Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 11, 2016 - 02:39pm PT
Would have preferred Warren Buffett. Voted for Clinton. Arguably the most qualifiied politician to be president since...Eisenhower?
Emails and Benghazi? Both previous Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powelll couldn't figure out why there was such a fuss. There were a few Benghazis during Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Reagan without wanting the Secretary Of States head. Clinton had been for funding to bolster embassy security and had been refused by Congress. Stevens chose to operate out of Benghazi though Clinton had advised he operate out of Tripoli where the embassy was better secured.
She should have mea culpaed right off the bat and submitted all the emails immediately. Bad call. Otherwise, sheesh!?
The Clinton Foundation provides ~$200 million a year to charity which is ~ 87% of their revenue, the are rated 93/100 for transparency, and are a platinum rated charity with Charity Navigator, the top charity rating service according to the Wall Street Journal.
When looking up the Trump Foundation it is not considered eligible to be rated. That is the same story for the next two charity rating agencies recommended by the WSJ.
There has been an alternate reality built around Clinton that I find bizarre. And, the decision of many to vote for Trump just to have something different in Washington? Reckless, immature, and simple minded. A doctor that I have mentored and is a naturopath voted for Trump because he is against mandatory vaccination, unlike Clinton. The rest wasn't really part of his equation. Wow.
Trump expresses an uncontrolled Id unfettered by neocortex functions that represents our primitive reptilian impulses. It resonates for people that find that way of being compelling. Sadly.
The long term view is that this event may be useful in that it will end up laying bare the lie that is Trumpism and the multiple lies of the Republican Party since Reagan. I find it interesting that the US was the largest lender nation in the world when the idea of trickle down economics was instituted during Reagan and we are now the largest debtor nation in the world. But, hey, If you like what you're getting just keep doing what you're doing.
It's interesting that many conservatives have nostalgia for the 50s when the top end tax rate was much higher and much of that went to infrastructure, public R&D, and full financing of our public institutions. This was also before the Glass-Steagall Act was still in place to prevent financial institutions gambling with investors money. Republican dismantling of this allowed the crash of 2007 that came close to bringing down the international economy. And, by the way - Obama didn't cause it. He inherited it. THe crash was already a done deal when he was taking oath.
Now the Repubican Party hold the reins, so they can't bitch about what happens. The fundamental unreality of the platform will be laid out for all to see.
Not that the Democratic party has their sh#t together. They haven't been clear about their vision and their mission of service. They got their wake up call. And, the left side of that party is just annoying - get a job and stop whining! Rise by your merits and hard work.
I consider myself centrist libetarian so no party totally represents me - including the Libertarian Party that seems to be largely comprised of Tea Party folks that don't want to pay anything, but want the government to "stay out of my medicare and social security," conspiracy theorists that think "chem trails" are a plot by the government for thought and population control, militia nutters, and tax evaders that think they shouldn't have to pay taxes and then complain about potholes in the road.
Be clear that Trump won the electoral college, but not the majority of the vote.
Here is some irony for you.
"Trump's judgement on the protests (which are set to continue tonight) seems typically hypocritical considering his reaction to Obama's reelection in 2012. On November 7th that year, Trump tweeted that US citizens should "march on Washington and stop this travesty," and that the country needed to "fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice."
~ from The Verge
Here's a Trump tweet from 2012 -
"We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!"
Here is a tweet from yesterday -
"Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"
Now, this is all starting to look like the Three Stooges and would be funny if it weren't so dangerous. Suggested cohorts are Giuliani (Attorney General), Newt Gingrich (Secretary of State), Steve Bannon (Chief of Staff), and Sarah Palin (Secretary of the Interior?? Are you effing kidding me?? That's like making has been suggested Myron Ebell, aclimate shift denier, for
This scenario is starting to look like it is leaning toward a governance modeled after "The Lord of the Flies."
He'd better get used to the first amendment cuz' it ain't going away. He's such a whiner.
So, anyway. Bitching will only go so far. The next step is to plan and act wisely.
Yvon Chouinard, regardless of what you happen to think of him - in general - wisely says "Vote for the planet."
Here are actions I plan to take in response to current trends in our governance.
First is to support presrvation of the natural world, in part just because, but in greater part sustainabilty is a good idea if you want your offpring to have a world that supports human life (Hey, Mother Nature will be fine in the long run after we've shot ourselves in the head). And, damage done now may not be fixable later.
Second goal is to preserve civil liberties. Trump has repeatedly shown that he doesn't understand this aspect of our foundation.
Third goal is to support the emerging world changing technology - sustainable energy systems and agriculture. Steel manufacturing is not coming back to the US in any large way. The industries that Trump has promised to restore aren't on the things to do based on reality list. All those promises he made are false promises.
Those manufacturing industries represent previous technological waves.
The US enjoys it's prominent position in the world because of "owning" the last few technological revolutions/waves. While Great Britain owned the first industrial revolution, we owned the second one exemplified by the "assembly line." We also led and controlled technological waves that have followed - Industrial Agriculture (often referred to by the misnomer "The Green Revolution"), Scientific-Technical, Digital, and Information.
The next two waves are -
1) Sustainable agriculture/agro-ecology. This will be free of GMOs and pesticides-herbicides and will drive yeilds through emerging soil science technologies and crop rotation and integrated planting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html
2) Sustainable energy systems. China knows this is the next technological wave that will determine the most dominant economy/country in the near future. Who owns essentially all of the lithium reserves in South America? China. Who owns most of the rare earth metals in the world? China. This is what is behind their investments in mining reserves in Africa, Australia, and even Afghanistan.
China is clear about the future and is working diligently to control it. We are acting like children thinking the answer is to make steel again.
Going back to the Industrial Wave is not in our national intrests and doesn't serve the bigger picture. It doesn't ultimately serve people who are feeling the pinch from that technological waves' natural decline. To put the disenfranchised to work in rebuilding our infrastructure and retrain them to have ownership in the sustainable agriculture and energy waves.
Interestingly, federal investment in infrastructure and R&D made our "ownership" of these technological waves possible. Where did the money come from? Taxes. Especially, the tax structure of the 50s that required that the high earners paid at a tax rate commensurate with their utilization and enjoyment of the infrastructure, including stable rule of law, that supported their prosperity.
What I'm advocating will lead to higher taxes for me. I'm OK with that. It's not all about me.
“Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” ~ US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Fourth, promote civility. We Americans have been traditionally known to have, generally, a remarkably civil society. We need to restore this standard and principle. To this end, we need to act civilly, even when it is not present otherwise.
We need to be less polarized, not more polarized. We need to use reason more and blind passion less. We need to remember at the core we all want basically the same things. We need to keep in mind that hatred in all of its' manifestations is primarily - overt or covert - is and expression of ignorance and suffering (mostly pain and fear).
We need to realize that it is overall more effective to stand and work for something rather than fight against a thing - not that taking a stand against some things - pillage of commonwealth resources or against assaults of women, for instance.
Doing Something
1) I have donated to the Sierra Club, National Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and 1% for the Planet. I plan to donate monthly.
Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org
National Resources Defense Council
https://www.nrdc.org
Environmental Defense Fund,
https://www.edf.org
1% for the Planet
http://onepercentfortheplanet.org
2) I have donated to The Union of Concerned Scientists, Food and Water Watch, and Center for Food Safety. I plan to donate monthly.
The Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org
Food and Water Watch
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Center for Food Safety
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
3) I have joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). I plan to donate monthly.
American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org
4) I have been contributing monthly to Save the Children Fund with the money directed within the US because kids here in this country go hungry and plan to continue.
Save the Children Fund
http://www.savethechildren.org
5) I plan to make a study of civilty and work toward practicing civility moment by moment, to the best of my ability.
5) The Rogue Valley where I live in southern Oregon is an area currently developing sustainable agriculture and energy systems. My wife and I have recently moved here and plan to become more involved with local groups to support these developments. The ideal is to be a model for other areas of the country.
This is all to make a statement that puts me under the obligation to be true to my word. It is also to put out ideas, concepts and resources for you to develop your own ideas and plans for supporting a future that promotes liberty for all, sustainability and perpetuation of our Founders ideals.
Unlike Trump who has a long history of unfulfilled promises of charity, I will provide receipts upon request.
Let us know!