The Politicization Of The Military

I am worried about what Trump said, 

Trump suggests he’ll use the military on ‘the enemy from within’ the U.S. if he’s reelected

NPR News

By Stephen Groves, Associated Press

October 13, 2024 

During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.

He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. border with Mexico. He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him.

Trump’s vision amounts to a potentially dramatic shift in the role of the military in U.S. society, carrying grave implications for both the country’s place in the world and the restraints that have traditionally been placed on domestic use of the military.

[…]

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Trump has repeatedly invoked the phrase “enemy from within” in recent speeches. On Saturday, he used it to refer to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a prominent Trump critic who oversaw the congressional investigation that led to Trump’s first impeachment. Schiff is now running for the Senate.

First and this is scary… “weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed” what does he plan to do with a military that is loyal to him and not the Constitution?

He has already started! He fired an admiral! 

Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard and guts key aviation safety advisory committee

LA Times

By Josh Funk

Jan. 22, 2025 

President Trump has fired the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard before their terms are up and eliminated all the members of a key aviation security advisory group.

Trump’s immigration policy changes drew the most attention at the Department of Homeland Security, but he is also making changes at the rest of the massive agency.

Members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee received a memo Tuesday saying that the department is eliminating the membership of all advisory committees as part of a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”

You are not alarmed yet? How about what retired admiral had to say...

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Leadership Speak Out on Firing of Admiral Fagan

Homeland Security Today

By Megan Norris

January 23, 2025

With the start of a new administration, it’s not unusual to see resignations and firings. The firing of United States Coast Guard (USCG) Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan – the Armed Forces’ first female service chief – has raised eyebrows across the Coast Guard community and beyond. Former senior leaders of the USCG reached out to Homeland Security Today (HSToday) to share some of their thoughts and concerns. 

Among those expressing concern are Charles “Skip” Bowen, who spent over 32 years with the USCG and retired as Master Chief Petty Officer in 2010; HSToday Board member and 30-year USCG veteran, retired Master Chief Vincent Patton, EdD; and former USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, who devoted 39 years to the USCG. All three worked with Admiral Fagan during her 40-year tenure, and agree with the statement put forth by Admiral Allen: “Her dismissal is not a matter of her performance. It is political performance. One that should cause great concern for current and future military leaders.”

He is making the military his own private army! That is loyal to him and not the Constitution, kind of like a South America dictators.

Master Chief Bowen and Master Chief Patton provided the following statement to HSToday: “The reasons cited do not add up. This termination is wrong.

We personally know Admiral Fagan to be a strong leader who has been incredibly positive for the Coast Guard. Various news articles reference failure to address border security, insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, mismanagement in acquiring key acquisitions such as icebreakers and helicopters, excessive focus on DEI initiatives and an erosion of trust over the mishandling of Operation Fouled Anchor.

So what does he want to do with his private little army?

Trump hints at expanded role for the military within the US. A legacy law gives him few guardrails

AP News

By  GARY FIELDS

November 27, 2023

Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago “crime dens,” the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, “The next time, I’m not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we’re going to show how bad a job they do,” he said. “Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”

Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country’s borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.

A law first crafted in the nation’s infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.

“The principal constraint on the president’s use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents don’t want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street,” said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. “There’s not much really in the law to stay the president’s hand.”

In October before the elections The Military Times writes that,

"I think that would be seriously considered, particularly if Trump was elected and continued this very, very harsh rhetoric," Reed [Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee] told reporters on a call in response to a question from Military.com about reforming the Insurrection Act. "Because I would hope many of my colleagues on the other side would consider they have to put in checks and balances that are lacking."

[...]

"The Insurrection Act could be improved significantly," he continued. "It's not as clear as it was, and it was drafted a very long time ago. And also the Posse Comitatus Act could be looked at."

The Insurrection Act is law first passed in 1792 that allows the president to deploy the military domestically under certain circumstances, namely to quell violent rebellion. The Posse Comitatus Act from 1878 generally prohibits the military from being used as a domestic police force.

In August of last year The Nation writes about the student protests over Israel a couple of years ago where they were mostly peaceful. However, there were some violent protests the local and state police stopped. The Nation asks…

This question deserves our close attention, because it is almost certain that the policies he would implement on day one in the White House will provoke protests of one sort or another in cities and at campuses across the United States. Many observers have noted that members of his entourage, in close association with right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Renewing America, have prepared detailed plans for immediate action on such issues as immigration, education, abortion, climate change, and trans people’s rights—all bound to provoke strong and immediate opposition from various sectors of civil society.

[...]

In particular, Trump has become an ardent student of the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the president to suspend the Posse Comitatus Act (which prohibits the use of federal forces in domestic law enforcement) and to employ the National Guard or active-duty troops in suppressing a domestic rebellion if requested by state officials or, in some cases, without state authorization. The act has been invoked rarely, given the nation’s historic aversion to excessive executive. power—methodically embedded in the Constitution—but Trump has expressed a strong inclination to use it against mass public protests.

During the protests over George Floyd’s murder while Trump was in power the first time there were protests around the country including in Washington DC, they were peaceful except for a few renegade violent protesters. 

On the morning of June 1, Donald Trump summoned his two top military leaders—Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley—to the Oval Office to discuss his desired response to the DC protests. As recounted by Esper in his memoir, A Sacred Oath, Trump told them that he wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act and order “ten thousand troops in Washington to get control of the streets.” When Esper and Milley demurred, saying the unrest was best handled by civil law enforcement and the DC National Guard, Trump threw a tantrum, calling them “losers” and repeating his desire to send active-duty troops into the city. “Can’t you just shoot them?” he asked Milley, the nation’s highest-ranked uniformed officer. “Just shoot them in the legs or something?”

According to Esper, Trump finally calmed down after he was promised that Washington would be flooded with 10,000 civilian law enforcement personnel (FBI, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms personnel, etc.) and National Guard troops to protect federal property and assist in riot control, thereby satisfying Trump’s obsession with that number of personnel. Esper indicates, however, that it was only in this manner that he and Milley dissuaded Trump from invoking the Insurrection Act and ordering thousands of active-duty troops into Washington—a step that both officials feared would incite further violence and ensnare the regular military in domestic clashes they were wholly unprepared for.

Now with Trump packing the military with his crony loyalists what will happen now during a peaceful protest to petition the Government for a redress of grievances? Will he throw in some trouble makers to justify using the Insurrection Act of 1807? Keep in mind when Trump says "the enemy from within" he means the liberal Democrats. He doesn't mean someone like the guy in Texas earlier in month who was radicalized middle east terrorists... no he means the peaceful protesters who are against him. He means the ones that the Constitution says has a right to assemble to people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Knowing Trump I wouldn't put it past him to insert outside trouble makers in the peaceful protests to justify using the Insurrection act to override the limits of Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 that limits using the military against us?

Will become like some third world banana republic with a military junta and Trump leading a coup again? Was the first insurrection just a dress rehearsal?

I am making a prediction that within the next four years Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and use troops against the citizens of the United States of America. To paraphrase Maya Angelou - "When someone tells you what they are going to do, believe them the first time."

Oh, by the way... this is all right out of Project 2025!

That Is How The Con Works...

First they create an artificial crises, then they hype it, then they come in to save the day!

The myth: White males are being discriminated against!

Social Media: Pushes the lie. Pundits talk about how white males are being discriminated because of the dreaded DEI!

Then they stop the fictional crises by passes discriminatory laws!

Trump rolls back Equal Employment Opportunity Act in anti-diversity and inclusion executive order

President Donald Trump has revoked the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1965, the latest update to his raft of executive orders since he was sworn into office.

Pink News

By PinkNews Reporter

January 23, 2025

On his first day in office, Trump signed an anti-trans executive order proclaiming there are “only two sexes” – which was later debunked by United States Representative Sarah McBride – and ordered the overturning of the birthright citizenship. 

Trump went one step further and revoked policies which boosted diversity, equality and inclusion for historically marginalised communities, including Latine people, Native Americans and Black Americans. 

The White House said in a statement: “The injection of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy.”

On Tuesday (21 January), Trump revoked Executive Order 11246, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. President Johnson signed the original order on 24 September 1965, two years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

I don't know about you but I signed many diversity statements in my 40 years working and not one of them said anything about hiring minorities... all they said was I will not discriminate in hiring. And that is what gets the Republicans all in a tizzy. They want to discriminate! They want to fire us when we transition. They want to refuse to hire Blacks, Jews, or Muslims,

Trump’s order stated: “These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities.”

Notice the language he uses... "illegal DEI and DEIA" they are not illegal! But what do you expect from Trump... he lies constantly. The Harvard Business Review writes,,,

No, SCOTUS Did Not Make Your Company’s DEI Programs Illegal

By Joan C. Williams 

August 29, 2023

There’s a hustle afoot around the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down affirmative action, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. In a blog post titled “America First Legal Puts Woke Corporations… on Notice,” America First Legal, an organization headed by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller, asserts that “all DEI programs” are now “illegal.” Miller offers pro bono legal help against “institutions perpetuating woke fascist bigotry against our fellow citizens.”

This is politics, folks; don’t mistake it for law.

At the most basic level, the Supreme Court’s decision interpreted the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which does not typically apply to private employers. Also basic: Race-based employment decisions already were illegal under Title VII, a federal statute. That precludes practices like reserving hiring or promotion slots for people of color and using race as a tiebreaker.

Moreover, nine states already prohibit affirmative action based on race, typically based on their state constitutions. In California, where I live, Proposition 209 prohibited affirmative action based on race in state university admissions, state hiring, and state contracting nearly 30 years ago. I have never heard a whisper that Prop 209 makes DEI programs of private companies illegal.

So commentary opining that “corporations…[will] just shut down all their DEI work” and “corporate diversity efforts [are] in legal trouble” seems a bit hysterical.

No they are not hysterical, they are targeted to promote the party line... DEI is bad!

When you are a racist... DEI programs are bad!

By the way,,, all this DEI stuff comes out of Project 2025:

Equality Under Fire: Threats to Civil Rights Protections and Equal Opportunity

Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Thurgood Marshall Institute

Project 2025 will dismantle the civil rights tools that people living in the United States have relied on for decades to create a fairer and more inclusive society and economy, and eliminate federal policies and practices that help ensure equal opportunities for Black people. These proposals, from ending data collection on race to weakening the government’s ability to fight discrimination, will frustrate efforts to remedy racial inequality. Opponents of civil rights are already working to turn these proposals into reality. 

In terms of civil rights enforcement, Project 2025 will harm Black communities by:

• Preventing the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws by halting the collection of workforce data
• Eliminating policies that ensure equal employment opportunities at the federal level
• Curtailing civil rights protections, making it harder to identify and remedy discrimination
• Weaponizing civil rights enforcement by the EEOC and the DOJ
• Importance of Anti-Discrimination Tools

LDF's Vision for Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity

The foundation of a thriving multi-racial democracy is a society in which high-quality education, good jobs, and economic mobility are available to all—regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics. All Americans benefit from workplaces and institutions where everyone is valued and can contribute their skills and perspectives. Talent is everywhere; policymakers must ensure that opportunity is, too.

Importantly, removing barriers for Black people and other historically marginalized groups increases opportunities for all. Closing racial gaps in wages and access to financial and educational resources will help grow the economy. Due to discrimination, since 2000 the United States has lost out on $16 trillion in goods and services.44 As the nation becomes increasingly diverse, creating an inclusive and equitable society is an even greater moral and economic imperative.

Do you remember the salute that Musk made during the inauguration ceremonies? I think that it  might be starting to make sense?

Speak Up... Speak Out!

An ally speak up!

It is time for out allies to speak up and speak out!

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(Check out the very end)

You Know…

… Who write “Profiles In Courage” back in 1955? John F. Kennedy and I recommend adding another name to the list, Bishop Mariann Budde. You know who she is? She is the bishop who stood up and told Trump to his face… You back off attacking minorities during a sermon at the Presidential inauguration mass. OHHHHhhh… did Trump do a slow burn.

Trump launches savage attack on bishop who asked for ‘mercy’ for minorities

U.S. president calls the clergywoman a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” “ungracious,” “nasty” and “not compelling or smart.”

Politico

By Seb Starcevic

January 22, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump hit out Wednesday at a bishop who directly called on him to show mercy to immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

During the inaugural prayer service Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral attended by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and their families, the Right Rev Mariann Budde delivered a sermon in which she appealed to Trump to be merciful to minorities, “some who fear for their lives.”

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said, referring to “gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families.”

Most “immigrants are not criminals,” she added. “They pay taxes and are good neighbors.”

Trump hit back in the early hours of Wednesday on his social media platform Truth Social, calling Budde a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who is “not very good at her job” and demanding an apology.

Have you noticed something? The right-wing Christians constantly preach against us from the pulpit, not only us but also undocumented immigrants, and other minorities. It seems to me that he got some of his own medicine.

 Budde has clashed with Trump before, writing an opinion piece in The New York Times in 2020 saying she was “outraged” and “horrified” by his use of the Bible “for his political purposes” amid racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Trump sat stone-faced throughout Budde’s sermon and later told reporters he didn’t think it was a “good service,” while Vance appeared incredulous at the bishop’s remarks.

Yeah but he still will be a jerk. He still will be the same, and I bet he will seek vengeance on her somehow. And I will also bet you that he will never set foot in that church again.

 

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The backlash of Trump's Executive Order that was so poorly write that technically it makes everyone a woman! You see it say that you are the gender at conception and every fetus starts off as female and it isn't until 7 or 8 weeks later that testosterone washing over the fetus to convert the fetus to male.

 

 

Speaking To Power

On Sunday I wrote how religious leader has to speak up about the persecution of minorities well one bishop listened and spoke up to Trump.

Bishop at inaugural prayer service urges Trump to 'have mercy' on LGBTQ children, immigrants

Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders on LGBTQ issues and immigration within hours of being sworn in as president.

NBC News

By Matt Lavietes and Tara Prindiville

January 21, 2025

The bishop leading the inaugural prayer service on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to "have mercy" on his constituents, specifically naming LGBTQ people and immigrants.

The sermon by the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, was part of a larger post-Inauguration Day interfaith ceremony at Washington National Cathedral. Trump was seated in the first row alongside first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance during the service, a tradition undertaken by presidents of both parties.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who was looking directly at the president. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”

She added: "They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues."

Thank you! Thank you Bishop!

The some Republicans are hopping mad that she used the sermon to castigate him...

GOP member wants bishop ‘added to deportation list’ after Trump prayer service

The Hill

By Ashleigh Fields

January 21, 2025

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) heavily criticized statements made by the Right Rev. Mariann Budde on Tuesday at the inaugural prayer service held for President Trump.

“The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list,” Collins wrote in a post on X with a clip of Budde’s comments.

Collins’s statement comes after Trump’s promise to carry out the largest deportation in the country’s history.

We need more religious leads to speak up against tyranny!

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Update 1/23 @ 2PM

This was on the Episcopalians on Facebook Facebook page.

President Trump,

1. Much like those who do not want you to be president, you do not get to decide whether a bishop’s office is legitimate.   She was chosen by the people of her diocese to be their bishop. Then, she was granted consent to be a bishop by other bishops and standing committees of our church’s dioceses. Beginning by calling her a “so-called” bishop is an obvious low blow to discredit her as a person, rather than what she actually said that you disagree with.  The Episcopal Church was legitimate enough to hold your third wedding, the funeral of Melania’s mother, and the baptism of your son, Barron.  Barron also attended an Episcopal day school.  Now you have an issue with how we do things when it doesn’t go your way? 

2. You didn’t have an issue with politics being brought into the church by the ministers who spoke at your inauguration, or by yourself for that matter. They were blatantly partisan, crediting God for your political success: “Mr. President, the last four years there were times I'm sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done," Graham said.  

3. She wasn’t nasty in tone, plain and simple.  I can’t remember ever hearing a homily given in such a gracious manner and calm tone.  If you disagree, listen to her speak.  You may disagree with what she said, but her tone was in no way “nasty.” Additionally, insulting her intelligence, rather than quoting what you disagreed with, is a very typical play coming from a narcissist. 

4. The vast majority of people who have committed crimes in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.  Defending yourself about being asked to have mercy on immigrants by saying a “large number of illegal migrants came into our country and killed people” is a gross misrepresentation and does not make sense.   By that logic, we should be locking up or deporting all Americans because the majority of crimes were committed by citizens.  We do need to improve our immigration system, but scripture commands us as Christians to have mercy. Mercy is a central tenet of our faith.   Matthew 5:7 says “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Leviticus 19: 33-34 says, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” If you have a take issue with this, take it up with God.  

5. Saying the service was boring and uninspiring is a move to discredit the event, rather than what specifically was said.  However, it’s worth mentioning that the purpose of a service is not to be “exciting”. There are several purposes for our services, such as honoring God, bringing us closer to God, and being in community with one another.  Being “exciting” is not one of them.  As far as inspiration goes, that is in the eye of the beholder.   You get as much out of it as you put into it.  

6. The bishop does not owe you an apology.  Our church does not owe you an apology.  All you were asked to do is what scripture directly asks us to do.  If you could quote one thing she asked of you that isn’t asked of us in scripture, we would apologize. Someone recently reminded me of something I often heard growing up in church. If you are offended by a minister’s sermon or feel that it was a personal attack, look to see if you can find anything they said that was out of line with scripture and the teachings of Jesus.  If you can’t, that feeling is what we call, “being convicted of your sin”.  The fact you are so offended by what was said shows you know there is truth in it.  To your supporters who also feel offended by it, the same goes.

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Update 1/23 @ 7:45PM

The Bishop just went up a notch in my eyes... Why? This is from 2018, the Matthew Shepard website...

Matthew Shepard to be Interred at Washington National Cathedral

Matthew Shepard, who was murdered at 21 years old in 1998 in an anti-gay hate crime, will be interred at Washington National Cathedral following a service of thanksgiving and remembrance on Friday, Oct. 26, at the request of the Shepard family. This Friday, Oct. 12, is the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s death. The service will celebrate and recall Shepard’s life and will be followed by a private interment in the Cathedral crypt. The service will be presided over by the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, and the Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Plausible Deniability

Did you see it?

There is a big discussion over what Musk did at the end of his speech and that is where plausible deniability comes in.

Elon Musk’s gesture has drawn comparisons to Roman salutes by right-wing fans. But, what exactly is one?
The salute became popularized in the 18th and 19th centuries in artworks and theatre performances, showing Romans saluting as a way of greeting each other
The Independent
By Gustaf Kilander
21 January 2025

Elon Musk has been slammed online after his gesture at Trump’s inauguration was compared to a “Nazi salute.” However, some of his biggest fans rushed to his defense calling it a Roman salute and trying to downplay the connection to World War II Germany.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO dismissed the comparison to the Nazi and wrote on X that his critics “need better dirty tricks.”

“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” he added.

During the 2024 campaign, Musk joined forces with President Donald Trump, helping him win by donating more than $250 million to the efforts to get Trump elected. Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and renamed it X, faced widespread backlash for seemingly mimicking a Nazi salute multiple times during his appearance in Capital One Arena in downtown Washington.

And his comments afterward leave little doubt that this was plausible deniability… oh it was only a Roman salute, un hun… do you know who also used the so called Roman salute? Gee… it was the Nazis. I say so called Roman salute because,

The salute, also known as the Roman salute, involves putting your arm forward with fingers together and your palm downwards. It’s alleged to have been used in ancient Rome, but there’s no Roman text that describes the salute. In the 1930s and 1940s, it became associated with the Nazi party in Germany.

They created this lie just for one reason… plausible deniability except for one thing, last month,

Musk causes uproar for backing Germany’s far-right party ahead of key elections
AP News
December 29, 2024


Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused uproar after backing Germany’s far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest.

Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy.

Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag — a sister publication of POLITICO owned by the Axel Springer Group — published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he supported the Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated commentary.

He went on to say the far-right party “can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”

The German news outlet DW wrote…

He wrote that the nationalist party was "the last spark of hope for the country," which he claimed was teetering on the brink of "economic and cultural collapse," and that only the AfD could revive the German economy and prevent a loss of identity through a "controlled immigration policy."

"To those who condemn the AfD as extremist, I say: Don't let the label attached to it put you off," Musk wrote. "The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party's leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!"

As to the question “Does that sound like Hitler to you?” Yes it does… that are the very same issues the Hitler ran on; the economy, immigration, and :on the brink of ‘economic and cultural collapse,’” and by the way the same issues Trump ran on. This is what is called "gaslighting" trying to get you to believe what you saw wasn't true, They are still doing the gaslighting today with Jan6 insurrections, just yesterday Trump calling the convicted felons who murder and attacked the Capitol police... Hostages!

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While we are on the topic of racism... Trump:

Trump rolls back bedrock civil rights measure in sweeping anti-DEI push

Axios

By Russell Contreras and Emily Peck

January 22, 2025

President Trump issued a sweeping executive order revoking decades of diversity and affirmative action practices in federal government.

Why it matters: This takes the current pushback on diversity, equity and inclusion into the next stratosphere — abolishing decades of government standards on diversity and equal opportunity, and seeking to crackdown on the same in the private sector.

Zoom out: Trump's order revokes one that President Johnson signed on September 24, 1965, more than two years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

• LBJ's order gave the Secretary of Labor the authority to ensure equal opportunity for people of color and women in federal contractors' recruitment, hiring, training and other employment practices.
• It required federal contractors to refrain from employment discrimination and take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity "based on race, color, religion, and national origin."
• The order came more than a year after Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and just months after he signed the Voting Rights Act following violent attacks on voting rights advocates in Selma, Ala.

[...]

Zoom in: Trump's order directs all "executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements."

• And it extends out to the private sector: "I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs."
• "The Federal Government is charged with enforcing our civil-rights laws.  The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination."
• It goes a step further and orders federal agencies to compile lists of public companies, universities and large foundations for investigations and possible civil action over their DEI programs.

Between the lines: Close Trump allies want to dramatically change the government's interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color, Axios' Alex Thompson has reported.

Question: Do you think that this fits right in with the White Christian Nationalist movement?

Now consider this...

Donald Trump was accused of racism long before his presidency, despite what online posts claim

AP News

By  PHILIP MARCELO

July 28, 2023

CLAIM: Donald Trump was never called a racist until he ran for president.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The federal government sued Trump for allegedly discriminating against Black apartment seekers in the 1970s. Black pastors also accused the New York businessman of stirring racial animus during the “Central Park Five” rape case in the 1980s. Native American groups criticized him for making derogatory remarks about tribes seeking to build casinos in the 1990s. Trump was also a leading voice of the “birther” conspiracy that baselessly claimed former President Barack Obama was from Africa and not an American citizen.

[...]

But there’s ample evidence showing that Trump has been called out for bigotry and racism throughout his decades in the public eye.

In 1973, for example, the Justice Department sued the real estate tycoon and his father for their alleged refusal to rent apartments in predominantly white buildings to Black tenants. Testimony showed that applications filed by Black apartment seekers were marked with a “C” for “colored.”

The lawsuit ended in a settlement in which the Trumps acknowledged they “failed and neglected” to comply with the Fair Housing Act, though they were never required to explicitly acknowledge discrimination had occurred. 

Then... USA Today Fact Check wrote,

The claim: Fred Trump, President Donald Trump’s father, was arrested at a KKK rally in 1927

Numerous posts to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have resurrected a claim that the president’s father was arrested during a 1927 Ku Klux Klan rally that turned violent in Queens, New York. The accusation first surfaced during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Recent posts began appearing amid nationwide protests spawned by the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25. The claim about Trump’s father gained traction after Utah Republican U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney — a frequent target of Trump’s ire — posted a photo of his father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, participating in a civil rights march in Detroit in the 1960s.

[...]

Details on the incident

The information available in the New York Times article made it difficult to figure out whether Trump’s father was directly involved in the melee or was simply a bystander, falsely accused or otherwise the victim of mistaken identity during the chaotic event. There is no indication in the article that Trump’s father was a member or supporter of the KKK.

Police records are not available.

The Fact Checkers reported...

We find this claim to be PARTLY FALSE based on our research. News reports from the day show a Fred Trump was detained at a KKK rally in 1927. But there is no evidence that Trump, father to the president, was a member or supporter of the KKK. Posts that discuss simply the detention — for which there are no existing arrest records — without context are misleading.

---

What do you think about the about the salute now? A Roman salute or a Nazi salute? 

online polls

---

Update 1/23 @ 6AM

Since I wrote this the flap has gotten even bigger and so has the gaslighting!

• German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach expressed serious concern, stating the gesture "must worry every democrat" (Fox 5)
• Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a fascism historian, labeled it a "Nazi salute – and a very aggressive one" (Aljazeera)
• Kurt Braddock, a communication professor, insisted observers should trust their perceptions and that the reaction is "not trivial" (AP News)

Meanwhile the far-right is embracing it...

• White nationalist Keith Woods posted "Maybe woke really is dead" (Fox 5)
• Brian Levin emphasized that as a prominent figure, Musk's gesture "warrants an explanation" (Fox 5)

And the gaslighting continues! Plausible deniability what you saw wasn't what you saw.

---

Updated 1/23 @ 2:30PM

A friend sent me this about "Old Man Trump" but not the orange guy but his father...

I Ain't Got No Home/Old Man Trump  Woody Guthrie

Like father, like son.

The $64,000 Question

The question is can a presidential executive order override a state law?

That is the question for the next four years... Trump has a slew of EO that he is itching to get out, will they over ride state laws? Since I am not a lawyer I asked Perplexity AI, which is also not a lawyer but it may have more smarts then a lawyer.

Can a presidential executive order override a state law?

Answer:
Executive orders cannot directly override state laws. The U.S. Constitution establishes a system of federalism, where federal and state governments have separate spheres of authority (1, 5). However, there are situations where executive orders can indirectly impact state laws:

•     Federal Preemption: If an executive order is based on a federal law that preempts state law, it may effectively override conflicting state legislation (5).
•    Constitutional Authority: If an executive order is grounded in the president's constitutional powers, it may supersede state laws in specific areas where the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction (5) .
•     Funding Leverage: Executive orders can affect federal funding to states, potentially influencing state policies indirectly (3).

It's important to note that executive orders are subject to judicial review. If a state believes an executive order unconstitutionally infringes on its authority, it can challenge the order in court (1,5). The Supreme Court has the power to invalidate executive orders that exceed the president's constitutional authority or conflict with existing laws (2).

 

Ultimately, the relationship between executive orders and state laws is complex and often depends on the specific content of the order, the area of law it addresses, and the constitutional balance of power between federal and state governments.

So what it seems to say is that Trump cannot override state laws on non-discrimination however they can deny changing gender markers on passports. They can do away with "Non-binary" on federal forms including passports.

Trump to sign executive orders proclaiming there are only two biological sexes, halting diversity programs
The White House officials grouped both orders under the Trump administration’s wider “restoring sanity” agenda. 

NBC News

By Daniel Arkin, Yamiche Alcindor and Matt Lavietes

January 20, 2024

President Donald Trump on Monday plans to sign executive orders proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies, according to senior White House officials.

The officials grouped both orders under the Trump administration’s wider “restoring sanity” agenda. The orders were detailed by an incoming official on a phone call Monday ahead of Trump’s swearing-in.

The official presented the gender order as part of a policy “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”

The order aims to require that the federal government use the term “sex” instead of “gender,” and directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “ensure that official government documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately.”

That will deny all intersex people of their true gender! Many intersex people do not identify as the arbitrary gender assigned at birth. The Intersex People Oppose Trump Administration's interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth writes,

“Intersex people have historically been erased by unnecessary shame, stigma and non-consensual medical intervention. Increasingly we’re speaking out and fighting back, and today louder than ever and in solidarity with our trans and gender non-conforming peers.”

—Kimberly Zieselman (she/her), Executive Director, interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth

“Any quest to define a bodily ‘marker’ to categorize and control marginalized sex, gender, and sexuality identities is not only false science, but fundamentally dangerous. The Administration’s proposed sex and gender definitions erase intersex people, too. We are here to resist alongside our trans and gender non-conforming family.”

—Hans Lindahl (she/they), Communications Director, interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth

“This administration’s stance regarding discontinuation of gender marker changes is violence against transgender and intersex communities. The administration's inflexibility could create a situation in which intersex and trans people that have been wrongfully assigned to a gender due to false perceptions of science cannot access passports, state IDs, and travel, in addition to the various forms of violence already existing against these groups.”

—Robyn Foley (they/them), interACT Youth member, intersex and transgender advocate

They go on to support us...

Intersex people are here to show solidarity with our trans and gender non-conforming family. This is an attack on all of us, a continuation of centuries of violence against difference, and we will not rest until we have won.

I cannot speak for the community but I stand in solidarity with our intersex family.

I'm The Greatest!

You all have heard Trump boast about the "Biggest Victory", "A Landslide", it was not "was not a victory of “epic” or “historic” proportions yet... it is just more lies! The headline in "The Nation" says it all,

Donald Trump Has Not Won a Majority of the Votes Cast for President

Donald Trump’s popular vote total has fallen below 50 percent, and his margin over Kamala Harris has narrowed considerably as all the votes are counted.

Keeping that in mind, the voters didn't care about us, they only cared about the economy... So now one of the first legislation that they tackle is not the economy but us!

What’s Really Behind the House Bill to Ban Transgender Athletes from School Sports?

Trans people comprise a scant portion of athletes, at all levels, but the drive to bar them from participating in competitive sports has never been about numbers.

The New Yorker

By Louisa Thomas

January 19, 2025

What did people care about in the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential election? Last fall, Gallup ran a poll and asked. The economy was first on the list; most voters rated it as “extremely important.” Majorities of respondents also named a slew of other issues as either “extremely important” or “very important” to their vote: democracy in the U.S., terrorism and national security, picks for Supreme Court Justices, immigration, health care, gun policy, taxes, abortion, crime, income and wealth distribution, the federal budget deficit, foreign affairs, energy policy, race relations, and so on. In fact, only two issues on the list were not considered at least “very important” by a majority of voters. One was climate change, which half of those surveyed voted as “somewhat important” or “not important.” The other was transgender rights, which came last.

We were dead last on what the voters were concern but the first thing that they tackle. When I was on the radio interview with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), they said that there were about a quarter million student athletes in Connecticut and about a dozen trans athletes!

But the drive to ban transgender athletes from sports has never been about numbers. In 2023, Ohio’s House of Representatives passed a bill banning trans girls from competing in girls’ sports as early as kindergarten. It was called the Save Women’s Sports Act, conjuring an image of barbarians at the gate. But, when the journalist Pablo Torre went looking for these girls who were, purportedly, breaking all the records and stealing all the opportunities, he found that, when the efforts of the measure began, there was one trans varsity athlete in Ohio: a backup catcher. (She wasn’t very good.) When the governor of Mississippi signed a bill in 2021 barring trans athletes from competing in sports according to their gender, supporters of the bill didn’t present evidence of trans athletes at public schools in the state. Around that time, the Associated Press contacted two dozen lawmakers who were sponsoring legislation to prohibit transgender girls from joining girls’ teams at public high schools, in addition to reaching out to conservative groups that were supporting the bills. In most cases, no one could cite any problematic instances of transgender participation. Many of the bills’ biggest advocates did not know whether there were any transgender athletes in their states at all.

[...]

Given how vanishingly few transgender athletes there are, and how many voters pointed to other policy issues as greater priorities, a rational person might have been confused. But the Trump campaign seemed to capitalize on a few things. A 2023 Gallup poll found that sixty-nine per cent of Americans favor restrictions on transgender athletes, a seven-percentage-point increase from 2021. It doesn’t seem to matter that there aren’t all that many trans people playing competitive sports. And fans are not rational when they’re watching the University of Michigan play Michigan State. Football is a zero-sum game. The ads were zero-sum, too—them versus you.

But that doesn't fit the Republican's narrative that we are taking over women sports. Instead they make up lies and persecute us for votes.

Trump claims that the voters don't want  trans athletes which is a lie... Trump lies, the Republicans in Congress, the Republicans in the states legislatures lie, how can you trust them?

Here in Connecticut they have introduced trans athletes bills...

• HB5125 AN ACT PROHIBITING STUDENTS WHO ARE BIOLOGICAL MALES FROM COMPETING ON FEMALE-ONLY ATHLETIC TEAMS AND USING FEMALE-ONLY LOCKER ROOMS AND FACILITIES.
• HB5352 AN ACT PROHIBITING STUDENTS WHO ARE BIOLOGICAL MALES FROM COMPETING ON FEMALE-ONLY ATHLETIC TEAMS AND USING FEMALE-ONLY LOCKER ROOMS AND FACILITIES.
• HB5669 AN ACT PROHIBITING STUDENTS WHO ARE BIOLOGICAL MALES FROM COMPETING ON FEMALE-ONLY ATHLETIC TEAMS AND USING FEMALE-ONLY LOCKER ROOMS AND FACILITIES.
• HB5789  AN ACT ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPATION IN MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETIC PROGRAMS.
• SB592 AN ACT CONCERNING PARTICIPATION ON A YOUTH SPORTS TEAM BASED ON ASSIGNED SEX AT BIRTH.
• SB690 AN ACT PROVIDING CIVIL IMMUNITY TO INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ORGANIZATIONS AND THE SANCTIONING BODIES OF PRIVATE YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADOPT GENDER IDENTITY POLICIES CONCERNING ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION AND COMPETITION.

These are just the ones introduced so far in the first two weeks of the session that the Republicans has introduced.

The Opening Round.

Just like the Republicans filed anti-trans bills on the first day so did Trump with a slew of Executive Orders (This afternoon I write about the legality the EOs) but just as fast as Trump was signing them lawyers for advocacy groups filed lawsuits.

Elon Musk's DOGE faces lawsuits as Donald Trump takes office

USA Today

By Bart Jansen

January 20, 2025

Advocacy groups filed at least four lawsuits Monday to prevent President Donald Trump and his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency from holding secret meetings or withholding documents about its recommendations.

In one case, the groups Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit to ensure DOGE, which isn’t a department of the federal government, conducts public meetings and produces records as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

DOGE is the Musk-led commission that will aim to cut trillions in spending and regulations from the federal government

I am kind of a state employee, I say that because I am on a council to advise the governor on hate crimes, the council was created by statue, even though it is a voluntary position I still had to sign all the documents other state employees have to sign. And all our meeting are open to the public and so are the meeting minutes. Musk and company should have to do the same.

A similar lawsuit was filed by groups including the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers, Minority Veterans of America, VoteVets Action Fund and Center for Auto Safety, represented by Democracy Forward and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The Center Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit. And the group National Security Counselors, which advocates for transparency in national security issues, made a similar argument in another lawsuit.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington this press release on their website,

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is operating in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Public Health Association, American Federation of Teachers, Minority Veterans of America, VoteVets Action Fund, Center for Auto Safety, Inc., and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), represented by Democracy Forward and CREW. The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the establishment of DOGE is unlawful, and for the court to force DOGE to comply with the transparency, ethics, records retention and equal representation required under FACA.

Currently, DOGE is operating unchecked, without authorization or funding from Congress and is led by unelected billionaires who are not representative of ordinary Americans. DOGE representatives have reportedly already been speaking with agency officials throughout the federal government, and communication is allegedly taking place on Signal, a messaging app known for its auto-delete features.  

The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that advisory committees follow a specific authorization process, include a balanced membership, have a clear charter including the scope of the committee’s activities, have meetings open to the public and disclose records to the public. DOGE is currently in violation of these requirements, and the lawsuit seeks to pull DOGE into the light, so the public has the ability to hold it accountable for the sweeping changes its unelected and unaccountable leaders plan to make.

A law created the governor’s advisory council, all the meetings are taped, I am also on the LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network which was also created by state statue and given a small budget.

AP News reported that Trump...

He signed orders for increasing border security, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, limiting birthright citizenship, freezing new regulations and establishing a task force for reducing the size of the federal government. He also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Um... it is written in the Constitution... the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Specifically, it states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." But the Constitution means nothing to Lord Trump.

His first action after arriving at the White House was pardoning about 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, even if they had been convicted of assaulting police officers. Trump commuted the sentences of another 14 people, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

He freed his "White Shirts!" so much for supporting the police! Just another lie.

---

Updated 10:30AM

Right now I am on a video conference of the Governor's Advisory Council on Hate Crimes... it is open to the public and allows comments on the meeting. Per the law, the meeting and the agenda was posted two weeks before the meeting. We have two non-members attending the meeting. Then the minutes of the meeting is posted on the internet.

Musk and company should have to obey all laws and especial for their meetings and Federal Advisory Committee Act law.

---

Update 2:30PM

The New York Times...

Attorneys general from 18 states sued President Trump on Tuesday to block an executive order that refuses to recognize the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants as citizens, the opening salvo in what promises to be a long legal battle over the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts was joined by the cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The states view Mr. Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship as “extraordinary and extreme,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who led the legal effort along with the attorneys general from California and Massachusetts. “Presidents are powerful, but he is not a king. He cannot rewrite the Constitution with a stroke of the pen.”

And so it begins!

---

I had a "Team" meeting this morning on legislation we are going to submit to the legislature on behalf of the governor's advisory council. Then in the afternoon I spoke to two legislators about legislation for LGBTQ+ elders

The Dirge

The Final Word...

[Editorial]

... at least for today.

Remember we are not alone, all the minorities are goin to feel the "Wrath of Trump" and what we have to work do is work together to turn make sure that in two years we get Congress back. We are going to be going through some tough times especially our youth. They are going to be bearing the blunt of the Republican attacks.

Trump has said he was going to release a 100 executive orders including many of them attacking trans youth healthcare. Our legal advocates will be filing many court challenges to the EO and new laws, consider donating to them, the are not like the right-wing conservative billionaires who can write a check for a hundred million dollars at the drop if a hat.

USA Today wrote,

'Transgender lunacy'

Trump has promised first-day action taking aim at rights for transgender people, including making it the official policy of the U.S. government to recognize only two genders: males and females.

"With the stroke of my pen, on Day 1, we're going to stop the transgender lunacy," Trump said in a speech last month in Phoenix.

Trump said he will sign executive orders to end "child sexual mutilation," get transgender people out of the military and public schools, and to keep athletes born male biologically from participating in women's sports.

The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in women's and girls' school sports, but it's unclear if the legislation can garner 60 Senate votes and eventually make it to Trump's desk for signature into law.

We are going to be hit with a tsunami of legislation... federal, state, and local!

We need to get our allies to speak up. When we were trying to pass the non-discrimination bill, I was at the Judiciary Committee hearing and an Episcopal Bishop and other religious leaders spoke passionately on behalf of the bill. Labor unions spoke for the bill. Teachers, nurses, doctors, students, the list was endless.

And we have to be there for each other, a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen. A friend questioned me after I posted that I was groggy from a too long of a nap, and they asked "Are you all right?" We have to look out for each other, sometimes all it takes is asking a friend if they are okay to save a life.

We cannot bring change alone... we need partners! I want to end this with a list of supporters for the 2008 non-discrimination bill... 

Organizations that support equality in gender identity and gender expression for all CT residents:

ACLU of Connecticut | American Federation of Teachers (CT) | Anti-Defamation League | CABO (The CT Alliance for Business Opportunities) | Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ | Connecticut National Organization for Women | Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc. | Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition | Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund | Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders | Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Connecticut | Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective | Hartford Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays | Gender PAC | Love Makes a Family | The Multicultural Leadership Institute, Inc. (MLI) | National Association of Social Workers (CT) | People of Faith for GLBT Civil Rights | Permanent Commission on the Status of Women | Planned Parenthood of Connecticut | National Association for Multicultural Education, Connecticut Chapter | National Gay & Lesbian Task Force | PRISM - SCSU | Rainbow Center - UConn | SAGE Center - SCSU | True Colors Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services of CT | Unitarian Universalist Society: East, Manchester

[/Editorial]

We Belong.

[Editorial]

We have always been here… the Republicans are trying to rewrite history. They are trying to make it sound like there were no trans people until recently.

They forget about Rene Richards.

They forget that we were at Stonewall.

They forget about Christine Jorgensen.

Going back even father, in Britain there were Molly Houses in the 1700s.

They don’t even know that a future President of the United States was a lawyer in a trial of trans person for assault.

They don't know that there was a French spy who lived as a woman and spied in the Russian royal court.

They don't know that there was even a Roman Caesar was trans, Elagabalus.

And there are some Bible scholars who say that in the Bible there are references to trans people.

Here in North America, the indigenous people had many names for trans people besides Two Spirit.

The Hijra, Fa'afafine, Muxé are some of the names that were given to trans people through out history.

We are here. We will not be denied our heritage. We will not be written out of history. We will not be demonized for political gain!

[/Editorial]

Your Silence Condones The Hatred.

[Editorial]

It is time for all religions to speak out against the hate… “We don’t criticizes other religions!” that does hold water anymore. People are dying.

Your silence is turning away people from religion. When people see these churches that are pushing for  a “Christian Nation” they think that all religions want a Christian Nation.

Your silence is turning away people from religion. When people see these churches that are oppressing the LGBTQ+ communities they think all religions are anti-LGBTQ+.

Your silence is turning away people from religion. When people hear the preach love of one another and then push their hate about others they think all religions are hypocrites.

Your silence is turning away people from religion. When people see these churches preach conservative politics, they think that all religions are right-wing conservatives.

Your silence is turning away people from religion. When people hear “Love they neighbor as your thy selves” and then hear the lies about trans people and gays they think all religions are like that.

Your silence is condoning the exodus from churches.

It is almost like there is an Eleventh Commandment… “Thou shall not criticizes other religions.”

It is time to stand up to politics that hide behind religion, your silence is giving them the power to shape the country into their vision of what the country should be… stop the hate! Nows the time to say no to HATE.

[/Editorial]

Tomorrow!

[Editorial]

Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'
Don't know where I'll be tomorrow
Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps turnin'
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'
Journey: Wheel In the Sky.

Tomorrow we start a new chapter in the history of the country, in the history of the world. We live in a tumultuous time that is oscillating on the brink of World War III, tomorrow the next president is sworn in, he is a president who likes chaos, he is a president who has sworn to be a dictator and prosecute those who oppose him, he is a president who have vowed to use troops in the streets to put down protest.

He paved the way to the presidency with hate. Hate for immigrants. Hate for those who look different from them. Hate for people who worship differently from them. Hate for those who love differently from them and hate for us.

We start a new page in our history and we have no idea how it will end. Four the next four year...

I will get by
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive
Grateful Dead: A Touch of Grey

[/Editorial]

A Double Cuckoo Award!!!

Wow! Trump just earned a double whammy! The headlines calls it a "Clown Car" and I second that. Trump has some kind of obsession with Hollywood as being too liberal. So...

‘Clown Show Alert’: Donald Trump’s ‘Special Envoys’ Announcement Leaves Critics Stunned

Commenters cackled about the president-elect's new "eyes and ears."

HuffPost

By Lee Moran

Jan 17, 2025

President-elect Donald Trump’s naming of actors Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood got the treatment on social media.

Trump on Thursday announced on his Truth Social platform that the trio will be “special envoys” and his “eyes and ears” in Tinseltown in a bid to boost the U.S. movie industry, which he claimed “has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries.”

So I ward Trump a Cuckoo Award with a Clown Car Cluster.

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Careless Whisper (1985)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this week's song, George Michael sings that, when it comes to relationships, "there's no comfort in the truth." Have you ever learned something about a friend, lover or relative that you wish you didn't know?

TMI… most definitely.

 

2) Though this was the top song of 1985, George wrote it years before, when he was still working as a dj at a restaurant outside London. He recalled the moment the sax solo popped into his head. It was while he was on the bus on his way to work. If you go to work, how do you get there (car, bus, train, etc.)? If you don't work outside the home, tell us about a trip you make regularly.

When I worked I drove the four miles, my car never heated up in the ten minute drive.

Now I try to avoid drying at night and my driving is basically limited to running errands. 

 

3) The video for this song was very expensive. It was filmed on location all around Miami, including the luxury Grove Towers Condominiums, but then much of it had to be reshot because George didn't like his hair. Are you having a good hair day today?

Well that presumes that you have hair.

4) 1985 was a big year for George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. As Wham! they had three songs on the charts and became the first Western pop music act to tour China. Have you ever visited China? Would you like to go?

NO! I will shout out the answer… no way. I believe that within four years we will be at war with China.

 

5) When he wasn't working, George was a creature of habit. For example, he never tired of Cocoa Puffs for breakfast and roast chicken for Sunday dinner. Is there a menu item you find yourself eating again and again?

Um… any long term players knows my answer. You know it will be be… Lobster.

Boil lobster

Lobster rolls.

Lobster Newburg

Lobster Tuscany…

Well you get the idea.

6) George enjoyed living quietly in Highgate, North London. It wasn't until after his death that his neighbors learned he was the "anonymous resident" who had been funding Highgate's Fair in the Square for years. Held in June each year, The Fair is known for its dog show, arts and crafts booths, music and food. Tell us about one of your community's annual events.

The local town fair that is run by the Lions Club, when I was in school we got a half day off so we could go to the fair.

 

7) According to Car and Driver, when "Careless Whisper" was popular, so was the Chevy Cavalier, a compact car. Nearly 40 years later, the vehicle landscape is very different. There are fewer compacts sold and last year, the most popular Chevy was the Silverado, a light duty truck. Do you drive a car, a truck, or an SUV?

Car. A Prius Plug-in

8) Also in 1985, Bill Shoemaker's earnings reached $100 million, making him the world's most successful jockey. Do you follow horse racing?

Nope. But I have a distant cousin who plays polo and has a string of polo horses.

9) Random question -- In which race would you do better: the Iditarod, with sled dogs in Nome, or speeding in a race car at the Indy 500?

Iditarod, that would be so near, in my younger days I would have picked auto racing.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!