So I’m putting together a page (or possibly two) of anti-Trump resources, and I could use your help over the next few days. (No need think about any of this stuff today, obviously!)
I’m looking for a bunch of different things:
Information and graphics to help make the case that Trump’s victory is illegitimate, based on:
Hillary’s big win the popular vote; the ways in which the electoral college effectively overcounts the votes of rural whites and those in swing states and undercounts those of minorities; dirty tricks, from Russian hacking and wikileaks to the machinations of Comey and pro-Trump FBI agents (I’m especially interested in stuff talking about Trump’s connections to the dirty tricksters, as well as his public encouragement and exploitation of leaked emails and the like).
Information on protests and other anti-Trump activism:
Both local and national (and on the internet). Links to help people who want to get involved.
Information and resources to help people deal with Trump-related anxiety, etc.
Information on Trump’s massive conflicts of interest, and whether or not this could rise to the level of an impeachable offense
Information on his worldwide business dealings. Examples of the conflicts that have already become an issue even though he’s not yet in the White House. The issues raised by his plan to have his kids run his business — despite their continued involvement in the transition and their attendance at meetings with foreign leaders.
Information on Trump’s connections to white supremacists
The possibility that he engaged in “pay to play” for favorable coverage in Breitbart. Connections to far-right parties and activists in Europe. Examples of horrible stuff said and done by his white supremacist supporters. His refusal to clearly and specifically distance himself from these people — in person, on camera.
Trump’s compulsive lying; his vanity; his obsession with revenge; his encouragement of violence at his rallies; his flip-flops, mood swings, erratic behavior; his susceptibility to flattery; his promulgation of fake news and discredited claims
Trump’s racism and misogyny
Trump’s attacks on Muslims and Latinos. His record of discrimination against black tenants. His long history of misogyny. The accusations of sexual assault raised against him.
Historical parallels between Trump and fascist/authoritarian leaders in the past
Information about Trump’s unwillingness to follow traditional norms of presidential behavior and/or do his job
His massive ignorance about this country and the world and unwillingness/inability to learn. His attempts to dodge the press and threats against press freedom. His refusal to attend daily intelligence briefings. His refusal to make his tax returns public.
Trump’s terrible advisors and allies; the Russian connections
Further reading on Trump
Ranging from the terrible things he’s said about women, to his bankruptcies and sleazy business practices, to his embrace of assorted conspiracy theories over the years. I’m generally looking for longer articles here, but short primers on some issues are welcome as well.
Further reading on fascism. authoritarianism, right-wing movements and media
Information about Pence, particularly his anti-LGBT policies
Funny stuff
Recommended publications, writers, podcasters, etc to help make sense of Trump
Anything else you can think of that I’m forgetting
Thanks!
The original article on Donald Trump by Tony Schwartz with regard to evicting rent-controlled tenants.
https://books.google.com/books?id=SsEBAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&ots=jrtJIX4r10&dq=new%20york%20%20%22a%20different%20kind%20of%20donald%20trump%20story%22&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q=new%20york%20%20%22a%20different%20kind%20of%20donald%20trump%20story%22&f=false
Trump calls Marlee Matlin retarded.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/13/donald-trump-called-deaf-apprentice-marlee-matlin-retarded.html
http://www.snopes.com/2016/10/14/donald-trump-called-marlee-matlin-retarded/
http://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/
Is Snopes appropriate/inappropriate?
Hot off the press:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307481-anti-trump-presidential-elector-suing-to-unbind-from-states
I want to believe!
Also for something more lighthearted, here are some Sarcastic Amazon Reviews for the absolute worst product to ever be sold to the general public:
https://www.amazon.com/Trump-America-Great-Collectible-Ornament/dp/B01N67D8HO/
EDIT: FINALLY my gravatar works!!
Ha, the reviews are indeed priceless, as well as the “question and answer”. “Will this ornament keep all it’s pre-holiday promises?”
The reviews are great fun for one of the 5lb bag of sugar-free gummy bears (do not eat all at once, trust me), and unfortunately, in some ways about as stomach-turning.
I wonder, if Hillary was the establishment candidate, then why did the establishment throw out the democratically-elected result and crown Trump instead?
Oh, wait. It’s because “Establishment” has been a dog whistle for “Feeemale” since day one. Nevermind.
(Unrelated to the thread, but even HBomberguy’s been falling for the “Hillary lost because she was the establishment candidate! Bernie would’ve won!” three-kinds-of-lies and it’s pissing me off. Seriously, dude, you’re smarter than that shit.)
I saw someone on twitter talk about this and he said, essentially, “I’ve seen the opposition research on Bernie Sanders. He had no chance to win in the general election.”
I believe it.
Hell, Bernie Sanders wanted to raise the payroll tax on everyone. That alone would be enough to kill his chances.
Hey, delurking here for a moment.
Guys, I gotta say I love this blog. I love David’s articles. But holy crap is the comment section hostile. I think zumah’s trying to be very reasonable and he’s expressing my own feelings better than I could. I don’t agree with everything, but I’m glad SOMEBODY is standing up to this.
Please, please, I’m asking this nicely here… Look at yourselves. Take off your blinders and see what you’re doing and how you’re behaving and how branding everyone who disagrees or has a different opinion as a baddie who’s trolling is harmful to the spirit of this site and the spirit of discussion.
Years ago, I used to post here all the time (under a different account) until I got pounced on for using ableism even though my comments were not in bad faith–I was just less mature. Heck, afterwards I even trolled here because I was angry (which was pathetic), but I’ve grown past that. You’ll look at my comment history and see my trolling and disregard me though, I’m sure. And that’s understandable.
I gotta say though, you guys have done a great job with having more mature responses with people slipping ableist language instead of disregarding everything and going into a frenzy over a few words that most of the population uses on a fairly regular basis (not that it makes it right.) I have my own views on the whole ableist language, but when I’m here I’ll follow the rules.
The thing is, you seriously need to stop it.
Troll defends troll. Shocker.
Fuck all the way off, Bethd.
You were ablist and got called out for it and instead of apologizing for it, you are whining that marginalized people weren’t nice enough to you when you participated in bigotry against them?
Fuck you, snowflake.
@sock
Stick it and swivel.
And don’t bother with further tone policing, because that’s me being as nice to you as I can muster and twice as nice as you deserve.
Bethd, let’s say you’re completely sincere in this recent comment – it’s perfectly possible and maybe even likely.
So hopefully you won’t mind if I ask you – do you go/have you been to right-wing etc. etc. sites to say something along similar lines to their comment sections, and if not why not?
Can you see the potential problem if one constantly argues for infinite patience and courtesy and compromise and listening-politely and meeting-halfway from one side only and never from the other?
Why should anyone here be obligated to “discuss” with those who harm them/are depravedly indifferent to harming them?
http://i.imgur.com/vB8YFim.gif
Translation: “I still think I should be allowed to throw mentally ill people under the bus – I mean, it’s not like those crazies are human or anything – but I’m willing to pretend otherwise if you bow down and kiss my almighty feet like good little lessers. Because, for all my self-congratulatory back-patting about how much I’ve learned and changed, I actually haven’t.”
@Bethd
What do you suggest, then? Because I’ve tried nicely explaining the actual harm that those kinds of comments do to me by opening up and giving a very personal account, making myself vulnerable and I get told that I’m being too emotional and taking it personally when their comment had nothing to do with me. How do we hold the hands of these people who will double down on their position and lash out at us no matter how kind and understanding we are to them without it taking all of our energy day in and day out? Why are we expected to follow your rules of discussion when you yourself have intentionally not followed ours, and admittedly done so specifically out of spite so that you could harm us (that’s what trolling is)?
Hmm… Nah. Pass.
@bethd,
Hello! I, too, lurk here and I, too am delurking to throw my hat in. My question is to you:
On what planet is the argument “Hello i used to be an idiot troll here ages ago, and was slapped down so hard that i stopped posting. i just wanted to stop in and tell u guys to be nicer to this totally new troll i’ve nevar seen before, mere minutes after he posted b/c BY TOTAL COINCIDENCE i was reading the comments today and u guys are so very mean now” convincing?
Is the weather nice there?
Sorry for the double post. Turns out I have more to say.
I have been hanging out here, off and on, for about 5 years. There have been changes to the commenting culture here in that time, but opposition to ableism has always been a feature of this space. While some discussions on that topic have become heated, I have never in all of the time I’ve been here see one start with a more harsh call-out than “that is ableist. Don’t say that.” Arguments only break out when folks insist on their right to keep saying things like all murderers are neuroatypical by definition. So I have no sympathy for you, Bethd, who used to think and say things about how people like me are bad, but who now only thinks those things and is willing to keep them to yourself when forced to.
Don’t let’s allow the trolls to distract us too much from the task at hand.
https://www.bustle.com/articles/195303-how-can-i-contact-the-electoral-college-members-in-my-state-the-electors-vote-is-coming
I don’t see this article posted yet. Apologies if it’s a duplicate. Exit polls indicate it’s not the economically anxious low income people who voted in larger numbers for Trump like the Republicans keep saying:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/politics/election-exit-polls.html
Here’s an article from ThinkProgress on the Constitutional reason why the electors should reject Trump if he continues to preside over his business interests.
As an aside,
Because our ridiculous electoral college system is fundamentally anti-democratic at its core, and it’s the system both candidates ran under.
@C.S.Strowbridge
Not necessarily. I did the math based on both polling and the voting results for all candidates (I extrapolated polling results into voting results) and bernie had a slim chance. If he won it would have been close though. He would have won at most 276 electoral votes.
Consequently bernie-or-bust people likely cost clinton the election. There isn’t enough data to be 100% certain, but extrapolating polling data on bernie supporters who went third party or didn’t vote suggests that clinton could have gotten as much as 6% more votes in states that mattered (like PA and MI) and won. Even just getting 2.5% more in states like that would have won her the election. Anything less than 2.5% more would have been a loss though.
So overall Bernie had a slim chance and Clinton would have a better chance if she’d pandered to bernie supporters instead of republican defectors.
@JSun
And this is one of the reasons the Bernie-or-Bust people annoy me to no end. I didn’t like Hillary, I didn’t vote for her in the primaries, but she was my choice in the general for reasons I explained over and over again to my Stein-supporting friends. They let us down on the Supreme Court, the only thing that would have saved migrant children, the environment, reproductive rights, freedom of religion, unions, etc. etc. Whether they voted third party or just didn’t vote, this was a ridiculous way of making a statement.
@Eyes on the Right
Exactly.
And like I said there’s no 100% guarantee they cost her the election, but the data says it’s likely they did.
“How White People Can Support People Of Color Now” – BuzzFeed News
@bethd, normally I like to give new commenters plenty of room to speak and change and whatnot – exactly what you suggest. They’re new here, after all, and may not have been following along.
But defending a man who visibly and vocally called Mexicans rapists, called for the banning of Muslims from the US and called for a registry of them within the country; thinks women should be rated on a scale of 1-10 and thinks that he can ‘grab’em by the pussy’ because he can get away with it; called to dismantle NATO, suggested that nuclear proliferation is a good thing, and on, and on, and on … ?
I have zero tolerance for that shit, and so should you. especially given that this particular commenter has only spoken up here twice before; once with a rather empty comment and once with a tone troll comment. That’s the sort of thing that doesn’t deserve patience.
I won’t reply to this thread on the topic; feel free to catch me in another one if you’d like to reply!
David – I don’t know if you’ll want to include this as a category (because we all ought to be doing it anyway), but I’ve been seeing a lot of debate around how to be a good ally when witnessing behaviour I’m going to start referring to as Trumpy (because it’s quicker than typing out all the isms, and doesn’t risk forgetting some), both directed at a target or in a (allegedly) “safe” (by which I mean unsafe – somewhere bigots feel they can sound off because everyone agrees with them) space.
There’s a cartoon – which I’ll link here if I can find it – about challenging Islamophobia without escalating. For the latter, my favourite so far is:
https://thespanofmyhips.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/strategies-for-talking-to-fellow-white-people-and-other-privileged-folks/
I like that it explicitly sets out as advice for people with privilege, and makes clear that targets are under no obligation to do heavy lifting (although the author says it far better than me).
The Southern Poverty Law Center also has some useful resources on this, but I think I was directed there from here, so I apologise if there’s egg-sucking instruction going on.