Electors! Consider Trump White Supremacist Ties, Attacks on Press & Foreign Interference
Electors! Consider Trump White Supremacist Ties, Attacks on Press & Foreign Interference
Petition to the Electoral College to Consider Donald Trump’s White Supremacist Ties and Possible Beliefs; Overall Dishonesty, and Attacks on News Media; and Foreign Interference in 2016 Election prior to Casting Ballots on Dec. 19
We, the undersigned, consider this country to be in the midst of a constitutional and democratic crisis the likes of which we have never seen in our history. We believe it is your grave and solemn responsibility to protect our Democracy, and a government that is “of the people, by the people and for the people”—in which all men and women are considered to be “created equal.”
We request that before voting “faithfully,” you deeply and carefully consider President-Elect Donald Trump’s:
1. White supremacist ties, and stated eugenics beliefs, as well as stance against women as equal human beings, and those of his cabinet, and effects on unity, safety and civil rights for all; and the ability of the majority to pursue “life, liberty and the pursuit happiness.”
2. Attacks on mainstream, fact-based news outlets, including attacks from allies currently appointed to cabinet
3. Grave and continuing troubling questions regarding Russia’s foreign interference in the past election, with the ostensible aim of supporting Mr. Trump; as well as Mr. Trump’s, and his campaign team’s reported association with Russian actors, and “secret” servers tied to Russian banks.
Again, we respectfully encourage you to deeply consider these matters as you face the decision to elect either a 1) a threat to our democracy and hard won civil rights or 2) a popularly elected Presidential candidate whose vote count grows day by day.
Background:
Electoral College
Although there is a current sentiment that the Electoral College will never go “faithless” against its President Elect, there is ample evidence that the Founding Fathers established the Electoral College to protect the then new democracy from threats from “factions” or individuals elected that may threaten the whole of the nation, the overall good of the nation, or the Constitution itself.
We believe Donald Trump represents just such a threat.
One of the stated purposes, as expressed by the Founding Fathers, of the electoral college, is to prevent an “obnoxious” individual from becoming President, to protect the democracy from one with a “lack of respect and acquiescence” from the general population (Federalist Paper 10, James Madison.)
On one hand, the College was created to represent the various states more fully, but on the other, and in the language of the Fathers, it was created to prevent a disastrous individual who did not truly represent the interests of the people from hijacking our precious Democracy. In a time of great crisis, when anything at all seems possible, we believe your “faithless” vote should be gravely considered.
Massive ongoing protests across the United States, and never-before seen resistance in the form of petitions of five-million-signatures-strong and counting, and phone calls to U.S. representatives, as well as high levels of fear for minority gorups and women about Donald’s Trump’s impending Presidency, shows that a major portion of the U.S. population has neither respect for, nor “acquiescence” to this President.
James Madison warns against those who would “divide mankind into parties, inflamed with mutual animosity and ... disposed to vex and oppress each other, rather than to cooperate for the common good.”
In Madison’s words, the Electoral College, then is a small number of representatives, chosen to “refine and enlarge the public view, by passing through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it ...” to “men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs ...” who would “betray the interests of the people.”
These representatives, he wrote, would exist to “guard against the cabals of a few,” as well as “the confusion of the multitude,” and “any other improper or wicked project.”
We understand that you are being petitioned now by several parties to “go faithless” and change your pledged vote on Dec. 19, in light of your “consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes,” (Madison, again).
We, the undersigned, ask you to please consider the following focused points, drawn from many others, now hotly debated in the U.S. news media and globally.
1) Eugenics Beliefs, White Supremacist and “White Nationalist” Ties, Unprecedented Hate Crimes and Incidents Across the United States Against Muslims, People of Color, the LGBT Community and Women
We believe white supremacist groups supporting Trump (and who we believe he supports) represent a destabilizing and dangerous faction that threatens our democratic government.
Several video clips of Donald Trump speaking in public demonstrate his deeply disturbing belief in “eugenics,” and the idea that some people are inherently superior to others, based only on their genetics.
In such videos, Mr. Trump says: “All men are created equal—well, it’s not true.” As well as: “You have to have the right—the right genes.” And, “I’m proud to have German blood, it’s great stuff" and: “Some people genetically cannot handle pressure.” We offer the following article, and two videos as support:
The “Frontline” documentary on the lives of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (eugenics discussed at roughly 14 minute, by Michael D’Antonio, author of The Truth About Trump):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/the-choice-2016/
As well as the following article, most relevant for the video clips assembled by the reporting team:
The "Frontline" documentary (above) includes an interview with the author of The Art of the Deal, Tony Schwartz, who spent 18 months with Donald Trump, and now says he would best describe him as a “sociopath” (as reported in The New Yorker and elsewhere.)
According to a profile of the Trumps in Vanity Fair magazine, Ivana Trump “told her lawyer, Michael Kennedy, that from time to time, her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, (My New Order), which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed." If this is the case, the significance of this book’s presence in Trump’s bedroom increases, because, according to Trump ghostwriter Schwartz, Donald Trump hardly read any books at all—save this one, according to Ivana.
Although Trump has stated he has not read this book, many could now reasonably conclude that honesty is not a value for Mr. Trump.
Indeed, in attempting to explain this book’s presence, Trump said that his friend, Marty Davis, had given it to him, and that this man was Jewish. Davis reported later that he was not Jewish, and that he had given Trump Mein Kampf—so now we have two books by Hitler reported to have been on Trump’s short reading list.
The appointment of individuals with clear white nationalist and white supremacist ties, including Stephen Bannon (who agreed to be interviewed by Alex Jones, the Sandy Hook mass school-shooting-denier) is a bellwether for the overall views and stance of the would-be Trump administration.
On Trump, and Sandy-Hook “Truther” Alex Jones:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alex-jones-20161119-story.html
On “White Nationalism” and the Trump Administration
Currently white men who are not gay comprise less than a majority of the U.S. population.
We do not believe the President Elect should discount the value and opinions of any segment of the population, including this one.
However, he must, as our President, represent the interests, safety and security of a majority of the U.S. population, or he is representing the views of a “faction” hostile to the rights of everyone else.
Trump’s response to increasing hate crimes, post-election, committed in his name, and incidents of harassment and violence against minorities and women has been tepid at best.
In his first post-election interview with 60 Minutes, he first acted as if he had not heard of such incidents. He then said he heard of a few, maybe “one or two incidents,” and that if this were true, it made him feel saddened, and then he said to “stop it.”
This is not the response of an individual who is serious about the peace of mind, safety and civil rights of millions of Americans now feeling under threat. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports more than 700 hate-crime incidents since Election Day, growing daily, and we believe the figure to be much, much greater, including unreported crimes.
At this point, given his eager overt and covert courting of white supremacists, even a longer speech on hate crimes by Trump or his team at this time would be highly suspect as simply “strategy.”
Furthermore, members of his cabinet and family, in particular, Donald Trump, Jr., have tweeted white nationalist memes and quoted white supremacist authors. See the following two articles.
We could go on: the fervent support of David Duke for Trump, and planned celebrations of the KKK; sexist incidents against hundreds of women across the country posted directly via social media; “heil Hitlers" and swastikas at Donald Trump rallies; and now, more openly in meetings where press is also present ... His past, very public excoriation of the black youth accused of raping a woman in Central Park, who were later exonerated, and for which Mr. Trump never apologized; his throwing of erasers and other objects at teachers when he was a school boy (all indications of sociopathic and/or racist behavior) ... whether you believe Donald Trump is a white supremacist “Devil” himself, or rather, has made a deal with the Devil, the upshot for our nation of so many races, and for women, who comprise half the population, does not look good.
2) Attacks on the Fourth Estate; and Dishonesty, Attempts to Manipulate the Public by Undermining News Media
Further, we ask the Electoral College to consider the consequences of a Trump Presidency on the very foundations of our Democracy in light of his ongoing attacks on, and blatant undermining of mainstream, fact-based news outlets. Furthermore, Stephen Bannon’s former chairmanship of, and, we assume, continued influence on Breitbart News does not bode well for a White House that is accountable to an informed American electorate.
An independent media comprises the “Fourth Estate” of our constitutional government, and is considered one of the central pillars of a stable democracy. To now have the (not yet) President of the United States conducting activities in secret, shunning the press, and attacking on a near daily basis some of the most respected news outlets of our time indicates a level of chaos and disinformation in public discourse that will prove disastrous to our democracy, and to the truth itself.
We may disagree on how to view the facts in a democracy, but if we disagree on the facts themselves, and if those in power are controlling the “facts,” we are in danger of entering into a fascist state, in fact, we are in a fascist state. In the spirit of Alexander Hamilton, so very alive and with us today, we ask you to seriously consider the effects of a Trump presidency on freedom of the press.
On Trump’s relationship with the Press:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/307127-report-trump-media-meeting-a-f-ing-firing-squad
On Hamilton’s view of a free Press:
3) Foreign Interference in this Election. We believe current election results, at least in part, to have been the result of foreign interference by Russian interests hostile to our Democracy and to Hillary Clinton.
It seems fundamentally established as fact at this time by U.S. security agencies that high-level Kremlin actors in Russia contributed to e-mail hacking, and possibly even attempts at electronic ballot manipulation (enough to invoke the concern of Homeland Security before the election and to cause computer scientists to call for re-counts now.)
Russian officials have acknowledged contact with the Trump campaign before the election, and Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort stepped down because of alleged large payments to him from Russia; and our question is this: Why would Donald Trump encourage or take advantage of the involvement of a hostile foreign power in our own democratic election process? Perhaps the recent actions of Putin answer this best.
Relevant Articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/politics/us-formally-accuses-russia-of-stealing-dnc-emails.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-krugman-fbi-putin-comey-2016-11
While the media seems to be covering other highly dangerous issues inherent in a Trump presidency (as yet NOT a reality) including: major, global conflicts of interest, with Trump enterprises, and an overall “unfitness” for office, we, the undersigned, ask you to consider the above points as you take on the grave responsibility of fulfilling your constitutional obligations as the Electoral College.
This petition was researched, written and submitted by a group of highly concerned U.S. citizens. We respectfully encourage the electors and members of the U.S. government, as well as all concerned citizens to pursue all of these issues independently, via further research, prior to Dec. 19.