A Watchful Eye

From Heather Richardson, professor of History at Boston College:

"...There is an important non-partisan point to make today.

What Bannon is doing, most dramatically with last night's ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries-- is creating what is known as a "shock event." Such an event is unexpected and confusing and throws a society into chaos. People scramble to react to the event, usually along some fault line that those responsible for the event can widen by claiming that they alone know how to restore order.

When opponents speak out, the authors of the shock event call them enemies. As society reels and tempers run high, those responsible for the shock event perform a sleight of hand to achieve their real goal, a goal they know to be hugely unpopular, but from which everyone has been distracted as they fight over the initial event. There is no longer concerted opposition to the real goal; opposition divides along the partisan lines established by the shock event.

Last night's Executive Order has all the hallmarks of a shock event. It was not reviewed by any governmental agencies or lawyers before it was released, and counterterrorism experts insist they did not ask for it. People charged with enforcing it got no instructions about how to do so. Courts immediately have declared parts of it unconstitutional, but border police in some airports are refusing to stop enforcing it. Predictably, chaos has followed and tempers are hot.

My point today is this: unless you are the person setting it up, it is in no one's interest to play the shock event game. It is designed explicitly to divide people who might otherwise come together so they cannot stand against something its authors think they won't like.
I don't know what Bannon is up to-- although I have some guesses-- but because I know Bannon's ideas well, I am positive that there is not a single person whom I consider a friend on either side of the aisle-- and my friends range pretty widely-- who will benefit from whatever it is.

If the shock event strategy works, though, many of you will blame each other, rather than Bannon, for the fallout. And the country will have been tricked into accepting their real goal.

But because shock events destabilize a society, they can also be used positively. We do not have to respond along old fault lines. We could just as easily reorganize into a different pattern that threatens the people who sparked the event.

A successful shock event depends on speed and chaos because it requires knee-jerk reactions so that people divide along established lines. This, for example, is how Confederate leaders railroaded the initial southern states out of the Union.

If people realize they are being played, though, they can reach across old lines and reorganize to challenge the leaders who are pulling the strings. This was Lincoln's strategy when he joined together Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, anti-Nebraska voters, and nativists into the new Republican Party to stand against the Slave Power.

Five years before, such a coalition would have been unimaginable. Members of those groups agreed on very little other than that they wanted all Americans to have equal economic opportunity. Once they began to work together to promote a fair economic system, though, they found much common ground. They ended up rededicating the nation to a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Confederate leaders and Lincoln both knew about the political potential of a shock event. As we are in the midst of one, it seems worth noting that Lincoln seemed to have the better idea about how to use it."

Banned

Imagine having a big dream, a bold plan for a new future in a new city. You go all in, you go through the long visa process, pay your fees, get your shots, buy your tickets.

You sell your home and your car, pack up all your belongings and ship them ahead. You quit your job, say goodbye to your friends and family, and head to the airport.

You check your bags, board your plane, get your snacks and watch a movie. Maybe catch a nap and dream of things to come. You arrive at your midway point, and go to change planes for the last leg of your journey.

Suddenly you're pulled out of line, asked to show your papers. You're handcuffed, and taken to a detention area. Your papers and identification are taken, as is your phone. You're asked about your travels, your allegiances and opinions. Officials ask you to surrender your visa, your green card, your permissions, and promise to let you return to your place of departure without further trouble.

But your place of departure is a void. You just severed every tie, closed every door. Your entire future lies ahead on that plane, and you're being sent back, where? Home? You sold your home.

Your dream shattered, your plans in ruin, every penny spent to get you this far, only to be told it's all in vain. Your future opportunity won't wait for you, your past opportunities are gone.

Are you now friend or foe of this country who invited you in and then slammed the door? Do your ears perk up a bit when you hear plans to do her harm?

This is happening right now, today, in airports around the world. I write this after hearing Press Secretary Spicer tell me that this makes America safer. I vehemently disagree.

A Plan for California

It seems every time California secession is suggested, the state divides on its future. The last serious plan had California dividing into six separate entities. Most plans include at least two.

I propose we divide the west in two, ceding the bay area north to Canada, and the south to Mexico. Canada gets Silicon Valley with its booming innovation, some beautiful mountains and great wines. Mexico gets some big cities already named in Spanish, like Los Angeles and San Diego, and a great deal of its population back. 

Strengthening both economies would have a great equalizing effect throughout North America, with two more equal partners to share the continent with their bully of a neighbor.

Let's make North America great again.

America's new president, in his own words:

America's new president, in his own words:

“I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn't lose voters."

“'Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really folks, come on. Are we serious?”

“Nobody has more respect for women than me. Nobody."

"ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He is the founder of ISIS, OK? He is the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton."

"No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton." (When asked to clarify the previous comment.)

“I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.”

“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Just knock the hell … I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”

“We’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks. I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you.”

“In the good old days this didn’t used to happen, because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, they would not do it again so easily.”

“Well, I certainly don’t incite violence. I don’t condone violence. And I don’t talk about violence.” (When told he had condoned violence)

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."

"I did not, I did not. I do not say that." (When told he had called global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.)

Now he's saying that was all just bluster to win votes. Lock her up? Nope. Build the wall? Nope. Drain the swamp? Hell, nope. He said it and you ate it up, so he kept saying it. Congratulations, Real America. Your selection is unpresidented. Any idea what he'll do next? Nope.

Don and Vladi, Sittin' in a Tree...

Not my research, but I'm checking it out. If it doesn't ring true, I'll yank it. UPDATE: rather than yank it, I'll correct the false portions, because most of it is ringing true.

1) Trump owes Blackstone/ Bayrock group about $500 million (possibly his largest debtor, and a likely reason he won't reveal his tax returns)

2) Among a myriad of other investors, Blackstone invests for Russian billionaires, many of whom owe their position to Putin and have made billions from their work with the Russian government.

3) Other companies that have borrowed from Blackstone have claimed that owing money to them is like owing to the Russian mob and while you owe them, they own you for many favors.

4) The Russian economy is faltering under the weight of its over-dependence on raw materials which have plummeted in the last 2 years, leaving Russia scrambling to pay its debts.

5) Russia has an impetus to influence our election to ensure the per barrel oil prices are above $65 (they are currently hovering around $50).

6) Russia can't affordably get at a majority of its oil reserves and reduce its per barrel cost to compete with America at $45 or Saudi Arabia at $39. With Iranian sanctions being lifted, Russia will find another inexpensive competitor increasing production and pushing Russia further down the list of suppliers.
As for Iranian sanctions, the 6 countries lifting them are allowing Iran to collect on the billions it is owed for pumping oil but not being paid. These billions Iran can only get if the Iranian nuclear deal is signed. Trump spoke of ending the deals, which would cause oil sales sanctions to be reimposed, which would make Russian oil more competitive.

7) Rex Tillerson (Trump's pick for Secretary of State) is the head of ExxonMobil, which is in possession of patented technology that could help Putin extract 45% more oil at a significant cost savings to Russia, helping Putin put money in the Russian coffers to help reconstitute its military and finally afford to produce the new and improved systems that it had invented before the Russian economy slowed so much.

8) Putin cannot get access to these new cost saving technologies OR outside oil field development money, due to US sanctions on Russia, because of its involvement in Ukrainian civil war.

9) Look for Trump to end sanctions on Russia and to back out of the Iranian nuclear deal, to help Russia rebuild its economy, strengthen Putin and make Tillerson and Trump even richer, thus allowing Trump to satisfy his creditors at Blackstone.

10) With Trump's fabricated hatred of NATO and the U.N., the Russian military reconstituted, the threat to the Baltic states is real. Russia retaking their access to the Baltic Sea from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and threatening the shipping of millions of cubic feet of natural gas to lower Europe from Scandinavia, allowing Russia to make a good case for its oil and gas being piped into eastern Europe.

Sources: Time Magazine, NY Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian UK.

On Trumpism

I was raised in the Southern Baptist church, where I learned of "the mark of the beast". I always felt if there was ever such a "line in the sand" moment in my life, I'd be on the right side of history.

I'm feeling that way today. This man, who brought his followers to their feet driving out people of color from his rallies, calling anyone not like them "losers and enemies". This man, not yet in office, already burning central planks from his platform – the wall, the swamp, the locking up. This man who speaks into microphones to deny other things he's said into microphones. This man who has selected the antithesis of each department to head it. This man who is still active in his business, while his children participate in meetings made possible through his new power.

The presidency is not for self-enrichment. It is a position of service and leadership to all citizens equally. While our government is mired in partisanship, this man will drive the presidency into the ground. Trump is for Trump, and no one else. There is no one he looks up to, no one he feels responsible to. He is only a businessman, he only knows the art of the deal. Diplomacy is beyond his grasp, and he will be played by world leaders as he tweets his angry responses.

I accept that he's the president of America, but I will join any force to remove him from that office. And I'm secure that I will be on the right side of history.

Mexico's President Cancels Meeting with Reality Show Producer in Latest Battle Over Border Wall

Mexico's President Cancels Meeting with Reality Show Producer in Latest Battle Over Border Wall

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Thursday he has canceled a meeting with the New York real estate mogul in an increasing war of words over building a border wall.

Nieto’s cancellation came just hours after the beauty pageant host tweeted that the highly anticipated meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, should be scrapped if Mexico refuses to pay for a massive wall along the U.S. border.


"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 needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting." tweeted the person who lost the popular vote by 3,000,000 votes.

Mexico’s leader also took to Twitter Thursday, saying, “This morning we have informed the White House I will not be attending the working meeting planned for next Tuesday.”

The growing impasse between the two countries is indicative of the celebrity's aggressive stance against America’s southern neighbor. In his first week in office, the former WWE wrestling sponsor signed executive orders directing construction of the wall and increasing border patrol forces and immigration officers who conduct deportations.

A stern-looking Nieto had addressed his country Wednesday night on national television. “I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall,” the president said. “I have said time and time again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.”

While addressing a Republican group in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon, the former television star doubled down on his promise to erect a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, at the latter country’s expense.

“The American people will not pay for the wall,” the product spokesman said. “Such a meeting would be fruitless.” He said he agreed with Nieto about canceling their planned in-person conversation.

A Wake-up Call

Dave Lovejoy
September 23, 2012 ·


For the last week, I have been traveling from Toronto, Canada, across the United States to Los Angeles, California - driving through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Listening to local radio, reading billboards and bumper stickers, it is clear that many in our country believe that God is a Republican, and He has anointed Republicans with a special insight and calling which supersedes logic and democracy. I heard hateful, venomous scripture-twisting with purely political aims, spewed from preachers across the country. This is why I now fear for her survival. In researching the origins of this attitude, I found Bill Moyer's address at Union Theological Seminary in New York, September 9, 2005, from which I've included this excerpt:

"We’re talking about a powerful religious constituency that claims the right to tell us what’s on God’s mind and to decide the laws of the land according to their interpretation of biblical revelation and to enforce those laws on the nation as a whole. For the Bible is not just the foundational text of their faith; it has become the foundational text for a political movement."

"True, people of faith have always tried to bring their interpretation of the Bible to bear on American laws and morals—this very seminary is part of that tradition; it’s the American way, encouraged and protected by the First Amendment. But what is unique today is that the radical religious right has succeeded in taking over one of America’s great political parties—the country is not yet a theocracy but the Republican Party is—and they are driving American politics, using God as a battering ram on almost every issue: crime and punishment, foreign policy, health care, taxation, energy, regulation, social services and so on."

"What’s also unique is the intensity, organization, and anger they have brought to the public square. Listen to their preachers, evangelists, and homegrown ayatollahs: Their viral intolerance—their loathing of other people’s beliefs, of America’s secular and liberal values, of an independent press, of the courts, of reason, science and the search for objective knowledge—has become an unprecedented sectarian crusade for state power. They use the language of faith to demonize political opponents, mislead and misinform voters, censor writers and artists, ostracize dissenters, and marginalize the poor."

This is not Godly, this is not moral, and I fear it may not be survivable for our country. I am a Christian, but my Christ did not teach hate, and my God is not a Republican.

Dale Garrett

March 7, 2015 at 2:05pm





At 12:20 on May 11, 2011, I saw a plainclothes policeman shoot and kill a man on the streetcorner outside my studio window. I heard no yelled warning, no "Stop! Police!" - just someone yelled, I turned to look, and one guy in streetclothes killed another guy in streetclothes. In broad daylight.
Today, a group of my neighbors staged a die-in here, with a prayer for Dale Garrett at 12:20, the same time he was shot.

They were marching to protest the militarization of our police forces, while our police forces protected their ability to do so. Armed policemen blocked traffic while statistics were written with chalk in the crosswalk, detailing how many unarmed citizens have been killed by police and how many officers have been charged.






The speaker of the group, the one with the megaphone, was eloquent and succinct, addressing the military hardware coming back from two wars, and the military tactics that have come with them. Questioning the PTSD symptoms that such tactics suggest. Talking about Dale and Africa, two of the many black men killed by police in Los Angeles. I was moved to tears, and prayed with them, then joined them and walked with them a bit.

There was respect all around. Respect for the law by those openly questioning those whom we pay to enforce it. Respect from the enforcers, treating it like any parade or funeral where they're called upon to create a path through the chaos. It is such a gut-wrenching problem, and here it is like a play on a stage in front of me.

You file with the city for a permit to allow you to lie down in the street and protest police activity, while police watchfully keep you from getting run over.
We live in strange times.

Taking a Stand

I've said before that we need to push our best and brightest to the front of the line, make them our leaders. These are our scientists, our civil rights lawyers, and surprisingly our park rangers. Protect and support these teams that are forming. These are our problem solvers, we need to listen to them and organize around them. I hope that "the press" [sarcastic quotes intended] can study up on what their damn job is, their DUTY, under the protections of the first amendment. Where's the press team? Who's joining Dan Rather?

Surreality

I am a surrealist. My mind is constantly making odd connections and imagining things reversed or flipped. Here's a recent thought as an example: I'm biking to my studio, and come to a stop at the crosswalk. There's a guy there, impatiently pressing the button, so I wait for the sign to change and step off the curb. As I do, he remains there, pressing the button. I cross and continue down the street to my studio. As I open the door, I turn and look down the street, and notice that he's still standing there, pressing the button.

I wonder what he's expecting, as the crosswalk obviously wasn't it. Makes me want to continually press the button just to see if something else happens. Once activates the crosswalk. Five hundred times might bring manna. A thousand times might bring unicorns. I don't try it, but it crosses my mind.

In late November, my understanding of things was flipped on its head. I thought America was a certain way, and awoke one morning to find that I was wrong. I had misunderstood things about America my entire life. It was disillusioning, like finding your wife in bed with another, or your parents removing their masks to reveal they're aliens.

Since then, other things I took for certain have become less so. I've felt as if gravity could cease, random items begin to float about the room, and it wouldn't even interrupt a sentence. I could be talking with a friend when the stapler starts to rise from my desk, and I'd just grasp it and set it back down without missing a beat. It would be that little of a surprise to me.

As a surrealist, this is intriguing. America's newly chosen leader lies constantly – up is down, small is large, facts can be overwritten with "alternative facts." It gives me the freedom to move from surreal imagination to surreal reality, or my new 'surreality.' In this new reality, I no longer identify as American. I am an Angeleno, from California in North America. My only affiliation with the Untied States is that of tenant and landlord. My home happens to be in the USA, so I send them my taxes. Any patriotism went out the window in late November.

The odd thing is, I don't feel sad about this. When I realized how I'd misunderstood America, and realized how many others felt the same way, it became exciting. This current pendulum swing is so fast and so extreme, it is bound to bring sweeping change as it changes momentum. We've known for generations that sweeping change is needed - economically, ecologically, politically. It is going to be a wild ride with likely bouts of civil unrest, martial law, and extreme upheaval. But when the dust clears, I think the world will be a better place. I think new powers will emerge, and America will take a back seat for a while. For good or ill, this 800 lb. gorilla is going on a shock diet, and will not be allowed to throw its weight around as it has in the past. The world has no need for a powerful bully. Go world.

On Revolution

DAVE LOVEJOY·THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016


I think for there to be effective change, we have to pick a day in the near future and all stop what we’re doing. Completely. Leave those packages in the big brown truck, leave that plane on the runway, leave that wheelbarrow on the parkway and go to the nearest government office en masse.


We have geniuses among us, professional thinkers and problem solvers. Push them to the front of the line. No megaphones, no placards, just the citizenry showing up at the government’s door, peacefully. We get along, we’ll enjoy hanging out in front, getting to know each other better while our best represent us.


When the remaining police that are not among us come and ask us to disperse, we ask them why? We have peacefully come to a government building during business hours. We are waiting for our representatives to speak with their representatives about making some changes. I’m sorry that folks are sitting on my bus, or standing in line at my register, but this takes priority.


We need to invade our own country.