BUT BUT BUT BUT HER E-MAILZ...!!!!!
18 May 2017 update: March on, Blog March!
With love to the ever brilliant, beautiful, multi-talented, and angelic Robin Renee, who is truly the best person I've ever known, allow me, Dot Calm's shadow, to present
The Danger of Magical Thinking,
or How Magical thinking tRumped America
Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders--and welcome fellow Blog Marchers!
Those of you who follow this blawg know that I usually blawg about politics. I also sometimes blawg about atheism because of the devastating effects of religion on American society. I guess my M.O. is to analyze the most imminent threat at any given time.
Sometimes, though, I like to look back and think about how we got to where we are today. That's where I'd like to take todaze post, if you'll indulge me.
Last July, I put together a blawg post titled "More TV for Christians: 'Wheel of fortune,' Christian style," re-posted below for your comfort and convenience. (Below that is a moar typical post.)
In that post, I posited what it would look like if Christians used their magical thinking more consistently in their lives, including in situations that show just how ridiculous magical thinking is.
My point in doing so was to draw attention to two facts: magical thinking is ridiculous, and those who use it are hypocrites. They really don't believe what they say they believe because, if they did, a day would not pass in which we would not see Christians behaving exactly the way I lampooned.
Although I discussed in that post some of the ramifications of magical thinking, like making piss-poor decisions without realizing that that's what you're doing and why, I didn't really go into the ramifications of magical thinking across an entire society.
Like the United States of America, where FOX News and Christian television and church preachers have been jumping through their own assholes to discredit science because they hate being told that their worldviews--and, with them, their lucrative livings fleecing the unsuspecting--are wrong, destructive, toxic, and unsupported and unsupportable by the evidence provided all around us by the observable, real world.
So, dear ones, hop into the Wayback Machine with me for a few moments, and let's go back maybe 30 years, when Reagan first started dismantling our free and fair media, allowing huge right-wing conglomerates to form and buy up vast swathes of our airwaves, replacing the Fairness Doctrine with "conservative" ideology and "family values."
Turn the clock forward a little from there, and you'll see the "religious right" fighting to foist creationism into our public school science classrooms and enforce mandatory Christian prayer in public schools.
Turn the clock forward a little more, and you'll see both right-wing (Christian) and left-wing (New Age) anti-vaxxers.
Turn forward a little more, and you'll see 9/11 truthers and climate science deniers.
Turn forward to today, and you'll see more Americans than not--some 80% of whom identify as some form of Christian--getting their science from their preachers' pulpits and FOX News and right-wing tawk radio than from actual science books or science teachers or, gawd forbid, scientists.
But why--why do these otherwise intelligent, reasonable people believe nonsense as if it's...well, as if it's God's own truth?
Because our public schools have failed them, leaving them science-illiterate and bereft of critical thinking skills...and because hate-and-fear-filled right-wing ideology and religion were only too ready, able, and willing to leap into and fill the void left by our sorry standards of education.
Most Americans believe nonsense because they ARE religious--because they've been taught magical thinking from their infancies.
They've been taught that the Santa Claus in the red Christmas suit isn't real, but the invisible one in the sky--who will also fry your ass for eternity in hell--IS real.
They've been taught that they'll get whatever they dream of if only they make the right incantations(prayer) in the right way (as the Bible proscribes) and if they wish hard enough (believe).
They've been taught that the real world is not real and that some arbitrary invisible world--for which no evidence exists--IS real.
In effect, they've been taught that black is white, up is down, right is wrong,...and slavery is freedom.
And they vote!
Which brings me to my point: Americans with precious little education and even less ability to think critically vote in this country, and they vote not based on what is true but on what they wish were true.
How many stories have you read lately of tRump voters getting skr00ed by tRump?
CBS News, May 7, 2017: Deported man's wife and friends rethink voting for Trump
WaPo, April 4, 2017: Trump supporter regrets vote after undocumented husband is deported
HuffPo, March 24, 2017: She Voted For Trump. Now, Her Husband Is Being Deported
These are just the first three I saw in a Google search on "trump voter deport"...the man deported in the March 2017 story didn't even have so much as a traffic ticket to his name.
How many tRump voters stand to lose their health insurance? Their Medicaid? Safe food, water, medications? Everything else our taxes pay for that keep these people alive and well?
(Funny...this tweet is from 2015, and it refers to Republican-voting LGBTQ+ people lamenting getting skr00ed by the Republicans they voted for.)
Which brings me to how we got to where we are today--how we rejected the most honest, most qualified presidential candidate in the history of this nation to elect an ignorant, arrogant, bullying, elitist, entitled, spoiled-brat, orange buffoon who never stopped telling us from the get-go exactly who and what he was.
The answer--or at least a yuuuge part of it--is magical thinking.
Too many Americans decided to believe that orange twAtler was what they wished he were rather than what he really was. They believed what they wanted to hear, not what he was actually telling them by word and deed.
They bit the bait of believing that a man born rich--with a history of stiffing his workers, defrauding the public, and skipping out on his bills every chance he got--could...would...somehow care about, care for, and take care of them.
It never occurred to them that, with tRump, they weren't at the table--they were on the menu.
Willfully or not, they fooled themselves because their critical thinking had been disabled long ago, when they were tiny children.
That's the problem with making yourself believe something--even if it's just one itsy bitsy eensy weensy little thing--that your rational mind knows isn't true: you deliberately disable one chunk of your critical thinking skills, and, by so doing, you unwittingly disable other chunks of your critical thinking skills that you had no idea and no intention of disabling.
In other words, in order to open the door deliberately to one piece of bullshit you want to believe, you open all sorts of back doors and trap doors inadvertently to all manner of bullshit you don't want to believe...only you have no idea that this is exactly what you've just done.
I speak from experience.
I grew up in a devoutly Catholic home and bought into all the crazy--hook, line, and sinker. God loves you, but He'll punish you in hell forever if you're bad. Humans are irredeemably dirty--women doubly so because women are the reason there's suffering in the world. People are inherently unworthy of being loved and have to earn it or fry in hell...but God will save you, maybe, if you believe in Jesus and tick all the boxes on the Holy Checklist. I believed it all and never questioned the truth of any of it until the priest child rape and molestation scandal broke in the double-aughts...and the Church was sorry not for shielding the perpetrators but for getting caught. And our local parishes all addressed the problem in their Sunday sermons by lambasting women for using birth control and having abortions. "An institution that can not merely tolerate but foment this kind of abuse has to be wrong at its most fundamental levels," I thought. And I left the Church, refusing to legitimize them by filling their pews with myself or their coffers with my money.
Even though I was no longer a Catholic, I was still a believer. I adopted some New Age ideas and floated around, looking for a spiritual home.
Then, I became close friends with a fundamentalist Christian. He was so passionate about his beliefs--so confident that he had it right--that I wondered whether maybe I had just been doing Christianity wrong.
First, he told me that my New Age beliefs were demonic. "That sounds like bullshit," I thought, so I ignored him. Then he said there was no evidence supporting my New Age beliefs. "Hm, he has a point," I thought...and *snap*--no more New Age beliefs for me, and I never looked back.
But I did suspend my disbelief and step into his world of Christianity. I allowed myself to believe everything he and his televangelist preachers told me. I believed that, if we all just prayed hard enough, this person's injured shoulder would heal without surgery (it didn't), or that person's weight problem would vanish virtually overnight (it wouldn't), or the guy who needed money would win the lottery (he didn't).
Then, my friend told me to read the Bible literally with a view toward believing it literally...a-a-a-a-and that was the first big step toward my becoming an atheist.
You see, the Bible is so chock full of contradictions, impossibilities, horrific immorality perpetrated by God Himself, and just plain factually wrong statements that it was obvious to me before I even finished reading Chapter 1 of Genesis that no supposedly divine being had a hand in writing it and that the supposedly divine being the book called "God" was an impossibility in and of itself--and, even if it did exist, which it clearly did not and could not, it was more of a monster or demon than something to admire and worship.
The hypocrisy of this fine, upstanding Christian man and all his favorite televangelists was another nail in the coffin. Pointing out all the greedy, abusive, and horrible behavior, I demanded of my friend, "If Christianity doesn't make you a better person, what good is it?"
On top of that, some time later when I was at this friend's house, I saw Lee Strobel on Christian television...and after he spent half an hour peddling evidence-free "evidence" for Jesus, I ended up looking up the historicity of Jesus myself online and discovered that--*gasp!*--it's entirely possible that Jesus is nothing more than a myth and that no such man ever walked the earth. (Here's a blawg post devoted to that piece of my deconversion.)
Well, friends, the realization that there might never have existed any such man as Jesus shook me to my core. The personal experience piece of my internal belief "network" was the last piece of my faith to fall--my favorite YouTube atheists explained that it was just my own brain talking to my own brain, which explains why prophecies fail--and I have to confess: I have never looked back; I have never been so free; and I have never been so en-garde against bullshit now that I have furbished up and reinstalled my bullshit-filtering critical thinking skills. (See Evid3nc3's YouTube vids for his fascinating deconversion story, which describes the "network" of faith.)
I say all this so you don't think I'm holier--or unholier--than thou when I denounce magical thinking. When I look back over my religious life, I see a LOT of poor decisions I made because I truly believed that something else would fix things and make things right. Now I know that it's up to me to make things right. It's up to me to make amends if I skr00 up. It's up to me personally to be my brothers' and sisters' keeper.
And I just luuuuuurve being free from all the guilt and wasted intellectual and emotional energy trying to figure out how to please and avoid displeasing something so invisible, arbitrary, and contradictory.
Now I just get to be me, the imperfect but hard-working human I was born to be.
And I finally feel safe, comfortable, and happy within my own skin.
I am no longer anyone else's dupe.
My own escape--to which I can only credit the intellectual honesty of desiring truth more than being "right," being confident, or believing--makes me that much more sensitive to magical thinking in others when I see it.
It makes me angry that the people with money and power in government and religion foment this destructive way of thinking so they can take advantage of otherwise well-meaning, intelligent, rational people.
And it pisses me the hell off because people I know and love--not to mention our nation at large--are shooting themselves in the foot all day, every day because they still adhere to magical thinking...and they have no idea they're even doing it.
Here is a weird but related observation:
Q; How do you know if an engineer is religious?
A: If he tells you, "I KNOW it works" when CLEARLY it doesn't!
That's magical thinking for you!
(I've seen this kind of bullshit a million times on the job. Personally, though, I was fortunate--somehow, I compartmentalized my magical thinking so that it never interfered with my engineering or scientific pursuits, and I always simply followed where the evidence led me. There but for the grace of the Flying Spaghetti Monster go I.)
So, with that introduction, let me present todaze pièce de résistance: "Wheel of Fortune, Christian-style!"
Enjoy!
- Dot Calm's shadow
P.S.--Until we meet again, please check out the FaceBook, YouTube, and other links down by the peas for moar n00z you can use! And don't forget to follow me on Twitter.
In the game "Wheel of Fortune," players are presented with a puzzle that consists of words or phrases. They are invited to guess letters as they work toward solving the puzzle. Even the first guesses are educated guesses--they are not just wild guesses--because players know the number and the lengths of the words in the puzzle; they know the letters that make up the words in the language; and they know how those words usually fall together. As more letters are revealed, the players refine their guesses until enough letters are revealed to make the content of the puzzle clear. Thus, the players change their answers over time as more and more letters are revealed until they finally solve the puzzle.
In science, an observation leads a researcher to hypothesize what caused it. This hypothesis is not some wild-ass guess--it is an educated guess based on what the researcher sees and already knows about how the world works. The researcher then performs experiments to collect more observations--evidence--to verify or falsify the hypothesis. After each round of evidence is collected, the hypothesis is discarded, refined, or accepted for more researchers to experiment against--in other words, over time, as more evidence is obtained, scientists change their answers about the explanation. Once the hypothesis explains all the available evidence consistently across a number of fields and observed by many, many researchers, then it is considered to be a theory. When the action of a theory is expressed in a closed-form equation, that expression is considered a law.
My Tea Party Christian friend recently saw a scientific exhibit that got him all excited. He was so impressed with what he saw that he went home and looked up all the individual presentations online. He mused of the scientists, "If this is what they have completed so far, then imagine what they must be doing now that we can't see yet--imagine what they will be able to do in the next few years."
I found this interesting.
This is the same man who says that "science can't be trusted"...that "scientists make shit up"...that scientists "keep changing their answers."
Can you say "compartmentalization"?
I knew you could.
Ignoring that for the moment, I explained to my friend how science works, comparing it to the "Wheel of Fortune" game.
What surprised me most was that he was not at all surprised. The analogy made total sense to him.
But it got me thinking...
What if Christians played "Wheel of Fortune" through the lens of religion instead of reality?
Yes, friends--it's time for more "TV for Christians,"
Dot Calm's shadow-style!
[Cue cheesy theme music and cheesier announcer]
ANNOUNCER: It's time for WHEEL...OF...FORTUNE with your hosts, Vanna White and Pat Sajak!
[The audience applauds. The ever-lovely Vanna White, smiling radiantly, strides elegantly across the set in yet another stunning evening gown to take her place by the puzzle board. Pat Sajak takes his place on the set, keeping his mouth shut to hide his moronic politics and his envy of Dick Clark's permanent status as America's Oldest and most loved Teenager.]
PAT: Tonight's theme is Christianity, so our three players tonight are all Christians: Mash, Dodo, and Gomer--what lovely biblical names! Let's give them all a round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
PAT: Vanna, what is our puzzle tonight?
VANNA [gesturing gracefully to the puzzle board]: Here it is, Pat. It looks like we have some punctuation.
PUZZLE BOARD: Ding...ding.
PAT: Mash, you won the coin toss, so you get to go first. Spin the wheel and pick a letter.
MASH: I already know the puzzle, Pat--it's "God is love"!
PAT [puzzled]: Mash, are you sure you want to make such a guess this early in the game? You don't have any money yet.
MASH: Oh, that's OK--God will provide.
PAT: Well, if you insist on making a guess without any letters or prize money, then try taking another look at the board. We usually don't give hints--we usually don't need to--but you can see how many letters are in each word. That should help you.
MASH: What, you mean change my answer like some Satanist scientist? Thanks just the same, Mister Sajak, but I already know what the puzzle is. It's "God is love"!
PAT [confused]: Vanna, is the puzzle "God is love"?
VANNA [looks at the puzzle and shakes her head]: No, Pat.
PAT: I'm sorry, Mash--your turn is over. Dodo, it's your turn. Spin the wheel and guess a letter.
DODO: Guess a letter? For what?
PAT [confused again]: To solve the puzzle on the board.
DODO: But Pat--there is no puzzle! There are no letters, so there is no puzzle. Until you have all the letters, you can't say there's a puzzle there at all. The puzzle doesn't exist. Even a five-year-old can see that.
PAT [even more confused]: Um, Dodo, that's the point of the game--to guess the letters to solve the puzzle. The puzzle is right up there, where Vanna is standing. The objective is to guess the letters so you can figure out what the puzzle says and win the money. Have you ever seen the show?
DODO: Can't say that I have. We don't keep no demon boxes in our home.
PAT: ...by which, I assume, you mean television sets.
DODO: That's right.
PAT: Well, would you trust me as an authority and a FOX News Republican that the goal of the game is to guess the letters to solve the puzzle on the board that clearly exists by where Vanna, who also clearly exists, is standing?
DODO: Well, my pastor owns a tee-vee. He says that FOX has gotten pretty socialist-Marxist-leftist these days, but it's still the most accurate news a good God-fearing Christian Republican can find outside of Glenn Beck and Alex Jones. But if you're an authority, then I guess I trust you if you insist that a puzzle exists.
PAT: Great! Then go ahead, Dodo, and spin the wheel
--if you believe it exists--and guess a letter.
DODO [spins the wheel]: T!
PAT: Vanna, is there a "t"?
VANNA [striding over to the reveal the lit-up letter on the puzzle board]: Yes, there is one "t," Pat.
DODO: I'd like to guess the puzzle now, Pat.
PAT: Go ahead.
DODO: Mash, my friend, you gave me the answer. The puzzle is "God will provide."
PAT [bemused]: Dodo, there's no "t" in "God will provide." I'm afraid your turn is over.
DODO: But Pat, I KNOW the answer. It's "God will provide." I know that I know that I know that I know! I have faith that my answer is right!
PAT: I'm sorry, Dodo. but that's the wrong answer. Our next contestant is Gomer. You're looking lovely this evening in your pink chiffon kerchief, Gomer.
GOMER: My husband always makes sure I cover my head when I leave the house, Pat, for the sake of the angels.
PAT: Is that in the Bible? I'm not familiar with that passage.
GOMER: It's 1 Corinthians 11:10, Pat--because man was not made for woman but woman was made for man, she has to have her head covered, to show that man has authority over her, because the angels are watching and will come down and have sex with her and spawn another race of giants like the ones that forced God to drown the world in the flood. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's what it says.
PAT [evidently surprised]: Wait, the Bible says that angels mate with women? And that the women give birth to giants? And that's why women have to keep their heads covered?
GOMER: Yes, Sir. But don't ask me because I'm a woman. I'm not allowed to instruct you because you're a man and thus my superior, per 1 Corinthians 14:34.
MASH: She's right on both counts, Pat. She's not allowed to instruct you, and angels really did come down, copulate with human women, and produce giants. It's in Genesis 6:4, "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." "Came in unto" means "had s-e-x with," and "sons of God" refers to the angels.
DODO: That's right! And now that women stopped covering heir heads in public in the 1970s, people are getting taller and taller and taller--they've been turning into the giants that the Apostle Paul warned us about!
GOMER: Heavens!
PAT: Fascinating! Who knew?
VANNA: But wasn't Goliath a giant, and didn't he come after the flood?
GOMER: That's right--he did.
PAT: So, it sounds like the flood wasn't so effective in killing all the giants after all if they came back afterward. Hunh, who knew that God's plan to wash away all evil was so...ineffective? Well, Gomer, it's your turn--spin the wheel and pick a letter.
GOMER [spins wheel]: S!
PAT: Vanna, is there an "s"?
VANNA: There sure is, Pat! There are three of them.
PUZZLE BOARD: Ding...ding...ding!
PAT: Spin again, Gomer, and pick another letter.
GOMER: Um, can I buy an "e"?
PAT: Sure thing, Gomer--looks like a good value for your money!
[DING...DING...DING]
PAT: Spin again.
GOMER [spins]: An "n," please?
VANNA: You're in luck--there is one "n."
GOMER [spins]: Hmmm...is there...an "h"?
PAT: There is one "h." Spin again, Gomer--you're doing really well!
GOMER [spins]: Hmm, well, now, I am really stumped. Is there a "r"?
VANNA: Yes, there is one "r."
GOMER [spins]: Is there a "c"?
PAT: Yes, there are three "c's." Well done! Spin again, Gomer.
[Gomer spins and goes bankrupt. The puzzle board makes a sad bloop. The audience groans.]
PAT: Oh! What rotten luck! And you were doing so well! That's how the wheel goes sometimes. Mash, it's your turn again. Now you've seen how the game is played, and you have a lot of clues now about what the puzzle is. Since you don't have any money, why don't you spin the wheel and pick a letter?
MASH: oh boy, Pat--I didn't want to wish ill on Gomer, but I prayed and prayed you would get back to me. I don't need to spin--I know the puzzle already! It's "God is love!"
PAT [facepalms]: I'm sorry, Mash, but that is still not the answer. Um...Dodo?
DODO: My prayer is answered--I never thought you would get back to me again! The answer is "God will provide"!
[Pat facepalms. The studio audience facepalms. Atheists watching at home facepalm.]
BUZZER: BUZZZZZZZT!
PAT: Oh, Gomer, if only we'd had another minute, but that buzzer means that time's up.
GOMER: Oh, that's OK, Pat--I had fun just being here.
[The audience applauds Gomer's good sportsmanship]
PAT: Vanna, would you please show us the answer?
[Vanna strides over and reveals the puzzle]
PAT: Well, that's it for our show this week--and a good take-home message for all the Christians watching. I'd like to thank our players for one of the most interesting and pointless games I've seen since forever. Vanna and I wish you a good night from "Wheel of Fortune." See you next time!
[Vanna and Pat smile and wave to the camera. Theme song plays. Audience applauds.]
THE END
Now, before you get your panties in a wad that I'm being all mean to Christians, consider: this is how Christians live their lives when it comes to things like religion, health, relationships, and money. They live their lives ignoring the observable reality they live in and demanding others do the same or at least pander to their delusions. They organize their lives around a fantasy that is no more reasonable than Santa Claus and feel persecuted that the rest of us don't.
Am I really the only one who thinks that this is NOT a good thing?
For example, my Tea Party Christian friend fully expects to win the lottery, despite the astronomical odds against it, because God. He's spent thousands of dollars on a voluntary tax on people who can't do math. I've personally had to bail out multiple religious family members through the years because they fully expected that God would provide. It never occurred to them that their expectations of magic were unrealistic. It never occurred to them that their salvation came at a cost to their loved ones. It never occurred to them that it wasn't God providing. No old bearded guy swooped down from the clouds, pulled a wallet out of the hip pocket of his white robe, asked them how much they needed, and handed them a wad of cash. It was their own family members making sacrifices...sometimes to cover some very unreasonable, irresponsible expenses...because these otherwise reasonable people clung to the unrealistic notion that "God will provide."
And they VOTE.
-----
Stay t00ned to #BlogMarch2017 tomorrow--the ever-fabulous Edie Weinstein will blog tomorrow on Huffington Post: http://www.
Don't forget to peruse your way down to the peas, friends, to see what a moar normal blawg post looks like. Today, you'll find a little history in the making! Be good 2U!
- Dot Calm's shadow
16 May post:
Wouldn't you just love to know how our adversary, who attacked us in the cyber domain and interfered with our 2016 presidential election, scored a meeting in the Oval Office?!??
But I digress.
Stop me if you've already heard that H.R. McMaster only denied what WaPo never said about tRump's leak in his "press conference" last night...as he lost his soul to the dementor's kiss of working for tRump's benighted administration. Which, of course, is an admission that what WaPo did report is the truth.
And, of course, the GOP has reacted with their usual fervid murmurs of mild discomfort and muted tongue clicks of passing annoyance. As I tweeted, "Looks like @GOP has gone to full beige alert."
As I also tweeted, "The party of Reagan and Lincoln is now the party of Putin and Jackson."
Why is it that every week feels like yet another loss of innocence?
Watch this space, dear ones--my next post, the Thursday update to this post, will be part of my longtime and forever friend Robin Renee's Blog March--woo HOO!
My blawg march post will be a special feature rather than my usual current events rant and core dump, so please follow me on Twitter to keep tabs on what's pissing me off between now and this time next week.
The GOP are so incensed
at orange twAtler's leaks to Russia
that they've gone full beige alert
*****
Choo choo time headlines
Second Nexus: As Details Emerge on Dinner with Comey, Trump Goes Unhinged on Twitter
The Atlantic: Five Reasons Why the Comey Affair Is Worse Than Watergate
...Um, because RUSSIA HACKED OUR ELECTION, and TRUMP IS PUTIN'S COCK HOLSTER?!??
The Stern Facts: Russian Mobster Felix Sater Advised The Trump Campaign
Bloomberg: Trump Lawyers: Tax Returns Show Little Income From Russians
...benedict donald's law firm, Morgan Lewis, which won the "Russian Law Firm of the Year" award, wrote tRump's "certified letter" claiming that tRump has no Russian financial involvement "with a few exceptions"--a $100 MILLION hedge that Twitter had a field day with.
WaPo: Why Republicans are finding it so hard to spin their war on Medicaid
...Um, BECAUSE IT WOULD KILL MILLIONS OF AMERICANS?!??
BuzzFeed: People Can't Stop Tweeting About How Relevant "The Handmaid's Tale" Feels
...Read the tweets, friends--simultaneously funny and frightening.
NY Times: If Liberals Hate Him, Then Trump Must Be Doing Something Right
...So, as I tweeted, if tRump ate their babies, they'd be thuh-rilled as long as teh libtardz were outraged.
NDN: On Trump's Meeting with Lavrov Today - Time To End The Appeasement of Russia
...As I tweeted, "appeasement" is way too mild of a word for the treasonous collusion between tRump and PEWtin.
BuzzFeed: These Activists Were Detained For Wanting Russia To Investigate Kidnappings of Gay Men
...Beautiful intelligent, sensitive, concerned, compassionate faces....
MalwareTech: How to Accidentally Stop a Global Cyber Attacks
...The guy simply bought a domain name, hurrrrrp?!?? There's also this from The Guardian: 'Accidental hero' halts ransomware attack and warns: this is not over.
DC Report: The Kazakhstan Connection: Trump, Bayrock and Plenty of Questions
Salon: Not exactly bedtime stories: My father, the Holocaust and a moment of bravery he'll never forget
...Friends, this is what's at stake. Are we going to let Muslims, teh poorz, wimmins, POC, teh gayz, and everyone else Republicans hate go through what Nazi Germany did to the Jews? Are we going to let tRump and his moronic, Holocaust-denying minions repeat this gawd-awful history on Jews here?
Slate: The Trump administration's guide to twisting words
WSJ: Financial-Crimes Monitor to Share Records in Trump-Russia Probe
Chicago Tribune: My son lost his health insurance — and then he lost his life
...The kid had cancer, got over it, let his insurance lapse because he couldn't afford it, had a relapse, and died way too young. His mother is heartbroken. So am I. In tRumPEWtin's America, this could happen to any of us.
Cold War Daily: Russian influence and Shadow Brokers' message 'to elites'
AlterNet: Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed in Explosive New Documentary
Blue Dot Daily: Democratic Coalition: Paper Trail Implicates Mike Pence in Flynn over-up
New Republic: The Path of Most Resistance--The Promise and Perils of the Fight Against Trump
...Friends, this is a REALLY important article! If you read nothing else, read THIS. Now that Hillary is setting up a PAC for The Resistance, it is incumbent on us NOT to let her or Bernie or ANYONE ELSE hijack this progressive movement! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!
NY Times: When the World Is Led by a Child
...David Brooks, a lifelong Republican, spells out what we're up against. Scary, scary piece.
Public Integrity: Cities to Trump, Clinton and Sanders: pay your police bills
...Is anyone surprised that tRump skipped out on his bills? Anyone? Bueller? BUELLER?
Foreign Policy: NATO Frantically Tries to Trump-Proof President's First Visit
...NATO tries to tRump-proof itself!! Holy sheeite--to what a sorry pass have we come?!??
ThinkProgress: North Carolina Senate GOP targets children who live in Democratic Districts
...By denying them STEM money! Srsly, folks--the NC GOP wants to make Democratic district kids st00pit enough to vote Republican!
WSJ: Former Employees of Donald Trump Say They Saw Him Tape at Trump Tower
...Three former employees witnessed tRump taping people. One reported that such a tape was used as evidence in court!
Patribotics: Russia probe means President Hatch; RICO Case Against GOP
...In other words, when the tRump-Russia house of cards collapses, we're looking at President Hatch. There's also
Bipartisan Report: BREAKING: Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Busted Working With Russia
Truth Examiner: Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Both Received Campaign Money
Democratic Underground: TASS: Russian news is now reporting that Trump DID leak intel about U.S. military operations, despite the White House explicitly denying this
...Here are live links from the screen-grab below:
http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/4253919
http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/4253919http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/4253919
The Dworkin Report: Evidence Tying Donald Trump to Russia
NY Times: Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation
...A clear and present case of tRump obstructing justice and interfering with the FBI's investigation of him. Apparently, Comey didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday--he has detailed memos of all of his transactions with benedict donald, and he certainly constitutes a credible witness. Compared to anyone, let alone Lying tRump.
WaPo: Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
...Friends, here's the magical WaPo report that started yesterday's cascade of White House crisis. I wonder how Comey feels about his role in electing tRump NOW.
Raw Story: Kremlin news agency that was in the Oval Office for Trump-Russia meeting brags to Russians about leaked intel
Raw Story: WATCH: Trump’s speech at Liberty U is weirdly similar to Reese Witherspoon’s ‘Legally Blonde’ speech
...So, it's not only Melania who plagiarizes--dumbass donald does, too! How much ya wanna bet Barron cheats on his exams?
BuzzFeed: "Pay Trump Bribes Here" Was Projected Across The Entrance Of Trump's Hotel
...Friends, this article is just delicious! Sometimes, the n00z isn't all bad!
But wait--there's moar! Here are a few extra goodies courtesy of le Blawg March.
NY Daily News: The President's breach through the eyes of a former spy
Times of Israel: Former Israeli spymasters rip into Trump, say Israel must reassess intel sharing
Talking Points Memo: Report: McMaster Didn't Realize Import Of Classified Intel Trump Gave Russians
USA Today: Justice Department taps former FBI Director Robert Mueller As Special Counsel for Russia Investigation
WaPo: Read the transcript of the conversation among GOP leaders
..."I think Putin pays Trump"...read the article for what was said to whom. Spoiler: Paul Ryan knew tRump was on Putin's dole, and he did nothing.
BoingBoing: As Trump adviser, Flynn stopped a military plan Turkey opposed after being paid as its agent
...The original story came from McClatchy. In short, Flynn was working for both Turkey and tRump, being paid by both, and in charge of making policy decisions regarding Turkey, which he clearly did on Turkey's rather than on our behalf. So much for "America first"!
NY Times: Miles of Ice Collapsing Into the Sea
..."Some scientists fear that West Antarctica's immense ice sheet may have entered the early stages of an unstoppable disintegration."
Hey, benedict donald--
go back to Czar a Lago!
*****
Daily Kos, AlterNet, and Democracy Now! headlines
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Trump tweets that yeah, he did peddle classified info to Russia (and tosses top aides under the bus)
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How I always win the abortion argument
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Texas NBA coach torches Trump again right before national playoff game
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Daily
Kos is prepared to resist Trump every single day until he's impeached.
Can you chip in $1 to support independent, progressive media?
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More chaos as Trump's loose lips cause another major scandal
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A letter to the Trump official who instructed a Native woman to 'be nice'
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U.S. officials on Trump: Very reckless, and doesn’t grasp the gravity of the things he’s dealing with
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White House launches flurry of statements on Trump leaking classified info—without denying he did it
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After town hall pressure, NJ congressman alerted bank board an employee was organizing against him
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NATO allies prepare for the arrival of Lil' Donny Tantrum
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Republicans repealed your online privacy, and now they want to repeal net neutrality (please sign).
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Intel agencies said Trump couldn't be trusted not to leak classified intel to Russia, guess what?
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House Republicans passed Medicaid-killing Trumpcare, now they're going after everything else
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Trump sees nothing wrong with forcing federal employees to take a personal loyalty oath
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Watch CA woman explain high-risk pools to her pro-Trumpcare rep—and obliterate him in the process
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Local Christian woman donates $20,000 to restore vandalized Idaho Anne Frank memorial
- Come on, kids! Come with grandpa to the range to learn about gun safety. Oh no!
The Daily Kos Liberation League features highly recommended posts about racial justice, gender equality, and LGBTQ rights.
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Texas judge 'punished' after Facebook post recommending the lynching of a Black defendant
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Texas House passes bill banning doctors from vaccinating new foster children
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Torch-Wielding White Supremacists March on Charlottesville
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Sign the petition: End felon voter disenfranchisement now
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Students at Texas HBCU fight having a Republican senator at their graduation (and win)
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Border Patrol's corruption rate has 'exceeded that of any other U.S. federal law enforcement agency'
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Sessions lengthens drug sentences because he will do anything to cover up his connection to Russia
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Trump's commission vice-chair has spent his life trying to stop brown and black people from voting
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July court trial could force Texas GOP to draw new congressional map for 2018
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Local Christian woman donates $20,000 to restore vandalized Idaho Anne Frank memorial
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Oregon Senate votes to make transgender life easier
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Texas House approves bill letting adoption agencies discriminate against LGBT, non-Christian couples
Breaking news from Washington:
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Trump revealed classified information in meeting with Russian officials, damaged U.S. security
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Tell Senate Democrats: Special prosecutor or shut it down
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AP reports Trump's tax returns show no Russian money ... except none of that is true
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As Trump fumes, rumors of Sean Spicer's imminent demise continue
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NBC News reports Trump canceled trip to FBI because he was told he wouldn't be welcomed
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Daily
Kos is prepared to resist Trump every single day until he's impeached.
Can you chip in $1 to support independent, progressive media?
-
Former FBI Director James Comey is willing to testify, but he wants it in public
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Country before party makes no sense
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Trump said to be considering staff shake-up amid disarray, demoralization, and deluge of leaks
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'See, I picked someone from the other party.' That's how we got Comey—and President Andrew Johnson
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Employers to drop 7 million people from healthcare insurance under AHCA
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A love letter to Bethune-Cookman grads written by 200 black professors that you have to read
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Sign now to stop Trump's new FCC chair from allowing a corporate takeover of the Internet!
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Former Director of National Intelligence: Trump is engaged in 'assault' against US institutions
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America's great divide in dental care: 'The painful truth about teeth'
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Billionaires pour millions into buying Los Angeles school board seats for the Betsy DeVos agenda
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Progressives are blowing 2018 by dedicating too many resources to Russia story
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Despite regular check-ins with ICE, dad faces deportation after two decades in the U.S.
- NASA's planetary science budget may have room to take us to a strange and exotic world
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As Trump fumes, rumors of Sean Spicer's imminent demise continue
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NBC News reports Trump canceled trip to FBI because he was told he wouldn't be welcomed
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Employers to drop 7 million people from healthcare insurance under AHCA
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Former FBI Director James Comey is willing to testify, but he wants it in public
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America's great divide in dental care: 'The painful truth about teeth'
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NASA's planetary science budget may have room to take us to a strange and exotic world
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Former Director of National Intelligence: Trump is engaged in 'assault' against US institutions
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Progressives are blowing 2018 by dedicating too many resources to Russia story
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AP reports Trump's tax returns show no Russian money ... except none of that is true
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A love letter to Bethune-Cookman grads written by 200 black professors that you have to read
-
Country before party makes no sense
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Daily
Kos is prepared to resist Trump every single day until he's impeached.
Can you chip in $1 to support independent, progressive media?
-
Billionaires pour millions into buying Los Angeles school board seats for the Betsy DeVos agenda
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'See, I picked someone from the other party.' That's how we got Comey—and President Andrew Johnson
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Trump said to be considering staff shake-up amid disarray, demoralization, and deluge of leaks
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Sign now to stop Trump's new FCC chair from allowing a corporate takeover of the Internet!
- Despite regular check-ins with ICE, dad faces deportation after two decades in the U.S.
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No, no, no. No Merrick Garland for FBI director, you idiots!
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AP reports Trump's tax returns show no Russian money ... except none of that is true
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Trump claims James Clapper 'choked like a dog'—and that's Trump's best argument for innocence
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Cartoon: The future of Trumpcare
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Can you chip in $5 to Daily Kos to help stop Trump?
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Cartoon: Confederacy of sociopaths
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Krugman: Yes, Republicans are perfectly willing to betray this country
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Cray-Cray Trump blackmails Comey, threatens media & mocks America—on TWITTER
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Comey is silent but his friends are pushing back on Trump. 'He hopes there are tapes.'
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Sign to tell the FCC: Do NOT kill net neutrality. These rules protect our Internet and keep it free and open!
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Democratic senator: Trump law firm that shows no income in Russia named 'Russia Law Firm of The Year'
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Cartoon: Freedom to be screwed, 2017 edition
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High school teacher writes letter to student newspaper saying homosexuals 'deserve to die'
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If you defend Trump, you will get burned. And Republicans (like his latest spokeswoman) love it!
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Border Patrol agents accused of 'extreme hazing,' including assaulting new officers on 'rape table'
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Sessions lengthens drug sentences because he will do anything to cover up his connection to Russia
- Trump's commission vice-chair has spent his life trying to stop brown and black people from voting
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FBI uninvites Trump after interview
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Comey scandal goes from bad to worse for Trump
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Mike Pence caught lying about Comey firing thanks to Trump telling the truth for a change
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Daily
Kos needs to raise $314,879.36 to close the books on May. Can you chip
in $1 to support the team that brings progressive news to your inbox
every day?
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Time interview with Donald Trump isn't just revealing—it's horrifying
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Trump finds a new excuse to cancel press briefings after he screwed up by telling the truth for once
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Godfather in the White House: Don Trump threatens James Comey
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Weak White House whines 'they tricked us' over Russian photographer allowed into Oval Office
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Texas House passes bill banning doctors from vaccinating new foster children
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Trump explains how he invented 'prime the pump' and how we threw $6 trillion into the Rose Garden
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Urgent! Sign the petition to protect net neutrality.
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On Lavrov meeting, Trump admits to being Putin's puppet, not just looking like one
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Special elections already bringing House Republicans and White House to fisticuffs
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HBCU grads show Betsy DeVos she is completely unwanted at their commencement and it is amazing
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Cartoon: Steve Mnuchin sings supply-side's greatest hits
- Shocking videos show ICE arresting immigrants, refusing to show warrant at Denver courthouse
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Steve Mnuchin was behind Madoff's Ponzi scheme!
M00bies!
ICYMI
Also ICYMI
LOL! DEFEATed Cruz is DEFEATed. Or should that be DEFLATed?
And tRump is so friendly with our enemies. He's all smiles and laughs and back-slapping and warm handshakes with these snakes. But he won't even touch the leader of the free world, Angela Merkel. And he's hung up on allies like Australia and Canada. Srsly
--WTF, donnie?
These SNL skits are da bomb!!! Love love love!!!
Garden Spice strikes again!
This is horrible--a veteran journalist was arrested in West Virginia for asking fuckwad Tom Price a question...!
orange fuckwad is SUCH an obvious LIAR...!
Funny or Die's "tribute" to our "president's" first 100 daze
Randy Rainbow NEVER disappoints! LOL!!! Hey, kidz--don't forget to visit Randy's Patreon page and throw him a few bux!!
And since I won't be able to augment todaze m00bies with my Thursday update because I'll be Blog Marching, Imma leave these little pearls of HISTORY IN THE MAKING here 4U--enjoy!
and buy a stinkin' podcast!
*****
text "Resist" to 50409
And check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website so you can protect your online privacy:
https://www.eff.org/
Remember to boycott all the tRump shills on the boycott list below and tell them why.
And don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Randi Rhodes's Homework page
DCReport.org
Open Secrets
Democratic Coalition Against Trump
MaddowBlog
Michael Moore's FB page -- go here first and do whatever activism he suggests
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Democratic Underground
Boing Boing
Vox
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
God, the Good Lord Above
...skip the media outlets in the boycott list below unless you want trump propaganda. And TELL their advertisers WHY you are boycotting those media outlets!
On the lighter side:
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
And check out these great YouTube channels:
Randi Rhodes Air Force
Keith Olbermann: The Resistance
Thom Hartmann
Late Night with Seth Meyers
LastWeekTonight
Secular Talk
The Young Turks
The Thinking Atheist
MisterDeity
NonStampCollector
Also, don't forget to add these to your Twitter feed if you haven't already:
@malcolmnance
And now you can add me, too!
@dotcalmsshadow
And don't forget to follow
@AlexJonescopy
unless, as he says, you're a total globalist. "It's not a parody account--it's performance art!" He also urges us to retweet everything he says unless we want the globalists to win. (Srsly, friends--he's a riot. Don't drink coffee while reading his tweets.)
Peas, friends. Take care of yourselves for me. Trust me--you're worth it! And go have a Fireball and some chocolate while you still can, will ya? Time is short now that the mouth of
Boycott media!
Don't bother with these media outlets any more unless you want trump propaganda--these media outlets have whored themselves out to trump for access for the low, low price of "fancy" cocktails and a "fancy" dinner, consisting of Donald's shriveled orange acorn dick, at chump's "fancy" (aka FAKE PLASTIC, just like everything else about trump and his FAKE PLASTIC family) "resort" in Florida. What an upstanding, responsible response to trump's denying press conferences since 27 July 2016...retch. So much for comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable, and speaking truth to power to keep that power reined in and in check...!
- Axios
- Bloomberg
- Breitbart because duh--according to AlterNet, Howard Dean Lends Voice to Consumer Activist Group Hitting Breitbart in the Wallet—And It's Working
- CNN
- FOX because of course
- MSNBC (includes Joe Scarborough, but Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes may still be OK as long as their corporate overlords allow it)
- NBC (they also have the reality TV show conflict of interest--and they just hired a couple of FUX Noise escapees, so beware a hard swing to the far, far right)
- POLITICO--their top editor(s) went and paid to party with trump, so now more and more trump propaganda has been showing up there, to my infinite disgust
Boycott vendors that support trump, sell trump shit, and otherwise pander to hate!
Boycott Victoria's Secret--they kick out shoppers who are guilty of shopping while Black!
Here's a twofer: let's save our money for when dump tanks the economy and grab the trumpussy grabber-in-thief where it hurts most--by his wallet!
Want to boycott trump? There's an app for that!
And here's a list of trump companies.
There's also a spreadsheet of trump supporters and vendors that carry trump merch that includes the vendors below.
Don't forget New Balance, who praised and supported trump: 1 (800) 595-9138.
Here's the list from Mindy Fischer, featuring 28 vendors that sell trump merchandise. BOYCOTT them all and TELL them why!
6pm
Contact info: (888) 676-2660, HQ- (702) 943-7777
cs@6pm.com
Amazon--pressure them to DUMP BREITBART, while you're at it!
Contact info: (888) 280-4331 HQ- (206) 266-1000
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?skip=true
Belk
Contact info: (866) 235-5443 HQ- (704) 357-1000
http://www.belkfeedback.com/(X(1)S(sbbxm3z11e1guxbtctk2wdkc))/Index.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Bloomingdale's
Contact info: (800) 777-0000 HQ- (212) 705-2000
http://survey.medallia.com/?blm-tuwyt-com
Bluefly
Contact info: (877) 258-3359 HQ- (212) 944-8000
flyrep@bluefly.com
The Bon-Ton
Contact info: (800) 233-7626 HQ- (800) 937-5449
http://investors.bonton.com/contactus.cfm
Bed Bath and Beyond
Contact info: (800) 462-3966 HQ- (908) 688-0888
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/selfservice/ContactUs?…
Burlington Coat Factory
Contact info: (855) 355-2875 HQ- (609) 387-7800
http://www.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/contactus.aspx
Carson's
Contact info: (800) 945-4438 HQ- (317) 971-6200
http://investors.bonton.com/contactus.cfm
Century 21 department store
Contact info: (877) 350-2121 HQ- (888) 221-2551
https://www.c21stores.com/contact
Dillard's
Contact info: (800) 345-5273 HQ- (501) 376-5200
http://www.dillards.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContactUs
DSW Shoes
Contact info: (866) 379-7463 HQ- (614) 237-7100
http://www.dsw.com/dsw_shoes/customer_service/send_email.jsp
Hudson’s Bay
Contact info: (800) 521-2364 HQ- (800) 521-2364
https://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/stores…
HSN
Contact info: (800) 284-3900 HQ- (727) 872-1000
https://www.hsn.com/cs/email_us/default.aspx
Jet
Contact Info: (855) 538-4323 HQ- (844) 538-2255
help@jet.com
Joss & Main
Contact info: (866) 263-8325 HQ- (617) 532-6100
https://www.wayfair.com/help/faq.php
Lord & Taylor
Contact info: (800) 223-7440 HQ- (212) 391-3344
https://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores…
Macy’s
Contact info: (800) 289-6229 HQ- (513) 579-7000
http://survey.medallia.com/?mcy-tuwyt-com
Marshalls and TJ Maxx
Contact info: (888) 627-7425 HQ- (508) 390-1000
https://www.marshallsonline.com/contact-us
Overstock.com
Contact info: (800) 843-2446 HQ- (801) 947-3100
https://help.overstock.com/app/ask
Perfumania
Contact info: (866) 557-2368 HQ- (800) 228-3489
http://perfumaniaholdings.com/contact
Saks Off Fifth
Contact info: (877) 551-7257 HQ- (212) 320-4700
https://www.saksoff5th.com/contactus
Stein Mart
Contact info: (888) 783-4662 HQ- (904) 346-1500
http://ir.steinmart.com/contactus.cfm
Wayfair
Contact info: (866) 263-8325 HQ- (617) 532-6100
https://www.wayfair.com/help/faq.php
Winners
Contact info: (514) 788 4949 HQ- (905) 405-8000
https://www.winners.ca/en/contact
Zappos
Contact info: (800) 927-7671 HQ- (702) 943-7777
https://secure-www.zappos.com/contact
Zulily
Contact info: (877) 779-5615 HQ- (206) 724-0500
http://www.zulily.com/contacts
OK, friends--let's get busy!
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