential illiteracy problem impacting national operations when he said he wasn’t briefed about the order he signed putting chief advisor Steve Bannon on the national security council, likelihood they gave it to him to read and he just didn’t, documents are released from the Whitehouse suggesting a lack of editing staff found at the smallest newspaper, where people are trying to make his point about unreported on terror attacks, yet can’t spell key words like attacker correctly. Compounding literacy questions, his blatantly poor accumulation of common knowledge there are the recurring concerns swirling around Donald Trump’s mental health, ongoing calls from various psychiatric professionals to please, for the good of the country, submit him to an evaluation, breaking professional ethics rules to speak out about his possible instability, even a change.org petition pleading the same thing; dovetailing into red flags raised about his steady diet of cable news consumption, his habit of getting himself in trouble publicly referencing things from Breitbart, Fox News, Alex Jones’ Info Wars, known conspiracy theory websites, slanted news shows, retweeting them, apparently where he got the Obama wiretap story. Testimonials from campaign, transition staffers they had to baby him, place positive press materials on his desk, turn him onto friendly media outlets to try to contain his spontaneous twitter rants done somewhere between midnight and 6AM; does this sound like an adult, a picture of stability while Fox News is bandying about outrage journalists dare ask after his state of mind. All in total sparking analyst explained recourse on removing Trump, any president, should they be, become unfit including congress’ use of the 25th amendment, statutes very open ended on what defines unfit, to straight up impeachment, specifically impeachment for his redundant lying, previously discussed impeachment for his violation of the emoluments clause related to his business conflicts of interest, possible collusion with Russia during the campaign. Speaking of Russia, contrary to popular belief along America’s main streets, small towns USA Russia matters, beyond conjured images of Bolsheviks marching down aforementioned main street, if Russia seriously interfered with our election it is a big deal; because, while it’s true without boarders you don’t have a country, it’s exponentially true on a much greater scale you likewise don’t have a country if other foreign powers have their hands in your election cycle, process. It matters Mike Pence and hordes of Trump staff were caught using a private e-mail or his voters don’t seem to care when he does it while chanting, about Hillary Clinton, lock her up at the RNC convention, and every rally after that, pegged her as corrupt while giving him a pass, or evidence it took days to secure his @PODUS twitter account and he still may be using an unsecure Android phone, again noting how hard he went after Hillary Clinton for the phones she simply might have used, railed relentlessly about her endangering national security. Amplify that several times post his Mar-a-Lago dining with the Japanese prime minister having essentially a national security briefing at the table by cellphone light, in full view of guests, as he was told about North Korea’s missile launch toward Japan. Giving this president a chance isn’t an option when, Bill Maher laid it out brilliantly, he ran for the working man then gets in office and coal companies can now dump waste in rivers, repealing Dodd Frank banking regulations including mortgage forms in plain English and credit card fee disclosures, we’re talking about a presidency distinctly absent sanity and a president who doesn’t read, see above, whose information is either anecdotal or blatantly fabricated. Far from unnoticed or insignificant the major staffing positions left vacant, the staff president Trump has managed to assemble is lackluster at best; daily we find out new damming information about Michael Flynn, former national security advisor, he was lobbying on behalf of Turkey (the country), registered as a foreign agent just this last week days before this goes to press, Trump claiming he had no idea despite news outlets covering it in depth, larger implication he doesn’t vet his people well enough to know he was doing this while sitting in on notational security briefings. There are the 46 justice department lawyers abruptly told to tenure their resignations, all Obama holdovers, no personnel to replace them. When a cabinet choice retracts his interest in the job post video of his wife alleging spousal abuse, beside Steve Bannon chief advisor has similar charges on his record with an added pile on of intimidating a witness, his wife scaring her away from appearing in court. It’s relevant the administration is further so disorganized sugar export permits between American and Mexico were canceled, not because Trump didn’t like the deal, wanted to sever ties with them until they stem the flood of illegal immigrants, wanted America to stand on its own 2 feet, but because there was no one to negotiate soon to expire permits with. It’s absolutely relevant not only exploiting a war widow is bad, when you see that tearful woman broadcast on national television during Trump’s first speech to congress, but for people who respect our soldiers and what they do to then learn the Yemen raid was authorized over, the result of a dinner president Trump had with son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief advisor Steve Bannon (see second to last video after paragraph 2). Policy, governance wise it’s absolutely relevant the dollar was down days into the Trump presidency due to uncertainty he interjected into the market, predictably through tweets; source Reuters not simply the independent media. Relevant his travel ban hurt airlines and tourism, dollars towns depend on to function, dido his constant trips to Mar-a-Lago shutting down parts of the city because he is there. Extremely relevant mortgages are down in his America, where he exalted he would be great at everything, when you track it to an increased cost of FHA loans, not trigged by the market, the fed, an interest rate hike instead his executive order. We should know when he pulls a bait and switch announcing he would meet with prescription drug makers about lowering costs for consumers minding their health only to cancel after meeting with lobbyists. When he says one thing and does the direct opposite; for instance pledges to buy, use American steel distinctly on the Keystone and Dakota access pipelines, every infrastructure endeavor going forward, not only for the House of Representatives to vote those projects don’t have to, but come to find out under Trump’s plan they qualify as existing projects not subject to his order. Others will highlight clever wording in his memo stating American steel will be used, bought when it can be, an easy scapegoat excuse when foreign steel is used to serve special interests. Republican mantra on government guidelines to anything is always described less is more, promoting get government off businesses back so it can grow, thrive, keep people working, the economy strong, asking frankly asinine questions about built in redundancy laws hurting farmers, fisheries exc., so it becomes relevant when those championed deregulations to shrink the bloated government complex they always complain about stand to make it easier for the richest to evade paying what little taxes they do, prevent ordinary people from asking the questions they need to, to properly file/pay their taxes via cuts to the IRS, following cuts enacted in previous years. It’s hardly irrelevant to working class persons whose boss just happens to hold government contract(s) when the republican congress dismantles Obama created regulations protecting government contract workers from labor violations, especially from a billionaire who ran on helping the little guy. Similarly it’s one thing to call the FDA the food police, think there are too many rules, despite we can’t go a solid month nationally without a major recall announcement of something we put in our mouths; it’s quite another when the president wants to use it against free trade, seemingly uncaring, unconcerned about internal food safety in light of the just mentioned recall frequency even with the regulations we have currently. It’s hard enough to decipher information, find the truth without entities as influential as our own government appearing to hide it from us; climate change data and related agencies mission statements scrubbed or changed respectively, animal abuse records removed from the USDA website formerly public for decades, silencing EPA, no blog, post, before aligning their statement and presidents on taxpayer funded studies/data, that the state department and justice department judges had to stand up to the Trump administration saying no to his travel ban. Issues will register in your lives Trump voters, supporters, e.g. voting rights, voter I.D. laws when it’s your mother, grandmother, long past using a driving license who suddenly can’t vote for want of an I.D. tied directly to attorney general Jeff Sessions to cease and desist fighting Texas’ voting laws throwing away 6 years of litigation. LGBT rights will reverberate through your lives when your son/daughter, niece/nephew, mother/father, best friend comes out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, we seen it before in politicians suddenly changing their tune when it’s their family; elevated even higher when your tomboy daughter walks into the women’s bathroom and is screamed at to get out, hauled out by police mistaken for male, your small boned, yet to hit puberty, has a genetic disorder son encounters identical problems using a men’s public restroom, either is physically or sexually assaulted in the process, particularly at school, the local rec center; why Gavin Grimm’s ‘bathrooms,’ civil rights case is so important. Final doom of Trump fans, supporters, voters in the eyes of everyone else—their stubborn refusal to grasp the gravity of situations put in front of them, to dismiss the importance of Russia’s proven involvement in election interference, the reality of illegal immigrants, economic factors, Obamacare, choosing instead unwavering loyalty to a man who knows next to nothing about what he’s doing and will hurt America not help it, them most of all.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-minimal-information-intelligence-briefings-article-1.2950000

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/intelligence-briefings-trump-prefers-little-possible

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/02/classified-memo-tells-intelligence-analysts-keep-trumps-daily-brief-short

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smq3ETdViIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vACngFnjK4U

https://www.change.org/p/trump-is-mentally-ill-and-must-be-removed

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/25/donald-trumps-idiot-box-anger-addiction-the-countrys-a-disaster-and-the-world-is-a-mess-thats-tv-talking/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/07/the-trump-disinformation-bubble-a-new-study-shows-how-toxic-right-wing-media-narratives-sway-coverage/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/10/trump-in-touch-with-reality-tv-but-not-quite-reality/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZRr-KhIUio

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/unsweetened-mexico-cancels-sugar-export-permits-to-u-s-because-theres-no-one-to-negotiate-with/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/03/the-keystone-xl-pipeline-will-not-have-to-be-made-with-american-steel-despite-president-trumps-memorandum/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/irs-budget-cuts-are-helping-the-rich-duck-paying-taxes/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/senate-kills-obama-regulation-protecting-government-contractors-from-labor-violations/

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/28/trump-wanted-to-use-food-inspections-as-a-bargaining-chip-in-trade-deals-report/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/07/hey-trump-voters-this-nightmare-is-what-you-get-when-you-experiment-with-the-presidency/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOYZaMDYxY0

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/27/jeff-sessions-drops-doj-lawsuit-against-discriminatory-texas-voter-id-case-reversing-6-years-of-litigation/

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/06/supreme-court-cancels-arguments-for-gavin-grimms-transgender-civil-rights-case/

Personally I am not a democrat, liberal, progressive hold political tendencies along all 3 spectrums because I went to college, obtained my degree, because I completed high school as opposed to those who dropped out; never mind not completing either one doesn’t signal a failure of intelligence many without college degrees smarter than those with, high school dropouts easily able to digest college level material, are knowledgeable of current social, environmental, criminal justice, business, economic issues. Many successful people today are college flunkies including names like Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg; while I am a product of undeniably good education, it was indeed public school in the middle of the country via a town housing currently120, 000 citizens having grown exponentially since I was a child, yes a college town showcasing the best journalism school nationally and an engineering school drawing learners the world over. However I chose the smaller private college night school program comparable to state tuition rates to do well in school not just get into college, but I’m a democrat largely through life experience, living, seeing things in my world. My mother’s loss of job, result of her own mistakes, and our flirting with homelessness, but for the generosity of relatives, gave me up close affirmation to how precarious people’s financial situations are, what suddenly happens without health insurance, choosing which bill to pay the rent/mortgage or the light/gas bill, struggling to buy food wanting to shy away from assistance like food stamps, realizing it’s that or not eating, being in the street, watching her car get repo-ed, difficulty getting around, added hurdles finding an apartment once she’d gotten back on her feet. Not singularly when I started looking for my first job post college (my first job ever choosing to focus on my education and my physical limitations virtually eliminating minimum wage options for teens, college age students minus a degree) did I understand how rare a job like my mother’s was these days even in a high skill labor industrial type town like mine (why my professional goals fit so poorly and a job is almost not an option), health insurance, sick days, vacation days, family leave, set hours, overtime a choice, but comparing hers versus other family members, classmates who had none of that stability, prone to being fired through no fault of their own. Why I believed the stories from younger workers talking about their war to get ahead, my own struggles gaining employment, coming up against employers unwilling to give information, holding degrees minus experience, accessories like lab time to obtain certifications to work in one told me not just I wasn’t alone, but that this was the existing employment landscape and no amount of bootstrap pulling on my/their parts was going to fix it until employers restored internships/apprenticeships, colleges, universities work with employers to open up lab time, specific experience opportunities to garner adjacent credentials. It was sitting filling out a housing application running into a woman with 4 kids worried about being accepted due to outstanding bills finding out through conversations in my state you have to be 25, have 5 kids to get your tubes tied before a set age, something that should be done by choice of anyone over 21. It was hearing the same song and dance from a 32 year old job placement worker history of mental illness, homelessness stemming from that illness who got help, got the right medicine, went to school, earned a degree, had gone past the standard 90 days at her current job, had a fiancé, had tried hormonal birth control exacerbating her mental illness and wanted her tubes tied before getting married knowing she didn’t want kids, only to also be told no despite the extenuating circumstances. It’s watching my friend have her now 5th child, her youngest born at least a minimum of a month early, spent 2 weeks in the NICU only to be told when she asked the doctor, for the 5th time to tie her tubes, they needed 30 days notice. While republicans couch all people on public assistance as moochers, women popping out kids for the benefits, while they suddenly call all birth control on the market, some half a century, abortifacient, exclusively after it was mandated contraceptives be covered under Obamacare, drafting exceptions for religious hospitals and schools, businesses actually endangering the health of women with reproductive diseases also treated with birth control, constantly deny morning after contraception to rape/incest victims. Insisting on counseling, transvaginal ultrasounds, presenting an increased risk of injury to the baby, for a better picture ‘disproving the myth a baby is just a glob of cells,’ for women seeking abortions of pregnancies they can’t get medicine to prevent, medical procedures to stop, could well have been a sex assault victim resulting in pregnancy; understanding it took so long to get a partial birth abortion ban because republicans refused to make exceptions for rape, incest, and most importantly, life of mother. Listening to growing outlandish stories about why abortion should never happen, should never be legal under any circumstance, remember Todd Akin’s legitimate rape comments alongside stories like Texas’ Wendy Davis, still births, non-viable pregnancies, that states classification of ectopic (an embryo attached somewhere other than the uterus, usually ovary or fallopian tube) pregnancies as abortions; the woman in Ireland who died of blood poisoning though they knew they couldn’t save the baby, but because it continued to have a heartbeat and its Hindu parents were at a Catholic hospital they refused to remove the dying fetus. Women carried across state lines to receive abortions because their medical conditions almost guarantee they won’t carry the baby to term, aborting children who won’t live to be born, have irreparable birth defects, are already suffering in utero, yet rather than acknowledging any of these realities individual state legislatures have proposed bills forcing women to report miscarriages, mandating police investigate miscarriages to rule out ‘human involvement;’ facts gathered watching national news and the latest round of anti-abortion bills, the Obamacare contraception fight. Republicans, relentlessly decrying the fight for $15 clinging to raise your skills, work ethic if you want a raise in play sans looking at where jobs are in our economy, demographics of who exactly had ‘minimum wage’ jobs today (hint it’s no longer teenagers and derelicts trying to put their lives back together); looking at the starting pay for jobs which I was applying and was qualified for compared to what things like rent cost and knowing republicans were full of it. Noting just how many people in local public housing had jobs, were working driving cabs, school buses, parents making just enough not to qualify/need food, childcare assistance but not making enough to leave their public housing system, comprehending the number of jobs national city bus drivers, firefighter, not typical minimum wage fare in which workers still qualified for public assistance their income was so low. Watching along with the rest of horrified America cellphone, bystander, unearthed video of police savagely shooting unarm black males, teens, monitoring the trials of George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn, interview of juror B-37 in the former case and Dunn’s released jailhouse racist writings in the latter demonstrating the juror could empathize with Zimmerman’s fear but not 17 year old Martin’s, said writing proving the real racially motivated reason Jordan Davis and his car full of friends were shot at and he died. Seeing footage of the California highway patrol beating a 52 year old black grandmother on the side of the road for failing to come with him for her own safety, no psychiatric issue ever detected, dash cam video of the felony traffic stop performed on a woman with 4 children in the car because they were looking for a tan car housing multiple males and a possible gun, except her car was red, oldest child age 10, women left without words to explain it to them. Wondering when/if I will be next, if me and my physical disability will suffer the same fate as the deaf speeder who didn’t see the cop, cop mistaking sign language for reaching for a weapon. I’m not a democrat because ‘liberal’ college told me to be; going to college merely confirmed my perceptions on how I thought the world should be, a variation on if I ran the world comment threads, school assignments, essays, when I found a sociology professor saying everting in lectures I had been screaming since I was 4. I’m a democrat because I believe in their platform and policies, select progressive, liberal ones too; I believe your religion is something, you the individual, practice if that means no birth control, abortion, no premarital sex, so be it but others make their own choices. If that means denouncing homosexuality, anything under the umbrella LGBT for yourself so be it, but what happened to Mathew Sheppard years ago and similar present incidents, harassment, violence, sexual assaults is wrong, as is the ‘I don’t have to serve you due to my religion’ cop outs. What sealed it for me, probably remaining democrat for the rest of my life, was the nonsense nuisance legislation these republican politicians insist on passing, conservatives taking over schoolboards a-la Oklahoma replacing standard AP history with the 10 commandments and Reagan speeches, the Utah school district that rejected a bill allowing parents to opt in to comprehensive sex ed. topics including contraception, consent and the intricacies of intimacy, again at parent choosing. The ridiculous legislation of what people can and cannot wear in public banning flip flops on Whitehouse tour guests, conveniently after which Kelllyanne Conway could put her feet up on the oval office couch, shoes on pic looks like it could be shoes off, thong underwear and see through clothing, the former of which isn’t meant to be seen, the latter warn in layers over a full thickness garment covering anything classified indecent exposure, raise your pants raise your image campaigns, bagging pants, no pajamas, looking too similar to workout, yoga gym wear to not cause problems, ordinances. Especially when those ordinances lead to erroneous incarcerations, people who can’t pay their fine, do 30 days in jail derailing schooling, losing a job over clothing other people find irritating to look at; as if boxer shorts, looking exactly like outer shorts, waist bands are so offensive, even leading to death. Case in point, Ervin Leon Edwards arrested at a gas station in Louisiana, not for the public argument he was having with his girlfriend already stopped when police arrived responding to the noise complaint, but for his sagging pants under their newly passed ordinance circa 2013, arresting him rather than giving him a summons, ticket, officers warned by that girlfriend not to stun gun him, get too rough with him due to his high blood pressure and mental health issues. Yet what does jailhouse, police department video show—officers tasing the already restrained man, nearly yanking his shirt off, his pants further down, coming back minutes later kicking his foot to see if he was alright the same way you might kick trash or something offensive. I voted for Hillary Clinton not because she was a woman, would be the first woman president, but because I thought she was the best choice; I voted for the things she, democrats wouldn’t legislate, would never try to legislate. Directly linked to why I like the liberal, independent media along with the mainstream variety; you can’t argue with David Packman’s answer to the former Maine RNC chairman flabbergasted by the number of black people showing up to vote, determined to get to the bottom of any fraud, if your concerned compare latest census data counting the number of African Americans in the area with the number who showed up to vote, if the numbers are wildly dissimilar you maybe have a case, if not you don’t; better than his plan of sending mailers and finding out where they’re postmarked from. You can’t functionally argue his breakdown of why Trump Mar-a-Lago national security update in front of guests, people using cellphone lights to read documents is a monumental security breach lock step next to the guy carrying what’s known as the nuclear football bragging about it and posing for pictures, made public via someone present’s Facebook page; on top of little truisms like you don’t have to read this in the semi-dark, there are lights inside, tables inside, privacy inside. Listen to the sprinkling of Rachel Maddow videos in here alone, listen to Lawrence O’Donnell break down anything never mind the irregularities of Donald Trump, his presidency; there is no defense against what he highlights. Just like there is no excusable defense for Trump votes and what they’re wrought on their country period.

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