Day 6 of the New Order - What to believe?

News of the Day:

Obama has a press conference panned by the right where he said he considered Trump a pragmatist that would not willy-nilly dismantle programs and treaties that his administration championed.   Trump on the other hand just appointed Steve Bannon the White House Chief of Staff, a move that is nowhere near pragmatic but completely on the other extreme bring alt-Right ideology front and center into the Executive Branch.  This does not bode well.  This is not a position that has Senate approval so he is clearly in and we cannot stop him from influencing what appears to be an easily influenced President.  Obama clearly missed that memo or was ignoring it trying to put his best face on things.

Facebook is a mess of vindictive name calling which suits the Trump style nicely.  Both sides cannot believe the other side is behaving the way it is.  Many Trump supporters are saying they aren't racists, homophobes, anti-Muslim, etc but those Trump haters then call them out for voting for someone who espouses those views so openly.  Meanwhile the Trump supporters call the other side cry babies for protesting and the Trump camp says they are being organized by bad people intent on just creating chaos.  All this is ominous as I mentioned before that Obama will put up with the protests but once the new regime is in place the tolerance levels will go down and it will get very ugly and scary.  We must never stray from civil disobedience into civil unrest or we risk becoming a police state very quickly.

The Electoral College is under siege as well it probably should be.  Since writing my piece on it I found an excellent article on how the College was actually tied to the 3/5ths rule and helped the Southerners retain control of the government but having more electoral votes even as the North got more populous.  The Electoral College probably should have been disbanded during Reconstruction but as it was not some states now hold the key to the Presidency because they do not keep to one side of the aisle in every contest.  It is in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and Arizona that these contests are decided.  New Hampshire had quite a bit of activity being the most conservative state in New England but nobody really visits the rest as they will vote Democratic.  It is hard to say if it is warping the Republic by giving too much power to people in certain states over everyone else but it certainly appears to be.

I do believe the appointment of Bannon is a blow to any hope that Trump is a person that maybe will act pragmatically and keep the rights of all Americans in mind despite how moderate he seemed to be on 60 Minutes last night.  He is easily led and I see Bannon as the Cheney of the White House, always having the President's ear and often leading him in the wrong direction.  Even if Trump himself is not an overt racist there is no doubt Bannon is.  The excuse that he just owns the company but does not write the stuff does not fly.  Who sets the tone for a business.  I know when I had one it was my goals that we pursued not the staff's.  I hired staff that believed in my goals and I am sure that is true of Bannon and true of Trump.  Saying Trump is not a racist but he just allows them to have a large say in his administration is in the same mode.  The boss sets the tone with their hires and this tone is sickening.

I don't know what to do now.  We need someone to lead the charge.  Where is Jon Stewart when we need him,  Where is Bernie?  Where is some new person to take the reins and ride into the fray so that we are coordinated and effective in opposition to the new status quo..