Grapes of Wrath was on the other night. Watched it on and off as I was doing laundry and other tasks domestic. Movie version of a book by a fella named Steinbeck. About immigrants. In this particular case people being pushed from their land by a combination of unfortunate weather and unwise farming techniques otherwise known as the dustbowl. Whatever, the movie is about a whole big bunch of evil scumbag lowlife human-filth losers migrating, immigrating and otherwise intruding on other people's homelands. I think it was about Okies, or Nebraskans (AKA ex Germans or Irish). OR I suppose it might have been about Mexicans or Syrians or A-rabs or Royhingas, can't remember and they all look alike anyway. Total scum of the earth. Evil horrible scary dangerous human beings forced to flee their homes with nothing more than the clothes they have on.

You know - your grandparents, or great-grandparents. The folks who made it possible for you to be here to hate on immigrants. People who, just like people now, were forced to immigrate due to famine or weather or untenable political situations, war, whatever. Them. The people who came here with nothing much more - or less, than the tremendous courage to believe in a chance for a better future. To join those who came a bit earlier: the writers of that stupid Constitution and Bill of Rights and all the other hopes and dreams this country was founded on that your president uses for toilet paper. The same dipshits who put up that jumbo welcome sign in the harbor there at New York called the Statue of Liberty. And of course when those people arrived they joined the first immigrants - American Indians, who themselves made the journey from somewhere else.

Criminals, murderers and rapists every one.

Immigrants. Hate em. People in this country, life-long citizens every day people moving from city to city state to state immigrating to new places while the only reason they are here at all is because of immigrants who came before. Looking for better...something, looking for a chance. Sometimes welcomed in their new homes sometimes not. Though to less extremes, a little like those demon Okies in dustbowl times. Except for them and so many others today all over the world it wasn't/isn't a matter of choice. Forced to leave. Move on or die. Forced to walk out of their home to never look back, searching for work so they might be able to feed their kids. Heading out into the unknown with not much more than hope.

Losers, criminals every one of em, right?

You and me both are here because of those people, or others just like them. We all of us are immigrants. And if the USA is such a terrible place - it's because of you and your family, me and mine. Its us - immigrants, who caused the problems. The newcomers you're trying to keep out have not had a chance to muck it up yet. Not like you and me.

Here's an idea - if this is such a terrible place, maybe you should listen to your Messiah. Your president who trashes this country on a daily basis. Cause really, according to him this is a very very terrible place. Maybe you should go back where you came from, where your people are from.

!!!! Maybe your president could actually listen to what comes out of his mouth for a change and take his own advice! He and his Twitter twaddle can go back to the land that bred the Nazis, where his parents immigrated from. Certainly his fresh off the boat trophy wife with the natasha accent and her family he bought citizenship for should go back to Monrovia, or whatever shithole Muslim country they're from.
Cause taken at his word that what your president wants. That's what your German president wants.

Your president wants you to back where you came from. In direct contradiction of the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and Lord only knows how many other documents. In direct contradiction of the principles this country was founded on.

Sure, the "last one in close the door" attitude is sweet, but it is in all ways against why this country is here. Instead it is the epitome of Un-American. Those of you espousing such Un-American attitudes are just that - Un-American. I believe the proper word here is "traitor." You would be doing us all a favor by going back where you came from. Let the rest of us get on with implementing and protecting what this country really stands for.
Thank you in advance.

Sieg Heil!! and greetings from the United States of Trump. But on to this evening's history reminder and once again for the people in the back: The framers of the US Constitution built in measures to ensure each of the three branches of government are kept in check. This essentially to protect the people from their leaders. To prevent any of the three divisions from becoming too powerful. To protect us from abuse of power lest we fall into dictatorship or anarchy. This after several thousand years of people doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. The people who put together the U.S. Constitution wanted to try something else. It was a good idea.

Your current so-called president is ignoring those protections. Like a child, clearly overstepping his authority daring, no - begging someone to set boundaries on his behavior. Trying to determine just how far he can go, how much he can get away with before someone finally calls bullshit.

Comrade Donald is a traitor.  A direct threat to democracy everywhere and most definitely anti-America. Rather than making anything "great again" your president is tearing this country apart. The best US president Putin could hope for, with every bit of Twitter twaddle he spews we all get dragged down a little further into the open sewer he replaced the swamp with. Further down with the low-life haters. With the strippers and lawyers and liars and thieves and traitors and reality stars and mentally unstable impulsive morons and self-serving astoundingly unqualified good 'ol boys he has running the place.

Your so-called president is a joke. A very bad joke of truly epic proportion. He is making this country a joke. And, he is very much making you, a joke. Those of you continuing to pretend otherwise are only proving my point. In barely two short years, your president - a five time draft-dodging veteran slamming coward who uses the Constitution as toilet paper - has, among countless of other mistakes, managed to undo generations of human rights efforts and has trashed foreign policy to the point we are no longer leader of much of anything. I would be willing to bet exactly 100% of what he says causes me to be embarrassed, ashamed to be part of this place. On the upside we have some big winners here, right? Just a random example.....the cross-burning folks hiding behind their pretty white hoodies (e.g. conservative "Christians") must think Grand Wizard Donnie is the bees knees. If you are angry and fearful and hateful and prejudiced and unwilling to accept responsibility for yourself Trump is definitely your hero, right? And of course we shouldn't forget Vladimir Putin (Vladi-poo as his bff Donnie calls him). Comrade Trump is far and away the very best US president Putin could ever hope to buy. Even more so since lil Donnie came so cheap.

He's back at it. Smoke and mirrors. By declaring an emergency at our southern border that exists only in his distorted, paranoid mind, by preying on your fear, your anger, he has once again diverted attention from matters that actually are of concern. Once again, you have been duped. And once again, he has made our country less than it was before.

make the lies big and tell them often........ thousands of years of people doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. History repeats. Again and again.

Sieg-fucking-heil Adolph Trump.

That an almost majority of you were so caught up in your own anger and hate and fear that you (almost) elected this slimy piece of human filth is no longer what is so......amazing. No, what really pushes this situation into the twilight zone is the fact so many of you still, even after seeing the destruction, that so many of you STILL support this clusterfuck of an administration.

Yep. I can just about imagine Rod Serling narrating this episode

The Constitution was put in place to protect us from our government. What the Constitution is not able to do, however, is protect us from ourselves

A poet from back a ways asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. Well, no one would sleep that night, of course. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God, or something. Hell, we'd create new religions on the spot.
Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch t.v.

This extraordinary time when we are so intensely aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten our civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. You, me and the rest of everyone here today are faced with the most complicated, difficult challenges ever faced by anyone.

We are failing. We did not stay up all night in the glory of what was given to us we were not amazed we did not see the stars, and, we did not recognize the looming darkness. Instead we lost sight of the fact that our country, this place we call home is a gift every moment. It is fragile there is nothing about it guaranteed. It needs tending it needs care. Something to be treated with respect, and honor. Dignity and grace. The United States of America, our way of life requires protecting. Your country needs your help.

Am I pessimistic about the future? If you look at the science about what is happening in this country today, right now, and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data.

This country was given us by our forebears to shepherd through during our stay. To take care of. Our shift was always meant to be temporary. It is our turn, yours and mine, to hold things together until such time as we give it to the next guardians.

We are failing.

Our country came with a set of instructions. An operator's manual in the form of the Constitution and associated writings. We have misplaced those instructions. Misused the manual, the rules. Bent them to suit the unwell self-serving desires of those who champion darkness. Forgot important rules like keeping separate various branches of government, championing freedom of speech freedom of the press. Forgot about government by the people for the people rather than by and for the dictator wanna-be. We forgot about limitations on the executive branch. Forgot all that nonsense about giving us your poor your tired your huddled masses etc etc. This not even considering the unwritten guidelines such as acting with dignity, class, to not utterly embarrass us in front of the rest of the world. Unwritten, common sense characteristics and actions.

Instead we gave the keys to the low-life haters and now they are running the place. Strippers and lawyers and liars and thieves and traitors and reality stars and mentally unstable impulsive morons and self-serving good 'ol boy astoundingly unqualifieds who bought their way in to a government for sale...…. all balled together into a greasy, nepotistic tangle of human excrement otherwise known as the current president and his minions. It is disgusting it is embarrassing it is increasingly dangerous. Day by day we move closer to being on par with any other insignificant banana republic in some forgotten jungle. But fact is we are not an insignificant banana republic. We are the leader of the free world. If we go down so does the rest. This increasingly looks as if it will not end well. The only apparent winners so far are Russia and China. I am not inferring your president is a Communist and instead would point out they wouldn't take him, anyway. Not smart enough. Too, I am not saying his supporters are Communists. But I can just about promise every Communist out there is a Trump supporter. 'lil Donnie is not just the best president they could buy - he is hands down the very best thing to happen for their political cause. Ever.

These are dark days, make no mistake. That you may have deluded yourself into thinking otherwise does nothing to change that fact.

With that and to cherry-pick some general categories..............for the veterans blindly supporting a five-time draft-dodging, veteran slamming coward who can't even be bothered to visit the National Cemetery on Veteran's Day (it was raining, you know) - good work. It is you putting a smile on Putin's face. It is you weakening the United States of America. It is you disrespecting the memory of my father and his father and all the other TRUE patriots and veterans who like so many others past and present are worth celebrating. People, veterans who care about this country, unlike you.

For women, ANY woman ANY where able to bang her head against a wall hard enough to allow herself to become a Trumpie - what is wrong with you? Seriously. You are not just a traitor to your country - you are selling out your entire gender. What is it like to be the biggest reason the world needs #metoo? Oh, and to be clear: absolutely positively no, I do not want to grab your pussy. The thought disgusts me.

For conservative "Christians" - Jesus effing Christ what the hell are you thinking? Perhaps a more specific question will help you focus: have any of you glanced at the Bible, or even been in the vicinity of that document? Ever? Like maybe even just walked by one laying about somewhere? Have you read even the most basic rules, those Commandment things? Cause you are gleefully cheering on someone who breaks probably five or six of your precious commandments before he even gets up in the morning let alone what happens the rest of the day. You are supporting a liar a thief a coveter an adulterer a murderer, etc etc. How does that fit in with the whole "Christian" thing for ya? As a Christian myself I can answer that one: it doesn't. You cannot be Christian in anything but name while at the same time be in agreement with this administration. See how easy that is? Your welcome, and please stop dragging us actual Christians through the mud.

On a more practical note - for anyone who has money anywhere other than hidden in the mattress, say, the stock market or real estate or commodities or anything else legal - why? Why are you backing this disaster called Trump as he loses benefit of the last vestiges of Obama-nomics and even Bush-onomics and our economy along with that of the rest of the world is teetering on the verge of collapse due to this bozo's kindergarten level economic theory? Why?

For my Hispanic friends, including one who spends far too much time on social media and is a diehard fan of the current administration thereby fully supporting Trump's obsessive hatred of Mexicans everywhere - good work.. You are an integral part of the completely undisguised attack on your culture. Could not be done without your cooperation. Or maybe its more of a "last one in close the door" thing for you? For that matter, anyone reading who is an immigrant, or is a citizen here because of an immigrant (psst. that means EVERYone, including American Indians who just happen to be the first immigrants).....again, - what the heck are you thinking? If Trump or some other twisted hater like him had been in charge when your parents or grandparents wanted in to the USA you would instead today be dodging bullets in some shithole Muslim country.
Or worse yet, Ireland.

For all you people fitting in those categories above, it is too late. You cannot be helped and, in fact, you are the problem. It is YOU ending the 242 year experiment otherwise known as the United States of America.
You did not stay up all night in wonder you did not do your part to protect this country.
You, failed.

We're all looking at the same things, same stars. Difference being you lost interest and went back to watching television.
You got bored and messed up on an epic scale.

Now it's up to the rest of us, those who have NOT been duped and have NOT lied ourselves into the dark corner of rage and hate and fear that is our current leadership - it is up to us.

Yep, it looks bleak. That's because it IS bleak. And yet the most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic not the dreamer (I hope, anyway. Cause I have a dream, right.) This seems a most excellent time to work with that theory.

Done for now.
Merry Christmas. A time of celebration gifted to you by a particular immigrant family from way back. You know, before the "Christians" put up a fucking wall.

:)

(stars metaphor borrowed/thank you PH.)

Well, the midterms weren't exactly the referendum I had hoped for. Sure, the Republicans lost the House, but the same group increased their hold on the Senate. Dems picked up a few governorships, but all in all this was far from a resounding statement.

We as a country did not rise to our feet and announce in a loud proud voice - enough is enough. We did not succeed in our duty to protect the U.S.A.

I am embarrassed and ashamed for all of us. And not just a little afraid for our future.
Yes, I understand this is not a Republican vs Democrat thing. If the Dems had somebody their constituency so blindly followed as with Trump they would be acting like the mindless puppies the Republicans are. And Trump is no Republican, anyway. Trump is Trumpian. 'lil Donnie is a dictator wanna-be. But we are stuck with him still, and his hangers-on.

Trump will continue his mission to legitimize, make O.K. prejudice and paranoia. Rage. Trump will contnue to provide venue for the haters to openly hate.

He did not invent any of this, rather, he is only bringing it out in the open. The underlying anger, rage forming his base in not his doing. But make no mistake, he will continue to feed off your ills. Trump (almost) got elected by playing on, capitalizing on that negative energy. Trump did not create the problems we face today. As the "United" States of American continues to pull itself apart. No, he simply brought the latent ugliness out of the shadows. To his personal benefit. He is using you as would any other parasite.

Those of you continuing your support are either haters who, like Trump, thrive on negative energy, or you have been played. Simple as that. So simple, in fact, no reasonable argument can be made to the contrary. That you support a blatant traitor to the core values this country was founded on, cannot be argued against.

So, as you continue to cheer the unraveling of your country, as you champion darkness, and negativity...….for women trumpites, selling out their entire gender....for anyone in a minority group (other than the 1%) who support this trainwreck, actively harming yourself and your own. For all of you part of the decline of even the most basic moral code, as you support misogyny and prejudice and nepotism and racism and child sexual abuse and prostitution and pussy grabbing and lying and thieving (all you conservative "Christians" raising that bible high, right :)) and the reason for #mettoo. As you continue backing a veritable walking talking Freudian textbook of mental fuck-ups and as you do your very very very best to ensure we continue losing relevance on the world stage, lose power you instead force us to take our place amongst other like-minded back-water banana republics - congratulations :)

I was around during Watergate.  Very troubled period for our Country.  We were actually scared.   Yet even on a GOOD day worse things happen with this current administration than the darkest days of Watergate.  History is proving Nixon was a goddamn patriot compared to Trump.  What we have come to accept as the new "normal" so much worse.  Or, in the recent words of John Dean, Nixon's WH Counsel at the time:  "Richard Nixon was corrupt.  Donald Trump is evil."

We had a chance to largely neuter him, with these midterm elections. We failed.
You failed.  

You are actively part of the sinking of this great ship so many before you sacrificed so much for. You have managed to go a long ways towards undoing 242 years of effort.

Trump is not the problem. Trump has simply laid bare who we really are. This Country always was a bit uppity with its egalitarian founding principles. We have been giving ourselves far too much credit. Simple fact is we are human. Inherently self-destructive. Ugly. I suppose I just always hoped we are more. Hoped we are better than we are. Thank you Mr President for so blatantly proving otherwise.
These midterm elections show that Trump is not the problem
We are. You are.

"A group of Jewish leaders told President Trump he is no longer welcome in Pittsburgh until he denounces white nationalism following the shooting at a synagogue there over the weekend."  

"Members of the Pittsburgh affiliate of Bend the Arc/A Jewish Partnership for Justice penned the letter to Trump following the Saturday shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue."

"Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted," the group wrote.  "You have also deliberately undermined the safety of people of color, Muslims, the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities.  Yesterday's massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against our country."  

he drained the swamp re-filled it with raw sewage then turned loose the diseased rats he surrounds himself with. Hookers and lawyers and cheats and liars and others like himself. A nepotistic incestuous sold-out tangle of skeeze and skanks. Criminals all from top to bottom. Parasites and leeches feeding off your anger and fear.

And people still support this piece of filth. Either that or desperately look the other way and hope it isn't happening.

I feel as if I'm in a particularly dark episode of the Twilight Zone. Surely others are seeing and hearing the same things I am? What is wrong with everyone? We can't take this place for granted. This country. It is not somehow magically protected. It needs care, and watching over. We have failed in that duty. You me and everyone else who let him in. Every day, every single day piece by piece this low-life open sore is destroying what so many people worked so hard to create. You are disrespecting the sacrifices of my parents. And your parents and their parents far back as our families have been here. You are disrespecting the sacrifices being made today by others. 

None of us, not you not me and sure as hell not a traitorous draft-dodging veteran slamming coward like Comrade Trump has the right to do that. 

Nothing happening in the current administration will Make America Great Again. Comrade Donald and the bucket of scum that is his administration are doing precisely the opposite. They are dragging us down. Every day, the USA is less relevant on the world stage. Weaker. Your president is well on his way to making America an ugly, sad dangerous joke. The world is laughing at us. Laughing at YOU. Trump's bff Putin most of all. 

It would be tempting to identify Trump and his supporters as communist wannabees. They are not. The communists don't want Trump or those supporting him. Not near smart enough. No, what Vladimir Putin (AKA the one really calling the shots) wants is to let Trump do what Trump does best - make chaos and destruction. To screw up. To be Donald Trump. 

To demolish the USA from the inside out like some rancid infection (then lie about it disavow any responsibility and have his morally empty lawyers clean up the mess and charge the rest of us for the effort.) Make the lie big and tell it often. Right Adolph? Or, I mean, Donnie? Meanwhile Putin sits back and smiles as we destroy ourselves. 

What is happening to this country is embarrassing, and terribly sad.  It is dangerous.  

If you are not against him you are for him.  If you are not actively opposed to Trump you are supporting the demise of the United States of America.  We are all seeing the same things. There is no valid argument to the contrary.   

Impeach. Invoke. Get rid of this argument in support of abortion before he damages the United States beyond repair.

If he hasn't already.

re-post.

There is too much wrong.  Really hard to know where to begin.  What I do know is the USA has fallen from its position as world leader, beacon of hope and decency, to instead being well on its way to becoming the biggest little shitlhole country on Earth.  Democracy, attacked from within as if by disease.  Dignity, decency absent at the highest levels.  

Our country, which so many have given so much to protect, and nurture is being assailed by cowards and haters hiding behind their twisted interpretations of the Constitution and the Bible.  

Since I don't know where to begin I suppose I should end.  With a quote appropriate to these dark days.  And these are, dark days.  

This is not for those of you bent on destroying our country, democracy.  Not for supporters of the disaster pulling us down.  Those folks are not the real problem.  

Nope, this is for those of you, most of you, even, who are letting this happen without becoming involved.  Because, frankly, it is you who are to blame.   By not standing up and saying "This Is Not Right" it is you doing the most damage.  By pretending this isn't happening, by hiding your heads in the sand - it is you tearing this country apart.       

Anyway, short and sweet.  This is an excerpt from a speech by Elie Wiesel.  Look it up.  

"Indifference is more dangerous than anger and hatred."