Cohen Going to Prison for 45's Dirty Deeds

Cohen addresses Trump’s tweets: “Recently, the President tweeted a statement calling me weak, and it was correct, but for a much different reason than he was implying. It was because time and time again, I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”

Michael Cohen sentenced to 36 months in prison. @realDonaldTrump 's self-described "fixer" going to the big house.

Cohen addresses Trump’s tweets: “Recently, the President tweeted a statement calling me weak, and it was correct, but for a much different reason than he was implying. It was because time and time again, I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.” https://t.co/CME1KYaj2d

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) December 12, 2018

Michael Cohen sentenced to 36 months in prison. @realDonaldTrump 's self-described "fixer" going to the big house. https://t.co/FyQKBd1vdq

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) December 12, 2018

The president is now implicated in two separate criminal conspiracies. Both his lawyer, who coordinated the work on his behalf, and the third party who made payments in one of the two cases admit that the work was done to influence the election.

Bad day for @realDonaldTrump

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) December 12, 2018

Ted Lieu on the Treason Summit

REP LIEU STATEMENT ON TRUMP, PUTIN SUMMIT IN HELSINKI

July 16, 2018 Press Release

WASHINGTON -
Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement after President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland.


"What Trump did today was utterly shameful, and a slap in the face to the professionals in the Department of Justice and our intelligence community. Today we watched a U.S. President offer total deference to a hostile foreign power while attacking U.S. institutions. By refusing to admit that Russia attacked our Democracy, or that Russia did anything wrong whatsoever, Trump is disturbingly regurgitating the Kremlin's talking points.

Having served on active duty, I feel nauseous thinking about Trump's statements. Despite how desensitized we’ve become to Trump’s remarkably un-presidential actions, today should stand out as obscene. What happens next will determine whether we allow our President to cede American ideals and authority to a foreign power. We’re now at a crossroads where we have to decide whether we’re willing to let blind partisan loyalty to Trump lead to the debasing of our country. After this appalling display, will the Republicans finally stand up for America?”

Are you nauseated by the statements of @realDonaldTrump at the Putin summit? Disturbed? Angry?

You can do something about it. Work like hell to flip Congress this November. Volunteer on campaigns. Donate money. Register people to vote. That's how we take our country back. https://t.co/OVFYTrQA9J

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 16, 2018

Are you nauseated by the statements of @realDonaldTrump at the Putin summit? Disturbed? Angry? You can do something about it. Work like hell to flip Congress this November. Volunteer on campaigns. Donate money. Register people to vote. That's how we take our country back.

I learned a new word today: Quisling. https://t.co/kPII1rR0Gm

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 17, 2018

This Is Not America

After Trump's EU "foe" comment, one senior European diplomat said to me this morning, he has to separate America from the President, citing the David Bowie song "This is not America" https://t.co/GXldfcpDXt

— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) July 16, 2018

Despite Today's Executive Order, Trump's Concentration Camps are Set to Grow

by Gregg Chadwick

Gregg Chadwick
Family Values
(Chinga la Migra)
24"x36" oil on linen 2018

Our protests against Trump's horrific Migrant Family Separation Policy are working.

As Rolling Stone reports,"The chaos that preceded the order's signing is further proof that nearly every move the administration makes is improvised, and that there has never been any real plan for how to deal with immigration other than projecting strength to tide over his base while the White House tries to figure out how to deliver the long-promised border wall. To Trump, signing the order is an act of weakness, and his claim that he's doing it because of how "important" it is to keep families together is as big of a lie as any of the many he's offered up since taking office."
The order itself was put together so quickly that when it was first posted online, its title was misspelled.

But we must keep up the pressure.

As outlined below, the Executive Order that Trump signed today is problematic. Senator Chris Murphy implores us not to get sucked into a moral vortex where something less than diabolically evil is somehow acceptable. If the new policy puts kids and parents in cages indefinitely that’s better than kids in cages alone, but still illegal and immoral. 

As the ADL reports,"The new 'zero tolerance' EO is not a solution to the crisis at the border & does not represent humane treatment of migrants. The solution to family separation is not indefinite family detention. Children do not belong in jail." 
To make matters worse, sources including Reveal are reporting that a number of migrant children who have already been torn from their parents are being given psychotropic drugs without consent from a parent.

1/ Immigrant children have been forcibly injected with powerful psychiatric drugs at one of the U.S. gov't shelters, Shiloh Treatment Center outside of Houston, according to court documents and interviews. https://t.co/Ve4XSyRw5N

— Reveal (@reveal) June 20, 2018

One child's prescription cocktail included Latuda, Geodon, Olanzapine, Benztropin, Clonazepam, Divalproex, Duloxetine, and Guanfacine. https://t.co/aRJZ6iou6h

— David Gura (@davidgura) June 20, 2018

As Yogi Berra said...."It ain't over till it's over."

Folks it ain't over. We have barely started fighting this abomination!

Analysis of Executive Order: 1. The plan is to keep families detained indefinitely together, which is illegal.

Zoe Tillman in Buzzfeed says,"The order directs the Department of Homeland of Security to keep families detained together, but any long-term enforcement of the order is contingent on a judge approving changes to the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement that restricts the detention of children. The administration can detain families together for up to 20 days — a deadline based on earlier court rulings interpreting the 1997 settlement — but then will have to separate them absent action by a judge or Congress."

Human Rights First explains that the Flores Settlement Agreement imposed several obligations on U.S. immigration authorities.

The government is required to release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to, in order of preference, parents, other adult relatives, or licensed programs willing to accept custody.

If a suitable placement is not immediately available, the government is obligated to place children in the “least restrictive” setting appropriate to their age and any special needs.

The government must implement standards relating to the care and treatment of children in immigration detention.

2. Trump would like the courts or Congress to make that not illegal. 3. If Congress or the judiciary doesn't change the law, families will continue to be separated.


Unanswered Questions: 1. What, if anything, will be done to unite thousands of children with their parents?
This Executive Order in no way deals with reuniting the 2,300 children who have been torn away from their parents and remain separated. When will they see their parents again? They must be reunited immediately.
Jacqueline Alemany has learned that an "HHS official has told @weijia that there will NOT be special efforts made to reunite children who have already been separated from their families bc of the Zero Tolerance Policy, despite Trumps EO."

Let's be very clear here:

NO FAMILIES WILL BE REUNITED BY TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER.

That means there are still THOUSANDS of kids, sitting alone in cages, separated from their parents by Trump.

— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) June 20, 2018

2. Where will all these families be housed? (See below) 3. What happens if the courts or Congress don't change the law?

Horrifying Development:

The order literally directs the Department of Defense to "construct" massive camps to detain these migrant families indefinitely. Zoe Tillman in Buzzfeed explains,"The Pentagon is looking at four US bases to house unaccompanied children and detained immigrant families, although the Department of Health and Human Services would be in charge of caring for them — Fort Bliss, Goodfellow Air Force Base and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, and Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas."

This is criminal and this is on you @HHSGov @SecNielsen @realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump Say it loud and say it clear - Trump's Concentration Camps Have Got to Go! #FamiliesBelongTogether #TrumpandtheBabySnatchers https://t.co/WxSfytjnrJ

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) June 20, 2018

How to Fight Back:

Make A Plan to March: Major protest to Keep Families Together on June 30th in Washington and communities around the country. Go to familiesbelongtogether.org to plug into events. All hands on deck NOW to end this brutality and move towards freedom for all: kids AND their families.

• How to Fight Back – Pressure Congress

Call, email, tweet Congress. Your two Senators and one Representative are in the best position to force the administration to abandon this new policy. Please contact them and ask them to immediately stop the separation of children from their parents at the border. Also ask them to support bills that will help reunited children already taken from their parents and also prohibit future removals. These include the Senate’s HELP Separated Children Act and Keep Families Together Act. 

Child’s World America, a member-based, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to improving children’s lives in the U.S., reminds us:

"We find ourselves again upon a time where we will one day utter “how could we have let that happen?” We cannot afford to forget that there is a history of separating children from their parents: during slave auctions; during the forced assimilation of American Indians; and during the Holocaust. The reverberations of these barbaric stains on our history are still felt today and future generations of these original victims will inherit the intergenerational transmission of these traumas. To try and argue that this policy of ripping children from their parents at the border is somehow different from the systematic traumatization of children during the times of slavery, forced assimilation, and the Holocaust is to disregard history. To somehow convince ourselves that this systematic traumatization of children has no bearing on the lives of these children and no impact on the legacy of our country is to be living in an alternate universe. And to not care about the impact these policies have on these children is to succumb to the worst potential of humanity."

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has introduced The Keep Families Together Act (S.3036) which currently has 49 co-sponsors and is supported by American Academy of Pediatrics, Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), Young Center for Immigrant Rights and the Women’s Refugee Commission.  Please call your Senators today and tell them you want them to support this bill.

The ACLU offers a script for calling the Senate - Link Here.

Find their contact info at Contacting Congress or at Call Congress.

Also, you can contact ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) directly. Write to them here or call them at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

TIP: If your Senators or Representative aren’t on board, explain that you will call back regularly for updates on this issue. Then, tell them that this issue is so important to you, that if they do not act to end the separation of children from their parents, that you will actively work to get their opponent elected in November by raising money and speaking to every constituent you can get in front of.

For My Finnish Friends!

Simo Hayha would disagree w @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/hr9W9FAnfT🇫🇮 https://t.co/ZxtOfms92J

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) August 28, 2017

From SimoHayha.com "In 1939, the Soviet Union attempted to invade Finland. Being a member of the Civil Guard, Häyhä was called into service, serving under the 6th Company of JR 34 on the Kollaa River. Commanded by Major General Uiluo Tuompo, the Finns faced both the 9th and 14th Soviet Armies, and at one point were fighting against as many as 12 divisions - about 160,000 soldiers. Also at one point in the same area, there were only 32 Finns fighting against over 4,000 Soviets!
Despite being outnumbered, however, the Finns were still victorious at the end of the day. The invading Soviets weren’t as organized as one would expect: they spoke many different languages, and they weren’t used to the harsh Finnish winters either. In fact, the winter of 1939-40 was very snowy, and had temperatures ranging from -40 to -20 degrees Celsius.
The Finns were also smart in their tactics, the most notable of which were known as “Motti”-tactics. Since the Soviets would invade by the roads, the Finns would hide out in the surrounding wilderness. They would then let the invaders cross the border, and attack them from behind!"

Houston is underwater due in large part to climate change & @realDonaldTrump is worried that Finland's president is proving that point.🇫🇮 https://t.co/qaPMJMXqI8

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) August 28, 2017

Notes on  Hurricane Harvey and Climate Change from The Climate Reality Project:

"Climate change intensifies the impact of hurricanes. Here’s how:
1. By adding fuel to the fire, climate change makes hurricanes more devastating. Average global sea surface temperatures are rising. As sea surface temperatures become warmer, hurricanes can become more powerful. In the case of the Category 4 Hurricane Harvey, this greater power comes from “sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico that are 2.7 - 7.2°F (1.5 - 4°C) above average, relative to a 1961-1990 baseline.”
2. Climate change is linked to extreme rainfall (and therefore, flooding). Global temperatures are rising.  As the world becomes warmer, more water evaporates from bodies of water. Therefore, there’s more water vapor in the air. This gives hurricanes more precipitation, and can result in more flooding when the hurricane makes landfall. The Weather Channel said that Hurricane Harvey “may end up being one of the worst flood disasters in US history.” Some areas could see up to 50 inches of rain.
3. Sea-level rise caused by climate change can “dramatically extend the storm surge driven by hurricanes.”  According to NOAA, a storm surge “is the abnormal rise in seawater level during a storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal predicted astronomical tide.” To put it another way, the storm surge is the ocean water pushed into the coast by the force of the hurricane. Global sea levels are rising.  When sea levels are higher, storm surges intensify and can lead to more widespread and greater damage. The highest-reported storm surge from Harvey (in Port Lavaca, Texas) was 7 feet above the mean sea level."

Thank you President Niinisto for taking @realDonaldTrump to school! #Finland #ClimateChange #History #SimoHayha 🇫🇮

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) August 28, 2017

“Finland would never have signed NAFTA,” President Trump says at a news conference with Finland’s president. pic.twitter.com/J4fRnvnw2T

— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 28, 2017

25th Amendment Now

Dear @realDonaldTrump - We the People consider your childish video post to be a letter of resignation. #25thAmendmentNow

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) July 2, 2017

Bono Takes on Trump in San Francisco

by Gregg Chadwick

Incredible & riveting political statement as @u2's Bono creates a pseudo conversation with @realDonaldTrump in a surprise set at Dreamfest! pic.twitter.com/Aeq5tXXBGP

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 6, 2016

Bono and I have a bit of a history with Bullet the Blue Sky and its deeply held meaning in terms of a vision of America. I wrote Bono in 2008, the night before his planned meeting with then VP candidate Sarah Palin. (Full letter here- Bullet the Blue Sky ) 

I asked Bono then to "please remember what America means. Please remember your inspiration to write and perform "Bullet the Blue Sky" as you watched the Reagan administration's support of Salvadoran death squads and Nicaraguan contras. America is not torture, Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. America is the promise of hope and liberty." 

Last night in San Francisco, Bono spoke truth to a candidate in love with power and himself.  They posted a video of the song with a simple title - Liberty... 

Bravo to U2!

A Painters Light and the Enlightenment

"America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, because a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11. 
The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies." 

-Garry Wills, adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University 

Garry wills' op-ed piece in the New York Times hits hard on the anti-intellectualism and anti-historicism that lies at the heart of the christian fundamentalists backing bush.  Wills observes that enemies come to resemble each other and in their misguided bloodlust and immoral war in Iraq contemporary fundamentalist christians have created their own jihad. 

This is not about mere politics but instead a clash of rational minds against the forces of ignorance and superstition. 

As Americans. as artists, as philosophers, scientists, doctors, writers, musicians, poets, actors, historians, free-thinkers and members of the world community now is not the time to acquiesce but instead the time to remember and declare our American roots in the enlightenment. 

As a painter i believe in light- not just light that bathes us in a warm glow of beauty but light that also reveals and creates a path to understanding. 

Do not let them take the light from us.

Stand strong. 

Gregg