Thoughts

1. To the neighbor who left your dog's poop in my yard, and let's just say it's not that of a chihuahua, shame on you. That is straight-up rude.

2. What have I been missing by not watching C-SPAN live? I was riveted today by the couple hours (and I NEVER watch TV) of the Comey hearing I caught. The Trump admin is as dirty as they come. They have their filthy tentacles in everything. We, most ALL of us, have let this happen, and it's up to us to #resist. Have you called your reps today? I have. Please do.

3. This is a really powerful essay. Published a week ago on Ms. magazine's blog, Body Politic makes my short-list of must-reads this week. As does this essay on the meaning of The Handmaid's Tale in the time of Trump by Margaret Atwood in yesterday's (Sunday) New York Times Book Review. 
Also, I highly recommend you read In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi (brilliant discussion of identity, many forms of) as well as Evicted (tremendous study and discussion of poverty and exploitation of the poor) by Matthew Desmond.
Lastly, it seems the Oxford comma debate may finally be settled. Grammar nerds, this one's for you.

4. Tom started his new job today. It has, in many ways, been wonderful having him home for the past three weeks, but it is also nice to reorient ourselves into a more normal-for-our-age life.

5. On Friday, I am taking the boys to Louisiana for spring break. Having not left DC since before the election, I am exceedingly keen on getting out of town. I cannot wait for a break, cannot wait to sit in a white wooden rocking chair on a generous porch as a warm breeze blows across my bare legs. Cannot wait to watch the bayou glide by and the Spanish moss wave from oak boughs. Cannot wait to watch my boys run and get dirty and leave the tub ringed with scum each night. Cannot wait to sit with my parents and just be.

6. I have, lately, felt myself somewhat stifled by shoulds and perceived expectations. No more. I am who I am, folks, and I'll write and be what and who I want. Shoulds are a bully, as are living for other's needs, expectations, or hopes. Compromise is grand. Muzzling yourself and others is not. 

7. Two photos that make me happy:

In the news and why we MUST resist

I am not feeling hopeful about America right now, and frankly, I don't think you should be either. The news from the Evil Yam's dictatorly abode is getting worse and worse. Some recent developments:

Assaults on the media and freedom of the press:
CNN, The New York Times, The LA Times, and Politico, among others, were blocked from the White House press meeting. BLOCKED. This is unprecedented behavior from an American presidential administration. Indeed, just this past December (yes, the one just three months ago), Sean Spicer, WH Press Secretary said, "open access for the media is 'what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship.'" It seems the latter shoe is starting to fit quite comfortably.
-Meanwhile, a Chicago affiliate of ABC suspended an anchor for tweeting several anti-Trump sentiments. Speech seems to be becoming less free, eh?

Hate crimes and bigotry:
On Friday, two Indian-American men were shot, one of them killed, in Kansas by a white American who had been kicked out of the bar in which they all relaxed for such egregious racial slurs that other patrons complained. After leaving, he returned and fired on the men. It is being investigated as a premeditated hate crime. You think? Trump has made no statement about this event.
You probably also saw the horrific vandalization of a Jewish cemetery, Chesed Shel Emeth, in St. Louis, MO. Trump only made a statement denouncing this heinous act when asked directly about it by a journalist.
Trump is also still working on instating a travel ban despite not one reliable news or security source suggesting that such a ban is reasonable or is called for in any way. Homeland Security issued the article I link to.
Hate is becoming policy.

The roundups and threats of and actual deportations continue. Interestingly and concurrently, Trump rescinded "an Obama admin directive that would have ended the government's association with private prisons." As do many who have studied the systemically racist, enormously overpopulated, failing criminal justice system, Obama believed private prisons were "neither safe nor cost effective." But with Trump's deportation plans "comes the possibility of millions of illegal immigrants who will need to be detained somewhere" prior to their ouster. And it turns out according to USA TODAY, the private prison industry has already said thank you to Donald Trump.

After tweeting a promise to the LGBTQ community in June of 2016 to fight for them and their rights, Trump last week, with the support of newly installed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, rescinded an Obama directive aimed at protecting LGBTQ students in schools by tossing the decision to do so back to the states. As do I, many LGBTQ advocates believe desperately that federal protections are critically important to supersede the possible (likely; see North Carolina, for example) bigotry of state governments. 

Who's really running the show?:
Scary white supremacist WH Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, emerged from the shadows of evil last week to deliver a forceful speech on plans to "deconstruct the administrative state" and "upend the world order." This included massive, sustained attacks on the media (see point 1, above). “Every day, it is going to be a fight.” Bannon remains on the National Security Council, also unprecedented. 

Trump's lies:
On February 21, Washington Post reporter, Chris Cilizza, published a well-documented piece showing that not once for the 33 days since his inauguration has Trump gone a day without lying. Some days those lies number one or two while other days the fib tally climbs to 7 or more.

Russia:
And meanwhile, Trump's (and his team's) relationships and involvement with Russia prior to the election and since remains exceptionally murky and unknown. Now, the Trump administration "has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, a politically charged issue that has been under investigation by the FBI as well as lawmakers now defending the White House."

Two-protest Monday, the real meaning of our flag, democracy in action

I am starting to believe that investing heavily in foam core and Sharpie Magnums is not an unwise long-term investment strategy. 

After a school meeting, necessary workout so as to combat near-freaking out, several must-happen errands, and carpool runs, I had just enough time to make a double-sided flip sign before heading off to the two protests I wanted to attend tonight.

The first was to protest the most ignorant Secretary of Education nominee ever: the Kingdom of Heaven billionaire with zero real experience in education other than defunding public schools for no good reason, Betsy DeVos.

Lamar Alexander, the mealy-mouthed "head" of DeVos' confirmation hearing was, this afternoon, addressing the National School Boards Association annual meeting here in DC. I cannot imagine that the other speaker, the illustrious Doris Kearns Goodwin, felt awesome about Lamar following her, but perhaps she didn't much care.

If the support we received from NSBA attendees was any indication, DeVos has zero support from within their ranks and maybe Lamar should have done some good listening. But I doubt it. Not even kidding, they were pouring out of the Marriott to come and high-five us, take selfies, dance with our cheers, and even lead our cheers. The Michigan delegation loudly told us that for their public education system, "DeVos has been a nuclear bomb. A NUCLEAR BOMB."

This should come as no surprise to anyone who watched any bit of DeVos' confirmation hearing and/or who actually knows anything about American public education. It should make all congressional votes run for the Hills of No, but we heard tonight via a woman who'd met with Senator Kaine that he expected a straight party-line vote. Great. Said no one.

After that protest wrapped, I inverted my sign and asked two young spitfires if I could tag along with them to the Supreme Court as we all planned to attend the Senate Democrats press conference and vigil against Trump's heinous #MuslimBan. There I planned to try and meet up with my friend, Mina. And there I happened to run into my cousin via marriage, Sonia. So cool!

Mina and I did meet up, and we were both very pleased by the size of the crowd. Mina said it compared to that protesting at the White House yesterday. Good! Because this ridiculous ban on Muslims from only some countries is OFFENSIVE beyond belief. 

That's me.

Tonight, Senators Bernie, Elizabeth, Nancy, Al, and Tim all addressed us from the Court's grand steps. And Senator Leahy walked right past me and said "Thank you for being here." He's much taller in real life than I expected, more robust too, but still with those kind, smart eyes and recognizable face. 

All of chanted and cheered. Everyone was so kind and just brimming with solidarity. I was wearing that flag because some guy walking towards the SC with us kept dropping a giant box, and the two young spitfires and I asked if he needed help with it, and he said "No, but do you know what this box is full of?" 

"No," we said, "What?"

"American flags," he said. "They keep trying to say they are America, that they're going to make America great. But WE are America, and we are what makes it great, and we need to wear these flags proudly and show what the truth of America is."

That's one of the spitfires I met, in front of the Capitol. I love this pic!

And he was right. I have become viscerally opposed to flag pins in recent years. They make me want to gag because too often they're worn, with fake and sycophantic reason, by people who use what the flag truly represents to mask all that they don't. They've taken a real symbol of patriotism and bastardized it. 

But this guy helped me think differently. About reclaiming our stars and stripes. I am thankful for that and to him and his generosity. So hey, if you're going to a protest, please, honor this real patriot and buy an extra flag and give it out to someone just because.

It was another special night of coming together, one I needed desperately because earlier today I felt more worried than I have yet. 

Tonight, as strangers, friends, senators, and even some children sang "This land is my land, this land is your land" together, I took a snapshot and plugged it away inside my mental reservoir. This is what is at stake, and this is what we're fighting for.

Uploaded by Emily Grossi on 2017-01-31.