Category: Black and Brown Issues

An OMG Christmas Newsletter

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An OMG Christmas Newsletter

 

 

An OMG Christmas Newsletter

By D.S. Mitchell

 

Too Many Days

I know all years, except for Leap Year, have 365 days.  So, why does 2025 feel like it’s got 750 days? Never mind; I figured it out on my own. Donald J. Trump’s in office and it feels like every ‘friggen day has somehow been virtually stretched and twisted until it feels like two.

How Much Bullshit is Too Much?

My memories of Trump’s first term are foggy at  best, but I think Trump wanted to takeover Greenland during his first administration and he continued the rhetoric into his second term. While deflecting the fallout from suggesting that we should make Canada the 51st state, I think  that’s when Trump started  demanding Google and all the map makers change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Just meaningless distractions? I’m not so sure. The ramblings of a demented old man? I’m sure it’s some of that, but certainly not all of it.

Heritage Foundation

None of it makes sense; unless you believe in Project 2025. The deeper we move into Trump’s Alice in Wonderland world the more chaotic…the more numbing. Trump has signed more than 220 Executive Orders since retaking the White House, surpassing all previous records and raising major concerns about the abuse of presidential power. The Robert’s Supreme Court seems more than willing to grant Trump’s every wish. Is there no conscience? No justice? No honor? No fairness? Apparently, not. There seems to be no limit on the Heritage Foundation’s love affair with the Robert’s court and its willingness to drag us back to 1950, or 1850. A time when women bore children, lots of them, a time when a woman had no rights except those allowed by her father or her husband. A time when white children were sold into indentured servitude, when blacks were slaves. A time when none of us want to go back to unless you are white, male, and wealthy.

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HATE-Maya Angelou

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Hate,

it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.                                        Maya Angelou                     

                                                                            

 

 

No Kings #2: From A Wheelchair

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“No Kings #2”: From A Wheelchair

“No Kings #2”: From A Wheelchair

Editor: So, until the next protest, please vote in every election, write your opinion and send it to the local newspaper, call your law makers, light up the switchboards, and donate-donate-donate, we need to keep Trump and the MAGA’s feet to the fire, there are “NO KINGS” here.

 

By David L. Shadrick

No King’s #2

Yeah, that’s a picture of the real me. On October 18th, 2025, there was a “No Kings” protest in deep red Grants Pass, Oregon. I along with my neighbors joined the 7 million plus Americans who hit the streets to demonstrate against Donald Trump and the implementation of the Project 2025 agenda in the No Kings Protest #2. I was stunned, even in red butt GP there were at least 2,000 angry anti-Trump folks lining 6th Ave in front of the Josephine County Courthouse and several blocks in either direction on both sides of the street. Holy Shit! I mean, Whoopeee!

Targeted

I had barely assumed my place facing 6th Ave when trouble headed my way. Once again I was targeted by the MAGA crowd. The first one to approach me was a woman in her mid-thirties. She was quite agitated, breathing fast and hard. Literally this woman had her nose within a centimeter of my nose, her waving index finger brushed my cheek. Her speech was rapid and confused and her demeanor was quite threatening. In fact, several of my buddies recognized I was about to get punched in the face and they quickly surrounded my wheelchair and told her to move on. She hesitated, but only for a few seconds; before she realized there were now 10 people there supporting me, and the “No Kings Day.” It was clear that the woman was off her psych meds or she needed to see a doc and get her dosing increased because she obviously needed something to help her out mentally, because she was having some serious hallucinations.

My Faithful Sign

So after the crazy lady was sent down the street I held my ground and sat on my chosen section of sidewalk in my wheelchair holding my faithful “8647”  sign. The horns were honking and I lifted up the sign and waved it in the air above my head. The folks in the cars were yelling positive comments when suddenly a little white car slows down and stops in front of me and the driver leans out the window and screams, “Hey, you-PerVert-yeah-you. Why don’t you fuck off and die!” “Nice talk, asshole, back ‘atcha,” I hollered at him. The next Trumper in a car yells something I can’t write here, and I give it right back to him, when the cop in the next car leans out his window, and speaks directly to me, “You need to be nice.”

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NO KINGS #2 STREET LEVEL REPORT

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No Kings #2: Street Level Report

No Kings #2: Street Level Report

 

D. S. Mitchell, author, editor, and (good) trouble maker

 

What I Saw

We had T-Rex times two, we had clowns too many to count, we had singers and dancers too, I heard there was even a unicorn. There were a couple “hate the Dems” characters roaming through the crowd, and making insulting comments, and being confrontive, one even had a gun secured to his hip. My, my. What’s he afraid of at high noon in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon, I wonder. Oh-h-h-h-h, I get it-he’s not afraid of us, he’s trying to intimidate and terrorize us.

Tools of Tyrants

But we’re not afraid. Fear and bigotry are the tools of tyrants, and we understand that. The U.S. Constitution guarantees all of us the right to protest injustice, to raise our voices against tyranny and resist a corrupt government. And I will do just that until my dying day. I love this country, I am resolute….I will resist….those like me will not be silenced; we will show our outrage and our disgust at the this convicted felon, this Mob Boss president.

Old Friends

“Lock him up” was a phrase I heard repeated many times. I sincerely doubt Trump will ever go to jail but that’s not because he doesn’t deserve 20 years plus, or a firing squad, but rather, we could never have a former president jailed. Just imagine the shame of it all. I’m convinced he’ll be allowed to “escape” to a new home in Moscow or Riyadh, where he can live out his dotage. Or he’ll die, probably in the next couple years, my God, he’s a fat old white man and the average age at death for that demographic is 74.8 years. So, the old guy is basically 4.5 years past the average. So in June he’ll be 80. Hmmm.

Sunny Days

The weather was sunny and 70 degrees for the No Kings Protest; sweet. I was ecstatic, the crowd was sizeable, my best guess was that close to 2,000 people lined both sides of 6th Street in our little Southern Oregon town. For red-assed Southern Oregon that could be called a damn “righteous” turn out.  In today’s vernacular, “perfect.” The age range represented was quite incredibly baby carriage to walker/wheelchair.

Vote Policy NOT Prejudice

It was really exciting, seeing such a wide range of citizens recognizing the danger this narcissistic psychopathic president represents, but are ready and willing, just the same, to come out and demand Trump do the right thing and end his corruption….to immediately stop the tariffs game…support fair taxation, in other words tax the billionaires….protection of due process…..a fair immigration policy….restoration of abortion rights…. LGBTQ+protections….environmental protection….universal health care….Social Security….and thousands of other issues that affect millions upon millions of every day Americans; I’m talking about you, me, our families, our friends and neighbors. In my opinion, people better start voting on a candidates policies and character not some hot button fuckin’ culture war issue.

Back Then

There were some smart people back in 1776 who told George III that we’d had enough of high taxes to put gold bathrooms in the palace. Now it looks like this generation of smart people needs to tell Donald Dumpster that we are done with gold bathrooms and gold ballrooms for kings and tyrants; and have been for more than 250 years. Maybe, Don the Con skipped American History, along with Economics, Chemistry, and English, because he doesn’t seem to know shit about any of those basic studies.

And Those Signs

The protesters signs were GREAT, they were funny, they were imaginative, they were spot on; many were new and many were previously-used in past Trump protests. Signs and flags waved in the air, creating quite a vibrant display. There was an audio system playing out of the back of a van and the spirit was positive. Many passing cars honked their support, and of course there were some that did not-and they rejoiced in calling us ‘effin commies.

When It Effects You

Oh, well wait until Trump’s next executive order effects them, or their grandma is denied her Medicaid, or their son’s Affordable Care Plan quadruples in cost. When policies and actions negatively hit an individual’s bank balance there’s liable to be a fight. And that’s why more than 7 million American citizens came out on Saturday, October 18, 2025, to reject Trump and his agenda. RESIST-it’s the American thing to do.

 

 

Portland, Oregon-My Home Town

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Portland, OR-My Home Town

A couple of my friends waiting for the riots to start, but we’ve got no riots here. What we have here, in Portland, Oregon, are concerned citizens, loving their country, speaking out against a lawless president and his gang of masked thugs.

 

Trump’s Travesties

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Trump’s Travesties

Trump’s Travesties

By Cate Rees-Hessel with D.S. Mitchell

Since taking office less than a year ago, “The Donald” has made quite the mess of our nation…. again. I feel like sending him right along with his policies to the nearest dump site. Here are just a few of his deliberate faux pas:

  1. The Epstein cover up – resist! Too many “secrets,” that Donnie wants hidden.
  2. Tariffs – he needs to be impeached now…take back the House & take back the Senate!
  3. Racist ICE raids – resist! Take off the masks!
  4. Said the day after the Perry High school shootings, “We have to get over it” – he needs to be impeached now…he’ll “get over it”!
  5. Said at the Bedminster Gala that smart people don’t like him; stop the presses – he finally said something truthful…resist! That’s because smart people see past culture wars and listen to policy.
  6. Seeking to silence the progressive left regarding the shooting death of Charlie Kirk – he needs to be impeached now…well, of course he needs to be impeached.
  7. Cozying up to Elon Musk – resist! Such a short and damaging love affair for our country.
  8. Denying climate change – he needs to be impeached now…I guess we’re gonna find out just how hot it can get. *Iran July 2025; 127 degrees F.
  9. Cozying up to the gun lobby – resist! As of 9/25/25 there have been 317 mass shootings in the US-!
  10. Project 2025 – he needs to be impeached now…right along with this corrupt and rogue Supreme Court.
  11. Claiming he is king – resist! No crowns for clowns is my motto.
  12. Denying COVID-19’s severity, restricting vaccines, and inciting the anti-vax fringe – he needs to be impeached now…and Bobby Jr. and allies should be sent off planet.
  13. Attacking Social Security – resist! Social Security has been paying Americans faithfully for 90 years I’d say it should be strengthened not ‘effed up.
  14. Attacking SNAP so children go hungry – he needs to be impeached now…SNAP helps the farmer as well as the hungry. 60% of Americans are barely scraping by; protect SNAP.
  15. Tax breaks for billionaires – resist! Spreading the wealth makes for healthier and happier citizens.
  16. Brown nosing other dictators – he needs to be impeached now…and the ass-kissing goes on…and on….and on.
  17. His undermining the post office causing major mail delivery problems, which is occurring because of his first term installation of Louis DeJoy – resist! They’re getting ready to auction off our constitutionally guaranteed post office to buyers like Fed-Ex and UPS-resist.
  18. His constant attacks on freedom of the press – he needs to be impeached now…Americans are about to lose their freedom of speech, we’ll all be listening to one channel, no need for the remote control.
  19. Just being a multiple convicted felon – resist! When you’ve got the thugs in charge, expect to find a lot of dead bodies and jailed enemies.
  20. He incited the January 6th 2021 insurrection – he needs to be impeached now…and now he’s pardoned his co-conspirators.
  21. He threatened officials to rig the 2020 election and his victory in 2024 is in severe question – resist! This is a story hiding in plain sight, we should be saying, “Madam President.”
  22. Being an accused and convicted rapist – he needs to be impeached now…I certainly think we need  better, but when are we going to demand better?
  23. Calling President Biden and VP Harris vicious names and lies – resist! Small minds produce a lot of four letter words.
  24. Trying to force out of office a federal reserve governor that he does not like – he needs to be impeached now…he seems to enjoy accusing people of crimes he has committed, in this case mortgage fraud.
  25. Threatening our democracy and anyone that disagrees with him-resist! Ask Miles Taylor, Chris Krebs, James Comey, or how about Rosie O’Donnell how it feels when the president starts publicly accusing you of wrongdoing and threatens Justice Department charges.

Mark 10/18/2025 on your Protest Calendar and hit the streets and tell Trump we’ll have ‘No Kings Here.’

OPINION: What About Charlie?

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OPINION: What About Charlie?

OPINION: What About Charlie?

** “Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized SAINT specifically, the official act of public veneration.”

**The White House announced that Charlie Kirk will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

By Kelli Mathison

 

Charlie? Charlie? Hmmm….Charlie. Charlie Kirk? Mmmm, Charlie Kirk. Who? I don’t know who this guy was but apparently his death beat out Jesus Christ for the top political murder in history.  On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk, an American right-wing political activist, was shot and killed while making a  speech at the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah.

So-o-o-o this guy, Charlie Kirk, that more than three quarters of the country never heard of, is getting more fevered press than the crucifixion of  Jesus Christ. Certainly more histrionics than we got when then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s 82 year old husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked in their home and nearly beaten to death with a hammer by a pissed off MAGA guy. Or on Jun 14, 2025 — House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (D) Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot in their home by a right wing extremist with little more than a ripple on the political airwaves.

The screaming, red-faced hysteria over Charlie Kirk’s killing is difficult for me to process, much less comprehend. So before writing this little piece for Calamity Politics I decided to do a bit of research. The most obvious question you probably have is, what did I find out about MAGA’s newly canonized martyr when I looked him up online. Charles James Kirk was 31 years old.  He was born and raised in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. His father Robert Kirk was a recognized local architect who had the distinction of working on Trump Tower. So, Charlie had the benefit of money and great contacts and he used them without hesitation or restraint.

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12 Things That Make Me Smile

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12 Things That Make Me Smile

12 Things That Make Me Smile

By D. S. Mitchell

Welcome to Calamity News and Politics. Calamity is currently based in Southern Oregon, in beautiful Grants Pass.  CNP attempts to present relevant and engaging political commentary, opinion, argument, speculation, and prediction regarding the political news in the United States. CNP also comments on health, wellness, fitness, silliness, games, and just about anything that tickles our panties. Once a month, or so, I do a post entitled “Things That Make Me Smile.” The number of items that make me smile usually change with each individual post.  No reason, just because I can, I guess.

So, take your mind off of politics and policies, including your grandmother losing her Medicaid, you losing your SNAP benefits, the Russian attack on NATO ally, Poland, the total and complete destruction of Gaza by Israel. the attacks by Israel on our ally, Qatar, and try if possible, to focus on the good things in your life.

Today I’m going to keep it short, here are 12 Things That Make Me Smile, how about you?

1.) Being on time.

2.) Daddy’s old work bench.

3.) Blackened hot dogs. Yum, yum.

4.) Talking to my plants.

5.) Living in a vacation town, during the off season.

6.) Slow dancing with him.

7.)  Pizza with a crispy paper thin crust.

8.) Wild strawberries peeking up in the flowerbeds.

9.) Fish On!

10.) Following estate sale signs.

11.) Putting pennies in a jar and watching them grow into dollars.

12.) Watching couples walk hand in hand.

The corruption and scandal in the Trump Administration is going to be around for a longer time than I would ever want, so think of your own 12 things that make you smile, because its gonna be a rough next three years plus years.

Call your congress person, write letters to the editor commenting on Trump policies, start a blog or a podcast, and hit the streets and protest. The next big rally is supposed to be on October 18, 2025. Watch for more information. Come out and protest, ‘No Kings,’ and let’s give our Dictator in Waiting, 10 million middle fingers. Join the New Resistance.

**If anyone is curious the picture accompanying this post is not me, but rather a lovely AI rendering of an imaginary woman.

Worker’s Over Billionaires Protest

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Worker’s Over Billionaires Protest

Worker’s Over Billionaires Protest

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”                                                                                                                                                  

By David L. Shadrick

This was our fourth protest in a season of protests. As usual Darlene, Vajra, John, and myself parked ourselves on our favorite bench under our favorite shade tree on 6th Street, Grants Pass, Oregon, kitty corner from the county courthouse. The turnout for the Worker’s over Billionaires rally was good, but not great.

I can also report that the opposition turnout, in deep red southern Oregon, was close to microscopic. I counted two rabid Trumpers in the crowd; one flipped me off and the other one, a jogger, stopped in front of my wheelchair and called me a “horrible person” and then accelerated his pace and headed to the safety of 7th street. Other than than those two events things were cool. We got lots of positive comments on our signs, in fact several folks stopped to take a selfie with me.

INDIVISIBLE came through with a new stereo system for our rally. It was cool being able to actually hear the speakers and some great music.  John and Vajra wandered through the crowd checking things out; they told us about a group way up on the other side of the street out of our field of vision that were causing a ruckus. It seems they wanted to protest FOR pedophilia. Holy smokes, I can see why that might cause a fight or two. I suspect they were just a bunch of Trump supporters being A-holes, trying to stir up some shit.

Despite the smaller size of the Labor Day protest in our little town, I will admit that in Grants Pass it was very hot and there were a lot of folks out of town for the last week-end get-away before school started.  With that said, we need to increase the pressure on Trump and his allies. We need to tell ‘ol Donnie Boy we are not going to stand for his masked thugs disappearing people from American streets, putting billionaires on the government dole when poor Americans are having health care and even food benefits snatched away. This isn’t ‘effin Russia, yet.

If these protests are going to have the intended impact they need to be getting bigger and bigger not smaller.  In my mind, turnout is imperative to keeping Trump’s attention. We can’t weaken or tire now; we have another 3 and a 1/2 years of  the Trump despot show. We can’t give in, give up or surrender to this lawless president and his corrupt allies; our freedom is literally at stake.

**Quote by Edmund Burke

Why We Were Better Ridin’ With Biden

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Why We Were Better Ridin’ With Biden

Why We Were Better Ridin’ With Biden

Editor: Well, if we wanted chaos, stupidity, and cruelty we’ve got it, in spades. All those folks who didn’t get enough of Trump the first time around and couldn’t wait to get his sick, narcissistic ass back in the White House are paying the price now, right along with the rest of us. And the folks who didn’t vote because they were taking some effin’ high road, shame on you. In a democracy there isn’t a lot to do, other than look at candidates and choose those candidates whose philosophy and policies come closest to match your individual hopes and desires; and that magic happens at the ballot box.   Cate and I agree about a lot of things and her thoughts on Joe Biden coincide with mine.  No one is perfect, but some are a lot more perfect than others; and yes I am comparing Joe Biden at his worst to Donald Trump at his best.  DSM

 

By Cate Rees-Hessel and D.S. Mitchell

  1. Joe Biden is a man of integrity, whose life long career of public service is still in effect – he’s still an advocate for the American people, despite dealing with cancer. Donald Trump has never advocated for anyone but himself.
  2. President Biden is a dedicated husband and father, not a cheating adulterer that once claimed he’d like to date his own daughter.
  3. Joe had, despite COVID-19 chauffeured the economy, to a place that perhaps still needed a bit of tweeking but was showing tremendous growth and high employment.  There were no insane, unnecessary, ill-advised tariffs that are in fact a direct tax on the American consumer.
  4. Joe Biden nor any other Democrat would never have even suggested such devastation, trauma, and cruelty as Trump’s Big Bad Bill. That bill is going to deliver big cuts to the social safety net, add trillions to the deficit and just incidentally give the richest 1% a huge tax cut.
  5. Joe capped insulin at $35 monthly, a real blessing for seniors; which Trump is talking about rescinding Joe’s policy so Donald can “help” the drug companies.
  6. Joe supported health insurance for all, while Trump policies are cutting Obama Care, Medicaid and Medicare. A healthy populace is a good thing for a country, and pays back in so many unimagined ways.
  7. Joe gave us a beautiful, progressive black woman of dignity and intelligence as our VP; Trump’s VP pick spends time courting White Supremacists & Neo-Nazi’s in Germany and other European capitals.
  8. Joe and the Democrats gave this country its first significant infrastructure bill in 70 years. Fixing roads, and bridges, bringing Wi-Wi to rural America while Trump tries to claw back promised federal money for many promised projects and offering nothing more than putrid pork in return.
  9. Joe Biden and his team gave us all time low unemployment, while Donnie Doodle’s employment reports are so bad he has to fire the civil servant giving the information; because of course like everything else he doesn’t like, “it’s a hoax or fake news.”
  10. Joe Biden was the savvy and supportive VP to our first black President, Barack Obama – they worked together beautifully. Donald Trump on the other hand is trying to intimidate and fight with duly elected black mayors and governors across the country. Racism is alive and well under Daddy Don.
  11. Joe gave us a classy First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden – not Donald’s immigrant wife with questionable legal status and a staple in her navel and a naked centerfold archived somewhere.
  12. Joe Biden treasures the privacy of the American people while Donnie Felon thought having Elon Musk chainsaw through the government was a good idea. What is the plan for all that information? Whatever it is, Joe Biden would never have been part of it.
  13. Joe Biden doesn’t intentionally go looking for a fight, while Trump is fighting with someone all the time. Sometimes just because he’s an ass and stupid as a trout and other times because he needs some nonsense vibrating the airways so he can hide, distract and deceive.
  14. Joe Biden used his time to get work done, not ride around in a golf cart demanding we change the  Gulf of Mexico, to the “Gulf of America,” “annex Canada as our 51st state,” or demand the “takeover of Greenland.”
  15. Joe Biden was not touring the world on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane or visiting Epstein Island. However, Donald Trump was flying around acting the big shot with old buddy  Jeff, but now he ‘barely knew him.’
  16. President Biden was an attorney who has a head for public administration and business, not a seven-time bankrupt reality show idiot who threatened his former school with big lawsuits if his grades were ever released.
  17. Joe Biden is a Democrat. Trump is head of some coalition faction that used to  proclaim to be Republicans but are now full MAGA and are likely to fall apart as a movement when Trump’s leaves center stage.
  18. Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed by Joe Biden, Trump appointed Brett Kavanaugh
  19. Joe Biden is pro-labor, he was the first president to ever stand on a picket line, while Trump surrounds himself with extremist minority political fringe advocates and greedy 2 percenters running the country.
  20.  With Joe and Jill Biden, class and dignity returned to the White House – for a brief four year period, we had a break from the insanity of “The Donald” and his thug routine.
  21. Joe Biden followed the law when it came to immigrants and immigration. With Trump we now have the world’s best financed national police force (who wear masks, no name badges, and snatch people off the streets) arresting cooks, seamstresses and gardeners. The outlaws and criminals that Trump promised to arrest and deport have vanished right along with his promises of lower food prices.
  22. Joe Biden believes in science and he believes in funding research, Donald Trump hates science and wants us to be as dumb as an illiterate peasant in Medieval England.
  23. No one ever accused Joe of using the office of the presidency to fill his bank account, but that’s what we have going on now more than during Trump’s first term. Emoluments? Who cares about a word that most people have never heard of.
  24. Joe Biden would never have rolled out a red carpet welcome for War Criminal, Vlad Putin, but Trump did. Since when do we celebrate killers? Now, I guess.

Instead of changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for purely racist reasons, wanting to change names of sports teams back to racist ones, wasting money on a military parade for his birthday, or wanting to be a king, President Biden was concerned with healthcare, infrastructure, and real world problems. Joe always had America’s best interest at heart, always thinking about the little guy in our society, a true patriot that took care of actual issues that we as Americans face. God bless President Joe Biden for his service.