To those who remember living in the previous century, imagine our current events in that context:

A beauty pageant host/real estate developer is nominated by one of our two political parties. He's a rude, self-aggrandizing old white man, who swears the current president is a Kenyan Muslim. Despite earning 3,000,000 fewer votes than his opponent, the electoral college installs him as president.

His actions are immediately suspect. He lies constantly, and then lies about those lies, even in the face of indisputable facts. This installed leader installs proto-lobbyists in his cabinet – people plucked from the boardrooms of the industries their new office governs. Regulations are immediately removed, foreign influencers pay to stay in his hotels. He is investigated by our trusted agencies, and he publicly demeans these agencies who keep us safe. Journalists investigate, and he brands them fake. Democrats call for accountability, he brands them as angry.

The investigation is completed and summarized, and submitted to the Attorney General of the United States, who then ignores the summaries and provides his own brief opinion, which ignores principal findings. 

Records are subpoenaed, witnesses are subpoenaed, and the administration does not comply. The presidency has gone rogue.

You hear all this on the radio, and on the nightly news. It comes up in conversation at work, and when you're out with friends. As a patriotic American, how do you stop it? Your country has been hijacked, a puppet is president – do you put a sign in your yard? Do you fly to Washington and stop by the hardware store on your way to the White House, to pick up a pitchfork & torch?

[I ask this in a past context because social media is not helping us find a solution. When modern conveniences fail, I immediately wonder how this thing was handled beforehand. Nixon cheated within the context of a more-functional government – he did not think to divide the country so completely as Trump has done. Our leaders have chosen party over country, which means this pseudo-coup will continue. How do we fix this?]

Fauxmerican

I remember Sarah Palin talking about "Real America." Real America thinks this, Real America wants that. I remember thinking, "there's no Real America. There's only America."

Then Donald was elected as president of Real America, and millions of Real Americans cheered. I realized then that the ideal of the United States of America, which I've held since I was a child, was wrong. I had completely misunderstood my country.

This morning, a journalist from my hometown local paper, The Los Angeles Times, was barred from today's White House press briefing, along with others. The "paper of record" for my lifetime as an Angeleno is fake. So-called judges are fake. My America is fake. My patriotism is fake. As a Californian, Real America's president considers me the enemy. I'm the Coastal Elite. I'm an intellectual.

The president of Real America goaded his followers to beat those who spoke out against him. He goaded them into chanting things like Build the Wall! Drain the Swamp! Lock her up! He fueled their nationalism, their racism, their jingoism, all in the name of making Real America great again. Real Americans believed he could resurrect industries which progress has set aside.

Real America is a corporate profit machine fueled by the blood, sweat and tears of gullible masses of Real Americans. People angry at progress, angrily selected a billionaire to rule over them while he removes regulations and hands our future to corporations on a gold platter.

But if I'm not a Real American, what am I? I'm not fake – I walk and talk, people have seen me and interacted with me. I'm real. So I guess it's the American part that's different. America has disappeared under the shadow of Real America. I get glimpses of her, like when the Army refuses a request for tanks at the Inaugural parade, or when park rangers tweet out global warming stats when their government account is silenced, or when scientists protest in the streets.

I hang onto those moments. They alone give me hope for our nation's future.

The Protesting Patriot.

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.