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Trump turns on Vets
Trump Just Took Away A Lifeline For Struggling Veterans
By
Millions of Americans are still reeling from the shock and horror of discovering one of Donald Trump’s first actions as President was to scrub the pages dedicated to civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate change from the White House website. Now Trump, a man who has sworn allegiance and devotion to veterans but has never actually shown it, has eliminated the Joining Forces page. Joining Forces was a program developed by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden that sought to help veterans find careers, help their spouses more easily move their careers between states, and expand wellness services.
According to the Military Times, “Over the last five years, Joining Forces has received more than 1.25 million hiring commitments for veterans and military spouses from its corporate partners. It also has helped broker legislation enabling spouses to transfer certifications across all 50 states.”
The initiative had wide appeal among everyone who was devoted to veterans’ issues. The launch of Joining Forces saw former Republican First Lady Laura Bush joining President Obama to publicly promote the new program. Rear Adm. Brad Cooper was Joining Forces’ first executive. He said in November,
“I can … also remember when we had only two states that had military spouse legislation [on career transferability]. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden went to the governors meeting that year, and only ended up talking about military spouses. When you think about all the things they could have talked about, they chose just that one topic. They encouraged all the governors to pass legislation on that topic, and here we are today, with legislation in all 50 states.”
Every subsequent executive, all military officers, also praised Joining Forces for its important service to the veteran community. The only missing endorsement is Trump’s. On the campaign trail he refused to say whether he would continue Joining Forces if elected, while Hillary Clinton made a clear promise to maintain its good work. The uncertainty of whether Trump actually cares about protecting veterans is now even more uncertain with the removal of the Joining Forces page and the lack of announcement as to whether or not he will continue the program or restore it in some other form.
It is at the very least an attempt to prepare for significant changes and likely cuts to a program that is already producing incredible, life changing results.
More ominously, it seems to represent a willingness to stab veterans in the back after manipulating their support during the campaign with false promises and false hope. The men and women who courageously defend our country deserve better. They and their families make tremendous sacrifices on behalf of all Americans. For this, they should be honored and protected to the fullest extent by the government upon their retirement from service. They risk their physical and mental health, and their families risk losing a husband, wife, father, mother; it is our duty to repay them.
I had a different blog for today but I saw this article and I was shocked and angry. I will be honest with you, I am a pacifist and I was a loud protester against the Vietnam War; America’s illegal war. If you have never been to DC to see the Vietnam Memorial, I would suggest a visit sometime. After the war was over and the veterans came home, many of us did not welcome them home. Our feelings about them coming home were like an unsavory presence had invaded America. We thought of these vets as part of the government that illegally put us right in the center of another country’s civil war. Every night during dinner, the TV was on because the government would be picking the numbers of who would be the next to go to Vietnam. Every night. I had friends who went to Canada and some who registered as Conscientious Objectors. Guys would suddenly disappear. It was as if they were already dead.
To myself and many others, they were the substitutes for the government that we were really angry with; the government who only listened when American youth were marching and protesting. Over the years, I met several vets who talked to me about their experiences. One man in particular had some awful things to say. He was a good man, who was not the same man as he was when he was sent to Vietnam. I began to see that they weren’t responsible for the decisions our government made. They were scapegoats and, like all scapegoats, didn’t deserve the treatment they were given.
Since then, I see the difference between the youth who go to fight a war and the Presidents who put them on unfamiliar and hostile territory. In the wars fought in the Middle East, I still don’t support these wars, but I know that our young men and women veterans are trying to protect our country and the citizens of America. Now, I feel bad when vets come home disabled, missing limbs and in emotional stress. I feel that we have a responsibility to help , understand, and to accept them back into American life.
Now Trump is making noise and seeming that he will be less supportive of vets. I am sure Trump and the GOP plan to send more of our brave youth into the unending Middle East wars. When these vets come home the government and the American citizens need to accept them and assist them. The Joining Forces page was written and managed by Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to assist vets by providing information that they would need to become re-acclimated to American society. Trump seems to not be willing to continue the Joining Forces Page. Because Michelle Obama was part of the designers of the page? Perhaps because the page was run by women? It is hard to say, but the page has disappeared and this lifeline for vets has ended.
There are many things I don’t agree with in Trump’s administration, but I feel that it is unconscionable to turn his back on our country’s veterans. We need to continue to remind him that this country’s veterans are a large and important section of America.
American active forces are prepared to protect America.
We Are Dissidents; We Are Legion
On Friday, Donald J. Trump, the embodiment, instrument and provocateur of American animus, was installed — and I use that word with purpose and displeasure — as America’s 45th president. He delivered a particularly inauspicious speech to a seemingly sparse crowd, presenting a vision for America that would best be described as aggressive atavism, a retrograde positioning of policy that threatens to drag the country back to a time of division and fear and hostility, when some stand in the light by casting others into darkness.
The speech was replete with phrases never before uttered in an Inaugural Address. Bleed, carnage, depletion and disrepair. Ripped, rusted and stolen. Tombstones, trapped and windswept. Urban, sad and Islamic. It felt at times as though he were reading aloud from a post-apocalyptic movie script.
Indeed, some have pointed out that portions of the speech sounded eerily familiar to one delivered by the movie villain Bane in the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises.” Bane, too, promises: “We take Gotham from the corrupt! The rich! The oppressors of generations who have kept you down with myths of opportunity, and we give it back to you, the people,” even as he plunges the fictitious city into chaos.
There were few overtures to his opponents, let alone his enemies, little attempt to seek unity and amity. The Dean of Discord made clear his purpose and his plan: It is not to bring America together but to rip it asunder.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the speech was partly written by Steve Bannon, Trump’s white-nationalist chief strategist and senior counselor. At one point in the speech, Trump delivered the bewildering line: “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.” Patriotism does not drive out prejudice; to the contrary, it can actually enshrine it. No one was more patriotic than our founding fathers, and yet most of the prominent founding fathers were slave owners.Trump set forth a portentous proposition on Friday. Saturday’s Women’s Marches across the country and around the world answered with a thundering roar.
The marches, whose participants vastly outnumbered inauguration attendees, offered a stinging rebuke to the election of a man who threatens women’s rights and boasts of grabbing women’s genitalia.
And the marches, which included quite a few men and boys as well, also represented more than that. They were a rebuke of bigotry and a call for equality and inclusion. They demonstrated the awesome power of individual outrage joined to collective action. And it was a message to America that the majority did not support this president or his plans and will not simply tuck tail and cower in the face of the threat. This was an uprising; this was a fighting back. This was a resistance.
Members of Congress, laboring under the delusion that they operate with a mandate and feeling compelled to rubber-stamp Trump’s predilections, should heed well the message those marches sent on Saturday: You are on notice. America is ticked off.
There has been much hand-wringing and navel gazing since the election about how liberalism was blind to a rising and hidden populism, about how identity politics were liberals’ fatal flaw, about how Democrats needed to attract voters who were willing to ignore Trump’s racial, ethnic and religious bigotry, his misogyny, and his xenophobia.
I call bunk on all of that.
I have given quite a few speeches since the election and inevitably some variation of this “reaching out” issue is raised in the form of a question, and my answer is always the same: The Enlightenment must never bow to the Inquisition.
Recognizing and even celebrating individual identity groups doesn’t make America weaker; it makes America stronger. Acknowledging that identity groups have not always been — and indeed, continue not to be — treated equally in this country should not be a cause for agitation, but a call to action. Parity is not born of forced erasure but rather respectful subsumption.
Janelle Monáe, singer and star of the acclaimed film “Hidden Figures,” put it this way at the march in Washington: “Continue to embrace the things that make you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable. You are enough. And whenever you’re feeling doubt, whenever you want to give up, you must always remember to choose freedom over fear.”
If my difference frightens you, you have a problem, not me. If my discussion of my pain makes you ill at ease, you have a problem, not me. If you feel that the excavation of my history presages the burial of yours, then you have a problem, not me.
It is possible that Trump has reactivated something President Obama couldn’t maintain, and Hillary Clinton couldn’t fully tap into: A unified, mission-driven left that puts bodies into the streets. The women’s marches sent a clear signal: Your comfort will not be built on our constriction. We are America. We are loud, “nasty” and fed up.
We are motivated dissidents and we are legion.
We The People
Today is January 21, 2017. Today, the People of America responded to the inauguration of Donald Trump. Our response was nationwide and clear. America’s response stimulated the response of countries around the world. There were supportive marches on all 7 continents — including Antarctica.
My day started with fatigue and excitement. I feel emotionally fatigued — I have ever since election. I feel fatigued even though I didn’t watch the inauguration yesterday. I still feel that he is not my President, and nothing can ever change that.
When I arrived in downtown Asheville for the Women’s March here in Western North Carolina, my sister and I joined in with thousands of others Americans who care about basic moral decency and equality. What I found at the park were men and women, boys and girls, young babies in strollers to 88-year-olds. There were all minorities, religious affiliations; people who were concerned and wanting to stop Muslim registration and possible deportation. There was about an hour of speeches, and I of course photographed the entire event.
White doves of peace were released. I, like many others at the march, was very moved and inspired not just by the speeches but by the sheer numbers of people who were moved to come out, enmass, and show support for the America WE know and love — an America based on civil rights, equality, justice and opportunity for all, regardless of color, religion (or lack thereof), race, gender identity.
The people around us felt strongly enough about these issues, and about the inauguration of Trump that they came out of there homes on a rainy Saturday; and together we pooled our energy and our hope and our compassion and kindness towards one another into a march that was peaceful and nonviolent, inspiring and motivating.
As the crowd of around 10,000 people began to march, we all had a little more personal space and it was easier to look around and see the faces of those who stood in solidarity with us, and to feel a deep sense of pride because all of us were there to support the kind of Americans that the Founding Fathers designed this country for.
I took over 400 pictures — don’t panic, I’m not including them all — but I am including a representative selection of some of my favorite shots, to inspire all of you, whether you are in America or around the world. These photographs are pictures of the men and women of Asheville, NC who stood up today to be counted, to be inspiring and to be peaceful in their protesting and marching against the actions, already taken, of a man who was inaugurated to lead a country where the majority did not vote for him and do not want his hateful, bigoted, divisive and unjust policies enacted. 10,000 people standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to support one another and all those whom this new administration would seek to disenfranchise.
Many people said they would protest for the next 4 years. So will we.
We protest not just for Americans, but for all of you around the world who are shocked and dismayed to see the world moving back towards hate and division, and away from caring and inclusion.
We stand with you, as you around the world have stood with us.
Namaste
Barbara
First Ladies at Inaugurations
Here’s what 16 first ladies wore at their husbands’ presidential inaugurations
Kirsten Acuna
REUTERS/Jim Young
As president Barack Obama bids farewell to the Oval Office, the United States will welcome in its 45th president.
While many will be watching when Donald Trump is sworn in as Commander in Chief on Inauguration Day, all eyes will also be on new first lady, Melania.
Michelle Obama helped to redefine first lady fashion. Will Mrs. Trump measure up to some of the iconic looks of the past? Keep reading to see what the first ladies of the past wore on Inauguration Day.
March 4, 1925: Grace Coolidge was all smiles in a gray dress and top hat to match Calvin Coolidge’s during his second inauguration.
AP Photo
March 4, 1929: Lou Henry Hoover was known for her fashion and became the first first lady to be in Vogue magazine in May 1929.
AP Photo
Sources: Vogue, A Companion to First Ladies
March 4, 1933: Press described Eleanor Roosevelt’s inaugural gown as a shade called “Eleanor Blue.” Her wrap and dress were made of “crystelle velvet,” according to the New York Times. Press highlighted that Roosevelt’s gowns were designed and made entirely in the US.
AP Photo
Source: New York Times
April 12, 1945: Bess Truman wore a formal look when Harry S. Truman was sworn into office shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death.
AP Photo
January 20, 1949: Mrs. Truman was accompanied by the couple’s daughter, Margaret, as well as Vice President Alben Barkley, President Truman, and Barkley’s daughter Max Truitt during the president’s second inauguration.
AP Photo/stf
Mrs. Truman
January 20, 1953: First lady Mamie Eisenhower wore a pale pink de soie gown which was embroidered with over 2,000 rhinestones. Press had to wait until the week before the inauguration to receive details and photographs of the gown from Mrs. Eisenhower.
AP Photo
January 20, 1961: Jacqueline Kennedy was a vision at the inaugural balls wearing a sleeveless off-white silk chiffon gown. Kennedy had a matching cape to go with it.
Mrs. and Mr. Kennedy at one of five inaugural balls.AP Photo
January 20, 1965: Lady Bird Johnson wore a bright yellow gown ordered from Neiman Marcus.
White House Photo/LBJ Library
January 20, 1969: Pat Nixon wore a mimosa silk satin gown embroidered in gold and silver. You can’t see it under her pink overcoat here.
AP Photo via The National Museum of American History
August 8, 1974: President Gerald Ford took this photo with his family and wife Betty Ford after he was sworn into office as the 38th president.
AP Photo
January 20, 1977: Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn walked from the Capitol to the White House in a brilliant turquoise coat.
AP Photo
That evening Carter danced with her husband in a blue chiffon gown paired with a gold-embroidered sleeveless coat.
January 20, 1981: Nancy Reagan wore a gorgeous one-shouldered lace gown over silk satin to the inaugural balls.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
January 20, 1985: Reagan looked regal again for the inaugural balls. She wore another James Galanos white chiffon gown with glass beads that reportedly took more than 300 hours to apply by hand.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Source: CBS News
January 21, 1989: Barbara Bush wore a royal-blue gown with a velvet bodice to the inaugural balls.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
January 20, 1993: Hillary Clinton wore a violet beaded lace sheath gown with a blue velvet silk overskirt to the inaugural balls. The dress was made by New York theatrical costume maker Barbara Matera Ltd.
REUTERS/Jim Bourg
January 20, 2001: Laura Bush attended the Texas inaugural ball in a red gown by Texas designer Michael Faircloth.
REUTERSWin McNamee
January 20, 2005: Laura Bush wore all white to her husband’s second inauguration.
REUTERS/Files
Later that evening, she wore a silver Oscar de la Renta gown to the second inaugural ball.
REUTERS/Jason Reed
January 20, 2009: Michelle Obama shined next to President Obama in a sparkly yellow dress and overcoat at the 44th president’s first inauguration.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
January 21, 2009: She wore a custom-made white gown by Cuban-born American designer Isabel Toledo at the Southern Regional Inaugural Ball.
REUTERS/Jim Young
January 21, 2013: Michelle Obama wore a collarless blue-checkered coat with J. Crew shoes to President Obama’s second inauguration.
REUTERS/Doug Mills/Pool
January 22, 2013: She stunned at the inaugural ball wearing a red Jason Wu gown and Jimmy Choo shoes.
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
January 20, 2017: Melania Trump greeted the Obamas at the White House on Inauguration Day with the president-elect in a powder blue coat.
Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Image
Obama’s Simple Decency
Obama’s act of simple decency
This is not to say that the decision to charge Manning was, in itself, indefensible. There is no question that Manning giving classified materials to WikiLeaks was illegal. Should she have been exempted from prosecution as a whistleblower? It’s not an absurd argument. Certainly, much of the information she released — such as video of an appalling helicopter attack on a crowd in Baghdad that killed two Reuters reporters whose cameras were misidentified as guns — was unquestionably in the public interest.
But one problem with that argument is how indiscriminate Manning was about the information she chose to release. As the political scientist Robert Farley of the University of Kentucky observes, it would be impossible for her to make crucial distinctions about what materials should be leaked because “she lacked sufficient expertise in the subject matter to tell the difference between material that was properly and improperly classified.” Information the state had a legitimate interest in keeping confidential was leaked alongside information that should have been made public.
Given these factors, it was unrealistic to expect Obama to pardon Manning, which would have absolved her of guilt. But there are two reasons — each of which would be sufficient in itself — why the case for commuting Manning’s sentence was not merely plausible, but compelling.
First, Manning’s sentence was grossly disproportionate. Prosecuting leakers is very rare, although Obama went after whistleblowers to an unprecedented extent. The seven people prosecuted for leaking information to the media by Obama constitute 70 percent of the people prosecuted for this crime in the history of the United States. And there is certainly no precedent for anything remotely resembling a 35-year sentence for leaking information to the media. Sentencing Manning to time served would have been towards the harsh end of what was potentially justified. Arbitrarily singling out Manning for an extraordinarily harsh punishment is exactly the kind of injustice the commutation power should be used to redress.
And, second, not only has Manning been in prison much longer than her offense merited, the conditions she was subjected to in prison were a vile abuse of human rights. She was held in solitary confinement for extended periods, treatment that amounts to torture in practice, even if it’s not defined as such in law. She remained in a man’s prison despite announcing her gender identity as a woman in 2013. She detailed the effects of this treatment in her letter to Obama: “I am living through a cycle of anxiety, anger, hopelessness, loss, and depression. I cannot focus. I cannot sleep. I attempted to take my own life.” She was actually punished for her suicide attempt with more time in solitary confinement, an act of astonishing cruelty.
The disproportionate length of the sentence given to Manning and the cruelty she was subjected to in prison make commuting her sentence a no-brainer.
This doesn’t mean that Obama’s opponents didn’t attack it. Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called Obama’s commutation “outrageous,” asserting that “President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.” The idea that seven years of hard prison time in often deplorable conditions doesn’t constitute “accountability” reflects an appalling lack of human decency.
The harsh treatment given to Manning is particularly hard to justify given that most of the people responsible for the financial collapse of 2008 and all of the people responsible for the torture of prisoners under the Bush administration got away scot-free. While it’s too late for many of the worst villains of the first decade of the millennium to be held accountable, it’s important that other injustices be addressed.
Obama made the right call in commuting Manning’s sentence, and it’s a sobering reminder of a general commitment to decent values that Obama’s successor utterly rejects. Obama didn’t always do what the liberal wing of the Democratic Party would have liked, but he often still did what was right.
To Obama, from a conservative: Thank you for being a great role model
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
As the orange id approaches the threshold of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — God help us all — I find myself reflecting on this more and more. And even if Obama is a master image manipulator, as any successful politician must be, who cares? He projected the right image.
As the author J.D. Vance pointed out, Obama gives hope to those of us, like him, who come from broken homes and strive to build stable, loving ones for their children.
Michelle and Barack Obama clearly and obviously love each other and are tender towards each other. They find ways to humorously poke fun at each other. They visibly work as partners leading the difficult endeavor that was Obama’s political career, presidential campaigns, and mandate as president.
Meanwhile, the Obamas have also been assiduous at protecting their daughters from the public eye and have refrained from using them as props. Famously, President Obama has drawn a red line around family dinner time and respects it. This is a red line he’s actually kept, and it rightly puts all of us dads to shame. If the freakin’ president of the United States is not too busy to spend dinner with his family, neither are you.
In an era where scripts for fulfilling gender roles get ever more twisted in knots, there are much worse scripts for a heterosexual male to follow than that of Obama, who is faithful, loves books as much as sports, and isn’t afraid to shed a tear in public.
Even Obama’s much-derided aloof, professorial demeanor is not a bad pointer. While it probably didn’t serve him well in politics and (especially) foreign affairs, an anecdotal survey of those around me suggests a lot of families could do with less drama.
In recent years, people have warned about the imperial presidency, by which they mean the ever-expanding powers of the executive branch. But there is another aspect of this phenomenon worth mentioning, which is the increasing expectation that the president not only act as king, but symbol-in-chief and national therapist. This is a trend we should all resist. Still, given that that so many eyes fall on the president, it’s worth acknowledging that it’s a part of the job that Obama did brilliantly, and one which we may find ourselves very much missing in the coming years.
Thanks, Obama.
Michelle Obama’s Most Inspiring Quote
Tuesday marks First Lady Michelle Obama‘s 53rd birthday — and her final one in office. In honor of the milestone, we’ve rounded up some of her most powerful and inspiring quotes from the past eight years.
1. On individual importance:
“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have, because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.”
— On a visit to South Africa in 2011
2. On the future of America’s young people:
“For all the young people in this room and those who are watching, know that this country belongs to you—to all of you, from every background and walk of life. If you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are part of a proud American tradition — the infusion of new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after generation, that has made us the greatest country on earth.”
— From her final speech as first lady in January 2017
3. On measuring success:
“Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own.”
— From her 2012 commencement speech at Oregon State University
4. On being your own role model:
“If we want maturity, we have to be mature. If we want a nation that feels hopeful, then we have to speak in hopeful terms. We have to model what we want.”
— From her final interview as first lady with Oprah Winfrey in December 2016
5. On the power of education:
“I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong. So don’t be afraid. You hear me, young people? Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourself with a good education. Then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear.”
— From her final speech as first lady in January 2017
6. On overcoming fear:
“I am so tired of fear. And I don’t want my girls to live in a country, in a world, based on fear.”
— At a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 2008
7. On helping others:
“I will always be engaged in some way in public service and public life. The minute I left my corporate law firm to work for the city, I never looked back. I’ve always felt very alive using my gifts and talents to help other people. I sleep better at night. I’m happier.”
— From an interview with Vogue for their December 2016 issue
8. On being true to yourself:
“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.”
— From a 2008 interview with Marie Claire
9. On being the bigger person:
“When they go low, we go high.”
— From a speech given at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
10. On the importance of empowering women:
“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.”
— At the Summit of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in July 2014
11. On what it means to be a leader:
“I know that true leadership — leadership that lifts families, leadership that sustains communities and transforms nations — that kind of leadership rarely starts in palaces or parliaments. That kind of leadership is not limited only to those of a certain age or status. And that kind of leadership is not just about dramatic events that change the course of history in an instant. Instead, true leadership often happens with the smallest acts, in the most unexpected places, by the most unlikely individuals.”
— At the Young African Women Leaders Forum in June 2011
12. On giving back:
“When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back.”
— At a meeting with the 2013-2014 White House Fellows in September 2012
13. On possibility and opportunity:
“This time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country — where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House – we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”
— During a speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention
14. On what to look for in a partner:
“Don’t look at the bankbook or the title. Look at the heart. Look at the soul. Look at how the guy treats his mother and what he says about women. How he acts with children he doesn’t know. And, more important, how does he treat you? When you’re dating a man, you should always feel good.”
— From an interview with Glamour in 2009
15. On the importance of humor:
“What I have never been afraid of is to be a little silly, and you can engage people that way. My view is, first you get them to laugh, then you get them to listen. So I’m always game for a good joke, and I’m not so formal in this role. There’s very little that we can’t do that people wouldn’t appreciate.”
Michelle Obama-2017
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