President Obama, please honor Secretary Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton, DNC 2016 - Thursday

An open letter to President Obama:

 

Dear Mr. President,

We, the management team of Face Activities, thank you for your years of patriotic, dedicated and intelligent service to the United States. We are writing respectfully to ask that, in the final days of your administration, you publicly thank and honor another patriotic American, who has worked tirelessly over the course of a life time, in your administration as well as before, in order to serve the country and help ordinary folks live better lives—-former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

As your Secretary of State, as a Senator from New York, as First Lady under William Jefferson Clinton’s administration, and during her years as a lawyer and activist, we believe Secretary Clinton exemplifies the best values and traditions of a public servant. Her tireless work to help women and children, and promote civil rights and justice, cry out for recognition.

We are sad to recall how unfairly she was treated in the recent election, a hapless victim of fake news and declining standards in public discourse, and a general decline in critical thinking standards. We hope you can uplift her legacy, reminding the American People, and the world, of her many strengths, and important contributions, and good character.

Yesterday was a wonderful day, when you honored Vice President Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his dedication and contributions to our society. We hope that there is some way, at your discretion, to honor and praise Hillary Clinton for her years of assiduous and devoted service to the people.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your time. We wish you and your family well in your new adventure, returning to civilian life.

Sincerely,

The management team of Face Activities

President Elect Trump concedes Russians were likely behind hacking

President Elect Trump concedes Russians were likely behind hacking

During his first Press Conference, and in a major break with his statements to date, President Elect Donald Trump finally acknowledged that Russia was probably behind the hacks that exposed Democratic National Committee e-mails unfavorable to Hillary Clinton during the Presidential election. Until now, the President Elect has resisted the widely accepted assertion that Vladimir Putin’s Russia was responsible for the security breach.

However, the President Elect refused to accept the notion that the e-mail hacks were perpetrated to help him win the election, or more accurately, in order to help defeat Hillary Clinton, whom Vladimir Putin reviles. To lend support to his claim, Trump insisted that the hackers also attacked the RNC, but their superior cyber security defenses prevented Republican e-mails from falling into unfriendly hands. It’s unclear where the President Elect got that information, which appears to contradict the consensus of the intelligence community on the matter.

President Elect Trump also rejected as “phony” reports that Russian operatives have collected information that could prove compromising to him. The story was called a “witch hunt” by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Buzz Feed, a hugely popular social media service, posted a story with unconfirmed reports that the alleged information collected by the Russian operatives was quite lurid in nature. President Elect Trump replied that this kind of accusation was something that would have happened in Nazi Germany, which in turn sparked criticism by those who felt the comparison trivialized the countless horrors of the Nazi regime.

It’s clear that Donald Trump started his first press conference with a bang. The affair was long on drama, conflict, and showmanship, but short on substance. It’s worrisome to note that this is a well established trend from the volatile campaign months of 2016, which does not seem to be reversing as the President Elect moves closer to assuming office.

Learn more about President Elect’s Russian hacking statements (CNN)

 

Photo: By Michael VadonDonald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Petition to STOP TRUMP

Petition to STOP TRUMP

The following is a change.org petition for our members review and consider, urging the voters of the electoral college to stop Donald Trump. Please take a look:

 

 

In 48 Hours, We Gather in State Capitals to STOP TRUMP

Daniel Brezenoff
CA
DEC 17, 2016 — We’ve almost reached the moment of truth. Electors vote Monday and we need you there in state capitals, calling on them to stop Donald Trump.

Today, let everyone know you are coming by joining the December 19 Facebook event. Then share it, and invite everyone you know:

https://www.facebook.com/events/219210221855920/

There are events happening in all 50 states, but please try to a state where the Republicans hold the Electors. Please remember these are nonviolent actions and everyone attending is asked to be peaceful and exercise lawful free speech. Also, it will probably be cold, so dress for winter!

We have momentum, we have unity, and we have the biggest petition in history behind us. Now it’s time to stand up and STOP TRUMP.

Vladimir Putin’s e-mail hacks: have the Democrats become soft?

Vladimir Putin's e-mail hacks: have the Democrats become soft?

Based on evidence from the CIA and other important intelligence agencies, the Russians interfered with the 2016 Presidential Election, by way of an extensive e-mail hacking scheme. It’s important to note that these intelligence services are the most important and accurate sources of information for critical decision making in the U.S. government, with extensive networks of experts gathering and analyzing data.

Clearly the Russians wanted to make sure Donald Trump was elected, and Hillary Clinton was not. Intelligence experts believe two Kremlin-affiliated groups, operating independently, were responsible for the hacks, one from Russian Military Intelligence, and the other from the FSB Spy Agency. And Vladimir Putin appears to have been involved with the schemes.

The Russian leader has great enmity for Hillary Clinton, going back over four years. He believes she was responsible for a wave of protests in 2011 and 2012, when Putin ran for a third Presidential term. He believes that the protesters were paid by Clinton, who was still Secretary of State in President Obama’s administration, in an attempt to meddle with the Russian election. So the 2016 election hacks were essentially payback for Clinton, from Putin’s point of view. Putin was basically taking revenge.

In contrast, Putin’s view of Trump is much more favorable. He’s viewed as a fresh face, sans baggage, and a deal-maker with whom he can negotiate, not as an ideological hard-liner, and personal enemy, like Clinton. And Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson (President and CEO of Exxon Mobil) sits well with Putin, who has negotiated many favorable deals with Tillerson for the drilling of fossil fuels.

Tillerson is quite close to Putin, and the Russian government even awarded him the country’s Friendship Decoration in 2012. Clearly the Trump administration is poised to do a lot of business with Russia in the energy markets over the next four or more years. And so, in addition to a great deal of personal bad blood between Hillary Clinton and Vladimir Putin, Russia has some pretty clear economic interests at stake, making it logical for the Russian government to prefer a Trump victory in the U.S. Presidential election.

So at this point we must ask, what’s wrong with the U.S., what’s wrong with American Citizens, and what on earth is wrong with the Democratic Party? We have clear evidence, from top intelligence services, particularly the CIA, that Vladimir Putin’s Russia hacked the U.S., and conspired to influence the election in favor of Donald Trump, who in fact ended up the actual winner.

In other words, a foreign power put its thumb on the scale of our election process, and was rewarded with exactly what it wanted! This is obviously an outrage, but nonetheless, many stand by passively. Where’s the outcry? Where’s the fiery concern for democracy and the sacred inviolability of the vote? Americans, and America’s Democrats in particular, need to stand up and be counted. They simply can’t allow this to pass.

For 70 years the preeminent power in the world has been the United States. Is that now changing? Was our 2016 election actually Russia’s great moment of triumph, its ascendancy to influence on the world’s stage, following it’s time in the doldrums of power after the collapse of the old Soviet Union? Has Russia finally outplayed the United States?

So what should we do in response to the hacking scandal? Surely something. Not simply—-nothing. Should we delay the Electoral College vote by a week or more, to help figure this mess out? Maybe. Should we declare the election results null and void, due to foreign interference, and run a new election? Probably. Are the American People and the Democratic Party so soft, so disinterested and sheep-like, that they…that WE… simply let this outrage pass? Shouldn’t we, for the love of our country, freedom and democracy, take this terrible revelation as a chance, and a reason, to take decisive action, and start over again?

 

Photo: By DonkeyHoteyVladimir Putin carrying his buddy Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

 

Petition – Electoral College: Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19

Petition - Electoral College: Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19

The management team of Face Activities would like our readers who voted in the U.S. Presidential Election to read this petition. Are you concerned that candidates, like Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, who clearly win the popular vote, lose Presidential Elections because they don’t win the Electoral College? If this seems unfair to you, and are interested in a clearer, more direct way to elect Presidents, then please consider this petition.

 

“On December 19, the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, they can vote for Hillary Clinton if they choose. Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine – which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!

We are calling on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton. Why?…”

Read and Consider Signing this Petition (Change.org)

Donald Trump Exceeds Expectations

Donald Trump Exceeds Expectations

So far the election has progressed in a very surprising and historic way. CNN’s Anderson Cooper has called it one of the most momentous elections in modern American political history. Donald Trump has far exceeded expectations. He’s currently well ahead of Hillary Clinton. He may very well take the White House. But even if he doesn’t, his performance has solidified his role as the leader of a political and social movement with strong grass roots support.

A great many Americans are tired of Washington and politics as usual, as they see it, which in the minds of many is synonymous with Hillary Clinton, former Senator, Secretary of State, and First Lady. There is a great deal of fear and pain in the United States. Many ordinary Americans, white and black alike, struggle economically, even though the economy has recovered from the brink over the last eight years, under President Obama’s Administration. Donald Trump’s candidacy has, to a surprisingly strong degree, empowered these angry, downtrodden people. They see in Donald Trump a “tell it like it is” savior, rather than an uncouth character. And the pundits and big data analysts didn’t see this coming. The experts predicted a Clinton landslide. This was clearly not the case.

It’s also very telling that the majority of Trump voters are white, working class people, particularly men, without college educations. This demographic group has suffered economically, as other groups have, and generally doesn’t trust its government, particularly the Federal Government in Washington. More and more they’ve felt ignored and left behind, underserved by impotent governmental institutions they feel don’t look out for their best interests.

The rhetoric of the demographic party is very inclusive, but tends to emphasize the plight of women and people of color, perhaps overlooking the pain of those who don’t fit into these categories. Donald Trump has, it seems, picked up the slack left by the Democrats among white working class people who struggle, and fear for their futures. This may account for much of his surprising success.

To be sure, there’s an obvious dark side to Trump’s success. He’s been accused of bigotry, racism and hate mongering, along with some of his followers. He’s stirred up fears of Muslims, and Mexican immigrants, and his misogyny is well documented. Though this is reprehensible to many, particularly to university educated people, it often strikes a chord with the common man, who senses dangers from abroad, and the unknown, and fears the very changes happening in our society that the educated have learned to embrace.

If Donald Trump wins, then he must make an effort to reach out to the groups he has maligned. After the inevitable end zone dance with his conservative, largely white male base, he must reaffirm to women and minority groups, including American muslims, that he is their President too—-a President for all the people.

In addition to a very possible Trump victory, it appears that the republicans will maintain a stronghold on both houses of congress. If so, he will have the power to effect change on a scale we haven’t seen in many years. He could rework the Supreme Court in a conservative image, and pass legislation favorable to big business and the fossil fuel industry, perhaps at the expense of civil rights, and the environment.

Climate change is a very serious issue, and the science behind it is now well documented, but Donald Trump rejects the danger, along with many republicans. This will have serious implications for life on earth (scientists have confirmed we are in the midsts of a mass extinction, and the ability to grow our crops world-wide may be adversely affected as climate change continues to progress.

But this doesn’t matter to many Trump voters, whose immediate economic problems, and fears regarding safety and security, outweigh these broader concerns. For the democrats to win back power, they must seriously address the grass roots economic and social problems of the common man, not just dismiss them in favor of grander issues. Only then can they hope to consolidate their power enough to solve longer-term problems, like climate change.

1 2 3 4