Food Stamp Reform (Oh, SNAP!)

One of the dangers we presently face is that, with now-President Trump doing or saying something outrageous every couple of days, we’re likely to lose track of the national dialogue on policy.  To resist that trend, let’s discuss something other than what’s happening right now but instead might happen soon.

The perennial Republican talking point on food stamps (actually SNAP these days) is that there’s widespread abuse.  To be fair, this is what their constituents want; vast numbers of calls and letters show up in their offices every single day complaining about this person who was buying junk food at a convenience (more…)

Be FOR Something

Yesterday, an unpopular man was inaugurated.  It was a nasty drizzly day, and we can’t blame the small crowds entirely on his unfortunate personality, but on the other hand the nation wasn’t exactly dancing in the streets.

But the news wasn’t the man.  It wasn’t what he said and what he did, or who came and who didn’t.  The big story was the carefully-orchestrated riot of a thousand protesters in downtown DC, the torched limo and broken windows and two hundred arrests and six injured cops.

And then the sun rose (more…)

Inauguration Protests: The Details

I’ve long believed that a President-elect shouldn’t be held to the same standards as a sitting President.  So when I tell you that Mr. Trump’s recent Twitter activity is lauding the efforts of a bunch of bikers who want to ride in and build a “wall of muscle” to protect the Inauguration, please understand that this is not a criticism of Mr. Trump’s decorum.  That starts Saturday.

Instead, I’d like to talk briefly about the different protests and counter-protests that we should expect both in the nation’s capitol and across the (more…)

Are We Right To Protest?

On Friday, we’ll inaugurate the most unpopular president since Lincoln.  An estimated million people will be going to the Capital in order to celebrate, and half again as many will be going to protest.

Some would say that, since he’s already been elected, there’s really no point to protesting.  But the purpose of the protests is to influence policy, and to demonstrate the power of an organized (more…)

On Reform

There’s tons of articles about Trump’s character, how he won the election, obstructionism then and now, and so on.  Yesterday the media message was all about fake news; right now the big thing is his cabinet confirmation process, and tomorrow there’ll be something else, depending on what people choose to be scandalized about.  But in the mean while, things will be happening, and we shouldn’t lose sight of them amid all the hype.

So let’s boil it down to essentials:  We’ve got a brand new president coming in, and his platform was Reform. (more…)

Pence: Pure Unadulterated Genius?

It’s news to nobody that President-Elect Trump may be the least popular prominent American since Nixon left town, and before that since the little fuss after Lincoln’s election.  For you who need reminding, we’ll see some public demonstrations of that fact starting around the 20th of January.

The call is about to go up, and due to a now-famous mis-Tweet, the rallying cry has been born:  “Unpresident him!”  The new protests will be all about obstructing Mr. Trump’s agenda at every turn, and the goal driving it all will be to remove the man from power. (more…)

About The Inauguration Protests

“No matter who won the election, H.R.C. or Trump, we should be protesting. But especially Trump. His campaign was nothing but hatred and fear. We must reject that, or be complicit in it.”
– Protestor, two weeks before

On January 21, the day after the Inauguration, a massive rally is planned in the nation’s capitol to highlight women’s issues.  An estimated 200,000 women are scheduled to attend the “Women’s March On Washington”.

Take note:  These are not, by and large, discontented college students and former Bernie Bros pining for their lost candidate.  These are intelligent professionals (more…)

Hard Rubber

The call to arms has been issued, and the young activists are marching on Washington.  It’s time to protest the 2017 Presidential Inauguration with parades and speeches and picket signs.  Why?  Well, mainly because we can’t get change any other way, right?

People have accused the President-Elect, Donald Trump, of fraud and perversion, of crimes and hate and serious nastiness.  One of these people is Mr. Trump himself, who appears to enjoy defaming himself on Twitter.  Not many politicians could survive even one of his mis-tweets; he’s given us dozens.  And that doesn’t even touch the court cases and the controversial ethical choices he’s making during the transition period.  They called Reagan the Teflon president; Trump appears instead to be constructed out of hard rubber. (more…)

Why Aleppo Is So Important

While the White House and a couple of Senators are loudly Trump-eting about the alleged Russian involvement in an email hack, we’re missing out on a major news story:  The civil war in Syria is all over bar the shouting.  (And inevitable reprisals.)

Don’t mistake me:  The email thing is important.  I believe it will drive our news for much of the next year, and the results could be extremely impressive.  But Aleppo is huge, and (more…)

That’s “Toupeed Cheeto, Sir”, Dammit!

Today’s New York Daily News featured an article by famously opinionated columnist Shaun King entitled “Here’s Why I Will Never Call Donald Trump ‘Mr. President'”.

In it, he explores Mr. Trump’s character flaws.  He writes with great eloquence about the man’s character, detailing his failings with remarkable fervor.  Much of what he says is (more…)