"American Horror Story" Opened with the Terror of Trump, Then a Clown Showed Up

Ty's tv once the clown showed up

I do not watch the show "American Horror Story". I have made this exact statement on the podcast, and now, I'm saying it on the site. The show is terrifying. I do not like to be scared by real life stuff. This show does dramatizations of some real stories and it freaks me out. Hell, I am even scared of the theme song. The commercials leading up to this season scared the hell out of me. I'd be watching "the Simpsons", and bam! an "American Horror Story" commercial would come on and horrify me. My wife loves the show. She watches it religiously. She stays up late to watch the episodes in real time so she doesn't have anything spoiled for her. She is a big time fan.

With all this being said, I wanted to watch the opening scene of the newest season last night. I have read and heard many things about how this season of "AHS" was going to have some kind of focus on the horrific events that occurred in November. You all know what I am talking about. I had heard that the first 10 minutes was totally worth watching for anyone and everyone that is very upset and horrified by what happened in November. So, I told my wife that I wanted to see the opening scene. I did not want to watch the entire episode, no way, but I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. I am also very luke warm on Ryan Murphy as a writer, but this is a subject that he knows very well. I assume he is liberal, so I wanted to see how he handled all the crazy, inexplicable things that happened in the last election.

When the show started I was immediately shocked back to how upset I was the night of November 7th. The show started with that golfing, racist oaf accepting the Republican nomination. The very next scene had the rightful winner, the people's choice for president, Hilary Clinton, accepting the Democratic nomination. Then "AHS" kept showing all the media coverage trying to come to grips with what was happening. The CNN's, MSNBC's, BBC's, every news network except for one big omission, by choice I assume, trying to grasp what was happening. It brought back very painful memories for me. I was, and still am, very upset and feel betrayed by what happened 7 months ago. It was a travesty, and now, especially with this ridiculous DACA repeal, god I hope it doesn't pass, I am even more terrified by what this so called "government" and the most heartless group of Republicans in history continues to do everyday. I am so terrified by what they want to take away from people that cause them no harm.

The horror was played so expertly by Sarah Paulson. She and Alison Pil play a married couple with a young child. They live in a fancy-ish home and they are clearly a liberal family. When the news that Clinton had stepped back, Paulson's character immediately starts sobbing and seems to be having a panic attack. She is walking around her house cursing the names of anyone that said that Clinton had this election in the bag. She couldn't fathom how that racist oaf "won" the election. Pil, her wife, was there to console her, telling her to do her breathing exercises and to try and calm down. Paulson could not. She was beside herself. Their housekeeper was there with the child, and she was trying to shield her from seeing one of her parents act this way. The little girl says to Paulson, after she has calmed down for a minute, "I don't want you two to have to get divorced, I want you two to still be my parents". This was absolutely heart breaking, and all too real. Paulson and Pil reassured her that they were not going anywhere. This only further set off Paulson.

On the opposite end, Evan Peters, who is a terrifying psychopath in every season of "AHS", plays a supporter of the racist, golfing orange buffoon. His character is so thrilled by the outcome that he is literally humping his television and saying that a revolution was going to start. At one point he puts a bunch of cheese poofs in a blender and grinds them to a dust. The next time we see him, he shows up in his sister's room, a Clinton supporter, with the cheese poof dust covering his face so he can look like his "hero" I presume. She asks him if he is there to gloat, and he just creepily stares at her face and tries to wipe some dust on her face. She pushes him away and he leaves the room.

There is also a family of Spanish decent and all of them are very upset at the outcome, and they are all complaining about the lack of people that voted. This was the group I identified with most from what I saw. They were so upset that people just decided to forgo their voting, thinking it didn't matter. That is wrong and one of the main reasons that what happened actually happened.

After this first 10 minutes or so some super creepy clown showed up, and as you all know by now I am absolutely horrified by clowns, I left the room. I was already upset by what I had seen because it brought up so many old, bad memories. It was like reopening a scar that I just cannot get rid of. Then the clown showed up, and I was out. I told my wife I was going to bed to watch sports to get my mind off of what I had just seen. But, as I said, this was almost too real an opening scene for a fictional show. It was almost documentary like. It showed all sides the night of the election, and I have to say, Ryan Murphy and the group of writers absolutely nailed it.

I will not be watching anymore of "AHS: Cult" because I do not need to relive the last 7 months, I am living it now, and the show has a terrifying, killer clown on it. But, this season, at least the opening scene, perfectly captured the reactions from, at the very least, 3 groups of people that the outcome will effect, either positive or negative. That being said, there is no positive that came from that terrible night in early November. Ryan Murphy did a masterful job though, this cannot be understated at all. I'm not a fan, as I said, but he did a great job with this source material. I'm sure my wife will tell me about the episodes, but after seeing the first 10 minutes last night I was reminded why I choose to not watch this show. While it is a great show, it is horrifying and this season, it is all too real.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He wants to live in a country where the majority of people hava a choice in who their President is. A place like the United States in 2008 and 2012. That's right, Obama crushed his competition and won more votes than any one, ever. That is Trump's American Horror Story.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Last Days of the Trump Presidency

Vacancy here very soon

As of this writing, Donald J Trump is still President of the United States. Over six months ago the repeat failure of a New York businessman improbably won the highest office in the land not by the will of the governed, but through the Electoral College. With only 46% of the voters actually showing faith in Mr. Trump, the US Constitution set up the rules to make him President. Very few people believed Trump would win. Many thought he did not even want to win, because he would then have to have some responsibility for his terrible business practices and his somehow worse personal beliefs. Yet, late on the morning of November 9th the nation was starting to come to terms with the Donald Trump Presidency. The country was preparing for the worst.

Since Inauguration day the United States has been living through the struggle we expected early that November day. Donald Trump has been a terrible President. Nearly every week the Trump White House is spinning lies to cover up their latest amateur mistake. The first few months of the Trump Era have been marked by discord, whining, and finger pointing, and that is just from the Republican Party. The Democrats, who have had no vision for almost a decade, have surprisingly united in battling the Trump agenda. The press, who are responsible for this disaster, have started to act like real journalists who have the public good in mind. Donald J Trump has been so bad as President, that it took only a few months to unite most of the political institutions against his terribleness.

The right wing media, and the minority of voters who support Trump, have predictable blamed everyone else for the President's awfulness. Fox News has to resort to Hillary bashing, and cruel conspiracy theories, to try and keep Trump out of the news cycle. They are failing. Defenders of the white man way of life like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly try to diminish the never ending dumpster fire of the Trump administration by claiming that the negative coverage is a crusade against the rich white men of America. They are idiots. The few people who are the President's supporters whine whenever anyone says something negative about the Donald, and they then cry for a safe place to shield themselves from the never ending bad news. It seems that the President and his supporters are the real snowflakes out there. They are losing the debate.

We should not be surprised that things are this bad. Donald Trump has been a comical failure his entire adult life. He declared bankruptcy numerous times. He was the only man to fail in the casino business. He sold terrible steaks and an even worse college education. His marriages, and divorces, were grocery store checkout line fodder through the 1990s. The only reason Trump is still rich is because his father left him a safety net filled with lawyers who made sure that the Donald could benefit from the rich guy corporate welfare championed by President's Reagan and Clinton in the 1980s and 1990s. Donald Trump is like a bizarro version of the American Dream. The fact that he stumbled into the Presidency of the United States just goes to prove that the ideals of James Truslow Adams are now not a part of the American ethos. Being an entitled, coddled, failure his whole life, why did anyone think Donald Trump could succeed as President?

Being a bad President requires the help of a lot of people, and Trump has plenty of help. His cabinet is filled with greedy demagogues who openly work to hurt hard working Americans so they can line their already stuffed pockets. The clowns in Congress, led by class dunce Paul Ryan in the House and Glorious Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate, have no idea how to actually govern. Vice President Mike Pence made his name by driving business out of the state he was elected Governor. The whole Trump gang in DC are so inept that the incompetent leaders of the Democratic Party are starting to look like visionaries to the rest of the country. It is obvious how bad Trump is when Nancy Pelosi looks like the smart one.

President Trump can not even be trusted to show leadership on the photo op friendly global diplomatic stage. The Pope was not that excited to entertain the President. The always present insecurity of Donald Trump causes him to be classless and push other world leaders out of the way so he can be the big boy at the front of the line. His supporters likes how he talks tough about Muslims and terrorism, yet he also bows to the Saudis, touches their creepy orb, and warns his Russian buddies about a pointless US military strike. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the real leader of the industrialized free world, has even urged the rest of the world to move on without the United States. President Trump in just a few short months has reduced American influence more so than any President in history. That does not make America Great Again.

The one certain thing about Donald Trump is that he will quit when things became too difficult for him. He has done that in business and television, and he will do it as President. Donald Trump is a small man, and being a public figure of ridicule is way too much for his fragile ego to handle. The United States has problems, and he has no idea how to fix them. The economic divide between the rich and everyone else is getting to it's worst point in the history of the United States. Donald Trump cannot, and will not, fix this. He is determined, with the help of class dunce Ryan and Glorious Leader McConnell, to widen the economic gap. Their efforts may succeed in the short term, but the next duly elected President will reverse almost all of the Trump Presidency. Everyone knows this. The press, the Democratic Party, and the majority of American voters will constantly remind President Trump of his cruel insignificance. The pressure will crack the Donald's ego, and he will quit being President. That is why in only a few short months, we are witnessing the final days of the Presidency of Donald J Trump.

Thank Gods.

RD

RD is the Founder and Head Editor for SeedSing

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

I Have to Say Something About the Republicans and Their Healthcare Bill

It is going to be mighty hot in this world, and the next, for the Republicans

I know that I have stated that I am out of the politics game here on the site, but after yesterday's atrocities, I just cannot think of a better place to heap my disgust at this maniacal, tyrannical, stone age of a "government" than my blog.

The "health' care bill that the House passed is an absolute disaster. That bill does nothing except make the sick and poor more sick and poor, and make the rich even richer. It is a downright shame that something like this was even brought to the table to vote. This is an outrageously horrible bill that will take millions upon millions of people off of health care, while making corporations more rich, and lining the pockets of the slimy pigheaded people that voted yes on this horrific bill in the government.

I hope that all the yes men and women that work in government that voted yes on this know that they have special place in hell waiting for them. I personally do not believe in a heaven or a hell, but the moronic right wing nut jobs that occupy Washington D.C. seem to always talk about the bible and God and other religious stuff, so I'm sure they believe in that nonsense. I hope they are prepared for an eternity of fire and Satan, or whatever, because that is where they are headed. I'm sure some of you that will read this are Republican, or right wing, and will say, that's too mean Ty. I say, shut your god damn mouth. If you support this bill and these monsters, then I have nothing but contempt and disrespect for you.

This bill is downright insane. This bill is going to directly effect the very same people that voted this douchebag into office. He is aiming for the sick and the poor. He and his cronies do not care about you unless you are a multi billionaire. If you do not give anything to him and his bunch of frat boy subordinates, he could care less about you. That is why something so ridiculous was pushed through the House in such a hurry. They didn't vet this bill, or even read it for that matter. Trump is such a puppet that someone gave him something, told him to sign it, and like the dip shit he is, he did it, no questions asked.

Then, the fact that thy were celebrating and drinking Bud Light after it passed is just appalling. What, was there no Natty Lights for you assholes to drink? This is so disgusting and very disturbing.

The fact that this passed has made me scared and very, very angry. To take healthcare away from the sick and the poor is so unconscionable, it makes me literally sick to my stomach. I mean, how do these people sleep at night knowing what they are doing to the less fortunate? The government was supposed to protect us and our civil liberties. Now, it is just a game to the villains in office. They do not care what the piece of paper they are signing says, they just want it to pass. The moronic and archaic GOP bitched and moaned about Obamacare for 8 years. That bill had a ton of thought and fought its way to get passed. This new health bill, they looked at for less than 100 days. That should frighten everyone. The fact that they just rushed it through proves to me that no vetting or any rational thought went into it. This was just something that they wanted to get done to make their investors, possibly the Russians, happy. I know that the Senate still has to look at this bill before it becomes law, but the fact that the House had enough votes to pass the bill is a nightmare scenario.

Look, this first 100 days plus of this monstrosity of a "government" has been anxiety fuel and I am sick and tired of being angry and afraid. Nothing these horrible monsters do makes me feel at ease. The people in charge are trying to destroy this country. They do not care about anyone but themselves. People like Trump, Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, Jeff Sessions, are horrible, horrible people that will get what is coming to them. They are going to go down as some of the worst people in the history of the US. But, the scariest thing about that, they do not care, or are too dumb to realize that what they are doing is so very, very wrong. With each passing day of this "government" I become more worried and more angry. Every morning I wake up hoping to hear that all of these crooks and criminals are being sent to jail, but it hasn't happened, at least not yet. Everyday I also scour the internet and my email looking for petitions, numbers to calls and things that I can do to try and stop this disaster of a "cabinet". I just want to wake up one day and not be afraid anymore.

What makes that even worse, I will not, at least at first, be effected by any of this stuff. I'm a middle class white man. But, I have friends that count on things like health care and LGBTQ rights and free speech. And from what this "administration" has shown so far, they are screwed.

We will fight. Go out and look at all the reactions from the majority of the country. People are starting to get woke, and I'm proud to say that I am going to stay woke as long as these injustices keeps happening. Listen up you monsters in D.C. that think you can control us, we will never stop fighting while you are in office. Get ready for more protests and more and more people questioning you and your cronies. You are thieves, crooks, and after yesterday, killers. I hope you all know that you are going to rot in jail before you rot in hell, and I want you to know that I will fight you, tooth and nail, until you monsters get what you deserve.

All of you DC Republicans disgust me. I hope the people that voted for these monsters, or even worse didn't vote at all, feel real bad about yourselves. You let this happen, and now, these criminals are trying to get away with whatever they can. For shame. As for now, keep resisting. It is going to be a fight, but it is a fight that we can win. Trust that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is woke. Are you? 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

It's May Day, a Time to Celebrate the Workers, Spring, and the Birthday of SeedSing

And so it began.

May 1st will always be a special day as it represents the launch of SeedSing. I wanted to use the internationally recognized Workers Holiday as the marking point for what we are trying to accomplish here at the website. Festivals dating back to the Roman Republic era have also used the 1st day of this fifth glorious month to celebrate the rebirth of spring. SeedSing exists to give voice to those who may not have a place at society’s table, and we exist to celebrate the blossoming of new ideas. We are happy to celebrate this May Day with you, and we want to celebrate where we have been and where we are going.

So what is the purpose of SeedSing? We live in a world where ideas are being monopolized by the wealthy and connected elite. Ideas are not commodities, they are the only thing we collectively share. Here at SeedSing we want to let the people take back their rights to having thoughts. We want to give you a voice. The global community is in trouble. The people at the top of the global economic system are only concerned with self-preservation, and they have used the media and government to solidify their power. SeedSing is the people's fortress where we can speak freely, and start to fix the world being destroyed by the top 1%. That is the purpose of SeedSing.

Having spent the last few years working on SeedSing, I have evolved quite a bit. What began as a way for local candidates to easily reach their voters has turned into a blog and podcast focusing on politics and pop culture. That makes Seedsing one of the billion plus blogs out there talking about these topics, but I feel like we have something more to offer. Most websites and podcasts disappear in less than one year. SeedSing continues because of the raw and unfiltered ideas that come from people who felt like their ideas were being ignored. The writers of SeedSing have free reign to express their thoughts, be it an experiment on using the meal supplement Soylent, the awesomeness of airports, the inhumanity of the healthcare system, or the lunacy surrounding the Unicorn Frapuccino. SeedSing would not exist without their ideas, and I cannot thank them enough for everything they have contributed to this project. The guest contributors, some known and some unknown, have also been an incredibly valuable addition to the conversation we are having. With two years of growth behind us, we are excited to keep the ball rolling.

Fixing the world through our ideas does not have to be done in dark room with gloomy music playing in the background. The joy of our culture and entertainment is where our voices can be strongest. The writing here at SeedSing concerning pop culture, led by the awesomeness of Ty, has been our most popular content, because it is fun and unique. We do not discuss the same old baby boomer culture that seems to always overshadow whatever new and exciting thing is happening. This is where SeedSing is leading the way to reclaim pop culture from the constant coverage of fifty plus year old standards. Add your voice and let our culture flourish, not decay under the old ways.

The X Millennial Man Podcast has been our most successful avenue where our seeds have been allowed to sing. The 2016 Presidential election gave us plenty to talk about, but we still make room to be the definitive judge on what are the best Simpsons episodes and what are the biggest snubs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These are the stories we do not hear in the regular media. Podcasting has been the common persons greatest weapon against a professional media who exists to solidify the status quo. SeedSing and the X Millennial Man will continue to be the voice of people, whatever they have to say

Where do we go in our third year?  We continue moving forward. SeedSing is growing, but we need your help. This is a project funded by the money and efforts of a very small group of people. Your help is always appreciated. How can you help? We want your voice. Tell us your thoughts. If you want to write, we want to publish your ideas. If you have an idea, but are not comfortable with writing, tell us your thoughts and one of our regular contributors will put together a piece. If you are not a writer, but still want to support SeedSing - financial support is always a nice thing. Other ways to help us out is to follow SeedSing on twitter, @seedsingrdk, and to like us on Facebook. We are thrilled to think about the years ahead of us, and we are even more excited about your continued support of SeedSing.

Happy May Day, International Workers Day, and happy birthday SeedSing. Come on in and join us. Allow your seed to sing and take root. You only have your ideas to set free.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast

The Truth About President Trump's First 100 Days

Was it this difficult for Abe Lincoln?

President Donald Trump recently said that it is ridiculous that we judge a President by their first 100 days. He then followed those thoughts up by stating that his first 100 days have been great. He is right on both counts.

The idea of the first 100 days as a benchmark started with Franklin Roosevelt. The country was in bad shape due to the beginnings of the Great Depression. FDR had just come off a decisive victory over incumbent President Herbert Hoover because the promises made by Roosevelt in the 1932 campaign. The country was looking for quick answers to their problems, and FDR delivered on many of his campaign pledges in his first 100 days. Every new President since FDR has used the electoral mandate of the American people to deliver on the promise of their respective campaigns. If the new President wants to do something big, it must get done in the first 100 days.

That is the story we are all told, and it is a media created myth. FDR invented the idea of the first 100 days, but he was not referring to the first few months of his own administration, he was referencing the 100 day session of the 73rd US Congress. Many of Roosevelt's programs to fight the Great Depression were started in the first few months of his administration, but many of these programs were created via executive order, and it took much longer than 100 days to make them legal. The intentional slow pace of the US Congress meant it was years before many of FDR's New Deal Programs were made legal, or were thrown out completely. FDR's true legacy was created by what the President did over the years, not in his first few months.

Since FDR, there was little talk about the importance of the first 100 days. Nearly ever President after FDR, and almost all of them before, still worked to pass big pieces of legislation almost immediately. That is what happens after an election. The candidates made promises to the American electorate, swift action is always expected. Easy to pass electoral red meat, that is what gets done in the first 100 days. The concept was largely forgotten about for decades after FDR.

With the inauguration of Barrack Obama, the media love affair with the first 100 days suddenly reappeared. Once again the country was in the midst of a big economic problem attributed to the policies of the previous administrations. The American voter expected President Obama to do something quickly. The press quickly jumped on the easy narrative of the first 100 days, and constantly questioned President Obama'a administration about their successes in this very short amount of time.  President Obama was tired of the idiotic idea of being judged by the first 100 days, and even remarked that "The first hundred days is going to be important, but it’s probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference". Eight years later, Obama has proven that the 100 days idea is unworthy. 

This is why President Donald Trump is right that the first 100 days mark is an idiotic standard. The press has not cared about this moronic ideal with forty-two other Presidents. The legislative process is intentionally slow and difficult. The media should not set up unrealistic expectations with the American people. If Donald Trump is going to make America great again, he will need a hell of lot longer than fourteen weeks and some change.

Understanding that the first 100 days is a dumb standard, President Trump is also correct in saying that his first 100 days have been wildly successful. The success may not be easy to see, but it is still there. The impact of President's Trump may not be as clear to the American people like FDR's or Obama's, but his actions have been equally important to setting up the future of United States. This may sound like fake news to the 54% of American voters that did not want Donald Trump to be President (that is a majority of the voters in case some people are still confused by this). The three million more people who voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump may not see success in the new President's first 100 days, but it is still there. That is a fact.

The first big success for the new President was his ability to keep the vacant Supreme Court seat in the hands of the conservatives. Unfortunately, this was not really any success from Donald Trump, but more of a spoil from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's war on the US Constitution. Not happy with already disrespecting the wishes of the Founding Fathers during Obama's Presidency, great Leader McConnell also decided to throw out centuries of Senate rules and decorum to get his way. Maybe we should chalk up the Supreme Court victory to the America hating temper tantrum of Leader McConnell. But, President Trump did say Neil Gorsuch's name on television, so he should get some of the credit.

As far as policy victories, President Trump did promise to make sure all Americans would have healthcare coverage. Thanks to the incompetence of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the GOP's campaign promises on repealing the Affordable Care Act was seen for what it really was, pointless political pandering. Speaker Ryan, along with the help of the Freedom Caucus, made sure that Obamacare would be the law of the land for the foreseeable future. President Trump and Speaker Ryan did try to put a new "replacement" bill up for a vote, but their majorities in the House and the Senate could not be counted on to follow their party leaders wishes. Thanks to the terrible leadership of Speaker Ryan, and the "who knew healthcare was so complicated" malaise of President Trump, most Americans can get healthcare coverage thanks to the ongoing existence of Obamacare. Trump has been able to keep his campaign promise that all Americans will have access to healthcare, thanks to his predecessor.

The election of Donald Trump was going to return America to time before we promised to be the world's policeman. Before he supported the Iraq War, Donald Trump was always against it. The never ending battles in the Middle East were going to end, promised candidate Trump. Sure we may still be at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but all the messed up military operations in Trump's first 100 days are really the fault of Obama. Trump did bomb Syria, after he cleared it with Russia, but that was because Obama did not do it years before. Yes, Trump did say that Obama should not bomb Syria, but that is Obama's fault for listening to an uninformed blowhard. Yes we are gearing up for war in North Korea, but that is because Truman did not finish the job almost 70 years ago. And Obama, he is to blame for North Korea. So President Trump may not want to be the world's policeman, but Obama has made him do it. It may not be a first hundred days success, but it is not President Trump's fault.

The economy has done a lot better under President Trump. Sure, all the economic data in the early days were still a reflection of the Obama Presidency, and the new economic figures are not looking quite as good, but Trump is delivering on making the American economy strong. He promised to end NAFTA, but backed down when he saw how stupid that is. He promised to hold China accountable on currency and trade, but after sharing cake with the Chinese President Trump had a change of heart. Candidate Trump promised to improve the economy by fixing the crumbling infrastructure, but President Trump may need more than 100 days to get a win here. The Republican led Congress can not seem to get anything passed. Trump promised that the economy would not be affected by his glorious border wall on the US - Mexico border because the Mexican government would pay for it. Another pivot for Trump when he learned that Mexico is a sovereign nation. The economy under President Trump has survived the last 100 days because the ideas of candidate Trump have all been thrown out. I'm sure Trump's tax returns show how great of an economic mind the President has, we should judge him on that hope.

Candidate Trump also promised to surround himself with the best minds in all of America. Sure his initial campaign manager, his first national security adviser, and a few other appointees have all been tied directly to the Russian government. Again, this was all Obama's fault. Why should we expect a man who wants to be President of the United States to look into his own confidants? Why the high expectations?

President Trump did appoint some great outside the box type minds. Adviser Kellyanne Conway and Press Secretary Sean Spicer may not seem to grasp basic things like being coherent and not telling lies, but they try real hard. Just look at Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, a man who did not know what the Department of Energy is responsible for. Or how about Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos? She may know a lot about bear attacks at US Schools, but her lack of compassion and knowledge about the US Education system can be easily overlooked by her large political contributions. Trump does have great political minds like son-in-law Jared Kushner and failed Hollywood wannabe Steve Bannon in the Oval Office. Unfortunately, these two geniuses have been allegedly fighting, but how is this President Trump's fault? At least he picked his daughter Ivanka to right the ship. That has worked out well. It is not fair to judge President Trump on the 90% of questionable picks, we should only look at the good ones.

When Barrack Obama was elected in November of 2008, he promised to work for all Americans. After eight years of constant obstructionism from congressional Republicans, never ending hit pieces by Fox News, and hateful treatment from private citizen Donald Trump, President Obama left the White House with a high approval rating. President Trump promised to be even better than the terrible Obama.

In the unimportant first 100 days, Trump has achieved record low approval ratings. That is not really his fault. The media keep pointing out that the new President is signing UnConstituational, and unenforceable, Executive Orders on immigration. Maybe if the Republican controlled Congress passed the immigration laws they keep promising, President Trump would not have to worry about the courts correctly interpreting his bad ideas. The press has also been highlighting all the times President Trump has tried to deny health to women and lower class workers. Why would women across the country correctly point out how inhumane this is? The President has said that his administration is pro-science. Why do people who support science, and actual scientists, get so upset when President Trump promote proven anti-science ideas with his administration. The new President wants to make sure the ideas of the minority, the 46% of the voters who actually supported him in the 2016 election, get equal billing with the proven work of people who actual understand science. President Trump is not dividing the country, it is the women who care about their own agency, the racial minorities that do not want to be hate crimed, and the real scientist who are using their expertise to make the new President look bad in front of the press.

Judging President Donald Trump on his first 100 days is not fair, but assessing his accomplishments is breathtaking. On the campaign trail Donald Trump made a lot of promises to the voter who was not happy with business as usual politics. With the help of political inept billionaires, incompetent DC insiders, and his children, President Trump has quickly evolved into a business as usual President. Endless and pointless war? Check. Giveaways to political donors? Check. Broken promises to the American electorate? Check. Blaming your predecessor for your inadequacies? Check. With all of that in mind, Donald Trump has had a great first 100 days. Just like the great 100 days of the fourty-four men who preceded him. With the greatness of his first 100 days, how great will the first one-thousand be?

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He never got to the great tax plan of President Trump. You know, the one that will never pass. Do you have any thoughts on it. Come tell us.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: The Ohio Problem

SeedSing classic is a look back at our most influential articles. These pieces have been presented in their original form. No Star Warsesque special editions. Enjoy

As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.

That is where the problem begins for people trying to run for office in Ohio.  I have worked as a campaign consultant for nearly ten years to a number of candidates and causes in Ohio, I have always encountered the same problems. The Ohio Problem (as I have decided to call it) consists of the state gaining outside media influence and money every presidential election due to its perceived electoral importance.  This extra attention every four years causes the most talented, and professional campaign experts to migrate towards the high profile state and federal races.  This leaves mostly inexperienced campaign workers and volunteers to work on the local races. The existence of the Ohio Problem causes political amateurism and laughable local governance for a state that seems to always be front and center during a presidential election year.

What makes Ohio so attractive to the national political establishment?  It begins with basic demographics.  Ohio ranks as the seventh most populous state, and it is overwhelmingly white (over 82%). The median income in Ohio sits below the national average.  The unemployment rate sits slightly above the national rate.  This all shows that the residents of Ohio are usually the target of national political platform messaging.  There is no major demographic swing to alienate the residents on national politics.  The voters of Ohio turn out in record numbers for the presidential election, and their turnout in other years is usually a record low.

Why do Ohioans care so little for the local elections?  This begins with the local political parties.  Many of the same people have been in charge of their local county parties for almost a decade.  In Hamilton County (Cincinnati), the local democratic party has engaged in such amateurism as in endorsing ten candidates for a nine member city council, having their endorsed congressional candidate lose the primary to an unknown person who was not running an active campaign, and running candidates over and over again who have no ability to win the race.  These actions would get most party bosses tossed after one election cycle (I have seen this happen in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois). These party leaders keep their jobs in spite of their failures. The response to the parties failures is to remind critics that Obama carried the county the last two elections. There is no interest or fidelity to the local governance of the people they are supposed to serve.  The strong republican area of Butler County, where the Speaker of the House John Boehner calls home, does not fare much better.  The local Democratic party has on occasion attempted to try new things and bring in new people. In 2012 there were some new candidates with broader appeal to the strong conservative voters of the area.  Before the end of May the party had lost any momentum because candidates were not fundraising, people in the party were looking for signs and t-shirts(again this was in May, nowhere near election time), and most of the resources were being hoarded by a small group of candidates. During strategy meetings the top priorities were knocking on doors, and getting people to vote for President Obama and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown (both Obama and Brown received around 37% of the vote).  This showed a lack of interest in the local races in service to the national party.

Once the 2012 election had passed, many of the campaign consultants had moved on to other jobs.  A large percentage leave the political campaign world.  The ones left over are usually underpaid (if they get paid at all) and lose any loyalty towards the local party bosses.  While all campaign workers divest themselves from the system, all the county party leaders stay put to repeat the same mistakes in the next election cycle.  The next mistake turned out to be the colossal failure of the Ohio Democratic party during the 2014 state elections. Little known, and barely vetted, Cuyahoga County executive Ed Fitzgerald was tapped as the Democratic nominee for governor. Fitzgerald was going against incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich.  The poll numbers for Governor Kasich were trending below 50%.  The state Democratic Party brought in out of state consultants to run Fitzgerald's campaign.  There seemed to be no local campaign experts, because none were groomed during the 2012 elections.  By the end of August 2014, Fitzgerald's campaign imploded (go see for yourself,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_FitzGerald).  The entire state ticket went down with Fitzgerald's failed candidacy.   Since the local parties went all in with the Fitzgerald campaign, their backyard races all suffered.  Once the dust settled on the disaster of the 2014 campaign, the head of the state Democratic party stepped down, and that was the only high profile resignation.  The local party leaders were once again in charge of the next election cycle.  The 2016 election looks to be run the exact same way, all the resources moving to secure the state for the presidential candidate at the expense of local officials. 

Ohio has twice gone to President Obama, yet the state is overwhelmingly controlled by the Republican party.  Every day the citizens of Ohio watch women's health freedom get stripped away, LGBT rights sit well behind the rest of the nation, and local tax dollars being sent to the state capital so the richest can get more tax breaks.  The Ohio Problem is what causes residents below the median national income and above the national unemployment rate to .vote against their own interests.

Ohio is not alone in this issue.  The same could be said about Pennsylvania, Florida, and to a lesser extent Michigan.

The Ohio Problem must be solved.

RD Kulik

Head Editor

War is a Drug for the Media, and We Will Suffer the Side Effects

This will not make you feel good

SeedSing is proud to offer voices to anyone who has something to say. Sometimes these voices can only use crude language to express their ideas. Sometimes these vulgar voices come from the head editor. This following article is rated R for adult language and extreme anger. Get your ideas heard by writing for SeedSing

When President Trump was lobbing missiles at Syria, I wrote about the possibility of two new wars the American people are going to be forced to endure. I urged all of us to ignore the media's love of war. I asked us all to remember all the times that the media worked with the White House and sold false information to the American people. I hoped that the media would not be so craven again and be the mouthpiece for another quagmire.

I hoped.

Goddamnit.

Fareed Zakaria on CNN when asked what changed for Trump after the Syrian missile strikes. Trump "became President of the United States"

Brian Williams on MSNBC, quoting Leonard Cohen, "I am guided by the beauty of our weapons". Williams also described the missile strikes as "beautiful" a few more times.

Chris Matthews on MSNBC, "I thought if there was a way for him to kill the narrative that he’s in bed with Putin, it would be this"

Retired Major General James Marks on CNN, "My point is, this not like Kentucky basketball, one and done. This is the start of a series of operations."

The lapdogs at Fox News "Trump is the best. It is Obama's fault. We have no brains." (not an actual quote, but pretty close).

It goes on and on.

What the fuck is wrong with the media? Do these morons have no conscience? While the missiles were exploding in Syrian soil, the news media was having an orgasm about the awesomeness that President Donald Trump suddenly ascended to. It was predictable, comical, and infuriating. The media went out of their way to claim the greatness of Trump because he told Russia about his incoming missile strike, then launched his missiles, talked tough on national tv, and then did nothing else. The media got their high with "beautiful" explosions, and forgot about being defenders of truth. It was a fucking joke.

It adds even more to this shit sundae that disgraced journalists like Zakaria and Williams are out there falling all over themselves to praise Trump for his pointless military strike. Both journalists. No, not journalists. Liars. Why are these liars still considered credible newsmen?

 Why?

Fareed Zakaria has been caught plagiarizing other people's work numerous times. Brian WIlliams lost his NBC News head anchor job because he could not stop lying about his helicopter in Iraq being brought down by enemy fire (it never happened). These self centered hacks still get to keep their jobs as opinion leaders in our news, and they have gone out of their way to drag America into another military quagmire. It is a fucking disgrace.

The retired generals explaining war to the American Plebeians equally piss me off to no end. When Retired Major General Marks tried to be funny by comparing our military strikes to Kentucky Wildcat basketball, I did not laugh, I was fucking terrified. These asshat former military people on tv were the same ones claiming with certainty that the Iraq war would be easy. Using their long distinguished military career as their expertise, these retired generals sold Americans on a destructive lie. And they are fucking doing it again. Being in the military does not make you an expert on every war. Being a retired military person, and being excited about sending more troops to their death for a lie, that makes you fucking war criminal in my book. Your goddamn jokes about "one and done" is not funny. Shut the fuck up.

Then we have Fox fucking News. The imbeciles at the Republican state media do not know how to actually report news. They never have. That craptastic network exists only to bring America down. Shitbags like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity would be crying their eyes out for the lost British tea if it were 1773. These fuckers exist to only make old, out of touch, white people feel good about their misogyny and racism. There is no value whatsoever in what ever comes out of Bill O'Reilly's or Sean Hannity's mouth. The rest of Fox News follows the lead of O'Reilly and Hannity until we reach the bottom of human conversation with the dipshits on Fox and Friends, President Trump's favorite show. With the absolute lack of integrity, and the pure hatred for what America is, it is no surprise that Fox News would be all in with anything President Trump does. Especially the un-Constitutional warmongering of the Syrian strikes. That is the type of shit that gets Fox News all kinds of excited.

It is a wildly excepted fact that Fox News does not give a shit about American lives. They count on scared white people, and shocked liberal gawkers, for their ratings. And you know what, scared white people, and always ready to be outraged liberal gawkers, watch cable news. For years we have heard that Fox News has the best ratings, for cable news that it is. In response to this pointless bit of information, the CNN's and MSNBC's decided to chase Fox News for ratings, and in the process the entire news industry gave up their souls. The reason CNN keeps a plagiarizer like Fareed Zakaria employed is because of ratings. Liar Brian Williams gets to keep being a "newsman" because scared white people liked him when he did the nightly news. Truth and professionalism have no seat at the modern American news table. Self serving gluttons like Fareed Zakaria and Brian Williams need to hog the table with greedy retired military personal and the slime at Fox News. The truth, and the American people, do not rate in a world where ratings are the only thing that matter. It is why we have some real shitty news coverage here in the US. It is why the smart people look to Al Jazeera and the BBC.

The fucking union of the press and the President is going to cause a lot of problems. People are going to die, especially a lot of "beautiful children". Regions of the world will be destabilized. American troops are going to come home with a long list of medical and psychological problems. But none of that matters to the for profit American news industry. They will have their ratings, and their "beautiful" weapons. That is the only thing those inhuman fuckers care about. 

So from here on out we have the narcissists in the media feeding the uber-narcissist Commander in Chief. President Trump now knows that when he starts a war, the media will call him a strong President. The only way the press, and the President, can get what they want is through war, and now we have war. Trump is happy because he is getting the positive coverage he has craved for decades. The media is happy because they have explosions and death to talk about on an hourly basis. It is like a goddamn Michael Bay movie, flashy with no fucking substance. It is a drug, and the drug of war is working its way once again through our government and our media.

Fuck.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did not even get into hos thoughts on North Korea. Come back soon and he lose his fucking mind on that issue.

Sorry for the language mom.

Do you have non-profanity view of the issues facing us today?  Come tell us. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Beware the Drumbeat of War

Do not listen

The United States is at war again, and this new war will once again be fought in two different nations. Word is coming out of Washington DC right now that says the US is conducting bombing strikes in Syria. At the same time, President Trump, with a lot of help from the media, is getting Americans excited about military action against North Korea. Regardless of what we hear, US military involvement is still continuing in Afghanistan and Iraq. With these new conflicts, the American people will now have to sacrifice more blood to fight a battle on four fronts. We can accept this.

The case for war in Syria intensified this week after the world learned of the horrible chemical attacks that killed 70 people. The images were horrifying. Many people on the left and right sides of the political spectrum condemned the attack and said the US should respond in some way. President Trump promised that he would do something, and bombing the civil war torn nation seems to be his first shot. 

The situation in Syria has been terrible for over six years. The pictures the world saw this week are part of a mosaic that goes back to the beginning of the crisis. President Trump, and the Republican War Hawks, did not care when dead children were washing up on Mediterranean beaches. They did not care when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons on his own people for years. Now they care. Why?

The reason the United States had not earlier engaged in any major military action in Syria is because of Russia. President Vladimir Putin is allied with al-Assad, and any aggression towards the Syrian government could intensify problems with the Russians. Leave Syria alone, make Russia happy. This is the way politics has worked for all of civilized history. It is not kind, but it has kept the world out of many bloody global conflicts. Thinking people understand this trade off. 

Now things seem different. President Trump appears to be very eager to get involved in war with Syria. The propaganda says that relations with Russia do not seem to matter, because the United States cannot sit by as innocent Syrians are being gassed, even if we have sat by for the last six years. The media is playing up all the worst actions of the al-Assad government to get Americans fired up for war. Liberals on social media are crying out to save the children. War in Syria is going to happen. Again, why?

Donald Trump has not had the best start to his Presidency. The only time the media has been complimentary to Trump was when at an address to Congress, the President honored the widow of a recently killed Navy Seal. The DC pundits rushed to their twitter accounts, and cable news panel shows, to gush about Donald Trump being Presidential. With that event, Donald Trump learned that the media will support him if he goes to war. Trump desperately wants the media to like him. Since that moment in the US Capitol, President Trump has been looking to get involved in any military action, and the media has been banging the drum for the President.

The bombs being dropped in Syria were not the beginning of the drum beat. Terrible, fear mongering, stories about North Korea have been featured on all of the media for months now. Right wing thought leaders like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh have been talking about the terrible things North Korea could do to Hawaii. Their stories of potential terror line up exactly with what the White House has been pushing. Even left leaning news organizations like The Huffington Post and Vox have been writing articles about the foreignness, and evil, of North Korea. The case for war in North Korea has been presented to the American people long before any action in Syria. Because the drum beat for war in North Korea has been going on longer, and getting louder, many Americans will not be surprised when the fighting starts.

The media has a long, and dark, history of getting Americans on board with pointless wars the White House wants to engage in. The Spanish American War is most known for the term Yellow Journalism. The reporting of lies concerning the Gulf of Tonkin assured US involvement in Vietnam. More recently, the cheerleading by all of the media to get the United States in a second war with Saddam Hussein and Iraq has had horrible consequences to our military and national budget. Now the press, all of the press, is feeding the American people information so we can get on board with two new wars in Syria and North Korea.

The geopolitical consequences of unilateral, plus Great Britain, action in Syria and North Korea is dire. Russia may not do anything directly to the US, but they will continue to act in a way detrimental for NATO and the United States. China will probably not go to war with the United States, but they will continue to develop their markets and strategic partnerships in a way that harms the US economy. The weakening of US global influence that started with our ill conceived wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is only going to continue with our ill conceived aggression in Syria and North Korea. You will not read about that in any of the professional media, left or right wing. We will say it, war is not good for the United States.

We need to ignore the banging drums. These wars only exist as a way for the media and President Trump to get along, and start making money together. The DC pundits desperately want to legitimize Trump, that is dangerous. The President desperately wants favorable coverage from the press, that is narcissistic. Glenn Beck and Vox only want more internet traffic, that is unAmerican. These entities may not think they are causing harm, but they are. The lives that will be lost in these pointless conflicts will not affect the President, members of Congress, or anyone in the media. The people who beat the drums for war have no consequences. The call for war is about ego and money for the President and the media. We can not let them get away with this, again.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. We desperately want to know why you think war is needed right now.  Come tell us. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Someone Needs to Remind Me Why Donald Trump was Elected President

I have a question

Being an internet journalist, and being very serious about SeedSing's duties to the good reading public, I feel like I need to make something crystal clear. Donald Trump lost the popular vote in the 2016 Presidential election by almost three million legitimate votes. The only voter fraud being prosecuted currently is against Republicans, like the GOP chairperson in Colorado. We should assume if you take out all the Republican voter fraud, Trump lost by a whole lot more than 3 million votes. Yes Donald Trump is President of the United States, but not because the majority of Americans want him to be. The sycophants at Fox News, his loud supporters on social media, the insignificant lords of talk radio, and the alt right may have gotten their wish with a Trump Presidency. I accept that. But why did Trump get elected? What has he, and the Republican majority in DC, done?

Most recently, the Republicans failed to do what they said they were going to do. There was a scheduled vote in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, March 23rd, 2017 to begin the process to repeal the Affordable Care Act and implement the GOP drafted American Health Care Act. The vote was canceled because Speaker Paul Ryan knew that he did not have the 215 votes he needed to pass the legislation. Something the Republicans, and Speaker Ryan, have been running on for years has failed due to people in their own party. Speaker Ryan does not need any Democratic votes on the American Health Care Act, yet he is still short of support. Repeal and replace has started with a big fat failure for the Republican majority 

President Trump, who was sold to the American public as some kind of awesome deal maker, was dispatched to Capitol Hill this week to work his deal making magic. He threatened members of his party with electoral losses, tried to work changes into the law to appease one group, and sent his White House minions out to the press to say everything will work out. No deal was made. President Trump failed.

The myth of Donald Trump, the best deal maker of all time, has been proven to be nothing but pointless bragging from an overexposed blowhard. Before the election, the X Millennial Man talked about their world's history with Donald Trump. He was a joke in the 1980's, disappeared in the 1990's, and was resurrected in the early 21st century with no substance. The only people who believed in Trump's business genius were either working for the marketing department of NBC, or they were people who had no intellectual curiosity when it came to basic business success. To everyone else, the President's failure on making a deal with the American Health Care Act was sad and predictable.

There was also the myth of Donald Trump "draining the swamp" of DC and returning the American government back to the American people. Who the hell still believes this garbage? His cabinet is filled with idealogues who care more about their failed philosophies than they care about making America great again for all Americans. While they cut taxes on the highest earners, Trump's White House is making sure that student loan borrowers are being harshly punished with outrageous late fees, that PBS is defunded, that women's health is being made more expensive, and that Meals on Wheels is nothing but a memory of an America that cared about it's most vulnerable citizens.  It sure looks like President Trump was lying when he said he wanted to drain the swamp.

At a typical Trump rally, the candidate would highlight the unsubstantiated claims of Hillary Clinton's corruption. Many of his supporters would chant "lock her up". New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held a mock prosecution of the Democratic nominee at the Republican Convention. Trump himself even said that Clinton would be in jail if he was President. The American people were being presented with a choice of Hillary Clinton, a self serving corrupt President, or Donald Trump, a man who is clean as a baby's fresh bottom.

A funny thing has happened in the first two months of the Trump Presidency. He and his administration are as filthy as baby who just dropped a big bomb in their diaper. The FBI was forced to admit that they are currently investigating Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser for a few weeks, is a registered foreign agent. Former campaign manager Paul Manafort was paid millions of dollars by a Russian oligarch to influence US feelings towards the Russian government. While the Trump supporters were screaming for Hillary Clinton to be in jail because of alleged crime, there is actual proof of Trump surrogates working for the will of Vladimir Putin and the Russian state. If it was not for the spineless majority party in Congress, there would be an independent prosecutor assigned to find out if our President is being influenced by a foreign government. 

There are so many other incidents in the early weeks of the trump Presidency that should put all Americans on alert to how un-Presidential this man really is. The unnecessary, and sad, lying that comes directly out of President Trump's mouth. His inauguration was not as well attended as the two previous ones, yet he decided to exposes his smallness, and his inability to tell the truth, by claiming that his inauguration was the best attended ever. The accusations of wrong doing from the British intelligence services show that Trump is oblivious to how his lies can do actual damage to longstanding international relations. The wire "tapps" (I prefer the questionable spelling of the US President) comments, and directly accusing the previous President of dirty tricks, is not only pathetic, but it is extremely scary. The fact that it has been proven that Trump lied about these "tapps", and the press has not constantly called him out on it, says more about the terrible establishment media than it says about the President's inability to be truthful.

With all of this being said, and this is just the tip of a terrible iceberg, why the hell did people want Trump to be the President? Did the 46% who voted for him just want a Republican in the White House so Paul Ryan could finally pass his agenda? How is that working out for you?

Did they hate Hillary? Why? People tell me it is not because of misogyny, then what is it? I already addressed the corruption, and did not even bother with the conflicts of interest. The only logical reason is that the 3 million less who voted for Trump did not want a woman to be President.

Was it a hatred for Obama? What do you have to hate. Bush's wars are still going on, Guantanamo Bay is still open, the stock market is in record territory. It cannot be because of the former President's race, at least that is what I keep hearing. 

The fact is that the early days of Trump Presidency have not been good, and they are only getting worse. In the days after the 2016 election, the liberal elites who work in the media based on the coasts claimed we need to reach out to the middle American disaffected voter who reluctantly supported Trump. We need to figure out why they voted for the New York businessman over the career politician. We needed to find out where the Democratic Party went wrong.  We do not need to reach out to them and find non-existent answers to these questions. There should be only one question to the minority of people who voted for Trump. In what reality is President Donald Trump a good thing?

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do you still have hope for President Donald Trump?  Come tell us. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The GOP's Inability to Govern - Healthcare Edition

This fake elephant has more ideas than the current GOP

It has been over fifty days since Donald Trump took the oath of office, and Obamacare still lives. After nearly eight years, the Republican party can finally vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and have a President who will sign their repeal. President Donald Trump claimed that Obamacare was a failure and promised to make repealing the law a top priority. Almost every single Republican in Washington DC has campaigned on the promise to repeal the law. After so many show votes, where Congressional Republicans unanimously supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, there is nothing stopping the GOP from fulfilling a campaign promise that dates back to the midterm elections of 2010. Yet nothing has happened. Is not the duty of the GOP to fulfill their promise to govern?

According to the Republican Party, the Affordable Care Act was such a terrible thing that the only way to fix it was to kill it. Never before in one of the countless show votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act did the GOP offer up a replacement bill. Prior to 2017, the Republican Party used taxpayers time and money to have one pointless repeal vote after another. It was feasible to think that the GOP had no idea on how, or any intention to, replace the Affordable Care Act. The only tactic the Republican Party knew how to enact was one of non-governance. They wanted to get rid of a law that was designed to help people. The GOP would rather go back to a time when people desperately needed help. That was the Republican Party plan on healthcare before 2017.

Unfortunately a funny thing happened when the Republicans took total control of the law making process in Washington DC. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and President-Elect Trump all started to talk about how they needed to "repeal and replace" the Obamacare. It seemed that the new power in Washington DC realized that the health care system, and the problems with it, were quite complicated. The President himself was shocked by how complex the issue was, even though he spoke about how easy the fixes would be while he was running for President. Everyone in the Republican Party started to realize that when they repealed the Affordable Care Act, they would then own it and have to deal with immediate consequences from the fallout. Millions of citizens would lose their healthcare, or see their prices skyrocket even higher. Once Obamacare is gone, the Republican Party would have to use their seats of power to steer the country out of more pressing problems. Repeal only was not an option. 

Another danger in a repeal only of the Affordable Care Act was that the GOP refused to acknowledge that the health insurance industry liked many parts of the Democratic Party's overhaul of the industry. Obamacare wanted to give more people insurance, but the federal government would pay the private insurance industry to cover the new customers. The Affordable Care Act was a transfer of money from the government to private business. Obamacare allowed the health insurance industry to go about business as usual, and have yearly guaranteed revenue from American tax dollars. Health insurance lobbyists were going to make sure that this fixed revenue stream was not going to stop.

There are also many parts of the Affordable Care Act that the health industry does not like, and this is where they have manipulated Congressional Republicans in crafting the replacement law. New customers with preexisting conditions cost a lot of money. Speaker Ryan may not understand how insurance works, but the sick are funded by the healthy in all forms of health insurance. By adding people with preexisting conditions, and little ability to make a reasonable income to cover these illnesses, the health insurance companies raised the rates on their healthy customers. If the Republican Party could get rid of the requirement to cover people with preexisting conditions, the health insurance industry could keep the rates where they are now, and not have to pay out to people with ongoing medical expenses. It may seem cold, but that was how the system worked before the Affordable Care Act. With no prexisting conditions to worry about, and being able to keep rates from going down, profits will be through the roof.

The individual mandate is another area where the health insurance companies was not benefiting. The financial penalties on not having insurance were going into the coffers of the government, and not the bank accounts of the health insurance companies. Speaker Ryan changed all of that by letting the insurance companies charge, and keep, the financial penalty for someone who let their insurance lapse. The doublespeak employed by Speaker Ryan, and Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, said that people should have the freedom to choose healthcare or something else to their liking. Chaffetz said people should chose between an iPhone or health insurance, they cannot have both. Through Representative Chaffetz, GOP has equated a person's health and well being as a luxury item. Luxury should be expensive, and not mandated by federal law. Here the GOP and the health insurance industry are in agreement. 

Predictably, the Republican Party has used their Obamacare replacement bill as a method to help the rich, and put greater economic pressure on the middle class. There are tax cuts for those who do not need them, and financial penalties for those that cannot afford them. Programs like Medicaid and Medicare that were created to be self sustaining are being robbed to cover the fiscally irresponsible practices of the GOP in the replacement bill. Even a seemingly good idea, and one championed by Donald Trump on the 2016 campaign trail,  like being able to purchase healthcare plans offered in different states was shelved from the replacement bill because the health insurance lobbyists would not let the Republican Party put it into the proposed law. No matter what non-jacket wearing Speaker Ryan, or twitter user President Trump say, the GOP replacement bill treats healthcare as a commodity, and does nothing to help the majority of Americans.. Because of this, the healthcare industry will not lower rates, they will make a ton of money, and millions of people will lose their insurance.

The Republican Party has spent the last few years claiming that the Affordable Care Act is a terrible law that is threatening the very fabric of the American dream. They are not wrong that the law is terrible, but their replacement law takes a bad idea and makes it much worse. By not leading when they did not have the White House, the GOP never crafted a law that will help the Americans they claim to be concerned with. The Republican healthcare law, written by healthcare lobbyists, is more of the same. Corporate welfare, class division, and not solving anything, that is what the GOP is good at. Maybe if the Republican Party actually knew how to govern we would see some innovative solutions. They do not know how to govern, they only know how to create division. To the Republican Party freedom is code for denial. They care not for the well being of the average American. Their healthcare replacement bill proves this.  If the GOP knew how to govern they would understand that healthcare is a human right, not an iPhone.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Is good health not a human right? Is an iPhone better than an HMO doctor? Why do we ask so many questions?  Come tell us. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Profiles in Congressional Republican Cowardice

One would think working here makes someone appreciate America

Republican Texas Rep Louie Gohmert will not be in attendance at his constituent town hall during the current Congressional recess. Representative Gohmert is not alone in spineless Republicans who will not face their own voters. The Republican Party has political control of the entire Us Congress, the White House, and are poised to make a big move on the judiciary, yet they are hiding under their desks when it comes to the voters. The GOP has spent decades trying to make themselves look like the only true American party who are tough, and can stand up to any opposition. Unfortunately, Republicans like Louie Gohmert are not even coming close to live up to the false ideals of the GOP. Gohmert and his cohorts are a bunch of wimpy cowards. 

What makes Gohmert's absence so newsworthy is the fact that he uses the shooting of former Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords as his reason for not attending the town hall. This is extremely vile coming from an opportunist like Gohmert. In his letter to constituents, Representative Gohmert says, "Unfortunately, at this time there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety. Threats are nothing new to me and I have gotten my share as a felony judge." If Louie Gohmert is so afraid of the American people, why would he ever leave the comfy confines of Washington DC?

Gohmert does not care about anyone's views except his own. When Representative Giffords was shot, and some of her constituents were killed, Louie Gohmert was part of an effort that would allow guns in the US Capitol. His response to the Aurora Movie theater massacre was to speculate that the killer was not fearful of a vengeful god. He is a regular guest on Glenn Beck, Fox News, and Info Wars where he expresses his fear of immigration. At one time he even voted for non-Us House member, and tea party champion, Alan West as Speaker of the House. (side note: The US Constitution does not say that the Speaker of the House must be a member of the House) The history of Louie Gohmert in the US House of Representatives is a history of conspiracy theories, and laughable ineffectiveness.

Representative Gohmert is right that there will be people at his town hall who are not happy with him. His record is terrible. The things he and the GOP are trying to do right now will hurt a lot of people. What Gohmert is wrong about is that these people are paid, violent, protesters. The Fox News effort to paint all the protesters as being paid has been proven wrong so many times. Donald Trump paying people to attend his rallies, that has been proven true. The violence from "strains of the leftist ideology" only makes sense to a mind willing to accept any proven to be false conspiracy hearings. The recent violent protests in Berkeley give the Republicans their cover in claiming left wing violence. There are many questions to who caused this violence, but that is not the point. This myth of a sudden rise of violent actors in the left wing of politics is laughable. Way more people came out to protest Donald Trump's new Presidency than those that attend the inauguration itself. There is photographic evidence. No big acts of violence. In fact more people died when avowed right wingers took over the Malheur National Wildlife refuge. Why are the Republicans not calling out the violence from idiotic right wing ranchers who have very little understanding of American law? It seems like Gohmert is not telling the truth on why he refuses to look at his constituents face to face.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman decided to find a more creative way to not face the voters. During the recess, Portman's office sold tickets to a dinner where the Senator would appear and give a speech to his constituents. A group not thrilled with Portman's recent record bought tickets and planned on attending the speech. The day before the event, the group's tickets were rescinded and refunded with no explanation. It was discovered that the people who were banned from the event were people who voted for a Democrat in the last year. In order to avoid his voters, Senator Portman checked on people's voting records to ban them from exercising their Constitutional rights. Senator Portman has not responded to this incredibly un-American act. Rob Portman is a coward.

Many other Republicans have decided to not face their constituents in fear of being called to task for their dismal record. Spineless worms like Senator's Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have predictably ran away from their voters. The current group of Republicans in Washington DC have spent the last few decades claiming victim-hood, and fighting any meaningful growth of government. Now that they have the power, their horrible agenda is front and center. Many people, republicans included, are very fearful of where our country is heading. The only voice the voters have left is to go to a town hall and tell their elected officials what is on the common person's mind. The Republican Party has now taken this basic American right away.

The GOP has long been open about their disdain for the voter. Through gerrymandering, and the Democratic Party's lack of care on local elections, Republicans have taken Congressional majorities with record low voter turnout numbers. The only people who can get an audience with DC Republicans are the special interest groups who fund their campaigns. The entire Republican agenda is being pursued to make very few rich people even richer. The 98% of Americans being left behind need to talk to their representatives. Congressional Republicans are silencing the voters voices by not even granting hard working Americans a seat at the table.

During the first recess of the 115th Congress, Representative Louie Gohmert and Senator Rob Portman have invented new ways to be cowards. Along with many of their colleagues, Gohmert and Portman cannot stand up for their terrible beliefs. Most members of Congress attend the town halls, and do not really answer questions. Gohmert and Portman are so spineless they canot even pander anymore. America should be very afraid if their self processed tough GOP elected leaders cannot stand up to criticism from good Americans, how in the hell are they going to stand up to America'a enemies. Gohmert, Portman, and the majority of Congressional Republicnas have proven that they are not man enough defend America. They should step aside so the non-cowards can keep the US safe and secure.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He really, really, wants an explanation for why the Republicans despise the US Constitution. Come tell us. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

President Trump's War with American Exceptionalism

It says give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Moron

The first days of the Donald J Trump Presidency have not gone very well. The immediate top priorities for the Trump White House was to whine, cry, and lie about the most mundane things. His goal to repeal and replace Obamacare has been met with confusion and apprehension from Congressional Republicans. The reaction of Trump and his media surrogates towards the successful Women's March on Washington was a predictable temper tantrum from a bunch of rich white men. His border wall with Mexico has been one idiotic embarrassing tweet after another. Most recently, his recent action to ban Muslims from a few countries has been met with disgust and anger from Americans of all political persuasions. In these early days of the Donald J Trump era, it seems the new President's only goal is to be the man who ends the successful legacy of American exceptionalism.

Anything that has been done by President Trump should not be a surprise. Many Republicans, including then Indiana Governor Mike Pence, were loudly denouncing candidate Trump when he was calling for a Muslim ban. The looming disaster of the Obamacare repeal could be seen with every wasteful show vote from the US Congress. Trump's thin skinned nature, and his absolute goal of popularity, has been present in the Donald Trump world since he first entered the public consciousness in the 1980's. The early failure, and embarrassment, surrounding President Trump's US - Mexico border was predicted by almost everyone over a year ago. All of these early executive orders from President Trump’s desk have been known since the Republican Primary. These very ideals is why Democratic Presidential nominee beat President Trump by three million votes. The majority of Americans knew that Donald Trump did not represent their views of what makes America great.

The pathetic actions of the Trump White House to continue the lies around the attendance at the inauguration, the fact that Trump lost the popular vote, by three million votes, and the success of the Women’s March on Washington, are a little sad and a lot scary. When the Press Secretary knowingly lies to the White House Press Corps, and the American people, it disrespects all Americans. The great citizens of the United States are not stupid. We all saw the vote totals, we saw the pictures of inauguration day, and we saw the massive number of Americans who came out for the Women’s March. We know that President Trump, and his surrogates, are lying. We know that they are lying to protect a President who must have extremely low self-esteem. Many have laughed at the childlessness of the new President, but it is not a joke to have a leader who is so thin skinned. What will Trump do to gain acceptance from those people he thinks matter? His actions show that he does not care about the approval of the American people. It is scary to think that the President’s need to be accepted by others will be more important than keeping America a great country.

Candidate Trump rallied the minority of American voters with his promise of a wall on the US-Mexico border, and that the Mexican government would pay for this wall. It was never made very clear why the Mexican government would pay for such a pointless project. Now that Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office, he needs to back up his ridiculous promises. His supporters, who are the minority of voters, have demanded this fairy tale wall. Good to his word, President Trump signed an executive order to build the wall, and to make Mexico pay for it. The government of the sovereign nation of Mexico quickly rebuked the new President’s wishes. In response, The Trump White House threw another tantrum and pledged to place a very large import tax on Mexican goods. Almost the entire business community, many congressional Republicans, and lovers of tequila everywhere quickly questioned the new President’s judgement. Many people laughed, most people just shook their heads, at this moronic idea. The negative reaction to President Trump’s grand plan was so quick, that the people who have already lied for Trump were quick to walk back their boss' bad thoughts. The greatness of America taught the new President a harsh lesson on the payment of the border wall.

During the Republican Presidential Primary, Donald Trump was unapologetic in his thoughts of banning refugees, mainly Muslims, from entering the United States. This naked xenophobia turned off even the most right wing of Republican Presidential candidates. Many, many, many people would call out Donald Trump for his racism, and misunderstanding of what has always made America great.

Now that Donald J Trump is the President, he does not seem to care about the terribleness of banning a religious group from coming to the United States. What again should not be a surprise to anyone, Donald Trump used an Executive order to ban immigration from Muslim countries where his personal business empire does not currently operate in. Green card holders, business professionals, an Oscar nominated director, children, and many others were denied entry into the United States. This inhumane act by President Trump was roundly condemned. The once, and still, great American people showed with their voices that the majority of citizens do not believe in hate.

Within a few weeks, President Trump has shown that his administration does not believe in the proud tradition of American exceptionalism. His lies insult America, his narcissism embarrasses America, and his racism hurt America. No amount of Fox News misdirection can hide the fact that the Trump White House has no idea what they are doing. The incompetence of the Trump Presidency has given America good comedy, and sleepless nights. Trump’s early days has shown that his Presidency is not going to be great for America. It is a good thing that what makes America great is the fact that we can suffer through the failures of a bad President.

The greatness of America does have to face some harsh truths. Is it possible that everything that President Donald Trump has done has been done with a purpose? It is obvious that the President is most interested in protecting the Trump business, and being a leader for all Americans does not matter to him in the least. Maybe the weakening of America is good for Trump and his inner circle of political advisors. Maybe the greatness of America is holding back some grand plan for the people who currently work in the White House. It is clear that President Trump has no idea on how to make America great again. America is already great. The new President’s actions are working directly against American exceptionalism. Americans make America great. Do not forget that. Do not let President Trump take that away.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast? Help us keep track of, and call out, the lies of President Trump. Write for us.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing 

Accepting, and Defending, President Trump's Lies is unAmerican

My America is great when we embrace the truth

It is mere days into the Presidency of Donald Trump, and history has already been made. The good kind of history is not being made. It is more of a predictable terrible history coming from the new White House. The 45th President has already taken time off from work, after he constantly complained about President Obama leaving work for any time off. He has not moved on any meaningful legislation, after he promised to get to work on day one. He has not released his tax returns, even though he promised to release them once in office. But the most disturbing thing coming out of the new Trump White House is the need for the President, and his supporters, to lie about anything they feel like is not in their favor.

The fact is that not as many people attended the inauguration of Donald Trump as those that attended the inauguration of Barack Obama. That is not in dispute. We can speculate on why President Obama was a bigger draw than President Trump. It could be that Barack Obama won the popular vote by a very large margin, and Donald Trump lost the popular vote by a huge number. It could be that the majority of the country was excited about the hope, and positivity, that surrounded the ascension of Obama. Trump’s campaign was filled with racism, misogyny and constant whining from the candidate. We know that the weather was not a factor. President Trump may have had a warm rainy day, but that is child’s play compared to the historically cold temperatures in Washington DC for President Obama’s inauguration. No matter what we speculate, the fact is that Donald Trump had a whole lot less people watching his inauguration than those that experienced President Obama’s swearing in.

Yet our new President decided to throw a temper tantrum at the CIA and claim that the press is lying about his poor showing. The so-called leader of the free world is so thin skinned that he has to show his smallness to the entire world while he addresses the nation’s intelligence community. He thinks his delusions are worthy of the CIA, the American people, and the world at large. This all happened in the first hours of the Trump Presidency.

Just like the 2016 campaign, Trump’s surrogates came out and defended their boss. Remember these people are now employed by the American people to act in the best interest of all Americans. New Press Secretary Sean Spicer used his very first official press conference to mimic his boss and complain about the media. Spicer went even further and flat out lied when he claimed that the inauguration was the most watched event of its kind ever. The spokesperson for the President was not called out for his obvious lying because he refused to take any questions. Quite the man of the people.

But Spicer was not going to be outdone with his blatant lies. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway was on “Meet the Press” and explained that the President and the Press Secretary were using alternative facts when talking about the inauguration. Host Chuck Todd was rightfully flummoxed by the idea of alternative facts. Conway though was resolute, and continued to whine about the media. At one point she even insinuated that President Trump would start to cut access off to the media that does not accept the administrations alternative facts. Conway had no shame, like Spicer and the President, in protecting an obvious lie.

The press, and the public on the internet, have laughed at President Trump and his team for their need to lie about the inauguration. This is not funny. These people occupy a White House that many Americans look at as a castle for the king of America. The Trump administration could act without the consent of Congress and many Americans would not blink an eye. Hacks like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will use the weak will of President Trump to pass legislation that will hurt most of America. Trump’s lies were not taken seriously during the campaign, they sure as hell need to be taken seriously now that he is President of the United States.

The thing that should scare every single citizen of the United States is that the President of the United States is so weak that the fact of a small crowd at his inauguration has become the most important issue for his young term. The majority of Americans are not stupid, we all saw the pictures. It was a good, and cathartic, laugh to see the ratings starved Trump not pull the big numbers. But the laughter stopped when the President of the United States lied to us, and his staff protected his lie instead of respecting the citizens of the country they serve. The President’s ego is more important than having a leader who respects the intelligence of all Americans. Having a self-serving narcissist as leader of a nation has never ended well for anyone.

President Donald Trump took an oath to serve the American people. He works for us. When he is blatantly lying to protect his own feelings, he is not serving the citizens of the United States. In the first days of his Presidency, Donald Trump has already shown himself to be unfit for the office he was elected to with a minority of the votes. The people tasked with working in the Trump White House also have an oath to the American people. When they perpetuate the President’s lies, they too are acting against the citizens of the United States. The Americans who want to protect Trump’s lies are also acting in an unconstitutional way. Protecting lies will only damage the nation.

Wanting to protect an obvious lie does not make America great, it makes it much worse. We can only hope that the terrible, dangerous, and unpatriotic actions of the President and his staff will wake up the American people. If a low rating on inauguration is worth the fight, what more important actions will the President lie about? What if it is something serious? Do not let the Trump’s lies destroy America. Be patriots.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast? Help us keep track of, and call out, the lies of President Trump. Write for us.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing 

The Legacy of Barack Obama

Legacy demands a great building

Late into the night on Tuesday November 4th, 2008 history was made. For the first time in over two-hundred years of Presidential contests, the American people elected the first non-white man to be President of the United States. The election of 2008 had it’s moments of racism and sexism, but they were mild. The candidates who fought it out to gain their parties nominations played politics in a manner that Americans had become accustomed to. There were the typical smear campaigns, but most of America did not care. The Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin, was downright civilized compared to the person she would become. The GOP’s Presidential candidate, John McCain, was out on the campaign trail corrected voters who believed that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim trying to usurp our nation. It was a different era. The feeling was that America had matured beyond the damage of things like the Swift Boats and the Southern Strategy. Barrack Obama won the 2008 election, by a large margin, because American voters believed in his vision of hope for the nation. The first non-white man to win the Presidency happened because Americans believed that we could all do better, and Barrack Obama was the leader who was going to bring the best out of us.

Within minutes of Obama being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, the Republican thought leaders worked to make the new Executive’s job a living hell. Glenn Beck would go out of his way to paint Obama as a dangerous communist, and a racist. The half-wits at Fox News went into their old “Bill Clinton” mode and amplified any minor story out there that would embarrass the White House. The fringes of the Republican party constantly questioned the President's place of birth, and therefore his legitimacy to be President. The morons who pushed the birther issue were given more news coverage than the people trying to restore hope back to America. From the very beginning, President Obama faced a temper tantrum throwing right wing media, and a ratings starved mainstream media, who refused to let his vision of hope to take hold.

While the network news, and the jv squad that is cable news, were incompetent and unamerican in their activities, the Republicans in the US Congress were historic in their dealings with President Obama. Then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner would use every arcane rule in the history of the United States Congress to stop President Obama’s agenda. When McConnell and Boehner would not get their way, the two would run to the media and complain about the President trying to do his job. There was little hope to found on Capitol Hill.

Once the Republicans took over the House, and eventually the Senate, the Republican obstructionism went from outrageous to downright dangerous. McConnell proudly declared that his number one job was to make Obama a one term President. The Republican leader failed miserably at this number one job since Barack Obama was easily reelected in 2012. Since McConnell could not accomplish any tasks, he worked to make sure the President could not govern. The “highlight” of Mitch McConnell’s tenure has to be the Un-Constitutional act to not allow the President’s Supreme Court nominee to have a hearing or vote. Never in the history of the United States has a politician spit on the ideals set forth by the US Constitution like Mitch McConnell has.

Eventual Speaker of the House John Boehner, and his replacement Paul Ryan, used their power to tie up the legislative authority of the US House of Representatives with meaningless show votes, and expensive politically motivated subcommittee hearings. The endless votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act were taking up time that should have been devoted to combat the rise in gun violence, and the price gouging being conducted by unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies. Elementary kids being killed with legal guns, and other kids being denied lifesaving medicines because of personal greed, was of no importance to John Boehner’s caucus. Along with Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Paul Ryan assured their place in history as the most ineffective, and immoral, Congress in the history of the United States.

How did President Barrack Obama deal with a historically terrible Congress and a media that was ineffectual? With little choice, President Obama seemed to present his vision through the pulpit of the White House, and not get in the way when history started to move forward. The President is an incredible communicator, and was be artful in presenting his message. On the campaign trail in 2012, Obama was able to dull the right wing noise, and make people believe in hope again. Once the next group of people were killed by a bad man with a bad gun, the President would share the heartbreak of the American people. With historic movements in rights for the LGBTQ community, the President communicated his joy and compassion towards all Americans. When the GOP Congress would spout off Tea Party talking points, the President would counter them head on, and present a better view of the nation. President Barack Obama will go down as one of the greatest communicators who has ever occupied the Oval Office.

Much like Ronald Reagan before him, Barrack Obama has been given credit for many things that happened because he was in the White House when history happened. In the 2008 campaign, then Senator Obama was not fully onboard with gay rights. In fact, no major viable political candidate was embracing basic human rights for the LGBTQ community. Generations of hard work by people on the ground led to the landmark decisions made by the courts to give all Americans equal rights. Obama did not create this culture, but he did not impede it either.

The death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is also listed as a high point in the Obama Presidency. Many people give credit to Ronald Reagan for the release of hostages from the Iranian government, not thinking about how the Carter government really did all of the work. The killing of Bin Laden happened because President Obama gave the order, but any person in his position would have done the same. Like it or not, the George W Bush administration created much of the ground work to finding Bin Laden We were going to find the al-Qaeda leader no matter what, it was just a matter of time.

When it comes to actually policy, the Obama legacy is a little thin. The last eight years have not been as impactful as what Lyndon Johnson, Theodore or Franklin Roosevelt accomplished. Some things like the Lilly Ledbetter act should have been done decades ago. The stimulus was a necessary program started under Republican President George W Bush. The booming stock market has been great for very few. The growth in the economy has been slow, but has moved in the right direction after the disaster of the previous administration. All of these actions occurred mainly because President Obama did not get in the way and allowed them to happen on their own.

The one signature law championed by the President and passed by Congress is the Affordable Care Act. Once again the do-nothing Republicans, assisted by the media, painted the law as something extremely terrible. The fact is the Affordable Care Act is not that great. It has been responsible for the rise in healthcare costs, mainly because there is no incentive for the self serving health care companies to lower costs. The bill was loaded with so many corporate handouts not just because of Republicans, but also because of Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The congressional democrats wanted to make sure their corporate donors were rewarded in this massive government program. In a place where President Obama could have led, he instead stayed out of the way as the Pelosi/Reid Congress passed a flawed law. Even the President’s incredible communication skills could not hide the problems behind the Affordable Care Act.

The Obama Presidency should also be judged by the state of his political party. The Democratic Party is currently in the worst condition it has been in for over a generation. Under Obama, the Democratic Party has lost a massive amount of elections at all levels of government. Terrible Governors like Chris Christie in New Jersey, Sam Brownback in Kansas, Bobby Jindal in New Orleans, Rick Scott in Florida, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and many many more have won reelection after awful first terms. They win because the Democratic Party spends no resources to launch any meaningful campaign against these terrible leaders. If the party spends no resources on Governor races, that means they spend no time working to get people elected to any levels of government.

This lack of resources is directly related to Barack Obama and his campaign machine. In 2008, and again in 2012, the Obama campaign would take all of the resources out of competitive states and leave nothing for the local candidates (what we like to call The Ohio Problem). When the President does not care about the down ticket races, the down ticket loses badly. This strategy extended to the Hillary Clinton campaign, and 2016 saw even more losses for the Democratic Party. Couple this with the fact that President Obama would defend ineffectual leaders like Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the Democratic National Committee, President Obama staying out of the way, and not intervening in down ticket races, has been detrimental to the majority of the country who support the ideals of the Democratic Party.

Does President Barack Obama leave with a historic legacy? Will his Presidency be notable, or just another one of insignificance? It is easy to look back at the end of one man’s Presidency and think about what has been, and what could have been. Anytime a new President takes office, we are filled with angst. Barack Obama’s legacy will not be truly known for many years. In the meantime we can have our immediate reactions dictate what impact the man has had on the nation, and the world. Will his great communication skills be studied? Will his laissez faire approach to the moment of history be admired by future leaders?

The fact remains that Obama’s election was a moment of great historical significance. He will be one of the most recognizable Presidents of students in the far future. The question is will he be remembered like the Roosevelts for being figures of profound change, or will he be remembered like John Quincy Adams for being someone of trivial curiosity.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do have thoughts on legacy? Tell us all about it.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing 

The Republicans are Draining the Swamp by Making it More Toxic

Draining the Swamp has made Capitol Hill look even worse

There may be only a few days left in Barack Obama's presidency. but the new empowered Republican controlled congress has been governing for a few weeks. We have learned a lot about the newly installed 115th Congress in these few short weeks. People who do not believe in government are now in charge. Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have spent their entire careers obstructing anything and everything. They have crafted a dream ideology of no oversight, and the will of the individual. Now they have a blank check and can actually govern. How have the done in these few short weeks?

The first issue the Republican government attempted to “fix” was to eliminate ethical rules for members of Congress. This was the GOP’s very first step in draining the swamp, less ethical oversight. Many of the typical Republican defenders, Brit Hume and the brainless ones at Fox News, tried to defend the House Republicans by saying the ethics office under fire was not necessary. Maybe Brit is right, but it does not really matter. The news media, rightfully so, pointed out that the first action of the House Republicans was to create less ethical oversight. These idiots spent the summer railing against how unethical the Democratic Party Presidential nominee is, and their first concern is to make oversight weaker. Good job republicans, you exposed your hypocrisy in the first minutes of the new congress.

The next step for Speaker Ryan, and Leader McConnell was to “advise and consent” on President Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections. There’s Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, recently the CEO of a company who relies on fossil fuel and makes money by taking valuable resources from despotic governments and polluting the planet. We also have a person who was denied a judgeship because of his racism being vetted as the Attorney General. People like Ben Carson and Rick Perry, who have no experience or curiosity in their given departments, are being given a free pass by the morons on Capitol Hill. Somehow none of these jamokes hold a candle to the farce that is Secretary of Education pick Betsy DeVos.

The pick of Michigan activist Betsy DeVos to Secretary of Education is proves that the GOP has no plans to help the middle and lower economic classes of America. The fact that Congressional Republicans have no problem rushing her confirmation hearing, even if all of her ethics background checks have yet to be completed, shows that people like Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell have no idea how to govern. DeVos is anti-public education, how in the hell is she qualified to run the Department of Education? Betsy DeVos does not want to fix the education system, she wants to take all the federal money and move it into school choice, aka public funded religious schools. The concept of school choice has been a disaster everywhere, but the so called fiscal conservatives have no problem using tax dollars to prop up this failure of an idea. Betsy DeVos is a school choice champion, and Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell are excited to use tax dollars to push her broken ideals. There is no concern for accountability, just pure political opportunism. I heard Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell rail against the Democratic Party’s Presidential nominee over her political opportunism. It is nice to see with the DeVos hearings they accept being the hypocrites we always knew they were.

The next big agenda item for the GOP congress is to weaken the rules on endangered species. The original Endangered Species Act was passed unanimously in the 1970’s, but the current GOP fell like it needs to be repealed. This is one of the most important items facing our new government in the feeble minds of Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell. The needs of a few rich businessmen is more important than the future of America.

The last big thing that Congressional Republicans feel the need to attack is the Affordable Care Act, also known as the devil named Obamacare. With numerous show votes to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, and wasting millions of tax payer dollars, the GOP has revealed itself as a petulant child who has no idea what they really want. The Affordable Care Act helped people get insurance, and at the same time made sure the insurance companies were well compensated. The actions of Congressional Republicans prove GOP only cares about giving federal dollars to private insurance executives. The repeal process has secured these federal subsidies, but has made sure to move the neediest of American citizens off the protected list. The inhumanity of the GOP has been on full display in just a few short weeks.

This week will mark the beginning of the Donald Trump Presidency. Even though the incoming President lost the popular vote by nearly three million people, Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell believe they have a mandate to govern as they choose. President Elect Trump has shown no vision to help the supposed middle America white voters who launched him to victory, and the GOP Congress is working to make these angry voters lives even worse. To the Republicans, ethics, education, and the environment are the true demons haunting the American dream.

Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp, but all we have gotten in return is a cuckhold Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell to make the President Elect and his buddies even more wealthy and disconnected. In a few short weeks, the Congressional Republicans have moved fast to protect the coastal business elites, and leave the middle of America behind. There is no corruption to awful for this group of hypocrites Good thing we did not elect a career civil servant who was bad at e-mail.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is camping out waiting for the next Benghazi hearing. The Republicans do care more about American lives than political showmanship, right? 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

The SeedSing 2016 Year in Politics and Society: The Top Political Stories

Happy 2017 all.

Sorry to say, but we need to look back at 2016 one last time. The upcoming year is going to be quite different in politics than any year within many of our readers lifetimes. With that in mind, we here at SeedSing want to count down the five most important political stories of 2016. There are many important things that happened globally when it comes to politics, but our stories mostly look at the United States. What happened in the US will have massive global implications in the years to come. These events were crucial in creating the uncertain future that will begin in 2017.

We are going to start with the most overhyped political story of 2016. The endless coverage of Hillary Clinton being the first woman to be at the top of a major party ticket for President is the most inconsequential story of 2016. The Clinton campaign barely used this angle when the Secretary Clinton was on the campaign trail. It was widely accepted that Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic Party nominee, and the media decided not to cover the historic angle. It is a shame, because what Hillary Clinton did, by winning the election by a margin of nearly three million votes, is historic. It is an overrated story because no one talked about like they should have.

The fifth most important political story is the insanity that was the Republican Presidential Primary. Many, including us, thought that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would easily win the nomination. If there was going to be a Barrack Obama like upset, it would maybe come from Florida Senator Marco Rubio. As the weeks went by, and New York businessman Donald Trump kept getting just enough of the plurality in primary states to win, things started to get strange. The endless debates started to focus on penis size, the attractiveness of spouses, and whose father helped to get JFK assassinated. There was no substance, no vision, just a comedy of errors. This chaos led to Donald Trump finally securing the nomination in June.

The fourth most important political story is the fact that the British people voted to leave the European Union, or Brexit if you want. Brexit is a bad, bad, idea, and the voters knew this. In what was soon to be a trend, the middle and lower class voters of Britain did not care about the consequences and wanted to send a message. No one in the press got it right. The stats gurus who set betting lines on public opinion got it wrong. Brexit sent a shockwave out that saw British Prime Minister David Cameron resigning, and most of the Conservative leaders actively running away from being the new leader of the British government. Theresa May stepped up to the plate and has actively delayed Brexit, even looking for her own exit to Brexit.

The third most important political story is the failure and incompetence of the professional media. During most of 2016 many media outlets, including SeedSing, treated Donald Trump as a joke. Many media outlets, mainly NBC, were treating Trump with kid gloves. Clinton was questioned for every small detail, but Trump's glaring problems were glossed over so the news networks could get better ratings.The stats gurus at Princeton, 538, The New Times, and many others were giving Hillary Clinton a huge advantage to win the presidency. They were all wrong. Once the election was over, these newspeople spent their time covering their own rear ends. It was never their fault. The only people taking actual responsibility were comedians like Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. People like Nate Silver and the clowns at Morning Joe were busy throwing fire in every direction. The need the media has for fame and profit outweighed the safety and future of America.

The second most important political story is the death of the Democratic Party. Since Bill Clinton was elected as President in 1992, the Democratic Party has almost entirely given up on trying to win any competitive election outside of the President. In the early part of the 21st century, then DNC chairman Howard Dean started to reverse this trend, but once Barrack Obama was elected, Dean’s plan was scrapped so the Obama campaign could demand all the money and resources. 2016 proved to be the Waterloo of the DNC’s President or bust strategy. The so-called “safe” Senate map did not give the Democratic Party a majority. Republicans took control of more state legislators, Governor mansions, and the White House. The Democratic Party responded to these humiliating setbacks by maintaining the status quo. California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was once again elected to the position of Minority Leader. The same old talking heads the party has been keeping around far too long on the news networks all kept their jobs. The Democratic Party’s choice to keep the same failed leaders shows that personal glory for a few is more important than a more secure America for all.

The number one most important political story of 2016 is the ascension of Donald Trump. From the first rally, where Trump had to pay people to attend, to election night, Donald Trump is a political candidate like one not experienced in our lifetimes. He used juvenile insults on his opponents, threatened to jail Hillary Clinton, bragged about sexually assaulting women, claimed his use of bankruptcy law makes him a good businessman, and put the reputation of Russia ahead of the safety of the United States. All of these issues still caused the Republican nominee to lose the popular vote by nearly 3 million, but he did gain the needed electoral votes to be the next President of the United States. Since his popular defeat, but electoral victory, Donald Trump has spent his transition time insulting CIA intelligence professionals, media outlets, and his opponents. His cabinet is mostly made up of wealth seekers who actively want to make America less welcoming to anyone that is chasing the American dream. The rise of Donald Trump to the highest office in the land has not humbled the thin skinned tabloid mainstay. Over half the country does not want him to be President, but he is, and America needs to be ready.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Are you part of the minority that voted for Donald Trump? Tell us why. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

Let's Talk about the Electoral College

You have probably seen this map.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/2012-election-county-by-county/

For those who do not know, this a map of every county in the United States and how they voted in the 2012 Presidential Election. The red portions are for Republican Mitt Romney, and the blue are for Democrat Barack Obama. We do not have a very good map to reflect the 2016 election, but it will look very similar to the one above. When presented with this map, the initial reaction is to think that most of the United States voted for Mitt Romney. Unless you live under rock, we all know Barack Obama won the 2012 Presidential Election. The incumbent beat Romney in the popular vote 51.1% to 47.2%, a margin of five million votes. Obama also handily won the Electoral College vote 332 to 206. President Obama even carried all of the electoral votes from Nevada, Oregon, and Washington even if this map looks like all those states went strong for Romney. 

The fact is that the county election map is useless. Many pundits will use this visual as an argument for America being a center right country. In 2004, the county election map was used by strategists in the George W Bush administration to show the media that the newly reelected President had a mandate from most of America. Never mind that Bush won with just over 50% of the popular vote, the county map showed over two thirds of the nation was all in on the President. The county election map is nothing but a propaganda tool to try and fool the masses. It works every single time.

How do we break the spell of the county electoral map? Here is another way to look at the popular vote map from the 2012 election.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2012-Electoral-Map-Population-Adjusted1-570x305.png

This map comes from University Michigan professor Mark Newman. The map distorts the states to show how valuable they are based on the population. Yes it does only show the states as a whole and not broken down into counties. If we could distort the map to show the population numbers of the counties, most of the red at the top map would completely disappear. The blue area would be way more dominant, and even look as big in red states like Arizona. Compared to the traditional ways we are presented with an electoral map in Presidential elections, Professor Newman actually has the one that comes closest to truly reflecting the support Barack Obama had in his reelection bid. That is the map the media should be using.

The recent election of Donald Trump has upset a lot of people. The opposition to Trump points out that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and therefore a larger portion of Americans would prefer her as President. The supporters of Trump point to the non-disputed fact that their candidate won over the requisite amount of states to put Trump over the 270 needed Electoral College votes. Both sides are correct, but the rules state that the winner of the Electoral College gets to be President. That winner is Donald J Trump. That is not up for debate.

Similar to our recent situation, the 2000 election between Bush and Democrat Al Gore ended with the Electoral College loser having the most popular votes. After the election, Democrats were claiming that the Electoral College should be eliminated. Nothing ever happened, the Democrats gave up pretty quick. Now for the second time in five elections, the Democratic candidate gained more popular votes, and lost the Presidency. Renewed cries to eliminate the Electoral College have started. California Senator Barbara Boxer has floated the idea of putting forth legislation to do away with the system. Why should people care this time, if the Democratic Party gave up the fight 16 years ago?

What is the purpose Electoral College?

To understand why the Electoral College should be eliminated, we need to know why it exists. Vox.com writer Sean Illing says it was created to protect slave states, and he is probably right. Founding Father, and current Broadway darling, Alexander Hamilton said we need the electoral college so “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”(Federalist #68). James Madison was afraid that a dangerous, passionate, faction could elect a bad person. Has the Electoral College stopped any of these things from happening? The idea the founders were trying to put forward is that the President of the United States needed to be an honorable, qualified, and politically professional person. The President should not be elected by current whims of an angry population.

The true nature of the Electoral College does not exist today. The founders intent has been lost because all states, except Maine and Nebraska, allocate all their electors to whoever wins a plurality of the vote. Twenty six states, and the District of Columbia, make it against the law for the electors to vote against the will of the plurality. The Electoral College has been altered so much, that it does not even act as intended. That alone should call for its dismissal.

In our current political climate. many people defend the Electoral College as a method that allow all American interests to be represented. The single rural farmer should have as much say as the large concentration of similar thinking urban dwellers. Without the Electoral College, the Presidential candidates would only focus on the big cities. These are the people who use the county electoral map as a true snapshot of America. Unfortunately these ideas are incredible wrong and dangerously naive.

The Electoral College is a system set up to fail it's true intent. In fact, it has failed the country four times, twice in the last sixteen years. The uneven representation of small states has thwarted the progress of the United States since the founding. Slavery went on because of this uneven representation. States wage economic warfare on each other because blue states like New York and California pay for the economic disasters in Kansas and Louisiana. Places like Puerto Rico have a 0% chance to be admitted as a state because Republicans fear it would give the Democrats more representation, and more electoral votes. The Electoral College system rewards small state fear, and incompetence. Does that represent a bright shining city on a hill? The real failure of the Electoral College lies in the idea of population disbursement.

As directed by the US Constitution, each state gets an Electoral College vote for each member of Congress. Every state has two Senators, and then any number of Representatives based on population. The highest number of Electoral College votes currently is California with fifty-five, the lowest electoral votes is three shared by a number of states plus the District of Columbia. Right now, a Presidential candidate could win the requisite 270 votes with just 11 states, leaving almost 80% of the states without any real representation in the White House. But what if we had a large concentration of the population in only one state? Would the rural folks have any hope?

The Super State Experiment

Lets do a little experiment where we take the Electoral College to its terrifying final form. In order to make this experiment easy, we have assumed the US voting population is close to the same as the current actual population (approximately 300 million). New laws were passed to allocate votes based on the voting population, not the total. In order to win the electoral vote, a candidate still needs 270 votes. And last, poor Washington DC will be left out, their three votes gets absorbed into the experiment's ether. We will tax the good people of DC, but you still get no representation.

To see how the Electoral College is a farce, we need to imagine a Super State. This Super State would have over 99% of the United States population. Let's imagine that a wonderful thing was discovered in this state, and every American citizen would have to move there for economic survival. Because we are creatures of habit, the United States keeps the other forty-nine states. We do not want to change the flag. The other non-Super States would keep three people living in their borders, a Representative and two Senators. And then let's say that the Electoral map looked like this after the election.

I choose Missouri because the map looks cooler. Boy is it going to be crowded in the Show Me State.

Beautiful blue Missouri has 391 Electoral Votes, more than enough to elect the President. Who in their right mind would argue that the winner of the Super State should not be President? Yet people still argue that this map is valid:

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/2012-election-county-by-county/

The blue portions on the county map account for over 50% of the current US population. Not like Super Missouri, but more than enough to gauge the will of the American voter. The county map is filled with false ideals. For example, a candidate can win the state of Ohio by taking just eight of its eighty eight counties. Why are there no thought pieces about the under representation of the other eighty counties? Because it would be ridiculous. 

Lets look at how big the Super State of Missouri has to be so it does not control every election. If the other 49 states have six electoral votes each, then Super Missouri would have a paltry 244 votes. Having six electoral votes means that each small state would account for 9% of the population of the country. Our mythical 49 states with six electoral votes would then in total make up 46% of the population. Super Missouri would have 54% of the population, and their unanimous voice could not elect the President. A true tyranny of the minority.

Here is where the Electoral College really shows its failings. It is not logical to think that every single person in Super Missouri would vote for one candidate. It is conceivable to think that the Presidential candidates would only campaign in the Super State and try to sway a majority of its dense population.. If Missouri holds 99% of population, then it is a race to the plurality, but what if Super Missouri was just barely big enough to sway any election? 

For this to happen, the other 49 states need to have five electoral votes each. That means the states that are not Super Missouri would have approximately two million residents each. Collectively, the non-super 49 would be just under one third of the population. That means in a two party race, a Presidential candidate could win the election by taking just over half of Super Missouri. In every election, the President-elect would only need one third of the nation to vote for them. In a race with multiple fringe party candidates, the victor would need much less than one third of Americans supporting their candidacy. With 100% voter turnout, less than one in every three voters would determine who would lead the nation for four years. The Electoral College deems this fair. 

What Damage has the Electoral College Done?

Every four years people defend the Electoral College as a system that stops the majority from imposing it's will on the entire country. The demagogues come from the political fringes, the philosophical minority. The majority has to be more centered to attract more voters. By embracing the Electoral College, we enable the growth of fringe movements. The modern political campaigns are not contested in big states like New York, California, Illinois, and Texas. Theses states are some of the biggest economic powers on the planet, and they have little influence in who the President will be. States like Ohio and North Carolina have a deeply divided electorate. They get the lions share of attention in a political campaign. In fact, both the Clinton and Trump campaigns spent almost 90% of their time in just four states at the end of the 2016 election. In an era where the Republican party will run 147 people for President, an unqualified wanna be despot can take the largest minority of votes in a primary and become the de facto choice A or B in the Presidential election. Once that person gets to the final round, they only need to get the right number of states, and not the will of the people, to be the President of the United States. The Electoral College defends the will of a partisan minority over the wishes of a balanced majority.

The Electoral College was an idea born of fear and inhumanity. It is a system being propped up by a political minority who will die without it. The defenders of the system claim it is more representative of the nation as a whole, and they are wrong. A modern America has been held back because of this terrible 18th century idea. It is time to understand the true failures of how we elect the President of the United States. It is doubtful that any real action will happen in our lifetimes, but with our little experiment, maybe more people will become enlightened. America has discarded other bad ideas from her past, maybe the Electoral College will be the next one to join the ash heap of history. We can only hope for that change.

Thanks to outsidethebeltway.com for their maps and crazy awesome knowledge.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Are you one of the five people who live in a three Electoral Vote state? Tell us why you need unequal representation by writing for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

Dear Trump Voter

I'm hearing some protests from you recently that "we're not all racist/misogynist/etc!"  And I take you at your word. It's not my place to figure out what is in your heart. But here's what I know.

We're all grownups here. We all have deal breakers and priorities.  You voted for Trump for a reason, and I voted for Clinton for a reason. I'm sure Trump isn't your ideal candidate, and Clinton isn't mine. Some things are disqualifying, and some aren't. For instance, I put aside Clinton's hawkish interventionist tendencies. I put aside the dynastic implications. I put aside her ties to Wall Street and the general whiff of graft because they were preferable to what I saw on the other side.  I own that decision. I will not pretend that I can distance myself from the less savory aspects of her candidacy.  If she won and chose to invade Yemen, I'd have no right to be surprised.

You made a different choice, based on your own values. That's completely fair. You heard the divisive language, the racist dog whistles, the calls to violence, the authoritarianism,  the grotesque treatment of women, the suggestion that Latino judges and Muslim gold star families are less American that their white Christian counterparts. You knew that his running mate supports gay conversion therapy.  You chose to set that aside for the things (abortion, guns, making America great, whatever) you felt were more important.  Fine. But own it.

Don't pretend to have hurt feelings that people call you out for your priorities.  Don't even try to equate the discomfort of being called racist or misogynist with the sting of actual discrimination. Don't try to equate being called a homophobe with the pain of not having legal rights with your partner. It's just insulting.

So fine. You're not racist. You're not misogynist. You're not a homophobe. But you voted for so someone who actively promoted that worldview, because for you, that stuff was negotiable.  It wasn't a deal breaker.  That tells me that we may get along fine at a backyard barbecue.  But I can't really trust you. You may not actually think my kid deserves less respect than yours, but you're willing to tolerate those who do.  When push comes to shove, you don't have my back.  You made that choice. That's your right as an American. But deal with the fallout. Suck it up. After all, elections have consequences.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and a special guest star on the X Millennial Man Podcast. Check out her latest walk on appearance on the X Millennial Man Podcast where she discusses the best political ads ever made. We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing. 

What's Next?

Election day is like New Years Eve for political junkies. The good stuff happens in the nighttime, we tend to stay up way later than we should, and the amount of drinking is well beyond the normal range. On the next day we are hungover, regretful, and many times confused about what happened.

The 2016 election was one of the most epic political New Years Eves in history. Once the election was over, and we woke up in a hangover, the consequences looked dire. After a quick shower, and a ton of coffee, our mind started to play through the nights events? Donald Trump is the President elect. Really? The Republicans predictable held the House of Representatives, and surprisingly continued to control the Senate. That does not seem right?  If you were a Democrat, your best option in the political new year was to keep drinking. Things look downright terrible.

If things are really terrible, we need to make them right again. Once our minds have finally recovered from the headaches and regret, only then can we start to solve our perceived problems. On New Years Day it is tradition to make resolutions, life changes, that will make our lives better. It is now the new political year, it is time for our resolutions to make the Era of Trump a personal productive one. I am going to get this ball rolling.

First up, these are the things I am going to give up in the Era of Trump.

Big Data. People like Nate Silver at 538, the New York Times Upshot, and numerous other self promoting political statisticians are useless and dangerous to the political process. Nate Silver in particular is a thin skinned, self obsessed, bullying force in our modern political discourse. He, like many others, claimed to be mathematical gurus who could read political futures. They were wrong on Trump in the primaries, and they were way wrong on the election. Silver will claim he was more sympathetic to Trump's chances. Unfortunately for him, it is obvious he was only promoting Trump as a form of clickbait. Whenever Silver was called out on his non-scientific behavior, he would throw a twitter temper tantrum. Big data is as useful as saber-metrics. It was a cute fad, until we learned that there was no real value in it. No more Upshot or 538 for me.

The Professional Left. Websites like the Huffington Post and cable outlets like MSNBC have been falling out of favor for a few years now. HuffPo is a third rate Buzzfeed wanna be with smug left leaning commentary. MSNBC is getting worse in being the crazy college kid who is "experimenting" with socialism. People like Rachel Maddow and the jamokes on "Morning Joe" have started to talk down and liberalsplain everything concerning politics. These professional left outfits have actively alienated disaffected voters by treated the middle of the country as an intellectual wasteland. The pundits on the left are out of touch, and by treating Trump as a non serious candidate, they endangered the entire country. No more wasting time being talked down to.

The Democratic Party. We have made no secret of our disdain for the professional clowns who run the Democratic Party. Around SeedSing we have even given a name to the party's incompetence, The Ohio Problem. These incompetent jabronis have failed many times, and it is time to stop giving them support. The party needs to discard the ways of 20th century politics, and embrace a modern strategy with fresh new faces. We do not need the Clintons, Bahys, and Feingolds of the world. They were great, but it is time to move on. It is time for 21st Century ideas.

What do we do next?

Do not silence your voice, yell louder. There is a saying that goes something like "If a person is in the middle of the street yelling they are crazy. If a group of people are in the middle of the street yelling, it is a movement". I want to yell in the middle of the street with a group of people. SeedSing is designed as that street with people yelling. I want the world's thoughts, ideas, and dreams. There is no word limit, no censorship, no closed commentary, just the free flow of ideas. Our country may have elected someone who embraces divisive ideas, but at SeedSing we are looking for voices who will bring hope and progress to the world. You should really check it out.

Vigilance. I do not support Donald Trump, or the GOP agenda. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan now have more power to implement their ideas on the American people. I for one believe in science, a women's right to privacy, human rights for all, and other issues the Republican congress has actively opposed. My voice will not be silent. I will not fall for the calls of unity from a group of people that have done nothing but undermine President Barack Obama. I will be stand against those who harm America, especially if those people sit in elected office.

Project 2020. SeedSing started as a launching pad for a think tank called Project 2020. The mission of Project 2020 was to find ways to elect 21st century progressive leaders in as many state legislatures as possible by 2020. If these new leaders could control the next congressional redistricting process, then we can bring true representation back to all of America. Project 2020 is not about winning the White House, it is about winning everything below the Presidency. The Republican Party has had the advantage in these races for a generation, and that has left many people without representation I am reviving the ideas of Project 2020, and we are looking for people with a 21st century vision. In the coming months we will start building a community here on SeedSing and elsewhere where these new leaders can get the support to make a run for office.

Well, I have sobered up from Election night, but the hangover still remains. It is a new political era, and I have set out my plan. Like all good resolutions, things will change according to the situation. This is a beginning, a first step. The times ahead do not look that great, but America is to great to fail. The road ahead has many obstacles, but I have a plan for what to do next. Join me.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.  

I'm Sorry

I will start with a picture of a puppy

I was wrong. For over a year here on SeedSing and the X Millennial Man Podcast I have not given Donald Trump the respect he deserves for running a winning Presidential campaign. Here, along with our community of citizen journalists, have never taken the New York businessman seriously. We have pointed out every gaffe and hateful action from the Trump campaign. We assumed that Donald Trump was going to be embarrassed on election night, and the country would not be that much different than before the election of 2016.

I was wrong. What we never took into account is the true anger, and disconnect, people feel with the Washington DC class. Many times on, this site, I have railed against the incompetence and corruption of our elected leaders. Voting for Hillary Clinton was endorsing this culture I was so very frustrated with. My assumption is that the recklessness of Donald Trump would drive people back into the comforting arms of an old and broken Washington DC system. What I never saw was the single issue rage that turned out the Trump voter. The majority of Americans have been left behind by DC, and enough of people chose the chaos of Trump over four more years of the same. Uncertainty is a better option than more of the terrible same.

So what is next. My first step was to apologize. No excuses, I just need to say that I am sorry for being so dismissive. The next step is to find a way to move America forward. The Trump voters who felt left out of the system now have an opportunity to make their voices heard. The people who were anti-Trump now get to decide if they are going to work for positive change, or just pray for Trump and the GOP to feel. I promise to look for ways we can make America better than it is. I will team up with anyone that truly wants a greater America. No hate, no anger, just progress. Who's in?

Be kind to one another

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.