The Resistance (signs of hope)

[RoseWilder]

I wanted to start a new thread to talk about the positive signs that people are fighting against Trump's Fascist agenda. I know a lot of people are feeling hopeless right now, but we are not hopeless. There are 3 million more Clinton supporters than Trump supporters, and we can and must fight. I have no hope that Trump and his ilk won't try to destroy our country, but I have huge amounts of hope that there is an active and vital resistance organizing all around us. There are signs of hope everywhere. 

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/16/1611812/-Microsoft-We-wouldn-t-do-any-work-to-build-a-registry-of-Muslim-Americans

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In response to questions from BuzzFeed News, Microsoft spokesperson Frank X. Shaw clarified his company’s position on the use of customer data. “We’ve been clear about our values. We oppose discrimination and we wouldn’t do any work to build a registry of Muslim Americans,” said Shaw. […]

Microsoft initially declined to comment on hypotheticals when BuzzFeed News asked earlier this week, pointing instead to a blog post by Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer Brad Smith written the day after the presidential election. The company goes into more detail about its principles and policies related to law enforcement and national security requests in its digital trust report. […]

Microsoft has sued the government four times recently to challenge requests for information and Microsoft’s ability to be transparent about those requests.

There was an interesting comment that someone left in response to that article: 

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IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation is a book by investigative journalist Edwin Black which details the business dealings of the American-based multinational corporation International Business Machines (IBM) and its German and other European subsidiaries with the government of Adolf Hitler during the 1930s and the years of World War II. In the book, Black outlines the way in which IBM's technology helped facilitate Nazi genocide through generation and tabulation of punch cards based upon national census data.

I hope they stick to their guns. And I hope other companies follow. 

Also, there is a pledge that's being signed by people in the tech industry to refuse to help with a registry: 

http://neveragain.tech/

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We, the undersigned, are employees of tech organizations and companies based in the United States. We are engineers, designers, business executives, and others whose jobs include managing or processing data about people. We are choosing to stand in solidarity with Muslim Americans, immigrants, and all people whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by the incoming administration’s proposed data collection policies. We refuse to build a database of people based on their Constitutionally-protected religious beliefs. We refuse to facilitate mass deportations of people the government believes to be undesirable.

 

California Governor Jerry Brown Blasts Trump's proposed attack on climate change: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jerry-brown-donald-trump-climate-change_us_5851a720e4b0ee009eb52598

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California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) told scientists on Wednesday that he would protect climate research in his state, even as President-elect Donald Trump presents retrograde ideas and proposals to quash studies on the subject.

“We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the lawyers, and we’re ready to fight. We’re ready to defend,” Brown said while addressing the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

The governor unloaded on Trump while referencing the president-elect’s proposal to scrap NASA’s climate research program in an effort to, as a senior adviser said, crack down on “politicized science.”

“If Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite,” Brown said to cheers and applause. “We’re going to collect that data.”

 

[candygirl200413]

Thank you for this. At the rate everything is hhappening with Trump I honestly have began to develop a mindset that just strugs it off because it's our new normal. But now I'm finally allowing myself to be woke up again and realizing that I need to push back.

[RoseWilder]

This article made me feel hopeful: 

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/9/1608581/-When-they-go-neutering-EPA-with-fossil-fools-we-go-building-clean-and-resilient-cities-everywhere

The whole article is worth a read, but this part was very reassuring: 

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Just as the coal industry isn’t coming back due to shrinking international markets coupled with rapid growth of renewable energy demand across the globe, even a raging fossil fuel lover at the helm of the EPA can’t fulfill his dirty fantasies when the demand from the most populous places in this country and pretty much everywhere else in the world is going to be increasingly for bike lanes, solar roofs, walkability, wind turbines and public transit instead of more oil and coal.

In what may come as a surprise to Donnie, Scottie and the rest of their Fossil Fools is that a global group of 86 affiliated cities (including 12 American cities including Seattle, Washington, DC, New York, Chicaco, LA, SF, Boston, Houston) representing 650 million people and a quarter of the world’s GDP have already laid out and are following a roadmap to decarbonization through the C40 initiative. 

 

[RoseWilder]

This was an interesting tweet: 

I hope Senator Graham sticks to his word and that others have the courage to follow. 

[bashfulpixie]

I can't believe I feel approval toward Lindsey Graham.  Makes me feel dirty.  But in this case?  I actually approve.

[formergothardite]

Who would have thought that Lindsey Graham would be doing the right thing? I think some of these politicians must still have parts of their souls. 

I sent him a quick message thanking him and encouraging him to stick to his word. I'm trying to thank the people who do the right thing. 

[GreyhoundFan]

10 hours ago, bashfulpixie said:

I can't believe I feel approval toward Lindsey Graham.  Makes me feel dirty.  But in this case?  I actually approve.

I remember during the primaries, Lindsey said choosing between Drumpf and Ted Cruz was like choosing between getting shot and being poisoned. I used that quote many times, each time marveling that I was in agreement with him about anything.

[RoseWilder]

4 hours ago, formergothardite said:

Who would have thought that Lindsey Graham would be doing the right thing? I think some of these politicians must still have parts of their souls. 

I sent him a quick message thanking him and encouraging him to stick to his word. I'm trying to thank the people who do the right thing. 

That's a great idea. I'm sure the people who are standing up to Trump are getting tons of crap from Trump supporters. I'm sure they could use some encouragement right now. 

[formergothardite]

I figured that the people who are standing up to him need to hear from Americans who are glad, especially since you know they are getting bombarded by hate from Trump fans and probably their own party. 

[RoseWilder]

In a weird sort of way, this video actually makes me feel hopeful. 

[VixenToast]

9 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

In a weird sort of way, this video actually makes me feel hopeful. 

I know, right? I watched it and laughed and pondered. So much kudos from me.

[RoseWilder]

I've been sort of MIA around here lately. I had a cold that turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. So I haven't been posting much. But there are lots of things for me to post in this thread. I'll catch up with it when I'm feeling better. For now, here's an article that gave me hope: 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/29/1615387/-Sanders-will-lead-Democratic-drive-to-organize-rallies-in-every-state-against-Medicare-Medicaid-cuts

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n what Tim Fernholz at Quartz calls the Democrats’ “first major gesture of opposition” to the incoming Trump regime, Senator Chuck Schumer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Bernie Sanders have put their signatures on a letter to congressional colleagues Wednesday that might have come as a surprise to many of them. It encourages them to join with Sanders to help organize pre-inaugural rallies in their states to rouse opposition to a Republican-driven budget bill “that will severely undermine the health needs of the American people.” Leftover money from the Sanders campaign will fund the organizing effort.

I'm so happy to see that people are actively fighting against the horrible things the Republicans want to inflict on this country. And I'm also happy because I think these rallies are going to majorly piss off Trump. I"m sure he thinks he should get to be the only holding rallies. 

When dates have been set for the rallies, I think we need to email, text, call, and tweet as many parts of the media as we can to encourage them to cover these rallies. I don't believe they will actually do their job and report on their own - so we have to make our voices heard and let them know what kind of coverage we expect to see. 

[RoseWilder]

Sorry. My foggy, illness brain has apparently affected my ability to read coherently. I just looked at the article again and the date for the first rally has already been announced. It's being held January 15th. 

[Jucifer]

Years ago, before the internet, this song was a sort of rallying cry to people who were opposed to president Reagan, bless his heart. It works for Trump too. :/

 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

Sorry. My foggy, illness brain has apparently affected my ability to read coherently. I just looked at the article again and the date for the first rally has already been announced. It's being held January 15th. 

I noticed your absence and hoped that you were just busy doing other things. Sorry to hear that you've been so ill, and best wishes for a speedy recovery! 

[RoseWilder]

5 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I noticed your absence and hoped that you were just busy doing other things. Sorry to hear that you've been so ill, and best wishes for a speedy recovery! 

Thank you! 

I think I've finally started to turn a corner and am slowly starting to get better. I'm looking forward to being back in action soon!

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

I've been sort of MIA around here lately. I had a cold that turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. So I haven't been posting much. But there are lots of things for me to post in this thread. I'll catch up with it when I'm feeling better.

Just like @Cartmann99, I noticed your absence and hoped you had something good going on. I'm sorry you've been ill, but I'm glad you're on the mend!

[RoseWilder]

6 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Just like @Cartmann99, I noticed your absence and hoped you had something good going on. I'm sorry you've been ill, but I'm glad you're on the mend!

Thank you!

[unsafetydancer]

This thread is great! Good to see folks fighting back against the Mouldy Wotsit. Tempted to start one of these for Brexit over here but depressingly I can't think of anything to put on it.

[RoseWilder]

I saw signs like this in the town I live a few weeks ago, and it gave me hope: 

This article tells more about the signs and tells you how to make or buy one: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yard-sign-three-languages-welcomes-neighbors_us_586bdefbe4b0de3a08f9a09a

 

[RoseWilder]

Wow. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Shumer and the other Democrats in the senate aren't messing around: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/4/1617089/-Bernie-takes-huge-Trump-Tweet-to-Senate-Demands-Trump-Veto-Medicare-Social-Security-Cuts

Bernie Sanders showed up on the senate floor with a giant tweet of Trump's from the primaries in which he promised that there would be no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He then issued this challenge to Trump: 

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Bernie said that if Trump plans to cut Medicare or Medicaid that he should just admit now that he was lying.

“Millions of people voted for him on the belief that he would keep his word,” Sanders said on the Senate floor, referring to Trump’s promises during the election campaign.

“If he was sincere, then I would hope that tomorrow or maybe today he could send out a tweet and tell his Republican colleagues to stop wasting their time and all of our time. And for Mr. Trump to tell the American people that he will veto any proposal that cuts Medicare, that cuts Medicaid or that cuts Social Security.”

Then Chuck Shumer, and a lot of other Senate Democrats are working hard to not let the Republicans weasel out of the blame for the damage they will do if they repeal the ACA. They are all over twitter posting memes with the hashtag #makeamericasickagain.

A few examples:

 

[Childless]

Go Dems!  When repeal of the ACA turns into a clusterfuck (and it will because everything the Republicans do ends up being a disaster), they should have to own it.  No laying blame on the Democrats this time weasels!

[RoseWilder]

California continues their effort to fight back against Trump: 

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/4/1617136/-California-fights-back-First-Gov-Brown-now-the-State-Legislature

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Governor “Jerry” Edmund G Brown, Jr. laid down the gauntlet on December 14th, in a speech to the American Geophysical Union; where he emphatically stated that California will continue it’s work on fighting climate change, regardless of what the upcoming administration does to try and stop the work.

And now they've taken action: 

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Well, today they now have a lawyer, Eric Holder, Jr.  Yes, that Eric Holder. The former Attorney General of the United States.

The California state Legislature hired Holder to represent them in expected, upcoming battles with the Trump administration.  According to the NYT, the state Democrats pulled no punches in their announcement:

“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California,” Kevin de León, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. “This means we are very, very serious.”

 

[RoseWilder]

This gave me hope: 

https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155004733207079&id=732302078

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I just posted (in the Obamacare thread) an article  by Bernie Sanders. In it, he includes some info about important rallies coming up. I wanted to make sure folks see it.

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That is why on Jan. 15,  I and Democratic members of Congress, trade unions, senior citizen groups, health-care activists and all those who believe in economic and social justice are organizing a day of action called “Our First Stand: Save Health Care.” Rallies will be held around the country, including one in Michigan that Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and I will be attending along with Michigan’s U.S. senators.