Overcoming Trumpism: A Strategy For Progressives - Rabbi Michael Lerner

It is precisely by acknowledging ALL the different forms of suffering felt in Late Modernism - even those who react to that suffering in hurtful or oppressive ways or materially benefit from the suffering of others - that we have the best chance of building a lasting transformation of our society to one based on justice and love.

One part of the strategy is to split the Trump forces; challenging the policies of the truly dyed-in-the-wool racists, sexists, homophobes, and Islamophobes, while responding with empathy, caring, and respect for those who are not.

The "nots" are those who have been moved to the Right by the deep psychological and spiritual crisis of Late Modernism, even though their economic interests are better served by the Left.

Among the pains of Late Modernism is economic insecurity, which used to lead to the creation of powerful labor unions and social democratic movements.  But in the past 40 years, there's been a significant increase in the degree to which people have come to believe in a self-justifying ideology of the capitalist marketplace - that we live in a meritocracy.

Those who aren't among the 1% who have benefited from exponential upward concentration of wealth in the last 40 years find their belief in a meritocracy giving rise to intense self-blame.

Yet ironically, at a fundamental level, most people hate being in a world dominated by materialism and selfishness. They yearn for a life in which love, caring, and contributing to the common good serve a higher purpose than "look out for #1."

The Movement Conservative/Fundamentalist Christian Right has offered that sense of community to many - but at the cost of embracing a message of right-wing extremism that blames the "other" as the reason that there is economic insecurity and that the world seems full of selfishness and materialism. The reason that people continue to cling to these beliefs is that they offer an effective - albeit distorted - way out of the often unconscious but pervasive self-blaming that results from the myth of Meritocratic Capitalism.

In a cruel twist, those who are victimized by Social Darwinist Corporatism are often taught to articulate their distress in ways that demean the "other(s)" who they've been told have victimized them (minorities, gays, immigrants, etc.) rather than the oppressive system itself.

...

The other part of the strategy is to correct the mistake that many high-profile progressives tend to make in shaming those who follow the misguided belief that fears and blames the "other"; think Hillary Clinton's awful "basket of deplorables" comment.

Those progressives engaged in this reactionary shaming only compound the distress of those who are already deeply engaged in self-blaming (even though it is often at a subconscious level). There is a marked difference between progressives correctly denouncing racism, sexism, inequality and dismissing the real socioeconomic distress of those who are taken in by the Right Wing's other-blaming rhetoric.

It is precisely by acknowledging ALL the different forms of suffering felt in Late Modernism - even those who react to that suffering in hurtful or oppressive ways or materially benefit from the suffering of others - that we have the best chance of building a lasting transformation of our society to one based on justice and love.

The full article is available here

The GOP Is Rotting - Conservative David Brooks

The rot afflicting the current G.O.P. (as led by Movement Conservatives and Trump) is comprehensive — moral, intellectual, political and reputational. More and more former Republicans wake up every day and realize: "I’m homeless. I’m politically homeless.”

The Republican Party is doing harm to causes it purports to serve. If Republicans accept Roy Moore as a United States senator, they may, for a couple years, have one more vote for a justice or a tax cut, but they will have made their party loathsome for an entire generation.

The pro-life cause will be forever associated with moral hypocrisy on an epic scale. The word “evangelical” is already being discredited for an entire generation. More and more people look at the Trump-Moore G.O.P. and they are repulsed, maybe forever.

The full article is available here

Helpful Reactions When Someone Claims Sexual Harassment/Assault - Jeff Wiersma

Helpful public reactions when [insert name of PUBLIC FIGURE HERE] is exposed for sexual harassment or assault:

1. Wow. I’m really glad institutions are taking sexual harassment seriously.

2. I am thankful we are living in a time when people who speak out against harassment are receiving institutional support.

3. I know that for every person who comes forward with their experience, even more are silent and silenced. I hope one day soon that changes. I hope I can help that change.

Thoughts On Al Franken Allegations and Trump/Roy Moore - Jeff Wiersma

I’ve seen more “why should Al Franken resign when Republicans elected a man like Donald Trump and Roy Moore is still in his senate race” rationalizations lately than I thought that I would.

2 thoughts occur to me:

(1) Integrity means doing the right thing and isn’t subject to partisan preferences.

(2) Doing the right thing doesn’t depend on the timeline/willingness of habitual sexual predators like Trump and Roy Moore to admit their wrongdoings and do the right thing themselves.

The Religious Right Has Ended Up Being Very People They Warned Us Against - Jeff Wiersma

In my youth, Fundamentalist Evangelicals told me that “liberals” and the “gay agenda” would one day push for acceptance of pedophilia.

My goodness, how differently things turned out.

Even though this is the logical outcome of being corrupted partisans, it’s still incredibly disappointing and dismaying to see; though perhaps predictable after the Faustian bargain they made with Trump for a Pyrrhic Victory in the 2016 election.

US, European Nations Slammed for 'Complicity' as Humanitarian Groups Demand Aid for Yemen

"The international community must break its shameful silence and use all possible means to lift the blockade on Yemen immediately," said the relief groups in their statement.

14 international aid agencies on Friday expressed that they were "appalled" by the global community's complacency regarding the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Yemen, and called for a resolution to the civil war that's gone on for two years—while in its own statement, Amnesty International called for an end to complicity in the conflict from the U.S. and its allies.

"The U.S.A., U.K., and France must immediately cease supplying arms to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting in Yemen, which is impeding humanitarian assistance of items indispensable to the survival of civilians," declared Amnesty International.

The current famine and cholera epidemic in Yemen have both been exacerbated by a blockade that the Saudi-led coalition supporting government forces escalated 12 days ago.

The full article is available here

Evangelical Russell Moore Stands Up For Women - Jeff Wiersma

Conservative Evangelical Christian leader Russell Moore (who has forcefully and consistently rebuked Trumpism from the beginning) comes correct with what SHOULD be obvious to anyone who calls themselves a “Christian,” but sadly isn’t obvious as we’ve seen recently.

Attention Jerry Falwell Jr: this is how it’s done.

Thoughts On Fundamentalist US Christians & Their Often-Exasperating Political Opinions - Jeff Wiersma

It seems like every day, we see headlines about Fundamentalist Christians in the US saying and doing some truly unimaginable, abhorrent things. My thoughts ...

Trumpism - in all of its ugliness and malevolence, has turned society upside down. And as with most things that get turned upside down, things that have for a long time laid low at the bottom get brought to the surface.

I still call myself a “Christian” because it’s a lot easier to say than “a follower of the 1st Century reformist, anti-imperialist, pacifist, anti-legalism, subversive Jewish prophet Jesus of Nazareth who was murdered by corrupt religious leaders aligned with empire.”

But the twisted, misguided, and abusive caricature of Christianity that we have seen emboldened by Trumpism is something I literally fought for my life to break free from in 1999-2000.

With that out of the way ...


To those who aren’t part of my faith tradition ...

... it is vitally important to me that you know that those who hate, exclude, abuse, and dehumanize do not accurately interpret, understand, nor represent the teachings of Jesus. These people are profoundly lost, driven by fear, and are lashing out against all kinds of things that they’ve been wrongly shaped and molded to believe are their enemy. (And even if these imagined enemies were actual enemies, didn’t Jesus command that we should love our enemies? But I digress).

We are in a time of profound societal change and spiritual awakening. Those who have been programmed to fear change - specifically that threatens their hegemony/privileged position in how things have been - are a counter-awakening backlash.

However, I remain steadfast in my belief that it is never too late for people to change; because I did. I myself was once captive to this very mindset.

Also, there are a lot of principled, conservative Evangelical Christians who are opposed to Trumpism on moral grounds - and many spoke out against it as early as Trump’s entrance into the race in the early summer of 2015. Their mindset and hearts are not accurately portrayed in over-generalized characterizations of “conservative Christians” or “evangelicals.”


To those in my faith tradition who, like me, are dismayed at what is being done and said in the name of it ...

... based on everything I see, people who aren’t part of our faith tradition have tremendous respect for what Jesus taught and know that what is being done and said in his name is incongruous with those teachings. They see right through it.

This doesn’t mean that we should relent in assertive resistance to this most recent hijacking of Jesus. But be encouraged that this spasm of extremism and idolatrous worship of power, fear, and control are telltale signs that Christianity - like the rest of the world - is in the process of realigning with the shifting cultural tectonic plates from the Modernist era into the next era. We’re in the midst of a 2nd Reformation and, though this in-between time is difficult and fraught with seismic activity, the future is open to revitalizing and renewing our faith.

To me, that’s exciting - but I’m also deeply concerned about and aware of the real damage that has been done and could still be done by the forces of counter-awakening until this transition phase is complete.

A Year Later, Reflections On The 2016 Election - Jeff Wiersma

So it’s been a year since Trump won the election.

Looking back, I can see I was naive in my hope that - despite the evidence of four decades of hypocrisy and cynical partisanship by Religious Right leaders - those who dedicate an inordinate amount of their life pontificating about “morals” and “values” wouldn’t then vote for Donald Trump of all people.

And many of them - unfathomably - still support him.

I should’ve known better.  Much of the US Religious Right has a blind spot for authoritarians and demagoguery that is so large you could drive a Trump through it.

Religious Right Carries Its Golden Calf Into Steve Bannon’s Battles - Conservative Michael Gerson

“There is no group in the United States less attached to its professed ideals or more eager for its own exploitation than religious conservatives. For many years, leaders of the religious right exactly conformed Christian social teaching to the contours of Fox News evening programming.

Who would now identify conservative Christian political engagement with the pursuit of the common good? Rather, the religious right is an interest group seeking preference and advancement from a strongman — and rewarding him with loyal acceptance of his priorities.”

The full article is available here

Hurricanes, Perpetual War Overseas & Imperial Overreach - Jeff Wiersma

Imperial overreach is often evidenced by endless and financial black hole militarism abroad and inadequate resources for disasters at home.

Trump Challenges Cabinet Member's IQ, Fights Senator He Needs. What Is Going On? - NPR

“Is Trump playing 3-dimensional chess, going off the rails, or just acting on instinct — or all of the above?

Is he serious? Is there any strategy to it all? Is it all a ‘ratings’ ploy? It’s hard to know. It's possible — as many members of HIS OWN PARTY now believe — that he doesn't know, either.”

The full article is available here

NFL Teams Being On Field For Anthem Is Relatively New Occurrence - Tom E Curran, NBC Sports Boston

It’s a tribute to the NFL’s ability to drape itself in the flag that few people even realizes that – prior to 2009 – players being on the field for the national anthem wasn’t even standard practice.

It was until 2009 - when the military paid the NFL millions of dollars to stage a patriotic display in order to enhance military recruitment efforts - that NFL players were on the field for the performance of the national anthem.

Before then, they had always remained in the locker room until after the national anthem was performed.

The full article is available here

Republicans, Trapped by Their Flimflam - Paul Krugman

“In broad outlines, the recent Republican efforts at tax reform is a lot like health care. In both cases, Republicans have spent years getting away with big promises that weren’t backed by reality. 

Now, with real policy to be made, the disingenuous promises won’t work anymore. And they can’t handle the truth.”

The full article is available here

Dallas Sportcaster & Vietnam Vet's Take on NFL Players Kneeling

Dallas sportscaster and Vietnam veteran Dale Hansen recently gave an extremely well-crafted analysis of those who say NFL players are "disrespecting" the flag when engaged in peaceful protest.
 

Past Trump Contradicts Current Trump About POTUS Weighing on NFL Issues

Trump's tweets don't age well, but that's bound to happen when one says whatever pops into one's mind at any given time stemming from one being unhindered by any core ethical compass.

Nixon's Vietnam Treachery Somewhat Mirrored By Reagan and Trump - Jeff Wiersma

I've studied U.S. History and Politics my entire life.

It was only when watching tonight's episode of Vietnam by Ken Burns that I learned that Nixon committed treason by talking the South Vietnamese out of joining peace talks days before the 1968 election. Nixon did so to undercut his opponent, Hubert Humphrey, who he eventually defeated narrowly.

I can't believe I had never learned that.

It reminds me a lot of Reagan's discussions with the Iranians holding US hostages in the run up to the 1980 election, and of course the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russians. You really do learn something new every day, and today's lesson is that even more mentally ill Republican presidential candidates than I was aware were willing commit treason to win.

New York Times Opinion piece - Nixon's Vietnam Treachery

Media That Scolded Sanders Over Deficits Uniformly Silent on $700B Pentagon Handout - Common Dreams

Where did all the concern over deficits go? After 2 years of the media lamenting, worrying and feigning outrage over the cost of Bernie Sanders’ two big-budget items—free college and single-payer healthcare—the same outlets are uniformly silent, days after the largest military budget increase in history.

"Where are the Charles Lanes, Joe Scarboroughs, Wall Street Journal editorial boards and other “deficit hawks” in the media to condemn this?

The answer is they’re nowhere. And they’re nowhere because no one in the media really cares about deficits, they only care about Deficits™, a clever marketing term used by those charged with keeping government money out of the hands of the poor—and in the coffers of weapons makers, banks and other wealthy interest groups."

Trump Retweets Doctored Video from Anti-Semitic Twitter User - Video Shows Trump Injuring Hillary

^ Racist tweet calling for the genocide of Hasidic Jews made by
twitter user that President Trump retweeted a video from today

On Sunday, Donald Trump retweeted a doctored video of himself taking a golf swing and hitting former Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, who then stumbles as she boards a plane.

The Twitter account, @Fuctupmind, from which Trump retweeted regularly makes racial, anti-semitic, and anti-LGBT comments.

On November 29, 2019, @Fuctupmind tweeted "Please get rid of the Hasidic Jews. They are the worst people on the planet. They have taken over areas in NY right by me."

The full article is available here 

Post-09/11 Narrative of Fear & Nationalism Helped Lead Us To A Trump Presidency - Progressive Christian

The time after 09/11 asked us a lot of questions, and I hate to say, we came up with a lot of the wrong answers.

The wound created by the understandable fear and terror of that horrible day created a gouge in our national spirit.  Into that void crept - not a single political leader - but a entire sociopolitical narrative of fear and mistrust of the "other." The time after 09/11 asked us a lot of questions, and I hate to say, we came up with a lot of the wrong answers. 

The time asked,“Who are you afraid of?”
We answered, "Everyone! "

The time asked, “Who do you trust?”
We answered, "Whoever is loudest and meanest!"

Those are all wrong answers.

Politicians, religious leaders, public figures, and propagandizing media outlets like Fox News started beating a drum of blind nationalism as the only way forward.

Over the next 15 years, while many of us remained committed to a spirit of diversity, compassion and community, many more waded further into the murky waters of U.S. exceptionalism and jingoism. The mistrust did not remain limited to Muslims, but bled into public discourse surrounding everything from immigration to police violence against marginalized people.

From there it wasn’t a far leap to fake news, rampant conspiracy theories, and – let us not forget – a certain brand of fundamentalist Christianity wherein the authority of scripture became hard to discern from the authority of the Republican Party.

Then Donald Trump got elected President. Because more than any of the other politicians that tried to artfully dance around and imply the same message, Trump came right out and said it – America First. Fear the "other."Muslims are coming for us. Build a wall. Law and order. Make America Great.

And so we have a President who clearly represents the very worst of us.

The full article is available here

09/11 Triggered A Decline In U.S. Democracy - Washington Post

The attack spawned endless wars that we were told would export democracy abroad, with the result of degrading it at home.

Over the past 16 years, war has imperiled American ideals by becoming about dominance. Our military actions have reflected increased investments in imperialism, accompanied by diminished attention to political change, economic development and institution-building — the essential prerequisites for democratic freedoms.

Fear of terrorism (and seeing it as a military problem) has justified excessive and habitual suspension of good governance, ultimately creating a more fertile seedbed for terrorists.

Abandoning freedom abroad has consequences at home. Dominance has emerged as the driver of domestic politics, as well. Demands for “border security” are used by the president and his core supporters to justify racism and domestic violence aimed at protecting white male dominance.

Our leaders have nurtured what the Justice Department calls a crisis of “domestic terrorism” within U.S. borders, perpetrated by U.S. citizens, not foreigners.

From the first days after Sept. 11, 2001, we have missed a historical opportunity to turn our gravest challenges into sources of unity, creativity and self-improvement. Rather than encouraging a collective mentality with high income taxes and war bond campaigns, our tax policies now exacerbate differences between rich and poor.

Our criminal policies have stigmatized groups in the name of safety, rather than offering opportunities for rehabilitation, hope and a new beginning.

The full article is available here

The Very Bad Economics of Killing DACA - Paul Krugman

Donald Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions tried to sell the killing of DACA with junk economics, claiming that the Dreamers are taking American jobs. 

No, they aren’t, even if we leave aside the question of who’s an American. DACA is very much a boon to the rest of the U.S. population, and killing it will make everyone worse off.

The full article is available here

Why Donald Trump Pardoned Joe Arpaio - The New Yorker

Arpaio represents in miniature what President Trump would like to be more maximally - an authoritarian not constrained by the rule of law. 

Trump is likely a fan of Arpaio’s because Arapio is a fan of his—an early supporter who also went all in for birtherism, at one point sending members of a so-called Cold Case Posse to Hawaii to dig up something incriminating about Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

But more importantly, Arpaio represents in miniature what President Trump would like to be more maximally - an authoritarian not constrained by the rule of law.

Like Trump, Arpaio regards reporters, activists, and critics of his policies as personal enemies as well as enemies of the state. The Justice Department investigation found that his department had "engaged in a pattern or practice of retaliating against individuals for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech."

The DOJ investigation found that Arpaio had "arrested individuals without cause, filed meritless complaints against the political adversaries of Sheriff Arpaio, and initiated unfounded civil lawsuits and investigations against individuals critical of MCSO policies and practices."

As such, it is clear that Trump's pardon of Arpaio is an explicit endorsement of racial profiling and extralegal, vigilante policing.

The full article is available here

Gary Cohn, Trump’s Adviser, Said to Have Drafted Resignation Letter After Charlottesville - New York Times

The full article is available here

Historical Curator: Removing Confederate Statues Isn’t Erasing History - Sojourner's Magazine

Trump's line of reasoning is confused. It conflates history with commemoration and brackets the Founding Fathers with the Confederate leadership. And here, Trump is also prizing the aesthetics of public space over the duties of building a more perfect union.

Confederate symbols have become central to an increasingly ugly debate over what America is really about. That process — from The Dukes of Hazzard to David Duke — has made Confederate statues into idols in the biblical sense: objects of intense, cultic affection for those who worship the vision and prejudices they represent.

My own work as a curator and historical researcher has led me to realize what these statues truly represent to their communities - divisive symbols that mean as much to racists today as they did in the past. 

Many people who don’t study this sort of thing for a living may feel things are moving too quickly, and as such we can fall prey to common "straw man" arguments: “First Confederate statues, then what?” and “We shouldn’t erase history.”

Trump's tweets bemoaning the removal of Confederate monuments as "erasing history" are based on conflation and false equivalency. He — and this line of reasoning — is confused. It conflates history with commemoration and brackets the Founding Fathers with the Confederate leadership. 

And here, Trump is also prizing the aesthetics of public space over the duties of building a more perfect union. America’s parks and roundabouts will be just as pretty without Confederate monuments.

The full article is available here

I warned of right-wing violence in 2009. Republicans objected. I was right. - Daryl Johnson

Since 2008, the body count from numerous acts of violent right-wing terrorism continued to rise steadily with very little media interest, political discussion or concern from our national leaders. 

Eight years ago, I warned of a singular threat — the resurgence of right-wing extremist activity and associated violence in the United States as a result of the 2008 presidential election, the financial crisis and the stock market crash. My intelligence report, meant only for law enforcement, was leaked by conservative media.

A political backlash ensued because of an objection to the label “right-wing extremism.” The report also rightly pointed out that returning military veterans may be targeted for recruitment by extremists. Republican lawmakers demanded then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano rescind my report. The American Legion formally requested an apology to veterans. Some in Congress called for me to be fired. Amid the turmoil, my warning went unheeded by Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Security caved to the political pressure: Work related to violent right-wing extremism was halted. Law enforcement training also stopped. My unit was disbanded.

And since 2008, the body count from numerous acts of violent right-wing terrorism continued to rise steadily with very little media interest, political discussion or concern from our national leaders.

The mere existence of so many heavily armed citizens filled with hate and anger toward various elements of American society is troubling enough in its own right. They number in the hundreds of thousands. More troubling is the violent convergence now underway within right-wing extremist movements.

Largely under the media radar, disaffected extremist groups with long histories of squabbling have been independently pooling resources, some even infiltrating our government through the outreach efforts of right-wing extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Constitutional Sheriff’s and Peace Officers Association.

More recently, the renewed debates over Confederate monuments, same-sex marriage and Black Lives Matter has reinvigorated alt-right extremists to mobilize toward a more radical fringe element capable of violent action at any moment. Of further concern, a new generation of “charismatic leaders” within the white supremacist movement has emerged after Trump’s election, creating an opportunity for disparate groups to unite under one banner.

Trump’s endorsement of the border wall, the travel ban, mass deportations of illegal immigrants — these ideas were touted on white supremacist message boards merely 10 years ago. Now they’re being put forth as official U.S. policy. Such controversial plans have placated white supremacists and anti-government extremists and will draw still more sympathetic individuals toward these extremist causes along with the sort of violent acts that too often follow, like Charlottesville.

The full article is available here

Black Lives Matter Is Not A Hate Group - Southern Poverty Law Center

Black Lives Matter is not a hate group. The perception that it is racist illustrates the problem of our society as a whole still not accepting that racial injustice remains pervasive. And, unfortunately, the fact that surveys reveal that a majority of white people tend to see race as a zero-sum game may actually impede progress.

Generally speaking, hate groups are, by our definition, those that vilify entire groups of people based on immutable characteristics such as race or ethnicity. Federal law takes a similar approach.

There’s no doubt that some protesters who claim the mantle of Black Lives Matter have said offensive things, like the chant “pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon” that was heard at one rally.

However, we have heard nothing remotely comparable to bigotry from the founders and most prominent leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and nothing at all to suggest that the bulk of the demonstrators hold supremacist or black separatist views.

Thousands of white people across America – indeed, people of all races – have marched in solidarity with African Americans during BLM marches, as is clear from the group’s website.

The movement’s leaders also have condemned violence.

Black Lives Matter is not a hate group. The perception that it is racist illustrates the problem of our society as a whole still not accepting that racial injustice remains pervasive. And, unfortunately, the fact that surveys reveal that a majority of white people tend to see race as a zero-sum game may actually impede progress.

The full article is available here

Amateur Online Vigilantism Is NOT How We Should Combat Right Wing Hate - Jeff Wiersma

Online vigilantism may temporarily satiate our need to feel like we've done something to combat forces of hate, but the object of vigilantism's threats and verbal abuse is still a human being. No human being should be subjected to threats and abuse. And aren't threats and verbal abuse precisely what right wing hate groups direct at minorities, those of different religion traditions, and those who stand against hateful rhetoric?

I heard this story on NPR last evening ...

"In the aftermath of the white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va., some people took to Twitter and shared photos of people who allegedly were at the march. The idea was to identify who they were and shame them. But identifying someone from a photo can be tricky — and people managed to make at least one mistake."

The victim of this mistake was Kyle Quinn, a University of Arkansas assistant professor. When someone incorrectly identified him as a participant in last weekend's right wing hate rally in Charlottesville, his email and Twitter account and were flooded with people cursing at him, threatening him and his wife.

On Saturday night, someone tweeted out the couple's home address. The couple immediately got law enforcement involved. This is reminiscent of the incident in 2013 when the New York Post falsely identified two men in a photograph as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

In our mass media age it's easier than ever for such mistakes to happen, and the consequences are exponentially broader in scope than a scarlet letter or the proverbial mob with pitch forks.

But let's think beyond the fact that these were instances of mistaken identity.

Even if self-appointed online vigilantes properly identify someone involved in something criminal or hateful, what productive result does threatening and verbally abusing them achieve? This kind of activity strays well beyond the bounds of valid criticism of someone for their policies or actions that is part of constructive democratic engagement. In short, it is bullying.

Online vigilantism may temporarily satiate our need to feel like we've done something to combat forces of hate, but the object of vigilantism's threats and verbal abuse is still a human being. No human being should be subjected to threats and abuse. And aren't threats and verbal abuse precisely what right wing hate groups direct at minorities, those of different religion traditions, and those who stand against hateful rhetoric?

How does dehumanizing someone work in any way to solve the problem of that person's dehumanization of the people they hate?

Trump's "Both Sides" Assessment of Charlottesville: Marginally Accurate, Mostly Wrong - Jeff Wiersma

Trump is for some reason reluctant to identify hate groups as being the causal agent of the problem, instead resorting to "What Aboutism."

At an impromptu press conference Tuesday at Trump Tower, President Trump suggested that white supremacists and counter demonstrators were both to blame for the deadly violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

Trump's not wrong that the violence committed by a small fraction of the counter-protesters is a problem. Any pacifist would agree and many have already cited such tactics as both unethical and ultimately counterproductive.

What was striking, however, was that he couldn't even articulate that clearly without throwing in a completely random "fake news" epithet at the reporters gathered at the press conference.

The press conference leaves 3 takeaways.

1. Trump is for some reason reluctant to identify hate groups as being the causal agent of the problem, instead resorting to "What Aboutism." He didn't mention that the torch-carrying neo-Nazis encircled a church where clergy were praying on Friday night. He didn't mention that on Saturday, the same clergy peacefully marched in direct, nonviolent protest against machine-gun toting neo-Nazis.

2. Trump's "What Aboutism" only reinforces the need for those protesting against neo-Nazi's to remain nonviolent.  Had the small fraction of counter-protesters that used violence in Charlottesville INSTEAD behaved like the rest of their compatriots who used nonviolent direct action, Trump wouldn't had have any incidents to use for his equivocation.

3. Trump once again looked inept as president. He appears unable to articulate basic statements about basic truths that are held about democratic society by a vast majority of U.S. citizens. He has thus far lacked the appropriate seriousness and care in his wording for crisis situations such as the death of a demonstrator in Charlottesville. He appears to have little impulse control and an inability to consistently act presidential.

This leaves one to seriously question whether he is at all qualified for the job and whether or not he is fundamentally ill-suited for what it requires. In this instance and others, he has appeared to be in way over his head.

Fighting Hate With Assertive Nonviolence - Jeff Wiersma

As a society, we've endured other times when the forces of hatred and violence have reared their heads.  We have emerged as a more just, progressive, and egalitarian society on the other side of those times due to the work of nonviolent activists. 

In response to the Neo-nazi/KKK/White Supremacist rally in Charlottesville last weekend, there has been a lot of justifiable, visceral anger from those who criticize and oppose hatred and racism.

Once news broke that a White Supremacist had intentionally driven his car into a crowd of anti-racism demonstrators - killing one person - the outrage heated up exponentially.

I will gladly count myself among those who feel righteous anger at those who advocate hatred and feel that the use of violent force in pursuit of their racist beliefs is justified. No one has ever had to guess what my opinion is about racism, demagogues who peddle it, and domestic right wing terrorists.

That being said, I've seen some responses that don't sit well with me. Among them would be statements like "punch nazis," "smash fascists," and "we need to treat fascists like we did in World War II," the implication of course being that we should kill them.

I too have the same instinctual, emotional reaction of "these domestic terrorists should get a taste of their own medicine."  But there are many reasons why I won't join the chorus of voices advocating retaliatory violence.

Some of those reasons are purely strategic.

If MLK's work in the Civil Rights Movement should have taught those of us who advocate for progressive reform anything, it should be that not retaliating violently gives your side the moral high ground. Ghandi, Cesar Chavez, and Desmond Tutu all similarly understood and utilized assertive nonviolent protest.

There are 3 practical reasons why nonviolent direction action is the only strategy worth pursuing.

1. Violent retaliation only plays into the dismissive caricatures of "thugs" and "terrorists" that those all-too-eager to smear protestors routinely attempt to utilize. This propaganda false flat when it is leveled against nonviolent protesters.
2. It may sound crass at first blush, but in the era of mass media, optics matter. In the 1960's when average US citizens saw peaceful civil rights activists being attacked with dogs, police batons, fire hoses, and bombs on the evening news, the Civil Rights Movement had effectively won the battle for the public's hearts and minds.
3. Not retaliating violently interrupts the cycle of violence and prevents the continued downward spiraling of society. If the desired result of opposing hate and violence is to prevent it from occurring in the future, nonviolent direction action is the tool of choice. The only purpose that retaliating violently serves is to vent frustration. Though seemingly cathartic in the short term, it serves no long term strategic purpose. 

Other reasons that I oppose retaliating in violence are ethical.

1. Two wrongs don't make a right. One of the reasons I am a pacifist is because I see the use of violence as necessarily immoral. How can one claim to have ethical integrity if one's response to violence that is clearly wrong is itself violent? How would one's actions be any different than those of the forces of hate?
2. Dehumanization is always wrong. Committing violence against someone else is only possible when a victim is seen as being something other than a co-equal member of the human race. Violence is necessarily the result of a victim first having been dehumanized in the eyes of their attacker. By retaliating violently, would not one be guilty of the exact same wrong that the forces of hatred and oppression are guilty of - namely seeing another person as being less than fully human?
   
   Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacists are 100% wrong in their beliefs and their rhetoric is divisive and dangerous.  At the same time, they are still human beings.  They are certainly hateful and abusive, but they are still humans - and therefore inherently deserving of a basic level of respect and decency.  

As a society, we've endured other times when the forces of hatred and violence have reared their heads.  We have emerged as more just, progressive, and egalitarian society on the other side of those times due to the work of nonviolent activists.  These ordinary people had the courage and moral fiber to directly and assertively oppose the forces of extraordinary evil and darkness.  Their's is the example we should look to and emulate.

Maybe Trump Isn't Lying? Washington Post Opinion Page

The key question with all of President Trump's inconsistencies and self-contradictions is this: Is he lying or is he unable to separate what he wants to believe and what exists, literally, in front of his eyes?

Instead of lying, what if Trump sincerely believes all of his unsubstantiated claims?

When he makes statements that are promptly and easily proven to be non-factual, could it be that he wasn't able to discern that they weren't true?

When he denies saying something, what if he honestly cannot recall statements that come back to haunt him?

This gives one pause when one considers the global consequences of the decisions that a president makes as commander in chief.

The key question with all of President Trump's inconsistencies and self-contradictions is this: Is he lying or is he unable to separate what he wants to believe and what exists, literally, in front of his eyes?

The 1st makes him morally unfit, and was the basis upon which many principled conservatives refused to vote for him. The 2nd means we have a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have never seen.

The full article is available here

Myopia in Western Media Covering Refugee Crisis’ - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

Much of the serious reporting that does exist often presents refugees as the problem, rather than displacement and its drivers. The narrative is driven by the supposed inconvenience of Western citizens rather than the actual story of the refugees themselves. 

In scale and complexity, the crisis of the world’s displaced—65.9 million people, according to the UN Refugee Agency—is difficult to grasp. The need for a public reckoning, a working through of a societal response to this unprecedented circumstance, is clear.

Much of the serious reporting that does exist often presents refugees as the problem, rather than displacement and its drivers. The narrative is driven by the supposed inconvenience of Western citizens rather than the actual story of the refugees themselves.  We don’t get to hear the stories of why people leave, because it seems as if the public in the West is more invested in how to deal with the refugees than what their lives are about.

This leads one to wonder how much media help, not just in the fight to ensure that people’s humanity is respected, whatever their status, but in the effort to understand the roots of this global phenomenon and address it in a humane way.

The full article is available here.

Donald Trump's Behavior Is Abnormal - Chicago Tribune

I don't care what party Trump represents. If we were six months into a Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio administration, I'd have plenty of disagreements on policy, but I wouldn't be dropping other columns to highlight routine affronts to the basic decency of the office of the presidency.

What Trump said in Ohio on Tuesday night was not normal. What he said to the Boy Scouts was not normal. What he's doing to his attorney general is not normal.

The full article is available here

Trump Demonstrates He Is Unfit To Lead Our Troops - Washington Post

Trump’s impulsiveness and self-absorption make him incapable of thinking beyond his self-interest.

It is hard to think of any presidential act, before President Trump’s Twitter announcement Wednesday that he was banning transgender individuals from the military, that was so plainly designed to use the military as a pawn in a self-centered political stunt.

The act was among the most cynical and irresponsible of his presidency,  designed to save the president from his own scandals.

Never have we seen a president provoke such chaos in the military, acting with no regard for the welfare of the troops or the security of the nation, with no military justification whatsoever.  Trump’s impulsiveness and self-absorption make him incapable of thinking beyond his self-interest.

The incident reminds us that Trump’s impulsiveness and self-absorption make him incapable of thinking beyond his self-interest.  He would disrupt our military, create havoc among active service personnel and their families, and lie that this was all the military’s idea — just to create another issue to distract from his political woes.

The full article is available here

Trump Family Values - David Remnick in The New Yorker

The country is headed towards a constitutional crisis.  When will Republicans collectively say "enough?" Good question, however Republicans realize that Trump's base is still the core of the G.O.P. electorate, and they dare not antagonize it.

James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence, said that the Donald Trump Jr Russia e-mails were probably “only one anecdote in a much larger story,” adding, “I can’t believe that this one exchange represents all there is, either involving the President’s son or others associated with the campaign.”

Now the country is headed toward a “constitutional crisis,” Clapper said, and the question has to be asked: “When will the Republicans collectively say ‘enough’?”

Good question. Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, business leaders such as Stephen Schwarzman and Carl Icahn, and a raft of White House advisers, including the bulk of the National Security Council, cannot fail to see the chaos, the incompetence, and the potential illegality in their midst, and yet they go on supporting, excusing, and deflecting attention from the President’s behavior in order to protect their own ambitions and fortunes.

However, they realize that Trump’s base is still the core of the G.O.P. electorate, and they dare not antagonize it.

The Republicans, the self-proclaimed party of family values, remain squarely behind a family and a Presidency whose most salient features are amorality, greed, demagoguery, deception, vulgarity, race-baiting, misogyny, and, potentially—only time and further investigation will tell—a murky relationship with a hostile foreign government.

The full article is available here

How To Sustain Perpetual War? Don't Let U.S. Public See The Bodies - Peter Van Buren

In 1969, Life magazine published a famous edition consisting entirely of portraits of the Americans who died in Vietnam that week. Many subscribers canceled, but many more looked for the first time outside the narrative. The war found its end.

Sustaining America’s state of post-9/11 perpetual war requires skillful manipulation of the public at home. The key tool used for this purpose is the bloodless narrative, a combination of policy, falsehoods and media manipulation that creates the impression that America’s wars have few consequences, at least for Americans.

The bloodless war narrative’s solution to the dead is a policy of don’t look, don’t tell.

Dick Cheney, as Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush, helped decide in 1991 the first Iraq War would play better if Americans did not see their fallen return home. He recalled the images of coffins from the 1989 invasion of Panama on television, transposed against the president speaking of victory, and banned media from Dover Air Force Base, where deceased American personnel would arrive from the Persian Gulf.

The ban at Dover lasted 18 years, past George Bush 2.0 and Iraq War 2.0, overturned only in 2009, well after the casualty counts dropped off. Even then, allowing cameras at Dover was left at the discretion of the families.

In 1969, Life magazine published a famous edition consisting entirely of portraits of the Americans who died in Vietnam that week. Many subscribers canceled, but many more looked for the first time outside the narrative. The war found its end.

We are no longer likely to see those nasty pictures. The military has become more skillful at manipulating the media.

The full article is available here

Please Stop Calling Donald Trump A Child - Ryan Stoller from Unfundamentalist Parenting

Children are better than the stereotypes we reduce them to in order to insult others.

The 45th president of America: a man who revels in selfishness, whines when he does not get his way, throws public fits when people anger him, tosses personal insults left and right, and boasts about his genitals.

For these reasons and many others, some people have taken to describing him as “childish,” “like a toddler,” or “like a child.”

This is unfortunate, because children deserve better. Children are better than the stereotypes we reduce them to in order to insult others. Comparing Donald Trump to children is unfair to children. I know many children who are more kind, respectful, and thoughtful than Trump has unfortunately been able to be thus far.

Additionally, when children act in negative ways that mirror Trump, such as throwing tantrums, they have legitimate excuses: they are still developing emotionally, physically, and psychologically.

They are children, which means they are still learning to regulate their emotions. They are still learning right from wrong. They are still adjusting to social mores and standards of communication.

The full article is available here

Republican Strategist Ana Navarro: Trump Is Disgusting, Fixated With "Women" and "Blood"

Trump’s Love Of Alex Jones Should Horrify Conservatives - Progressive American

There was a time when conservatives talked about “integrity,” “honesty,” and “personal responsibility” and may have truly meant it. That ship has now sailed.

Alex Jones is in the midst of a divorce. His wife calls him “unstable” and “violent” based on what he has said on his radio program. How did his lawyers respond?

Randall Wilhite told state District Judge Orlinda Naranjo that using his client Alex Jones’ on-air Infowars persona to evaluate Alex Jones as a father would be like judging Jack Nicholson in a custody dispute based on his performance as the Joker in “Batman.”

“He’s playing a character,” Wilhite said of Jones. “He is a performance artist.”

In short he is LYING to his conservative followers.

Apart from the fact that he is lying to you, one reason this should bother both his followers and others is that his now admitted lies influence Donald Trump. Trump has praised Jones and has actively pushed conspiracy theories that Jones originated.

This should be horrifying to conservatives. There was a time when conservatives talked about “integrity,” “honesty,” and “personal responsibility” and may have truly meant it. I think that ship has now sailed and we have long-ago established that conservatives are cool with lying and liars when they are on their side and they promise them a chance for political power.

In the light of conservative's decades-long pontificating about morality this still stuns me.

The full article is available here

Warmest year on record a hoax because of margin of error? That’s wrong - PolitiFact

A Fox News show co-host said that claims about warmest year are misleading due to the margin of error. Scientists say evidence proves he is wrong. Pants on Fire!

The full article is available here

Why Russia Investigation Matters & You Should Care - NPR

The assessment of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies is that Russia not only tried to influence the election by hacking and releasing emails, but engaged in a full-fledged influence campaign through propaganda to get Donald Trump elected.  Elections are the foundation stone of this country. That's why this matters.

"Please tell my constituents, my neighbors, why they should care — and not just in Washington, D.C., but in Washington state and Texas and Connecticut and points in between — and why should they care, and why do you care, sir?" - Congressman Denny Heck.

Former CIA Director John Brennan's response:

"The fact that the Russians tried to influence resources and authority and power - and the fact that the Russians tried to influence that election so that the will of the American people was not going to be realized by that election - I find outrageous and something that we need to, with every last ounce of devotion to this country, resist and try to act to prevent further instances of that.

And so, therefore, I believe, this is something that's critically important to every American. Certainly, it's very important for me, for my children and grandchildren to make sure that never again will a foreign country try to influence and interfere in the foundation stone of this country, which is electing our democratic leaders."

Russia is accused of not only trying to influence the election by hacking and releasing emails, but engaging in a full-fledged influence campaign through propaganda to get Donald Trump elected. That's the assessment of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Americans should let the conclusions be guided by the facts and allow a rigorous effort to attain them, because there's nothing more fundamental to a free and fair democracy.

That's why this matters.

The full article is available here

AP Fact Check: Trump Tweets Contain Attacks, Not Facts

President Donald Trump can’t be counted on to give accurate information to Americans when violent acts are unfolding abroad.

The full article is available here

Trump's Dump of Ethics Waivers Should End "Drain the Swamp Illusion" - Common Dreams

Former lobbyists from some of the most contentious industries under Trump are given the freedom to influence policy making in those very same arenas.

The full article is available here

Pastors, Not Politicians, Turned Dixie Republican - Forbes

It was religious leaders in the South who solved the puzzle on Republicans’ behalf, converting white angst over lost cultural supremacy into a fresh language of piety and “religious liberty.”

Southern conservatives discovered that they could preserve white nationalism through a proxy fight for Christian Nationalism. They came to recognize that a weak, largely empty Republican grassroots structure in the South was ripe for takeover and colonization.

The full article is available here

Trump Wants Families On Food Stamps To Get Jobs. The Majority Already Work - NPR

When it comes to families on SNAP with kids, a majority — 55 percent – were bringing home wages, according to USDA. The problem is, those wages aren't enough to actually live on.

The full article is available here

 Rev. William Barber Bringing MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign Back - The Nation

Rev. William Barber II announced last week that he will step down as president of the North Carolina NAACP and lead a new national initiative that aims to end poverty and begin what Barber calls 'a national moral revival.'

This new Poor People’s Campaign will pick up where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. left off 50 years ago when he turned his focus to uniting poor people across lines of race and geography and pushing their priorities onto the federal agenda.

The full article is available here

Fact Check: Tim Allen Show Not Cancelled For Political Reasons - Snopes

"ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said on a press call with reporters that she canceled Last Man Standing for the same 'business and scheduling reasons' that led to the cancellation of other shows; including The Real O'Neals, Dr. Ken, The Catch, and American Crime.

The network will soon have another Trump supporter on the air. The network is reviving Roseanne, which will star Roseanne Barr, who said she became a Republican because of Donald Trump."

The full article is available here

Former FBI Director Mueller Appointed As Special Counsel To Oversee Russia Probe - WBUR

"The Justice Department is appointing former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the growing probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to associates of President Trump."

The full article is available here

Trump Reveals Highly Classified Info To Russians - Washington Post

"President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State."

The full article is available here

Trump: President Who Doesn't Know What It Is To Know - George Will

"It is urgent for Americans to think and speak clearly about Donald Trump’s inability to do either. This seems to be not a mere disinclination but a disability.

It is not merely the result of intellectual sloth but of an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric self-confidence."

The full article is available here

What Is In Trump Care Bill? - Washington Post

"The bill does not spell out either what sort of preexisting conditions insurers may take into account if states seek a waiver from the existing federal law.

But in the past, some insurers had identified domestic violence, sexual assault, Caesarean section and postpartum depression as grounds for either denying coverage or charging higher premiums."

The full article is available here

Trump: "I Thought Presidency Would Be Easier" - Politico

Gee, the most powerful position on earth; who would think that that wouldn't be a piece of cake? A big beautiful piece of cake!

The full article is available here