Category: Social Issues

OPINION: Little Pink Houses

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OPINION: Little Pink Houses

 

OPINION: Little Pink Houses

Editor: Millions of people attended No King protests nationwide, and some experts believe that it may have been the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Reports indicate that more than 5 million people attended the anti-Trump demonstrations in 2100 towns and cities nationwide.

By John Curran

In our little Mayberry sort of town we have protests too-against this idiot and all his corruption. And an outsider might be surprised because Josephine County, Oregon as well as adjacent counties in this part of the state are, and have been been for years very strongly Republican. The majority vote in the 2024 presidential election was a Trump landslide. At the time of the actual election and preceding it, you would see a lot of pro-Trump signs and endorsements in all its various, and at least here, peaceful forms. The killings ain’t got here, yet. But it is getting a little more tense.

We had our fourth major protest on Saturday; the day when the nation as a whole was saying,  Everywhere is protest. Everywhere is outrage. Everywhere the same desire, get the cancer out before it just destroys everything. And of course, easier said than done.

By legal, institutional means, the political system has been manipulated to enable this huge dysfunction to have achieved the position where it can begin to consume the host and that’s pretty galling if ya ask me. The fact that this monster has been created from within; is us, or at least a good portion of us, the worst of us, sickens me. The resulting power mad soulless Babylon becomes unsustainable for the majority where the ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality just leaves the sick, the disabled, and the less than perfect to die. And with that, it’s obvious they don’t care.

So, ok, and with that, our little town on Saturday June 14th, 2025, had its fourth big protest. What was so cool was that it was bigger, louder, and even more jubilant than ever; like minded people coming together, working for a common cause. A friendly smile, a big hug, we are all getting to know each other just a little bit through these protests. In a way, these protests are more like mass unstructured community outings, mostly people of like feelings, but also, just anybody who knows how to act somewhat normal is welcome. So far so good.

And of course it wouldn’t be a proper protest without a few anti-protesters, to keep it interesting. Before a few was all it had been but this time, it was more like Custer’s last stand with Custer telling the dozen or so assembled, “Get out there boys. Damn they’re back again talking all that stuff about rights, and No Kings and all the while criticizing our fearless and duly elected leader. So get your big trucks and your big boots and let’s make some noise.”

“But sir ….theys so few of us it seems, and theys so many of them.”

And damned if he didn’t hear that and think an actual thought….”Yeah, right, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Despite being outnumbered a few of them actually began walking amongst the crowd, but most were content to just drive by in their pickup trucks and blow black smoke and yell, “Fuck you” a lot. The ones walking through the crowd had put themselves out there,  however,  they mostly walked around smirking and saying cruel and demeaning things to people in wheelchairs, slow elderly people with their walkers, or just anybody, who wanted to question their motives. Motherfucker.

But they don’t really deserve any credit for mingling with the crowd. They weren’t really brave as they wanted us to think; ’cause they could pretty well figure that, even though greatly outnumbered they were not gonna be actually threatened or hurt in any way. They would have to be the ones to start it, cause that’s not who we are. Neither are we poor and pathetic, we’re more like powerful now, and getting more powerful everyday. Do you have to wonder why?

 

Street View, NO Kings Protest

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Street View, NO Kings Protest

Street View, NO Kings Protest

By David L. Shadrick

Darlene, John, Vajra, and I arrived at the NO Kings protest at 9:55 for the 10 o’clock start. There was already a huge crowd of loud and noisy citizens. John was pushing my wheelchair, while Darlene, Vajra, and I, carried our signs, musical instruments and water.

The Josephine County Courthouse, just happens to be directly across 6th Street from the Republican Party headquarters. During the three previous protests, the Trumpers could only marshal 3 or 4 pro Trumpers to yell insults in our direction. Today, however, the Trump supporters, numbered as many as a dozen, carrying American flags and Trump Won Signs.

There wasn’t an inch of sidewalk space to be had on either side of the street due to NO Kings protesters crowding even the area in front of the Republican Headquarters. As we thought through  our options Darlene noticed a shady spot with an unoccupied bench a block down 6th Street on the Republican side of the street, not exactly in the middle of the action but the location made us a visible commodity, quite visible in fact.

I grabbed my trusty 8647 sign, my goat horn, and then rolled out onto the sidewalk where my sign could be easily seen by the slow moving and horn honking traffic. I could hear John and Vajra drumming while  Darlene rang her cow bell. We were basically a block down the street from the biggest part of the crowd when a dour looking Trumper made his way through the densest part of the crowd, heading in my direction. When he got close he said with a sneer, “Your sign is disgusting.”

I replied, “What’s disgusting are cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Veteran’s benefits.”

After several minutes of harassing a disabled veteran  in a wheelchair he bent down close to my face and repeated, “your sign is still disgusting,” before retreating south toward the Wunder Bar.

The next Trumpers came in a gang of three, walking through the same crowd of protesters, without saying a word, making a bee line straight for me, apparently my 8647 sign really ticked them off. The first man, suggested quite irritably, that I “should go back to (my) pathetic life.” Before I could answer, I was interrupted by the second Trumper in the group, who was seemingly a decent person. He asked me why I was protesting and I told him that the cuts to all the safety net programs were going to force me to sleep in the street or on his couch. “Ok, well, I can understand that might be a problem,” he said, before he walked on. The third person in the group was a nicely dressed woman who suggested she liked “ice in (her) soda,” to Darlene who was waving a sign that said, “I.C.E. is best C-R-U-S-H-E-D.  After their interaction with us, the three simply got in a car and drove away.

While I was eagerly blowing my goat horn, another Trumper ran up in front of me and whipped out a megaphone from behind his back, and began chanting, “GO TRUMP, GO TRUMP, GO TRUMP” to which I yelled, “and you go with him.” From behind me I heard a chorus of voices, led by Darlene, chanting, “8647, 8647, 8647.” The volume of the chant grew and the increasing furor sent the megaphone master retreating back to the safety of the six remaining Trumpers securing the Republican headquarters.

An old white guy, in a battered pickup slowed down to yell “fuck you,” as he passed.

“Is that the only word you know?” I demanded at the top of my lungs.

He again repeated the “fuck you” insult.

And I repeated, “is that the only word you know?”

The third time he said, “fuck you,” I again repeated my question, “is that the only word you know?”

The frustrated old fart, gunned his truck engine, and headed down the street, after tossing, “asshole,” in my direction; at last proving, even Trumpers know more than two words.

Another Trump friendly driver, waved his two middle fingers in my direction before causing his rig to belch a huge cloud of black diesel smoke, leading protestors close by to cough, sputter, and spit. I ignored him.

The middle finger salutes, the cursing, the belching trucks, the negativity, the insults, all came from the MAGA crowd. Not one person on the No Kings protestors side was rude or insulting to anyone, certainly not to the first wheelchair bound person they could find.

 

NO KINGS PROTEST

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NO KINGS PROTEST

NO KINGS Protest

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

                                                                                                                              Steve Jobs

QUOTES ON COURAGE

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Quotes On Courage

QUOTES ON COURAGE

D. S. Mitchell

Research

As part of my job as Editor in Chief at Calamity Politics is that I get to do research. Research can be lots of fun. This week, I decided to look up quotes on courage. I believe that we are going to need strength and courage to see this political battle to it’s satisfactory progressive conclusion. The Trump machine can’t run without the power of the people. He’s losing his most basic supporters; my God, even Musk called him out.

What People Have Said About Courage:

People say some pretty inspiring things.  Here’s a brief collection of some pretty smart comments by some pretty smart people on the subject of gallantry and valor.

1.) “Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary,”  Gerard Way

2.)Courage leads starward, fear toward death,” Seneca

3.)“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen,” Winston Churchill

4.)“Courage conquers all things,”  Ovid

5.) “The strongest, most generous and proudest of all virtues is courage,“ Michel De Montaigne

6.) “Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion,”  President Calvin Coolidge

7.) “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage,” Anais Nin

I’m inspired. How about you? If you are even a little inspired, do something to fight this administration. Be brave. Be courageous. Write a letter, make a phone call, march in the upcoming anti-Trump “NO KINGS protest. Don’t be a bystander.

Join the New Resistance

More of Trump’s Atrocities, Part 3

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More of Trump’s Atrocities, Part 3

Trump is a destroyer not a builder

More of Trump’s Atrocities, Part 3

By Cate Rees-Hessel

 

More and more, day by day, “The Donald” is trying to destroy our nation with his selfish, chaotic  and self-serving behavior. Below are more of his narcissistic actions:

  1. Attacking SNAP, nutrition assistance needed by many families to put food on the table. He will single handedly cause a hunger crisis in America. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  2. Trump’s tariffs are driving up prices on food and many other items, cost of living increases are hurting middle class Americans, and destroying those in lower income brackets. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  3. Attacking Medicaid for those unable to afford health insurance. Necessary health care for millions, including preventive care, is under attack and potentially on the chopping block. This action can result in deaths for many people in our nation. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  4. He already reversed the $35.00 insulin cap for seniors – diabetics rely on this medication to stay alive and healthy. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  5. He has insulted the new Pope Leo XVI, as he also insulted our dearly departed Pope Francis, two Godly men of peace and inclusion. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  6. Trump’s tax breaks for billionaires that need to pay their fair share are completely unfair and unjustified. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  7. He pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, calling their daughter at Sam’s Club to announce his gesture. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  8. Trump “worked” at a McDonald’s during his campaign and is a Big Mac-aholic but can’t even spell the word hamburger. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  9. The orange imbecile thinks windmills cause cancer. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  10. Trump wants to spend an estimated $95 million on a dictator style military parade to celebrate and commemorate his birthday when the average American can barely afford to buy necessities. This money could save Medicare and SNAP benefits for those in need. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  11. Trump’s attack on Social Security. Seniors and disabled individuals rely on SS. I must point out Social Security is our money, not the governments. We earned it and paid into the system for our retirement. We must resist and impeach Trump…
  12. I will let Trump’s horrific 2025 Memorial Day “X” message speak volumes for itself here – this comes from the devil that called out military suckers and losers. The only monsters are Trump and his cronies. Ending his rant with God bless America is disgusting and blasphemous.

“OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN-ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND. WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL, BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN and HAPPY AGAIN  MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA”

We must resist and impeach Trump…

WORD CHAIN-Black to White

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WORD CHAIN-Black to White

WORD CHAIN-Black to White

By D.S. Mitchell

Political blogging requires mostly research and the desire to tell the world all of your political theories. Ideas you are driven to share with people who may or may not support your theories. I try to provide discussion, analysis and relevant topics from current U.S. political news. But, sometimes, I like to play, so for this session here are a few word chains, related in some twisted way, to the current political situation. LOL.

I can change black to white, by changing one letter at a time:  black, blank, blink, clink, chink, chine, whine, white

I can change give to take, by changing one letter at a time: give, live, like, lake, take

I can change tears to smile, by changing one letter at a time: tears, scars, stars, stare, stale, stile, smile

I can change poor to rich, by changing one letter at a time: poor, boor, book, rook, rock, Rick, rich

I can change hate to love by changing one letter at a time: hate, rate, rave, cave, cove, love

Fun and amazing, huh?

I wonder if Donald Trump can change treason to impeach by changing one letter at a time, or impeach to imprison?

Join The New Resistance; protest, protest, protest. I want to encourage all of those who aren’t hospitalized  or dead, to hit the streets on June 14th, 2025 to protest Trump’s 92 plus million dollar military-personal birthday parade. Millions of dollars for phony adoration while his administration terrorizes  our veterans, the disabled, the sick, the poor, the disenfranchised, hungry children, and the elderly, with loss of funding for basic health care and other safety net services. We as a nation don’t have to take this shit. Destroying our democratic government and promised benefits for millions of Americans in exchange for tax benefits and special government contracts to a handful of sociopaths and oligarchs seems out of balance. It is clear that the billionaire values his needs above those of his country and his fellow equal citizens. There are more of us than there are of them. It is time we remind them of that fact. Show your outrage; make a sign, find the sneakers, and tell Trump, Musk, and that whole billionaire cabinet to suck dick.

Calamity Clown/ AKA D.S Mitchell

**Thank you Rod L Evans, Ph.D for your permission to use your work on this website. (Displayed word chain taken directly from his book Tyrannosaurus Lex). Look for it.

 

Trump’s Tariffs and a Whole Lot More Mess, Part 1

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Trump’s Tariffs and a Whole Lot More Mess,

Part 1

 

Despicable and Disgusting:

Trump’s 100 Day Highlights

 

Editor: I want to thank my friend Cate Hessel for allowing me to join her in trashing the Orange tinged monster that has manifested his bloated ass into our government.

 

By Cate Rees-Hessel with D.S. Mitchell

 

I want to talk about Trump’s disastrous first 100 days in office. His continuing attempts to destroy our democracy weigh heavily on the shoulders of our nation. This horrific excuse for a “president” displays his racism, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ, and misogyny openly. 140 Executive Orders in his first hundred days. The Trump Administration has acted not only illegally but unconstitutionally.  His actions are intended to destroy our democratic institutions, slow down our economy, gut public education, roll back protections for public health and our threatened environment, in addition to putting health care and Social Security benefits at risk for millions of senior and disabled Americans. And that’s just the start. The Trump administration is impacting the arts, universities, scientific research, and cultural organizations across the country. He and his allies are running a game of bait and switch, look here, no over there. Overwhelm us. Nothing new, just unprecedented intentional chaos and absurdity and cruel lawlessness with the intent to overwhelm the system.  As more of us flow into the streets in protest of Trump’s disgusting agenda, I feel we are moving toward Martial Law; bone-chilling imaginings. Bone-chilling fear for those who dare to speak up, but we must speak up, before we can’t. This isn’t Russia, yet.

Despicable and Disgusting Trump 100 Day Highlights

  1. Trump was handed a booming economy per all the financial gurus and within 100 days of taking office Trump has tanked the stock market, started a trade war leading to tariffs that are predicted to raise prices on consumer goods, worsening inflation, the GDP now in a tailspin and egg prices skyrocketing. Russia and China don’t have tariffs, do they?
  2. Immediately upon taking office, Trump reversed President Biden’s $35 cap on insulin for seniors.
  3. Giving Elon Musk access to Social Security, Medicaid, the VA, and other legally protected records.
  4. Allowing Elon Musk to run our country while Trump himself is out playing golf.
  5. Massive deportation of innocent people, many with legal status or U.S. citizenship, being sent to foreign prisons without due process. We aren’t being shown proof of criminal elements being deported.
  6. Insulting and berating Ukraine President Zelensky, on national television, a man who has served heroically during his nation’s crisis, with ultimate dignity and compassion. Two qualities Trump has shown he does not possess.
  7. Having a judge arrested for not complying with “The Donald’s” racist agenda.
  8. Wasting money on a military parade (for his birthday!) in his self-created poor economy. An estimated $100M, plus post-parade clean up and repairs to damaged concrete and asphalt.
  9. For planning another run in 2028, when it is unconstitutional for a president to run for a third term. A man of 82, well into his dotage is not the face of the future.
  10. Disrespectful of Pope Francis’ memory – falling asleep at his funeral, wearing a blue suit, and walking on the sacred rug meant only for clergy. Never afraid to confirm his ignorance and social stupidity.
  11. Stripping funds from PBS and NPR.
  12. Outrageous funding cuts from the African American museum.
  13. Making moves to get rid of the Department of Education.
  14. Stopping funding for medical research at labs and universities across the country while exploiting a child who has cancer.
  15. Attacking Social Security with a horde of 20-year-old hackers.
  16. Attacking SNAP. A program that is good for the giver and the recipient. Farm to Hungry Americans. Such basic support for the needy in America is vital.
  17. Moving to defund the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which protects consumers’ food supply and keeps our food safe, as well as regulating pharmaceuticals. The absurdity of this action is beyond words.
  18. Continues to sell Made in China junk and is blasphemous in signing and selling the word of God for profit. Where are the watchdogs in Congress authorized to constrain this heathen?
  19. Defunding library grants. I love my library.
  20. Trump’s ridiculous, racist insistence that the Gulf of Mexico be changed to the Gulf of America. I saw a protest sign that called it the Golf of America with an AI-generated cartoon rendering of a bloated golf club swinging Donald Trump.
  21. Appointing a complete moron to fuck up the workings of the CDC and National Institute of Health (NIH).
  22. Taking away the funding for the National Suicide Prevention line – we need that service now more than ever before.
  23. Defunding DEI programs and threatening companies and universities that continue such instruction.
  24. Slashed funding for our colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning.
  25. Cut veterans’ benefits.
  26. His constant attacks against the LGBTQ and trans communities.
  27. Empty cargo ships from China, thanks to outrageous tariffs, mean no work for truck drivers, retailers, or dock workers.
  28. Made sure egg prices went sky high.
  29. Signed a presidential memo directing his Attorney General to investigate ActBlue in an attempt to silence MoveOn, a progressive political organization.
  30. Trump wants to be king in a country that never had one, by choice. His recent comment, “I run the country and the world,” is frighteningly sociopathic.

Don’t blame me, I voted for Kamala and Tim. But I’ll move over if you want to join the protests against this outrageous administration. We all must resist, resist, resist. We all must protest, protest, protest.  We all must join every march, sign every petition, vote in every election to come, and stand firm in our fervent prayers for impeachment. We are better than this, America…at least we proclaim to be.

NO KINGS HERE PROTEST

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NO Kings Here Protest

NO Kings Here Protest

By D.S. Mitchell

I decided not to make a new sign, I figured my ‘Resist MAGA’ sign would still work. It was Easter weekend after all and I had guests coming. Not that I’m pulling my hair out or any such thing. GRR. Fuck. I just want to take my life back. The idea that one orange melon head can disrupt, traumatize and injure so many people with the scribble of his sharpie is inconceivable; but here we are in Psych Crisis Unit 2025 with Donald Trump Director of Chaos, Delusion, and Hate. Until one of us, Trump or me, dies I am committed to resist Donald Trump and his oligarchs and his fascist message.

I was sitting on the stone wall in front of the County Court House holding my sign and hooping and hollering at passing motorists when a grey shadow blocked my view of the street; causing me to look up. He was tall and slender with close cropped salt and pepper hair; rather good-looking in a clean-cut way. Not only was he staring down at me he was pointing at me and asking me what my problem with MAGA. was. Startled I sucked in a breath and let loose. It was then I realized he was pointing a microphone at me. Shit. What the hell had I just said. I suddenly worried.

“And what else?” he challenged me.

“Quite honestly, my outrage is limitless. How about; tariffs, the crashing stock market, Social Security cuts, the defunding of Medicare and  Medicaid, destroying the Department of Education, closing USAID, the VA cuts, the attacks against science and research, the distain for knowledge. What we have left is stupidity, chaos and corruption…like I said, my outrage is too big for one sign.”

His questions continued and I blabbered on about the loss of our core vales, the growing police state that comes with the loss of due process and wanna-be-dictator Trump’s cabinet of oligarchs. After a few more questions he thanked me and moved on down the street without talking to anyone else. He didn’t leave a card, nor did he identify himself as working for any media company. I assume he was just a Trump backer sent behind the enemy lines to agitate the  demonstrators. The whole episode was a bit strange and if his intent was to agitate me he certainly succeeded on that score.

Once my interrogator had moved on the group around me burst in to pats on the back and shouts of praise for my spontaneous performance. I appreciated the praise, it was very kind. I however, could barely remember a word I had said.

RESIST MAGA