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Michael Flynn participated in mass murder and destruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, advocated for torture, and manufactured false cases for war against Iran. He and anyone who appointed him to office and kept him there should be removed from and disqualified for public service. (Though I still appreciate his blurting out the obvious regarding the counterproductive results of drone murders.)

Many would say that prosecuting Al Capone for tax fraud was a good move if he couldn't be prosecuted for murder. But what if Al Capone had been funding an orphanage on the side, and the state had prosecuted him for that? Or what if the state hadn't prosecuted him, but a rival gang had taken him out? Are all take-downs of major criminals good ones? Do they all deter the right activities by up-and-coming criminals?

Michael Flynn was not removed by public demand, by representative action in Congress, by public impeachment proceedings, or by criminal prosecution (though that may follow). He was removed by an unaccountable gang of spies and killers, and for the offense of seeking friendlier relations with the world's other major nuclear-armed government.

osa Maria Ortega, 37, came to the United States as an infant. She has a sixth grade education. When she was about eleven, her mother was arrested and deported. Her two younger brothers, born in the US, became citizens. She became a permanent resident, with a green card. She is a mother of four children, ages 12-16, who are all citizens, and engaged to marry Oscar Sherman, a citizen.

Old wounds break open. Deep, encrusted wrongs are suddenly visible. The streets flow with anger and solidarity. The past and the future meet.

The news is All Trump, All the Time, but what’s really happening is only minimally about Donald Trump, even though his outrageous actions and bizarre alliances are the trigger.

“As the nightmare reality of Donald Trump sinks in, we need to put our resistance in a larger perspective,” Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman wrote recently, describing Trump as “our imperial vulture come home to roost.”

When Iran's democracy was overthrown by the CIA in 1953, many Iranians had what they still have: affection for the people of the United States, as distinct from the U.S. government.

If -- even with Michael Flynn out -- the U.S. government/military manages to stir up a war on Iran, and the Iranian government responds with less than perfect nonviolent wisdom, it will be the job of U.S. citizens to distinguish the wonderful Iranian people from their government.

This ought to help matters. Iranians, in response to Trump's travel ban, are abandoning the tradition of burning U.S. flags, choosing instead to thank all the U.S. people who have been protesting the Muslim Ban. This gratitude for protests is a good illustration of the importance of protesting injustice by the U.S. government, even when the protests don't immediately reverse the policies. It's important for the other 96% of humanity to know we disapprove.

The thank yous have become expressions of love in both directions, with the hashtag #LoveBeyondFlags. Is this beautiful or what?

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, famously coined the Orwellian phrase “alternative facts” when pressed about flat out lies told the previous day by White House press secretary Sean Spicer regarding the crowd size at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The dictionary definition of a “fact” is a piece of information presented as having an objective reality. Accordingly, the term “alternative fact” is itself is an oxymoron. A fact is both indisputable and immutable. Having “alternatives” to a fact undermines its very meaning.

These semantic gymnastics are compounded by Trump’s fundamental and alarming misunderstanding of the role of the three branches of government and the media. The attempt by the Executive branch to recast the role of the media as the mouthpiece of the administration is dangerous. The media is the government’s watchdog, not its lap dog.

Milwaukee, WI. FEBRUARY 14, 2017 –  Peter Peckarsky’s campaign for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) received confirmation from the DNC that his name will appear on the ballot for the position of Chair at the DNC Officer Elections on Saturday, February 25, 2017 in Atlanta, GA.

Peckarsky’s campaign is based on providing election and voting protection. He states, “Our country has a Constitution which provides certain rights. One of these rights is the right to vote. My objective is to restore confidence in the voting process.” This, coupled with his vision for an inclusive Party built on a solid grassroots foundation, will enable the Party to move forward in an empowered and engaged fashion in cooperation with State and Local Party organizations.

He went on to emphasize, “A substantial number of our fellow citizens were unconstitutionally denied the right to vote in the November 8, 2016, election because of the color of their skin or other obstacles to fair voting recently erected.”

The protest comes in response to President Donald Trump and his 1-month-old administration. The Republican president has pledged to increase deportation of immigrants living in the country illegally, build a wall along the Mexican border, and ban people from certain majority-Muslim countries from coming into the U.S. He also has blamed high unemployment on immigration.

A day without immigrants across the US

List of cities and businesses participating

They’re closing their doors in solidarity with many of their employees.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- President Donald Trump may strengthen
Washington's support for Bangkok's military government after sending
the head of the U.S. Pacific Command to open a 10-day Cobra Gold
military exercise on Valentine's Day, the highest-level officer to
arrive since Thailand's 2014 coup.
   But Mr. Trump's silence on U.S.-Thailand relations has analysts
wondering if he will follow through, or risk allowing Bangkok to drift
closer to Beijing.
   The Trump administration's focus in the Asia-Pacific region
includes Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, Taiwan's
separate status from China, North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and the
spread of Islamic terrorism.
   "A Trump administration, less concerned with issues of human
rights, could see a return to full American engagement, but at this
point, Trump's approach to Asia is unclear and contradictory at best,"
former Canadian ambassador to Thailand Phil Calvert said on February 7
in "A Diplomat's Assessment" published by the Canadian International
Council.

s the nightmare reality of Donald Trump sinks in, we need to put our resistance in a larger perspective.

There’s no need here to list what he is doing and is prepared to do to what remains of our rights, freedoms, economy, ecology, human dignity, sense of justice, the future of our children and much, much more. Donald Trump appears at this point to be our worst national nightmare.

For many of us, it will be the challenge of a lifetime to solve this problem. Millions of words will be written about it in the months to come.

But we might start by comparing him to the kinds of leaders our nation has forced on other countries, and by making some kind of amends. Trump is, in fact, our own imperial vulture come home to roost.

Indeed, he’s actually (so far) a moderate compared to scores of murderous dictators the US has installed in other countries throughout the world. Especially since World War II, our imperial apparatus has constantly subverted legitimate attempts by good people to elect decent leaders.