ck4829
ck4829's JournalTrump Failure Level
Keep this list handy, and let's make some predictions.
Low/Green AKA Just wait a bit - Trump is tweeting and otherwise being "unpresidented".
Guarded/Blue AKA Inevitable - The "but Hillary...", "but her emails..." phase. Standard deflection, situation may change though.
Elevated/Yellow AKA Complete - Trump now needs an external enemy to keep legitimacy and authority afloat. Immigrants, refugees, Mexicans, Iranians, NATO, critics of Putin.
High/Orange AKA Total - Switch from external enemy to internal enemy to let Trump grasp onto any shred of power he has left. Muslim Americans, people who want to see his tax returns, people who sued him for sexual harassment, etc.
Severe/Red AKA Epic - The worst possible scenario Trump failure-wise. Nuclear war over a tweet. Trump makes a "good and smart business deal" with Putin and he *only* annexes Alaska, a chunk of Canada, and the western seaboard.
The Systemic Failure that is Fake News
A lot is made about fake news, but I think it is just one component. Responding to fake news requires a lot more effort than just looking at one tree in a forest so to speak. If we truly want to challenge fake news, then we need to look at the entire system associated with it and be ready to confront it.
Fake news is a lot more than a crazy article on the internet, it is...
Confirmation Bias - It seems as though some corners of the internet are not vast libraries, that the super information highway has instead become a repeating cartoonish back alley that loops on itself infinitely, people go to these websites, and what do you know? It tells them exactly what they want to hear about liberals, Muslims, gays, minorities, feminists, the government, etc. What a coincidence, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Esoteric Delusions - Go onto a site known to peddle fake news, you may get hit by popup ads telling you about some new way to make money fast and you're the only one who knows about it... for now, or you might see something about "Forbidden Attraction Secrets the Liberal Media Does Not Want You To Know", and that is the point of these ads and many of the stories, they claim to have secret knowledge that 'they' don't want you to know. Look for how many stories begin with "Mainstream media tries to cover up..." or "The government doesn't want you to know about..." It's very enticing, also a tactic used by cults, creates a sense of fraternity, making you feel like you are a discoverer of secrets, makes them look like bringers of knowledge, and the 'they' as some force promoting ignorance and wanting to keep you in the dark.
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?19727-Get-the-quot-Secret-quot-Knowledge-Without-the-Cult
Dismissal of Debunking - So a fake story has been utterly debunked, Obama couldn't have been consulting with Elders of Mecca and Elders of Zion while giving his REAL Kenyan birth certificate to the Illuminati last Thursday at 9 PM because he was in the Oval Office at that time? Hold up, buckaroo. That doesn't mean anything. Get ready for the dismissals.
"Fake News Source A made something up? I heard that/I remember News source X did something like that too, so what?" is one you might see. I guess some fake news sources go straight for the jugular and attack people who might debunk them as part of the vast conspiracy to debunk them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/25/technology/for-fact-checking-website-snopes-a-bigger-role-brings-more-attacks.html?_r=0
We need to challenge the entire system.
From Trumpocracy to Democracy
There has been a lot of talk of resisting Trump. Unfortunately, the problem is systemic. Fake news, a media more interested in making connections with the powerful than exposing them, a legislative branch that is only considered representative of the people in the minds of the deluded or ignorant, and more.
We shouldn't settle on being watchful and we really shouldn't wait for 2020 or even 2018. It's time to face the hard truth... the system is broken. You may hear or see "We're a Republic not a Democracy", but what evidence is there of the former right now?
But instead of wallowing in defeat, retreating, thinking that the next election will be the one that will make everything alright, etc.; this is instead the time for innovation.
Whereas the dominionists and the Dylann Roof Faction AKA the alt right united behind Trump to get their xenophobic, insane, and fringe ideas a little closer to the mainstream; people who are interested in justice, in having representative government, and in a media that acts as a check on the corrupt and the elite can unite in front of him to stop their plans and their agenda of seeking legitimacy.
People may ask "how", and that is a good question. Gene Sharp's "From Dictatorship to Democracy", something usually associated with activists in repressive countries should be read by us today.
http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf
There are several things we can do, and if they are done by enough people, then they will challenge the authority and legitimacy of Trump and his future rubber stampers in Congress, they will make things more stressful to the bureaucracy associated with this system that is already teetering on failure and perceiving that they are overworked... poor babies (How much work do Republicans in Congress really want to do anyway?), they will drain the skills and knowledge that this Trumpocracy needs to function, they will take away intangible factors that induce others to obey, they will cause strain over control of the material resources they need, and they will attack their ability to give out sanctions which harms those question or challenge their legitimacy.
So, some ideas are as follows...
Delayed Obedience - Instead of outright opposing Trump and the Republicans and thus triggering the tantrums of "anyone who opposes Trump is a traitor!!1ONE!", mask it in the form of being on the fence, of asking questions, of being unsatisfied, just not being sure... make the Trump supporters on Facebook do lots of work.
Golden Drool - This Trumpocracy seems to rely on the belief that having more money is equal to being physically, morally, and intellectually superior. "But they know how to make money" was the answer to complaints when Trump brought people from Goldman Sachs on. This is his worldview, is it not? This is an idea that needs to be challenged and debunked continuously until it is in the ground and then it needs to be kicked down some more.
Here is a good place to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wealth_in_the_United_States
Hold Electors Responsible - Lose your health insurance? Plagued by pre-existing conditions once again? Lose your job in our new miracle economy that is supposed to do wonders for everyone? Send the bill to the electors of the electoral college. Totally swamp them. After all, if Trump is not legitimate, if he is not qualified, if he is mentally unfit to be President, then they would be the group of people to hold accountable for his incompetence.
Here is where you can find their names:
http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/electoral-college-names-list-of-electors-voting-for-president-who-are-contact-information-texas-florida-georgia-illinois-pennsylvania-michigan-how-to-can-change-republicans-vote-clinton-trump-faithles/
Kidney Stones - An idea to clog the actions against the safety net that gives a new twist on trickle down economics. Republicans are so enthralled by the idea of drug testing and weeding out people on welfare... even though this doesn't happen. Why not organize to apply to welfare on the same day? Or have people do their drug test at the same time? This will also serve to irritate all the Trump voters who are on their welfare that they believe they totally deserve.
Name Your Government - Never pass up an opportunity to name a government panel or body by a name more befitting of their nature, which more often than not has become a mockery in and of itself.
Some ideas just focusing on House committees:
Benghaziologists - Formerly known as the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi
United States House Committee of Just Us - Formerly known as the United States House Committee on the Judiciary
United States House Committee of Miseducation - Formerly known as the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce
United States House Committee of Pseudoscience - Formerly known as the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Play Devil's Advocate - I don't think we do enough of this even before the election, if we deconstructed the policies of the right and took them to their logical conclusions, people might start seeing them in the light they should be seen in. Bacteria 4 Infecting Americans PAC handing out awards to legislators who want to eliminate the ACA comes to mind. Mock awards, mock congratulations, parody endorsements, etc. This is what needs to be done here.
Rigged Days - Like Holidays, except they are mostly anniversaries of the things Trump has called rigged, this will challenge Trump's legitimacy on a mental and emotional level.
May 31 - Last Throes Day, if Steve Bannon wants to revel in being compared to Cheney, then he shouldn't mind this
July 5 - Rigged System Day, Trump made a tweet saying the system is rigged because Hillary was not charged
September 24 - Rigged Emmys Day, the day in 2012 when Trump made several tweets about the Emmys being against him
October 15 - Rigged Election Day, when Trump said the election was rigged against him
November 6 - Rigged Electoral College Day, the day when Trump said the Electoral College was a disaster for democracy
And you can probably find more. Rigged Planet Day, Rigged Unemployment Rate Day, it goes on.
Solidarity - Trump's election did not erase Black Lives Matter from existence and it didn't make Muslim Americans non-citizens, even though the Dylann Roof Faction probably thinks this is how the world works. Get to know more people off the internet who aren't your color, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc. if you haven't already. And include them among your loved ones. This is the strongest tool against the far right's xenophobia.
This regime is not set in stone (Although it might be set in Putin's polonium), it is not powered by divine energy, Trump's golden toilet being moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue does not make him a demigod who we all have to obey or else; it has flaws that can be exploited, any lack of desire to discover and use these flaws for social justice, freedom, and to fix our broken system is on us now though. We will do well to remember that.
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Member since: Sat Mar 20, 2004, 11:37 AMNumber of posts: 35,068
