The Big Pie in the Sky

Trump extrapolating about economic issues, the metapicture of growth in American Business, is a laugh-riot.  As a predictor Trump is a zero -- witness his inability to predict correctly the winner of the recent Presidential election. He lost (though he claimed he won); or, he won by the greatest electoral vote ever (he didn't); or, he predicted he would win (he was sure he would lose and was more surprised and shocked than anyone that he had won).

So tonight's speech is front of Congress (those who show up and don't deliberately shun him) will be a fiscal "pie in the sky" type speech. Yes, politicians always hyperbolize -- but not like Trump will. He brags; he makes things up; he tries to create his own truths. His "truthiness" (to use a Colbert term) in "untruthy!" He is a liar; and he will lie tonight trying to inspire his sycophants.

Is Trump the Devil?

In short, NO! Trump is not the Devil; he is not Satan; he is not Beelzebub!  He is not smart enough or experienced enough about life to be any of these masterful evil spirits. Trump is rather an American "bumpkin." A man for whom no amount of education could ever be enough; a man for whom even simple pieces of information are too much.

He is not a thinker. He is not a doer. He is a scared man of privilege who has built a reputation as a "mediator" and "manager" when he is also neither of those. His Father taught him to be a boor, and a NYC business "suck up"; and he has parlayed that into a hotel chain, a golf club chain, and a string of properties that have his name on them (but merely for "rental" purposes only you understand). 

Trump is a cheat. A now you see it, but you never saw it really, kind of guy. He lies. He fabricates emotion. He pretends to feel and to judge when the reality is he is capable of neither skill. He does not feel as we do -- he only knows his own very limited lifestyle. He cannot judge as we do because he does not have a moral, cultural, nor human measuring stick. He is a failure as a human being. And he still is our President. Resist.    

Youth and Age

My youngest students are terrific examples of  "hope for the future." The students at ECCA that are in my class(es) are mostly 14 and 15 years of age. That does not make them stupid; they are definitely not that.  They are inexperienced in many ways, a bit naive, and untrained in many ways. But they bring integrity, honest, and incredible vigor to the educational process.

My oldest students are mostly "back in school" trying to improve themselves and better their educational strengths and their positions in life. "Jobs" are important but truly take a second place to learning for the sake of growing.

I admire both groups. They are working with knowledge for the right reasons even if they self-declare, as some do, that they "hate school."  

Resist

Resist hatred; resist racism; resist autocracy; resist ignorance; resist white supremacy; resist the alt-right; resist male superiority; resist the KKK; resist the anti-gay factions; resist a lack of tolerance;
resist the Religious Right; resist hypocrisy; resist lying; resist treason; resist capitalism as a moral system; resist one-size-fits-all; resist solipsism; resist party-over-country; resist Donald J. Trump.

Indomitable Ignorance

For all of you out there who voted for Trump -- gaze with horror on his Cabinet choices; be ashamed at how your vote has pushed us back to the McCarthy era in government ; realize that you helped elect someone who may ultimately "sink our whole county" in his inane desire to "get the best deal;" understand the reality of choosing ignorance and inexperience over competence; take responsibility for your part in the debacle that is this administration; accept the fact that your "desire for change" or to "shake up the status quo" gives us a whole new world of possibilities -- and most of them are bad.

You can't just walk away, Trump voter!  Your didn't like Hillary -- why? Because of Bill? Because of her faithfulness to a broken marriage, and an unfaithful husband? Because she was "smarter than you?" Well, you certainly got what you voted for now, didn't you. A buffoon; a television  star; a moronic and short-sighted tweeter-in-chief!  Donald J. Trump!!!

Deport Trump

Who is more American? The immigrant who works hard for his family (both here in the US and in his home country); who honors his Church, his family, his children; who gives his time and effort into being a good Father, a loving husband, a good and honorable man --- or Donald Trump.

Donald Trump routinely violates laws of decency and fair play in everything he does. Donald Trump makes up "facts" and then blames others for his short-sighted and ridiculous mistakes. Donald Trump justifies his prejudices with strange "conspiracy theories" and ironically passionate versions of patriotism, love of country, and false piety. Donald Trump perhaps loves his family -- but the female members (Ivanka) in perhaps the "wrong way" or the tortured way (Melania). His sons and son-in-law's he "loves" but only when their skills can extend his own meagre ones.

Donald Trump is a loser and an autocrat; a narcissist and a boorish pig. Donald Trump is the current President of the United States. Pray that we can survive him.  

President's Day 2017

This is not Donald Trump's Day, this is President's Day. Donald Trump will not truly become a "President" until he proves himself -- not just in drawing up "executive orders" (which are like 'sticky notes' from god) --  but in GOVERNING the NATION. Donald J. Trump is, unfortunately, our President. We are stuck with him.

We need him -- however, to grow up; to trim the "fat" off of his own gigantic ego; to understand that the President is not just the CEO of a company; he is the Father of the Nation. (I know, I can hear you scoffing at me -- "Father of the Nation -- that Jerk; not gonna happen!" All things being equal I am sure you are correct in your scoffs! But history and events may make Trump, if not change, at least adjust to the role of President. And for him that would be enough.

History may write a script of "war with China (or North Korea -- with China in their corner)" -- would that shock Trump into humanity, knowing that any and every decision might mean thousands of lives lost? What if one of his current mis-steps launches us into a full-fledged religions war with Islam? Could happen, especially with the "loose talk" and ridiculous thinking used by the Trump Team. Then what? A religions "civil war" in America? Or inside and outside of America?

Perhaps Trump will decide to "really put down this resisting protesters" -- jail for all of them right, they're all hired thugs, right? Wrong!!! Just as so many of Trump's absurd assertions! No this is not Trump's Day -- it is President's Day 2017.

World in Panic, Thanks to Trump

The unpredictability of the President of the United States is unnerving to leaders around the world, and to the more thoughtful citizens of America as well.  What will he do? What will he say on "twitter world?" What strange Presidential "decree" will he try this time? How will he disrupt the normal, change the sane to the chaotic, assume knowledge while spouting ignorance?

Trump is not normal. Trump is not a normal American. Trump is not a normal politician. Trump is not a normal human being. At times he seems sociopathic in a way that makes comparisons to previous sociopathic leaders inevitable. Hitler? Mussolini?

But Trump could be worse than all of the other autocrats in history? Why? Because he is taking a country which is already at a "high" level, denigrating and degrading it, and turning it towards being one of his many "failed" businesses.

Trumps's World is Awash With LIes

Putin (and his intelligence agencies) offer cover to Trump (and his cronies) discussing future changes in America's sanctions towards Russia.  The American and World Press "dig in" and see out the truth.
American "spy" agencies reveal they have been "taping the calls" between Trump staff (pre-election) and Russian officials. That is a violation of US law.

Trump, like the proverbial "bull-____ter in the china shop," attacks the press yesterday in a long, long tirade of lies, charges of "fake news" (now an official cliche and trumpism); he continually blames the press for its angry "tone" against him -- as if somehow implying that the press (and many Americans) hate Trump for no good reason. But there are plenty of good reasons.

Lies, bad policies, counter-productive policies, badly-rolled-out counter-productive policies, more lies to cover his failures, more bragging to bolster his imagined "victories," inhumane and moronic attacks, "ad hominem" name-calling, and on and on and on. This is our current White House. Trump doesn't understand nor does he accept the system of "checks and balances" set up by our forefathers to stop the insane and over-zealous policies of an autocrat like he is.

Americans have learned a lot about Trump -- and his plans, and his cronies -- and we will stop him.
Resist, resist, resist!

The Schmoozmeister

Donald J. Trump used "bombast" and "simple language" to his base voters along the campaign trail for all of 2016. He yelled, articulated, turned complex problems into bumper sticker rhetoric, and attacked any and all people who opposed him. He concentrated his attacks on his principal rivals, like Jeb Bush, (and later of course Hillary Clinton) mostly using "ad hominem" attacks and physical descriptions to demean them.

He was an autocratic, narcissistic cheerleader for those "left behind" economically -- thanks to technology, and labor/cost advantages, and just plain "change." And the crowds believed him, and all the invective and lies he told, and pinned their hopes on him with their votes.

And now the Trump Train in moving -- but not to answer the problems listed during the campaign; but rather to shore up the faded and outmoded "trickle down" fiscal policies of the right-wing conservatives. Will the "fly over states" profit from any of Trump Train's programs --- the first answer is NO! Why? These problems are not connected to those problems brought up in the campaign. And we will not become "great again" -- Obama left us in the greatest positions we could have possible achieved, given the stumbling of Dubya Bush and eight years of the Neo-Cons.

Will "coal jobs" come back? NO. Will basic manufacturing "boom" in the US once again? Not unless we all are willing to work for three cents an hour. Will we be "proud of our winning" -- not if we follow the morally challenged thinking of Donald J., the engineer of Trump's Train.

Hear the Truth; Oppose the Lies

"Spin" is the political equivalent of lying. It tries to make any statement, no matter how absurd or outlandish, into a living breathing "momentary truth" until the recycling element known as the "press cycle" spins it again, into some other meaning.  Trump's White House is not just "lying" to begin with; it then attempts to "spin" that lie into a "momentary truth" by claiming confusion, misunderstanding, or some other minor mistake. Then during the next "news cycle" it may revisit the lie (now a half-truth, corrected lie) and by sheer repetition attempt to create the post-text of a dispute truth.

Americans and people all over the world must resist the continuing lies and unheralded reinterpretations of the Trump administration. Communication cannot be dulled into labeling and false marketing. We must protest by using the truth, always. For it is the "truth that sets us free!"

Alternate Facts are Lies

Point of view -- how I see it as opposed to how others see it, is not a matter of truth or lies -- it is a matter of opinion. But nowadays people use their "points of view" as  unflappable truths, immune to their own dilution or elimination by actual facts. The fundamental Greek concept of "ethos" is in question; the more basic Greek concept of "logos" is openly violated.

The Trump administration, as a whole, lies without conviction; lies without purpose; lies without meaning. Why? Perhaps it is the "campaign idea" of the "big lie" -- used so successfully by the GOP time and time again to diminish an opponent. Barack Obama is a Muslim (born in Nigeria) and therefore can't be President. Hillary Clinton is a "liar" (irony of ironies) and therefore can't be President. Jeb Bush is somnambulist, and therefore can't be President. Ivanka is a beautiful woman, (not just a daughter) and therefore is "datable" by her own father. Any and every moral restriction used by a civilized and moral world can thus be violated by "point of view" (alternate facts).

If "nuclear weapons" could stop the "carnage" in the Middle East, why not use them (so what if we lay waste to that area for a thousand years). What about those pesky protesters in Ohio (another Kent State, hell; how about another Hiroshima)? Would Donald Trump use nuclear weapons, without conscience, in the modern world -- you decide --- and then YOU RESIST!

Women Who Lie

Prevarication is no different for women than it is for men. But men are likely to lie to protect themselves from accusations, the truth of their own guilt about something, or just to "enhance" what people may say about them.  But in my life (being male) I have been confronted by elaborate schemes, continued and ongoing deceptions, and a rewriting of past events --- all invented by and deviously applied by women who love to deceive.

Perhaps it is the "love of drama" that drives such elaborate schemes --- or maybe the thoughts that some people have that they are just "cleverer" than the people around them. For whatever reason women's lies are like webs -- filled with intrigue, innuendo, and a flair for the exotic.  This kind of "fake drama" poses as "real life" for some women, and completely erases their reliability as human beings. If they are willing to fabricate in one corner of their life, they are willing to fabricate everywhere.

My weakness as a male is that I don't cope well with liars. I never know, once they have lied with gusto and conviction, if they are even capable of telling the truth the next time.  And no matter what the Trump blitz likes to portray in their communications, we are not living in an age of alternate facts -- only in an age of liars.  

Trump's Cabinet

The shape of the "support system" for Donald Trump is now becoming clear. We have a former avowed racist as Attorney General of the United States; a Secretary of Education who doesn't believe in public schools and wants "school choice" (private schools, vouchers, charter schools) to be the new normal;  a HUD director who knows nothing about poverty or public housing; a Secretary of Energy who didn't know what his job was til he looked it up; an Chief Advisor and Strategist on the National Security Council who thinks that war and the apocalypse are "at hand."

Obviously Donald Trump has paid off political debts and shaped the future of our country in his own dystopian, crypto-fascist, autocratic, oligarchic terms. And "the Donald" isn't through yet.

The Pain of Trump

There it is: something in the world is "almost the truth" but then lapses into prevarication. A situation cries out for action -- but then the action applied is a massive over-reach with horrible side effects.

The Trump "non-administration" is saddled with many such instances, the immigration travel ban being an early example.

There are poor, near-governmentless countries (with Muslim majorities) incapable of doing much of anything but fomenting hatred for America -- and Trump further alienates them and isolates their evil by placing an unfair and uneven travel pain on the passage of their citizens into the US --- for ANY reason. So we cannot travel there -- and they cannot come here.  All commerce stops; all aid stops; all change stops. Hatred grows in the vacuum left behind.

Thank you Donald Trump, for your lack of planning, foresight, and just plain thinking.

For Most Americans...

For most Americans their day-to-day world is calm and easy. And their children don't worry about things like: food, shelter, school-or-no-school, injury, death, or deprivation of any kind. These everyday Americans however now reside in the world of "Trump."

And that means all the things Americans as a whole cherish and expect from their everyday lives, can change in an instant. "Trump" is capable of anything -- putting himself and his interests above those of the people --- DONE; declaring himself to be a supreme source of knowledge---DONE; profiting from the chaos he inspires while the rest of us "worry" and "empathize" for the many people affected---DONE!  This truly is an intolerable situation.

Resist, Resist, Resist !

It is our duty as Americans to resist the "push" towards autocratic rule in our country.  Trump as President is not the ultimate power in America; we the people are. Trump is not the smartest man in the room; we are. Trump is not the best businessman in the world; we the people are.

If you need proof -- look at our history, as opposed to Trump's.  We have not "deserted" multiple wives. We have not lied to our children and our grandparents. We have not demeaned our enemies or exalted our enemies so that we can use them as our friends.

Stay vigilant!  Resist the temptation to be nice to this boorish and un-American President.

What Can "the Donald" Do For You?

You say you want the loud Christian-music loving neighbors to turn off their music no later than 7:00 PM ? Call "the Donald" (and contribute $5,000. to Trump Ties International, a 501c3 registered charity)!

The teenage girls next door (twins, I think) are changing clothes with the shades up again? Call "the Donald" -- (and sign that $25,000 check over to Donald's Daily Devotion, a Christian Sentient Movement -- affiliated with Young Christians Dress Like Pageant Winners)!

How about clearing out the neighborhood of all skin colors that don't turn "blotchy red" after a nice steak and martini lunch? Send that stipend to Donald Trump's Light-free Church of Money, or just send it directly to: The Donald, The White House, Winning is My Way, USA! For "the Donald" is the "Way, the Truth, the Light, and the Winner"!

America Hurrah !

A long, long time ago --- while I was living in Rome, Italy; I was cast in a "professional" production of the play America Hurrah, by Jean-Claude van Itallie. This play is composed of three shorter plays or acts, all of which, in their own way depict some of the foibles of American society. The play also targets the Catholic Church, the societal hypocrisy of Americans generally, and the mores of the times (the infamous 1960's).

Nowadays, that play (and the texts of Brave New World and 1984 and the movie Network, for that matter) are being played out in the political machinations of Washington D.C., the American press, and American television. We are rapidly becoming, at least in America, the worst internal views of ourselves. We are our own worst selves!