If you’re complaining about my political rants, you just don’t understand what I feel is at risk; not only for myself as a gay man, but for democracy as a whole. Seriously, I am desperately bothered by this administration and its actions.<\/p>\n
Let’s start with what threatens me the most about this presidency and Republican rule, the War on Truth. <\/strong><\/p>\n President Trump appears to live in a world where the podium is “an elephant.” The only facts that count are the ones that support this imagined world. As of early May, The Washington Post reported<\/a> President Trump had made over 3,000 misleading or false claims since taking office. ~Forbes<\/a><\/p>\n 3,000, just let that sink in. Three Thousand lies or misleading comments. No one should accept that from a leader of the “free world.” It is grotesque and a slap in the face to the rules of democracy and civil engagement.<\/p>\n Republicans and the gays.<\/strong> So you can’t be surprised that I am not a fan of a President who wants me to have no rights or liberties as an American citizen. I am not a political outcast. Mark my words, if Trump proclaimed “kill the gays” at a rally, people would come after us with a vengeance.<\/p>\n Facism.<\/strong> “Fascism may not describe what Trump has done, as opposed to what he says. But what he says matters and can create its own dangerous dynamic. It is possible for a leader to be incompetent and still profoundly corrupt the people who follow him, undermining the virtues \u2014 tolerance, civility and compromise \u2014 that make democratic self-government work. It is possible for a foolish leader to leave the imprint of fascism on a portion of his followers. And the language used by Trump \u2014 particularly a certain racially tinged nostalgia and a tribal resentment for the other \u2014 strikes me as at a higher level of prominence and acceptance than at any time I can remember. So maybe, rather than fearing a fascist dictator, we should fear the legitimacy of fascist modes of thought in the Republican Party.” ~Washing ton Post<\/a><\/p>\n “Donald Trump takes pride in breaking the norms. It validates his self-image. He does this with impunity. What\u2019s so disheartening is of course that the Republican establishment has totally backed him. They see no cause for alarm. Aside from high-profile former Republican commentators who now work for MSNBC and a small number of “Never Trumpers,” most Republicans have been very loyal to Donald Trump. That is very disturbing for what it suggests about the health of the country’s democracy.” ~Salon<\/p>\n Humanism<\/strong>. “Immigration more than pays for itself. Immigrants add $1.6 trillion to the economy each year. Of that, $35 billion is a net benefit to the companies and communities where they live. The rest (97.8 percent) of that growth returns to the immigrant workers as wages. They repatriate $25 billion<\/a> back to family members in Mexico. They spend the rest in America.” ~The Balance<\/a><\/p>\n Republican capitulating.<\/strong> What price glory, I ask? Trump’s presidency and followers sicken me to the core. This is not democracy any more, this is elitism, fascism, xenophobia, and rule by old white men who care not for progress, but for themselves. I hope the mid-terms bring back some semblance of normal and we get smart, qualified sane people running this country.<\/p>\n You may not be scared, but I sure the hell am.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Further Reading: If you’re complaining about my political rants, you just don’t understand what I feel is at risk; not only for myself as a gay man, but for democracy as a whole. Seriously, I am desperately bothered by this administration and its actions. Let’s start with what threatens me the most about this presidency and Republican rule, the War on Truth. President Trump appears to live in a world where the podium is “an elephant.” The only facts that count are the ones that support this imagined world. As of early May, The Washington Post reported President Trump had made over 3,000 misleading or false claims since taking office. ~Forbes 3,000, just let that sink in. Three Thousand lies or misleading comments. No one should accept that from a leader of the “free world.” It is grotesque and a slap in the face to the rules of democracy and civil engagement. Republicans and the gays. Workplace discrimination Blocking adoptions by LGBT people Refusal to deliver services based on religious freedom Attacks on transexual service members rights and liberties Removal of LGBT language from government websites Trumps timeline of hate So you can’t be surprised that I am not a fan of a President who wants me to have no rights or liberties as an American citizen. I am not a political outcast. Mark my words, if Trump proclaimed “kill the gays” at a rally, people would come after us with a vengeance. Facism. His rhetoric is violent and dangerous. He touts his separatist and confrontational views at all his rallies, on twitter, and in interviews. It is “lather, rinse, repeat,” with his rhetoric and dogma on the campaign trail. You don’t think it is an issue? Please inform yourself. “Fascism may not describe what Trump has done, as opposed to what he says. But what he says matters and can create its own dangerous dynamic. It is possible for a leader to be incompetent and still profoundly corrupt the people who follow him, undermining the virtues \u2014 tolerance, civility and compromise \u2014 that make democratic self-government work. It is possible for a foolish leader to leave the imprint of fascism on a portion of his followers. And the language used by Trump \u2014 particularly a certain racially tinged nostalgia and a tribal resentment for the other \u2014 strikes me as at a higher level of prominence and acceptance than at any time I can remember. So maybe, rather than fearing a fascist dictator, we should fear the legitimacy of fascist modes of thought in the Republican Party.” ~Washing ton Post “Donald Trump takes pride in breaking the norms. It validates his self-image. He does this with impunity. What\u2019s so disheartening is of course that the Republican establishment has totally backed him. They see no cause for alarm. Aside from high-profile former Republican commentators who now work for MSNBC and a small number of “Never Trumpers,” most Republicans have been very loyal to Donald Trump. That is very disturbing for what it suggests about the health of the country’s democracy.” ~Salon Humanism. People have come to the Unites States to escape political and economic turmoil for decades. We are a nation of immigrants who left oppressive situations and sought opportunity in a better place, America. Trump has categorically turned all immigrants into villains. He completely lacks empathy for immigrants. “Immigration more than pays for itself. Immigrants add $1.6 trillion to the economy each year. Of that, $35 billion is a net benefit to the companies and communities where they live. The rest (97.8 percent) of that growth returns to the immigrant workers as wages. They repatriate $25 billion back to family members in Mexico. They spend the rest in America.” ~The Balance Republican capitulating. My problem with republicans is that they have surrendered themselves to a madman. Trump is vile, likely a criminal, a known sexist and self-proclaimed harasser. He does not stand for American values or morality. Republicans lift their heads to a false prophet and smile because…. They get their tax cuts (thank you for the deficit addition) They get their Supreme Court nominees (it is solidly conservative and rulings will affect a generation, if not two) They get religious law overtaking secular rule They marginalize the rights of minority classes (African American voting rights, LGBT rights, “Dreamers” rights) They will cut benefits in Medicare and Medicaid They will decimate access to health care and insurance They will cut to social programs as a means of attempting to balance the budget What price glory, I ask? Trump’s presidency and followers sicken me to the core. This is not democracy any more, this is elitism, fascism, xenophobia, and rule by old white men who care not for progress, but for themselves. I hope the mid-terms bring back some semblance of normal and we get smart, qualified sane people running this country. You may not be scared, but I sure the hell am. Further Reading: The Deficit Trump’s Scandals Trump’s Defenders Trump’s Tone Instagram PBS Honesty Check Enough Platitudes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[360,308,358,359],"class_list":["post-1815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-facism","tag-lgbt","tag-republicans","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1815"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1988,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815\/revisions\/1988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWorkplace discrimination<\/a>
\nBlocking adoptions<\/a> by LGBT people
\nRefusal to deliver services based on religious freedom<\/a>
\nAttacks on transexual service members<\/a> rights and liberties
\nRemoval of LGBT language from government websites<\/a>
\nTrumps timeline<\/a> of hate<\/p>\n
\nHis rhetoric is violent and dangerous. He touts his separatist and confrontational views at all his rallies, on twitter, and in interviews. It is “lather, rinse, repeat,” with his rhetoric and dogma on the campaign trail.
\nYou don’t think it is an issue? Please inform yourself<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nPeople have come to the Unites States to escape political and economic turmoil for decades. We are a nation of immigrants who left oppressive situations and sought opportunity in a better place, America. Trump has categorically turned all immigrants into villains. He completely lacks empathy for immigrants.<\/p>\n
\nMy problem with republicans is that they have surrendered themselves to a madman. Trump is vile, likely a criminal, a known sexist and self-proclaimed harasser. He does not stand for American values or morality. Republicans lift their heads to a false prophet and smile because….
\nThey get their tax cuts (thank you for the deficit addition)
\nThey get their Supreme Court nominees (it is solidly conservative and rulings will affect a generation, if not two)
\nThey get religious law overtaking secular rule
\nThey marginalize the rights of minority classes (African American voting rights, LGBT rights, “Dreamers” rights)
\nThey will cut benefits in Medicare and Medicaid
\nThey will decimate access to health care and insurance
\nThey will cut to social programs as a means of attempting to balance the budget<\/p>\n
\nThe Deficit<\/a>
\nTrump’s Scandals<\/a>
\nTrump’s Defenders<\/a>
\nTrump’s Tone<\/a>
\nInstagram<\/a>
\nPBS Honesty Check<\/a>
\nEnough Platitudes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"