I respect Lawrence Diggs. Every word he says in his pre-Christmas column is true:
It is quite easy to blame politicians for our problems. We have more power than politicians to bring change to our lives, but this requires that we reach out and connect with each other. It requires that we discover our mutual needs and try to help each other. It requires a mutual protection pact with all Americans and, by extension, to all humanity. It requires that we search for, discover and value what we have in common over the few things we have in difference. This does not require the permission of the government or anyone else [Lawrence Diggs, “Time for the Country to Unite Again,” Aberdeen American News, 2016.12.23].
People power—absolutely.
Yet I also read in this gentle populist tone a retreat from the war that decent people must fight against darkness. As Diggs exhorts us to smile and be nice to the neighbors around us, he turns us away from the language we must use to criticize and reject the evil that is taking hold of our government:
We can be more flexible. It is too easy to write people off as “sexist,” “racist,” “deplorable” or some other term that writes people off as “unredeemable.” It is useful to remember that change is hard and we are all victims of the same brainwashing that pits us against each other. We need to practice seeing each other as collaborators [Diggs, 2016.12.23].
We can only be so flexible. It is easy and necessary to describe Donald Trump and those around him as sexist, racist, and deplorable because they are sexist, racist, and deplorable. It is vital to remember that the change Donald Trump wants is not just hard but destructive. We are not all victims of the same brainwashing: some of us recognize that Donald Trump is a menace, and saying otherwise makes us collaborators in tyranny.
Yes, be nice to each other. Recognize our common humanity. But resist at every turn the greatest threat to our common humanity, the tyrant who is getting the nuclear codes for Christmas.
Trump is in favor of a nuclear arms race. He says “we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.” This nut actually thinks we can win a nuclear arms race. There are no winners in a nuclear arms race. There are only losers and bigger losers. He hasn’t been sworn in yet and he is already destabilizing the world. He is the tyrant we thought he would be and should be opposed in the strongest terms and with every non-violent means available.
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-on-nukes-let-it-be-an-arms-race-840234051934
From another site I frequent lately, the RAC-wingnuts plan is to turn 3 or 4 more state leges red and then they seriously plan to amend the constitution in their favor and make America whites only. And there doesn’t appear much the rest or majority of us will be able to do about it.
Good news Cory, President Obama has our back, he will give Trump the wrong nuclear code.
Roger, we can only hope! :-)
Actually, Roger, I couldn’t advocate that kind of sabotage, because we might need to nuke an incoming asteroid.
Darin, I agree that Trump’s nuclear tweet (not even a thought-out policy, not a product of lengthy deliberation and consultation, just another online outburst) demonstrates terrible judgment. The only circumstance in which “build more nuclear weapons” is an acceptable phrase is if it is followed immediately by, “for asteroid defense”… and even then, I’m open to debate about better deflector systems, like simple kinetic impacts, gravitational tugs, and big-fracking lasers.
Trump’s mad outbursts will not be stopped by gentle Christmas spirit. We can be good to our neighbors, but we also must not deny ourselves the strong, blunt language necessary to criticize the tyrant lurching toward the White House.
trump is not my president, nor pence my vice president. they are abhorrent to my eyes and ears and represent nearly everything i consider loathsome. they make me feel ill when i think about what they seek and i am depressed to think about the future of our country with them in charge of administration.
the little people, the uneducated, the left-behind whites get what they wanted, but a fool’s bargain i fear.
i will be among the resistance. happy new year.
Mr. richard, I am afraid to say that Mr. Trump will preside over all of us, whether we acknowledge or accept or even realize it. There are some fellows I know who really are not even aware of who the president is and yet Mr. Trump will preside over them too.
Glad to have you, PR. While I agree with Grudz on the exact meaning of words—Trump will technically, legally occupy the office—I’m willing to say that if he spends more time in his gold-plated Trump Tower or on the road at his little Führer rallies than in the White House, he won’t really be doing the job. He certainly does not deserve the job, and we should resist his efforts to misuse the power of that job at every turn.
This article speaks to the myth that racism didn’t play any role in Trump’s election and that it was just “the forgotten” that Trump appealed to in his election.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/us/lost-cause-trump/index.html
Obama mangled the mangled apricot for Most Admired Man and HRC won the award for the 15th straight year and 21st time overall.
Darin: fascinating and useful comparison of Southern “Lost Cause” denialism about slavery as root cause of the Civil War and today’s denialism about racism as the root cause of Trump’s victory. Also fascinating: the mention that vouchers originated as resistance to school integration. Fighting that deliberate historical blindness does not call for the gentle common-ground-seeking that Diggs invites. Fighting that blindness calls for throwing the BS flag in deniers’ faces.