Demand Reason

#becausecanada gets more amazing every day🙌😍

- From @cbcmanitoba: The weekend is upon us, so live it up and relish in it. ✨

The reclusive mastermind behind President Donald Trump’s nationalist ideology and combative tactics made his public debut Thursday, delivering a fiery rebuke of the media and declaring that the new administration is in an unending battle for “deconstruction of the administrative state.”

Stephen Bannon, the White House chief strategist and intellectual force behind Trump’s agenda, used his first speaking appearance since Trump took office to vow that the president would honor all of the hard-line pledges of his campaign.

Appearing at a gathering of conservative activists alongside Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Bannon dismissed the idea that Trump might moderate his positions or seek consensus with political opponents. Rather, he said, the White House is digging in for a long period of conflict to transform Washington and upend the world order.

“If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken,” Bannon said in reference to the media and opposition forces. “Every day, it is going to be a fight.”

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Transgender rights, immigration protests set for NYC and Chicago as Trump actions sink in

This weekend, organizers in Chicago have planned a march to resist the lifting of transgender protections. 

In Queens, New York, protesters will rally against the Trump administration’s ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Queens Stands Together Rally Sunday, Feb. 26, 11 a.m. — 2 p.m. Eastern, MacDonald Park"

Let us come together in MacDonald Park united for freedom and equality against bigotry, intolerance and hate. Queens epitomizes the multiculturalism of America. Our diversity strengthens, enriches and enlightens. Many in the community are quite fearful with reason but resilient in the face of adversity.”

Queer and Trans Dance Party-Protest Sunday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m. — 10 p.m. Eastern, Fifth Avenue, between 55th and 56th streets

“This peaceful protest is a celebration of our diversity, our strength, and our love, a declaration that even in the darkest times, we can come together and DANCE in the face of tyranny.”

Chicago Stand Up for Transgender Rights Saturday, Feb. 25, 12 p.m. — 1 p.m. Central, at the intersection of Roscoe and Halsted streets

“The Trump administration continues on its path of intolerance and hate, and because of that we must all stand up together for all members of the trans community including those who consider themselves as gender non-conforming, cisgendered, bi-gendered, Two Spirit, intersex, cross-dressers, queer, non-binary, drag kings or queens, queer, questioning, as well as the GLB community. Trans folx of color are at particular risk due to the actions of the current administration. Minorities are at risk under this administration, and this is why we must unite, we must march!”

Chicago Latinxs Against Trump Protest Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. Central, 55 North Michigan Avenue

The denial tearing apart the U.S.A., and many communities; and some families! 

“Denial: An unconscious defense mechanism used to allay anxiety by denying the existence of important conflicts, troublesome impulses, events, actions, or illness." 

Trump escalates his feud with the media

‘We’re going to do something about it,’ Trump says as his White House tries to contain the fallout from more leaks.

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

President Donald Trump fired the latest shot in his self-proclaimed war with the media Friday, doubling down on his declaration that the press is an “enemy of the American people.”

“I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake, phony, fake,” Trump said in his remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. “A few days ago, I called the fake news ‘the enemy of the people,’ and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.”

With no clear differentiation separating the mainstream media from so-called “fake news” media, the president lashed out at the latter. He condemned the use of anonymous sources, which he claimed without evidence were fake accounts drummed up by an industry with its own agenda that everyday Americans must fight against. He ominously vowed to “do something about it.”

“Folks, our long nightmare—it may not be over,” he told CPAC during his address. “The fact is it may be just be beginning. Because right now, we face a gathering of forces that are willing to use violence against us.“ Who are those violent and dangerous forces needing to be dealt with, if not criminals and terrorists that the Trump administration will soon deal with? Liberals! From the speech:

I think we all agree we live in a more angry, dangerous world than we’ve seen in a long time. A lot of people, for a lot of reasons, want to blow it all up and tear the whole thing down. It’s in the Saul Alinksy strategy of sowing grievance and indignation to raise holy hell. It’s in the leftist radical plan to tax capitalism to collapse. And it’s in the Rahm Emanuel doctrine of ‘Never let a crisis go to waste.’ And it’s in the ISIS dream of a worldwide caliphate. So, what happens when it all collects and collides like a hurricane? What happens when the national media wind machine blows it up into a firestorm? And what happens, if, God forbid our enemies use that to their advantage?

The protests against Trump’s presidency, LaPierre said, offer an opportunity for terrorists, who could piggyback on left activism to strike Americans. “What happens when terrorists tag along with a flash mob protest at your local airport,” he asked. “What happens when some freeway Facebook protest on your interstate highway brings it all to a screeching halt?”

The protesters, of course, welcome this. LaPierre implied, because the protesters are themselves essentially terrorists. LaPierre opened his speech with clips from isolated incidents of violence from anti-Trump actions.“The left’s message is absolutely clear,” he intoned. “They want revenge. You have to be punished. They say you are what is wrong with America. And now, you have to be purged.”

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