Trump "Transfers Power to the People", Undemocratically
The new President of the United States, Donald Trump, had this to say in his inaugural speech.
“Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people,” Trump said.
This is a man who has spent the last eighteen months telling everybody who would listen what HE would do when President. This is a man who says HE is going to build a wall around the country to keep people out. A man who said HE would keep torture as a U.S. policy, bomb terrorist's children, discriminate against people because of their religion and race, deregulate and privatize everything HE he can, and insult anyone who disagrees with him. A man who says HE is going to slap tariffs and sanctions on countries and companies who don't do what HE says. A man who says HE is going to build the greatest military ever built, to stockpile the most nuclear weapons ever stockpiled and a man who says HE will institute a new health INSURANCE system.
This is a man who got about 26% of voting eligible citizens to vote for him, apparently with a good percentage of those doing so only because Hillary Clinton is so despicable, more so than Trump. This is a man who says HE is going to do all these great things.
Like give Power to the People.
He hires a bunch of billionaires, multi-millionaires and generals, key representatives from major corporations and banks, all of the "01%", to make decisions for the rest of us and calls that giving power to the people.
Fuck him and fuck that.
What a joke, power to the people. Most people wouldn't know democracy if it bit them in the ass.
Well, if PEOPLE don't want the power, then so be it. Let Donald Trump make THEIR decisions. I reject all of it.
Comments
It is going to be a long, tough road.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
@dkmich We're just handing off
We're just handing off one set of aristocracy to another. Power to the people is no different than alms to the poor, a chicken in every pot. Our number one problem is how we allow ourselves to be governed.
I did not listen at all. Knew what was coming,
except for the long dress gloves. How late '60's in Louisville! I do not think I ever wore long gloves, but yes, short white ones. To cotillions. Omg.
And we do seem to have new essayists, so kind advertising of c99 seems to work. Let's all keep it up on various other social media sites.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
love the photo, i'm gonna steal that
It's official
We've gone into plaid.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
The Illusion of Power
Will prevent us from discovering our true power.
Understanding Creates Real Power
One winter's day (to relieve the boredom) I taught my four year old daughter to free-climb (no ropes or belays) chimneys. She called it "Door Jamming" and practiced variations endlessly. She loved to push to the maximum height, touch the space above the door, and drop (giggling all the while) to the floor. Children don't know that they are not supposed to exceed expectations and take control of their own destiny.
That next summer we happened to visit Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area west of Las Vegas. In less than five minutes of arriving, we noticed that she was not in sight. We did the usual "Parent Panic" search routine and discovered her laughing many meters overhead in a perfectly formed chimney. I suddenly realized she had never learned the tricky "exit the top of the chimney" technique. Luckily, I reached her just in time to coach her (with an extra foot hold) to the top of the cliff.
Exhilarating, that was! I am an extreme acrophobic, and my wife was not amuse.
Love the cartoon
I've been seeing a meme going around saying I Do NOT Consent, which presumably is a way for these people to tell themselves they are not responsible for President Trump and don't accept him as president. Denial at its finest. I want to say to everyone waving that around: If you voted, then you consented to accepting the outcome the election. Deal with it.
If you "believe in our democracy" then by definition you consent to being governed by whomever is able to "win" these elections, no matter how insane they may be. You consent to following the rules for removing him from power: push congress for impeachment, or hold your nose until the next election game show, and try to vote him out. You don't get to play along and then deny your "consent" if your side loses. It doesn't work that way.
The people saying this don't seem to notice that their heroes, the Clintons and the Obamas, stood there smiling and shaking hands with "the next Hitler" yesterday. They consent. A certifiable crazy man is the president of the Unites States now.
Big Al: I've been reading your posts here with interest, and I want you to know, I'm convinced. I agree with you. But I don't know how to abolish the presidency or end the current entrenched political system. I'm now with the one in the back on that cartoon ... turning my back and walking away from participation is the political theatre. But I sure don't feel like that's going to accomplish anything either. How do we the people take control, and demand repeal and replace the current political system in this country? A political revolution? A real revolution? We know the problem, but what's the solution? I feel at a loss.
I suppose that's what it's going to take CS,
some kind revolution, overturning of the power. How do we do it? We need 20-50 million people either in the streets or in the streets and on the internet all demanding the same thing. That's about the only way to do it. It would take a lot of time, money and organization. Unfortunately there is no easy button.
But that's why I've been pushing the idea of replacing this political system or substantially altering it. We aren't going to change the power structure by demanding more jobs or higher pay. And we're sure not going to change it by voting for more politicians.
Perhaps the first concrete step away from the edge:
would be to deny their notion of how the economy functions. This is the "foundation" of their control, and the only weapon we have is the truth. Once we have established the truth, they will fall into the abyss, I guarantee it.
How does the economy work?
I have to confess, I don't know what you mean. I'm no expert on economics however.
Here's how it "works" for me and my family: My spouse and I both go to work pretty much every weekday, we do what is necessary (taking shit from assholes on a daily basis) to hold on to our jobs for as long as we can, even though we hate them. This allows us to continue receiving paychecks twice a month, keep some form of health insurance, pay the endless bills, keep a roof over our heads, and keep ourselves and our dogs fed and warm and dry.
I read books years ago that talked about how there are more than enough resources to provide plenty of everything for everyone on this planet, if we ended the power-grabbing capitalist mindset and just provided for the well-being of all. Why keep grasping for jobs and a little more money in our paychecks, when many of us have jobs that consist of unnecessary make-work which zaps our creativity, steals our lives, makes us sick, and harms the environment? Because we have no choice.
No one, not even the venerated Bernie Sanders, talks about abolishing this whole soul-destroying "jobs" game and just taking care of everyone. Is that what you mean? If not, I'd welcome being enlightened.
Yes but with some caveats.
A simple "yes" would be disingenuous, but in essence the answer is "yes". The crux of the issue is that while currency is real · · · money is not real. That is "money is not real" because money is not a finite thing. Anyone that has any businesses acumen knows this intrinsically and extrinsically.
The point is that the economy can be designed so that it facilitates cooperation rather than fostering defection, to use game theory terms. There is no real reason for some people to work ridiculously long hours for substandard compensation while others (and you know them) do nothing of any value but live a life of luxury and leisure.
We know how to do it, and it is not even a difficult state to achieve. Bernie wanted to start that discussion but he and the rest of the cognoscenti were (and are being) shut out of the process.
Thanks PriceRip
It is most depressing and frustrating, because all I ever hear about this subject, from those who identify as progressives or left-wing, is that we need more jobs. And a higher minimum wage, so that people can spend their days and their lives working hard, but at least earn enough money to marginally survive. Woo hoo.
And even that is considered by most people to be an out-of-reach ideal, unrealistic pie-in-the-sky thinking. We seem lightyears away from any new way of thinking about this way of life. (And yes, I'm using lightyears as a measure of time : ) specifically, an infinitely far away future.) I agree with you, there is no reason for it, and yet it seems set in stone. Why? A friend of mine says that it's a protestant work ethic, which is so deeply baked in that no can even imagine another way. Well, not no one... a few of us do. But nowhere near enough.
I think this is one reason the left/progressivism is hopelessly fractured. We have people demanding "job creation" --- jobs, jobs, jobs!!! ... but that is fundamentally at odds with protecting the environment, ending the wars, and ending the ongoing mindless consumerism that funds these jobs. We cannot have it both ways. If we could stop demanding jobs and start demanding sanity and compassion for all beings, that would be something else. But I don't see that happening.
I never had a job
I spent sixty years (± a two or so days) going to school and enjoyed each day. The only downside to this life were the people that told me to "grow up", stop playing around, and get a real job.
The above is somewhat "tongue-in-cheek" (but only somewhat) because I have known many others that are doing what they really want to do, and they (like me) know that everyone should be able to live that sort of life. Misery is not the normal state for a human being. Misery is an unnatural externally imposed condition, and it should not be allowed to continue.
The thing is, as I mentioned, when those of us that know better (like Bernie) speak effectively to the real issues, the self-correcting-system activates to shut that shit down. We now have tool (this thing I like to call the Matrix) which is the means, we need to organize the message, and we can create the world we want.
Al, Trump is a revolutionary who will fight for us 99% little
people, didn't you know? Look he raises his fist like us, like we used to do when fighting for our goddamn rights.(see left hand side image, JtC has put us for us)
So, give him some slack, all that is missing is the right outfit. I bet you, soon you will find the 'right' "revolutionary outfit" in all of America's appareil stores. My inbox is flooded with junk since Trump has been elected. I am just waiting for Trump's Revolutionary Survival Swamp Safe Rubber Coats and Pants .. in orange of course.
Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. It's all I can say these days. Running my junk mouth over junk news.
Sure is a little fist isn't it mimi.
Ya, Trump is going to save us all. I see a lot of that on the internet, like when Obama was elected the first time. It's always like that for some. Others, not so much.
Trump inadvertently quoted Bane
Trump inadvertently quoted Batman villain Bane, from "The Dark Knight Rises."
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
"We" Europeans are always good allies of the US Presidents
one day after President Trump took over, Le Pen et al. are rejoicing in Germany.
Thousands protest far-right conference in Koblenz
Far-right leaders from Germany, France, Italy and elsewhere gather in German city of Koblenz amid demonstrations.
There we have the mess. Thanks to the US, the far right in Europe has a big mouth again. And apparently everybody thinks it's normal, even chique. Anti-establishment fighters being proud of their victories and sleeping in bed with the biggest establisment comedian con-artist. Bravo. Btw., has LePen ever asked what Germans think about her? Isn't it "encouraging" how many right-wing women there are among us "feminists"?
Far-right governments may change the EU
Germany's media role in the rise of right-wing political voices
A convoluted mess full of contradictions.