No, this nation did not deserve him because he was not elected.

I know a lot of people that no nothing about politics, history, and science but can tie 200 different types of flies for fishing. Name stats on their favorite teams, tell you tons of info on their favorite celebrity or show, fix trucks, build houses, all kinds of things. People learn what they want to learn, being ignorant on a subject is not a fault of the education system especially now that we carry more information on our cell phones than ever. Some of us enjoyed school and continued to learn more about what school taught us others just got through school not caring one bit about it and learned other things afterwards, some that you and I find trivial but once again people learn what they want.

Unless we actively stamp out the hate amongst us towards people in various communities that the government actively prosecute and aim their archaic hate-fueled rage towards, we deserve it all.

Let's be honest, it's easy to be shocked and awed by this current craziness when certain people aren't used to being the focus of constant hate since this country's existence.

He didn't earn a majority of the vote and I'm not going to wallow in self-punishment and low self esteem because of a foreign-inspired plot against America.

remain in power and continue the destruction of our democracy?

I think not.

The repubs are the ones failing and are complicit in allowing him to remain in power.

inescapable fact is this: there are more of us than there are of "them". Trump will remain in the White House only so long as we are willing to allow ourselves the false comfort of saying "there's nothing I can do".

The ridiculous electoral college got Trump into the White House, but that is not what is keeping him there. People whose personal ox has not yet been gored and who therefore think a quiet "tsk-tsk" is the equivalent of screaming "IMPEACH THE SONOFABITCH!" in front of the White House keep him there.

impeach the muthafucker. But you must know that the repug-dominated Senate will not convict him.

You do know that, right?

be right. I would agree that, right now, with just what is publicly known, the corrupted GOP Senators would be highly unlikely to convict. But IF the Mueller report (or indictments) lay out in detail the vile and traitorous actions by Trump that many of us believe he has participated in or even instigated AND even the billionaires are too embarrassed to continue supporting him---what then? Is it still a sure thing that the Senate would absolutely not convict?

At some point, prudence starts to look a lot like cowardice. We are not at that point yet, but it may be coming soon.

Thanks for your response.

You say in your OP that: "...we tap our keyboards, spit at each other, organize circular firing squads...", which seems to indicate you want action now, then you say "wait for the Mueller report" in response to me saying the Senate won't convict him.

Make up your mind. Do you want action now from us Democrats or are you willing to wait for the Mueller report?

We all know there could be a sea change after the report comes out.

early to confront every Republican we can reach about our outrage and our determination that this will not stand.

I like this message though. You do know you're preaching to the choir here at DU, talking to mostly activists, right?

If we did nothing, then yes, we'd be responsible. But we haven't done nothing. We have held some of the largest protests in the history of humankind in opposition to him. We got the Dems to take the house. We obliterated the alt-right (a Russian backed movement if ever there was one) after Charlottesville. And Mueller is slowly but surely working his way up the food chain in Trump's circle.

Basically, we've done a lot of stuff right. Remember that when you start to hate yourself or your country. You are not responsible for Trump. Neither am I. And I refuse to accept responsibility for him. I only accept responsibility for doing everything I can to remove him. And I am far from alone in that. And neither are you.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman, you could be right.

...the American people are not with Trump.

But Hillary, much-mocked and much-reviled by the Right Wing in all its manifestations, has been absolutely right at several points in her career. In the current context, the first was when she said a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (known here as the VRWC) was at work to take down her husband's presidency, and the second was when she called Trump a puppet for Putin.

When in despair over our fellow citizens, hold on to the truth that they (as well as we) voted for her. We are all under siege in a war that is not being fought with guns and bombs by men in recognizable uniforms. But it is a war, and hard for people to wrap their minds around its nature.

This election woke some people up but not enough in my opinion. I can see this happening again since so many Americans are willingly ignorant about politics and issues and have a memory that lasts a nanosecond when it comes to choosing our reps.

Truth To Power...the Women's Wave is Sat, Jan 19th in hundreds of US cities and around the world. Check the link for a Womem's March "sister march" near you.

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/third-annual-womens-march-womenswave

Due to the change in some groups' plans have been changed from last year so look to see the updates. Different leaders, locations and dates have been made recently. Ideas for artwork/signs are also at the link.

https://www.womensmarch.com/2019/

The world doesn’t deserve Dump.

has allowed right wing media to convince them that the other 60% are their enemy and a threat, that they should vote against their own economic interests and that competency and experience are negative attributes. As to why we aren't all in the streets, bread and circus is as true today as it was in the time of Rome. The majority of us do not deserve this. They are going to lose, after all, there's way more of us than them.

Unfortunately, after all the fiddling we've done with the Constitution and the structure of our country, we've embedded what may be a fatal flaw. By 2040 it is estimated that 70% of the country will live in 15 states. That means that 30% of the country will be able to run the senate, and have a large lead in the EC. That is an unsustainable structure. That will be a structure far too similar to fascism. Think about the power that will give them. A constitutional amendment takes 38 states. 30% of the country will have 35 states "votes". As it is, right now, the Senate has 53 GOP senators that represent 30% of the country. It could get as high as 70 senate votes. That's alot of power.

And there is precious little we can do because all of the structure of the federal government is driven by state representation. Even in the House there is a disproportionate distribution of representatives because the smallest states still get at least one. And there is no alteration of the senate representation.

Thanks for that.

The Koch Brothers have long tried to get a Constitutional Convention together, but to rewrite it in their American Taliban image. Perhaps we should hijack their process.

This will require overturning governorships and legislatures in all the rural states, which will mean we need to GOTV for all local and state level elections, whatever they are.

This is already happening. New Mexico is now FULLY BLUE, and Georgia and Texas (barring election shenanigans) are on their way. Even Idaho--the Mississippi of the Pacific Northwest!--is showing signs of turning.

however are slim even if we gain the WH and Senate in 2020 and maintain our majority in the House as a constitutional amendment like that has to go through the very statehouses and legislatures that most benefit from the power they hold in the EC.

Which is what makes it fatal. It almost can't be fixed. The closest solution is probably the states choosing to choose their EC electors via national majority results. There is a move towards doing that. That doesn't fix the senate however. About the only other way would be to either coerce the small states to merge, or divide the larger states so as to create more senators from the large population areas. California could probably divided at least 3 ways. Florida might want to split along the I-4 corridor.

Classic catch 22

The EC is a vestige of slavery and the three-fifths compromise and it's still working to empower repressive forces in society.

A catch 22 indeed.

elects 2 senators, one for each 290,000 citizens.

California, with a population of about 40,000,000, also elects 2 senators, one for each 20,000,000 citizens.

Also, 4 of the current SCOTUS justices were appointed by "presidents" who lost the popular vote.

As the saying goes, "If you ain't pissed you ain't payin' attention!"

That'd be one thing. But it is the HUGE disparity where the vast majority of people live within 100 miles of a coastline. There is way too much representation west of the Mississippi River and east of the Sierra Nevadas.

We are a short-sighted bunch and not particularly understanding of the importance of long term vision. Maybe it's because comparatively we are still a very, very new country or maybe the extreme emphasis on capitalism and conspicuous consumption keeps us so busy chasing after the next shiny object that we have no time or energy left for deep thinking and introspection. However, though I wouldn't want to see our country fall apart at the seams, I, too wonder if that's what it will take to wake more people up. Sometimes it takes losing it all to appreciate what we take for granted. I believe we take democracy for granted in this country and think losing our freedoms will never happen to us. It's why so few eligible voters actually vote.

And overall unhealthy lifestyle will inevitably get you.

A heart attack is devastating, frightening, and painful. You can survive it, but it's a wake-up call. With surgery to remove the blockage, and by pledging yourself to walking the straight and narrow from here on out, you can restore yourself to living a relatively happy life. You may still feel some of the effects, though. Some damage is permanent.

In our nation's case, substitute 40 years of "Reaganomics" for "fatty food, beer, and cigarettes".

...exceptionalism is a bunch of BS. We've been a spectator democracy for too long, and frankly, got lazy. It happens. We'll learn from this and hopefully come out of it scarred but smarter. It's going to be ugly for a while, but I honestly believe it will pass. We've certainly been through worse

Good for YOU.

I will also go but to my local which is much easier.

Very proud to know you!

What 35% of this nation deserves is to lose their homes and cars and savings to putin, who plans on taking it all.

Heck if 1/3 of the country loses everything, that's pretty much civil war which means that 100% of us lose everything.

not good.

But I don't think that means we should be rooting for 35% of the country to lose everything.

counterproductive.

BTW defending that 35% tells me I dont really want to talk to you.

I'm sorry, I misread. I thought you said they deserved it.

Death to the 35%!

Can we be friends now?

But with a new order, with him and all of the other Russian oligarchs at the top of the New Empire.

He can accomplish that easily by turning the US, Europe, and any other threatening powers against themselves, by throwing their governments all into turmoil. Make the people of those other countries doubt their own systems of government. Throw them all into a self-dividing frenzy. It's easy to do if you know how to target those people whose information they receive.

I told my kids we couldn't prevent the war but we could try our best , and anytime it came up they could at least say 'we tried to prevent that awful war'.

Good on you two for going to the march. Travel safely and give us a report when you return.

advantage of those people who felt they were emotional wronged by President Obama, or being forgotten which was a BS.

Russia was totally involved put in their troll tRump, because he was scared of Hilliary, what a fucking ass.

I hope it bites him (Putin) and tRump.

I keep I thinking Bannon wanted bring the government to their knees. Well, he's getting his fucking wish.

The Majority did not deserve this.

Also tRump does not give a shit about the country or us or the Constituion. And I hope this POS get his just desserts.

I hope the FBI buries him.

But I understand your idea.

The GOP, with Russian help, stole the election.

"take turns telling each other earnestly that "someone should DO something!"

Why consciously choose to ignore the many who are in fact, doing something (which is objectively, precisely what you did), and rather, merely trivialize and minimize the concerns so many have (which is again, objectively what you did)?

Your premise lacks evidence. Hence, your premise was not established. You did however, establish a presumption.

intended to chide the too many who are, indeed, doing little more than talking about how rotten Trump is and "someone should do something!

I also did not mention the LGBTQ community, the Kurds or Baskin-Robbins ice cream. That was not "consciously ignoring" those subjects. It's just that they were not relevant to my point.

Thanks for your response.

So yes, we earned this.

And they always say that a presidency is a reflection of the people who elected him. When we elected Obama it was because we wanted something different.

And then when different didn't work for the people who wanted things to stay the same, those people just took a hard right turn and became mean-spirited, despicable, and hate-filled thanks to a 24/7 news cycle that was just that. Look at Janine Pirro, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage. Just hateful people. They elected someone who reflects their values.

As has been said before, hate begats hate. Eventually this phase will play itself out and hopefully it won't end like it did the last time hate was fashionable.

If everyone voted, every election, & if they followed up with phone calls to their MOCs once a week to express their thoughts on issues & legislation, we wouldn't be in this mess. The last time we tied up the Capitol Hill switchboard was the 2008 financial crisis. Are we there yet?

Wasn't good enough deserve him.