Slow-motion Destruction of Life as we Knew It

White identity politics inside of the completely untethered Republican party – that is blatantly anti-democracy and bordering on being rebranded as a domestic terrorist organization is NOT a good thing for ANY PART of America and should NOT be allowed to continue it’s measured, a slow-motion coup on American government.

If you think it ended on Jan. 6 2021 you are sorely mistaken. Jan. 6, 2021, was the virtual BIRTH of this very active continuing assault on the American government, culture, lifestyle, and every citizen’s expectation of FREEDOM and Constitutional protections. Jan 6th was the conclusion of a “trial run”, the last episode in the Trump Terrorizes America series – soon to be followed by the new mini-docu series titled Insurrection leads to civil war.

I am just an ordinary American citizen. I am part of the LGBT community. I am female. Those last two things make me a second-class citizen in this country. I am also a Veteran who served proudly and believed once upon a time that America was a proud, thriving place of Freedoms that were unlike any others in the world. I served proudly thinking that I was part of protecting the constitution and freedom in America, all the while unknowing that many of these freedoms have been under strenuous attack for decades.

Now I am witnessing the success of these well-organized, often funded by questionable means such as foreign actors in the form of countries or foreign leaders. This whole tearing apart of America from the inside by a minority party with unlimited resources has been in the works for decades and we are now feeling the “success” of their plans to end democracy in America and install an egalitarian government.

I’ve heard “nooo, they’ll never get away with doing this, or that…” only to then watch as they CONTINUOUSLY get away with everything questionable and break all the rules, violate laws and do unimaginable illegal damage to our government entities – and are NOT prosecuted or even reprimanded! They’ve packed the courts with judges who are part of their unspoken “organization” so they are never held legally responsible and they can just keep on tearing down our country piece by piece. They have installed the most extreme right wing conspiracy theorists into many positions of power across the nation – one by one.

Their ultimate goal seems to be contiguous uninterrupted control of the country by a conglomeration of right-wingnuts of the white power party, the domestic terrorist organization formerly known as the GOP.. An org that is wanting to control women from top to bottom, forcing pregnancy. They are “against” the abortion of a glob of cells but could care less about the killing of children in classrooms via blowing their brains out with AR15s. They view women as second-class citizens with no bodily autonomy or privacy rights, to be controlled and basically owned by men. Almost daily they are stripping us of our rights quietly behind the robes of a hand-picked (by Federalists) SCOTUS with pre-determined outcomes dictated by the Federalists. They were very very copious in putting this plan together, methodically over time, having patience until we got to where we are right NOW. They have a “new” America in mind and it’s not one of the Constitutional rights or freedom. There is more to come, just watch.

In my 60 years walking this planet the happenings of the last 5-6 years have been astoundingly the worst I could ever imagine and I fear for myself and millions of others who will be targetted in this evolving scheme of the GOP.

Democracy Under Siege

Every day I think I have seen it “all” with the demolition of our federal government and the rise of authoritarian rule in America. Then either Trump, Barr or the GOP Senate does something even lower and more illegal, more against the “rules” we’ve always operated by, and more evil to the people of the USA – particularly those already busting ass to make it work any way they can. It’s like they are enjoying tearing our country apart; relishing the cries of the citizens and ignoring ALL that is clearly turning us away from democracy. It’s terrifying. And it SHOULD terrify EVERY American citizen and all of those living in America legally or illegally. EVERY ONE of US need to be fighting back, it’s time to rise up in defense of American life, liberty and our vague pursuit of happiness.

The American dream has now become a nightmare and Trump & Crew are happily pushing the boundaries, breaking down the laws, and taking authoritarian control of what used to be the Federal Government in the USA,

I don’t know where to start to even think about how to fight this; what my part needs to be and where to begin to exert any influence I am able to exert. We need hard leadership, we need to come together as citizens and show our power – and we DO have power. We actually have far more power than they do, they are just scaring all of those who are unaware of the actual powers that citizens in a democracy have and can use to end sieges such as this. They were carefully and copiously fitted into the US Constitution and the Federalist papers explain things very articulately.

I think that the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination need to have a BIG meeting of the minds. They need to regroup, come together as a solidly unified fighting force to beat the Republican assault on Democracy, ignorance toward our laws, and illigitimate stances on vital issues of national security. We must eliminate their lock step advance toward full autocracy NOW; form an inpenetrable wall and bring all of us supporters together as one unified body that will return integrity, respect and LAW and ORDER to the USA. I do not believe that any one of those running – and 3 of them are spectacular – can do this alone. Unifying the Democratic party into one solid grouping is vital to beating the GOP’s drive and eliminating the threat of a fascist take over of the American government.

Many groups have formed since 2016’s horrible election and it’s disasterous results, to fight the threats to all of our prided insititions, such as the Congress, National Security, Ecology, Pollution, Corporate greed and rampant corruption being played out by the Republican party in every way, shape and form they can think of to destroy us, to weaken our will and to keep us from revolting, speaking out and rebuffing their plans. It is hard to know at this point whether this is a internally coordinated sabotage effort or if this is being fueled by foreign influence, such as Russia and Putin or China, No.Korea, Syria and the Saudi Arabian murderous regime.

The continued effort on our parts, as American Citizens alarmed and affected by this whole mess, to form legitimate groups and fight back is essential. We must build on these groups, work together and stay united against the GOP rise to fascism and autocracy. I am imagining a central entity will arise from our efforts that will assist in aligning us all for the proper, non-violent fight ahead of us all.

As Rachel Maddow said on her Wednesday evening show, “What do we do NOW?”

My suggestions are:

1. Remain calm, but vigilant, aware and educated on every move they make.
2. Join you local chapters of “Resist” “MoveOn” ACLU, and make sure you are registered to VOTE!
3. Pick an institution or two that are under attack by the GOP and co. and get behind them, write letters to your Senators, Congressmen, local officials and anyone in any position of authority or power associated with that institution. Example: We must inundate Pelosi with demands for the impeachment of Bill Barr, current AG, and Mitch McConnell. Call for their censure, investigations into their activities that are favoring King 45, etc.
4. Call your Senator daily. Switchboard number is :
5. Go to local and regional protests. The GOP administration is calling for elimination or limits on protesting in 18 states thus far! This is a direct attack on our 1st Ammendment rights.
6. Write Op Ed pieces for your local news sources, online or print. Submit them! Contact good reporters at those organizations, ask them to write on various stories that are related to the destruction of our vital institutions in America, such as the courts, the DOJ, judges, election protection, women’s choice rights, etc. Get behind your journalists
7. Support and protect our nation’s journalists everywhere. They are being retaliated against and directly attacked, many fear for their lives and the safety of their families because the GOP Administration is super hostile toward journalists – especially those who report the TRUTH and not the “fake news” or made up “facts” that come out of our White House – YES OUR White House – not theirs!
8. Attend as many local gatherings concerning the most vital of issues.
9. Join Facebook groups – local, regional and national, to stay on top of what is happening.
10. Create your OWN local groups, hold house meetings, church meetings or find free space to meet and discuss what’s happening and what we all can do. Review current words from the WH and news reports, organize local protests, or organize trips to Washington DC for larger protest events.
11. Before reposting news articles remember to fact check through Snopes.com for truth and accuracy. Try NOT to repost or fall for any untrue, FAKE news reports.
12. Don’t repost ANY video of #45 telling LIES to the camera and thus the American people, this just promotes his FAKE NEWS and ignorance, hatred and hostility.
13. Don’t argue with his supporters, in person or online, they just don’t listen and will not change.
14. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Make time to disconnect weekly and just be in quiet space to regroup, maybe take a nature walk, or go to the beach, a museum or art exhibit. Just get away.
15. Remember, we are ALL going to fight this evil TOGETHER. You are NOT alone in your angst and concern for all that is happening to America.

I would like to get feedback and input from everyone. Tell me what’s going on in your neck of the woods, what are you doing to stay aware and prepared? What concerns you MOST? Are you registered to VOTE? Please like this post if you ARE registered!!!

Much Kindness to ALL… ~ MB

My Nation’s Battle

America is on the very brink of a constitutional crisis right this moment.  We are also 2 days and a wake up from a major mid-term election.  I, like many Americans, am on the edge of my seat, sweating bullets and hoping to hell that we can change the course of this discord and save our government from complete failure.  It’s a very frightening time in America.

Unless you have seriously been in a cave, without exposure to human interaction or any type of media you basically know what is currently transpiring here.  We have a toxic president who is fear-mongering, spreading hate, telling outright lies and misleading his base and trying to undermine the very democracy we have relied on for over 200 years. Donald J. Trump is madly stoking the fires of racism, sexism, xenophobia as well as touting nationalism and white supremacy. It’s sick to see this actually coming from the leader of our great country. And it’s causing so much hate that it permeates the air, social media, and is affecting us in all aspects of our lives. This is what’s happening in America. And it’s shocking.

Enough is enough and too much stinks. Somehow, someway together we must stand against all that is going wrong here; stand and be counted and hold our heads high in this vicious face of adversity. It’s petrifying with all of the outright violence, the threats of more violence and the preparation to be ready for that violence should it become even more real to each of us who rally against the evils trying to gain footholds in America.

This has become a national crisis; a time of danger in America. Trump is leading the charge against about 75% of all Americans. He calls us “evil”. He calls anyone in the news media, or who write anything controversial to his beliefs the “enemy of the people”. This has incited violence that has resulted in 15 pipe bombs being sent to his major opponents – all Democrats, 2 of which are previous US Presidents.

His rhetoric and hate speech stoked the hate in one man who burst into a Jewish place of worship, The Tree of Life Sanctuary, where he slaughtered 11 people in the midst of their worship of their God.  THAT is a HATE crime. Our president’s words to his “base” put this idea that this was “okay” to do because those “Jews” were part of what he sees as the problem for him, into the mind of someone who believed him – who took his words to heart and acted on them.

Another man tried to get into a church where it was a predominantly black congregation during their Sunday service. He was denied entry, but he went to the local Kroger Grocery store and murdered 2 good citizens coming out of that store – while saying “whites don’t kill whites”. His two victims were a black man and a black woman, both who were well known and loved by their community.  THAT’s what’s happening here.  And it’s growing exponentially daily.

Hate permeates the air. Hate permeates his speeches and those of his followers, his political partners and his supporters in the Republican party. He is held high by white supremacists here at home and around the world as their new “fearless leader”.

This mid-term election is about Trump.  Trump has MADE it about Trump. He will TELL you directly it’s “all about him” and if you elect anyone other than another Republican who is aligned with him and in agreement with his lack of values that you are against him. This is behavior we have NEVER seen in any president of the United States of America – EVER in history. It’s unpresidential. It’s dangerous. It’s unethical and it’s immoral, sickening and twisted. I wish it would stop, but I am not afraid that he has this ball rolling so fast downhill that it’s going to just continue to pick up speed, pick up ill-intended people and cause even MORE hate and chaos across our lands. I know it will cause more to lose their lives; to be threatened and killed for who they are. THAT is just wrong. The entire tone of this, the hate and fear-mongering, come from the top – and that top is Trump himself. He is responsible for the toxicity in America and his cronies are complicit in creating and maintaining the toxicity. Every. Damned. One. of Them.  Those who claim they don’t agree with “everything” he says or does but won’t speak against him, or try to rein him in are just outright liars. They are encouraging him to continue.

Trump’s main goal is to completely divide us up into smaller groups that he can then bully in various ways. He doesn’t want unity at all. Division is his goal for America; his method. BUT I am starting to see us understand his tactics and we are getting together. Whites, blacks, young people, women, LGBTs, Latino/a’s and other minority populations are starting to band together in our courageous attempts to fight back against all of this hate and division.

Oprah Winfrey, Barak Obama, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Jeff Bezos, and many, many other celebrities and famous people are standing up and standing together. Rallying to bring us all to the polls on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018 to change the course of this fated voyage into a dismal future of Trumpism. Trump may be counting on polarization, but with some luck it’s going to backfire on him as we all see his true colors and millions of Americans are rising up to fight back – uniting in solidarity for the good of the country, for the good of all people, against white nationalism, racism, and extremism and to return America to a good place for ALL to live and prosper in harmony – despite our differences.

The voting booth is the place where ALL of us have the exact same power.  Every vote is equal to every other vote.  This scares the fuck out of Trump and his Republican buddies. Thus voter suppression, oppression, and denial are running rampant in many jurisdictions. There are fights to get everyone to the polls and to get everyone registered going on everywhere. Maybe we can revisit voting laws to ensure proper voter access after these elections and when we have a more cooperative, well-intentioned Congress and Senate as well as more competent Governors and representatives across the board. There should NEVER be any obstacle to ANY American placing his vote on any election day, EVER.

So, Tuesday is coming up fast. Battles are heated. We’re all on edge. Time for change has come, and it’s NOW. There will be more battles. This is just the beginning. Trump will be furious when his party comes up short – in any way – and he will try to throw a wrench into the works. I bet he tries to say the Democrats cheated and he will try to nullify the elections altogether. He will threaten some new “executive order” or will appoint himself the “final decider” on all things for America. He will be defeated in the end because hate cannot win, and Donald Trump’s entire agenda is one of hate and division.

I hope the whole world is watching. This is going to be a historical election cycle for sure.

Peace – MB

Focus, Happiness, and the News

Today is one of those days that my mind seems to be going in all different directions with my thoughts.  I am really struggling to focus on one thing at a time…thus nothing is really being accomplished here in my world at the moment.  So I sat down here and I will write about it, perhaps that will help me to get some resemblance of order going on in my noggin.

Ok, let me get to this.  I’ll start with 5 things I am happy for today.

1.  Waking up feeling pretty good.  Not feeling sick or irritable today.  This is good.
2.  Waking up to sloppy dog kisses and Nola trying to shove Lulu off of my chest so she can have some up-close and personal kind of loving.  Those dogs love me, this is good.
3. It’s Saturday,  I have the day off and the weather is perfect at 76 degrees.  This is good.
4. My mom called this morning to check on me and told me she’s adopting a little older dog who was in an abusive situation with a former breeder.  The dog ended up at the local rescue with broken ribs!  I’m super happy for both the dog and Mom, this is good.
5.  My best friend and I are once again on speaking terms and hanging out together.  This is good.

The condition of my country right now worries me very, very much.  Trump is driving this country to hell.  I fear for all of us.  And it’s so blatant what he is doing, yet there is still this huge contingent (like 30%) of Americans who actually “like” this man and “like” what he is doing, his policies and his agenda.  THAT is the fucking scariest part of all of this!  That there are actually people, whole swaths of them, that adore the evil man.  It’s just not right and makes no sense to my rational brain.

I get far too emotionally invested in this lately.  It’s part of what is stopping me from pursuing the things that make me happier.  All that is happening is rolling around in my head, making tons of noise and causing me to be super agitated.  I am in a state of perpetual anger and outrage.  I feel helpless – as I am sure many do – to do anything to stop some of this senseless madness, like the separation of children from their loving parents at our southern border.  The problem is that I don’t know how to ignore this and let it go.  I don’t want my country to become this land of “no one cares” and I don’t want to continue to see so many people suffer due to one man’s ignorance, greed and hunger for power.  The tension in America is palpable.  People don’t know what to do.

Trump is so power hungry.  Yesterday he said he wants “his people” to “sit at attention” when he speaks, like they do in North Korea for Kim Jong Un.  He uses rhetoric and speaks so cavalierly about brutal dictators who use torture, murder and mass incarceration to govern their countries.  He wishes he could do the same.  Sad for America.  The guy is just a blithering fucking idiot.  He loves these brutal dictators and wishes to emulate them in all respects.  He has no ethics and is guided by no morals that would tell him that ruling by brutality is just wrong.  No, he openly wishes to be treated just like they are treated – with a fake respect borne of fear of death.

There are a virtual TON of legal troubles brewing for Trump and his family.  Now especially with Paul Manafort, his campaign manager, in jail awaiting trial.  And his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen now considering giving the federal prosecutors some cooperation in order to reduce the sentences he will be facing when he goes to trial.  That’s just 2 of the men that Trump surrounded himself with, and did business with, and cheated the country with over the years.  Manafort is a direct link to Russia and Putin.  That’s a known fact; a given.  What he alone knows will cause Trump a whole heap of problems both personally and politically.  It will be interesting to watch as this all plays out over the next few weeks.  I don’t think it will be long now before either of these two traitors are talking and giving up highly incriminating info on the big orange traitor in our White House.  What gets done with that information is yet to be seen, I know it will be a fucking mess and the Republicans in our Congress will swear it’s all “lies” and try to protect his stupid ass all because they are so afraid of him.

Here’s a fun video from Robert Reich, our fearless leader of the Resistance here in America.  He’s a great source of up-to-date information and videos about what is going on inside of our government.  It’s with guys like this that we will win, good over evil.

How to Survive Summer with Trump in Office

I have turned off my TV for the rest of the weekend.  I just had to do it.  I seem to be unable to watch television without watching MSNBC or CNN, NECN, or local news.  So I had to just turn it OFF.  I am going to try to leave it off for the remainder of today and tomorrow.  I can read, write and do lots of other stuff that will help me release some of this stress that’s building up inside of me from all of the bad news I view and absorb.

I’m sure I will do more blogging or at least some personal journaling.  Writing helps me so very much.  In Groups this week we did a thing on our favorite things, so perhaps I will do a blog about my favorite things next, just for fun.

I hope you are all enjoying this weekend. It’s a gorgeous Saturday here in Maine. Today is Portland Maine’s LGBT Pride parade and festival.  I was going to go, but decided against it when I got up this morning.  Next Saturday is the local Pride parade here, so i will have that one to attend and have fun at.  We have a heat wave coming this way beginning Monday, supposed to get up into the mid-90s here, which is super hot for Maine!  I’m going to make sure my AC units are fully functioning today!

Stay cool!  And be kind!

Peace  ~  MB

 

Dear Canadians

I really hope that Canadian people do not believe that us Americans are against them, as our IDIOTIC FAKE PRESIDENT currently says.  We do NOT see our Canadian brethren as any kind of threat to America; quite the contrary!  Canada has been our best friend for centuries!  Trump does NOT speak for the citizens of America.  Please, do NOT let him drive this wedge between us as people!  That is what he WANTS, he doesn’t like that Canadian citizens sympathize with Americans who do not bow and cow to Trump’s every word and believe all of his outrageous, daily LIES.

Donald J. Trump is a vile, corrupt, egotistical, nasty old man.  He was PUT into power in the USA by foreign governments, i.e. Russia and Saudi Arabia.  He is NOT a truly elected President, and hold the office only by deception.

Trump does NOT speak for the majority of the citizens of the USA.  Yes, he has a “base” as they call it on the news, somewhere around 27% most of which are white, older, nationalistic, racist and homophobic people who are being completely conned by this guy.  They seem desperate for America to be the big, bad boss of the world, and they want Donald J. Trump to lead them – for some very stupid reasons!

Trump seeks nothing more than one more great photo opportunity.  Front page headlines with HIS name highlighted.  He wants the world to bow and kiss his feet.

He is NOT governing this country, he’s throwing it around like a god-damned pair of dice on some evil board game.  There is no rhyme or reason to any of his methods of madness.  Most of us don’t want this imbecile running our country, but for some fucked up reason the mucky-mucks who have the authority in our governmental tree will not stop him, censor him, speak against him, go against his wishes, or do anything to upset this moron.  And he IS a fucking MORON.

He recently attended the G-7 summit, graciously hosted by your country, and for which we thank you.  Please be aware that we are ashamed to have had to send Donald Trump, we know he arrived late, pushed people around, insulted PM Justin Trudeau even before he got there, continued to insult and agitate all of the heads of state present, and made a lame pitch to get his Russian buddies back to the table.  Then he had the gonads to leave early – AFTER arriving at the Gender Equality breakfast LATE to begin with, he then up and decides to leave EARLY.  FUCKTARD.  DOTARD.  BRAIN DEAD IDIOT

Please forgive us.  WE hate him as much as you do.  And if you know of a way we may rid ourselves of this authoritarian dictator who has commandeered the Presidency of the United States of America, PLEASE help us!!!

We saw how when Trump left on the plane from your country that he immediately took to Twitter to insult Justin Trudeau, for this, we are VERY sorry.  See, Trump cannot handle face-to-face fighting, he can only do it from a distance and from behind the protection of his little Twitter account.  He has no manners.  No Ethics.  No courage or guts. He is childlike and spoiled.

Currently we have NO Foreign policy, no domestic policy or goals, we have no understanding of what the hell is happening to our country.   Politicians remain silent.  They refuse to even speculate as to what Trump’s “grand plan” for America is.  Somehow during our last elections we managed to elect a whole slew of real dead-beats, people who will not stand up and ask hard questions, or rock the boat for answers.  But, we will correct this in our next mid-term election.  We will be coming back for our government, and coming for Trump.

The man is a mere breath away from declaring himself the “Supreme Leader” of America.  It’s very scary.  I think there is a contingent of American politicians and extreme rightwing supporters who would stand behind Trump in his quest for all-out power over America.  He wishes to rule us like a dictator.  He wants to curb free speech, and end the free press.  He wants only what he says is right to be broadcast to Americans; for us to be spoon fed bullshit, lies and bogus false promises.

It’s so insane watching some of these politicians and pundits on the televisions stations trying to explain things; one right now is trying to make excuses for Trump’s behavior…for his attacks on our allies, and for his warmth for Russia.  Even this top Republican politician speaking is saying “I don’t get it.  I sure would like to see Trump’s end-game, but I just don’t get it.  These are not the tactics or methods I would use to negotiate trade agreements with my allies.”  Yep, fucked up shit, huh?

Tonight at 9pm Eastern Time (my time) our idiot will meet with KJU from N. Korea in Singapore.  Supposedly they will meet one-on-one for 45 min, after the famous and historical handshake photo op.  Of course, I am staying awake to watch that part for sure.  It’s going to be interesting.  Trump has been claiming that this meeting will get him the Nobel Peace Prize.  I hope it goes well, for the sake of the world being with less nuclear weapons.  But I am not stupid, I don’t think Trump is the answer to the North Korean conflict problem.  Not at all.  He’s just a pawn in Jong Un’s game….a mere playing piece.

I dare not predict what the hell will happen tonight….it’s almost scary to think about.

What do you think?

~MB

Fake F*cking News America

Fake News.  It’s a term we hear EVERY DAMNED DAY here in America.  It’s a new kind of term, one developed by the current MORON occupying our Oval Office: Donald J. Trump.  What DJT actually “means” by screaming or tweeting “FAKE NEWS” is that the news is actually TRUE, but it’s in disagreement with what he WANTS people to believe.  It’s sick, and it’s completely CRAZY.

Our great journalists and reporters bring us the news and reliable, honest news agencies stand solidly behind them, yet our “President” has the audacity to deny actual FACT BASED reporting of events, conversations, e-mails, TWEETS, and photographs, videos and audio recordings.  The man is full-on batshit crazy!!!  He’s working for Russia, it’s obvious, and cajoling with mobster-style attorneys, racist pig lobbies, like the NRA and the RNC.

He’s taken money from foreign governments, and may possibly be illegally occupying the White House due to direct Russian assistance.  White House bought and paid for in Rubles.

The political landscape in the United States right now requires about 4 of the 2’x3′ Walmart white-board material, all glued (or taped) together and that’s the kind of surface you would need to lay this out – if you use rather small photos – I can’t imagine what the FBI’s board looks like on this Cohen case alone!?!!!  It’s become a giant ball of fucked-up shenanigans!

Watching the newscasts is like watching a reality TV show, or a really, really deep episode of Law & Order and Scandal all balled together.  It’s disgusting and shameful to the American people.  THIS is NOT what we wanted, or expected when we held our 2016 presidential election.

It’s been about 2 weeks since I typed the above paragraphs, and things have continued to rapidly decline -as if it wasn’t already bad enough – here in the USA.  It’s just crazy and out of control.  Our government is no longer “governing” but is spending all of it’s energy destroying our country, fighting amongst themselves, stealing from the tax coffers and creating complete mayhem in the press.   It’s fucking scary.  It’s NOT right or normal.

I fear that we are in far more serious trouble here than ANY of us realize or think.  People are becoming numb to the news coverage or having trouble believing what is right and what is wrong, depending on what news outlet they choose to watch.  The government has the Trump channel now and Fox News to spread they hate and propaganda.  Just like Nazi Germany decades back….what the fuck America???? What the holy fucking hell are we going to do about this?  Are we really going to allow the white supremacist, bigoted Nazi fucks in our White House and around the country, run the show now?  Are we really going backwards in time and humanity here?  WTF???

3-24-2018 The Wave of CHANGE Has Begun.

 

It was an INCREDIBLE day in America.  March 24, 2018.  It will go down in history as the largest, best organized and most peaceful protest march and/or events of all time.  Trump’s inauguration PALED by like 25 less times the attendees as the March for Our Lives 2018.  I add the year because I know there will be a yearly march until this issue is solved.  Not only specifically the gun reform issue, but the entire mess of NRA purchased politicians and lobbiests in Washington DC.  This new “Generation of Change” is growing stronger by the day; today being the beginning of the fight, not even close to the end.

Watch Emma Gonzales in her speech at March for Our Lives 2018 here.

I was brought to tears by the speeches, especially that of Emma Gonzales.  Everyone knows her because she’s got a very Butch haircut, and the lobbyist from Maine who was running for office called her a “Skinhead, lesbian” on National TV and made her a big item in media reporting.  Emma didn’t ask to be famous.  And she didn’t want to bury 17 people she knew and loved to be famous.  Emma is the victim of the Parkland shooter.  The emotional scar on that kid is tremendous, and she and all of her classmates and school mates will forever be altered in personality, emotion and reactionary senses.  They did not ask for any of this.  But, since they were forced into this situation by our lack of sensible gun laws, our lack of action, the greed of politicians, the NRA and a boy who bought a weapon of war legally on the streets of America.  They didn’t ask for this, but they got it.  Now they are going to bring in into the light full force.  Change is coming; it’s coming on the back of Emma Gonzales and every other shooting victim in America, their friends, relatives, associates and colleagues will all join the fight…Emma is going to inspire America, and CHANGE will happen.  I am certain of it.

Change that happens slowly is a more difficult kind of change to endure; no one “likes” change but there come times when it’s not only necessary, but it’s going to happen, so you try to get out in front of it a little bit if you can.

Our country is broken right now.  It’s shattered into a dozen pieces, and each has it’s own personal war with the government.  Being an out Butch and part of the LGBT community I have already felt the creeping dread and fear for what this “Regime” and it’s “Dictator” have in plan for me and my kindred spirits.  I got myself a bit wound up about it the other night, and thought about it far too deeply.  But with all of the erasure of the gays and lesbians from the public sphere, ie the US Government website took down the page on LGBT Americans on the VERY FIRST day of Trump’s presidency – Jan. 20, 2017.  And from THAT day forward it’s been downhill for our equality in this country.

This last Friday Trump’s people drafted and sent out a memo basically banning all Transgender people from serving in our Military.  It also means that anyone who is already enlisted is in eminent danger of being thrown out.  There has been talk of the fucking “death penalty” for being gay…in America!!!  WTF.

Mike Pence is openly hostile in his very conservative, evangelical views of the LGBT community.  And we have ALL witnessed how emboldened Trump and his cronies have made some very sick, al-right people to openly discriminate, segregate and humiliate people who are “different” from their idealistic Anglo-Saxon images.  We’ve seen a steep up-tick in hate crimes across this country since 1/20/17…it’s like the country has gone crazy.

Trump has instigated people to choose sides, pick battles and fight against each other.  Murder has become just another normalized daily blip on the news…along with corruption, lying, cheating, extortion, embezzlement and outright corruption.  America is being held hostage, and I do believe that the Parkland shooting will be forever known as the “turning point” in REAL CHANGE in American politics and government.  It’s time for change, and it’s now going to happen.

Civil rights marches, led to Vietnam war protests, to Gay Rights Marches of the 90’s, and the Million Man marches, Marches on the United Nations, and today we witnessed and participated in the March for Our Lives in 2018….Change has come from protest; prolonged repeated protest works best…followed by VOTING for CHANGE.  David Hogg, 17 yr old Parkland student and witness to the deadly shooting of his classmates, said today that it comes down to 3 things.  Register to Vote.  Educate and inform yourself, and VOTE.  

Vote for Change.  Vote for a good kind of America, where people care and we get along.  Vote to get dirty money out of our political system, to keep a separation between church and state, and to protect our children from suffering the horrors of weapons of war.  Vote for sensible gun reform.  Call your state senators, legislators, representative and every politician you can reach and urge them to either get on this band wagon or face a very sure public down vote at the polls.

And…THAT’s my 2 cents for today.

Rock on Parkland Florida.  Go Eagles!!! ❤

 

Women’s March 2018…Portsmouth NH

OMG…SO MUCH HAS GONE ON SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR! It’s far too much to write about all in one blog.  I’m searching for what to write about first.  And I do apologize to my regular readers for not being more “on the ball” with posts, but I’ve just not felt the “drive” to write; or when I DO feel it it’s either late at night and I need to sleep or I choose to do other things with the time.  I really need to set aside a specific block of time daily for just sitting down and writing.  Yes.  That is what I will do.  Beginning tomorrow.

Yesterday was January 20, 2018 and the Women’s March 2018!  And it was an almost indescribably AWESOME show of strength, solidarity and love!  I had been looking forward to the march for the whole year, and I again marched in Portsmouth, NH, same as last year!  This year I marched with my sister.  We also met up with my niece and her friends, and saw lots of other people that we knew.  Plus new friends were to be made too!  The day was perfect. Temperature was hovering around 45 degrees, and it was partly sunny.  We parked on the Maine side of the Piscataqua River Bridge, the Memorial Bridge and walked to Portsmouth, on the New Hampshire side.

Memorial Bridge

Lobster shack with bouys

As you can see from the pictures here it was a nice calm day on the river, I love the sleepy little lobster shack covered in bouys there, just waiting for it’s fishermen to return to fish!  This bridge was just built a couple of years ago, and has become quite the pride of the area.  It’s usually lit up at night with awesome fiber-optic lighting, which turns all kinds of colors.  It’s a draw bridge, which means the middle span of the bridge rises up in the air to allow river traffic to pass under it.  This is critical, as the Piscataqua River is a very vital economic port.  We have oil storage areas, cable and wire, gypsum wall board and scrap metal businesses along with lots of other smaller venues.  On our way home we got caught on the Portsmouth side with the span in the up position, see the below pictures…there was an Irving Oil tanker coming in with a load of heating oil for the seacoast area.  #2 Heating Oil is our main fuel for heat up here.

Memorial Bridge up position

Oil tanker coming in

Tanker passing under bridge span

Pretty cool huh?  I thought so!  I am glad it was such a great day and that I could get these pictures to share on here and to have for my albums.

So, we marched….or rather we RALLIED!  Our gathering was a Rally not a March…we didn’t march anywhere, but gathered and rallied in the very center of the city, in front of the old North Church.  And it was electric!  The Seacoast Resistance came together wonderfully!  As did so many hundreds of other rallies and marches around the USA and around the world, denouncing the hate and bigotry, the sexism, racism and xenophobia of the Trump administration, and the effects it is having on us as citizens, and the world too!  Here are some pictures from the rally.  They are captioned, if you click on them it will give you a description.

Me and my sister Patty

For my Grandchildren sign

Crowd shot

Me and family members

Crowd shot

Crowd shot

looking downtown, steeple is the North Church

Bitches against the patriarchy

United we stand!

As you can see, it was a great turn out, plus a really nice weather day and I had the best of company on my adventure!  #RESIST

So, while we were marching in protest and to show our numbers and strength, the federal government shut down as they bickered over a stupid wall between the US and Mexico, immigration, DACA and a short term spending plan….and they remain shut down as I am writing this.  This has been the least productive year of presidency in our country’s history.  Nothing, except for a tax cut for the uber rich, has gotten done.  No fiscal budget, no immigration reform, no infrastructure, no health insurance plan….nope, just a bunch of school yard type bickering and name calling and stupid tweets. I’m so ashamed of my government at the moment, but that will ALL change in November when the Blue Tsunami takes over America…Democratic Socialism is on the rise!

This is all the energy for writing that I have for tonight.  I am doing great, although I am sick with walking pneumonia at the moment – but on the mend and on meds!  Nola and Lulu are awesome as well, they will be happy for Spring to arrive in a few weeks so they can spend more time outside.

So, did you march or protest yesterday?  Tell me about your day!

Peace!  ~MB

Code Red: Republican Tax Attack

It’s become very hard to live in America under the current President and his administration – albeit an ever-shrinking administration, it’s still got it’s key assholes in there making things worse by the day.  Tillerson has been dismantling the state department; eliminating women, people of color and anyone left from the Obama administration.  And he’s not re-filling the positions, he’s just leaving them empty.  The “plan” it seems, is to shrink the government.

Smaller government is not a bad thing, but when you do it like it’s currently being done it becomes a real problem.  We are left without key positions filled.  Ambassadors to foreign countries for one example.  We have very few ambassadors left.  Trump tells us that we don’t need anyone but him, he’s enough and he’s it.  He is trying to “micro-manage” every aspect of our complex democracy and we are suffering from his narcissistic need to do it.

He’s cutting back or eliminating some very key departments, like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), any agency working on LGBT issues, women’s issues, minority issues.  Some of them are: Planned Parenthood, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), Minority Business Development Agency, Economic Development Administration,  International Trade Administration, Office fo Community Operated Policing Services (COPS), Office of Violence Against Women, Legal Services Corporation, Environment and National Resources Division of the Justice Department, UN Governmental Panel on Climate Change, Office of Electricity Deliverability and Energy Reliability, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Fossil Energy.  All viable agencies that serve and protect America and us as citizens.  (reference article in Time.com)  He is also now seeking to cut millions from counter-terrorism funding…right after the attack on NYC.  Yes, deep cuts to funding to our Department of Homeland Security…just doesn’t make any sense!!!

Trump is a creepy, authoritarian moron.  He’s hell-bent on erasing ANY trace of Obama’s presidency.  He is the #1 consumer of FOX News (which is now banned in the UK and Canada for false/fake information distribution), and Brietbart.  The man is so entangled with the Russians that he can’t even piss without Putin’s permission.  He’s under MAJOR investigation for collaborating with the Russians to win the election of 2016.  As are most of his close allies and staff.  The man is a clear and present DANGER to the United States.  He obstructs justice, he violates the emoluments clause daily, he verbally promotes violence, he says racist and bigoted things, often tweeting them to the world.  He insults foreign leaders and ridicules our long-time allies. He has moved America into last place in the arena of world respect.  And his #1 trait:  HE LIES CONSTANTLY.  He seems to lie so much that even HE believes his own lies!

Right now Trump is trying to jam a new “tax reform bill” through our Congress and Senate and into law.  The bill is horrendous to say it mildly.  It’ is completely geared towards making the wealthy even MORE wealthy, by eliminating tax deductions for the rest of us, and giving HUGE tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations.  The bill eliminates deductions for teachers buying stuff for the classroom, eliminates the deduction of state and local taxes (resulting in double taxation), eliminates deduction for interest on student loans – and makes them claim the loans as income!!!  And that’s just SOME of it…I can’t even go into everything here….I am furious.

In the bill they have hidden a repeal of Roe vs. Wade, naming a fetus as a viable human being – thus redefining the start of life.  They have hidden a break that now will allow churches and religious groups to donate to political campaigns and candidates, and making their donations deductible!!!  A serious breach of the division of church and state!  He’s snuck in steep taxation on renewable energy sources, such as solar and hydro power – he claims coal is “clean”, proving how very ignorant he truly IS.  There are also tons more of these little “sneak ins” in the new tax scam bill.  It’s not just a big fat tax break for the rich, but it’s a giant attack on the middle class and poor here in America.

AND this “tax reform” will increase our federal deficit by $1.4 to $1.7 TRILLION dollars over 10 years.

Less than 20% of this country even “likes” this tax bill.  And even they aren’t understanding just how horrible this will make things here in the USA.  It could cripple our country, plunge us into a huge recession and cause much unnecessary suffering by millions of people.

People making $40K a year will see a tax hike.  While people making $1M a year will see a huge tax cut.  HOW does that make any sense?  How is that fair and equitable???  Even our Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says this bill is NOT GOOD.

All Democrats will vote against this new “tax reform bill”.  It will be passed into law – IF it is actually passed as is – by ONLY the Republican party.  THEY WILL OWN THIS PROBLEM.   It’s the Republican Tax Attack.  And they are DETERMINED to RAM this through, making it law before the end of the year.  Trump claims it’s going to be a “Big, beautiful, very beautiful, Christmas present.”   HE LIES!!!  And LIES some MORE!!!

They are rushing this bill through so that it cannot be properly vetted and debated as it should be.  They don’t want people to figure out just how sneaky and conniving they are being with this bill.  They don’t want us to know how bad things are.  It’s trickle-down economics.  We have tried it before with Reagan, and it resulted in a recession during the 80’s, remember?  This bill should NOT be passed into law.

If you have read me this far and are as angry as I am take some time today to CALL YOUR SENATOR!!!  Google your Senator and speak up against this Republican Tax Attack!!!

I’m done.

Peace.  ~MB

 

America and Guns

I was writing a piece on “hate crimes” and then the Las Vegas massacre happened. I woke up at 1am, which is about 11pm Vegas time, and my television was on…I was in total shock. I remember screaming out “NOOOO!!!!” followed by a bunch of nonsensical stuff as I started to cry. I could not believe what I was watching; seeing happening in Las Vegas, it was just too much to comprehend.
I live in the USA and there is this thing called the Bill of Rights. The 2nd Amendment to this is the “right to bear arms”…meaning we have the right to own guns. And because the NRA (Naitonal Rifle Association) basically funds Republican candidates and pays off politicians we have very loose laws concerning gun ownership. Recently our “president” signed a bill allowing mentally ill to once again be able to purchase guns without question. Yes, it’s a very sad state of affairs we have concerning gun ownership and responsibility.
Our “president” refuses to call the Las Vegas shooting an act of “terrorism” – which is exactly what it is. What could BE more terrifying than being attacked by machine gun fire while at a peaceful music concert? But, because this was a WHITE man who wasn’t acting on behalf of any terrorist organization he refuses to label it what it is: terrorism. Most acts of terrorism in this country are committed by individuals just like this guy. Trump just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be terrified and in fear for your life. He doesn’t get it, because he’s a coddled old nasty rich white man.
I’m sick of all of the mass shootings taking place in America. It’s horrific that we cannot craft legislation to help possibly prevent some of these people from being able to so readily acquire these assault style weapons and ammunition that can pierce metal – such as a car door or plane fuselage. What individual person needs this kind of ammo? Only someone with very bad intentions would purchase such ammunition or assault rifles. There is no good reason to own such items. If you think I am wrong, you tell me the “good reasons”. Unless you are preparing to kill multiple people you do NOT need an automatic weapon. They aren’t used for hunting, hell you’d tear up your target and not get any good meat! They have ONE purpose: to kill people. Period.
I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I believe we DO have a right to own a gun. And I would never want our government to try to remove that right. BUT, be serious, we need some regulations to help curb some of the violence and deaths. We need strict legislation. We all need to stand up to Congress and demand to be protected by such legislation and regulations! MANY other countries have put strict gun ownership laws into place and have vastly reduced gun related murders and deaths in their lands. Australia is the prime example. In 1996 there was a terrible mass killing, they put new laws into place and have drastically reduced gun deaths in their country to date.
I fully understand that putting more restriction on gun ownership won’t completely solve the problem of gun related crime. And yes, like illegal drugs, you can always get an illegal weapon if you try hard enough and know the right people – BUT remember, locks only keep an honest man honest. It’s a mentality thing, responsible gun owners understand the laws of gun ownership are there to protect them and other people. Intelligent, responsible people have no issue with things like background checks and enhanced legislation that moves toward curbing the wrong people from obtaining guns. I truly believe that if we all work together we can find solutions that will appease all of us. I believe we CAN save lives and lower the gun death rate if we just focus on the issues, work toward solutions for those issues and work together to solve them. It’s not going to please everyone, because that’s just impossible. There will still be that rogue gunman who, most likely because he has penis envy, will need to own 50 machine guns and armor piercing bullets….God only knows what his real reasoning will be. He will be in a minority I hope.
I too pray for the families of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre, but prayers without action to back them up are fruitless. I will continue to speak out and be visible in my fight to have better gun laws in this country. I will continue to pressure my Congressmen and Senators. I won’t idly stand by and feel like my voice has no impact. And if we all speak up, and speak LOUDLY, we can change this world and make it safer for all.
Peace. ~MB