Rational Nation USA

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth How to Build an Autocracy The preconditions are present in the U.S. today. Here’s the playbook Donald Trump could use to set the country down a path toward illiberalism. Following is an audio version of a recent article by David Frum published in The Atlantic. Given trump’s presidential campaign and the record of his first 11 days in office the scenario Frum lays out is entirely possible. If democrats, moderate republicans, and independents don’t join together to defeat this yuuuge abscess four years from now it is entirely likely. Audio Version

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth America is f**ked. We now have a certifiable lunatic as President of our once Great Nation. A man who is severely lacking in diplomatic skills, lacks a basic understanding of our constitution, has shown disdain for America’s most cherished tradition, sees himself as infallible, sows bigotry and hate, has ignited protests at home and across the globe - the result of his knee jerk executive travel ban, is a known to be a conspiracy theorist, travels in and spreads alternative facts – in other words lies frequently, and now what you see directly below. WASHINGTON — The whirlwind first week of Donald J. Trump ’s presidency had all the bravura hallmarks of a Stephen K. Bannon production. It started with the doom-hued inauguration homily to “American carnage” in United States cities co-written by Mr. Bannon, followed a few days later by his “shut up” message to the news media. The week culminated with a blizzard of executive orders, mostly

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth We’re hearing a great deal about alternative facts, fake news, that the media is the opposition party, as well as a steady stream of hyperbole and platitudes casting the other side as the side that a engages in undesirable and unethical behavior.   In fact neither the conservative or liberal media, conservative or liberal politicians are immune from bias.   Bias is something all people are prone to. An individual’s environment, his upbringing, education, career path, and indeed the total of one’s life experiences shapes their biases. As a person ages and gains experience their biases can change.   Bias is a powerful driver on how we view reality and the world. Another factor that often works in forming a person’s bias is their own self-interest. It is this writer’s contention that politicians are heavily affected by their own personal self-interests and as a result fail to serve their constituency honestly as they should. To expec

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Today, just a few interesting links. Applied for Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare online today (easy but more time consuming than advertised), and now it is time to celebrate. First I'm putting up what I think are a few interesting articles and then off to Iron Duke Brewery for the best brews in Western Massachusetts. Of course the drinking will be responsible and the conversation lively. The end of Sarah Palin is here FINALLY! Mexico's Vicente Fox to Trump: We are 'ready for the trade war' Who could've guessed? Trump and the Republicans Are on a Suicide Mission Together REALLY? Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War’ It sure does look that way Mikhail. Throttle down with trump's foot on the gas pedal. New U.S. U.N. envoy warns allies: back us or we'll take names Here it comes, the bully threatens! Have a great weekend all.

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth “I want you to quote this,” Bannon told the newspaper, “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” “You’re the opposition party, not the Democratic Party. You’re the opposition party. The media’s the opposition party.” “The paper of record for our beloved republic, The New York Times, should be absolutely ashamed and humiliated. ... They got it 100 percent wrong.” Americans should be concerned. Very concerned. Stephen Bannon, chief strategist for Donald Trump has just told the press to shut up. That they are the opposition party. It falls in line with the Trump administration’s narrative that the news media disseminates “fake news”, essentially saying that Trump and his administration have the “real news”. Trump (we refuse to refer to him as president in our commentary) has a plan, a plan to turn document

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Another day passes as Trump continues his flurry of executive orders (remember the hoopla over President Obama’s use of executive orders) and moving on his promises to reshape USA politics and government. He is not only shaking up this country he has the global community on pins and needles as well. Our hope is he doesn’t create a shell the size of which only we can fit in. Then there is the danger that truth and our civil liberties will disappear under a Trump administration as we approach realizing a Orwellian dystopia. More on that later. Trump press secretary says the administration is considering a 20% border tax on Mexican imports to help pay for the wall Kellyanne Conway Defends Trump on Border Wall and Unsubstantiated Voter Fraud Claims Mexican president cancels visit to Washington as tensions with Trump administration intensify Trump: I have settled on my Supreme Court pick. Probably Trump administration asks top

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth As we enter the era of Trump, or as we prefer to say here at Rational Nation U S A , The Era of Trumpspeak, the new administration continues its unfounded claims of voter fraud, begins to make good on his border wall promise and cracking down on refugees entering the US, is preparing an executive order to re-open “black sites” where terrorist suspects were detained and tortured prior to President Obama closing them down, is preparing orders to reduce funding of the UN, and has given instructions to pull the page on climate change from the EPA website. Read the full stories on all by clicking on the links below. Trump’s voter fraud claims undermine the democratic process and his presidency Trump Orders Mexican Border Wall to Be Built and Is Expected to Block Syrian Refugees Trump Poised to Lift Ban on C.I.A. ‘Black Site’ Prisons Trump Prepares Orders Aiming at Global Funding and Treaties Trump administration tells EPA to cut climat

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth President Trump is on a feverish pace to implement his personal agenda. From rolling back regulatory controls to repealing the ACA (ObamaCare), as well as his apparent desire to bring to life a government like Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, President Trump is digging into dismantling DC as we’ve known it. Just as he promised to do. This weblog owner hasn’t the time or the desire to comment on the President’s efforts at changing America into something the majority of its citizens do not want. Going forward from today we will be simply posting the linked bylines of 3-8 articles we feel have merit for our readership to consider. Trump hangs portrait of inauguration crowd in WH press hall   Special Observances: National Day of Patriotic Devotion (Proc.  9570) Trump Repeats Lie About Popular Vote in Meeting With Lawmakers Trump Administration Imposes Freeze On EPA Grants and Contracts Senate Democrats call

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Our nation's new President is lacking in many qualities generally found in a President of the United States, and glaringly so. President Trump has been identified by many professionals as having traits unbecoming of a leader of the free world. He is seen as a narcissist, a misogynist, a xenophobe, a bigot, a con artist, and one without a clear vison for our country or a real plan as to how to guide over the next four years. To a greater or lesser degree all of the above may be or may not be true. Our nation and its people are going to have to wait to see how President Trump performs in office before we as a nation can know for certain. All indications are it won't go well, but, we can always hope for the best. Really, that's all we can do for now. Yesterday I ran across the following article in The New York Times that really hit home. It defines one of President Trump's weakest character traits. He lacks the capacity to

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth This weblog shares the sentiments of the author of the following open letter to PEOTUS Donald J. Trump. Bob Weidman expresses what nearly 63% of the American people are thinking tonight to one degree or another. Mr. Weidman’s open letter was published in The Huffington Post earlier this evening. Dear Mr. Trump: On the eve of your inauguration, and with all due respect to the office of the Presidency you are soon to hold, the deference you have earned, and the essential decency of the American people: Fuck you, you fucking fuck. I wish there were other words, but these are trying times, and trying times call for honesty, a concept with which you are clearly unacquainted. And I have to say what’s in my heart. So fuck you, you fucking fuck. I am not going to pretend there is anything normal about your presidency. I am not going to pretend that you are entitled to respect. You are entitled to nothing. Not a chance to prove yourself,

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth If you have not seen the Netflix documentary Thirteenth you should. Maybe President Elect Trump will find time to correct the injustice.? Wait. I guess not. Until such time as America faces the complete truth of its past and truly corrects the systemic injustices we can expect more, rather than less division.

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Skipping around the internet this day I happened to find this farewell poem to the First Family. I found it amusing and a bit perplexing. Maybe it's just me. Anyway here it is for your enjoyment.    For all the quips and jibes and taunts And brutal castigation This First Family's image haunts, And begs new valuation. Both elegant and wholesome  This group radiates great charm We should feel proud  they reached a goal some  Tell us did no harm. Their image, lean and lissome,  Does great credit to their race. To know them might be bliss. Some Might wish to kiss each face. The father’s been a failure Many say with unchecked bile. Rated as the Holy Grail your  Welfare class adored his style. Conservatives despised him And insisted he must fail, While the the Left who idolized him, Thinks the Right belongs in jail.  And so we’re now divided Many saying we’re at war With those we have derided Thus forgetting what Life’s for. Althou

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth A CNN/ORC poll published Tuesday morning shows Trump with a 40 percent approval rating. His approval rating is much lower than past presidents. Obama entered office in 2009 with an 84 percent approval rating, George W. Bush with a 61 percent approval rating, and Bill Clinton with a 67 percent approval rating, per CNN. An ABC News/Washington Post poll published Tuesday morning also found that 40 percent of Americans approve of Trump A Gallup poll released on Friday found that 44 percent of people approve of Trump, the lowest Gallup approval rating for a president-elect since 1993. What was president elect Donald J. Trump's response to these consistent poll results? As you might have guessed . The polls are rigged . Donald Trump, a man whose elephant size ego and uncontrollable narcissism, has responded to pre inaugural transitional polling with the same denial of facts that he did throughout his campaign. In this particular in

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth President elect Donald J. Trump is 5 days out from his inauguration and he "enjoys" the lowest transitional rating of any recent president elect. With just a 44% approval rating, 6% under water before he assumes the office, he is likely to have a very rough road ahead. Obama - 83% approval rating Bush - 61% approval rating Clinton - 68% rating For more on this CLICK HERE . Trump is so unliked by the majority of Americans he is even being compared to the Roman Emperor Caligula . We here at this weblog find the comparison quite apt in several ways. Trump deserves every bit of criticism he receives and hopefully the ethical media and the American electorate will keep unbearable pressure on the man CHILD president when he takes over the reins from President Obama.

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Fact check on Trump's press conference 1/11/17. Excerpts from The Washington Post . President-elect Donald Trump finally held a news conference, but as is typical, he often made claims that have been repeatedly debunked or discredited. Here’s a guide to 14 of his more notable statements, in the order in which he made them. “It’s very familiar territory, news conferences, because we used to give them on an almost daily basis.” Exaggeration. While on TV constantly he generally held news conferences only following primary contests. “You saw yesterday Fiat Chrysler; big, big factory going to be built in this country as opposed to another country. Ford just announced that they stopped plans for a billion-dollar plant in Mexico and they’re going to be moving into Michigan and expanding, very substantially, an existing plant.” False. “When we lost 22 million names and everything else that was hacked recently, they didn’t make a big dea

We wonder if Trump forgot this picture is out there. Would love to hear Donnie stumble on this one. Donald Trump has nothing but love for Saudi Arabia… in front of the Saudis… and nothing but hatred for Islam… in front of Republicans. Anyone else see a contradiction here? More Where This Came From

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth The following article from a left coast publication, the Los Angeles Times ,  it is well thought-out, well articulated, perfectly reasonable, and exactly correct. It is reprinted here with full attribution for your consideration. Trump’s careless ignorance could make him the world’s most dangerous man David Horsey There is a good reason that Donald Trump failed to win the endorsement of a single serious newspaper (the Ku Klux Klan “Crusader” does not count). It is not because the press is uniformly liberal; there were plenty of traditionally Republican and conservative editorial boards that could not bring themselves to support Trump. It is because people who work on newspapers deal in facts, and the fact is that the president-elect is woefully unprepared for the office he has won. That is the core reason I have been so critical of Trump and will continue to be. This is not a knee-jerk aversion to any and all Republicans (I

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth The Truth About Trump Republican from New York Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016. He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice."  Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015 Lie of the Year. Born and raised in New York City, Trump is married to Melania Trump, a former model from Slovenia. Trump has five children and eight grandchildren. Three of his children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, serve as executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization. THE ACTUAL FACTS Tells truth - 4% Tells partial truth - 26% Tell mostly false to pants on fire - 69% A president for conservatives and republicans to be proud of.

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Here we go again. President elect Trump with more of his clownish assertions . This in regard to Russian hacking during the presidential campaign. The New York Times - President-elect Donald J. Trump said in an interview Friday morning that the storm surrounding Russian hacking during the presidential campaign is a political witch hunt being carried out by his adversaries, who he said were embarrassed by their loss to him in the election last year. Mr. Trump spoke to The New York Times by telephone three hours before he was set to be briefed by the nation’s top intelligence and law enforcement officials about the Russian hacking of American political institutions . In the conversation, he repeatedly criticized the intense focus on Russia. SKIP Mr. Trump, who has consistently expressed doubts about the evidence of Russian hacking during the election, did so again on Friday. Asked why he thought there was so much attention being given to

Donald Trump stands to personally profit from the legislative agenda he is expected to push in his first 100 days, raising questions about whether he can separate his financial interest from his public office without totally cutting ties from his business empire. The top items on the president-elect’s policy checklist — from rewriting the tax code to scrapping Wall Street regulations to repealing Obamacare — have for years been Republican orthodoxy. But Trump could see a direct benefit to muscling through broad tax cuts and eliminating regulations: billions of dollars in new savings for him and his family and fresh revenue for his business portfolio, according to a POLITICO analysis of Trump’s public statements and financial disclosures and interviews with tax experts. “It’s kind of unprecedented that a president would be proposing tax and regulatory changes that have such a significant benefit to him and his family and presumably his business partners as well,” said Leslie Samuel

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor f Truth What follows is the letter sent to congressional leadership regarding efforts to reform the health care system. It is from the American Medical Association (AMA) and it make reasonable sense. Without a doubt the majority of Americans very likely agree with the AMA's position. We are reprinting the letter in it's entirety, with proper attribution as well as linking to the AMA . Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi: On behalf of the physician and medical student members of the American Medical Association (AMA), I am writing regarding our ongoing commitment to reform of the health care system and potential legislative actions during the first months of the 115th Congress. The AMA has long advocated for health insurance coverage for all Americans, as well as pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of practice, and universal access for patients. These policy positions are guided by the action

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Republican congressional critters moving to gut the congressional ethics watchdog really should come as no surprise. Less oversight of their dubious activities is just what the authoritarians would desire, yes? The move by Republicans in Congress to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics will cut down on “overzealousness,” incoming counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday morning, while leaving in place a “mechanism” with which to address ethical complaints. Although Conway stopped short of saying the GOP move came with the blessing of the president-elect, she told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Republican majorities in the House and Senate mean “there's a mandate there for them to make significant change.” She said she had not spoken to President-elect Donald Trump about the move. “Let's make clear that you're still going to have an Office of Complaint Review. In other words, it’s not like

Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Coming to America on January 20th 2017 in the person of the President of the United States of America. Xenophobia , misogyny , bigotry , white nationalism , sexual predator , narcissism , elevated demagoguery , conspiracy theories , constant stream of lies , in short... PURE EVIL We're sure we left some things out, so, feel free to add your on to our list above.