“Truth is not data????” I do not understand that. And I suspect that no argument that you could make would convince me that that makes sense. I am so tired (and, frankly, scared) of people simply “declaring” something as if it were true, and then compounding the error by relying on that declaration in support of some argument. I am thinking of paying for an advertisement in my local newspaper in support of the premise that yes, there are FACTS which are TRUE and they can be referred to as DATA. On another note, Breitbart is in hot water over Milo Yiannopoulos so I’m hoping it undermines its credibility a bit.

Thanks.

I did see this, but I’m writing about something else so I have to give it a miss. My e-mail is on-line, but it’s (deliberately) very, very hard to find. I’ll add it to the bottom of the “About Me” page. I should make the effort to be more contactable.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2016/12/obama-signs-new-law-giving-protection-atheists/

P.S. Do you have an email for submitting things like this?

In the long term, Obama’s greatest contribution(among many) was his steadfast support for actions to stabilize the economy after the collapse in 2007-8, without which we likely would be still in a serious depression.

Just what I was thinking.

J.a.m. whatever you think of his policies, it is a matter of record that Trump lied significantly more than any other politician during the election. In fact, fact checkers have him lying more than any other politician since they started fact checking using formal systems. For example, Trump repeated lies over and over again that he never said something, journalists produced recordings of him saying it, and he continued to lie in the face of the evidence. He then called the journalists the “lying dishonest media” as his supporters cheered him on. His denial he ever supported the Iraq war is a classic example.

This is still happening. He seems to have a policy of undermining the media to make a large portion of the population believe him in the face of the facts.

Despite what many Republicans believe, there has not been stagnation under Obama. The NASDAQ etc are at record highs, unemployment is at a record low and is one of the lowest in the world. International indices have the US as one of the better places to do business. The only countries doing better economically are small ones like Singapore and New Zealand. This is remarkable given that some of the US’s major trading partners like the EU are still economically weak.

You feel hopeful because you like Trump’s policies. Many don’t share that hope, and many are already suffering because a minority see a Trump victory as an excuse to let loose with revolting examples of violence and bigotry. Which side is correct long-term remains to be seen.

My own analysis of Trump’s policies is they will not bring what he promises as they rely heavily on the discredited theory of trickle-down economics.

Look. There goes one now.

It must take an extraordinary degree of conviction to believe that everyone whose opinions differ is an ignorant disgusting bigoted liar.

After eight years of stagnation and incompetence, the electorate made a rational choice for change. At this point, the next four years look more promising than the last eight. It’s no time to make oneself miserable.