The darkness of heartland?
The darkness of heartland? PEETERV/GETTY.COM

Again, Many Who Voted For Trump Will Be Hurt the Most By His Budget: The White House to those voters: "What did you expect?" Exactly. What did poor white voters in small towns and rural areas think was going to happen? Republicans do not like spending money on social stuff like schools, public transportation, health insurance, and the environment. This is not news. This is what they always do. Trump's budget certainly did not surprise black Americans—they never got gassed up about walls and bans, and they certainly did not a believe a billionaire was going to drain the swamp in Washington.

I'm also of the opinion that many poor and middle-class whites who voted for Trump also knew that his policies, if realized, would do them more harm than good. So, why did they vote for him? Why did white people on Obamacare vote for a man who said he was going to kill Obamacare?

I think the answer to that question might be found in the plaques on Berlin's sidewalks.

They are called stolperstein. Many of them inform pedestrians of the last place a Jewish person or family resided during the Nazi period. They begin with: "Here lived..." What these plaques make clear is that the removal of Jews from their homes was an act of robbery. Nothing more, and nothing less. German Jews were deprived of their property and livelihood by force. These homes and businesses were not burned down to the ground. They were taken and used by the robbers.

Many poor and middle-class whites heard, I think, a promise of this kind from Trump. All of the talk about "America first" and so on led them to believe that once Trump was in power, they would be permitted to rob people and nations who did not look like them. What must be understood is that racism is never just about racism. Whites do not hate blacks just because of the color of their skin. Racial hate always has an economic motive. Racism authorizes robbery.

The Former CEO of ExxonMobil and Current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: Goes shopping for a war...


Washington Farmers Want More Mexican Labor: There is Trumpland, which has Mexican rapists and a wall that protects Americans from "bad hombres." And there is the US, which does not need less but more Mexican labor. It's in short supply because the number of Mexicans crossing the border illegally has declined over the years. Fruits and vegetables are not being picked. Washington farmers are losing lots of money. Trumpland was not made for you and me and them. Seattle Times has the story.

Car Ideology Today: A headline on KOMO at 6 a.m.: "Vehicle collides with pedestrian in Silverdale." Collides? That is not the right word. It equalizes the car and the pedestrian. But cars never collide with pedestrians; they hit them hard. And indeed, by 8:30 a.m. KOMO used the right word: "Pedestrian hit and killed by vehicle in Silverdale." Rest in peace, pedestrian.

White House Promises That It Will Stop Including The Brits In the Outright Lie That Trump Started With a Tweet Two Weeks Ago: The lie in question: Obama wiretapped Trump Towers during the presidential race. Because no evidence of this tapping was found in the US, the White House claimed that a British spy agency did the tapping for Obama. (You know, since the Rolling Stones and Cream and all of that, the Brits have had a thing for black Americans.) This claim came without a straw of evidence. And Great Britain, the US's closest ally, is not having it. They demanded that the White House keep it out of its phony wiretapping story. AP reports that the White House has agreed to do just that.

Speaking of the Phony Wiretapping Story: Local commentator Joel Connelly has a gas in the post "West Coast governors gag at Trump relaxing fuel efficiency standards." He writes: "The governors of West Coast states, backed by mayors of major cities, are choking and wheezing at the Trump administration's decision to pull back on car and truck fuel efficiency standards negotiated under the Obama administration." This kind of writing sure sounds like that old Seattle you hear so much about, the Seattle that was weird and quirky, the Seattle so many folks are sad to see go.