May 30, 2017

Silent thread in support of continued telephone calls, emails, letters to US Representatives and

Senators regarding the unfitness of Trump to carry on in office.

When Trump arrived home after his trip abroad, he declared victory. He used the word 'home run.'

The trouble is that it was not a 'home run' in any sense of that word for us, the American people. It was, however, a home run for Vladimir Putin.

Look at the facts: Trump goes to Europe. He elbows aside the prime minister of another nation. He calls Germany evil. He leaves NATO allies wondering if the USA will support that alliance.

I'm old enough to remember the Cold War, folks. I know that Russia is a hostile power. Putin wants to recreate the old Soviet empire, or perhaps become the new Tsar of a new Russian Empire.

To do this, he has fooled the Republican party and enlisted an American president - a president, for God's sake! - to do his will.

DON'T let this become normalized. It is NOT normal in any sense.

Therefore, I urge you to pick up those telephones again and again and again. Call at least once a week.

We are all Americans here, and we are being influenced by a hostile foreign power. Until that stops, everything else is moot.

May 18, 2017

Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: report

Source: Reuters is cited in this report on The Hill


Reuters reported that former national security adviser Michael Flynn, along with other advisers to Trump, had contact with Russians in at least 18 calls or emails during the last seven months of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Of the 18 undisclosed contacts, six were phone calls between Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and advisers to Trump, Reuters reported, citing current and former officials.

The calls and messages happened between April 2016 and November 2016, according to Reuters. The communications covered issues such as improving the U.S.-Russia economic relationship and fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Officials said Flynn talked with Kislyak ahead of the president's inauguration about creating a back channel for communication between Trump and Russia.



Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/334001-trump-camp-had-at-least-18-undisclosed-contacts-with-russians-report

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I don't think this is anything particularly new, except that it's Reuters reporting it, which I think is significant.

It just ain't goin' away, folks!

Caricature by Niall O'Laughlin

May 9, 2017

A Trump-Friendly Media Company Is About To Get Even Bigger

Source: Huffington Post

In the wake of the 2016 election, Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and now a top White House adviser, reportedly told a gathering of business executives that Sinclair Broadcast Group’s local TV stations in Ohio reached more potential voters than CNN, the validation of a late-campaign strategy to turn to news anchors in swing states and sympathetic hosts on Fox News. “It’s math,” Kushner said.

The math is about to get a lot better for the Trump administration as Sinclair, a largely under-the-radar, conservative-leaning broadcasting company, plans to add 42 more stations through a $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media. Sinclair, which already owns 173 stations around the country, including local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates, would now reach over 70 percent of American households.

While polls indicate increasing distrust in the media, the public has said it trusts local news more than national outlets. The Trump White House, perhaps seizing on elevated levels of trust in local news and amid its public fight with the national media, has increased outreach to major players in local news, such as Hearst, Nexstar and Sinclair.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sinclair-tribune-media-donald-trump_us_5910a93de4b0e7021e99cfec?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

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This is a really big deal because it makes corporate-sponsored right wing propaganda even more ubiquitous than it already is. 70% of US television viewers is A LOT and we cannot allow this merger to take place. It needs to be opposed and stopped by the Federal Trade Commission as an unlawful merger.

In addition, it is clearly an effort by the Trump administration and family to subvert the First Amendment.

I'm going to be calling my Senators and Representative once a day on this beginning tomorrow. This is as far reaching as attacks on net neutrality, and every bit as insidious.

May 3, 2017

Christian Author: Satan Is Directing Anti-Trump Protests

Source: Huffington Post

In a video clip posted online by Right Wing Watch, Richardson said:

“In my opinion, when you see the rage of Satan directed against something, that’s usually evidence that God is involved because Satan is enraged in that which God is doing in the Earth and yes, there’s a lot of rage and Donald Trump and I’ll be honest: I wrestled through a lot of issues during the early part of the campaign.

But, I’ve become solidly convinced in my spirit that the Lord is using this administration. He’s doing something quite powerful. And it’s for that reason that the rage of Satan ― this irrational rage of Satan ― is so directed toward this man.”

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/satan-trump-protests_us_590979b1e4b0bb2d087326ab?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

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This is late breaking news in the sense that a) it was posted about three hours ago, and b) a substantial number of right wing 'christians' seem to think Trump is God's 'anointed.' To me, this is frightening because Trump is sending so many ships to the Korean peninsula that Kim Jung Un is threatening nuclear war. And what will these 'christians' say to that: Oh, well, it's the end times...

I posted this because we need to be alarmed about these religious fanatics.