Mr. T Comes To Town

Photo by Hexen Photography

This is the smile you'd expect when someone important comes to town, isn't it? But behind this innocent's bright countenance lies a darker reason why she and her family were out protesting on the streets that day. Our guest blogger shares his impressions of the event.

Mr. T Comes To Town

words and photos by Coast Watcher 

President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the Huntington Center in the heart of downtown Toledo on January 9, the venue for their first rally of the 2020 campaign season. They got a warm reception in more ways than one, getting heartily booed as the motorcades passed by demonstrators en route to the hockey arena and cheered by their followers once they took the stage. Mainstream media reported a gathering of “hundreds” of protesters and “fifteen thousand” Trump supporters present. Surprise, surprise—the rally attendees waiting on line appeared to be all white and mostly male.

From my estimate taken on the ground, the Trumplings were at most half that number. (Others also estimated the protester count to be higher and the rally attendance lower, as the Huntington Center only sits 8,000 maximum according to their website.)  Television footage taken within the Huntington Center showed a half-empty arena in one shot with most people pushed toward the stage to make it look as if more were present. The number of
protesters fluctuated throughout the day, as groups of people arrived and departed. Unlike the Trumplings, who appeared to be financially able to take time off to travel a distance to worship their admired leader, the protesters were mostly local and had jobs and family demands to attend to—which makes it difficult to spare much time to protest. Yet protest they did, on a not-so-warm day in early January.

The demonstrators represented a variety of causes, from factory-standard Democrats through (Bernie) Sandernistas, the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Lucas County Greens, union workers, Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio—and even a few outright Communists. A single-issue group identifying itself as  “No Vape, No Vote” contained especially noisy members. One anti-fascist group down from Detroit,#OutNow, wore orange and used megaphones to outshout the other demonstrating parties. An anti-Trumper was spotted carrying a gallon of milk, presumably to wash away tear gas from people’s eyes should the need arise. (It did not.) 

A retired hook-and-ladder firetruck drove repeatedly around the block, its Trumpling crew sounding the siren as they jeered, waved Trump flags, and flipped off  demonstrators. Questions were asked whether such a vehicle was legal, since it still had its red paintwork and horn, but none of the law officers present seemed to know or cared to stop and ticket the driver.
 

Overall the event was peaceful.

The police were out in force. When asked, some officers were well aware of the Trump campaign’s propensity for not paying police security bills at numerous cities across America. Jaded by the knowledge, probably many were not expecting Toledo PD to receive any better treatment. 

The police were universally tolerant of both sides, keeping the parties apart via barriers to prevent trouble, so I find it a shame to report that one officer stationed by the main library branch rallying point abused his position. He snatched a PA speaker unit from the hands of a man I know to be a Vietnam veteran, threw it to the ground, and shoved him violently. The veteran, a leader of Veterans for Peace, didn’t respond to this flagrant bullying. Instead he moved onto the sidewalk and led protesters away.
 
Trumplings made a point of flipping off the demonstrators while waiting to enter the venue. One fan of the

president spotted a protester’s sign reading “Love thy neighbor” and shouted out how, while he didn’t love his neighbor, he really did love his 401K. Wonder if this guy knows that his orange-faced idol recently said that dismantling Social Security would make for “a fun second term project.” Wonder if he couldn't care less, just as long as he can hoard his wealth.

Another Trumpling shouted, “America comes first!” She was quickly shut down by a tart response from a savvy protestor with a British accent: “The world must come first. America’s not the only nation on this planet, madam.” It seems to be something that many Trumplings forget.

A Trumpling vendor selling camouflage MAGA hats and shirts demanded to know what we demonstrators would do if America was attacked. Hmm, let’s see... 9/11 was the last time America was “attacked” (and we all know that debate still rages over who the true instigators of that heinous crime were). Since then the US has attacked several countries, both militarily and through sanctions, usually to gain control of their oil and mineral deposits—and occasionally to destroy a socialist government. And although the hijackers who flew those airplanes back in 2001 were Saudi Arabian in origin, America did not see fit to launch a counter attack against their mega-wealthy oil-rich country, possibly because they happen to be a good customer for the American military-industrial complex.

Post-rally, the area where the Trumplings had queued to enter the arena was a

After the Trump rally photos courtesy Natalie Renee

total mess. Mounds of litter strewn along the fenced-off line necessitated hours of Toledo taxpayer-funded hours to clean up. Much like the cost of policing a Trump event, the taxpayer will more than likely not be reimbursed for the costs. This gives evidence to support many people’s opinion that the vast majority of Trump’s supporters came from out of town. Although given Trumplings' general contempt for the environment, it’s entirely possible the litterers were locals with lower than average civic pride.

Toledo has a lot of unemployment and a lot of empty houses courtesy of the first NAFTA that wrecked the Rust Belt. Trump recently signed up the US to NAFTA  2. With income taxes lowered for the one-percent, ordinary citizens are forced to pick up the slack for social programs (that haven't been cut already). Lake Erie, Toledo's water supply, has serious problems with the annual toxic algae bloom, and Trump has gutted the EPA and killed the Clean Water Act. Toledo is home to a large Muslim community and a large mosque. Trump seems bent on starting yet another war for oil in Iran and encouraging religious bigotry among his followers. Large immigration raids by Trump's ICE have happened in the NW Ohio area, leaving children without parents and local churches and agencies desperately trying to reunite families, yet the GOP declares itself the party of “family values.”  Yeah, sure they are.

Given all the damage Trump and his government have inflicted and still inflicts on cities like Toledo and Americans in general, it’s a wonder he dares shows his five-dollar, fake-tanned visage anywhere.

BIO: Coast Watcher finds his first experience of standing across the street from the "leader of the free world" to be both humbling and completely humbug. The following short video is how he sees the president's supporters:

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2020/01/trump-supporter-flummoxed-question

David Doel from The Rational National podcast gives a brief analysis of this video clip and what it really says about Trump supporters:  https://youtu.be/RH8YISd6w-o 

Question: Can you spot one Trump voter who isn't white and of Anglo-Saxon heritage in this photo?  Answer: You can't because there weren't any.

***

Today we joined faith leaders, including denominational and national leadership, with moral advocates across the country in requesting that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights hold our government accountable for violating the UN Charter and escalating us toward war with Iran. This afternoon we formally requested a meeting with High Commissioner Bachelet. As the request began:

"We write gravely disturbed, indeed outraged, by the death that is occurring because of our President's rogue actions in the Middle East. His willingness to bypass congressional approval, violate international law, pardon convicted war criminals, implement harsher sanctions and abandon existing peace deals, sets a dangerous precedent that can have continued lethal and destabilizing results.

The US President's order to carry out a lethal drone strike violated the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The assassination of General Qassim Suleimani represented an act of war against a country with whom the United States was not at war. Trump’s claim of imminent danger from Suleimani is unfounded and must be investigated.

The threat to add new sanctions to Iran, and to involve the NATO military alliance, all indicate that the threat of war remains very real. Furthermore, we know that the majority of impact from these sanctions will be on the poor."

We know that in the words of Rev. Dr. King "war is the enemy of the poor."  We must say no to war and militarism.

Join us in our request. Sign here. Share it widely as we humbly and whole-heartedly work to keep our country from war and our world from the dangerous precedence of immoral and unaccountable leadership. Our people across the world are hurting, and it's gone on far too long.

We know that together we can and must revive the heart and soul of this nation.

Join our signatures here.

Forward together,
Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach
Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of the Kairos Center
Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

***

Jeff Bezos Will Ring in the New Year by Leaving These Employees Out in the Cold

Nearly 2,000 part-time Whole Foods employees may not be celebrating at all. On January 1st, these workers were stripped of their healthcare benefits and left to fend for themselves.Tell Jeff Bezos to do the right thing — use his billions to help his employees, not his bottom line. Any employee who works less than full-time but at least 20 hours per week will now have to find their own healthcare. The extra cost is substantial: healthcare across the nation is staggeringly expensive, even for full-time workers with a middle-class salary. For a part-time employee making anything less, the cost could be crippling. The company now says they will help some of these employees transition into full-time jobs so they can qualify for continued benefits or help them find care in the private market, but this won't help everyone. One employee who had been with Whole Foods for 15 years explained that in order to work full-time hours, she would need to pay for daycare, which is sometimes even more expensive than healthcare. The high-end supermarket is owned by Amazon, which is, in turn, owned by Jeff Bezos, who is the second-wealthiest person on Earth. If he wanted to, he could easily afford to provide healthcare — after all, he is personally worth $112 billion dollars. His company earns billions of dollars a year, but when it comes to his employees, this billionaire is a penny-pincher. Tell Jeff Bezos this is unacceptable. His part-time employees depended on their company-provided healthcare. Snatching it away right after Christmas is something only a Grinch would do. Sign the petition and demand that Whole Foods continue to provide healthcare for their part-time employees.  Thank you, Lauren W. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Whole Foods must not treat its employees so cruelly. Healthcare is a human right. Please sign the petition. *** Tell Congress: "Demand our lawmakers put human rights above corporate profits by guaranteeing housing for all." ADD YOUR NAME Americans spent more on Christmas decorations in 2012 than researchers say it would cost to completely end homelessness in America.1 Is that the country we want to live in? Where big banks and corporate developers push over 3 million families into homelessness and others into poverty? ADD YOUR NAME: We need a homes guarantee! Everyone living in the United States should have safe, accessible, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing. Period. Thanks, Mike Phelan Progress America 1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homelessness-christmas-decorations_n_2276536

The Toxic Left

The Toxic Left

 by Coast Watcher

One of the problems—perhaps the problem—with those of us on the Left of the political spectrum is the tendency for us to divide against each other. There is a desire in a few individuals to be holier than thou—to be more of a Leftist than anyone else. For a person to be so politically correct that, in their effort not to say/do/write anything that may be construed as prejudicial to others, they can barely function. It’s especially important not to air grievances on social media where it can attract the wrong kind of publicity for the cause. Facebook is the worst for this kind of behavior.  

It’s quite ironic that those who seek to improve the welfare of the environment and society as a whole can be more divided than those who place the individual first and foremost. The Right is far from unified, but since the goal of the Right is to make profit out of everything, to turn the Earth and all upon it into a commodity of some kind, it tends to make for greater unity of purpose. 

The Right appeals to all that is base in human nature. It is the politics of selfishness and greed. That desire to make a buck, even (and in sociopathic cases especially) if it involves screwing over your fellow human. Until such time as that tendency to look out for Number One disappears from the human condition, it will be difficult to counteract if the Left fails to work as a whole toward a common goal.  

That would be an ecumenical matter…

The adjective ecumenical refers to something universal, or something that has a wide, general application.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ecumenical

In this case it benefits the Left and our cause to put aside our differences or at least place them on hold. To be ecumenical in pursuit of our objective, which is the greatest good for the greatest number of people. If someone says, writes, or does something which may be construed as non-PC, talk it over with them in a quiet fashion and see if the matter can be resolved peacefully. This is vital if working within a group. It does not do the cause of the Left any good at all to blow up about it on social media—especially Facebook. Those on the Left must discuss such issues calmly and not act as judge, jury, and executioner. Such behavior is negative, divisive, hurts feelings, and costs support which could be crucial in these days of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Doug Ford, Jair Bolsanaro, and their kind.  

The world cannot afford to waste time on moments of butt hurt. We of the Left need to put aside our differences and unite—Now.

BIO: Coast Watcher grows tired of the incessant bickering in some leftist groups. He's ready for action not tears. He says, "Cooperate. It's all hands on deck if we're going to save the planet. There are no winners if we all wind up dead."

***
What Should The Left Be Focusing On? 
(Hint: It's Not Fighting Each Other) 

Coast Watcher states that the Left has a tendency to divide itself among its various factions rather than concentrating on important issues that need to be addressed. So, what should the Left be doing instead of arguing who is more politically correct? The following videos and article links should give you some ideas.

https://youtu.be/7O1BvDe0-hQ 

Hmm... If Brits are shocked at the cost of American health care, then why aren't more Americans in the streets demanding Medicare for All? Could it be the Left isn't getting this message out to everyday working Americans and informing them of the benefits of universal health care? 

https://youtu.be/4NBdEgCr8d0

Trump has declared war on the poor. Food Stamp benefits will be taken away from 700,000 working Americans. What exactly is the Left doing to bring relief to those suffering from hunger and poverty in the US? The Poor People's Campaign and other left-leaning groups are tackling this issue, but could use much more support.

Immigration Woes: There is so much the Left can do to help alleviate the suffering of these Dreamers, refugees and asylum seekers.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inside-the-cell-where-a-sick-16-year-old-boy-died-in-border-patrol-care_n_5de9601ce4b0d50f32b0ad89

Endless Wars for Oil: The Left has more than enough work to do to stop these and expose the lies they're built upon.
https://www.newser.com/story/284110/us-lied-and-lied-about-afghan-war-bombshell-report.html

The Climate Crisis:  The Left must lead the way toward a greener future or else we're all doomed. With the forests burning and the oceans rising, we can't wait.  Our water is tainted, our soil is becoming desert-like. Infighting only takes away energy and wastes valuable time. There is no Planet B!  https://youtu.be/P5zUor4EXw8

Don't forget there's plenty to fight hard for in the realm of social justice issues. We need to guarantee rights for LGBTQ persons, women, persons of color, and let's not forget we need to dismantle the "new slavery" of our for-profit prison culture in the US. There are also worthy causes in tackling the student loan debt crisis and providing free education from pre-school through college. With so many things that need addressing in our society today, who can justify giving any thought to name-calling matches?

***

The Genocide of Indigenous Women Is Happening Right Now. Tell Canadian Authorities to Stop the Violence Now!

Sign Now

Indigenous women are being "disappeared" in Canada. The country's Truth and Reconciliation Committee spent three years investigating the terrifying number of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, and its work culminated in the release of a damning report. According to the Committee, there is currently an ongoing "Canadian genocide" against Indigenous women and members of the LGBTQ community. From the evidence they could collect, the Committee found that far more than 4,000 Indigenous people have been murdered or "disappeared" in the past few decades. But the true toll and number of victims will likely never be known. Canadian authorities must take action to stop this genocide, now! The more than 1,200-page-long report details the horrors still being inflicted upon the Indigenous community, even today. These include Canada's former practice of forcibly sending thousands of Indigenous children to government-sponsored residential schools, where they were abused for decades. On top of that, Canada's First Nation peoples have also endured abductions, sexual violence, forced sterilizations, lack of medical access, mass food insecurity, homelessness, and active cultural erasure. Thankfully, the document also includes 231 specific recommendations on how the Canadian government can both begin to make amends for these heinous crimes and to stop them once and for all. It is time to put an end to the centuries of mistreatment of Canada's First Nations peoples! Sign the petition to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian Parliament to immediately start implementing the report's recommendations. Thank you for taking action to help Canada's First Nations people, Steff D. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. The New York Times has called this "a race-based genocide of Indigenous peoples, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis." This cultural violence has to end now. Sign the petition. *** Tell Democrats in Congress: Fight the Patriot Act The petition to Democrats in Congress reads: "Section 215 of the Patriot Act is widely invasive and has never proven to be effective in preventing terrorist attacks. Protect our democracy and sunset Section 215 when it expires in March." Add your name: Speaker Pelosi's House of Representatives just quietly extended the government's legal power to surveil our phone calls.1 Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the government to collect a massive amount of our personal information without a warrant, was set to expire on December 15. But House Democrats recently joined with Republicans in the House and Senate to quietly approve a stop-gap budget bill that included an extension of Section 215 until March 15, 2020. We cannot let this stand. Section 215 gives the NSA legal ability to listen to our phone calls. It lets the government keep records of who we are talking to and what we are talking about. No Democrat should have allowed this extension to pass without a meaningful public debate. Speak out now to show Democrats that we are watching and demand that they allow Section 215 to expire in March. Tell Democrats in Congress: Make a wrong decision right. Sunset Section 215 in March 2020. Click here to sign the petition. Congress passed the wildly invasive Patriot Act during the anti-Muslim hysteria that followed 9/11. It undermines our civil liberties and targets communities of color and immigrants, but has never been proven effective in preventing terrorist attacks. All it has ever done is sanction state-sponsored criminalization of -- and violence against -- Muslims and open the floodgates for the government to collect millions of Americans' phone data in bulk without us knowing.2 Under Trump's National Security Agency, extending surveillance powers under Section 215 is even more dangerous. Through anti-Muslim draconian border policies such as the Muslim ban, the Trump administration is already over-policing and attacking the rights of our Muslim neighbors, friends and family members. We must do everything we can to protect them. That includes holding Democrats' feet to the fire when they supercharge Trump's surveillance state. Add your name now to make clear to every Democrat in Congress that we expect them to fight tooth and nail to safeguard our democracy from authoritarians like Trump, not help him attack our civil liberties and spy on our communities. Tell Democrat lawmakers: Sunset Section 215 in March 2020. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/repeal-section-215?t=9&akid=35260%2E9999572%2E_tMVvZ Thanks for fighting back, Jelani Drew, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Zack Whittaker, "Congress extends NSA calls records collection powers to March," Tech Crunch, Nov. 21, 2019. Rainey Reitman, "3 Years Later, the Snowden Leaks Have Changed How the World Sees NSA Surveillance," Electric Frontier Foundation, June 5, 2016. From Friends of the Earth: Trump’s EPA will stop at nothing to sacrifice our health and our planet to enrich Big Polluters. It refuses to ban bee- and butterfly-killing pesticides. But things just got worse. Last month, the EPA announced plans to require the disclosure of all raw data -- including private medical records -- for studies that are essential for our most important environmental laws and regulations. This would likely prevent the studies from happening or undermine their conclusions. The inevitable result would be fewer protections from the pesticide industry and other polluters. Trump’s EPA is attacking our privacy and the science we all rely on to increase profits for mega-corporations. We need your help to send a loud and clear message to the EPA: Stop suppressing science!  Protect our health, environment, and privacy: Demand the EPA stop censoring science! This new rule is part of the Trump Administration’s broader effort to censor science and gut our bedrock environmental protections -- selling out our health and planet to enrich Big Polluters. In 2017, Trump’s EPA reversed a ban on the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos after Dow Chemical gave Trump $1 million. Chlorpyrifos is linked to increased risk of autism, ADHD, reduced IQ and memory loss. Later, in 2018, the EPA announced that it would cut funding for all children’s environmental health centers. One of these centers was directly responsible for showing how badly chlorpyrifos hurts children’s brains. The EPA’s proposed plans are the next step in giving polluters like Dow Chemical a free pass to poison us and the environment while children and bees suffer. Now, the agency needs to feel a groundswell of grassroots opposition to its latest giveaway. And they need to hear from you today! Fight Trump’s latest giveaway to Big Polluters: Tell the EPA to put people over corporate profits! Since day 1, the Trump Administration has worked to make it easier for Big Polluters to poison people and the environment. Trump’s EPA continuously refuses to ban bee-killing neonics and cancer-causing glyphosate, despite the clear science showing harm. The only way Trump can do this successfully is by undermining science. After all, independent research shows that these pesticides harm bees and poison people. But the EPA would rather protect pesticide industry profits instead of people and our planet. The EPA’s new plan would make it harder to study the damaging effects of these chemicals. And it even aims to defund the very EPA centers that produce this essential research. Strong, independent science helps ensure polluters are held accountable. An attack on science is an attack on our families and our pollinators like bees and butterflies. We need to drive the message home to the EPA: Stop suppressing science NOW! Help send 30,000 comments to the EPA: Tell the agency to stop rejecting science and protect our environment! Standing with you, Jason Davidson, Food and agriculture campaigner, Friends of the Earth