The news yesterday that at least one federal agency, the Department of Energy (DOE), is resisting pressure from the Trumpists is music to the ears of many. As most may recall, the Trump team had issued orders to the brain trust at DOE to name all those who attended any meetings about climate change. However, those at the agency (mainly scientists) have now declared 'No way!' and they will not cooperate, given this is an obvious witch hunt - analogous to when Hitler's goons demanded the names of all sources who had been spreading "lies" about the Fuhrer to the non-German media in the 1930s.
As ABC's Brian Ross reported last night:
"At the Department of Energy tonight, fears by employees and scientists had spread that they would be targets of witch hunt by a new President who has repeatedly insisted climate change is a scam. Concerns came to a head when the Trump team sent a list of 74 questions to the Department of Energy. In particular question 27:
Can you provide us a list of all Department of Energy Employees or contractors who have attended any interagency Working Group meeting on the Social Cost of Carbon?"
But now they have refused to comply, the first act of many of multiple resistance which will be needed by courageous citizens under a fascist Trumpista regime. Anthony Reardon, President of the National Treasury Employees Union, gave the reasons in a segment for the same news piece:
"They are scared about the ability to carry out their duties, their work, their research, with integrity. But also with independence."
This is indeed critical, because without independence research teams become merely rubber stampers for whoever is in power.
As Ross at ABC further reported, "In a show of defiance the DOE responded to the letter and questions: ''We received significant feedback from our workforce We will be forthcoming with all publicly available information. We will not be providing individual names...' "
This is because individual names are not part of publicly available information. Hence, the Trumpists are not entitled to it and all they really merit is what the DOE is prepared to give, publicly available material. This also comes as the asshole- in - waiting announced as head of the DOE none other than Reeptardo Rick Perry, e.g.
This is the ignorant yokel who in a 2011 Reepo debate could not recall the name of the DOE, which was one of the federal agencies he wanted to eliminate. Process that for a bit!
All of which shows that Trump and team of abominables is merely out to troll decent and rational citizens, and why - more than ever- the Hamilton elector movement must succeed in preventing these degenerates from reaching power. Especially in the wake of Trump's own attack on the intelligence agencies who now - by any register - ought to be willing themselves to take him down.
To put it another way: putting Rick Perry in as Secretary of the Department of Energy is like putting Bozo the Clown in charge of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. To firm up that analogy, the ignorant dope Perry who couldn't even remember the name of the DOE in 2011, will now take over an office held by....wait for it!....a nuclear physicist!
Despite this, the Trump team and its paid hacks continues to spread offal and false information, like one dimwit bloviating from Trump Tower a few days ago that: "There used to be an overwhelming science that the world was flat". Actually attempting to analogize flat earthers to global warming scientists in a clueless display of astounding ignorance as well as low IQ.
In fact, as far back as 240 B.C. it was known by the much more enlightened Greek astronomers, in particular Eratosthenes, that the Earth was spherical, not flat. This was opposed to the primitive flat Earth perceptions (NOT science!) embraced by the sheep herder tribes of Judea, many of whom scribbled down their Bronze Age myths in the Bible.
This is all very relevant now as we can expect to hear, as Trumpistas take office, more and more lies try to justify jettisoning existing climate science. But it also alerts us of the need to resist.
NY Times columnist Charles Blow hit the nail on its head in his recent piece that we are obligated as citizens to defy a Trump presidency. Granted, 62 million odd knuckle draggers and imps voted this turd into power but that doesn't mean we have to respect it, or kowtow to their insane impulsive choice. As Blow writes:
"It is not the job of the defiant to conform to a future president who makes them completely uncomfortable. The burden of unity lies with Trump, not his detractors."
Bingo!
“Just wait and see.” “Give him a chance.” But what if what you’ve already seen is so beyond the pale that it’s irrevocable? What if Trump has already squandered more chances than most of us will ever have?
What if Trump has shown himself beyond doubt and with absolute certainty to be a demagogue and bigot and xenophobe and has given space and voice to concordant voices in the country and in his emerging Legion of Doom cabinet? In that reality, resistance isn’t about mindless obstruction by people blinded by the pain of ideological defeat or people gorging on sour grapes. To the contrary, resistance then is an act of radical, even revolutionary, patriotism. Resistance isn’t about damaging the country, but protecting it.
Blow is also spot on when he writes:
"Furthermore, the emergence of Donald Trump as a political figure has threatened to kill many of the ideals that we hold dear: decency and decorum, inclusion and empathy, truth and facts themselves.
At a fiery exchange during a panel at Harvard, Hillary Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, rightly accused the Trump campaign of emboldening “white supremacists and white nationalists.”
The Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway , tried to defend this idiocracy but what would you expect. This harridan is a member of it. As Blow pointed out, truth and facts are now under major assault, i.e. "everybody has a way of interpreting them to be the truth or not true.”
He continued, quoting Conway: “There’s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of facts.” And Blow added:
"Folks, Dimwit-ism is a disease easily spread and denigrators of the absolutism of truth are its vectors.This is why resistance isn’t only principled, but essential and even existential. We are not in an ordinary postelection period of national unity and rapprochement. We are facing the potential abrogation of fundamental American ideals. We stand at the precipice, staring into an abyss that grows darker by the day."
He continued, quoting Conway: “There’s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of facts.” And Blow added:
"Folks, Dimwit-ism is a disease easily spread and denigrators of the absolutism of truth are its vectors.This is why resistance isn’t only principled, but essential and even existential. We are not in an ordinary postelection period of national unity and rapprochement. We are facing the potential abrogation of fundamental American ideals. We stand at the precipice, staring into an abyss that grows darker by the day."
Already, at a meeting this week of climate scientists in San Francisco there is outrage at what is happening. How Trump and his band of appointed assholes are clearly ready to dismantle all progress on global warming research leaving us all for the high jump. The scenes last night on ABC showed the scientists with signs "Stand up for science!" and shouting "Stand up, fight back!"
This is advice we all need to heed as we lurch ever nearer to zero hour and being hurled back decades in critical climate science and other work. It means we also have to be prepared to resist as the climate scientists and columnist Charles Blow have admonished us to do and forge a consistent and unified means of obstruction. This means never accepting Trump or his administration as our own, and fighting in whatever form we can, every step of the way. Especially by refusing to swallow the media rot that tries to normalize this swine or that we must now "all come together". No, absolutely not! And we have to hope - if the Hamilton elector movement fails - the Dems grow some balls too (especially Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi) and refuse all enticements to "bipartisanship". Recall former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) famously said, "Bipartisanship is another name for date rape."
We must be every bit as obstructionist and uncompromising as the Repukes and their followers were after Obama was elected. Sorry, folks, this is now the Divided States 0f America and it cannot now be otherwise!
See also:
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/richard-eskow/70295/by-picking-tillerson-and-perry-trump-s-pretty-much-just-trolling-us-now
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