Trump’s Cabinet Selections

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Professor Taboo

I get regular emails from a handful of political outlets that are aligned with my own viewpoints which is left of center for sure. This I don’t mind one bit for many reasons.

I received this email newsletter today:

Dear Member,

It’s barely been a week since the election, but Donald Trump has already made more than a dozen appointments—and they’re exactly the staff envisioned by Project 2025.¹ Some of the appointees even wrote Project 2025.

A white nationalist in charge of immigration policy. An insurrectionist and misogynist as Defense Secretary. A conspiracy theorist and homophobe helming the Department of Health and Human Services. An evangelical Christian and staunch opponent to Palestine as ambassador to Israel. A climate change denier as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.²

And Trump named Elon Musk as the co-head of the effort to “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy” and hand our country’s future over to corporations and billionaires.³

This wave of extremist appointees—who are rife with extraordinary conflicts of interest—is antithetical to American values. It’s overwhelming. It’s depressing. That’s exactly MAGA’s point.

Trump is dumping this deluge of awful appointees and plans for his administration on us in hopes that we will be so exhausted that we won’t fight back. He couldn’t be more wrong. We are already fighting back—in fact, we just had an amazing victory we’ll tell you about in a minute—and we are preparing for four years of nonstop campaigning to stop Trump’s anti-democratic, anti-civil-rights agenda.

Trump’s appointees are a veritable Who’s Who of right-wing extremism, racism, and hate.

To no one’s surprise, white nationalist and architect of Trump’s “kids in cages” plan Stephen Miller is now deputy chief of staff for policy—ready to implement Trump’s mass deportation plan.⁴

Trump appointed “Fox & Friends” host Pete Hegseth, famous for cheering on the January 6 insurrection and saying that women don’t belong in combat, as secretary of defense. Trump also announced plans for appointing a board to weed out any military generals who are not sufficiently loyal to him.⁵

Other appointees include Mike Huckabee, who believes that Gaza should be eradicated, as ambassador to Israel.⁶ Climate change denier Lee Zeldin as Environmental Protection Agency administrator.⁷ John Ratcliffe, who weaponized secure data against Trump’s opposition during his first term, as CIA director.⁸

And just minutes ago, Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, to lead the nation’s public health department.⁹

His MAGA House of Representatives tried to fast-track a bill through Congress—H.R.9495—that would have granted Trump unilateral power to strip organizations of their nonprofit status if they were accused of “supporting terrorism.” His administration would have no burden of proof or standard to meet—just a stroke of the pen would take down any organization (such as MoveOn!) that he perceived as an enemy.¹⁰

The bill had bipartisan support and was assumed to be a done deal, but our members fought back. Thousands of our members called their representatives, and our voice was heard in the halls of Congress as well. Because of the work of you and others in our coalition, H.R.9495 failed.

The American government is one of checks and balances, and we can rein in Trump’s assault on us if we are willing to hold our leaders accountable to those checks. As an organization of millions of voices, we are strong. We are powerful. And as long as we keep speaking out together, we can stop Trump’s attack on our civil rights, on our economy, and on our democracy.

But we must be prepared to campaign around the clock and use every tool at our disposal, which takes vast resources—resources that are depleted in the wake of the most expensive election in history.

**Left to right** — National Security Adviser – Mike Waltz, *Chief of Staff – Susie Wiles*, *and Department of Government Efficiency – Elon Musk*

What are your thoughts? Share them. Did you vote this past election year?

If you did not vote, like far too many Americans did not—approximately 7-8 million registered voters did not turnout at the polls—then your silence was beyond horrendously appalling for such a historically unprecedented election year given what was at stake for our country! That is the sole reason tRump and Republicans won so many positions of government! Sad, very very sad America.

The above source citation footnotes follow below…

Sources:

1. “What White House picks tell us about Trump 2.0,” BBC, November 13, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198839?t=8&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

2. “Trump Picks New EPA Head Guaranteed to Destroy the Environment,” The New Republic, November 11, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198840?t=10&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

3. “November 12, 2024,” Letters from an American, November 13, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198841?t=12&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

4. “Trump Brings Back White Nationalist Stephen Miller for Second Term,” The New Republic, November 11, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198842?t=14&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

5. “November 12, 2024,” Letters from an American, November 13, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198841?t=16&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

6. Ibid.

7. “Trump’s EPA Pick Is a Climate Skeptic. What It Means for EVs.” Barron’s, November 12, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198843?t=18&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

8. “A running list of all the people Trump has picked to serve in his administration,” MSNBC, November 13, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198844?t=20&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

9.”Trump picks RFK Jr. , anti-vaccine activist, for Health and Human Services secretary,” NBC News, November 14, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198880?t=22&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

10. “US House fails to pass anti-NGO bill that could target pro-Palestine groups,” Al Jazeera, November 12, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/198834?t=24&akid=415087%2E37122751%2EJ8j3vC

How Is This Possible?

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Professor Taboo

Like many of you I am completely baffled every time Congress members threaten to let our federal government shutdown. And by the way, there have been 21 shutdowns since 1976. And worse, some in Congress right now appear to have no real motivation to collaborate in order to avoid it. Why? Because their Cult leader is commanding them to stonewall not just the House Speaker, but also millions and millions of Americans who desperately depend on Social Security, Medicare, SNAP, and other federal benefits to survive and get by month-to-month! They will be left out in the cold with none of these retirement needs coming in. And I won’t even go into how our military, law-enforcement, federal courts, transportation hubs, NASA and NOAA, disaster responses, nationwide education, and a whole host of other programs and agencies too long to list here.

How is this possible? The United States is the ninth wealthiest nation in the world in adjusted GDP/capita (2022). The U.S. has the second most billionaires in the world behind first-place China (2023). And furthermore, the United States has the strongest economy in the world over China, Japan, Germany, and India, respectively (2023).

So how is it possible that our federal government does this too frequently and has actually shutdown 21-times and possibly a 22^nd time this coming October 1^st? How!? Is it because not enough of America’s wealthiest people and corporations pay their fair share of taxes? Why has this “shutdown rattling” (of swords) become chronic in America? For more details:

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/the-federal-government-is-headed-for-a-shutdown-when-will-it-start/

Addendum 10/3/2023 — My friend Steve Ruis over at Uncommon Sense published a very good post on our government shutdown: A Distinctly American Problem? Really? I recommend checking it out. It’s well worth it.

Best U.S. States to Reside

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Professor Taboo

Since at least 1994 I’ve always been intrigued to know how my home state (Texas) ranks in Quality of Living tables compared to the other 50 U.S. states. Why? Very simple: affluent Texans, many of which are only first, second, third, or perhaps fourth generation Texans, arrogantly boast that Texas (at least politically) is hands-down THE best state in the Union. Yes, I hear this from fellow Texans quite often, mostly in the rural areas. I have heard these claims most all of my six decades of life while living here. It seems to be a personal source of deep-seeded pride whether justified or not.

But I have always been greatly puzzled by their expressed, audacious claim. Aside from one’s own biased personal opinion, by what metrics, by what standards could these ~~white~~ Texans possibly be referencing? I regularly check these quality of life criteria, every 1-2 years minimum, not just for the required oversight and civic duty/privilege by a concerned, caring citizen, but also to monitor how our Lone Star State is progressing: Is it thriving, stagnate, or declining?

According to US News & World Report, the data points collected in ranking the U.S. states overall are many. The two primary categories most all Americans most care about are healthcare and education for its residents. Secondary points are public safety, social and occupational opportunities, economy, roads, bridges, environment, internet access and other infrastructure.

Well, sorry (again) Texas, the 2023 facts and data are not good at all for Texans and their “proud friendly” state. The overall quality of life in Texas is below average: ranked 35^th out of 50 states. In fact, Texas doesn’t rank #1 in any of the eight primary categories, much less the lower priority categories. In 2021 Texas ranked 31^st overall, today down four places after two years. It ranked 36^th in 2018 and 38^th in 2017. There is however, one particular category Texas has always excelled in: its economy. There has always existed in Texas-economics very plush advantages for past and present wealth-accumulators to make much more excessive wealth; tax-codes and opportunities abound for Texas’ upper-class. This is exactly why Elon Musk, originally of South Africa, the founder/CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, present owner of Twitter, and a number of other mega-businesses, moved here and now calls Texas his home. He is just one of many of America’s wealthiest persons living in Texas.

Ironically, the one category Texas has never excelled in since these stats and data-points were first collected is its Individual Median Income—it is $38,059 for 2023 single-earner Texans. Sadly, according to SmartAsset’s study, individual Texans need to earn a minimum $44,865 per year and closer to $133,926 to be considered “middle-class,” or to only have a decent standard of living while working and alive, barring any unforeseen emergencies or catastrophes.

from “You Might Be From Texas If…” by author and cartoonist Nick Anderson
from “You Might Be From Texas If…” by author and cartoonist Nick Anderson
from “You Might Be From Texas If…” by author and cartoonist Nick Anderson
from “You Might Be From Texas If…” by author and cartoonist Nick Anderson

It becomes quite obvious why there is such a large disparity in the Lone Star States’ Quality of Life categories, like the economy versus all other categories. What is it? What drives this lopsided metric? It’s income and economic inequality. Severe? Probably. Improved? Not at all. Digressing, expanding? Most definitely.

So one must ask these (typically rural and far-suburban) Texans, What verifiable facts and data are you quoting to conclude that Texas is THE best state in the Union to live? My next two questions to them are 1) What zip code do you live, and 2) Where exactly have you and your family been experiencing Texas the last at least 30–40 years?

Care to guess what bewildering answers I usually get?

∼ ∼ ∼ § ∼ ∼ ∼

Addendum Aug. 22, 2023 — In conjunction with this post I am connecting or linking my next blog-post to this one as a follow-up. It is entitled “Rating Democracy in All 50 U.S. States.”

Try to Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Alot More

When Everyone Is Armed Security

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Professor Taboo

This will be a pretty short post because I really only have a few questions about the recent verdict by a criminal court and jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin the other day.

Admittedly I did not closely follow the story because events like this have sadly become regular occurrences (weekly? monthly?) across the U.S. over the last decade or more. However, when a dear family friend stopped by to visit yesterday she asked Mom and I what we thought about the jury’s decision in the case. Not knowing much about it to even say three words, I looked it up online on several news websites to familiarize myself with details. My very first question was Who exactly were the victims killed by the shooter? and second, Were those killed protestors armed with weapons drawn? I found my answers to these questions on NBC5 Chicago’s website here. I was pleased NBC5 Chicago provided some background on the three victims.

To my slight surprise I read that all three men shot by Rittenhouse were white/caucasian men. Though the original incident that they were protesting was a (white) police officer firing 7-shots into the back of an African-American man, Jacob Blake, which paralyzed Mr. Blake from the waist down. Later the white police officer was not charged for the shooting of Blake though the incident was captured on cellphone video by a neighbor. This trend by law-enforcement on ethnic minority persons has become a national powder-keg, deservedly and understandably so. This is why Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber, and Gaige Grosskreutz—the three victims of Rittenhouse—were at the Jacob Blake protest in August 2020.

Kyle Rittenhouse, then 17-yrs old from Antioch, Illinois claimed ‘to be offering armed security’ with his loaded AR-15-styled semi-automatic rifle around the protesting crowd then supposedly had to defend himself against Rosenbaum, Huber, and Grosskreutz who, as he asserts, ‘wanted to take his life.’

All sorts of questions began swirling in my head after reading these accounts, including a plethora of unproven presumptions by all parties concerned. I am really struggling to find the understanding and wisdom of these angry people, protestors, armed protestors, law-enforcement, and the priority of non-violent grievances by citizens! What am I missing? Why wasn’t there longer and more forethought BEFORE acting on intense emotions? In fact, I have so many questions like this that I’ve tried these last two days to condense them down to these few questions, yes, some rhetorical:

Was 17-yr old Kyle Rittenhouse trained and licensed to legally or morally “offer” legitimate security and safety with other trained riot-officers?
Was Rittenhouse trained and licensed in the field of psychology and necessary Crisis Management techniques to “offer” peaceful security?
Does an AR-15-styled semi-automatic rifle, fully loaded, and ready to fire project an air of calm and peacefulness to a volatile crowd?
Does a teenager armed with this military-grade weapon, but not dressed in any recognizable law-enforcement uniform or in riot-gear as law-enforcement project an air of calm and peace?
If an unarmed protestor sees civilian clothed, heavily armed boys or men (or women) coming toward them in a weapons-ready posture, will that unarmed civilian protestor immediately feel safe?
Did Rittenhouse previously know—or have a friendship with—all three men he felt attacked him and wanted to kill him? Did the three victims know Rittenhouse at all?
If one wants to deescalate a highly intense, possibly volatile situation and encourage “cooler heads to prevail,” would coming armed with an AR-15-styled semi-automatic rifle, fully loaded, screaming(?) and postured to fire at you immediately… project the best way to “help” someone relax, become civil, and calm?
Continuing from the previous question, did the Kenosha Police Department and/or Riot Division ask the general public—even people from out-of-state like Rittenhouse—to come out and give armed security to the event/protest, especially unchecked, untrained citizens?

How many of you would want random, untrained citizens being your police-peacekeeping force and calling themselves 2nd Amendment Militia?

I come up with several more questions that arise from answers to these above eight questions and more. However, I’ll refrain because as I mentioned, I did not follow the entire story and court proceedings. I was and probably still am unaware of key proofs and refutes. But I will close with these further ponderances…

When one is surrounded by fellow statesmen and women, fellow Americans or fellow human beings, or if you are part of a peacekeeping force in a volatile situation or event, or better yet, if you are a member of The United Nations (UN) or very supportive of the UN’s role among (unruly) world governments and vicious regimes… would you attend meetings or negotiations fully armed postured to fight, harm, and kill then with body-bags present, proclaim you were offering safety, peace, and security? Should implications by appearances be completely ignored, completely overlooked as impertinent? Doesn’t the opposite behavior bode much better for non-violence, mentally unstable, inciteful antagonizers or intentional criminal negligence?

I don’t know, maybe I’m just way out of touch with what represents common decency these days. 😔

Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Always

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://professortaboo.com/contact-me/.

Why? What For?

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Professor Taboo

I am going to be frank. These last 16-18 months have been hard, VERY hard here in Texas and the U.S. And it is not just me.

I was asked today “Why do you insist on living where you live?” The mere fact that the question was asked was indicative of the ignorance of the person asking. They obviously did not know, could not comprehend—not that they really tried—to have any clue WHY I live where I want to live and WHY I live the way I want to live.

Does it really take such brutal honesty, in their face words, to infer upon them WHY I am who I am and I am where I want to be right now?

Yes.

I have learned over many decades that yes, it does indeed take frank, BLUNT honesty to make many people see, to understand what it means to “be true to one’s self.” And isn’t that what a life well lived is all about? To live true to self? To live in a way that impacts not only others, but also makes yourself whole? That you BELONG in this time, right here, right now if you are acutely aware of your place and purpose… with everyone you are with and your family?

I say yes. Actually, I scream YES!

What else is living life for(?)… with those you deeply love and care for and try to play your important part in the big scheme of everyone in this time, in this moment?

~ ~ ~ § ~ ~ ~

About a week ago I FINALLY went—physically—to my needed in-person doctors follow-up appointment. It had been over a year since I was able to do so. I suspect MANY people were not able to physically, in-person, see their physician… because of the whole COVID-19 disaster.

A week later, after blood-work and necessary lab-work my doctor felt necessary to obtain, for understandable causes that he was seeing in most all of his patients, he wanted additional tests with my blood-work. Unfortunately, a lot more money too for this lab-work. But it was very needed. Most intelligent people/patients understood that going over 1-year without physically seeing your physician and not being able to give your blood to them… was critically important.

My physician reentered my Exam Room and asked, “I would like to also test your Vitamin D levels. Is that okay? It is an additional cost of X-amount of dollars (not cheap), but I really think it is important to check. Is that alright?” I replied yes of course. “I expected the entire gament of whatever you wanted” I said to him “in this overdue visit. That’s fine.“

Those results have come back. Not only were they not good, my physician said “Dwain, they are horrendous.“

Apparently the healthy range for a person’s vitamin D level is 30-100 (ng/mL). My doctor told me mine was a dismal, shocking “9.” I could hear it in his voicemail to me.

If you do not know why vitamin D is important to our health, allow me to briefly explain. WebMD.com explains Vitamin D Defiency this way:

If you shun the sun, suffer from milk allergies, or adhere to a strict vegan diet, you may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency. Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is produced by the body in response to skin being exposed to sunlight. It is also occurs naturally in a few foods—including some fish, fish liver oils, and egg yolks—and in fortified dairy and grain products.
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones, because it helps the body use calcium from the diet. Traditionally, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue doesn’t properly mineralize, leading to soft bones and skeletal deformities. But increasingly, research is revealing the importance of vitamin D in protecting against a host of health problems.

Needless to say, prolonged vitamin D deficiency from not being out and about, in the Sun, with or without others (strangers included) is NOT GOOD for a healthy human life. Well DUH, right? But that hasn’t really been so possible for the last 16-18 months has it?

But in indirect ways I knew this was the sort of sacrifice the team HAD to do. I have been a recluse, a hermit basically, for the last year and four or six months. Why? Because that’s public health & safety. Plain and simple. I also wore a mask every time I HAD to got out in public for necessary life-priority items. I also stayed at least 6-10 feet away from anyone—despite the fact that many DID NOT do that and worse, were not wearing a god dayum mask! Which disturbed me and kept me inside, alone, out of the Sun (for vitamin D) so that I would not contribute MORE death, MORE hospitalizations to overrun, overburdened hospitals and ICU’s.

Despite my happy sacrifice for “the team,” for the public, for a known recovery and possible elimination of this god dayum viral pandemic, I am now Vitamin D Deficient along with 4-5 other medical conditions exacerbated by this virus. This is not to mention the OTHER ripple-effects, impacts (financially) this continued pandemic has caused… because Texas and America DOES NOT have enough “team players.“

For the rest of the world, PLEASE PLEASE do not call us by anything other than the Disunited States of America. We have far too many egotistical, self-gratifying imbeciles to be worthy of a name, an honorable team-name such as the UNITED States of America. No, that has disappeared many years ago because we prefer to nurture, promote, and celebrate individuals, those who do whatever they fucking wish “In the name of freedom, liberty, blah blah blah…” and NOT for a greater good, but instead for their own benefit, their own ideology, their own patriotism, wealth and political party. God Bless America and God Bless our opulent Wealth—Screw Everyone Else.

Que the national anthem… “Star Spangled Banner” of American Self, Self, and more wealthy Self. Dog eat dog and screw everyone else. We are the nation everyone wants to immigrate to. HAH! How very very funny and yet, incomprehensibly a Catch-22. Ah, maybe it’s just Texas. 🥴

By the way, I am trying very hard to finish my family vacation posts with pictures, videos and tales of joy, laughter, and foolery of our adventures to the beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan. Unfortunately, many extenuating circumstances here keep impeding this progress—all due ultimately to new COVID-19 variants and their ripple-effects everywhere in life. Plain and simple.

Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Science Always