To fulfill Lincoln's desperate desire "that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." In plain words, not commit national suicide.

Your political voice should not be amplified by your financial voice.

I'm inspired by Morgan Spurlock's documentary, RATS, to ask for better trash and recycling practices to be placed on restaurants and eateries throughout the city to control the mouse and rat problem. I grew up in Brooklyn and I can't imagine living anywhere other than New York. This wonderful city is overrun with these disease-carrying pests. Everyone's health is at risk.

The Constitution is a wonder of checks and balance to insure that the power of the Government is used legally. Without Trumps full financial disclosure, the USA is put at risk for many, many dangerous and even treasonous actions that may occur and be kept hidden from Congressional oversight. Also the founders of the Constitution intended the Electoral College to function as a bulwark against fraudulent electoral processes. The failure to properly vet Mr. Trump before the election has created a Constitutional crisis for Congress.

Climate change is real, scientific fact and is slowly but surely threatening any hope of a safe planet for future generations. By allowing a climate-change denier to take control of filling positions at the EPA, President-elect Trump is contributing to the destruction of a planet we all love and depend upon.

For determining potential conflicts of interest with national security and economic strategy, legislators need to have a full understanding of the implications of a billionaire president's empire, and then pass legislation that sets the ground rules for the president to recuse himself from various decisions and proposals in which there is a conflict of interest.

Regardless of Hillary Clinton’s concession, a close analysis must be done of the actual voting results (machine tabulations and paper ballots cast) versus the vote reporting (to the board of elections and Secretary of State offices). Some important facts collectively warrant this: 1) Russians have heavily influenced this election for the past six months and have successfully hacked into the election systems of more than half the states in the country; 2) Major public polls and the Clinton campaign's internal polls were historically off the mark, and in the campaign's case, didn't match the voter file records, which is unheard of to this level. This is especially odd considering that Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook is one the most brilliant in politics when it comes to micro-targeting and voter analysis. Even GOP strategist and pollster Frank Luntz called the 2016 exit polls “the worst and least accurate we’ve ever seen,” in a Tweet sent on election night. 3) Homeland Security/DOJ teamed up with a group that is part of Anonymous based in Washington, D.C. called “The Protectors.” This group saw a lot of activity during Election Day from the Russians and believe that the voting results projected don’t match the internal and public polls because the voting results were manufactured in favor of Trump in heavily Republican counties in key states, and voting results may have been decreased for Clinton in key Democratic counties via malware that was placed by the Russians when they hacked the election systems of more than half our states. 4) Trump/Manafort set-up the “rigged election” narrative months ago preparing for exactly this scenario. This is straight out of Manafort’s playbook, and Putin’s, too — accuse the other side of doing what you’re doing so that you cannot be accused of doing it. There is no short supply of examples of this: Putin regularly accuses the US of meddling in Russia’s affairs when he annexed Crimea, invaded east Ukraine, and holds sham elections in Russia. 5) Kellyanne Conway, an expert conservative pollster, was selected as Trump’s campaign manager when Paul Manafort took too much heat about his Russian’s connections and “resigned” (though he has likely continued to be involved behind the scenes and continues to have a residence in Trump Towers), and Conway helped lead messaging that polls were all wrong and that Trump has “shadow supporters,” a term that mainstream journalists echoed as the election results began to favor Trump. 6) Paul Manafort, who has heavy ties to the Kremlin, is being federally investigated for his work in Ukraine, was virtually silent since resigning from Trump’s campaign a few months ago, but sent his first tweet since resigning last week saying that by the Sunday before the election Trump would have the 270 votes needed to win (despite internal and public polls saying otherwise). Something seems very off and needs to be closely examined. Homeland Security/DOJ should be able to verify this, even though Clinton conceded. Source: Facebook Post of November 9.

Signers of this petition want the Democratic Party leaders to know that if they want to count on our contributions, volunteer activities, and votes, they need to respect rank and file participation in the decision making process. These decisions should not be made by a handful of party elites.

Experts now state that hate crimes in the United States have spiked. Instances of violence, threat, intimidation, vandalism, and abuse have been well-documented in our schools, as well as in the public square. Meanwhile, our current and elected officials have maintained an unfortunate posture of silence. With Americans living in fear and falling victim to hate, silence is not an option. Lives are being lost. People have taken to our streets. We, the People, need your voice and leadership during this period of transition and uncertainty. In fact, we demand it. Take a stand against hate. Say something.

The recent election of Donald Trump has produced a huge wave of distress and anxiety both in our own country and around the world. I feel that we, who are not in collusion with the Trumpets, need to speak out now and often, and need to organize and act, now and often. Let us pledge ourselves to action.

Saving the Republic

On November 8, 2016, New England voted unilaterally for Secretary Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States, either in favor Madam Secretary or simply against President-elect Donald J. Trump. Unlike other parts of the country, in which Trump's win has sparked attacks upon Latinos, Muslims, African-Americans, and the LGBTQ community, New England appears to be in solidarity against the egregious tone Trump's candidacy and subsequent win have set. Currently, New England wanders in a daze, Dresden the day after Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany. Residents of Providence, Rhode Island, have actually been kinder to each other in recent days, bound by fear that our hopes for the future will be stripped and set aflame in mere months. Please allow the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and - if their citizens and legislators are willing - New York to secede from the United States and form a new Free Republic of New England so that we may peacefully govern ourselves.