Trumps campaign rhetoric lies

President-elect Donald Trump continued his "thank you" tour with a stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during which his crowd chanted their beloved, "Lock her up!" Only to be told by Trump, "That plays great before the election- now we don't care."

He added he doesn’t stand by his many previous comments that the election was rigged, because he won.

Well, Trump supporters, hate to break it to you, but there is not going to be a wall. Trump told the New York Times editorial board that when the audience looks a little bored, he starts screaming about the wall to wake them up and rouse the crowd. Sure, he knows the wall won't ever get built, but he needs the applause. So he lies.

About his campaigning he said:

“If it gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts,” he told the Times’ editorial board.

He is not the first politician to do this, but the difference is his statements arousing fear, racial animosity and division. 

Trump’s Daily to do list.

1. Tweet at 4 a.m.

2. Spend two hours looking in the mirror.

4. Deport the waiter at the restaurant because my food was cold.

5. Call up Vladamir just to chat.

6. Get fitted for my robe and crown

7. Have someone look for my job description……oh, just forget it, I will make it up as I go. I am very smart.

8. Appoint Clive Bundy Secretary of the Interior.

9. Order a larger mirror, but don’t pay for it.

10. What else?

Each day that trump names another terrifying nomination to a cabinet post my mood sinks to a new low and I wonder why I just shouldn’t give up?

I feel impotent. What can I do? What can we do?  Sure, I can write blogs and donate to organizations that will fight him, although I am getting a little tired of all their pleas for money: first tell me what you are going to do and then maybe I will give a little more. I can also sign petitions, but I don’t really think they are going to change anyone’s mind.  What else can one person do? All I see and hear so far is a lot of talk and words. I am frustrated.

I have heard and read several people voice that we need to organize. Fine: to do what? I am ready, but not just to hear speeches or form committees. I don’t think there is time for that. Action is needed now, but I don’t know what, who or where.

For a long time I have been bothered by the so called news reporting of television and  the internet. Also, for a long time I have avoided television news. How can a story with all its complexities be told in a sound bite? The internet is full of items which are purported to be news stories, but are in fact either outright fiction or very slanted viewpoints. I put some of the blame for this on the anonymity of the medium. I would prefer that news reporting go back to the days of the five W’s and one H: who, what, where, why and how. I do not need a reporter telling me how I should feel or think about a particular item. Give me the facts and I will make up my own mind.

Where can I find that straight forward reporting today? NPR? They are slanted, but do a better job of reporting than other sources. I have never been too excited about “The Economist,” just not my cup of tea. So, I must admit, despite what I have written in the first paragraph, that I get most of my news from the internet and also from newspapers. Newspaper reporting and the internet do not assault me like television and its hyperbole. Both newspapers and the internet allow me to pick and choose what I want to learn and their auditory onslaught is non-existent.  

Donald Trump schlepped across town on Tuesday to meet with the publisher of The New York Times and some editors, columnists and reporters at the paper.

As The Times reported, Trump actually seemed to soften some of his positions:

He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t seek to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But he should never have said that he was going to do that in the first place.

He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t encourage the military to use torture. But he should never have said that he would do that in the first place.

He said that he would have an “open mind” on climate change. But that should always have been his position.

You don’t get a pat on the back for ratcheting down from rabid after exploiting that very radicalism to your advantage. Unrepentant opportunism belies a staggering lack of character and caring that can’t simply be vanquished from memory. You did real harm to this country and many of its citizens, and I will never — never — forget that.

As I read the transcript and then listened to the audio, the slime factor was overwhelming.

After a campaign of bashing The Times relentlessly, in the face of the actual journalists, he tempered his whining with flattery.

At one point he said:

“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.”

He ended the meeting by saying:

“I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along well.”

I will say proudly and happily that I was not present at this meeting. The very idea of sitting across the table from a demagogue who preyed on racial, ethnic and religious hostilities and treating him with decorum and social grace fills me with disgust, to the point of overflowing. Let me tell you here where I stand on your “I hope we can all get along” plea: Never.

You are an aberration and abomination who is willing to do and say anything — no matter whom it aligns you with and whom it hurts — to satisfy your ambitions.

I don’t believe you care much at all about this country or your party or the American people. I believe that the only thing you care about is self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Your strongest allegiance is to your own cupidity.

I also believe that much of your campaign was an act of psychological projection, as we are now learning that many of the things you slammed Clinton for are things of which you may actually be guilty.

You slammed Clinton for destroying emails, then Newsweek reported last month that your companies “destroyed emails in defiance of court orders.” You slammed Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for paid speeches and conflicts of interest, then it turned out that, as BuzzFeed reported, the Trump Foundation received a $150,000 donation in exchange for your giving a 2015 speech made by video to a conference in Ukraine. You slammed Clinton about conflicts of interest while she was secretary of state, and now your possible conflicts of interest are popping up like mushroomsin a marsh.

You are a fraud and a charlatan. Yes, you will be president, but you will not get any breaks just because one branch of your forked tongue is silver.

I am not easily duped by dopes.

I have not only an ethical and professional duty to call out how obscene your very existence is at the top of American government; I have a moral obligation to do so.

I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather to speak up for truth and honor and inclusion. This isn’t just about you, but also about the moral compass of those who see you for who and what you are, and know the darkness you herald is only held at bay by the lights of truth.

It’s not that I don’t believe that people can change and grow. They can. But real growth comes from the accepting of responsibility and repenting of culpability. Expedient reversal isn’t growth; it’s gross.

So let me say this on Thanksgiving: I’m thankful to have this platform because as long as there are ink and pixels, you will be the focus of my withering gaze.

I’m thankful that I have the endurance and can assume a posture that will never allow what you represent to ever be seen as everyday and ordinary.

No, Mr. Trump, we will not all just get along. For as long as a threat to the state is the head of state, all citizens of good faith and national fidelity — and certainly this columnist — have an absolute obligation to meet you and your agenda with resistance at every turn.

I know this in my bones, and for that I am thankful.

Betsy Devos

Facts: Betsy Devos

She and her husband are billionaires. He is heir to the Amway fortune

Her brother, Eric Prince was a US Navy seal and founder of Blackwater USA a security force during the Iraq War.

She is a graduate of the Holland Christian High School and Calvin College, a private bible based school.

None of her children attended public school

She had no background in public education or in the management of a large organization the size of the Department of Education

Name calling

The media is reporting on racially charged name calling since the trump election. Whether there is more or it has always been there is hard to tell. My guess is it has always been there, but now the media has just decided to cover it. I think what is important is that in some people's minds trump's hate filled rhetoric has made it ok to once again disparage other people because of their skin color, sexual orientation, or disability. 

People are expressing different opinions about the statement from the  cast of Hamilton. Because of my background I have always felt that anything which disturbs the theatre experience is wrong, but in this case, in these times, I feel any lawful protest is not only ok, but necessary. I pointed out to a friend on Facebook who did not agree with what they did that we are two old white guys and cannot feel the depth that a person of color must feel at Trump's election.  

The election

I started this blog quite a while ago, but then didn’t do anything with it. The election has changed that.

This will be my place to rant and rave about a man who I think is unfit to be president. Hopefully at times I will digress to other topics, but at the moment that is all that haunts my thoughts.

To begin, here are some suggestions that each of us can do so we don’t feel impotent and helpless. These came from a recent meeting with concerned friends and neighbors.

Add to them if you have other ideas.

Contribute to one or more organizations that will work to the trump onslaught. They include, but are not limited to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the National Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the National Parks Foundation (checking to see if this organization politically engaged), Southern Poverty Law Center, Propublica (freedom of the press). I am sure there are more, but these are the ones we discussed.

Pay for news, if you believe a free press is more important than ever. Suggestions were the Washington Post and or the New York Times. I find it hard to read or hear the news these days and have issues with the press for their coverage of the election, but we must stay informed, even when it is hard to read.

Write letters to your representatives in congress expressing your views and if you are so inclined write a letter to President Obama thanking him for his tenure.

Do your own research so that you are informed when someone cites false news.

These are but a few ideas. If you have others please share them. Also, if you disagree with my views I would also like to hear from you, but please do so in a responsible civil manner.

Thank you.