Another chance

I said I’m not going to get into the details of the nasty guy’s transition, but there are a few larger ideas at play.

There has been lots of news that white nationalist Stephen Bannon is a director of policy in the nasty guy’s transition team. The nasty guy had been on Bannon’s radio show and analysis of those appearances show that Bannon is a master manipulator and the nasty guy is easily manipulated. Hoo boy!



Frank Gaffney is reportedly being considered for a big role in national security (though the incompetent transition team denies it). Surprising nobody, Gaffney is described by the SPLC as “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.” Gaffney recommends that the nasty guy had better get started with purging the intelligence community of those not loyal to the supreme leader. Perhaps Gaffney won’t get the job? May not matter. The nasty guy has been saying similar things.



Who’d a guessed? Support of progressive organizations is surging. For example, in the five days after the election the ACLU got 120K donations totaling $7.5 million. Democratic operatives are strategizing which group runs point on which issue, such as women’s health, deportations, and attacks on Muslims.



Melissa McEwen of Shakesville has heard a lot of people saying now that the nasty guy won the election let’s give him a chance to do the job, let’s see what happens. McEwen replies, nope. Reasons for her refusal:

* We are already seeing what is happening and, like adding Stephen Bannon to the team, we already know it is bad.

* The nasty guy was given endless chances through the campaign. Every time he showed himself to be a bigot he was given another chance.

* Black victims of police and other vigilante violence are not given another chance. Tamir Rice, the black boy in Cleveland gunned down because he was holding a toy gun – his life was defined in one brief moment. He didn’t get a chance.

* Where does giving him a chance end? What are the dealbreakers? What is the accountability? What prevents offering a chance from becoming complicity?

* Would you give another chance to your kid’s soccer coach if he was accused of abuse?

* What is your threshold? How many indecent things do you need to see?