A Yale history professor’s 20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency — Quartz

I came across this article today and thought it should be further shared. Defending Democracy under a Trump Presidency. I am posting the intro and the 20 points from the article, but you should really go to the article and read the text corresponding to each point.

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today:

1. Do not obey in advance.
2. Defend an institution.
3. Recall professional ethics.
4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words.
5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
6. Be kind to our language.
7. Stand out.
8. Believe in truth.
9. Investigate.
10. Practice corporeal politics.
11. Make eye contact and small talk.
12. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
13. Hinder the one-party state.
14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can.
15. Establish a private life.
16. Learn from others in other countries.
17. Watch out for the paramilitaries.
18. Be reflective if you must be armed.
19. Be as courageous as you can.
20. Be a patriot.

Source: A Yale history professor’s 20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency — Quartz

Dave Chapelle’s SNL Monologue

“I’m going to give Trump a chance. And we the historically disenfranchised… demand that he give us one too.”

Everything still sucks, right? Yes it does. And so I’ve found myself watching Dave Chapelle’s stand-up from Saturday Night Live on Saturday over and over again. Because it feels good to laugh.

The Darkest Timeline

So yeah, the election. We are officially in the darkest timeline.

I’d like to tell the world that not all of us are okay with this and in fact, more of us voted for Hillary than we did Drumpf. But that is letting the United States as a society off the hook. The fact of the matter is we as a nation elected the candidate LITERALLY endorsed by the KKK.

I got perhaps 3 hours of sleep last night. To be honest, I was worried about telling my kids the results. Because they could see how much of a bully Trump is. To them, it is obvious. And I hated to tell them that hate had won. That the biggest bully had won. But you know what, I told them what had happened and they were okay. And I told them we would be okay (even if I don’t know how much I believe this myself).

And to my fellow Christians. You are not bringing people closer to God with this stuff, aligning yourself with one political party that would produce Donald Trump. The man who brags about killing the families of terrorists. The man who treats women the way he treats them. The man who started his campaign with this:

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

The Christ I know would stand up for the poorest among us. He would welcome those into the country that are fleeing war, without question. Without some test. Jesus was for piece. He was for the meek inheriting the Earth. Jesus was for being humble.

When asked what the most important of the Commandments to follow, Jesus said nothing of abortion. But he did say this:

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:37-40 KJV]

This is the antithesis of Trump.

Finally, I have finally given up Facebook. I’ll miss seeing people’s pictures they post and telling them happy birthday. I won’t miss much else. And I’m fine with that. I probably spent too much time there anyhow. I’d delete my profile completely, but I have some photos there I’d like to save.

In conclusion, we are indeed in the darkest timeline. Hate has been unequivocally rewarded. Maybe we are better than this, but more than likely we were always this bad and it’s just know the final veil has been removed.

John F. Kennedy – A Liberal Definition

John F. Kennedy, on what it means to be a liberal. And for the record, I consider myself liberal. Also for the record, liberal certainly does not equate to Democratic, or any other party.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/22/1019343/-A-Liberal-Definition-by-John-F-Kennedy?via=siderec

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word “Liberal” to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a “Liberal,” and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my view — I hope for all time — two nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take the opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man’s ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a superstate. I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 campaign is whether our government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility.