Why We Should Care About Trump's Tweets.

Kellyanne  Conway asked reporters, "Why do you care?" when asked about President-elect Trump's tweets scolding the cast of Hamilton. “In other words, who is to say that he can't do that, make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet and making a comment and still be the president-elect?” she continued. 

Trump posted several tweets on the subject. 
 Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

5:56 AM - 19 Nov 2016

He also claimed the cast had "harassed" Pence, though the Veep- elect said he wasn't offended. The cast spoke from the stage, saying “we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir.”

Conway's defensiveness on the issue is notable. She accused the reporter of "assigning malice and wrongdoing to him where it doesn't exist," and attempted to deflect the question by saying that Trump's 100-day agenda was more important. More on that exchange can be found here.

So here's my explanation as to why we SHOULD care.

1. Trump thought it was important enough to post on a public forum, and Twitter is currently the only news we are receiving directly from Mr. Trump. Asking about his opinions is not only valid, but essential to our understanding of the man who holds power over our future.

2. Trump didn't tweet about his first 100 days, leading us to wonder why he's more concerned about lashing out at people with a different opinion than laying out his agenda.

3. He demanded an apology for rudeness, which is one of the most hypocritical things he could do. 

4. Trump exaggerated the offense that wasn't even offensive, and there's a name for this: gaslighting. His behaviors frequently fit the patterns of emotional abuse, and this should not be ignored. This is how domestic abusers talk about the women they batter. 

5. It makes us wonder if Trump will complain EVERY time someone uses free speech to an end with which Trump disagrees, or if he may take a harsher tactic once he is in power. This is truly terrifying. 

6. He's twisting the truth again. Hamilton's cast tried to be polite, even calling Pence "sir," but it doesn't fit Trump's petulant narrative of how "very rude" the whole world is to him, so he "rebranded" it as "harassment." His spreading of misinformation and closing out the press mirror famous grabs for power, and now nothing the state-owned media of Russia says can be trusted. Freedom of the Press and Speech are essential to an informed democracy. 

7. We have been warned about Trump's love for revenge, and though he may candy-coat it with victim-blaming, unleashing his Twitter followers is a classic Trump move to make sure the people he disagrees with truly are harassed. He destroys people financially and socially all the time, and it often starts with a tweet. Will he up the ante as President? Who is next?

8. Has Conway seriously never heard of Orwell's 1984? 

An open letter to President Obama on marijuana legalization

Dear Mr. President Obama,

I recently signed a petition regarding the acting DEA chief, which has since gathered over 125,000 signatures as of this writing, and have been eagarly awaiting a response from the White House. I hope your delayed response is due to deep consideration on the matter.

 I have decided to write this letter because I am not entirely satisfied with the scope and wording of the petition- I feel much was left unsaid.
Several congress members have also sent you a letter on the subject, which makes several of the important points the petition didn't address so I won't waste the words repeating theirs.

Mr. President, you have said in the past that young people should be concerned about climate change, jobs, the economy, war and peace, and that marijuana legalization should not be our highest priority. I absolutely agree those are important concerns. But someone needs to point out that the marijuana industry in Colorado has been the most successful economic and jobs booster the country has seen since the recession, and the state has profited to extremes.

 If we should be worried about climate change and the environment as you have stated, we should allow farmers to grow industrial hemp- it's a green source of biofuel, bioplastics, construction materials, paper products, clothing, food, and more. A cheap, drought resistant crop, it would stimulate our economy from farmer to consumer.

 There is no good reason this plant should be illegal. There is nothing negative about marijuana that isn't also true about alcohol or cigarettes, except its legal status, a draconian double standard. The mere fact that it is illegal creates far more problems in the world and costs the country much more money than if it were a taxable commodity. The only ones who benefit from this system are Big Money groups.

 I understand you may be concerned about the stereotypical stigma of being our first African-American president and legalizing marijuana, and the role model you present to your daughters. But the status quo is based on Victorian morality to which most of the country no longer ascribes, propaganda and corruption from Big Money, and a legacy of racism as demonstrated by the very use of the word "marijuana," as opposed to "cannabis" or "hemp."

 I have no doubt you read the recommendation to legalize from the Global Commission on Drug Policy in 2011, signed by many respected world leaders and intellectuals. They agree: it's really in the best interest of the people. But if you're unwilling to effect that, please at least overhaul the DEA so it no longer hinders progress. If the government seriously thinks that medical marijuana involves smoking the "leaves" as the acting DEA chief said, and that's what is being sent out as research grade marijuana, it's no wonder we're getting skewed results from government approved science- it's the wrong part of the plant. Research grade marijuana needs to equal the standard of medical grade marijuana buds available in dispensaries. Period.

Thank you for your time and consideration. This affects millions of Americans in our everyday lives, and we depend on you to do the right thing.

Respectfully yours,

Raven Wildchild

Would you go back in time to kill Hitler as a baby?

An online poll asking, "Would you go back in time to kill Adolph Hitler as a baby?" has shown that the majority of would indeed do that, given the opportunity. Presidential hopeful gave a resounding "Hell yes!" when asked the question, stating "You've got to step up."

A lot of controversy is going around regarding the Butterfly Effect of such an act, because we have no idea how that would affect the timeline. For one thing, Israel would not exist. Hitler had a huge impact on the modern world, down to American human rights- we strove to be more inclusive in our society to separate ourselves from them. Without him, who knows how history would have played out? Perhaps some other country commits the same atrocities, or another dictator takes Germany down the same path. The risk really isn't worth it.

And what about the morality of the situation? Under the historical circumstances, yes, that child did grow up to be Adolph Hitler, genocidal maniac, but at the time of his birth he was as innocent as any human being. There's another paradox here: by killing the baby Hitler, you erase his crimes, and it's no longer justice, just infanticide. You become the monster, a Herod. And isn't Jeb Bush a pro-lifer? Does he really not see the irony here? He's so proud of his Christianity, but does he forget the 10 Commandments when it matters? Other GOP candidates have suggested that only Christians are fit for the office of President (completely the opposite of the constitution), but one needs to uphold their ideals even under the most dire of circumstances, else those ideals mean nothing. Jeb, don't be a hypocristian.

Thoughts on Kim Davis and her fight against gay marriage

In following the Kim Davis case, in which a county clerk has been denying marriage licenses to gay couples because of her religious beliefs, I've wondered a lot how many people would take her seriously if she were not Christian but of a minority religion. If this were the case of a Muslim denying women the right to go to school based on beliefs in Sharia Law, there would be outrage. In my mind, all the recent pushes for "religious freedom" are really attempts to put Christianity above the law, because none of these activists would support religious exemptions for minority religions. Otherwise, where's my right to consume psilocybin mushrooms and peyote in Shamanic journeys, as have been used for millennia? We can thank Judge Scalia for the 1990 decision that allowing religious exemptions would cause legal chaos, with people claiming sincere beliefs to get out of every crime imaginable. How long until I have to fear for my life because someone believes "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" is still valid?