How can we take it back?
- Thread starter Skarekrow
- Start date
If you support the Affordable Care Act, please call Paul Ryan and tell him so.
***you don't have to talk to anyone - it's just a recording poll - it took me like two minutes***
Ryan is conducting a phone poll on the ACA (Obamacare), hoping to hear overwhelming popular opposition to it.
If you would like to express your support for the Affordable Care Act, call 202-225-0600.
Press 2 to weigh in on the issue.
You'll hear a brief recording about HR-3762, Paul Ryan's proposal to gut the ACA, and President Obama's use of his veto power to stop it.
Then, you will have a chance to indicate your opinion with the press of a button.
Press 1 if you support Obamacare, 2 if you oppose it.
***you don't have to talk to anyone - it's just a recording poll - it took me like two minutes***
Ryan is conducting a phone poll on the ACA (Obamacare), hoping to hear overwhelming popular opposition to it.
If you would like to express your support for the Affordable Care Act, call 202-225-0600.
Press 2 to weigh in on the issue.
You'll hear a brief recording about HR-3762, Paul Ryan's proposal to gut the ACA, and President Obama's use of his veto power to stop it.
Then, you will have a chance to indicate your opinion with the press of a button.
Press 1 if you support Obamacare, 2 if you oppose it.
"This is a monumental story, and it deserves a full airing before we swear this guy in. And it's only part of the unprecedented tangle of shadowy business dealings that will follow him into office. The president-elect also is the defendant in 75 different lawsuits of assorted kinds. He plans to put his assets into a "blind trust" that will be overseen by…his children. I know a lot of people are charmed by his reluctance to abide by traditional political norms and customs, but this is far beyond that." - Charles P. Pierce
Graphic footage warning.
This should not be happening in Murica.
These people are simply asking that we don't add another pipeline under the river and on this land...land that they have every right to be on.
They are using no weapons, only standing and praying.
They care about this earth and their children's future and when we have pipeline accidents happening more frequently... maybe it's time to build one less pipeline and start to work together on the future of energy.
But this kind of abuse on our own people, should not be happening ever.. the news has shown one side and they clearly pay the bills with that side.
I'm grateful for all those documenting this so we can see what happens when greed takes over our politicians...
Hire scientists to make real energy changes that our grandchildren will thank us for.
This should not be happening in Murica.
These people are simply asking that we don't add another pipeline under the river and on this land...land that they have every right to be on.
They are using no weapons, only standing and praying.
They care about this earth and their children's future and when we have pipeline accidents happening more frequently... maybe it's time to build one less pipeline and start to work together on the future of energy.
But this kind of abuse on our own people, should not be happening ever.. the news has shown one side and they clearly pay the bills with that side.
I'm grateful for all those documenting this so we can see what happens when greed takes over our politicians...
Hire scientists to make real energy changes that our grandchildren will thank us for.
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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
7 hrs ·
There are many seniors, disabled vets and people with disabilities who are very nervous about Republican proposals to cut Social Security. In my view we should be expanding Social Security, not cutting it. But, at the very least, now is the time for Mr. Trump to reassure the American people that he will keep the campaign promise he made when he said, ‘I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.’
Mr. Trump, keep your promise.
Five Key Christian Values and How Republicans Don’t Represent Any of Them
November 3, 2013 By Allen Clifton
Anyone who follows politics is well aware of the fact that conservatives try to paint themselves as people who represent the “moral majority.”
And even though our First Amendment clearly forbids it, Republican politicians often do their best to interject their religious beliefs into public policy.
Which is really ironic when you consider these are the people who seem to never shut up about “Constitutional values.”
Our First Amendment is pretty direct.
“Freedom of religion” which is also means freedom from religion.
It’s also fairly evident, by the lack of the word “Christianity” appearing even once in our Constitution, that our Founding Fathers didn’t want religion playing a part in our government.
Still, that doesn’t stop Republicans from constantly trying to force their warped view of “Christianity” into much of the legislation they attempt to force on the American people.
But I’ve never quite understood where Republicans get off claiming Christianity.
Why, because many of them go to church?
Because many of them read the Bible?
The policies they support sure as heck don’t represent real Christian values.
I guess their opposition to abortion and homosexuality is where they stake their biggest claim to following “Christianity.”
However, I’m not sure that many Republicans know what being a Christian actually means.
Being a Christian does not simply mean going to church and following the Bible.
Christianity is defined by believing in, and following the Word, of Jesus Christ. And guess what?
He never once spoke about homosexuality or abortion.
To judge your conviction to Christianity based on either of those issues means you’re assuming what Jesus would believe.
And isn’t it quite arrogant for anyone to assume they would know what the son of God would believe on two issues he never even spoke once about?
Good news though — Jesus did openly speak about many of the values which he did, in fact, support. However, many of those aren’t reflected in the way many conservatives act and they’re damn sure not found in the policies supported by the GOP.
To showcase this hypocrisy I thought I’d run through five of the key traits which I’ve come to understand that Jesus Christ strongly supported and how Republicans simply don’t represent any of them.
So in no particular order, here we go.
1) Helping the poor
Talk about supporting policies that basically do the opposite.
Right now, thanks to extra funding the 2009 stimulus had given our SNAP program (aka “food stamps”) running out, millions of Americans are set to have their benefits cut this month—right before the holidays.
Republicans could have extended them, but they chose not to.
Not only that, but they’re pushing for an additional $39 billion in cuts to the program.
All while pushing for more tax breaks for the rich and big corporations.
Add this on top of many Republican-controlled states refusing to expand Medicaid under “Obamacare” — denying the expansion of health care to millions of poor Americans — and they’re not only cutting food benefits for the poor, but health care benefits as well.
This list could honestly keep going on and on.
It seems that whenever Republicans need to make cuts, the first people they go after are the poorest among us.
2) Not judging others
Another big swing and a miss for Republicans on this one.
There’s the famous example of Jesus Christ defending a woman set to be stoned to death for committing adultery by asking those who were there if any of them were free of sin, let them cast the first stone.
I summarized the quote of course, but the general point behind it is that we’re all sinners and it’s not our place to judge someone else for their indiscretions because we’re all flawed.
Well, Republicans judge everyone.
Basically, if you’re not a straight, white, church going male—you’re judged.
Hell, some of the most vile, hateful, ignorant judgement I’ve ever witnessed came from those who attended church frequently.
It seems high church attendance gives these people the feeling that they’re superior to others because they sit in a building and listen to someone tell them what is and isn’t acceptable.
I’m sure you know these types of people.
The alcoholic, been divorced three times with four kids by three different partners, angry, hateful, judgmental individual who goes around telling others what is morally right and wrong while making excuses for their own indiscretions in life.
The Republican party seemingly builds their entire social platform based on judging anyone and everyone who isn’t just like they are.
3) Being hopeful
Honestly, Republicans are some of the most paranoid, fearful, angry people I run across.
Liberals might really dislike certain politicians (such as my disdain for Ted Cruz), but conservatives hate President Obama.
It’s a deep-seated, vile hatred the likes of which I’ve rarely seen.
Their entire party predicates itself on this perpetual notion that their values are constantly under attack and that at any moment everything they care about in life can be gone.
But then isn’t that the best way to keep people in check—through fear?
Fear can be paralyzing.
Honestly, fear is probably the most powerful emotion.
It can render people to such a state of mental instability that all rational thought and logic fly right out the window.
Which, for Republicans, is a great thing.
Conservatives are almost constantly fearful of the future.
As long as I’ve been alive, it seems they’re always in this state of mind that someone, or something, is out to get them.
Liberals are evil.
The government is evil.
Muslims are evil.
Homosexuals are evil.
President Obama is evil.
You get the picture.
4) Acceptance
This one kind of ties into the whole “not judging” thing Republicans constantly fail at.
But it’s one thing to not judge someone — it’s quite another to actually accept someone who’s very different from yourself.
This is why I dismiss much of the “giving at church” that conservatives often use as evidence of their generosity and giving.
Sure, many conservatives give a great deal of money to their churches.
But guess what?
Many of them do so because they’re told that’s what they need to do to stay in the good graces of God.
Then when you look at the churches these people attend, they’re simply filled with people just like them.
It’s a lot easier to give your money to people who reflect exactly who you are.
But that doesn’t mean you’re being generous or giving.
Especially when you’re giving out of obligation to your religion, not an unwavering generosity and willingness to help.
But conservatives rarely accept anyone different from themselves.
Take President Obama for example.
We elected our first black president in 2008.
But, for many conservatives, we elected a foreign born, Muslim brotherhood supporting antichrist.
And don’t tell me his race has nothing to do with it.
If President Obama were white, Republicans still probably wouldn’t like him, but the blind hatred wouldn’t be near as intense.
One almost constant calling card of conservatives is resistance to change, not the acceptance of it.
Their social ideology seems decades behind most of the civilized world.
Doubt me?
Feel free to head to any small town in rural Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana or Georgia.
You’d think you were back in the 1950s the way many of these people think.
5) Helping those who can’t help themselves
This one kind of ties together all four of the previous.
Jesus Christ didn’t ask those who sought his help why they needed help, he just helped them.
Republicans build an ideology that’s essentially based on “survival of the fittest.”
Get as much as you can, nearly any way you can, and if others can’t keep up—that’s their problem.
The way they build their system of beliefs is completely contradictory to Jesus Christ.
If someone fell down, before they lent a hand, they’d ask why they were on the ground instead of just helping them up.
To them, helping that person out equates to “socialism.”
Even though its readily apparent that the vast majority of conservatives don’t even know the definition of “socialism,” though they love to use the word frequently.
Republicans seem to make it a mission to vilify those who need help, while championing those who live a life of greed.
Now, I’m not one to begrudge anyone’s success or wealth.
Nor should people envy the rich.
However, we have a massive problem of the hoarding of wealth in this country by the top 1-2% of the population.
People whose entire purpose in life seems to be finding ways to be richer than they were last year.
While they seem to always want to cut funding for education, clear air, food for the needy and health care for the poor—they support massive tax breaks for the rich, oppose closing loopholes that allow wealthy Americans to pay lower taxes than those much poorer than they are and almost always staunchly oppose any legislation that doesn’t directly benefit the wealthiest among us.
Mind you, their contradiction towards all five of these beliefs is pulled off under the guise of being the “party for Christian values.”
The only problem is, almost nothing the Republican party stands for reflects the values for which Jesus Christ lived and died for.
So, how exactly are these people Christians?
Well, that answer’s simple—they’re not.
They follow Republicanity, not Christianity.
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I have to connect these disturbing dots for you.
Steve Bannon was recently appointed as Chief Strategist for President-elect Donald Trump.
It was simply a promotion for Bannon, who served as CEO of Trump's presidential campaign.
Bannon, though, was not an experienced political strategist.
He was the head of Breitbart News.
Just a few months ago, he openly bragged that under his leadership he transformed Breitbart into "the platform of the alt-right movement.”
Those are his words — not from some distant past, but from this past July.
I've said it many times, but the alt-right movement is simply the KKK without the hoods.
They are skinheads with suits and ties.
They simply chose a new name, but are fueled by the same hate and the same philosophy as previous white supremacist and Neo-Nazi movements.
This weekend, it all came to a full boil.
Richard Spencer, who coined the term "alt-right" and is seen as one of its founders and public intellectuals, openly wore his Neo-Nazi heart on his sleeve.
I can hardly believe what I am about to quote.
At an Alt-Right conference being held, of all places, in a federal building in Washington D.C., Spencer didn't even attempt to hide his bigotry and anti-Semitism.
According to the NY Times,
He railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German.
America, he said, belonged to white people, whom he called the "children of the sun," a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were "awakening to their own identity."
As he finished, several audience members had their arms outstretched in a Nazi salute.
When Mr. Spencer, or perhaps another person standing near him at the front of the room — it was not clear who — shouted, "Heil the people! Heil victory," the room shouted it back.
Yeah, that really happened.
The movement that the incoming Chief Strategist of the White House brazenly built an online home for is openly quoting Nazi propaganda in German in federal buildings and giving each other Nazi salutes.
Not in the 1930s, but this weekend.
We simply aren't being clear enough.
When you build, fund, and promote the online home for the modern-day Neo-Nazi movement, and openly brag that you have done so, that makes you a supporter and enabler of Neo-Nazis.
If someone built, funded, promoted, and openly admitted to creating the online home for the latest iteration of ISIS, you know what they'd be called?
Terrorists.
Doing any such thing for the latest version of ISIS would likely get someone jailed, but doing it for modern day Neo-Nazis has gotten Steve Bannon access to the highest levels of government.
One does not have to do a Nazi salute in public to be a Neo-Nazi, but let's be clear — Steve Bannon is at least an ally of Neo-Nazis.
The man Donald Trump has appointed as his Chief Strategist has worked for years to not only normalize the alt-right movement, but to give it a home and that movement is fundamentally bigoted.
Unless you are willfully ignorant, such a thing is not in question.
His own former employees have openly said that Breitbart News, under Bannon's leadership, has openly embraced bigotry, white supremacy and anti-Semitism.
Bannon's ex-wife, before any of us had ever heard his name, said that he was anti-Semitic.
As a compliment, Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Breitbart News, openly called Bannon the "Leni Riefenstahl of the Tea Party movement.”
Leni Riefenstahl was a famous Nazi filmmaker and propagandist.
She worked directly with Adolph Hitler.
Such a "compliment" blows my mind.
No man who has openly received such a compliment should ever be in the Oval Office.
How much clearer can it get?
Stop normalizing this man.
Stop calling him a hardcore conservative.
He's much, much worse than that.
He is being openly celebrated and adored by hate groups because they see him as one of them.
They seem him as one of them because he is.
Steve Bannon is a bigot. He has created a home for bigots and anti-Semites.
His own boss complimented him by comparing him to a Nazi propagandist.
All of this comes as New York City experienced a staggering 31% increase in hate crimes in our city.
Of course our police chief does not want to say, "Donald Trump caused this," but such a steep increase in hate comes from somewhere.
Donald Trump and Steve Bannon are empowering and emboldening these elements in our country.
With every day that passes, our nation grows deeper in shame for who and what it has allowed to get this far.
Mind you, all of this was known and widely shared about Steve Bannon before the election.
We live in a time where a man who empowers Neo-Nazis will be crafting policies and strategies in the highest, most important office in the land.
This is not a joke.
This is not an exaggeration.
This is America.
2016.
Steve Bannon was recently appointed as Chief Strategist for President-elect Donald Trump.
It was simply a promotion for Bannon, who served as CEO of Trump's presidential campaign.
Bannon, though, was not an experienced political strategist.
He was the head of Breitbart News.
Just a few months ago, he openly bragged that under his leadership he transformed Breitbart into "the platform of the alt-right movement.”
Those are his words — not from some distant past, but from this past July.
I've said it many times, but the alt-right movement is simply the KKK without the hoods.
They are skinheads with suits and ties.
They simply chose a new name, but are fueled by the same hate and the same philosophy as previous white supremacist and Neo-Nazi movements.
This weekend, it all came to a full boil.
Richard Spencer, who coined the term "alt-right" and is seen as one of its founders and public intellectuals, openly wore his Neo-Nazi heart on his sleeve.
I can hardly believe what I am about to quote.
At an Alt-Right conference being held, of all places, in a federal building in Washington D.C., Spencer didn't even attempt to hide his bigotry and anti-Semitism.
According to the NY Times,
He railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German.
America, he said, belonged to white people, whom he called the "children of the sun," a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were "awakening to their own identity."
As he finished, several audience members had their arms outstretched in a Nazi salute.
When Mr. Spencer, or perhaps another person standing near him at the front of the room — it was not clear who — shouted, "Heil the people! Heil victory," the room shouted it back.
Yeah, that really happened.
The movement that the incoming Chief Strategist of the White House brazenly built an online home for is openly quoting Nazi propaganda in German in federal buildings and giving each other Nazi salutes.
Not in the 1930s, but this weekend.
We simply aren't being clear enough.
When you build, fund, and promote the online home for the modern-day Neo-Nazi movement, and openly brag that you have done so, that makes you a supporter and enabler of Neo-Nazis.
If someone built, funded, promoted, and openly admitted to creating the online home for the latest iteration of ISIS, you know what they'd be called?
Terrorists.
Doing any such thing for the latest version of ISIS would likely get someone jailed, but doing it for modern day Neo-Nazis has gotten Steve Bannon access to the highest levels of government.
One does not have to do a Nazi salute in public to be a Neo-Nazi, but let's be clear — Steve Bannon is at least an ally of Neo-Nazis.
The man Donald Trump has appointed as his Chief Strategist has worked for years to not only normalize the alt-right movement, but to give it a home and that movement is fundamentally bigoted.
Unless you are willfully ignorant, such a thing is not in question.
His own former employees have openly said that Breitbart News, under Bannon's leadership, has openly embraced bigotry, white supremacy and anti-Semitism.
Bannon's ex-wife, before any of us had ever heard his name, said that he was anti-Semitic.
As a compliment, Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Breitbart News, openly called Bannon the "Leni Riefenstahl of the Tea Party movement.”
Leni Riefenstahl was a famous Nazi filmmaker and propagandist.
She worked directly with Adolph Hitler.
Such a "compliment" blows my mind.
No man who has openly received such a compliment should ever be in the Oval Office.
How much clearer can it get?
Stop normalizing this man.
Stop calling him a hardcore conservative.
He's much, much worse than that.
He is being openly celebrated and adored by hate groups because they see him as one of them.
They seem him as one of them because he is.
Steve Bannon is a bigot. He has created a home for bigots and anti-Semites.
His own boss complimented him by comparing him to a Nazi propagandist.
All of this comes as New York City experienced a staggering 31% increase in hate crimes in our city.
Of course our police chief does not want to say, "Donald Trump caused this," but such a steep increase in hate comes from somewhere.
Donald Trump and Steve Bannon are empowering and emboldening these elements in our country.
With every day that passes, our nation grows deeper in shame for who and what it has allowed to get this far.
Mind you, all of this was known and widely shared about Steve Bannon before the election.
We live in a time where a man who empowers Neo-Nazis will be crafting policies and strategies in the highest, most important office in the land.
This is not a joke.
This is not an exaggeration.
This is America.
2016.
I guess if I was dumb enough to vote, and I had to vote for one or the other, I would have voted for the person who is simply accused of being a rapist as opposed to the person who is part of a child molesting ring- and gets kisses from the KKK.
All Trump has to do is simply say that he does not support white nationalism...but he’s too busy in tweet wars with the Hamilton cast and Alec Baldwin.
Totally Presidential material.
People want it to burn down...and so it probably will.
Could have had Bernie, but now we have this.
At least he’s not wearing socks.
Still not as tasteless as Trump’s penthouse of gold crap.
I'm not familiar with his gold crap, please enlighten me.
And this is why we should have had access to his tax returns.
The stupidity builds.
Nice job ya’ll.
The stupidity builds.
Nice job ya’ll.
WaPost Unloads IMPEACHABLE Saudi Arabia/Trump Money Funnel Scandal
The Washington Post revealed Sunday that even after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in July 2015 and older, his financial disclosures show that in August, Trump registered eight new companies in Saudi Arabia.
Full article - http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/11...hable-saudi-arabiatrump-money-funnel-scandal/
The Washington Post revealed Sunday that even after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in July 2015 and older, his financial disclosures show that in August, Trump registered eight new companies in Saudi Arabia.
Full article - http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/11...hable-saudi-arabiatrump-money-funnel-scandal/
Dear Hard-Working White People: Congratulations, You Played Yourself
Donald Trump's not bringing back those imaginary factory jobs, so I hope racism keeps you warm at night.
By D. Watkins / Salon
November 20, 2016
Donald Trump's not bringing back those imaginary factory jobs, so I hope racism keeps you warm at night.
By D. Watkins / Salon
November 20, 2016
You aren’t going to make any extra money under Donald Trump, so I hope your racism, or your attempt to ignore it, keeps you warm at night.
OK, we have all gotten the memo that it’s not cool or politically correct to yell “I hate the blacks, I hate the Mexicans and I hate the Jews!” But seriously, when was the last time the KKK celebrated a presidential election? They’ve got a glowing picture of an airbrushed, Photoshopped and digitally toned Donald on the homepage of their website. He stands heroic under a presidential seal that reads “Trump’s Race United My People.”
I can’t do much these days but sit back and laugh as I watch the president-elect build an all-star cast of white supremacists — Steve “Breitbart” Bannon, Teddy Cruz and Rudy Giuliani — or at least, if they don’t like that label, a group of men who get offended when they are called “racist,” but continue to cosign, commit and endorse racist ideas and actions.
Trump and his team may not be card-carrying Klan members, but they aren’t doing nearly enough to reject that support, while providing the rhetoric that’s gassing the hate-fueled fires spreading throughout the country. Schools all over, in every corner of America, are reacting to this hate, as if they’ve been suppressing it until this campaign gave them the heart to flex those feelings. The problem is that this isn’t 1802 and you can’t just roll up on black people and start attacking them. There will be consequences, and people on both sides will be hurt.
The real question is this: What’s the point? What do these white working-class people we’ve heard so much about really expect? Having a race-baiting president will not — I repeat, will not — transform into any opportunities for hard-working whites in America, just like the Obama candidacy didn’t deliver any black person from the issues that African-Americans have been facing since long before I was born.
A common theme that’s being tossed around is that Trump’s election was the white working class’ chance way to say “F**k you!” to the political elites who forgot about them, sucked up their factory jobs and left them out to dry. I take issue with this for a number of reasons.
The first and most obvious reason is this: How do you buck a system ruled by elites by electing a billionaire who was born rich, employed the Mexicans he blamed for taking jobs away and could never possibly understand someone else’s struggle? Next, I don’t fully understand the term “hard-working whites.” I come from the blackest community in one of the blackest cities, and I don’t know how not to have 10 jobs. Everybody I know has 10 jobs, even the infants. Many black people, Asians and Mexicans alike work their asses off, so why is the “hard-working white” class even a voting bloc?
What’s sad is that these angry, hard-working white people don’t understand that they saw more economic gains under President Obama than they did under George W. Bush. Unemployment went down across the board except among African Americans— the rate actually doubled for us — so those folks should be praising Obama, not championing Trump or subscribing to all this alt-right B.S.
Then there’s the myth of returning factory jobs. It’s not a real thing! And trust me, I used to subscribe to the same ideas, all caught up in the nostalgia of the old dudes from my neighborhood. My friend Al’s grandpa used to park his Cadillac on Ashland Avenue, hop out and roll up on us nine-year-olds like, “Finish high school, get a job at Bethlehem Steel and your future is set!” He’d spin his Kangol around backward, pull out a fistful of dollars, give us each a couple and continue, “I made so much money at the steel factory, my lady ain’t worked a day in her life! I bought a house that I paid off and that shiny car right there! Yes sir, life is good!”
Those jobs were long gone by the time we came of age, at Bethlehem Steel and almost every place like it across the country. They weren’t taken by Mexicans or sent overseas — industries changed, new products were made and robots were invented that could do the job of 10 men and work all night without complaining. Those beautiful factory positions for uneducated hard-working whites (or anybody else) aren’t coming back, and I don’t care what Trump says. What’s even weirder is that we have created a generation of people complaining about jobs that they have never had and will not see in their lifetime — and again, for what?
We should be asking ourselves what’s going to happen when the forgotten Trump supporters are ignored by him. I challenge the Klansmen, the closet racists and the rest of his supporters to look deeper into Trump’s life and his business. Unlike you, he’s not committed to white, he’s committed to green, and your financial situation will not change.
In the immortal words of DJ Khaled, "Congratulations, you played yourself."
I am trying to avoid politics, but this is scary stuff. This is not a matter of tax rates or health care premiums. This is blatant support for discrimination. And this doesn't just focus on Muslims and Mexicans. These bigots dislike anyone who is not American, white (in the strictest and stupidest sense of the antiquated term), Christian, straight, conservative, non-androgynous, and nationalistic. Considering I was raised Jewish and my last name is Yiddish and sounds blatantly Jewish, I automatically am not acceptable to them. Well fuck them. They are spiritually retarded. Fortunately I live in a neighborhood, a city, a county, and a state where this type of shit is not tolerated whatsoever. One of the very few perks of having gangs here is that the KKK/neo nazi/skin head garbage is kept at a distance. I have heard about white power gangs outside of LA. Dudes with swastika tattoos like in American History X. But whereas that movie was set in Venice, I don't think those types are ever actually seen in the city (What do you know, a movie that is factually inaccurate). I have heard that if white power gang members were to ever choose to venture into LA, not only would they have to worry about the LAPD, but they would get killed by black, Latino, or Asian gangs immediately. Plus LA is only about 30% white as it is. We are a minority. And I don't give a fuck. I have never felt threatened by the makeup of other people around me. White supremacists would have to discriminate against well over 99% of the people in LA considering its diversity and liberalism, and once you factor in the money, power, and importance of this city and state to the rest of the country and the world, I am not too worried about my own well being. But with that being said, I am concerned that someone like Bannon could ever be allowed to set foot in the White House in 2017, and possess clout no less. How accepted could his views become in our society? I am still skeptical that they will ever become more than a fringe ideology, but I could be wrong. And of course I hope I am not. All I know is, certain people probably feel very vulnerable right now living in certain areas of this country. I would not want to be living in an emboldened Trump state, city, town, county, or neighborhood right now with a significant white nationalism demographic. Disagreeing about politics, economics, or even religion is one thing, but how can Americans not be completely unified in the utter rejection of all forms of bigotry? This is rather mind boggling. I guess we have to hold our collective breaths for 4 years of Trump/Pence, and hope the pendulum swings the other way back towards common decency, tolerance, respect, acceptance, and unity by 11/2020. But that is a long time to hold your breath. Much can happen in four years. Let's hope for the good of our country, and the world, that this is an example of one step back, but then two steps forward. Progress does not occur in a linear fashion. I hope we look back in a decade and recognize this current climate as an anomaly, not a trend. Unfortunately, I am afraid that regardless of what occurs moving forward, some irreparable harm has already been done. There is far too much ignorance, greed, and prejudice amongst this country's citizens. I guess the silver lining is at least it is no longer hiding, and it is easier to deal with problems which are clearly in plain sight. To conclude, I would like to share a brief texting exchange I had with my brother the day after the election. He lives in NYC (not terribly far from where swastikas were spray painted recently at Adam Yauch Park, a park which honors the late founding member of the Beastie Boys, a group formed by Jewish New Yorkers), and he has become both a secular humanist as well as a progressive over the past decade. He is very intelligent and very well educated, and probably would be dismissed as a member of the "Liberal Elite" by someone like Sarah Palin since he has traveled all around the world, despises Evangelicals, is very worldly, and has friends who are very diverse. Him: "Well that just happened. I am in shock. And in mourning." Me: "Americans are stupid." Him: "That has now been proven beyond a doubt." Welcome to America, land of the foolish, and home of the clueless. Wish us luck. We could really use it.