Pardon Me (list of those Pardoned by Trump)

 (credit to all the journalists that named at least one pardoned person--this is original investigative reporting but a compilation in no particular order of the names of those that have been pardoned in the last 4 years---enjoy)

I can't finish this, the list is too long, and the choices too self-serving and just plain despicable.  He obviously thinks his base if all for war crimes and hate crimes.  He also thinks putting in pardons for random drug crimes, makes him ok with the rest of us.  But I feel nasty after researching this mess.  feel free to read what is here.

Pardons Granted by President Donald Trump (justice.gov)

1.Republican Party and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, 

2.former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, found guilty in 2013 of corruption charges.

3.Stephen Odzer, conditional pardon of conspiracy and bank fraud

4.Former Republican House member Rick Renzi of Arizona, convicted in 2013 of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. Renzi left prison in 2017.

5.Former Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., who was released from prison in 2013 after serving eight years for charges of bribery, fraud, and tax evasion.

6.Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., the rapper known as Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty to possession for a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

7.Broidy, who pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent and accepting money from Chinese and Malaysian interests to lobby the Trump administration.

8.Stephen Bannon, who was awaiting trial in Manhattan on federal fraud charges tied to a border wall fundraising effort.  Trump and Bannon have had an up-and-down relationship since the flamboyant adviser left the White House in 2017. At one point, Trump banished Bannon from his inner circle, claiming that he was a source of a critical book about the president, but Bannon still worked as a prominent backer of Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.

9.rapper Bill Kapri, also known as Kodak Black. The president commuted a 46-month sentence for lying on a background check related to a gun purchase.

10.Robert Zangrillo, a Miami real estate developer who was part of the recent college entrance scandal, received a full pardon. He was accused of conspiring with a college consultant to bribe officials at the University of Southern California to designate his daughter as a recruit to the crew team.

11.Paul Erickson, the former boyfriend of Russian operative Maria Butina, also received a pardon. He was sentenced last year to 84 months in prison on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

12. Sholam Weiss, convicted in a $450 million mortgage and insurance fraud scheme. He had been sentenced to 835 years after jumping bail.  Weiss was captured in Austria in 2000. His case was supported by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow. Weiss had been scheduled for release in 2738. 

13.Amy Povah, who received a pardon from Trump after previously having her prison sentence commuted in 2000 by Clinton. Povah, who served nine years of a 24-year sentence in connection with offenses involving Ecstasy, became founder of CAN-Do (Calling for All Non-violent Drug Offenders) Foundation. The pardon record describes her as “a voice for the incarcerated, a champion for criminal justice reform.” 

14.Syrita Steib-Martin, also received a full pardon erasing her conviction, at age 19, for using fire during commission of a felony. After serving 10 years, Steib-Martin founded Operation Restoration to help female convicts make the transition out of prison. 

15.Lou Hobbs, had his sentence commuted by Trump after serving 24 months of a life term for a nonviolent drug offense. 

16.Lavonne Roach, a Lakota Sioux woman who lived through a cycle of abuse and drug addiction that led her to participate in a methamphetamine distribution scheme, according to a summary of her case published by a New York University Law School study that examined clemency candidates who had been passed over in the past. 

17.Michael Pelletier, was sentenced to life without parole in 2008 for conspiring to import and distribute marijuana. The NYU study said he used marijuana to cope with the pain and stress of a tractor accident at age 11 that left him paralyzed from the waist down, the study said. 

 18.Paul Manafort, a Trump campaign manager in 2016 who was convicted of defrauding banks

*19. George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who admitted lying to the FBI; a

20. Michael Flynn, a retired Army general who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials.

21.Roger Stone just days before he was set to report to prison after he was convicted of lying to Congress and obstructing the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

22. Charles Kushner, the father of presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. The elder Kushner has been convicted of preparing false tax returns and witness retaliation.

23. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who had pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds;  

24.Chris Collins, R-N.Y., who had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud.

25.Todd Boulanger, full pardon of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud

26.Abel Holtz, full pardon of impeding a grand jury investigation

27.Rick Renzi, full pardon to representative from Arizona convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering

28.Kenneth Kurson, full pardon of cyberstalking

29.Casey Urlacher, full pardon of sports betting case

30.Carl Andrews Boggs, full pardon of two counts to corruption

31.James E. Johnson, Jr., full pardon to charges of illegal hunting of wildlife birds

32.Tommaso Buti, full pardon of financial fraud involving his restaurant chain

33.Glen Moss, full pardon of healthcare fraud\

34.Anthony Levandowski, full pardon of stealing trade secrets from Google

35.Aviem Sella, full pardon of espionage

36.Michael Liberty, full pardon of campaign finance violations

37.Greg Reyes, full pardon of securities fraud

38.Jeffrey Alan Conway, full pardon of financial reporting fraud

39.Benedict Olberding, full pardon of bank fraud

40.Eric Wesley Patton, full pardon of making a false statement on a mortgage application

41.Robert William Cawthon, full pardon of making a false statement on a bank loan application

42.Hal Knudson Mergler, full pardon of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of LSD

43.Gary Evan Hendler, full pardon of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances

44.John Harold Wall, full pardon of aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine

45.Steven Samuel Grantham, full pardon of stealing a vehicle

46.Clarence Olin Freeman, full pardon of operating an illegal whiskey still

47.Fred Keith Alford, full pardon of a firearm violation

48.Alex Adjmi, full pardon of financial crime

49.Elliott Broidy, full pardon of conspiracy to serve as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal

50.Douglas Jemal, full pardon of fraud

51.Dr. Scott Harkonen, full pardon of fraud based on a misleading caption in a press release with respect to a treatment for a disease

52.Johnny D. Phillips, Jr., full pardon of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud

53.Dr. Mahmoud Reza Banki, full pardon of monetary violations of Iranian sanctions and making false statements

54.John Nystrom, full pardon of failure to alert authorities to double payments of subcontractors

55.Gregory Jorgensen, Deborah Jorgensen, Martin Jorgensen, full pardons of knowingly selling misbranded beef

56.Jessica Frease, full pardon of converting stolen checks and negotiating them through the bank where she worked as a teller

57.Robert Cannon “Robin” Hayes, full pardon of making a false statement in the course of a Federal investigation

58.Thomas Kenton “Ken” Ford, full pardon of making material misstatements to Federal mining officials

59.Jon Harder, full pardon of misusing investment funds during the real estate crisis

60.Scott Conor Crosby, full pardon of intent to commit a bank robbery

61.Lynn Barney, full pardon of possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, and having previously distributed a small amount of marijuana

62.Joshua J. Smith, full pardon of conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to distribute

63.Dr. Frederick Nahas, full pardon of obstructing justice in a health care investigation

64.David Tamman, full pardon of doctoring financial documents that were the subject of a Federal investigation

65.Dr. Faustino Bernadett, full pardon of failure to report a hospital kickback scheme of which he became aware

66.Paul Erickson, full pardon of attempting to develop a backchannel between the NRA and Russian government

67, 68,69,70,71.Todd Farha, Thaddeus Bereday, William Kale, Paul Behrens, Peter Clay, full pardons false statements to the Florida Medicaid Program

72.David Rowland, full pardon of removing asbestos in elementary school without proper licensing.

73.Randall “Duke” Cunningham, conditional pardon of accepting bribes while he held public office

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• Steven Benjamin Floyd, full pardon of one count of bank robbery by extortion
• Joey Hancock, full pardon of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
• David E. Miller, full pardon of making a false statement to a bank
• James Austin Hayes, full pardon of conspiracy to commit insider trading
• Drew Brownstein, full pardon of insider trading
• Robert Bowker, full pardon of illegally wildlife trafficking 22 snakes owned by Rudy “Cobra King” Komarek to be transported to the Miami Serpentarium
• Amir Khan, full pardon of wire fraud
• Patrick Lee Swisher, full pardon of tax fraud and making false statements
• Robert Sherrill, full pardon of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine
• Dr. Robert S. Corkern, full pardon of Federal program bribery
• David Lamar Clanton, full pardon of making false statements and related charges
• George Gilmore, full pardon of failure to pay payroll taxes and making false statements
• Desiree Perez, full pardon of a conspiracy to distribute narcotics
• Robert “Bob” Zangrillo, full pardon of involvement in the “Varsity Blues” investigation, a high-profile college admissions fraud scandal
• Hillel Nahmad, full pardon of a sports gambling offense
• Brian McSwain, full pardon of a drug crime
• John Duncan Fordham, full pardon of health care fraud
• William “Ed” Henry, full pardon of aiding and abetting the theft of government property

Full list of Trump commuted sentences Jan. 20:

Albert Pirro Jr., a former real estate associate of Trump's, was convicted on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.

• Jaime A. Davidson, commuted sentence of life imprisonment in relation to the murder of an undercover officer
• Bill K. Kapri (Kodak Black), commuted sentence for making a false statement on a Federal document
• Jawad A. Musa, commuted sentence of life imprisonment for a non-violent, drug-related offense
• Adriana Shayota, commuted sentence for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, commit copyright infringement, and introduce misbranded food into interstate commerce
• Ferrell Damon Scott, commuted sentence for life imprisonment sentence for possession with intent to distribute marijuana
• Jerry Donnell Walden, commuted sentence for intent to distribute cocaine
• Michael Ashley, commuted sentence of bank fraud
• Lou Hobbs, commuted sentence
• Matthew Antoine Canady, commuted sentence for drug-related convictions
• Mario Claiborne, commuted sentence for leading drug related business conspiracy in Chicago
• Rodney Nakia Gibson, commuted sentence for trafficking drugs
• Tom Leroy Whitehurst, commuted sentence for conspiracy to manufacture at least 16.7 kilograms of methamphetamine and possession of numerous firearms
• Monstsho Eugene Vernon, commuted sentence for committing a string of armed bank robberies
• Luis Fernando Sicard, commuted sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
• DeWayne Phelps, commuted sentence for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
• Isaac Nelson, commuted sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine
• Traie Tavares Kelly, commuted sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base and 5 kilograms or more of cocaine
• Javier Gonzales, commuted sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine
• John Knock, commuted sentence for a first-time, non-violent marijuana only offender
• Kenneth Charles Fragoso, commuted sentence for a nonviolent drug offense
• Luis Gonzalez, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Anthony DeJohn, commuted sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana
• Corvain Cooper, commuted sentence for non-violent participation in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana
• Way Quoe Long, commuted sentence for non-violent conviction for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana
• Michael Pelletier, commuted sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana
• Craig Cesal, commuted sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana
• Darrell Frazier, commuted sentence for intent to distribute cocaine
• Lavonne Roach, commuted sentence for non-violent drug charges
• Blanca Virgen, commuted sentence for intent to distribute methamphetamine
• Robert Francis, commuted sentence for non-violent drug conspiracy charges
• Brian Simmons, commuted sentence for non-violent conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana
• Derrick Smith, commuted sentence for distribution of drugs to a companion who passed away
• Raymond Hersman, commuted sentence for distribution of methamphetamine
• David Barren, commuted sentence for non-violent drug conspiracy charge
• James Romans, commuted sentence for involvement in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
• Jonathon Braun, commuted sentence for conspiracy to import marijuana and to commit money laundering
• Michael Harris, commuted sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
• Kyle Kimoto, commuted sentence for non-violent telemarketing fraud scheme
• Chalana McFarland, commuted sentence of money laundering, bank and wire fraud and other financial crimes
• Eliyahu Weinstein, commuted sentence of real estate investment fraud
• John Estin Davis, commuted sentence for serving as Chief Executive Office of a healthcare company with a financial conflict of interest
• Noah Kleinman, commuted sentence for a non-violent crime to distribute marijuana
• Tena Logan, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• MaryAnne Locke, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• April Coots, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Caroline Yeats, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Jodi Lynn Richter, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Kristina Bohnenkamp, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Mary Roberts, commuted sentence for non-violent drug offense
• Cassandra Ann Kasowski, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Lerna Lea Paulson, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Ann Butler, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Sydney Navarro, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Tara Perry, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• Jon Harder, commuted sentence for misusing investment funds during the real estate crisis
• Chris Young, commuted sentence for role in a drug conspiracy
• Adrianne Miller, commuted sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a list I chemical.
• Kwame Kilpatrick, commuted sentence for racketeering and bribery scheme while he held public office
• Fred “Dave” Clark, commuted sentence for a non-violent drug offense
• William Walters, commuted sentence for insider trading
• James Brian Cruz, commuted sentence for a drug crime
• Shalom Weiss, commuted sentence for racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice
• Salomon Melgen, commuted sentence for healthcare fraud and false statements
• Michael Flynn
• Paul Manafort
• While many of Trump's pardons and commutations went to political allies and high-profile criminals, others were doled out to relatively unknown figures, including some who had backing from justice reform advocates.  

 

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The Lincoln Party vs the Patriot Party (or, lets bury the GOP and start over)

  The Tea Party was a conservative subgroup of the GOP that espoused limited government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility.  It was launched in 2009, in response to Obama and his bailing out of various industries that had died from the unregulated mess on wall street.

The first head was Rand Paul and was heavily sponsored by the Koch Brothers--Kansas' favorite fortune 400 representatives.

So began the fracturing of the Republican Party.

In the 2016 presidential primary, there were 4 Tea Party candidates: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Scott Walker.  This in itself made all 4 of them less likely to win as they were splitting the subgroups voters up.  If the Tea Party had agreed on one candidate, Ted Cruz might have won the nomination.  Jeb Bush who was not officially a tea party member, dropped out and endorsed Ted Cruz.  Bobby Jindal dropped out and supported Marco Rubio.  Rick Santorum dropped out and endorsed Rubio.  Rick Perry dropped out and endorsed Ted Cruz.  Scott Walker dropped out and endorsed "anyone but Trump". 

There were 5 more traditional conservative GOP candidates that were capable of working across the aisle; John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, and Lindsey Graham.  John Kasich placed third in the primary and did not endorse Trump.   Mike Huckabee dropped out and endorsed no one I can find, but who actively supported Donald Trump during his presidency. George Pataki dropped out and endorsed John Kasich.  Chris Christy dropped out and endorsed Trump. Lindsey Graham and endorsed Jeb Bush, then when Bush dropped out, he endorsed Rubio.  Lindsey was anti-trump until after Trump won.

There was one black candidate, a political outsider, a world renowned neurosurgeon that had retired from medicine in 2013 for unknown reasons.  While his family was still dependent on food stamps when he was in ninth grade, he was a staunch supporter of "no government handouts".  (also, the stuff he said during his campaign mostly made no more sense than Sarah Palin had in her speeches).  He did poorly in the primaries and ended up supporting Trump, landing himself a cabinet seat.

There was one female candidate, a business woman and an outsider.  After she dropped out, she was the VP candidate for Ted Cruz.

Mark Everson, a tax-focused man with actual policies plans, was an outsider that was actively anti-trump.

So, the Grand Ole Party was fractured long before Trump.

Now it is time to dump the Trump supporters, both politicians and fan club.  They have proven they are neither about the party or the country.

Since Trump has already declared the Patriot Party, that name is out.

I suggest that true patriots subscribe to the Lincoln Party. (named after a president, and the amazing Lincoln Project---also true patriots.)

Time to bury the broken Republican party.  Let it go the way of the Whigs and Federalists.

Or do like a lot of us, and go for independent with the ability to vote in primaries.  The GOP is done, but we still need to fix our election processes, from required civics test results to psych eval and medical exam, to clean tax returns, and ranked voting, limited campaign funds so everyone's money is equal, to no gerrymandering, no voter suppression, and automatic registration at 18.  And, let the prisoners vote in prison.  They are still citizens.  We let the rich and famous pay a fine, no felony conviction on their records and keep on voting.  We need to stop giving more rights to the rich and powerful.

Lies, Opinions, and Hate Speech.

 The first Amendment in our bill of rights is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Short, sweet, and mostly missing the rhetoric quoted and paraphrased about the first amendment--our right to say anything, our right to write anything, etc.

As you can see, it is entirely directed at congress regarding making laws that declare establishing a state religion, or talking about any religion, or stopping the press from writing---about religion?--it gets vague but a press that can not write about human rights, politics, religion, or any other event that is going on at the time becomes a puppet press, a state news propaganda machine.  It also gives the people the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So, the people of my neighborhood can get together (assemble) and discuss the gunfire at night, every night, and decide to start a petition in which people are not allowed to shoot guns at night.  

Of course, this is where the other amendments get called in.

The second amendment is:  “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

So, the people have a right to keep and bear arms.  It says nothing about when they have a right to shoot them.  And don't get me started on the whole well-regulated militia---that is generally seen as the state's National guard units and the Governor of each state is their commander in chief.  

The supreme court originally said that the state's militia were the only ones with a right to bear arms.  It was 1925 when the Supreme Court decided that individuals had that right.  I'm thinking that citizens, whether or not they have committed a crime in the past, if they are not currently paying for a felony, also have a right to bear arms.  There are several groups whose rights to bear arms have been ignored.  They get shot if they even look like they might be bearing arms.

But this is about #1.

Most of us have always believed that we not only have a right to our opinion, but also a right to express our opinion.  

slander (noun) · slanders (plural noun)

1. the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.  Compare with libel.

   "he is suing the TV network for slander"

   • a false and malicious spoken statement.
     "I've had just about all I can stomach of your slanders"
     synonyms:

     defamation · defamation of character · character assassination · misrepresentation of character · calumny · libel · scandalmongering · malicious gossip · muckraking · smear campaigning · disparagement · denigration · derogation · aspersions · vilification · traducement · obloquy · backbiting · scurrility · lie · slur · smear · untruth · false accusation · false report · insult · slight · mudslinging · bad-mouthing · contumely
     antonyms:

     acclamation · praise

VERB

slander (verb) · slanders (third person present) · slandered (past tense) · slandered (past participle) · slandering (present participle)

1. make false and damaging statements about (someone).

   "they were accused of slandering the head of state"

   synonyms:

   defame · defame someone's character · blacken someone's name · give someone a bad name · tell lies about · speak ill/evil of · drag through the mud/mire · throw/sling/fling mud at · sully someone's reputation · libel · smear · run a smear campaign against · cast aspersions on · spread scandal about · besmirch · tarnish · taint · misrepresent · malign · traduce · vilify · calumniate · disparage · denigrate · decry · run down · slur · do a hatchet job on · derogate · asperse · vilipend

Above is a hint.

And the law will side with the person committing the slander unless the person suing them can prove it is untrue.

A proven untruth is a LIE.

So, freedom of speech does not cover lying about someone.

Lies are not free speech.  

We have all heard that screaming "fire" in a crowded theater is not free speech because it endangers lives, but did you know that lying about someone is also not protected free speech?

Which leads us to hate speech.  

Hate speech is almost always the repetition of stereotype, derogatory names and inflammatory claims about a group of people.  The goal is to make the speaker feel superior and to marginalize the group being spoken about.  

It's slander, not because no one in the group matches the stereotype, but because everyone in the group doesn't match the stereotype.  It is also aimed at the stirring up hate/violence, so the goal is to endanger the groups' members lives, either through direct violence or decreased opportunity.

Hate speech is not free speech.

If you have an opinion about a whole group of people, you might want to take some classes, antiracism classes, black history classes, women's studies, they have cultural studies at universities on about every group you can name.  

Or, if you are not the scholarly type---talk to some people from the group you have been hating.  Talk to some people from your group that don't hate the group you have been hating.  

Quit only talking to people that share your hate.

Time to grow up.

When Rage shakes the silent majority.

First off, who is the silent majority.  To a lot of lower middle class white folks, its them.   Obviously, they are not a majority unless you divide us into race and socioeconomic group.  Then it's still not an actual majority, its just a bigger minority than the other divisions

Let's not do that.  Let's not buy into those old standards.

The silent majority are all those people that usually are focused, not on politics or race relations or religious preferences because they are using all their energy to go to work, earn enough money to pay for shelter, food, clothing, and all the perks and advantages they can for their family--parents, children, significant other.  They are consumed with their own lives, because living, doing their best for their loved ones, is a lot.

Sometimes its apathy or addiction or depression that stops us from keeping up with the world around us.  More often it's just trying to survive that has consumed all our resources and we just have no fucks left to give.

But this last year, this pandemic, the protests, the multiple killings of unarmed black people, the tear gas and riot batons used against people carrying signs and waterbottles.  Well, we are home.  We are seeing it.  And while those watching Fox News are not seeing what the rest of us see, it has taken the place of cooking for church dinners  and ball games and driving to dance practice and piano lessons.  It it on our social media and on our TV and Radio station.  And it is shocking.  It is not life as usual.

With 4 years of Trump's lies being told repeatedly with no restrictions, those of us that want to believe him, believe him completely, and those of us that never believed him because what he said changed with the wind, we are all suffering the effects of sensory overload and mental trauma.

For some of us, the rage started the day the electoral college elected a man with 3 million less votes than his opponent.  A man that then proceeded to tell those people that really wanted to believe him, that those 3 million votes were illegal and fraudulent.  A man that said such things out loud, knowing they were not true and the news ran with it without any fact checking, without any attempts to stop his lies.  He made comments from day one about being president for 12 years and 20 years and visited with dictators alone so no one could hear his conversations.  He fired his appointees for not doing everything he said, whether legal or not.  He called female opponents by names that are usually reserved for use by 15 year old bullies, and implied rape was a victimless crime.  

He showed absolute hatred for Islamic people (except for Saudi Arabian Royalty--he really liked them) and for Hispanic people unless they were working for cheap in his hotels.  He ripped children from family at the borders, with no plan, no record keeping, and left them in fenced areas that looked more like dog kennels for shitty dog breeding farms.

And that silent majority that thought that if we voted for our representatives; those representatives and the constitution would keep the country running just like it always had.

Of course, it hadn't always worked that way.  President Buchanan was the monkey wrench that caused Lincoln to end up in a civil war.  The war of 1812 was a bit like falling asleep at the wheel after the revolution.  The Great Depression was a result of the very rich wanting everything open, no laws impinging on their money making. 

But, while people are expected to live into their 70's, children don't grasp those connections and patterns seen between those events; we don't really start seeing the patterns at all if we are part of the silent majority unless something wakes us up.  

We get focused on our individual lives.  We worry about being happy, being pretty or handsome, being successful, being married, being parents, or whatever thing that has taken up residences in our brains and our dreams, and those things are pretty time consuming. 

If we are responsible, we vote.  Or maybe we vote only when a candidate or issue really gets our attention.  Or if we have nothing better to do that day, and in places with gerrymandering and voter suppression, we know we can't do anything about it and just try not to even think about it.  

And we stay silent.

So who are these folks screaming like political animals right now?  Why did we have the biggest voter turn out for this presidential election that has ever occurred?

Trump.  Trumpism. White Nationalism and fascism and QANON and evangelical Christians that think God sent them a leader to take back this country.  

He saturated the news, all of it, papers, tv, radio, social media, and the constant noise was hard to sleep through even for the busy and silent.  

Then, a disease, still being ignored as no big deal by a large group making it harder to limit exposures, forced a lot of people to slow down.  We spent more time with social media and reading and watching news.  We spent less time running on the hamster wheel because much of the wheel was no longer open for business.  And depending on the state, on the political party, on  each of our race/ethnicity/personal self-image and whether or not we liked  reality TV, we ended up choosing sides.  

Now, both sides are raging.  One because we only woke up enough to listen to our favorite TV personality,  the other because that same personality was awakening in us fear from the stories that our parents and grandparents told us, about fascism, and racism and overthrown governments; old history class lessons were googled, and worst of all how much of an increase in  hate we were feeling from our country and countrymen.

Rage is hard to control.

Ask the bullied school shooter.

Ask the brown person that can never do enough to actually succeed because there was never an opportunity before catching the attention of the justice system.

I don't have answers, but I do think that we need to stop publicizing lies.  That is like pouring gasoline on the fire. And how much difference is there, really between publishing a lie and slander.  I think we need to stop letting news outlet get by with opinion pieces that are all aimed at the same side---people need to see and hear both sides or we start to think that an opinion is a fact.

Maybe we need to NOT bring the hamster wheel all the way back online.  All of us need to stay involved in our own governance. 

 And no group is the majority.  We are all equally important.  Hate, bullying, profiling, putting people in pigeonholes, needs to actively be combated not just denied---those things are our enemy.  Who knows how many people have been destroyed by those things when nurturing all of them would have may have given us the next Michelangelo, Einstein, Mandela, Che Guevara, or Maria Tallchief, or Selena Gomez.  

We have a representative government.  They must speak for all of us, serve all of us for we ARE the silent majority--all of us.

Trump, 2021

There are still people fighting to have Trump be president---for life?  

They make ridiculous claims about "He got more votes than anyone every has" while ignoring the almost 7 million more votes that Biden got.  Easy to explain, Trump said that himself repeatedly, also ignoring the more votes that Biden got.  Reality is, Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes than Trump got.  Trump never said that either.  He firmly believed in the electoral College when it worked to his advantage.

He tried to nullify it, when it didn't go his way.

He filed more than 50 election lawsuits---which he lost.  Then called around trying to get state Governors and Attorney generals to send his electoral representatives instead of the ones that represented the people in the state.  

When that didn't work, he tried to get senators and representatives and the Vice President to make him president anyway.

List of Senate and House members objecting to election: All 147 Republican lawmakers challenging the count of electoral votes - Vox

Senators who objected

Ted Cruz (TX)
Josh Hawley (MO)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS)
Cynthia Lummis (WY)
John Kennedy (LA)
Roger Marshall (KS)
Rick Scott (FL)
Tommy Tuberville (AL)

House members who objected

Robert Aderholt (AL)
Rick Allen (GA)
Jodey Arrington (TX)
Brian Babin (TX)
Jim Baird (IN)
Jim Banks (IN)
Cliff Bentz (OR)
Jack Bergman (MI)
Stephanie Bice (OK)
Andy Biggs (AZ)
Dan Bishop (NC)
Lauren Boebert (CO)
Mike Bost (IL)
Mo Brooks (AL)
Ted Budd (NC)
Tim Burchett (TN)
Michael Burgess (TX)
Ken Calvert (CA)
Kat Cammack (FL)
Jerry Carl (AL)
Buddy Carter (GA)
John Carter (TX)
Madison Cawthorn (NC)
Steve Chabot (OH)
Ben Cline (VA)
Michael Cloud (TX)
Andrew Clyde (GA)
Tom Cole (OK)
Rick Crawford (AR)
Warren Davidson (OH)
Scott DesJarlais (TN)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL)
Byron Donalds (FL)
Jeff Duncan (SC)
Neal Dunn (FL)
Ron Estes (KS)
Pat Fallon (TX)
Michelle Fischbach (MN)
Scott Fitzgerald (WI)
Chuck Fleischmann (TN)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Scott Franklin (FL)
Russ Fulcher (ID)
Matt Gaetz (FL)
Mike Garcia (CA)
Bob Gibbs (OH)
Carlos Gimenez (FL)
Louie Gohmert (TX)
Bob Good (VA)
Lance Gooden (TX)
Paul Gosar (AZ)
Garret Graves (LA)
Sam Graves (MO)
Mark Green (TN)
Marjorie Greene (GA)
Morgan Griffith (VA)
Michael Guest (MS)
Jim Hagedorn (MN)
Andy Harris (MD)
Diana Harshbarger (TN)
Vicky Hartzler (MO)
Kevin Hern (OK)
Yvette Herrell (NM)
Jody Hice (GA)
Clay Higgins (LA)
Richard Hudson (NC)
Darrell Issa (CA)
Ronny Jackson (TX)
Chris Jacobs (NY)
Mike Johnson (LA)
Bill Johnson (OH)
Jim Jordan (OH)
John Joyce (PA)
Fred Keller (PA)
Trent Kelly (MS)
Mike Kelly (PA)
David Kustoff (TN)
Doug LaMalfa (CA)
Doug Lamborn (CO)
Jacob LaTurner (KS)
Debbie Lesko (AZ)
Billy Long (MO)
Barry Loudermilk (GA)
Frank Lucas (OK)
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO)
Nicole Malliotakis (NY)
Tracey Mann (KS)
Brian Mast (FL)
Kevin McCarthy (CA)
Lisa McClain (MI)
Daniel Meuser (PA)
Mary Miller (IL)
Carol Miller (WV)
Alex Mooney (WV)
Barry Moore (AL)
Markwayne Mullin (OK)
Gregory Murphy (NC)
Troy Nehls (TX)
Ralph Norman (SC)
Devin Nunes (CA)
Jay Obernolte (CA)
Burgess Owens (UT)
Steven Palazzo (MS)
Gary Palmer (AL)
Greg Pence (IN)
Scott Perry (PA)
August Pfluger (TX)
Bill Posey (FL)
Guy Reschenthaler (PA)
Tom Rice (SC)
Mike Rogers (AL)
Hal Rogers (KY)
John Rose (TN)
Matt Rosendale (MT)
David Rouzer (NC)
John Rutherford (FL)
Steve Scalise (LA)
David Schweikert (AZ)
Pete Sessions (TX)
Jason Smith (MO)
Adrian Smith (NE)
Lloyd Smucker (PA)
Elise Stefanik (NY)
Greg Steube (FL)
Chris Stewart (UT)
Glenn Thompson (PA)
Tom Tiffany (WI)
William Timmons (SC)
Jefferson Van Drew (NJ)
Beth Van Duyne (TX)
Tim Walberg (MI)
Jackie Walorski (IN)
Randy Weber (TX)
Daniel Webster (FL)
Roger Williams (TX)
Joe Wilson (SC)
Rob Wittman (VA)
Ron Wright (TX)
Lee Zeldin (NY)

These are people that have sworn an oath to follow the constitution, but instead remained loyal to a personality.  That personality has never even tried to be president for anyone except those that are loyal to him.  His agenda has been aimed at white supremacy, xenophobia, and violence.

Over 4 years, he has pardoned war criminals, those that were in prison for committing crimes aimed at getting him elected, caged children after pulling them out of their parents/families arms(that one has created at least 400 orphans, as no one can now figure out who to send them to).  His loyal followers willingly sent money to Steve Bannon, who was then charged with a crime for using that money sent to finish the wall, for personal expenses.

And last, but far from least.  He and his family arranged a violent coup to occur at the time of the finalizing of the electoral college vote.  

Five people died.

His cult members brought assault weapons, zip ties, built a gallows, carried both confederate, nazi, and trump flags, and had an agenda--to keep Trump President while removing all who stood in the way.  While these lunatics went about their business, the Trump family watched it all on closed circuit tv while drinking and partying.  The family watched 5 deaths and countless people terrorized while drinking and laughing and having a great time.

The result of this?

Trump is still president, but only for another week or so.

The house is going to Impeach him, again.

The FBI has arrested as many of those insurrectionists as they can find.

Quite a few white house staffers and cabinet members are getting out of Dodge.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have barred Trump from their social media sites--so they have all gone to Parler.  Apple has stopped providing the Parler App.  

And, there is big talk about the real insurrection at the inauguration by the Trump fan club.

It has been a very long 4 years.  The fact that so many of the citizens of this country were ok with a rich, white, reality tv star that partied with a known child sex trafficker and didn't pay his taxes, that snorted things up his nose to up his game to the point of needing diapers, that had 5 kids by three women, with two of those wives met while still married, that his great business sense resulted in at least 6 bankruptcies--all known before he was voted into the white house, is very disappointing.  The Russian election interference, the attempted Ukrainian interference, was scary.  His worship of hereditary dictators and fascists dictators was horrifying.  

And right now, today, after 4 years of crazy, a coup attempt, and endless hate-speech, his followers are still all in for trump.

Stay awake.  We need those with a conscience, those with critical thinking skills and those that recognize that the country is not at its best to keep watching and raising their voices when our ideals are not the goal.

Happy new year--let's make it a world of justice for all.

Connected

2020 has not been the most disconnected year of my life, that honor goes to the year 2000.  I lost my mother on Christmas day of 1999 to 11 years of a progressive illness.  I also lost my father; he went away mentally the same day she died and himself died in the fall of 2000.  Through that year, my kids and other family and work were were all at a distance, a mental distance.  I was not really there.  I was not really anywhere.  I did what I had to do each day so I could go to sleep and do what I had to do the next day.  It was the worst.

2020 is only my fifth worst year.  Without social media and internet, the disconnection would be much worse.

Maybe it is fifth because I had already lost most of the people I miss most.  Maybe those earlier worsts gave me better coping mechanisms.  Maybe it is because I'm older and less attached to everything.  But generally speaking, for most of us, the collective us, it is a really bad year: WWI and WWII bad, Spanish flu bad, the black death bad, the twin towers bad.   A year that we that live will remember unfondly till we die.

Finding something more to hang on to will be helpful; Something bigger than myself.  Something bigger than all of our selves.  Not a holiday, though, or a religion, or a belief, but a feeling.  That big feeling, like astronauts got when they looked back at earth; like Gautama got under the tree---transcendence.

I want very much to renew those connections that I have occasionally felt to the universe.  Those transcendental moments where everything is good and I know I belong on this planet.   Those moments, and they are short, they are always short---but the memory of them is huge and breathtaking.  

How to reach that more often.  How to reach a point where that is always just a breath away.  I don't know.  Maybe the answer is meditation or yoga, maybe it is more painting (for me, for you, whatever you do with your whole mind, woodworking, dancing, running, singing, redecorating, cooking--Your thing.  Maybe it's more nature walks, more sleep, more writing/journaling. 

Or, maybe it is letting go of those things that drive us; competition with others, trying to get more of what we want, trying to advance at work.  Maybe we all need to take what we learned this year and put it into the arsenal of coping skills we have for dealing with life.  

Patience, solitude, breathing deeply and slowly, mindfulness.  

Maybe those treats this year, the long soaks in the tub, the single glass of wine that is tasted and sipped slowly, the feel of really clean and soft sheets after a hot shower.  Stuff we have all the time, but are so rushed and driven we never appreciate their wonder and delight.  That is the stuff we need to keep.

And in keeping those, perhaps we get to identify more of those transcendent moments.  This year I planted flowers and instead of hurrying along so I could get on to the next thing---well I had no next thing.  Buying those plants was a big deal this year.  I went out when the nonessential businesses finally opened, wore my mask, and chose my summer flowers.  I took them out and planted them by myself.  It was my first year in this yard and it is nothing like my previous yard.  It's a yard that has seen multiple families struggle before doing better and moving away and a yard that has been the last home to several couples after the family has grown up and moved away.  It is a yard much like the house, neglected from lack of funds and lack of handiness.  

My goal is to bring it back to life.  But if I only let it continue to disintegrate, isn't that some law of physics. ( "The center can not hold"  I can feel that law on my own body these days.)

I planted, one plant at a time, carefully unpotted, hole prepared with better soil and size appropriate for the roots, then filled in, watered.  All the while the sun of April was on my back and shoulders, my hair warming, the sound of children in the schoolyard and the birds twittering nearby.  The light around me was soft and the air was free of either chill or heat.  A spent 4 hours on a 30 minute job.  It was a wonderful day--and while alone, I felt connected to everything.

Connected.  Part of the sun, part of the air, part of the soil---it's a loving and peaceful feeling.  

I hope to take that connectedness and make it part of everything I do everyday.