(From a post at DailyKos by the artist.)

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Speaking of Daily Kos, my friend Caterina has posted a commentary there accurately describing Trump as "the same fucked up psycho he always was. He uses fear, propaganda and despair to try and manipulate our emotions. This is all he can do, because deep down, he knows he is a fraud, a weak bully, and a deeply insecure 'man.'" (That last remark caused me to throw together this photomanipulation. Enjoy.

Donald Trump has wreaked nearly unmeasurable havoc in his term of office as President, but he couldn't have accomplished much of it without the cover provided by the United States Senate ... specifically through the actions of its Majority Leader, Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr., best known these days by the perjorative nickname "Moscow Mitch".

This is the man who has pushed through the nominations of conservative judges, prevented Donald Trump from being removed from office, and blocked the Senate from considering hundreds of House-passed bills while making the hypocritical statement that the Democrats are "doing nothing other than attacking the President".

It was also McConnell who prevented President Obama's last appointment to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, from being confirmed, on the hope (sadly come true) that a Republican would succeed Obama.

He has tried to undo the Affordable Care Act, and has succeeded in weakening it by eliminating the penalty for not having health insurance. He also led the way to granting tax breaks for the wealthy, significantly increasing the national deficit in the process, then blaming that deficit on social welfare programs ... including Social Security and Medicare.

For more, read Dana Milbank's column in the Washington Post. And then consider making a contribution to the Democrat running against McConnell for his Kentucky Senate Seat, Amy McGrath.

"For men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." -- Henry Steele Commager America is under attack, not by a foreign power (unless you believe the conclusions some have drawn about Vladimir Putin) but by the man holding the highest office in the land, and the most powerful office in the world, Donald J. Trump. One needs only to monitor his Twitter feed to see that Trump considers anyone who disagrees with his personal view of "how things should be" an enemy ... not just his personal enemy, but an enemy of the nation. It would be kind to compare him with Joseph McCarthy's hunt for Communists in the 1950s (and we know how that turned out), but in my opinion it all has to do with Trump's personal shortcomings: Trump never held public office, either elected or appointed, before becoming President of the United States. He has absolutely no frame of reference as to how government works, and many of his demands and actions are essentially that of a business owner who is used to giving orders and having them carried out, with no one questioning them. Trump has an ego larger than the Grand Canyon, and therefore believes his decisions are correct, without ever consulting any experts (either inside the government or in the private sector) as to where the potential pitfalls are. This is not only dangerous for the nation, it is a terrible way to do business even as a private citizen. Were it not for that "yuge" ego he would be able to see that. He doesn't. TRUMP LIES. There are a lot of people who have stopped talking to me about politics because I believe that so strongly (hence bold capital letters), but the New York Times (a respected institution with more than a century's worth of integrity) has been tracking every false, misleading, or fictitious statement Trump has made since taking office and kept that list online at their website, updating it periodically. As of mid-November 2018, the total was well over 5,000 ... far more than any President, even if you include erroneous statements that were later corrected. (Fortune magazine estimated that Trump told six times more lies in his first ten months of office than President Obama did in his entire eight years in the office.) He is obviously either in total denial of how deep a hole he has dug for himself legally or -- more likely -- repetitively tweets phrases like "fake news" or "witch hunt" to try to deflect the public from fact-checking on their own.* His other favorite tactic of calling any mainstream news media that reports on his legal difficulties "lying" or "failing" is another telltale sign. Since when were the New York Times and NBC either of those descriptions? There is much more I could say, but my main point here is to urge anyone reading this who is not convinced Trump is a danger to investigate the facts for yourself. I do not mean finding Facebook posts, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos and Twitter feeds that are not generated by legitimate news organizations. I do not even mean taking everything I write as truth without verifying it for yourself. Trump can be very charismatic, which is how he won over the voters with campaign promises that his current actions are breaking. (Ask any of America's soybean farmers how that tariff against China importing their crops is working out ... or how loans he authorized to help them got caught in limbo by his government shutdown over the wall.) Only by checking what you hear against reliable sources will you know what the actual facts are. Never take anyone else's opinions as a substitute for those. The resistance will come only as the population sees the evil that is being done by its government -- and don't get me started on Mitch "Turtle" McConnell's complicity in all this -- and rises up against it. While we still have a democracy, let us use it to create a government that does the right thing for all of its citizens, not just the rich, the bigoted, and the ones who yearn for a return to so-called "Christian values" (for which see the following commentary). Write your Congressmember, not only if he or she is a Democrat but also if he or she is a Republican who is empowering Trump and his followers either by their votes on legislation or by their blocking legislation. Do the same with the two U.S. Senators representing your state. In 2020, vote against Trump and anyone who supports him either by specific comment or by action. We can survive all this. We can win back our democracy. We just need to be united not only in our opinions but in our actions. * - In response to a few friends asking me to post a link to my June 2018 letter in the Los Angeles Times on Trump's attempts to justify his positions by rewriting history via Twitter (with a couple of nods to the late George Orwell), here it is via the Times' website. America's history -- its legacy -- is to accept everyone, regardless of how different they may be from ourselves. I worry not only about those of us who are LGBTQ, but also about those whose ethnic origins are now coming under attack. Those who would do harm to any of us are not only narrow-minded but also refuse to educate themselves as to whether their fears are with merit or (more likely) unfounded. I consider myself lucky to live in California, where the possibility of violent attack because of who and what I am is much lessened, and where so-called "bathroom bills" are not likely to be introduced. I worry, however, for my brothers and sisters in areas of the country where intolerance is an acceptable form of behavior, even by elected officials and sworn law enforcement personnel. And if the Trump administration follows through with this latest threat, apparently I'm going to have to worry about increasing intolerance here as well. But I will fight. Anytime and every time I see an injustice, whether sanctioned by our new hateful administration or just the act of one misguided individual, I will do whatever I can to prevent harm from occurring. You must do the same. I have never understood why these people are so upset about transgender identity. I haven't done anything to hurt them by transitioning, and I don't think any of us intend to do them harm. I don't understand why they are hostile toward gay/lesbian/bi people either (which is another category I fall into). Is there some secret LGBTQ society I'm unaware of that force people to have gender reassignment surgery, or force them into same-sex relationships? Really, I have only one real question of the intolerant bigots, who far more often than not identify as "Christians": If Jesus Christ could forgive anyone and love everyone, why must you spread hate in His name? (John 8:1-11, Micah 6:8, Matthew 7:1-5, Matthew 22:36-40, and Matthew 25:31-40 as examples ... plus the illustration to the right.) It's been suggested that if they disagree with any of the above they should look up for themselves the many verses about adding one's own interpretation onto the Bible. I particularly suggest 2 Peter 1:20, and 2 Peter 3:15-16. I recently added Matthew 23:13-39 to my arsenal, when dealing with those who say I will never be allowed in Heaven because of my actions. When you read it, remember that the Pharisees were the Evangelicals of the time when Jesus is said to have given that speech, and do the appropriate substitution of words as you read. I have confronted these Bible-thumpers, and I can tell you that they do not like having someone they hate (without even knowing me as a person) use the Holy Book's words against them. It's apparently okay for them, but not for us to do so. For that reason, while they fume over the above Scriptures, I ask them this question: "If God hates us as much as you say He does, don't you think He could get rid of us all without your help?" They don't like that either, because it essentially calls their words and actions -- indeed, the validity of "speaking for God" -- a huge overreaching mistake. And they had best not make an even bigger mistake in judgment by thinking they will emerge victorious, because the more they hate, the more people decide to love instead. If you want an easier method of putting them in a position where they can't defend themselves easily (and presuming that if you've read this far you dislike Trump as much as I do), you might take the advice in this Daily Kos article and just say "Any religion that gets in bed with an unrepentant, flagrant sinner like Donald Trump is a false religion that has no respect for piety, virtue, kindness, truth or love. If Christianity wants to appeal to me and others like me ... if Christianity wants to convert me and others like me, it first needs to renounce Donald Trump, not celebrate him. Until it does, do not speak to me about Jesus or God or the Bible and do not tell me you are praying for me." INTOLERANCE WILL END IN THIS COUNTRY, WHETHER THE HATERS AGREE OR NOT.

UNLESS DONALD J. TRUMP LEAVES OFFICE ON HIS OWN*, IT WILL BE 00 days, 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 00 seconds BEFORE HIS TERM EXPIRES ... WHAT WILL BE LEFT OF OUR DEMOCRACY IF WE HAVE TO WAIT THAT LONG TO REALLY "DRAIN THE SWAMP" OF HIS APPOINTEES, SUPPORTERS, AND POLICIES??!!?? * - Sadly noting that Addison McTurtle protected him from being removed after impeachment.

Read this:
We hardly need to be reminded that we are living in an age of confusion — a lot of us have traded in our beliefs for bitterness and cynicism or for a heavy package of despair, or even a quivering portion of hysteria. Opinions can be picked up cheap in the market place while such commodities as courage and fortitude and faith are in alarmingly short supply.
Current remarks from a newspaper columnist about the current administration? No, that was famed broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, during his daily commentary This I Believe on the CBS Radio Network ... in 1951.

KEITH OLBERMANN IS BACK AGAIN!
The former "Countdown" host is now doing a daily series via YouTube called (appropriately enough, for those who remember the original program) "The Worst Person In The World". Click here to see the current day's show, and the archives.
Keith also did a series of 147 podcasts ("The Resistance with Keith Olbermann") financed by GQ magazine, in 2017 and 2018. Those are still available free of charge to view here.
And don't forget his book, Trump is F*cking Crazy.

Are you confused by what "Medicare For All" would really mean for our health care system? Physicians for a National Health Program, a campaign run completely by health care professionals advocating for universal, comprehensive single-payer national health insurance, has put together a page (at the link) explaining it in simple terms and debunking some of the statements that have been made (mostly by Republicans) against it.