19.12.16

He is going to be president - so you must be an asshole



The non-elected electors have spoken. This man who lost the popular vote by 2+ million votes, but won the electoral college, is going to be president. When you go to the Hall of Presidents at Disney World, there will be an animatronic Donald Trump up there with Lincoln and Washington.

That's that.

But this is not the end.

You need to speak up. ABOUT EVERYTHING. This election was lost because "Hillary takes money to speak at Goldman Sachs" but the man saying that has hired a former Goldman Sachs leader to be a policy maker in his administration. He's nominated Rick Perry, a former Dancing with the Stars contest and GOP presidential candidate who had a talking point about eliminating executive cabinet positions but forgot the name of the cabinet positions to run the exact cabinet (Department of Energy) he forgot.

You know that uncle or grandparent who told you how Obama was going to nominate Farrakhan (Trump supporter, by the way) to help run his government? Or how Obama was a secret Muslim? Or how the Clinton Foundation was evil (it's a charity - Trump's foundation paid money to Pam Bondi, the state attorney general of Florida, running for re-election, who was overseeing a case by the state against Trump). You need to be an asshole to that person. Let me repeat that. An Asshole. Because these people are the assholes who elected this completely unqualified person to be president, as if some sort of "I'm old, I earned this" moxie for this "rebel against PC" (aka I'm not succeeding in this economy because I refuse to adapt from a time where white Christian males had every advantage).

An asshole who:

  • Reminds people that Trump told the Russians to "hack" in July, the last time he had a press conference.
  • Reminds people he's too busy to have a press conference but he will meet with Kanye West.
  • Follows people like @funder (Scott Dworkin) and  (Kurt Eichenwald) on twitter and reports on things Trump is doing/has done.
  • Question to others if Trump cares more about his business than his country.
  • Tells people how Trump mocked a disabled reporter. How he lies. How he brags about sexually assaulting women. How his twitter use is not presidential.
  • MOCK PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP. Embarrass them. Be a proud ASSHOLE. You are probably smarter than them and you have facts on your side. Insult people who voted for him.
  • Points out how Trump has contradicted himself at times pro-choice and pro-life, pro-Russia, anti-Russia, pro-China, anti-China.
  • Tell people how Trump won "a game" of election but how 2+ million more people voted.
  • Never be quiet. 
Trump will not "Drain the Swamp", "Lock her Up" or "Build the Wall". None of those things are happening, nor will a national registry of Muslims or mass-deport illegal aliens. Those were election promises to cater to people who vote emotional and don't think critically. Nor will Trump change gay rights or abortion. Heck, the RNC isn't even "repealing" Obamacare anymore; they are "replacing it". The infrastructure and Obamacare fixes are probably things Obama would have done himself if Congress had let him - so this is not bad (other than GOP obstruction).

We will not be hurt in the short-term by Trump's economic policies, other than an increased national debt (point that out to people who bring up Obama and debt). His disgusting environmental policies will even take 5-10 years to hurt. Where we will be hurt is by Trump's foreign policy. This is a man who has no ability to walk the diplomatic tight rope to keep the world in balance as it is now and a man who believes in phony American Exceptionalism (the thought that America, as if by some divine grace, is better than all other countries - without acknowledging the work to get there). The big issue is Trump's foreign business dealings interfering with his foreign policy choices as president. We don't really know the extent of Trump's international business (mostly branding, selling his name), but we do know who he's hiring (Exxon/Mobil CEO friendly to Russia, people who contributed to him to cabinet posts). We cannot sit by and watch when he makes potentially deadly international moves. Our safety and our economy will suffer.

Most Americans didn't vote for Trump, heck, most Americans didn't vote - but we are stuck with him. On January 20th, he'll be sworn in as president. It starts your term as an educated, uncomfortable, truth-sided asshole. 


7.12.16

I'm going to have a better day tomorrow as a dad

What I was asked to accomplish this week - it's just too much. In a house full of stress, I'm the one who has to look, act and be unaffected. No affect. No effects.


But that wasn't me today. I have a son who studies me, copies me, plays me like an actor's role. I did not give him the script he needed today. I gave him impulsive, angry, swearing and nasty dad. I have a daughter who just wants to please me. There was none of that today. And a wife who just wants my support on a difficult day at work and as a parent - I listened - but the reactions were not right.

We all woke up at 3am. That happens sometimes. My son missed his medications at school today somehow. He's failing there at times. I can tell him how to succeed, he can know it - but he won't do it unless he sees me do it. My daughter was just too tired to function.

The left hooks, right jab work combinations all day and technology drops the ball. And I drop the ball. And at the same time it's like I'm painting an incomplete idea, erasing more than making. It never looks good.

But this will all be tomorrow soon. Tomorrow, goal one is to be a better dad. The role of the lifetime for me.