Sunday, January 22, 2017

Donald Trump and the Rise of the Resistance



It was Donald Trump's first full day in office. He was standing in front of a memorial to dead CIA officers.

He was speaking to members of the intelligence community he had recently called Nazis.

He desperately needed to look presidential after delivering a dark and menacing inauguration speech that had even more people questioning his sanity.

But instead Trump ended up looking and sounding crazier and more dangerous than ever.



By using the occasion to praise himself extravagantly, claim that he may be 70 but he feels like 39. Lucky Melania. 

And launch yet another deranged assault on the media and The Truth. 

On his first full day in office, Donald Trump sought to end his long-running feud with the CIA — and to escalate his war against objective reality, and the people tasked with describing it.

Claiming reports that he had called the intelligence community Nazis were just fake news.

“They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community,” Trump said, referring to the press. “I just want to let you know, the reason you’re the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite.”

Blasting the "dishonest media" for daring to suggest that his inauguration day crowds were smaller than Obama's...



In the manner of a maniac.

Who even though the pictures tell the story...



Would claim that God was on his side. And even lie about the weather.

In fact, a light rain fell through the first few minutes of Trump’s speech, and no downpour followed its conclusion.

Before sending out his White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to make an absolute fool out of himself...



By also threatening the media, and lying over and over again. 

"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," Spicer said, contradicting all available data.

Spicer said, without any evidence, that some photos were "intentionally framed" to downplay Trump's crowd. He also expressed objections to specific Twitter posts from journalists. 

And he said, "we're going to hold the press accountable," partly by reaching the public through social networking sites.

Before running for cover.

Spicer, at times almost yelling while reading a prepared statement, took no questions. CNNMoney called his cell phone a few minutes later; he did not answer.

Leaving reporters gasping.

Some longtime White House correspondents were stunned by the tirade. Glenn Thrush of The New York Times wrote on Twitter, "Jaw meet floor." "I've run out of adjectives," wrote Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press."

And the rest of us to wonder where Trump is taking his country...



For he may be a bloated buffoon, but he is dangerous, and he is clearly a threat to  American democracy.

And the good news?

The resistance is rising. 



More than a million people took to the streets across the United States and around the world on Saturday in a historic show of opposition to the new American president, Donald Trump. 

The peaceful women’s marches marked the largest post-inauguration protests ever and overwhelmed organizers’ estimates for turnout.


It couldn't be more inspiring, and this woman couldn't be more right.

“I’m one of those people who believe there is a reason for everything,” said Jane Lesser, 65, who lives in Reston, Va., and had never before attended a demonstration. “Maybe the reason Trump got elected is to make the rest of us wake up.”

The shock of Trump's victory has forced progressives to unite like never before.

The resistance will be massive...



It will be beautiful...



And as for Donald Trump he must be screaming with frustration.

The women’s march in Washington was roughly three times the size of the audience at President Trump’s inauguration, crowd counting experts said Saturday.

Having been shown to be a liar. Again.

And on his first first full day on the job having once again demonstrated that he is unfit to be president.

And must be impeached, or removed from office for mental health reasons.

As soon as is humanly possible...



23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the "Fight like a girl" photo. The signs were amazing, and the complete absence of violence.

Cheers,
TS

Anonymous said...

Those two pictures are completely taken out of context and have been proven to be a hoax. Obama's pic is when the his inauguration was well under way, where as the pic of Trump's inauguration was taken when they JUST started to let people in. More fake news from the lying press.

-MC

Anonymous said...

We shall overcome this disgusting bullshit.

Marmalade said...

When Kevin O'Leary becomes the next Prime Minister of Canada, will Canadians "Wake-Up"?

jrkrideau said...

It would be fascinating to listen to the Republican caucus (if the Americans have such a thing?. It's two years away but if the opposition holds, even partially, most sitting members are likely to be in deep trouble.

I don't really consider most Republican members of congress and senators completely sane but they probably have a better grasp on reality than their leader. And they must be terrified.

Anonymous said...

When I hear Kellyann Conway speak of "alternative facts" and that there is no way to quantify a crowd when this woman has a law degree I really have to shake my head.

Anonymous said...

""I've run out of adjectives," wrote Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press.""
No doubt. Every negative adjective there is has been rightfully used to describe this waste of skin. He's lost any grip on reality that he had left and is now a pathetic, vindictive clown.
What any sane person could plainly see, Bozo Trump and his legions of Bozos couldn't bring themselves to admit that Obama's crowds were YUUGE compared to his. Crowd envy I surmise.
Through all that bullshit he did manage to get some work done. He repealed a break Obama had given to low income first time home buyers. Those whose homes are worth 200K will now have to fork over an extra 500 bucks a year. How's that for looking out for the little guy?
JD

Anonymous said...

Picture was a video frame taken from the live pool camera at the National mall at 11.49 am. PBS produced a time lapse summary of the video showing people arriving and then leaving and that was the maximum crowd. In order to fake it the live streaming public camera would need to have been altered/replaced before the fact and fed false video before the ceremony not after. Elaborate conspiracy theory anyone?

Numbers did not match Obama's 2009 record attendance but were likely comparable to other presidents such as Clinton and Bush. His over inflated ego goes ape s*** over the obvious .... now that's a clear thinking leader!
RT

Anonymous said...

No, they aren't fake MC and if you're supposed to be a christian you shouldn't be lying about these things. Trump has been caught lying 71% of the time. The lies and fake news come from him and his lot. A picture is worth 1000 words. He and his spank boy Spicer can't lie their way out of every situation, it will catch up to Putin's puppet sooner or later.

mr perfect

Anonymous said...

Harper woke us. O'Smeary will never be Prime Minister. He will be met with another wall of women. Us woke ones. Sunny Ways Simon. Pamela. ❤

John B. said...

I suppose Reuters or its photographer could have been either mistaken or lying about the exact time the Trump inauguration photo was taken. They are claiming 12:01:18 p.m., which would have been at the time of the swearing-in. The 2009 photo was taken at 11:30 a.m. according to NYDN. Of course, they could be lying too.

If everyone is lying, my advice to Sean Spicer would be to try addressing the situation with something other than "alternative facts".

David said...

Roger Waters - "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLBtMz5OuY

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1701/21/cnnt.02.html

CNN TONIGHT
Aired January 21, 2017 - 22:00 ET

[snip]
LEMON: OK, so Jim, I know you've been doing your homework. You've been fact checking those numbers. What can you tell us?

ACOSTA: Right, well, we know that -- that the Metro ridership numbers cited by Sean Spicer were not accurate. I believe we have a graphic prepared for this. Put this up on screen.

According to the Washington Metro Service here in the nation's capital, 570,000 riders took Metro on the inauguration day yesterday for Donald Trump. Back in 2013, it was 782,000, and then 1.1 million back in 2009. That is -- that is the full day ridership number from Metro.

So Sean came in and he gave -- Spicer came in and gave numbers that were not complete. And part of the issue that this raises, Don... And, you know, granted, this is the first day out for Sean Spicer giving a briefing in the -- in the White House. But when you're White House press secretary, it really pays dividends in the long run for him, his boss, the administration to have their facts straight.

And to pick this fight with the news media and go after everybody, and accuse journalists of falsely representing what actually took place yesterday, and then not coming armed with any decent facts to back that up, just strikes me as just being woefully unprepared and doing his boss a disservice. And -- and that is -- that is going to be a major problem moving forward for Sean Spicer.

If the boss is sending him out there because he's so irate and outraged that he -- he wants his press secretary to go out there and clean it up, there is going to have to come a moment for Sean Spicer to say to his boss, "Mr. President, I can't go out and just lie to everybody. I can't go out and just present false information to everybody to get you out of this jam." And they're going to have to work that out.

That -- those are some of the battles that go on behind the scenes at -- at -- at the White House whatever the administration, Don. But I think today, you know, being the very first full day for this White House, to have what we saw today unfold I think was just astonishing. I've never seen anything like it.

LEMON: Yes, I think you're right. There is a "Thou doth protest too much" quality to this. Thank you very much, Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: You bet.

LEMON: I appreciate that.

David said...

Disturbed Man Gets Past White House Security, Gives Press Conference
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/disturbed-man-gets-past-white-house-security-gives-press-conference

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report

aka Joe said...

Hoax eh? And who told you that? Ezra? Breitbart? Rush? Maybe Alex Jones? It's not just the picture, the video footage reveals the truth as well. It isn't fake news just because you don't like what you're reading or hearing. Just another attempt by the right to co-op a term and change it's meaning. The newest one is "alternative facts". Defend that.

Simon said...

hi TS... I'm glad you liked that picture, there were so many great pictures I had a really hard time deciding which ones to run. And wasn't it wonderful how peaceful it was. It really is just more evidence that women should run the world...

Simon said...

hi MC...come on, don't let your love for Trump blind you to reality. The evidence in Washington and in other cities all over the country is that it was one of the biggest protests the U.S. has ever seen. Your man may have won the election, but he did not win the popular vote. There are more Americans against him than for him, and if he angers them with his reactionary policies, he will sow the wind, and he will reap the whirlwind...

Simon said...

hi anon...I haven't the slightest doubt that we will overcome. I see the Trump regime as an accident of history, that will be corrected overwhelmingly in the next election. This is indeed a dark period, but the future still belongs to us....

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...I agree with Pamela. Canadians work up when they fired Harper and his filthy regime. And a buffoon like O'Leary will never be Prime Minister...

Simon said...

hi jrkrideau...I'm afraid a lot will depend on the reaction of the Republicans to the behaviour and policies of their deranged leader. I have read that polls suggest that Trump is already losing some of his supporters, and when it comes down to it I'm sure that given a choice between their leader and their seats they will choose their seats. The mid terms are only two years away, and if the Democrats can win just a few more seats in the Senate, they can throw a spanner into many of his plans, and neutralize him until the next presidential election...

Simon said...

hi Way Way Up....yes it is outrageous isn't it. And it's right out of the play book of Big Brother. It would be laughable if it wasn't so ominous. I'm sure Conway knows better, but she also knows that Trump's base will believe anything she says. And that Trump is living in a parallel universe and she must please him if she is going to keep her job. It's shameful but sadly par for the course...

Simon said...

hi JD...It's pathetic that Trump would get so wound up over attendance figures, and even more disturbing that he cannot acknowledge reality. Everything is a conspiracy theory in the mind of Trump and his supporters, and if he said the earth was square I'm sure many of them would believe it. Even though, as you point out, Trump is no friend of the little guy, and him and his hideous kleptocracy are only out to make themselves rich or richer. And screw their poorest supporters. It's an American tragedy, and I only hope we can survive it...

Simon said...

Hi David...thanks for the link:

A man who was described as “visibly deranged” eluded the Secret Service on Saturday and gave a five-minute press conference at the White House.

The man, who somehow obtained White House credentials in order to bypass security, unloaded a delusional and paranoid rant that left a room full of experienced reporters shaken.


I think that's a pretty good description of that Spicer news conference, and in this dark time humour is much appreciated...

David said...

You're welcome! I heard on the news that Trump is going to the UK to visit the PM, and shortly after that is to meet with Justin.

You heard it here first, folks: If Trump comes to Canada (or even if Justin meets him in the U.S.) on the day that happens there is going to be a massive demonstration of Canadians all across our home and native land--from coast to coast to coast!