A Ride in Donald Trump's Limosine | Ecotrain Question of the Week
Why and how did Donald Trump rise to power and do you think his tenure can help the world if you ignore the obvious negatives?
Early this morning in the dreamtime I was standing on a sidewalk as the Presidential limo pulled up to the curb. I was in a group of a few others and the driver opened the door and there sat The Donald. He waved toward us, encouraging us to come into the limo. Of course I didn't believe I was the one being asked in. I have great distaste for Trump and don't fit into his groupies. A few of us were holding brown paper sacks and as he kept pointing at us and waving, I finally did the whole, who me? (points at self) and was told, Yes! you with the paper bag.
sourceFor some reason, in this dream, I got in the limo and was seated in a group of less than 10 people. I noticed a subtle shift in my behavior as I nearly immediately started acting and "playing it safe."
sourceThis question asks us to "put aside" Trump's "obvious negatives" and speak to how his tenure can help the world. As a woman, I can't put aside his obvious negatives because the presence of powerful men like this in the world, lifted to the highest reaches of public power, their voices elevated and given the highest priority, are in fact a threat to my wellbeing and safety, and that of many others.
Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
Bush: Whatever you want.
Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.
Trump talking with Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood"
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Each time I encounter Trump's words or face, his very being, my stomach lurches and twists.
In fact I'm writing this article with this knot in my stomach. Trump represents to me the "Old Guard" of the Patriarchy, that dying beast in death throes currently as we birth a world of that values diversity and care for the earth.
Trump, a billionaire not because of his own actions (in fact, if he would've left his assets gifted from his bloodline alone he would have much more money than he has now proving that in fact he is not a lucrative businessman as he has conned many into believing), throws his weight around and acts like a mega-bully while lying, gaslighting and diversions. He's playing a massive game with the populace and it's incredible to me that people still support him! It's beyond offensive that someone like this is parading, late-night Tweeting around the world picking fights -- and has the title of US president?!--, but beyond offensive, his bullying is actually encouraging violence against people of color and immigrants throughout the world.
Trump has given a voice and space for bigots & Nationalists to act on their racist hatred.
Hate crimes have in fact risen since his tenure. And his bigotry has normalized prejudice in the minds of many biased & narrow-minded Americans.
Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference Education Fund, says it well:
"I think President Trump's rhetoric has given perhaps a new legitimacy to some who feel they can express attitudes which had once been discredited, but now seem again permissible."
Through championing the building of a wall along the US border with Mexico and fueling that by saying that Mexicans are rapists to calling for a Muslim travel ban (because all Muslims are prone to being terrorists), Trump has accelerated racial tensions in America and brought it out of the woodwork. source
He also has done nothing but put "The Swamp" he wanted to drain into the cabinet.
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This is a Plutocratic Aristocratic Oligarchy! How are people still fooled into thinking he is working "for us"? Do you see us represented??
Out of the Woodwork
None of this is new in the United States.
Since 9/11, there has been a stew set at a low simmer of racial tension. The fact that someone like Trump made it to office on a hot bed of inflammatory, bigoted and hateful division speaks to the American populace more than it does to Trump.
This has brought the anti-diversity Nationalism of the people of the USA out of the woodwork, so to say.
He is calling a spade a spade (which many of his supporters love him for) and championing it across a worldwide stage.
He would have no platform if these sentiments weren't seething through the United States.
After the tenure of our first black American President, fueled with a fed-upness for politics as usual and increasing downturns in the US economy, it's my belief that the racial & economic tension across the United States is finding voice through Trump. What has remained unspeakable except behind closed doors or in people's minds, he has brought to the largest platform.
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What has existed in the hearts and minds of Americans, he has manifested and given voice to. The ownership of women's bodies, including daughters, which is an offshoot of Patriarchy, Trump is living out loud and large. He is unedited and he is the signpost of what I as a woman want to see over and done with throughout the world.
Fuel for the Fire
The feeling I get in my stomach when I see Trump is fuel to my fire to continue working for racial justice and equality, for women's voices and for the safety of our bodies.
I grew up in Indianapolis, the seat of Mike Pence's office as Governor of Indiana. Not only this, but I went to the Elite Christian High School where a lot of the Republican Christian Lawmakers and Office-holders send their kids. I know this particular brand of Christianity that is now having a large sway in the White House in regards to Abortion laws, Gay Rights, Funding for Abstinence-only education or coverage of contraceptives on insurance plans (where Viagra is still covered), and attacks on Planned Parenthood, a huge practical and educational resource for women. Women's reproductive rights have stalled under Trump/Pence and the US remains the only developed country with no paid Maternity leave.
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Women's bodies are not their own within these lines of thinking and their bodies are not safe. It is no coincidence, then, that among Evangelical Christians a leading disease for young girls is anorexia and bulimia. In fact, this is a rampant wildfire of a disease in these circles. Spiritually and emotionally, I see this correlation as a result of the anti-sex doctrines taught in many churches combined with the lack of control or grounding women are given over their own bodies.
Because of my upbringing, I can understand this type of antiquated Christian thinking and it's really scary for me to see it making laws and having a platform in the White House.
For me and many people who aren't Patriarchal males or women who derive their power from playing into white cis-male patriarchy (a quick look at Ivanka- pretty "good daughter", Melania silent, pretty "good wife" or Kelly Conway blonde thin bulldog voice for the Patriarchy- can give the archetypes here), his tenure has added fuel to our fires to take a stand and fight against the death throes of these particular brands of bullying and competitive control-over.
This is the only way I see his tenure helping the world- through strengthening his opponents and fanning the flames which fuel positive solutions in our world
The hope lies in getting this stuff out of the woodwork, identifying it, bringing it to light and seeing it. Having half of America harboring racist or misogynistic thoughts (and yes women can harbor them as well) is not going to go away if it stays in the dark. I think it's for the best that it's getting all out there now.
#Resistance
Whether it's in thousands of protestors rise up against the Children sitting at the border in cages...
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And against the hatred against Muslims he has stirred up...
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Or the thousands of women's groups taking a stand for women's voices & rights through Women's Marches, organizing grassroots movements, and all of the women taking a stand.
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Or with the March for Science and others who are speaking out against Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement and his words as a climate change denier.
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Resistance is Fertile!
The only way out of this mess is through it. While Trump needs to be impeached for a plethora of crimes, in the meantime we need to have the hard dialogues with people who are Trump supporters. These lines of thinking aren't going away and in fact they are held by family members, neighbors, and coworkers in a town near you!
In that limo ride with Trump, I realized I started to slip back into the good pretty daughter role the Patriarchy tried to sculpt me for, one in which I remain its silent and pretty tool.
One thing is for certain though, I have a voice and I'm using it.
I'm no good daughter of the Patriarchy. And if you try to grab my pussy,
Great post Wren, I can so feel the passion and fire in this post and thank you for getting so much info in here about the true Trump, I have never liked Trump and couldn't understand how he got in to office really, but then what were the options and I feel like elections are really just put on to make people feel they have some power over electing the government. And does it really matter who is in office! At the end of the day he has made a lot of people stand up and use their voices and that is a positive, politics is really not my forte as I have absolutely no faith in any one involved in it, it is good to know what is happening for sure, but TRUMP well he is a show man and he sure is putting on a show for all right now.
thank you dear.
i totally agree with you. i don't hold much weight in political elections. i did have hope for Bernie, as he was a candidate i could get behind and truly felt, but politics as usual... is what we usually see.
definitely he is putting on a show... more than that though, and what i tried to elucidate through this article is that his hate speech is literally making america a less safe space for people. that definitely makes a difference. most politicians are all the same, but he's crossing so many boundaries, it's just crazy....
thank you for taking the time to answer this question so darn well.. I really do respect the notion that 'ignorning the obvious negative' is not an option for you.. and did hope one of us would take issue with the question itself..
with that said, you really nailed it .. and i do basically agree.. It is SUCH a rabbit hole, and so im going to refrain for explaining why 'draining the swap' is not so clearly identified.. because on the surface his cabinet do look like monsters from the lagoon.. but in fact they are not quite the same kind of monster as a banker.. anyways.. now im explaining myself already! /<xx Good one!!
We say often that we are glad we don't live in America and we have said it even more since Trump. I still think that fire tempers and something will be born out of the ashes of Trumps presidency and there are many voices that are very loud and clear amongst this so I hope for your sake, and the sake of all in America, that he is impeached. I love everything you say here and I'm sorry I can't engage with this more, it's just I have the luxury of turning that fucker way down, all the way here in Australia, and we just have white Australian male racist misogyny to deal with here, so there's that! But it's so much less OVERT than your guy, which can be even more dangerous. At least you have voices calling it out. Thanks for this response....
trump won because people did not like the status quo of bankers running the goverment aka goldman sachs yet he has a ton of goldman sachs guys. They have been the biggest campaign funder for the likes of Bush and Obama and Clinton.
yep that's certainly one reason
Nice expression of Trump derangement syndrome. You target him by misrepresenting his words and ignoring his actions. Try censoring rational thought on this platform.
nice lack of argument/comment or anything to warrant the fact that you downvoted the other comments on this thread. it's pretty hard to misrepresent a buffoon whose words and actions speak for themselves.
too bad the post you made two days ago got no comments and only 3 cents. maybe i should take the stake i have earned by constant posting here and downvote it back down to zero where it belongs, but you're not worth any more of my time and certainly not my voting power. also i wont do that because you don't downvote just because you disagree with someone or want to censor them. welcome to steem- it's obviously you who is trying to censor rational thought on this platform. now get off my page.
HAHA, I just LOVE your way with words @mountainjewel, this is obviously someone who is still very much at home in the world of Facebook and hasn't got a clue what Steemit is all about. <3
thank you sweetheart XO
You suggest that I don’t know what steem is about. My flag means many things; not just that I don’t agree with the statements posted. Least of which is censorship; while you tell me to leave the public square. Flags will bring this system to heel by redistributing your power over time. I am not here to make a ton of money just to help others find their voice and surpass the censorship you claim doesn’t exist. Many more conservative leaning liberty loving people will be joining in the coming days as they look for new homes outside of the FAANG gulags. A difference of opinion is a reason for a down vote. The first rule of down voting is to down vote if you disagree with rewards. Steem and steemit are supposed to curate solid, comprehensive, progressive, and healthy thought. That includes down voting posts such as yours that just put up what someone said out of context while avoiding high economic numbers and other indicators of success. Sure the bubble will pop very soon and you have already blamed our current economic situation on the current POTUS without a hair's breadth of thought as to how we arrived in this situation. http://trump.news Please keep throwing policies of previous administrations out as supporting argument and I'll keep pointing out that Obama banned his own people!
Your point of view already has control of the internet gulags. (FAANGS) How can I be at home on Facebook or any of the other fake FAANGS? My point of view was removed for being more correct. That right they are allowed to do that because they are private while they can’t be sued because they are public squares. Which is it? Doublespeak is so easy to find these days yet hard to understand.
Hate speech is nothing more than what you feel like on a given day that contradicts your narrative. Who is the judge? Free speech is to protect disagreeable speech. So much for your liberalism it was lost in the fascism. You should just put on a black mask and join the other anti first amendment trolls (Antifa).
Your whole post is full of Trump derangement syndrome. It says nothing about actions. Only the fact that he is spitting words out to make you go crazy with contempt in yourself. I am not here to defend him just to point out your derangement syndrome and how your source links are just linked to more memes.
So instead of answering my argument you just call out the fact that my post didn’t receive any votes. It probably didn’t receive any votes because I didn’t spend my whole week looking up garbage democrat talking points to use against the non politician calling from their playbook. Why are you even here to build? You make fun of my low rewards as if that is all there is to this platform. Can you even spell blockchain? Do you know anything about public decentralized ledger technology does? Your point of view already has control of the internet gulags. You think I care if you take away my three cents on one author post that I made? I already staked my value elsewhere that will allow it to grow without the threat of confusion put forth by the so called progressive people of this lost world. It is only progressive if it fits your idea of perfection that will never be obtained in this dimension. Welcome to the @informationwar. It is afterall the third world war.
PS Climate change is happening. Not caused by a life giving gas. Why don’t you publish the fake data? http://climate.news
Hello @mountainjewel, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!