21st Century

EMERGENCY FLASH MESSAGE


This is not about what Trump might do the the departments of energy, EPA, Social Security or Medicare. This is about our national security.

The Founders created the Electoral College for several reasons, but the most important was to ensure there would never be any interference by a foreign agent, government or institution that might compromise our republic. Here’s a link to what Alexander Hamilton had to say about this in Federalist 68. It’s short, clear and exceptionally compelling. Read it.

Alexandra Chalupa was a consultant to the DNC looking specifically into Donald Trump’s connections with Putin’s Russia and has written a clear and riveting analysis of this situation, concluding with this:

Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump. Trump won the electoral vote by less than 80,000 votes combined in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where Republicans went to great lengths to block recount efforts. Based on the facts, it is beyond a reasonable doubt that Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. election which helped Trump win the White House. Trump’s consistent refusal to admit Russia’s involvement, especially given his access to highly classified information, demonstrates he is either unreasonable and possibly of unsound mind or he is aiding and abetting Putin. This is a national security issue that the Electoral College must take seriously when casting their votes on Monday. In the meantime, it is imperative that a thorough investigation is conducted as to the extent of Russia’s operation, and that this information pertaining it be released to the public.

The net of this is that you MUST contact the Electors and urge them not to vote for Trump. 20 GOP electors have already indicated that they will not (watch this video and listen to what one elector has to say) – we need 17 more. Here’s how to make that happen.

Bruce Mainzer has compiled all you have to know/do into the text below. I’ve pasted his work below. Just follow the bouncing ball and you will have done your part – except for this last piece.

Forward this post to everyone you know and urge them to take action RIGHT NOW. Our national security and our safety in the world may hang in the balance. Don’t put it off until later when everyday activities might distract you. Do this now.

As promised here is information about the Electoral College. Please email this to everyone tonight as Monday Dec. 19th is fast approaching for the date of the Electoral College vote. As I mentioned in the meeting, Laurence Lessig, Harvard Professor of Constitutional law, is reporting that 20 GOP Electors have already told him in confidence that they will not be voting for Trump. It takes only 17 more GOP Electors to defect, and Trump does not get the 272 Electoral College votes necessary for being President Elect. Everyone should therefore be writing the electors, and they can use the information on this email. What looked like a long shot last week is now a distinct possibility.

First, here is my email to Electors, but everyone should feel free to write their own version. My letter focuses on the possibility that Donald Trump will not act in the interest of the United States foreign policy, which Alexander Hamilton stated was one of the conditions that the Electoral College would be justified in not voting for a candidate. Hamilton also was concerned with a demagogue being nominated, so that is another reason that someone can state their objection to a candidate.

Dear Elector,

My name is _________ from CITY NAME, STATE.

It is becoming quite apparent that Donald Trump is in collusion with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation to hijack the foreign policy of the United States and enrich himself and others. One need not investigate the election tampering issue, but instead view the plethora of statements and actions taken by the candidate. These actions have included selection of an NSA director Michael Flynn with known ties to Russia (paid consultant to the Russia Tonight news cable network) and selection of ExxonMobile CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, who violated existing U.S. policy to meet and conduct business with Vladimir Putin over the past few years. Carter Paige, former campaign aide, met with Russian financial interests and reportedly promised lifting of sanctions in Moscow last summer. Paul Manafort, former campaign manager, was a paid consultant for Putin ally and deposed Ukrainian  leader, and now Mr. Manafort is reportedly is still serving as an unofficial adviser to the transition team of the President Elect. Trump positions on sanctions and relationships with NATO and protection of the Balkan states from Russian aggression are at direct odds with 40 years of current U.S. foreign policy.

Because Mr. Trump has not released any financial information or tax returns, we are left to speculate as to the motivations of this President Elect. For many years, Mr. Trump had received financing from Russian oligarchs when credit was unavailable to him in the US. In addition, Trump has sold quite a bit of luxury real estate to Russian individuals in Panama, Florida and other locations. Reports of debt that Mr. Trump has to individuals or institutions in Russia have been estimated at approximately $500 million.

We do know the motivations of Vladimir Putin. While there is evidence that Putin did not believe that Trump would be elected despite the Russian interference in the campaign, now that he has been elected, there is a definite attempt to achieve a number of goals with this incoming President. Lifting of the sanctions will allow Russia to finally execute its stalled deal with ExxonMobile to drill in the arctic. Revenues from this almost $7 trillion dollar oil reserves (15% of the known reserves in the world), will do much to rescue the Russian economy. It has been estimated that these oil reserves will represent 2/3rds of all exports of Russia. ExxonMobile also stands to make billions of dollars from this one deal, and obviously enrich the current CEO and nominated Secretary of State. This new Russia US rapprochement already has had disastrous consequences for innocents across the globe as Russia’s latest inhumane attacks in Aleppo Syria were undertaken a day after a congratulatory phone call between Putin and the President Elect. Russia has been accused of similar election interference in the Ukraine and Sweden. Currently, there is speculation that election tampering by Russia is underway in Germany.

The issue for the Electoral College is therefore not whether or not Russian interference affected the election results. Instead, the issue that needs to be investigated is whether or not Donald J. Trump as President will act in the interests of the United States or if he is a foreign agent acting on behalf of Russia and will implement a corrupt administration to enrich himself and reward the Russian government. The preponderance of circumstantial evidence is considerable. Even without a full financial disclosure from the President Elect, it would be a violation of the responsibilities of the Electoral College as stated in Federalist Paper 68 to elect Donald J. Trump as President due to the already known facts about his positions and selections of individuals for his administration. I urge the Electoral College to at least postpone their vote until after all financial records of Donald J. Trump are disclosed. If the President Elect refuses to release all his financial information, I believe the Electoral College has every right to not vote for Donald J. Trump since it is clear that he is a danger to all citizens across the globe and cannot be the President of the United States.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I appreciate and respect the role you serve in our electoral process.

Sincerely,

To email the electors, I have provided a list below.

I suggest not sending one email, but 8 emails with only 30 names per email, otherwise your email service may block the email for being a spam. Here are the groupings for several emails of all the addresses. Please copy and paste into eight separate emails

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] [email protected];, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],  [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],  [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

After emailing, the next step is to make sure all the Electors get a full briefing from the CIA on the Russian interference in our elections. Many Democratic electors have asked for this, as they know that will increase the likelihood of more GOP defections. So the Democratic Electors are asking all of us to do the following:

(1) Contact your representatives and governors to ask that they demand that the electors be briefed on the CIA information on Russian interference prior to Dec. 19, and to delay the electoral vote if that’s not possible, given the time-frame;

(2) Contact the U.S. Attorney General and ask that the Electoral College vote be postponed until a full investigation of Russian interference and the Trump campaign’s potential coordination with Russia is complete.

You can reach the Attorney General’s office at 202-514-2000 (Comment line…press 4)


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Time to Get Off the Barcalounger


barca-3Reading time – 1:37; Viewing time – 2:49  .  .  .

This should be BREAKING NEWS! – but it isn’t, because Donald Trump has spent his entire life bending and breaking rules and laws. He campaigned for 18 months, bragging about the illegal, unconstitutional things he will do. On top of that he has promised to eliminate safeguards we’ve come to believe make good sense, like those that ensure safe, clean air and water. More on that in a future blog.

One of the worst of his nose thumbings is over his conflicts of interest. We have no way to have any confidence that the decisions he will make as President will be in service to the United States rather than to his own wallet. He flaunts the secrecy of his financial holdings and dealings so that we’re left to guess how much sucking up to Vladimir Putin he will do for his own interests, while putting the rest of us at risk.

You said you want to know what you can do to stop this madness, so let’s start by slicing off his most obvious conflicts of interest, those that are disallowed by statute or by contract.

The new Trump Hotel, opened by the President-Elect in Washington, D.C., is leased to him by the federal government. There’s a clause in the lease that says that no elected official can have an interest in the hotel.

Email the GSA—General Services Administration—and urge them to terminate this lease before the inauguration. A receptionist at the GSA said they are taking a tally on this matter. She suggests that emailing is the most effective route for this and she said they are taking both names and phone numbers on this issue. There are no links in what follows, so copy and paste the short paragraph below into your own email.

Email to: [email protected]

Subject: Trump Hotel lease violation

I write today to ask the GSA to immediately terminate the lease for the Trump Hotel at the former post office in Washington, D.C. The President-Elect is in clear violation of the terms of the lease, which state that no elected official may have any interest in the leased property.

Sincerely,

Your name, Your Address, Your Phone number

(Make sure you sign with your name, address, and phone number – I’m not confident they’ll log your request without all of it.)

There, now you’ve done something to stem the tide of the Trump assault on America.

Next, attend a meeting to Demand Democracy/Expose Corruption/Stop the Alt-Right (the hate mongers). Here’s a link to find a meeting in your area. Show up. Learn how you can make a difference. Because, as I’ve written before, it isn’t enough to care about this or to agree with those in your bubble. If things are to change for the better, you’ll actually have to do something.

Like sending that email to the GSA and showing up for the meeting on December 14.

There is and will continue to be plenty we can do. So, watch this space – and get up off that Barcalounger!

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

A Reflecting Sphere


Hand with Reflecting Sphere, M.C. Escher, 1935

Hand with Reflecting Sphere, M.C. Escher, 1935

Reading time – 1:31; Viewing time – 3:00  .  .  .

What do you suppose the reflection in Escher’s sphere would look like to Donald Trump, were he holding it? Surely, he would describe the image with superlatives, but that’s neither useful nor is it new information; neither is it important.

The far more important question is what would we, the American people, see were we to hold Escher’s reflecting sphere? Would we see ourselves steeped in democracy and freedom? How about liberty and justice for all? What about freedom of speech and of the press and freedom of and from religion? Are we a people who love peace and believe war is the last and worst option? Do we still reach out our hand, saying, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”? And do we still tell those looking to us as their last best hope, “I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”? We have a Declaration of Independence, a Constitution and a Statue of Liberty that say that we should see those things as we look at ourselves.

But what if some of us aren’t exactly like “us”? What if they don’t speak English yet or are sleeping on a sewer grate for warmth this winter? What if the brains of some are a bit scrambled because their mothers were druggies while they were pregnant? What if some have lived nearly all their lives in this country, they were good students and helped the high school basketball team win and America is the only country and culture they know, but they and their parents were born in Guatemala and entered this country illegally? Do these other “us” people deserve liberty and justice for all and the rest?

In point of fact, we don’t agree about that and quite a bit more and it gets even more complicated when we’re angry or afraid and need to feel muscular.

The challenge before us now and extending far into the future is to find the things that unite us instead of finding things that divide us. The challenge is to stop racing to judgment about those who don’t agree with every nuance of belief we hold, to stop knee-jerk demonizing others as stupid or ignorant, hateful or unpatriotic. The challenge before us is to start asking questions, seeking to understand, rather than trying to cram our views down anyone’s throat, because that cramming guarantees unnecessary conflict.

Get over your certainties and I’ll get over mine and perhaps, in some future with a bit more hope in it we can find a way forward that has room for all of “us” and we see in that reflecting sphere the things that unite us.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Some Answers and a Pinch


Reading time – 2:15; Viewing time – 3:23  .  .  .

In the midst of your shock, grief and whatever else you felt following the 2016 general election, perhaps you questioned what you can do to mitigate the damage that is likely to be done, based upon the pledges of cruelty and the crushing of our culture of diversity that Trump promised during the election campaign. It turns out there’s plenty you can do and it’s critical that you do it.

Let’s start here: In a statement from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum just days after the election, they wrote, “The Holocaust didn’t start with killings; it began with words.” With the election season over and Donald Trump preparing to be the next President, the haters feel emboldened to lash out with horrific words and actions, so let’s first consider what you can do about that.

Download The Southern Poverty Law Center’s excellent guide, Ten Ways to Fight Hate because the really bad stuff is already happening. For yet more evidence, here’s a list of some of what was chronicled on just the first day following the election and here is an ongoing chronicling of hate acts from around the country. This is the kind of stuff that makes it mandatory to read the SPLC’s guide and take action. And there is more to do.

Download and read Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) essay, How We Resist Trump and His Extreme Agenda. It is the job of our elected officials to represent us and they need the muscle of our support in order to be effective. He makes clear what is at stake and offers specific actions you can take.

Watch John Oliver’s final show of the season and review his recommendations for action (beginning about 18:25 in his program). A linked summary of his suggestions of support plus others (courtesy of SG, BW and DH)  is listed below to help you to focus on supporting what you believe in.

Women’s Health: Planned Parenthood

Reproductive Rights: Center For Reproductive Rights

Feminist issues: National Organization For Women and, edgier, Bitch Media

Global Warming: National Resources Defense Council and This Spaceship Earth

Environment: The Environmental Defense Fund and Sierra Club

Victims of terrorism: International Refugee Assistance Project

Race issues: NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Gender issues: The Trevor Project for LGBTQ Youth and Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ

Hispanic issues: The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund

Freedom of the press: Subscribe to the New York Times or the Washington Post or your local newspaper; donate to ProPublica

Civil rights: American Civil Liberties Union

Immigration issues: Get your city council to make your town a sanctuary city.

General: Write to your Representative and Senators with your views – often. They count the clicks, calls and letters and that influences their voting. Go to www.senate.gov and www.house.gov for contact information.

Get it? As John Oliver says, it isn’t enough to nod heads in agreement with those in your bubble. You actually have to do something to protect what you hold dear. Here’s a little clarity about what that means.

Our Special Forces are composed of some of the most highly trained and physically fit people in the world. They are pushed beyond any limits they thought they had or might reasonably recognize. When one of them is at the point of exhaustion and tells his team he can’t go on, the response is, “So what?” Exhaustion doesn’t matter for these people because there is a critical mission which must be completed successfully.

It’s hard. Perhaps it hurts. Maybe doing yet more seems impossible. Yet all of that doesn’t matter, because of the imperative of the mission.

We need to be clear that we are at that same point right now.

dante-inferno-moral-crisisWe have a critical mission to protect America from those who would harm her. People will suffer unless we step up and do what must be done. And then do it again and again.

Take action even if it’s hard. Give your money even if it pinches a bit. This is a long term mission – it will take years to do this – so accept that pinch as a confirmation that you are doing your part to do the right thing for this critical mission.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

To the Woodshed


Reading time – 49 seconds; Viewing time – 1:42  .  .  .

Andrew Young was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. He was an active and passionate leader for civil rights and was the first African-American to hold that ambassadorial position. Young created a bit of controversy when he was interviewed by the French newspaper Le Matin de Paris in 1978. While discussing the plight of dissidents in the Soviet Union, he referenced events in the United States, saying, “We still have hundreds of people that I would categorize as political prisoners in our prisons.” That commentary earned Young a visit to the White House woodshed.

President Carter made it clear to Young that he no longer represented just himself or the civil rights movement, nor was he speaking any longer as the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. As the Ambassador to the United Nations he now represented the United States of America and everything he said publicly was a statement representing our country, our views, our positions and our values. Ambassador Young never made that kind of mistake again.

Donald J. Trump is the President-elect. He is nearly always short on specifics, long on broad brush generalizations of often unintelligible meaning and he frequently changes his positions, sometimes doing so within a single sentence. Worse, he is an ongoing fountain of ad hominem attacks. Now that he is representing the United States of America to our fellow citizens and to the world, who will take him to the White House woodshed?

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Answers


Reading time: 2:20; Viewing time – 4:00  .  .  .

I’ve been wrong. I’ve been short-sighted and reactionary and embarrassingly foolish. The embarrassment is because I know better.

Something didn’t feel right and then I read Nick Kristoff’s A 12-Step Program for Responding to President-Elect Trump and it was then – at step #3 – that I knew that I had tripped on the attitude diving board and done a belly flop onto the political pool deck.

Step 3. I WILL avoid demonizing people who don’t agree with me about this election, recognizing that it’s as wrong to stereotype Trump supporters as anybody else. I will avoid Hitler metaphors, recognizing that they stop conversations and rarely persuade. I’ll remind myself that no side has a monopoly on truth and that many Trump supporters are good people who want the best for the country. The left already has gotten into trouble for condescending to working-class people, and insulting all Trump supporters as racists simply magnifies that problem.

I know that Kristoff is right, that nobody has a monopoly on the truth and that having voted for Trump doesn’t mean that someone is a racist. Indeed, I’m wondering what percentage of Trump voters were simply so convinced of the evil of Clinton that they were willing to ignore Trump’s negatives – or the percentage of Americans who chose Trump because at least he was speaking to the suppressed rage they’ve carried in their gut for decades due to government having so consistently ignored and abused them.

I’ve been frustrated listening to righties who claim the high ground of patriotism and love of America, who imply or outright say that they have it right and others simply aren’t patriots. I often have imaginary conversations with them and explain that I love America every bit as much as they do and I very much want to excoriate them for their closed-mindedness. At this moment, though, my aforementioned embarrassment extends yet further, as I’ve realized that I’ve been thinking about them with a closed-mindedness of my own and it’s as harmful as theirs.

Flagrantly demonizing people is wrong no matter who does it. Stereotyping is wrong when I do it. On the other hand, calling out hate mongers is the right thing to do.

Kristoff advises letting go of Hitler metaphors, so let’s play with that a bit. “Alt-Right” includes Neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists, militias, the Posse Comitatus and likely other fringe hate groups. Trump has installed Alt-Right hater Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions as his attorney general and he’s bringing hyper-anti-immigrant hotheads like Mike Flynn and Kris Kobach into his cabinet. He has promised to round up Hispanics and to discriminate against Muslims and make them “register”. He stereotypes African-Americans as ghetto bums and continues to refuse to repudiate the hate mongers, including the seig heil morons. And Kristoff really wants me to let go of the Hitler metaphors? I don’t know if I can do that. I’m not confident that refusing to see a Hitler-like pattern is a good idea, because the hate induced catastrophes always begin this way. A key part of our answers moving forward lies in opposing the haters and stopping the bullies.

Meanwhile, we’re left with the rest of the question about what to do for our country, and I – perhaps you, too – need to take a step back and do a 12-step program – or maybe an 11.8-step program – and find some balance, accept that some don’t see it our way, but that doesn’t make them wrong or foolish or hateful or bad. Then perhaps we can all start finding some answers.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA

– See more at: https://jaxpolitix.com/8280-2/#sthash.Vem4eKsP.dpuf


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

The Clouds Are Gathering


what-registering-non-christians-looks-likeReading time – 1:57; Viewing time – 3:25 .  .  .

Trump lied? Say it isn’t so!

Actually, Politifact rated Trump 19% Mostly False, 34% False and 17% Pants-On-Fire False, for a total of 70% lies. Yeah, he lied. It’s a habit with this guy.

And he continues to lie. On Friday he claimed credit for ensuring that a Lincoln automobile plant would be kept in Kentucky, preventing the job loss disaster that would have happened if Ford had decided to move the plant to Mexico. That would be great, except that Ford never considered having the plant anywhere but in Kentucky. Trump had absolutely nothing to do with Ford’s decision about plant location. Trumpian dishonesty is a constant and it will take a huge toll on American culture, our people and our safety in the world.

Significant risks will occur when Trump slathers his fatuous dishonesty on foreign leaders. They won’t take kindly to it and the safety of the world will be at risk as he undermines international trust. And we most certainly won’t like it when he lies to us about whatever he agrees to as he fawns over Vladimir Putin.

What will happen to justice in America, which he claims to champion – like the right of every citizen to vote – when Trump makes racist, segregationist Jeff Sessions the attorney general? What will happen to America’s national security, the very same security that he brayed he will be the best at protecting, when Trump picks for his national security advisor hyperbolic Michael Flynn, a retired 3-star general who was forced to retire from the military and from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency because of his flagrantly extremist behavior.

What happens to our freedoms when Trump’s ubermeister, White Supremacist Steve Bannon, starts registering Muslims and rounding up Hispanics to shuttle them off to who-knows-where?

What happens to the climate of the entire planet now that we have a Global Warming Denier in Chief?

People are already being hurt – read the post and comments here and here.

I have been accused of helping to drive the polarization of this country. I don’t know if I’m doing that, but if I am, look for me on the pole labeled, “Facts, Reality and Equal Justice”. I acknowledge that nothing bad has happened yet on the Trump national policy level. On the other hand, the preparations for very bad things to occur are happening in front of us right now and to refuse to see that is self-defeating for this nation; it may be disastrous for our minorities. We need to take action.click-for-ten-ways-to-fight-hate

I’m in discussion with some clergy people about what we can do to address the interpersonal hate that has oozed from slimy places under the fragile rocks of American tolerance.

There is a petition going around now  urging the members of the Electoral College to vote for Hillary, as most are under no legal obligation to vote according to their state’s voting outcomes. Go ahead – click through, sign it and pass this post to your friends urging them to do the same. Make your voice heard.

What else can we do? Put your ideas for action in the Comments section below. Help us all.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

First They Came


Pastor Martin Niemöller

Reading time – 1:22; Viewing time – 2:32  .  .  .

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.

“Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist.

“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

“Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It always arrives wrapped in a flag and starts small. We humans are nearly insensitive to and largely tolerate small changes, but small changes accumulate and become an avalanche that overwhelms. Pastor Martin Niemöller knew that as he railed against the cowardice of German intellectuals when the Nazis came to power. Note that the Nazis arrived on a wave of German frustration and rage over terrible economic circumstances and that they were democratically elected. Does that pattern sound at all familiar?

When I was a young teenager I confidently told my mother that the human atrocity that was the Nazis couldn’t happen here – not here in America. She looked me in the eyes fiercely and told me that it could. I didn’t believe her, even as her words scared me.

Now Donald Trump has told us that he will be coming for the Hispanics and then he said he’ll come for the Muslims. Who do you suppose will be next? And next after that? This pattern has been followed repeatedly throughout history, so it should come as no surprise to any of us that an unrestrained populism of angry people led by a sociopath always has catastrophic results. It’s already started. Watch for the guest essay on Wednesday and you’ll see. And Trump has already begun his excuses.the-work-goes-on

This is your country, so what will you do to prevent that from happening? What will you do to ensure that this is a country of hope and inclusion, the kind of America you believe in? We have seen that phantom idealism in the form of protest votes and abstaining from voting produce nothing more than a temporary illusion of self-satisfied purity, even as they allow the worst to happen. I assure you that ignoring the situation, refraining from speaking up and waiting for others to take action will not help. In fact, being passive will make things far worse.

What will you do?

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Sleeplessness


Reading time – 57 seconds  .  .  .

I am bewildered – terrified of what this megalomaniac might do with both houses of Congress in his lap. The Iran nuclear deal, NATO, the Middle-East – so much may be undone or destructively overdone that can shatter the tenuous grasp of world stability that this man doesn’t understand.

Larger still is that this country contains 58,000,000 people who knowingly elected this sociopath.

What kind of country is this when Trump events look like the Nuremberg rallies?

What kind of country is this where women, African-Americans, Hispanics, veterans and active military people were insulted, belittled and abused, yet millions of them still voted for him? Who are these people? How can we understand them voting for someone who hates them and would discriminate against them?

What kind of country is this when the winner intends to jail his political opponent? Was that just campaign talk? His followers don’t think so.

The Constitution expressly prohibits any religious test, yet Trump has pledged to prevent any Muslims from entering the country. Who’s next on his list for discrimination?

What kind of country is this when a candidate commits to deporting 12 million people (over 8,200 people per day, every day) and his idiocy is cheered by 58,000,000 others?

What kind of country is this where white supremacists’ voices of hate are welcome and where hate crimes have already soared?

What will happen to the Supreme Court? Whatever it is will shape America for decades and I’m very afraid of the shape it will take.

Is this how the really bad stuff starts? That is the question that is keeping me from sleeping well.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

One Last Time


nuclear-explosionReading time – 1:42; Viewing time – 3:19  .  .  .

Okay, one last time.

Donald Trump talks glibly about the use of nuclear weapons on whomever he might think of as our enemy, like those he thinks pose an existential threat to America because of a tweet that’s critical of him. And he has proposed exporting nuclear technology to at least 3 nations that currently don’t have it, thereby proliferating the annihilation threat to life on Earth. In short, Trump is cavalier about bringing about the end of civilization. That fully, completely and permanently disqualifies him from being President of the United States. No other issues need be considered:

.  .  .  even if he says he was speaking in hyperbole

.  .  .  even if he says that he wants to be unpredictable to keep the bad guys off balance

.  .  .  even if he says he had his fingers crossed when he said those things

No matter what, Donald Trump must not become President of the United States. Ever. Under any circumstances. No matter what else he says he believes or wants to do or, oddly, if he should ever actually make any sense. Never, ever.

So, great, you agree and you won’t vote for Trump. But you don’t trust, can’t stand and otherwise find Hillary to be pukable. You see her as untrustworthy and dishonest and perhaps as too hawkish and you fear she’ll get us into yet another avoidable war. You dread that her presidency might become a series of yet more Bill Clinton zipper scandals and, besides, the thought of Bill croaking out more of his Clintonian nonsense with a White House size megaphone is one of your worst nightmares. So, you can’t and won’t vote for Hillary. Got it.

But if you don’t vote for Hillary, who benefits?

Neither Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, nor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, could benefit from your protest vote because they won’t get enough votes to win even a single state. The only one who benefits from your refusing to vote for Hillary is Donald Trump, because yours is one less vote that his vote total has to overcome.

Translation: If you don’t vote for Hillary, you will have voted for Trump. And,

donald-trump-must-never-become-president

Hillary was ahead by 8 – 20 points (pick a poll). Then Bernie won MI. We can’t trust polls – gotta vote.

Hillary was ahead by 8 – 20 points (pick a poll). Then Bernie won MI. We can’t trust polls – gotta vote.

So, do something to ensure there really is a future: Put a clothespin on your nose and vote for Hillary. All that hangs in the balance is civilization on Earth and it’s on you and me to do something about it.

What, these words aren’t persuasive enough? Well then, have a look at this and this and this and this and this and this and this. They are all Republican sources telling you to vote for Hillary. There are plenty more like these, but if you still want to vote for Trump or a candidate of one of the other parties or abstain from voting, then go ahead. Just don’t call me next year crying that you are bent over and braced for impact because civilization is ending.

Go vote. And bring your neighbors, your voting age children, your cousin Rita and your googly-eye Uncle Ralph. It’s time for every eligible voter to – get this: stand up for what they stand for.

Read what Dan Wallace has to say about this. Yes, really, go read it  .

Now, send this to everyone you know and urge them to show up on November 8 and BE A VOTER!

 

Make a plan to vote – click here.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage.  Thanks!  JA

– See more at: https://jaxpolitix.com/7679-2/#sthash.kHAUnsqU.dpuf


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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