The ubiquitous “Pink Pussy Hat” created for the Women’s March on Washington D.C., the day after Trump’s inauguration has not faded away, in fact they seem to have become a symbol of the “Resistance”. I must admit that I love the concept, the origin and some of what they have come to represent. Fact is, I wouldn’t mind having one myself. My fingers just aren’t talented enough to knit and I am not really sure I would ever wear it One of the problems with them is that they seem to have usurped much of the creative energy we will need going forward.
The majority of the American public may agree with the principles and values of the Democrat Party. They may even poll in their direction. The truth is that the majority will never vote for the current variant symbolized by the pink pussy hat. Why? The Hat says it all.
I’ve attended several events recently, promoted by groups like “Indivisible”. While I agree with many of their virtues and their goals, they are afraid to tell others who they are and what they stand for, at least loud enough to be heard.
At a fundraiser hosted by Cory Gardener and Scott Tipton in Alamosa, I took part in what was billed as a “Silent Protest”. Before the event even starts whispers circulate through the crowd that SWAT members have been seen on the roofs. I never saw them or talked to anybody that had. So there we are, walking around a building carrying signs in which the dinner was being held, until it got too cold for some to carry on. It’s the Pink Hat. Apparently it’s not even a warm hat.
While trying to organize for a Tipton Town Hall, fear rose to unreasonable heights. I was told that at a recent Town Hall attended by Mike Coffman, snipers were seen on the roofs. I was never able to confirm it, but the damage had been done. It was suggested that placing literature under wiper blades of cars might be illegal and risky. “Cops shoot first, ask questions later.” Again, the Pink Hat.
While the Bundys defy court orders to vacate Federal lands by dragging out assault weapons, and set up snipers zeroing in on law enforcement, Open-Carry advocates show up at the local coffee shop armed to the teeth. Trump supporters harass, punch and drag opponents from their gatherings. Democrats put on their Pink Hats.
Politics is “the long game”, and the Republicans have played it brilliantly. For decades, the Democrats have rightfully decried the “fear tactics” used by the GOP to capture control of governments coast to coast. What the electorate fails to realize is that the same fear that drives their decision making process was planted, cultivated, nurtured and is now being harvested by that same political party. And what a bountiful harvest it has been!
So, what is the “prime mover” of this fear? It is the same thing that is often cited “root of all evil”. Money, or more precisely, the lack of. A cursory look at a chart of income disparity shows exactly what has, and continues to happen. Since the Reagan Presidency, the top 1% of income earners have reaped all the rewards of our expanding economy with their share of pre-tax income doubling. That claimed by the bottom 50% has been halved. Americans fear for their jobs, their security, their future. Republicans have managed to deflect the blame away from the true cause of this uneasiness by selling the public on the false premiss of “trickle-down” (voodoo) economics. It has been promoted by the Republicans since 1980 and has yet, or will it ever, show any positive results for the working class of our Country. This is a Global problem. Many believe the poverty and lack of a future is what makes recruitment for ISIL, Al-Qaeda, etc. easier. The wealthy West is what has put them in dire straits. This contributes to the increased visibility of so-called, radical Islam.                                                                                                 I can’t help but wonder that if the current crop had been around in the 1960’s and 70’s, would we still be involved in the Vietnam conflict? Would they be marching around college campuses wearing their pink hats, hoping to be insulated from the blows of the batons? The left needs a stronger symbol to rally around. Does anyone know if kevlar be fashioned into pink yarn?

When the first Earth Day “celebration” took place in 1970, I was attending a newly formed four year college that itself had just “graduated” from being a “Junior”. It was on a wind-blown hill, with few new buildings, that the first gathering of environmentally concerned people met. Somehow this college had the foresight to create an Ecology Department at their young age and placed at its head a red haired, bearded, burly person. The women “loved” him, he was an excellent teacher, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, and the program was an immediate success.

Earth Day was an idea proposed and promoted by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin after having seen the damage caused by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Many though that it would be a one-time event. Originally a “teach-in” and celebration, it has been claimed that it lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, The Water Quality Improvement Act, Endangered Species Act, and so forth. It gave many different groups a day to come together, and with their increased mass, wield power and get the world to acknowledge the growing problems around us. It didn’t hurt that, despite all of his other shortcomings, Richard Nixon was a “friend” to the environment.

So What Has Happened?

Though we will still celebrate Earth Day on April 22, it has been usurped by something called “The March For Science”. The following Saturday, April 29, something called “The People’s Climate March” is being held, and confuses the issues. For me, the Science March was a good fit with Earth Day considering the current administration’s scorn of the scientific community and the fact of human involved climate change. Hand in Glove.

So what is “The People’s Climate March”? It originally took place on September 21, 2014 in New York City, as a response to (but not a protest against) the scheduled U.N. Climate Summit to be held on the 23rd. OK, that’s all well and good. I do not see the obvious conflict of the two events as a good thing. Bill McKibben and his group want to have their event on the 100th day of the Trump Reign of Terror, but I fear it will take energy from the Earth Day/Science March collaboration.

It appears that I will have to travel to participate in Earth Day/Science March events, as I have not been able to locate any locally. The following weekend, I may attend local Climate March events, but I feel more bound to the April 22nd date. We have such a long and storied history. I wish Bill McKibben hadn’t felt it necessary to have his “own” event, and maybe harming both while at it.

While there is much to speak out about concerning this abomination that holds deed to Our White House, we should not be fragmenting what energies we have available. We will need all that can be mustered. It is going to be a very long four years.

We must be willing to entertain the possibility that the man who has possession of The White House (notice I did Not say “inhabits”), has little control over his emotions, his staff, his children, even the kitchen help at Mar-a-Lago..

Believe me, I have no trouble with “colorful” language. I’ve been known t use it myself on rare occasions. I would hope to have enough control to not resort to its use while giving a speech in front of cameras or people who I did not consider close. With all the “bleeping” that went on during the campaign, I still am not sure what exactly he was going to bomb out of most every group he did not like on that particular day. Or what he wanted his supporters to beat out of dissidents at a multitude of events. Perhaps a little self-control would have helped to clarify his many conflicting messages.

Reports of infighting in the Trump administration are becoming much more frequent. Is Steve Bannon running the show? Did he really call Jared Kushner a “Cuck” and a “Globalist” behind his back? Meanwhile Kushner has become a world-class globetrotter, doing a lot of work that probably should be handled by the head of the State Department Rex Tillerson, who reportedly didn’t want the job anyhow. Some of his former campaign staff and current associates are under investigation by the FBI. All the while Mr. Trumps says that everything is going great and ahead of schedule.

As late as November 17, 2016, Mr. Trump had no intention of any of his children having a formal role in his administration. Ivanka now has an office in the West Wing, a US Government supplied phone, security clearances, etc. It is reported that she persuaded daddy to send missiles into Syria.
Ignoring advice to divest himself of businesses that could be perceived as conflicting with his office, Mr. Trump turned over day-to-day operations of his companies to his sons. Lawyers from both sides of the spectrum along with those from the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics, skeptical of the arrangement, now call it a failure especially after Eric Trump said that he will give his father “quarterly” updates. Richard Painter, who was G. W. Bush’s chief ethics attorney said of the arrangement “… it is his ownership of the businesses that creates conflicts of interest, regardless of who manages them.”

In October 2016 Trump said “We should not be focusing on Syria, You’re going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton. You’re not fighting Syria anymore, you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, alright?” But while having a desert of “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen” with Chinese President XI Jinping, Mr. Trump announced to the Chinese President and then to the world that “we’ve just launched 59 missiles heading to Iraq”. I have to wonder if Mr. XI was then offered a Brandi and a Cigar.

Now someone in his administration authorized the use of the largest bomb, lacking nuclear, to be dropped on Afghanistan. We don’t even know if Trump, one of his staff, or some military person peeling potatoes gave the go ahead.

Which leads us to the Mar-a-Lago kitchen, which on January 26th of this year, was hit with 13 health violations, two of which were related to keeping raw meat safe for consumption. Inspection of two coolers showed that meats that should be stored at 41˚ were too warm with chicken at 49˚, duck at 50˚, raw beef at 50˚ and ham checking out at 57˚. There was only cold water for employees to wash their hands in. In the past, Mr. Trump used to inspect the kitchen himself but now his other duties keep him from that task. One would think that hiring a good manger would solve this problem, but when you look at his advisor and cabinet picks, it is easy to see that “vetting” and choosing good help is not his strong suit.