This is a fixed point in time. Choose wisely.

I am so disgusted by my government, and the cowards in Congress who refuse to stand up to the popular vote losing madman who currently sits in the White House, so profoundly out of his depth, he can be controlled by a neonazi and sent off to watch a children’s movie while thousands upon thousands of my fellow Americans take to the streets to challenge and resist his deplorable, unconstitutional, Fascist actions.

Yet I am also proud, inspired, and comforted by the millions of people not just in America, but around the world, who are standing up and declaring that we will fight this despicable scourge, this illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt, hateful, bigoted, petty tyrant, and everything he stands for. We will fight him until he is defeated, and we will never forget the appeasers and cowards who did nothing to stop him. Those who stand by silently, or offer empty words are no better than the evil men and women who enable this would-be dictator.

This is a binary moment in history, and all of us must make a choice that we will live with for the rest of our lives: you may choose to stand with Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Richard Spencer, and the racist white nationalists who support them, or you may choose to stand on the side of justice, equality, and the rule of law.

Choose wisely.

 

 

 

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161 thoughts on “This is a fixed point in time. Choose wisely.”

  1. May we all find peace in the end.
    May we spill the least blood possible*
    May the good prevail, may the world become a better place.
    And may we never forget.

    *figuratively! No blood should be spilled whatsoever

  2. I’m equally disgusted by celebrities who fail to fact check news stories before becoming outraged. This TEMPORARY ban on REFUGEES from certain countries is a mimic of a ban done by President Obama in 2011. It even used the same wording in the executive order, except for the time limit- President Trump’s is 120 days, President Obama’s was 180 days.

    It is not a ban against Muslims (46 Muslim countries are NOT included in the ban). It isn’t even a permanent ban. So stop getting your celebrity know-nothingness in a twist, and rejoin us in reality.

    1. You may not be aware of this, but “celebrities” are citizens with rights and are entitled to comment on situations, just like you are.
      Also – you may want to check your own facts and stop spouting what your leader wants you to say. 30 seconds on google would have found you the truth.

      https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/29/trumps-facile-claim-that-his-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/?client=safari

      2. An analogy to compare to is probably:
        – installing a fire alarm like a prudent building owner vs.
        – ringing it for sh1ts and giggles to show you Can, as a dare your (christofascist) mates gave you (whether or not you Should)

        Any evil goit can subvert rules in place for their own selfish ends… it’s a “shock value” test (go look that one up, BreitSeeber)

        1. Trying to translate your pidgin to Standard Oregonian:

          So what you’re saying is that Trump’s order is evil because of what it doesn’t include, particularly a religious test for Islamics? Because perhaps some bureaucrat will point to it as a reason to deny a Chechnian Muslim a visa, even though Chechnya isn’t on the list of banned countries?

      1. I come daily for the salt. Thanks for making me smile. MAGA!

        Don’t let your heart be troubled though, only 415 weeks left to go!

        1. Wow, that other guy was right, literally the only response you have to being called out is “reality is fake”.

          Simply astounding.

    4. Genuine Question: If Will (or any other celebrity) isn’t qualified to comment, what are your credentials to comment? Or mine? Do you really think you have access to facts they don’t? Genuinely, what’s the bar for commenting on an issue of national policy? And is it even possible to create a set of criteria that would exclude someone like Will, but include Trump and the majority of his cabinet? I’m genuinely asking because I see this criticism all the time and I genuinely don’t understand how “internet commenter” makes you more qualified to speak than the person you’re saying should stay out of it.

          1. Yes I do, I also know that this ban applies equally to Christians and Jews born in the 7 countries listed (though I would hope, unlike under Obama, they’d be given some preference- but this is only a hope because President Trump is a scum sucking bottom feeder)

        2. Really, Theodore Seeber? You claim the Washington Post is no longer a source of legitimate news, and then cite the Independent Journal Review? Really?

          (I realize your comment above links to a CNN article. For some reason there was no “reply” button available on the comment with the IJR link a couple of posts up.)

          1. Threading in wordpress is strange. But I consider independent websites to be more free of fake news than organizations that are purchased by billionaires to twist culture to their depraved point of view, yes.

          2. I wouldn’t find this so outlandish if the Independent Journal Review actually was an “independent” news source. It factually is not.

            It’s also worth noting that while Bezos owns the Washington Post, he is not involved in editorial content or decisions. What “depraved points of view” does he espouse? Newspapers have been owned by wealthy business people for most of U.S. history and have managed to provide solid reporting that adheres to journalistic principle. This is not true of websites that have been set up by partisans for expressly partisan purposes and which frequently publish stories they actually make up themselves.

            (And yes, now I’m replying to myself in an effort to post near your remark. I agree with you that threading is very odd here.)

          3. That is very funny that you believe Bezos does not have the ability to fire the editorial staff on a paper he owns

    6. Bullshit. You know very little. There was a delay in processing Iraqi refugees in 2011 after it was discovered that two Iraqi refugees living in Kentucky had been involved in roadside bombing attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. One of the refugee’s fingerprints were found on a detonation device in Iraq, prompting U.S. immigration, security and intelligence agencies to use federal databases to rescreen about 58,000 Iraqi refugees in the U.S. and more than 25,000 Iraqis who had been approved to enter the U.S., but had not yet been admitted, Department of Homeland Security officials testified at the time.

      The Kentucky case not only caused a backlog in processing Iraqi refugees in 2011, but it also resulted in an overhaul of the refugee screening process.

      The Obama administration’s actions were limited to one country and in response to a specific threat — the potential for other Iraqi refugees to take advantage of a flaw in the screening process.

      Obama also didn’t stop legal green card holders from entering the country nor did he implement his executive order in such a way that caused detention and or deportation of people.

    7. Sorry, but that’s bullshit, there was no ban on refugees in 2011. They reviewed the vetting process in 2011 for refugees from Iraq only, based on a specific threat (two arrests in Kentucky), which slowed the influx of Iraqi refugees for a period of time but did not halt it. The purpose of this review was to strengthen vetting procedures, which are still in place today (and have been all of this time) which means that immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan have to wait 18-24 months for visa applications to be completed.

      As for the ‘seven countries on Obama’s list’, the seven countries are the ones that were removed from the Visa Waiver Program in 2015. The Visa Waiver Program is a program which allows visitors to travel to the states without requiring a visa. It did not bar anyone from entering the USA, it merely required people from those 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen) to apply for a visa first. And in fact journalists, aid workers and UN officials from those countries could apply for a waiver from congress.

      http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-obama-administration-did-nothing-similar-to-your-immigration-ban/

    9. President Obama understands things like Timing and wouldn’t issue a ban on refugees on Holocaust remembrance day. And not being limited by the vocabulary of a sixth grader, would be able to communicate the reasoning behind it. Not just “Muslims Bad”

    10. It does not mimic what Obama did. I know it’s hard to admit that maybe possibly the man you trusted is betraying that trust. And, I do feel that pain. But, please try and realize that the only person whose interests he cares about is his own. This i the actual story and the actual really true facts of what happened then. Educating yourself is not yet a crime.
      http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-obama-administration-did-nothing-similar-to-your-immigration-ban/

      And, FYI, the countries from which the 9/11 attackers came are not included in the ban. Those countries just happen to be ones in which Trump has business holdings.

    11. This comparison you and many others are repeating, likely from some social media thread, doesn’t hold up to any scrutiny, as you should be able to find if you do a few minutes of your own research.

    12. You mean like Donald Trump—a celebrity who doesn’t fact check news stories before becoming outraged? Good to hear you are disgusted by him.

      1. Yep, I am disgusted by him too. Every refugee affected by this order deserves a one way plane ticket ti Ottawa where I hear they will be accepted with open arms.

      1. Except for he did- a temporary pause on Iraqi Refugees to review the vetting process. This is a TEMPORARY ban on REFUGEES to review the vetting process. The ONLY difference is that it’s being done by somebody you don’t like. Read the text of President Trump’s executive order, and look for the word Muslim- you won’t find it.

        1. Sometimes I wonder if people like you actually believe what you are writing.

          What Trump did and what Obama did were very different things. VERY different. That has been explained to you but you stay in your bubble.

          ‘Look for the word Muslim’… wow you really think we are idiots. I’m sure it is just a coincidence that the countries targeted are primarily Muslim. Pure coincidence.

          I really hope you are actively trying to spin this. I would hate to think you were that blatantly stupid.

          1. 46 Muslim countries were NOT targeted. 7 were.

            I do question the idea that we are not at war with Islam, but that is the official story line. To think that this is a “ban on Muslims” not only is disrespectful to Donald Trump, it’s also disrespectful to all of the Chaldean and Syrian Catholic Refugees, fleeing for their lives from ISIS, who fall under this ban. Oh, I know you left-wingers like to pretend they don’t exist, because you are bigoted against their religion, but they do.

            I’m hoping (but not expecting- because in my eyes President Trump is like a Deevel from Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures series- if you sign a contract with him you’d better check your fingers, toes, relatives, and bank account afterwards because something’s going to be missing) that this reset will finally give proper priority to Christian refugees from that region. But those hopes are rather low. I’ve read The Art of the Deal, and that’s why I voted third party in the election.

  4. I went to a protest against the Muslim ban in Glasgow, Scotland, tonight. History is happening right now and we need to act however we can.

  7. Oh, stop complaining. All democracies work the same! The people select one out of several candidates and the one with the most votes is elected to be President or Prime Minister. Hillary Clinton won fair and Square as she has the majority of votes. She makes an excellent President, even though she’s a woman and the wife of Bill Clinton! You’ll see, Clinton will make America Great again! 😀
    .
    .
    .
    What do you mean, Clinton isn’t President? She got the majority of votes, right? And the USA is a democracy, right? So she should be President, right???

    1. If I may take a moment on my current favorite soapbox; http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/ If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s a compact to make a majority of the electoral college votes go to the winner of the popular vote. It already has over half of what it needs. Every state helps.

      We can render the Electoral College irrelevant before the next presidential election. We can make sure this fascist (or his VP) has no chance at a second term. We can officially make fearmongering and scapegoating immigrants in sparsely populated, homogenous states a losing political strategy, while simultaneously forcing politicians to pay more attention to their actual problems.

      All we have to do is put pressure on our governors and state legislatures. There’s a link right there on the webpage to find out who yours are. Call or write them. Go make a difference.

      1. Would be a problem for me as I’m not eligible to vote in the USA. I don’t even have a President in my country, although we do have a King and a Prime Minister here in the Netherlands. It’s called a Democratic Monarchy and it has the added bonus that the King can always say “No” if a madman happens to be elected by accident. 🙂
        Thing is, this past result of the US elections and Trump willing even though he has the minority is making people outside the USA even doubt if the USA is really a Democracy. We outside the USA just don’t understand why the people in the USA have always been voting this way…

        1. Damn. Well, hopefully other people will read it and take action. I’m just trying to talk about it as much as I can. Honestly, Trump is so incompetent and unpopular that I think if we can make it to 2018 without a nuke being set off, we will probably be okay (god, the sentences you hear yourself say these days). What scares me worse is someone smoother, subtler, and every bit as despicable in their core beliefs. Someone like Pence or Bannon wielding their power post-Trump. Unless the Electoral College gets eliminated, fast, the same broken system could give us Trump 2.0; This Time, He’s Competent.

          1. I think you should rather fear a new Civil War within the USA. Too many people are already unhappy with the current POTUS and he’s only in office for less than two weeks. The protests will lead to riots and the riots might escalate into armed conflicts. And before you know it, there’s a new Civil War going on.
            Considering that the majority voted for Hillary, such a scenario isn’t even unlikely as many just didn’t want Trump. They still don’t recognize him as the rightful President even after these elections and ceremonies. They don’t want him and there’s a big chance that people will try to assassinate him. The Secret Service will know this and thus be well-prepared for such an event. Question is, if they will allow it to happen.

            California already seems to want to secede. So does Texas. Some other states might consider similar actions and thus the USA could actually fall apart. How peaceful that will be is hard to tell. But it is another risk in these next four years.

            So lets hope the USA survives until 2020 when Michelle Obama will be the next Democratic Candidate and probably gets elected too. I think she would do extremely well as the first female POTUS and the second black POTUS. 🙂

          1. If the King says no and we want him to say yes, we’ll just get the Guillotine and repeat the French revolution.
            Kings and Presidents have similar power and in both cases, when you suddenly have a madman in power, you will need a revolution to change things.
            The was a situation in Belgium where the people had decided to legalize abortions. However, the King, a devout Catholic, could not accept this because of his beliefs. So it was solved as the king stepped down from the throne and abdicated for just one day so the law could be signed and made official. That’s possible as the Government is considered fit to be Head of State if the king is unable to do so.
            So if the King says no, we just declare him unfit to rule until he finally says yes or is replaced by either a new King, Queen or until we’re a Republic again.
            That’s much harder to do if you have a Mad President like Donald Trump.

      2. You understand a compact has to be approved by Congress, right? you think that is going to happen?

  9. Amen, Wil. Amen. Much as it drives my blood pressure up to dangerous levels when I listen to DT and his minions on television or the radio, I do, because I think it’s important to be as well-informed as possible when fighting to protect our country and our democracy. History will judge us based on how we respond to the bigoted, irrational, reckless actions of our current administration. No matter what happens, I want to be able to look myself in the mirror without being ashamed.

  10. Agreed Wil. This is the first time I’ve ever been interested in American politics because it affects me. It affects everyone.
    If there’s one thing this douche has done is to unite us around the globe against what is clearly wrong.

  12. Wil Wil Wil.. assimilate! But seriously, i can fully understand the outrage however, there are always two sides. Nothing is just bad and you also have to leave some room for the good so you can evaluate your opinion about something. Banning people from entering the country sounds harsh but it also has a reason. ISIS terrorists are not made up. They exist and they are spreading all arround the golbe to cause terror. Germany’s army for example secretly screens all Muslim applicants because islamists try to learn how to shoot in our military. It’s crazy but true! You can look it up! How would you stop ISIS from entering the country?

    Now, we all know which major event is coming up in the US. The super bowl! Do you really want your new president to take the risk and do nothing with such a big event coming up? Sadly, if you do things right people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all (Futurama) Banning a terrorist you will never know for sure if he had ever attacked something or not. However, I prefer that over dead people. Nobody dies from a ban while people could die without it. Choose wisely!

    PS. It’s the unpopular decisions why we elect leaders and don’t vote for everything on our own. The popular opinion is not always the right.

    1. Actually, Germany screens all applicants, no matter which religion they worship. And Germany doesn’t have a Foreign Legion like the French so all German soldiers have the German nationality. And like in other parts of Europe, a reasonable percentage happens to be Muslims, yes most of them are just normal people, not terrorists.
      And the problem is that you can’t stop ISIS from entering the country without closing the borders completely. And it won’t stop any US citizens who are already planning terrorist attacks, like the one that happened recently in Canada. An attack on a Mosque by some idiot who cried the well-known AA cry as a False Flag. The guy actually attacked Muslims, killing 6 people and wounding 17 people. The guy who did this just hated immigrants, seems to be a devout Christian and is an extreme right-wing fanatic.
      Terrorism knows no Religion. Timothy McVeigh was also a good example of this when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, killing 168 people and wounding over 600, all in the name of Christianity.
      But hey, go ahead. You need someone to blame, don’t you? Even if they are innocent, they’re just blamed as they happen to be different. Blame others for your own shortcomings, that seems to be the Trump-way…

    1. hmmm also for some reason this is directing to my old site. jumpingtoconfusions.com is the new one and I’ll be posting updates about DC Science Marches if you’re interested

  18. If you get poor service in a restaurant, you’d complain. If you ordered something online and it when it arrived, it wasn ‘t correct, you’d complain. If you voted for an inclusive, progressive government and got a racist, misogynist, fascist one instead, you damn well better complain and march and donate time/money to stop it’s march towards totalitarianism. Resist! Resist! Resist!

  19. We should definitely “resist his deplorable, unconstitutional, Fascist actions.” It is utterly inhumane to separate innocent families like that, or prevent law-abiding travelers from reaching this country, simply because of their religion or where they were born.
    But…you know what’s even more inhumane to do to people from those countries? Bomb them. To death.
    Most of the countries that Trump’s order applies to have either been bombed by Obama’s military and intelligence ops, or we supported mercenary Theocrats to do the bombing for us, in no case formally declaring war on any of them.
    Where were these thousands of protesters to be found for the last 8 years?

    Yes, we should protest Trump and his racist, Fascist, parasitically-capitalist, unequivocally evil cabinet. But when the pendulum swings back and the Dems are in charge again, can we maybe not forget to protest their inhumane actions as well?

  20. I remember watching Star Wars (obsessively) as a kid and wishing I had a evil empire to fight against, just like my hero Princess Leia. I’d play Star Wars with my brother for hours, shooting imagined stormtroopers and having lightsaber battles. Last week, I (finally!) got a chance to see Rogue One. It was the most inspired I’d ever felt since those days and again I felt that urge to fight, to rebel. But now I have my chance.

    I’m not a naturally brave person. I’m not going to be able to make it to every march (though I very much was inspired by the few hours I was able to spend at the women’s march) because sometimes Depression won’t let me leave the apartment to go check my mail let alone protest injustice at the airport. I can’t donate to the ACLU because I don’t actually know if I’ll have enough money for my bills next month. I’m not one of the fighters here; I’m just support staff. I’ll be there to rehydrate and replenish the energies of my better friends who can do what I can’t do, who have the means to fight back. I can’t shoot the stormtroopers or slice up the villains with my laser sword, but I will do what I can for as long as I can for all the better people that I can. Because Princess Leia would want me to.

    What I’m trying to say is straps on her metaphorical blaster and pins up her hair while waving to the Rebel Alliance Go kick some Imperial ass and I’ll have bottled waters and cupcakes waiting when you’re done for the day.

    1. Thank you, Beth.

      I marched in LA, and I’m sure I’ll find another march to participate in, but I don’t know how much further my political activism will go, because I’m just not built for it. But I appreciate your sentiment of bottled waters and cupcakes waiting in the wings! 🙂

  21. So long as we NEVER conflate ‘justice, equality, and the rule of law’ with a particular party…especially not either of the major two in this country (both of which being utterly corrupt, abusive entities). This is certainly a good guys vs. bad guys story, but it has nothing to do with just one political party (and people who think it does are the primary reason we’re in this mess to begin with).

    Time for new systems folks…rational, truly efficient systems that correct for the biases and shortcomings of what we currently suffer under. Only under such systems can we find adequate representation, justice, and peace.

  22. Loved this post! I was Downtown L.A. – and it was a peaceful march. No destruction of property, no fights in the crowd, no traffic delayed. It was loud and clear.

  24. I was at the Dallas Airport protest yesterday. Smaller than I’d hoped but still it was there.

    For the fence sitters:
    The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

  25. I have been almost paralyzed by fear and anxiety over this aministration’s actions. It is scary and overwhelming. Then, I found my voice and my courage. I will not let fear win. I have marched, called representatives and joined other fellow citizens to lend my voice to the side of freedom, justice, equality and democracy.

    I will be honest though…I am still struggling with the anxiety, Wil. And while I have always tended towards anxiety, this current crisis in our country has brought it to the forefront. But this is bigger than me….this is a crossroads and I refuse to let fear silence my voice. Thanks for your post today. It helps more than you know.

  26. We are nature’s unique experiment to make the rational intelligence prove itself sounder than the reflexive response.

    I can not and do not blame Trump for this quagmire. He did everything humanly possible to demonstrate his unfitness for any position of responsibility or trust in our country.

    There simply isn’t ownership and self-reflection any more. It seems that more and more, the only source of accountability is hiding behind the shield of anonymity offered by the Internet. The binary moment has already passed. Sides have been chosen. Bullies and cowards are making themselves known every passing day. It is ‘ok’ to be a Nazi now. It is ‘ok’ to be a bigot. To pretend ownership of women. To sexually assault strangers. To hate the gays. Maybe not for you. Maybe not for your family and friends. But – the election was the binary moment because those who have always felt this way feel safer and more confident in coming out of the closet, so to speak. They’ve found allies. They’ve realized it was ‘ok’ to be reflexive and ignorant except they will call it patriotism and plain-spoken.

    We can no longer stand, or tilt at windmills. As you said – this is a moment in history. And since history is written by victor, I feel the question that matters most is, “Who will lead the fight?”

  28. Wil, I’m considering becoming a racist. What do you think? I’m not currently one, but liberals who don’t know me have been calling me racist for years, usually whenever I critiqued Obama (because he’s black!), and those nitwits were unable or unwilling to separate the color of a man’s skin from the content of his character (or the anti-Americanness of his policies), like Dr. King dreamed. I 180° disagree with about 95% of all things liberal and progressive, so since they keep accusing me of being racist–and they say that’s the worst thing in the world–maybe I should be one.

    2. Biggscott, I think I can help sort this out. You see, not everyone who voted for or supported Buss & Cheney, the Tea Party, and Trump are racist. They aren’t necessarily white nationalists, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, Islamophobic, either. They don’t necessarily espouse what Patriotism means at veterans. I’d even go as far as saying the overwhelming majority of them aren’t violent sexual predators or supportive of starting wars of aggression just because they can. But for 100% of people that voted for or supported the former and offer support of Trump now, none of those things was a deal breaker. It’s like not being a heroin dealer but still offering to drive him around town.

      Now… if you are one of those extremely rare persons of conviction who can state that they are opposite of all things Liberal (literally meaning a Fascist – singular, implacable ideology that denies existence or validity of different ideas) and Progressive (literally meaning a Regressive) and mean it, then I’d still put it to you that being called a racist shouldn’t be bothering you at all. Much less enough to write in poor sarcasm about it.

      1. I resemble your remark, and well said. Though yes, the racist bothers me, because racism is one of the things that my singular, implacable ideology denies the existence or validity of. It’s progressive liberals who separate people by irrational identities or pretending to be other identities. But I’ll accept Bigot as a booby prize- I’m very bigoted against, for instance, Catholic Priests who violate Canon Law 1395:2

          1. I deny the validity of all racism- including the false existence of “race” which is simply not supported by scientific measurements (99% of the DNA of homo sapiens is the same, and most “races” are such mixed breeds that you cannot tell origin from looking at superficial aspects such as skin color). Thus, I deny your ability to call anybody a racist.

          2. In other words you are not a rational human being and therefore are simply a brick wall to pound against. Pointless. That is unfortunate.

            Okay. I’m out.

          3. There is no rationality in superficially judging people by the color of their skin- it is an intrinsic evil.

  29. Thank you for posting that link, Lane. The EC is the reason I haven’t voted since high school. As soon as I learned that my vote wasn’t going to count, no matter who “my” candidate was, I simply stopped participating in the process. I didn’t have the energy to devote to it.

    I did march at the Women’s March in LA, and I will march again, and I will find a way to participate in other ways to oust Putin’s Puppet (and the whole regime), and if we can get rid of the EC, I may even vote in the 2020 Presidential Race! … if we’re still doing those, by then…

    1. If you’ve stopped voting because of the Electoral College, remember that it’s your state’s right to determine how electors are allocated. So far Maine and Nebraska are the only two to take the Constitution up on that promise, and I’d say that their “one elector per Congressional district plus two electors for the state-wide winner” system is only a baby step. But it is a baby step, and your state could take a step too! Call your Statehouse and bug them about it!

      (I’m not actually a huge fan of the National Popular Vote compact, precisely because we’ve got 10 states plus the District signed up and no actual change. I’d rather see one or two states make an actual change before 2020 to remind the others that change is possible. But now we’re arguing tactics, and I’m just saying that literally anything would be an improvement.)

      1. I would point out that the separation of electors, while a good idea- would leave us with an overwhelming Republican majority in the electoral college. Even in Blue States like Oregon and California, Urban areas went to Clinton, Rural areas went to Trump- AS PREDICTED.

          1. Thank you for that. It’s interesting reading. That map still looks pretty urban/rural divide to me. The 67 blue districts Hillary would have won are all population centers, the 51 red districts Trump would have won are all rural areas.

      2. Yeah, I don’t know…
        It’s true HRC won the popular vote by almost 3 million people. But did you know she won the popular vote in CA alone by over 4 million? And in NY she won by almost 2 million. Now think about how lopsided her losses must’ve been in other states to bring the nationwide difference down to 3 million. If we change to a popular vote we’d basically be insuring that CA and NY alone would determine every president to come. You may be ok with that; I don’t know. But ignoring the concerns of voters in 96% of our states does not make those concerns disappear.

        On top of that, whatever you think of Trump, he ran a much more efficient campaign, seemingly specifically designed to win the electoral college. I’m still not sure what Hillary was thinking, besides her quixotic quest to “turn” moderate Republicans. The night before the vote she was here in Philly, in a big party with lots of celebrities — why? She could’ve driven 30 miles outside the city (which she knew was in the bag) and spent 20 minutes visiting the vast farming/manufacturing areas of this state she so crucially needed.

        Trump was a horrible choice for most of the people who voted for him, and everyone else who is decent, but there were reasons why people voted for him. If we’re not clear-eyed about those reasons we are doomed to have him or someone like him be elected again.

        1. I love everything you wrote, with two small quibbles. Trump and Hillary were both odious candidates- it is my firm belief that everybody voting for them were voting for what they personally considered the lesser evil.

          I also think that to some extent, the philosophical differences in the urban/rural divide are a deeper philosophy than we think, and the necessity of both philosophies is strongly tied to survival in extremely disparate environments. For instance- few urban families have guns, because when the next house is less than 200 feet away (or worse yet, you live in an apartment) the unintended consequences of gun ownership can be extremely negative. But when you live 30 minutes from the nearest police station (or 60, or in extreme cases, 120 minutes away) and you’re worried not only about migrants crossing your land and robbing your family, but also non-human migrants raiding the chicken coop, it is unthinkable NOT to be armed, in some way- if you don’t have a firearm, you at least have a bow and arrow and a knife. Or have the knowledge to make an atlatl in a pinch.

          These philosophical differences are tied directly to survival, and are not likely to change any time soon.

  30. Wil, this post of yours is utterly and literally correct. Bravo. And after a certain point it’s obvious that people who don’t see what Trump is doing by now simply take comfort in delusion. I’m hoping there are much fewer of them than there are of those like yourself who will speak what’s happening.

  31. Wil, I came to read your blog, because I just knew you could put into words much more more eloquently than I, the way I was feeling. I must say you nailed it! But, I did want to add a little something to the discussion. I just read two pieces of news that give me hope in these dark times. People have already donated 900k to rebuild the mosque in Texas that burned own recently. I was blown away to read that the ACLU normally receives $4 million in online donations in a year. They have received $24 million in online donations since Saturday morning!!!

  32. “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, … each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a … to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

  33. As with everyone else, I’m in agreement.

    One interesting point to note, as soon as he got into the White House, he set about enacting his campaign promises.
    Others who are less opposed to his general awfulness might easily look at this and say “wow, he really is doing what he said he’d do”, and I can easily imagine him being a two term president because of this.

    How did closing Guantanamo work out?

  34. Wow. So you really have no problem in writing off the millions of people who supported Trump and who might in the future support you financially through your books, movies, t.v. shows, the internet, etc. etc.

    Guess what Mr. Wheaton: You become just exactly like the people you despise. 98% of Hollywood lives in a bubble and works in the ultimate closed shop. Only actors who are above the age of 55 are pretty much immune to the retaliation tactics that you and your ilk inflicted on everyone that works in Hollywood. And by the way, that’s not just limited to people such as yourself. No, it extends to the people who work to make you look good: cameramen, makeup artists, construction tradesmen, set designers, script writers, etc. etc.

    So in order to work/kiss ass in Hollywood, the person must be:

    Democrat; hate Republicans, be politically correct; talk the talk but not walk the walk and above all, learn how to accept being bullied in order to stay gainfully employed.

    1. You don’t think very much of Republicans if you think standing against racism means hating Republicans.

      Personally, I think at least a giant percentage of people who voted for Trump got conned.

      That makes me feel better than people happily voting for an openly racist, misogynist government.

    2. And with modern digital editing and digital filming, Hollywood’s original reason for being is obsolete. (for those who don’t know, early film technology was so weak, and lighting technology in the 1890s was so week, that Los Angles was one of the few climates where they could get enough sun to have a reasonable number of filming days in a year. Those excuses for Hollywood’s monopoly are long gone).

      I suspect a boycott of the Screen Actor’s Guild is in the works.

  35. After sixteen years of treasonous rule by Obama, young black men still go to prison more than to college, both wars still rage on, hundreds of millions of Middle Easterners and North Africans are without governments, and the warlords in the region have formed a country dedicated to destroying Wesrern civilization. Maybe you should focus on acting Will. You suck at politics.

    1. U r–Nice straw man you got there. Also, grow up. How pathetic to repeat the same tired insults you heard your alt-right talking heads say.

  36. Regardless if this has been done before or not or if this is temporary or not…I want to thank whoever posted the link to the executive order as reading it over I came to part 7 which will be permanent- as a Canadian (or any foreign national) I now will be biometrically scanned into and out of your country – what’s next chipping? I guess I will stay in the true north strong and free.

    It’s all theatre people – it doesn’t increase your safety and by watching the orange man in the centre ring you are missing what is going on behind the curtain. Watch him but also watch the machinations of the rest of your ‘government’ because your rights and freedoms are being eroded in front of you. Every time he does one of these I can bet you it’s timed perfectly to cover some other big movement that you are not even aware of.

    1. Chipping is next, and was already proposed by Democrat controlled administrations (Clinton and Obama). Personally, I think biometric is “good enough” for most situations. It isn’t like ever second of our lives isn’t being recorded on databases someplace (if not governmental, then commercial- Walmart’s purchasing database is now biometric linked to it’s anti-shoplifting cameras, even if you pay in cash the transaction is linked to you and to your cell phone’s IMEI broadcast).

      In the United States, we’ve officially had a police state since WBush signed the Patriot Act on October 26, 2001. Word is that Trump is actually going to enforce it.

  37. I am disgusted with government too, but it didn’t start with Trump. Congress is not full of cowards, it is full of individuals that are incentivized to make wrong choices. Trump is out of his depth and he does blatantly lie.

    BUT.

    Stop whining about the popular vote. As if it means anything that the loudest crowds, the loudest parts of the media, the mob, should have the greatest say as to what happens in our country. I am thankful that you do not.

    I presume you are annoyed with his Travel Ban. If it is illegal or unconstitutional then I hope the courts will stop him. I certainly do not agree with it, and it goes against what America is about. If it was just for security then he could have assessed those without the blanket ban. Legal immigrants and visa holders from ANY country should not be treated this way.

    But, I also do not believe we should fly over to another continent and pick up Syrian refugees. How many refugees would you like to bring into America, Wil? How many are you financially supporting once they get here? (I do think we should set up a safe no-fly zone when the war broke out, why didn’t Obama do anything about that? Where is your blog article getting upset with his not helping them before they became refugees? http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-obama-analysis-idUSKBN14228S )

    I also will not forget the way you are talking and implying what it means if we do not agree with you. You and your mob do not get to decide this is a binary moment in history. I can disagree with parts of what this president is doing, and agree with other parts. You are choosing hateful words, generalizations, name-calling and prejudice. I am not with you or against you, but I will stand on my own personal position on this. Be against the President and his policies. Fine by me, I agree with you this time regarding parts of the Travel Ban. Protest if you wish. (Are you protesting anywhere, Wil? or Are you just complaining in front of your computer?)

    I do not think you are “choosing wisely”, Wil. You have a voice and you are choosing to “lose your cool” rather than to fight wrong actions by this government with reasoning. I hear your self-righteous anger, but not your opinion of what exactly is the right thing to do.

  38. My mind keeps reaching back to my favorite quote from Barack Obama’s farewell address in Chicago:

    We weaken [the ties of democracy] when we allow our political dialogue to become so corrosive that . . . Americans with whom we disagree are seen, not just as misguided, but as malevolent. We weaken those ties when we define some of us as more American than others.

    Trump’s executive order (and Trump himself) is misguided. It (and he) are not evil. I also happen to believe that it (and he) are LAZY. With just a bit more work, we should be able to achieve his stated goals without unduly impacting people who are clearly low-risk/no-risk to the country (like folks who have lived here for years and happen to be out of the country right now). Everyone should read the text (link provided above in the comments), and speak out FORECEFULLY against the parts with which you disagree. Call, e-mail, protest, post on your blog, donate to sympathetic causes, link to articles on social media, etc.. This is what democracy looks like and sounds like.

    But when you call the President of the United States “a despicable scourge” and an “illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt, hateful, bigoted, petty tyrant,” you are doing the very things he does that make you so angry. This language feels good, I’m sure, and it may engage the emotions of like-minded readers, but it is not necessary to voice a full-throated opposition to the policy in question.

    I hope you take my comments with the respect in which I intend them. We mostly agree on the issue at hand; I’m just making the case for civil discourse.

    Thanks for reading/listening…

    1. The thing is… he isn’t ‘misguided, but not evil’.

      The things he is doing are evil. He is openly racist. He is openly misogynistic.

      1. Is he? Or are you openly racist and misandrist?

        See, the problem with judging people superficially by appearances, is that appearances often deceive. I’m surprised Hollywood types aren’t extremely familiar with the problems associated with judging a book by its cover.

  39. Props to your child’s school for acknowledging what’s happening and being willing to have those tough conversations, props to you for trying to keep your own country inclusive and safe. As someone in the US (albeit probably in a lower-risk group than a lot of our citizens and residents), I appreciate when people in other countries voice their opposition to our current government and refuse to normalize his (terrible) leadership.

  40. Given what PM Trudeau has stated, would you accept giving every refugee from Syria a one way ticket to Ottawa? After all, supposedly you liberal Canadians love refugees.

    1. I am Canadian and I support a large increase in the number of refugees accepted in our country.

      Because we are a ‘have’ country. It is our duty as human beings to do what we can to help everyone we can.

      The U.S. is a ‘have more’ country. You should be doing more.

      Anything else is heartless.

      1. Good. Are you willing to use Canadian taxes to pay for the plane tickets to get them there?

        1. Yes. I would vote for a tax increase to increase the number of refugees coming to Canada. I have donated already to private refugee initiatives here too. I don’t make a lot of money either. I’m solidly lower middle class.

          1. Glad to know somebody is willing to walk the walk…..and actually do something while President Trump fires everybody at ICE and replaces them with people who can actually get something done.

    2. Nope, serious. These refugees deserve travel to a first world natuon, we have a first world nation willing to take them in. Seems like a good match to me, especially given how seriously underpopulated Canada is.

  41. What bothered these last few days, on top of the POTUS’s gross racism is this: In Canada we had a mass shooting. A man entered a mosque and shot dead 6 people praying and injured many more. Preibus chose to use this as a demonstration of why it was correct to put the muslim ban into place in the white house… Which is crazy. The man that did the shooting was an alt-right supporter, not a muslim, shooting up a mosque. Don’t trust your White house. They lie.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/white-house-spicer-que-mosque-comments-1.3959338

    1. Let’s have an experiment. Since PM Trudeau wants refugees, are you willing to donate money to purchase plane tickets from Syria to Ottawa?

  42. This is indeed a fixed point, and you must choose wisely. But, Will, it was a fixed point on November 8, when so many purity progressives refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, thereby putting Trump into office. If they feel no shame about their wrongheaded choice then, how do you expect them to feel badly about anything they do now? Something to think about.

  43. Will, let me talk to you more about this and your Nazi-punching thing a little bit, because I think the two are interrelated. Let me see if I can’t explain to you the problem that I personally have with the Nazi-punching thing.

    First off, screw the granola hippies telling you that “violence is not the answer.” Standing to one side and quoting Jack Handy while bad things happen is not the answer, either. Nor is sipping herbal tea and posting inspirational quotes and pictures of the Dalai Lama to one’s Facebook page.

    But you know what also isn’t the answer? Nazi-punching. Think about that cartoon you posted to your tumblr about the little girl being menaced by Adolf Hitler with the two scolding idiots standing to one side. Why was the punching guy so focused on Hitler and not on the little girl? She and her kind didn’t need someone to punch Hitler. What they needed at that point was money, passage, jobs, and other forms of more boring and unsuperhero-like assistance. Lots less “fun” than punching someone, but also lots more useful.

    How about this: who does Yad Vashem designate as Righteous Among Nations? People who killed the most Nazis?

    No. They honor people who helped the most Jews.

    What I’m telling you is fuck the granola hippies AND fuck Hitler. The only people we need to care about — the only people who should even exist in our awareness right now — are those who need help.

    Every moment you waste punching Nazis and thinking you’re a hero for it is a moment you could have spent actually doing something on the ground to help people who need it — donating time, aid, and money to local mosques or black churches or women’s health centers. It all depends on what you think is more fun and heroic — punching a Nazi or escorting a scared girl who needs a pap smear past screaming scumbag protestors.

    That’s what resistance looks like. It doesn’t look like punching Nazis. It looks like helping muslims, black Americans, women, Mexican Americans … it might look like this guy soon:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Bartali

    He didn’t punch Nazis. He didn’t dare. It would have drawn attention to him while he was busy doing shit that really made a difference.

    Of course, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to weep if someone does crater Steve Bannon or Crazy Orange Baboon Man’s faces. It’d be a pretty sight. But I’m not wasting my time on them. There’s more constructive things to do. Nazi-punching is empty calories. we can’t afford empty calories. Get on your damned bike instead.

    1. Very correct- of course you could just get the girl who needs a Pap Smear to a real doctor instead of a planned parenthood clinic and pay the fee yourself. Just as you can, right this minute, donate a plane ticket to Ottawa to a refugee affected by this ban- PM Trudeau has pledged to take them all in.

  44. Hi Wil,

    I just wanted to say that I agree with you 100%.

    There is one choice everyone needs to make right now: Do I stand against Trump, or do I stand on the right side of history.

      2. Okay, that’s enough from you. I’ll say this one time: stop this shit, or you will be banned from posting comments on this blog.

  45. No…the wrong…Man, I give up, I’ll just let this stand as a testament to me being retarded.

      1. Oh, good, glad to hear that instead of supporting international terrorism, you’re just auditioning for a Patriot Act Section 802 role as a Domestic Terrorist. You’re in good company in this thread.

  46. Thank you for sharing these thoughts publicly. As a teacher I’m concerned that sharing my opposition to the current president and his actions with students may be considered crossing a line with them, but in my private life, I fully intend to do all I can. This is the first time in my adult life that I have had both the level of understanding and the sense of outrage at the actions of members of our government. I am following my sister’s example to volunteer at a local Planned Parenthood clinic (if they can use my help) and my wife has recently suggested that we show what support we can of our Muslim community by frequenting their businesses as a show of solidarity.

    I will not be resting on my laurels. However, I also will not let a tyrant consume all of my free time and happiness. That is why I am extra-glad to hear about TableTop Season 4 resuming. I think I’ll need this respite from reality from time to time. Thank you for playing more/all the games.

  47. Islam is completely incompatible with freedom. Sooner or later that problem is going to need to be taken care of. Unless you like living in an Islamic society that is an unavoidable fact.

    Thinking about the end game for the world, a Muslim ban is actually a very good idea.

    2. Actually, Islam is not that monolithic in their theology. One little question can separate the good from the bad. “How many pillars or duties of Islam are there, and what are they?” Everybody who mentions Jihad, needs to be in jail.

  48. Calm down, Wil. It’s called democracy. Sometimes Lib’s win and sometimes Conservatives win. I mean, will you only accept Libs in charge?? The people spoke. He’s in for 4 (and most likely 8) years. Start wrapping your mind around it and welcome to the club. Remember, conservatives had to accept Obama for 8 years.

      1. How will he not last 4 years? Impeachment? Has he broken the law? I don’t remember hearing about him lying about getting his sausage smoked by a 19 year old intern. Most incumbents get re-elected…93% I believe. Just ask Obama (8 years) and George Bush (8 years) Both hated by the other side but both won handily in their 2nd term. Like I said, wrap your minds around it. Donald Trump will be America’s President for the next 8 years. History is on the side of that one.

        1. 8 years of Trump? O, that would be a rednecks dream..
          A big wall around the US, so that you don’t have to care about the outer world. American workers getting back to the jobs, China and Korea are now doing. Sewing TShirts and Sneakers, etc. And doing all the jobs, the Immigrants did, washing up, etc
          And they will get over 30.000$ each with those jobs. There will be no immigration, no muslims, no other countries. And the best thing is, that noone has to educate himself or to learn anything. What a good and adorable life that would be….

          Wake up, America! That cannot work! Your future is on the table!

    2. This comment is dumb and you should feel dumb. TRUMP IS AN EVIL PSYCHOPATH FACIST.
      Oh poor you, had to “suffer” through Obama. Just what did he do, that affected you, that was soooo bad? Huh?

  49. I think the takeaway here is that Theodore Seeber is a moron who lives in his own reality and does not think for himself. Any news he does’t like he deems “fake news”. A phrase I’m sure he never uttered until he heard his man Trump say it. Now, he parrots it without thinking.

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