Too Much to Say

In reading the news lately, it's been so overwhelming that I almost don't even know what to say. I have been writing less as more and more terrifying and infuriating events have taken place.

What do I talk about first? Here's a list of possibilities just off the top of my head:

• Russian interference in our election process and almost certainly in our current administration--this has become nearly indisputable with not only many instances of rumor and smoke, much from within the White House itself, but also with the resignation/firing of Michael Flynn, followed by his offer to testify if granted immunity, which, by his own words, is an admission of guilt. 
• The Senate changing the rules of majority in order to push Gorsuch into the Supreme Court--rules that were put in place specifically to disallow the election of a partisan judge to that very office.
• The gassing of Syrian citizens by their own ruler, the monstrous Assad, which was brutal in the extreme and absolutely horrifying to witness via video and photograph, much less in real life. And then 45's attempt to blame Obama for this incident, followed by an abrupt 180 degree turn from every word he's ever spoken about Syria and our involvement therein and subsequent bombing of a Syrian airbase (without consulting congress at all, or anyone else that knows much at all, from Mar-a-Lago surrounded by economic advisers) that remains operational after being missed by over half the tomahawk missiles fired upon it amid rumors that the Syrian government had been mysteriously warned, possibly by Putin, that the assault was imminent.
• How many days has 45 I'm-never-going-to-see-my-resorts-again-I'll-be-working-too-hard played golf since he took office? (18) How many visits to his own properties and resorts? (once every 2.8 days) How much money did that cost tax payers? ($21.6M at Mar-a-Lago so far) And how much of that cost is funnelled directly into his own pockets? Hmmm...
• Ivanka has an office where again? What the wha???
• The poor, disorganized Easter Egg Roll, wherein the current First Family once again throws tradition to the wind and disappoints the people. If they manage to pull this thing off, you know it's going to be a chaotic disaster. I sure hope Spicer still has his bunny suit.
• What was that tiny article that I read about the US moving warships up the Asian coast from Singapore and into position near North Korea, which claims it will have the strength to hit a US target with a nuclear missile before another month has passed. And 45 bragging to China that he was ready to take them on alone without support from other countries, including them? *shudder*
• Now we can shoot hibernating bears and wolves in their dens. Making America Great Again--riiiiiight...
• 3000 jobs to be cut from the EPA, which continues to be gagged on the bulk of its research. That's definitely bring jobs back, right? Not to mention protecting our planet? Oh that's right--I forgot that climate change is all a Chinese hoax.

There's a lot from which to choose. However, my point here is not to be emotional, but analytic. I am striving every day to understand the big picture of what's actually going on in this disorganized and chaotic government. And lately, folks, I have honestly been too emotional to write about it. I am just angry, disappointed, terrified, and apparently, overwhelmed into silence. This is a dangerous place to be: silence is often mistaken for acquiescence. Please don't mistake my lack of writing as a sign of submission. I promise you, it's anything but.

Juxtaposition

Observe, if you will, two official Presidential portraits:

Could two men come across more differently than these two? If I knew absolutely nothing at all about either of them, it would be incredibly easy to determine which one I would rather have over for dinner. Knowing what I know about them, that's even more the case.

President Obama looks kind, confident, friendly, professional, and open. He's at ease and standing up straight and proud. He's inside the oval office with the red fabric he chose for drapery treatments behind him and with living plants in the background outside the windows. His clothing is well-fitted and neatly pressed with flattering colors that don't overpower him so that your eyes are drawn to his face and his smile. In sharp contrast, our 45th President looks hostile, angry, and like he may take a step forward and smack the viewer. His expression is reminiscent of my emotional son when he's not getting his way. He's slump-shouldered and looks bowed down. His shirt is wrinkled and looks dingy instead of clean white, and the red tie not only accentuates his ruddy complexion that doesn't look altogether healthy, but it also draws your eyes downward away from his face--that bright red is the first thing you see in the portrait. Also, where is he standing? The White House is behind him, but there's also a flag that looks indoors. Even the sky behind him is even uneasy and stormy, as if nothing here bodes well. Is this photo-shopped together?

Part of what confuses me about this newly unveiled portrait is that 45 has all the money in the world for stylists, photographers, and staff to guide him through a photo session that should have produced something far better than this. Why in the world does he not use the resources he has to give a better impression? Does he believe that this photograph makes him look powerful? I truly don't understand.

Wake County Democratic Convention

This weekend, I attended the Wake County Democratic Convention at Apex Friendship High School, and it was an amazing experience. I was unfortunately not able to vote this year, as I didn't get my party affiliate changed in time. I am still really glad I went--I learned a ton about the process and the folks in Wake County who make things happen. I am determined to stay involved and learn as much as I can so that next year, I can take a more active role.

I read that last year, this convention was attended by 290 delegates, and that this year, it was more nearly 900 strong. If there is one positive thing to say about the current Presidential administration and the state of politics here in North Carolina, it's that people are feeling galvanized and ready to act. This meeting was not glamorous--this was an in-the-trenches type of working meeting, and it was literally standing room only. It was inspirational! This is Congressman David Price speaking to the group, and people were still in line outside to check in when I took this. You also can't see that there are people standing down both sides of the room as well. Just amazing.

Our precinct was originally up front, but enough people showed up that we ran out of space and moved to the back so that we could sit together. This is a great problem to have!

At the meeting, there were a small handful of speakers, most notably the aforementioned Congressman Price and the Chair of the Wake County Democratic Party, Brian Fitzsimmons. He was stepping down as Chair, but I will me amazed if we don't see him pop up somewhere else in politics in North Carolina. He is a fantastic speaker, and seems to really know how to get things done. New officers were elected on the spot, and the transition to them took place immediately. Most seats were uncontested with the exception of Chair. The new Chair this year is Rebecca Llewellyn, who won handily over her challenger, David Bland. I was glad to see that the new executive board was quite diverse. I also learned later that this is the very first time the board has been majority female. Just check this out!

Other things I took from the Convention:

1. The State Executive Committee has to be half female and half male. This is something I had no idea existed anywhere in our government, and honestly, I do not understand how this rule came to be. It's something I plan to research. It was bizarre to see the list of candidates separated by gender in this way.
2. What is the State Executive Committee? This was a big question from many of us who were attending our first meeting of this type. It's an elected body that meets quarterly and is apparently a large part of how the state platform is developed. In some ways, this reminded me of the Electoral College. Most people do not know the people representing them in the EC, and similarly, most people do not know the members of their SEC. And yet--it's in that SEC where the real work of developing the stance of the Democratic Party (and I assume the Republican one as well) in your state happens. This is definitely something that bears further clarification and exploration.
3. The Wake County Democratic Party has one paid employee, the Executive Director, Austen High. Every other position is strictly voluntary, and from comments made, I gather that Austen can use all the help she can get. I followed up after the meeting and sent her a message offering to assist her if I possibly can. 

I feel in some ways like getting involved is requiring me to be somewhat pushy. That's OK with me--I am willing to keep trying to find ways to help move this group and this platform forward. Right now in North Carolina, in spite of our newly installed Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, the GOP has a Super-majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, even if we do not re-draw our heavily gerrymandered district lines, it would take only a few seats to flip that majority in the other direction. If I can find any small way to help that happen, I am glad to do it!

The most interesting part of the entire meeting was the last 30 minutes, during which resolutions were discussed. These are proposals for changes or additions to the party platform that are written by individuals and submitted at the precinct level where they are discussed and voted upon. If they pass there, they are handed up to the county level. There, some are thrown out for redundancy, but the list is then discussed and voted upon once again. If a resolution passes the county, it goes to state level, and so on. These can and do cover about anything from educational policy to taxation to the death penalty. 14 such resolutions passed at this particular meeting. The head of the resolutions committee, Montica Talmadge, was new to the process and was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the adopted rules of the meeting, the rules that had to be followed, and the number of people trying to talk at once. Luckily, the Second Vice Chair of the NC Democratic Party happened to be in attendance, and he was able to step in, regain control, and get through all 14 resolutions in under 30 minutes. His name is Matt Hughes, and it was very easy to tell that, though he is quite young, he knew exactly how to handle the process. He is another person who bears watching over the next few years. If he doesn't end up running for a Congressional seat or perhaps even more, I will be amazed.

I think that one of the most important things I am doing right now is learning my way around. I am learning who are the people who are doing the real, on-the-ground work of making progress, and those are the people I need to meet and get to know in order to be effective myself. This process is SO complicated, and these are the people from whom I need to learn. I have an enormous set of skills that I can and want to put to use for the party--I just need to figure out how and where to do it. 

Sign of the times...

This is a sign in our front yard:

I bought this sign last week at the Apex Democrats precinct organizational meeting, and I love it. I love that it promotes inclusion, which I think is important for all religions, nationalities, races, colors, creeds, genders, sexual orientations, etc. I couldn't wait to put it up, and I am glad it's there. But it's interesting to me that we have had some commentary on it that really misses the point. For example, one of our neighbors came up to  Jason in the yard and pointed out the sign, saying, "I assume that's anti-Trump." Jason responded, "No, it's pro-inclusion. It doesn't have anything to do with who the President is." They had a whole discussion about it and about politics in general, and while I do think that anything that promotes discussion and open discourse is a great thing, it struck a chord with me that this simple sign, about welcoming neighbors in multiple languages, is now a huge political statement. Maybe it always was, and I was just naive.

Post and Response

Someone I know posted the following, which I know is just a cut and paste thing that is making it's way around the internet, on Facebook:

I don't care who you voted for but Trump is President! But this... this is what bothers me so badly .....I keep seeing people post on how they are terrified, or scared? Well.. what are you scared of exactly? War? Because that's been happening. School shootings? Because that's been happening. Pipeline? That's been happening. Terrorism? Definitely alive and well. Going broke due to health insurance? Mm yes. Corruption throughout the system? Already there. Police officers being murdered? Yep, that's been happening. Bullying? Check. Loss of jobs? We've got that on lock. A tanking economy. Yep. Being discriminated against for your religion, political views, sexual orientation, race? That's been going on too. Rape, murder, violence, riots.. all going on and has been. 

So tell me, what are you scared of that is not already happening basically everywhere? This isn't a Trump problem, this is a people problem. We all need to reevaluate our own selves. Maybe America (and the world) is a little too scared and a little too easily offended. 

Quit being scared, crying around, offended by everything.... step up and do your part as an American, no, as a human being. Treat others with respect, help and encourage one another, raise your kids right, tell the truth, be a contributing member of society. Make sure your hands are clean, that's your job. Burning the American flag?Get out of here with that, how about you do your job to make it a better place. 

But right now, all I see is hate. It's disturbing, 🙁 and the ones with the most hate are being exactly what they claim to be against. Copy and paste if you agree....this is common sense.

Sometimes I can keep my mouth shut, and sometimes I just cannot. This time, I responded. I made myself think about it long and hard before I said anything. I don't believe that responding in anger helps anything, and I don't believe that it's productive just to yell at people or to resort to any type of finger pointing or name calling, which seems to happen pretty often on the internet. And I know that I am unlikely to change this woman's position at all. But at the same time, sometimes silence feels too much like a normalizing acceptance just to avoid a conflict or a difficult discussion. I am done with that. Bring on the difficult discussion. After sleeping on it, here is what I replied to her post:

I am afraid of coal ash and mining waste dumping putting heavy metals into my drinking water now that the clean water regulations have been removed. I am afraid of government interference in decisions I make about my own body. I am afraid of, not just war, but nuclear war, which looms closer every time we jeopardize our relationships with both our allies and our enemies with careless commentary. I am afraid that my nieces and nephews with undocumented parents will lose those parents because of an ICE raid. I am afraid of the air quality in my city returning to what it was in the seventies because clean air regulations are being systematically removed. I am afraid for my transgender friends getting hurt because they are forced to go into a bathroom where they are instantly targeted because they look different. I am afraid of a mentally ill person walking into my child’s school and shooting him because that mentally ill person can go buy a gun without a background check and carry it in his pocket without a concealed carry permit. I am afraid for my Hispanic and Iranian friends who travel outside the country for their jobs and now must fear that they will not be able to come home to their families. I am afraid that my niece will lose her asthma and general health care, which is through the ACA. I am afraid for my friends at the EPA who stand in danger of losing their jobs and being forced to abandon their research that is helping to protect our environment because of the looming cut of 3000 persons from that organization. I am afraid for my Muslim friends and the increased prejudices and often violent threats that they are facing every day. 

I am afraid of many things. To say that these fears are unfounded because there has always been government corruption and violence is naïve at best. Any progress that has been made in the last 50 years to protect or improve any of these situations is being systematically dismantled. 

I am not crying about these things, nor am I offended by everything, nor am I filled with or spouting hate. I am teaching my children to be kind, honest people in the face of them watching/listening to a President who is neither of those things. I am not burning flags. I believe that our society is capable if becoming better. And I will continue to protest the decisions being made that I feel threaten not just me and my own family, but the overall well-being of our society, as is my Constitutional right. I am grateful to live in a country where I can voice dissent without fear of imprisonment. 

But no, I do not embrace this current administration or the policies they have so far introduced. And yes, I am involved—I am well-read and well-informed, and I am participating in what I believe to be right at a local, state, and federal level. I am open-minded and willing to discuss opposing opinions. I believe that what is missing, and perhaps has been missing for a long time, is an open discourse between differing opinions, which is why I am writing this response to your post. I appreciate you posting your opinion; this is mine.

I am sad to say that she never responded nor acknowledged my reply at all. We are not close friends, but we share many mutual relatives, and I was hoping that she would talk to me. I would love to understand more about why she feels the way she does. But I guess all you can do is try.

Getting into the Local Game

Today I went to my first local political meeting, which is an extremely big deal for me. I have thought about ways to get involved, but my focus has always been at the national or state level. But really, this is it: the local level is where you can actually DO something and make a difference in your community. Judging from the turnout today, I am not alone in looking for ways to actively participate in the government. They asked for a show of hands for how many people were attending their first precinct level meeting, and at least half the room raised their hands.

I attended the 2017 Apex Democrats Precinct Meeting, or cluster meeting. All 9 of the precincts in Apex, NC met to organize, figure out who the precinct chairs, vice-chairs, and secretary/treasurers will be for the next two years, choose delegates for the Wake County Democratic Convention, and to go over open resolutions, which are proposals that are written and approved at a local level and will be passed up the chain from the precinct, to the county, to the state. This was not a glamorous meeting, but it absolutely felt like real work was done. Last year, my precinct had 6 attendees at this meeting--this year, there were over 20, most of whom had never attended such a meeting before.

I was happy to meet in person my precinct chair, David Tiler, who is also the admin of Apex Democrats facebook page, Jen Ferrell, who narrowly lost the race the District 36 seat in the NC House (I hope she runs again, even though she's not in my district!), and many neighbors. I came away with a pile of new knowledge, a plan to learn more, and some personal goals.

I have decided, first and foremost, to change my voter registration. I registered as an Independent--my reasoning being that I wanted to be able to vote in either the Democratic or the Republican primaries. Further, I was trying hard to keep an open mind, as I still am. However, in recent years, it has become quite apparent to me that I am, by today's definition, a Democrat, through and through. I am about to change my registration to reflect this, which will enable me to take a much more active role in local politics. As it is, I can't vote for my precinct leaders, nor can I hold any position of service, including delegation to the larger conventions. I'd like to change that so I can do more. I am ready to help make some things happen. For now, my goals are to get that done and to educate myself more about the persons in office at my town and county level. The next meeting I plan to attend is the Wake County Democratic Convention, which is April 1st at Apex Friendship High School.

This, folks, is really what democracy looks like:

Repression of the Free Press Is a Sure Sign of Tyranny

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. --George Orwell, 1984

Remember when we had freedom? I read a very interesting article (to which I can of course now not find the link) that discussed how the knowledge that you could take breaks from the media without feeling like the world would suddenly undergo a drastic change beneath your feet was perhaps one of the highest and least discussed forms of freedom. That is certainly something that has drastically changed for me under this new administration, and I believe for many, many others as well. In thirty-six short days days, our freedom has already been eroded.

Today, a number of the major news outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Politico, and others, were banned from a White House press briefing. (Washington Post, NYT, CNN, Politico) Last week, 45 referred to the press as "the enemy of the people," a position on which he doubled down today, when he publicly accused members of the press of making up sources to support their fake news stories. Indeed, fake news seems to be his favorite catchphrase of late. Now, please recall that the White House has, itself, been spewing lies at the press literally since the first press briefing that it offered--lies that it has since tried to pass off as alternative facts, as if that is not yet another name for a lie. Not a single day of this administration's first month has passed without 45 himself or one of his spokespersons issuing at least one easily disproven or horribly misleading statement. (Washington Post) And the journalists have relentlessly persisted, have attended the offered updates from this administration, and have worked hard day and night to sift the truths from the lies and the half truths to deliver actual news to the public. They are just doing their jobs, but I am so very thankful for them--they are on the front lines of this resistance to a government that has gone from representing its people to overpowering them to keep its own power and built its own wealth. The administration attacks the press at every turn, in answer to unrelated questions, unprovoked, and without ceasing. How many times must they try to tell us that two and two make five before those in our congress stand up and say no?  What line will have to be crossed before spines are grown?

This war of our current government on the media feels quite foreboding to me. My mother always said that only the bad folks waited for cover of darkness to carry out their deeds, and I've yet to see that disproven. Of what is this administration so afraid? Or perhaps it's something darker, and this is all part of a power grab for full control of the information flow and thus the people.

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. -- George Orwell, 1984

Resistance to the relentless lying is more important now than ever. It's no wonder that sales of dystopian novels have been soaring--the news these days is hauntingly similar to these books, which were meant as warnings. For example, consider this quote:

The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. --Geroge Orwell, 1984

When I read 1984 in school so many years ago, it seemed remote and terrifying, but also impossible--perhaps more improbable than travel to another planet in my lifetime. But now? Right now? Today? It reads like a political analysis, particularly in light of Steve Bannon's self-professed disestablishmentarianism and plans to dismantle our government from within. It's difficult not to land in the position that anyone who isn't afraid of the current administration's potential for all-out destruction is simply not paying attention.

One last thing to ponder, before closing: this administration is the exact embodiment of the rise of fascism as defined by Lawrence Britt. Now, this I take with a bit of a grain of salt, Mr. Britt being not a scholar or an historian, but in fact a retired businessman and sometimes author who appears to have read a great deal on the topic of fascism. However, it still warrants consideration, as we bear witness to every aspect of this list grabbing a tighter hold within our government every day.

These are terrifying times indeed, folks. Stay awake and keep at it.

For the love of God, stop talking!

Whew. Yesterday, our current President gave a press conference (NYT, NPR, Washington Post, YouTube), his first solo one since taking office. He was supposed to just announce his candidate for Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, and well--he did that. Then he went on a 75-minute meandering, racist, self-contradictory, anti-media rant about, in the end, God knows what. He is the least articulate and most simplistic public speaker I have EVER heard, in or out of politics. It's truly astounding listening to him speak.

Even more astounding is the disparity in commentary from people of different political leanings. I honestly don't understand how anyone who actually listened to that driveling mess, or read a transcript of it, could think anything positive about it at ALL. But on the far right, there are folks lauding him for "owning the press" and "handling the media like we've always wished a President would do!" I can only think that these people live on a different planet from me. What I heard was a lot of anger, much like a teenager who lashes out at his parents when he gets in trouble, and then trying to blame the parents for having things in place like rules that just make him look bad. And well, not much else. If you haven't, you should check it out, but be warned that it will take some fortitude to get through it.

Last night, I was trying to make sense of all the commentary, both that which agrees with my point of view that this administration seems to be flying apart and desperately trying to hang onto its power at any cost, and that which disagrees with me and thinks this man is literally a gift from God to our country. To take the latter view, these commentators appear to assume that the entirely of the mainstream media is a dark state out to get the government, that Russia has our best interests at heart more than our own intelligence agencies, that every single legitimate expert on this stuff is lying to us all outright in order to undermine the power of the President, and that the only person in the country telling the truth is the President himself. Occam's Razor, however, suggests that the opposite is true--that the liar is the President himself, especially since his lies have been well documented from day one of his campaign and have been disproven by verifiable facts over and over and over again.

And how can this man, who speaks at a 6th grade level, lies at every turn, insists that easily proven falsehoods are true even after they have been shown to be false, who is obsessed with his own campaign win, who seeks money and power and adulation above all else, speak such loads of insanity so passionately and with such conviction? This is where I was last night when a friend suggested that I look up the Dunning-Kruger effect. Another suggested that I re-read the definition of Malignant Narcissism. I did this, and let me tell you--I don't feel any better. Let me share with you the definitions the definitions from Wikipedia:

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is. Dunning and Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive incapacity, on the part of those with low ability, to recognize their ineptitude and evaluate their competence accurately. Their research also suggests corollaries: high-ability individuals may underestimate their relative competence and may erroneously assume that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others^. Dunning and Kruger have postulated that the effect is the result of internal illusion in those of low ability, and external misperception in those of high ability: "The miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others.^"

Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, aggression, and sadism.Often grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes the people with whom they associate.

This is our President, people. He is mentally ill and unfit to serve. 

Images and Ponderings from The Women's March

I can't believe it's been over 3 weeks since I went to the Women's March on Washington. That was absolutely the most politically galvanizing event of my life. I have never been in the midst of such an enormous group of like-minded and shared-purpose people before, and it was absolutely incredible and inpiring. We saw women, men, and children of every color, trans folks, straight folks, gay folks, women in hijabs, people with every liberal political slogan known on their shirts, and many, many pussyhats (including ours).

Our view from near the corner 7th and Independence Ave. in Washington DC

Like many liberal people, I was saddened and horrified by the election last November. I never thought that Hillary Clinton was the best choice for President (I still don't), but it was so hard to believe that people actually believed that our newly elected official was in any way qualified for the job. I thought he was even more unelectable than she was. What I didn't bank on was how many people just didn't vote at all. And what I really didn't bank on was how many people were willing to overlook the plethora of very public and objectively horrifying things that Trump said and did during his candidacy--he was excused for making fun of a reporter with a disability, for his insults levied at John McCain for his POW status, for mistreating and maligning the Khan family, who lost their son in service of our country, for his disgusting commentary on and treatment of women, for the lies he told at every turn, for his refusal to release his tax returns, for his refusal to divest himself from his businesses with all the accompanying conflicts of interest, for his suspected ties to the Russian government. The list goes on and on, when any one thing would have disqualified most other candidates. People were so fed up with the system and with all the controversy, both real and imagined, that they either shut down and declined to participate, or they voted against their own self-interest in in order to obtain change at any cost. Oh, how I wish Bernie Sanders had won the Democratic primary! But I digress..

In the months following the election, I was sad, disappointed, and filled with impotent fury. I kept praying for some kind of miracle that would keep this horrible creature from becoming our president. Maybe the Russia ties would be investigated (still waiting), maybe the electoral college would do its job and keep a wholly unqualified person out of the President's office (they didn't, but man, I would have been happier with just about anyone else!), maybe there really was voter fraud somewhere and the counts were wrong (they weren't). But alas, nothing saved us, and here we are.

When the Women's March was announced, I decided I was going, one way or another. I worked it out to go to the flagship march in DC itself. I talked my friend into taking the train with me to DC, staying with another friend there, and doing it right. (And let me say a word about these two women I went with. Both are in government jobs, so I am not naming them here, but they are both amazing. One is a scientist at the EPA, and the other works in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House. They both do amazing work to advance science, and especially science for women, in the US, to protect our planet, and to educate people. They are two of my dearest friends, and I can't even express what an honor it was to attend this event with them. We'll be back, too--the March for Science is coming!) The march was everything I thought it would be and more. I was amazed at the sheer numbers of people who showed up, across the country and across the world, and the huge number of different concerns and interests that were represented by the people attending. I cried many times throughout the day. I made new friends and talked to a wide range of diverse people. I was arrested by the images I brought with me from the whole day--the feeling of being wrapped in solidarity, and the overwhelming love of this country that allows us the freedom to express concern, dissent, and rage in a public and peaceful manner without fear. This is truly what democracy looks like.

I took hundreds of pictures of the signs people were carrying, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites. It was so hard to narrow it down--there were so many great ones expressing so many perspectives!

 

One of the most powerful things we saw was a huge constitutional banner that was being carried through the march, with people signing it as it moved. It was maybe 150 feet long and at least 12-14 feet wide. The entire preamble to The Constitution was painted on it, and it was absolutely covered in signatures. It was being passed from person to person, each of them signing it, as it moved through the march and down Constitution Avenue with the rest of us. It was very moving to see so many people honoring the words it bore and what it represented for our country.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common 
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to 
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for 
the United States of America."

And last, but not at all least, I am hanging onto these images that were designed by  for The Amplifier Foundation's public call for art to support The Women's March. There were many great pieces of art that came from that call, but the ones most impactful to me were these three from Shepard Fairey. We saw these everywhere!

I love the diversity he represents while still making it very clear that these are American women, and that their rights are the rights for all of us. He's blown me away before--I am sure you will recall the Obama Hope poster he produced for the 2008 election, but just in case you didn't, here it is:

This man has my number, as far as a political artist goes. He's a person I'd like to go to dinner or grab a drink with just so i could talk to him for a while.

It's an understatement to say that I walked away from the march feeling fired up and ready to go. It's an understatement to say that it made me feel like I was part of something much larger than myself. It's an understatement to say that I feel like raising a dissenting voice is more important right now in this country than it has been in decades. I am working on it. I am learning to be an activist. The march was just the beginning for me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Source: Hate Won't Win

Thoughts on National Security

During the past election, one of the main talking points, and really, one of the ONLY talking points against the candidacy of Hillary Clinton was her use of a private email server, which made her vulnerable to hacking and leaks. Similarly, the lack of security in place within the DNC allowed the leaking of a huge number of emails from there as well. The GOP and 45 have both harped on this endlessly, in every debate. Their responses to wholly unrelated questions were often swiftly flipped around and back onto this topic over and over again. It was sickening and relentless. And it was also something of which past administrations have also been guilty. But this stuck--this resonated with people in our country who believe, at least verbally, that national security should be our number one priority.

And yet, so far, this administration appears to be one of the least secure of any government administration in history. I find the following two items to be quite alarming:

• National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, resigns amid confirmation that he misinformed the Vice-President about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador and much suspicion that he is/has been susceptible to bribes from the Russian government. (NYT, Politico, The Economist) Many questions about his remain unanswered--there's a thought-provoking list of these in this article from the Washington Post. It's worth  your time to take a look at this.
• Aside: I am so proud of the press for not letting up on this, especially Matt Lauer on The Today Show this morning, when Kellyanne Conway tried to brush off his questions and gave inconsistent answers.
• On Saturday night, while dining at his resort in Florida with the Prime Minister of Japan,  Shinzo Abe, 45 received news of a North Korean test of a nuclear capable missile. Instead of stepping away to deal with what is undeniably a highly sensitive matter of national security, he held a strategic planning session right there at the dinner table, in full view of the restaurant, in the presence of a foreign dignitary, outside, and using a number of unsecured devices. Members of the club were posting pictures of this meeting on social media. The level of insecurity here is both staggering and truly terrifying. In what universe is this behavior acceptable for the President of the United States? (NYT, Washington Post)
• Aside: On the same trip, there was a selfie taken by a Mar-a-Lago guest and posted online of the man responsible for carrying the nuclear football. (The Hill, Washington Post). At the very least, this is just inappropriate.

And then, of course, we have 45 himself, still using a known-to-be-buggy, insecure, personal phone to take official calls and tweet relentlessly about anything that catches his attention. I am not sure how Clinton's private email server was an offense severe enough that one of 45's campaign promises was to put her in jail, and yet, this seems to be acceptable to him and everyone around him. There's some hypocrisy here to be sure, and that's infuriating. But more importantly, this odd and misplaced arrogance about national security could easily land us in a war.

North Korea claims their missile test, conducted in direct violation of UN resolutions, was a huge success, by the way. (Reuters) <sarcasm>Comforting.</sarcasm>

Updated to add this bit of news from CNN and The Hill today: GOP Senator Calls for Exhaustive Investigation into Trump-Russia Connections -- Are they finally catching on?

Real News - Distinguishing Facts from #AlternativeFacts

There's been a lot of news about news lately. What's real news? What's fake news?  How do you tell the difference? It's interesting to me that 45 keeps harping on fake news, when he was a huge perpetrator of that very thing with his pushing of the Obama birther theory that refused to die during the last administration, no matter how many times it was shown to be patently false. The White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, in his very first briefing, flat out lied to the press about the numbers of people attending the inauguration, took no questions, and then walked out of the room. The very next day, one of 45's most senior advisers, Kellyanne Conway, went on national television to reinforce those lies with some brand new terminology: alternative facts. Folks--there's just no such thing. As Dan Rather said about this, "A lie is a lie is a lie." We are faced with an administration that blatantly lies about matters both large and small, and which sticks to those lies, even when they are easily refuted with verifiable facts (a term that should be redundant, but apparently no longer is). The communication from our current government reads too often like a dystopian novel.

So, what's one to do in this "post-truth" environment?

In my opinion, this is something that needs to be addressed like any research. And if you've ever done any research at all, you will remember that we were all taught in school to consider the source. If an organization is using sensationalist wording in all of their headlines, there's a pretty good chance you are looking at something that's not so much news as it is propaganda. I am not interested in propaganda, and if you want to be taken seriously as a well-informed citizen, then you shouldn't be either. Likewise, if the articles you read are citing no sources of their own, then well--take that with a grain of salt. If they lean very far to the left (like The Daily Caller or Daily Kos or Occupy Democrats) or to the right (like Fox News or, God-forbid, Breitbart), then they are going to be handing you heavily biased versions of stories that may read very differently if presented in more neutral language. The interest of these sites on the extreme ends of the spectrum lie in pushing agendas more than in presenting reality, and I highly recommend avoiding them like the plague of misinformation that they are.

This is a great article on real news sources from Forbes Magazine: 10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts. You will find many of these sources listed in the sidebar--this is where I get most of my news. I read a lot of opinion as well, as I think everyone does. But when you read opinion, keep in mind that it's just that--opinion. Gather facts, consider opinions, and then, for goodness sake--THINK FOR YOURSELF! Most of us are not morons. Most of us are capable of thinking for ourselves. And seriously, there's not enough of this going on. Somewhere along the way, common sense has been lost. Somewhere along the way, we stopped being critical thinkers. And it's crucial that we get this back, especially now.

I never meant to become a political activist...

...but here I am, killing it.

Here's some background:

When I was a young'un, I stayed far, far away from politics. They made me mad. And I felt strongly that, if you are going to vote, then you have a civil responsibility to educate yourself about for whom and what you are voting. I wasn't willing to do that, so I didn't vote. I also didn't complain--I felt I had no business complaining unless I had participated in the process. I still believe all of that. So, what's changed?

Well, in the 2004 election, I kind of couldn't believe that people had re-elected George W. Bush. It seemed to me that he had been making some decisions with pretty negative impact, and it had seemed in the months leading up to the election like no one liked him, and yet--there he was, President again. But still, I didn't vote, so I kept my mouth shut. I did, however, start paying a little bit of attention.

Then, in 2008, the tipping point came: John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. I saw an interview with her, and my head nearly exploded. I went and registered to vote, and then I started to read. And read. And read. I even wrote a political blog post on my very personal and non-political blog. I drank the Obama Kool-Aid. I voted for the first time for our first African-American President, and the man I believe has been the greatest President of my lifetime. Note: that doesn't in any way mean that I think he was perfect, or that I agree with every single decision he made, but I do believe that he acted 100% of the time in what he truly believed to be the best interests of this country and its people. I absolutely respect him.

Meanwhile, I watched the local politics in North Carolina unfolding around me when we went from a Democratic to a Republican governor, who tried with all his might and the backing of the Republican supermajority in our House and Senate to drag our somewhat progressive Southern state back to the Stone Age with his ridiculous and misguided policies. I have voted in every local and federal election since I registered to vote, and I will continue to do so.

This past election circus--because that's really what it was: a complete circus--has left me feeling the need to be involved at a level I have never experienced before. It was easy to become complacent under President Obama, but no more. Our peace is gone, and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Things under Trump are already crumbling. His administration is devoid of ethics, or even decency, and it has become clear in the past month that the ONLY thing any person in his cabinet or in his house cares about is money. Money at the cost of peace, the environment, the well-being of the American people, and really anything that stands in its way.

I can't be silent. I won't. I am a mouthy woman under the best of circumstances, and that is now where we stand today. This is my forum, and I can make a couple of promises, out of the gate:

• I will share no news that is not confirmed by at least 3 reputable sources.
• I will document my sources of information.
• I will not hold back on my opinion, so if you do not want it, I suggest you move along.
• I will do my level best to stay open-minded to dissenting opinion, but if you come at me, you better have your facts with you.
• I will not back down from what I believe is right.

It's on, y'all. Mama's entered the political arena, and she ain't going back anytime soon.