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!
http://quantum-displacement.tumblr.com/post/153384982664/trumps-cabinet
Tumblr post (not mine) with a long list of information about Trumps cabinet. While you can say but these aren’t him there are several proverbs that all boil down to if you want to know someone, look at his friends.
http://quantum-displacement.tumblr.com/post/146015554444/anti-trump-masterpost
Link to Tumblr post (by person above) with information about who endorsed him and his supporters etc. Really long with lots of interesting information.
http://copperbadge.tumblr.com/post/153173245371/history-may-not-repeat-itself-but-it-sure-does
Another (not mine) tumblr post which talks about the rise of hitler and links it to trump slightly.
Hey sorry for being a dick. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’m really bad at expressing myself to any degree really, and I don’t think I’m a special snowflake or whatever.
And I’m sorry for trolling here… It was years ago, but it was still really shitty to do. I was a dumb, immature kid with no social life. Not that that’s an excuse, but that is why.
For the record I hate trump and I cried when he got elected (which may or may not be stupid) because I am actually part of a vulnerable minority, so I’m sorry if you think I’m some sort of trump supporter troll who delurked just to stir shit. I’m really not, but then again you got no reason to believe me.
It’s very clear I’m not welcome here, and perhaps for good reason. I’ll keep my opinions to myself. I honestly don’t get it. I just always notice that anyone who isn’t following the very strict set of opinions that the commentors have here gets pounced on, and its so tiresome… I’ve seen actual trolls here who deserve it, but I just think you were way too dismissive of that guy earlier in the thread.
But who the hell am I to say anything?
Again, I’m sorry. Sorry isn’t enough, I know…. But it’s all I got.
Keep up the good work, David.
@Vukodlak
The big bad in an old game (Vampire: The Masquerade: Redemption) is named just so! And if the game can be trusted, it’s pretty much spoken as written: Vu-cot-luck, or close to that. Obviously, I wouldn’t just trust the game, nor my recollection, especially since I’m not sure if I played the game in English or German. *coughs and falls silent*
@Beth
We know…
@ Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger and Fishy Goat
Heh, I should have thought to look it up. I did when I first started using the name, to be sure I wasn’t taking a name used by someone else, but that was 7-8 years ago. All I found back then was a game account that hadn’t been used in some time, so I adopted it.
I’d actually intended to use a different name, a Russian name with a similar meaning (sort of in honor of my mentor), but I got rather mixed up. Both words start with “V,” both (in the texts I’ve read) refer to shamans/sorcerers, and both are derived from words for wolf.
By the time I realized I’d made an error, I’d already be using the name for a while, and I decided I preferred it to the name I’d intended to use anyway. However you pronounce it, “Vucodlak” sounds almost musical when compared to my original choice (which sounds like a cough… or a fake cough used to cover a fart, which ain’t fooling anyone). Not as nice as Vorvolaka, which I also considered, but the meaning of Vucodlak is closer to what I was going for. A “vorvolaka” is a type of vampire, from Greek folklore. It’s also my favorite Die So Fluid song, which is the real reason I considered it.
Today’s ramble brought to you by the letter “V,” the favorite letter of vengeful terrorists and anti-reptilian resistance forces.
@ iskadrow
I didn’t know that! I never played Redemption, but Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines is my favorite colon-abusing game. I mean punctuation-wise. I haven’t tried eating it. Or… nope, not going there.
Playing a Malkavian seemed to suit me, for some reason.
Conflicts of interest
Turns out there doesn’t need to be a specific provision about what presidents can and can’t do. There’s a blanket prohibition for any and all officials of the government in the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Joy-Ann Reid explains:- http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-risks-violating-constitution-with-foreign-business-815781955539
As it turns out, those Argentina building approvals came through within 3 days.
(I really love the idea that lawyers for Bush’s administration wouldn’t allow his name to be used even on a public school until after his presidency was over.)
As for the When they go low, we go high notion, I think there are other larger cultural issues here. It’s about politics as a serious subject of public thought and discussion.
Issue 1. Thinking.
From that article about fake news. http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs
That’s a serious problem for the country as a whole. One substantial group of voters, conservatives but especially far rightwingers, is pre-identified as being much more susceptible to manipulation by lies and distortions that happen to accord with their existing views. (And I’m not overly impressed with the morality of the bloke doing it “as a joke”.)
How do we deal with that susceptibility? Calling people stupid – as is done routinely in places like The Guardian comment sections – is counter-productive apart from being rude.
Issue 2. Politics.
A couple of the comments on the link about Hillary’s popular vote. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/11/hillary-clinton-is-going-to-win-the-popular-vote-by-a-margin-greater-than-the-total-population-of-40-of-the-states
This was something that annoyed me all the way through the campaign. There were people bleating about Hillary as warmonger – who nevertheless now, and obviously then, supported Republicans who were openly enthusiastic in voting for the Iraq war and have never once even considered apologising for doing so in the way that Hillary has.
Why were these people not criticising Hillary as a boring do-gooder policy wonk? I know some of the press did that, briefly and only as an aside, before getting on with the real news, usually some half-baked, juiced-up scandal or another. (Being a card-carrying member of the 2nd wave feminist crew, I reckon that that’s part of the anti-woman stuff. They couldn’t put too much emphasis on her 40 years of work for children, healthcare, education and the rest because that would re-legitimise her womanly, now grandmotherly – and therefore admirable – qualities. Can’t allow a feminist upstart like her to gather any fraction of the credit she’s actually due.)
These are more about context than the specifics of what David’s looking for, but they’re worth bearing in mind.
Slightly OT but can someone tell me how is it becoming more obvious that the election was rigged? Is it just (well, “just”) voter suppression, hacking and fake news, or is there more? I’ve been a bit out of loop for the last few days (calculus midterms, I don’t want to see another surface integral in my life).
Thanks!
Two things. One, which seems to get very little attention more recently is the closing of polling booths and the reduction of hours of early opening.
There were almost 700 fewer polling places available this year compared to 2012. And a whole lot of states/ counties reduced the numbers of places/ days/ hours available for early voting. I haven’t yet seen much reference, far less analysis, of the possible impacts of this, but it would be worthwhile to find out.
Two, the electoral college. Trump made a yuuuuge commotion about the EC “rigging” the election in Obama’s favour back in 2012 when it looked, for a couple of hours, as though Romney might have had a majority in the popular vote when Obama had already earned 270+ EC votes.
This might provide a schadenfreude moment if true – I heard a report that the current Mrs Trump is filing for divorce…
@Kevin: Snopes has an article up about a fake news site claiming Melania had filed for divorce, but that was two weeks ago so hard to say whether yours is a new rumour – with the potential for truth – or echoes of that old one.
The schadenfreude would truly, however, be delicious.
I’m at the point right now where I’m so goddamn sick and tired of “It was the economy!” from so-called liberal news sources. Especially the “Hillary didn’t address the Rust Belt!” Not only is it kinda bullshit, but it’s racist as fuck. They don’t have the guts to say what they really mean, which is “Hillary didn’t sufficiently address WHITE PEOPLES economic concern.” and basically treating minorities like they’re some sort of special interest group or something.
Hi everyone. First post here.
My favorite scholar on the subject of fascism is Robert O Paxton, whose book “The Anatomy of Fascism” is an excellent analysis of the internal dynamics of the German Nazis, the Italian fascists and other totalitarian rightwing movements. The parts of the book that is most relevant in the present situation is probably the chapters on how these movements gained access to the political mainstream by playing on resentment against the existing political elite and the fear of leftist conspiracies, and how they took power by cooperating with, and then sidelining, traditional conservatives. The description of the passions which formed the basis of the fascist ideologies is also chillingly similar to what we see now.
The book is available as pdf here: https://libcom.org/files/Robert%20O.%20Paxton-The%20Anatomy%20of%20Fascism%20%20-Knopf%20%282004%29.pdf
A shorter essay by Paxton on the same subject is also available: http://theleder.com/docs/Misc/Paxton_Five%20Stages%20of%20Fascism.pdf
Paxton was interviewed about the similarities and differences between Trump and the interwar fascists a few times earlier this year: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/05/31/yes-a-trump-presidency-would-bring-fascism-to-america/#757c761e2a75
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-neiwert/trump-may-not-be-a-fascist-but_b_8973768.html
https://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/15/father_of_fascism_studies_donald_trump, https://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/15/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_part
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/02/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_an_expert_on_fascism_weighs_in.html
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-patt-morrison-asks-robert-paxton-trump-fascism-20160308-story.html
http://www.salon.com/2016/03/11/trumps_not_hitler_hes_mussolini_how_gop_anti_intellectualism_created_a_modern_fascist_movement_in_america/
Unfraternally these are all form before Trump cemented his love affair with alt-right by hiring Bannon. I would like to hear what Paxton thinks of that.
Googeling “Robert Paxton trump” also yields dozens of other links, that may or may not be of interest.
When left with a vague and unclear statement, it’s often good to expand it until it becomes clear.
“It was the economy!”
“Hillary didn’t address the Rust Belt! (as a critical factor of the economy)”
“Hillary didn’t sufficiently address WHITE PEOPLES economic concern.”
“Hillary didn’t sufficiently address WHITE PEOPLES economic concerns in a manner which they thought would address the problem.”
“Hillary didn’t sufficiently address WHITE PEOPLES economic concerns in a manner which they thought would address the problem, despite writing a book on how to address the problem.”
“Hillary didn’t provide the dog whistles which would appeal to WHITE PEOPLES economic concerns.”
I think that gets us there.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t add this counter-valence to the Russian Question from Max Blumenthal:
http://www.alternet.org/media/washington-post-promotes-shadowy-website-accuses-200-publications-russian-propaganda-plants
Blumenthal seems to think that this is *just* a ploy to shut down left-leaning sites. But there’s no reason to think that fake news and witchhunts can’t operate simultaneously…
Has anyone noticed that Breitbart seems to have a new enemy to hate- the BBC?
They got massively offended because Frankie Boyle and other comedians dared to mock Trump on ‘American Autopsy’? They can dish it out but they sure can’t take it.
Is this new uptick in anti-BBC articles there just my personal illusion, or has anyone else noticed?
(I don’t go onto the site directly, so they won’t get traffic from me!)
@Neveragaine
Apparently Hillary did less well in states that had voting machines compared to where they had paper ballots and other methods. That’s something to do with it.
I’ve been trying to put together a list of resources for a while now, but there’s so much out there that I hope you’ll be able to organize it better than I have! For my part, I want to share with you some movements/petitions that I think can make a big difference against Trump! Please sign and share these if you can – we’re definitely stronger together!
1.) First is regarding the ELECTORAL COLLEGE and asking them to change their votes. Some have asked them to switch to Hillary Clinton, while others feel that any other Republican candidate would be fine, so long as it’s not Trump. Providing the resources below:
—a.) Petition to Electoral College (4.6 million signatures and counting)
—b.) Guide for contacting Electors
—c.) The Hamilton Electors (actual Electors who are trying to change the votes of their fellow Electors – they will need much more support!)
—d.) A piece found on Twitter including methods for contacting Electors (seems factually correct from my own research using it)
2.) Next I wanted to provide some of the links for having votes recounted/audited in states where results seemed more than a bit…sketchy. Jill Stein of the Green Party is already leading the effort in some states (with Clinton having just hopped on-board today), but here’s to hoping that more people will hop in and do their parts to get more states involved. We’re entitled to being sure of a fair election process, after all.
—a.) Jill Stein’s Fund-raising Page (for doing a recount in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin)
—b.) Petition requesting recount in Florida (because Florida law doesn’t allow losing candidates to request a recount – only the Secretary of State has the power to request this)
—c.) Petition asking Jill Stein to include more states in her Recount request
3.) One last point with some information I thought you might be interested in! The Women’s March on Washington come the day of the inauguration. It has multiple chapters around the country, but this is the page for the National Movement.
Some of this stuff might have already been shared, but it’s important enough that I want to be sure it reaches you. Might comment again with more information if I can fit in the time to spare to gather it up. Best of luck in your search, and thanks for doing this! Let’s hope word can be spread!
What If Trump Wanted More Illegal Immigration? Wait, He’s On It!
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-11-22/what-if-trump-wanted-more-illegal-immigration-wait-he-s-on-it
I laughed a lot reading this (it was not very funny, but at this point it’s laughter or crying). Unintended consequences at their finest. Apologies if it was already shared by someone.
@Neveragaine
A county in Wisconsin got caught with more votes for president than votes total, all for Trump. They flat-out invented votes when the result didn’t go their way.
The comment was made that it might be useful to cite right-leaning sources that point out problems with Trump. Here are two (Personal Liberty, and Reason’s Hit and Run) that argue he would not be a respecter of the Constitution.
Trump is no constitutional scholar
8 July 2016
Constitutional Originalists Against Trump
17 October 2016
As deplorable as Trump’s racism, misogyny and xenophobia and the tolerance of the homophobia* it’s his complete disrespect of certain “traditional conservative values**” that shock and frighten me the most. His lack of respect for the constitution, for rule of law – including equality under the law that will do the most lasting damage to the constitutional democracy. The US has had racist and sexist Presidents in the past but has managed to move on and even progress, because even if you don’t like a group if you believe that people have certain inalienable rights and that those rights must be protected then society can move on and individuals will be able to assert their rights…
But where rights are chipped away at then we humans become rats in a sack – and even if a tyrant wasn’t sexist or racist then those attitudes will flourish. It becomes a perfect storm for minorities when hate is cultivated and rights are not respected – and I’m afraid that’s Trump.
__
*I actually think this might be the one type of hate Trump may not be guilty of – but he’s more than happy to allow it to happen and cultivate an environment where it can flourish – hence Pence.
**I don’t think you have to be a conservative to have these values.
This is a really good run-down of the cronies:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-report-prompts-call-for-democrats-to-halt-transfer_us_5833faa1e4b0d28e552154be
Hey, guys! I’ve been hearing that there’s a bunch of recounts happening. Who knows? We MIGHT have a Hillary/Kaine Presidency after all! There’s recounts underway in three KEY swing-states….Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania….and Trumpy is HAVING A CONNIPTION!….
* http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/27/keith-olbermann-buries-trump-for-whining-about-recount-efforts/
Dork a l’Orange been yammerin’ against the recount and even lies about winning the Popular vote. Then he yammers about “voter fraud”. If he was so concerned about “voter fraud”, he would be fine with the recount! He’s just lying his face off!….
* http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/27/trump-makes-wild-accusation-that-3-million-people-voted-illegally-to-make-him-lose-popular-vote/
* http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/27/george-takei-just-btch-slapped-trump-after-he-claimed-he-won-the-popular-vote-tweets/
And there’s even some Republicans who may actually help the Democrats in regards to Annoying Orange Jr….
* http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/27/meet-the-republicans-who-may-actually-help-democrats-control-the-senate-and-thwart-trump/
….even with a GOP majority, some GOPers are as much against Trumpypants as the Dems!
Oh; I admit that Addicting Info is my fave Left-leaning news source.
Thank you David and all contributors; I’ve been enjoying the comments to this post so far, especially the Spy Magazine compilation. I haven’t finished reading all the comments/recommendations yet, but I would like to drop two links for a topic I find personally important: Trump’s influence on the establishment of a democratic system in China.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7572627/china-reaction-donald-trump-election
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-11-22/how-china-could-emerge-as-the-worlds-global-leader-during-the-trump-administration