Why I've Been Dark - Fighting Trump and the GOP - Exploring a Congressional Run

Why I've Been Dark - Fighting Trump and the GOP - Exploring a Congressional Run
By Thom Palmer
January 26, 2017

Since the election, and especially since the Electors voted on December 19th, I have not written much. There are reasons for this that I thought I would share with you.

For a year and a half, I expended tons of energy and a significant loss of income trying to call out the truth about the Republican agenda, and the dangers of a Trump Presidency. Calling out the fake news and misinformation for what it was, sharing to as many groups and sites as I could think of. My articles were detailed, and while they definitely pulled no punches as my personal opinions knew few bounds, they were based on factual information, supported by both factual links, my personal investigation, as well as the opinions of some very good journalists.

FAKE NEWS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA
I warned mainstream media of their support of fake news, and support of the misinformation that had
permeated through the electorate with regard to Hillary's emails and I debunked virtually every fake scandal waged against her by Trump, the Republican party, Russia and Wikileaks. I warned the Bernie supporters that a real chance of a Trump presidency was present, just as the Ralph Nader group allowed Bush II to win in 2000, and I presented facts to back it up. I warned Hillary supporters to not trust the polls, as almost all of them were based on "likely voters", and unlike other elections, a celebrity with a large constituency of "unlikely voters", or fans of which many had not voted in previous elections would vote enthusiastically to blow up Washington as promised by their reality show star.

ESPIONAGE AND TREASON
There was no lack of evidence that Trump's campaign was working with Russian hackers to infiltrate the DNC as well as generate and propagate fake news. The stench of espionage was strong. I warned of the "alternative facts" which were repeated hundreds of times per day through CNN, MSNBC, and of course Fox News. These alternative facts that were forced down the throats of the electorate were designed to kill Hillary's approval and trustworthiness numbers, which was the goal of the Trump administration as well as the Republican party. It was the only way they could win, and the daily dose of toxic news was not adequately being debunked by media as their ratings and advertising profits saw record highs. Some of my articles were shared with the White House, various Congressional members, and many anchors at CNN and MSNBC. You, my readers also shared widely to a variety of groups and pages. In addition, other more popular journalists such as Kurt Eichenwald, David Brock and many others published and shared similar and supporting articles which were read by many millions of Americans with actual truth and facts.

After all of this, we could not put a crack in the red wall that the GOP had built over the last two decades combined with the propaganda machine.

THE UNITED FASCIST STATES OF AMERICA
Since then, I've watched this narcissistic child that now occupies the Oval Office begin to systematically destroy everything that I believe in. Even with massive protests, a lack of a mandate, etc, Republicans are overjoyed with the ability to increase military spending, increase oil profits, destroy the environment for financial gain, embezzle money from the middle class, Oil drilling will soon commence in the Arctic above Russia, compliments of a soon to be announced executive order removing important sanctions against Russia which did not allow Exxon to drill. This compliments of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Trump's new Secretary of State. Mark my words.

PROSPECTS OF A CONGRESSIONAL RUN
I've spent the last two months deciding if I should run for Congress. The Republican Congressman in my district has spent the last 24 years ripping off the people in our district, buying cheap land, pushing earmarks through Congress to build roads, and then flipping the land at windfall profits. He has chopped into our hillsides, killing and pushing out wildlife for real estate profits. He votes along party line, denying climate change, attacking women's rights as well as civil rights, and is a warmonger judging by his voting record. He was even caught red handed by a cop receiving oral sex from a known hooker in Corona a few years ago. He used his position to avoid charges, with the police stating that there was no proof of money exchange, which is ridiculous.Every two years, a good Democratic challenger loses to him by 20 points or more. The majority of voters in my district voted for Trump. That's right, I live in a district in California that is hardcore Trump.

The reality is that running for Congress, for me, could be financially disastrous. I am not in a position to lose my income for the two years that it would take, combined with the personal money that it appears to take for me to run. Without a strong campaign manager and somewhere between a million and five million dollars in donations, I don't believe I can crack the red wall without losing my house. I am 60 years old. This is not old by any reasonable measure, however, retirement and old age looms in the near future. The financial health of my family two years, five years, and beyond looms in my mind. Therefore, after much personal deliberation and conflict, and the possibility of financial ruin at age 62, I have all but eliminated the concept of a Congressional run in 2018.

2018
I will actively seek out the best candidate to oppose Calvert in 2018, and work part-time for his or her campaign. I will actively infiltrate social media groups and push the truth and facts, and try to bring new strategies into the campaign process in order to defeat this crook.

I attended the Women's march in Riverside, CA where about 5000 people showed up to protest Trump on January 21st.  I'll promote and write on the need to resist the fascism that we are seeing infiltrate Washington more and more each day. THE EFFECTIVENESS of our resistance will determine how long this carnage, this methodical destruction of our Constitution and diminishing of our civil and human rights continues before we can begin to repair the damage.

November 6, 2018 will be the day that we, the voters, decide if the Democratic party is dead, and the GOP fascism, or corporate control of our government, continues for decades. Here's the situation....

The Senate has 100 members. A Senate term is 6 years, however, just 1/3 of the Senate goes up for re-election every two years. They rotate in order to avoid extreme changes from term to term.  So, this means that 33 of the 100 will go up for re-election in 2018.

Of the 33 Senators going up from re-election......
8 are Republicans
25 are Democrats (including 2 Independents that caucus with Democrats)

ADVANTAGE REPUBLICANS
Republicans have a 3-1 advantage. This means that, even if Democrats win 17 seats to Republicans 16 seats, Republicans will still gain 6 seats in the Senate. This does not mean that Democrats can't hold, it just means that it's going to require MASSIVE Democratic turnout at the polls nationwide.

I will be writing more about the 2018 election, and might sound like a broken record or a squeaky wheel, but it is imperative that we use the resistance and movement against Trump to rally twice as many voters into showing up in 2018 as opposed to the number of Democratic voters that showed up in 2014, where just 17% of Democrats voted, giving way to the current majorities in both the House and Senate to the Republicans.

RESPONSIBILITY IS OURS
Responsibility for massive losses over the last 6 years belongs to the DNC, for failing to adequately address the fake news pushed by Republicans and Fox News, and also with the Democratic base, for blatantly ignoring their responsibilities at mid-term elections. THIS MUST CHANGE IMMEDIATELY.

Nobody said this was going to easy. Over the next two years, we'll watch Trump and Republicans attempt to destroy every bit of progress the Obama administration made. The world will be less safe, and our futures, and the health of the planet will be uncertain (to say the least). We have thousands of Mayors and members of Congress supporting us, but without our participation, they will cave in eventually to GOP fascism. They need mass support from the public in order to obstruct.

STAY ACTIVE AND MAKE 2018 JUST AS IMPORTANT AS 2016 WAS, and we can minimize the damage, and begin to repair the harm that is already being done to the nation. Protesting and obstructing, denying the legitimacy of this President has never been more important.

KEITH ELLISON FOR DNC CHAIR
I support Keith Ellison as DNC Chair over Tom Perez. Ellison is a bulldog, and is far more likely to improve Democratic turnout in 2018 and 2020. We need someone that will stand with us in the streets and blast the GOP and Trump. Perez reminds me of Hillary's campaign manager, who remained far too silent in defending Hillary's positions and attacking the Trump campaign on their corruption and lies. We need a bulldog, and Ellison fits that bill. Tom Perez is a great guy, but would be weak in comparison. This truth may hurt some people, but it is the truth.

http://time.com/4643955/keith-ellison-democrat-dnc/

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/312270-democrats-take-sides-in-race-for-dnc-chair

Congress will choose the DNC Chairman the weekend of February 23rd. 
WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN or CONGRESSWOMAN WITH YOUR OPINION.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

STAY TUNED
Join Facebook Group "Truth in Politics News Feed" and subscribe to this blog. Thing will heat up as the year goes on, and we will keep you up to date and well informed. SHARE these articles, not only to your like-minded friends, but also with as many groups and individuals who do not see things the way you do. Those folks are just as important in changing the current political climate.