Illegitimate Trump Régime Inaugurated As The World Weeps

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Everything that can be said, has been said about resistance, about trumpageddon, trumpocalypse, facism, dictatorship, corruption, gold-plated toilet seats. My last post, two days before the election November 6, pretty much covered the hellish daily reporting to come: Hillary, Trump, Election 2016. What did we do to deserve this?

I also entreated people: "But wait! Close your eyes and meditate in your time machine back to 2008, three days before the election. Damn! Life was electric! We were in a state of euphoria! Higher than kites with Hope and Change just around the corner! Our adored and esteemed candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, on the cusp of becoming the next President of the United States! OMG, life was good, life was happy. There was no question who we were going to vote for. Working side-by-side for two solid years with love and respect for our fellow volunteers - all over the country I may add - giddily, we went to the polls, thrilled to be able to vote for a candidate we believed in. What a difference eight years make."

Obama's policies didn't produce the hope and change we strived for. On this blog, I wrote impassioned dissents but never once did I question his sincerity, his intellect, his virtue, his charm. I look forward to Citizen Obama emerging as a forceful leader and defender of our rights and forming a new resistance movement. He is inspirational. People will be motivated to join him. 

And now, I want to acknowledge the greatest grassroots campaign this country has ever seen; and, likely, will never see again. Well, not in my lifetime. The Obama '08 campaign ignited a fierce activism. People forged deep connections by working for a singular goal...to elect Barack Hussein Obama the 44th President of the United States. Yes We Did! Two of the best years of my life.

Love abounds for each and every one of you who was part of the campaign. Soon, I will put up a website where we can post our Stories of Self, memories of the grassroots campaign, and where, hopefully, we can reconnect with dear friends we met during the course of the campaign. We will never forget. 

Hillary, Trump, Election 2016. What did we do to deserve this?

This is the worst of times. Fear and despair hang like Damocles swords above our heads, Trumpageddon, Hillarygate, Russians snooping around to unlock our weakest link, the rising tides of climate change, the newfound freedom by Deplorables to bash anyone's head in who they deem, from their point of view, deplorable. What else? There's more but you can fill in the blanks. The brutal toll this election has taken on our fragile psyches, not to mention our physical health, well, it'll be a long time coming til we get over it. Heal, no. There is no healing when we face the prospect of what's ahead. To put it quite simply, we're fucked.

But wait! Close your eyes and meditate in your time machine back to 2008, three days before the election. Damn! Life was electric! We were in a state of euphoria! Higher than kites with Hope and Change just around the corner! Our adored and esteemed candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, on the cusp of becoming the next President of the United States! OMG, life was good, life was happy. There was no question who we were going to vote for. Working side-by-side for two solid years with love and respect for our fellow volunteers - all over the country I may add - giddily, we went to the polls, thrilled to be able to vote for a candidate we believed in. What a difference eight years make.

Everyone has a Story of Self about those amazing years of passionate activism. There will never be another time like that. Yet, here we are. Battle weary from an insanely long campaign, do we have the energy to fight on? We must. We must push back from the status quo, from the DNC stranglehold on the electoral process, from the malodorous corruption within and we must push hard for the 'progressive' platform adopted to appease Bernie supporters because who can believe they really meant it. Massive props for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, our progressive shadow Presidents.

Say, can we pass a bill about the length of campaigns? Other countries manage to elect leaders with way shorter election seasons. This is just ridiculous. Campaigns costing ONE BILLION DOLLARS. The absurdity of it all.

From now until Tuesday, I will busy myself with books and cocktails. Yes, the choices are beyond regrettable but that is what is before us. Take nothing for granted. Just GET OUT AND VOTE and gear up for the fights ahead.

Dear Hillary - An Open Letter Regarding Your Presidency

Dear Hillary -
You are one tough cookie! I'm saying that admiringly after watching you walk on the hot coals of this campaign, not once flinching, your tight smile and death stare resolute. Grrrl, you've been tested by fire whose burning embers have scorched your opponent leaving him in a pile of ashes. Good, let's sweep him away. (Did you get lucky or what to have him-who-shall-not-be named as the candidate!) You are about to finally summit the highest office in the land, a Sisyphean feat if there ever was one and for that you are to be congratulated! Let's hope all the October surprises have been spent and the next two weeks are a snooze. Somehow, I doubt it but I know you are well-prepared to deflect any onslaught.

I have to admit, I haven't always seen you in this light. Yes, you've been a tenacious combatant skillfully dodging the slings and arrows that came with scandals (self-inflicted or not) and the intense scrutiny of public life. But you have also been very adept at holding your finger up to read the zeitgeist - being 'flexible' with your positions, adept at mis-remembering, being tone deaf to the actual day-to-day misery of the majority of the citizenry and of having a miscreant love affair with Wall Street bankers. I'm still not sure where you stand on climate change. Fracking and the TPP still seem to be in play despite your come to Jesus pivot. The need for middle class jobs and taxing the wealthy are, hopefully, a revelation. I don't doubt your genuine benevolence for children and families, as you often mention, but all that caring cannot divert attention from your record on these other things. And it is your record that keeps me from lining up behind you, not, as some have implied, your hair or your voice or your pantsuits. It's a matter of beliefs and policy that are at issue for me.

As you probably can tell, I am a #stillBernie supporter and I will forever grieve for our country that Bernie wasn't allowed to become our candidate. Forces behind the scenes made sure of that but since you are the least objectionable candidate for President, I will vote for you because...Trump.

Here is what I would like you to do once you have been elected President. Since the DNC has ostensibly adopted the 'most progressive platform ever' and you have promised to follow through with everything you said on the campaign trail...no flipping...it would be great if you followed through by starting with your appointments. Your new BFF, Elizabeth Warren, is the perfect person to consult with about that. You know, no Wall Street snakes in any positions whatsoever period. And consult with Bernie because we know he has his finger on the pulse of the disaffected masses. Absolutely do not disregard the discontent of Trump supporters. They offer valuable lessons on what is not working in this country. Both Bernie and Trump have tapped into the seething rage over a 'rigged' economy, lost jobs, no jobs and terrible trade deals to name a few.

So, this is the way I hope it plays out: At the first meeting of your Clinton Cabinet, all - and I mean ALL - the uncomfortable issues that came up during the campaign are put on the table, analyzed and really 'go deep'. Look at every issue in a new light, from a new angle with creative out-of-the-box thinking. Challenge each other. Upend the status quo. Whether you like it or not, 2016 is a whole new world both culturally and economically. To understand the importance of our disparate American cultures, our distinct tribes - and they are plainly obvious - study them just as I assume you studied the distinct tribes in Iraq: Shia from Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis, Iraqi Turkmens. The United States is a hot bed of multiculturalism and must be examined accordingly. The Democratic 'most progressive platform ever' is a perfect road map.

Progressives will be watching you very closely and will keep pressure on you and your administration like a tourniquet. We have seen what establishment politics has gotten us - Donald Trump - so don't be doing the same crazy stuff over again hoping for a different outcome. I'm sure after the schooling of this campaign you recognize that.

As the campaign winds down and it pretty much looks like you're going to win - Irish bookmaker, Paddy Power, has already paid out on your win! - you are looking great, relaxed and full of stamina! I wish you the best of luck in your Presidency, Hillary. Your fortitude will serve you well because this is going to be one hell of a ride.

I wrote a long time ago that if people think the Republicans gave Obama a hard time, just wait until Hillary is President. They hate her to their core (sorry), they hate women and the thought of Bill Clinton roaming the halls of the White House...well, they will all suffer everlasting apoplexy. Not much will get done I'm afraid.

We know you have a penchant for secrecy, playing things close to the vest, but it would be advisable to be as transparent as possible. We, the people, deserve to know what's going on. You're going to be our President and our lives depend on you. That's no small responsibility. I'm rootin' for ya!

Hey, if you ever want some advice or ever need to vent, I'm here for you. Just email me. I'm on a secure server.

My sister was a friend of Roy Cohn. Guess who's she's voting for?

Oh, it's a long story about my sister which I shall write about in my memoir - whenever I get around to writing it after I catch up on old newspapers, New Yorkers and learning Esperanto - but to put it succinctly, she's a 'piece of work'. My first wasband nailed her as a cross between Dracula and Auntie Mame. She's a woman so full of judgement, she knows, with certainty, her shit don't stink.

Anyway, she's a rabid right-winger - surprise surprise - and I'm left of progressive so perhaps we will close the circle one day. The day Trump announced he was running for President, she sent him a hundred bucks. At that point, he bragged that he was going to self-fund so I asked my sister why she sent him money when he announced he wasn't soliciting money and didn't want any (ha). "Oh, she said, "I just want him to know I'm supporting him!" in a tone that suggested The Donald would be touched to know that she, ML, wished him well.

Without going into a psychological profile of my sister (remember, I'm saving it for my memoir), she has always been attracted to slimy greaseballs. She married one - the smarmiest greasiest Greek fisherman, eleven years her junior she found on the island of Mykonos. Another story for later. In fact, just today, she reminded me how much she loved smarmy men when she told me she had fallen in love with Paul Manafort, late of the Trump campaign, pal of the "world's nastiest tyrants". Even though he was dumped by Trump, you *know* he's still 'consulting' for the campaign because who wouldn't want this slimmy sonofabitch on their team. 

Knowing a bit about where my sister finds her jollies, it should come as no surprise that she was a friend of Roy Cohn. He was made of sleaze. I remember when she was palling around with him and their crew of lowlifes (she would dispute that), how much she admired him and how much she loved the down and dirty. That was just all so exciting. So, it follows that Cohn being Trump's mentor as extolled in every Trump bio, my sister held Trump up as a shining example - of what? I don't know. She did know Trump and Ivana when she lived in New York so I suppose you could say she's supporting 'a friend'. She just sent him a second hundred bucks a few weeks ago, you know, to solidify the bond. 

BUT, shock of shocks, just today, my sister informed me that she has abandoned Trump! I asked her if she wanted her money back? What despicable thing could possibly have turned this devotee away? Was it that she couldn't take one more lie? She didn't want to be lumped in with all the deplorables? I was dismayed but tried to remain cool, "What was the final straw?" She was completely turned off when she concluded that Trump didn't really want the job, "He's not acting like he wants it." That was it. His lack of ambition did him in. Not his racism, not his misogyny, not his pathological lying, not his sheer ignorance of foreign affairs, not his hair! Nope, he was lazy. 

Me: "So, who're you going to vote for?" Sister: "I don't know. I just can't vote for Hillary." She'll probably just not vote for President and certainly not for Johnson or Stein. End of story.

One less vote for Trump, one vote (by omission) for humankind.