Tag: alt-right

  • #TrumpIsNotMyPresident: He Might Be (Shudder) But I Will Fight Him And All He Represents!

    #TrumpIsNotMyPresident: He Might Be (Shudder) But I Will Fight Him And All He Represents!

    After a long period of mourning, I’m back to my blog. I had  gotten busy for a time with campaigning for Hillary and preparing for my move. Then the election and the move happened. After the elction, I’ve had a number of people give me advice. I had a friend who lives in India advise me to immigrate. Several friends, including my doctor, have asked me to be careful, saying that hate crimes are on the rise, and they fear my outspokenness could make me a target. I’ve thought about that and decided that I am NOT going to modify any of my behavior. That would mean that Trump and his ilk have indeed won the day, and I refuse to concede that they are what this country is all about. He and his white supremacist buddies might in the White House (eventually, part of the time, lol-not exclusive enough for him?), but I refuse to let fear of Trump and his homphobic, xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, bigoted Neo-Nazi followers change who I am, how I act, what I say, and how loudly I say it. If people like me don’t fight for people for people like me (and other minorities), who will? Trump certainly won’t. That is abundantly clear. He has YET to denounce the rise in hate crimes that has occurred since the election; his tweets are solely about himself and his grievously wounded ego. This from a man who is going to be the next POTUS. SMH. I want to devote one blog entry (at least) to my theory of what a Trump presidency will actually look like, for I’ve been contemplating this nightmarish scenario from before the election. I rather pity comedians during the next four years. Trump is so sickly, terrifyingly, and mystifyingly comical all on his own that that they will have a difficult job.

  • Stranger In A Strange Land

    I can’t believe I’m writing this. I still can’t form the words “President Trump” in my head. The country that I thought I knew-the one that embraced equality, rejected sexism and racism, and believed in welcoming those in need, regardless of their religion or ethnicity or country of origin-has turned out to be a illusion. The darker fear-driven vision that powered Trump instead proved to be more accurate…the angry largely white voters that feel their privilege and  place are diappearing won the day. Friends from abroad have been emailing me and messaging to ask if I’m okay and offer condolences. One, who lives in a country with a fiercely nationalistic right-wing leader, offered the advice that I should now begin to be as invisible as possible. I replied that I’m temped to get married while it still legal. Sigh. Go BACK in the closet at age 55? I don’t think so. Even though Trump has bragged that he is a great friend of “the gays,” he has also said in different interviews that he plans to do away with marriage equality and Mike Pence’s views on LGBTQ issues are well known. Trump does not respect WOMEN, so I highly doubt he would respect trans folk or even recognize the very existence of those who are non-binary, unlike President Obama (I miss him already, sigh). He has taken great pains to align himself firmly with the Christian right and Evangelicals, even to the point of having a religious advisory coucil composed of mostly Evangelical Christians. His advisor Roger Stone is formerly of the Breitbart website (I refuse to call it a news site b/c it offers alt-right conspiracy theories, rants, anti-LGBTQ talks, and religiously and sometimes racially bigoted nonsense). Roger Ailes left Fox “News” because of a sexual harassment scandal. Mike Pence, his VP, has claimed that evolution is just a theory and passed restrictive “religious liberty” laws in his home state. So the company he keeps does not inspire reassurance that life is going to be good for the foreseeable future of anyone like me: queer, trans, non-binary, atheist, leftist, and damnably activist. Oh, yes, and Jewish. Don’t think I don’t remember that tweet he put out…and his non-disavowal of all the alt-right white supremacist groups that have come out in support of him.  No, I’m NOT going back in the closet. I’m here to carry on the fight!

  • Stranger In A Strange Land

    I can’t believe I’m writing this. I still can’t form the words “President Trump” in my head. The country that I thought I knew-the one that embraced equality, rejected sexism and racism, and believed in welcoming those in need, regardless of their religion or ethnicity or country of origin-has turned out to be a illusion. The darker fear-driven vision that powered Trump instead proved to be more accurate…the angry largely white voters that feel their privilege and  place are diappearing won the day. Friends from abroad have been emailing me and messaging to ask if I’m okay and offer condolences. One, who lives in a country with a fiercely nationalistic right-wing leader, offered the advice that I should now begin to be as invisible as possible. I replied that I’m temped to get married while it still legal. Sigh. Go BACK in the closet at age 55? I don’t think so. Even though Trump has bragged that he is a great friend of “the gays,” he has also said in different interviews that he plans to do away with marriage equality and Mike Pence’s views on LGBTQ issues are well known. Trump does not respect WOMEN, so I highly doubt he would respect trans folk or even recognize the very existence of those who are non-binary, unlike President Obama (I miss him already, sigh). He has taken great pains to align himself firmly with the Christian right and Evangelicals, even to the point of having a religious advisory coucil composed of mostly Evangelical Christians. His advisor Roger Stone is formerly of the Breitbart website (I refuse to call it a news site b/c it offers alt-right conspiracy theories, rants, anti-LGBTQ talks, and religiously and sometimes racially bigoted nonsense). Roger Ailes left Fox “News” because of a sexual harassment scandal. Mike Pence, his VP, has claimed that evolution is just a theory and passed restrictive “religious liberty” laws in his home state. So the company he keeps does not inspire reassurance that life is going to be good for the foreseeable future of anyone like me: queer, trans, non-binary, atheist, leftist, and damnably activist. Oh, yes, and Jewish. Don’t think I don’t remember that tweet he put out…and his non-disavowal of all the alt-right white supremacist groups that have come out in support of him.  No, I’m NOT going back in the closet. I’m here to carry on the fight!

  • Shame On KY Gov. Matt Bevin!

    Shame On KY Gov. Matt Bevin!

    Last weekend at the Values Voters Summit, a meeting of far-right leaders, KY Governor Matt Bevin suggested that the election of Hillary Clinton would be the occasion for bloodshed. He specified that this would be blood of the tyrants and the patriots but worried that the ensuing conflict could even engulf his nine children, perhaps even his grandchildren. Now, this kind of alarmist rhetoric is nothing new from the alt-right. They preach Armageddon regularly, repetitively, and at tiresome length. But Gov. Bevin is an elected sitting official of the state of Kentucky, and as such, should not be blathering this tripe. Bad enough we get overblown nonsense from candidates running for the Presidency. On the campaign trail, especially THIS campaign trail, I’ve almost gotten used to a certain tabloid-like style, as candidates tweet their way across the landscape. But I still expect (unfairly? unlikely?) a modicum of common sense and judgement from those holding office. DON’T DO STUPID SILLY SHIT like calling for Hillary’s blood! It just makes you look crazy or deluded or LIKE YOU SHOULDN’T BE IN OFFICE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Sigh.

  • Shame On KY Gov. Matt Bevin!

    Shame On KY Gov. Matt Bevin!

    Last weekend at the Values Voters Summit, a meeting of far-right leaders, KY Governor Matt Bevin suggested that the election of Hillary Clinton would be the occasion for bloodshed. He specified that this would be blood of the tyrants and the patriots but worried that the ensuing conflict could even engulf his nine children, perhaps even his grandchildren. Now, this kind of alarmist rhetoric is nothing new from the alt-right. They preach Armageddon regularly, repetitively, and at tiresome length. But Gov. Bevin is an elected sitting official of the state of Kentucky, and as such, should not be blathering this tripe. Bad enough we get overblown nonsense from candidates running for the Presidency. On the campaign trail, especially THIS campaign trail, I’ve almost gotten used to a certain tabloid-like style, as candidates tweet their way across the landscape. But I still expect (unfairly? unlikely?) a modicum of common sense and judgement from those holding office. DON’T DO STUPID SILLY SHIT like calling for Hillary’s blood! It just makes you look crazy or deluded or LIKE YOU SHOULDN’T BE IN OFFICE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Sigh.