Mean (Trump) People Suck

I have a trans sister in law who I love. 

Last month, someone at work started to live the rest of her life as a woman. We received an email from HR announcing this and telling us that people who are able to live authentically are happier and better employees. Also, the person in question was going to use the ladies room. Got a problem with it? Call HR. 

Rolling back the bathroom option for trans students is nothing but throwing a mean bullying bone to a minority of heartless people who do not represent the majority of the rest of us who did not vote for Trump. 

The town hall meetings are going to get very unpleasant. But in the meantime, watch for the Gay-Straight Alliance to step up in a high school near you: 

Trans and queer youth continue to show up for each other even when our schools and government do not. 

Today, the Department of Education and Department of Justice rescinded the guidance they released less than a year ago that instructed schools across the country on how to create welcoming, safe, and supportive school environments for transgender and gender nonconforming students. Transgender students will still be protected from sex discrimination under current interpretations of Title IX, however, the guidance provided clear guidelines for schools to provide students with access to school facilities, such as restrooms and locker rooms, based on their gender identity. The guidelines also symbolized an important victory for trans student rights.
It comes as no surprise that the guidance was reversed and we expect that many of GSA Network’s organizational partners will discuss what this means and the harms it will cause trans youth in schools. We agree and vehemently condemn this action by the current administration.
In this moment, we want to focus on you: trans and queer youth who are leading at GSA Network. We want to uplift the myriad of ways you show up for each other and we want to be very clear about what this action does not mean. We want to let you know that we value you, we stand with you and we love you.

Immigrants

Hebrews 13: 1 Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Matthew 25: 35 I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Go outside!

I’m going to walk the reservoir. See ya!

Getting what you want

“On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

H. L. Mencken

Mencken was an optimist. 

Watch what they do, not what they say. 

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Lady V at UpholdTheseRights had an update on the confirmation of Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA. She’s taking names and has a list of actions you can take.  

Content is updated daily. Be sure to put her on your daily read list. 

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Another recommended must listen episode from TrumpCast is A Time for Bromides. This was one of the most meaningful episodes I’ve heard on the topic of what Trumpism is. The essay, Marrakech, by George Orwell is mentioned. It reminded me of the first time I went to the Bahamas in 1981 and saw what real poverty looked like. 

What we ignore in others down the social economic ladder is repeated in how the super wealthy view the rest of us who consider ourselves middle class. And now they have successfully managed to turn our anger on each other instead of them. It’s clever and diabolical and they really don’t give a damn about us. We are just extras in their world. 

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Donald Trump’s real personality disorder is a complete lack of restraint. 

He would never pass The Marshmallow Test. The only reason he made it this far is because of his inherited wealth and his unique ability to run over anything that gets in the way of what he wants. 

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Finishing out Valentine’s week is this Cupid variation from the dream scene of Don Quixote. It’s danced by Evgenia Obraztsova of the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. 

Short, sweet and wicked. 

Using the National Guard to round up immigrants is unacceptable.

Here’s the post from today’s Bloomberg News: Trump Weighs Mobilizing the National Guard for Immigration Roundups. 

(AP) — The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

Staffers in the Department of Homeland Security said the proposal had been discussed as recently as last Friday.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

No, absolutely not. The Majority of Americans who did not vote for Trump would not stand for it. I think there would be bloodshed. 

Some things just require us to draw a line in the sand and say “no further”. 

S#%* like this ruins my happy place. 

Second Acts…

… need happy endings.

“We betray our true selves when we do not follow our heart’s desire for what the heart is attracted to is our destiny”

– Leon Brown

 

Good Morning!

American Abwehr

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Abwehr Agent.

We are in trouble, my lovelies. The intelligence guys are trying to get ahead of whatever it is they know. They’re taking a big risk. 

Trump has never been about Making America Great Again. What he and his advisors are really up to we are only now beginning to understand. 

If you have to subscribe to one podcast, make it TrumpCast from Slate. Here’s the latest episode: A Cry For Help. 

Stay calm, hold hands, look out for one another. 

More: the NYTimes Editorial Board asks for a congressional investigation.  If Trump and his campaign have nothing to hide, they should welcome this opportunity to clear the air. 

WaPo seconds that emotion. 

Flynn Resigns

Over communications with Russian government officials.

I’m just amused that our National Security Advisor appears to be shocked, shocked, that he was caught with evidence provided by our intelligence people.

Officials said classified information did not appear to have been discussed during the conversation between Mr. Flynn and the ambassador, which would have been a crime. The call was captured on a routine wiretap of diplomats’ calls, the officials said.

But current Trump administration officials and former Obama administration officials said that Mr. Flynn did appear to be reassuring the ambassador that Mr. Trump would adopt a more accommodating tone on Russia once in office.

That’s right, we routinely wiretap phone calls of foreign ambassadors. And those foreign ambassadors all know that. What must they be thinking anout the quality of Donald Trump’s advisory picks? That is Darwin Award Winning behavior. Don’t piss off the spooks.

So, they are vulnerable.

Time to throw them an anchor.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Dear Valentines, I do not tell you enough how much I love all of you for keeping me company, and for being as  smart and funny, and caring human beings as you are. So if no one has claimed you as their Valentine today, be mine. 

I found this pas de deux from the ballet The Snowmaiden. It’s a Russian ballet that isn’t performed much in the states. The music was composed by Rimski-Korsekov. In this pas, Kupava and Lel dance on their wedding day showing their love, playfulness and partnership before they are separated by the icy snowmaiden. 

This version is danced by the Kremlin Ballet. 

May you receive lots of flowers in the real world. 

I’ll post on the Donald later. For now, just smell the roses and hear the music. 

Love, RD

Morning Morning

Today is the start of Carnival in Venice. I’ve been to Italy twice but never to Venice. As we head into Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day, here’s bit of morning harmony to transport us. This is Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca with the Prague Philharmonic singing Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach. The title is Belle nuit, o nuit d’amour or Beautiful night, oh night of love. Lovely no matter when you hear it. 

Rise and shine.