dailykos--2020-12-13--Democracy is more than choosing leaders

Democracy is more than choosing leaders

George Washington ’ s actions after winning the Revolution shocked world monarchs more than the Revolution itself did .
But his successor , John Adams , terrified them .
It shook the world when George Washington declined to run for a third term , and voluntarily stepped down after serving as president for eight years .
No one thought a national leader could do that .
Emperors don ’ t do that .
Kings don ’ t do that .
Not even conquerors do that , and Washington was seen ( by monarchs around the world ) as little better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power by might of arms .
Yet he stepped down .
Voluntarily .
That shook them all .
A still larger quake stunned the world ’ s monarchs four years later .
It gets less press though , because it frightened them more , and it still does .
The first incumbent US president to be defeated at the polls and denied a second term was John Adams in 1800 .
For the first time in human history , a nation ’ s leader was deposed by means of a scheduled election .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ John Adams wanted to remain in office .
The People chose to remove him .
And then he left .
Peacefully .
Because The People voted him out of office .
Until then , no one was certain this was even possible .
The People not only chose their president , they then chose to remove one .
And then he left .
He didn ’ t even call out the army in an attempt to keep himself in power .
He just left .
This had never happened before .
It proved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were in charge in America , not the “ rulers ” .
In America , The People are the government .
This is the true attainment of democracy — not only that we choose our leaders , but that we can remove them .
Make no mistake : Trump ’ s brownshirts and his supine fascist Republican Party are trying very hard to un-do this historic achievement .
The possibility that a president who was voted out of office might not leave would mark a final failure of the American experiment .
2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the people , by the people and for the people shall perish from the earth .
We took the House in 2018 and deposed a would-be king in 2020 .
We did it with ballots , not bullets .
Don ’ t ever say your vote won ’ t count .
Vote in every damn election .
Your vote is the power that terrifies tyrants .

George Washington’s actions after winning the Revolution shocked world monarchs more than the Revolution itself did. But his successor, John Adams, terrified them.
It shook the world when George Washington declined to run for a third term, and voluntarily stepped down after serving as president for eight years.
No one thought a national leader could do that. Emperors don’t do that. Kings don’t do that. Not even conquerors do that, and Washington was seen (by monarchs around the world) as little better than a general who’d seized power by might of arms.
Yet he stepped down. Voluntarily. That shook them all.
A still larger quake stunned the world’s monarchs four years later. It gets less press though, because it frightened them more, and it still does.
The first incumbent US president to be defeated at the polls and denied a second term was John Adams in 1800.
For the first time in human history, a nation’s leader was deposed by means of a scheduled election.
George Washington chose to step down. John Adams wanted to remain in office. The People chose to remove him.
And then he left. Peacefully. Because The People voted him out of office.
Until then, no one was certain this was even possible. The People not only chose their president, they then chose to remove one. And then he left. He didn’t even call out the army in an attempt to keep himself in power. He just left.
This had never happened before. It proved, beyond a doubt, The People were in charge in America, not the “rulers”.
In America, The People are the government.
This is the true attainment of democracy — not only that we choose our leaders, but that we can remove them.
Make no mistake: Trump’s brownshirts and his supine fascist Republican Party are trying very hard to un-do this historic achievement. The possibility that a president who was voted out of office might not leave would mark a final failure of the American experiment.
2020 was a test to see whether government of the people, by the people and for the people shall perish from the earth.
We took the House in 2018 and deposed a would-be king in 2020.
We did it with ballots, not bullets.
Don’t ever say your vote won’t count. Vote in every damn election. Your vote is the power that terrifies tyrants.


dailykos--2020-12-14--Nashville Police Department accused of assault and retaliation against their own

It was Oct. 17 , 2017 when God , fate , or some other power answered my prayer in the most unexpected and unbelievable way anyone could imagine .
I was desperately struggling to finish an important letter , and the more I searched for the perfect words , the more stubborn the words became ; refusing to come no matter how long I stared at the paper .
I was on a tight deadline and knew I couldn ’ t wait for my writer ’ s block to end .
But , staring at the paper wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and pen aside and picked up my phone .
To this day I don ’ t know why I did that ; it was n't a conscious decision .
In fact , it was as if someone or something guided my hand , and once the phone was in my hand , I didn ’ t know what to do with it .
After staring at it for what seemed like an eternity , I found myself logging onto Facebook .
I don ’ t remember that being a conscious decision either , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I scanned my news feed , halfheartedly skimming over friends ' posts , my mind still focused on the letter .
But something caught my eye and my focus quickly turned to , of all things , a hashtag .
I hadn ’ t seen social media or television in a couple of days and had no idea what this hashtag meant .
Under normal circumstances , I would have saved a post and gone back later ; but this was far from normal circumstances .
For months , I prayed every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next morning .
When sunlight came , I cried and begged God to end my suffering .
After being raped in a parking lot in June 2017 , I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into a hole of depression ; with no idea how to climb out .
Despite being a former police officer , I became one of the sixty-four percent of sexual assault victims who don ’ t report their assault .
Intellectually I knew the perpetrator was the only one to blame , but like many victims , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cop .
I had the training and skills to defend myself , and I ’ d successfully used that training to defend myself on the streets of Nashville many times .
This time was different ; this time I couldn ’ t defend myself , and this predator stole every ounce of confidence , self-worth and will I possessed .
Convinced God would never answer my prayer , and unable to live with the emotional pain that was suffocating me , I developed a plan and started writing goodbye letters .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the tight deadline that forced me to pause .
It was the stubbornness of words that delayed what I thought was inevitable .
And it was the # metoo hashtag that served as my ladder out of that dark hole of depression .
Seeing that hashtag time and time again brought light into what had seemed to be impenetrable darkness .
It was realizing how many people had gone through what I had that made me realize I wasn ’ t alone .
It was knowing they found a way to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other that gave me hope I could do the same .
It was a social media hashtag that saved my life .
God answered my prayer , just not in the way I had thought .
While I was praying I would never see light again , He was planning on bringing me a new kind of light ; the light of hope and healing .
I am here today because someone had the courage to share their story .
Since then , I have chosen to turn the pain I felt into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catalyst for good .
If my story can help just one person hang on for one more day , it was all worth it .
If advocating for others keeps one person from experiencing the pain of sexual assault , it is worth it .
There will be people who are skeptical , who make excuses and who are too self-absorbed in their own aspirations to speak out .
There will be people who choose to look the other way and choose to remain silent because they don ’ t have the courage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s little I can do about that , other than continuing to share my story in hopes of convincing one person to do what is right .
If that person convinces another person , and that person another , together we can begin to make a difference .
In light of allegations made by employees of the Metro Nashville Police Department , that is my new mission .
I can still hear the officer who sobbed uncontrollably ; telling me how terrified she was when her Captain cornered her , unzipped his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman he wanted and nothing would happen to him .
My heart still skips a beat every time I think about the officer who wrote “ I hope I die on duty.
” I shake with anger every time I think about the civilian employee who is called Aunt Jemima and told “ your big lips must be good for sucking.
” After the first sixteen women came forward , I and Silent No Longer TN began advocating for the victims .
We asked for an independent investigation and for an impartial chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were largely ignored , and the number of victims now stands at thirty-eight .
With law enforcement under such intense scrutiny , the leaders of Nashville , Tennessee had the chance to become an example of what a dedicated community-oriented police department and city management team should look like .
They stood at a crossroads ; on the one hand , they could keep the status quo and continue to endanger the mental and physical health of employees , or they could make a genuine effort to listen to the concerns and suggestions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transparency and accountability .
They chose the status quo .
That decision hasn ’ t deterred me , the victims , whistleblowers or community members .
More police department employees will probably be victimized ; another injustice Nashville must endure at the hands of city leadership .
But the mission to convince one person , and another and another will continue .
The victims will not be abandoned and left to fend for themselves .
To the thirty-eight Metro Nashville Police Department victims , I know how difficult it was to come forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you still experience , and how hopelessness can silently creep in and surround you .
I can not turn back time and change what you have experienced .
But , I can promise you can find hope and begin to heal .
I know from experience .
As fervently as I prayed not to wake up in the morning , I pray you continue to put one foot in front of the others for one more day .
I pray you hold onto the knowledge others have gone through hell just as you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hole .
Embrace that knowledge , and embrace the knowledge that you are supported , you are loved and that hope and healing can and will come , even if it 's in the form of a social media hashtag .

It was Oct. 17, 2017 when God, fate, or some other power answered my prayer in the most unexpected and unbelievable way anyone could imagine.
I was desperately struggling to finish an important letter, and the more I searched for the perfect words, the more stubborn the words became; refusing to come no matter how long I stared at the paper. I was on a tight deadline and knew I couldn’t wait for my writer’s block to end. But, staring at the paper wasn’t accomplishing anything. I sat the paper and pen aside and picked up my phone. To this day I don’t know why I did that; it wasn't a conscious decision. In fact, it was as if someone or something guided my hand, and once the phone was in my hand, I didn’t know what to do with it. After staring at it for what seemed like an eternity, I found myself logging onto Facebook. I don’t remember that being a conscious decision either, but it was clearly the right decision.
I scanned my news feed, halfheartedly skimming over friends' posts, my mind still focused on the letter. But something caught my eye and my focus quickly turned to, of all things, a hashtag. I hadn’t seen social media or television in a couple of days and had no idea what this hashtag meant. Under normal circumstances, I would have saved a post and gone back later; but this was far from normal circumstances.
For months, I prayed every night I wouldn't wake up the next morning. When sunlight came, I cried and begged God to end my suffering. After being raped in a parking lot in June 2017, I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into a hole of depression; with no idea how to climb out. Despite being a former police officer, I became one of the sixty-four percent of sexual assault victims who don’t report their assault. Intellectually I knew the perpetrator was the only one to blame, but like many victims, I blamed myself. I was a former cop. I had the training and skills to defend myself, and I’d successfully used that training to defend myself on the streets of Nashville many times. This time was different; this time I couldn’t defend myself, and this predator stole every ounce of confidence, self-worth and will I possessed.
Convinced God would never answer my prayer, and unable to live with the emotional pain that was suffocating me, I developed a plan and started writing goodbye letters. It was that last goodbye letter, the letter with the tight deadline that forced me to pause. It was the stubbornness of words that delayed what I thought was inevitable. And it was the #metoo hashtag that served as my ladder out of that dark hole of depression.
Seeing that hashtag time and time again brought light into what had seemed to be impenetrable darkness. It was realizing how many people had gone through what I had that made me realize I wasn’t alone. It was knowing they found a way to keep putting one foot in front of the other that gave me hope I could do the same. It was a social media hashtag that saved my life.
God answered my prayer, just not in the way I had thought. While I was praying I would never see light again, He was planning on bringing me a new kind of light; the light of hope and healing.
I am here today because someone had the courage to share their story. Since then, I have chosen to turn the pain I felt into a purpose, a mission and a catalyst for good. If my story can help just one person hang on for one more day, it was all worth it. If advocating for others keeps one person from experiencing the pain of sexual assault, it is worth it.
There will be people who are skeptical, who make excuses and who are too self-absorbed in their own aspirations to speak out. There will be people who choose to look the other way and choose to remain silent because they don’t have the courage or morality to demand change. There’s little I can do about that, other than continuing to share my story in hopes of convincing one person to do what is right. If that person convinces another person, and that person another, together we can begin to make a difference.
In light of allegations made by employees of the Metro Nashville Police Department, that is my new mission.
I can still hear the officer who sobbed uncontrollably; telling me how terrified she was when her Captain cornered her, unzipped his pants and said he could have any woman he wanted and nothing would happen to him. My heart still skips a beat every time I think about the officer who wrote “I hope I die on duty.” I shake with anger every time I think about the civilian employee who is called Aunt Jemima and told “your big lips must be good for sucking.”
After the first sixteen women came forward, I and Silent No Longer TN began advocating for the victims. We asked for an independent investigation and for an impartial chief of police hiring process. Those requests were largely ignored, and the number of victims now stands at thirty-eight.
With law enforcement under such intense scrutiny, the leaders of Nashville, Tennessee had the chance to become an example of what a dedicated community-oriented police department and city management team should look like. They stood at a crossroads; on the one hand, they could keep the status quo and continue to endanger the mental and physical health of employees, or they could make a genuine effort to listen to the concerns and suggestions of victims and community members and embrace transparency and accountability. They chose the status quo.
That decision hasn’t deterred me, the victims, whistleblowers or community members. More police department employees will probably be victimized; another injustice Nashville must endure at the hands of city leadership. But the mission to convince one person, and another and another will continue. The victims will not be abandoned and left to fend for themselves.
To the thirty-eight Metro Nashville Police Department victims, I know how difficult it was to come forward. I understand the fear and pain you still experience, and how hopelessness can silently creep in and surround you. I cannot turn back time and change what you have experienced. But, I can promise you can find hope and begin to heal. I know from experience.
As fervently as I prayed not to wake up in the morning, I pray you continue to put one foot in front of the others for one more day. I pray you hold onto the knowledge others have gone through hell just as you have and found climbed out of the hole. Embrace that knowledge, and embrace the knowledge that you are supported, you are loved and that hope and healing can and will come, even if it's in the form of a social media hashtag.
#Wegotyourback #39mnpdvictims


Democratic Coalitions

As I make my way through my list of progressive and democratic websites each day , reading the daily news and listening to the dialogue , I am disappointed , to say the least .
We seem to be in an endless loop of blaming each other .
Progressives attack the Centrist Democrats , and the Centrists treat Progressives like the kids who should sit quietly at the kid 's table .
While we focus on destroying each other , we miss our opportunities to call republicans out for their anti-American transgressions .
But that ’ s not what upsets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats fight over the same seats in congress and down-ballot , instead of building coalitions with each other and using their collective strength to unseat congressional Republicans .
It will take many years to defeat the threat of Republican fascism .
In four years , we can make a small dent , and if we are lucky , it may be defeated in ten years .
It ’ s been five years since Bernie lost the primary to Hillary Clinton , and Progressives are still blistering mad .
We can not expect Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bow down to the truth of their loss .
The pain of grief only fades in time .
If you find yourself in your favorite news source 's comments section and see Democrats fighting Democrats , please intervene and remind them to focus their anger on a Republican .
We need to grow our Senate and House power and keep the seats we hold .

As I make my way through my list of progressive and democratic websites each day, reading the daily news and listening to the dialogue, I am disappointed, to say the least. We seem to be in an endless loop of blaming each other. Progressives attack the Centrist Democrats, and the Centrists treat Progressives like the kids who should sit quietly at the kid's table.
While we focus on destroying each other, we miss our opportunities to call republicans out for their anti-American transgressions. But that’s not what upsets me the most; progressives and Centrist Democrats fight over the same seats in congress and down-ballot, instead of building coalitions with each other and using their collective strength to unseat congressional Republicans.
It will take many years to defeat the threat of Republican fascism. In four years, we can make a small dent, and if we are lucky, it may be defeated in ten years. It’s been five years since Bernie lost the primary to Hillary Clinton, and Progressives are still blistering mad. We cannot expect Republicans, especially Trump cult followers, to bow down to the truth of their loss. The pain of grief only fades in time.
If you find yourself in your favorite news source's comments section and see Democrats fighting Democrats, please intervene and remind them to focus their anger on a Republican. We need to grow our Senate and House power and keep the seats we hold.


dailykos--2020-12-15--Stick a Fork in Him, He's Done - Good News Roundup, Bluesday, December 15th, 2020

Yesterday afternoon at 2:26PM , Pacific Time , the newly elected secretary of the California College of Presidential Electors , Shirley Weber , announced the results of California ’ s electoral vote for president .
It was 55 aye votes for Joe Biden to zero no votes .
Those votes formally made Joe Biden the President-Elect .
They also made tRump pop a gasket .
He tweeted out Billy Barr ’ s departure from the Justice Department within minutes of the California news .
I am so looking forward to tRump ’ s impending ban from Twitter .
By the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , until 2:31PM for Kamala Harris to become the official Vice-President elect .
I offered to address the nation about the situation , but they haven ’ t responded , so I guess I ’ ll just include my address here : The NNNE Address to the Nation ( undelivered , apologies to FDR ) Mr. Vice President , Mr. Speaker , Members of the Senate , and of the House of Representatives : Yesterday , December 14th , 2020—a date which will live in glory—the United States of America was overwhelmingly and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the various states .
The United States was at war with a contingent of idiots and , at the solicitation of tRump , was still in denial about the outcome of its election looking toward the usurpation of the will of the people .
Indeed , one hour after the final votes were tallied in Hawaii , the spokesperson for the current president of the United States and her colleagues delivered to our nation a nonsensical reply to the recent American election .
And while this reply stated that it seemed useless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election , it contained threats and hints of war or of armed attack .
It will be recorded that the consistent divergence of tRump ’ s claims from objective truth makes it obvious that the attack on Democracy was deliberately planned many days or even months ago .
During the intervening time , the tRump government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued time in office .
The ruthless republican attack on our voting system has caused severe damage to American faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell you that very many American minds have been lost .
In addition , American exceptionalism been reported torpedoed by the nihilists of the Freedom Caucus .
Yesterday , the House republicans also launched an attack against honor .
Last night , the House republicans again attacked truth .
Last night , the House republicans again attacked decency .
Last night , the House republicans again attacked the American Way .
And this morning , the tRump Administration attacked the Justice Department .
tRump has , therefore , undertaken a futile offensive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves .
The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation .
Ok , we ’ ve got 36 more days to put up with the Orange Ass .
We can do it .
Think of it as working to scrape out the nasty burnt bits from the bottom of a pan that was left on the stove far too long .
The pan isn ’ t shot , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fix it up .
Colbert was in full throat last night ( up until the inline google commercial ) .
[ 17:41 ] and the interview with Melania [ 4:56 ] Let ’ s go ahead and look at some news , shall we ?
The Vaccine Is Here In today ’ s real top story , the Pfizer vaccine is being rolled out .
Contrary to a notorious loudmouth ’ s opinion , this has been accomplished in spite of tRump .
NBC News : Covid 'D-Day ' : ICU nurse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to receive vaccination By the Way In case you missed it ( or just want to revel in the moment ) : Ok , yeah , I know — we are , for letting the BFOT anywhere near the reins of power in the first place .
But after that ?
Yep , no one loses with less grace and style than our very own wannabe king .
They want to make it 60 How About a Little Slightly Premature Postmortem ?
tRump did a lot of damage .
I think it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fellow citizens of just what a pathetic president he was .
He worked very hard to displace Baby Bush and Buchanan as our worst ever president .
He succeeded beyond our wildest expectations .
The Atlantic : A Political Obituary for Donald Trump —The effects of his reign will linger .
But democracy survived .
To assess the legacy of Donald Trump ’ s presidency , start by quantifying it .
Since last February , more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of any country .
In the three years before the pandemic , 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance , accounting for up to 10,000 “ excess deaths ” ; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic .
The United States ’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House ’ s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump , below that of Greece and Mauritius .
Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations , agreements , and treaties .
The number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 85,000 to 12,000 .
About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border .
The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown .
Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations .
He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench , including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female , 4 percent Black , and 100 percent conservative , with more rated “ not qualified ” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 7 trillion , or 37 percent .
In Trump ’ s last year , the trade deficit was on track to exceed $ 600 billion , the largest gap since 2008 .
Trump signed just one major piece of legislation , the 2017 tax law , which , according to one study , for the first time brought the total tax rate of the wealthiest 400 Americans below that of every other income group .
In Trump ’ s first year as president , he paid $ 750 in taxes .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign donors handed over at least $ 8 million to his family business .
America under Trump became less free , less equal , more divided , more alone , deeper in debt , swampier , dirtier , meaner , sicker , and deader .
It also became more delusional .
No number from Trump ’ s years in power will be more lastingly destructive than his 25,000 false or misleading statements .
Super-spread by social media and cable news , they contaminated the minds of tens of millions of people .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , poisoning the atmosphere like radioactive dust .
Presidents lie routinely , about everything from war to sex to their health .
When the lies are consequential enough , they have a corrosive effect on democracy .
Lyndon B. Johnson deceived Americans about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and everything else concerning the Vietnam War .
Richard Nixon ’ s lifelong habit of prevaricating gave him the nickname “ Tricky Dick.
” After Vietnam and Watergate , Americans never fully recovered their trust in government .
But these cases of presidential lying came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limited and rational : to cover up a scandal , make a disaster disappear , mislead the public in service of a particular goal .
In a sense , Americans expected a degree of fabrication from their leaders .
After Jimmy Carter , in his 1976 campaign , promised , “ I ’ ll never lie to you , ” and then pretty much kept his word , voters sent him back to Georgia .
Ronald Reagan ’ s gauzy fictions were far more popular .
When republicans allege it , of course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one being perpetrated by the republican claims of fraud .
Mother Jones : A Pro-Trump Voting “ Expert ” Was Questioned About His Data .
It Did Not Go Well for Him .
Matt Braynard , a onetime Trump campaign operative , has produced analyses of the 2020 vote in swing states that claim massive amounts of illegal votes were cast .
He has testified alongside Rudy Giuliani , as the the personal lawyer for Donald Trump crusades to overturn the election .
Braynard ’ s work has been cited in a number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election in key states .
He has raised nearly $ 700,000 for his so-called “ Voter Integrity Project , ” and he has been paid handsomely to serve as an expert witness on voting data in several of the court cases .
But on Thursday morning , he and his research were eviscerated by a Georgia state representative during an “ elections investigative hearing ” mounted by Republicans in the state House of Representatives .
At first , the hearing went smoothly for Braynard , who has the professional presentation of a data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bee Nguyen , a Democrat from Atlanta .
It turns out she had been doing her own research .
Citing an exhibit filed by Braynard that listed people who had voted but who supposedly had registered in Georgia and another state , she pointed out that several names were duplicated on the list .
Then she said that she had looked up the first 10 names on the list and had found eight of these people listed in Georgia property records as residents .
She reached one of them on the phone , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he lived and voted only in Georgia .
Nguyen said she verified this person ’ s voting record .
Taking another name from this list—a woman allegedly registered in Georgia and Arizona—she confirmed this person ’ s residence and voting record in Georgia , and she found another voter with the exact same name listed in the Arizona voter rolls , born in the same year but with a different birth date .
She also identified another person on the list in a similar situation : same name , different birth dates .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She turned to the Braynard list of voters who he said had registered with postal boxes “ disguised ” as residences .
She recognized one of the addresses as being around the corner from her home—a condo complex with a FedEx center on the first floor .
( Some apartment buildings use a postal box-like system for their addresses . )
A friend in the building sent her a list of residents of the complex .
They were all on Braynard ’ s list , she said .
And the same was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another condo complex with a FedEx center .
On her own , she said , she had discovered that 128 names on this list—more than 10 percent of Braynard ’ s total number—were errors .
All hail !
The Dirty Barrstard is no more ( as of December 23rd ) .
The one thing tRump excels at is getting rid of flunkies .
Now that he ’ s flunked out of the electoral college , I guess he wants to make his record of administrative churn unassailable .
We ’ ll be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s done ( except the killing people part ) .
Rolling Stone : Attorney General William Barr Is Quitting as Trump ’ s Election Crusade Fizzles Out Even for a loyalist like Attorney General William Barr , there was only so far he would go to support Trump ’ s assault on the rule of law and reality .
On Monday evening , as Trump ’ s doomed attempts to steal the 2020 election fizzle out , the president announced Barr would step down from his post next week .
“ Just had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill Barr at the White House , ” Trump tweeted .
“ Our relationship has been a very good one , he has done an outstanding job !
As per letter , Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family… ” He was accused of political interference when senior Justice Department officials overruled line prosecutors and sought a more lenient sentence for Trump adviser Roger Stone , who was convicted of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice .
( A former DOJ lawyer who worked on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department had “ put political patronage ahead of its commitment to the rule of law.
” ) He tried to spin the findings contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller ’ s final report on the eve of the report ’ s release , appearing to play defense for Trump .
He called for an antitrust investigation into several cannabis companies because he “ did not like the nature of their underlying business , ” according to a Justice Department whistleblower .
He bungled the firing of the top prosecutor for the Southern District @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful U.S. attorney ’ s office in America .
He revived the use of the death penalty .
By and large , he stood steadfastly by while the Trump White House trampled one democratic norm and traditional after another .
So why didn ’ t you vote for his impeachment , you putz ?
CNN : Congressman cites Trump 's efforts to overturn election in announcing decision to quit GOP More Attempts to Save Reputations ?
( Followup on the Frivolous Texas Suit ) Whatever their reasons , the Senate did not climb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this time .
It ’ s good for the country that they didn ’ t , as it makes tRump ’ s endgame pretty much non-existent .
I don ’ t think they ’ ll get many brownie points for recognizing Biden ’ s win .
There is just so much evidence of them kissing tRump ’ s ass for this to be a free pass to never-tRump status .
Not a single GOP senator signed a “ friend of the court ” brief for the long-shot Texas lawsuit to throw out other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep President Donald Trump in power .
And there was no coordinated effort to get Republicans on board , according to interviews with more than a half-dozen Republican senators before the Supreme Court rejected the case Friday night .
“ They signed onto an amicus brief in the House .
There ’ s no version of that in the Senate , ” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida .
“ Amicus briefs can be important , but on a matter of this magnitude , I think the Supreme Court is going to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s going to take the case based on the Constitution.
” Some Senate Republicans actively criticized the effort .
Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said it looked like “ a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt rather than a lawsuit , ” a reference to the federal probe of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , who spearheaded the push .
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the Senate GOP ’ s distance from an effort that was so popular in the House “ reflects skepticism about the legal theory about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states can challenge state elections.
” “ I 'm surprised , ” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska .
“ Even more so , I was really disappointed that this is continuing in this way.
” Here ’ s a double dose of the most recent skewering of our very worst president , evah .
New Yorker : The Borowitz Report : Horrible Student Rejected by College New Yorker : The Borowitz Report : Trump Orders Space Force to Discover Other Planets with Courts There ’ s more good news from the healthcare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is How Close We Are to Eliminating Malaria – 7.6 Million Deaths Averted in 20 Years , Thanks to Generous Nations It may be a little thing , but just remember — trees are people too !
Good News Network : Toronto ’ s Oldest Tree Will No Longer Be Cut Down Thanks to Last-Minute Decision By City Council

Yesterday afternoon at 2:26PM, Pacific Time, the newly elected secretary of the California College of Presidential Electors, Shirley Weber, announced the results of California’s electoral vote for president. It was 55 aye votes for Joe Biden to zero no votes. Those votes formally made Joe Biden the President-Elect. They also made tRump pop a gasket. He tweeted out Billy Barr’s departure from the Justice Department within minutes of the California news. I am so looking forward to tRump’s impending ban from Twitter.
By the way, it took another 5 minutes, until 2:31PM for Kamala Harris to become the official Vice-President elect.
I offered to address the nation about the situation, but they haven’t responded, so I guess I’ll just include my address here:
The NNNE Address to the Nation (undelivered, apologies to FDR) Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 14th, 2020—a date which will live in glory—the United States of America was overwhelmingly and deliberately saved by electors and security forces of the various states. The United States was at war with a contingent of idiots and, at the solicitation of tRump, was still in denial about the outcome of its election looking toward the usurpation of the will of the people. Indeed, one hour after the final votes were tallied in Hawaii, the spokesperson for the current president of the United States and her colleagues delivered to our nation a nonsensical reply to the recent American election. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing attempts to overturn the election, it contained threats and hints of war or of armed attack. It will be recorded that the consistent divergence of tRump’s claims from objective truth makes it obvious that the attack on Democracy was deliberately planned many days or even months ago. During the intervening time, the tRump government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued time in office. The ruthless republican attack on our voting system has caused severe damage to American faith in the electoral process. I regret to tell you that very many American minds have been lost. In addition, American exceptionalism been reported torpedoed by the nihilists of the Freedom Caucus. Yesterday, the House republicans also launched an attack against honor. Last night, the House republicans again attacked truth. Last night, the House republicans again attacked decency. Last night, the House republicans again attacked the American Way. And this morning, the tRump Administration attacked the Justice Department. tRump has, therefore, undertaken a futile offensive extending throughout the entire country. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
Ok, we’ve got 36 more days to put up with the Orange Ass. We can do it. Think of it as working to scrape out the nasty burnt bits from the bottom of a pan that was left on the stove far too long. The pan isn’t shot, we just have to spend a little time to fix it up.
Tyrannis sedito. Sic semper tyrannis.
Up the Resistance
Colbert was in full throat last night (up until the inline google commercial). [17:41]
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and the interview with Melania [4:56]
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Let’s go ahead and look at some news, shall we?
The Vaccine Is Here
In today’s real top story, the Pfizer vaccine is being rolled out. Contrary to a notorious loudmouth’s opinion, this has been accomplished in spite of tRump.
NBC News: Covid 'D-Day': ICU nurse in New York among first in country to receive vaccination
With the prick of a needle, the battle against Covid-19 took what could be a decisive turn Monday as the first federally approved coronavirus vaccine was injected into the arm of an American. Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care unit nurse who has been on the front lines of the battle against a virus that's killed more than 300,000 people in the United States alone, joined in the applause moments after the first dose was injected into her left arm. "I feel hopeful today, relieved," Lindsay, who works at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, said after the historic moment was livestreamed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "I feel the healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of the very painful time in our history."
By the Way
In case you missed it (or just want to revel in the moment):
Huffington Post: ‘THEY KNOW NOW’: BIDEN OFFICIALLY SECURES ELECTORAL VOTE
Shortly after he officially secured enough Electoral College votes to become the next president of the United States, Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech calling on Americans to move past Donald Trump’s monthlong failed crusade to overturn the election results. “If anyone didn’t know it before, they know now,” Biden said from Wilmington, Delaware. “What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: democracy, the right to be heard, to have your vote counted, to choose the leaders of this nation, to govern ourselves.” Electors confirmed Biden’s victory earlier on Monday, pushing him past the 270-vote threshold. This stage of the election doesn’t typically make headlines, since election projections, state certifications, recounts and, in Trump’s case, numerous lawsuits have already made the winner clear. But Trump has still not conceded the race to Biden and is instead plowing forward with baseless accusations that widespread voter fraud cost him reelection.
Who’s the Biggest Loser?
Ok, yeah, I know — we are, for letting the BFOT anywhere near the reins of power in the first place. But after that? Yep, no one loses with less grace and style than our very own wannabe king.
x Trump has the worst losing record in the post-election of any president ever:
✅3 recounts.
✅59 court losses.
✅Court losses in 7 states.
✅2 SCOTUS losses
Really, a staggering record of losing.
Please don't share this It might embarrass him. — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 14, 2020
They want to make it 60
x Trump and his allies lost 59 cases in the post-election and want to make it a round 60. https://t.co/zQ3aVTkiOh — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 14, 2020
How About a Little Slightly Premature Postmortem?
tRump did a lot of damage. I think it is important to remember it and remind our fellow citizens of just what a pathetic president he was. He worked very hard to displace Baby Bush and Buchanan as our worst ever president. He succeeded beyond our wildest expectations.
The Atlantic: A Political Obituary for Donald Trump —The effects of his reign will linger. But democracy survived.
To assess the legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency, start by quantifying it. Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country. In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 “excess deaths”; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic. The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius. Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties. The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown. Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations. He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench, including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female, 4 percent Black, and 100 percent conservative, with more rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half century. The national debt increased by $7 trillion, or 37 percent. In Trump’s last year, the trade deficit was on track to exceed $600 billion, the largest gap since 2008. Trump signed just one major piece of legislation, the 2017 tax law, which, according to one study, for the first time brought the total tax rate of the wealthiest 400 Americans below that of every other income group. In Trump’s first year as president, he paid $750 in taxes. While he was in office, taxpayers and campaign donors handed over at least $8 million to his family business. America under Trump became less free, less equal, more divided, more alone, deeper in debt, swampier, dirtier, meaner, sicker, and deader. It also became more delusional. No number from Trump’s years in power will be more lastingly destructive than his 25,000 false or misleading statements. Super-spread by social media and cable news, they contaminated the minds of tens of millions of people. Trump’s lies will linger for years, poisoning the atmosphere like radioactive dust. Presidents lie routinely, about everything from war to sex to their health. When the lies are consequential enough, they have a corrosive effect on democracy. Lyndon B. Johnson deceived Americans about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and everything else concerning the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon’s lifelong habit of prevaricating gave him the nickname “Tricky Dick.” After Vietnam and Watergate, Americans never fully recovered their trust in government. But these cases of presidential lying came from a time when the purpose was limited and rational: to cover up a scandal, make a disaster disappear, mislead the public in service of a particular goal. In a sense, Americans expected a degree of fabrication from their leaders. After Jimmy Carter, in his 1976 campaign, promised, “I’ll never lie to you,” and then pretty much kept his word, voters sent him back to Georgia. Ronald Reagan’s gauzy fictions were far more popular.
When Is a Fraud a Farce?
When republicans allege it, of course. The only fraud here is the one being perpetrated by the republican claims of fraud.
Mother Jones: A Pro-Trump Voting “Expert” Was Questioned About His Data. It Did Not Go Well for Him.
Matt Braynard, a onetime Trump campaign operative, has produced analyses of the 2020 vote in swing states that claim massive amounts of illegal votes were cast. He has testified alongside Rudy Giuliani, as the the personal lawyer for Donald Trump crusades to overturn the election. Braynard’s work has been cited in a number of GOP lawsuits seeking to nullify the election in key states. He has raised nearly $700,000 for his so-called “Voter Integrity Project,” and he has been paid handsomely to serve as an expert witness on voting data in several of the court cases. But on Thursday morning, he and his research were eviscerated by a Georgia state representative during an “elections investigative hearing” mounted by Republicans in the state House of Representatives. ... At first, the hearing went smoothly for Braynard, who has the professional presentation of a data specialist. But then came state Rep. Bee Nguyen, a Democrat from Atlanta. It turns out she had been doing her own research. Citing an exhibit filed by Braynard that listed people who had voted but who supposedly had registered in Georgia and another state, she pointed out that several names were duplicated on the list. Then she said that she had looked up the first 10 names on the list and had found eight of these people listed in Georgia property records as residents. She reached one of them on the phone, she said, and he confirmed that he lived and voted only in Georgia. Nguyen said she verified this person’s voting record. Taking another name from this list—a woman allegedly registered in Georgia and Arizona—she confirmed this person’s residence and voting record in Georgia, and she found another voter with the exact same name listed in the Arizona voter rolls, born in the same year but with a different birth date. She also identified another person on the list in a similar situation: same name, different birth dates. In rapid-fire fashion, Nguyen continued on. She turned to the Braynard list of voters who he said had registered with postal boxes “disguised” as residences. She recognized one of the addresses as being around the corner from her home—a condo complex with a FedEx center on the first floor. (Some apartment buildings use a postal box-like system for their addresses.) A friend in the building sent her a list of residents of the complex. They were all on Braynard’s list, she said. And the same was true, she had discovered, for another condo complex with a FedEx center. On her own, she said, she had discovered that 128 names on this list—more than 10 percent of Braynard’s total number—were errors.
Good Riddance to Bad Cess
All hail! The Dirty Barrstard is no more (as of December 23rd). The one thing tRump excels at is getting rid of flunkies. Now that he’s flunked out of the electoral college, I guess he wants to make his record of administrative churn unassailable. We’ll be able to undo most everything else he’s done (except the killing people part).
Rolling Stone: Attorney General William Barr Is Quitting as Trump’s Election Crusade Fizzles Out
Even for a loyalist like Attorney General William Barr, there was only so far he would go to support Trump’s assault on the rule of law and reality. On Monday evening, as Trump’s doomed attempts to steal the 2020 election fizzle out, the president announced Barr would step down from his post next week. “Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House,” Trump tweeted. “Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family…” He was accused of political interference when senior Justice Department officials overruled line prosecutors and sought a more lenient sentence for Trump adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice. (A former DOJ lawyer who worked on the Stone case later wrote that the department had “put political patronage ahead of its commitment to the rule of law.”) He tried to spin the findings contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on the eve of the report’s release, appearing to play defense for Trump. He called for an antitrust investigation into several cannabis companies because he “did not like the nature of their underlying business,” according to a Justice Department whistleblower. He bungled the firing of the top prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, arguably the most powerful U.S. attorney’s office in America. He revived the use of the death penalty. By and large, he stood steadfastly by while the Trump White House trampled one democratic norm and traditional after another.
An Attempt to Save a Reputation
So why didn’t you vote for his impeachment, you putz?
CNN: Congressman cites Trump's efforts to overturn election in announcing decision to quit GOP
(CNN)In an exclusive interview, Rep. Paul Mitchell, Republican of Michigan, told CNN that his disgust and disappointment with President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the election have led him to request that the Clerk of the House change his party affiliation to "independent," and to notify GOP leaders in a letter that he is withdrawing his "engagement and association with the Republican Party at both the national and state level." "This party has to stand up for democracy first, for our Constitution first, and not political considerations," Mitchell said on CNN's "The Lead." "Not to protect a candidate. Not simply for raw political power, and that's what I feel is going on and I've had enough."
More Attempts to Save Reputations? (Followup on the Frivolous Texas Suit)
Whatever their reasons, the Senate did not climb all the way onto the tRump train this time. It’s good for the country that they didn’t, as it makes tRump’s endgame pretty much non-existent. I don’t think they’ll get many brownie points for recognizing Biden’s win. There is just so much evidence of them kissing tRump’s ass for this to be a free pass to never-tRump status.
Politico: Senate Republicans shun House GOP bid to overturn the election
Not a single GOP senator signed a “friend of the court” brief for the long-shot Texas lawsuit to throw out other states' results in a bid to keep President Donald Trump in power. And there was no coordinated effort to get Republicans on board, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen Republican senators before the Supreme Court rejected the case Friday night. “They signed onto an amicus brief in the House. There’s no version of that in the Senate,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. “Amicus briefs can be important, but on a matter of this magnitude, I think the Supreme Court is going to make its decision whether or not it’s going to take the case based on the Constitution.” Some Senate Republicans actively criticized the effort. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said it looked like “a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt rather than a lawsuit,” a reference to the federal probe of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who spearheaded the push. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the Senate GOP’s distance from an effort that was so popular in the House “reflects skepticism about the legal theory about whether one state or a group of states can challenge state elections.” “I'm surprised,” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. “Even more so, I was really disappointed that this is continuing in this way.”
A Little Bit of Andy
Here’s a double dose of the most recent skewering of our very worst president, evah.
New Yorker: The Borowitz Report: Horrible Student Rejected by College
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a widely expected outcome, a horrible student was rejected by a college on Monday. The college’s decision to reject the student was unsurprising given his poor performance in such important subjects as science, math, history, and spelling. Although the student was reportedly taking his rejection badly, a college spokesperson said that the news should have come as no surprise.
New Yorker: The Borowitz Report: Trump Orders Space Force to Discover Other Planets with Courts
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a sign that he is not ready to give up his legal challenge to the 2020 election, Donald J. Trump has ordered the United States Space Force to discover other planets that have courts. With his legal options on this planet dwindling, Trump is placing all of his hopes on identifying another planet that might have intergalactic jurisdiction over Earth. On the heels of his Space Force announcement, astronomers expressed deep skepticism that a planet with a functioning legal system could be located before the Electoral College casts its votes on Monday.
Real Good News
There’s more good news from the healthcare front.
Good News Network: This is How Close We Are to Eliminating Malaria – 7.6 Million Deaths Averted in 20 Years, Thanks to Generous Nations
The mortality rate has dropped by almost 60% in the last two decades, and 1.5 billion malaria cases have been averted globally in the period between 2000 and 2019. Together, the various organizations have achieved 7.6 million fewer deaths from the mosquito-born disease. The 2020 edition of the World Malaria Report takes a look back at key events and milestones that helped shape the global response to the disease over the last 2 decades—a period of unprecedented success in malaria control. Malaria is preventable and treatable, and with generous support by these and other nations and nonprofits, the mortality rate has dropped from 24.7 per 100,000 people in 2000 to just over ten deaths per 100,000 in 2019.
Saving a Tree
It may be a little thing, but just remember — trees are people too!
Good News Network: Toronto’s Oldest Tree Will No Longer Be Cut Down Thanks to Last-Minute Decision By City Council
One of the oldest trees in Canada, a towering red oak believed to be more than 250 years old, was facing the axe when a new homeowner bought the property. But now, thanks to a last-minute vote by the city, the tree will be saved for future generations. On November 26, the Toronto City Council voted to preserve this mighty oak by authorizing the purchase of the property for the creation of a mini-park. Due to its size, age, beauty, and cultural significance, the magnificent tree is already recognized as a heritage tree under Forests Ontario’s Heritage Tree Program.
Musical Interlude
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But wait, there’s more:
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Extreme Toadyism

Even though Biden won the election and Trump will soon be out of the White House , one of his “ legacies ” will live on .
We ’ ve always had sycophants in government , but never to the extreme as we ’ ve witnessed in the last four years .
One of my marketing professors said the difference between butt kissing and brown nosing was depth perception , but for Trump Toadies , they ’ ve often gone full bore up the colon .
I can understand why grown men already secure in their position would grovel to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was obvious that bucking the Trump Train could cost you votes from his loyal fanbase , and maybe even your job .
Your loyalty was always a one-way street – he needed you to continue to be loyal in the face of every storm , and in return , you got…well , you were able to be there to continue to be loyal .
That ’ s about it .
Go against him , and suffer the fate of Flynn , Walsh , McFarland , Spicer , Bannon , Porter , Cohen , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the next , he hardly knows you and you were only a minor player in the campaign ( even when you held the title “ Campaign Chairman ” ) .
A quick review of the last four years of hirings and firings sees many of the dearly departed with RUP next to their names ( “ resigned under pressure ” ) .
No shit , Sherlock .
But like I said , I can understand why some folks with small , shriveled balls would do Dear Leader ’ s bidding no matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ held their fate in their hand .
I don ’ t like it , but I understand it .
I do not understand why anyone with a -R next to his name ( and they ’ re all men , aren ’ t they ) or anyone with a Fox News contract continues to be so damn loyal .
Bending over backwards loyal .
One example continues to play out in front of us .
Despite a 1-59 court record ( good for 3rd place in the NFC East ) , Trump continues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” as he has “ just begun to fight ” ( he spelled “ Grift ” wrong in that tweet ) .
And every day , he sends millions of emails and personal tweets to his loyal fanbase asking for money to “ continue the fight so we win.
” And they respond , for some reason , sending Trump millions and millions ( wait – isn ’ t he supposed to be rich ? )
.
And they STILL are sending him money , when all seems like a lost cause .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he ’ s making claims that money is needed to protect those two Republican Senate seats , so SEND MONEY .
Problem is , they money doesn ’ t go to either GOP candidate .
It goes to him .
And even with all of this malarkey , the toadies continue to…toad .
The latest example of ET is in the naming of the coronavirus vaccine , as if it actually NEEDS a name .
Generally , vaccines are named with some sort of trade name ( see this list ) or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines of Salk and Sabin .
We ’ re already calling the COVID-19 vaccine put out by Pfizer the “ Pfizer vaccine ” as it ’ s different than the Moderna one or the Janssen one or the AstraZeneca one .
To my knowledge , no vaccine anywhere in the world is named after a political person .
So why name the COVID vaccine after Trump ?
Two reasons have been given .
The first was by Geraldo Rivera , who said it should be done to “ placate a downtrodden President Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost the election , awwww ) .
And today in an op-ed in the Washington Post , Marc Thiessen suggested this be done because , “ …is the best way for Biden to unite the country.
” Name the vaccine after the guy who called the disease the vaccine treats “ a hoax , ” downplayed its severity , suggested bleach and black lights and hydroxychloroquine as treatments…and is pretty much the whole reason that the COUNTRY ISN ’ T UNITED ?
THAT GUY ?
Damn .
That is some seriously ass-flogging .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ hack , but some folks might be familiar with Thiessen ’ s history of arse-licking ; he also thinks the best way for Biden to unite the country is with a Republican Senate , and he looks forward to Trump rewinning the White House in 2024 ( my fave is calling Trump “ …one of the best conservative presidents in modern history — if you turn the sound off ” ) .
Like that ’ s a possibility .
I used to think Republicans fawning over Saint Ronnie Reagan was the worst thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dime and all of that ( even Nancy wasn ’ t on board with that shit ) .
There was even a call to add a fifth head to Mount Rushmore of Reagan ( it went nowhere , thankfully ) .
It ’ s a wonder the Trump Toadies haven ’ t floated THAT idea yet .

Even though Biden won the election and Trump will soon be out of the White House, one of his “legacies” will live on. We’ve always had sycophants in government, but never to the extreme as we’ve witnessed in the last four years. One of my marketing professors said the difference between butt kissing and brown nosing was depth perception, but for Trump Toadies, they’ve often gone full bore up the colon.
I can understand why grown men already secure in their position would grovel to Trump while he was all-powerful. It was obvious that bucking the Trump Train could cost you votes from his loyal cult fanbase, and maybe even your job. Your loyalty was always a one-way street – he needed you to continue to be loyal in the face of every storm, and in return, you got…well, you were able to be there to continue to be loyal. That’s about it.
Go against him, and suffer the fate of Flynn, Walsh, McFarland, Spicer, Bannon, Porter, Cohen, etc. One day your best pals, the next, he hardly knows you and you were only a minor player in the campaign (even when you held the title “Campaign Chairman”). A quick review of the last four years of hirings and firings sees many of the dearly departed with RUP next to their names (“resigned under pressure”). No shit, Sherlock.
But like I said, I can understand why some folks with small, shriveled balls would do Dear Leader’s bidding no matter what, as long as Dear Leader held their fate in their hand. I don’t like it, but I understand it.
I do not understand why anyone with a -R next to his name (and they’re all men, aren’t they) or anyone with a Fox News contract continues to be so damn loyal. Bending over backwards loyal.
Extreme Toadyism.
One example continues to play out in front of us. Despite a 1-59 court record (good for 3rd place in the NFC East), Trump continues to promise to “see this out” as he has “just begun to fight” (he spelled “Grift” wrong in that tweet). And every day, he sends millions of emails and personal tweets to his loyal cult fanbase asking for money to “continue the fight so we win.” And they respond, for some reason, sending Trump millions and millions (wait – isn’t he supposed to be rich?). And they STILL are sending him money, when all seems like a lost cause. And in emails to supporters in Georgia, he’s making claims that money is needed to protect those two Republican Senate seats, so SEND MONEY. Problem is, they money doesn’t go to either GOP candidate. It goes to him.
And even with all of this malarkey, the toadies continue to…toad. The latest example of ET is in the naming of the coronavirus vaccine, as if it actually NEEDS a name. Generally, vaccines are named with some sort of trade name (see this list) or after their creators such as the polio vaccines of Salk and Sabin. We’re already calling the COVID-19 vaccine put out by Pfizer the “Pfizer vaccine” as it’s different than the Moderna one or the Janssen one or the AstraZeneca one. To my knowledge, no vaccine anywhere in the world is named after a political person.
So why name the COVID vaccine after Trump? Two reasons have been given.
The first was by Geraldo Rivera, who said it should be done to “placate a downtrodden President Trump” (becwause the poor widdle baby lost the election, awwww). And today in an op-ed in the Washington Post, Marc Thiessen suggested this be done because, “…is the best way for Biden to unite the country.”
Seriously?
Name the vaccine after the guy who called the disease the vaccine treats “a hoax,” downplayed its severity, suggested bleach and black lights and hydroxychloroquine as treatments…and is pretty much the whole reason that the COUNTRY ISN’T UNITED? THAT GUY?
Damn. That is some seriously ass-flogging. Of course, Rivera is a known hack, but some folks might be familiar with Thiessen’s history of arse-licking; he also thinks the best way for Biden to unite the country is with a Republican Senate, and he looks forward to Trump rewinning the White House in 2024 (my fave is calling Trump “…one of the best conservative presidents in modern history — if you turn the sound off”). Like that’s a possibility.
I used to think Republicans fawning over Saint Ronnie Reagan was the worst thing, ever. Putting him on the dime and all of that (even Nancy wasn’t on board with that shit). There was even a call to add a fifth head to Mount Rushmore of Reagan (it went nowhere, thankfully).
It’s a wonder the Trump Toadies haven’t floated THAT idea yet.
Shit – OH WAIT!


dailykos--2020-12-16--This is the real reason Trump is so upset

As indicated above , I ’ ve only read the preface so far , but one thing stands out from the first sentence : It is the real voice of Barack Obama—the voice most of us have come to know so intimately after years of listening to his speeches .
It is an unmistakable voice , clear , honest , and above all human , with a genuine quality of humility that is impossible to feign or duplicate .
In the very first paragraph of the book ( excerpted here alongside an interview Obama gave to The Atlantic ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama refers to that jarring moment when it became evident that “ someone diametrically opposed to everything we stood for had been chosen as my successor.
” Reading this couldn ’ t be called a revelation , but perhaps it provided a moment of clarity .
This holiday season , tens of millions of people are likely to be getting a copy of this book , since after five weeks , it remains the top nonfiction bestseller .
This fact must be particularly unbearable for Donald Trump , as his own truncated tenure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is finally shown the door .
As his bitter attempts to construct an alternative reality for himself and his supporters ultimately spent themselves , meeting rejection after rejection by our country ’ s institutions , the contrast between Trump ’ s infantile hysterics and Obama ’ s understated class and grace could not be more clear .
In the final days of a disastrous presidency , millions of Americans throughout this country will be reading a memoir written by someone with a fundamental decency that Donald Trump could never achieve in his wildest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been intellectually incapable of producing such an introspective self-examination of his tenure , but it ’ s already obvious that he never , ever will have the kind of national and global respect that Obama commanded ( and continues to receive ) after his two terms in office had ended .
Nearly every facet and implication about Trump ’ s disgraceful , unseemly and prolonged exit from power over the past six weeks that could be said has been said .
But what hasn ’ t been pointed out much is something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defeating him in this election , President-elect Joe Biden has once and for all crushed Trump ’ s singular motivation , one that ’ s been glaringly visible throughout the last four years : his fervent desire to erase Barack Obama ’ s place in history .
Trump has failed to do that , and failed miserably—and that has to be the most galling thing for him .
What kind of memoir could Donald Trump produce now ?
Whatever it is , we know it won ’ t be written by him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the attention span , or the interest to write such a thing , and quite honestly , he has done very little for the country that is worth writing about .
Is someone really interested in revisiting how his signature abetted the largest corporate tax cut in history , vastly enriching the wealthiest in this country while providing little but token scraps to the vast majority of Americans ?
That ’ s hardly the stuff memoirs are made of .
Are his legions of frothing , conspiracy-addled , and racist rednecks in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to read about his failed wall , or his cruel , senseless immigration policies , over and over again ?
Or his obsession with de-regulating our environmental protections ?
How is he going to present reneging on the Paris Climate Accord , abandoning the Iran Nuclear Treaty , or his trade war with China as somehow interesting or heroic ?
When every one of your achievements yields a net negative for the American people , what do you write about in your memoir ?
It ’ s painfully obvious that Trump doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a verifiable record of what he ’ s done in office , let alone to convey something that would interest others .
From all accounts he has been a ghastly human being to work with , unable to retain anyone but the most slavish sycophants for more than a few months at a time .
Is someone going to actually care about anything he did that would make a ghost-written , phony tome worth promoting , let alone reading ?
No one is going to be inviting Trump to bask in the glory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neither he nor his family will ever be re-admitted to those nice parties thrown by the noblesse oblige of our polite society .
Culturally , Trump has nothing to look forward to , save those rabid , spewing rallies in front of people he neither respects nor has anything personally in common with .
His children may achieve some further notoriety and gaudy fame among the right-wing bubble-sphere , but the highest strata of American society and the rest of the world will give anyone named Trump the cold shoulder .
Trump never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a rubber stamp for whatever the political right needed in order to stay in power , and thus , continue to enjoy the limelight .
Because he always felt insecure about following in Obama ’ s footsteps , and because he is , in fact , an out-and-out racist , the only thing that mattered to him was to get Obama out of his head .
From trying and failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act , to denigrating the achievements of Obama ’ s foreign policy , to wiping out every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had instituted to better the lives of Americans , Trump ’ s entire tenure has been driven by this one , overwhelming fixation .
But ultimately , when given the opportunity to render their verdict on Trump ’ s entire term , rather than re-elect him , the American people chose instead to replace him with Obama ’ s former vice president .
And while Trump sits and watches as whatever power he once had rapidly fades away , meanwhile , people are lining up in droves to read the memoirs of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That fact will haunt him for the rest of his life .

On Tuesday, I went to my local “club” store to do some pre-holiday stocking up. As I walked through the airy, warehouse-like atmosphere, I passed a table piled up with Barack Obama’s recent memoir, A Promised Land. Grabbing a copy for half the $50 list price, I then proceeded to walk around the store and pick up a few more items.
Almost immediately, an older gentleman accosted me from behind his mask, saying, “You going to read that? You have to read that.” I assured him I intended to read it.
Then as I walked out, the guy who checks your receipt against the contents of your shopping cart saw that I had the book in my hand (while waiting in line I’d read the preface), and says to me, “You got the book. Everyone’s getting that book. We’re selling loads of them.”
Obama’s 768-page memoir (the first of two, covering Obama’s initial four years in office) is well on course to become the best-selling presidential memoir of all time, shattering all previous records on its first day of sale last month.
As indicated above, I’ve only read the preface so far, but one thing stands out from the first sentence: It is the real voice of Barack Obama—the voice most of us have come to know so intimately after years of listening to his speeches. It is an unmistakable voice, clear, honest, and above all, human, with a genuine quality of humility that is impossible to feign or duplicate.
“A Promised Land,” by Barack Obama, (Crown Publishing Group, Penguin Random House)
In the very first paragraph of the book (excerpted here alongside an interview Obama gave to The Atlantic), Donald Trump is referenced; specifically, Obama refers to that jarring moment when it became evident that “someone diametrically opposed to everything we stood for had been chosen as my successor.”
Reading this couldn’t be called a revelation, but perhaps it provided a moment of clarity. This holiday season, tens of millions of people are likely to be getting a copy of this book, since after five weeks, it remains the top nonfiction bestseller. This fact must be particularly unbearable for Donald Trump, as his own truncated tenure comes to its ignominious close and he is finally shown the door. As his bitter attempts to construct an alternative reality for himself and his supporters ultimately spent themselves, meeting rejection after rejection by our country’s institutions, the contrast between Trump’s infantile hysterics and Obama’s understated class and grace could not be more clear.
In the final days of a disastrous presidency, millions of Americans throughout this country will be reading a memoir written by someone with a fundamental decency that Donald Trump could never achieve in his wildest Twitter-fueled fantasies. Not only would Trump have been intellectually incapable of producing such an introspective self-examination of his tenure, but it’s already obvious that he never, ever will have the kind of national and global respect that Obama commanded (and continues to receive) after his two terms in office had ended.
Nearly every facet and implication about Trump’s disgraceful, unseemly and prolonged exit from power over the past six weeks that could be said has been said. But what hasn’t been pointed out much is something obvious and in plain sight: By defeating him in this election, President-elect Joe Biden has once and for all crushed Trump’s singular motivation, one that’s been glaringly visible throughout the last four years: his fervent desire to erase Barack Obama’s place in history.
Trump has failed to do that, and failed miserably—and that has to be the most galling thing for him.
What kind of memoir could Donald Trump produce now? Whatever it is, we know it won’t be written by him. He doesn’t have the skills, the attention span, or the interest to write such a thing, and quite honestly, he has done very little for the country that is worth writing about. Is someone really interested in revisiting how his signature abetted the largest corporate tax cut in history, vastly enriching the wealthiest in this country while providing little but token scraps to the vast majority of Americans? That’s hardly the stuff memoirs are made of. Are his legions of frothing, conspiracy-addled, and racist rednecks in America’s heartland going to thrill to read about his failed wall, or his cruel, senseless immigration policies, over and over again? Or his obsession with de-regulating our environmental protections? How is he going to present reneging on the Paris Climate Accord, abandoning the Iran Nuclear Treaty, or his trade war with China as somehow interesting or heroic?
When every one of your achievements yields a net negative for the American people, what do you write about in your memoir?
It’s painfully obvious that Trump doesn’t have the mental wherewithal to provide a verifiable record of what he’s done in office, let alone to convey something that would interest others. From all accounts he has been a ghastly human being to work with, unable to retain anyone but the most slavish sycophants for more than a few months at a time. Is someone going to actually care about anything he did that would make a ghost-written, phony tome worth promoting, let alone reading?
No one is going to be inviting Trump to bask in the glory of the world’s stage. Neither he nor his family will ever be re-admitted to those nice parties thrown by the noblesse oblige of our polite society. Culturally, Trump has nothing to look forward to, save those rabid, spewing rallies in front of people he neither respects nor has anything personally in common with. His children may achieve some further notoriety and gaudy fame among the right-wing bubble-sphere, but the highest strata of American society and the rest of the world will give anyone named Trump the cold shoulder.
Trump never had a policy agenda beyond acting as a rubber stamp for whatever the political right needed in order to stay in power, and thus, continue to enjoy the limelight. Because he always felt insecure about following in Obama’s footsteps, and because he is, in fact, an out-and-out racist, the only thing that mattered to him was to get Obama out of his head. From trying and failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to denigrating the achievements of Obama’s foreign policy, to wiping out every regulation he could find that his predecessor had instituted to better the lives of Americans, Trump’s entire tenure has been driven by this one, overwhelming fixation.
But ultimately, when given the opportunity to render their verdict on Trump’s entire term, rather than reelect him, the American people chose instead to replace him with Obama’s former vice president.
And while Trump sits and watches as whatever power he once had rapidly fades away, meanwhile, people are lining up in droves to read the memoirs of the most-respected president of the 21st century. That fact will haunt him for the rest of his life.


dailykos--2020-12-17--Biden Announces Attorney General Pick

Biden Announces Attorney General Pick

WASHINGTON — After several weeks of deliberation by the Biden transition team and much speculation by outside observers , President-elect Biden announced Florida Senator , former U.S. Attorney , Doctor , and military veteran Joanna Beden as his Attorney General .
Beden was not present for the announcement however .
Beden , 47 , a woman of Hispanic , Asian , African-American , and Native American descent , is a groundbreaking choice .
Furthermore , she also marks the first LGBTQ+ Justice Department head .
Besides the bold historical significance of Biden ’ s choice , she brings a wealth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a swing state with major legislative accomplishments that have satisfied both the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party .
Before entering elected office , she was a US Attorney and graduated from Harvard with a bachelor 's degree , gained a law degree at Yale , and went to Cornell medical school according to the Biden transition team press release .
While President-elect Biden and others members of his transition team are elated at a pick that , rather magically , soothes the various groups in the Democratic Party vying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considerable confusion and incredulity from the press corps , the current Senators from Florida , other politicians , and ordinary people who are aware of politics .
This confusion stems from the fact that no Joanna Beden seems to exist .
The incumbent Senators from Florida , Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott , pointed that the last Democrat from Florida was Bill Nelson and that it would be impossible for Beden to be a Senator from Florida .
Nevertheless , a spokeswoman for the transition team insisted she was a real person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a figment of Republican imaginations .
Journalists from the New York Times and the Washington Post pressed transition officials and Biden himself to provide more evidence .
They merely provided a press release as evidence .
Later in the day , the incoming Chief of Staff , Ron Klain , offered up a crudely drawn picture of a woman , which appeared to have been drawn in crayon and signed “ Joe Biden.
” Another image provided was simply Biden with Snapchat ’ s female filter applied over his likeness .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real person , despite evidence offered by Biden .
However , the effort seems to have worked and has brought widespread praise ranging from Neo-Nazi farmers in Ohio to “ woke ” suburbanite racial activists .

WASHINGTON — After several weeks of deliberation by the Biden transition team and much speculation by outside observers, President-elect Biden announced Florida Senator, former U.S. Attorney, Doctor, and military veteran Joanna Beden as his Attorney General. Beden was not present for the announcement however.
Beden, 47, a woman of Hispanic, Asian, African-American, and Native American descent, is a groundbreaking choice. Furthermore, she also marks the first LGBTQ+ Justice Department head.
Besides the bold historical significance of Biden’s choice, she brings a wealth of experience as a two term Senator from a swing state with major legislative accomplishments that have satisfied both the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. Before entering elected office, she was a US Attorney and graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree, gained a law degree at Yale, and went to Cornell medical school according to the Biden transition team press release.
While President-elect Biden and others members of his transition team are elated at a pick that, rather magically, soothes the various groups in the Democratic Party vying for influence and history, there was considerable confusion and incredulity from the press corps, the current Senators from Florida, other politicians, and ordinary people who are aware of politics. This confusion stems from the fact that no Joanna Beden seems to exist.
The incumbent Senators from Florida, Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, pointed that the last Democrat from Florida was Bill Nelson and that it would be impossible for Beden to be a Senator from Florida. Nevertheless, a spokeswoman for the transition team insisted she was a real person and that Marco Rubio was in fact a figment of Republican imaginations.
Journalists from the New York Times and the Washington Post pressed transition officials and Biden himself to provide more evidence. They merely provided a press release as evidence. Later in the day, the incoming Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, offered up a crudely drawn picture of a woman, which appeared to have been drawn in crayon and signed “Joe Biden.” Another image provided was simply Biden with Snapchat’s female filter applied over his likeness.
It is becoming increasingly evident that Beden is not a real person, despite evidence offered by Biden. However, the effort seems to have worked and has brought widespread praise ranging from Neo-Nazi farmers in Ohio to “woke” suburbanite racial activists.


dailykos--2020-12-17--Secular Power Changing America

Secular Power Changing America

Here ’ s a dramatic example of the growing power of Americans who say their religion is “ none ” : Last spring , progressives in the Washington state legislature , backed by Planned Parenthood , mandated that all public schools must teach sensible , practical sex education .
The goal : to prevent teen pregnancy , reduce sexual disease , save girls from “ date rape , ” caution grade-schoolers about predators , foster respect between sexes , and the like .
Democratic Gov .
Jay Inslee signed it into law .
Conservative churches and Republicans erupted in outrage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new law – forcing a referendum in the Nov. 3 election .
But the hidebound opponents lost 58-42 .
Thus Washington became the first state to have sex education approved by public vote .
Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times wrote that the church defeat occurred “ because of Washington state ’ s most profound political development in recent years – the religion gap.
” He explained : “ We talk all the time about the gender gap in voting , the education gap and the urban-rural divide .
But in our state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics is religion .
Or rather , lack of religion .
“ In surveys of state voters released for the 2020 election , the group answering ‘ none ’ to the question of ‘ what is your religion ?
’ easily forms the largest religious group in this state .
The ‘ nones ’ made up 34 percent of the state electorate this year… .
That ’ s far higher than evangelical and born-again Christians at 19 percent , or Catholics at 14 percent… .
Also , 45 percent of Washington voters answered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they go to church.
” Westneat said this godless cohort is a powerhouse in Washington politics .
“ Now , in this state , the ‘ nones ’ rule local politics .
The ‘ nones ’ tend to be strongly pro-science and against anything that smacks of morality-policing.
” He warned politicians : “ Either appeal to the ‘ nones ’ or forget it.
” Washington , Oregon and the “ Left Coast ” have evolved away from religion faster than some parts of America , such as Dixie ’ s Bible Belt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the whole nation is heading .
Sociologists are amazed by the rapid collapse of faith in Western democracies .
Until the postwar years , Christianity dominated all cultures , while unbelievers were a fringe of outcasts .
But a remarkable reversal happened .
On charts , it promises to form a large X as Christianity sinks and the churchless rise .
Western Europe was first to experience the change , followed by Canada , Australia , Japan and elsewhere .
America lagged behind – until secularism snowballed .
Researcher Ronald Inglehart of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losing religion faster than any other nation .
Gallup says American churches lost twenty percent of their members in the past two decades .
Barna says two-thirds of teens raised in church drop out in their twenties .
Southern Baptists lost two million since 2005 .
Once-prestigious “ mainline ” Protestantism is fading to a shadow .
Meanwhile , churchless Americans began soaring in the 1990s and climbed past one-fourth of the population .
They tend to hold compassionate social views , making them the biggest faith group in the Democratic Party base @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University credits them with tipping the 2020 election to Democrats .
Most of these “ nones ” are young , and the young vote at lower rates than seniors .
But if they continue rising as a progressive political force , America will be a better place .

Secular Power Changing America
By James A. Haught
Here’s a dramatic example of the growing power of Americans who say their religion is “none”:
Last spring, progressives in the Washington state legislature, backed by Planned Parenthood, mandated that all public schools must teach sensible, practical sex education. The goal: to prevent teen pregnancy, reduce sexual disease, save girls from “date rape,” caution grade-schoolers about predators, foster respect between sexes, and the like. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed it into law.
Conservative churches and Republicans erupted in outrage. Congregations signed petitions to repeal the new law – forcing a referendum in the Nov. 3 election. But the hidebound opponents lost 58-42. Thus Washington became the first state to have sex education approved by public vote.
Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times wrote that the church defeat occurred “because of Washington state’s most profound political development in recent years – the religion gap.” He explained:
“We talk all the time about the gender gap in voting, the education gap and the urban-rural divide. But in our state, an even bigger influence on local politics is religion. Or rather, lack of religion.
“In surveys of state voters released for the 2020 election, the group answering ‘none’ to the question of ‘what is your religion?’ easily forms the largest religious group in this state. The ‘nones’ made up 34 percent of the state electorate this year…. That’s far higher than evangelical and born-again Christians at 19 percent, or Catholics at 14 percent…. Also, 45 percent of Washington voters answered ‘never’ when asked how often they go to church.”
Westneat said this godless cohort is a powerhouse in Washington politics. “Now, in this state, the ‘nones’ rule local politics. The ‘nones’ tend to be strongly pro-science and against anything that smacks of morality-policing.” He warned politicians: “Either appeal to the ‘nones’ or forget it.”
Washington, Oregon and the “Left Coast” have evolved away from religion faster than some parts of America, such as Dixie’s Bible Belt – yet they seem to indicate where the whole nation is heading.
A big X
Sociologists are amazed by the rapid collapse of faith in Western democracies. Until the postwar years, Christianity dominated all cultures, while unbelievers were a fringe of outcasts. But a remarkable reversal happened. On charts, it promises to form a large X as Christianity sinks and the churchless rise.
Western Europe was first to experience the change, followed by Canada, Australia, Japan and elsewhere. America lagged behind – until secularism snowballed. Researcher Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan says America now is losing religion faster than any other nation.
Gallup says American churches lost twenty percent of their members in the past two decades. Barna says two-thirds of teens raised in church drop out in their twenties. Southern Baptists lost two million since 2005. Once-prestigious “mainline” Protestantism is fading to a shadow.
Meanwhile, churchless Americans began soaring in the 1990s and climbed past one-fourth of the population. They tend to hold compassionate social views, making them the biggest faith group in the Democratic Party base. Researcher Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University credits them with tipping the 2020 election to Democrats.
Most of these “nones” are young, and the young vote at lower rates than seniors. But if they continue rising as a progressive political force, America will be a better place.


dailykos--2020-12-17--How Bad Did It Get With Trump?

How Bad Did It Get With Trump?

You want to know how bad it got these last four years ?
The following is excerpted from George Packer ’ s excellent piece in The Atlantic magazine for January 2021 .
To say that the incoming administration has its hands full is a gross understatement .
It ’ s as if the ship of state ran smack into an iceberg called Trumpism .
• Since last February , more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world ’ s deaths from the disease , the highest number of any country .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance , accounting for up to 10,000 “ excess deaths ” ; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic .
• The United States ’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House ’ s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump , below that of Greece and Mauritius .
• Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations , agreements , and treaties .
• The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ barrier were built along the southern border .
The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown .
• He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench , including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female , 4 percent Black , and 100 percent conservative , with more rated “ not qualified ” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half century .
• The national debt increased by $ 7 trillion , or 37 percent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the trade deficit was on track to exceed $ 600 billion , the largest gap since 2008 .
• Trump signed just one major piece of legislation , the 2017 tax law , which , according to one study , for the first time brought the total tax rate of the wealthiest 400 Americans below that of every other income group .
• In Trump ’ s first year as president , he paid $ 750 in taxes .
While he was in office , taxpayers and campaign donors handed over at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business .

You want to know how bad it got these last four years? The following is excerpted from George Packer’s excellent piece in The Atlantic magazine for January 2021. To say that the incoming administration has its hands full is a gross understatement.
It’s as if the ship of state ran smack into an iceberg called Trumpism.
*****
Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country.
In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 “excess deaths”; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic.
The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties.
The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.
Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations.
He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench, including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female, 4 percent Black, and 100 percent conservative, with more rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half century.
The national debt increased by $7 trillion, or 37 percent.
In Trump’s last year, the trade deficit was on track to exceed $600 billion, the largest gap since 2008.