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Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:54 am
by semisynthetic
with addendum.

Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20th, 2017. After an unorthodox but highly successful campaign wherein Mr. Trump eliminated 16 other Republican Candidates in Primaries before Hillary R. Clinton was defeated in the General Election.

It is worth mentioning that Trump defeated not only the 16 obvious Republican Contenders, but the majority of Republican leadership, the Democratic party, the Majority of the Traditional Media and so-called "Elites", et cetera. Since an ongoing battle with opponents of now President Trump will continue, most especially with the aid of the Media. The new President will likely keep on going over, around and through them, and message directly to the people, and with what many agree is an understandable objection to certain outlets in particular. It was made known that Media Outlets, like CNN, had colluded with the Clinton Campaign through Donna Brazile a CNN contributor who had passed on Debate Questions and, coincidentally, had been a Head of the Democratic National Committee - "​washingtonpost.com/.../donn...Nov 7, 2016 ... Donna Brazile is not apologizing for leaking CNN debate questions and topics to the  ..."

Other players submitted questions to, (OR requested questions FROM) the Clinton Machine; not only by CNN, but from the NYTimes and other, lesser media tied to factions of the Democratic Party. A former paid DNC "troublemaker" has recently been hired by the NYTimes; a former member of the Times called this "another wrinkle in the face of the Grey Lady", a nickname ascribed to the Paper. The intent is multifold, to attempt to bury possible criminality by Hillary Clinton, and the assorted activities, her illegal and now infamous "Server" problems, and (possible) legal troubles with the now cancelled Clinton Foundation. It is also of course most clearly intended to cause difficulties for the President.

Even the most pathetically insignificant but INCORRECT information had been passed on as "authentic" News as the debate and some confusion added by the very Idea of "Fake News"; not a very new Idea, but not what the 1st Amendment had in mind. The flood of "homemade news reports" by those of opposing philosophies via the Internet, is yet another reason the new President will likely continue as he has, by communicating directly with the people. It will be interesting to see, overtime, how the new President fares; which "wins" by either side - talk or action. Sadly, such a waste of time and energy does little to help the country.

Meanwhile,
The PM of the UK, Theresa May, will be the 1st foreign dignitary to visit the new US President, and a very likely new and different way of doing business in the United States of America will begin almost immediately. I hope he will be successful for the good of the USA and our many allies around the Globe, but clearly the days of seemingly endless expenditures to other nations and excessive waste at home will at least begin to slow. Prime Minister May's visit coincides with new Trade Treaty discussions with the UK.

Although I was unable to view the Inaguration, I was sent a number of DVDs of much of the event, and have read the roughly "16 minute long" Inaugural Speech.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 10:10 am
by runcible
Only one day in and he's telling lies already.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:24 pm
by olan
I have a very low opinion of the Republican party, not because of their politics, but because of their politicians, particularly those in the last Bush administration who were an utter disgrace in many ways. It seems that Mr Trump will follow in Mr Bush's footsteps. I could waffle on, but instead suggest you have a read of this: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/o ... cebook.com.

No doubt some will disagree, but the immediate 'we're the biggest and you should be reporting that' furor when the photographic evidence is completely contradictory is a very, very bad sign.

EDIT: The Washington Post, that well known hotbed of untruths, also provide some interesting reading here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... a345944c39. I was particularly taken by two phrases: "stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances" and “the most dishonest human beings on Earth.”

There is a 1925 book which discusses the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Hopefully Mr Trump has neither read the book nor intention to distort the truth......

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:14 pm
by spzretent
It isn't the Republican party per se. I could deal with the election better had any of the other 16 won. Well except for Ted Cruz. At least they don't lie. Constantly.
What happened yesterday was disgraceful. Trotting out the brand new press secretary and forcing him to tell easily disproved lies. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 29465.html
What do they call them today in Trumpworld? Alternative facts aka lies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcBblq-QOo4
Trust me Donald, it isn't the press that are out to get you. It is inventing your own alternative universe complete with all the lies.
The press will now have a field day fact checking him.
This is starting to feel like Germany in the early to mid 30's and we are just 2 days in.
I gotta admit this is far worse and far faster than I expected. :cry:

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:09 pm
by spzretent
He was on to something.
This was from Sam Cutler's FB page. He managed The Rolling Stones thru Altamont and The Grateful Dead for years.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:50 pm
by mojo filters
semisynthetic wrote: Although I was unable to view the Inaguration, I was sent a number of DVDs of much of the event, and have read the roughly "16 minute long" Inaugural Speech.
Lucky you! With friends like that...

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:29 pm
by mkb
Donald Trump's relationship with the truth is non-existent, as he has shown time and time again throughout his recent political career and long beforehand. As far as I can tell, he merely says whatever he thinks will go down best with those in front of him at the time (e.g. his recent tweet criticising the US intelligence services, designed to appeal to his supporters, followed days later by a speech to the CIA claiming that the media had manufactured his criticisms).

Therefore, his speeches, statements, interviews, tweets etc are at best the meaningless, stream-of-consciousness ramblings of someone who seems to hold very few fixed positions on any issue, and at worst they are chaff, there to deflect attention from his actions and those of his administration.

Given the stated positions of those high up in this administration on the issue of climate change, I am very concerned (I of course respect the right of US citizens to choose whoever they wish to be president, but am entitled to an opinion on their choice and to be concerned over policies which will affect me and others I am concerned about, just as citizens of other countries have the right to be critical of my own democratic choices).

With the current Tory government in the UK in charge of our exit from the EU, it seems like there's a lot to be concerned about just now unfortunately.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:35 pm
by semisynthetic
I am very lucky, or fortunate indeed. The discs were made by someone who abhors Trump as much as anyone here; but they are one of my oldest and closest of friends. I was not able to "see what happened" in detail. Ignorance of an event is as bad or worse than any lies or "truths".

Throughout my lifetime, I have seen a slow, nearly imperceptible divisiveness that appeared carefully created; a placement of the not so bright into cubicles of thought and lifestyles, that they were obviously completely unaware of. Certain "classes", certain economic and sociological groups that were "suggested" not associate with one another; divisions of race, beliefs, and an increasing divisiveness that for me was made sparkling clear when, at a multiple-day clambake by a National Teachers Union put up a large poster the size of a giant bedsheet that read "Teach them What to Think, not how to Think"! - a quote by Adolf Hitler. I ripped the thing down and made certain the origin of the axiom was known.

Yes, I am very lucky; I have many friends still alive who may differ on practically everything, save that we each have the Right to think as we do, to share it and not place braces on our brains. So, an old friend learns I am not able to be informed on certain days due to a small accident; and they recorded what they detested so I might soon see what all the hubbub was about and hear and see for myself. I hope you all have such friends, if not, you likely never would miss them. I miss too many, extant friends are a dear asset.

I am interested in results, not pageantry and well polished speeches; we've had that and talk and waste and "leading from behind" - I'd love to know what Orwell would have thought of that! Weakness comes to mind, as it likely did with anyone who would do us harm.

This country has printed money and thrown it to the winds like that was a brilliant stroke of genius! I have no idea what the future holds; but I too have seen the Past, and truly it DOES frighten me what occurs when this nation is weak and weakminded, and at this point, I think to castigate and belittle constantly is pissing into the wind. I'll step to the side, and do as I have done for a long time, use what I know to formulate my own thoughts, and I am very glad I have true friends that will be doing the same; agreeing matters less than thinking clearly and with as much information as I can. Often, from what I do believe, I pray I am wrong.

Frankly, I don't care if Trump has a live orange squirrel on his head IN A CAGE if he chooses people who know what they are doing based on data instead of "feelings". The last time I DID watch television news, I was reminded of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, "say it enough times and it becomes truth".
That idiom works for every direction and facet. I have watched and listened to every Presidential Inauguration and followup later since Nixon. THIS time, the pundits seem so confused I appreciate hearing rants and less polished speech directly, so that I may read the tea leaves by myself more than ever before, with input from those I know well and know I can trust regardless of our differences when they do occur. We share more in common than we disagree, for the good of the nation "trumps" everything and every single politician and pundit and what is deemed "politically correct", including ignorance of events not enjoyed but necessary to better understand.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:03 pm
by semisynthetic
I am glad Spzretent placed the quote he did. Too many people seem to think only those of ONE viewpoint lies! I would suggest that a Clinton's steady stream of lies and worse defeated the candidate you (seem) to prefer - or would it be open season on ANY US President or administration?

Would you genuinely, truthfully had actually preferred the OTHER? Is that what all this "lying" discussion is about? The woman lied about her own name! Sniper fire, Servers in bathroom closets and on and on and on. Please do be intellectually honest and include the other possibility; I said from the beginning we were screwed. There was no GOOD choice! Look at what her machine did to Bernie Sanders. Lied and obfuscated daily all day long until he was out. I wonder what his reward was to back a woman who did these things? I know Trump went out with a sort of "kill" attitude to win. To be fair, he had many more opponents, many more besides the 16 running on the Republican ticket.

I am curious how this "truthful", "truthfilled" conversation would have gone had Good Saint Hillary won. There may not even be a Thread; I was surprised how the event was ignored as it was! It must be a wonderful feeling to be so righteous and pious. I hope I never experience it in this way. There are so many untruths over the last 19 months of this election, it will take decades simply to categorize and list them. From ALL sides.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:08 am
by semisynthetic
An "alternate truth" of the many so-called spontaneous grassroots activities...


Billionaire George Soros has ties to more than 50 ‘partners’ of the Women’s March on Washington
What is the link between one of Hillary Clinton’s largest donors and the Women’s March? Turns out, it’s quite significant
ASRA Q. NOMANI01.20.17
20

BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR GEORGE SOROS. (PHOTO BY SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES)
In the pre-dawn darkness of today’s presidential inauguration day, I faced a choice, as a lifelong liberal feminist who voted for Donald Trump for president: lace up my pink Nike sneakers to step forward and take the DC Metro into the nation’s capital for the inauguration of America’s new president, or wait and go tomorrow to the after-party, dubbed the “Women’s March on Washington”?

 The Guardian has touted the “Women’s March on Washington” as a “spontaneous” action for women’s rights. Another liberal media outlet, Vox, talks about the “huge, spontaneous groundswell” behind the march. On its website, organizers of the march are promoting their work as “a grassroots effort” with “independent” organizers. Even my local yoga studio, Beloved Yoga, is renting a bus and offering seats for $35. The march’s manifesto says magnificently, “The Rise of the Woman = The Rise of the Nation.”

It’s an idea that I, a liberal feminist, would embrace. But I know — and most of America knows — that the organizers of the march haven’t put into their manifesto: the march really isn’t a “women’s march.” It’s a march for women who are anti-Trump. 

As someone who voted for Trump, I don’t feel welcome, nor do many other women who reject the liberal identity-politics that is the core underpinnings of the march, so far, making white women feel unwelcome, nixing women who oppose abortion and hijacking the agenda. 

To understand the march better, I stayed up through the nights this week, studying the funding, politics and talking points of the some 403 groups that are “partners” of the march. Is this a non-partisan “Women’s March”?

Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, a march “partner,” told me his organization was “nonpartisan” but has “many concerns about the incoming Trump administration that include what we see as a misogynist approach to women.” Nick Fish, national program director of the American Atheists, another march partner, told me, “This is not a ‘partisan’ event.” Dennis Wiley, pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, another march “partner,” returned my call and said, “This is not a partisan march.”

Really? UniteWomen.org, another partner, features videos with the hashtags #ImWithHer, #DemsInPhily and #ThanksObama. Following the money, I pored through documents of billionaire George Soros and his Open Society philanthropy, because I wondered: What is the link between one of Hillary Clinton’s largest donors and the “Women’s March”?

I found out: plenty.

By my draft research, which I’m opening up for crowd-sourcing on GoogleDocs, Soros has funded, or has close relationships with, at least 56 of the march’s “partners,” including “key partners” Planned Parenthood, which opposes Trump’s anti-abortion policy, and the National Resource Defense Council, which opposes Trump’s environmental policies. The other Soros ties with “Women’s March” organizations include the partisan MoveOn.org (which was fiercely pro-Clinton), the National Action Network (which has a former executive director lauded by Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett as “a leader of tomorrow” as a march co-chair and another official as “the head of logistics”). Other Soros grantees who are “partners” in the march are the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. March organizers and the organizations identified here haven’t yet returned queries for comment.  

On the issues I care about as a Muslim, the “Women’s March,” unfortunately, has taken a stand on the side of partisan politics that has obfuscated the issues of Islamic extremism over the eight years of the Obama administration. “Women’s March” partners include the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has not only deflected on issues of Islamic extremism post-9/11, but opposes Muslim reforms that would allow women to be prayer leaders and pray in the front of mosques, without wearing headscarves as symbols of chastity. Partners also include the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which wrongly designated Maajid Nawaz, a Muslim reformer, an “anti-Muslim extremist” in a biased report released before the election. The SPLC confirmed to me that Soros funded its “anti-Muslim extremists” report targeting Nawaz. (Ironically, CAIR also opposes abortions, but its leader still has a key speaking role.)

Another Soros grantee and march “partner” is the Arab-American Association of New York, whose executive director, Linda Sarsour, is a march co-chair. When I co-wrote a piece, arguing that Muslim women don’t have to wear headscarves as a symbol of “modesty,” she attacked the coauthor and me as “fringe.” 

Earlier, at least 33 of the 100 “women of color,” who initially protested the Trump election in street protests, worked at organizations that receive Soros funding, in part for “black-brown” activism. Of course, Soros is an “ideological philanthropist,” whose interests align with many of these groups, but he is also a significant political donor. In Davos, he told reporters that Trump is a “would-be dictator.”

A spokeswoman for Soros’s Open Society Foundations said in a statement, “There have been many false reports about George Soros and the Open Society Foundations funding protests in the wake of the U.S. presidential elections. There is no truth to these reports.” She added, “We support a wide range of organizations — including those that support women and minorities who have historically been denied equal rights. Many of whom are concerned about what policy changes may lie ahead. We are proud of their work. We of course support the right of all Americans to peaceably assemble and petition their government—a vital, and constitutionally safeguarded, pillar of a functioning democracy.”

Much like post-election protests, which included a sign, “Kill Trump,” were not  “spontaneous,” as reported by some media outlets, the “Women’s March” is an extension of strategic identity politics that has so fractured America today, from campuses to communities. On the left or the right, it’s wrong. But, with the inauguration, we know the politics. With the march, “women” have been appropriated for a clearly anti-Trump day. When I shared my thoughts with her, my yoga studio owner said it was “sad” the march’s organizers masked their politics. “I want love for everyone,” she said. 

The left’s fierce identity politics and its failure on Islamic extremism lost my vote this past election, and so, as the dawn’s first light breaks through the darkness of the morning as I write, I make my decision: I’ll lace up my pink Nikes and head to the inauguration, skipping the “Women’s March” that doesn’t have a place for women like me.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:14 pm
by TheWarmth
This individual made the decision to attend the inauguration. She didn't just watch it on tv. This sounds like a Trump supporter to me, but maybe she was just curious. In any case, Trump and Pence are both anti-women. So, yes, the Women's March was also an anti-Trump march and that shouldn't come as any surprise.

Abortion is one of the primary points of contention here. I wonder if Trump and Pence would have approved of my wife's abortion. The first time she got pregnant the fetus effectively stopped growing. That's the simplest way to look at it, at least. She had to have an abortion. There was no way around it. It was a medical procedure that she needed. Would they have forced us to have a funeral? Maybe they would have punished her for this, as Trump suggested during his campaign. A fine, perhaps? Jail time? Or is that just for other situations and scenarios? I suppose it would be best for them to make these decisions. I wonder what the guidelines would be.

Re: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the USA

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:03 pm
by semisynthetic
Not everyone who voted Trump was necessarily a "Trump Supporter" in the usual sense. Maybe you can take her at her word as she described it. Not everyone is a rabid Idealogue; they make what is for them the best decision. Your wife and you did, and I take you at your word. Why not? Why when someone presents information that is contrary to the beliefs of some others, must they automatically be thought insincere?

As for my own outlook, I have always thought the decision for an abortion was between the woman and her doctor, and with her own Creator. There are real reasons for this procedure, sadly, things do go wrong. I do not like to have the government interfere in my life, or anyone else's private life. It is contrary to my nature, government has wriggled into far too many places it does not belong.

But, I know there is a sad alternative set of situations, where often no real "problems" exist other than an unwanted pregnancy; and this is a very different situation in my thinking than a demonstrable threat to the mother. When it becomes an alternative to cheap birth control, or when the wee one is a viable, living child "aborted" very, very late term, which is a quite different reality than you described, it is in such a case, in my opinion, infanticide. A loss of a little one is (usually) never easy, whatever the factor(s) behind the decision, and I regret your loss.

Nevertheless, this is yet another area government does not belong.