The great Black Lesbian poet PAT PARKER was born (d. 1989). Author of many books, including "Movement In Black," "Child of Myself" and "Jonestown and Other Madness." She is remembered for such incisive writing in poems like "For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend" and "For The Straight Folks Who Don't Mind Gays But Wish They Weren't So BLATANT" (One of the funniest and most right-on poems written on this subject -- see today's "Gay Wisdom"). Her poems were a herald of strength and resistance in the early movement of Gay Liberation. After a long history of writing and teaching, Parker died of cancer in 1989.

Donald J. Trump received the nuclear codes. Since his swearing in on this date he has appointed as many or more Wall Street executives to a variety of positions in his administration, many of whom are formerly adamantly opposed to the missions of their appointed agencies. At the same time his Secretary of State, a lifetime employee and finally CEO of Exxon-Mobil, Rex Tillerson has relentlessly gutted the state department. The Foreign Service officer corps at State has lost 60 percent of its Career Ambassadors since January. Ranks of Career Ministers, State's three-star equivalents, are down from 33 to 19. The ranks of two-star Minister Counselors have fallen from 431 right after Labor Day to 369 today—and are still falling. 

Trump, a vulgar narcissist, has praised racists and white nationalists, which should come as no surprise considering he installed tinfoil-hatted nationalist Steve Bannon in the White House. Bannon has departed but the damage he continues to wreak from the sidelines is no less worrying. 

And then there's the whole matter of Trump's seeming love affair with Vladimir Putin and the trail of crumbs and bums that lead back to Moscow. A self-proclaimed sexual predator, and under investigation for conspiracy and collusion we can only hope that by the time this is being read by you we have finally indicted this Orange Menace, his slimy family and his greedy cronies.

A draft-dodging three times-divorced liar and grifter who wraps himself in a false flag of patriotism he is the darling of the craven right wing theocrats. He is a disgusting person. It is impossible to run out of negative things to say about him because as soon as you think you've hit on it, he goes lower.