USA under presidency of a know-nothing, neo-fascist, racist, sexist, mobbed-up narcissist!!

[Peter Lemkin]

Worldwide, 4.600.000 people, mostly women, turned out to protest against Trumpf, hate, and fascism rising in the USA*. Most of this was in the US - but in over 600 foreign cities and towns, as well. Not a bad start for a movement. Of course, many of these people naively believe that the Democrats would be the 'answer'. I do not, not unless it were a completely remade party - which I don't believe will ever happen. However, all hope is not lost. About half of the people who came out in the USA said they had NEVER been to a political demonstration before! I hope many were further radicalized, and will take part where they live in turning things around!
However, I expect horrendous repression to come down fast and hard on all such efforts moving forward - and a lot of the opposition to Trumpf and his policies will find themselves spied on, infiltrated, loosing their jobs, incarcerated, and some sadly even loosing their lives. The stakes now are incredibly high. While neo-liberal policies and neo-fascism has been with us a long time and growing in strength, this is a quantum leap toward repression and full-blown fascism and an overt police state (even if we've long had a crypto one), and it must be vigorously confronted head on or all soon could be lost - and the consequences will not just be in the US!

*In Washington D.C. alone, the number marching against Trumpf were 3x those who came to his inauguration!

[Peter Lemkin]

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgm_IVvKIwo&feature=iv&src_vid=pqXNEWvILDg &annotation_id=channel%3A571a5ee8-0000-25bf-94c0-94eb2c060c84[/video]

[Peter Lemkin]

Just two days after millions of people poured into the streets of Washington, D.C., and cities around the world for the historic Women's March on Washington, President Trump has reinstated the controversial global gag rule, which women's rights advocates fear will increase unsafe abortions around the world. The policy originated during the Reagan era, and it bans U.S. funding for any international healthcare organization that performs abortion or advocates for the legalization of abortion or even mentions abortion, even if those activities are funded by non-U.S. money. Trump signed the order surrounded by seven other men. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was questioned about the move on Monday.

REPORTER: Of all the policy or actions that the president could have taken today, he chose to reinstate the Mexico City Policy. What message is he sending here? Does he see the elimination, reduction of abortions as an American value? And also, here at home, can pro-life Americans expect him to put his signature on legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood?

PRESS SECRETARY SEAN SPICER: Well, I think the president, it's no secret, has made himselfmade it very clear that he's a pro-life president. He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn. And I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value, but respects taxpayer funding, as well, and ensures that we're standing up not just for life, for life of the unborn, but for also taxpayer funds that are being spent overseas to perform an action that is contrary to the values of this president, and, I think, continue to further illustrate, not just to the folks here in this country, but around the world, of what a value we place on life.

AMY GOODMAN: The global gag rule is seen by many as a major global barrier to access to crucial women's health services. In this animated video, the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, explains how the policy works.

CECILE RICHARDS: This rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy, was first put in place three decades ago by President Reagan. Current U.S. policy already restricts organizations from using U.S. funds to pay for abortions. But the gag rule goes even further, by dictating what they can do with their own money. This means that if a clinic receives even $1 of U.S. foreign assistance for family planning, its doctors and nurses are limited in what they can do to help their patients. They can't counsel a woman on the full range of health options legally available to her, refer her to another provider for specialized care or even give her a pamphlet with medically accurate information. That's why we call it the global gag rule, because it prevents doctors from talking to their patients and providing services that are legal in their own countriesand in the U.S.and it keeps people from participating in the democratic process of their own countries. This means clinics closing their doors, more unintended pregnancies and more unsafe abortion

AMY GOODMAN: The pro-choice group NARAL tweeted, "Trump's reinstatement of the global gag rule officially turns his anti-woman, anti-choice rhetoric into policy." Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey of New York announced they would introduce the HER Act to repeal the global gag rule.
Well, for more, we're joined by Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
DAWN LAGUENS: Good morning.
AMY GOODMAN: Dawn, welcome to Democracy Now!
DAWN LAGUENS: Thanks.
AMY GOODMAN: The significance of this gag rule? And, I mean, do you see it as retaliation for what happened two days before? You have this historic Women's March. President Trump is obsessed with numbers. The march looks like it was three times larger than his crowd for his inauguration, which seems to be his top concern right now. Is this?
DAWN LAGUENS: Well, I don't know if it's retaliation, but what I know is it is the targeting of the most vulnerable women in the whole world with a policy that is going to mean women will die because of this action. And it is outrageous, contrasted with the march, with the voices of women around the world saying that they expected more.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain exactly how this works.
DAWN LAGUENS: So, what happens isand this is a more expansive version, by the way, of the global gag rule, worse than anything that happened under Ronald Reagan, because they have extended it to apply not just to family planning funds, but $8 billion in global health aid. And what it means is, any organization that takes one of those dollars to do Zika prevention, to do HIV/AIDS counseling, to do family planning work, if they speak honestly to their clients, to their patients, about the full range of reproductive health options that are available, if they refer or advocate, or even, as you said, mention abortion, they will lose that funding and not be able to provide those other services, because, unfortunately, already abortion dollarsdollars cannot pay for abortion internationally, U.S. aid dollars.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, in the United StatesI was listening to CNN and one of the critics of Planned Parenthood, when someone said, at least in the United States, whatabortion services that are provided in the country are something like 3 percent of the services that Planned Parenthood provides at the clinics?
DAWN LAGUENS: Planned Parenthood provides a full range of reproductive health services. About 97 percent of those services are preventive health services.
AMY GOODMAN: So, he asked, "So, why do they bother providing abortion?"
DAWN LAGUENS: Well, abortion is part of the full range of women's healthcare. And it's a legal right. I think one of the things that Sean Spicer forgets when he says that they're going to export American values, an American value is access to our constitutional rights, and abortion is one of them.
AMY GOODMAN: The Guttmacher Institute recently put out informationthis, again, is in the United States, and the gag order applies internationallyput out information that abortions are at an all-time low, largely attributed to contraception. How will the global gag order affect access to contraception for women around the world?
DAWN LAGUENS: Right. Principled organizations around the world will be forced to make a choice as to whether they accept those family planning dollars that they use to provide all kinds of family planning services, if they also are going to stay true to their mission of serving women with the full range of reproductive health services, or at least informing them. I mean, in many cases, this is just about if a woman is going to ask about an abortion, that they can't refer them to someone who could provide a safe, legal abortion, but have to let them be out in the world trying to figure this out on their own. And it really is insulting to women, their intelligence and their freedom.
AMY GOODMAN: Does this go into effect immediately?
DAWN LAGUENS: Organizations are going to have to immediately decide whether they are going to sign and abide by this gag rule. Organizations like Save the Children and CARE oppose these kinds of regulations, oppose global gag rules, because they know that it hurts women. I wanted to remind people that when Barack Obama took office eight years ago and reversed the global gag rule, there were some 70,000 women a year dying from these policies being in place. That has dropped down to 20,000 now at the end of eight years. And we're just very fearful that this is going to cause that number, that loss of life, maternal mortality, to skyrocket.
AMY GOODMAN: How will this affect Planned Parenthood in particular? You have your national series of clinics around the country, network of clinics. What about internationally?
DAWN LAGUENS: We do support a lot of work internationally, and we don't take U.S. aid dollars internationally. But, of course, we're concerned about the rights and health of women across this country. And some of the same people who advocate for these policies in the global gag rule also are the people who are advocating for taking away the rights of women in America. And so, we're very concerned. And as you know, these are the same people who are trying to defund Planned Parenthood and take away access to preventive health services like family planning for millions of women in this country.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask you about the confirmation hearing that's going to happen today for Tom Price, the second one. Last week, Donald Trump's pick for the head of Health and Human Services, Georgia Congressmember Tom Price, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for his hearing. Price is the chair of the House Budget Committee, a member of the Tea Party Caucus, one of the leading opponents of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. He opposes abortion, has voted to cut all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, also supports privatizing Medicare. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington said women are deeply concerned about Price's nomination. This is Senator Murray questioning Price at last week's hearing.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: Women are really deeply concerned about the impact this election could have on their access to healthcare that they need. I have heard from many of them. And according to Planned Parenthood, demand for IUDs, which is a form of long-lasting contraception, is up 900 percent since the election. So I want to ask you: Will you commit to ensuring all 18 FDA-approved methods of contraception continue to be covered, so that women do not have to go back to paying extra costs for birth control?

REP. TOM PRICE: What I will commit to and assure is that women and all Americans need to know that we believe strongly that every single American ought to have access to the kind of coverage and care that they desire and want.

AMY GOODMAN: That's Congressman Price. His second confirmation hearing will take place today. Dawn Laguens?
DAWN LAGUENS: Well, very concerned, obviously, about the history of Tom Price, as you have mentioned65 times voted against the Affordable Care Act, has been a leader in the defunding and fight against Planned Parenthood services, and, as you heard him, will not commit to protecting the preventive health services benefit. And we hear a lot about the 20 million people who may lose insurance coverage. We don't hear very much about the 55 million women who are getting no-copay birth control today, saving $1.4 billion into their family budgets every year, that they are threatening. And this is going to have a big impact. I call it the mom tax. Right? They're just going to shift $1.4 billion back onto the ledgers of families in this country. And that's going to be a big shock to people. And it's going to mean a lot of people don't get the care and coverage and the birth control option that would work best for them.

[Peter Lemkin]

An Open Letter to President-Elect Trump and the 115th Congress

Scientific knowledge has played a critical role in making the United States a powerful and prosperous nation and improving the health and well-being of Americans and people around the world. From disease outbreaks to climate change to national security to technology innovation, people benefit when our nation's policies are informed by science unfettered by inappropriate political or corporate influence.
To build on this legacy and extend the benefits of science to all people, including Americans who have been left behind, the federal government must support and rely on science as a key input for crafting public policy. Policy makers and the public alike require access to high-quality scientific information to serve the public interest. There are several actions Congress and the Trump administration should take to strengthen the role that science plays in policy making.
First, creating a strong and open culture of science begins at the top. Federal agencies should be led by officials with demonstrated track records of respecting science as a critical component of decision making. Further, recognizing that diversity makes science stronger, administration officials should welcome and encourage all scientists regardless of religious background, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Second, Congress and the Trump administration should ensure our nation's bedrock public health and environmental lawssuch as the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Actretain a strong scientific foundation, and that agencies are able to freely collect and draw upon scientific data to effectively carry out statutory responsibilities established by these laws. They should also safeguard the independence of those outside the government who provide scientific advice.
Third, Congress and the Trump administration should adhere to high standards of scientific integrity and independence in responding to current and emerging public health and environmental threats. Decision makers and the public need to know what the best-available scientific evidence is, not what vested interests might wish it to be. Federally funded scientists must be able to develop and share their findings free from censorship or manipulation based on politics or ideology. These scientists should, without fear of reprisal or retaliation, have the freedom and responsibility to:

• conduct their work without political or private-sector interference
  
• candidly communicate their findings to Congress, the public, and their scientific peers
  
• publish their work and participate meaningfully in the scientific community
  
• disclose misrepresentation, censorship, and other abuses of science
  
• ensure that scientific and technical information coming from the government is accurate
  

Finally, Congress and the Trump administration should provide adequate resources to enable scientists to conduct research in the public interest and effectively and transparently carry out their agencies' missions. The consequences are real: without this investment, children will be more vulnerable to lead poisoning, more people will be exposed to unsafe drugs and medical devices, and we will be less prepared to limit the impacts of increasing extreme weather and rising seas.
These steps are necessary to create a thriving scientific enterprise that will strengthen our democracy and bring the full fruits of science to all Americans and the world. The scientific community is fully prepared to constructively engage with and closely monitor the actions of the Trump administration and Congress. We will continue to champion efforts that strengthen the role of science in policy making and stand ready to hold accountable any who might seek to undermine it.

Donald Trump Issues Media Blackout at Multiple Federal Agencies

Posted on Jan 24, 2017

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

"Americans recognize that science is critical to improving our quality of life, and when science is ignored or politically corrupted, it's the American people who suffer," said physicist Lewis Branscomb. (Eric Vance / USEPA / flickr)

Though the majority of President Donald Trump's controversial cabinet nominations have not yet been confirmed, his so-called "beachhead" teams have arrived at their respective agencies, carrying out orders that make clear that the "War on Science" has begun.
On Tuesday, BuzzFeed broke the news that scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are no longer allowed to share information about taxpayer-funded research with the public.
In an email sent Monday and obtained by the news outlet, Sharon Drumm, chief of staff for the USDA's primary in-house research arm, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), told the department: "Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents…This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content."
As BuzzFeed noted:

Though some Agricultural Research Service work touches on sensitive subjects like pesticides and genetically modified food, its research is generally less politically charged than that conducted by other agencies, especially those focused on understanding climate change, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. But under the Obama administration, the Agriculture Department funneled research money into finding ways of cutting down the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from cows.

At the same time, Trump surrogate Myron Ebell, a climate change denier who has led the transition for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has confirmed reports that the new administration has ordered a "freeze" on grants and contracts at the agencya move that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns "could seriously impede the agency's work…protect[ing] our health and the environment from pollution."
In a press statement, Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS, condemned the moves, describing the as "equally short-sighted and destructive."
"These actions don't just threaten scientiststhey threaten everyone in the country who breathes air, drinks water, and eats food," said Rosenberg. "These agency scientists carry out research in support of policies that protect our health and safety and help farmers, and it makes no sense to put up walls between them and the public, or unilaterally halt the work they do."
"That the administration has moved so quickly to clamp down on scientists shows that the Trump administration is more focused on lifting rules on polluters than keeping our air and water clean," he added.
But that's not all. It has become apparent that the Trump administration has also ordered a media blackout at the EPA, as well as at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
According to an internal EPA memo obtained by the Huffington Post, specific prohibitions include banning press releases, blog updates, new website content, or posts to the agency's social media accounts, while all external communications and speaking engagements must be approved by the president's "Beach Team."
On Tuesday, the Huffington Post reported speaking to officials from several other agencies who confirmed that a similar communication lockdown had been instituted.
HuffPost's Sam Stein and Kate Sheppard report:

Officials at sub-agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, have been told not to send "any correspondence to public officials" according to a memo shared with HuffPost. Instead, they have been asked to refer questions to agency leadership until the leadership has had time to meet with incoming White House staff about the new administration's policies and objectives, according to a congressional official who was also informed of the communications freeze.
An official with the National Institutes of Health told HuffPost after the initial publication of this piece that an email had been sent to the directors of NIH institutes and centers providing guidance from HHS on how to handle new or pending regulation, policy or guidance.
"The HHS guidance instructs HHS Operating Divisions to hold on publishing new rules or guidance in the Federal Register or other public forums and discussing them with public officials until the Administration has had an opportunity to review them," the official said.

During his press briefing Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said he needed to look further into the matter to offer a comment.
The clampdown comes amid growing concern that Trump and his appointees will suppress scientific innovation and research to advance their own ideological agenda.
More than 5,500 scientists have signed on to an open letter, sentto Trump in the days following his election, warning against the dangers of allowing "political or corporate influence" to override scientific fact.
"Americans recognize that science is critical to improving our quality of life, and when science is ignored or politically corrupted, it's the American people who suffer," said physicist Lewis Branscomb, professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, who served as vice president and chief scientist at IBM and as director of the National Bureau of Standards under President Richard Nixon.

Protesters Rally in NYC: Trump's Dakota Access Pipeline Order 'Offends the Rule of Law'

"Trump is ignoring the millions of people who vehemently oppose these projects and he does so at peril of his own legitimacy," said filmmaker and activist Josh Fox.



By Stephen Kent / AlterNet
January 24, 2017

Drums and songs during the rally in solidarity with Standing Rock and against the Dakota Access Pipe Line. Portland, OR, 9/9/2016.
Photo Credit: Diego G Diaz/Shutterstock



Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker of Gasland, including the latest film in the series, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change, weighed in today about the news that President Trump is issuing an executive order overturning the Obama administration's decisions and advancing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline. Fox will participate in a demonstration at Columbus Circle in Manhattan tonight starting at 6pm to protest the order.
"Trump is ignoring the millions of people who vehemently oppose these projects and he does so at peril of his own legitimacy," said Fox. "Trump's decree offends the rule of law. It violates tribal sovereignty, and upends the environmental review process. It flies in the face of our democratic process and contradicts the will of the American people, 80% of whom want renewable energy and 100% of whom want clean water. And it contradicts clear rulings from federal court upholding new environmental review for DAPL."
"The water protectors and the pipeline protestors aren't going to just accept Trump's tyrannical order. We're non-violent, we're strong and we will fight it effectively," said Fox, who spent several weeks at Standing Rock filming the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters. "We're a national movement now that Trump can't stop with executive orders or militarized police crackdowns. This is the kind of hijacking of the public interest we can expect from Trump, but it won't stand."
In late 2016, thousands of protesters at Standing Rock succeeded in preventing the final leg of the Dakota Access Pipeline from crossing Standing Rock Sioux lands in North Dakota and threatening the water supply by tunneling under Lake Oahe. After the Obama administration decided in December to block DAPL construction on the disputed land and restart environmental review, the protesters celebrated a victory, though they remained vigilant.
Trump's executive order is expected to rescind the new Environmental Impact Statement process that would study new routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline. That process was upheld in Federal District Court last week after a challenge from DAPL lawyers. Donald Trump has been a stockholder in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Jan Hasselman, an attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, predicted a Trump executive order overturning DAPL may not stand up in court, noting that President George W. Bush's attempts to roll back Clinton-era environmental policy measures were repeatedly challenged in federal court.

[Magda Hassan]

Donald Trump Issues Media Blackout at Multiple Federal Agencies


"Americans recognize that science is critical to improving our quality of life, and when science is ignored or politically corrupted, it's the American people who suffer," said physicist Lewis Branscomb. (Eric Vance / USEPA / flickr)

Though the majority of President Donald Trump's controversial cabinet nominations have not yet been confirmed, his so-called "beachhead" teams have arrived at their respective agencies, carrying out orders that make clear that the "War on Science" has begun.
On Tuesday, BuzzFeed broke the news that scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are no longer allowed to share information about taxpayer-funded research with the public.
In an email sent Monday and obtained by the news outlet, Sharon Drumm, chief of staff for the USDA's primary in-house research arm, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), told the department: "Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents…This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content."
As BuzzFeed noted:

Though some Agricultural Research Service work touches on sensitive subjects like pesticides and genetically modified food, its research is generally less politically charged than that conducted by other agencies, especially those focused on understanding climate change, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. But under the Obama administration, the Agriculture Department funneled research money into finding ways of cutting down the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from cows.

At the same time, Trump surrogate Myron Ebell, a climate change denier who has led the transition for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has confirmed reports that the new administration has ordered a "freeze" on grants and contracts at the agencya move that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns "could seriously impede the agency's work…protect[ing] our health and the environment from pollution."

Good luck with that Trump. There will be leaks. ::

[Peter Lemkin]

Donald Trump Issues Media Blackout at Multiple Federal Agencies


"Americans recognize that science is critical to improving our quality of life, and when science is ignored or politically corrupted, it's the American people who suffer," said physicist Lewis Branscomb. (Eric Vance / USEPA / flickr)

Though the majority of President Donald Trump's controversial cabinet nominations have not yet been confirmed, his so-called "beachhead" teams have arrived at their respective agencies, carrying out orders that make clear that the "War on Science" has begun.
On Tuesday, BuzzFeed broke the news that scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are no longer allowed to share information about taxpayer-funded research with the public.
In an email sent Monday and obtained by the news outlet, Sharon Drumm, chief of staff for the USDA's primary in-house research arm, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), told the department: "Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents…This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content."
As BuzzFeed noted:

Though some Agricultural Research Service work touches on sensitive subjects like pesticides and genetically modified food, its research is generally less politically charged than that conducted by other agencies, especially those focused on understanding climate change, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. But under the Obama administration, the Agriculture Department funneled research money into finding ways of cutting down the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from cows.

At the same time, Trump surrogate Myron Ebell, a climate change denier who has led the transition for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has confirmed reports that the new administration has ordered a "freeze" on grants and contracts at the agencya move that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns "could seriously impede the agency's work…protect[ing] our health and the environment from pollution."

Good luck with that Trump. There will be leaks. ::

Yes, there will be leaks but leakers if caught will be imprisoned, and I predict a LOT of resignations of scientists, sadly....the only way to stop this will be legal action. I think an easy case [but taking years of legal action] can be made that under current laws any non-classified research and agency programs funded by the Public [i.e. the US Treasury] must be made public. These evil idiots in the Trumpf Demolition Team however base their beliefs on fundamentalist religion and on corporatism - they will fight to the end, and for now, knowing if an Agency is doing X or Y, even what the regulations are, what they are based on, is blocked....amazing - it is like a dictatorship where the public has no right to know how and why/where their money is being spent - what the government is doing even in agriculture, environment, health, public lands, energy, etc. They are now as secret as the NSA. This is as dangerous an administration as was feared. His mantra of 'America First' can be read as 'destroy America first...the rest of the World we'll get around to next'. The whole government is slowing being cloaked in secrecy.

[Peter Lemkin]

Sales of George Orwell's dystopian drama 1984 have soared after Kellyanne Conway, adviser to the reality-TV-star-turned-president, Donald Trump, used the phrase "alternative facts" in an interview. As of Tuesday, the book was the sixth best-selling book on Amazon.
Comparisons were made with the term "newspeak" used in the 1949 novel, which was used to signal a fictional language that aims at eliminating personal thought and also "doublethink". In the book Orwell writes that it "means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them".

The connection was initially made on CNN's Reliable Sources. "Alternative facts is a George Orwell phrase," said Washington Post reporter Karen Tumulty.
Conway's use of the term was in reference to White House press secretary Sean Spicer's comments about last week's inauguration attracting "the largest audience ever". Her interview was widely criticized and she was sub-tweeted by Merriam-Webster dictionary with a definition of the word fact.
In 1984, a superstate wields extreme control over the people and persecutes any form of independent thought.

[Magda Hassan]

Plenty of people managed to live with the cognitive dissonance of the Democrats policies versus real world.

[David Guyatt]

Plenty of people managed to live with the cognitive dissonance of the Democrats policies versus real world.

Yes, that is, of course, the flaw to some of these arguments.

Here in Blighty, until relatively recent times, it was a breach of the Official Secrets Act for a civil servant to even tell someone the colour of the carpet in his office - and we still still have a closed government system as far as the dissemination of information goes -- as the recent Polaris missile test fuck up showed.

Governments hate the very concept of "open government" and transparency because it severely hinders their opportunity to rob us all blind. In fact, I would argue that government is all about robbing us blind for their own benefit and the benefit of chums and businesses too, while at the same time maintaining a "sense" of order to ensure the public don't get too uppity and bring this whole tax-payer financed shadow play crashing down.

My take is that Trump is trying to retake the foreign affairs ground away from the all conquering zealotry of the disastrous Neocons - which I'm in favour of - but at the same time his elite faction intend to plunder just as much as they can - and that his presidency will be all to do with self enrichment and greed.

In other words it's going to be business as usual, but for a different elite faction.

Will it be any different from the days of the robber barons of Vanderbilt days? This is what historian, H J Stiles, said of that period"

...visions of titanic monopolists who crushed competitors, rigged markets, and corrupted government. In their greed and power, legend has it, they held sway over a helpless democracy.

Sounds much like the past several decades to me...

[Peter Lemkin]

Plenty of people managed to live with the cognitive dissonance of the Democrats policies versus real world.

That is absolutely true - that the Democrats have never much been in touch with the real World; however, Trumpf is a few orders of power further divorced from reality/truth/science and much, MUCH more malevolent. Anyone who thinks this is just 'red' version of 'blue' Oligarchy is going to be SADLY mistaken. This is a full blown fascist coup d'etat on the USA. The Democrats were bad, but Trump [who really is not a Republican and only wore their crest as a fig-leaf to get elected - he was not long ago a registered Democrat all of his life] is something other - a political/social cancer of the malignant type.