Outrage Overload

58 Comments

1. There are fires everywhere you look — way too many to stomp out, and each one has the possibility of bursting into a conflagration. Sadly, that is his management plan. That is the strategy of a tyrant. He knows we cannot be vigilant everywhere at once.

2. Every day I wake up and wonder if it was all a nightmare. Today was the first day where I said outloud “Wait What Just Happened?” CNN reported WHAT? The orange one in Russia with pros and urine was involved? And blackmail? Business ties?

   I’ve said it for over a month, what do they have on him? Maybe now we can find out and this nightmare can be fixed. And damn it NBC. The only channel that broadcasts nightly news here on CNBC. sigh.

   Then I watched the President’s good-bye speech. Malia made me cry.

3. AgingLGrl:

   Sadly, you won’t be treated to a speech (Obama’s)of that content and quality for at least four years. I continue to be amazed at the calm in this country considering the disaster that awaits us. I believe that once the republicans have repealed , and not replaced, ACA, the sh*t will hit the fan and more people will begin to understand what a mistake Obama’s replacement is for most citizens of our once great country.

4. Boycott and write letters to NBC and any other network that glorifies the Orange Bull(sh*t).

   Boycott Ivankaʻs products and all businesses related to the Drumpf oligarchy.

   Time to roll up our sleeves, for we are the counter-balance to the oncoming corruption.

   The pus (Drumpf , Pence, et al) has risen to the surface and Americaʻs infection is exposed, to be cleaned and healed. Weʻll need some alcohol and strong medicine….thereʻs a lot of pus.

5. This is why presidential candidates should receive, and the electorate demand , “extreme vetting”. This is even more important when the candidate refuses to cooperate.

6. Well said.

   We are all watching and waiting for each new attack on the middle class and minorities.

   I am doing whatever I can do in an effort to obstruct the coming destruction from trump and the far right extremist members of congress.

7. Sheila; regarding MSNBC, just two days ago they removed the entry notice “Trump Elected” from the start of every crawl on all news. Still they are the best source, they seem to provide “our side” more often than CNN and local news. That isn’t saying much but we must “clutch at straws” to keep from drowning in the swamp.

   I try not to post “Outrage Overload” but as is evidenced on this blog; I fail more often than I succeed. George Carlin’s sage advice came to mind while reading today’s blog; “Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.” This applies to our incoming presidential administration for Trump’s cabinet are definitely “sweaty things” to beware of.

   “If our national version of democracy is majority rule that respects minority rights, America is no longer a democracy.”

   President Obama covered your above quote last night in his farewell speech; his messages within messages (or dog whistles if you prefer), gave us fair warning of what is coming and pleaded with us to stay strong. He has not shown “Outrage Overload” which he must be feeling at this time; to know what he is leaving us to face beginning January 20th.

   It may take outrage from a surprising source to overcome the destruction of democracy; it may take the outrage of those Trump supporters who get royally screwed with the rest of us. “White privilege” is no longer a protective covering in the Trump administration; neither is being a staunch Republican . Are there enough of the old guard Republican party in Congress to find their outrage to fight further destruction of our democracy?

8. I have outrage building on outrage building on outrage. I’m glad I have my Jazzercise class and my studio where I can paint, or I’d really be a basket case.

9. Not disagreeing with your thesis, but today, most stuff is BIG stuff.

10. We still have 10 days.

11. daleb and Pat – I know! That’s why I am so adamant about ‘coming home’! I can’t sit here in Europe and watch this train wreck and not want to stop it. I have an energy I have never experienced before that I must get home! Outrage Overload is a great way to describe it. Back to the moving chores…

12. If we on the left can stomach it, our biggest ally in the effort to stop Trump is the US Intelligence Community. Trump attacked them trying to discredit what he knew they had or must have on him. Now the spies are hitting back in the way that only super spies can, orchestrating a campaign of such complexity and double loop feed backs that nothing that Trump says will get him out of it. And the entire affair again exposes Trump’s stupidity. Did he really think that going to Russia and doing business with Putin’s pals would NOT bring on a KBG type file being opened on him? Did he think that his indiscretions and lies would not be collected and recorded?

    Meanwhile, we all need to be contributing to the effort of forcing the US Senate to do its job in the confirmation process.

13. Wake up folks. Donald Trump doesn’t have to win. However, you have to be willing to play the real game to beat him. The game is WHITE SUPREMACY vs. DEMOCRACY.

    I’ve won the majority of times because I know how to play the REAL GAME. I’ll be glad to teach it to anyone who is ready to play it.

14. No real comment, just a sincere “Thank You” for the work you do for us.

15. I will admit, it’s a very dangerous game. However, I would submit the only thing more dangerous is not playing the game. The Germans failed to learn how to play the game and look what happened to them.

    Donald Trump is taking us all down the same road. Haven’t we learned anything from the history of Nazi Germany? So far, I don’t see any significant signs of it.

16. Ok Marv. Give us a check list and help us get started.

17. Here’s a question for Mr. Putin. How do you blackmail someone who has no shame and who loves no one more than himself?

18. CHECKLIST FOR SAVING DEMOCRACY

    #1 No retribution toward those who didn’t play the “real” game. It was “rigged” from the start. We need to start anew.

    a-new (e noo’) adv. l. once more again 2. in a new manner or form
    ~Webster’s New World Dictionary

19. I understand from the morning news that there is a raging wildfire going on amongst Trump people at the publication of his “salacious conduct” playing with Russian oligarchs and Putin and their funding of his activities where he served as a money launderer for their theft of Russian oil and other such resources. They say such reports are unconfirmed and garbage and that this is a new low in journalism to publish such slime. (My pocket dictionary has this to say about “salacious:” adj. impure; obscene.) I note in passing, however, and even agree that if such reports or even some of them are true, then it is slime. Massive fraud also comes to mind.

    I have this question for the Trump people: Where were you with your lofty sense of journalistic ethics when your candidate seized on every unconfirmed report under the sun (including Comey’s later discredited report) to get your Crooked Hillary and Lock Her Up mantras in place? I think the condemnation of how the news is reported is a diversionary tactic to take away our attention from the substance of the report, unconfirmed or not. His chief of staff now says that Trump will get to the bottom of this and will have a report on it 90 days after he assumes office. Right. The suspect investigates himself. Huh?
    Lately I have broken one of my own rules and engaged in conspiracy theories relating to Trump’s dealings with Putin and Russian oligarchs, suggesting that he is the continuing victim of blackmail by Putin. Now I have a new conspiracy theory, to wit: That Putin and his oligarchs are also subject to blackmail by Trump, and that with such mutuality of risk all must keep their mouths shut or risk revolution. Who are the losers in this scenario beyond the American and Russian people? Our democracy. Evidence? Would be fascist control of the organs of communication by those whose activities under cover of government are themselves or should be the targets of continuing investigation by an independent press. These Trump people are making Dr. Goebbels look like an amateur. As I wrote yesterday in bemoaning the impending loss of our most important asset, our democracy, To Arms! The ruffians are at the gate!

20. Peggy,

    I think that it isn’t shame that Putin could use against Trump, but rather Trump’s self delusion about himself. Look at how he reacts to criticism from any source. He has no shame… he only has narcissism.

21. Perhaps the tonic to outrage is to get our own hands dirty in politics. Instead of sitting on the outside complaining about it all, we have to learn better how politics works and use that knowledge to our advantage. Galling yes, but essential. Just being outraged or expressing an opinion is akin to prayer..a nice expression of your beliefs, yet without action is meaningless. To put it in terms The Orange Menace can understand, it’s rather like wetting yourself in a dark suit, you get a nice warm feeling, but nobody really notices what you’ve done. Ask yourself what you’re actually DOING about the source of your outrage. I bet Marv has suggestions. It’s tough being the bigger person, the vision of hope, but I assure you it’s the only solution.

22. Haven’t watched MSNBC for months. They’re too busy counting ad dollars. Didn’t do any vetting during the campaign. Then started hiring FOX personalities who already had lost all credibility. They’re now FOX News Lite. My go to online news source has been The Young Turks, far from perfect but better than anything on cable. At least they try to be objective, not neutral. Big difference!

23. I feel tired and worn out from trying to shoulder the burden of Trump. Many people have just given up and have their head buried in the sand. A friend lectured me on how now was the time to come together for the country and stated that ‘ he hasn’t even done anything yet’. Others have quit listening to legitimate news sources because they just don’t want to know. Or they think it is all ‘fake news’. No, the news is correct. It’s just that Trump’s actions are SO outrageous!

24. Gerald,

    Think German-Russian Pact in the late 30’s which partitioned Poland. Stalin used it to his advantage, just like Putin appears to be doing with another racist fool, Donald Trump. It was a major mistake by the Germans.

    Without the extra time to re-arm, the Russians wouldn’t have been able to win the war on the Eastern front.

25. CHECKLIST FOR SAVING DEMOCRACY (continued)

    #2 Don’t play a four-walled game like WHITE SUPREMACY vs. DEMOCRACY if you can only play a three-walled version. If you do, you’ll lose every time because you don’t know how to play the fourth or BACK WALL [ The Bush Family and the Koch Brothers have been the back wall. They have controlled the deep racial system. Now it’s been co-opted by Donald Trump].

    The good news is that Trump doesn’t know how to play the game even with the advantage that he now has. He’s a novice.

    I win politically because I know how to play the back wall. Having been a tournament racquetball player has helped me to understand the REAL GAME. One of my clients as an attorney was the World Singles Champion.

    The ball used in racquetball travels 160 mph. You have to respond rapidly. Likewise, political events can move like “lightning.” Especially so, if there is no effective opposition.

    The secret of winning in the REAL GAME is how to play the Back Wall. It can be learned very quickly.

26. My mistake. I forgot to add that Luther Bernstein was the World SENIOR Singles Champion in racquetball.

27. CHECKLIST FOR SAVING DEMOCRACY

    #3 Understand the comparisons of Nazi Germany and America today. In addition, recognize the importance of learning from the extraordinary, courageous Germans who fought back and attempted to prevent the rise of Adolph Hitler during his ascent to absolute power, especially Lt. Colonel Hans Oster, who held a senior position in the Abwehr, the German Office of Military Intelligence.

    I strongly recommend “The Oster Conspiracy of 1938” by Terry Parssinen (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2003)

    From the book: “Hans Oster was a man after God’s own heart, of irreproachable character, great lucidity, and iron nerve in the face of danger.”

    ~”Fabian von Schlabrendorff, Historian

28. Marv: My only black eye ever was trying to play racketball. Never again stepped on that court. Props to you and your list.

29. Finding fault with the Trumpublican Dynasty is, as the old saying goes, like shooting fish in a barrel. Virtually anyone can.

    However what’s harder and probably more productive is dealing with the faults that led us here.

    He, the Country Club Cabinet, the least popular Congress ever, and whatever the cards hold for a Supreme Court, will eventually bring about what incompetence always does, and we’ll pick up whatever pieces are worth salvaging and we will rebuild.

    As one pictures in the aftermath of a natural storm, we have lost what we had and now our life will be rebuilding rather than enjoying the fruits of our labor.

    But what about the storm that caused the damage? The only way to avoid other future damages is to change the causes that lead to storms.

    That is both an anthropogenic climate change and a political metaphor. What about the storm?

    How do we change the us in U.S.?

30. It is interesting to note all the buzz about Russia and Trump all over the news. Supposedly, the Russians have compromising material on the Trumpet. Who knows it probably would not be stretch or a leap to find some. Part of the Spy Game is to find material that could be used as black mail, this is understood. It is funny FOX “NEWS” which in 99% of the cases is fawning all over the Intelligence Community is trying to discredit it now.

    The Loyal Trumpet Supporters could care less about the numerous Trumpet personality defects. Remember his statement but he could offer zero proof about Muslims Celebrating in NJ right after 9/11. Oh yeah and Mexico will pay for the Wall, and he will repeal ACA and replace it. Replace ACA with what – Hot Air??? All the talk about repealing ACA had one purpose it was a dog whistle to further diminish President Obama.

    The Trumpeters are as clueless as plankton is about Einsteins Theory of Relativity. With Hillary Clinton gone a new Dark Enemy will be needed.

    If the Trumpet and Republicans have done one thing they have energized the opposition. There are groups such as ACLU, Planned Parenthood, environmental groups, etc., that will be out there fighting in their own way. I have a feeling the next few years will be politically tumultuous. If the Democratic Party could just grow a back bone.

31. We need to think more deeply about how we got here. The issues are more embedded in our culture than we are willing to admit to ourselves and each other. Recognizing the problem is the first step. Developing a practical response is much more difficult. About 35 years ago, Alasdair MacIntyre gave us a very clear explanation in After Virtue, where he noted:

    “It is precisely because there is in our society no established way of deciding between these claims that moral argument appears to be necessarily interminable. From our rival conclusions we can argue back to our rival premises; but when we do arrive at our premises argument ceases and the invocation of one premise against another becomes a matter of pure assertion and counter-assertion. Hence perhaps the slightly shrill tone of so much moral debate.
    But that shrillness may have an additional source. For it is not only in arguments with others that we are reduced so quickly to assertion and counter-assertion; it is also in the arguments that we have within ourselves. For whenever an agent enters the forum of public debate he has already presumably, explicitly or implicitly, settled the matter in question in his own mind. Yet if we possess no unassailable criteria, no set of compelling reasons by means of which we may convince our opponents, it follows that in the process of making up our own minds we can have made no appeal to such criteria or such reasons. If I lack any good reasons to invoke against you, it must seem that I lack any good reasons. Hence it seems that underlying my own position there must be some non-rational decision to adopt that position. Corresponding to the interminability of public argument there is at least the appearance of a disquieting private arbitrariness. It is small wonder if we become defensive and therefore shrill.
    A second, equally important, but contrasting, characteristic of these arguments is that they do none the less purport to be impersonal rational arguments and as such are usually presented in a mode appropriate to that impersonality. What is that mode? Consider two different ways in which I may provide backing for an injunction to someone else to perform some specific action. In the first type of case I say, ‘Do so-and-so’. The person addressed replies, ‘Why should I do so-and-so?’ I reply, ‘Because I wish it.’ Here I have given the person addressed no reason to do what I command or request unless he or she independently possesses some particular reason for paying regard to my wishes. If I am your superior officer— in the police, say, or the army— or otherwise have power or authority over you, or if you love me or fear me or want something from me, then by saying ‘Because I wish it’ I have indeed given you a reason, although not perhaps a sufficient reason, for doing what it is that I enjoin. Notice that in this type of case whether my utterance gives you a reason or not depends on certain characteristics possessed at the time of hearing or otherwise learning of the utterance by you. What reason-giving force the injunction has depends in this way on the personal context of the utterance.”
    MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Third Edition (pp. 8-9). University of Notre Dame Press. Kindle Edition.

32. CHECKLIST FOR SAVING DEMOCRACY

    #4 Don’t run away from the [racist]Power Elite. You must admit to their existence. If not, no one, even if they do have the ability, will be able to stand up to them.

    “The powers of ordinary men are circumscribed by the everyday worlds in which they live, yet even in these rounds of job, family, and neighborhood they often seem driven by forces they can neither understand nor govern. ‘Great changes’ are beyond their control, but affect their conduct and outlook none the less. The very framework of modern society confines them to projects not their own, but from every side, such changes now press upon the men and women of the mass society, who accordingly feel that they are without purpose in an epoch in which they are without power.”

    “The power elite is composed of men whose positions enable them to transcend the ordinary environments of ordinary men and women.”

    “The Power Elite” by C. Wright Mills (London: Oxford University Press, 1956)pp. 3-4

33. HRC isn’t gone. Jason Chafedbutz from Utah is starting a new round of investigations into her emails. Claims she had the largest breach of security info ever.

    Drumpf and his lawyer-Cohen- claim the fake news stories about Drumpf hurt America and need to stop. WTF?

    Drump tweeted today he has no ties of any kind to Russia or Putin. His son Eric sez they have so many projects in Russia they basically don’t know what is happening there. One of two is lying and probably both. Then Drumpf reiterated how yoooge his electoral college win was.

    Drumpf sez it isn’t fair that security released unsubstantiated articles about his extra-curricular activities while he was not doing business with Putin or Russia.

34. Checklist for Saving Democracy

    #5 You have to find a way to successfully “stand up to power.” There has to be at least some type of physical engagement as opposed to just “hard talk” on the internet.

    “Speaking truth to power” isn’t sufficient. That term is usually used in situations where standing up is no longer possible. Thankfully, we’re still a few days away from that type of predicament.

35. Very interesting comments today. There is lots of angst in the air, most of which is valid.

    We must fight back with everything we have. Trump is about to ignore all laws of decency, protocols that matter and will be dedicated to the power of his office to do one thing: Heap more aggrandizement upon himself.

    We the people must do what Gandhi suggests: “Be the change you want.”

36. Mike. The HRC email political assassination gossip about Hillary’s emails has done what was intended by it. Nobody is the least bit concerned about it now.

37. The chick who is actually doing the press conference constantly refers to him as ‘President Trump’.

    Trump’s opening statement was sick and completely inappropriate. We are in so much trouble here.

38. Gerald:
    The reason they are so dangerous is they have no shame. They are the poster children for HYPOCRISY — starting with, but certainly not limited to, Kelly Ann Conway, who may be the apex and ultimate culmination of the Dark Art of “pivot and spin.”

    And they have successfully gotten away with it. Why stop now? Every time anyone has the audacity to point out that the “Great Orange Buffoon” isn’t wearing any clothes, they “pivot and spin,” i.e., for example: Hillary and the Dems are running a child prostitution ring out of a Pizza parlor in D.C. No matter how ludicrous their claims are to anyone who is capable of thinking for themselves based on actual facts — such as actual video of the Buffoon saying it or doing it himself — the Trump followers lap it up.

    I know it has been said before, but when truth and facts don’t matter to a large percentage of the population, this Country and our democracy are in very deep trouble indeed.

39. Checklist for Saving Democracy (to be continued)

    #6 Attack Trump/Pence’s “Achilles Heal”……the MOVEMENT Trump captured which started out as the Moral Majority, then Christian Coalition and now The Tea Party which from sources, that have been made public, was originally funded by the Koch Brothers. The movement has major flaws, but as I pointed out, previously, it is part of the BACK WALL made up of the Koch Brothers et al [See #2] which all the leading pro-democracy NGO’s are either incompetent or too fearful to engage.

    Trump is more than a fool, he is unaware that he doesn’t even have hisTRUMP CARD.

    This is the area of Trump’s greatest vulnerability.

40. Speaking of NGOs, yesterday I read an article published by Bloomberg where NGOs are the topic.

    Hungary plans to crack down on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) linked to billionaire George Soros, the Hungarian-born financier.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-10/trump-s-win-prompts-hungarian-call-for-crackdown-on-soros-groups

41. Pete – “How do we change the ‘us’ in U.S.?”

    How about open opposition to the rape of the free mind perpetrated by fundamentalism. Where, when needed, is Jeffersonian humanism?

42. David,

    “Every time anyone has the audacity to point out that the “Great Orange Buffoon” isn’t wearing any clothes, they “pivot and spin,””

    The answer to that is to confront them with an all-inclusive move like forcing Trump to defend impeachment on multiple grounds. http://www.Impeachment.website. That way they can’t “pivot and spin.” When you’re a criminal prosecutor you never leave room for the defendant to “wiggle out.”

43. Didn’t see anything on the impeachment web page. Is http://www.Impeachment.website the correct URL?

44. BSH,

    Trump is causing a worldwide breakdown of the systems since WW II that have been attempting to keep together a democracy-oriented West which Soros has been pumping his financial fortune into for many, many years.

    The Germans were warning of this scenario once Trump was elected. He’s a real threat to the future of Planet Earth. He’s causing a cascading effect which is leading us toward the possibility of a complete meltdown of the world’s economic and political order.

    We need help from all over the world to contain this MONSTER. We can’t do it alone. Neither could the Germans once their MONSTER was unleashed.

45. I’ve had this very same thought: it’s not one thing on one day, but outrage heaped upon outrage every single day. Today, PG attacked the intelligence community. He has consistently attacked the media, calling them liars, so that the dupes who voted for him have something to hang their hat on when the next outrage comes to light. “Outrage overload” is an apt description. My question is: where are the patriots in Congress? Are there any? Until the midterm elections, they are our only hope.

    I also agree that we can’t just sit around and bitch, or blog, as President Obama said. We have to be activists.

46. Thanks to everyone. I will be absent for awhile, I need to finish my Checklist for Saving Democracy before the 21st.

47. Outrage overload is right.

    I have to wonder if the Trump contract with NBC is part of the reason for hiring Megyn Kelly and Greta Van Sustern away from Fox News. Think I’ll ask them.

48. The “press conference” today was an exercise in futility; for all those on the stage to emotionally hold Trump up, the victims in the crowd of press representatives on the floor, those analyzing (psychoanalyzing?) the entire bunch and whatever they rambled on about and those of us watching at home.

    I thought I was just not intelligent enough to understand what was being said; especially the legal jargon. Until he finally walked away from the podium and the MSNBC newscasters and the legal expert began to report their findings…they found little of substance. Apparently he does believe Putin was behind the hacking and told him not to do that any more. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition; we have been saved.

    His treatment of the press was appalling; they who kept his face and every word before us almost 24/7 and helped to elect his butt are now his enemy. But none of this stops the inauguration. At this time; we have met the enemy and he ain’t us. His name, Pogo, is Donald Trump.

49. Hillary Clinton was owned by Time Warner, who owns CNN. For those who were fans of HRC, had a blind spot to this. For us media critics, it was very evident. On Twitter, CNN is now a disgrace.

    Our media (former press agencies) are owned by entertainment complexes. They made a conscious decision in the 70’s to place profits before their role as the “fourth branch of government”.

    As for this comment, “What credibility can NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC retain, when they have a business agreement with a sitting President–a man they have an obligation to objectively monitor and investigate.”

    I wrote an article about this when Trump’s video/audio recording was leaked by Billy Bush. Again on Twitter, a former producer of The Apprentice mentioned there were loads of these recordings revealing how Trump used his position on the show to sexually harass female contestants. What’s amazing is MSNBC is affiliated with NBC, yet neither of them mentioned the sexual harassment. Not a word. In fact, Billy Bush was fired for “leaking” the videos.

    Our fourth estate is owned and run by the Entertainment Complex where money and profits take precedents over holding the powerful accountable. MSNBC is supposedly the “voice of liberals”, but it’s a fraud just like Fox News. Now we know CNN is a fraud.

    Social engineering at its finest. If the government is a fraud and the fourth estate is a fraud, guess what?

50. Todd. What evidence do you have?

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