José Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds are among the greatest sluggers of all time. Based on their achievements, all should be MLB Hall of Famers. Most likely they will never see Cooperstown. Performance Enhancing Drug use (cheating) tainted their careers. Despite their batting skills, they are considered illegitimate and unworthy of Hall of Fame glory; an asterisk will forever appear next to their names in the record books.
Which brings me to this...
Much like the sluggers mentioned above, Trump* is illegitimate and unworthy to hold the office of the President of the United States.
I know I am repeating below what has been oft stated here on DaillyKos and throughout the media sphere, so this will be brief.
- He lost the popular vote by 2.86 million
- He wants to buddy up with strongman Vladimir Putin even while knowing, though not admitting, that Russia/Putin dangerously interfered in the America electoral process
- He lies with absolute impunity
- He is a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe and a xenophobe
- He is a eugenicist
- He has no moral compass
- He cheats others without conscience
- He refuses to reveal his finances, creating the potential for nefarious and dangerous conflicts of interest
- He defiles the cyber world with his ridiculous tweets while his sycophantic handlers try to obfuscate and deflect the meaning of them
- He will tear the nation, perhaps the world, apart with his policies, pronouncements, and appointments
- He clearly has no real understanding of our history, our people, our laws and our constitution
A simple proposal...
On January 20th, we, in truth, will have an illegitimate president. We must do everything possible to remind the world that we recognize and reject his legitimacy. I would like to propose that EVERY TIME we write Trump*, an asterisk follows. We have become accustomed to using a wide variety of reproachful “pet” names for Trump*. I do think that is a valid method of demonstrating outrage, but I believe that a constant and consistent method of displaying our anger across all forms of social media might have a greater impact. Imagine, if you will, that EVERY TIME one of us tweets; posts on FaceBook, DailyKos, etc.; adds a comment to online news articles; or, writes a letter to the editor of a local newspaper with Trump* in the text or as the subject, the asterisk appears. It may take a while for the idea to make the rounds and a footnote (*illegitimate) may need to accompany the text early on. But, eventually, the message will become clear. At some point, if this works, I expect Trump* to actually know what we think of him in a very visual and visceral way, day in, day out. Like the illegitimate sluggers who don’t belong in the Hall of Fame, Trump* is an illegitimate pretender who doesn’t belong in the White House.
NOTE: I have been a longtime lurker on DailyKos (starting in 2006, I believe). I have been educated, moved, amused and, occasionally, shocked by the many stories I’ve read from the shadows. I haven’t felt the need to write anything over the many years, mostly because I don’t freely open up. At the same time, many postings have sufficiently reflected the anger, frustration or delight I have felt about our politics and leadership. After the 2016 election, I no longer feel I can be as reticent. I have made a resolution to express my feelings in my own words. The world really is going to change in less than two weeks and, I fear, not for the better. Now, for me, “silence is complicity.”
BTW: the image I’ve used is an original creation. My brother, feeling great despair over the election result, wanted to “do something.” Angry over the way so many liars and thieves hide behind the hypocritical patriotism of the lapel flag pin, he decided he wanted to create his own version. I am a graphic designed (semi-retired) and he enlisted my help. The US flag has been turned upside down, a sign of distress, and melts into darkness, a sign of where we seem to be headed. The NMP stands for Not My President. The lapel pin is 1” square. We have had 100 of these produced and will order more if we find enough people want them. We will be bringing what we have to the Women’s March on January 21st. I will be marching in Portland, Oregon and my brother in Sacramento. At this point, I’m not trying to sell them through DailyKos because I don’t really know how to do that or if it’s even correct to do so. In any case, the pins we have will be available for an at will donation at the marches. Profits, if any, will be donated to Planned Parenthood. I just wanted to let you know the genesis of the image.