weeklywtf-blog

[weeklywtf-blog]

February 12, 2017

The ringmaster of the greatest political sham in history can't stop, won't stop: lying (or tweeting). Trump's cavalier attitude towards the truth seems to be wearing away at his Press Secretary's sanity. Spicer hasn't looked well since the very first time he had to utter "this is what the president believes" in regard to imaginary inauguration crowds; one can only assume it's much more strenuous to defend fabricated murder rates and phony unemployment percentages. These days, the similarities between a real WH press conference and Melissa McCarthy's SNL skits are actually uncanny. 

"Nevertheless, she persisted." Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, whose turtle-like aesthetic pairs quite accurately with his dawdling drawl, has become the man that launched a thousand feminist memes after he silenced Elizabeth Warren on the floor the the senate. McConnell cited a rule against "impugning fellow senators" as Warren attempted to read a letter penned by Coretta Scott King in the 80's, alleging that Jeff Sessions used his powers as a judge to discriminate against black voters in Alabama. 

The only reason worth getting into Betsy Devos' head would be to find out what it feels like to be able to shop at J. Crew without checking any price tags; her ideas relating to the privatization of public education, charmingly touted as free choice vouchers (it's all your choice, America! Healthcare! Education! All of it! You choose! Oh you can't afford it? Sorry.), should make you leery. And if you aren't yet, read about what happened to the city of Detroit when they adopted her plans. Nobody is claiming that public education in America is perfect, but the person to improve upon it is probably not the same woman who famously stated that schools should have guns because bears, and then flubbed a question on the federal legislation protecting children with disabilities. It's worth noting that the webpage dedicated to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act disappeared from the WH webpage hours after DeVos was narrowly voted in, the confirmation dependent on a tie-breaking vote from VP Mike Pence. 

"SEE YOU IN COURT!" -- the tweet read 'round the world. A federal court of appeals voted unanimously to uphold the suspension of Trump's Muslim ban (we finally decided we're just calling it that, yeah?) and 45 responded in ALL CAPS. Trump went after the court calling their ruling "a political decision" and proclaiming his continued confidence in the ban. Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief's flippant attitude reportedly has SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch feeling unsettled. 

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February 5, 2017

For those of you still following along at home, we salute you, you're the real American heroes. It's exhausting when The New York Times texts you more than your mother.

Keeping up with Trump's tumultuous travel ban is difficult; particularly because the Head Cheeto and his stuttering press secretary, still can't figure out what to call it. It's a ban! It's not a ban! But Trump tweeted about the "ban"! What we do know: Kellyanne Conway imagined a terrorist attack on national television in a flimsy attempt to to justify the not-ban. She cited a fictitious "Bowling Green Massacre" in 2011; stating the alternative event was the catalyst to a similar ban imposed on Iraqi refugees by Barack Obama. Nearly everything that Kellyanne said was an outright lie. Obama slowed immigration after two Iraqi nationals in Bowling Green, Kentucky were arrested and indicted for attempting to provide money and weapons to terrorists in their home country. There was no attack. There was no ban. And thanks to a federal judge in Seattle, there's still no ban. Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order of Trump's ill-advised executive order that will halt the administration's ability to enforce two parts of the regulation: the 90-day suspension of entry and the limits on refugees. The judge's ruling will allow people who were previously vetted, but from one of the countries named, enter the country. 

That ruling brings us to today; and while we were engrossed in airport protests and Trump's latest Twitter tantrum, Congress was quickly and quietly gearing up to use a piece of legislation from 1996, called the Congressional Review Act, to overturn any federal regulation finalized in the last six months of the Obama administration through a majority vote and approval from the president. Congress is going after five regulations; including three aimed at protecting the environment and one that would prohibit the mentally ill from purchasing guns. Republicans argued that using social security data to identify people incapable of managing their own finances to identify the mentally ill infringed upon their second amendment rights. 

This past Friday, as The Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue continued, Trump nominated his newest Cabinet Monster: Neil Gorsuch. The uber conservative will fill the hotly contested seat, vacant since Antonin Scalia's death over 11 months ago. The 49-year-old is the youngest nominee in the court's history and of Trump's top three picks is hailed as the most traditionally educated. Though he has never ruled on an abortion case, he publicly supported Hobby Lobby in a 2014 case that ultimately ended up on the SCOTUS docket, in which the corporation objected to the contraceptive mandates in the ACA, citing religious reasons. In a landmark decision the court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby. You can read more about Gorsuch here. As always, we can give the man a chance but it seems like he might be just the partner Pence needs to form a reproductive rights abolishing dream team. 

Another moment of madness worth mentioning is when DJT turned the White House into a pseudo-set for the reality television show he previously hosted, an occupation for which he is clearly better suited for, when he told Obama-era Attorney General Sally Yates: you're fired. In reality, Trump sent Sally a hand-delivered letter that sent her packing when she refused to uphold his immigration ban; questioning both the legality and constitutionality of the order. The unsinkable Sally Yates calmly reminded the public that she swore an oath to the constitution of the United States, not to the Cheezit in Charge. Trump's reflexive sacking sets an unsettling precedent; fall in line, or else. 

[weeklywtf-blog]

January 29, 2017

For those of you following along at home: it's been a deranged week. It started off with Kellyanne Conway's bogus introduction of "alternative facts" (straight from the alternate universe that Tiny Hands tweets from), lead to a lone park ranger championing a social media coup in 140 characters or less, and finally, just yesterday, he really did it you guys, he banned Muslims. Here at WWTF we are just as astounded, bewildered, mind-boggled, confounded and astonished as you are, but we've done our best to list the top five most utterly insane moments for your reading (dis)pleasure.

1) The Mexico City Policy was first established in 1984 by the Reagan Administration. It forbids the United States from providing funding to any international nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortions as part of comprehensive family planning services. Why it matters: It's a fact that often seems to slip pro-lifers' collective minds but a piece of legislation called the Hyde amendment, introduced in the 1970's, banned the use of taxpayer dollars or federal funds for abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest, or maternal life endangerment. Before the Mexico City policy, NGOs that provided abortions could continue to accept funding from the United States as long as that money was kept separate from anything abortion related. Now, with the reintroduction, any NGO that provided abortion services would be forced to forfeit US dollars. This is a BIG deal because the United States is currently THE largest donor to global healthcare causes. Marie Stopes International, a women's health services organization operating in 37 countries, estimates that just in the next 4 years this policy could be the catalyst to 6.5 million unintended pregnancies, 2.1 million unsafe abortions, and 21,700 maternal deaths.  Read More: here and here.

2) Badlands Against the Cheeto In the aftermath of a temporary social media blackout imposed upon the Environmental Protection Agency by the Trump administration; one rogue employee at the Badlands National Park used the official twitter to spout some climate change truth bombs before apparently being shut down. The tweets were later removed from the account but the screenshots and the anonymous employee will live forever in internet infamy.  Why it matters: Donald Trump has made his opinions on climate change quite clear: in that he's not all that worried about it and he's pretty sure “China made it up”. Hey Donald, tell that to the babies in Madagascar who have never taken a bath.

3) All that Crumbles: Trump & his F*cking Wall On the campaign trail Donald Trump's prized plan for making America great again was introduced in the form of a 1,900 mile wall along the southern border of the United States and Mexico. Trump admonished his rabid fans with promises of a "gorgeous wall", a "beautiful wall", and best of all, a wall funded by the country of Mexico. Trumpers everywhere reveled in cement and rebar themed dreams. Why it matters: Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has been particularly outspoken in his vigorous opposition to the idea, he refers to the revered wall as a "racist monument". Current Mexican President Nieto canceled a meeting with Trump after Tiny Hands tweeted this: "The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly need wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting." Since the meeting that wasn't, Trump has advanced the idea of a 20% import tax on Mexican goods to pay for the wall. Taxpayers and Republicans alike are in anguish; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is particularly worried about the margaritas. The rest of us, well, we weren't interested in this GD wall in the first place, and certainly not if the price we have to pay is jacked up prices for shots of Patron. Viva tequila.

4) Pence the Pusher Pence is a self-proclaimed "evangelical Catholic" and he's already begun to push his pro-life agenda by becoming the highest ranking official to ever address the crowds at the annual March for Life in Washington on Friday. Kellyanne Conway also spoke, delivering the message that the right to life is "not a privilege". Why it matters: The current administration is expected to move forward with anti-abortion policies: the looming threat to defund planned parenthood and the terrifying possibility that a conservative Supreme Court appointment could give rise to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. What's most concerning about Pence, Kellyanne, and their ironic new catchphrase "life is winning" is that it's not. These pro-choice shamers are not pro-life, they are pro-birth; and after that, well, who cares, they've done their Christian duty. They are worried that the child is born, not that it grows up with equal access to healthcare and education. They insist that all life is sacred, and yet they turn their backs on refugees. The hypocrisy is stunning. Take it from Texas: the state that did defund Planned Parenthood and is now the shamefaced population with the highest maternal death rates in the DEVELOPED world: women's health services are necessary and abortion is a medical procedure not a talking point for Christian conservatives. 

5) Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States is the frilly name for what Americans have been calling the "Muslim Ban" since Trump's chaos-inducing executive order went into effect late Friday night. Why it matters: The order is yuuuuge slap in the face to the set of ideals that this nation was built upon. The Statue of Liberty boasts: from her beacon-hand, glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command, the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses hearing to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my limp beside the golden door!" With a few slashes of his presidential pen the Cheezit in Charge has added a final stanza to the famous poem which will permanently freeze Syrian resettlement in the United States and has put a temporary ban on the travel of citizens from six, mostly-muslim nations: Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia. Americans have been protesting and collaborating around the clock in response to this poorly executed order; lawyers showing up to JFK, Dulles, and Boston Logan to offer their services free of charge. In the midst of a mess of detained foreign nationals, bumbling border patrol and customs agents, and airport protests around the country, Trump quietly demoted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence and invited his top political advisor, Steve Bannon, to a permanent position on the National Security Council. If that sentence doesn't make you shiver find out why it should here.

[weeklywtf-blog]

Wake up, America, before you end up on the wrong side of the tracks. Resist. 

[weeklywtf-blog]

This is how we start

Move on. Accept it. Donald Trump is the president, now get on with your life." The apathetic and lackadaisical party line of the right and the lazy seems to be everywhere this week; shouting at you from Facebook, glaring at you from your iPhone screen, inserting its shiftless, unsolicited message into our daily lives. What the right does not understand is that THIS IS moving on. We the people are forging ahead to form a more perfect union, to establish social justice, to insure the welfare of all human beings by actively resisting the offensive rhetoric that got this Cheeto-colored demagogue elected. This is not a moment, this is a movement. This is the awakening of a population, a mobilization of the like-minded, a call to action for any person that values fundamental human rights.

Before this moment in history, I would have told you that I am not a political person. To me, "politics" was a far-off land in which the pant-suited played but the actual dealings on that distant shore had little, if anything, to do with my everyday life. That is just not going to cut it anymore. It is no longer cute or acceptable or respectable to lack a political identity. If you posted an American flag bikini selfie on the Fourth of July captioned with some variation of #redwhiteandbooze but didn't vote in the presidential election, you, my fellow millennial, are the problem.

The right, I admit that I don't understand them, but I hope to someday find common ground in conversation, to find hope in our collective humanity. I don't understand them, but I can grasp their desire for the left to move on. What I cannot understand, what I cannot fathom, is the vast majority of humans who claim to know better while still insisting that "we need to get over it. I didn't vote for him but nothing is going to change". To that population I say: your privilege is showing and it is not a good look. To the humans who insist "we need to let it go" what I hear is "I am indifferent, I am lazy, educating myself is arduous". And it is tough. Staying informed is difficult. Weeding through the muck is laborious. Re-teaching yourself sixth grade social studies so you can understand the real news when you finally find it is challenging. But democracy is demanding our participation.

Before this election I lived in an ivory tower built on a foundation of privilege; but that foundation is cracking and I urge you to get out, or get buried. Since November my emotions have wandered through the neighborhoods of despair and despondency but yesterday, participating in the Women's March in the capital city of the great red state of Texas, I felt the quietest, most soothing whisper of hope. Donald J. Trump may prove all of us wrong, he may do great things as the leader of our free world; but if he doesn't, if he continues to deny climate change, to perpetuate the idea that healthcare and education are a privilege to be purchased, to use fear as a tool for division, to ignore the global community under the ill-advised mantra of "America first", well then, we will be watching. If nothing else, Donald Trump is the revolting orange catalyst that engaged and empowered a population. On November 8th his victory awakened the intellectual masses; forcing us to evaluate our role in the political beast that is democracy, urging the formally self-identified "not political" persons into activism. His triumph compelled the previously reticent liberals to wake the hell up; now that we're paying attention, please, we cannot stop.

Our future depends on vigilance; we cannot let this self-obsessed would-be dictator, who has both the complexion and empathetic capacity of a stale cheese ball, become the new normal. These are extraordinary times and we will rise to the occasion; we must preserve the ideals that this country was built on and that we still hold dear. We must continue the fight for liberty and justice for all. We must stay awake, we must stay engaged, we must participate. We will not accept the exclusive and hateful rhetoric of the current administration; and we will remind you, President Trump, that no one grabs Lady Liberty by the pussy.