Trump Log #41: What Kind of Precedence is this President Setting

Korematsu vs. the United States is one of the worst Supreme Court cases in American history. Some say it was worst decision since the Dred Scott decision. In 1942, American citizen Fred Korematsu resisted Executive Order 9066 which ordered him to report to a concentration camp because of his Japanese heritage. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where six FDR appointed judges ruled against him. The imprisonment of people, without a trial, was justified under circumstances considered "emergency and peril."

The problem with these bad rulings is that they produce precedence and they can be used when other times of "emergency and peril" present themselves. Such bad laws are usually not cited because they are generally considered, well, ... bad and anti-canonical. That doesn't stop the Trump administration's clown car of lawyers and his friends on Fox "News" from invoking Korematsu.

Looks like the latest version of travel ban may pass. So what marginal group is next?  It could be yours.

Trump Log:

Monday 4/23/18 - If a White House staffer wants Trump to read their briefing, you must put it in very simple terms and visual ... think "see Jane run." (Source: The New Yorker)

Tuesday 4/24/18 - Trump's team is clearly not vetting nominations before they go before the Senate for confirmation. (Source: Washington Post)

Wednesday 4/25/18 - Trump's HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, announces that they are raising the rent on those receiving federal housing assistance, some of their rents will be tripled. Once again, this President preys on the poorest of the poor while cutting taxes for billionaire. Disgraceful! (Source: Washington Post)

Thursday 4/26/18 - What metaphor should I use? The Trump roller coaster? The Trump revolving door?  The Trump frat house? Trump nominated the White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, to be head of the VA (Dept. of Veteran's Affairs). This is the second largest department in the federal government with the Pentagon being the largest. If Jackson wasn't a pill peddling, drunk driver with a record of creating a hostile work environment, he'd still be unqualified because he's had no management experience. (Source: Washington Post)

Friday 4/27/18 - Trump uses Twitter to threaten any country that does not support the North American bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.  Wow! (Source: Washington Post)

Saturday 4/28/18 - As Trump claims to want to send US astronauts back to the moon, he cancels funding for the only lunar vehicle they have in production. (Source: Washington Post)

Sunday 4/29/18 - There is new evidence that Trump obstructed justice in the Russian probe, validating Comey's allegations that he was called by the President a number of time and asked to back off. (Source: Slate)

Prior Trump Logs:
Issue # 1 - posted November 15th, 2016
Issue # 2 - posted November 22nd, 2016
Issue # 3 - posted November 29th, 2016
Issue # 4 - posted December 6, 2016
Issue # 5 - posted December 12, 2016
Issue # 6 - posted December 19, 2016
Issue # 7 - posted December 26, 2016
Issue # 8 - posted January 3, 2017
Issue # 9 - posted January 10, 2017
Issue #10 - posted January 17, 2017
Issue #11 - posted January 24, 2017
Issue #12 - posted January 31, 2017
Issue #13 - posted February 7, 2017
Issue #14 - posted February 14, 2017
Issue #15 - posted February 21, 2017
Issue #16 - posted February 28, 2017
Issue #17 - posted March 7, 2017
Issue #18 - posted March 14, 2017
Issue #19 - posted March 21, 2017
Issue #20 - posted March 28, 2017
Issue #21 - posted April 5, 2017
Issue #22 - posted April 11, 2017
Issue #23 - posted April 18, 2017
Issue #24 - posted April 25, 2017
Issue #25 - posted May 2, 2017
Issue #26 - posted May 9, 2017
Issue #27 - posted May 16, 2017
Issue #28 - posted May 23, 2017

Issue #29 - posted May 30, 2017

Issue #30 - posted June 6, 2017
Issue #31 - posted June 13, 2017
Issue #32 - posted June 20, 2017

Issue #33 - posted June 27, 2017
Issue #34 - posted March 12, 2018
Issue #35 - posted March 19, 2018
Issue #36 - posted March 26, 2018
Issue #37 - posted April 1, 2018
Issue #38 - posted April 8, 2018
Issue #39 - posted April 15, 2018
Issue #40 - posted April 22, 2018

Green and Red in The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water won the best picture Oscar this year. It was a beautiful film, far more complex than its simple plot. Best picture? I don't think so. I will still go with Get Out for being more socially relevant and creative, but The Shape of Water is still worth seeing and talking about. **This blog post is full of spoilers.

The least pleasing aspect of the film is its simplistic plot. It is melodramatic and predictable. The "good" characters are very good and the "bad" characters are sadistic and mean with little gray area and not a lot of complexity. We have the marginalized (handicapped, black and gay characters) being victimized by the white straight man. The film's strength is its aesthetics. It is stunningly beautiful. It is an R rated fairy tale and it is immersive and at times, overwhelming. I wish I had seen it on the big screen.

A battle of colors is what is happening here, greens versus reds. Red is passionate and violent. Green (yellow mixed with blue) is the opposite of red. Green is pastoral, calm, normal and serene. Elisa, our main character, is a mute, not deaf, and an orphan. She literally doesn't have a voice in society. She still has the scars on her neck from a violent incident in her childhood. She works as janitorial staff at a scientific lab. She also lives in an apartment upstairs from a movie theater. Her apartment is dark green, filled with curvy lines with no right angles. It feels like you are underwater as del Toro's camera flows through the apartment. You feel like you are swimming. The only light is either coming through the floor boards from the movie theater or from the black and white television. It is 1962. It is the height of the Cold War, the height of black and white thinking.

The green is overwhelming in this film. Their Jello is green, they eat key lime pie, she drinks from a bright green cup. Her headband, janitorial uniform, desk and the walls of her bathroom are green. Her sadistic boss, Strickland's phone, his desk, his candy and his rotting fingers are green. His Cadillac is teal, "the color of the future." He gets pissed if you say it is green. He washes his hands with green hand soap before he urinates in front of Elisa as she cleans the men's room. He doesn't wash his hands afterward as a matter of principle. Even the chairs in this world are green. And of course, the humanoid fish-like creature with the power of healing, that Elisa falls in love with, is all green. The van which she rescues him with, you got it, is green.

Early in the film Elisa looks into the store window at a red pair of heels. She longs for them. After she first meets the creature, she rides home on the bus with red lights from the streets lighting her up. As her relationship with the creature progresses, she gets more red. She has a red headband, she buys the red heels and wears a red coat. Strickland rapes his wife while she is wearing a red sweater. He covers her mouth because he doesn't want to hear her talk. He then becomes interested in Elisa because she can't talk. He is a sick man. We don't see his wife wearing red afterward.

It is Elisa and the creature's lack of speech that make their relationship strong. Words lie, gestures do not. She sees herself as incomplete and she loves that he doesn't see her that way. In the end, both Elisa and the creature are covered in blood (red) from gun shots. The creature grabs her and pulls her into the water (all green). He cures her and the scars on her neck become gills. Imagine that a happy ending. This film takes your classic monster film and turns it upside-down. The marginalized are the heroes and the guy who seems to have it all, is more of a monster than the actual creature.

Trump Log #40: The Insignificant President

If the economy recovers under Trump, it is clear that it is in spite of him, not because of him. Presidents, in general, have little effect on the economy, with the exception of an occasional bump or two. But here something something unique about his presidency, this market has learned to ignore him and go on their merry way. His Twitter rantings, his inflammatory jaunts, we (the "global we") have learned that he is not only not going to follow up on what he says, but he is incapable of doing so. When a toddler yells that they hate you and want to kill you, you don't don Kevlar, you ignore them. This is where we are, an insignificant president, a toddler wandering the once hallowed halls of the White House cluttered with his frat boy buddies. It is a Sunday morning after a frat party, the boys are hung over and no one is watching the toddler. Carry on! No one is watching.

Trump Log:
Monday 4/16/18 - Trump's lack of leadership and lack of diplomatic appointees in certain regions of the globe, is leading to a power vacuum being filled by some not so desirable entities. Not just in the Middle East, but South Sudan, Burma and Tibet as well. (Source: Washington Post)

Tuesday 4/17/18 - Trump announces his new White House communication directory to be: Donald Trump.  He will be the seventh that have held this position since Trump has taken office. Maybe this will be the last since he cannot fire himself.  Or can he?  (Source: Washington Post)

Wednesday 4/18/18 - Trump is now, once again, against the TPP. (Source: New York Times)

Thursday 4/19/18 - Trump has been able to do what no other modern President has, he has made the American Presidency insignificant. He is so incompetent that whether you like what he stands for or are against it, he's not going to accomplish it anyway. He is unreliable, unhinged and incapable, so why even pay attention to him. (Source: Politico)

Friday 4/20/18 - Trump's nominee for the head of NASA doesn't have a background in science. (Source: Washington Post)

Saturday 4/21/18 - Under Trump's immigration policy, more than 700 children have been taken from their parents at the Mexico border since October. Over 100 of them are under the age of four.  Disgraceful! (Source: New York Times)

Sunday 4/22/18 - Trump's secretary of Education, Devos, has dismissed hundreds of civil rights cases. So far, over 500 cases involving the disability complains have been dismissed. (Source: New York Times)

Prior Trump Logs:
Issue # 1 - posted November 15th, 2016
Issue # 2 - posted November 22nd, 2016
Issue # 3 - posted November 29th, 2016
Issue # 4 - posted December 6, 2016
Issue # 5 - posted December 12, 2016
Issue # 6 - posted December 19, 2016
Issue # 7 - posted December 26, 2016
Issue # 8 - posted January 3, 2017
Issue # 9 - posted January 10, 2017
Issue #10 - posted January 17, 2017
Issue #11 - posted January 24, 2017
Issue #12 - posted January 31, 2017
Issue #13 - posted February 7, 2017
Issue #14 - posted February 14, 2017
Issue #15 - posted February 21, 2017
Issue #16 - posted February 28, 2017
Issue #17 - posted March 7, 2017
Issue #18 - posted March 14, 2017
Issue #19 - posted March 21, 2017
Issue #20 - posted March 28, 2017
Issue #21 - posted April 5, 2017
Issue #22 - posted April 11, 2017
Issue #23 - posted April 18, 2017
Issue #24 - posted April 25, 2017
Issue #25 - posted May 2, 2017
Issue #26 - posted May 9, 2017
Issue #27 - posted May 16, 2017
Issue #28 - posted May 23, 2017

Issue #29 - posted May 30, 2017

Issue #30 - posted June 6, 2017
Issue #31 - posted June 13, 2017
Issue #32 - posted June 20, 2017

Issue #33 - posted June 27, 2017
Issue #34 - posted March 12, 2018
Issue #35 - posted March 19, 2018
Issue #36 - posted March 26, 2018
Issue #37 - posted April 1, 2018
Issue #38 - posted April 8, 2018
Issue #39 - posted April 15, 2018

Trump Log #39: More Foxes Guarding Hen Houses

It is really hard to wrap your head around this administration. Just when you think they stand for one thing, they change. Trump was against intervention in Syria, I get it. This opinion makes sense, whether you agree or not. He openly criticized President Obama when he intervened in the region a few years ago. Trump stated, we are getting nothing in return. But here we are, bombing the shit out of Syria.

He also criticized Obama for tipping his hand and announcing that he was going to be bomb Syria. Yet Trump tweeted about bombing Syria just days before his bombing began. I get a headache trying to keep up.  It is exhausting.

He was against the TPP (Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement) during the election. He called it "an attack on America's business." Just days into his into administration, he withdrew from it. Now, a little over a year later, he wants back in. Perhaps there is a silver lining here. If you hate one of his policies, just wait, perhaps he'll reverse it in a year or so. You hate this latest cabinet member? Eh, they'll be gone shortly, just wait. Devos, Pruitt, Carson, etc... they'll be gone soon. Let us hope.

Trump Log:
Monday 4/9/18 - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is one of the few entities in our federal government that we can trusted to be non-partisan. Today they announced that Trump's economic policies will be produce a $1 trillion deficit per year by 2020.  Cutting taxes and increasing spending will do that.  (Source: Washington Post)

Tuesday 4/10/18 - The FBI (the agency that put Trump into office) raids his lawyer's office. How does Trump react?  Presidential?  He calls it "DISGRACEFUL." He's a victim, he's being persecuted. Is he a child or just a paranoid nut? (Source: Washington Post)

Wednesday 4/11/18 - The Trump administration has delayed the 2015 HUD integrations laws by 7 years. These laws were designed to help end racial segregation in public housing. (Source: New York Times)

Thursday 4/12/18 - A coal lobbyist is now the second-in-command of Trump's EPA. Another fox guarding the hen house. (Source: Washington Post)

Friday 4/13/18 - Trump pardons Scooter Libby. A clear message is being sent to his fellow felons: I will pardon you, if you are convicted. (Source: Washington Post)

Saturday 4/14/18 - Trump's Justice Department ends a successful and low cost program that assists immigrants with the American legal system. (Source: TheIntercept)

Sunday 4/15/18 - Trump is pulling the US out of Unesco. (Source: New York Times)

Prior Trump Logs:
Issue # 1 - posted November 15th, 2016
Issue # 2 - posted November 22nd, 2016
Issue # 3 - posted November 29th, 2016
Issue # 4 - posted December 6, 2016
Issue # 5 - posted December 12, 2016
Issue # 6 - posted December 19, 2016
Issue # 7 - posted December 26, 2016
Issue # 8 - posted January 3, 2017
Issue # 9 - posted January 10, 2017
Issue #10 - posted January 17, 2017
Issue #11 - posted January 24, 2017
Issue #12 - posted January 31, 2017
Issue #13 - posted February 7, 2017
Issue #14 - posted February 14, 2017
Issue #15 - posted February 21, 2017
Issue #16 - posted February 28, 2017
Issue #17 - posted March 7, 2017
Issue #18 - posted March 14, 2017
Issue #19 - posted March 21, 2017
Issue #20 - posted March 28, 2017
Issue #21 - posted April 5, 2017
Issue #22 - posted April 11, 2017
Issue #23 - posted April 18, 2017
Issue #24 - posted April 25, 2017
Issue #25 - posted May 2, 2017
Issue #26 - posted May 9, 2017
Issue #27 - posted May 16, 2017
Issue #28 - posted May 23, 2017

Issue #29 - posted May 30, 2017

Issue #30 - posted June 6, 2017
Issue #31 - posted June 13, 2017
Issue #32 - posted June 20, 2017

Issue #33 - posted June 27, 2017
Issue #34 - posted March 12, 2018
Issue #35 - posted March 19, 2018
Issue #36 - posted March 26, 2018
Issue #37 - posted April 1, 2018
Issue #38 - posted April 8, 2018  

Trump Log #38: The Opposite Presidency

You have heard of opposite day. This is the opposite presidency, where cabinet members do the opposite of what they are supposed to do. It is about time we learn from other cultures about dealing with a president that is so corrupt as this one. Both Brazil and South Korea have sentenced an ex-President to extended jail time. It would be nice, after we are done with this administration, to see Trump behind bars. Wishful thinking! No, it is impeachment we want, that doesn't go far enough.

Trump Log:
Monday 4/2/18 - China institutes tariffs on 128 US exports in response to Trump's tariffs. Does Trump think that Trade Wars is a new reality show? (Source: Washington Post)

Tuesday 4/3/18 - Trump's head of the Consumer Financial Protection bureau asks Congress to regulate his bureau more. Wait! What? (Source: New York Times)

Wednesday 4/4/18 - Trump's budget deal brings the budget for abstinence-only education up to $100 million. This is a program that has no proof of effectiveness and probably has the opposite affect on participants. (Source: TheIntercept)

Thursday 4/5/18 - Trump claims that he didn't know his personal attorney paid porn star, Stormy Daniels, to shut up. So we are lead to believe that Trump is either lying about this or that he is an extremely bad businessman that doesn't know what his accountant is doing with his money. I say both. (Source: Washington Post)

Friday 4/6/18 - Trump's Director of Refugee Resettlement, Scott Lloyd, has obtained the moniker of Douche Bag of the week. Instead of spending his time assisting this badly in need population, he spends his time trying to prevent them from getting abortions. As usually, our Republican administration is more interested in helping the unborn, than the born. (Source: New York Times)

Saturday 4/7/18 - Trump's EPA Director, Pruitt, has a security detail that costs tax payers $3 million. (Source: Slate)

Sunday 4/8/18 - Donald Trump Jr. is becoming a mouth-piece for the right wing wingnuts. Let us hope we don't have another President coming from the Trump family. (Source: Politico)

Prior Trump Logs:
Issue # 1 - posted November 15th, 2016
Issue # 2 - posted November 22nd, 2016
Issue # 3 - posted November 29th, 2016
Issue # 4 - posted December 6, 2016
Issue # 5 - posted December 12, 2016
Issue # 6 - posted December 19, 2016
Issue # 7 - posted December 26, 2016
Issue # 8 - posted January 3, 2017
Issue # 9 - posted January 10, 2017
Issue #10 - posted January 17, 2017
Issue #11 - posted January 24, 2017
Issue #12 - posted January 31, 2017
Issue #13 - posted February 7, 2017
Issue #14 - posted February 14, 2017
Issue #15 - posted February 21, 2017
Issue #16 - posted February 28, 2017
Issue #17 - posted March 7, 2017
Issue #18 - posted March 14, 2017
Issue #19 - posted March 21, 2017
Issue #20 - posted March 28, 2017
Issue #21 - posted April 5, 2017
Issue #22 - posted April 11, 2017
Issue #23 - posted April 18, 2017
Issue #24 - posted April 25, 2017
Issue #25 - posted May 2, 2017
Issue #26 - posted May 9, 2017
Issue #27 - posted May 16, 2017
Issue #28 - posted May 23, 2017

Issue #29 - posted May 30, 2017

Issue #30 - posted June 6, 2017
Issue #31 - posted June 13, 2017
Issue #32 - posted June 20, 2017

Issue #33 - posted June 27, 2017
Issue #34 - posted March 12, 2018
Issue #35 - posted March 19, 2018
Issue #36 - posted March 26, 2018
Issue #37 - posted April 1, 2018

Trump Log #37: The Ill President

Diplomats are being expelled, spies are being executed and a trade war ensues. It seems like a prelude to a world war. Doesn't it not? We have an ill-prepared, ill-advised, ill-tempered .... let's faced, our president is plain ill. It is freak out time.

Trump Log: 
Monday 3/26/18 - Remember Rob Porter, the White House aid that had to leave because of domestic abuse. Trump wants him back. (Source: Slate)

Tuesday 3/27/18 - Trump's EPA wants data being used in EPA studies to be "transparent." This would mean less privacy for those who participate in EPA studies.  This also means, that the regulated would have access to the raw data of the regulator. My new worst Trump cabinet secretary: Pruitt. (Source: New York Times)

Wednesday 3/28/18 - Trump is adding one question to the 2020 census: are you a US citizen? Twelve states are suing.  How should you answer this question if you are censured? Refuse to comment. (Source: New York Times)

Thursday 3/29/18 - The FBI now has documentation proving that Trump campaign official, Rick Gates, had frequent contact with someone with close ties to Russian intelligence. (Source: New York Times)

Friday 3/30/18 - Trump's EPA is expected to roll back standards on emissions from cars. Is the term "Trump's EPA" an oxymoron? (Source: New York Times)

Saturday 3/31/18 - The same guy responsible for the cuts to emissions standards (see above), Scott Pruitt, is renting a condo from a fossil fuel lobbyist for only a $1,000.00 a month on Capital Hill. I can't get a decent apartment in Burlington for that rent.  (Source: Washington Post)

Sunday 4/1/18 - One of the reasons that this administration is so inexperienced and understaffed is that the department responsible for recruiting and vetting is ... um ... inexperienced and understaffed. (Source: Washington Post)

Prior Trump Logs:
Issue # 1 - posted November 15th, 2016
Issue # 2 - posted November 22nd, 2016
Issue # 3 - posted November 29th, 2016
Issue # 4 - posted December 6, 2016
Issue # 5 - posted December 12, 2016
Issue # 6 - posted December 19, 2016
Issue # 7 - posted December 26, 2016
Issue # 8 - posted January 3, 2017
Issue # 9 - posted January 10, 2017
Issue #10 - posted January 17, 2017
Issue #11 - posted January 24, 2017
Issue #12 - posted January 31, 2017
Issue #13 - posted February 7, 2017
Issue #14 - posted February 14, 2017
Issue #15 - posted February 21, 2017
Issue #16 - posted February 28, 2017
Issue #17 - posted March 7, 2017
Issue #18 - posted March 14, 2017
Issue #19 - posted March 21, 2017
Issue #20 - posted March 28, 2017
Issue #21 - posted April 5, 2017
Issue #22 - posted April 11, 2017
Issue #23 - posted April 18, 2017
Issue #24 - posted April 25, 2017
Issue #25 - posted May 2, 2017
Issue #26 - posted May 9, 2017
Issue #27 - posted May 16, 2017
Issue #28 - posted May 23, 2017

Issue #29 - posted May 30, 2017

Issue #30 - posted June 6, 2017
Issue #31 - posted June 13, 2017
Issue #32 - posted June 20, 2017

Issue #33 - posted June 27, 2017
Issue #34 - posted March 12, 2018
Issue #35 - posted March 19, 2018
Issue #36 - posted March 26, 2018